Witness Protection: Hide and Seek (15 page)

"I'm scared," she said.

"I know you are and you have every right to be. But
deep down, you have to know that this is right. All of this is right
Madison."

She nodded, slowly, looking better.

He turned his body and kept his eyes locked on hers.

"You know what I think?"
 
Madison shot him a warning look that told him
to back off. But he ignored the warning. Cole was going to say what he needed
to say and she didn’t want to hear it because she knew that most of the time,
he was right.

"You know that I'm good for you Madison, and that
scares you."

She looked up at him and he saw no doubt in her eyes.

"Cole, I don’t know what's going to happen. I mean… I
can't stay here forever. Helen and George want to move and …"

"Shhh." He ran his thumb against her lips.
"Everything will work out, you'll see."

"I need to take things slow. Can we do that?"

"Yeah." He smiled a devilish smile. A kiss
followed and then his hands traced the luscious outline of her lips.

"But I think you and I both know… that ship has
sailed."

Madison had no response at all. She was too busy feeling as
if she were floating on a cloud. Exquisite was the best word to describe the
way he made her feel.

His mouth traced every inch and curve of her body and she
waited in anticipation for him to fulfill her need, once again. A need that
turned into a hunger, a craving as his tongue dipped inside of her, sending
radiant bursts of fire throughout her entire body.

The Valley House Motel had seen better days. What was once a
moderately priced motel had been turned into some sort of haven for drug
dealers and prostitutes. The locals called it, the motel of shame.

This is where Jay liked to conduct his business. It was far
enough away from Summerbridge as to not attract attention of local law
enforcement, but convenient enough for his customers to get everything they needed.

The place was deteriorating so badly, that the sparsely lit
neon sign had only a few letters illuminated. And they more than suggested the
actions that went on around the place.

"Look at that shit." Reggie pointed to the sign.

"Ho motel. Sounds like a place that's right up your
alley." Manny grinned as he pulled the big SUV into the dirt parking lot.

"What room are we meeting this el cabrón?"

"9," Reggie said and pointed towards the room.

When he saw them coming, Jay opened the door to his room and
lit up a cigarette.

He was leaning against the doorjamb, trying to look as calm
as possible, but his heart was pounding. These guys were nothing like the usual
junkies that come out at night like cockroaches in need of a fix. The two men
walking towards him were the real deal, the big leagues and if he played his
cards right, maybe they'd hook him up with whomever they worked for. A
connection was a connection, but a connection with a big wig … well that was
major.

Jay cleared his throat and held out his hand. "What's
good?"

Manny looked down at the outstretched hand, snickered and
made his way into the room. "Dont know about you, but where we come from,
business isn’t conducted outside."

"Right, right." Jay nervously put his hand down
and followed Reggie into the room.

"You guys want something to drink? There's beer and
vodka in the frig," he said.

Manny held up a hand to silence him. "We don’t
drink."

Reggie mumbled something under his breath and rolled his
eyes.

"Okay, then have a seat and let's get down to
business."

Manny swatted away crumbs from the worn out chair cushion
before sitting down.

"This is a perfect place right? Nothing but whores and
junkies. And they all work for and come to me." Jay tried to sound as
confident as he could. He wanted his new customers to know that he was in
control.

"Man… what you got here ain't shit." Reggie
chuckled.

"This here is nothing but a busted up, flea bag motel.
This is where the whores and junkies come to die. But hey, if you think it's
all that, then more power to ya brother. Now do you have what we need?"

Jay stood awkwardly now, embarrassed by his surroundings.
"This is just a place of convenience, and as long as I get paid, I could
give a rat's ass what the place looks like." He stammered and took a seat.

"Now about your needs…" Jay chuckled nervously.

Manny shook his head from side to side before turning back
to Jay, disbelief painted across his face and his nostrils began to flare.

"I told you not to waste my time." He sat upright
in his chair. His jacket falling open, exposing the gun he kept in his
waistband.

"No. Nothing like that." Jay stuttered.

"It's just that I'm all out of 'H'. I'm waiting for a
delivery."

"How long?" Manny was growing more and more
impatient.

"A day. Two at most. Listen, if I could get it here
sooner, I would. But as you can see, business is booming and sometimes I have a
hard time keeping up."

Manny walked across the room towards the door.

"Reggie, go call the boss and ask him whether or not he
wants to wait."

"Sure thing." Reggie stepped out of the room,
thankful to be out in the fresh air.

"I've got some Molly, or how about some coke to hold
you over until the smack comes in?" Jay made his way over to a small safe
and began punching in the code.

"Don’t bother. Our boss doesn’t want any of that."
Manny held up his hands and shook his head.

Reggie swallowed a gulp of fresh air before entering the
room.

"Boss isn’t happy, but he says to wait."

Jay let out an exasperated breath. "Good. Two days, I
promise."

Manny and Reggie got up close and personal with Jay.

"You don’t have it in two days, your ass is gone."
Manny then grabbed him by the collar. "One day you're king shit over here
and the next day, you'll be gone. Never to be heard from again. Do you
understand?" He hissed.

Jay nodded his head and suddenly felt incredibly small.
Manny had managed to lift him clear off the floor.

"Trust me. I'm the only go-to guy for everyone's
recreational needs around here. You'll have your product in two days. Now can
you put me down?"

