Chapter 33
Chapter Thirty-Three
KIT
I ’m pacing. Feels like I’ve been pacing for hours but it can’t be more than half an hour. I’ve been pacing since Grant and Rafe came in from the rain. The roar of the storm was deafening when they opened the door but the cabin isn’t as rustic as it seems and the second the door closed it was gone. I stop in front of the window and stare at the drawn curtains. My fingers itch to pull back the curtain and look outside to see the storm but that’s stupid, so I don’t do it.
I don’t know what’s going to happen tonight. Tomorrow we’re leaving for a cabin Rafe has set up but tonight everything is up in the air. Rafe and Grant told Holly about the photos once they came in. I can still hear her accusation ringing in my ears.
“What did you do, Kit?”
Just like it did before, it pitches me forward and makes the world feel like it’s tilting on an axis. But that’s because it’s not Holly that I’m hearing. I’m hearing my mother. The blood on my hands isn’t from the woods, it’s from him and I don’t know what I’m going to do.
“You okay?” Alana whispers. She’s changed into a pair of her sweats or at least her version of sweats. She’s in a pair of red silk pajama bottoms with a pale pink cozy knit sweater. She looks like she could be relaxing with a glass of wine and I know in an alternate timeline that’s what she’s doing. I’m there with her and we’re eating pizza or tacos, or whatever sushi looked good on the lodge menu. We would laugh and put on a RomCom that we have both seen a hundred times. We’d talk through most of it but we’d still go silent when the best bits happened. Those beautiful moments of self-actualization when the heroine realized how much she deserved, how strong she really was and of course, her happily-ever-after would take shape in the most perfect of ways.
My chest goes tight thinking about what should have been if I didn’t have a random stalker sending us photos of me and if Jane hadn’t gone missing. I’ve never been the one to get cozy normalcy, though. I don’t think I ever will be.
I smile weakly at her. Alana snaps me out of the hell I was nearly sliding into like she always does.
“Yeah, I’m fine. Just…everything feels crazy.”
Alana nods and then rubs my shoulder. “Why don’t you change into some comfy sweats? I just talked Grant into getting us pizza.”
“Oh yeah?” I’m surprised Grant did anything she asked.
“Yeah, I told him that you were crying and scared and that the only comfort meal that would fix it is pepperoni and jalapeno pizza with lemon pepper wings. I’ve never seen a man move so fast.”
I laugh and a second later Alana joins me. We’re giggling when Rafe comes out of the kitchen to join us. He has two glasses of water in hand and gives us a curious look.
“What’s so funny?”
“Grant getting pizza,” Alana chirps and then points at the waters. “Those for us?”
“They are. You both need to stay hydrated.” He hands us the waters and I kiss his cheek.
“You’re sweet. Thank you.”
Rafe wraps an arm around my waist and pulls me against him. “I’m only sweet for you.”
“And Grant,” I remind him. I hear him grumble but he doesn’t disagree, so I take it as a win.
“You are both sickeningly delightful and romantic and I’m inspired enough to put a RomCom on. Is there any wine in this joint? Since we’re not going in the bedroom and have to stick together because there’s a lunatic on the loose. I’m really into the slumber party vibes in the living room.”
“You’re just rolling with this?” Rafe asks while Alana starts digging blankets and pillows out from the living room closet.
“Listen, on a scale of 1-10 this isn’t the most fucked up situation I’ve been in, but we won’t get into that right now.” Alana chugs half of her water and sets it on the coffee table. “What do you think about a tent? I mean, I think it could be really chic in here with these high ceilings but we’d have to figure out how to get up there.”
I settle onto the sofa, content to let Alana salvage the night. There’s no keeping my best friend down. The world can feel like a horror movie but Alana is going to make it fit her.
“I’m not climbing up there,” Rafe is saying to Alana while she tries to plead her case that it’s absolutely necessary to have sheets artfully draped from the ceiling for aesthetics , when there’s a knock at the door. We all pause because it’s not the knock we expect.
Grant and Rafe have their own knocks. It was agreed on that if the men left they’d give us their knocks to signal it was them. Nobody else is to get entry. Grant’s is two quick nods before a pause and three more and Rafe’s is the reverse. This is just a regular-shmegular knock and that’s not right.
