Chapter 28

Havinga panic attack in the courtroom seemed to have burst the bubble of stress and worry that I had carried in with me that morning. On returning to the stand after the recess I felt more confident in my answers.

"Now, Mr Love, if I could again take you back to the night in question. What was it that prompted Mrs Gibson to lose her temper with you?"

"The first time I suggested that Mr Gibson might still love her. The second time I told her that I didn't send the notes that she thought I had. She told me I was lying and hit me with the gun again. Things escalated after that. She didn't believe me when I said that the song she thought was written for her wasn't. The culmination of it all was her screaming ‘no' and shooting me."

"Do you believe the defendant intended to kill you?"

"Yes," I replied, there was no doubt in my mind that at that moment, Natasha was so hurt and angry about my rejection that she absolutely wanted to kill me.

"What happened directly after you were shot Mr Love?"

I paused; my memory of the moment had returned slowly over the last few months. "I remember Levi, Mr Campbell that is, had a hold of Mrs Gibson. He disarmed her. I remember hearing Mr Thatcher's voice and I believe I lost consciousness at that point. When I came to again there were police and paramedics. I remember the flashing lights of their vehicles shining on the ceiling of the cottage as I was on the floor."

"Do you remember anything else, Mr Love?"

"Not until I woke in the hospital after surgery," I answered.

"If Mr Thatcher and Mr Campbell had not arrived when they did, were you made aware of what would have happened?" McAdams asked.

"Objection, My Lord, Advocate McAdams is leading the witness."

The judge upheld the objection, and the question was rephrased.

"Did the doctors explain the severity of your injuries to you, Mr Love?"

"Yes. They explained to me that I would have died had I not received assistance when I did. I would have lost too much blood."

"So, it was fortunate that Mr Campbell and Mr Thatcher arrived when they did?"

"It was. They saved my life."

"Thank you, Mr Love. No further questions."

The restof the trial passed mostly without incident. Natasha and her Advocate tried to paint a picture of how she was a poor na?ve teenager who had been abused and damaged and further led astray by the bright lights and appeal of a romance with a pop star. McAdams did incredibly well at rebutting that idea and making her instead look like a mentally ill woman who, in a deranged tantrum, tried to take a man's life.

The jury didn't take long to return a verdict either. Just two and a half hours after they retired to consider their decision, they came back to court.

"In the case of Crown versus Mrs Natasha Gibson, one count stalking and harassment, one count abduction, one count attempted murder, how do you find?"

The foreperson of the jury announced their verdict. "In the case of stalking, we find the defendant guilty. In the case of abduction, we find the defendant guilty. In the case of attempted murder, we find the defendant guilty."

Relief washed over me, and I turned to hug Tom tightly. He kissed my cheek as I did and held me tight.

"You did it," he whispered against my ear.

"Mrs Gibson, you have been found guilty on all counts. Upon hearing all the evidence in this case, I believe that your acts were carried out with a level of malice that warrants the highest sentence this court allows. Therefore, I am sentencing you to life imprisonment. You shall be removed from this courtroom and taken to His Majesty's Prison in Stirling to serve your sentence."

And with those words, this part of the journey was over. Trevor had been found guilty in his trial just a month before Natasha's had started. He had been given a lesser sentence, but he was still going to be locked up for at least fifteen years.

I walkedout of that court in Glasgow feeling lighter and standing straighter. I had justice, and more importantly I had closure. I was free from the drama of it and ready to move on.