Hammered

by Cathryn Fox

  “Eat me alive, huh?”

  “You know what I mean.”

  “Worried about me, Haven? Afraid an injury will keep me from protecting you?” I ask, a ridiculous ploy to hear her say I’m more than simply a bodyguard to her.

  She opens her mouth, then shuts it again as she frowns. Her head drops for a second, and there’s a storm in her eyes when she makes a fist and holds it up. “Something like that, but know this, I’ll kill you if you get hurt.”

  “That’s a little counterintuitive, don’t you think?” I say, but her words trigger something in me and my mind races back to all those years ago. Is it possible that Haven was right? That my father acted out of fear? Sure, he was a hard-assed son of a bitch, on all of us, but maybe it was because he only wanted what was best, raising us and making good men out of us the only way he knew how. Did he react and say cruel things because he was so scared? Is it possible Haven is doing the same? Does her worry for my safety imply she’s feeling more here too? Or am I really just getting ahead of myself, and conjuring up things that aren’t real?

  19

  Haven

  The warm afternoon sun shines down on me as Jonah and I stand outside the exterior of the newly constructed bar front and share an intimate moment. All eyes are on us, as I go up on my toes and kiss him. His hands slide around my back, and while he might be a good kisser, his lips on mine do nothing for me.

  Honest to God, after Tyler, I’ll never be able to look at another man, and I’m sure there is no one out there who can take my body to the heights of pleasure like Tyler has. Yeah, okay, it’s true. I asked him to be my bodyguard, but over the last few weeks, he’s become so much more. Just yesterday, my brother called me and for the first time in my life, I’ve not called him back. I fired him off a quick text to let him know I’m okay, but how can I talk to him and act normally? I might be an actress, but I’m not good at lying and to me, an omission is the same as lying.

  We break the kiss and I spend the next few seconds gazing up at Jonah, letting the camera capture the adoration in my eyes. Right now, the only way I can portray those emotions is by pretending I’m staring up at Tyler. My God, I am in so much trouble here. We’d only met a month ago. How could I have fallen so fast and so hard? How could I not? Tyler is…everything.

  I loop my arm through Jonah’s, ready to walk to the gazebo and finish our scene, but when I take a step, he remains perfectly still, jerking me backward.

  “What’s going on?” I ask.

  “Mason called cut.”

  Shit.

  I was lost in thought; I hadn’t even heard him end the scene before we finish it. I stand there, and Jonah frowns at me. I blink to pull myself together, and my heart speeds up.

  Jonah puts his hands on my arms, and gives a gentle squeeze. “Hey, where’d you go?”

  “What? I…” I glance around, and everyone is walking off for a break, and I give a little laugh. “Sorry, I was so into the scene I didn’t hear Mason.”

  A beat passes between us. “You sure that was it?” he asks, and looks over my head. I slowly turn, and find Tyler standing on the road talking to the same reporter who showed up in the van at Kylee’s house last week.

  “Everything is fine,” I tell him as his warning once again circles my brain.

  He fights dirty, will do whatever it takes to get what he wants.

  Tyler hasn’t asked anything of me. In fact, he’s the one who jumped in to protect me. I didn’t ask him to. He did it of his own volition. We’ve been having fun, getting to know each other—getting to know myself. The rumors are wrong. I know it deep in my heart. Tyler is a good guy, one of the best guys I know. Besides, I know all about rumors and the validity behind them. I’ve been the victim of many myself. Untruths printed about me to drum up business for television and magazines.

  When I first met Tyler, all I knew was what was said about him, the fight between him and my brother that fueled sales. But he can no longer say I don’t know anything about him, because I do. He’s shared a side of himself with me that had to be difficult, a side, I suspect, he’s never shared with another.

  “I need a quick break,” I say and step away. I smooth my damp hands over my jeans as I walk to my trailer. The second I lift my head, I spot movement, and from the corner of my eye, I see a young man dart into the woods. My heart jumps into my throat and I glance around, but Tyler is still talking to that reporter. I swallow the lump in my throat, and open the door to my trailer, stepping inside and locking it behind me. I lean against it and glance around. Nothing is out of the ordinary and from first glance it doesn’t look like anything’s been taken.

