Witness Protection: Hide and Seek

by Dukes, Ursula

  "Too bad I won't get the chance to try it out," he mumbled and smirked when he saw Madison coming out of the house.

  Well at least someone will get some use out of it. His back ached at the thought of having to sleep on the couch. But a few aches and pains would be worth it. Madison was staying with him and right now, that was all that mattered.

  Her smiling gaze instantly made his body react. "Good morning," he said as he feigned being busy at stacking the luggage.

  "I thought we'd get a good distance between us and Tennessee before stopping for breakfast alright?"

  "Sounds perfect," she said. She was starving and was hoping to get a bite to eat right away, but she didn’t want to upset him by interfering with his plans. Not after the night he'd had. His ex-wife had stabbed him in the back and for no other reason than to be vindictive, drove the knife in further when she told him that she was pregnant with another man's child.

  Madison knew that Cole had wanted children. He even told her that once he returned from Maine, he hoped to put some serious effort into trying.

  And that was three years ago.

  She watched him, as he made sure the luggage was secure in the back of the truck. His strong jawline darkened by stubble. When he moved, she saw the muscles in his well-toned arms stand out and she inadvertently licked her lips.

  Seeing Cole in such a vulnerable state only added to her attraction towards him. It was an attraction that she kept trying to deny, but it was there and it was as solid as the ground that she was standing on.

  She'd wait until they were settled in the car to tell him that his was not the only imperfect marriage.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Deputy Faith sat patiently at the table while he waited for the prison guards to bring Castillo to him.

  When a guard appeared alone, Faith asked what was going on.

  "Where's Castillo?"

  "You asking me?" The stocky guard folded his arms and smirked.

  Faith looked around. "Is there another guard in this room?"

  "He's in the infirmary. Someone beat him up pretty good last night. I can't let you see him."

  Even though the guard was larger than him in height and girth, Faith stepped up close and demanded to see Castillo.

  "I don’t care if he's on his goddamn death bed, I need to see him. And might I remind you that I am a United States Federal Marshal. Now, I'm pretty sure that supersedes any and all duties that you may have here at this prison. So if you want to keep your job, I suggest that you take me to him, and now. Are we clear on that or are we going to have a problem?"

  The expression on the guards face was one of disbelief. He was sure that the marshal would have backed down, but his stance was unwavering and he liked his job at the prison. Finally, the guard threw up his hands in surrender.

  "I read you loud and clear boss," he said. His tone holding a large dose of sarcasm.

  "Right this way sir."

  When they reached the infirmary, the guard flashed him a told- you- so smile.

  If the chart hadn't stated his name and inmate number, Faith would not have recognized Castillo.

  "Mr. Castillo, I need to speak with you." He kept his tone light, yet professional. There was no need to get down and dirty, not unless Castillo wanted to go that route. And if he did, Faith was ready.

  I have nothing to say. The beat up man scribbled the words on the paper attached to a clipboard.

  "Jaw's wired shut." A nurse made her way over to check on him.

  Faith nodded his head and leaned in closer.

  "You don’t have to say anything at the moment. All I need for you to do is, listen, and listen good. When the time comes for you to speak, or in your case write, I will tell you when to do so. And you will do it. Because if you don’t, I'll make sure that you spend the rest of your lengthy stay here at Riverbend in solitary confinement. Is that understood? Nod if you understand me Castillo."

  When he did, Faith told the nurse to step away.

  He then turned and glared at the guard. "You can go too. I'll call you if I need you."

  Shrugging off Castillo's injures, Faith pulled up a metal chair and sat down next to the bed.

  Now, let's get down to business shall we?" He said and ran his fingers along the oxygen tubing.

  ****

  When Castillo got the call that a marshal had arrived at Riverbend Prison, he knew that Hernandez's body had been found. He was sure that by now, the feds had figured out that someone was going after witnesses and he wondered if they would consider putting Madison West back into protective custody.

  Any attempt to hide her would be futile. Madison West was his to do with as he pleased, and he intended on doing just that.

  ****

  While she waited for Cole to finish up, Madison thought about Donna. She wondered if she was going to be alright and thought about maybe giving Hank a call. "Just to see if Donna's alright," she mumbled and fished in her purse for her cell phone.

  Before she could touch the last number on her cell phone, Cole gently pried it out from her hands.

  "Donna is fine. But Hank still doesn’t think it's wise for you to contact them. Not even by phone. He still needs some more time to process everything that's happened. He'll be in touch soon. But for now, for your safety and for theirs, there is to be no further contact with the Hank or Donna. "He gently cautioned her.

  Madison cocked an eyebrow and cast a narrow eyed glance at Cole. "How did you know who I was calling?"

  "I know you and I know how you think," he said softly and linked his fingers with hers as he handed her the cell phone.

