Witness Protection: Hide and Seek (6 page)

He felt guilty.
I
should have come to this place more often, to check on him
.
Should have told him to call every night,
just to check in
, Spear thought to himself.

 
He remembered the
last words he'd told his witness.

"There are three
ways you’re getting out of the program, either you get caught violating the
laws and get kicked out, you leave on your own accord, or you get carried out
in a body bag.”

"I bet he wasn’t expecting the latter," Spear
mumbled as he watched Juan's lifeless body being placed inside a body bag.

Donna was in the kitchen preparing her homemade barbecue
sauce when Madison arrived. After showing her around and helping her unpack,
they both settled in the kitchen.

"Things are going to get better Madison," Donna
said as she finished marinating the chicken.

Madison nodded her head. "I know they are. I just wish
that it was sooner rather than later, that's all. I know this may seem selfish
of me, but I want to feel normal again. And being back here, well, it makes me
feel better." She sighed heavily before taking a sip of coffee.

Donna wiped her hands on her apron before sitting down next
to her. Her voice was soft and Madison had to move her chair closer so that she
could hear.

"I know that this entire experience has been painful.
And I'm sure that you feel as if the sadness will never let up. But sweetheart,
it's been a year and although there is no right or wrong way to grieve, I'm
pretty sure that Tristan would not want you to spend the rest of your life
living like a zombie. You have got to learn how to feel again. He would want
that for you. And more importantly,
you
should want that for
yourself."

Madison found it a struggle to keep her voice light.
"I'm trying so hard."

Donna laid her hand on Madison's arm. "I know you are
sweetheart, and that may be the problem. Don’t try so hard, let things come
naturally, let your feelings come naturally. If you're having a good day, then
embrace that day and throw away the guilt. If you're having a bad day and you
want to crawl into bed and cry, then do just that, cry. But, with each day,
things will get better and before you know it, you will be at peace with what’s
happened and you will want to start to live again. Right now, the pain still
has a tight grip on you, but soon, if you let it, that strong hold will start
to loosen."

Madison stared forward with unfocused eyes and released a
shaky breath.

"It's been a year now and I don’t miss him any less, I
suspect that I never will. But I have learned that the awful moment when I
learned of his passing, is not permanent. It is just that, a moment and it took
me a while to understand that, but I learned to work through it and I replaced
that dark moment with a happier, more joyful one."

Donna studied Madison's face for a moment, and then smiled.
"Madison, you are going to be alright." She said in a tone that made
her sit up and smile.

Donna patted her on the shoulder as she got up and went back
to preparing the dishes for the barbecue.

"Now how about you help me finish getting ready for the
party?" She smiled warmly.

"Of course." Madison nodded and made her way over
to the counter and busied herself stirring a large pot of beans.

Donna was chopping vegetables when she stopped and casually
leaned against the counter.

"So…how was it seeing Cole again after all these
years?" She asked hesitantly.

Madison stopped stirring the pot of
beans for a minute before shrugging and returning to her duties.

"It was fine, just fine."

Donna clicked her teeth and snickered.

"I'm not being nosey or anything and I realize that I
have no business mothering you… but last night at the party, we couldn’t help
but notice a connection between the two of you."

"We?" Madison stopped stirring again and turned to
face her. Donna saw the slightest hint of a playful smirk on her face.

"Yes. Hank and I. He may be a man Madison, but he's not
stupid. One would have to be blind not to see the connection you two
have."

It took only seconds for Madison's eyes to go from delight
to guilt.

"Oh sweetheart, it's okay to want to laugh and smile.
He'd want that. You think you gave Tristan everything that you had, am I
right?"

When Madison agreed, Donna continued.

"You did not give him all that you had honey, you let
him borrow it. And now it's your turn to reclaim it for yourself. You've got to
live in the moment. You have nothing to feel guilty about, you're a human
being, and it's alright to want to feel again."

