Chapter 8

Waylon drove through the night,and once Chayce dropped off to safe sleep, he made a shit-ton of calls. He started with a cop friend of his in Virginia, which was where they'd been for the damn charity event.

"Someone drugged him," he snapped. "What the fuck happened?"

"It was the fruit. It had been taken out of the container and put on a platter, and we think it was injected."

"They roofied his fruit?"

"It could have been worse, man. It could have been fentanyl or something."

Shit. Fuck, fuck, fuck.

"Cameras?"

"They were off for twenty minutes."

"How? How the fuck did that happen, man?"

"Hell if I know. I have someone going over all the footage to see, but it has to be an inside job."

"Damn it, Rob…"

"I'm working on it." His buddy blew out a breath. "This is some fucked-up shit. Deranged fan?"

"Maybe? How would they get in, though?"

"Well, if it's someone in his organization, you're not as good as I think." Rob blew out a harsh breath. "I'll keep you posted. If we find anything else."

"And the chemical work-up on the drug."

"You got it."

"Thanks. I'll call when I get where I'm going." And that was his secret. No one was going to know.

"Okay, man. I'll keep in touch by text between now and then."

"Sure." He'd turned off location services on his phone and Chayce's. That would make them just that much harder to trace, and if he had to, they would both go off grid completely and he'd grab a burner phone.

He had a single job, and more than that, he had a single focus. Chayce's safety meant everything to him in ways that he couldn't even express. So Waylon would put in the time.

"Hey. Did I miss supper?" Chayce sat up, blinking hard.

"Nope. I was waiting for you."

"Thanks. Where are we?" Chayce's hand slid over his leg, just a chaste caress.

"Uh. Somewhere between St. Louis and Kansas City."

"Shit, I slept a while."

"You needed to recover."

"I feel so ridiculous. I didn't even think about it, you know?" Chayce shook his head, sighing at himself.

"I didn't either. I'm sorry, baby."

"No. This was supposed to be safe, dammit. This was supposed to be a closed set."

"It was." And he was going to rain hellfire over the organizers for that. "So we know it has to be someone on the inside."

"Yes. So either the psycho got hired or hired someone himself."

"That's what it sounds like, yeah." Okay, he could see that, rather than it being someone who'd been there all along.

"Well, then. We sic my management on the venue, dammit."

"I'll call Vicki." He would let that woman loose and she would rain down hellfire.

"Yes. Tell her they were mean. They let me think I was on fire."

"I will." He bit back a grin on that. "What do you want to eat, baby? There's plenty to stop at."

"Mashed potato-y something? Is that an option?" That little caress happened again, stroking his thigh.

"Sure. Let me see what's around and you can order so I can just pick up?" Too many people would know Chayce around here. It was still too urban and yet country music forward. But they could stop at a diner and grab food.

"Do you want to stop? We can get a room somewhere and order for delivery."

"You want to?" He gave Chayce a sideways look.

"I want you to rest."

"I'm used to less than optimal sleep."

Chayce rolled his eyes at him, making him grin. "I'll wear a hat, sunglasses, whatever I need to."

"Okay, baby. I'll find us a place, and you can just hang out in the car while I check in. Okay?" It wasn't perfect, but they had good tinted windows.

"Works for me. I will just pretend to be napping."

"There you go." And he could get Chayce had volunteered to put his sunglasses on.

Waylon hunted a place that he could be happy with on the GPS on the console. He settled on a Fairfield Inn that had a White Castle and a TGI Fridays nearby. Surely the Fridays had mashed potatoes if nothing else did.

"Perfect. Just right. Thanks."

"No problem, baby. I'll check in, and then we can grab a shower and order some food, huh?" He wanted Chayce safe, but also comfortable and happy. It wouldn't hurt to stop for a break.

"Yeah. Mashed potatoes and a Sprite. That sounds perfect."

"You got it." He parked where he could easily get to Chayce from the check-in, then ran in to get a king bed, non-smoking room. No problem. And the key would open a side door by the elevators, so Chayce didn't have to come in the front.

Perfect. That just left the food.

"Come on, baby." Waylon moved the car around so they could go right inside. "Just up the elevator to two."

