I sighed, leaning back in my seat. “I wasn’t.”

She was looking me over, lingering on the bruises and then on the IV, which was still in me. “Shit, Brody. What did you do?”

Fucked up. Again.

Exhaustion hit me. I could feel it in every inch of my body. “I’m a mess, Shan.”

A ghost of a smile graced her face, but she let the nickname go. If Gayle had nickname status, then so did I.

She jerked her head up and down, briskly. “Okay. Right. Listen, you are going to a brief stay in a rehab.”

“What?” I started to stand.

“I talked to Gayle about it. She’s got your bags packed already. There’s a car waiting outside. We’re going to shoot as much as we can without you, so some of the schedule is getting shuffled around, but it’ll be fine. As long as you come back in top shape and sober, I think we can finish the movie on time.”

I’d be gone.

Morgan wouldn’t know.

I shared a pleading look with Abigail. If she was going to step in and save my skin, it was a good time to do it.

I waited.

She was quiet.

I shot her another meaningful look. Right now, Abigail. Cover for me. Right now!

“Um!” Her wide eyes were locked on mine. “Uh . . . he doesn’t need rehab.”

Shanna turned to her, an eyebrow raised. “He doesn’t?”

“No.” Abigail swallowed, her face scrunching and then clearing again. Light bulb. “He already told me he wasn’t going to drink anymore. I really think he just needs to sleep, rest. You guys have been shooting at all hours of the day. And you know, what better place to detox than here?” She waved a hand around the room. “It’s beautiful here. All the scenery. Crisp mountain air. I mean, we have horses too.” She snapped her fingers. “They use equine therapy for rehab. They used to bring patients here when we had domestic horses. We can use the ones they’re using for movie. How about that? We can bring in a therapist to work with Brody.”

Shanna slowly folded her arms over her chest, leveling Abigail with a hard stare. “Why are you so eager to keep him here?”

Abigail backed up, shrinking even more under Shanna’s scrutiny. “I’m not sleeping with him. I’m really not. The—uh—” She shot me a look.

She was struggling.

Good thing I could lie with the best of them. “Because I know things about her family.”

Shanna’s expression went from mild amusement to sharp alert. “What do you mean you know things about her family?”

I sighed, looking for all the world to be relaxed and unfazed. “Things I can’t talk about, and that’s why Abigail—”

“Call me, Abby.”

“—Abby was in my cabin last night. I’ve been trying to find out more about Peter Kellerman, so I can better identify with him. I uncovered a secret in the process.”

Abby groaned. “Oh God.”

“And don’t think you can get it out of me. It’s a secret I gave them my word I would keep.”

“They?”

Shit. Slip up. Still, I stayed in my role, trying to be nonchalant. “Yeah, Matt and Abig—Abby.”

I was dangling a carrot in front of Shanna, one of the best directors I’d ever be able to work with, but there was a reason she was one of the best. She was smart, and she was a bloodhound. If there were something out there, something she should know to make the movie better, she would find it out. I just confirmed to her there was something for her to seek.

And she would.

She’d be doing all sorts of her own research.

Maybe I should’ve done the rehab stint?

No.

If I were shipped away for six weeks, I didn’t know if Morgan would seek me out again. That would mean that Abby would never get the meeting with her sister that she so desperately wanted.

I had to stay.

It was the only way.

“I’ll meet with a counselor. I’ll do the equine therapy, but it has to be here.”

“No drinking?”

I nodded. “No drinking.”

“You get eight to ten hours of rest a night.”

Another nod. “I’ll sleep like a baby.”

“You take herb supplements if you need help falling asleep. No pills. No prescriptions.”

“Yes. All natural. Healthy.”

She fixed me with another one of those eagle-stares. Her eyes narrowed to slits, and I could feel she was assessing my bullshit meter. After a full minute, she sighed. “Fine.” Her arms uncrossed from her chest, falling to her side. “I’ll have Gayle set everything up. We’ll be here to shoot in a few days. You can come and watch if you want.”

“I will.” And I would. Working was not my problem. It was the downtime that was.

“Fine.”

“Fine.”

Abby clapped her hands together. “Great!”

Shanna and I turned to her, neither of us excited.

With her cheeks turning red, she exclaimed, “I’m excited for the equine therapy. Jennifer’s coming soon too.”

She almost bounced from the room, and Shanna turned back to me. She cocked her head to the side. “The same Jennifer that’s engaged to Kellerman Junior Junior? The same one that I remember you having an affair with?”