And now, with the help of Castillo, Guzman's reign would soon end.
"I can't have Madison West running her mouth about this," he told his agents. "We did what we had to do in order to take Guzman down and I will not be made a fool of by some silly-citizen who was in the wrong place at the wrong time."
"What do you want us to do?" One of the agents asked.
"I want you to go to the hospital and question Miss West. Find out what she knows and make sure to remind her that it would be in her best interest and that of her family and friends if she keeps her mouth shut. And if that doesn’t work, tell her that we'll put her back into the program. Given her history, I doubt that she'd want to go back in."
"What about Tanner and his raid on the motel sir?"
Kirsch gave a small shake of his head, as if to say what happened at the motel was not important. "I'll think of something," he said.
"Probably have the police chief over there issue a statement that what happened was nothing more than a drug deal gone bad. That's not my main concern right now gentleman. Now get over to the hospital and talk to Miss West."
****
The hours melted into one another as Cole waited to hear the status of Madison. Each time he asked about her, he was given the same response, "the doctor will be with you shortly." That was hours ago and his patience was wearing thin.
Deputies Faith and Spear showed up with Tanner and while they waited to hear news about Madison, William Tanner filled in the gaps. He told them all about Castillo and his deal with the feds.
"Almost immediately, after he was put away, Castillo began working out a deal with the feds. You see, after Castillo was arrested, Guzman starts to break down the cartel. Now by break down, I mean he started to fragment. Some of the other lieutenants realized that the larger organizations had been more vulnerable to attack by the United States and the Bolivian authorities.
So in order to combat that, Guzman formed smaller, more controllable groups and began compartmentalizing all of their responsibilities. For instance, one group smuggles the drugs from Bolivia to Mexico. Another group just controls the labs. Yet another, deals with transportation of the coca base from the fields to the labs.
There are well known links between the Bolivian rebel groups and the cocaine trade. Rebels protect the fields and the labs in remote zones of Bolivia in exchange for a large tax that the traffickers pay to the organization.
"Its big business, but I don’t have to tell you gentlemen that." Tanner looked around at the small group of men.
"Why not just go after Guzman from the beginning. Why waste time going after Castillo?" Cole questioned.
"Look fellas, a lot of politicians are involved with this. And we all know that dealing with a lot of politicians, especially crooked ones is never a good thing. I mean, these past few years alone, Guzman invested heavily in political protection both here and in Bolivia. Not to mention, that there are hundreds of Congressmen and Senators who have been accused of accepting campaign financing from the Guzman cartel."
"I bet the feds are salivating over this take down," Faith said.
"You bet they are, and I'll tell you another thing. They're willing to let Castillo take over the business. Start it from scratch just so they can indict Guzman."
"It's the classic Class One Arrest, isn't it?"
"Class One?" Spear asked. "Isn't that a DEA thing?"
"That's what they want you to think," Tanner replied.
"There's a lot of pressure on agents to make as many Class One cases as they can, for one simple reason, federal agencies rationalize their budgets with statistical reports to Congress, and Congress loves Class Ones.
Fellas, we've got DEA agents who pose as pilots, just so they can fly cocaine from Bolivia to Madrid through American airports. The agents with the highest percentage of Class Ones are the people who get huge rewards of the monetary kind, and the big promotions. Over the years the professional rats, who create more than 98 percent of all drug cases, have learned that selling a Class One to the government is worth a much bigger "reward" payment."
"And let me guess, Castillo wasn’t a class one three years ago."
"He was up there, but he wasn’t a class one. Now we all know that the feds are already trained to be duplicitous. But add to that the exposure to deceitful, lying, scumbag politicians, and bureaucrats, then you come up with some agents willing to bend the facts to their own favor. There are officials involved in this who simply want results, not for the good of the country mind you, but for one simple reason, to make themselves look good. They don't give a damn how the class ones are acquired, just as long as you don't embarrass them by getting caught.
Some agents are even willing to write up a street-level dealer as a class one based on "evidence" supplied by a so-called confidential informant, or a rat."
"It's all bullshit!" Cole shook his head. "I don’t give a shit about Guzman, I want Castillo taken down for good. I'll go to Bolivia myself, if I have to."
"No need to do that my friend," Tanner replied. "I've got a much better idea and all it will take is a simple phone call."
"I'm listening," Cole said.
By the time Tanner was finished, the men looked at one another.
"You really need to think about this," Faith stared at his friend. "I mean really think about it."
Cole nodded his head. Faith could tell that his friend was sorting it all out in his head, but having a hard time.
A doctor swung open the ER doors. "Madison West?"
Cole and Faith stood up. "Yes. How is she doctor?"
"She's still out of it. But, we've screened her blood so that we can find out what drugs are in her system. But it's going to take a while. Now, once the drug or drugs are identified, we can monitor how fast they are being cleared out of her body.
