Witness Protection: Hide and Seek (8 page)

When they reached his house, Cole
could see Faith standing in the driveway. He was leaning against his pick-up
truck and talking on the phone.

Madison was fast asleep in the car, her head resting against
the passenger side window. He stared at her a minute as he contemplated
carrying her into the house. When she stirred, he decided against it.

"Are we here?" She asked, her voice quiet.

He gently placed his hand on her shoulder. "Yes,"
he said and paused a moment before helping her out of the car.

Madison stretched and yawned while Cole grabbed her luggage
out of the car.

She smiled at Deputy Faith before allowing Cole to lead her
into the house.

Both he and Deputy Faith glanced over their shoulders before
shutting the door.

"You need to rest. We're leaving early in the morning.
I'll show you to your room," Cole said and motioned towards the guest
room.

After he got Madison settled, he came out of the room and
shut the door quietly behind him.

Faith handed him a beer.

"Did she agree to go with you?" Robert asked.

"I didn’t give her a choice."

"For how long?"'

"However long it takes."

"Did you tell her that?"

"No I didn’t. Look, she's been through enough. I figure
I'd let her decide," he said and took a swig of his beer.

"What about the job? I thought you told them that you
were divorced. What do you think they're going to say when you show up with a
woman?"

Cole shrugged his shoulders. "I'll tell them that we've
decided to work it out, that's what I'll tell them." His tone solid and
his gaze confident.

"It's none of their business anyway."

"I hope you know what you're doing," Faith said
and finished up his beer.

Cole cocked his eyebrow and gave his friend a questioning
look. "I hope you know what you're doing? This from the man who just one
day ago told me that Madison's coming back here was more than a
coincidence."

Robert nodded his head. "I know, I know. I just meant
that with Castillo being back in the picture, I hope you know what you’re
doing, that's all. And I'm sure that you are, because she can't go back to
Maine. He'll just send some of his goons up there to kill her.

Going to Summerbridge with you is the best chance that she's
got at staying alive.

Listen, I've got an appointment at Riverbend tomorrow. I'm
going to try and figure out what Castillo is up to. In the meantime, I want you
to be careful buddy, you got that? Castillo is back in business and I don’t
want you or Madison getting hurt. You call me if you need anything, anything at
all. And good luck with your new job."

With that, the two men shook hands and patted one another on
the back.

Cole looked at his watch and took note of the time, it was
almost two a.m.. They'd have to be up in a few hours. He wasn’t sure if he'd be
able to get any sleep, not with Madison sleeping in the next room.

She'd thanked him, said goodnight, and kissed him on the
cheek.

He wanted to tell her then, everything that he wanted to do
to her, but he was unsure of her reaction if he tried.

She'd lost her husband over a year ago and her feelings were
still raw. There were times though, like when they kissed and when she'd wept
in his arms that he thought she was ready to move on.

He leaned against the doorway and watched her as she slept.
Her eyelids fluttered and her mouth held the slightest hint of a smile while
her chest moved slowly up and down. He wondered if she was dreaming, and if so,
did her dream include him?

They came for him in the night. A guard allowed two men to
creep into his cell. Salvador was sleeping so soundly, that he didn't hear the
heavy cell door sliding along its metal track.

One man held a large, calloused hand over his mouth, while
the other went to work on making Salvador unrecognizable.

A guard stood outside the cell, making sure that no one
witnessed what was going on. Soon, Salvador's eyes were swollen shut, several
of his teeth were knocked out, his skin was bruised and bloodied, and a lump,
the size of an orange, had begun to appear just above his left eyebrow.

When they were finished, one of the men, the larger one,
slipped a grand into the pocket of the guard before exiting the cell.

****

Cole sat in bed with his hands behind his head. Castillo had
waited patiently for three years and was now ordering hits on those who turned
against him. He didn’t share with Madison the details of Juan's death. His
tongue being cut off in particular would have sent her over the edge. The
stakes have changed for Madison. Her life, which should have been getting
easier, has once again been turned upside down.
 

