Witness Protection: Hide and Seek (20 page)

The room grew quiet and Cole looked at Robert and said,
"I can't stand around anymore. I've got to do something."

Kirsch straightened out his tie and jerked his head towards
the empty chair.

"Sit down Harding." His tone low, but forceful.

Cole snatched back the chair and reluctantly sat down.

"Good. Now let me start by saying that Ricardo Castillo
is brutal, but not stupid. He commits no crimes of passion. He kills for one
reason and one reason only, business."

Cole thought about that for a minute, then he said to
Kirsch, "So what you're saying, is you cut some kind of deal with
Castillo."

Kirsch paused before answering, he wanted Cole to fully
absorb the words.

"I need for you to see the larger picture here,
Harding." There was an undisputable tone in his voice.

 
"But basically,
you're only here to cover up whatever mess Castillo makes," Cole said.

"You've got to look at it from our perspective Harding.
Castillo and his men are just small potatoes compared to what he's offering us.
We're not here to track down Miss West, nor are we here to
 
re-capture Castillo. We want to take down one
of the biggest cartels in Bolivia, and in order to do that, we need Ricardo
Castillo."

"That's funny, three years ago, Castillo wasn’t just
small potatoes," Faith said.

"Yeah well, three years ago, we didn’t know the things
that we know now. Besides, things change." The deputy's tone was brash.

"And let me guess, you'll do whatever it takes, am I
right? Even if it means allowing him to torture and kill Madison, right?"

Cole already knew the answer, but he needed to hear the
words come out of Kirsch's mouth.

"Don't undermine me Harding; it's starting to piss me
off! Look, I understand that you're involved with this woman, but understand
this, innocent people die all the time. Now I'm sorry that Miss West got caught
up in this mess, but like I said, one innocent life is nothing compared to the
lives that will be saved if and when we take down this cartel."

Cole's jaw was working, but no sound came out.
 
His mind was working, though: and his mind
told him to wrap his hands around Kirsch's neck, but he had a better idea.
Before Faith could reach over to stop him, Cole smashed his fist against
Kirsch's jaw. Kirsch fell against the metal table and slid onto the floor.

The two other agents descended into the room and tried
restraining Cole. His anger had boiled into an uncontrollable rage. Only the
words of his partner calmed him down.

"How do you think Madison will fare if you get yourself
locked up? You got that out of your system. Now it’s
 
time to concentrate on finding Madison. She
needs you. Now get your head back in the game."

Kirsch stood up in a flash, his hand on his gun. He
straightened out his tie and took a deep breath. A ghost of a grin flashed
briefly across his face.

"I hope you enjoyed doing that Harding, because
whatever shred of hope that you had of my helping you, just disappeared. Looks
like Miss West is on her own from here on out. Now get the hell out of here
before I have you taken into custody!" He slammed his fist down on the
table.

Cole did not appear to take the threat seriously. His eyes
scanned the room.

Kirsch's face reddened further, and his voice rose. "I
said, get the hell out of here!"

Kirsch and the agents followed closely behind as Cole and
Faith made their way to the door. "Oh and one more thing," Kirsch
said.

"You can kiss your career in
law enforcement goodbye Harding."

Cole turned around abruptly, leaned
forward, and in as calm a voice as he could muster, said, "I quit."

Kirsch flinched and took a step
back.

****

William Tanner heard Cole before he actually
saw him. He'd just slammed the door of a small office and was storming towards
the main doors.

"Where are we going?" He
heard the other man ask Cole.

"I don’t need his help."
Cole barked. "I'll find Madison on my own!"

As the two men brushed by him,
Tanner stood up and hurried to catch up to the men.

Marshal Spear was just getting out
the car when he heard an older man shouting after Sergeant Harding.

Cole took a step back and turned
around. He had no time to make small talk with Tanner or anyone else for that
matter. And he wasted no time telling him that.

But when Tanner informed him that he
still had strong connections with the FBI, Cole's attitude changed and he
apologized to Mr. Tanner for being so abrupt.

"Forgive me Mr. Tanner, but would you mind telling me
what makes your contacts in the FBI so different from the condescending agents
that I just left back in the office?"

"The men that I work with have nothing to lose.
They're… what do you young folks call it now?" He said, snapping his fingers.
"Oh yes, they're old school. We believe in catching the bad guy the
old-fashioned way. We don't take shortcuts and we don't offer deals to
rats."

When he saw the look of surprise on Cole's face, he
continued.

"That’s right," he said and nodded his head.
"I've already made some phone calls on your behalf. I know where Castillo
is holding your friend and I believe there's still time to get to her. My guess
is Kirsch, the selfish, sanctimonious bastard that he is, has already put in a
call to Castillo, warning him that you're onto him. So, it's just a matter of
time before he flees the country. Castillo is planning to kill her, but I
believe that we still have time to get to her, but we gotta work fast."

Whatever they injected her with was making her heart sizzle
and crackle like an egg on a superhot griddle.

At first, the feeling was one of euphoria. Her body felt
relaxed and the pain from the blows she'd suffered earlier, seemed to subside
almost immediately.

