Page 151 of Rest In Pieces

“I always thought it was weird. That morning she’d been yelling at me to keep you ‘criminals’”—I say with air quotes—“away from her. And then the next thing I know, she’s climbing G like a tree. It’s ridiculous. I could’ve been killed all because she was jealous that I had a stalker I didn’t know about and a hot ass boyfriend. I mean, how dare I?” I snap.

G wraps his arms around me and rests his chin on my shoulder. “Don’t you worry, she’ll get what she deserves, I promise. You want to take it from here?” He kisses my temple, gently avoiding the cut doctored with Steri-Strips.

I nod and blow out a breath. “After finishing all the reshoots, I had one final stunt to film. When we got halfway there, one ofthe trucks with most of the equipment broke down. So only me, Stefan, Henry, and Jack made it there.” I snort at that.

“What?” Havoc asks.

“Stefan got sick, and we had no idea how long the rest of the team would be. Jack was going to drive Stefan back and bring the AD—the assistant director—to fill in for him. We couldn’t delay because of the storm moving in. Henry was giving me the creeps, and I didn’t want to be left alone with him, so I asked Jack to stay and get Henry to take Stefan back. I asked my stalker to stay with me. Turns out Jack was the one who messed with the truck and spiked Stefan’s water with something.” I shake my head, disappointed in myself for missing the signs.

The truth is, some of the most notorious predators—serial killers, stalkers, rapists, pedophiles—all got away with it for so long because there were no red flags. Husbands, brothers, sons. Teachers, ministers, little league coaches, and the neighbor you just drank beer with at the barbecue. Nice, normal people who did unspeakable things behind closed doors.

I always wondered how people never suspected it, and now I get it. Oddly enough, the friendship he faked between us feels like a bigger violation than everything else.

“Seems like Jack had everyone fooled.” Havoc says, making me feel a little bit better. “I spoke to Stefan while you were getting checked out. Henry was Jack’s protégé. I thought he was training that kid Matt—the one G and I found balls deep in Monica—but apparently not.”

“Wait, what?” I bug my eyes out at that.

“Who she fucks doesn’t matter.” G sighs. “But I think Jack hired Henry for a very specific reason.”

I tilt my head. “Henry was the just-in-case guy.”

“The just-in-case guy?” Crane quirks his brow.

“The just-in-case-the-shit-hits-the-fan guy. Jack was going to blame him if anything went south,” I explain.

“Ahhh… that makes sense,” Crane says, nodding.

I rub my eyes, pushing through the pain so I can finish my part and go to bed. “Anyway… Once Henry and Stefan left, I was relieved. Until Jack let his guard down and slipped. I don’t remember exactly what was said, but he set off every instinct I have. He saw the exact moment I knew something was wrong. Then he hit me with the drink canteen.” I gently touch my temple.

“I can’t remember much of what he said after that. The blow to my head made things a little fuzzy. Next thing I know, G and Havoc are there, and I have a gun pressed to the back of my head. You know the rest.”

“I don’t,” Blade says, along with a few others.

“Havoc and G turned up with their own guns, but Jack wouldn’t listen to reason. He went to shoot G, but I shoved his arm away, and then Havoc shot him. I thought I was safe—until he yanked me over the edge of the cliff with him.”

I take a sip of water from the bottle Toot set on the table in front of me. “I grabbed the safety rope on instinct, but Jack had a hold of my arm. His weight and the force of the fall dislocated my shoulder and snapped my wrist.”

There’s a lot of angry energy coming from the guys now. I didn’t realize how many had no idea what happened.

“I couldn’t hold on, and he was trying to get away, so I used the rosary my mom left me to cut his face and slit his throat.”

“You did all that with a rosary?” Hannibal asks, looking impressed.

“There’s a small blade inside the cross.”

“Sounds like your mom could have been the love of my life,” Hannibal says with a wink.

“She would have eaten you alive,” I tell him, and he smiles. I shake my head and look at Havoc as G plays with a strand ofmy hair. G’s being unusually quiet, and I know it’s because he’s freaked out about how close he came to losing me.

“Cutting myself free helped, but with my arm fucked up, I couldn’t climb. That’s when G and Havoc jumped in to save the day.”

G takes over and fills them in on the rest. I squirm when the room goes silent until Inigo looks at me.

“You did good kid. Someone was definitely looking down on you because I don’t know how you survived.”

“My mom. I never wear my rosary when I’m working. Aside from the safety aspect, I didn’t want to break the chain or lose it. But every time I tried to take it off today, I felt sick to my stomach.”

G runs his hand up and down my arm. “I’m glad she was watching over you.”

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