“Who the fuck is that?” I ask.
“Dunno, but you two get in that back corner. Do it now.” Rafe points to the corner behind the sofa. Alana and I get into the corner as fast as we can and when I press close to my friend I feel her tremble.
I hug her to me. “It’ll be okay. I promise.”
Alana gives me a thin smile. “Yeah, of course. I know that.” She’s lying. She’s worried.
The knives that Grant and Rafe got me are strapped to my sides under my shirt and I know how to use them. It’s one thing for someone to threaten me but I refuse to let Alana be scared. “It will be. I’m not going to let anything happen to you,” I promise her. And it’s the truth, I won’t. I would die before I let anything happen to Alana. Her fear is the thing that makes me furious. The same anger that burned bright in me when I went after Jasmine is alive and coursing through my body when I move to stand in front of her. I’ve been trained and I can handle myself in a fight. The photos and Jane’s disappearance have me rattled but I can stand up to whatever is on the other side of that door if I need to.
“Open the door,” I tell Rafe and he gives me an appraising look.
“That’s my shy girl,” he says. With his back to us we both see him undo the holster for the knife at his back.
“Oh my god, he’s going to fuck someone up,” Alana whispers but Rafe hears her.
“Not just me. Kit’s going to fuck them up, too. She’s fierce, stay with her if shit goes sideways.” My hand tenses at my side and I feel the hard cold line of the knives I’m wearing. They’re light enough that I’ll be able to move fast. If I’m fast enough, I’ll be able to drop whoever makes it past Rafe. I don’t want to think about why that would happen.
There’s only one reason anyone would get past Rafe. My heart ratchets in my throat when he steps closer to the door. A floorboard creaks when he turns the door handle and opens the door. In the end, our preparation is for nothing.
“Rafe, hello. How are you tonight?”
I can’t see the speaker from where I’m standing but I recognize them. It’s Holly. She’s hard to hear over the roar of the storm. It’s only gotten worse from the sounds of it. Moisture and cold rush in from the open door.
“Who the fuck are they?” Rafe says and I tense up immediately. Who’s with Holly that I can’t see?
“They’re here to help. We need it after what happened in the past twenty-four hours. Can we come in? It’s not exactly a sunny day, Rafe.”
I can read Rafe like the back of my hand. He doesn’t want to let them in but he knows he has to. It’s not like we can just tell the assistant director to fuck off and for the time being we’re stuck here. Rita is working on a new place, a rental with a location that the men have been vague about even when I pressed them on it. They’re in sync with what they’re letting me know right now. That’s not a great sign, I know that.
Rafe steps aside and a drenched Holly walks in and a second later two men enter after her. They look like they stepped out of an advertisement for extreme sports, chopping wood or protein powder. They’re clean cut, but rugged in a way that screams they’re tough.
“Fuck me running,” Alana whispers and I feel her relax. She always was a sucker for a pretty face. “They’re gorgeous.”
“ Alana ,” I whisper back and elbow her.
“What? I’m just saying that if serial killers look like that then fine. I volunteer.”
“There are no serial killers here,” I lie but Alana doesn’t reply, she just lets out a little sigh and keeps staring at the men in front of us. She’s not wrong, they are gorgeous. They’re both over six feet tall and muscular, with bodies that look like they were honed in the military or some death-defying job, not the gym. One of the men is blonde with blue eyes and an affable smile he sends my way and the other is dark-haired with brown eyes and a frosty disposition. Sharp jawlines and broad shoulders round out their looks as they take their place behind Holly when she enters the room and takes a seat in the armchair across from us.
“What the fuck is going on here? Who are they?” Rafe shuts the door and leans against it. He looks relaxed, which I think is only possible because of his acting skills. If not for them, he’d be seriously scary. I lick my lips and watch Holly and the new men closely. They’re dressed in matching black clothing, black pants, shirt, boots and raincoats. The whole outfit gives them a special agent look.
“These are Kit’s new bodyguards,” Holly says. “Jax and Scott.”
“Bodyguards? What are you talking about?” I sound surprised and I think that’s earned. Since when have I needed bodyguards? Holly’s eyes come to me and she dips her chin in acknowledgement.
