"Deputy Faith and his wife Jessica are coming for a visit. Jessica's got some family who live about an hour away so they'll be staying with us for a few days. I hope you're okay with that."
"It's your house Cole. Of course I'm okay with it. But where will they sleep?"
A devilish grin grew on his face. "You and I will have to share the pull out and we'll give them the bedroom. Again, only if that's okay with you."
She stared up at him with her dark mocha colored eyes.
He wanted to kiss her again, wrap her legs around his waist and carry her back into the bedroom.
"Yes. It's okay with me," she said and allowed him to pull her into his arms.
How the hell could she be falling in love in the middle of such chaos? No, she couldn’t be. It was just all the pressure and potential danger that was messing with her head.
Chapter Twenty Three
Castillo sat by a small desk that overlooked the lake. A warm breeze whistled in through the open window and he immediately told Carlos to shut it and turn on the a/c.
"I want this bitch taken care of by the end of the week." He kept his back turned away from his men.
Manny spoke with a tremble in his voice.
"Boss, excuse me for saying this, but maybe we ought to just take care of her right now. I mean, don’t you think it's only a matter of time before the feds start to figure things out?"
Castillo jumped out of his chair knocking it over in the process.
"Listen pendejo, you leave the thinking to me. I want this bitch to suffer. I want her to see me coming and know that there's nothing that she can do about it. And if that puta low-life drug dealer can't get me what I need in two days, then it's on to plan b."
"And what's plan b boss?"
Castillo's mouth turned up into a snarl.
"I'll let you know what it is when and if the time calls for it pendejo. And if I'm not worried about the feds, you sure as hell shouldn't be."
"Then what should we do in the meantime boss?"
"I want you two to continue to watch her. I want to know what time she wakes up in the morning. What time she goes to bed at night. I even want to know each and every time this bitch uses the toilet. You got that? Now, I don’t care if she's living with some poli- cerdo. I want you as close to that fucking house as you can get."
"And just how are we supposed to do that?" Manny folded his arms in annoyance. Thoughts of the threatening man and his dog came charging into his mind. He didn’t dare tell his boss that he and Reggie had been spotted. That wouldn’t be good. It wouldn’t be good at all.
Castillo reached into his pocket and peeled several hundred-dollar bills from a fat roll of money.
He threw the bills at Manny. "Here. Go into town and get yourselves some of those camouflage clothes, a tent, some food and anything else you'll need for your camping trip."
Reggie rolled his eyes as he bent down to pick up the money.
"How long are we supposed to stay out there boss?"
Manny was beginning to dread this trip to West Virginia. He wanted to be back in Memphis, back in civilization. He hated the woods. The slow, steady sound of a banjo playing crept inside his head.
"Snap the fuck out of it puta and get going. I'll call you when I'm ready for you to return. But if anything out of the ordinary happens, I want you to call me inmediatamente, lo entiendes?"
"Yes boss. I understand."
****
As each day went on, Madison felt the guilt she'd been harboring begin to bury itself further and further into the back of her mind. The first time she kissed him, the guilt had almost been debilitating. But now, she wanted it to disappear completely, to dissolve into nothingness, never to return.
And the more time she spent with Cole, the more she realized that it would.
Before long, she found herself opening up to him. Soon, they were talking just like they'd talked three years ago. Before three years of life happened and the feeling was amazing.
But even as the venom of guilt began to disintegrate, another type of venom took its place. It was the realization that she couldn’t stay with him forever. She didn’t live in West Virginia, she lived in Maine. She had a house there, a family… sort of.
When Deputy Faith and his wife Jessica arrived, Madison and Cole weren't quite ready to come out of their intimate bubble. But it was too late, Faith and his wife were there and for the next few days anyway, their time would have to be shared.
"So what's this big news you have to tell me that you couldn’t tell me over the phone?"
They were standing in the kitchen, each one helping to prepare the evenings meal.
Robert turned and looked at his wife. "Should we tell them?"
"Yes," she said and smiled warmly.
"We're pregnant!" He exclaimed with a sense of joy that Cole had not seen in a very long time.
"Congratulations!" Madison beamed and hugged the couple.
"I knew there was a glow about you!"
Cole shook Robert's hand and patted him heartily on the back.
"How far along are you?" Madison asked.
"Almost four and a half months."
"And you're just telling me now?" Cole playfully punched his friend in the arm.
"That's all on me," Jessica said.
"I wanted to wait. You know, make sure that everything was okay."
"And is it?"
"Yes it is. Everything is perfect," she said and reached for her husband's hand.
"Life is good, isn't it buddy?" Robert gleamed and gave his wife a long, lingering kiss.
"Yes it is my friend, yes it is." Cole replied. His eyes fixed on Madison.
Robert and Cole had turned serious. "But there's something we've been thinking about and we want to run it by you two."
The moment they sat down to dinner, Madison could tell that there was something going on. Both Cole and Robert's demeanor had gone from fun and relaxed, to worrisome and nervous.
