"Cicero"

**Immediately follows "Homicide for the Holidays"

"Where there is mystery, it is generally suspected there must also be evil." Lord Byron

Author's note: This story is dedicated to my friend and fellow "Rambler", John Calhoun, retired Fire Chief of Pennsacola, Florida. Thanks for your help and technical advice.

CHAPTER 1

"Matt, your phone's ring-..." CJ stopped in the doorway of the den and smiled. There in the recliner was her husband kicked back along with three of their four children, all asleep. "I've gotta get a picture of this." She pulled out her phone and snapped a couple of shots before gently waking him up. "Hey...your phone was ringing."

"Mmm..." He blinked for a few seconds and then looked down at the kids. "Would you give me a hand here?"

"Of course." She reached down for Vinny who was snoozing happily on Matt's right leg and using his belly for a pillow. The only response was a small grunt from the now almost three month old.

Fumbling for a second with his cast covered right hand – the result of an altercation with a man who had attacked a twelve year old boy and beaten him a week earlier – the PI maneuvered the phone out of his shirt pocket and looked at the missed call. "Uh oh..." He hit the redial button. "Rich Holt."

"That can't be good – he's knows you're in Texas." She carefully put the baby down in the playpen and went back for his twin brother Mike. After covering both she returned once more for Catey and put her down on the couch and draped an afghan over her as Matt got out of the recliner.

"Rich, what's up?" Matt and the Fire Investigator had met up a little over a year earlier when they had crossed paths while working on a case. With a little prodding from Matt, the fire captain had taken the plunge and applied to be an investigator. Rich countered with an offer for Matt: become a consultant to the Fire Marshal's Office. After taking several classes, the PI was almost done with his training.

"I sure hate to bother you while you're in Houston, but we could really use your help." The normally cheerful fireman was anything but cheerful.

"What's wrong?"

"You haven't had the TV on, have you?"

"Yeah, but it was on the Old West Channel – and I was catnapping."

"Sorry to wake you. We had one hell of a fire up here early this morning. You know that big apartment building that was going up on Fremont?"

"The Cicero?"

"Uh huh. Phase Two burned last night and damaged some nearby buildings."

"Damn. What do you need me to do?" He looked down at his hand, knowing that collecting samples would be nearly impossible.

"We've got every available investigator working the scene. What we really need is someone doing what you do best: covering the people and possible motives."

"That's good – 'cause I don't think I would be much good to you otherwise right now. I'll get back there ASAP, bud."

"We sure appreciate it – and just so you know – Don asked me to call you. He's out in the middle of the scene as we speak."

"It'll probably be about four hours or so."

"That's fine. And I apologize. But when you see it you'll understand."

"Not a problem. Talk to you later." He hung up and went into the kitchen, looking out to see if Paul Novelli and his brothers had made it back from their ride. Although he was capable of flying, he wouldn't mind a little help with the flight and now that Paul was an Aerospace Engineering major at USC, he was eager to get in as many flight hours as he could. "Hey, Paul?" Stepping out on the back porch he watched as the boys discontinued their football game and turned their attention to him.

"Sir?"

"Feel like getting in some flight time and helping out a gimp?" He waved his right hand in the air.

"Sure..." Tossing the football to his youngest brother Tony, the young man bounded up the steps. "What's up?"

"I've got to go back to LA..." Explaining what had happened as they entered the house and went up to pack their bags he stepped into his bedroom to find CJ finishing what he had been about to start. "Eager to get rid of me?"

"No, but I know Rich wouldn't call like that if he wasn't in a bind." Smiling, she pulled him down for a kiss.

"Sorry about messing up our plans."

"Don't worry about it. Last New Year's was memorable enough." Both laughed as they thought back to the night that the twins had been conceived.

"Who knows, maybe this year will be a repeat..." He wiggled his eyebrows at her.

"No..." She grabbed him by the shoulders and marched him toward the door.

"Damn..." He grinned as she swatted his backside. They went into the kitchen to find their adopted son Tomás and the Novelli brothers getting a drink. "Guys, can you keep CJ out of trouble for me?"

"Sure." Tony was the first to speak up and it was all Matt could do to keep from laughing as the young man's voice cracked. His older brothers began laughing as CJ smiled down at him, thinking to herself that at the rate he was growing it wouldn't be long until he was standing eye to eye with her. Giving his brothers an angry look he spoke. "Shut up."

"Well, I think it's cute." She leaned forward and kissed his cheek. "Besides, they did the same thing – remember?" He just nodded as he continued to blush.

