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“ W ill you just be quiet and let me explain?” she asked. Her brain felt sluggish, and it seemed to take all her concentration to keep up with their conversation. She just hoped that she didn’t sound as drunk as she felt, but she was sure that she did. Her world was spinning, and she worried that there was more than just vodka in the drinks she downed. Her head was starting to hurt and all she wanted to do was go home and sleep whatever this was off.

She raised her hand to her forehead, knowing that it was shaking before Spade even pointed it out. “You okay, honey?” he asked. “You’re shaking.”

“I’m getting a headache,” she whimpered. “It really hurts. I think that this is from more than me drinking too much. What if my drink was tampered with?”

“You only had two drinks, right?” Spade asked.

“I did. They were strong, but not this strong. I can usually handle my drinks, too. So, what’s going on with me?” she asked.

“We’re going to find that out,” he said. Spade made a U-turn at the next light, and she worried that he had changed his mind about helping her.

“Are you taking me back to the bar?” she stuttered.

“Of course not,” Spade insisted, “I’m taking you to the hospital.”

“Is that necessary?” she questioned. “I just want to go home and sleep this off.”

“It’s necessary,” Spade growled. “If someone roofied your drink, we need to find out. You wouldn’t want this happening to any other women down at the Road Reapers, would you?”

“No,” she stuttered.

“Good, I’m going to call Ink to find out if anyone besides him and the bartender touched your drinks.” That was actually a good idea, and he was right, she didn’t want anyone else to go through what she was going through tonight.

Her stomach did a flip-flop from the alcohol, and she knew that she wasn’t going to be able to keep it from coming back up. “I need you to pull over,” she said. “I’m going to throw up.” Spade quickly pulled over to the side of the road and turned on his hazards. wasted no time opening her door to jump out of the truck with no time to waste. She threw up what felt like the entire contents of her stomach as Slade stood next to her, holding back her hair. No man had ever held her hair back for her—not even Eric.

She waved him off, “I don’t want you to see me this way,” she insisted.

“It’s nothing that I haven’t been through before,” he said. She stood and took the tissues that Spade handed to her. “It’s all I have. Sorry.” used them to wipe her face and blow her nose. She was hoping that getting sick would be enough to help her feel better, but it wasn’t. She still felt like hell.

“I think that a trip to the emergency room might be a good idea,” she said. Spade helped her back up into his truck and she thanked him.

“There’s water here,” he said, pointing to the door. “Help yourself.”

“Thanks,” she whispered, grabbing the water after he shut the door.

He slid onto the driver’s side and shut his door, starting back onto the road to the hospital. She laid back, hoping that she’d be able to make it to the ER before she got sick again. Spade called Ink and put the call on speaker so that she could listen this time.

“You good?” Ink asked, skipping the formalities.

“No,” Spade growled. “I think that has been roofied. Tell me who touched her drinks besides you and the bartender.”

“Um, I have no idea,” Ink admitted. “That drink was the bartender’s specialty drink for the night and all the Ol’ladies were drinking them down at record speed. She made up a bunch of drinks and sat them on the bar for the women to just grab, and that’s how I got ’s drinks.”

“Shit, so everyone had access to them then,” Spade grumbled. That wasn’t going to help him narrow down the asshole who spiked ’s drinks. The bar was packed tonight. “How does Charlie feel?” he asked.

“When we left the bar, she felt like shit, but she started sobering up by the time we got home. She went to bed and seemed to be fine. I’m sure that she’ll have one hell of a hangover tomorrow, but that’s on her.”

“So, you don’t think that she was roofied then?” Spade asked.

“No, not really. What are ’s symptoms?” Ink asked.

“She just puked, and says that her head is killing her,” Spade said. “She’s also shaking pretty badly and looks about ready to pass out.”

“Yeah, that doesn’t sound right at all. You taking her to the hospital?” Ink asked.

“We’re almost there,” Spade said.

“Good, keep me informed. If you need me to run to the hospital to relieve you, just give me a shout,” Ink ordered.

“Will do, but I’m staying with her through this whole shit show,” he insisted.

“I figured,” Ink breathed. “Keep in touch.” Spade ended the call and looked over to find laying back in the seat with her eyes closed.

“You really don’t have to stay with me at the hospital. I just appreciate you taking me in to be checked out,” she said. meant it too. She had gotten used to being on her own since moving back to town.

“Not a chance,” he growled. “If someone put something in your drinks, I’ll need to let Mace know. You might not be the only one affected, so he’ll need to get the word out. Plus, he’ll want to figure out who did this.”

“You think that other people were drugged?” she asked. didn’t know what to believe, but hearing that others might be affected upset her more than she thought it might.

He shrugged, “No clue, but we need to find out if this was done to just you or if more people were drugged. Do you have any enemies?” he asked.

“What, no,” she insisted. “I mean, I’ve never made enemies that I know of. A client might not be one hundred percent satisfied with their tat, but if that was the case, I’m sure that it wouldn’t warrant them drugging my drink.”

“Any former boyfriends who might want to hurt you?” he pushed.

“No,” she breathed. “My ex quickly moved on while I was in California helping my parents after my father’s fall. He was married and everything by the time I got back to town. I’m guessing he was cheating on me the whole time that we were together.” She was leaving out the part about initially leaving town after Eric broke up with her. didn’t like to tell anyone about that. The rest was true, so she didn’t feel too bad about her story.

“That sucks,” Spade breathed, “I’m sorry.” nodded and closed her eyes. They felt so heavy; all she wanted to do was sleep. She knew that it was probably whatever drugs her drinks had in them, but she couldn’t be sure.

“Yeah, I’m so tired,” she said, laying her seat back further.

“No, sit up,” Spade insisted. “You can’t fall asleep yet. We’ll be at the ER in about three minutes.”

“You’ve been talking to me to keep me awake this whole time,” she guessed.

Spade shot her a sheepish grin and nodded. “I could lie and say that I was just being friendly, but my initial thought was to keep you awake so that the ER could ask you questions. You might have seen or heard something that could help us figure out who did this to you.” He was right, and she did want to find out who drugged her, but she couldn’t believe that she saw anything that might help the Road Reapers who did this to her.

He pulled into the emergency room parking lot and straight back to the entrance. Spade wasn’t wasting any time getting her into the ER. “Wait here,” he ordered, “I’m going to grab you a wheelchair.”

“That’s not necessary,” she shouted after him as he practically slammed the door in her face. wasn’t sure why she tried to fight him. Spade seemed to have his own agenda, and he wasn’t up for suggestions from her or anyone else.

He reappeared at her door with a wheelchair, his expression stoic. He seemed more worried about her than she was. pushed her door open and tried to gracefully hop down out of the truck, but her head had different ideas. Her whole world went wobbly, and before she knew it, Spade had her in his arms and was carrying her into the hospital. She wanted to tell him that his theatrics weren’t necessary, but she couldn’t get the words out. Her world was spinning, and she was sure that this time, no amount of talking was going to keep her awake. called Spade’s name as her world went dark, and the last thing she remembered was the worry on his handsome face.