Although her hands were still bound and the duct tape
remained over her mouth, Madison felt as if she were floating away from
herself.

Castillo sat through it all as he watched her go through
each phase of the drug.

When she dropped her head, he roughly titled her chin so
that he could look into her eyes. When he saw that her pupils were the size of
pinpricks, a ghastly smile crept over his mouth.

Her pulse was weak and her breathing had become shallow.
Madison West was not a drug user, and the small amount of heroin that Jay was
able to get his hands on, was definitely doing the trick. Castillo continued to
stare at her. His head was cocked to the side and while wearing a satisfied
expression on his face, he studied her. He wondered how she would fare when the
next drug was injected into her. He was excited to see what the effects of
'molly' would have on her, especially since he wanted Manny to inject her with
it.

"But boss, this drug is usually swallowed. Shouldn’t we
just take the tape off her mouth and force her to swallow it?"

His question was met with a hard slap to the face.

"I don’t want her to swallow it. I want her injected
with it," Castillo said through clenched teeth.

Forcing her to swallow the pill seemed excessively civilized
for someone like Madison West. He wanted her to suffer, not just from the
effects of the drugs, but also from the indignity of having it injected.

"When they find her, I want them to see the bruises on
her face and the needle marks on her arms. I want them to think that she's just
another piece of shit junkie who overdosed. I do believe that in a matter of
hours Miss West, you'll be dead." He stood up and looked down upon her
slumped over body.

He was about to order Manny to inject her with the 'molly'
when the chime from his cell interrupted.

He turned towards the wall and read the text message.

'Time's up.

There's a flight
leaving for Bolivia in two hours and you need to be on it.

This is not a request.

If you leave now,
you'll have plenty of time to make your flight.'

It was time. The ball was rolling. Castillo spun around and
smiled gleefully as he looked at the torpid body of Madison West.

"It looks like our time together has come to an abrupt
end mi hermosa. I was hoping to watch you take your last breath. Hell," he
laughed. "I was even thinking about filming it. Yes, people pay to watch
death. But not like in the movies, mi hermosa. I'm talking about real life, in
real time. You'd be surprised at how many people get off on it. And whatever
gets people excited, or stimulated, means that it will become in high demand
and if it's in high demand, then there is money to be made, lots of money.

But, even though I have someplace to be, I want you to know that
I'm not leaving you here to die all by your lonesome." He bent down,
titled her head back against the hard, metal nozzle of the bathtub and stroked
her hair.

 
"I'm leaving,
but before I go, I am going to make sure that my men take good care of
you."

Madison stared, unflinching at the bits of ceramic tile that
had fallen off the wall.

"You're at a loss for words," he said, in a
mocking tone.

"There was so much that I wanted to do to you, mi
hermosa, but like I said, our time together is over. I'm off to start a new
life and yours is about to end." He leaned in closer and rested his
forehead against her cheek.

"I am so very glad that I had the opportunity to meet
you Miss West. I owe so much to you and I am so very glad that I've gotten to
repay you for what you did to me. I also want you to know that it gives me
great pleasure to see that the purity and goodness that you thought was running
through your veins, has now been replaced with humiliation, and a poisonous
filth that you will never be able to be rid of."

With each sentence, Madison's breathing grew more and more
shallow.

Castillo straightened up and smoothed out his suit.

"I will leave you to my men now, Miss West. Maybe in
your next life, if you have one that is, you will think twice before sticking
your nose in where it doesn’t belong. Because I'm sure, you've learned by now
that doing that can and will get you killed."

For a brief moment, Madison had a vision. As she lay there,
unable to defend herself, she thought briefly of the child she would never
have. Of the possible future with Cole that was now but a dream, a fantasy
swirling around in her drug-induced head.

The vision lasted only seconds and was replaced with the
blur of Castillo walking out of the room.

Manny didn't question it when Castillo told him to hand over
the keys to the SUV.

He only did as he was told and continued preparing the
syringe.

"There's someplace that I have to be," Castillo
said and gathered up his things.

"You better pay me or else." Jay stood up; beads
of sweat pouring down his face.

Castillo stopped and turned, his face completely impassive.

"Or else what?"

Jay stood frozen, numb. "I just mean that… a deal's a
deal. And we had a deal, and now I want what's coming to me," he
stammered.

"Is that right?" Castillo pulled out a knife and
ran the sharp blade against his thumbnail.

"Okay then. I guess you're right. You should get what's
coming to you and here it is," he said as he plunged the knife deep into
Jay's abdomen.

Jay was stunned at first, then his body stiffened. He looked
at Castillo with blank eyes, and then toppled and fell back onto the bed.

Castillo grabbed a corner of the bedspread and wiped the
blood from his knife. Manny, Carlos, and Reggie stood around the bed, watching
Jay die and trying hard to ignore the gurgling sounds that were escaping his
mouth.

No one said a word because no one wanted to join Jay.

"Take care of this will ya? But remember putas, Miss
West takes priority over that piece of shit," he said jerking his head
towards Jay.

Castillo gathered up his things and walked out of the room.

Carlos scurried after him in a huff. "I thought you
needed protection boss?"

