Witness Protection: Hide and Seek

by Dukes, Ursula

  "Good answer." Manny patted his friend on the back as they walked into the hotel lobby.

  Chapter Twenty Four

  A day later, as they drove into town for dinner, Cole pointed out some of the local attractions to Robert and Jessica. Madison smiled as she listened. She could hear the enthusiasm in his voice. He was excited to be there and he was obviously happy that his friend and former partner had stopped by for a visit.

  When they got into town and Cole suggested a smaller, more intimate restaurant, Jessica told him no. She said that she'd been craving home cooked beans and cornbread and Annie's Diner was well known for serving such authentic meals.

  "I really want to apologize for my behavior the other night." Jessica sat across from Madison in the crowded diner.

  Madison lifted her eyes up from the menu so that she could make eye contact with Jessica. She couldn’t help but notice that her demeanor seemed to change. It went from annoyed, and resentful to friendly and outgoing.

  At first she thought it was just her imagination, but when she felt Cole's body ease up, she knew that she was right.

  Madison shrugged her shoulders. "I understand, really I do."

  Cole cocked an eyebrow and shot Robert a questioning look.

  Robert just shrugged his shoulders, mouthed the word…hormonal, and smiled warmly at his wife.

  ****

  Robin was so glad that she'd decided to take on an extra shift at the diner tonight. At first she was bummed because it meant that she wouldn’t be able to go ad hang out with her boyfriend Jay. But once she saw the new sergeant and his friends come into the diner, she grew ecstatic.

  She immediately texted Manny and when he responded right away, she couldn’t stop smiling.

  He told her that he and his friend Reggie were staying nearby at the Summerbridge Inn and that if she could eavesdrop and catch everything that the new sergeant and his group of friends were saying, he'd be willing to compensate her. Not only with cash, he texted her. But in other ways as well. If she was willing, that is.

  And she was. Lucky for her, the group was sitting at her station and no one took notice of her lingering behavior. Why would they? She was their waitress, and she was just doing her job.

  By the end of their evening, Robin had managed to find out that the sergeant's so-called friend was still unsure about the length of time she'd be staying. The other couple, Robin told him, were just there for a visit and would be leaving in a few of days. She also found out that the two women were making plans to go shopping the next day. Robin told Manny that the woman who was visiting, was pregnant.

  Manny forwarded each text to Castillo's cell and Castillo could not have been happier. He'd gotten the news from Jay about his product not arriving in time and before the texts from Manny arrived, he was all set to send Jay a message, a very strong one.

  Now, the plan had changed. He wouldn’t be able to drug Madison and turn her into one of his whores, like he wanted. It was no worry though, he came up with something better, something much, much better.

  The more he thought about plan b, the more he liked the idea. He knew that turning Madison into a whore to work at one of his brothels would be difficult, because someone would always be looking for her. And several of his brothels were already on law enforcements radar. If it wasn’t for the shady politicians, he was sure that many of his brothels would have been shut down.

  All he had to do to set his plan in motion was to make a couple of phone calls. He'd tell Manny and Reggie to head back to the cabin, and get in touch with Jay. He needed to tell him that he'd forgive his careless behavior if he took on a new task.

  By the time he finished talking to Castillo; Jay was more than happy to help. Castillo needed to get things rolling very quickly. He wanted things done the following day. "It might be my only window of opportunity," he told Jay.

  Now can you do everything that I've asked?"

  "Absolutely Mr. Castillo, sir. You just let me know the time and place and I'll set everything up." The young drug dealer sounded desperately excited. He was trying to make a good impression, but all he'd managed to do was make Castillo laugh.

  "Stop trying to act like a man," Castillo teased. "You are nothing but a child trying to do a man's job. Just wait by the phone and when I call, just do what I need you to do niño pequeño."

  "Yes sir." Jay hung up the phone, wiped the sweat from his brow and went to work fulfilling Castillo's demands.

  Manny was packing up his things. When Reggie asked him what was going on, Manny told him that there was a change in plans. Since Robin was able to find out so much information, Castillo was able to come up with an even better, more effective plan. A plan that would take care of Madison West, once and for all.

  "But what about Jay delivering the product in a couple of days?"

  "There's been some technical difficulties getting the product. So the boss has come up with something better. Now pack your things pendejo. The boss wants us back at the cabin, now!" Reggie nodded his head and began shoving his clothes back into his suitcase.

  ****

  "Anyone care for a moonlight swim?" Cole eyes searched around the room.

  Jessica shook her head. "No. I'm tired, I think I'm going to turn in. Plus, I want to get up early for our shopping trip tomorrow." She smiled at Madison.

  "But you guys go ahead, have some fun."

  Robert turned and faced his wife. "You sure you don’t mind?"

  "Of course not. Just be careful." She smiled again as Robert helped her to the bedroom.

