The living room had two large windows, both had shades that were tattered and torn, but both were pulled down all the way.
“Fuckin’ kids,” he mumbled and peeked out of the window. All the streetlights were on and there wasn’t a soul in sight. Everyone, including himself, was in for the night. Probably doing the exact same thing that he was doing, sitting down in front of the television, or perhaps they were reading in bed, or on their computers. Whatever they were doing, it didn’t matter to him. He’d taken no interest in getting to know his neighbors, nor had they taken any interest in getting to know him.
When he saw that nothing was out of place, he shrugged his shoulders and sat down.
A soft creaking sound came from the kitchen and he shook his head at his growing paranoia. “Being out in the sticks will do that to a man,” Maria once said to him. She was commenting on his ever-growing need to check everything out.
“I don’t understand it,” she said one night.
“What?”
“Why do you always look over your shoulder? I noticed that you do it even when we’re at home. A man shouldn’t have to look over his shoulder, especially in his own home.”
Maria’s question was met with a shrug of the shoulders and a kiss on the cheek.
But habit was habit, so when he heard the soft creaking sound again, he sat upright in his recliner and put his beer down on the coffee table.
Something wasn’t right.
There was no light in the hallway that led from the living room to the kitchen and Juan always had to feel his way around. When he reached the kitchen and flicked on the light, his bladder immediately betrayed him.
Sitting at the kitchen table, was Ricardo Castillo.
Castillo looked down at the puddle of urine and shook his head. He placed his hands, palm down on the table as he spoke.
“I thought that my search for you was going to be a bit more like a game of hide and seek. But in this day and age, nothing stays hidden for long, not when one has access to the internet.
I wonder, Juan... or should I say Paulo? Whatever, it doesn’t matter,” Castillo waved his hand in the air dismissively.
“I wonder if you know what the word retribution means. I’m guessing by your reaction that you do not. Well then,” he got up from the chair.
“Let me explain its meaning to you. First, just let me say that while I’ve been in prison these last three years, I’ve learned a lot of important words. You see, being locked up, day after day, night after night, with nothing to do, but think and read, allows one to reflect on the many things that have caused them to be in such a predicament.
So you can imagine that I’ve spent these three years, not only reading, but thinking about you… and Madison West of course. Because the two of you are the ones who put me in such a horrible predicament.
If it wasn’t for you two, I’d be a very, very rich man by now. But I digress; let’s get back to the meaning of retribution. It’s very simple. Retribution means punishment that is justified or morally right. Now, watching you die will not only give me great pleasure, old friend, but it will give me piece of mind. You gave me up to the feds for your freedom, now you will give your life for mine.”
Castillo had moved in closer, he wanted to see the look of horror in Juan’s eyes. It was a look he’d waited three years to see.
“You are one disgusting pig.” Castillo lifted up his foot and shook off the urine.
Beads of sweat began to appear on Juan’s upper lip and his body trembled.
“Adiós, rata.” Castillo nodded to his two associates and stepped away from Juan.
The two associates pulled black leather gloves tight over their hands and moved towards Juan.
It took almost thirty minutes for him to die.
Castillo watched while Juan Hernandez drew in his last gurgle of breath. He sucked back the saliva in his mouth before expelling it into Juan's face. He then turned around and walked away.
“Now come on, I just got a text. I’ve got to see a woman about a GPS locator." He grinned and walked out the door.
Chapter Nine
One of the luxuries of the Madison Hotel was complimentary turn down service. It took hardly any time for a maid to provide the service, but it was monotonous to say the least. So when a young woman approached the maid who handled turn down service for the third floor and asked her if she’d like to make a little extra money, the maid nodded her head and said yes.
Higgins contact had followed Madison all the way from Memphis International Airport to the Madison Hotel.
How ironic, she thought to herself as she slipped the maid a couple of crisp, 100-dollar bill’s and casually walked into Madison West’s hotel room.
****
When she arrived at Hank’s place, Madison was glad that there was no line outside the bar. The evening was a humid one and the windows were all steamed up.
She was met with a blast of cool air and live Jazz music when she opened up the door. After showing the bouncer her identification, she squeezed her way through the layers of people and made her way over to the bar. A male bartender was busy making drinks and customers were shouting out their orders to him. It was a far cry than what she was used to.
The old place had been more subdued and quiet. It was more like a small, local, one stop bar, rather than a popular tourist attraction. This place was jammed packed and it didn’t bother her one bit.
When she was finally able to get the bartenders attention, she had to shout. He eyed her up and down with a questionable look before telling her that Hank was in the back hosting a private party.
He jerked his head in the direction of the V.I.P room.
Making her way to the back, butterflies began to stir in her stomach and an enthusiastic smile spread across her face. It had been so long.