"How do you know all of this stuff?" Madison wiped
tears from her eyes.

"Trust me honey, I know. I'm a lot older and wiser than
you are." She winked at her.

"I don’t know what I'm feeling right now. All I know is
that I would have never thought in a million years, that the connection he and
I felt three years ago would return with such a vengeance."

Madison blushed at the thought of Cole. It was the first
time in a very long time that someone other than Tristan had invaded her
thoughts. And it was the first time since his death that she allowed it.

"I don’t think that Cole's gone a day without thinking
about you. He's divorced now you know? Eight months. Did he tell you what
happened?"

Madison shrugged her shoulders and moved on to chopping
lettuce.

"Just that she cheated on him, that's all."

"Well, if you ask me, he's better off. He's a good man,
a very good man." She put her knife down and looked Madison square in the
eye.

"Cole Harding was the first person to help us out after
that animal set fire to the bar. When he got to the hospital, he never left
Hank's side until he knew that we'd be safe. And if you ask me, he did it
because of you."

"Me? I'm sure he was just doing his job.".

"No. The police were already there, Cole was under no
obligation to show up. They could have sent any marshal that was working on the
case.

But, it wasn’t just any marshal. It was Cole Harding. And
now that you're back, I'll bet that connection will be stronger than
ever."

Madison felt her face, along with the rest of her body go
warm at the thought.

She thought it best if she changed the subject. Donna meant
well, but she was forgetting one thing. Connection or no connection, Cole would
be leaving in a few days.

"Salad's all finished. I think I'll go see if Hank
needs any help outside." She handed the oversized bowl to her and hurried
from the room.

When Donna made no motions to follow her, she breathed a
sigh of relief. The intimate talk of her connection to Cole was beginning to
get to her. Thoughts and feelings were one thing, she could always hide those,
but it was the real-time talk that scared her.

But then she remembered that hiding her feelings and
thoughts was something she was never good at, especially when it came to
matters of the heart and Cole Harding.

"What the hell am I doing?" She questioned herself
as she headed outside to help Hank.

****

The party was in full swing when Cole arrived and if it
wasn’t for Donna announcing his arrival so loudly, she might have missed him.

For a couple more
minutes anyway.

She'd just gotten off the phone with Zoe when Donna tapped
her on the shoulder.

"Look who's here," she said and turned her head in
the direction of Cole.

Madison glanced over Donna's shoulder and saw Cole talking
to Hank. He was dressed casual in jeans and his sunglasses hung around his
white crew neck tee shirt. She couldn’t help but smile when she saw him, but
her smile faded when she saw a woman by his side.

"That's Deputy Faith's wife, Jessica," Donna
whispered in her ear.

Relief flooded her and she silently scolded herself for
being jealous.
He's not yours Madison
.

Donna gave her a slight nudge. "He's coming over. Now
is as good a time as any to start practicing on what we talked about
earlier."

Madison smiled at Donna before turning around and greeting
Cole.

After the introductions were made, Cole placed his hand underneath
her elbow and led her away, to a more secluded spot in the back yard. Light
jazz music played in the background and the sound of laughter echoed softly
around them.

"Everyone seems to be having a good time." She
tried making small talk.

"I wanted to apologize for last night," he said.
He was having trouble concentrating. She looked amazing in a turquoise colored,
strapless maxi dress. The turquoise emphasized her raven colored hair and brown
eyes. She was wearing a pair of strappy sandals and her toes were painted
summertime peach.

"You look beautiful by the way," he whispered in
her ear. His blue eyes roving over her features.

"Thank you. You look good yourself. So this is what you
look like when you're relaxed." She teased.

"Who says that I'm relaxed? I still worry about you
Madison, that hasn’t changed and it never will."

She felt a strange flip-flop sensation in her heart.

"Cole, it's been three years. I think it's safe to say
that nothing is going to happen to me. But I appreciate your concern, really I
do. Now if you'll excuse me, I've got to…"

 
Before she could
continue, he planted a soft kiss on her lips. Lips that he'd been wanting to
devour the moment he first laid eyes on her.

