Witness Protection: Hide and Seek (14 page)

This town is just full
of new comers today, badass looking newcomers.
I hope they tip as good as they look.
Robin grinned as she made her
way over towards the table.

Manny's gaze ran up and down the length of Robin's long legs
and when his eyes met her's, she couldn’t stop her cheeks from turning crimson.

 
He introduced himself
and was gentle when he took hold of her hand. Robin had never met anyone so
suave, not even her drug-dealing boyfriend Jay was this smooth.

 
"Now Robin,
something about you tells me that you are the go-to girl. Am I right?"

Manny caressed the side of her arm.

Robin was so dumbfounded, all she could do was giggle and
nod her head in agreement.

Immediately, Manny went to work. He told her that if she
could produce as much information about the new sergeant and his female
companion that she could, not only would he give her a large tip, but he'd keep
her number handy. Just in case he needed a special accomplice.

Robin was more than willing to assist the strangers. And
after making a few trips back and forth between some of the patron's tables,
she was able to give Manny the low-down about the new sergeant, and his
so-called friend, Gabriella.

The new name stumped Manny, but only for a moment. He
assumed that Madison had taken on a new name, just as Juan Hernandez had.

 
He typed everything
that Robin had told him and sent the text to Castillo. All they had to do now
was pass the time until their meeting with Jay.
So far, so good. What do you want us to do now boss?
Manny texted
Castillo.

'I want you to drive
by and check out the surroundings. But that's all I want you to do. Check
everything out. Oh, and try not to stand out. The less attention you draw to
yourselves, the better
.' Castillo texted back.

After he and Reggie finished eating, Manny gave Robin his
cell phone number and a fifty-dollar bill.

"Pleasure doing business with you," he said.

"I'm sure we'll be seeing you again sweet stuff. And
remember, you find out any new information, you text me right away." He
grinned, showing his gold teeth and patted her on the behind.

****

"You've turned your nice,
cozy home into a fortress. Cole, are you sure about all of this? I mean, I
still don’t know how long I'll be staying."

She motioned towards the keypad
he'd just finished installing.

"Of course I'm sure. Besides,
I need for you to feel safe when I'm not around. And as far as the amount of
time that you'll be staying here goes… let me put it to you this way." He
moved closer to her. His lips brushing against hers.

"You'll stay with me until I
know for sure that you're safe. End of discussion. Now let me show you the
code."

He spoke to her in the same,
no-nonsense tone that he used when she'd first been introduced to him, three
years ago. He was all business now and led her into the house.

"You know how to use a
weapon, but any weapon that you use can also be taken away and turned against
you. I've put out several items that can be used as weapons."

There was a metal baseball bat
leaning against the hall closest to the front door.

He'd hung a fire extinguisher up on
a wall in the kitchen.

In the living room, a nine
millimeter was taped underneath one of the sofa cushions.

"No matter where you are in
this house," he said, "I want there to be a weapon close at
hand."

"I appreciate all of this
Cole, I do. But we don’t know that whoever is doing this is anywhere
nearby."

Cole sat her down on the
sofa.
 
He rubbed two fingers against each
temple and his expression turned somber.

"They were near enough to
know that you were staying with Hank and Donna's weren't they? They were near
enough to get close to the people you hold closest to your heart, Madison. I
think it's safe to assume that Ricardo Castillo knows that you are in West
Virginia."

"I'll run. I've got no ties
to anyone or anything, anymore."

"No you won't Madison, you
can't. You can't run forever."

"I won't have to run forever.
It'll just be until whoever is doing this is caught."

"And you would risk your
friends and family getting hurt? Is that something you're willing to risk?
Because that is exactly what is going to happen if you run."

She knew that he was right. There
was no way she'd risk Zoe's life or anyone else's for that matter.

"I told you that I'd keep you
safe and that is exactly what I intend to do. I know this can't be easy. Always
watching, always wondering. But I want you to trust me and know that everything
will be alright."

She stared at him for a long
moment. "I trust you with my life," she said, dark storms swirling in
her passionate gaze.

His eyes narrowed, a predatory
gleam pouring into them. "I know you're confused Madison, but when you
talk about running, I know that you're not just talking about running away from
Castillo or the thugs that he's hired. You're talking about running away from
me."

An intense heat crackled in the
air between them. Her eyes lowered towards the floor and Cole braced himself
for rejection.

"I'm not running away from
you."

Her heart was pounding and she
lifted a hand to caress his cheek. When she leaned in to kiss him, his hands
instinctively went around her waist and he drew her in closer as he fought to
breathe.

He held her that way for a moment,
their heated flesh melded together, his hands slipping underneath her top and
caressing her back.

When she guided his hands to her breasts,
Cole fought hard for control as she tugged at his tee shirt, kissing his mouth
and neck while she pulled it over his head.

Soon, she felt his fingers
tangling themselves in her hair. And when both had done away with the top half
of their clothing, she wrapped herself around him, her naked breasts pressing
against his bare chest.

Cole drew her head back so that
they were looking at each other, and then his mouth covered hers and he kissed
her so intensely that she felt as if she would lose part of herself to him.

****

William Tanner was out walking his dog, again. When the dog
began scratching at the front door, William put down the book that he was
reading and let out a heavy sigh.

The book was just getting good.

"Again?" He looked at the dog and snatched up the
leash.