The blond one steps forward with a warm smile. “I’m Scott Wolcott, miss. This is my partner, Jax Dannon. We’re happy to be here to help you feel more safe. I want you to know we will stop at nothing to ensure your safety. We’ve got your back, no matter what.”
Rafe crosses his arms. “She’s just fine but thanks for the offer.” I don’t miss the cold edge to Rafe. The dark he usually keeps leashed is alive and well. Tension fills the room when Jax tilts his head and gives Rafe a once over.
“If Miss Salizar was doing just fine then why are we here? Nothing about what we’ve been briefed on seems ‘j ust fine.’ ”
“I feel like they’re gonna fight if we keep them in the same room,” Alana tells me. She’s right. There’s no way they won’t and Grant isn’t even here yet. I wince, thinking about what will happen when he catches wind of Jax and Scott.
Holly clears her throat. “Look, I know you don’t want them in your space but you could use extra eyes on you with everything that’s happened. We all know it’s been an intense time for us,” Holly holds up her hand to stop Rafe when he opens his mouth, “and before you say this isn’t necessary, it is. I know you’re moving to a different location but Jax and Scott will be helpful with that transition. They will be able to watch Kit here when you’re filming, Rafe. We are going to need them to be an extra set of eyes off set. We both know there’s days coming up that have both you and Grant on set.”
My gut twists because this is not good. We don’t need strangers watching us, following our every move. It’s one thing for a stalker to do it but these men could give away Rafe and Grant’s secret if they watch us too hard.
“Excuse me, can I get the agency name that sent these two men over?” Alana leans out from behind me and gives them an appreciative smile. “I feel safer already and would love to meet other qualified professionals.”
I want to bang my head against the wall and vanish when everyone in the room turns to look at us. “Alana.”
“What? I’m just saying they exude safety and security. I need safety and security, Kit.”
Holly doesn’t pick up on the fact that Alana is interested in far more than security when it comes to Jax and Scott and starts to answer her. “They are privately contracted but I’m sure that I can-”
Her words are cut off by two quick knocks, I don’t even need to hear the pause and the three following knocks to know its Grant. There’s something in the way the knocks sound that give away it’s him. Rafe looks Jax and Scott over when he opens the door for Grant and lets him in.
“Fucking storm slowed me down,” Grant announces as he walks in holding three pizza boxes and a bag that I know has to have those wings in it. Grant takes a whole step inside the cabin before he clocks Holly and the men. Instantly, his whole demeanor changes and he narrows his eyes at the newcomers and stands next to Rafe.
“Who the fuck are the commando twins?”
“Bodyguards,” Rafe supplies but that’s all he says.
Grant makes a hmph sound and ignores Jax and Scott. “Why do they look like the bargain bin version of us?” Grant asks Holly and the other woman rolls her eyes at him.
“They do not look like you. Don’t be ridiculous.”
“No, wait, he’s kinda right,” Alana supplies and I can’t help the smile that comes to my lips when she turns to me and gives me an awkward pat on the shoulder. “Sorry about being into your men’s twins. I know that’s not very girl code.”
I shrug. “It’s okay, I get it.”
“Well, obviously. ”
“Let’s stay on task here, please. ” Holly sighs and pinches the bridge of her nose. “Scott and Jax do not look like Rafe and Grant. They’re men with the same hair color. That’s it. Can we please focus?”
Rafe doesn’t miss a beat. “Kit doesn’t need bodyguards and especially not from the woman that has half the fucking production crew thinking she had something to do with what happened to Jane.”
Holly colors and clears her throat. “I was shocked and emotional at that moment. I didn’t know what to make of the fact that we had just come up on Kit in a circle of blood in the woods, but there have been certain developments that make this necessary.”
“Like what?” I ask. For a second I think Holly won’t answer me but she does.
“It wasn’t real blood. None of it was.”
I suck in a breath because that’s news to me. “You mean even in Jane’s room? That blood wasn’t real?”
“The toxicology report came back and it was deemed fake blood had been used in both Jane’s room and the woods. Corn syrup and blackcurrant juice for color. I am–I’m so very sorry that I said what I did to you, Kit. I didn’t-I wasn’t in my right mind. I don’t know what I was thinking.”