  "Now we better get going. We've got a long drive ahead of us."

  As he helped Madison into the car, Cole took one last look at the bungalow and silently said goodbye. When he climbed into the truck, Madison patted his hand. "On to your new life," she said. Their eyes locked and for a brief moment, Cole saw the slightest suggestion of a lustful smile curve her lips.

  ****

  Two hours out of Tennessee, the conversation between the two had been light, and there was none of the tenseness that she was expecting. In fact, talking to him was easier than she expected and it scared her.

  While talking to him, she could see his tensed features. What happened last night still had a hold over him.

  Cole stopped at a small diner. He pulled into the gravel parking lot and when they exited the vehicle, he checked his weapon and told Madison to stay close beside him. She wondered how, with the new move, new job, and the info that his ex-wife shared with him last night, was he able to remain so vigilant.

  The whitewashed structure was backlit by bright sunlight forcing her to squint when she looked at it.

  "Want to borrow these?" Cole held out his Aviator sunglasses.

  She shook her head. "No thanks. I think I have a pair somewhere in my purse. Besides, they look good on you," she shielded her eyes as she smiled up at him.

  A boyish grin spread across his face. "Thank you," he said and led her by the elbow into the diner.

  Walking behind him, she let her eyes wander over his attractive physique. He was dressed casually in cargo shorts and was wearing a tee shirt that molded to his well-toned, athletic body. It was the first time since she'd been back that she'd looked at him without feeling guilty and she wondered why.

  The waitress seated them by the windows and they both ordered coffee before looking over the menu.

  After the waitress brought over their coffees and took their orders, Madison picked up the mug and took a long sip.

  "That's good." She smiled at him and set the cup back down.

  Cole nodded his head in agreement and took another sip.

  "You look exhausted, why don’t you let me drive the rest of the way."

  "I'll be alright," he said and sighed heavily.

  Even though the diner was practically empty, she leaned in as far as she could and released a deep breath before speaking. "I overheard you and your ex talking last night."r />
  Cole raised a suspicious dark eyebrow.

  "Madison, I really wish you wouldn't…" He stopped when the waitress delivered their food.

  Their waitress was about to ask if they needed anything else, but Cole cut her off and told her that they were all set. When she turned abruptly and walked away, he continued.

  "You didn’t overhear anything, you were eavesdropping."

  She could see his blue eyes turn cloudy with anger.

  "Cole, I don’t know why you're getting so upset. I just wanted to tell you that I understand. That, even Tristan and I…"

  He held up a hand and stopped her. "Please don’t try and compare your marriage to mine, because there is no comparison. In fact, I can pretty much guarantee it. Unless of course, Calloway strayed, or maybe you did."

  His tone was derisive and Madison once again leaned forward as far as the edge of the table would let her. "I understand that you're upset, I do. But, I wasn't going to compare my marriage to yours. I was simply going to tell you that I could relate because Tristan and I often argued about the fact that I wanted children and he did not. And if you honestly think that I would stray from my marriage, well then," she leaned back against the bench seat. "You don’t know me as well as you think you do." She glared at him.

  Cole nodded. He didn’t mean for the words to come out so sharply. Madison was just trying to comfort him and he'd taken her words out of context.

  Cole leaned back against his seat and pushed his plate to the side. All of a sudden, he was no longer hungry.

  He remained silent for an instant, then met her gaze. "I'm sorry. I didn’t mean to snap at you like that. I just don’t like the thought of anyone, you especially, eavesdropping on my conversations. I would have rather you come out of the room and introduced yourself. I've got nothing to hide and neither do you."

  "Then why'd you get so angry?"

  "I don’t like it when people eavesdrop on my conversations. Lisa used to do that all the time. And you have no idea how many things were misconstrued because of that. It didn’t matter to her whether it was work or personal, her eavesdropping was the subject of many arguments."

  Madison noticed the worried look on his face and tried to offer reassurance.

  "I understand. I wasn’t doing it to be malicious. I was just worried about you, that's all. And you're right. I should have come out and been there for you, but I wasn’t thinking and I apologize for that."

  Cole seemed to cool down and return to his old self.

  He reached over and took her hand in his.

  "Again, I'm sorry that I snapped at you. Lisa's surprise visit last night, along with her news, threw me for a loop that's all. But I'll get over it. I'll be okay." He smiled at her.

  Madison smiled back and squeezed his hand. "Of course you will."

  There was a new level of comfort that was developing between them and neither one could deny it.

  "Do you want to talk about it?" She asked.

  Cole shrugged his shoulders. "There's really nothing to talk about." He reached for his plate and took a bite out of his toast.

  "She and I are divorced. She's obviously moved on with the man she'd been cheating on me with and now they're expecting a baby. End of story."

