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“Let go of me!”
He dropped his grip on her immediately. At least he knew better than put a heavy hand on her. She might be tempted to reach for her gun and shoot him herself if he was going to grab her like that and hold her.
“I know what I’m talking about,” he said. “I’ve been there. Trust me. Running only makes new problems in a new area.”
“Maybe someone like you can just stick around and force your way through hard situations. But I’m a single mother with a little girl who is counting on me. I can’t afford to sit around with a target on my head. Jeremy won’t find me and CPS won’t, either.”
“Like he didn’t find you this time.”
She glared at him and turned way. “I’ll find a better place. I’ll change our appearance more. I’ll be more careful.”
“And you weren’t careful this time? Vanessa, listen to yourself. I can protect you if you’re here. If you run and go somewhere I’ve never been, I might come with you, but I won’t know the area, I won’t have connections. I can protect you best here. And I wouldn’t mess around with those CPS dicks. They don’t take it lightly when a parent flees after being questioned. Are you trying to make yourself look guilty?”
“Don’t worry about it. I don’t need you to protect me.” This was why she’d learn how to shoot a gun and why she’d gotten some training. She didn’t want to have to depend on anyone but herself. “I don’t need anyone’s help.”
She stormed over to the closet and pushed the door open. It banged loudly. She grabbed her large suitcase from its place on the floor. She’d put it there beside her other bag—the one she’d sent along with Opal to Mari’s. This one was the one she’d use if it came to this, if it came to running again. And now it had. There was no other choice for her. She had no better way to protect Opal.
Vanessa flung the suitcase onto the bed and unzipped it, then pushed the top open. From her dresser, she started pulling out random clothing and dumping it in, barely paying attention to which things she included. When her underwear drawer was empty, she moved on to her pants drawer.
Hunter stood there, watching her for a moment with his arms crossed. Then, he stepped forward, shut the suitcase, and yanked it from the bed. Vanessa got a grip on the side handle and tugged it back, trying to free his grip on the top handle. Half the contents spilled out in her struggle, but his grip held tight.
He pulled back and tossed the suitcase across the room. She clenched her jaw and lunged to the side to grab it. Hunter stepped forward and grabbed her instead.
He picked her up with a tight wrap of his arms and took two steps toward the bed. Then he threw her down on the bed. She bounced a little, the air knocked from her lungs. She gasped hard to get her breath back.
Hunter climbed on top of her, holding her hands by her side. “You’re not going anywhere.”