Holly sounds remorseful and the look she gives me is pleading. I get it. I don’t know what I would have done in her shoes, either.
“It’s okay, really. Please don’t apologize,” I tell her and she smiles at me.
“Thank you, Kit. That means so much and-
“Were you at that party?” Grant cuts her off.
Holly stiffens and looks his way. “What?”
“Were you at that party? The one at the lodge? I hear it was a real rager.”
I don’t know why Grant is bringing up the party but I know it has to be for a good reason. There’s always a why behind everything he does, even if it doesn’t seem that way, so I stay silent and watch Holly squirm in her seat.
“No, of course I wasn’t at the party. I’m the assistant director. Do you think I had time for something like that?” None of us speak and Holly looks down at her hands. “I wasn’t there but I wish I was. If I had been then maybe I would have seen something that could have helped Jane.”
My heart squeezes painfully at the regret I hear in her voice. She worked closely with Jane, spent the most time out of anyone on set with Jane.
“You can’t blame yourself,” I tell her.
“I do, though. This was her first big job and I was the reason she got hired. I knew her. She was a,” Holly clears her throat and keeps staring at her hands, “she’s a family friend. She wouldn’t have been here without me, so I do blame myself. There’s a lot of people that blame me, too.”
“They’re wrong. This is a sick person,” I say.
Rafe snags the pizza boxes and turns away from us and walks into the kitchen. Grant takes that as a sign to speak. “We don’t need your men on our woman. Get them out of here, Holly or I’ll do it.”
“ Ah, ah, ah , Grant. There’s not a lot you can do. It’s written into your contracts,” Holly counters and finally lifts her eyes from her hands to glare at him. “Those are legally binding and there is a nifty little clause in there that lets us add a security detail, if necessary.”
Grant’s eyes scream murder but he doesn’t say anything. It’s Rafe that speaks on his way back in with an open pizza box. He has a slice in one hand and is chewing. I smile watching him. He’s over what’s happening. It’s just like Rafe. He’s not going to let it interfere with his night.
“How long we got them for?”
“The rest of filming,” Holly answers.
“Don’t you think that’s an overkill, Holly?”
“Seeing as my assistant is gone and someone is throwing fake blood around, not really. Their presence here will also keep the interactions between actors civil. It’s not just because someone is following Kit.”
Following Kit.
That’s a nice way of putting it. I have a stalker climbing onto the roof of the cabin to take photos of me while I sleep.
Rafe speaks then. “And where the fuck are Mulder and Scully staying? It sure as hell isn’t with us.”
“They will be staying on site. We’ve made arrangements for them to have the cabin next to you. Number 5 for tonight. After that, they’ll handle it on their own. But you will be given round the clock protection, I promise.”
“We don’t need more strangers around Kit,” Rafe snaps. “There are already quite enough and she’s safe with us.”
“I know you want to keep the woman you love safe. That’s what we want, too,” Scott says. Grant and Rafe move side by side until they’re an angry wall of muscle staring down the other men. Most people would shrink under both Grant and Rafe’s attention but Jax and Scott don’t bat an eye. “That being said, I think you’d like to know that we found the ladder we believe the stalkers used to take the photos of you all. There’s an industrial extended one hidden about thirty yards back from your cabin. We found what was left of tire tracks there and notified the authorities. It’ll be hard with the rain but we can work on getting an idea of what kind of vehicle they’re in.”
“Oh wow, you found the ladder?” I ask because I hadn’t expected that. It’s Jax that answers me next with a curt nod.
“We did. Not sure on why they didn’t load the ladder up and take it with them since they did have a vehicle on hand. Might have just come down to timing but we’ll follow up on it.”
“That’s so fucking cool,” Alana breathes and I have to agree. Knowing anything feels like a step in the right direction. When I look over at Rafe and Grant I see confirmation of that on their faces. They’ll let Jax and Scott stay but they won’t like it.
It’s good that it wasn’t Holly that brought the photos up. Hearing Jax and Scott talk about it makes it feel like it happened to someone else. If it were Holly, I don’t know that it would feel the same way. I know that Rafe and Grant told her what happened and I’m praying she lets Jax and Scott continue to rule over the photos, even though we all know what happened. Even Alana does. She oddly kept her cool when she saw them.