Castillo unlocked the SUV and threw his bag into the back
seat.

"Of course my friend, but I'm coming back. I've got to
take care of something first." He responded dryly.

Castillo placed his hands firmly on Carlos's shoulders.
"Don't worry mi amigo. I need you to stay here and help clean up the mess
in there. I won't be gone long, so be ready to go by the time I get back okay?"
He spoke to Carlos as if he were a child.

Eager to please his boss, Carlos said, "trust me boss.
By the time we're finished, no one will even know that we were here. It'll look
like another drug deal gone bad."

"Good, that's what I like to hear. Adios."
Castillo waved his hand out the window and made haste towards the airport.

Manny came outside and lit a cigarette. "You know he's
not coming back, right?" He exhaled roughly and looked at Carlos.

"But he said…" Carlos's voice trailed off as he came
to realization that he'd just been lied to.

Both Manny and Reggie shook their heads.

"Todo músculos y el cerebro no."

"All brawn and no brains." They snickered before
going back into the room.

****

Cole no longer cared that the director had fired him, nor
did he care that the agents wouldn’t be of any help. All he cared about was
getting Madison back, alive.

They were gathered at William Tanner's place and Deputies
Faith, and Spear had volunteered to help the men. Together, the four of them
would wait for back up.

 
They were located in
the basement of Tanner's home and as he opened up the large vault that held
even more weapons, he told them that, "real help is coming." He stood
back and let Cole chose a weapon.

He wished he could go home and get his street sweeper, but
there was no time for that. He settled for a G29 10 mm with a standard 10 round
magazine and a Remington tactical shotgun with express tactical pistol grip and
a single bead sight optimized for rapid target achievement and precise shot
placement.

"Excellent choice, Tanner said.

Cole nodded his head and began loading the weapons.

When Tanner told him where Castillo was holding Madison,
Cole thought about dealing with the situation immediately, then quickly
dismissed the idea.

He wouldn’t be able to take on Castillo and his men single
handedly although his mind told him otherwise. Deputy Faith assured him that
waiting was the right thing to do.

Now, the waiting was tearing him apart. In a moment of
solitude, his thoughts were on Madison and what she was going through. His gut
told him that she was still alive, but if he didn’t get to her soon, she
wouldn’t be and that was something that he was not prepared to deal with.

Faith found his friend outside, with his hands in his
pockets. He was pacing back and forth like a caged animal just waiting to be
released.

"I can't lose her again," he said.

Faith took Cole's arm in a firm grip. "And you won't.
Help's here. Let's go get her."

****

There was a nervous feeling that skittered down Manny's
spine. Castillo wasn’t coming back, at least he didn’t think he was. However,
just to be sure, he thought it wise to take care of
 
Madison and Jay. He wanted things to look
good just in case Castillo did return. He told Reggie and Carlos to wipe the
room down from top to bottom.

"I don’t want our fingerprints on anything," he
told the men.

"Are you going to do it?" Reggie questioned Manny.

"Do what?"

"Her." Reggie pointed towards the bathroom.
"She's still alive you know."

Manny put his head down and shrugged his shoulders.

"We could wipe our prints, leave her alive, and get the
hell out of here. No one will know what happened," Reggie said.

"He's right. The boss ain't coming back, you said so
yourself." Carlos reminded him.

Manny peeked into the bathroom and then looked over at the
bed.

"I don’t care about him," he said pointing to Jay.
But what about her? What if she wakes up and remembers everything that
happened? She'll finger us for sure and then we'll be on the run just like
Castillo. Only we won't have his money, or his connections. We'd be fucked. And
I ain't going back to prison man, no way in hell I'm going back in."

Reggie quit was he was doing and turned to look at the two
men.

"Whether she remembers or not, it doesn't make a
difference now, she's already seen us. Look, I say we take the fuck off and get
as far away from here as possible. Worse comes to worse, we lay low for a
while. Between the three of us, I'm sure we know plenty of people who'll be
willing to hide us.

Besides, the more time we spend here, the worse things are
going to get. Now Castillo left us here to fend for ourselves. I say, why give
that puta the satisfaction of doing his dirty work. There's nothing in it for
us, Castillo covered his own ass, now it's time for us to do the same."

Manny muttered something in Spanish, then took out the
syringe filled with 'molly' and threw it on the floor. He then stepped on it,
crushing it into tiny pieces. "You're right. Let's finish up and get the
hell out of here.

Someone make sure and grab Jay's key, his car is our only
means of transportation now."

****

Four ex- agents, Tanner included were with Cole, Deputy
Faith and Deputy Spear. They were armed and sat in parked cars in an abandoned
lot adjacent to the Valley House Motel.
 

Deputy Faith, who sat in the passenger side of the car,
could almost feel the adrenaline coursing through Cole's veins. He understood
that the waiting was the hardest on him. Not only because Cole was a man of
action, but he was also a man in love. And at the moment, the latter seemed
deadlier. Faith knew that none of the men would come out alive.

"I'll kill whoever I have to, including that little
drug dealing punk, Jay," Cole mumbled and checked his weapon.

Their presence was completely unknown to the targets and no
hints of it were permitted to surface.