Witness Protection: Hide and Seek (13 page)

"You sure that it was
her?" Castillo was almost salivating at the news.

"Yes boss, I'm
positive."

"Was she with anyone?"

"Not at first, but then some
guy showed up and walked her back to the car. I can't say for sure, but he
looked pretty pissed off at her. I went inside and started making small talk
with the owner of the shop and he told me that she was new in town and was a
friend of the town's new sergeant. A Sergeant Harding, or something like that.
He said that even though she didn’t confirm it, he was pretty sure that the
sergeant bought a place on Longfellow Road.

"Oh is that what he said
huh?" Castillo was pleased. He was very, very pleased.

"If memory serves me right, and
it always does, the new sergeant is the marshal that was assigned to her
protection detail three years ago. He is also the man that helped Hernandez get
a new identity, a lot of help that did huh?" Castillo smacked Manny upside
the head and chuckled.

"So what's the next step
boss?"

"What's the next step you
ask?" Castillo rubbed his hands together in greed.

"The first thing I want you
to do is observe. I want to know when he starts his job as the new sergeant.
But more importantly, I need to know what she'll be doing while he's gone. Find
out if the house is armed, if so, we'll need to figure out a way to get inside
without setting off the alarm."

"I can do that with my eyes
shut boss." Manny interjected. "But you said that you had something
special planned for her boss. Aren't we going to bust in and blow the bitch
away?"

Castillo got close to Manny and
grabbed his chin. "Let me finish culo!"

"Now, after all that is said
and done, I want you to go back into town and find the local dealer. In a small
town like this, there should be only one. When you find him, I want you to get
a hold of some 'H'."

"How much you want
boss?"

"Enough so the bitch will be
knocked out for over 12 hours. I want to take her with us and bring her to one
of my brothels in Mississippi. I want to watch while she gets fucked by
everything and anything that moves.

I've got big plans for Madison
West. I want her so fucking high and lucid that she'll open her legs for
anybody who even mentions the word 'H'.

I want that good Samaritan blood
that's coursing through her veins to be replaced with 'smack' filled venom.
She'll be one of my best whores. Now get to work. The sooner you do this, the
sooner we can get out of this god forsaken town."

****

As they walked into Annie's Diner, Cole thought he was
already a regular. "Good morning Sergeant Harding!" Patrons nodded
their heads and welcomed him.

Cole gave Madison a puzzled look before replying to the
salutations. He smiled and nodded, saying hello to the locals who he assumed
frequented the place.

There was Ed Baker, a local dairy farmer who made his way to
the diner each and every morning; if Ed wasn’t there, something had to be
seriously wrong. Then there was Mr. and Mrs. Conway; they owned the local
antique shop and spent most of their days in and out of the diner, talking of
found treasures and trying to drum up business with the occasional tourists and
anyone else who would listen to their tales of exotic lands and far off places.

Most of those places were fabricated, as the older couple
rarely left their home and collected most of their so-called treasures from
other hunters; via E-Bay.

Ed Stanford was a trucker who spent most of his time between
hauls, at the diner. It was his only means of communication with the
townspeople; he’d told Annie one night when it was just the two of them. They
all acknowledged the new sergeant as he and Madison walked towards a booth.

After the dust settled, a waitress appeared to take their
order. It took two seconds for Madison to see that the young waitress was
trying her best to flirt with Cole.

"What can I get you sergeant? You can have anything you
like and it's on the house. Absolutely anything you like," she repeated in
her most seductive voice. The young woman eyed him up and down and licked her
lips. She paid no attention to Madison.

Cole kept his eyes on the menu and ordered two of the
breakfast specials.

"And I don’t officially start the job for a couple of
days, so I insist on paying…" he glanced up to get a look at her name
badge.

"Robin, the name's Robin." She maneuvered the
right side of her body so that he could get a good look at her chest
and
the name badge.

Madison let out a low snicker. The name Robin was a name
that they both associated with bad, ugly, hurtful things.

"Will that be all?"

"Yes, that's it. Thanks."

When they were finally left alone, Cole leaned in and
focused his attention on Madison.

"You want to tell me about your Skyping session with
Zoe?"

Madison shook her head. "No. I don’t want to talk about
that right now. I want to hear all about your new job, every detail. So how
many officers will you be in charge of?"

"Two. And since the department is small, I'll also take
on the job of watch commander."

There was excitement in his voice when he talked about his
new job and Madison enjoyed listening to it.

She looked out the window and smiled. "I think you're
going to fall in love with this place."

"Yes, but this town is just one of the things that I could
see myself falling in love with."

His gaze shifted to the sexy pout forming on her lips. He
wanted to kiss her again, but a sudden tension filled the space between them as
they stared at each other.

She had no words to say to him, he'd caught her completely
off guard. But still, her body hummed with lust.

The sound of glass breaking turned their attention towards
the kitchen.

"Robin, you drop one more dish and it's coming out of
your paycheck!" A voice rang out.

"Sorry Annie. I had a long night with Jay!" Robin
rubbed her temples with her hands.

"I don’t care what you and your boyfriend do on your
time off. But I expect that when you come here to work, that is exactly what
you do, work. Not get the hang over shakes and drop my dishes all over the goddamn
floor!"

