Witness Protection: Hide and Seek (19 page)

Their stride quickly turned into a run and within seconds,
they were in the Boutique.

Robert immediately went to his wife and when he saw that she
was in shock, he summoned for an ambulance.

Cole tried to show concern for Jessica, but he was too
enraged to even think about how she was feeling. Fear held him in its grip.
Madison had been taken, by whom; Jessica seemed to have no idea. When Cole
began to press her for answers, he bit off his words, his tone barely
restraining his frustration with her.

 
Robert pushed him
away and told him to back off.

"This reeks of a set-up," Cole pulled Robert
aside. For a moment, the accusatory look in Cole's eyes made Robert feel as if
he and his wife were under suspicion.

"I understand that you're angry right now and the
frustration is building," Robert said.

"But you better get that fucking idea out of your head,
now!" Robert cautioned his friend.

The sales clerk was no help either. Cole and Robert
exchanged looks when they noticed her too calm demeanor. She'd called the
police and an ambulance and then she excused herself while she went outside to
smoke a cigarette.

Two police cars and an ambulance arrived at the same time.

To Cole, things were not happening fast enough. When he
summoned the help of all the officers in and out of the area, he was told that
authorities from all near-by towns, including Summerbridge, had been called out
to a fatal automobile accident out on the interstate.

"A missing woman holds no precedent over a deadly
automobile accident!" He heard an officer from a neighboring town shout
over the radio.

Cole fought against the desperate urge to verbally rip apart
the man on the other side of the radio.

He was also told that it would be several hours before any
extra help would arrive. The only positive thing, one of the officers told him,
was that the interstate would be closed for hours. "No one is getting
through; I can promise you that sergeant." The officer tried to reassure
him.

"This is West Virginia officer. How many back roads do
you think there are?" Cole tried to hide the growl in his voice.

When the officer put his head down and walked away, Cole
knew he'd gotten his point across.

Madison does not have
several hours
, he thought to himself.

Outwardly, he gave the appearance of being calm and in
control, but inside, his anger had turned to rage, and it had begun to stick to
the flesh and bones of his body.

Time was of the essence and while officers flipped open
their notepads and questioned onlookers, Cole wanted to start a search. There
were leads that needed to be followed and people who needed to be killed…

Before she was taken to the hospital, Jessica was able to
describe her assailant and her description did not match the one that Cole was
anticipating.

He stormed outside and began questioning the sales clerk.
"Where did the man take her?"
 
He was at a disadvantage; he was new in town and still hadn't gotten a
feel for all the locals yet. But something about the young girl seemed bogus;
it was obvious that she was holding something back.

 
If there was anything
he knew, it was how to get information out of people, especially from this
young woman.

He called an officer over and told him to take the sales
clerk over to the station. He'd finish questioning her there. "Oh and stop
by the diner and pick up that waitress, Robin."

When the sales clerk's eyes bugged out of her head, Cole
knew that he'd hit pay dirt.

The thought of Madison screaming and begging for her life
was enough to make his heart slam hard against his ribcage. His breathing grew
harsher and harsher by the minute, and his muscles bristled.

 
But he knew he had to
hold it together, Madison's life depended on it.

****

Jay held the steering wheel in a death grip as he drove to
his destination. A few more miles and he'd be at his motel, the Valley House
Motel. Reggie would already be there, waiting for him and the woman that he
hoped was still unconscious in the trunk. The dose of Chloral hydrate that
Manny had injected her with was enough to knock her out for the trip to the
motel. At least he'd hoped so.

When he arrived at the motel, he planned on collecting his
money and getting the hell out of there. He didn’t want to be involved in
whatever it was that Castillo had planned for the woman.

Get the Chloral hydrate, drive the bitch to the motel,
deliver her to Reggie in the room, and collect his money. That's all he had to
do, Castillo told him. So far, everything was going as planned.

Jay peered into the rearview mirror as he slowly backed the
car into its space. He was glad that he'd chosen the very last room located in
the back. Not that the location really mattered, it was after all, his motel
and the comings and goings of him or any other member of his crew was nobody's
business.

Although the guests of the motel were nothing but a bunch of
junkies and hookers, Jay didn’t want to risk being seen lifting a woman out of
the trunk of the car, it might raise suspicion.

Reggie walked out of the motel room and stood near the
trunk.

"She give you any trouble?" His fist slammed down
on the trunk.

"Hey!" Jay got out of the car and lit a cigarette.
"Don’t do that man." He smacked Reggie's hand away.

"Haven't heard a thing. Shit, I hope the bitch ain't
dead." He took a long drag of his cigarette before exhaling.