He also neglected to tell her about the one bedroom cabin
that he purchased after he accepted the job in Summerbridge.
Guess I'll be crashing on the couch
, he
thought to himself.
 

The couch, floor, it didn’t matter as long as Madison was
with him and felt safe.

Although the cabin was located in the woods of West
Virginia, it wasn’t that far from town. He needed a little seclusion, a place
of refuge. A place where he could forget about the atrocities that human beings
inflict on one another.

Besides that, when he'd purchased it, he wasn’t anticipating
having any visitors, especially not Madison. But, at least she was used to
living out in the woods, and there was a lake within walking distance on the
other side of the cabin. She'd be completely isolated, which meant that it
would take him longer to get to her, if something were to happen.

He would have to make sure that
nothing did happen.

He wondered what she would think of being alone, surrounded
by almost 20 acres of land.

It was still inconceivable that she was going with him. He
knew that keeping his emotions in check would probably be easier said than
done.

He didn’t want to have to worry about Madison's safety while
he was on the job. No matter how small the town was, danger seemed to follow
her everywhere and he would have to keep a level head.

His first order of business as the new sergeant would be to
inform his two patrol officers that there was a hit man on the loose. And that
there was the strong possibility that eventually, he or she would make their
way into Summerbridge. He would also tell them to be extra vigilant when
newcomers came into town and that if they felt the slightest bit of
apprehension towards anyone; they should report it to him immediately.

An hour had gone by and he was no closer to sleep than
before. He decided to check on Madison. Before his feet hit the floor,
headlights from an approaching vehicle flooded into his bedroom.

Immediately, he reached for his weapon and after a quick
check on Madison, made his way stealthily to the front door.

His body relaxed when he saw that it was his ex-wife Lisa,
standing in the doorway.

He glanced at the clock on the wall. "Hi," she
said and edged her way inside.

"Funny," he said. "I don't remember inviting
you in."

"Relax, I just came to say goodbye, that's all."

Watching her he said, "And I suppose that your cell
phone is broken? Do you have any idea of what time it is?"

"My cell is working perfectly fine. Oh, but I almost
forgot, you never were one for spontaneity were you?" She snickered.

He felt the resentment begin to rise, but held his tongue.
The sooner she got whatever it was that she'd come there for out of her system,
the sooner she would leave.

He just hoped that his ex-wife barging in did not disturb
Madison.

Madison was already awake. She heard the slamming of a car
door, but remained frozen in the bed. She knew that her safety was Cole's first
priority. When he poked his head inside her room, she pretended to be asleep.
It was obvious that the late night visitor had nothing to do with her. But that
didn't stop her from climbing out of bed and tiptoeing towards the door.

Leaning an ear against the door, she slowly opened it. There
was a faint light coming from the kitchen that streamed into the hallway.

She could hear the tension in Cole's voice as he spoke to
his ex-wife.

"What do you want Lisa?"

"Well, I heard through the grapevine that you were
leaving for West Virginia in a few hours, and I wondered why you didn’t tell
me."

Cole sighed heavily and held up two fingers.

"Two reasons. Number one, I didn’t tell you because
it's none of your business. And number two; we're divorced now, so I don’t have
to tell you anything, anymore."

Lisa stared at him in stony silence.

"Now that I've answered your questions, I'd like for
you to leave."

He nudged his head towards the door.

"Don’t let it hit you on the way out." His tone
was tight with anger.

Lisa took a step towards him.
"Oh, come on now. I didn’t come here to argue with you. I simply wanted to
bid you farewell, safe journeys, and all that good stuff." Her voice was
so full of sarcasm, that he wondered how she managed to keep a straight face.

Cole leaned against the kitchen
counter and folded his arms across his chest.

"Okay, well you've said it.
Now get out."

Madison shook her head in
wonderment. Cole was trying his best to get her to leave, and so far, it wasn’t
working. She was amazed at how calm he was.

