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“Well, Opal wasn’t there, so not much. He’s going to come back. That’s not the main thing we need help with, though.” She glanced over at Hunter again, knowing this had to work if she was going to save him from committing murder on her behalf. “We need to build a case against Jeremy, so we can have him locked up. Otherwise, he’ll have me killed. He’s already tried.”
Mari’s face grew sad and worried. “So, the men who are after you—”
“Aren’t just after me to get Opal. Jeremy hired Hunter to kill me. Luckily, Hunter has a conscience and decided not to go through with it.” As soon as the words were out of her mouth, she worried that she might have done something wrong. Sure, Mari was on their side, trying to help save them, but Hunter probably didn’t want a bunch of people knowing the truth. Maybe he would be really pissed about this. She didn’t look at him.
Mari gave Hunter another look, longer this time. She held her hand where Hunter couldn’t see it and gave Vanessa a thumbs up. Despite what he was capable of, Mari approved. It almost made Vanessa laugh. She’d gone from being married to a wife beater to sleeping with a hit man. She sure knew how to pick them.
“The problem is,” Vanessa continued, “I don’t know how we can get evidence to have Jeremy arrested. Right now, there’s more evidence pointing to me than to him.”
“You said CPS came and will come again,” Mari said. “So use that to your advantage.”
“How can I? Jeremy already accused me of hurting Opal.”
“Exactly. So turn it around. Tell the truth. Tell them what he did to you and Opal and what he’s doing now. They have to listen and do a full investigation. Use emails, text messages, phone messages, photos, whatever you have that will show how Jeremy hurt you and paint a picture of what he’s really like.”
“You think that will work? They’re not going to think I’m making it all up?”
“Vanessa. They won’t find any proof at all of you mistreating Opal. And when they talk to her—”
“Whoa. Talk to her? I’m not letting her go off with some CPS guy and let him scare her. What if she misunderstands or says something wrong?”
Mari put her hand over Vanessa’s. “Trust her. She’ll tell the truth. And you’ll instruct her to tell the whole truth. It might seem scary, but having her talk to the CPS guy will help. He can see what Opal is like and how happy she is, and when she tells him the truth, he’ll understand.”
Vanessa sucked in a long breath and looked to Hunter. “Do you agree?”
“I think Nicholas will know Opal isn’t lying. They’re trained to look for that sort of thing. To see if a parent has coached a kid in a certain way.”
“And you think having the CPS guy—Nicholas—on our side will help in a case against Jeremy? Won’t it look bad that Jeremy called him, and I didn’t if I was the one being hurt?”
“Not when you outline the whole picture,” Mari said. “You’ll show how scared you were, and how Jeremy manipulated the doctors before, and tell them you were afraid he’d do it again. You’ll show them text messages and other ways he tormented you for the years of your marriage, so that they see why you were afraid to go to the authorities. When they understand what he did to you and see the influence he has where he is because of his money and connections, they’ll get it.”
Vanessa chewed her lip. “What are the chances this could go horribly wrong and Jeremy will somehow have all these people in his pocket and end up turning this around on me?”
Mari looked away and exchanged glances with Hunter.
“Don’t worry about that,” Hunter said. “First of all, you have us as witnesses, too. And besides that, if he somehow pulls that off, then I’ll take care of it.”
Right. The backup plan she never intended to put into use. The one she’d told him she was fine with in case things went wrong, but that she was so not fine with. Though, if Jeremy did manage to take Opal, maybe she would change her mind. Could she eventually get rid of the guilt if it meant keeping Opal safe and with her?
