"Excuse me, you can't just barge in here. I'm talking with my client," Manny's lawyer protested.
"We've been instructed to take Mr. Ortega into federal custody."
"Shit!" Manny's eyes widened. He threw his hands over his face and covered his eyes. He then let out a blood-curdling roar as the realization that he was going back to prison set in.
"You cannot just come in here and take my client away."
"Yes we can," one of the agents said.
"You can only interfere under federal regulations and policy only. And I don’t know all the details of this case yet!" The attorney tried explaining.
"We're the FBI, we can apprehend people for state and federal crimes. Counselor, you of all people should know that we have the authority to apprehend suspects who are involved in serial murders, organized crime and racketeering offenses, kidnapping, and anything else that we deem illegal.
Now if you have any further questions," the agent said while handing the attorney Kirsch's business card. "Feel free to call this number, but not right now, it's very late and the director needs some rest. Guard."
The agent motioned to the guard and within minutes, Manny was being led out of the room in handcuffs.
****
It was the dead of night when three masked men, dressed in camouflage would dump the bodies of Reggie, Manny, and Carlos into the horizontal opening of an abandoned mine shaft, deep in the woods of West Virginia.
Chapter Thirty
The following morning, as the hospital began to stir, so did Madison. She groaned before opening one eye and then another. Her face hurt and her body was sore.
She was disoriented for a moment, groggy, then saw Cole sleeping soundly in the chair next to her.
When she reached out and caressed his cheek, he awoke and sat upright.
Cole opened his mouth to say something, anything, but all he could do was smile at the wonderful sight before him.
A moment after she awoke, a nurse, alerted by the monitoring equipment, came into the room.
"There you are. And you've been breathing on your own. I've called the doctor and he's on his way to remove the tube."
Madison nodded her head and reached for Cole's hand.
"Welcome back," he said. His eyes were dark, full of desire, and sparked with intense relief as he looked at her.
When she squeezed his hand in response, he leaned over and kissed her on the forehead.
"I was so worried about you. I love you."
The look in her eyes were questioning. She knew that he couldn’t be serious, but something about the way he'd said the words, told her that he was.
A sudden warmth spread throughout her body and her gaze told him that she loved him too.
****
An hour later, Madison was sitting up in bed. The doctor had removed the breathing tube and a nurse was checking her vitals.
"Everything looks good Miss West. Keep it up and we'll be able to release you tomorrow."
"Not today?" She asked, her voice raspy.
"No," said the doctor.
"I know you're anxious to go home, but I want to make sure that the drugs are completely out of your body and that there are no further side effects. You were injected with a couple of large doses, so it's best if we keep you here one more night.
"Was she injected with anything else doctor?" Cole asked.
"Yes, the doctor nodded his head. There were also signs of Chloral hydrate in her system. It's what they used to first subdue you, and that dose was large as well. I'm sure the authorities will want to talk to you," he said.
"They can want to talk to me all they want, but I have no desire to talk to them."
The doctor didn’t question her comment. "Well, if there's nothing else, Miss West, I'll leave you two alone."
Cole waited for the doctor to leave the room before speaking. He gathered her in his arms and held her.
"I'm so sorry Madison."
"For what?"
"For taking so long to get to you."
"Cole, you got to me and that's all that matters. The entire thing is like a blur in my mind, and I imagine that it's because I was drugged during the entirety of it. He's a sick man and I've been putting off asking, but I need to know, what happened to him?"
Cole let out an exasperated sigh. "He got away. Thanks to the feds. "
"The feds, what do you mean?" Madison straightened herself up even more.
"He worked out a deal with the feds. And you and Hernandez were the bargaining chips, the common denominator in Castillo's' sick plan. And what's worse is that the feds agreed to it. They even helped him plan his escape, helped him do things the way that he wanted to do."
He looked at her and waited for it all to sink in. "You don’t look too surprised," he said.
"After the stories that you've told me, nothing surprises me anymore. You know, I remember bits and pieces of the things that he would say to me and one thing stuck."
"What's that?"
"He told me that if he could, he would have filmed me dying. I remember that. I don’t know why, but I remember."
"I know, Tanner says that Castillo's looking into getting into some pretty heavy stuff. Heavier than drugs and sex trafficking."
"Wait, William Tanner? You've been working with him. How'd that happen?"
"He offered his help when he found out what happened to you. Without him, I don’t know whether or not we would have found you and if we hadn't gotten to you in time…" His voice trailed off.
Madison reached for his hand. "I told you. You found me and that's all that matters. Now tell me more about Tanner."
"The guys still got some pretty heavy contacts over there in Washington. And through them, he was able to gather Castillo's entire agenda. He's on a flight back to Bolivia as we speak. He's meeting with the head of the Guzman cartel."
"Wait." Madison held up her hand. "What or who is the Guzman cartel? There was never any mention of that name before. I thought Castillo ran his own cartel. Where the hell does this end?"