  Madison had already gone into the bathroom to change into her swimsuit. When she came out, Jessica, who was lying in bed reading, caught a glimpse of her as she walked out the door with Cole and Faith. The coral colored one piece hugged her curvaceous body in all the right places. There was no sagging at the ass and no extra space in the chest area. Hell, even the straps weren't slipping off her shoulders.

  When Robert came into the room one more time, she smiled flatly.

  "Have a good time," she said and kissed him on the cheek.

  "Bitch," she mumbled as Madison shut the door behind them.

  Outside, Madison fell in step with Robert and Cole. She breathed deeply and took in the night air. She had to admit, whether it be Maine or West Virginia, she loved being surrounded by trees and all kinds of wildlife. It far outshone anything that a city could provide. But in a city, I could hide in plain sight.

  "Everything okay? Cole asked.

  After following a small path through the trees, they'd reached the lake. Moonlight filtered through tiny streaks of clouds, dappling the lake with silver.

  "It's gorgeous." Madison let her towel fall onto the dock while she stood, staring out at the water.

  "I could get use to a place like this." Robert stood next to her. "I think you made the right choice buddy." Robert patted Cole on the back.

  Cole turned towards Madison, a smile tugging at his lips.

  "Oh I know I did."

  "I wonder if it's cold."

  "Only one way to find out." Madison let out a shriek as Cole swept her up into his arms and stepped off the dock.

  Robert followed suit and soon, all of them were laughing, splashing and having a wonderful time.

  Madison watched as Cole and Robert took turns diving below the surface. "This was a great idea, thank you," she said and kissed Cole on the cheek.

  While the trio joked and laughed in the water, Jessica stood alone in the woods, watching. She'd changed her mind and decided to join them, but for some reason, she felt as if she was intruding. If she had told this to Robert, he would have told her that she was being crazy, that pregnancy hormones were making her do and say crazy things. And he would have been right. But not at the moment. Now, she was angry. How dare she try to take Robert away from her. Robert was her husband. Besides, Madison had Cole, wasn’t that enough?

  As she watched them, a strange feeling began to course through her body. she wrapped her arms around herself and
dug her fingers into her forearms. Her heart was racing and her breath became audible and shallow.

  Something made Madison turn and look towards the cabin. "Someone's out there."

  Immediately, both Cole and Robert grabbed the edge of a wooden plank and vaulted onto the dock.

  Cole crouched down and grabbed her by the waist, pulling her beside him.

  Robert charged his way through the path like an angry bull, but stopped short when he saw his wife standing in front of him.

  "Honey, what the hell are you doing?"

  Cole and Madison stopped too and now, all eyes were on her.

  "Why are you all looking at me that way? I changed my mind and decided to join you, that's all." The tone of her voice was shaky and Madison noticed that her skin was riddled with goose bumps.

  "You must be freezing, Robert said and placed his towel over her shoulders.

  "Come on, let's get you back inside."

  Cole and Madison waited a few moments before following the couple inside.

  "What do you think that was all about?"

  Madison shrugged his shoulders. "I'm not sure, but my guess would be that she didn’t like the idea of her husband coming out for a swim with us."

  Cole drew his brows together. "Why not?"

  Madison chuckled and shook her head. "You really don’t know much about women, do you? And it's really a shame. I mean someone who works with the public ought to know what a woman wants and how she thinks." She teased.

  "I know what you want," he said.

  "Oh yeah? And what's that?"

  "Me." He grinned and drew her in for a kiss.

  "Promise me that when you two go shopping tomorrow, you'll be careful and extremely vigilant."

  "We're just going into town. I'm sure we'll be alright, but if you're that worried, then why don’t you come with us?" She stood on tiptoe and gave him a kiss.

  He gently pushed her away from him, just far enough to look into her eyes. "Promise me."

  "I promise," she said and leaned in for another kiss.

  When her hands caressed his chest, a low rumble emanated from his throat.

  Stealing a glance up at his face, she noticed that his eyes were closed and he was whispering her name. The slightest hint of a smile appeared on her mouth as she noticed the power she held over him. She became involved in her current task. She loved the way his body seemed to quiver from her touch.

  Suddenly, Cole pulled her closer, crushing her against his chest. He pressed a hot, sensual kiss to her mouth. "Do you know what your touch does to me?" He ran his lips across her jaw, while his hands caressed her breasts.

  She moaned as he murmured in her ear. "It makes me want to bury myself deep inside of you."

  Outside, under the moonlight, Cole slid his fingers into her, groaning with approval when he found that she was moist and ready.

  The feelings that were building inside of her was enough to drive her crazy and she felt as if she could never get enough. But then, a sound from nearby drifted into their intimate space.

  Cole reluctantly withdrew his fingers from her and took on a protective stance.

  "I think we better call it a night," he said. His breath warm against her face.

  "I suppose you're right." Madison released a heavy sigh before taking hold of his outstretched hand.

  ****

  Although it was late, Marshal Spear just couldn’t fall asleep. The results of the DNA test had been keeping him awake. Once he obtained the results, he'd followed the correct protocol and went through all the necessary channels. But still, nothing was being done.