  I scan the counters, searching for a note, and I take a fast, relieved breath when my search comes up empty. I push off the door, and quietly walk down the hall, to check the other rooms. I drop down onto the sofa and that’s when I notice something written on the mirror of my makeup table.

  Coming for you.

  My heart seizes, and my hands fly to my mouth at the same time my door rattles. I stiffen, and stand quietly to peer out the small window. Relief rolls through me when I find Shannon standing outside, glancing over her shoulder. She looks like she’s about to dart off when I unlock the door and open it.

  “Shannon,” I say. We don’t normally lock our trailer doors, but its courtesy to knock first. “What’s going on?”

  Instead of answering, she says, “Haven, what is it? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

  I don’t want to tell her. I can’t let anyone know what’s going on, but I’m so shaken up, it’s hard to hedge right now. She does a fast glance around and when she sees the mirror, she gasps and takes my hand in hers.

  “What is going on?”

  “I don’t know,” I say, as she looks at me with motherly concern. It’s true, I’ve never been a great judge of character, but Shannon has always been nice to me. She’s the one person I like and trust. “Just some strange letters.” I swallow down my fear and add, “I’m sure it’s just someone playing a joke.”

  She shakes her head. “You have to go to the police, Haven. You have to report this.”

  “No, you know as well as I do that if I report this I might never work again. I’ve been bringing nothing but trouble to the set.” The thoughts of never working again suddenly isn’t so scary. Being here with Tyler, I’ve come to discover so much about myself, so much about my wants and likes outside of show business. My heart squeezes a little at that knowledge. He’s taken me to so many places, shared so much of his life with me, and even brought me into his family. How the hell can I walk away from that? I’m not sure, but I do have an obligation to the cast and crew to finish this movie, and I can’t let anything interfere. Maybe I should call my brother to see if he has any enemies—outside of Tyler that is.

  A knock sounds on my door, and I jump up. “Haven, it’s me,” Tyler says, announcing himself before he opens the door. His eyes go wide when he sees us both sitting there. “What’s going on?”

  I gesture with a nod toward my mirror. He steps in and scrubs his chin as he reads it. “Fuck,” he grumbles under his breath.

  “I think she should go to the police,” Shannon says. “Her safety is more important than this movie.”

  “I happen to agree,” Tyler says.

  “Ty, no.” I jump up. “You know I need to finish this.” He takes me into his arms. “If they have to recast now, it will cost big time.”

  “I should go,” Shannon says and hurries outside.

  “Shannon, wait, what did you want?”

  She hesitates for a second. “Oh, I just wanted to see if you wanted to go over lines for our scene tomorrow.”

  “Oh, okay,” I say. “Let’s do that next break.” She leaves and I frown, watching her go.

  “What?”

  “I don’t know. It’s odd. She was supposed to be running lines with Olivia. I saw them go into Olivia’s trailer, and why would she come to my trailer looking for me, when I’m supposed to be in
the middle of a scene. Then again, maybe she knew Mason cut it short.”

  “You don’t think—”

  “No, she’s an innocent middle-aged lady, and probably just looked out her window and saw me walking here.”

  “Mind if I talk to her?”

  “It’s not her, Ty. I saw a young guy running from here. It must have been him.”

  “What did he look like?”

  I give the details and Tyler curses. “Yeah, that sounds like the same guy Carter saw. I’m going to go find him.”

  I nod. “Okay. I’m safe here with everyone around, and Carter and Jared are right outside.”

  “I’m taking Carter with me. You stay around the others, okay. I don’t want you alone.”

  “Okay,” I say, my nerves settling a little. He gives me a kiss on the forehead and a comforting hug and disappears outside. I take a fueling breath and a few minutes later, after pulling myself together, I step outside. I run into Olivia, who’s sipping a coffee and reading over her lines. “Hey,” I say.

