"Why the elaborate costume?"
"Is the girl your daughter?"
Reporters jostled for position, pushing him and Kate toward the building. Camera flashes went off with regular precision, blinding him. Adrian was so stunned he didn't know how to respond.
Kate tripped and landed on the ground with a scream. Startled into action, Adrian quickly bent over her, shielding her from the cameras. "Kate, are you all right?"
She cradled her wrist, tears streaming down her face. "I think it's broken."
Rage filled Adrian as he swept her into his arms. He had to protect Kate. "I'll take care of you," he said.
The reporters were relentless. "Are you dating Libby Myles?"
"Who's the girl?"
"What do you want to say to your fans about the way you've betrayed them, pretending to be someone you're not?"
He couldn't answer these questions now. He had to get Kate away from them. She couldn't be associated with him.
Even as he thought it, he knew it was too late.
Adrian drew in a breath. "Out of my way. She's broken her wrist because of you morons."
There was a moment of stillness and Adrian used it to push his way back to the hotel and inside. Striding to the reception desk, he demanded, "Where's the nearest doctor?"
The lady behind the desk gawked at him as he put Kate gently on to the counter. "Sit there for a moment, sweetheart. I need to call George."
Kate's tears had abated and she swallowed. "Yes, Uncle Ade."
Adrian's cell rang as he drew it out of his pocket. It was George.
"Get down here with the car. Kate needs to go to the hospital."
"Adrian, your cover has been blown," George said.
"Yeah, I noticed. Hurry up." He hung up.
Kate stared at him with wide eyes, holding her wrist behind her back. "I'm fine. I don't need to go to the hospital. It's not broken. I made a mistake."
Adrian recognized the signs of panic. She was breathing rapidly and starting to shake. It took him a second to realize the cause. The last time she'd been in hospital was when she'd been in the car crash. When Susan had left her alone overnight.
"I'll see if I can find a doctor for you, Katie." He kept his voice low and soothing.
The receptionist had finally got over her shock and was printing off directions.
"No. No, I'm not going to hospital." Kate jumped off the counter, flinching as she bent her wrist.
"I'm sure the lady has included a doctor in her list," Adrian said and looked at the woman, his eyes telling her to agree.
"Of course," she said and she printed another page.
Adrian first had to get her into a car and then he'd worry about the rest.
"Promise?" Kate asked him. "No hospitals?"
George came striding out of the elevator. Adrian swung Kate back up into his arms to distract her and carried her toward the parking area.
He wasn't going to make promises he couldn't keep.
***
Libby stood and paced the room. Adrian was going to be devastated. Would he blame Libby for attracting attention to him?
It had never occurred to her she would be photographed. So few people recognized her when she was out, and she wasn't newsworthy enough to have her picture regularly in the paper. But even if someone had recognized her, how had they recognized Adrian? The bookseller in the airport hadn't and she'd been right next to him. There was nothing that linked Adrian and Libby except the talk show.
Libby stopped pacing.
Emily.
It had to be. She must have taken the photo and then sent it in, telling the magazine who Adrian was. If you compared a picture of Adrian with Kent, you'd see the similarity.
Could Emily really be so indignant at Adrian that she'd want to hurt Kate as well? It didn't make sense. Emily was the one who'd quit. But then again, Libby only had Adrian's word that Emily had quit.
Libby's cell phone rang and she answered it.
"They're in the lobby. Kate's been hurt and needs to go to hospital," George said.
Libby's heart raced. "How badly?"
"I don't know. I'll call when I have more news. In the meantime, try and find out what else has been printed about Adrian." George hung up.
Libby started pacing again. She wanted to run downstairs and see what was wrong with Kate, but she didn't dare. She might make matters worse, especially if there were reporters downstairs.
Damn it! She wanted to be with them, not kept in her room like she'd done something wrong.
She stopped pacing. What if Adrian blamed her for this? That would explain why she was being kept away.
If she'd remembered to tell him about Emily sooner, this might not have happened.
Was it her fault?
She sat back down at her computer, all thought of writing already out of her head. She needed to discover the extent of the problem. What was being said about the three of them? If she could put together a list, she could plan how to address it.
And it might distract her from worrying about Kate.
***
One of the hotel staff had taken them down to the valet parking car park so they could avoid the media. Adrian scanned the list the receptionist had given him. The best option was the Sydney Children's Hospital. He gave the directions to George and climbed in the back seat with Kate.
"What happened?" George asked as they drove out of the parking area.
"The reporters were waiting outside for us but I don't know how they recognized us."
"It's on the internet. A photo of you and Libby and the four of us on the docks from yesterday."
Yesterday. No one could have known they were going to be there. It had been a spur of the moment decision. It was if someone had been following them.
"Emily." He said it as a swear word.
"She signed a confidentiality agreement," George growled. "If she has anything to do with this, I'll sue her for everything she's got."
"The damage is done." Adrian's voice was quiet and flat. It didn't matter if he did sue her. There was no way he could go back to being one of the crowd. People knew who he was now and they knew about Kate. Kate would always be easily identifiable with her long, curly, red hair.
He turned his attention to Kate. "How's your wrist?"
"It's really not too bad, Uncle Ade. I think I made a mistake about it being broken."
He didn't believe her for an instant. "Let me have a look." Gently he took her wrist, noting the swelling, and she gasped in pain before he could even try to move it.
She looked at him with fearful eyes.
"We'll get it checked out, just in case," he said.
"Please, Uncle Ade. Don't make me go to the hospital." Her eyes were wide and watery, beseeching him.
It cut him to the core.
"The hospital is the best place to fix you. We'll get them to put a fancy cast on your wrist and then go back to the hotel." He hoped that was all that was required. "I won't leave you."
George pulled up into the emergency department.
Kate flattened herself against the back seat as if trying to disappear. "No, no, no, no, no."
Adrian's heart wept. "Kiddo, I know you're scared. You need to be brave for me." He couldn't use his example of being scared of the dark because she didn't know he was. "Remember how scared Libby was yesterday on the bridge?"
Kate nodded, but he wasn't sure she was really listening.
"She still got up and finished the climb. You can be as brave as she was." Adrian saw George had fetched an orderly with a wheelchair. "You can even have a ride in a wheelchair." He pointed.
Kate looked outside, but Adrian knew he hadn't convinced her. "Let's take it one step at a time." He got out, walking around to the other side and opening the door for her.
She sat there watching him.
What else could he say to convince her? He smiled for the first time since this all began. "What would Lilly Lionheart do?"
Kate's seemed to focus at the mention of her superhero character from her book. She swallowed. "She'd get out of the car."
Adrian waited as Kate slowly stood up and then sat in the wheelchair that was waiting for her. The orderly pushed her toward the doors.
"Uncle Ade," Kate cried.
Adrian strode next to her and took her good hand. "We'll take it slowly," he said. The look he gave the orderly dared him to disagree. The orderly nodded.
As the doors to the emergency department slid open, the scent of antiseptic, vomit and hospital hit him. He hated hospitals.
Kate took a deep breath and tensed, her hand squeezing Adrian's tightly. "No. No, I can't. Not here. I won't stay here. Get me out of here." Her voice rose to a screech as she tried to get out of the chair.
"Katie, be brave for me." Adrian moved in front of the chair, stopping her from getting out.