Castillo's heart pounded out a constant drumming of doom. There was nothing that he could do, no place that he could go. An armed guard was blocking the only exit and another one had turned his back to the group and was doing something with his hands.
He leaned to the side and risked a peek into the cage. Two sets of emerald green eyes full of blood lust, stared back at him.
"Yes, you are the treat that I promised my bebés." Guzman's hand now rested on the cage door.
"I know what you had planned puta." Guzman could feel the anger building up inside him. His hand gripped the cage tightly and he fought hard not to release the latch.
"No señor, you are mistaken," Castillo stammered. "I would never betray you. You have gotten your information from an untrustworthy source."
"No mi amigo, I have not. You were to meet with agents when you got off the plane, is that not correct? And once off the plane, they were to take you to be fitted with a wire. Is that not so?"
The large man shifted his weight and moved to the other side of the cage, away from the opening.
Castillo stood stunned as he stared at the animals. They hadn't moved a muscle and their eyes, God their eyes never left his own.
He wanted to scream. He wanted to run screaming, right out the front door, but there was no chance of that. They were in the basement and the armed guards were now making their way closer to him.
"What is that saying?" Guzman looked at Castillo.
"Oh yes, your silence speaks volumes Ricardo. And that's okay, because I'm sure that we'll be hearing from you momentarily. But… before you start screaming, which I am sure you will do, I want to tell you that I am proud of you for not begging," Guzman said. "Most men that I bring down here, start begging right away.
Castillo could sense the two men standing behind him, but his gaze remained straight ahead on the panthers.
He breathed a heavy sigh of relief when he saw Guzman walk away from the cage, towards him until their eyes met.
"This should make things a little easier." He grinned and snapped his fingers.
"Oh, but not too much."
He started to make his way back towards the cage, but then turned around.
"I almost forgot," he walked over to him and tapped him on the neck.
"Madison West sends her regards." A dry, sinister snicker escaped his mouth.
At the mention of her name, Castillo closed his eyes and cursed. "Shit!" He said and felt the sharp prick of something being injected into his neck.
"Don’t worry," the guard said.
"This is nothing compared to what you gave to Miss West."
When he released the contents of his bladder, both guards stepped back.
"Ahhh, don’t be frightened mi amigo. It'll all be over soon," Guzman said and opened up the latch of the cage.
The feeling was not one of euphoria and his vision was starting to blur.
Whatever they gave him was not enough to cause him to black out, nor was it enough to block out the pain.
Flashes of emerald green eyes, pure white fangs, and flesh being torn dominated his eyes and his ears. Then there was the crunch. It sounded bad. It sounded as if someone had broken a 2x4 over his knee. For a moment, it felt just like a dream, only for a moment because after that, the pain came.
Castillo went down with a thump, his body a heap of raw flesh and bones.
And he did scream, he screamed until his skin, what was left of it, turned as white as a sheet of paper.
Guzman stood close by and watched the animals feast on their treat. When he saw that Castillo's eyes were still open and that he was still breathing, he gave a command to the animals. Mosie moved down towards the legs and Iver stayed near the head. A moment later, on Guzman's command, Iver tore into the throat of his prey.
****
"Jesus Christ!" Marshal Spear got up from his chair. He was coughing and gagging.
Tanner turned off the skype session and looked around at the men. Besides their faces being a little pale, neither Cole, nor Faith looked the worse for wear.
"And that, gentlemen, is that," Tanner said.
"I'm going to check on Madison, Cole said.
"If it's all right with you, I'm going to say goodnight. I've got to check on Jessica."
"Of course. Thanks for everything, all of you." Cole shook hands with the men.
"Anytime Harding, anytime. Give Madison our best."
Chapter Thirty Two
Madison woke up with her legs entwined with Cole's and his eyes on her as he propped himself up on his elbow. "Good morning."
Madison smiled and snuggled further into him. Three weeks had gone by and she felt impossibly content. "Good morning."
"How'd you sleep?"
"Amazing," she said and looked out at the palette of colors bursting from the sunrise.
