Vanessa
The weeks passed quickly and they found themselves in the trial. Vanessa sat now, too hot, too nervous, in the witness stand. The room in front of her seemed to be filled with malicious people, all ready to hurt her.
No, she reminded herself, they’re not. It’s okay.
Then she looked again and saw Mari, who smiled at her and gave her a thumbs up. Nicholas sat near her, and he, too, gave an encouraging smile. This was going to be fine. This was all for Hunter. She pictured going home with him after the trial and letting their lives start for real. That was the picture she had to keep in her mind in order to keep going and not run out of the room.
The trial so far had been horrible. She’d sat with Mari and Nicholas in the seats, where they both sat now watching her. She’d seen photo after photo of dead bodies being displayed, heard prosecutors talk about Hunter like he was ruthless killer. Then Hunter’s lawyer tried to defend him and show a true picture of who Jeremy was. Every time the prosecution’s lawyer talked about Jeremy, he tried to paint him as some harmless victim. It made her sick. And now was her chance to make it known what Jeremy was really like, what a monster he really was and had been for years. What a nightmare he’d made their lives and how they’d had no escape from it without Hunter.
Hunter’s lawyer had advised her for hours on what she should say, how she should answer the prosecutor’s questions. They’d even practiced this part, going over which questions he would ask and which questions they thought the other side might ask. Now was her time to put it all into action. She was sworn in and ready to go.
“Ms. Powers, can you tell us how you came to know Hunter Perrin?” the prosecutor asked.
“Sure.” She smiled and took in a breath. “He was hired by my ex-husband to kill me. He put himself in my path to get to know me, to be in a better position to accomplish that task.”
“So, you admit that Hunter Perrin is a hit man as a profession?”
“Yes, he was. I think that’s pretty clear from the surveillance footage.”
He gave her a stiff smile. “It is. Has Mr. Perrin ever confessed to you that he’s committed murder?”
“Yes. He was convicted of that murder and served ten years. Likewise, he did confess that he’s done other hits in the past. But he’s not on trial for those.”
“Correct. Ms. Powers, I’m merely trying to establish his character.”
“I can expand on his character, if I may.” She waited for the prosecutor to respond.
“Okay.” He crossed his arms.”Go ahead.”
“Hunter has been a murderer and a hit man, but he also has a conscience. He never kills someone who doesn’t deserve it. That might not make it okay to take a life, but if he told you the people he’s taken out, you’d seen that it’s done more good for society than bad. I know he looks like nothing more than a felon, but he’s much more than that. He’s a hero, a savior, and an unfailing friend.
“He warned me when I was in danger, even though he’d been paid to kill me. He stepped in to save my daughter and me, and he put his own life and freedom on the line for our sakes. When he found out the truth about Jeremy, and about me, he would never kill me. But he also saw that Jeremy was an abuser who was trying to take a child from her loving mother and put her in a harmful situation. And he sacrificed himself to make sure my daughter stayed safe.
“Each of the men who are dead, whose photos have been on display, were men who ruthlessly came after me, my daughter, my friend, and Hunter. They shot at us, and they killed two innocent people—Mari’s parents. They drugged me and beat me, they kidnapped me and my daughter and threatened to kill her before my eyes as they pressed a gun to her head. Hunter was the one who defended us and protected us. He was the one risking everything for our sake. Everything he did, every life he took, was in self-defense, and in our defense. And that’s who Hunter Perrin is. A protector and defender to the victims of domestic abuse.”
The prosecutor looked at her, then the judge. “No further questions.”
She wasn’t sure what that meant. Did he not know how to respond, or did that mean she’d gone too far and said the wrong thing?
Hunter’s attorney stood up next. He walked over to her. “Thank you, Ms. Powers, for your honest assessment of Mr. Perrin.”
She nodded.
“Can you tell us now, what Jeremy Beale, your ex-husband was like? Explain why you feel Hunter acted in self-defense.”
Vanessa went into full detail of what her life with Jeremy had been like. It was painful at times, to admit to the way he’d treated her and to feel like she was ashamed of it, of staying with him for so long. But she had no choice. She’d been told before that she had to make Jeremy look like every bit the monster he was.
