Page 38 of Exacting Vengeance

There was something ominous about the clock’s incessant ticking. It reminded her of a death nell. She had to stop thinking that way. Aly would be safe. She’d be safe. As long as they remained sequestered in this hidden tomb. With all the agents and U.S. Marshals guarding them, she should have felt more at ease. It was Kyle’s absence that made her edgy, like the floor was about to drop out beneath her feet.

Deke clicked the microphone clipped to his jacket sleeve. “Copy that. I’ll tell her.” He pulled out a chair and sat. “Aly, your mother’s fine. Nobody’s come to the house to talk to her about you or where you are. But we did find two listening devices. That’s probably how they knew what town the safehouse was in.”

Aly breathed a sigh of relief. “Thank you.”

“And we stationed two agents outside her house.”

“Thanks.” She gave him a shaky smile.

“The deputy marshal who was shot?” Victoria looked from Deke to Jack. “Have you heard anything yet?”

“He’ll be fine,” Jack assured her. “He said he owes you a scarf.”

“I’m glad he’s okay.” Part of her, the part that was still somewhat in shock, couldn’t believe someone had actually been shooting at them. It was all too surreal. Like a bad movie playing out before her eyes.

The door opened. Kyle stood there, tension on his handsome face. “It’s time.”

Aly took in shaky breaths, her brown eyes liquid pools of fear. Victoria placed her hand on the woman’s shoulder. “It will all be over soon. This is what you’ve been waiting for, what you’ve worked so hard for. Remember what I told you.”

She nodded and stood. “I will.”

As Aly headed to the door, Victoria’s insides churned. Today was about Aly, but part of her felt as if this was her battle, one she’d been avoiding for a long time.

“You can watch the trial from here.” Kyle turned on the wall monitor. “You can listen, but they can’t hear anything you say.”

The camera was aimed at the corner of the room near the judge’s bench and the witness box. She could just make out the edge of a red carpet with an elaborate gold design. He turned up the volume, and the low hum of voices came through the speaker.

“Ready?” he said to Aly.

“Ready,” she answered.

Kyle rested a reassuring hand on Aly’s shoulder. “You’ve already been called to the stand, so when we walk in, go directly to the witness chair, just as we did in rehearsal. You’ll do great. I know you will.” She nodded. “Good. Let’s go.” He met Victoria’s gaze. “I’m leaving a Federal Protective Service officer outside this door. I’ll come back for you.”

Then he was gone. The door closed, leaving her alone with her memories…and her fears. Ten years ago, he hadn’t come back for her. Although he’d never said he would.

Five minutes later, a recessed door in the dark brown wood paneling next to the witness box opened. She’d been told this was the private entry normally used for prisoners and high-risk witnesses so they didn’t have to walk through the public hallways.

Kyle appeared first, narrowing his eyes as he scanned the courtroom. The intensity on his face was unnerving. His gaze was penetrating, vicious, even. Gone was the man who had, only moments ago, showed genuine compassion for a woman who was about to face the biggest fear of her life. This was a man she didn’t know, had never known— the cold, hardened professional. The federal agent. Yet both personas were facets of his complex personality, and right now it was the federal agent in him that was focused on protecting a vulnerable witness with his very life. Still searching the room, he moved aside and opened the door wider.

Aly stepped into the courtroom and froze like a statue. Her eyes were big and still fear-filled. Even the monitor didn’t miss the slight tremble of her lips.

“Oh no,” Victoria whispered. This wasn’t a strong beginning to what would surely be a brutal cross-examination from defense counsel, which was precisely why she wanted to be in the courtroom with her client.

Kyle guided Aly to the witness box, then returned to a position against the wall next to the door they’d entered from. His ever-intense gaze never stopped sweeping the room.

The bailiff approached the witness box and placed a bible on the rail. “Place your left hand on the bible and raise your right hand.” Aly did as she had rehearsed. “Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you God?”

“I do.” Her voice wavered slightly, and her Adam’s apple bobbed up and down.

Hang in there. She hoped Aly could hear her silent prayer.

Victoria couldn’t see the judge but heard him say, “You may be seated.”

Aly sat, then shifted in the chair, as if she couldn’t find a comfortable position. Victoria knew the signs. Aly was nervous, not at all like she’d been when they’d rehearsed this with AUSA Washington. The reason was obvious. While Victoria couldn’t see him, Aly’s husband, Boris Kolbayev, was there, sitting at the defense’s table, staring directly at her. Victoria understood how difficult this was for her.

“Look straight ahead,” Victoria said out loud. The prosecution’s table was directly in front of the witness stand. Aly’s eyes darted to the right, where her husband was seated with his attorney. “No. Don’t look at him.”

Except for the moment when AUSA Washington asked her to identify her husband, Victoria had warned Aly not to look directly at Boris. This had been a suggestion to minimize eye contact, something that might be Aly’s undoing. Judging from her demeanor, that emotional string was already unraveling.