Reggie shrugged his shoulders and pounded on the trunk once
more.

"Come on, let's do this."

Jay put his cigarette out on top of the trunk and tucked the
half-smoked butt into his shirt pocket.

Please let her be
alive,
he silently prayed.

Jay was hesitant to unlock the trunk, so Reggie snatched the
keys and did it himself.

Madison was still unconscious and she was in the same
position as when they'd placed her inside the trunk.

Jay reached into his pocket and retrieved the cigarette. He
stared down at Madison. She was curled up in the fetal position, her body
lifeless, and her breathing, shallow. "You sure she ain't dead? Because
she sure as hell looks dead." Jay took another drag of his cigarette.

Reggie pushed him aside and felt for a pulse. When he
reached down to grab hold of her, she stirred, and a painful moan escaped her
lips.

"Told you she wasn’t dead." Reggie smacked Jay on
the arm.

"Now come on and help me. The boss will be here any
minute."

"The boss is here now." Reggie jumped at the voice
coming from behind him.

"You pendejo's planning on moving this puta inside
anytime soon? Come on, Vamanos!" Castillo demanded.

"Sure boss, right away."

Jay stood in awe for a moment before helping Reggie to
remove Madison's body out of the trunk.

He watched as Castillo stood just outside the room, watching
their every move. Jay still could not believe that all of this was actually
going down. What the hell had he gotten himself into? This was the big leagues
now and all of a sudden, things didn’t look so glamorous. Things looked
complicated and heavy. Life in Summerbridge was good; he had no reason to fuck
things up now.

Besides, he did his part. Now all he had to do was get his
money and get the hell out of there.

Castillo snickered as his men plopped Madison down on the
bed. When she failed to move, he poked her in the arm with his cigarette
lighter. "You kill her before I get a shot at her?"

Reggie shook his head. "No boss, it's just the drug
that I injected her with. It should wear off shortly.

Castillo sighed and ran his hand through his hair.
"Looks like you may have given her too much." Castillo was leaning
over her, pouting like a spoiled child and continuously poking at her with his
lighter.

His voice was calm, but Manny knew there was anger building
up inside of him. He hadn't planned all of this so that Madison West could die
a slow and easy death. No, he wanted her to suffer and he wanted to watch her
do it.

"Don't worry boss, she's still alive. You'll be able to
do everything that you want to do to her. And I know that will make you
happy," Manny said with a wry smile.

Castillo stood up and smoothed out imaginary wrinkles on his
suit.

"Good. Now go get the supplies out of the car and when
you come back, I want her moved into the bathtub. I'm wearing $1,200.00 shoes.
I don’t want to get them dirty."

Jay cleared his throat, trying to stop the quiver in his
voice.

"Um, do you think I can get my money now? I mean, I did
my part and now I'm finished."

Castillo turned and smiled devilishly. "You're finished
when I say that you're finished."

When they brought Robin into the station for questioning,
Cole stood behind the two-way mirror, with his arms folded and his eyes closed.
At the moment, he couldn’t think about what Madison was going through, he had
to focus. He had to put his game face on.

He wanted Robin to think that no matter who she was, whether
it be a waitress trying to make ends meet, or a corner skank in a skintight
skirt, she'd be treated politely and with respect.

He'd be polite not because he wanted to be, but because he
wanted information. Those tactics would most definitely work, especially on
someone like Robin. It’s was as good a way as any to take her down and to find
out where Madison was.

So far, he'd gotten the full support of the Summerbridge,
PD. Well, those who weren't called away to the accident.
 
And all he was waiting on now was for his
partner Faith to return from the hospital. They'd taken Jessica there as a
precaution and Faith called, saying that Jessica and the baby were all right
and that he'd placed a call into the FBI and the DA's office. He was told that
help would be arriving very shortly.

He told Cole that once he got Jessica somewhere safe, he'd
return. He also told him not to do anything stupid and brash. That Madison's
life depended on him keeping his cool. So far, that was easier said than done.

When his cell phone buzzed, and he saw that the number was
unknown, he immediately answered it.

"Harding."

"Is this Marshal Cole Harding?" The voice on the
other end was unrecognizable and Cole couldn’t place it.

"Who is this?"

"This is U.S. Marshal, Dane Spear. I'm calling from
Oklahoma. If this is Marshal Harding, you've made it very difficult to get a
hold of you. Is this Marshal Harding?"

"Yes it is…or, it was. I'm no longer a marshal. Now
would you mind telling me the reason for your call?"

Nothing registered at first, but when it did, Cole's mind
went into overdrive.

"You're the marshal that was assigned to Juan
Hernandez." Without waiting for acknowledgment, Cole continued. "All
right, tell me what you know."

