Beyond the doors behind the security guard, Kate was being treated. The local PD was struggling to keep the fans outside the emergency room as Syon and his bandmates paced the floor.

Two men finally came through the doors, heading toward him. “Syon Braden?”

“Yeah, I want to see her.”

“This way.”

“Just a minute.” Cid slid in between them. “Where are you taking my friends?”

“Somewhere we can talk.” One of the men held up a badge.

“Fine by me.” Syon pushed past Cid, but Cid shoved him back.

“I think you can do that only with a lawyer present.”

The detective turned and looked at Cid. “Since you’ve got something to hide, by all means, call your legal representative.”

“What the hell?” Syon demanded. “I want to see my girlfriend.”

“Your girlfriend—if she is your girlfriend—has tested positive for gamma hydroxybutyrate,” the cop said under his breath. “Now, maybe slipping girls roofies is normal in your world, but in my county, I won’t let it slide. She could have been trampled to death beneath that crowd.”

“Shit,” Ramsey cussed.

The cop raked them with a cold stare. “She’s under my protection, and I promise you, I’m going to do my best to get her to finger which one of you slipped her the spiked drink. So I can arrest you, celebrity or not.”

“You’re way off the mark,” Syon warned.

“I don’t think so,” the cop answered. He dug a business card out of his shirt pocket and tossed it toward Cid. “Call your lawyer. I think he’s going to be needed.”

“Fuck this.” Syon started toward the emergency-room doors, Ramsey on his heels.

“Yeah.” Taz joined in.

A second later, they were all slammed against the wall, the herd of uniformed officers outside the doors swarming in to take them down. Cid was in the corner, frantically making a call on his cell phone as they were handcuffed and hauled into squad cars.

* * *

“It’s been a long time since we’ve been arrested,” Drake observed. “Sucks that we’re not even drunk or in a titty bar.”

Syon lifted his hand and flipped him off. Ramsey mimicked the motion from where he sat on the other side of him. They were lined up in front of a pathetic television with the rest of the Saturday night jailbirds. Behind them, the booking officers were receiving the night’s offerings of prostitutes, drug dealers, and public intoxication offenders. Those who were orderly ended up in the chairs to await bail, while the rest were hauled down the hallway and locked into cells to sober up or calm down.

Syon nearly ripped the sleeves from his jail-issued top, he gripped it so hard. Waiting for bail sucked and was driving him insane.

“Cid’s falling down on the job. My little sister could have had us out of here by now,” Taz complained. “My grandmother could have done it too, and she doesn’t even speak very good English.”

“They’re stalling,” Ramsey stated, “waiting for Kate to sober up enough to finger someone.”

“Can’t wait for her to do it,” Syon said ominously.

Ramsey shared a look with him. They both returned their attention to the television in front of them, because the deputy assigned to watch the orderly crowd was doing his job. The choice was simple. Sit and watch television, or get locked into a cell with an added charge of resisting.

It left Syon sitting, which was a torment he was unprepared for. Kate was lying in a hospital, and he was stuck in a plastic chair.

Yeah, he was going to kill someone.

* * *

“Ms. Napier, I need you to help me protect other innocent women from becoming the victims of this sort of crime.”

Kate drew in a deep breath. Her head was splitting, the light from the ceiling feeling like a laser beam carving up her brain.

“Who gave you the drink?”

“Deputy Jenson?” Forcing her brain to function took a lot. The cop nodded, doing his best to give her a winning grin.

Not a chance, mister. She could see the calculating look in his brown eyes. “I had one drink. Backstage.”

“Who gave it to you?” he pressed.

The curtain suddenly moved aside. “You don’t have to answer that question.”

A man in a sharp black suit walked up to the foot of her bed and extended a business card to the deputy. “I’m here to represent Ms. Napier and ensure she has proper time to recover before making any statements. The attending doctor assures me she is in no condition to be questioned at this time, and any information you have obtained will be considered tainted by her condition.”

The deputy slowly stood up. He took the card, his actions stiff. “Tell your clients I’m going to do everything in my power to lock them up. Maybe I can’t keep their kind out of my county, but when they bring date rape drugs with them, I’m going to see them charged.”

“Syon is my boyfriend. He doesn’t have to drug me,” Kate protested.

“Ms. Napier has nothing further to say at this time.”

The newly arrived lawyer managed to get Deputy Jenson out of the room.

“Thanks. Where’s Syon?”

“Being released from jail.”

Kate blinked as that sank in.

“I’m Carl Pearson.”

She lifted her hand to shake his but stopped when she spotted all the bruises on her hand. Two of her fingers were swollen black and blue, but at least they weren’t broken.

“Maybe we shouldn’t shake hands today,” Carl said.

“Yeah. Can I get out of here?”

What she wanted was Syon. It was pathetic how much she wanted him near. She had no sense of time, and there wasn’t a window in sight. A low rumble of hushed voices came from outside her room.

“I’m working on getting you discharged. The doctor was considering having you admitted for observation, but he seems satisfied with your CAT scan and the promise you’ll seek medical attention if you have any vertigo or nausea.”

“Guess that explains the headache.”

Carl pulled his phone out of his pocket without a care for the “no cell phones” sign posted on the wall. He started texting someone as she took a moment to look at her hands and arms.

She was covered in bruises. Little ones from spike heels and larger ones that must have come from the guys in the audience. It was all still a haze, but considering how her arms looked, she decided she didn’t need to remember being trampled.

“Kate, sweetie—”

Her eyes had started closing again when she heard Percy. Or at least thought she did. It was a nice dream.

“Holy Moses!”

Kate opened her eyes, recognizing Percy’s brand of profanity.

Percy stood in the doorway, his eyes widening to the size of half dollars. “Oh my God! Someone needs to die.”

“What are you doing here, Percy?” she asked.

Percy came in with his husband, Steve, on his heels. “I got on the first plane I could, of course. That hospital gown is criminal.”

“You didn’t need to do that,” Kate protested, but Steve was carrying a duffel bag that he unzipped, pulling out a familiar-looking tunic. “I take it back. I really need people who understand me right now.”

What you need is Syon…

She tried to ignore her pitiful thoughts and focused on getting dressed because it took her one step closer to escaping the hospital.

Her knees shook when she stood up, and her back ached, but she took a couple of steps and then a few more, until she’d escaped the room. Percy and Steve were right outside the door.

“I really need to get out of here.”

She wasn’t going to mince words about it. She was desperate. The hospital was pressing in on her.

Percy and Steve took over, bundling her into a car and filling a huge bag of prescriptions before Steve slid behind the wheel of the rental car, but he didn’t start the engine.

“Now, Kate honey…”

She looked at Percy, recognizing his serious tone.

“We can go anywhere you want,” Percy said gently. “Home?”

“I’ve got a contract to fulfill.”

Percy made a little sound under his breath. “Cid spent a great deal of time making sure I recognized how much he understood your need to go home and recover.”