A waitress appeared from the kitchen, she was carrying a platter of barbecue ribs and the aroma made her mouth water.
“You here for the party?” The waitress asked her.
Madison shook her head. “No, I’m looking for the owner, Hank. Is he around?”
“Sure, follow me.”
When they reached the room, Madison saw about two dozen men and women. Some were sitting on plush sofas, while others were standing around talking. There was music-playing, people laughing and in the corner, she spotted Hank and Donna.
“He’s over there.” The waitress made a motion with her head.
“Thank you.” Madison smiled politely at the woman and made her way over to the table.
Hank had his back to her. He was talking to his wife and at first, her look of surprise did not register with him, but when he turned around, his eyes widened and his mouth creased into a smile.
“Madison?” His mouth fell open. He could hardly believe that she was standing in front of him.
“Well don’t just stand there, you old fool, get out of the way so that I can give her a hug!” Donna exclaimed and pulled Madison into a hearty hug.
The feeling was unlike anything she’d experienced, being in her warm embrace, felt like being home.
“Come here.” Hank playfully tugged her out of his wife’s arms and wrapped his arms tightly around her.
“You are a sight for sore eyes! My god, you haven’t aged one bit! I wish I could say the same about myself,” He said as he held her at arm’s length.
Madison wiped tears of happiness from her eyes.
“You both look amazing, by the way. Owning a popular new bar agrees with the two of you.”
“The humdrum life never has, and never will, be for us!” Donna gave her another hug.
“Wait a minute. You sure it’s alright for you to be here?” Hank raised an eyebrow and looked around cautiously.
“It’s fine Hank, really.”
“Well, I suppose that under the circumstances you couldn’t ask to be in a more secure place.”
Madison looked around. “What do you mean?”
“Any of these folks look familia
r?” He asked, motioning towards the crowded room with his hands.
“No. But why would they?”
“A marshal is leaving the business, so the fellas down at the western district decided to have a little going away party for him. You, my dear, are surrounded by United States Marshals.
It wasn’t until he’d said it, that Madison began to survey the room.
On the other side of the room she spotted Deputy Faith.
Her eyes widened in disbelief.
“I take it that you recognize some of these men?” Donna winked and folder her arms across her chest.
Madison could only nod her head. If Deputy Faith was there, perhaps…
There were a couple of saucy looking blondes moving around the small group of men. They were making it difficult for her to see who Faith was sitting next to.
“Don’t break your neck to get a better look Madison. Go on over there, and say hi to the man.” Both Donna and Hank nudged her forward. She turned around and grinned at them, and Donna made a ‘shoo- shoo’ motion with her hands.
As she walked by the tables, she noticed that a few of the men, stole a couple of glances at her. She wondered if they recognized her from the Castillo case.
All of a sudden she felt uneasy and insecure.
The mood at the small table was jovial and a quick glance around told her that Cole was not at the table with Deputy Faith.
“Am I interrupting?" Madison tapped him on the shoulder and grinned.
“Holy shit! Madison? What the hell are you doing here?” Faith moved his athletic six-foot frame off of the plush, velvet chair and looked around quickly, before snatching her up into his warm embrace.
“My God you look amazing! How have you been?”
“I’ve been fine, just fine.” She smiled at him.
He pulled her closer and whispered in her ear. “I heard that they dropped you from the program. I was so sorry to hear that. But hey, how’s married life? Is Calloway here?” His eyes looked beyond her in search of Tristan.
“No he’s not.” The look of sorrow that flooded her eyes told him it was best not to press the subject.
“Oh… well… My God it’s so good to see you!” He pulled her in for another hug.
While Faith introduced her to the people sitting at the table, Deputy Cole Harding was making his way back inside. He’d gone out to his car to get something and when he entered the private party, he noticed that the air in the room seemed electrified.
Hank and his wife seemed even more excited than they had been earlier.
The department must have given them an extra-large tip, he laughed to himself.
Deputy Faith had made a new friend. Cole shook his head in wonderment. He found it mind numbing that a married man could elicit such attention from the opposite sex. Better him than me, he thought to himself.
As he approached the table, a warm, citrusy, summer scent filled his nostrils and he closed his eyes for a moment to relish in it. Somewhere in the room, some woman had the audacity to be wearing the same scent as former witness, Madison West.
He kept his eyes closed for a moment longer and tried shaking the memories out of his head.
“Hi.” Her heart thumped in anticipation of his reaction.
She’d said it so casual, that for a moment, he thought that he was dreaming.
Her eyes narrowed in on his face, a face that was still as handsome and rugged as ever.
Cole fought the urge to sweep her into his arms and kiss her long and hard. The music and chatter seemed to fade into the background. And for a brief moment, it felt like it was just the two of them.
“Madison.” It was all that he could say before wrapping his arms around her.
