by Nicole Fox
Vanessa watched her with a smile on her face and a glow in her heart. More than ever, she hoped things could work out with Hunter. They could have a wonderful life, the three of them. Opal liked Hunter, and he would make a great father. She was already falling for him, and he had feelings for her. They both felt safer when he was around, and they needed that so badly. They didn’t have to hide who they were with him. She never had to worry that a dangerous ex would scare him away. Instead, she was busy trying to convince him not to kill for her. What more could she ask for?
They just needed to get this thing with Jeremy settled. Once he was out of the way in jail and there was no threat to her and Opal, no possibility that she would be taken away, then they could move on and all be happy together. She would finally have the family she’d always dreamed of. The one she wished for with Jeremy, but always knew was never possible. This was the life she should have had from the start. A man who loved her and protected her, a man who loved her daughter and risked his own life to save her. Not someone who would hurt them both.
Hunter was the one she wanted. It felt like the perfect life was so close. Just around the corner, just barely out of reach. Get Jeremy out of the way, and it was all hers.
She pulled Opal into a hug and kissed the top of her head, then looked back to the door, thinking Hunter should be home any minute now.
# # #
“Jeremy, I’m working on it,” Hunter said. “I’m close. I’ve finally gotten Opal to trust me. The problem is, Vanessa never leaves her alone. And I can’t kill her while Opal is there.”
“This is taking too long!” Jeremy growled into the phone. “You said days or a week or two at the most. It’s been seven weeks now. I’m done waiting.”
“These things can’t be rushed. It’s not something to be taken lightly. It has to be done just right if you don’t want any heat on you. And right now, there’s too many people around.”
“Listen to me. I. Don’t. Care. Do whatever it takes to get the job done. Now!”
Jeremy ended the call. Hunter shook his head as he tucked his phone in his pocket. He didn’t think Jeremy would buy it much longer. He’d already proven that he had other people on the job. Sure, Hunter had taken them out too, but that didn’t mean more weren’t coming. Something had to be done before Jeremy could move again.
He closed the car door and unlocked the trunk to get the groceries. He picked up one bag in each arm and walked toward the steps to the apartment. Before he could get there, he heard the distinctive sound of a silenced gunshot, followed by a whizzing sound as a bullet cut through the air in front of him. Hunter dropped to the ground.
So, he was right. Jeremy was already done waiting. He scanned the area, looking for the source of the shots.
Then, someone screamed. His heart lurched as he thought of Vanessa. But it didn’t sound like her scream. He flipped his head back and forth to see who it was.
He saw the blood first. It hit the grass in large drops. If he were any closer, it would have splattered on him. The smell of gunpowder filled the air and the shouts broke into the new stillness, breaking it into a choppy mix of too loud and too quiet.
He saw the feet. Men’s shoes, slacks. The gun shots had stopped. He lifted his head enough to glance around, but heard no more shots. He looked up to see the man’s face.
Then the recognition set in. Hunter knew this man. And the fact that he was here now and had witnessed this had to be a good thing. He crawled as fast as he could toward where Nicholas was now on his knees.
Blood poured from his shoulder. He’d been hit and was already pale. He can’t die, Hunter thought, but then he heard another noise.
Car tires squealed. Hunter looked up just in time to see the car flying at them. He yanked Nicholas’s shirt, pulling him off the road in just enough time to miss having his legs run over. The car took off with another squeal as it turned and sped off down the road.
“Now do you believe us?” Hunter shouted. “That guy was hired by Jeremy, Vanessa’s ex-husband. Probably to kill me. He’s after her, and he’ll kill her, then take that little girl and keep hurting her like he did to her mother for years. Is that what you want?” Hunter had a handful of Nicholas’s shirt, and it took all he had not to shake him. “If you don’t start listening to us, you’ll be the reason Jeremy succeeds in killing Vanessa. Do you want her death on your hands?”
Nicholas stared back, white-faced, mouth slack, blinking at him. He was in too much shock to answer or even register what Hunter was saying.
“Come on,” Hunter said. “We need to get you inside. They might come back when they realize they didn’t actually kill anyone.”
Hunter got to his feet, still looking around cautiously. The speeding car might have been a diversion. But no shots flew at him. He hauled Nicholas to his feet and slung his uninjured arm over him so he could pull him along.
Nicholas’s feet dragged, and he thought he might pass out at any moment. At least the guy was light. Hunter could carry his almost-dead weight with no trouble. Which was good, because there were a lot of stairs.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Vanessa
For all the time she’d spent watching the door, waiting for it to open, when it finally did, she nearly jumped out of her seat. It crashed open with a loud bang. She must’ve missed the sound of the key in the lock.
Hunter stumbled in. She screamed when she saw the blood, and ran to him.
“It’s not mine,” Hunter said. “It’s Nicholas’s blood. He’s been shot.”
“What? By who?”
Vanessa looked over Nicholas, trying to see how bad things were.
“I’d have Opal go into her room if I were you,” Hunter said.