Cole shook his head. "I know. This is all new to me too. But, according to the feds and Tanner, Guzman is the head honcho; Castillo was under him the entire time. And that's just it. He knew that and was saving it for when he got busted. It was his biggest and best play. He knew that the feds wanted Guzman. Madison." He pulled his chair even closer.
"Castillo's offered to wear a wire so that the feds can take down Guzman. That's what they wanted all along; only they needed Castillo to do it. They waited for him to volunteer his services so to speak."
"So what you're saying is that this is never going to end. Yes, he's is out of the country, for now, but you and I both know that he'll be back. I'm tired of always being behind this guy. Something's got to be done." Her eyes held a strong and firm gaze.
"Things are in motion as we speak," he said and held her gaze.
"Castillo will be taken care of once and for all," he said calmly.
For a moment, neither one spoke. Madison sat in quiet contemplation as she let the words sink in. Castillo was going to be killed. It was a moment where she felt as if she should show empathy, but instead, she felt surreal. It would finally be over.
"He's followed me, hurt my family, and tried to have me killed. He needs to be taken down and if killing him is the only way to do it… then so be it."
There was another moment of intense silence.
"Listen, how many years am I supposed to run and hide from him Cole? I can't do it anymore. I know this goes against everything that you stand for, but this is one time, where you shouldn’t feel guilty at all."
"I don’t," he said.
"I want to go there and take care of him myself."
"You can't do that." She smoothed the blankets over her.
"I heard you. I heard you tell me that you love me," she said. Her eyes fixed on his face.
"I want Castillo taken care of and I want to get the hell out of here." Cole opened his mouth to speak, but she g
ently laid a finger upon his lips, quieting him.
"Cole, I want to go back home and I want you to come with me. I know that I'm asking you to sacrifice everything, but I love you too," she said. Her eyes filled with tears.
"I just don't think that I can stay here any longer." Her lips quivered.
"The night I saw those women get killed, it was like my life stopped right along with theirs. Only I was able to walk away, they weren't.
I mean, don’t get me wrong, I'm glad that I did what I did, but I didn’t realize that I would have to sacrifice my life forever. And when I agreed to go into protective custody, I wasn’t sure of how long I would be able to live that kind of life. But I did it and I did it for three years. And for a few of those years, the years that I was with Tristan, I was happy. It wasn’t until he got killed that I began to think that I would never be able to live the life that I wanted to live." Suddenly, her eyes filled with tears.
"Being married to Tristan was a wonderful thing and I will never forget him. But I'm not going to lie, there were times when I felt as if my life with him still wasn’t my own. It was as if I was standing outside, peeking through a window at someone else's life. A happy life, mind you, but someone else's life just the same. And if you decide to go with me, I know that you'd be taking a huge risk. I just want to start a life of my own. I want to get back to work, I want to buy my own place, start making new friends. I want to live a Castillo free life and I want you to live that life with me. Can you understand that?"
Cole sat looking thoughtfully at her for a long time, and then rose and sat on the bed.
His answering smile told her he understood the message she was sending him. Cole had never been able to say so much to a woman without saying anything at all. Madison understood him.
He took her hands into his. "I will go wherever you want me to go, and not because I no longer have a job, but because I love you."
Before she could question him, Cole kissed her the way that he'd been dying to kiss her all day. He kissed his way from her mouth to the pulse point in her neck, felt her heart race beneath his hand.
Chapter Thirty One
Eduardo Guzman sat behind his Italian Renaissance, hand carved Mahogany desk. His Black Panthers, Mosie, and Iver, sat on either side of it. The animals were restless and hungry. And Guzman wanted it that way. He wanted them salivating by the time his guest arrived.
From the 25-foot high, brick barrel ceilings, to the 30-foot retractable, bulletproof, glass patio door, the 4,500 square foot home emulated money and power. There were armed guards located all over the compound and several look outs hidden all over the city. Each man and woman strategically placed so that anyone coming could be seen from a very long distance.
Eduardo Guzman didn’t feel like the king of the castle as he looked out over the Northwest Valley, he was the king of the castle, the jungle, and everywhere else in between.
And no one, not even his number one man, Castillo, was going to take that away from him.
"Castillo has just landed." One of his bodyguards spoke to him through the headset that he was wearing.
"Good. Pick him up and bring him straight here. And no matter what he requests," Guzman said. "There is to be no stopping at the burdel. I don’t need him wanting to get laid when there is business that needs to be taken care of, entendido?"
"Yes boss, understood."
"Excellent," he said and disconnected the line. He looked down at his panthers.
"It won't be long bebés. Daddy has a wonderful treat coming for you. I'm sure you will like it very much," he said and gently stroked the animals.
****
Castillo smiled as he disembarked the airplane. He was finally home and soon, he would be reaping the rewards for all of his hard, deceitful, work. The weather was windy, there was a chill in the air, and the sky threatened of rain, but nothing was going to dampen his spirits.
