Hunter
After he’d collected his guns and sorted them from when Vanessa carelessly tossed them to the ground, and after they’d showered and dressed, they were ready to head out. He took his bag of ammo to the car then returned to lock up.
When he slid into the driver’s seat, Vanessa looked over at him and put her hand on his to stop him from starting the car.
“Wait, Hunter.”
He looked into her eyes, waiting as she’d asked.
“I think there’s another way to do this,” she said.
“Do what?”
“I think we can get Jeremy out of the way and keep us safe without having to kill him.”
“How?”
“We could go to the cops. Tell them he hired you.”
He gave her an incredulous look. “Right. Go tell them I kill people for a living.”
She shook her head. “They don’t have to know that you’ve done it before. Only that he hired you to do it this time, and you couldn’t go through with it. Is it a crime to take money to kill someone if you don’t actually kill them?”
“Yes.”
“But it has to be a much lesser crime, right?”
“Vanessa.” He dropped his hand from the ignition. “We’d need a lot of evidence to build a case against him. They’re not going to just take my word for it.”
“But there’s your word and mine and Opal’s.”
“Not enough. And we’re all on the same side. Too easy for us to all be lying for each other. It’s not evidence. Not enough to put him away for any length of time.”
“How do we get evidence?”
“I don’t really know. I’ve always been better at avoiding having any sort of evidence than gathering any.”
She tapped her finger, thinking. “And there’s evidence against me. Like from the doctor, and from CPS. They’ll say I was the one who hurt Opal.”
“Exactly.” He started the car and pulled out of the parking lot. “It’s much better for me to kill him. Otherwise, you might end up getting yourself arrested, and it would be too hard to try to get enough evidence for us to get him arrested.”
“There has to be a way to make it work. I don’t want you to have to do this.”
“Why not? I’ve done it before and I’ll do it again.”
“I know, but I don’t want to be the reason. I don’t want to feel guilty for the rest of my life, knowing you killed for me. What if you get caught? What would I do then?”
He looked over at her with an unamused gaze. She clearly didn’t have enough faith in him and his ability to do his job well. “I know how to do my job without getting caught. I’ve done this many times.”
“And you never once came close to getting in trouble?”
He took a moment to answer. Should he lie or just be honest? “Not any time recently.”
She narrowed her eyes. “Recently? So you have been arrested? Have you been in jail?”
He clenched his jaw and nodded.
“When? For how long?”
The last thing he wanted to do was sit there and describe his horrible decade and what led to it. He tried to give her enough info to satisfy her interest without going too much into it.
“A while ago, for about ten years,” he said. A year maybe wasn’t quite “a while ago,” but it would do for now.
She shook her head. “There’s no way I could handle watching you sit in jail for ten years. And who knows. It might be more. What if they put you away for life and it was my fault? I couldn’t live with that.”
She really cared more about his freedom than being rid of her ex? Well, her plan backfired. Knowing that just made him want to do it that much more. She had such a good heart, even for this man who had done nothing but treat her and her daughter badly. It was almost crazy that she didn’t want him dead. But the fact that she’d rather send him to jail to spare Hunter gave his heart a little spark like he’d never felt before.
Usually people wanted him to do their dirty work and didn’t much care what happened to him. They were paying for a service, and if he failed to keep himself out of trouble, it was on him. When he’d gotten caught killing his high school girlfriend’s father, he’d been so in love and so angered that she’d faced the same thing he had, that nothing would have stopped him from going through with it. Except maybe the truth of knowing her father hadn’t really done the things she claimed.
He looked over at Vanessa, at the determined look in her eyes. Then he decided to lie. At least for now. “Okay. Then let’s figure out how to get evidence against him.”
“Really?”
“It’ll take a lot. And we’ll keep killing him as a backup plan.”
As far as she was concerned. It was his main plan. But she didn’t need to know that. She could try to find evidence, and when it didn’t work, he’d come in and save the day. She wouldn’t even have to know until it was done. He could stage the photos while she was sleeping. Not that he even needed to go that far. He could go right now and sneak up on the bastard and take him out. Just like any other hit.
“I like it better as a backup. I don’t want you to get in trouble, but even if I knew you wouldn’t, I don’t want to know that you took another life because of me. That has to affect your soul. And I don’t want to be responsible for a dark place in any part of you.”
He took her hand and kissed it as he drove off. “You’re the brightest thing in my life.”
# # #
“Turn here,” Vanessa said, a plan suddenly coming into her mind.
“Why?”
“I have an idea. We might not know how to get evidence, but I know someone who will.”
She gave him directions to Mari’s family’s farm house. The closer they got, the more the excitement and anxiety built in her. She was about to see Opal—she hoped. There was still the chance something had gone wrong. When they pulled up and saw Mari’s car, there was some relief. When she knocked on the door and heard small feet running, her worry vanished, and she held only joy in her heart.
