Page 16 of Isla by Any Other Name

“Agent Larson, Officer Benders will remain in the room with you. The two officers you saw before entering will remain outside the door. When they’re ready for Ms. Pierce, I’ll open this door. It leads directly into the courtroom. Do you have any questions?”

“No, no questions. Thank you, Sheriff Wilson. We’ll see you soon.”

He turned to look at Isla. “Isla, why don’t you get ready? It shouldn’t take long. We’ll be in and out before you know it.”

Isla took her bag and entered the bathroom. This is it. You can and will do this, she told herself as she looked in the mirror. The wig was surprisingly good. It actually looked like her own hair. Whoever handled these situations definitely knew what they were doing. She changed into the outfit she brought.

There was a light tap on the door. “Isla, are you ready? They’re ready for you.”

Isla opened the door and looked into Mitch’s eyes for reassurance. His strength penetrated her fear. She nodded and followed him across the room. Just before the courtroom door was opened, Mitch leaned toward her and whispered into her ear.

“You can do this. I have faith in you.”

She looked at him and nodded, putting a confident, stern look on her face as she walked through the door and was directed to sit on the witness stand. She walked over and placed her hand on the Bible. She swore to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. She did it with a strong voice and took her seat. Isla watched Mitch take a seat in the front row and kept her gaze directed on him.

Soon it was her turn to answer questions. The prosecution had the floor. She was asked to tell the court what she had seen that night. She told them her story—from the time she left work at the hospital until she ran for her life into her apartment building. The prosecutor then asked her to identify the assailant. She swallowed the lump from her throat and pointed to Marcus Hernandez and spoke in a confident voice. “I saw him. He directed the other man to shoot Jim.”

“Thank you, Ms. Pierce. Your honor, no further questions. The prosecution rests.”

The defense attorney rose to start his questioning. He was a snakelike man with eyes that challenged Isla. “Ms. Pierce, are you one hundred percent certain, that the defendant, Marcus Hernandez, is the man you saw the night James Watkins was killed?”

“I am one hundred percent certain.”

The man squinted at her with disdain. “Miss Pierce, the night James Watkins was killed, wasn’t it a foggy night? Visibility was nil? How can you be sure that Marcus Hernandez was the man you saw?”

“I told the court—I heard moaning coming from the garage. I thought Jim was hurt. The back door was unlocked. The lights were on. I entered the well-lit room and saw that man.” She pointed to Marcus Hernandez, her heart thudding in her chest. “I heard him direct the other man to shoot Jim. At that time, the man did. I saw what happened and knew I had to get out of there, so I ran. The man that shot Jim came after me. The fog helped me to escape with my life, but it did not interfere with my sight in the well-lit room when Jim Watkins was shot.”

The defending council’s upper lip seemed to curl. “No further questions, your honor.”

The judge thanked Isla for her testimony, Mitch rose, and they left the courtroom.

They stood in the waiting room until Sheriff Wilson entered. “We’re ready to get you out of here. Are you ready?” Isla was frozen, stunned. She couldn’t believe that had just happened. She couldn’t believe she’d relived the worst night of her life, clearly, in front of so many people. She couldn’t believe she’d been in the room with the murderer.

“Isla, are you ready?” Mitch echoed.

Isla shook her head to clear it. “As ready as I’ll ever be. Can I change into my jeans first?”

“Sure, go ahead,” Sheriff Wilson said.

It took her seconds to pull on her jeans. They’d be much easier to travel in. She put on her sneakers and walked back into the room. Mitch and the sheriff were talking closely. Mitch looked up, “Ready?”

“All set.”

The sheriff left the room. Her team and the other two officers surrounded her once again as they left the room. They entered the parking garage and got into the vehicles they’d arrived in. They pulled out and were headed back to the highway. Just before they were to enter the highway entrance, Mitch pulled away from the convoy and Isla watched another black SUV slide in where they had once been.

Isla looked over at Mitch and his brow was furrowed. She figured now wasn’t the time to ask questions, so she looked straight ahead. They pulled into another underground garage and drove to the top level where Mitch directed her to get out of the car. She did as she was told. Mitch came around and took her arm and directed her to a maroon SUV. He opened the back door and helped her in. “Molly, stay down, lie down on the seat.” She did just that as Mitch got into the driver seat and pulled away. “Don’t be afraid, it’s just a precaution. Someone could have put a tracker on the car. We’ll meet up with the rest of the team as soon as possible.”

“I’m not scared, Mitch,” Isla said as she lay in the backseat. “Not anymore. Not with you.” She lay quiet as Mitch drove. Her testimony over, she fell into a deep sleep for the first time in ages.

Chapter ten

“Molly, wake up. We’re here,” said Mitch. Isla didn’t know where here was. She sat up in her seat and looked around. They were in a motel parking lot.

“Wait here and stay down. I’m going in to get a room.”

Five minutes later, Mitch was back. They drove to the back of the motel and Mitch parked the SUV in front of one of the other rooms. He got out of the car and helped her out. Then he guided her to their room. It was a standard bad motel room—two queen beds, bad wallpaper, paisley quilts. A rug that had seen some things.

“We’re just staying here for the night, as a precaution,” said Mitch. “Lara and Colt are nearby. Dirk and Max are headed back to the compound. We want to make sure we haven’t been compromised. If all is well, we’ll be on the road again in the morning. We can’t trust that we weren’t followed.”