She hugged him back and was hesitant to leave the comfort of his arms. Images of sharing vulnerable moments in the dark with him, flashed through her mind. That was when she knew, she had to let go.
A feeling of dread and apprehension came over him. What was she doing here? Sure she’d been dropped from the program, but why was she back in Memphis? And more importantly, where the hell was her husband?
“You look wonderful,” he said. Madison couldn’t help but notice that he had not released his hold on her.
“Thank you, so do you.” Madison thought her tone, ridiculous. Things were formal, way too formal. This was Cole Harding, the man who’d gone through great measures to protect her.
Cole nodded to Faith and took hold of her hand as he led her away to a more secluded spot.
“Madison, what are you doing here? It’s not safe for you to be here.”
“Three years and you’re still worried about my safety.” She chuckled.
Cole raised his hands in surrender. “I know, I know. That’s your husband’s job now, right? Speaking of which, where is he?”
Madison’s stomach lurched. Besides a few friends and co-workers back in Maine, Tristan’s death had been confined to those closest to him.
There was nothing she could do except come right out and say it.
“He’s gone Cole. He was killed in the line of duty, a year ago.”
She was surprised at how easily the words slipped from her mouth. Was it the length of time or present company that allowed her to speak the words she thought would surely cause her to crumble?
Cole sighed heavily and ran his fingers through his hair. Hair that she couldn’t help but notice had grown longer.
“Jesus. I'm sorry Madison. I had no idea. After we put Castillo away, Faith and I got offered the chance to work at a field office down in the Dominican Republic. We needed to coordinate our fugitive investigations with law enforcement there. But…” he shook his head.
“That’s not important right now. How have you been holding up? How’s his daughter, Zoe? I want you to tell me everything.”
A group of people whizzed by almost knocking him into her.
Being that close to her again caused all of his buried, lustrous desires to come bubbling back to the surface.
He wanted to tell her that he hadn’t been able to forget her, but thought now, not the right time. The woman has lost her husband, it was obvious that she still needed time to grieve and lustful innuendos were not going to be the way to help heal her grief-stricken heart.
He was so close that she could feel the heat coming from his body. It surrounded her with a smothering attraction. It stirred her in such a way that it made her blush of embarrassment, but most of all, guilt.
She placed her hands upon his chest and gently pushed him back a few steps.
“Would you mind if we caught up a little later? I need to speak to Hank and Donna and I don’t want to ruin the party.” She grinned nervously.
Before he could utter another word, Madison casually eased out from under his penetrating gaze and walked towards the other side of the room.
“It’s my party,” he mumbled and headed back to his table.
****
Madison felt Cole’s eyes on her the entire night. She really wasn’t expecting to see him again. And yet, there he was, standing only a few feet away from her. She felt a twinge of jealously when a woman sat herself down in his lap, but took notice of how quickly he removed her.
And speaking of women, where was his wife? She’d noticed that Deputy Faith’s spouse was nowhere in sight either. If she had been, she was sure that Faith would have introduced her. Perhaps the party was an impromptu one and there hadn’t been enough time to invite the spouses.
But Hank had told her that the party had been planned. Surely, spouses were invited. Maybe neither one wanted to bring their significant other to such a soiree.
“So you’re going to check out of the hotel and come stay with us right?”
“I don’t want to be a bother Hank and besides, I like the Madison Hotel.” She grinned.
“I’m sure you do, but you’ll like the Morrison hotel even better. It’s comfortable, cozy, has a swimming pool and it’s a hell of a lot cheaper than the Madison. Oh and did I mention
that we’re not taking no for an answer?” Hank smiled and put his arm around her.
“Plus, I could use your help. Hank and I are having a party at the house tomorrow.”
“I’m gone for a few years and you guys turn into a couple of party animals. I love it.” Madison chuckled.
“Well it isn’t every day that a couple gets to celebrate their 40th wedding anniversary.” Donna smiled innocently.
“Of course it is. I am so sorry, I completely forgot. That’s right, 40 years! That is one amazing feat. Congratulations!” She hugged them both.
“Thank you, so does that mean you’ll stay with us?”
“Of course I will. I’d be happy to help.”
“Good, now we’ve got some things to take care of before the party winds down. So just sit here and relax.”
After Hank and Donna excused themselves, Madison sat back and began to absorb everything that had happened so far.
She learned from Hank, that Cole was the one leaving the marshal services. He’d been divorced for almost 8 months and was heading to Summerbridge, West Virginia. He’d been hired on as sergeant of the small town's police department.
She stole a glance at him as he said goodbye to some of his colleagues.
It’s probably for the best; she tried reassuring herself. I've got no business caring about Cole, or where he goes. She silently scolded herself for thinking about him in that way, again.
Witness Protection: Hide and Seek Page 4