When she didn’t move, he kissed her again, this time it lasted
longer and was more seductive.

"Cole…" her breathing was uneven as she muttered
his name against his lips.

"I can't…" when he trailed his lips up her neck
and along her jaw to her mouth, she sucked on his lower lip before kissing him
again.

Just as she began to melt further into his kiss, she forced
herself to push him away. She seemed unsure of what to do for a tense moment or
two. But when she came to her senses, she murmured, "I can't do
this."
 

When she turned to walk away, he stopped her. He was silent
for a moment, studying her. He didn’t want to come off as insensitive, but the
odds of the two of them meeting up again were…well, they were incredible.

"Madison, you coming back here cannot just be a
coincidence."

She stood quietly for some time, a ghost of a smile appeared
on her lips. And her gaze switched between Cole and the party.

Finally she shook her head and said, "What are we
doing?"

He moved closer to her. "What do you want to do?"
He asked in his deep, soothing voice.

Madison only looked at him.

When she heard Donna calling her
name, she wiggled out from under his grip and headed back towards the party.
"We'll talk later," she said, not waiting for a response.

Walking back towards the party,
Madison couldn’t stop shaking her head in denial. She couldn’t believe what
just happened. After Tristan died, she vowed never again to put herself through
such pangs, but now, there was Cole and he kissed her and she kissed him back.

And she had no idea of what to do
about it, other than stay away from him.

But she couldn’t see herself
packing up and heading back to Maine. No, she wasn’t ready to go back to that
empty house. She began to wonder if maybe she should think about joining Zoe,
Helen, and George on their trip abroad.

When she turned back to look at
him, she saw that he was leaning up against a tree, and he was looking at her
with such an expression that it made the breath catch in her throat.

Castillo was finishing up the meal he was having with his
parents. He'd told his mother that he would be heading out soon. He had to go
away. When she protested, he told her that if he stayed, things might get
dangerous for him. Besides, he had something important to take care of and no
matter how long it took, he needed to see things through to the end.

He told her that his life would never be the same if he
didn’t take care of this problem. "I have two problems mam
á
," he told her and cupped her
face in his hands.

"And now that one is taken care of, I must get to work
on taking care of the other."
 
Lucia
nodded her head and kissed her son on the cheek.

After dinner, Castillo went into his bedroom to await a call
from Manny. He, along with two other associates, the same men Castillo
recruited for the hit on Juan Hernandez, left for Jackson Tennessee hours ago.
And by his calculations, Castillo knew that they would be arriving at 214
Ridgecliff Road, very shortly. He told Manny to call him the second they
arrived.

"You want us to follow her when she comes out of the
house?"

Castillo shook his head. "Manny, I thought you were
smarter than that estúpido? No, I don’t want you to follow her, there is a
tracker planted inside her suitcase, remember? I want you to find out who lives
there, and what is going on. Then and only then will I give you further
instructions. We can't fuck this up Manny. We've got to make sure that no one
is seriously hurt.

I want Madison West, along with anybody else who's there, to
come out of this alive, you got that? I want that woman to suffer to her last
breath and I want to be there when it happens. Is that understood?"

Manny nodded his head. "Understood boss."

Anyway, when you're finished there, I want you to head back
here to pick me up. No matter where she goes, from now on I want to follow
her.
 
It's time to heat things up a bit,
and I want tonight to be just a sample of all that is to come."

****

Manny could hardly contain himself when he got Castillo on
the phone.

"The folks who live there boss are Mr. and Mrs. Hank
Morrison. Asked around and a neighbor told me that they're celebrating their 40
^th
wedding anniversary tonight. What do you want us to do boss?"

