"Tribute"

**Immediately follows "The Golden Years"**

"Normal is an illusion. What is normal for the spider

is chaos for the fly." Charles Adams

CHAPTER 1

As he watched the three cars rolling down the driveway headed to the gates of the California ranch, Matt Houston let out a huge sigh of relief. After several months of what seemed endless work and a strain that came near to ending his profitable relationship with computer guru Derwin Dunlap, the combat simulator program had finally been presented to members of the Defense Department. The reception was overwhelmingly good, much better than Matt had imagined. For the time being, his role in the project was finished until Derwin and his crew at BugBytes had completed the actual workings of the system and the private investigator had what was – at least to himself and his family – a more important matter on his mind: CJ's due date was drawing near. At her prenatal appointment the day before she had been three centimeters dilated and as far as the Houstons were concerned, the countdown was on.

"You look like somebody that just had the weight of the world lifted off of his shoulders." CJ maneuvered out onto the patio, the load of the twin boys she was carrying seeming to be almost more than her small frame could carry.

"It's a relief – I won't lie." He helped her to sit down in one of the chairs. "How're you feelin', Lil Mama?"

"Like there is absolutely no part of me that can be considered little."

He sat down next to her, leaning over and kissing her. "I'm sorry."

"No you're not – and neither am I." She smiled and put her head on his shoulder as he sat down next to her and wrapped an arm around her. "Oh, by the way – Lamar called while ago – he picked up Madre Rosa at the airport."

"Good." He looked down toward the barn and pasture and could see Cricket and her new colt. "I figured another set of hands to help us out for a while would be a good thing." He smiled as he thought about the housekeeper from the Texas ranch. She had raised him from the age of five when he and his dad, Bill Houston, had moved to the Houston area from Lubbock.

"With her, Mama, and Sheila around I don't think we'll have much to worry about."

"I've done enough worrying for a while." He kissed her again, his left hand rubbing her belly where the twin boys were moving around.

"Your sons are rambunctious today."

"Maybe they'll decide to show up before the day is over." He gave her a crooked grin.

"As much as it would be a relief to me, I hope they wait a while. The closer to forty weeks it is, the better for them." The lawyer-turned-PI was now in her thirty-sixth week. Although she knew that the odds of the pregnancy lasting for the optimum forty weeks was slim, she wanted the boys to be as developed as possible in order to avoid any problems. Both looked up at the sound of a car approaching and were surprised to see not just Uncle Roy's car but that of LAPD Lieutenant Michael Hoyt who was accompanied by Sergeant Gabriella Giovanni.

Roy emerged from his car as Michael stepped forward and opened the passenger door for Rosa Novelli who was affectionately known as Mama to the family as well as to friends that she considered family. The elder Houston wrapped an arm around her as they approached the younger couple. "Mattlock, I believe you look more relaxed than I've seen you in quite a while. How did it go?"

"About as good as it possibly could." The PI gave his uncle a smile, accepted a hug from Mama, and then turned his attention to Michael. "Is this visit business or pleasure?"

"Well..." The cop leaned over to give CJ a peck on the cheek. "Getting to see this lady is a pleasure, but you...not so much." The group laughed and Michael motioned toward the sergeant. "CJ, this is Detective Gabriella Giovanni...I don't believe you two have met."

Giovanni extended her hand. "We spoke on the phone once."

"We did. It's a pleasure to meet you."

It was then that Matt saw the flash drive in his friend's hand. "I hate to bother you right now, but would you mind taking a look at a couple of things for us?" Michael knew what a strain Houston had been under and didn't want to cause him any additional problems while he and CJ were anxiously waiting for the twins.

"Sure." He stood up and looked down at his wife. "Can you three behave out here?" He patted on her belly.

"I can, but since these two are your boys I can't swear to it." She tugged him down for another kiss, their eyes lingering on each other momentarily, the love they shared obvious to everyone around them.

Looking back over his shoulder as he opened the kitchen door he spoke again. "If I didn't know better I'd swear she was a lawyer." The reaction from his wife was to stick her tongue out at him. Stopping at the refrigerator, the PI pulled out three bottles of root-beer for his guests and himself and headed into the den where his laptop was on the end table. "So what are we looking at here?" Popping the flash drive into the USB port, he turned on the TV and two files appeared on the big screen.

"A couple of murders that have kind of thrown us for a loop." Hoyt sat down next to the PI.

"Forgive my manners, Gabby – have a seat." Matt took a long swig of the root-beer and opened up the first file. "Okay..." He began reading through the reports. A day earlier a body had been found in the outdoor seating area of a restaurant on Sunset Boulevard in West Hollywood. No identification was on the body, there were no obvious signs of foul play, and the results of the tox screen were still pending. CSI had run the fingerprints and finally had a hit out of Las Vegas. The victim was Ronald Jefferson Carter, age 32. The DMV records from Nevada showed him living at an address near Henderson. There was no known next of kin. The last entry in the file said that LVMPD had been contacted in an effort to find out more about the victim. He opened up the pictures that were associated with the file. If not for the coloration of his skin, Matt would have assumed that the man was simply asleep.

He continued on to the next file. The victim had been found that very morning sitting on a bench at an enclosed bus stop on Hollywood Boulevard near North La Brea. Since the stop was in front of an apartment building, officers had naturally canvassed the building looking for information but no one claimed to have any knowledge of the person. No identification was on the body, fingerprints had not yet produced an ID, but it had been noted that the man had a temporary tattoo on his right arm. The autopsy was incomplete at the time of the report which had been last updated two hours before. The pictures once again gave the impression of someone simply asleep.

