Page 191 of Renard's Deliverance

“I hate being the victim.”

“Don’t worry, Opal. You don’t have to be the victim for much longer,” he promised.

“I still killed him.” Shouldn’t she pay for that?

But he was a rapist.

“Or Stefan did,” he suggested. “Or whoever came in to clean up killed him.”

“You . . . you think Stefan did that?”

“It took care of the problem, so yeah, my guess is if he didn’t die of his head injuries, Stefan had him killed. There’s also another reason he might have killed him and it’s the reason why the FBI are so interested in this case. Do you know who he was?”

“He was a prick that none of the girls wanted to be in a room with. I mean, he’d only been around a couple of months, but he’d left a lot of the girls bruised and bleeding after his visits.”

“Well, the reason the FBI got involved with his death is because of who his father is.”

“Who is his father?” she asked.

“Grey Lindon. He’s a justice for the Supreme Court of Texas. He’s also married to the cousin of the President of the United States.”

“Oh hell. I’m in huge trouble, aren’t I?” She was going to be ill.

“Not if we give them someone else to go after. Did Stefan come and get you himself?” he asked.

“Y-yes. I stayed in that room with . . . with Marcus or Mark until Stefan arrived with a couple of his goons. But how are we going to lead them to Stefan? He’s dead. His guys are gone. There won’t be any footage.”

“We need a witness who saw him. Be good if we had the weapon with his prints on it but that’s not going to happen. I need to check the autopsy report. See if it was the blow to his head that killed him. Let me do that first. Just, hang tight, all right? I know this is scary, but I have your back.”

Jardin lightly squeezed her shoulder and then stepped out of the room. She waited and she waited.

Then Jardin returned and he was smiling.

“How did he die?” she asked.

“Asphyxiation. Someone smothered him to death.”

Relief filled her. But then she realized it wasn’t over yet. “I have no way to prove that it wasn’t me that smothered him. And I did hit him over the head. It’s assault at least. What jury will find me not guilty? Look at me!”

“There’s nothing wrong with you,” Jardin told her sharply. “Not a thing. But you’re not gonna have to worry about a trial.”

“I’m not? But how?” she whispered.

“You’re a Malone, Opal. You helped my cousin escape a monster. You helped Lilac. And you’re one of us. We protect our own.”

She still didn’t see how that helped. The Malones weren’t above the law.

“But what do I do? What do I tell Eli and Kellan?” she asked.

“You tell them the truth.”

The door opened and Eli and Kellan walked in. She winced as she heard Renard yelling in the background.

God, she wished she could go to him. Help him. But she couldn’t even help herself. There were dark spots in front of her eyes and she felt like she was going to vomit.

“Right. Are you ready to talk to us, Opal?” Eli asked, looking tired and defeated.

“Yes,” she whispered. “I’m ready.”

---