Witness Protection: Hide and Seek by Ursula Dukes Read Free Book Online

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