  She smiles up at me, and I grin, instantly knowing that look on her face. She’s been hooking up with Jared. I turn my head and find Jared watching us both.

  “So Jared, huh?” I say with a laugh. “Has his grandmother been matchmaking with you guys? I suppose you’ll be at the next Sunday dinner.”

  She frowns. “What are you talking about?”

  “Oh, Grandma Nellie, she’s always trying to marry the guys off. She wants a great-granddaughter.”

  Olivia stands there looking at me like I’ve just been released from some asylum. “Are you okay?” she asks.

  Okay, so apparently it’s only Tyler and me she’s trying to marry off. Does that mean she doesn’t think Olivia is right for Jared, yet I’m right for Tyler? There’s no doubt that we do fit well together.

  “Nothing.” I give a dismissive wave. “I just haven’t been getting much sleep.” Olivia gives me a knowing grin, and I ask. “Were you and Shannon running lines earlier?”

  “Yeah, why?”

  “Oh, no reason. She just showed up at my trailer and wanted to run lines with me.”

  “Weird. She took a quick break to grab a coffee but didn’t come back with any.” She points to her head. “I think she must be going through menopause or something. She can’t seem to remember anything these days.”

  I shake my head, because that’s not a nice thing to say at all. As Olivia takes a sip of her coffee, my phone rings. Thinking it might be Tyler with news on the boy, I excuse myself and tug my phone from my back pocket. The call display informs me it’s Rock, and I hesitate for a second. My phone keeps ringing, so I slide my finger across the screen.

  “Hey, big brother,” I say and stifle a yawn. “How’s it going?”

  “I’m the one who should be asking you that question?” I hear something bang in the background. He must be at the gym.

  “Why do you say that?”

  “You haven’t returned my call.”

  “Just busy.”

  A beat of silence and then, “How’s the shoot?”

  I inject a measure of enthusiasm into my voice when I say, “It’s great. Going really well. It’s so pretty here on the East Coast.” I try not to ramble. Rock always knows I ramble when I’m nervous about something. “How’s training?” I ask, redirecting the conversation.

  “Good.”

  “Ready for the big fight in Vegas next month?”

  “Yeah.”

  “You’re going to win, right?” I ask.

  “Of course I am,” he says with a chuckle.

  “You must make a lot of enemies, winning all the time.”

  He goes quiet and I curse under my breath. Dammit, does he know I’m fishing for information?

  “Yeah, so I was thinking about coming to see you on set. I haven’t been to the East Coast in ages.”

  Christ, he knows something is wrong, and I can’t have him coming here, seeing Tyler and me together.

  “While I love the idea of that, we’re shooting day and night.” Okay, it’s true, we do shoot late, and some scenes are at night, but I’m still bending the truth.

  “Is everything okay?” he asks, and I cringe at the sound of his knuckles cracking.

  “I’ll be back before you know it, Rock. Then we can celebrate your upcoming win and have some quality time together.” I love my brother and miss him dearly, but the thoughts of leaving here doesn’t sit well in my gut. In the background, someone calls out to him, and his voice is muffled on the phone as he answers. “I have to go, but I look forward to seeing you.”

  “You too,” I say and end the call. I shove my phone back into my back pocket. Emotionally and physically exhausted, I stand there for a second and draw in some deep, rejuvenating breaths to wake myself up, and I toss up a silent prayer of thanks when I spot Gram bringing trays of hot coffee to everyone.

  “You look like you could use a cup or ten,” she says.

  I chuckle. “Thank you,” I say and graciously accept the paper cup. I don’t even care if it has sugar or milk. I’m after the caffeine fix. I take a big drink and find her green eyes locked on mine.

  “Are you sleeping well at the cabin?” she asks, and warmth moves into my cheeks. Despite an hour in the makeup chair earlier, I still have dark smudges under my eyes, a sign of late nights in Tyler’s arms.

  “It’s so gorgeous there. All the fresh air makes me sleep well.” It’s not a lie when I finally do fall asleep, I sleep soundly.