"Now I know why they call this place the pearl of the pacific. It's breathtaking, simply breathtaking."
"Yes she is," Cole moved closer to her and gently stroked the hair away from her forehead.
"I was talking about the view," she said. "This island." She giggled.
"And I was referring to you." He smiled warmly.
"Thank you for bringing me here," she said and kissed him again.
Madison wrapped a sheet around her and shifted out of bed.
She could not stop smiling as she made her way over towards the window that overlooked the lagoon of Vahine-Island.
They were in Bora Bora, and so far, the entire trip felt like a dream.
Cole eased up behind her and wrapped his arms around her.
Madison leaned into him as they watched the sunrise and listened to the shimmering blue waves lapping against the white sands of their private beach bungalow.
Even though they were in one of the most beautiful places in the world, she could feel herself stalling, hated that she was making things tense. But everything had come on so suddenly. After she was released from the hospital, she spent her days, avoiding the authorities. She had nothing to say to the feds, she wanted that part of her life to be gone forever. She remembered the conversation that she had when Kirsch and two of his men came to Cole's place. "Just a few routine questions," he said.
She'd denied knowing anything about Castillo's disappearance, and she showed complete indifference when Kirsch told her that a special operation had now been ruined. Kirsch's superior had asked him a couple of questions too.
"Have you had anything strange happen with any of your people in the last few days? Say, people who would have been aware of an investigation, somebody fairly close to it? Anything unusual, or concerning? What about that drug deal gone bad, back at the Valley House Motel?"
Kirsch waved his hand in a dismissive manner. "Unrelated sir. Nothing unusual or concerning at all," he replied.
His superior shook his head in wonderment. "Well then, I guess we won't know what happened to Castillo until we actually find him."
"We're looking into every lead sir."
"Good and please try not to disturb Guzman. The last thing we want is for him to catch wind of what we've got planned."
"Believe me, Guzman is one man that I do not want to disturb," Kirsch said.
Just as Kirsch's superior knew nothing of the kidnapping of Madison West, Kirsch knew nothing of the inside job that was executed by the retired agents. They'd kept their mouths shut, and those that still worked for the feds knew that their careers would come to an abrupt end if they told anyone.
But Kirsch still had to ask Madison how she felt about Castillo's disappearance and whether or not she wanted to go back into the program. He had to keep up appearances. He knew that asking her to go back into the program could mean the end of his career. His superiors knew nothing of her ordeal and if she opened her mouth to tell them… well that would not be good at all.
Luckily, he had some experience in dealing with people like Madison West. She was the good Samaritan that now held malice towards the feds. They not only failed to keep h
er safe, but they offered her up to Castillo without a second thought. She was now fed up with the system and all of its bullshit.
Tired of always trying to do the right thing, only to get screwed over, time and time again. No, he was almost positive that she would refuse to go back into the program, almost.
"Absolutely not," she said. "I have no intention of having my life dictated to me by you or anyone else."
"But Miss West, aren’t you afraid of Castillo coming after you again?" Kirsch feigned concern.
"I'm not afraid Deputy Kirsch and there's a simple reason for that."
"And what might that be?"
Madison stood up and walked over to him. "I'm not afraid because even though he is missing, I'm sure that you and your agency are doing all that you can to find him. After all, I'm sure that my life is far more important than the life of a sex-trafficking, drug smuggling, killer, am I right?" There was no mistaking the tone of her voice. It was sarcastic, yet almost soothing. She was letting him know that if they left her alone, she would leave them alone.
Kirsch swallowed hard and nodded his head. "Of course Miss West."
Madison held out her hand and when Kirsch reached for it, she shook it heartily.
"Good, so while you and your men search for Castillo, I'll be going on with the life that I was intended to lead. And on that note, I'll walk you to the door."
After they'd taken care of Manny and his associates, Kirsch and his men left Summerbridge for good.
Once that was taken care of, Madison spent the rest of her days and nights with Cole. Just the two of them. And now they were watching the sunrise in one of the most beautiful places in the world.
