“Didn’t you say you only lived with him for a year?”
“Barely a year. After Hope was born he was gone more than he was home. Eventually he moved out altogether and I had to move to a smaller place I could afford alone.”
“Did you ever speak with Nathan’s parents after that?” William asked.
“No. I didn’t see the need to reach out. They weren’t my in-laws. They were about as interested in Hope as . . .” she was about to say her own parents, but didn’t. “They didn’t seem to care.”
“It certainly appears as if Nathan has wrapped himself in lies and is trying to dig his way out and earn some respect along the way. If he can prove you took Hope away from him, that he attempted to help you and you refused—”
“None of that happened.”
“He said, she said. Courts have to look at everything presented in front of them. The divorce is the easy part. It’s Hope Nathan needs for leverage. Proving you’re unfit gives him that leverage.”
“I’m not!”
“Of course you’re not, darlin’. We all know that. Let me tell you what a court is going to hear when it’s all in front of them.”
She waited, knew he wasn’t going to be kind.
“He will start with the marriage that you say never happened. The court will show you this,” he tapped the paper and continued, “and ask you to prove it’s a lie.”
“He said, she said,” Melanie muttered.
“Exactly.”
“Then he’ll say you left him . . . or moved when he was away . . . or whatever he needs to do to look good in court.”
“All a lie.”
“Did you move away?” William asked.
“Well, yeah, like I said. I couldn’t afford where we were without his help.”
“Nothing he can’t twist. Nothing I couldn’t twist if I were on his side,” he explained. “So you moved away, he continued with school, maybe he shows a little remorse about not trying harder to find you and his daughter. Or maybe he has something up his sleeve to make him look good at this point. Then you leave the state with his daughter without his knowledge.”
She was afraid of what he was going to say next. “I didn’t kidnap my own kid.”
“I doubt he’d use that. But it has happened. Nathan finds you here, decides you’re not doing right by his child. You have a home for Hope, but that has proven unsafe in the current situation. Your boyfriend.” William nudged Wyatt’s arm with a frown. “Your boyfriend here enjoys bar fights.”
“No charges, Dad.”
“Right . . . because the town sheriff is an old friend of Melanie’s. And small towns take care of their own. Lots of witnesses saw that the fight happened. And how safe is Hope in a house with a man who drinks in a bar and gets into fights.”
“Dad . . . it didn’t happen like that.”
“I know that. But the court will hear every detail of that fight from several people. The job of Nathan’s lawyer is to paint Melanie as a bad and unfit mom. Cases have been won on less.”
Melanie ran a hand through her hair. “How do I fight it?”
William tapped the marriage certificate. “We stop it here. If we can prove this is fraud, that Nathan is lying from this point forward, the rest will be easy.”
“How do we do that?”
William’s smile flattened to a straight line and a shiver went up her spine.
“You want me to talk to him.”
“Confessions are best obtained by those who know the truth.”
“Recordings without the other person’s approval aren’t admissible in court,” Wyatt said.
“Glad you’ve been paying attention. You’re right. But once the jury hears of a confession and are told to ‘forget’ about it . . . do they? No. That’s why lawyers let things slip from time to time.”
The last person she wanted to talk to was Nathan. “So when do we schedule this little meeting?”
“The sooner the better.”
That’s what she was afraid he was going to say.
Clouds were starting to roll in, and according to the forecast the rain would come and go for the better part of the week. The weather fit Wyatt’s mood.
Hope, Miss Gina, and Melanie were playing with Sir Knight in the thick of the lawn, while he and his father continued to chat.
“Has Jo had any luck with the investigation?”
“She’s been quiet lately. The Feds have a couple of things they’re following up on.”
“Anything you can share?” his father asked.
“The ink on Lewis’s arm came back. An Englishman . . . aristocrat kind of guy who served some time when he was younger but has evaded prison ever since.” Wyatt wasn’t convinced he was the same man they were searching for.
“Did Lewis have an accent?”
“No. Not that I heard. But he did seem to have a superiority about him. And according to Melanie his table manners stuck out as strangely elite.”
“You mean he had them?” his father asked with a half grin.
“Yeah.”
“So what was the man’s crime of choice?”
Funny how his father had a way of making a criminal sound like he was picking candy from a counter.
Wyatt closed his eyes briefly. “An early accusation of messing with his young niece had his hand slapped. Another incident had him booked but the charges were dropped.”
“Damn, son.” William glanced again at Hope. “You don’t think . . .”
“No. Hope remembers him pushing her down the hill in great detail but has said nothing about anything more.” As if trying to kill her wasn’t enough.
His father stared at her for a few minutes before asking, “Why are you staying here?”
“Threats against both Melanie and Hope,” Wyatt said. “Luke is here when I need to leave. The girls are going a little stir-crazy. I wish they’d just find this guy already.”
His father didn’t look too excited. “Problem with that is what follows. Charges, court . . . it won’t be over for a while. And with everything else on her plate . . .”