Vanessa spun around and saw Opal staring wide-eyed at them. Her lower lip trembled, and she looked like she was about to burst into tears.
“Opal, honey, let’s go into your room, okay?” Vanessa went to her and ushered her out of her seat at the table, using her body to block her view of the bleeding man. She closed the bedroom door behind them and knelt down to Opal. “I’m sure he’ll be fine. We just need to get him help and doctors will make him all better, okay?”
“Did Daddy do that?” she whispered.
“I don’t know. I don’t think so. And Hunter protected Nicholas, too, didn’t he? He’s going to be just fine.”
Opal blinked at her, and the seconds were ticking by in Vanessa’s mind. “Just sit here and play, and I’ll let you know when everything is okay again.” She gave her a hug and kiss and rushed back into the living room.
Hunter was half holding up Nicholas, and Nicholas looked very pale, which was a startling contrast to the deep red seeping across his chest.
“Get him into the bathroom,” Vanessa said. “We need to stop the bleeding.”
She held the door and helped Hunter get Nicholas into a seated position on the side of the tub. Hunter helped her get his jacket off. As they peeled back layers of clothing and the wound was revealed, Vanessa was relieved to see it wasn’t as bad as she’d thought. The bullet had only grazed him. There was a lot of blood, but not a lot of damage.
She realized, as she reached for a towel to clean up the blood that she had thought at first that he was going to die. She’d been planning for it in the back of her mind. How she’d explain to the cops about her ex and hope it would work out in their favor somehow.
“I think you’re okay,” she said. “It just grazed your shoulder.”
Nicholas turned his head to look. “It hurts,” he whispered.
She pressed down on the wound with the towel, trying to get the blood to stop. After a minute, some color returned to his face.
“I don’t think it’s too bad at all now that the blood is cleaned up. Do you want us to take you to the hospital?” she asked. “Might need stitches.”
“I wouldn’t know what to tell them,” Nicholas said. “What happened?” He looked to Hunter.
“Vanessa’s ex and Opal’s father, Jer
emy, hired a hit man to kill her. And it looks like he’s also trying to take me out since I’ve been protecting them. You happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.”
Vanessa found a large bandage and cleaned the wound the best she could. With Nicholas talking to Hunter, he was somewhat distracted from the pain. She did the best she could with what she had, but he definitely needed to get to a doctor or the ER, just to get it properly cleaned and maybe stitched up.
“How do you know he wants to kill her?” Nicholas asked. “And how do you know he hired someone? Do you have any evidence of this?”
Hunter looked to Vanessa. She took in a breath. This was going to be tricky. How could they convince Nicholas without telling him too much? She certainly didn’t want Hunter getting in trouble at this point, before Jeremy was locked up. She still needed him to help her build a case. Telling Nicholas too much now might end with Hunter in jail and Vanessa and Opal sitting around for Jeremy to come along at any time. That couldn’t happen.
“He told me,” Vanessa said. “Jeremy called me and told me that he was going to kill me and take Opal. He said to watch for the men he’d hired.”
It was close enough to the truth, and couldn’t be disproved anyway. What did it matter how they knew? Nicholas just had to believe that Jeremy was the monster, not her. And if they could convince him, maybe it would turn everything around. Maybe they could make Nicholas more of an ally than an enemy.
# # #
Hunter tried not to let his relief show. He hadn’t thought Vanessa would give him away, but after she’d blurted things out to Mari, he wasn’t sure. When she was distressed and her daughter was in danger, she did risky things. But this was okay. Phone records would show that Jeremy had called her.
“Opal told you that her daddy hurt her and not Vanessa,” Hunter said. “That should be all you need to know. Now that you know she’s telling the truth and Vanessa didn’t make her lie, that’s enough, isn’t it?”
“Maybe,” Nicholas said. “It helps, but children are too easily manipulated. That’s why we look carefully for signs that a child is lying or has been coached. And Opal gave those signs.” Nicholas looked over at Vanessa apologetically. “If what you’re saying is true, I’m sorry I didn’t believe her, but she acted like she was lying and that you had told her to. If anyone else questions her, they might come to the same conclusion.”
“So, how does it work with CPS?” Vanessa asked. “What do I need to do to prove Jeremy was the one who hurt her instead of me?”
“Do you have any proof?” Nicholas asked.
“You just got your proof,” Hunter said.
Nicholas shook his head. “That’s only proof that someone tried to hurt you. Or that maybe even someone was trying to hurt me.”
“But who would be after you?” Vanessa said.
Hunter’s eyes darkened. How dare he imply this. The rage boiled in his veins, needing less than a spark to ignite. This man better answer correctly. He glared at Nicholas. “Are you saying that Vanessa or I had something to do with this? That we wanted to hurt you to keep you quiet?”
“That’s not what I’m saying,” Nicholas said.
At least he had the decency to look ashamed. He must’ve been thinking that, though, to say what he said. Maybe part of him suspected that he or Vanessa was capable of something like killing him to keep things quiet.