****

When Faith returned to the station, the look on Cole's face
was grave. He told him about the phone call he'd received from Marshal Spear.

"I fucking knew it!" Faith slammed his fist down
on the table.

"Alright, tell me what you want to do here buddy. Whatever
you decide, I'm behind you one hundred percent."

Cole glanced around and moved closer to Faith.
"Obviously, my first plan of action is to get Madison back safe and sound.
Then, once I've accomplished that, Castillo is a dead man."

"Wait. How come the feds aren’t all over this?"

"See, now you’re asking the right questions," Cole
Replied.

"Spear say anything to anyone about the DNA?"

"Of course he did. Went straight to his director and
was told that if he wanted to keep his job, it would be best to keep his mouth
shut."

"So the feds know that Castillo is out and that he's
killing witnesses. Why does this not surprise me? I knew something was up when
I went out to Riverbend. And if Castillo is out, then who the hell was that
beat up piece of shit that I interviewed?"

Cole shrugged his shoulders. "Believe me, I'll be the
first to ask them that question when they get here, but until they do, all I
care about is getting Madison back alive. Now let's go in there and question
Robin. I want her to think she's drowning and I am her only lifeline."

****

Madison struggled to open her eyes and when she did, three
ominous, albeit blurred, figures stood before her.

She could feel the tightness of the duct tape over her mouth
and her hands were handcuffed. There was a long metal chain that led from the
handcuffs to the metal piping underneath the bathroom sink.

Even though her head was spinning and her chest hurt, it
didn’t take long for her memory to kick in. After a couple more blinks, she was
able to look into the eyes of her captors. Ricardo Castillo being one of them.

"Well look who's finally awake." Castillo poked at
her with his gun.

"I thought I was going to have to shoot you
awake." He grinned.

Madison tried to struggle against her restraints, but it was
to no avail. Her muscles felt heavy…unresponsive.

Her heart continued to jolt, but her body refused to move.

She strained to turn her head from side to side. She was
lying in a cold, empty bathtub.

Her heartbeat slowed and became sluggish, like her head. She
saw the figures staring down at her, and then, she felt something cold against
her cheek, steel.

Fear began to jet through her bloodstream as she tried to
wiggle free.

"Now, now. There's no need for that, Miss West."

The sound of his voice was fading further and further away
and her eyes tried desperately to squeeze out the truth. She'd been taken, but
Cole would find her. He would find her before it was too late.
Please, let him find me.

"Looks like Miss West needs something to wake her
up," Castillo said and moved out of the way.

"Manny, you know what to do."

Manny hesitated before throwing the heavy-handed punch to
her jaw. Pain seared throughout her body and for a moment, it felt as if all of
her teeth had been knocked out. The strong taste of metal coated her tongue as
the blood seeped in between her teeth.

Screams of pain were muffled by the duct tape over her
mouth, forcing her to swallow down the warm blood. She had to be strong, but
the pain was unlike anything she'd ever felt before.

Tears leaked down her face and soft whimpers escaped her
mouth.

With eyes wide with terror, she turned and stared directly
at her attacker. Slowly, the monsters came into focus again. A dark ache began
to loom in the pit of her stomach and pain was replaced with fear.

"Now she's awake." He grinned, while holding a gun
to her temple.

"Do you want to live through this?" He poked at
her temple.

"Ahhh, who are we kidding huh? You and I both know that
you won't." His voice jovial.

"Time is of the essence, so let's get this party
started, shall we?"

Castillo handed the gun over to Manny, pulled out a knife
and told the others to leave the small bathroom.

He crouched down and leaned in close to her ear. "I've
waited three years for this moment, so if you're thinking that your death will
be quick and painless, think again Miss West, think again."

Looking up at the cracked and decaying ceiling, she clenched
her eyes shut and started thinking about Cole. Surely, by now he would realize
that something was wrong and that she'd gone missing. And what about Jessica?
Was she all right? The look of fear in her eyes when the man held a gun to her
was one that she would never forget.

"Pay attention!" Castillo slapped her hard on the
face.

Using the knife's cold blade, he moved several strands of
loose hair out of her face.

He leaned back to admire how she trembled and watched as her
eyes filled with tears. Madison wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of seeing
her cry though. She had to be stronger than that.

"You want to know what it feels like to be locked away.
Well I'll tell you. There's this constant roar, and something is always
happening. People are screaming, grown men are crying. The sound of men being
raped is a sound that I'll never forget and I'll never go back to Miss West.
Are you listening to me? I'll never go back. You look like you have something
to say," he said and ripped the duct tape off her mouth.

Madison gasped for breath as she looked at her captor.

