Page 24 of Isla by Any Other Name

Isla felt secure in Mitch’s arms. She wasn’t afraid when he was near. Did that make her weak? She needed to know she could defend herself if need be. “Mitch, can you teach me how to defend myself?”

Mitch sighed into her hair. “First off, there will always be a member of the team with you to defend you. But if you want me to teach you a few defensive moves, we can do that. Let’s get to the mat and I’ll teach you.”

They spent the next two hours working on four different moves. By the time they were done for the day, Isla was sore but proud of herself.

“You’re a natural,” smiled Mitch. “Good workout. We can work on it some more tomorrow.”

“If I can move tomorrow,” Isla laughed, rubbing her lower back. “Right now, I’m going up to my room for a good long soak. I think I was on my back more than I was on my feet.”

“You had me on the mat a few times, yourself,” said Mitch suggestively. They snuck one last kiss before heading back to the house.

Mary was no closer to finding out where Mitch’s cabin was than she was the day before. She could feel the heat coming down on her. Obviously, the property wasn’t in his name. But whose? It was a family place, so maybe it was in his mother’s maiden name. She couldn’t get into Larkin’s personnel file. If she could get into it, she might be able to find out what his mother’s maiden name was. This shouldn’t be so hard. She’d been in his office files before and had never had a problem getting in. Maybe Steve knew, but would he become suspicious if she asked? It would be too obvious. How could she find out if he knew? She needed to know. The information was there, she knew it was.

Mary stayed at the office after everyone left for the day. She needed to hack into HR’s computers. If she could find out Larkin’s mother’s maiden name, she was confident she could find out where that cabin was located. Hopefully Hernandez’s men would find Isla Pierce before it was too late—before someone found her own lifeless body.

It was after eight, the lights in the office had been down for the last hour. She would try one last time and if she didn’t get through, she would run. Go somewhere where no one would ever find her. She typed in a code and waited with bated breath as the screen loaded. She held her breath and waited.

Oh my God. She was in.

Mary’s fingers flew across the keyboard as she typed in Larkin’s name. His personnel file flashed onto the screen. She had thirty seconds to get the information and get out before her computer was tagged.

Hughes. Got it, Larkin’s mother’s maiden name was Hughes. Now she just had to go into Virginia’s records and see if she could find any property listed to a Hughes. She logged out of the file and signed off her computer and decided to head home. She could find the information from her home computer before anyone became suspicious.

Fritz was at the security desk as she was leaving. “Late night again, Mary?”

“Hi Fritz, it’s my last late night,” Mary said, grinning wider than usual. “I’m finally caught up. Have a good night. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Have a good night yourself.”

Her heart was beating in her chest so fast she thought she would die right there. Now she just needed to find that address.

Chapter fourteen

Isla spent the day making pies for Thanksgiving dinner, between feeding the team. Mitch walked in just before lunch and scanned the pies lining the counter.

“How many pies do we need?”

“I made two pumpkin, one cherry, two apple, and one mincemeat. Do you think it’s enough? I want everyone to have their favorite for dessert. I still need to make a chocolate cream pie and a banana cream.” Mitch looked at her in wonder. Isla soaked it in. “I’ve asked the whole team what their favorite dishes are. I haven’t had the chance to ask you. What’s yours?”

Mitch waved her off. “Whatever you make is fine with me. You’ve already gone overboard with this meal.”

Isla pretended to pout. “Now, don’t tell me you don’t have a special dish. Everyone has one. Tell me, please.”

Mitch caved. “Okay, fine. Every year my mom makes popovers. We can never get enough of them and there’s always a battle for the last one in the basket.”

“You’re in luck,” Isla laughed. “I had them on the menu. My mom makes popovers for every holiday. My dad would eat two before he even ate his dinner and then wonder why he wasn’t hungry.”

Mitch smiled. “Sometimes my mom would make them on Sunday mornings. They were so good. I’d fill them with whipped butter and strawberry jam. Just the thought of them makes my mouth water.” He chuckled. “Do you have time for a training session after lunch? I want to continue our training. I have a few more moves I would like to teach you. I’d also like to take you to the firing range and teach you how to use a gun.”

Isla’s stomach dropped. “Mitch, I’m not sure I want to learn how to use a gun. Just the thought of shooting at someone makes my stomach flip.”

“I want to know you can protect yourself just in case you need to. Believe me when I say, if it comes to you or the person trying to kill you, it gets easy. Besides, you’ll probably never have to use a gun, I just want you to be prepared.”

Isla sighed. “Fine, you can teach me. But for the record, I don’t like this.”

“I understand,” said Mitch. “Just humor me. Okay?”

Isla and Mitch walked to the training center in silence. Mitch unlocked the door and flicked on the lights.