"Perfect, thank you." Chayce moved fast, sliding up the stairs like a dream. Even better. He got to watch that ass move, and he didn't have to worry about getting stuck. He cleared the room, then looked up Fridays. Hoo yeah. Mashed potatoes. He got himself the steak and ribs combo and ordered a few drinks extra. And some cake.

It had been a long twelve hours.

Chayce headed for the shower, stripping himself down and turning on the water.

Waylon wanted to join him, and as long as they didn't get ambitious, they would have time before the food arrived. He pulled off his shirt on the way to the bathroom. "Can I come in, baby?"

"You can. I'm not feeling all sexy, though."

"Me either, baby. I just feel gritty." He patted that wet butt after he stripped his lower half and stepped into the shower. He moaned, hot water so good on his skin.

"Yeah. We'll need to get some clothes, deodorant, that sort of thing."

"Yep. I'll make a Walmart order, but some stuff I can run get from the gift shop." The little area behind the desk had deodorant, toothpaste, drinks, chips. That kind of thing.

"You rock." Chayce pushed into his arms, forehead on his chest. "Hey."

"Hey, baby. What a day." He held Chayce close, letting the water rain down on them.

"Yeah. It started okay, but it went a little hinky, didn't it?"

"It did. But you're safe, and that's all that matters." He got to washing Chayce, wanting him to feel more relaxed. Clean away the weird drug haze.

"I was scared you were lost in the fire," Chayce whispered.

"It takes more than that to get rid of me, baby." He kissed Chayce's cheek. "I'm sorry you were frightened though. I should have been with you."

"What if you'd had a bite of the fruit? Then it would be all over for me."

"Yeah, and I can't resist watermelon…" Waylon wondered if he'd been more the target, in fact.

"Me either." Chayce shook his head. "I'm freaking out a little."

"Hey." Damn. Chayce was always so confident. Centered. "I got you."

"Just the drugs, right?"

"Yeah." Maybe the smart move was a hospital, but it had been more important to move Chayce, almost a compulsion. "They'll leave you feeling shaky and vulnerable for a bit. Real food will help." Shit, he was shaky that way himself. It had been twelve hours on a couple of granola bars that he'd had in his go-bag, and a drive-thru Coke.

"Thank you."

He rinsed Chayce off, smiling a little. "Don't get all mushy on me now, Fall."

"Oh, shut up." Chayce's laughter was muffled against his shoulder.

"Come on. The food will be here soon." He turned off the water so he could dry Chayce off, and he pulled two pairs of sweats out of his go-bag. The rest they could pick up early in the morning on the way out of town. That shit where they put it in the back of the vehicle for you without anyone having to get out was lit.

"I don't know about you, but I'm ready for this tour to be over, man. I want to go to the mountains."

"Yeah, well, you're on break for a few weeks, anyway." But he could totally just go hide out with Chayce. Like in a semi-permanent way. Not that Waylon had any idea how that would work.

"I am. But I'm tired." Chayce leaned as he dried the man off, then let him lead him to the bed and stuff him into the sweats.

"Well, you rest and watch TV or something. I'll wait for the food." He wanted Chayce to relax. Those lean shoulders were like frozen rope.

"I'll wait with you." Chayce curled on the bed, chin on his knees.

"Okay." He sat, pushing right up against Chayce so they could lean, all those hours on the road taking their toll on his muscles. "This good?"

"Better than." Chayce kind of… curled around him like a big cat. Someone needed reassurance.

He took the hint and started petting, stroking Chayce's back and side. He stroked easily, just giving what Chayce seemed to want most. Contact. Comfort.

A knock on the door caught them both dozing, and he approached from the side, then peered out. This wasn't the kind of place where they brought food to the front lobby and called up. A bored-looking kid stood there with their Fridays bags, and he grinned, opening the door to grab it.

"Thanks, man."

"Have a good night." The kid had been tipped on the app, so he was gone in a flash.

"Mashed potatoes, baby." He locked the door and put in his security wedge. They were in for the night.

"You rock. This is comfort food extraordinaire." Chayce was beginning to relax; he could see it.

"I know. I got all the things if you need a nibble of anything else." He'd been damn hungry. Steak, ribs, fries, salad, onion rings. "I got cake."

"You did go all out." Chayce gave him a faint grin. "We'll see where we are after this."

"We will." But for now, they were safe and fed and they had a place to sleep.

That worked for Waylon.