On third thought, why had he left Wendy alone?
He barked instructions for the bodyguard to find Franklin, and for both of them to close the party down and take Colton and Lorelei to the hotel, pronto. He dashed back to Wendy, who was trying to sit up, bracing herself against Cher’s knee-high boot.
“Hey. No.” Daniel settled on the floor and pulled Wendy’s head into his lap, blond hair everywhere. He ran his hands over her arms, down her legs. “What else is hurt?”
“Just my head, ow.”
Gently he moved his fingers through her thick hair to the back of her scalp. He felt the gash, then parted her hair to look at the bloody wound and cringed. He pulled out the handkerchief he always carried—an old-fashioned habit that had served him well, because he’d used one for many things in PR over the years. But never for this. He pressed it to her head. “I’ll bet it hurts. You may need a stitch or two. And . . . ” He went cold with the realization. He didn’t want to tell her, but she needed to know. “You’re missing more hair.”
“Where?” she squeaked.
Gently he picked up her hand from her lap and placed it over the chopped-off lock, on the other side of her head from the first.
“Daniel,” she wailed. “He had his hands on me. Where is my hair? He has my hair, like a trophy.”
“What else? Do you think he . . . ” Daniel’s voice trailed off. He couldn’t bring himself to finish. Something seemed to catch in his throat.
Wendy finished for him, “ . . . touched me in a way that made me feel all funny? No.”
He sighed with relief at her answer. If her sense of humor was coming back, maybe she didn’t have a concussion. “Have yourself checked out, though, okay? The ambulance and the police will be here soon.”
“Daniel!” She was trying to sit up again. “What did you call them for? Are you trying to get me fired?”
He pressed her back down into his lap. “Why would you get fired for being attacked?”
“Not for being attacked,” she said to the black ceiling. “For the headline LORELEI VOGEL’S PUBLIC RELATIONS MANAGER ASSAULTED IN VEGAS CLUB running the same day as the picture of Lorelei mooning her own musical career good-bye. It all sounds like one big drunken brawl. Oh shit. Oh, Daniel.” She looked at him so sadly, like she was sorry she’d just killed his cat. “That’s what whoever hit me must have been after. Colton’s phone is gone.”
The possible consequences were astounding. And Daniel couldn’t think about any of that right now. Not with Wendy bleeding and devastated in his lap. He said soothingly, “Maybe it’s around here on the floor. I’ll look for it after the ambulance comes.” He cast a glance around the dark room. He might even catch a glimpse of the glow from the phone’s screen.
As he did this, he realized for the first time how vulnerable they were. The exit sign over the doorway behind him and a faint glow around the corner from the lobby were the only lights preventing the room from plunging into blackness. The legs of the statues around them were visible. Beyond them, anyone might be lurking.
A new surge of adrenaline rushed through him. He should get her out of there, but he was afraid to move her. He would protect her if anyone came at them from the shadows.
“I think the phone is long gone,” Wendy said dismally. “That’s what the guy wanted. He took it from me before he hit me.”
“Well, if what he’s after is to sell the picture of Lorelei, that might be hard for him. I’m sure Colton has security on his phone, so someone would have to enter a numeric code to access his files.” Daniel was not actually sure of this at all. Colton was turning out to be that kind of celebrity.
“He probably does,” Wendy acknowledged, “but the security block hadn’t kicked in when I came back here to delete the photo. That’s why I was in such a hurry. If the guy who hit me e-mailed the picture to himself right away, it’s his. It’ll be on the tabloid websites by tomorrow night.” She gave a shuddering sigh, bolstering herself. “Maybe that won’t happen.”
“Maybe not,” Daniel lied. “Maybe it was just a robbery. If the guy stole your wallet, he probably doesn’t even know whose pictures he has on the phone.” He reached way out to retrieve Wendy’s purse by the strap.
Wendy’s eyes widened. As Daniel held her purse for her and she fished inside, she muttered, “Just what I need, for some jackass to be passing himself off as Wendy Mann and charging a hundred thousand casino chips on my Stargazer credit card. Archie would send someone to break my legs.” She opened her wallet and fumbled with the contents. Daniel noticed that her fingers shook as she slid out one card after another and slid them back. “Driver’s license, Stargazer card, my card. I wouldn’t vouch for my shoe store card and stuff like that, but the important stuff is here.”
“Money?” Daniel asked.
“I didn’t have much cash. I’ve bribed a lot of people in the past twenty-four hours.” She peeked in the long compartment for her bills. “Still here. Oh—nope, my phone’s still here, too, thank God.”
“Then just relax.” He moved her purse aside. “Don’t think about it anymore. The ambulance will be here soon, and I’ll go with you.”
“No!” she tried to struggle up again.
Daniel held her down. “Stop.”
“Daniel, seriously, please. You have to stay here and make sure everything gets taken care of.”
“I already sent Colton and Lorelei to bed.”
“Not together,” Wendy insisted.
“Not together,” Daniel agreed. “And I can’t let you go alone to the hospital.”
“Yes, you can.”
“What if that guy comes after you?”
She hesitated as if thinking of that herself. But then she said, “He won’t. He got what he wanted.”
“If all he wanted was Colton’s phone, yeah. That sounds like business. But he’s cut your hair twice. That sounds personal. And he could be anybody. Let me go with you until we figure it out.”
“I need you to stay here and protect my job, not me. I would rather get attacked again than lose my job.”
He eyed her. “Seriously? That’s some job.”
She closed her eyes and rolled her head to one side on his thigh. He caught her wrist again. Her pulse had sped up.
Her soft voice sent a vibration through his thigh as she said, “Remember that last paper for Dr. Benson, the one that won you the Clarkson Prize?”