We've also taken urine tests to detect changes in her body's chemistry. It would save time if we knew what she was injected with, but until we know for sure, we're going to keep her here overnight. Now we think it was heroin, her pupils are small, her breathing shallow, there's discoloration of the tongue and underneath her fingernails.
"Then can't you give her some kind of anecdote? Or pump her stomach or something?" Cole asked.
The doctor shook his head. "No. Pumping one's stomach is a brutal process, one that this hospital does not do anymore. Plus, the drug has already been adsorbed into her body, if she vomits while she's unconscious, she could choke.
And like I said, we aren’t sure and there's no guarantee that heroin is all that she was injected with. For now, we need to concentrate on keeping her alive while the drug courses through and out of her system.
So, we'll keep her here overnight, keep her stable, and give her plenty of fluids. That's all that we can do for now."
"When can I see her?"
"She's pretty out of it, but she has had a few lucid moments. So I'll let you see her one at a time."
****
Cole smiled and thanked the doctor as he led him into the room.
"Remember," the doctor said. "Not too long."
Cole nodded his head and stood in silence near the footboard.
Except for the occasional beep and hiss from the monitors, the room was quiet.
Madison slowly opened her eyes. "Cole?"
"I'm right here baby," he said and kissed her gently.
She smiled weakly, glancing around the room and examining the tubes in her arm.
"What am I doing here?"
"What do you mean?"
"How long have I been here?"
"Not long baby," Cole said, not able to say more. She was still out of it and he didn’t want to add to the confusion.
"Oh, I remember now," she said matter of factly.
"I did this," she whispered. "This was all my fault."
"No, this was not your fault." Cole stayed close, his arms encircling her, gently squeezing.
"I should have listened to you. Everything you said was true. He came after
me and I couldn’t do anything. All the defense classes, gun lessons, nothing helped. I felt so helpless."
Madison let herself shrink into his arms and let it all go. As the tears left her body, so did the lucidness.
A nurse had tiptoed into the room to check her vitals.
"I'm so tired." Her words were now slurred and she roughly pulled herself away from his embrace.
"Get out," she mumbled and closed her eyes.
The nurse could see the look of confusion on Cole's face.
"Don’t take it personally," the nurse said.
"The drugs are leaving her body and that's what is causing the sudden behavior changes. Her body isn’t used to any kind of drug, so her body will not have had the chance to become acclimatized to it. That's a good sign though, it tells us that the drugs are ejecting themselves from her body. She's going to be okay Mister Harding." The nurse reassured him.
Cole looked beyond the nurse to take another glance at Madison. He loved her, and when she woke up, he was going to tell her.
"How is she?" Cole turned to face the two agents that were with Kirsch earlier.
"Get the hell out of here," he said, his tone more than dismissive.
"Not until we've talked to Miss West."
"She has nothing to say to you."
"With all due respect Harding, you don’t speak for Miss West."
"Oh yeah?" Cole rushed up to the agent. "I speak for her now and I'm telling you that she has nothing to say to you or anyone else from your piece of shit agency, so get the hell out of here!"
"Easy buddy," Tanner and Faith stood beside him.
"Look Harding, the faster you let us in to speak to Miss West, the faster we can get out of your hair."
"Well," he said, leaning closer to the men. "You're right about one thing, I do want you out of my hair, but you're still not going to talk to Madison."
"Then I guess we aren’t going anywhere." One of the agents sat down and folded his arms in defiance.
Cole could feel the rage build. He took a step forward, but felt Faith's hand on his shoulder, holding him back.
Cole straightened and cocked his head. "Leave," he took a step forward, "Madison," another step, "alone." He kept moving forward until they met. Chest to chest, eye to eye.
"Back the hell off Harding," the other agent said.
Cole whipped around. "What are you going to do if I don't?"
A nurse rushed out of Madison's room and summoned the doctor. Cole was held back as he tried to get into the room.
He listened intently as he heard the doctor barking out orders and nurses rushing around to follow them.
Within minutes, the doctor came out of the room and once again, spoke to Cole, who's eyes pleaded for good news from the grey haired man.
"Her body forget to breathe for a moment, Mister Harding. You see, every time someone injects heroin, or has heroin injected into him or her, they run the risk of overdosing. Most often, it kills you because you stop breathing. Typically, we don’t need to think about breathing, it’s an automatic behavior driven by centers deep in our brain, and controlled by numerous neurotransmitters. But heroin inhibits the brain centers that control breathing, and after making someone feel calm and sleepy, the respiratory drive will simply shut down.
We've had to put in a breathing tube. Now this is just a precaution until the drugs are completely out of her system. She won't be out of the woods until we've gotten the blood tests back, but I can assure you, she will recover one hundred percent.
This is just a rough patch that she's going through. I put in a call to the police station and none of the suspects are willing to admit that they injected her with any drugs, let alone tell the officers which drugs were given. So, we'll wait on the blood tests, they'll tell us everything we need to know. In the meantime, let her rest and I'll let you know when we find something out. If you want to go home and get some rest, feel free. I'll have a nurse call you if there's any change."