When he checked his cell phone, his smile grew even broader as he read the text message from one the agents assigned to fit him with the wire. 'Due to technical difficulties, the task had been put off for a day or so,' the text read.
'Keep your meeting with Guzman and don’t let on that anything is wrong. Will rendezvous with you within the next day or so.'
"Two days of nothing but fun in the sun." He turned and grinned at a beautiful woman walking by.
"This just keeps getting better and better," he said.
The trunk of a Bentley Continental GTC was already popped open and one of the men reached for Castillo's bags.
"Mr. Guzman wanted you to arrive in style," the burly man said and reached for Castillo's bags.
When they arrived at Guzman's estate, heavily armed bodyguards stood in front of the steel gate that enclosed the Guzman compound. Castillo got out of the car, stretched, and admired the vast grounds. As they approached the house, he noticed that there was a high wire, electrified fence off to the right.
"Guzman must want to keep something inside." He chuckled. "Probably some first class perra's, no?" He laughed loudly and playfully punched one of the men in the arm.
The man just shrugged his shoulders and walked Castillo into the house. Guzman wasted no time in meeting him at the door.
Once the formalities and niceties were taken care of, Guzman showed him into his study.
When a couple of armed guards followed them into the room, Castillo began to feel uneasy.
"What? You don’t trust me my friend?" He said and looked around nervously.
"You've been away for a very long time. Many things have changed my friend, that's all." Guzman reassured him.
"How is everything going? Are you moving the money?" Guzman asked.
"Of course señor." He tried bullshitting.
Guzman went along for the ride. "You have done nothing else since your escape mi amigo?"
"No señor, I've been taking care of the business, just like we agreed."
"I like that. I like that very much," Guzman said.
"Lots of people trying to get their hands on my money and I cannot have that. I've worked too hard and too long for what I have and no one; I mean no one is going to take all of this away from me." He spread open his arms in a displaying manner.
Castillo nodded his head in agreement. "No one would dare take anything from you señor. No. Trust me, your money is safe and business is good."
"Thank you for the reassurance my friend, you're a good man. Now, I have something special for you, follow me." He patted Castillo on the back and motioned for the guards to follow them.
****
Cole brought Madison a change of clothes and toiletries and while she took a shower, he sat in a small, secluded waiting room with Tanner, Spear, and Faith.
"You ready for this?" Faith asked.
Cole could sense the hesitation in his friend's voice. "Listen," he said. "If you don’t want to watch this, then I suggest you leave."
Faith turned to his friend and said, "I'm not going anywhere buddy. I'm behind you one hundred percent, believe me. I also happen to agree with what's about to happen, you said it yourself. There's no other way."
Cole then turned to Tanner. "How'd you get the agents to call off the meeting to fit him for the wire?"
"I found out that one of the agents involved is the son of a good friend of mine. I called him, explained what was about to go down and he promised that he'd switch the dates. Now sit back and relax gentlemen, and for those of you with a squeamish stomach… I suggest you leave right now."
When no one moved, he tapped a button on his phone.
The four men sat next to each other and watched as Tanner's smartphone connected to Skype.
Within seconds, the blurred image became clear and they watched as a group of men, Castillo being one of them, made their way down the stairs into a large, concrete room with jet-black walls.
A furnace and water heater stood in one corner, while a large covered object stood in the other.
"Do you know what that is?"
Guzman pointed to the object.
Castillo could feel the beads of sweat begin to form on the back of his neck. He nervously ran his palm across his neck.
"No señor. I don’t."
"Go ahead, take a guess." Guzman's eyes held the slightest hint of amusement.
Castillo shrugged his shoulders and looked around the room.
"A vault of some kind to hold more of your money?" He chuckled tensely.
"Good guess," Guzman chuckled back. "But no, it is not a vault." He then told one of the guards to remove the velvet fabric covering the object.
When the contents were revealed, Castillo took a step back and tried desperately to hold his bladder.
"Why… th…they are gorgeous," his voice trembled and cold chills ran up and down his spine.
"Yes they are." Guzman made his way over to the cage, stuck his hand inside, and began stroking the animals.
"Do you know anything about the Black Panther?"
Castillo stood paralyzed with fear.
Guzman continued. "The Black Panther is considered by most, to be powerful and protective. These beautiful creatures symbolize courage, fearlessness, and power." He balled up his hand and made a fist.
"You know, my mother once told me that the panther is my power animal. She also told me that I would forever be blessed with a ferocious guardian. They are also a symbol of death and rebirth, aggressiveness and also, the reclaiming of power," he said.
"And that is why we are here. I am reclaiming the power that I gave to you, all those years ago. I've been warned that you were plotting against me, that you were planning on taking me down. Did you really think that it would have worked mi amigo?"
Witness Protection: Hide and Seek Page 21