"So, she's going back to her old haunts I take it. If
she thinks that after three years, I've forgotten about her, she must be
stupider than I thought. Listen, here's what I want you to do…"

Castillo quickly explained his plan to Manny and by the time
he was finished, Manny told him that the party was winding down and some of the
guests were leaving.

"That's even better. Now put me on speaker, I need
Carlos and Reggie in on this too."

After the instructions were given out, Castillo demanded
that Manny call him.

"Now go take care of business and remember, call me the
moment it's done."

Castillo grinned in anticipation of what was about to
happen. He could hardly contain himself. He only wished that he could be there
to see the look on Madison's face. "All in due time," he whispered.
"All in due time."

****

As the party dwindled, Madison sat on the back deck talking
to Hank, Deputy Faith, his wife Jessica, and Cole. Donna was inside the house,
wrapping up plates of food for her remaining guests to bring home. When Hank
asked her to join them, she refused. She told him that it had been hours since
she'd had a moment to herself and now welcomed the solitude of the quiet
kitchen.

It was dark out and soft outdoor lighting illuminated the
sourwood trees in the backyard. Madison purposely sat down between Hank and
Jessica. She feared that sitting any closer to Cole would cause her to do
something else that she might regret.

"Madison, we're all happy to see you, but I'm not sure
you made the right choice by coming here," Hank said.

Madison frowned. "If I thought that my coming here
would put anyone in danger, I wouldn’t have come. But so far, everything has
turned out fine. Besides, Castillo is in prison and his number one guy is in
the program, so I would think that if anything, Castillo would want Juan's head
on a platter, not mine."

"What does that feel like? Always having to look over
your shoulder?" Jessica asked. She was intrigued by the entire situation.
To her, being in the witness protection program was like something out of a
movie. But then her husband told her that all was not as it seemed when one
enters the program.

"At first, it was scary, and then it got to be
terrifying. But after I was sent to Maine, I felt safer than I ever have."
She smiled at her.

Jessica smiled back. "But isn’t it true that they
kicked you out of the program? I mean, why would they do that?" Jessica
leaned in closer. "Did you do something wrong?"

"No, it was nothing like that," Madison chuckled.

Cole interrupted. "Jessica, when it comes to the
government and witness protection, if they really need a guy, they can get away
with anything. And in Madison's case, they really needed Juan Hernandez."

"Yes, but didn’t you witness the guy murdering
people?" Jessica looked at Madison.

Before Madison could respond, Cole spoke for her.

"Yes she did, but Madison knew nothing of the ins and
outs of Castillo's many operations and Hernandez did. And to the government,
that took precedence over anything that Madison witnessed."

"So they just threw you out of the program just like
that?" Jessica was flabbergasted. Sure, she was married to a marshal, but
she never understood exactly what it was her husband was allowed to do on
behalf of the government.

"Yes they did. When they told me that they were kicking
me out of the program, I agreed wholeheartedly. At the time, I was married to a
marshal, so I figured, why waste anymore of the government's money you know. Of
course I didn't know that he'd be killed…" Her voice trailed off.

The small group grew quiet then. It was a sobering moment.
Jessica closed her eyes and squeezed her husband's hand. He was a marshal too
and there wasn’t a day that went by that she didn’t pray for his safe return
home.

"I'm so sorry about your husband," Jessica whispered
softly.

Through the soft light, Cole could see that she was upset.
The conversation had gotten somber and he was sure that memories of Tristan
came flooding back to the surface, which would make her all the more resentful
about the kiss they'd shared.

"Thank you," Madison whispered back.

****

Donna had just finished tidying up the kitchen when there
was a knock on the door. She glanced outside and saw that there seemed to be a
heavy conversation going on between the group outside.

Hank had his arm around Madison, Jessica laid her head upon
her husband's shoulder, and Cole sat off to the side, alone.

Donna wiped her hands on a dishtowel before heading to the
door.

"Who is it?" She asked.

"Sorry, it's a little late, but it's been a very busy
day.

