Page 47 of Isla by Any Other Name

“It went well,” said Isla, with a shrug. “I’m ready.”

“Good,” said Ciara. She started to leave the room, then stopped. “I just wanted you to know that we’ll always be here for you. We’ll be in touch and available to you 24/7. I know you got close to your old team and it’s hard to leave them. But we’re on your side, always.”

Isla nodded. She couldn’t talk past the lump in her throat.

“Are you okay?” Ciara asked. “I heard you this morning in the bathroom.”

Isla had spent her day thus far throwing up. “I’m fine,” she said. “It’s just my nerves. I get queasy when I’m anxious. I’ve been that way since I was a kid in foster care. I’ll be fine when this is all over and I can get back to a routine. Thanks for your concern though.”

Ciara gave a small smile. “Not a problem. I was just worried about you.”

“Thanks, Ciara,” said Isla. “I think I’m going to take a quick nap before we leave. I’m exhausted.”

“I’ll wake you at noon,” promised Ciara. “It’s only thirty minutes to the courthouse.” She turned and closed the door.

Isla curled up on the bed and cupped her belly, a tear rolling down her cheek.

The thing was, Isla had missed her last two periods. If she couldn’t have Mitch, at least she’d always carry this part of him.

She just wondered how long she could hide it.

Isla dressed in a pale suit for the trial. She slipped the purple sea glass Mitch had given her into her pocket. It was smooth and round. It fit in the palm of her hand. Its warmth comforted her and reminded her of the peaceful walks they’d had around the compound and the beach.

She stuffed her jeans and T-shirt into her bag and looked around one last time. She hadn’t been in this safe house long. Just long enough to meet with the DA and then testify. In the weeks leading up to the trial, the Marshals’ office had been drilling her about her new life and her new past, along with all the rules she needed to follow.

She found Ciara and Steve in the kitchen going over the route they would be taking to the courthouse. Ciara looked up and smiled. “Are you ready to get this over with? Just think—in a few short hours you’ll have your life back.”

“Thank you,” she said, but didn’t return the smile. She was done smiling for show. “But we all know I’ll never have my life back.”

Isla waited in a room in the courthouse, feeling numb. Her stomach rolled as she waited for her name to be called. She kept expecting that at any moment, Mitch might walk into the room and take her in his arms.

She knew she had to accept that Mitch was out of her life forever. She placed her hand on her belly and thanked God for giving her this gift. This child would never replace the love she had for Mitch, but it would make her life tolerable. She would love their baby with all her heart. She would tell their baby about its wonderful father.

The bailiff opened the door leading into the courtroom. “Are you ready?”

Isla stood up tall. When she came face to face with Marcus Hernandez, he would not intimidate her. She was standing up to a monster who was responsible for countless deaths. She was ready for this to be over. She wasn’t just fighting for her own life anymore. This was for her child.

Isla walked into the courtroom. Instead of avoiding Marcus Hernandez’s gaze, she locked eyes with him. She stood next to the witness stand and swore her oath, once again. She sat in the witness chair for an hour answering both the DA’s and the defending attorney’s questions. She answered them without emotion, to the best of her ability and with confidence. She would not let anyone intimidate her anymore. She was done. So much had been taken away from her, but no more.

Finally she was led out of the courtroom. It was over.

Chapter twenty-five

Hardin was a small town, right on the edge of the Crow Reservation. Its population was less than 4,000 people. From the look of the houses, people here didn’t have much in excess.

The Marshals gave her a small two-bedroom cottage twenty minutes from the clinic and a little under an hour to Billings. She would start work the following week. She needed at least a week to get settled. The cottage had been furnished for her, and miraculously, her things from her old apartment had been packed and left for her to go through. At least she would have her personal things with her. She wouldn’t have to start over from scratch furnishing the cottage.

A picket fence surrounded the yard and an untended garden grew in a shamble against the house. She would tackle the outside after she organized the inside.

Ciara handed Isla the key. “Welcome home, Siobhan. We’re staying at a small motel in town for the next few days to help you get settled and then we’re off to Albuquerque. Here’s to a new start. “

Isla unlocked the door and entered the cool, dark interior. She felt herself exhale. This was home now.

With her new identity, Isla felt almost free. She left the cottage and unlocked the door to her new-to-her Toyota Camry and drove the five miles to the downtown area of Hardin. She planned to pick up groceries and to stop in the drug store to pick up a pregnancy test. She knew with all her heart that she was pregnant, but she needed to confirm it and hopefully talk to the pharmacist on hand to recommend a good OB/GYN in the area. She was thirty-six. Not a young mother—the sooner she had a doctor, the better she’d feel.

Driving down the highway brought back memories of when she’d been on the run from the assassins sent to kill her. Scared was too mild a word for how she had felt that day, but Mitch had made her feel safe. She checked the rearview mirror for the twentieth time in the short drive into town to see if she was being followed. Would she ever feel safe again?

After filling the trunk with her groceries, she walked across the street to the drugstore and found the feminine aisle. She stood there for fifteen minutes reading the backs of all the pregnancy tests. She picked two and turned to leave when a young woman with a toddler in a cart entered the aisle. She smiled and cooed to the little one who beamed up at her. She eyed the tests in Isla’s hands. “So a baby, maybe?”