"Alright you two, what the hell is going on?" Jessica snapped.
Surprised at her change of tone, Robert looked at his wife's face closely.
"Just come out and say what you have to say," Jessica grumbled.
"Cole and I have been talking and we were thinking that maybe it would be a good idea if Madison comes with you to your parents place for a while. Just until all of this Castillo business blows over."
Before anyone could object, Cole held up his hand.
"Just hear me out Madison. I'm going to start working soon and you being stuck out here in the middle of nowhere while Castillo's thugs are on the prowl, is not a good thing."
Jessica and Madison's eyes widened, but before Madison could open her mouth, Jessica started speaking. "No offense Cole, but what in the hell makes you think that I would want to risk my life, and the life of my family by taking her into my family's home!
I am not responsible for her and neither is anyone in my family." She turned and gave her husband a tortuous look.
"What in God's name would make you even think that I would go along with that?"
Madison couldn’t wait to speak her mind; she wanted Jessica to shut up so that she could speak. Five minutes ago she was congratulating Jessica on being pregnant, now she was waiting for the chance to defend herself.
Her patience was wavering and she was thinking about getting up and walking out.
Jessica's voice had raised an octave and she wasn’t finished yet. "Ever since this entire thing happened, how many people have been hurt, or killed? Three years ago, you went and did something stupid that not only put your life in danger, but you put all the marshals' lives in danger too. My husband included.
Oh what, you didn’t think he told me about that? I know all about your stupid little escapade Madison and I for one think you'd be better off going back to Maine and staying there. I mean just look at what happened over at Hank and Donna's, the poor woman suffered a heart attack and why? Because you decided that it was safe to come back into M
emphis.
Robert and I are going to have a child, and I will not subject myself, or my child to anything that would endanger our lives and I would think that you wouldn’t want that either!" Her eyes seared into her husband's.
"I don’t. Of course, I don’t…. "Not letting him finish his sentence, Jessica hammered on. This time she steered her anger towards Madison.
"Everything and everyone that you've come in contact with either gets hurt or gets killed. There I said it. I've been holding that in ever since the incident at the Morrison's, and you know what? I feel a hell of a lot better getting it out, so… to answer your question, Cole, no!" She shouted. "I will not even consider the idea of taking her with me to my parents!"
The mood around the table was staid and quiet. Jessica picked up her fork and began eating as if nothing had happened. As if she was in control of the people around her and her word was law.
"Jessica…I didn’t mean to upset you by suggesting that," Cole said.
"Cole, be quiet, you too Robert." Madison crossed her arms in a defensive manner. "Now it's my turn to speak. First of all, I agree with Jessica. That is the dumbest idea that I have ever heard of. Second, I am not a child. I don’t need a babysitter. If you haven’t noticed, I've managed to take care of myself these past three years and yes, I lost my husband, but losing him does not suddenly make me the damsel in distress.
And maybe you're right, maybe it was wrong of me to want to come back to Memphis and visit with the Morrison's, but there's nothing that I can do about that now. I cannot go back in time because if I could, believe me, things would be a hell of a lot different.
If you don’t think that I hate myself for having dragged Hank and Donna into this, then you're wrong, because I do hate myself for it."
Madison's heart rate was climbing and she was mad enough to choke the life out of someone.
When Cole reached for her hand, she pulled way.
"I'm not finished yet. Jessica, you don’t know me. You know nothing about me. All you know is that I did something stupid and immature three years ago and I thank God that everyone came out of it okay.
The rest is just silly, hormonal, stupid assumptions. So don’t you ever come at me with such accusations. I would never knowingly put my family, or those that I care about and love in any kind of danger. I would sacrifice myself before I would let anyone that I know get hurt. Especially if it was because of me or something that I did.
I know that everyone at this table thinks that I am helpless. But I'm not. I am well aware of the fact that this is not a game and I am not a contestant. Now I'm not one to play into Castillo's petty scheme of revenge, but if he comes for me, I'll be ready. Now if anyone else has anything to say, just come right out and say it. If not, shut the hell up and eat your goddamn food! Oh and one more thing," she said her eyes shooting daggers at Jessica.
"I'll go back to Maine when I'm good and ready!"
Jessica's mouth dropped open and both men shrank back, looking at her as if she'd completely lost her mind. Maybe she had, something inside of her had snapped.
Madison cleared her throat. "I lost my appetite." She picked up her plate and went into the kitchen.
She was mumbling and grumbling as she scraped the contents of her plate into the garbage disposal.
"I'm sorry." Cole came up behind her, his voice soft and soothing.
She had a sudden urge to slap both men in the face, and then take the rest of her anger out on Jessica, but resisted it. Better to cool off first.
Madison avoided his eyes, which at the moment, were staring at her.
"We need to talk." He gently guided her out onto the back deck.
He took a deep breath. "You're wrong. I don’t think that you're helpless and I certainly don’t want you to go back to Maine. If it were up to me, I'd want you to stay here permanently.
Cole gazed at her, he could see the inner sadness, deep in her eyes.