  Madison looked at him with sympathy in her eyes. "I know how badly you wanted to start a family," she said and took a sip of coffee.

  "I did, but it just wasn’t meant to be. At least not with her it wasn't."

  "Is she part of the reason why you've taken on this new job? Did some of what she said about needing you home to help raise a child push you towards giving up your job as a marshal?"

  He'd been looking at her, paying attention. But now, his gaze was more intense. Three years had gone by and still it would appear that she knew him just as well as he knew her. He thought it uncanny that she could read him like no other.

  "That was part of the reason, the other being that I was getting tired of the job."

  "Tired huh? I thought you marshal's loved catching the bad guys?" She smirked.

  "Oh, I still do. But when I say tired, I mean tired of the government corruption, especially in the program."

  "What do you mean?"

  "Well, for instance, just look at your situation." He looked around and leaned in closer.

  "You were removed from the program because the feds had gotten a hold of Hernandez. The moment they realized that they had a top guy, they no longer cared about your safety."

  "Yeah, but I withdrew from the program. I didn’t think that I needed to live like that anymore."

  Cole shook his head. "You withdrew on your own, but the feds are at fault for authorizing it and I bet they didn’t bat an eyelash either. No, what they did was wrong. The entire purpose of the witness protection program is to keep the witnesses safe, so that they can testify at trials that will hopefully convict members of organized crime, drug and sex traffickers, gangs, and other major criminals.

  But when the feds want to make the big cases, they don’t care about the everyday, non-threatening, innocent witnesses. No, they'd rather spend an insane amount of money to protect a rat."

  The waitress hesitated before asking if they'd like a refill. But when both Cole and Madison smiled at her and held out their empty mugs, she smiled and refilled them.

  "Surely not all of the witnesses are rats."

  "Some aren’t, but a large majority of them are. You see, most of the people who snitch, or are witnesses to a crime are protected by the U.S. Marshals Service and relocated. But, protection of incarcerated witnesses is the duty of the federal Bureau of Prisons.

  There are WITSEC prison units all over the country and those are the places that house some of the most notorious gangsters in history."

  Madison was eating while listening intently. Tristan never liked to divulge too much information about his work. He'd told her that it wasn’t as interesting as it sounded. But, hearing what Cole had to say made the job sound incredibly intriguing.

  She leaned forward. "Keep going," she said with eagerness.

  "Well, let's just say that the feds paid a lot of money to keep top mob bosses and a slew of other high profile snitches and rats safe and sound in their own little compound.

  And by compound, I'm talking about a place next to a prison that can function as its own separate entity.

  These guys are able to lay back and relax all day, gamble, and place bets. You name it and they are allowed to do it. And that's what bothers me, day after day we're out there serving warrants, dealing with bounty hunters, the DEA, Homeland Security, trying to keep people safe. Meanwhile, these guys, these lowlifes, and I'm talking about everyone from drug-cartel turncoats to Aryan brotherhood dropouts, are living the high life.

  These snitches are more heavily guarded and protected than the President of any country.

  It's almost mind-blowing."

  Madison sat stunned. "I had no idea of the great lengths that the government would go through to protect murderers."

  "Well that's just it, they want everyone to think that they're looking at the bigger picture, but it's all a lie."

  "How do you know all of this?"

  "I deal with a lot of different people and most of the guards at these places have loose lips."

  "Anyway, in there, guys talk about murder like it was nothing. I couldn’t believe it and wouldn’t have if I didn’t hear it for myself.

  The feds even allow men who have gotten busted for having over 5000 kilos of cocaine, to keep all of their assets. That's why Castillo was able to get to Hernandez."

  "Yes, but Castillo isn’t a protected witness."

  "No he's not, not that we know of anyway, but it's obvious that he is still a member of the cartel. The guy runs things right from his jail cell. And his assets, which are not frozen by the way, add up to millions.

  Some of the wives of these creeps get flown in on private jets. Sometimes, they even take the guy out to a hotel so that he can have a rendezvous with his wife.
Just all types of situations the public would not believe and at the end of the day, all of these criminals are being released into the witness protection program. If the government really needs and wants you, they'll let you get away with anything. And after all is said and done, they all rat each other out. And the feds willingly pay for all of their living expenses.

  Meanwhile, Mr. and Mrs. Smith, who witness a crime and try to do the right thing, get treated like trash."

  He stopped talking when he saw an older gentleman, dressed in a suit enter the diner.

  "Everything okay?" Madison asked.

  "Everything is fine," he said. "And thank you."

  "For what?"

  "For listening to me rattle on and on." He grinned.

  "You weren't rattling. And in case you didn’t notice, I was completely engrossed in what you had to say. So engrossed, that I didn’t pay attention to the time." She grinned and pointed at the clock. "Not to mention that I think we strayed off the original topic. I still think we need to talk about what happened last night."