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“He did. But I only kill people who deserve it. And I don’t kill women. It took a lot of convincing for me to take this job, and I was suspicious of him from the start. Rightly so, apparently. He was full of nothing but lies. He didn’t know it, but he’s paid me to protect you instead of kill you. And I’ll take him out.”
“You’d… kill him?”
“Of course.”
“Why?”
Hunter laughed. “Are you kidding me? Baby, come on. Because he’s a horrible man and a liar. He’s hurt you and Opal and hired someone to kill you. He’s not going to stop. Nothing will stop him until you’re dead. Or until he is. So it’s that simple. I want to protect you, so I have to kill him.”
Her hand shook as she kept the gun pressed to him. It was starting to feel less necessary, but she couldn’t bring herself to move it away. Not yet. “How do I know I can trust you? How do I know you weren’t the one to tell Jeremy where I was?”
“You were alone with me for hours, and I didn’t kill you.”
“But maybe what you told Jeremy was true. You just wanted to get more information.”
“It’s not,” he said. “What other information would I possibly need? I know where you are, I know how to contact you. I could have killed you at any time. I could have waited outside the pub and attacked you. I could have poisoned you in the pub. I could have run you off the road as we drove here. I could have strangled you or stabbed you or shot you, or done any number of things when we were alone in your apartment. Like we are now. But I held you and kissed you instead.”
“Maybe you were getting me to trust you.”
“Do you?”
“No.” Though some of her trust was beginning to return, she didn’t want to admit it yet. He needed to earn it back.
“Well, there’s nothing else I can say except trust is just that. Trust. You have to believe I’m not going to harm you. Believe I only want to protect you and Opal. And then you’ll see that you’re right. What do you have to lose?”
“Umm, hello? My life, my daughter. Only my everything.”
He sighed. “I mean, I’m here now. Jeremy knows where you are. He has other men after you and after me. The odds are severely against you. You’ve got to trust someone if you’re going to get any help from anyone.”
She dropped the gun to her side. He had said almost the exact thing Mari had said. She had trusted Mari and that had turned out okay. Or had it? Her gut wrenched suddenly. What if Mari was in on it somehow? What if she was taking Opal to Jeremy this very moment?
She raised the gun again, but put it at his shoulder instead of his head. “I can’t trust anyone,” she whispered in a shaky voice.
“Okay then. I guess you’re on your own. Good luck to you.” He lifted his hands in the air and stood still.
Tears flowed down her cheeks. He spun suddenly, so he was facing her. She didn’t even react. Her mind was reeling with the possibility that she had given Opal over to the enemy. She finally set the gun down and put her hands to her face to let the sobs out.
Hunter’s strong arms wrapped around her and pulled her close. He was right. She didn’t have much choice but to trust him. To hope he wasn’t fooling her and still working for Jeremy. He kissed the top of her head.
“It’s going to be okay,” he said.
Her phone buzzed in her pocket. Once, twice. She didn’t want to see who was calling. It had to be Jeremy. But she could only ignore it for so long. She pulled it out and gasped when she saw Mari’s name.
“Hello?”
“Hi Mommy,” Opal said.
“Hi baby. What are you doing?”
“Miss Snyder took me on an adventure. We’re at her special house. It’s so neat here, Mommy! It used to be a farm and there are still horses outside!”
“That sounds great, baby. Is Miss Snyder there?”
“Yup.”
There was a muffling sound and then Mari was there. “I hope it was okay to call. She seemed a little unsure when I brought her here and I thought it might do you both good to hear each other’s voices.”
“Yes.” Vanessa let out a sigh of relief. “Thank you.”
