Page 161 of The Stalker

“Tatiana, is it?” She nodded. “My name is Raphael, and Jesse here said that you’ve been drugged. How are you feeling?”

“Sick. But I’m not sure if it’s from the drugs or concern for my client.” She hated demoting Hayden to that position in her life, and a wave of nausea hit her as she thought about the fact that she’d failed him so badly.

“Of course. Can I check you over?” She nodded again, and he took her pulse, then asked her a few questions before frowning at her. “Look, you’re probably okay, but you need to go to the hospital and be checked out just to be safe.”

“The police are on their way, and they’ll need to speak to Tatiana,” Tanya interrupted.

“They can meet her at the hospital,” Raphael said and shrugged his shoulders.

“I can’t. I need to know Hayden is okay,” she pleaded.

“I’m sorry, but any incidents within the venue of this type need a medical consultation as part of our incident report.”

Tatiana snorted and glared at the man. “Incidents of this type, you say? Have you had many stalkers drug people within your venue, then?”

“That’s not the point, ma’am. I have to follow procedures. My boss will have the police meet you at the hospital. We’ll organize transport for you to go to the hospital as soon as possible. Just stay here, and I’ll be back.”

“Cooper needs me to postpone the concert,” Tanya told them. “He said he’ll call you, Tatiana.”

She nodded and watched Tanya leave the room. She closed the door behind herself, and Tatiana was left alone with Jesse, who was looking at his phone.

“Cooper sent an email. The FBI agents on Hayden’s case are flying straight here. There’s a task force being assembled and alerts will be sent to all media outlets.” He locked his phone and looked up at Tatiana. “How the fuck did this happen?”

“Daniel. He gave me a water, like he always does. I should’ve known,” she said as shame at her foolishness washed over her. “He opened it. It was probably already open. I just took it and drank it. He seemed really concerned and helped me to Hayden’s room. That’s the last thing I remember.”

“Security is reviewing all footage from around the venue now. We should go talk to the band. They might know what happened.”

Hayden’s friends. She knew how much he loved them and how close they were, and she didn’t know how she could face them. She was reminded of how they’d talked about him keeping a secret from Heather this morning. In the end, it hadn’t mattered. None of her security measures had kept him safe.

She was overwhelmed with fear, and pain crushed her heart inside her chest. Without warning, she broke into tears. Her fear and panic for Hayden overwhelmed her, and visions of him being tortured flooded her mind.

“Hayden!”

She couldn’t stop the scream from escaping her lips as she crossed her arms across herself and clutched on tightly to fight the pain.

His conversation about singing “Paradise City” might be the last time you ever hear his voice.

It hurt too much, and the concept of never seeing Hayden again broke her entirely. She rocked back and forth, fighting the pain as she sobbed. A bleak future without him stretched out ahead of her, and she felt as though this was the inevitable conclusion to their time together.

You knew that you would get him killed.

She was sinking deep within her sorrow, and she couldn’t fight it. It was easier to swim down and allow herself to drown in it. Hayden was gone, and it was her fault.

“Tatiana!”

Jesse’s voice cut through to her, and she looked up at him.

“Get your shit together,” he snapped at her.

She drew in a long breath, then shook her head and sobbed again. “I can’t, Jesse. He’s gone. He’s gone.”

“Yes, and you’re the one who saw the person who took him. If you fall apart, we won’t have a fucking hope of getting him back.”

She slashed at the tears falling from her eyes and forced herself to breathe slower. Her body still shook with sobs, but she knew Jesse was right. She couldn’t fall apart. She couldn’t allow herself to dwell on the worst possibilities.

She knew that wherever he was, Hayden would have faith in her. He would believe that she would find him. She needed to believe he would be okay. She needed to do what she had to do to ensure that he was.

She swallowed heavily, heaved another couple of deep breaths, then stood and walked into the attached bathroom. She splashed her face with water from the tap and looked at her reflection in the mirror. She looked a mess, but she didn’t give a fuck. It didn’t matter now what people knew. Hayden was gone. Their secret couldn’t hurt him now.

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