"If you don’t like being locked up then maybe you
should have thought about that before you committed your crimes. You're not a
real boss anyway. You're too money hungry. A real boss would have stayed out of
the spotlight, but you crave it. You need it to survive and that is your
downfall, and it will always be your downfall." She watched as his eyes
widened and his nostrils flared out in anger.

This time, he didn’t call on Manny to do his dirty work.
This time, he did it himself and delivered a hard punch to her face splitting
her lip wide open. Madison's head jerked back, her jaw was pulsating, and blood
was dripping down her chin. She cringed when she saw him reach for the duct
tape.

"Fucking bitch," he said and slapped a fresh piece
of duct tape over her mouth.

"I'm going to enjoy watching you suffer, you uppity
bitch. God I love this, mi hermosa pequeña rata. Yes, my beautiful little
rat."

When she looked at him though, he could see that Madison had
not yet resigned herself to the situation. There was still a lot of fight left
in her and even if she never gave in, he resolved, she would know new levels of
humiliation and degradation before she died.

"I see that you're trembling mi hermosa. Let's see if
we can't do something about that, huh?" His voice was serene, almost
soothing. He shouted out something in Spanish and within seconds, Manny
appeared in the doorway. Madison noticed how his large body blocked the small
doorway and he was holding a syringe in his hands.

****

It took two hours for the FBI to arrive in Summerbridge and
when they did, Cole could feel the combatant anger coursing through his veins.

While Cole and Robert questioned Robin, William Tanner sat
anxiously in the waiting room of the Summerbridge Police Department. The moment
his wife called him and told him that the sergeant's friend had been taken, he
wasted no time in getting down to the station. He was a retired fed, but a fed
nonetheless and he needed to tell Cole, that whatever he needed, he would get
it.

He thought it odd that the feds had taken so long to get to
Summerbridge, especially given the circumstances.

"Are we sure that this isn't some elaborate plan? Maybe
she just decided to go back home to Maine."

Barely trusting himself to speak, Cole kept his mouth shut.
In his mind, his fist connected with the agents face, but he remained silent.

Cole turned his back to the agent and spoke to Robert.
"Do we have the photos of Hernandez yet?"

"Just printed them out." Robert replied.

"Good, go get 'em, I want to …"

One of the agents cut Cole off. "Just what the hell are
you planning on doing with those? You're not authorized to show those
photographs to anyone, let alone a civilian. And you Deputy Faith… aren’t you
supposed to be on vacation?"

"Last time I checked, a U.S. Marshal has similar rights
to the FBI, in regards to their ability to cross state borders that is,"
Deputy Faith replied.

"You may be allowed to cross state borders, but you do
not investigate. You only function as transportation and capturing services for
convicted felons and the like." The agent glared at him.

"Look," Cole said. "I don’t have time for any
more of your turf-war games. I don’t know what you people are doing here. It's
obvious that I won't have any of your resources at my disposal as I'd hoped.
Why don’t you just turn around and leave?"

The agents began speaking in hushed tones while moving away
from Cole and Faith.

"Maybe you guys should get a
room." Cole interrupted.

Before the agents could respond, a
lanky man with a shaved head stepped into the room. Cole and Robert exchanged
looks before returning their attention to the man, a man who needed no
introductions. Walter Kirsch was the deputy director of the FBI.

"No. My agents won't be needing a room." The
director paused and gave the men a long, menacing look. It was as if he was
bored and wanted nothing more than to get the hell out of there.

"Sir." Cole and Faith nodded their heads.

"Gentlemen." Kirsch nodded back.

"Sir. I'm not sure if you know everything that's
happened so far, but…"

Kirsch held up his hand, stopping Cole from going any
further.

"Gentlemen, might there be someplace where we could
talk in private?"

"This ought to be good," Cole mumbled to Faith.

Cole was getting tired of the bullshit. Madison was out
there alone and vulnerable in the hands of one of the most vicious animals out
there and the deputy director wanted to talk.

"With all due respect sir, this isn’t tea time at
Buckingham palace. Miss West has been gone for several hours now and I need to
find her."

"I'm well aware of Miss West's predicament Harding, you
needn't remind me. I'm also aware that Marshal Spear has informed you of the
DNA results."

"Yes sir, he has and is on his way here now. And while
we wait, maybe you could answer a few questions for me."

"I don’t have to answer anything Harding, but given the
circumstances, I'll make an exception. What is it that you want to know?"

It was obvious to both Cole and Robert that Kirsch was not going
to be forthcoming with his answers. Cole felt like he was suffocating, it was
just the three of them, but the arrogance of Kirsch made the small room seem
even more stifling.