Annie mumbled something under her breath before coming from
behind the counter smiling her warmest smile.

"Well hello there, you must be Sergeant Harding. I'm
Annie, Annie Tanner. It's so nice to meet you." She wiped her hands on her
apron before extending her hand to him.

"It's nice to meet you Annie. And please, call me
Cole." He shook her hand.

"And I take it this is Mrs. Harding?" Annie turned
towards Madison.

 
Cole chuckled softly.
"No. This is my friend Gabriella."

"Well it's nice to meet you Gabriella." Annie gave
her a hearty handshake.

"You wouldn’t happen to know a William Tanner now would
you?" Cole asked.

"Guilty as charged. He's my husband. I take it that
you've already met him?"

"Yes, he was out walking the dog this morning."

"And I bet he failed to mention that he had a wife, am
I right?" Annie smoothed out her grease-covered apron before putting her
hands on her hips.

"He does it all the time," she said and shrugged
her shoulders.

"The man may be retired from the FBI, but he still
lives and breathes like a working agent. He likes to think of himself as being
covert and mysterious when he meets anybody new in town." She joked.

"Well that explains it all, now doesn’t it?" Cole
leaned back and relaxed his stance.

"Listen, I'll let you two get back to your breakfast.
Nice meeting the both of you," she said and returned to her duties.

****

"Busy little place," Madison said and finished up
the last of her eggs.

Cole agreed. "I think Annie's diner might be the go to place
for all the residents of Summerbridge. Now let's head home. I've got some
things that I need to do around the house. Where is the waitress?" He
scanned the diner. There was no sign of her.

While Annie was busy talking to the new sergeant, Robin
snuck outside. She needed a cigarette and Jay had texted her telling her to
take a break. He had a little pick me up for her, something to make her
hangover go away.

Robin smiled when she saw Jay come from around the corner.
He was her man. Dating the small town's only dealer had its perks. She never
had to pay for a thing and she liked it that way. Jay made sure that she only
got the best stuff, whether it was a little weed to take the edge off, or
something stronger like
molly,
or
H.
Jay always knew what she needed and
today, she needed weed, and lots of it.

Jay hugged her and kissed her hard on the lips. The pupils
in his brown eyes were dilated and she knew that he'd continued where they'd
left off last night.

"You still high from last night?" She chuckled.

"You know it baby. Been popping pills all night. So
what's good?"

Robin loved the way he talked to her. He told her that she
was the only person in the world that mattered to him.

"Guess who came into the diner today?" She giggled
and ran a finger up and down his arm.

"The new police sergeant? What's he like? He look like
an old hard ass?"

"There's nothing old about him, but yes, he looks like
a hard ass. So you better keep on your toes Jay. Plus, he hardly paid me any
mind when I took his order."

"Why do you give a shit if he pays you any mind? You
looking to cheat on me or something?"

Jay's demeanor suddenly changed and Robin knew that she'd
stepped over the line. Teasing him was one thing, but trying to make him
jealous was another.

Robin's eyebrows arched at Jay's outward hostility.

"I just thought I should warn you."

"I don’t need you to warn me," Jay said.

"I know how to handle some piece of shit cop." He
lifted up his shirt, exposing the gun he kept in his waistband.

"I can handle me and mine, you got that?"

Robin nodded and took a step back. Now was not the time to
try and resume her flirtations.

"Put that away." She tugged at his shirt.
"Will I see you tonight?"

"Not sure baby. I got a meeting with some people
tonight. There's a heavy hitter in town who needs some product and I gotta do
some negotiating. I'll try and stop by later though ok?"

"Fine, do what you gotta do. I guess," she whined.

"I won't be long baby."

 
The door to the diner
opened and Madison was the first to walk out.

"
Who
is
that?" Jay's eyebrow's raised and a devilish smirk began to form on his
lips.

"Keep it in your pants! She's with the sergeant."
Robin blurted out, but it was too late. Jay was already making a beeline
towards the woman.

By the time he reached her, Cole was right beside her.

Jay thought about turning around, but didn’t want the new
sergeant thinking that he was some kind of pussy.

"You must be new."

Madison froze. Was this boy talking to her?

A sarcastic snicker escaped Cole's mouth. His expression was
blank, but his gaze said it all.

"I think you better be on your way."

Cole stepped protectively in front of Madison. Jay looked
around before cowering back a little. He was coming down from his high and as
the drugs began to wear off, so did the false bravado. Now, the man standing in
front of him seemed incredibly imposing.

Jay tried to recapture his lost bravado and stood up
straight as he backed away.

"No problem, no problem sergeant." He held up his
hands in surrender. "I just wanted to meet the new pretty lady, that's
all. Y'all have a nice day and hey, enjoy your time here in Summerbridge."
He spit on the ground before walking away.

"Okay… so every town's got one of those." Madison
tried lightening the moment.

"Yeah, you're right about that. But that type of guy
can also turn into another Castillo. I am definitely going to keep an eye on
him."

Madison reached for the hand that he offered and they
strolled down the sidewalk towards the local hardware store. Neither one
noticed the large SUV parking on a side street. And as Manny and Reggie made
their way into the diner, Madison and Cole headed into the hardware store.