Chapter 27
Chapter Twenty-Seven
GRANT
“ W hat’s the schedule look like for today?” Rafe asks me. He leans over my shoulder to look at the new filming schedule and I hand it to him.
“Not too bad. I don’t have to be on set. Do you?”
He sighs and flips through a few pages before he nods. “Yeah, I’m with Jasmine. Some fuck ass love scenes but that’s it. I’ll be done early enough.”
Early enough.
The early enough is to help keep the police at bay when it comes to Kit. She isn’t okay right now. Jumpy and paranoid and there is the fact that she keeps insisting she had something to do with Jane’s disappearance but when we asked her how, she didn’t have an answer.
“I want to talk to the cops.”
Rafe came unglued from the couch and stood. “Fuck no, you’re not talking to the cops.”
“You didn’t do shit with her. You were sleepwalking. That’s it.”
“But what if I did?” Kit shook her head and started to pace. “I-it could have been me.”
“You’d remember it.”
“Not if I did it while I was-”
I shook my head at her. “While you were what? Sleeping? You’re not a killer, Kit.”
There’s no leaving her alone right now. Not when she could turn around and run to the cops half-cocked with some bullshit that she had anything to do with the missing assistant.
“It’ll be fine. I’ll be with her,” I tell Rafe and he doesn’t look convinced but he still nods. It’s a lie which catches my attention. There’s no reason for Rafe to lie to me.
“She’s just spooked,” he says, eyes on the pages in front of him. He flips through the pages and doesn’t look at me but I see what he’s not saying. His jaw ticks and I know the fucker has to be grinding his teeth.
That’s easy to agree with. Not a lie at all.
“Yeah, she is.” I turn and look over our shoulder at Kit. She’s waiting in line at the coffee shop. We’re in the main lodge and despite what went down here over Jane, it’s surprisingly normal. The staff is acting oblivious to the fact that one of their suites is covered in blood like a scene out of a horror movie and that a woman is missing but presumed dead. The cast and crew, though?
They’re not so keen to play dumb. There’s a pall over everyone and I’m not missing the looks they’re throwing Kit’s way. I’d be happier with her staying back at the cabin but I don’t trust her. She’s liable to call the police and confess to a murder she didn’t do. I don’t know why Kit was out there but I know the champagne she was drinking like water probably had something to do with it.
“I’m going to keep Alana with her. She won’t do anything if we’re both with her.”
Kit’s best friend and agent is here. She drove in first thing this morning with a pissed off look on her face and her phone in her hand like she was going to throw it at someone. She’s the only person that’s made Holly stand down.
“You want to talk to her the way you did when you found her in the woods because the next time I hear about you accusing her of shit I’m going to have her lawyer down here so fast the cheap dye you use is going to spin off your head.”
Alana isn’t wrong. Holly does dye her hair. I like her.
I glance around the lodge again and see that everyone is keeping their distance from Kit and Alana. They’re smart to do it. I know Alana wouldn’t think twice about going for their throat. She’s old money. The kind of person that was raised to make it everyone’s problem when they’re uncomfortable or feel targeted. That shit can be annoying but right now it's gold, because she’s going to use it to keep Kit safe.
“I already started looking for somewhere else for us to stay,” Rafe tells me and tucks the pages he has under his arm. “There’s a couple of places that might work but they’re a ways out.”
“How far?”
“‘Bout two hours.”
“Shit.”
He nods solemnly. “I know, but it could work if we need to get some more space from filming. Might be far enough to be able to leave Kit alone too, if we have to both be on set.”
He’s got a point, so I nod. “Good point. I don’t fucking hate it.” I pause because this next part is something I bet Rafe already knows but it needs to be said. “Speaking of nearby…you know who else is nearby, yeah?”
He sighs and makes a show of dusting imaginary lint off of the cuff of his dress shirt. “Yeah, I know the bitch is here.”
“It’s an hour away.”
“Wish she was dead.”
“Don’t think I didn’t try.”
The she is Dottie Bee. That one mark on my past. The one I’m not surprised to know Rafe also carries. If we’d met her now she wouldn’t have stood a chance but she got her hooks into us when we were young and powerless. If we’d made a move on her then everyone would have noticed.
Surprise hits his dark eyes and the corner of his mouth lifts in a smile. “You for real?”
“How do you think she ended up where she is?” I ask.
“Fucking A.” He claps me on the shoulder and laughs. “I owe you a blowjob for that.”
“No teeth.”
He scoffs and flips me off. “Quit making shit up. I don’t give you teeth.”
I know enough to leave it alone. I just tuck my hands into my pockets and nod along like he’s right. “Sure, sure.” Someone passes us by and I smile and say good morning while Rafe stews.
“You’re full of it,” he mutters but I’m not watching him. I’m watching Kit. She’s a step away with Alana in tow. She looks tense, shoulders drawn in and holding her cup of coffee in a death grip but the second our eyes meet she smiles at me.
That smile is a life preserver. I grab onto it and reel her into safety.