  A known criminal was now at large, yet there was no manhunt being organized, no APB's being put out. It was as if the feds were trying to keep everything hush-hush. And now that the results were out of his hands, there was nothing he could do about it. His superiors had told him that everything would be taken care of. But not before asking him if he'd shared this information with anyone else. The whole thing seemed shady. There was something going on and when he questioned his director about it, he was told that his job collecting the results was done. That it would be in his best interest to forget about it and move on to something else.

  But that was just it, he couldn’t move on. Not when there were innocent lives on the line. He'd already lost one witness. He wondered how many more the feds were willing to sacrifice in order to protect a crime lord.

  He opened up his laptop, logged on to the secure site and began typing feverishly. Whatever the feds were up to, he needed to put a stop to it, or at least try.

  Being able to save one witness was better than saving none.

  While Marshal Spear tried desperately to right a wrong, Castillo and his men prepared for the abduction and murder of Madison West.

  Chapter Twenty Five

  The next morning, Madison found herself curled up next to Cole. His arms wrapped around her, her head on his shoulder.

  Sunlight burst through the living room windows as they said good morning to one another.

  "As much as I like Robert and Jessica, and I do like them. I cannot wait for them to leave."

  Madison agreed wholeheartedly. Having the couple there was fun, but the four of them staying in such a small place definitely put a damper on their love life. Besides the small and excessively short tryst in the woods last night, they hadn't had much time alone.

  "I might have to check us into the Summerbridge Inn." He joked.

  "We'll have plenty of time to enjoy each other, I hope." He gave her a questioning look.

  Madison smiled and closed her eyes. The past few days had been glorious to say the least and she didn’t want them to end. She did not want to live as if the best thing in her life would continue into eternity. Like the good stuff would stick around and the bad stuff would go away once she found everything she wanted. She knew that good or bad, life is limited, everything in between is subsequent and the ending is inescapable.

  "Cole, you make me want to live in the moment and I want to enjoy that moment while life is in front of me, while you are in front of me.

  While I'm here, I want to give you my full attention.

  Neither of us knows what the future will bring, but I know that I want you in mine. I want you to know that you matter to me because I know that like most good things, nothing lasts forever, and one thing I know for sure is this, I want to be yours."

  He'd been listening so intently to her; he failed to realize that he'd been holding his breath.

  He brought her close against him. He kissed her tenderly, softly.

  He then drew back and tipped back her chin so their eyes met.

  "Madison, the moment that I laid eyes on you, you took my breath away and I battled with myself on how I could feel the way that I was feeling about you and still remain faithful to my wife. But, all that has changed. I don’t know what the future will bring either, but let's give it a shot— but not for a day, a week, or a month. I want us to last until our forever ends."

  Madison blinked back tears and smiled.

  Without warning, Jessica burst out of the bedroom. She was wide-awake and full of energy. "Who's ready to get some breakfast and go shopping?"

  "I am." Madison replied and reluctantly got out of bed.

  ****

  "After three, long year's puta I'll finally be able to watch the life drain from your eyes. Castillo sat in the back of the SUV, holding a pair of binoculars steady in front of his eyes. From where they sat parked, he had a perfect view of Madison West.

  When he saw that the women were not alone, his heart just about attacked him.

  "I thought you said that they were going out alone pendejo. I cannot carry out my plan if they aren’t alone. Fuck!" Castillo cursed loudly. His fist making contact with the back of Manny's head.

  Manny winced and rubbed his head. "Hang on boss. It looks as if they are parting ways."

  "For your sake you better be right. Listen pendejo, I want you three to take care of this job as if your
lives depended on it. Because I can assure you that it does."

  ****

  "Thanks for breakfast you two, now go take care of your business and leave us women to shop!" Jessica and Madison had agreed to let Robert and Cole accompany them to breakfast.

  "Because when we shop, we shop alone," they told the men. Neither Cole, nor Robert objected. Shopping wasn’t one of their favorite things to do, and Cole wanted to give Robert a tour of the Summerbridge police department anyway. They'd be in the general vicinity of Madison and Jessica, and that was all that mattered to them.

  "We'll be fine." Madison reassured him with a deep kiss.

  "We're at the police station if you need us," Robert said to his wife.

  Cole and Robert watched as Madison and Jessica made their way towards the Main St. Boutique.

  "We may never see them again." Robert teased his friend.

  'We gotta do this now!' Jay texted Manny's cell.

  'Get ready to roll.' Manny replied.

  Jay sat nervously in his car while he waited for the signal from Castillo. His job was easy, Castillo told him. All he had to do was get a hold of as much 'smack' as he could, take Madison to the place they'd discussed and keep her quiet and subdued until he arrived at the location.

  It was going to be a day to remember and when all was said and done, Jay would be five thousand dollars richer, Madison West would be dead, and Castillo would be on his way back to Bolivia.