“Much as she’s gonna hate cleaning up after that thing, the dog was a really good idea.”
“I didn’t do it alone.”
“Oh?”
William nodded across the lawn. “Miss Gina suggested a four-legged playmate for a sad little girl.”
About then, Hope let out a contagious giggle.
“I’d say Sir Knight was a good call.”
“Labs are known to find one favorite owner and stick by them. The more time Hope spends with him, the higher the chances are he’ll stick by her. Not sure how much of a guard dog he’ll be, but you’ll always know where she is.”
Wyatt smiled. “I like how you think, Dad.”
“She’s brave, you know.”
“Hope is a smart girl.”
“I didn’t mean Hope,” his father said.
Wyatt watched his girls run around the yard, playing tag with a puppy that was sure to grow into those big paws. His girls . . . since when did he look at them and think that?
“You’re going to win this case, right?”
“Don’t I always?”
Wyatt glanced at him, then moved his gaze back. “I don’t know, do you?”
“I’m going to win. And even if she has to go through a divorce, this should all be tied up by the holidays.”
“Tell me you’re joking.”
“I’m pushing for action now. No guarantees. Chances are Nathan wants to move fast, too. My guess is he’ll only push for custody for so long. It’s the divorce he wants and the illusion that he isn’t a shit.”
“He is a shit.”
“Yeah, I got that the first time we met.”
The phone rang from inside the house and Melanie ran toward the back
door. “I’ll get you for that dog later,” she warned, smiling as she passed to get the phone.
Wyatt heard her answer the inn’s phone with a pleasant voice, then she went silent. “Yes, I did.”
His radar went on and he turned to watch her from the back door. “I’d like to talk, Nathan.”
She’d left a message at his office shortly after Wyatt’s father had arrived, and apparently the call went through even on the weekend.
“You know I can’t do that right now. Hope needs me here.”
Wyatt saw her clenching the phone as she paced. “I don’t want to fight. We need to talk. This doesn’t have to get ugly.”
“No lawyers. No police . . . no, he won’t.”
Wyatt tried to figure out what the ass was saying on the other side of the line and only caught half.
“Fine.”
When she hung up the phone, she leaned against the counter and sucked in a deep breath.
Wyatt walked through the back door and stood opposite her. “You okay?”
“That was Nathan.”
“So I guessed.”
“He agreed to meet me.”
“That’s good.”
“Not in town, he doesn’t feel comfortable.”
Wyatt didn’t like that.
“No lawyers, no Jo.”
He narrowed his eyes.
“I need you to stay here with Hope,” Melanie told him.
“Yeah, that isn’t going to happen.”
Her eyes met his. “You have to. He won’t meet with me if you’re there.”
“I’ll stay in the car.”
“I need you here. Luke can take me, or Mr. Miller.”
Wyatt shook his head. “I’m not letting you go without me, darlin’.”
“Excuse me? You’re not letting me?”
Maybe that wasn’t the best way to put it . . . but damn right, he wasn’t letting her.
“Be reasonable. This guy is a threat.”
“Mr. Lewis is a threat. Nathan is just a prick. I’m going without you and that’s it. If you won’t stay with Hope, I’ll find someone else to do it.”
He ran both hands through his hair and felt his pulse race. “When is he coming?”
Melanie placed both hands on her hips. “I’m not telling you.”
“Oh, for God’s sake.”
“You have to promise you’ll stay away. If he sees you, he’ll think I lied and question why I even want to talk to him.”
“Sure, fine . . . when is he coming?”
“I can handle Nathan.”
He didn’t believe that either.
“What? You don’t think I can, do you?”
“I didn’t say a thing.”
She turned away and started toward the back stairs to the rooms.
“We’re not done, Melanie.”
“Yes we are.”
She stormed up the stairs as Wyatt’s father said, “Well that went well.”
“I don’t like it,” Jo mimicked Wyatt’s concerns.
“See?” Wyatt waved in Jo’s direction as he tried triple hard to get everyone in the room to suggest he accompany Melanie to the meeting with Nathan.
“We need him to talk,” William told them. “Now, I know you want to be by her side, son, but if the guy clams up, it’s all for nothing.”
“I’ll be there, bud. Nothing will happen,” Luke said.
“Why you and not me?” Wyatt felt like he was whining. “Jo, tell them.”
Jo passed a few glances around the room. “You misunderstood, Wyatt. I don’t like the fact that he asked that I not be there.”
“You’re a cop. That makes sense,” he said.
“You’re sleeping with her, that makes sense,” Luke stated the obvious.
“Please, guys, I’m right here. This is all ridiculous. I will meet with Nathan; Luke will drive me and wait in the car. I’ll wear that wire thing Jo has. The most that will happen is he won’t say anything about the marriage certificate that implicates him. He might catch on without everyone being there. He will know something is up if the place is littered with familiar faces.”
It didn’t feel right, and Wyatt didn’t like it.