“But it’s not proof,” Nicholas continued. “A judge is going to want to see proof that it was actually Jeremy and not Vanessa who gave Opal those marks.”
“I don’t have proof that he hurt her, but I have lots of proof that he hurt me,” Vanessa said. When Hunter met her eyes, she was shaky and looked close to tears.
“Can I see it?” Nicholas asked.
Vanessa nodded and got up, then left the room. He wasn’t sure what she was getting. He’d never seen any sort of proof. And now that he considered it, the last thing he wanted to see was some sort of evidence of what Jeremy had done. He would never be able to keep from killing this asshole if he saw something that made it even more real in his mind.
“Come on,” Hunter said. “Let’s get some place more comfortable. You doing okay?”
“I’ll probably see a doctor, but I think it’ll be okay. And I’d like to know more before I have to start answering questions.”
Hunter led him into the living room. Now that the bleeding had stopped, he seemed to be doing much better. He wasn’t so pale and had calmed down. The pain must be fading as well. Or maybe he was just going into shock. He sat him down and got him some water.
“Drink this.” He handed him the glass and after Nicholas gulped it down, he refilled it and handed it back to him.
Vanessa came from her bedroom with a box. He met her eyes and tried to get some hint of what was coming, but she looked away. She looked embarrassed, in fact. Her cheeks were pink and she didn’t look either of them in the eye.
She sat beside Nicholas and took the lid off the box. Then she handed it to him.
From where he stood, Hunter couldn’t see the photos, but he watched Nicholas’s reaction as he flipped through the photos. His eyes widened and he looked at Vanessa with compassion in his eyes. As much as he didn’t want to see it, Hunter couldn’t stand not knowing. He walked over and picked up the stack of photos that Nicholas had set on the table when he picked up the next stack.
The photos in his hand were all of Vanessa. He flipped through shot after shot of her. A black eye in this one. A bruise so deep it was green on her arm in the next. Then, a bruise on her shin. Then, bruises on her upper thighs that could be evidence of only one thing. Hunter clenched his jaw and dropped the photos.
He thought he might be sick. He’d only seen a small percentage of the horrible things that this box contained, but he’d seen enough. The rage tore through him, and he had to take several breaths to keep his feet planted on the floor. He wanted to burst out of the room that moment and find Jeremy and kill him in the most painful way possible.
“This has to be enough, right?” Hunter said, a sharp edge of anger in his voice.
Nicholas swallowed hard and set the photos down before looking at him. “It might not be.”
“Why not?” he barked.
“What’s not in this box is the police records of all this,” Nicholas said. “Did you ever report it?”
Vanessa looked down and whispered, “No.”
“Then it probably won’t stand up in court. There’s no way to know for sure that Jeremy was responsible for this. It could have been an ex-boyfriend or an angry lover. It could have been anyone who did this to her. There’s nothing specifically to tie Jeremy to these crimes. There’s nothing to support her claims, and it’s worsened by the fact that Jeremy was the one who called CPS because he was worried about his daughter. If Vanessa had called, it might be different.”
“It was me,” Hunter said.
Vanessa looked up at him suddenly, confused. Nicholas also gave him a baffled look.
“I was the hit man Jeremy hired.”
Vanessa’s face changed to worry, but Nicholas’s grew deeper in surprise.
“He hired you to kill Vanessa?”
Hunter nodded. “That’s how I know he wants her dead and will stop at nothing until he wins. I couldn’t do it, though. When I was investigating, it became very clear to me that Vanessa is nothing but a loving mother and that Opal adores her. She would never hurt her daughter. She stayed in an abusive marriage to give her daughter a family, and she left the second it was unsafe for Opal. She took her on the run, because she was terrified that this very thing would happen. That Jeremy would use his money and influence to lie and accuse her of abusing their daughter, then take her away. That’s how abuse works. You have to understand that. When a woman is that terrified, you can’t expect her to go to the police. Or she might end up dead because of it.”
“I do understand that, believe me,” Nicholas said. “And even if the judge believed her and wanted to lock him up, without p
roving it, they can’t. That’s what innocent until proven guilty means. You can’t lock someone up just because someone claims they did something wrong. Otherwise, Vanessa would be the one locked up right now. The system is in place for a reason, and it has safety nets to protect people from false accusations. But unfortunately, it also depends on evidence.”
“Well, I have evidence that Jeremy hired me to kill Vanessa. I think with that and the photos and Opal’s testimony, that should be plenty.”
“I sure hope so,” Nicholas said.
“I could get more,” Hunter said. “Jeremy still thinks I’m on the job. I could wear a wire or whatever narcs do to help the cops. I could get Jeremy to talk about the hit. But we’d need to move fast. I’m taking too long, and I think Jeremy is losing trust in me. Being shot at today was pretty obvious proof of that. But we might still have a chance. He might at least say enough to say that he’s firing me. I’m sure I can get him to say something incriminating, because he would never think I’d turn him in or work with the cops since I’d be the one getting in more trouble than him.”