“Hunter saw the photos,” she continued. “And I told him about everything I told you. Jeremy had hired him to kill me, so that was a pretty clear indicator to Hunter that Jeremy wanted to harm me. Then all the men who followed us and shot at us, us being kidnapped, and being shot at again, being drugged. I think when you consider all of that, it’s easy to see that Jeremy would not have stopped until I was dead, or Hunter, or Opal, or all three of us.”
“Thank you, Ms. Powers.” He gave her a small smile and she was dismissed from the stand.
# # #
Hunter could feel Vanessa’s presence behind him. His heart pounded so loudly, he tried to calm it so he would be able to hear what was about to happen. He couldn’t swallow and he could barely breathe. He wasn’t sure who seemed to be winning the case. His lawyer assured him things had gone well for him, but could he really believe that? Did it even matter?
Maybe it would have been better to have stayed in jail and not gotten out on bail. Then he wouldn’t have had those six weeks with Vanessa and Opal. They’d been the best weeks of his life. Buying a house and starting their family, being together for real with nothing hanging over them, nothing keeping them in fear.
He couldn’t go back to prison now. He’d lose everything. Once again, he decided that he’d rather die than face Vanessa leaving him and moving on, or to have to end things if she refused. He couldn’t do it. He wanted her and the life they’d started. He wanted to marry her and be hers forever. And he wanted to love and care for Opal as his own, too. He wanted the whole picture more than he’d ever wanted anything in his life.
But with his past and all he’d done, there was no way he could win this. He had to face reality at some point. His lawyer had to tell him it’d gone well. He was telling Hunter what he wanted to hear so he would stay calm. Who wanted a panicking client on their hands? He’d killed Jeremy and a lot of other men, and he had a history of killing. They’d be crazy not to find him guilty. He’d find himself guilty if he were on the jury.
And that was it. He really did feel like he deserved to go to prison. Why should he be happy? He hadn’t earned it. He had done nothing to think he could have this beautiful family, the love of this amazing woman. His whole life, he’d been a fuck up. From the time he was little, it was drilled into his head. He was dumb and couldn’t do anything. He wasn’t good enough at sports, he didn’t clean fast enough, he didn’t talk quiet enough. It was always something, and for everything he did wrong, there was a fist, a smack, a belt.
He’d tried to redeem himself with his first kill. He thought he was saving someone who loved him, someone who had suffered like him and seen past the junk into the real him. He’d been willing to do anything for her, anything to be seen for real. Yet that had fallen apart, too.
His ten years in prison had only served to make him angry. He learned how to kill better. He’d decided while there that he would become a hit man, that he’d gladly face prison if it meant taking out those who’d done wrong in the world. He thought about killing his girlfriend, to pay her back for lying. But when he’d found her, she was so wrecked on drugs, he hadn’t needed to bother. She’d paid herself plenty.
And then there was Vanessa. Who’d actually truly seen him. Who loved him for real, for his true self. Who would be by his side forever. She didn’t see him as only a criminal. She saw him as a hero. A true hero to her and Opal. Their love and admiration made him want to be better. They made him want to give up the life of crime and be that family man he’d never pictured himself being. They made him want to live a real life, not this going from job to job, killing people for a living life.
The foreman stood and put an abrupt end to his mind’s wanderings. He thought he was going to throw up. He watched, sweat trickling down his temple, as the man opened the piece of paper.
In a loud voice, he read, “We, the jury, find the defendant, Hunter Perrin, on the count of first degree murder, not guilty.”
His lawyer slapped him on the shoulder, and he felt Vanessa kiss his neck. Around him, people were cheering and clapping and celebrating. No. He couldn’t have heard right. They were celebrating the fact that a murderer was going to jail, that was all. They couldn’t be happy about him being free. Not someone who’d done what he’d done.
He stared straight ahead, blinking at the foreman. What had he just said?
“Are you okay?” Vanessa whispered.
He shook his head.
“It’s okay, baby. We did it!” She jumped over the wall that separated them and threw her arms around him.
His lawyer shook his hand and congratulated him. He let Vanessa lead him out of the courtroom as other people congratulated him. They walked out, and he stood in the bright sunlight for a moment before turning back to look at the court house. The court house he was not inside of right now in handcuffs.
A slow smile spread across his face. “I’m free. I’m really free.”
Vanessa laughed and threw herself against him, kissing him deeply.