“See, Jax and Scott are going to be an asset in sorting out this nightmare. Besides, this will help keep the peace on set as well, Rafe. You know as well as anyone that we could use a bit more of that.”
He scoffs. “I can handle Jasmine.”
That has my attention. He didn’t tell me anything happened with Jasmine. “What happened?” I ask while I have visions of grabbing the knives I’m wearing and hunting Jasmine down. What did she not understand from the last time I talked to her? I told her what I would do to her, didn’t I?
Rafe’s face gives nothing away when he looks my way. “It was nothing. Just a misunderstanding.”
“You’re lying,” I tell him and he sighs.
“She yelled. Got upset about some shit she heard the crew spreading around about one of her older projects.”
“She tried to slap you. We’re lucky she hit the water bottle you were drinking instead,” Holly corrects and I see red. Evidently, I wasn’t clear enough in my message. I should have cut her deeper. I’m going to rip her hair out and feed it to her.
I step away from Alana and towards Holly. “Where is she?”
Her eyes cut to me in surprise. “She’s in her cabin. Why?”
I open my mouth to tell her that I’m going to have a little chat with Jasmine but Grant beats me to it. “You think it’s safe to keep Jasmine around? If we’re focused on keeping the peace then having a woman like her on the loose isn’t exactly contributing to the harmonious spirit, now is it?”
Holly narrows her eyes at Grant. She doesn’t buy what he’s selling, not one fucking bit. I still get the warm and fuzzies that he tried to get Jasmine kicked off set. “She’s the leading lady, so there’s not really an alternative.”
I hate how right Holly is. There’s no getting rid of Jasmine until the movie is done.
Grant doesn’t say anything, just reaches over and snags the piece of pizza Rafe was about to bite into and looks at me. “We want plates for this or the box okay?”
His question catches me off guard and I blink at the pizza box like it’s the first time I’ve seen it. “We should use plates,” I say.
He hums in agreement. “Can you get us a few, sweetheart? We’ll need them for dinner.”
“Sure.” I look over my shoulder at Alana who takes that as her cue to join me and we both leave the living room and go into the kitchen. The second I’m in the kitchen I slump against the back counter.
“Holy shit, those guys look like secret special agents. And did you hear their voices? God, I swear I felt that bass in my-”
“Alana, keep your voice down. It’s not like this place is big, they're going to hear you.”
“You think? That would be awesome.”
I laugh softly, even though I try not to and open the cabinet to take down plates. “I don’t like how Holly is bringing up Jasmine. What did she do?”
“Just lost her shit from the sounds of it.”
My hands clench on the plates I’m taking down and I take a steadying breath. “She’s such a bitch. I am sick of her shit.” I want to tell her what I did to Jasmine before we left Seattle but I can’t. I can’t ever tell her I did that. She wouldn’t know who I am if I told her, because I don’t do things like that. I never have. That doesn’t mean I don’t want to. I bite my lip so hard I taste blood at that thought.
What the fuck am I thinking?
I do not want to hurt people. That’s not what I want to do. Why did I think that?
Alana comes to my side and rubs my back. I startle at her touch but hide it behind shifting the plates in my hand and turn to her. “I know, she’s a fucking hag. I’m sorry, sweetie,” Alana tells me with a sympathetic smile.
“Yeah, I know.”
I can hear them talking in the other room and part of me wants to rush back out there to take part in the discussion, to let Holly and my boyfriends know exactly what I think about what’s going on but I don’t. Grant gave me an out when he asked for plates. There’s a reason for it, I know there is. It was probably because I looked like I wanted to murder someone when Jasmine came up. It’s not just us anymore in our space, it’s Holly plus the eyes of two men who are trained to recognize the bloodthirsty look that was no doubt on my face.
I stop Alana from going back into the other room. “Let’s take a second in here, okay? I don’t want to go out there yet.”
Alana gives me a thoughtful look and then hops up onto the counter beside the bags Grant brought with him. “How much you wanna bet the wings are in here? Maybe some extra wine if we’re lucky?” She asks and I smile when she reaches into the bags and starts pulling out food containers.
I love my best friend.