"Let me fix this Madison, please. I never meant to hurt you."
"And neither did I." Robert had come out on the deck.
"I'm sorry to interrupt, but I just wanted to apologize to you. It was just a suggestion and I'm sorry that we even brought it up. You know one of the things I love about my wife is that she is so very impetuous. But being that way can sometimes dominate her common sense and that gets her into trouble. And now with her being pregnant, the hormones seemed to have taken on a mind of their own. Again, I'm sorry. But, truth be told, it was all his idea." Robert pointed at his friend.
"Thanks a lot."
"You're welcome." Robert smiled slyly.
Madison paused, and had to look away so that she too could smile. When she turned around, she was more comfortable.
"I appreciate that you guys want to look out for me, but I am a grown woman. I'm not stupid and I can take care of myself. All I'm asking is that the two of you respect my judgment when it comes to how I choose to live my life. I refuse to live in fear for the rest of my life. And if and when the time comes, and Castillo comes after me, I won't go down without a fight."
"Madison?" The sound of Jessica's voice made them all turn to her.
"I'm so sorry about what I said. Sometimes I think that there's an alien growing inside my belly and my head. I say and do stupid things. I'm sure my husband can attest to that. And you're right, I don’t know you and it was stupid of me to make those assumptions. I'm so sorry about everything I said. Please, accept my apology."
Robert wrapped his arms around his wife and gave her a lengthy kiss.
Madison eyed her suspiciously, but let it go. "Apology accepted," she said with sincerity.
"I don’t want you guys to worry about us. Everything is under control. Just concentrate on the baby," Cole said.
Jessica smiled and the look of adoration she gave her husband made Madison's heart flutter. Jessica had been worried about her husband and the safety of the child she was carrying.
She put herself in Jessica's shoes. If she were carrying Cole's baby, she'd feel the exact same way. Hmm. Carrying Cole's baby… her mind began to wander.
Cole walked over, put his hands on her shoulders, and whispered into her ear.
"We'll figure this out, but I don’t want you to leave."
"I know," she smiled. "Neither do I."
****
From the outside of Jay's basement apartment, anyone who passed by could hear the boom-boom-boom of rap music. He was inside pacing back and forth and smoking a joint. Smoking weed while listening to loud rap music helped him to think better. There was a problem, a big problem. He'd just gotten a call from Q, his supplier. The shipment of 'smack' was going to take more than a few days to deliver. There was suspicion that some of the mules were being watched by the DEA.
It didn’t matter to Q that Jay had promised Castillo that he'd have what he was asking for in a matter of days, or that Castillo's men had threatened him with death if he didn’t deliver.
"I got a big deal going down and I promised I'd have the product in a couple of days, Q!"
Jay recalled shouting at him over the phone.
"Look, I told you. In this business, you should never make any promises. I got a lot of people to look after. This is a business, like any other, but you can't make those kinds of promises Jay. I told you that!" Jay didn’t like being scolded. He held the phone away from his ear while Q went on to explain the inner workings of his job.
"Let me explain things to you again. Say they send eight mules across the border and only five get through. That's alright because five got through and as for the rest? Too bad, they knew the risks." Q's voice was cold and calculated.
"What the hell does that have to do with me?"
"Shut up and I'll tell you," Q shouted over the phone.
"Now, this time we were only going to send two, but with the DEA watching, we couldn’t take any chances. They want me to lay low for a while until they can figure out a new route and someone they can pay to look the other way."
"And whi
le you're lying low, where the hell does that leave me? I need to make money. If I'm not making money, I'm not doing my job, Q. Do you know how many customers I'll lose?"
"Look man, I don’t know what to tell you. You do what you gotta do. Double up on the powder or offer some extra Molly. Just chill and when I get what I need, you'll get what you need."
Jay didn’t start cursing until Q abruptly disconnected the call.
There was no time like the present and the sooner he made Castillo aware of the delivery problem, the sooner he'd be able to hopefully offer something else, or at least work something out. Summerbridge was his town and he was not ready to be chased out of it.
When Manny pulled into the parking lot of a local hotel, Reggie looked at him.
"What the hell are you doing?"
"Getting us a room, what the hell do you think I'm doing?"
"But the boss wants us to go all camo and shit and camp out in the woods."
Manny lit a cigarette and shook his head. "Do I look like a fucking boy scout? Hell no. We're staying in a room with four walls, not sleeping outside in some fucking tent."
"But what about the boss?"
"Listen, what the boss doesn't know won't hurt him. We'll still watch the bitch day and night. And don’t forget, I've also got my new friend Robin who can find out all kinds of shit for me. So there's really no need for us to have to sleep in the woods like a couple of savages.
Besides, Carlos and the boss are stuck up in the cabin for a few days with no vehicle. Trust me, he'll be none the wiser. Unless of course, you plan on opening up your big mouth!"
Manny twisted his head from side to side. "No, not me. I won't say anything if you don’t say anything."
Witness Protection: Hide and Seek Page 15