"So Miss Gabby landed a couple of obstinate cases this week." He gave the cop a smile.

"Maybe a little too obstinate."

Matt heard the kitchen door open and the sound of his daughter's voice. Quickly, he shut down the feed to the TV set and then looked at Gabby. "You're about to go through a security check. Just sit still, okay?"

"Ooookay." She looked at Hoyt questioningly but he just laughed.

In less than a minute a half Blue Heeler/half Husky ran into the den and straight to Gabby. The growling started and she sat down in front of the detective. "Tilly, this is Gabby. She's okay. Tell her hello." The dog immediately stopped growling and offered her paw to the woman who broke into an easy laugh and shook with her.

"And now you're about to meet...ooomph..." Matt stopped as the breath was knocked out of him by his daughter as she ran into his belly at full tilt.

"Daddy!" The toddler threw her arms around his neck and began planting kisses all over his face. "Missed you!"

"I missed you, too, Lady Bug. Can you tell Miss Gabby hello?" He pointed to the woman.

"Hi!" She scampered over and shook the detective's hand.

"It's nice to meet you." Gabby gave her a big smile.

"Hi, Unka Mike." She leaned over for a kiss from the man that she claimed as an uncle. "Did you come to play?"

"No, Miss Catey Rose – I had to talk to your dad for a few minutes."

"Oh." She went back to Matt and crawled up in his lap.

"Lady Bug, I need to talk to Uncle Michael and Miss Gabby a little bit more. Can you go check on Uncle Roy and keep him out of trouble for me until I get back out there?"

"Uh huh." She was off his lap and running back outside in a flash followed by Tilly.

"She's adorable."

"Packs a wallop, too." Matt rubbed his belly. "Anyway..." He opened the computer back up and began running a check on the first victim.

"But we already..." The new detective began.

"Trust me – he can find out things we can't half the time." Hoyt grinned. It had taken him a while to get used to the fact that the PI could access records that the department couldn't.

"Hmmm...Mr. Carter has worked at three casinos in the last three years. The Dupree, Alexander's Palace, and the Western Star. He was a dealer – poker and blackjack. From what I can tell he's still employed by the Western Star." Taking a swig of the root-beer he pointed at the monitor. "Vegas PD should be able to talk to them. I know a guy there if you want me to call him."

"That might be a good idea." Hoyt watched as the PI pulled his phone from his pocket and after looking through his contacts, punched the appropriate buttons. "Hey, it's Houston. How ya doin'?" He grinned at the response. "Pretty good. We're on baby watch – got twin boys on the way...Uh huh...Actually I'm calling for a couple of friends at LAPD – Lieutenant Michael Hoyt and Detective Gabby Giovanni...Well, they've got a couple of murders and one of the victims is from Vegas...Ronald Jefferson Carter. As far as I can tell he works for the Western Star as a blackjack dealer...We'd sure appreciate it...Uh huh..." The PI laughed. "I'll be sure to tell her. Thanks, bud. 'Bye." After hanging up he took another drink. "That's the guy that could be a double for Vince – with the addition of a mustache. He's gonna see if he can get anything for you."

"Now if we could just figure out something about the other victim...an ID would be incredibly nice." Giovanni shook her head.

"Maybe we'll get a kickback on the prints." Hoyt finished off the root-beer. "CJ seems to be doing well."

"Yep, she's only had contractions twice this week."

"Thanks for the help, PI." Michael stood up and shook his friend's hand. "We might be calling you again."

"Okay by me." He closed the laptop and walked back outside with them and was immediately launched on by Catey. After telling the two detectives goodbye, she rode on her dad's shoulders down to the barn to check on Cricket and her colt that the Houston's had decided to name Buck.

Later that evening after giving their daughter a bath and reading a story to her, CJ and Matt put her to bed and went out to sit on the swing to enjoy the evening breeze. "Your interview with Giorgio is going to be on TV tonight." She squeezed his hand. "Are you going to watch it?"

"Nope." He turned her face up to his and just as the pair started to kiss, his phone rang. "Sorry, Babe." She gave a laugh as he answered. "Hi, Mario."

"Hey, I paid a visit to the Western Star earlier. Your victim Carter used to be a blackjack dealer for them but had become part of a tribute act. Do you remember a group from the eighties named Nuclear Sludge?"

"Not my style but yeah, I've heard of them."

"He played the part of Angus Dearmont. The group was on a two week break – otherwise they would have missed him."

"So evidently they didn't socialize much outside of their work." Matt scratched his mustache with his thumbnail.

"From what I gathered they just barely got along well enough to work together; management had already threatened to drop them if they didn't settle down. Also, Carter lived alone – no wife, girlfriend, or roommate."

"So nobody to report him missing." He thought for a minute. "What about the other members of the group? Are they accounted for? We've got another victim here that was found in similar circumstances not too far from Carter. There wasn't any ID on him and there hasn't been a hit on fingerprints."

"Detective Hites is working on finding the rest of the group right now."

"We sure appreciate the help. I'll let Hoyt and Giovanni know."

"No problem – I also sent you an email with the information in it."

"Thanks a lot." After ending the call he dialed Michael and passed on the lead.

"I'll let Giovanni know. How's CJ?"

"Fine. But I gotta get off of here – I owe her a kiss."

"Goodnight, love birds." Hoyt disconnected the call and Matt put his arm back around her.

"Now...where were we?"