"No." Cole shook his head. "The only time I'm leaving this hospital is when Madison is with me."
"I wish I could get some of that rest for you," the doctor said. His voice was low and trailed off at the end. "It's been a long day Mister Harding, but your friend is going to be all right. Oh and I'll have security remove those two men from the premises," he said.
"We look out for our own here."
"Thank you," Cole said and walked out to meet with his men.
"I heard what the doc was telling you." Faith rested a hand on his shoulder.
"What do you want to do Harding?" Tanner stood next to the men as they watched security escort the agents out of the hospital.
"Castillo is in the air, headed to Bolivia. He'll be there by 6am tomorrow morning."
"How the hell were you able to find this out?"
"I told ya. I've got friends in all the right places and you're not the only one who thinks that Kirsch needs to be taken down a notch or two. I also found out that Castillo is getting the word out that he's looking to invest in snuff films. I don’t need to tell you what the hell could happen if he does that. It's a sick fucking world out there and Castillo wants to make a huge contribution to it. So… if you ask me, he needs to be taken out, permanently."
Cole took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. His tone was quiet and calm. "Let's make the call."
Chapter Twenty Nine
Cole paced aimlessly around the hospital. He'd put in a call to Tristan's family and told them what happened. When Helen suggested that maybe they should catch a flight home, Cole told them not to. He assured them that Madison would be all right and that he'd have her call just as soon as she was able.
"Give her my love," Zoe told him. "You're a good man Harding, take care of our girl," George shouted out in the background.
"Will do sir," Cole replied.
Unable to reach Hank and Donna, he left a message on Hank's voicemail.
"Now there's nothing to do but wait," he told Faith.
"What are you going to do once Madison recovers? You going to try and get your job back?"
There was a moment of silence.
"Cole?"
Cole squeezed his fingers against his forehead and clenched his eyes together.
"I don’t want the job."
"Then what are you going to do?"
He shrugged his shoulders. "I don’t know. I suppose that I'll wait to see what Madison wants to do."
"What do you mean?"
"What I mean is, if she wants to stay, we'll stay. But if she wants to go, then we'll go. I told you before Faith, I'm not letting her go this time."
"I think that's a good idea buddy," Faith said.
"If you ask me, you and Madison could both use a holiday, and after the holiday, the two of you need to make a fresh start."
"I think you're right," Cole agreed.
"Listen, how about I keep a look out and you go on in and sit with Madison. Try to rest while she's resting. I'm sure when she wakes up, yours will be the first face that she'll want to see."
"Thanks buddy. I'll do just that." Cole patted his friend on the back and made his way into Madison's room.
He kissed Madison before sliding his fatigued body into the chair next to the bed. He held her hand and stroked her hair.
"Baby, come back to me. I want you to come back to me Madison," he whispered, a faint trembling in his voice.
"When I first saw you at Hank and Donna's place, my heart skipped a beat, just like it always does when I think about or look at you." He smiled warmly.
"That night, I thought to myself…your life is finally taking a turn for the better. I mean, after three years of life… there you were." He took her hand between his and kissed it.
"I need for you to wake up. Wake up so that I can tell you how much I love you."
When she squeezed his hand, he thought he would jump out of his seat.
"Madison?" He sat up, praying for her eyes to flutter open.
But then, her grip weakened an
d her eyes remained closed.
Cole exhaled deeply at the thought of a holiday. Tropical sun on their skin, Madison by his side. No worries.
****
Reggie, Manny, and Carlos had been taken into custody and now sat separated with their court appointed attorneys.
Each one was going to be charged with kidnapping and conspiracy to commit murder. And, the one person who'd instigated it all had gotten away, scot- free.
When Manny told his attorney that they'd decided against further injecting Madison, his attorney told him that it didn’t matter. They still perpetrated a crime, several to be exact. His attorney went on to tell him that each of the men knowingly left Madison to die in the bathtub.
"But we didn’t kill her," he pleaded. "That's got to count for something!" He slammed his fist down on the table. Frustration grew as he realized that Castillo had planned to leave them high and dry all along.
"The state won't care whether you killed her or not, Mr. Ortega. Even if the murder was not committed, under federal law, you and your friends can still be prosecuted. Now Mr. Ortega, you've been in and out of the legal system many times, so I shouldn’t have to tell you that, in many cases, conspiracy to commit a crime like murder is regarded as a crime as severe as the murder itself."
"What if I can get you Castillo?" Manny tried to bargain.
"Doesn’t matter. You held a woman at gunpoint, a pregnant woman I might add, and then injected another before forcing her into the trunk of a car. That's attempted kidnapping Mr. Ortega. Besides, you and your friends don’t know where Mr. Castillo is."
Just then, the door handle jiggled, and gave way. The door pushed open and the two agents stepped in, followed by two guards.
Witness Protection: Hide and Seek Page 20
