Witness Protection: Hide and Seek (4 page)

One of the luxuries of the Madison Hotel was complimentary
turn down service. It took hardly any time for a maid to provide the service,
but it was monotonous to say the least. So when a young woman approached the
maid who handled turn down service for the third floor and asked her if she’d
like to make a little extra money, the maid nodded her head and said yes.

Higgins contact had followed Madison all the way from
Memphis International Airport to the Madison Hotel.

How ironic
, she
thought to herself as she slipped the maid a couple of crisp, 100-dollar bill’s
and casually walked into Madison West’s hotel room.

                                                          
****

When she arrived at Hank’s place, Madison was glad that
there was no line outside the bar. The evening was a humid one and the windows
were all steamed up.

She was met with a blast of cool air and live Jazz music
when she opened up the door. After showing the bouncer her identification, she
squeezed her way through the layers of people and made her way over to the bar.
A male bartender was busy making drinks and customers were shouting out their
orders to him. It was a far cry than what she was used to.

The old place had been more subdued and quiet. It was more
like a small, local, one stop bar, rather than a popular tourist attraction. This
place was jammed packed and it didn’t bother her one bit.

When she was finally able to get the bartenders attention,
she had to shout. He eyed her up and down with a questionable look before
telling her that Hank was in the back hosting a private party.

He jerked his head in the direction of the V.I.P room.

Making her way to the back, butterflies began to stir in her
stomach and an enthusiastic smile spread across her face. It had been so long.

A waitress appeared from the kitchen, she was carrying a platter
of barbecue ribs and the aroma made her mouth water.

“You here for the party?” The waitress asked her.

Madison shook her head. “No, I’m looking for the owner,
Hank. Is he around?”

“Sure, follow me.”

When they reached the room, Madison saw about two dozen men
and women. Some were sitting on plush sofas, while others were standing around
talking. There was music-playing, people laughing and in the corner, she
spotted Hank and Donna.

“He’s over there.” The waitress made a motion with her head.

“Thank you.” Madison smiled politely at the woman and made
her way over to the table.

Hank had his back to her. He was talking to his wife and at
first, her look of surprise did not register with him, but when he turned
around, his eyes widened and his mouth creased into a smile.

“Madison?” His mouth fell open. He could hardly believe that
she was standing in front of him.

“Well don’t just stand there, you old fool, get out of the
way so that I can give her a hug!” Donna exclaimed and pulled Madison into a
hearty hug.

The feeling was unlike anything she’d experienced, being in
her warm embrace, felt like being home.

“Come here.” Hank playfully tugged her out of his wife’s
arms and wrapped his arms tightly around her.

“You are a sight for sore eyes! My god, you haven’t aged one
bit! I wish I could say the same about myself,” He said as he held her at arm’s
length.

Madison wiped tears of happiness from her eyes.

“You both look amazing, by the way. Owning a popular new bar
agrees with the two of you.”

“The humdrum life never has, and never will, be for us!”
Donna gave her another hug.

“Wait a minute. You sure it’s alright for you to be here?”
Hank raised an eyebrow and looked around cautiously.

“It’s fine Hank, really.”

“Well, I suppose that under the circumstances you couldn’t
ask to be in a more secure place.”

Madison looked around. “What do you mean?”

“Any of these folks look familiar?” He asked, motioning
towards the crowded room with his hands.

“No. But why would they?”

“A marshal is leaving the business, so the fellas down at
the western district decided to have a little going away party for him. You, my
dear, are surrounded by United States Marshals.

It wasn’t until he’d said it, that Madison began to survey
the room.

On the other side of the room she spotted Deputy Faith.

Her eyes widened in disbelief.

“I take it that you recognize some of these men?” Donna
winked and folder her arms across her chest.

Madison could only nod her head. If Deputy Faith was there,
perhaps…

There were a couple of saucy looking blondes moving around
the small group of men. They were making it difficult for her to see who Faith
was sitting next to.

“Don’t break your neck to get a better look Madison. Go on
over there, and say hi to the man.” Both Donna and Hank nudged her forward. She
turned around and grinned at them, and Donna made a ‘shoo- shoo’ motion with
her hands.

As she walked by the tables, she noticed that a few of the
men, stole a couple of glances at her. She wondered if they recognized her from
the Castillo case.

All of a sudden she felt uneasy and insecure.

The mood at the small table was jovial and a quick glance
around told her that Cole was not at the table with Deputy Faith.

“Am I interrupting?" Madison tapped him on the shoulder
and grinned.

“Holy shit! Madison? What the hell are you doing here?”
Faith moved his athletic six-foot frame off of the plush, velvet chair and
looked around quickly, before snatching her up into his warm embrace.

“My God you look amazing! How have you been?”

“I’ve been fine, just fine.” She smiled at him.

He pulled her closer and whispered in her ear. “I heard that
they dropped you from the program. I was so sorry to hear that. But hey, how’s
married life? Is Calloway here?” His eyes looked beyond her in search of
Tristan.

“No he’s not.” The look of sorrow that flooded her eyes told
him it was best not to press the subject.

“Oh… well… My God it’s so good to see you!” He pulled her in
for another hug.

While Faith introduced her to the people sitting at the
table, Deputy Cole Harding was making his way back inside. He’d gone out to his
car to get something and when he entered the private party, he noticed that the
air in the room seemed electrified.

