Chapter 36

36

AMITY

O ne pink cast later and a prescription for something to help me sleep and ease the pain, and I'm back at the clubhouse.

"Oh my God, I was worried sick!" Legs exclaims as she rushes over and carefully gives me a hug.

When she pulls back, Lil does the same, gently reaching up to cup my face. "You're a total badass, Amity. I want to be you when I grow up."

I can't help but smile as she's pulled away.

"Fuck no. One is enough," Havoc declares.

"Now, don't be mean to my bestie, Prez," Toot says as he steps up beside me. "Do you need anything?"

"Some water?"

"You got it, doll."

"Are you sure you're up for this?" G asks, wrapping his arm around me and pulling me close to him.

"Yeah. I want to get it done and then sleep for a week. I need to speak to Stefan first, though, and—" He cuts me off with a kiss.

"Already done. He and most of the crew came by the hospital while you were having x-rays."

"Church!" Havoc bellows as G leads me inside the sacred room.

"I know I should feel special being let in here, but you guys only let me in when I get hurt," I point out, making the guys grumble.

"Too soon," Mac complains while Midas shakes his head at me.

"If I don't joke about it, I'll cry," I admit as G sits down and pulls me into his lap.

Everyone's seated, this time with Havoc at the center of the table. He bangs his fist down on the scarred wood to begin the meeting. "We've got a lot to cover, but we're going to start with all things Amity so she can get some rest."

Havoc glares at me, daring me to argue. "You won't get any complaints from me."

"That's a change." Blade smirks.

"For those of you who don't know, today's been a total shitshow. But it didn't start at the cliff. G, you want to go first?"

I lean back against my man and listen as he talks about the letter and the blood.

"Wait, so it was period blood?" Inigo gags, and I'm right there with him.

"Yeah, so by that point, I thought the stalker was a hoax. Nothing else made sense. I believed Monica made it up to spend time with me."

"To be fair, she told me she never had a stalker. I didn't realize that it was both the truth and a lie," Havoc grumbles.

"Monica posted a picture of me passed out in Amity's bed after the bike crash. She snuck into the RV, took a selfie to make it look like we'd been together, and tagged Amity and everyone else in the post."

"What a cunt," Circus grunts out.

"Thankfully, Amity didn't fall for it. She went off to do her last stunt while I showered and took a nap in the RV. When I came out, I found a note on her table. I tore into Monica, thinking she was trying to mess with Amity. That's when I realized there was actually a stalker. But he wasn't after Monica, he wanted Amity. He always wrote the notes to Agatha, the character's name, so it was easy to assume it was Monica. But she wasn't the only person playing the part."

"Did Monica know this all along?" Capone questions.

"Originally, the letters went to the studio, which makes sense since Amity lives in an RV. Like everyone else, Monica thought she was the one being stalked—until filming started here, and she found the first note on Amity's table."

"She hired us to keep her safe, knowing Amity was the target." Blade shakes his head disgusted.

"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 of the 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 of my 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."

"Me too." I kiss his jaw before turning back to Havoc.

"What about this Jack fucker? Are we expecting any blowback?" Inigo asks.

"I spoke to the police at the hospital and told them what happened. I left out the part about you having a gun, Havoc, because I thought that might be a parole violation. So when they question you both, it was G who took the shot. You might want to swap guns."

Havoc smirks at me but shakes his head. "Thanks for looking out for me."

"It's what family does, right?" I say.

He smiles. "Exactly. Oh, and I told Stefan about Monica's part in all this, as well as all the shit she pulled with the photo. And to say he was pissed is an understatement—especially when he realized she knew Amity was the target and didn't say anything. He was calling the studio when I left him, so it'll be interesting to see how that plays out. They might back her since she's the big star, but I was pretty fucking vocal, so all the cast and crew know what really happened. I'm sure that shit will spread like wildfire. Plus, I recorded her admitting what she did. And G got pics of her with Matt. The camera is not her friend here. She comes across as the lying, manipulative tramp she is."

"The cameras." I jolt suddenly.

"What are you talking about?" G asks, so I turn to face him.

"We set up a bunch of cameras at the cliff site. Stefan likes to capture shots from as many angles as possible. That way, he gets scenic shots too—wildlife and shit we'd normally scare away."

"Do you know if they're close circuit or?—"

G shakes his head at my blank stare. "Don't worry, I'll look into it." He looks up at Havoc. "You need Amity for anything else?"

"Nothing that can't wait. Take her up and get her settled, then come back. We'll wait for you."

Nobody says anything as I get to my feet. G stands up behind me, his hands moving to my hips. I give everyone a tired but genuine smile and let G lead me out the door and upstairs. By the time he has me undressed, I'm practically comatose.

He lays me down and covers me over. "Get some sleep. I won't be long. I promise."

"Love you," I murmur, falling asleep before I hear him say he loves me too.