I smile and reach out to bring her in for a hug. “Morning, beautiful.”
“Morning.” Kit buries her face in my shoulder and wraps an arm around my waist while Alana fake swoons behind her.
“So romantic. I’m not jealous at all.”
I feel Kit laugh and that’s enough to make me smile. Jane might be dead with her blood all over her walls and Holly’s dumb ass accusing Kit of murder so now my girlfriend is trying to turn herself into the cops for something she didn’t do, but as long as my girl is laughing, I can deal with it.
Kit turns to face Alana and leans her back against my chest. “How long are you staying?”
“I’m staying until this bullshit blows over,” Alana says and flicks a hand at the crew in the lodge. “They’re pretending they’re not staring but I can feel it and I am not letting you go through this shit alone.”
“Alana, you can’t stay for that long. Filming is going to go on for at least another two months, maybe three at this rate and now with Jane…” Kit’s voice trails off when a couple of stylists get too close. Alexia is one of them and I don’t miss the way she looks at Kit. She looks like she wants to say something but she doesn’t get close. Just sidles on past with the other two stylists and gets in line at the coffee shop.
Alana tracks Alexia’s movements and narrows her eyes. “I don’t give a shit if this movie takes ten years like those elf movies, I’m not going anywhere. You don’t think Holly and the rest of them are lawyering up? You need me here.”
“She’s right,” Rafe says softly.
Kit frowns. “She has a life, she can’t just-”
“She can and she is,” I remind her and nod at Alana in appreciation, “thank you for doing this. They’ve got us staggered mostly for filming but not everyday is going to be like that. It’ll be good to have someone we can trust with her.”
“Of course. She’s family.”
Kit crosses her arms and tries to shy away from me but I keep my arm around her waist and keep her right where she is. I lean close to her. “You’re not going anywhere, so keep pouting and see where that gets you.” She goes still but I don’t miss the way she grinds back into me. She’s playing with fire. I’m going to have to break her soon if she keeps this up. “I mean it,” I growl into her ear.
“Fine.”
“I’ve got to get to set. I’ll be back by three.” Rafe kisses Kit and then grabs my chin and pulls me to him. I have half a mind to turn my head with the way everyone is watching us but I don’t. I let him take my mouth. If they want to watch us so fucking close, they may as well get a show.
“Stay out of trouble,” Rafe orders but from the way his eyes go from me to Kit it’s anyone’s guess who he’s talking to. Kit and I both grumble we will before he’s satisfied enough to turn to Alana. “Let me know if these two do anything stupid.”
Alana gives him a mock salute. “Aye, aye.”
The crew and cast in the lobby part like magic when Rafe stalks towards the door. It’s a good thing they get the fuck out of his way because I don’t think he would stop if they didn’t.
Alana flicks a finger after Rafe’s departing figure. “Is he always so intense?”
“I don’t think he’s intense,” Kit replies and Alana rolls her eyes.
“You wouldn’t, now would you?” her friend teases before she claps her hands and motions for us to follow her. “Alright, lovebirds. Let’s get a move on. I know you’re not filming so what are the three of us getting into today.”
“We’re staying in,” I say at the same time Kit says, “We’re going to the woods.”
I clench my jaw and take in a calming breath and then another, because what the fuck is Kit going on about? “We are not going to the woods.”
“We are. We have to look for clues.”
She sounds sure of herself, like this is some tv series where the Nancy Ass Drew lead solves a crime with nothing but her best friends and luck while an inept killer is one step behind them the entire time so everyone makes it to the end safe and sound.
“This is real life. We are not fucking doing that.”
“But Grant-”
I spin Kit in my arms and turn us so her back is pressed to the wall. “You fucking listen to me. You’re not setting foot in those woods, do you understand? There’s a killer on the loose. Someone that’s dangerous. This is real. That killer gutted Jane and emptied her out before they took her. Do you think they won’t do the same thing to you if they find you? You are not going near those woods.”
“They won’t.”
“How do you figure that?”
“You keep me safe.”
I step back like she slapped me. Kit blinks up at me, big brown eyes so earnest and trusting that I know she isn’t playing me. She believes what she’s saying. She thinks it's safe enough to go poking around a killer’s trail because she has me with her.
She’s right. I do keep her safe.
If she’s not safe to do what she pleases when I’m with her, when will she ever be?
“Fine. We go for half an hour and that’s it. Then I want your ass in the cabin.”
“Thank you, thank you!” Kit throws her arms around me. “I promise. I’ll do whatever you want after. I promise.”
That’s more like it. I don’t say so though, because Alana is watching. I just nod and give her the perfect smile I know her best friend and everyone watching us expects to see.
“Let’s go now before I change my mind.”
Kit grabs my hand. “You’re the best boyfriend ever.” It’s something. I’m going to make sure she says it where Rafe can hear her. She snags Alana’s hand and starts power-walking for the door. The crowd doesn’t move for her the way it did for Rafe until I level a stern look their way. If only they knew what I would do to them all if Kit let me.