"I'll leave, but I just
wanted to tell you something," she said, her eyes held his angry gaze.

"I'm pregnant."

Cole couldn’t hide his look of
astonishment. Besides her infidelity, their inability to agree on having
children was another reason why they'd decided to divorce. He'd wanted
children, but she told him that there was no way she would raise a child on her
own. His wife had given him an ultimatum, find a more stable job that would
keep him home nights, or continue working as a marshal and grow old alone.

When he took an out of town
assignment the following week, she told him never to bring up the subject of
having children, ever again. And he didn’t. Now she was standing in front of
him, rubbing it in his face.

"That's right. Jeff and I
are expecting. He's been great. I'm barely three months and he's already doting
over me." She patted her flat belly and smirked.

"Congratulations. Now get
out."

Lisa's lips curled into a tight
smile. "Come on now Cole, don’t be that way. You had your chance with me
and you blew it. You blew it because you put your job before me. You blew it
because you put that witness… Madison before me!"

Cole quit leaning against the
counter and stood up straight, his anger palpable.

His jaw tightened as he spoke
through clenched teeth.

"The only thing I blew was
almost eight years of my life being married to you. Now, get out."

There was no hesitation in his
steps as he took her by the elbow and walked her to the door.

When she turned around to say
something, he closed the door in her face. He thought about slamming it, but
didn’t want to wake Madison.

When she heard the front door
close, Madison scrambled back into bed. She knew that Cole would come and check
on her, but wasn’t sure what his reaction would be if she told that she'd heard
every word. And she was okay with that, because at the moment, she was at a
loss for words.

When he slowly opened the door to
the guest room, and saw her sleeping soundly, Cole breathed a sigh of relief.
Madison hadn't heard a thing. She slept through it all.

His feet felt sluggish as he made
his way back to his bedroom. He sank onto the bed and covered his face with his
hands. The news that he'd just received caught him off guard and felt like a
kick to the gut. He wanted nothing more than to be a father and that son of a
bitch Jeff, who'd lain down with his wife was going to get the chance.

He lay down and released an
audible sigh. There was no sense in stewing over it.
What's done is done
, he told himself.

Time to get over it and move on. I've got far more important things to
think about than my cheating ex-wife
.

"Good luck to you
both," he whispered before falling asleep.

****

While Madison showered and dressed, Cole put her luggage
into his truck and made a last minute check around his rental property. He'd
gone ahead and moved his furniture, along with all of his personal items to
West Virginia weeks ago. He was lucky that the beds came with the place. He'd
gone ahead and had a brand new one delivered to his new residence.

"Too bad I won't get the chance to try it out," he
mumbled and smirked when he saw Madison coming out of the house.

Well at least someone
will get some use out of it.
His back ached at the thought of having to
sleep on the couch. But a few aches and pains would be worth it. Madison was
staying with him and right now, that was all that mattered.

Her smiling gaze instantly made his body react. "Good
morning," he said as he feigned being busy at stacking the luggage.

"I thought we'd get a good distance between us and
Tennessee before stopping for breakfast alright?"

"Sounds perfect," she said. She was starving and was
hoping to get a bite to eat right away, but she didn’t want to upset him by
interfering with his plans.
 
Not after
the night he'd had. His ex-wife had stabbed him in the back and for no other
reason than to be vindictive, drove the knife in further when she told him that
she was pregnant with another man's child.

Madison knew that Cole had wanted children. He even told her
that once he returned from Maine, he hoped to put some serious effort into
trying.

And that was three
years ago.

She watched him, as he made sure the luggage was secure in
the back of the truck. His strong jawline darkened by stubble. When he moved,
she saw the muscles in his well-toned arms stand out and she inadvertently
licked her lips.

 
Seeing Cole in such a
vulnerable state only added to her attraction towards him. It was an attraction
that she kept trying to deny, but it was there and it was as solid as the
ground that she was standing on.

She'd wait until they were settled in the car to tell him
that his was not the only imperfect marriage.