“I’m going to be okay, Wyatt. I know how to yell fire and call attention to myself if I feel threatened. We will be in a public place.”
“Agent Burton is due back in Eugene on Monday, maybe I can get her to blend in close by.”
“She’s still here?” Melanie asked.
“Yeah, there’s a lead on Ty she’s going to check out.”
“Who is Ty?” William asked.
“Remember the two guys you got into it with at R&B’s?”
Luke and Wyatt exchanged glances. “Kinda hard to forget. Weren’t there more than two?”
“Yeah, but one of them came back when he heard about what happened to Hope. Seems that little bar fight wasn’t random.”
“What?” Luke asked.
“Buddy, the one who came back, thought it was a little too coincidental that he and his friend Ty were paid to pull you into a bar fight. Then he sees what happened with Hope on the news, saw you in the feed. He has an issue with people hurting kids.”
“Why would someone pay to force me into a fight?” Wyatt had a hard time wrapping his head around that.
“That’s what we’re working on. The running theory is Mr. Lewis was casing the place, wanted to see that you weren’t around. Finding the second guy is key since Buddy didn’t deal with the person who paid them.”
Melanie stood. “See why I need you here?” she asked. “I need to know Hope is safe, Wyatt. She trusts you above everyone.”
“You think you can get your FBI friend to follow Mel?” Wyatt asked.
“I don’t see why not. She’s been at my house for the better part of the week.”
“Great.” Melanie pushed off the couch. “Show me how that wire thing works, Jo, and let’s go. I want to get this over with.”
“Let me call Burton, have her drive ahead of us so she’s in place before Nathan even shows up.” Jo left the room.
“Keep her safe, Luke.”
“She’s like a sister, dude. I won’t let anything happen to her.”
“Better not.” He hated being benched.
“Jeez, he has it bad!” Luke said to William.
“Sure does.”
“Screw you both,” Wyatt said as he left to follow Melanie.
He met her in her bedroom while she was changing her shirt. He didn’t bother knocking and didn’t offer any privacy when he saw her undressing. “I’m going to be okay,” she said over her shoulder.
“You haven’t been out of my sight for more than a few hours since all this happened.”
She tossed her shirt on the bed, grabbed another. “How do you think I feel? I haven’t left Hope at all. I couldn’t do it if I thought she wasn’t protected.”
“Jo can stay.”
“Yeah, but you know what?” She stopped messing with her shirt and placed both arms on his shoulders. “It’s you Hope asks about. It’s you she feels safe with.”
He leaned his forehead against hers. “I hate this.”
“If I can get Nathan to say something . . . anything that proves I didn’t sign that damn paper, think of how much less time either of us has to deal with this. I’d love to focus on one thing . . . finding Lewis and putting him in jail for a long, long time.”
“Fine. But if you’re not back—”
“Ready, Mel-Bel?” Jo walked into the room. “Oops, sorry.”
“Stop, we were just saying what needed to be said.” Melanie placed a quick kiss against his lips and pushed him away.
Jo moved into the room and started taping the wire on Melanie’s delicate skin. Once it was secure, the bulk of the
device tucked into her bra, she put her shirt on and buttoned it up. “The receiver will be in the car, with Luke recording the conversation.”
“He can hear the whole thing?”
“Yeah. Remember, if you start to feel uncomfortable, tell Nathan you have a headache and leave. If at that point you don’t walk out, Luke will come in and get you.”
“Sounds simple.”
“It is. Agent Burton will be close by, but you probably won’t see her. Don’t stress that.”
“Okay. Now, everyone needs to act normal or Hope is going to catch on,” Melanie told them both.
“I’ll see you outside then, and make sure Luke knows what’s going on.”
Jo left, leaving Wyatt and Melanie alone.
His palms itched, his head screamed with worry.
“Kiss me,” she told him.
He didn’t have to be told twice. His kiss didn’t linger, it just said he cared. “Be safe. Don’t take any chances.”
“Wyatt. I’m not wired to speak with a drug lord. It’s Nathan . . . a putz, but hardly a criminal.”
He didn’t feel any better.
He kissed her again. “Be safe.”
“I will.”
She was actually nervous. They were driving north of River Bend to Waterville. The only real meeting place was a burger joint that doubled as a pizza parlor. It was public, and often loud, but it wasn’t in River Bend and it wasn’t all the way in Eugene, which Melanie refused since it was too far from Hope.
Luke drove around the restaurant before finding a space close enough to pick up a signal from the wire.
“He’s going to see me out here,” Luke said.
“I told him you were with me and that you’d stay in the car. He seemed to understand the threats and didn’t argue.”
“Good.”
She saw him step out of a rental car a few slots away and head inside. “Here goes nothing.”
“I’m right here.”
She winked and stepped out of the truck.
A pair of dress slacks and a pullover shirt replaced Nathan’s normal suit. He saw her approach and looked around. “No posse this time?”
Doing It Over (A Most Likely to Novel Book 1) Page 27