Anubis lowered his head towards the floor and a deep growl
came from his throat. William knew then that the dog was on to something. He'd
gotten a whiff of something that he didn’t like and from the growl that had
escaped the dog's mouth, it wasn’t an animal.

William attached the leash to the dog's collar and led
Anubis back inside to the gun safe. After pressing a few buttons, the safe made
a whooshing sound as it opened up.
 
William quickly selected his Colt Government model MK IV- Series, ACP
Pistol.

Whatever it was that was making Anubis anxious, wouldn’t be
doing it for much longer, he thought to himself as they headed outside.

****

"Will you hurry up?"
 
Manny shook his head as Reggie headed deeper
into the woods.

"Be quiet. I can't go if there's noise," he said.

"You sound like a fuckin' kid, you know that?"
Manny stopped in the middle of the clearing and folded his arms.

"Hurry up! We found the place, now I want to get the hell
out of here before somebody spots us."

"I told you to shut…" Reggie muted his shouts when
he heard the sound of movement, and the leaves stirring. Something was
approaching.

"You've got 10 seconds to zip up and get the hell out
of here." William kept a hand on Anubis's leash and the other on his .45.

Reggie zipped up and raised his hands in surrender. He
turned around slowly and met the irritated gaze of William Tanner and the
threatening growl of Anubis. The dog was baring all of its teeth and Reggie was
glad that he'd been given the chance to zip up.

"What the hell is going on?" Manny appeared, but
backed up as soon as he saw the dog.

"Listen old man, we just had to make a pit stop. You
can call off the dog."

William turned his attention to Manny. "I haven’t siced
the dog on you and this here is private property. Now, your 10 seconds are up,
this is your last warning. It's time that you leave my woods."

William's stance told the men that he meant business.

Manny remembered what Castillo had told him…
Don’t get caught and don’t draw any
attention to yourselves.
They'd managed to do both, but he saw no reason to
share the incident with his boss. When he and Reggie got back to the car, the
first words out of his mouth were, "don’t say a word about this to the
boss." Reggie agreed wholeheartedly.

"Good boy," William said and patted Anubis on the
head.

"I didn’t like the looks of those guys." He
quickly memorized the license plate.

William gave a gentle tug on the leash and led Anubis down
the path that led back to his place. "Come on boy. I've got to make some
phone calls."

****

Long, languishing, waves of sunlight came streaming through
the window, caressing their bodies as they held one another close.

Cole clutched her to him and then groaned when she pulled
away for a moment to remove the rest of his clothing.

When she stood in front of him, he slid his hands down over
her hips to remove her shorts and panties.

Immediately, she felt his strong, masculine hands all over
her. And when they reached the spot between her legs, she shuddered when his
fingers encountered evidence of her arousal. Madison moaned loudly and pressed
herself against his hands. Already rock hard, the movement of her body soon had
him wanting to know the inside of her.

Cole plunged forward and covered her mouth with his, making
her body hum with anticipation. Slowly, they withdrew from one another and
Madison found herself staring at him, his eyes seeming to search her own for
the answer to an unspoken question. She felt the pull towards him and wondered
if he too, felt the same connectedness.

When she wrapped her hand around him, his body jerked and he
drew in a sharp breath. He kissed her again, willing control and nearly came
undone by the way she kissed him back. She moved above him and slowly, lowered
herself onto him, taking him all the way into her and then leaned forward until
his mouth covered her hardened nipples.

Cole's limbs began to quake, but he held off long enough for
Madison to move against him, her mouth gasping into his as she came to a
quivering orgasm.

With all sense of urgency dissipated, she collapsed onto his
still heaving chest.

Neither spoke as they now took their time, touching, kissing
and tasting.

Cole couldn’t get enough of her lips and the way her breasts
felt against his chest.

Madison lay against him, his hands caressing the small of
her back. When he wrapped his arms around her, it was the most amazing feeling.
He expressed in actions, what words could not and it touched her to the core.

When they kissed again, their passion returned and this
time, when they touched, it was done with fiery determination.

 
He wrapped her legs
around him and carried her into the bedroom. He came onto the bed and moved over
her, all the while looking into her eyes. He whispered to her how beautiful she
was, and how much he loved looking into her eyes. Madison moaned softly before
covering his mouth with hers.

In one smooth move, he thrust his hips forward, easing
himself into her body. Madison gasped at the feeling. It had been so long, and
never had she felt such fullness. She knew that it was almost enough to take
her over the edge, again.

As Cole moved within her, feelings of exquisiteness centered
where they joined, overtaking her and she surrendered herself to them.

His strong body clasped between her legs, heated breath
against her skin. She moaned her approval and in response, he moved deeper and
faster, burying himself inside of her.

Madison clutched his forearms as she met him, thrust for
thrust. She called out his name as her body shuddered with sweet release. Cole
kept his body in control and was happy to have exhausted Madison before
allowing himself the pleasure of release.

Together, they flopped back against the pillows breathless
and content.

"That… was amazing." Cole panted.

Are you ok?"

Madison nodded but kept quiet. Her eyes were shiny, with
threatening tears.

Cole pulled her closer. "Are you alright?"

"It was amazing," she said. Her voice barely above
a whisper, but she held it together.

"And you were hoping that it wouldn’t be." The
words came out like a statement, just as he wanted them to.