Page 163 of The Stalker

He ended their call, and Tatiana wanted to pitch her phone out the window of the vehicle she was traveling in. She didn’t give a shit what Cooper thought about her. She just wanted Hayden back safe and sound. It didn’t matter what Cooper thought would happen, but it did matter if he wouldn’t let her help get him back.

She suffered through a medical check at the hospital, with doctors taking her vitals and doing some blood tests, while watching her phone for news and writing out everything she knew so far. She seemed to have been dropped off email chains with updates about the case, because her last one was the same one Jesse had read out earlier.

She opened up the app to track Hayden’s location, and neither his phone or watch had moved since she last checked. She’d been sitting and waiting for results from her tests and to see a doctor when two police officers arrived to talk to her.

“Miss Swanson, my name is Detective Wallace. So, we understand that you were Mr. Vega’s bodyguard. We’d like you to run us through what happened this afternoon.”

She went through the details of what happened and answered questions, giving them all the information she knew about Daniel and Hayden’s case. She sent them the statement she’d been writing on her phone as well, wanting them to have as much information as possible when trying to find Hayden.

“Will you keep me informed on what happens?” she asked as they started making moves to leave her room.

Detective Wallace looked at his partner and said, “We’re not really on the case. We’re just taking your statement for the feds. They’ll be taking over as soon as they get here.”

“Can they please contact me with any new information? I’d like to stay informed on what’s happening with my client.”

“We’ll pass your information along with your statement. I’m sure they’ll be in touch if they need anything.”

She knew it was unlikely they’d be in touch and wondered if Cooper had told them she’d been fired, even though it wasn’t true. It was an hour later that a news bulletin came on the screen announcing that the Cruise Control concert for that evening had been canceled due to a band member falling ill. She was grateful that they’d decided against announcing Hayden’s kidnapping. She assumed they’d decided the risk of antagonizing Daniel wasn’t worth it in case he harmed Hayden.

“Miss Swanson,” her nurse said as he entered her room and checked her vitals. “We’re just waiting for the last of your tests to come back, but the doctor will be here to discharge you soon. Do you have a doctor in your home state that you’d like us to send your medical records to?”

“Not really.” She shrugged her shoulders.

“I see. Well, if you do need your records sent somewhere, you can let us know.”

“Thanks.”

He left the room, and Tatiana unlocked her phone. Nine hours since Hayden had been taken. She checked the location of his watch and phone, and they were showing as offline now. Fear gripped her as she wondered what that meant. They could’ve run out of battery, or the feds could’ve gotten to them and turned them off. Or…something else.

She wiped a tear that was falling unbidden from the corner of her eye and opened her photos, pulling up the one of her and Hayden together the day they’d gone to look at the bus.

How did you fuck this up so badly?

There was no getting around it. This was her fault. She’d let her guard down and trusted someone she should never have trusted. She was so focused on appearances and on trying to keep anyone from finding out she was in a relationship with Hayden that she hadn’t seen the signs that Daniel was his stalker.

It was so obvious now. She’d been his mark from the first soundcheck. Whether he’d dropped his gear by accident or just to force an introduction, either way, he’d kept her as his focus and never shown an interest in Hayden. He’d gained her trust and worn down her defenses, all so that when the time was right, she wouldn’t be suspicious when he drugged her at the perfect moment.

There were a thousand things she could’ve done differently. She should’ve had Jesse as backup for the soundchecks as well. She should’ve kept her guard up and never accepted food or drink from a stranger.

She looked back down at the picture of Hayden and her, smiling and happy in their amusement over their matching outfits. He was so beautiful, and her heart ached at the thought of him in captivity with Daniel. She couldn’t stand it and was itching to leave and somehow get information on the attempt to find him.

It was another hour before the doctor came to discharge her, and she was pacing her hospital room by the time he did. She signed the paperwork to leave and then realized that she needed to get on Hayden’s tour bus to get her things.

She took a taxi back to the arena, only to find it completely dark. The tour buses were gone, and there was no one around. She doubted they’d left the city. There was no way Hayden’s friends would’ve abandoned him.

“I think I’m going to need you to take me somewhere else,” she told her taxi driver.

“Okay, ma’am.”

She dialed Cooper’s number but her call went to voicemail, so she called Jesse instead.

“Hello, Tatiana,” he said, sounding hesitant when he answered her call.

“Jesse. I need to know where the band is and, more importantly, the tour buses.”

There was an awkward silence before he said, “I’ve been instructed not to give you any information.”

“By Cooper?”

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