"You sure you want to go back to Maine with me?" She frowned.
Cole could feel the smallest bit of tension in her body.
He turned her around so that she was facing him.
"Madison, we talked about this. No more doubts. Tanner is going to replace me as sergeant and when we get back, you're going to Maine and I'm going with you. Three years ago when I first met you, something deep down told me that I was falling for you. As horrible and as selfish as that may sound, I was. But I was a married man and I was in charge of your protection.
No matter how hard I tried to fight it, a piece of my heart broke just trying to imagine leaving you. And when we brought you to Calloway, it took all the strength I had not to ask you to wait for me. I buried it deep inside, but Madison, that was the worst day of my life. And I know that we have to leave this wonderful, fantasy world soon, but I'm not leaving you. Not leaving us. We're in this together."
Her heart pounded hard, ridiculously hard. Madison laughed and cried at the joy of it all. For the woman who thought that being strong meant spending the rest of her life solo.
"You showed me how to let go and learn to love again. And I want to spend each and every day loving you."
Cole held her close. His fingertips moved across her lips. "So much faith in me," he said softly. "I promise I will never let you down."
She could feel, could see, how much he loved and wanted her. Cole took hold of her hand and led her back to the bed.
"I want you so badly."
Hearing that pushed aside any and all doubts that she had about asking him to go to Maine with her.
Before she could take her next breath, his fingers threaded into her hair and his mouth was on hers. When one of his legs came between hers, she couldn’t stop herself from closing her thighs around him and thrusting her hips up against his firm leg muscles.
Feeling his hands on her body and forever reeling from his mind-blowing kisses already had her feeling like she was on the edge.
He said her name in a whisper of need and before she knew it her entire body had turned soft, pliant against him, and she could feel herself throbbing between her legs.
Their lovemaking wasn’t rushed, wasn’t hurried. It was slow and deliberate, despite their desperate want for one another.
Afterwards, as they lay in each other's arms, Cole released a blissful sigh. "I'm going to hate to leave this place, but I cannot wait to start my life with you."
His words resonated all the way down to the depths of her soul.
"I love you," he said and slid his hand over hers.
She pressed her lips against his and whispered, "I love you too."
Epilogue
Four months later
Madison couldn’t stop smiling as she paced in the bathroom of their new log home.
She peeked through the door and smiled again when she saw that Cole was still asleep.
Selling she and Tristan's place and moving to Caribou with Cole had been an easier transition than she thought it would be.
She was happy when he was able to secure a consulting position at START, the Sex Trafficking Action Response Team. Cole was excited to work with a local agency that committed itself to ending sex trafficking and commercial exploitation.
His main goal at the agency would be to make the public aware of human trafficking and to help build an effective response system. He'd also be involved in strengthening law enforcement's efforts in prosecuting the traffickers and most importantly, ensuring quality services for survivors.
Madison loved the fact that the new job meant that he'd be in one place.
"No more going out in the field," he told her. "And I couldn’t be happier." The look in his eyes told her that he meant every word.
Madison went to work as a coding specialist for a small doctor's office nearby, and the new jobs allowed them to spend more time with each other. Especially since they both had the option of working from home.
She nervously twisted a tissue in her hands as she looked at the results of the home pregnancy test.
"You okay?" Madison turned to find Cole standing in the doorway.
"I'm fine." She smiled and moved closer to him.
"In fact, I'm better than fine," she said and held up the test.
"You're going to be a daddy." Tears of joy filled their eyes.
"And you're going to be a mommy." He wiped the tears from her eyes and smiled. A smile so filled with love that it took her breath away.
"We're going to have a baby. Madison West, I love you."
Each time he said the words, it made her legs weak, and her heart tremble.
"I love you too," she whispered. As he pulled her close and kissed her, Madison realized that now she knew how much love she had to give, and she was grateful they had taken the chance. And although her life was far from what she had expected it to be, she knew that the rest of it would be no less amazing.
The End
Witness Protection: Hide and Seek Page 22
