Page 40 of Cheap Shot

There wasn’t time for that. Haley needed help now. The call went silent before I even made it to the road. Too much time passed with her being alone.

I shoved my way through the front room, looking for the staircase over the heads of the crowd. Once I found it, I ducked my chin trying to be as inconspicuous as possible. I didn’t want to get stopped. The only thing that mattered right now was finding Haley and getting her somewhere safe. Her speech was slurred, and she seemed confused. I was pretty sure she’d been drugged.

The stairs were crowded, and it took me far too long to reach the top. A line pressed against the right side of the hall, and the person at the front was banging against the door. That had to be where she was.

I sidestepped past them and pushed the guy aside.

“Haley!” I pounded but didn’t hear anything from the other side. “I need to open this.”

The guy held up his hands. “Go for it. We can’t open it, and she’s been in there for like twenty minutes.”

I rolled my eyes. He didn’t think that maybe there was a problem? It didn’t matter. I preferred strangers left her alone rather than taking her away. Taking a step back, I aimed my foot near the handle. The door flung door open, and I sucked in a breath at the sight of Haley collapsed on the disgusting floor.

I dropped to my knees and pushed her hair from her face. “Haley, can you hear me?”

She didn’t move at first, but finally her eyes fluttered open.

“Haley.”

She blinked. “Reid?”

“I’m here. I’m going to call an ambulance.” I reached for my phone when she started shaking her head. “No, I just want to go home.”

“Haley, I’m pretty sure you’ve been drugged. You need to go to a hospital and get checked.”

I glanced back at our audience. “Did any of you see who did this?”

Shaking heads were my only answer. Great.

“Do you know who did this?”

She blinked. “Reid, I just want to go home. I don’t want to get carried out in a stretcher. I don’t want my parents to know.”

I shook my head. “They won’t.”

Whatever was going on with her family wasn’t my concern right now. I needed to get her out of here.

“Please,” her plea broke me.

“Fine, I’ll take you back to our room.” At least I could keep an eye on her there.

“Is she okay?” The guy I’d shoved out of the way earlier was leaning over my shoulder.

“No.” I eyed him. “I need your help getting her out of here.”

He straightened and nodded. “Yeah, man. Of course. Whatever.”

I lifted Haley enough to put my arm around her waist while pulling her arm over my shoulder. “Get on her other side.”

He didn’t hesitate before stepping in and pulling her other arm over his shoulder.

“We just need to get her outside, then I’ve got it.”

“Sure.” He gave a tight-lipped smile.

We walked with Haley, barely managing to drag her feet into the hall. People made room for us to pass as we half-dragged Haley with us.

“Move,” I barked at the people at the top of the stairs. They jumped and shifted out of the way, causing a chain reaction all the way down until there was enough space for the three of us to climb down.