Opal tore the door open and grinned up at her. “Mommy! We’ve been having so much fun!”
Vanessa wrapped her arms tight around her little girl. Mari had kept her hidden and safe. Just as she promised.
“Heya,” Mari said, coming around the corner. “How’s everything?” She gave Vanessa a meaningful look.
“Things are… okay.” Vanessa pressed her lips together and glanced over at Hunter.
Mari’s eyes ran over him, then back to Vanessa. A hint of a smile played at her lips. “Opal, do you want to go watch the movie we started watching earlier? I have to catch Mommy up on some things.”
“Okay.” Opal hopped off into the living room.
Mari led Vanessa and Hunter into the kitchen. “Can I get you anything?”
“Water would be great,” Vanessa said.
Mari filled a glass and set it in front of her at the table, then slid into a seat. “So?”
“We need your help,” Vanessa said. “Well, more than you’ve already given us.”
“Of course,” Mari said, leaning closer.
“Child Protective Services showed up at my house this morning. On a report of child abuse.”
Mari sucked in a breath. “What happened?”
“Well, Opal wasn’t there, so not much. He’s going to come back. That’s not the main thing we need help with, though.” She glanced over at Hunter again, knowing this had to work if she was going to save him from committing murder on her behalf. “We need to build a case against Jeremy, so we can have him locked up. Otherwise, he’ll have me killed. He’s already tried.”
Mari’s face grew sad and worried. “So, the men who are after you—”
“Aren’t just after me to get Opal. Jeremy hired Hunter to kill me. Luckily, Hunter has a conscience and decided not to go through with it.” As soon as the words were out of her mouth, she worried that she might have done something wrong. Sure, Mari was on their side, trying to help save them, but Hunter probably didn’t want a bunch of people knowing the truth. Maybe he would be really pissed about this. She didn’t look at him.
Mari gave Hunter another look, longer this time. She held her hand where Hunter couldn’t see it and gave Vanessa a thumbs up. Despite what he was capable of, Mari approved. It almost made Vanessa laugh. She’d gone from being married to a wife beater to sleeping with a hit man. She sure knew how to pick them.
“The problem is,” Vanessa continued, “I don’t know how we can get evidence to have Jeremy arrested. Right now, there’s more evidence pointing to me than to him.”
“You said CPS came and will come again,” Mari said. “So use that to your advantage.”
“How can I? Jeremy already accused me of hurting Opal.”
“Exactly. So turn it around. Tell the truth. Tell them what he did to you and Opal and what he’s doing now. They have to listen and do a full investigation. Use emails, text messages, phone messages, photos, whatever you have that will show how Jeremy hurt you and paint a picture of what he’s really like.”
“You think that will work? They’re not going to think I’m making it all up?”
“Vanessa. They won’t find any proof at all of you mistreating Opal. And when they talk to her—”
“Whoa. Talk to her? I’m not letting her go off with some CPS guy and let him scare her. What if she misunderstands or says something wrong?”
Mari put her hand over Vanessa’s. “Trust her. She’ll tell the truth. And you’ll instruct her to tell the whole truth. It might seem scary, but having her talk to the CPS guy will help. He can see what Opal is like and how happy she is, and when she tells him the truth, he’ll understand.”
Vanessa sucked in a long breath and looked to Hunter. “Do you agree?”
“I think Nicholas will know Opal isn’t lying. They’re trained to look for that sort of thing. To see if a parent has coached a kid in a certain way.”
“And you think having the CPS guy—Nicholas—on our side will help in a case against Jeremy? Won’t it look bad that Jeremy called him, and I didn’t if I was the one being hurt?”
“Not when you outline the whole picture,” Mari said. “You’ll show how scared you were, and how Jeremy manipulated the doctors before, and tell them you were afraid he’d do it again. You’ll show them text messages and other ways he tormented you for the years of your marriage, so that they see why you were afraid to go to the authorities. When they understand what he did to you and see the influence he has where he is because of his money and connections, they’ll get it.”
Vanessa chewed her lip. “What are the chances this could go horribly wrong and Jeremy will somehow have all these people in his pocket and end up turning this around on me?”
Mari looked away and exchanged glances with Hunter.
“Don’t worry about that,” Hunter said. “First of all, you have us as witnesses, too. And besides that, if he somehow pulls that off, then I’ll take care of it.”
Right. The backup plan she never intended to put into use. The one she’d told him she was fine with in case things went wrong, but that she was so not fine with. Though, if Jeremy did manage to take Opal, maybe she would change her mind. Could she eventually get rid of the guilt if it meant keeping Opal safe and with her?