As soon as I walked out into the crowd lingering around the merch booth, I knew it was a mistake. Dozens of fans surrounded me, asking for autographs, trying to shake my hand. I pushed through them, my eyes scanning the crowd for Catherine, as a huge circle of people formed around me.

“Catherine!” I yelled, over and over again, ignoring the fans. She was nowhere in sight, and within seconds, I was surrounded by so many people I couldn’t get through them. Someone began pulling on my shirt, and I heard it rip as I tried to pull away. “Get off of me!” I yelled, barreling through them. They parted and then closed around me again.

“Please sign this, Liam!” Someone pushed an album in my face, and I pushed it away.

“I love you, Liam!” A woman threw her arms around my neck, and I pulled her off of me, trying to work my way through the crowd.

“Liam! Liam! Liam!” they chanted.

“Alright, that’s enough, everyone back the fuck up!” Big D’s large frame busted through the crowd, and he grabbed my arm, pulling me away. I looked up at him thankfully.

“Any sign of Catherine?” I yelled, as he pushed through the fans.

“Not yet,” he said.

“Did you hear from Matt yet?” I asked, hope clinging to my shaking voice.

“No, boss,” he said, as we finally cleared the last of the crowd. We walked behind the stage and back down the hallways that led to the dressing room.

“You’re fuckin’ crazy,” Ian said. “I told you not to go out there!”

“Fuck off! You’d have done the same thing if Rhone had gone missing!”

“Rhone? You’re comparing your fling to my marriage?”

“It’s not a bloody fling! I love her!” I yelled. There. I’d said it out loud. The words that had been churning in my head for days. I didn’t give a shit what anyone thought. It was true, and that was that. The shock on Ian’s face said it all.

“What?” he asked. “Love?”

“Piss off!” I said, pushing past him.

I walked into my dressing room and pulled Catherine’s purse out of the closet. Her phone was still there, and I pulled up her voice mail and listened to the message from her agent. I knew I was invading her privacy, but I was becoming frantic with fear and dread, and I was hoping for some indication of where she was.

“Catherine,” the female voice said. “I checked the rest of the numbers for Liam’s charity and nothing is adding up. I reconfirmed the numbers by calling each charity again and everyone is saying the haven’t received this money. I’m not sure what to tell you…but call me, and let me know how you want me to proceed.”

What the fuck? I thought. What was she talking about? My charity? Catherine hadn’t mentioned anything to me about it, but none of this made any sense.

I walked back out to talk to Ian about it, and just as I stepped into the hallway, my phone rang.

Matt. Thank god, I thought, picking it up.

“Did you find her?” I answered.

“No, boss, but it looks like she left with someone. The video shows her going into the dressing room and someone followed her in and then a few minutes later, they left together.”

“Who?” I asked.

“Well, boss, I’m not sure, but I came in to look at the video myself, and I could swear it’s that guy that runs your charity. The nerdy, skinny guy?”

“Callum?” I asked.

“Yeah, that guy,” he said.

“Why would she go anywhere with Callum?” I wondered out loud. “Where did they go? Does the video show that?”

“Looks like she got in his car with him and they drove away. Headed South away from the venue. That’s all we’ve got.”

“Thanks,” I replied, hanging up the phone.

“What?” Ian asked.

“She left with Callum. Why the bloody hell would she go anywhere with him?”

“That’s fuckin’ odd,” Ian replied.

“Yeah, it is,” I replied. “Hey, did Catherine say anything to you about the charity?”

“No, why?”

“There was a message on her phone from her agent. Something about the donation numbers from our charity not matching. I don’t know, it doesn’t make any sense.”

“Let’s call Callum,” Ian said, pulling out his phone, just as mine rang in my hand. I looked down at the display.

“Wait!” I said, putting a hand on Ian’s arm. “Callum’s calling me now.”

“Callum?” I answered.

“Hello, Liam,” Callum said.

“Callum, have you seen Catherine?” I asked.

“Yes, she’s with me.”

“Why? Where are you?”

“We’re at your house. Waiting for you.”

“What the fuck? Why are you at my house?” His voice sounded robotic, far away, and it made me nervous.

“I’ll tell you when you get here,” he said, and then the line went dead.

My blood ran cold.

“Something’s wrong. Something’s terribly wrong,” I said, racing away as fast as I could.

“Liam wait!” Ian called from behind. “Goddammit, Liam!”