Hank and his wife seemed even more excited than they had
been earlier.

The department must
have given them an extra-large tip,
he laughed to himself.

Deputy Faith had made a new friend. Cole shook his head in
wonderment. He found it mind numbing that a married man could elicit such
attention from the opposite sex.
Better
him than me
, he thought to himself.

As he approached the table, a warm, citrusy, summer scent
filled his nostrils and he closed his eyes for a moment to relish in it.
Somewhere in the room, some woman had the audacity to be wearing the same scent
as former witness, Madison West.

He kept his eyes closed for a moment longer and tried
shaking the memories out of his head.

“Hi.” Her heart thumped in anticipation of his reaction.

 
She’d said it so
casual, that for a moment, he thought that he was dreaming.

Her eyes narrowed in on his face, a face that was still as
handsome and rugged as ever.

Cole fought the urge to sweep her into his arms and kiss her
long and hard. The music and chatter seemed to fade into the background. And
for a brief moment, it felt like it was just the two of them.

“Madison.” It was all that he could say before wrapping his
arms around her.

She hugged him back and was hesitant to leave the comfort of
his arms. Images of sharing vulnerable moments in the dark with him, flashed
through her mind. That was when she knew, she had to let go.

A feeling of dread and apprehension came over him. What was
she doing here? Sure she’d been dropped from the program, but why was she back
in Memphis? And more importantly, where the hell was her husband?

“You look wonderful,” he said. Madison couldn’t help but
notice that he had not released his hold on her.

“Thank you, so do you.” Madison thought her tone,
ridiculous. Things were formal, way too formal. This was Cole Harding, the man
who’d gone through great measures to protect her.

Cole nodded to Faith and took hold of her hand as he led her
away to a more secluded spot.

“Madison, what are you doing here? It’s not safe for you to
be here.”

 
“Three years and
you’re still worried about my safety.” She chuckled.

Cole raised his hands in surrender. “I know, I know. That’s
your husband’s job now, right? Speaking of which, where is he?”

Madison’s stomach lurched. Besides a few friends and
co-workers back in Maine, Tristan’s death had been confined to those closest to
him.

There was nothing she could do except come right out and say
it.

“He’s gone Cole. He was killed in the line of duty, a year
ago.”

She was surprised at how easily the words slipped from her mouth.
Was it the length of time or present company that allowed her to speak the
words she thought would surely cause her to crumble?

Cole sighed heavily and ran his fingers through his hair.
Hair that she couldn’t help but notice had grown longer.

“Jesus. I'm sorry Madison. I had no idea. After we put
Castillo away, Faith and I got offered the chance to work at a field office
down in the Dominican Republic. We needed to coordinate our fugitive
investigations with law enforcement there. But…” he shook his head.

“That’s not important right now. How have you been holding
up? How’s his daughter, Zoe? I want you to tell me everything.”

 
A group of people
whizzed by almost knocking him into her.

Being that close to her again caused all of his buried,
lustrous desires to come bubbling back to the surface.

He wanted to tell her that he hadn’t been able to forget
her, but thought now, not the right time. The woman has lost her husband, it
was obvious that she still needed time to grieve and lustful innuendos were not
going to be the way to help heal her grief-stricken heart.

He was so close that she could feel the heat coming from his
body. It surrounded her with a smothering attraction. It stirred her in such a
way that it made her blush of embarrassment, but most of all, guilt.

She placed her hands upon his chest and gently pushed him
back a few steps.

“Would you mind if we caught up a little later? I need to
speak to Hank and Donna and I don’t want to ruin the party.” She grinned
nervously.

Before he could utter another word, Madison casually eased
out from under his penetrating gaze and walked towards the other side of the
room.

“It’s my party,” he mumbled and headed back to his table.

                                                          
****

Madison felt Cole’s eyes on her the entire night. She really
wasn’t expecting to see him again. And yet, there he was, standing only a few
feet away from her. She felt a twinge of jealously when a woman sat herself down
in his lap, but took notice of how quickly he removed her.

 
And speaking of
women, where was his wife? She’d noticed that Deputy Faith’s spouse was nowhere
in sight either. If she had been, she was sure that Faith would have introduced
her. Perhaps the party was an impromptu one and there hadn’t been enough time
to invite the spouses.
 

But Hank had told her that the party had been planned.
Surely, spouses were invited. Maybe neither one wanted to bring their
significant other to such a soiree.

“So you’re going to check out of the hotel and come stay
with us right?”

“I don’t want to be a bother Hank and besides, I like the
Madison Hotel.” She grinned.

“I’m sure you do, but you’ll like the Morrison hotel even
better. It’s comfortable, cozy, has a swimming pool and it’s a hell of a lot
cheaper than the Madison. Oh and did I mention that we’re not taking no for an
answer?” Hank smiled and put his arm around her.

“Plus, I could use your help. Hank and I are having a party
at the house tomorrow.”

 
“I’m gone for a few
years and you guys turn into a couple of party animals. I love it.” Madison
chuckled.

“Well it isn’t every day that a couple gets to celebrate
their 40th wedding anniversary.” Donna smiled innocently.

“Of course it is. I am so sorry, I completely forgot. That’s
right, 40 years! That is one amazing feat. Congratulations!” She hugged them
both.