"We'll see you in two days." Manny growled before
walking out the door.

It was evening now and Madison lay awake in Cole's arms,
reliving the delicious moments they'd just shared.

She had always known that she was attracted to him, but it
wasn’t until her naked flesh was against his did she realize how completely and
fully she wanted him.

Cole felt it too. He wanted so badly to hold onto her and
keep holding on until whatever barriers she put up, would come tumbling down
and stay down.
So far, so good,
he
thought to himself.

When she abruptly turned to face him, the move took him by
surprise.

"There's no easy way to say this, so I'm just going to
come right out and say it. I can't stay here forever Cole. What money I have is
going to run out soon and I've got to get back and try and put my life back
together."

"You aren’t going anywhere until whoever is out there
killing witnesses is caught, captured, or killed. And as far as money goes,
there's nothing that I can’t give you Madison."

For the longest time, neither of them said anything, they
only gazed at each other. Then, when she whispered his name, Cole pressed his
lips against hers, silencing any and all objections.

****

        
Eastern
District of Oklahoma

The Marshals service in the Eastern District of Oklahoma was
home to Marshal Dan Spear. It was morning and he'd barely been able to set his
coffee mug down on his desk before taking an urgent call.

The Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigations had received the
DNA results from the saliva collected from Juan Hernandez's body. A technician
told him that he needed to get to the lab ASAP.

Spear figured that it was the DNA of a known criminal.
Someone who would hopefully, be easy to catch. Scum, rat, or whatever he was,
Hernandez was Spear's responsibility and he'd failed to protect him. The least
he could do was make sure that his killer was brought to justice.

When he entered the lab, workers in white lab coats and
latex gloves paid Spear no attention. A few nodded at him as he strolled by and
made his way over to a small office enclosed in glass.

Sheila, a veteran lab tech, glanced up from her microscope
and rolled her office chair over to the desk behind her.

"Looks like your perp is a magician." She handed
the paperwork over to Spear.

When he opened up the file and began reading it, Spear felt
a warm lump of bile rise in his throat.

His eyes shifted from the results, to Sheila. "You're
sure?"

"DNA doesn't lie. You know this Spear," she said
and went back to her work.

A series of images flashed through his mind, disturbing
images that began to take on a morbid, foreboding form.

****

When Cole awoke, Madison was still asleep in his arms. He
smiled and stared out the window at the hazy summer morning. He wondered what
her reaction would be when she woke up. Would it be casual, as if it were all
meant to be? Or would she retreat back into herself and try to forget that
anything had even happened?

His feelings for her had been strong, before they made love.
Now, they were even stronger. Madison had given herself to him and he was
afraid that by the time she woke up, she would say that there lovemaking had
been a mistake, that it was time for her to go back to Maine.

 
All of a sudden, he
was afraid of losing what he'd gained so far.

But then there was the way she held him so tightly after it
was all over, kissing his face and stroking his hair.

He needed her by his side and was
prepared to make sure that nothing and no one would get in the way of that.

He touched her face as she slept
and gently brushed his lips against hers.

"Good morning." She
opened her eyes, smiled and tightened her arms around him.

His eyes lingered on her a moment
more before he pulled her in for another kiss. "Good morning."

****

Over breakfast, Madison could see
that something was causing him to worry and she knew exactly what it was.

"I'll be fine." She
placed a gentle hand on his arm. "Besides, you said that they've postponed
your start date until next week, right?"

"They did. But I'm
still…"

Madison cut him off. "Cole,
I'll be fine. I'm not a child. I know how to take care of myself. So please,
stop worrying. I'm a lot stronger than I was three years ago."

She barked out the words.

"I know you are."

When he smiled at her, a sincere,
open smile, she suddenly felt embarrassed for her gruff attitude.

"Thank you for caring so
much. I'm sorry I snapped at you." She paused by him on her way to pick up
his empty plate.

The vibration of his cell phone
broke through the moment.

He stopped her and wrapped his
hand around her wrist. "I want you to think about how nice this is,"
he said before taking the call.

Madison tried to suppress the
blissful expression on her face.

Being next to him and staying at
his place felt extraordinarily natural. Things were going so smoothly that it
was beginning to scare the hell out of her. Making love was like second nature
and it was everything that she knew it would be. It was more than everything,
it was absolute.

While Cole talked on the phone, he
watched her. With her hair mussed and no make-up, she looked as beautiful as
ever.

"Sounds good Faith, we look
forward to seeing you. I think my houseguest will enjoy having some female
company."

"Deputy Faith and his wife
Jessica are coming for a visit. Jessica's got some family who live about an
hour away so they'll be staying with us for a few days. I hope you're okay with
that."

"It's your house Cole. Of
course I'm okay with it. But where will they sleep?"

A devilish grin grew on his face.
"You and I will have to share the pull out and we'll give them the
bedroom. Again, only if that's okay with you."

She stared up at him with her dark
mocha colored eyes.

He wanted to kiss her again, wrap
her legs around his waist and carry her back into the bedroom.

"Yes. It's okay with
me," she said and allowed him to pull her into his arms.

How the hell could she be falling in
love in the middle of such chaos? No, she couldn’t be. It was just all the
pressure and potential danger that was messing with her head.