Page 60 of Isla by Any Other Name

Curt looked out the hospital windows. The small city below, surrounded by open land. “It’s possible. I remember that she was a nurse practitioner specializing in emergency medicine before she went into witness protection. And if the Marshals are going to send a witness somewhere…it’s a place like this. He could be right. It would be a pretty big coincidence if it were her. I can try to find out, but it’s almost impossible. Once someone’s in witness protection, there’s no way to trace them. The US Marshals are good at what they do. I can have Kip look into it. He may be able to hack into the hospital’s computer system. It shouldn’t be too hard to access the human resources department. If it’s her, they would have her picture on file. I’m sure we could identify her. It wasn’t that long ago.”

“I think we should try. If that was her, Mitch deserves to know,” Nick said.

“It would kill him,” argued Jax.

“It could save him,” countered Nick.

Curt cut in. “You guys head back to the ranch. I’ll give Kip a call and he can check things out. Mitch will probably sleep all day anyway and I’ll just be sitting here. It’ll give me something to do.”

Mitch woke when the nurse came in to check his vitals. For a moment, he thought it was Isla again. He’d been in and out of dreams about her for hours. But the first one—that was too real to be a dream.

Isla had smiled up at him and took his hand in hers. They fit so well together, they were meant to be together. She had walked him away from the brightness with a smile that radiated, her face nearly glowing. He followed where she led him, through the fog that surrounded him. He turned back and tugged her hand, wanting her to come with him into the light. She smiled and shook her head no and they walked together through the fog. Where they were going, he didn’t know, but he knew he would follow her anywhere.

He knew she’d been there with him.

“Hello, Mr. Larkin,” this nurse said. It wasn’t Isla. She had dyed purple hair and a nose stud. “How are you feeling?”

“Like I was hit with a Mack truck,” Mitch grumbled.

The nurse laughed. “I’m sure. Getting shot does that to a person. Let’s get you up and in the chair for a while. I want to check your vitals and change the bedding. You have a friend in the waiting room. Let’s get you cleaned up and you can have some company for a while.”

“Thanks ma’am.”

Curt found Mitch sitting up in bed. “Hey man, you sure can scare the hell out of somebody.”

“Scared myself, this time,” said Mitch. “I think I saw the light.”

“The doc told us you coded twice before they got you into surgery. I guess Cal’s trucks aren’t bulletproof. Your hip is pretty messed up. You’ll probably be out of commission for a while.”

“I kinda figured,” said Mitch, rubbing a hand over his face, feeling the little cuts there from the broken windshield. “Curt, was Isla here? I felt her. She kissed my palm. I couldn’t open my eyes to look.”

“You sure you weren’t dreaming she was here, Mitch?”

“I felt her,” said Mitch. He’d dreamed about her, yes, but it was more than that. “I know she was here. She was here, Curt!”

“I’ll tell you what. We’ll look into it. If she works here, we’ll find her. I promise. But we have to be really careful. If the US Marshals get wind we’ve been snooping, we could lose our license. We can’t put her in danger. It would be defeating the purpose of witness protection.”

Mitch banged his fist against the soft bedding. “I want her safe, Curt. I just need to know she’s alright. I won’t try to contact her. I promise.”

“Okay, let me see what we can do. If we find her, it’s just between us. No one else needs to know.”

Chapter thirty

On the ride home, Kech leaned over and threaded his fingers through Isla’s. “I know you’ve been hiding something, Siobhan. What’s going on?”

Isla wiped under her eyes. “It’s a long story, but it has to stay between the two of us. No one else can know. I’m probably putting you in danger by just telling you.”

“Tell me your story, Siobhan. Let me worry about my safety. You need to talk to someone.”

So, Isla told Kech everything. She didn’t leave anything out. It felt good to tell someone what she’d been through. Her heart ached while she told him how she and Mitch had fallen in love those months that they were together and how they couldn’t be together because of the monster who was out to kill her. That the only way to stay alive was to go into the Witness Protection Program and that’s how she had ended up in Montana. She told him that Mitch didn’t know about the baby and it was better that way.

“Kech, if he knew about the baby, he would be here. I almost lost him tonight. I need to keep him safe and Jesse safe. It’s my fault that they’re in danger.”

“Siobhan, first off, it’s not your fault that any one’s in danger. You did nothing wrong. That monster behind bars is at fault. And from the looks of it, Mitch isn’t doing a very good job of staying out of danger. So stop blaming yourself. If it makes you feel any better, I’ll check on him while he’s at St. Vincent’s.”

Isla’s eyes brightened. Kech could tell that she would live off crumbs of information about Mitch Larkin for the rest of her life if need be. “Thanks, Kech,” Isla said. “I love you, ya know.”

“Yeah, I know,” said Kech warmly. “You’re the sister I’ve always wanted. As soon as I met you, I knew we were destined to be friends forever.” He chuckled. “Now let’s go give that baby some of his mama’s love and then I don’t want to hear a peep out of you till morning. Doctor’s orders.”