Forgive me miss, but my boss will kill me if I don't get
this delivered," said a voice. Whoever it was, their face was concealed by
a large bouquet of flowers and several balloons.

"That husband of mine!" She beamed with excitement
as she opened the door.

Grinning from ear to ear, Donna reached for the flowers and
balloons.

The large man offered her the flowers and balloons and as
she reached for them, the man lurched forward and grabbed her by the neck.

"Get Madison West out of this house and do it
now!" The man growled. He pushed her roughly up against the wall before
making a hasty retreat.

Donna felt an unfamiliar, uncomfortable pressure in the
middle of her chest. The pain was so intense, that it forced her to stumble
back. The vase full of flowers fell from her hands and landed on the floor with
a loud crash.

When he heard the sound of glass breaking, Hank was
immediately on his feet. The others followed and found Donna lying on the
floor.

Water, broken flower stems, and glass surrounded her. Six
balloons floated aimlessly towards the ceiling.

"What the hell happened?"

Hank and Madison rushed to her side. Hank didn’t even wince
when a large shard of glass cut into his leg. He stayed on the floor and
cradled his wife in his arms, while Madison held her hand.

Her breathing had become winded as she tried to speak.
"Going… after… Madison…"

"I've called 911!" Jessica shouted out in a panic.

Cole and Faith took off in search of the attacker.

****

"I'll be there as soon as I can," Madison said to
Hank.

He'd climbed into the ambulance to be next to his wife,
while Madison assured him that she would take care of everything.

Once Cole and Faith were finished talking to the police,
they joined Madison and Jessica in the kitchen.

"Any luck?" Jessica turned to her husband.

Robert sighed heavily before
answering. "No, but I've put in a couple of calls to Riverbend. This whole
thing smells like Castillo."

Madison froze; a small knot of fear
began to form in her stomach. Her mouth fell open and she looked from one man
to the next in complete disbelief.

"What? What the hell are you
talking about…? Cole?"

Cole moved closer to her and nodded
his head.

"I'm afraid he's right. Someone
in his crew knows you’re here."

"How can that be? I've spoken
to no one but you all. How the hell would anyone know that I was here? This
just isn’t making any sense!"

Her head was spinning now as the
realization that Castillo had not forgotten about her came to light. He was
going to get to her one way or another. He was a patient man, a very patient
man. Immediately her thoughts went to Zoe and her grandparents. Thank God they
were out of the country. During their last conversation, Zoe told her that they
were having a wonderful time and that they'd visited Buckingham Palace. Zoe was
even thinking of studying abroad…

"Madison!" Cole's voice brought her out of her
thoughts.

"I need you to think. Is there anyone, perhaps someone
in Maine who knew that you were coming here?"

"No! These past three years, I haven’t exactly been
forthcoming about where I'm going!" She shouted at him.

"I don’t want to talk about this right now!" She
cried.

Madison grabbed her purse and headed for the door. Cole was
hot on her heels.

"Just where in the hell do you think you're
going?"

"Where do you think? The hospital, now get out of my
way!"

"Oh, no you don’t." Cole grabbed her by the wrist
and squeezed until she stopped struggling.

"Let go of me!"

"Madison, stop," he said, his tone warning her.

"Let me go," she said fiercely.

"I will. Just as soon as you listen to what I have to
say. Now you're not going to the hospital alone. I'm going to drive you and
before you object, I want you to think about what just happened.

A woman that you love and look up to has just suffered a
mild heart attack because someone who was looking for
you
, threatened her. Do you really think you ought to be anywhere
near the two people that you love, alone and unprotected?"

He stared at her, his hand still
holding her wrist. "Now, is anything getting through to you? Do you
understand now?"

Madison blinked back tears as her
anger slowly diminished.

"Yes." She nodded her
head. "I understand."

"Good." He then turned
to face Robert and Jessica.

"Now you two lock up while I
bring her over to the hospital. And Faith if you hear back from anyone, give me
a call."