  She gives a smile and looks off into the distance, like she’s remembering a happy time. “Tyler’s grandfather and I built that home.”

  “I heard.”

  “I have all my special movies stored there. Have you had a chance to watch any yet?”

  “No, not yet. Long nights on the set,” I tell her.

  She takes my hand in hers and pats it. “Why don’t you and Tyler look through them? I’m sure you’ll find the selection most interesting.”

  She walks away, and as I watch her go, an odd feeling pulses through me.

  What is she up to?

  20

  Tyler

  I glance over at Haven, who is resting her head against the seat, her eyes barely open. I reach out and take her hand in mine and give it a little squeeze. Obviously, I’ve been keeping her up too late at night when she has to get up at the crack of dawn and work long into the night.

  “You okay?” I ask.

  Her head turns my way and she gives me a soft smile so steeped in sweetness and gratitude, my heart misses a beat. “Perfect.”

  “I’ll find him tomorrow,” I say, knowing everything won’t be perfect until I catch the bastard who’s threatening her. Fuck, I hate that Carter and I couldn’t find the punk who’d been hanging around her place. I’m pretty sure it’s Tucker, the kid we saw on the beach. We went straight to his cottage, and his folks said they hadn’t seen him all day. I figure a knock on his door first thing tomorrow should do the trick. I don’t care if I wake him up. In fact, I hope I do. I want to catch him off guard and tired. Maybe then he’ll tell me what he’s been up to and why.

  “Thanks Ty,” she says. She goes quiet for a long time, her head down, in thought. “He must be the one behind it, but what I still don’t understand is how he would have slipped me a note at the airport bathroom. It doesn’t really add up, does it?”

  “You’re right. It doesn’t. All the more reason I need to talk to him, and either find out if he’s up to something, or rule him out.” I turn down the road leading to the cabin, and she lets out a soft sigh, sleep pulling at her. “Are you hungry, or do you just want to go to sleep?” I ask.

  “I could use a bite. We have some leftovers from the other night. I can heat them up.”

  “Or I can heat them up and you can veg on the sofa, and watch TV.”

  She sits up a bit straighter. “That reminds me. Gram said something strange to me today.”

  Not at all surprised—I realize Gram has been matchmaking—I cast a qui
ck glance her way, and note the line in her forehead as she frowns. “What’s that?”

  “She asked if we’ve been watching any movies. She thought we might like something in her collection.”

  I frown, and grip the wheel a bit tighter. “Yeah, that is strange.”

  “Then you don’t have any idea what she’s talking about, do you?”

  “None.” Gravel crunches beneath my tires as the cabin comes into view, and my stomach no longer clenches when I look at it rising up in the distance. But it does tighten as memories of my dad, of that early summer morning, trespass on the happy times Haven and I have been creating here. I miss him. I miss him so fucking much, despite how much of a hard-ass he was, not to mention how infuriating and unyielding he was to every single one of us. It was his way or no way and yet there was only one thing in this world I ever wanted, and it was to make that man proud. I could never do anything right, and now that he’s gone, any chance I had of putting a smile on his face, or receiving a stupid slap on the back for a job well done, died with him. I know my brothers and cousins are all fighting the same losing battle.

  I ease into the driveway, and kill the ignition. I slide from my seat, circle the vehicle and put my arm around Haven’s waist as she steps from the truck and stretches out fatigued arms. Bullfrogs croak, crickets chirp and a fresh floral scent fills the air as we head inside. The more time I spend here the more it grows on me.

  I point to the sofa. “Sit, I’ll reheat the leftovers.”

  “Not going to argue, bossy pants.” She heads toward the sofa, and I chuckle as I open the fridge, pulling out the leftovers. I toss the pasta into the microwave and turn to find Haven rooting through the old DVDs and videos from an era gone by.

  “Find anything good?”

  “Gram sure has an eclectic taste in movies.” She holds up some old romantic comedy and I groan as I glance at the cover.