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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 proving 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.”
“So, why would you do it?” Nicholas asked. “You might end up in jail yourself.”
Vanessa had silent tears running down her face and gave him a pleading look. He didn’t want to hurt her, and he knew she didn’t want him going away for her, but what choice did he have?
“Because I will do anything to keep Vanessa and Opal safe and away from him. Even if it means incriminating myself along the way.”