Paul trooped down the stairs and flung his bag over one shoulder as he reached down for his uncle's. "All set."

"Babe, I'll call you as soon as I can. Love you." The pair kissed.

"Be careful."

"Yes ma'am." He caught Madre Rosa coming out of the laundry room and pulled her into a big bear hug.

"And where do you think you're going, chico?"

"Gotta go to LA. Thanks for taking care of everything and everybody."

"You be careful." She watched as the pair went out of the kitchen and down the steps, snagging Pat Hoffmann to ferry them to the airport.

"Thought you were going to be staying longer, Boss Man." Pat turned at the end of the driveway and headed north.

"That was the plan. Got an SOS call from the Fire Marshal's Office."

"That big apartment fire? We were watching that this morning on the news." Shaking his head he continued. "How in the heck do you prove something like that?"

"To be perfectly honest, sometimes we can't. Arson is about the hardest crime to prove. The evidence can get degraded while the fire is being extinguished. But lucky for us, there are some signs that hang around. They've asked me to cover the people aspect of it this time. There are a bunch of our guys in the ruins right now collecting evidence."

"So what you'll be doing is more like what you do on most of your cases?" Pat had never seen his boss working anything other than cows.

"Sort of. Basically I guess you could say I get nosy." Matt laughed.

Thanking Pat as they exited the vehicle, Paul and his uncle tossed their gear inside the jet and began the pre-flight inspection on the G-550, with the older man letting the younger take the lead while he supervised. When it came to planes, Paul was just as careful as his dad Vince. Houston had no reservations whatsoever about letting the eighteen year old fly the plane. He was mature beyond his years and had a good head on his shoulders.

"Okay Paul..." Matt grabbed a drink out of the fridge as they went to the cockpit. "She's all yours." He sat down in the right hand seat, turning complete control over to the boy.

"Uncle Matt, I really appreciate this."

"Works both ways, kiddo; I'm going to spend our flight time getting caught up on the details and trying to get started on the job. This darn cast is going to slow me down some I'm afraid." After watching the young man as he went through the take off, Houston sat back and pulled out the laptop and began by first watching the news coverage of the fire. Both he and Paul let out a whistle as they saw the destruction of the flames. Signs on the nearby I-110 freeway were scorched and even melted, while palm trees that grew alongside were burnt up.

"That's a lot of heat." The teen looked to Matt.

"Uh huh." Studying the way the building burned, there was little doubt in the PI's mind that it had been a case of arson. News reports stated that the alarm had been called in by a passing motorist on the I-110 at about 1:20AM. The nearest fire station was less than a block away and before the engines arrived on scene the flames were already taller than some of the surrounding skyscrapers. He watched several different news reports before pulling up information on the buildings themselves.

Cicero Phase One had been nearly completed. The outer construction was finished and the interior was in the finishing phases: paint, wallpaper, flooring, and trim were in the process. Sister development Phase Two was still in the framing stages. Although there was plenty of steel involved in the construction, both buildings had enormous amounts of wood in them. The buildings had been the center of a lot of controversy almost from the moment that the plans were announced. Matt himself had had doubts about the size and location of the units; they ran alongside I-110 with very little space between.

He shifted gears slightly and began delving into the life of owner-developer F. Patterson Lockwood. Born to Monte and Opal Lockwood in 1957, he grew up in a posh Beverly Hills neighborhood alongside the children of television and movie stars.

"Damn." The PI disgustedly blew out a breath as he looked out of the windshield of the jet. They were going through an area of storms and the internet connection was shaky at best. "Well, I got a start on it anyway." His answer from Paul was a nod as he kept a careful watch on the radar, looking alert but not nervous. Cool under pressure like his dad. Matt gave a nod of satifaction and looked out at the now dark night time sky occasionally lit up with lightning. They had left Houston at about 6:00 PM which would put them getting to LAX about 7:00PM Los Angeles time. He planned to go straight to the office of Houston Investigations, which coincidentally enough was less than two miles from the scene of the fire. It would most likely be a long night and Paul could go down to the lower level of the office and crash on the bed there.

"So..." For the first time since commenting on the fire the young man looked over at his adopted uncle. "Am I going to get to help you with this?" The smile that accompanied the statement was so much like his dad's that Matt almost had the urge to call him Vince.

"Can you keep what you learn to yourself?"

"Yep."

"Then I guess you can. I can even tell you what your first assignment will be..."

"Really? What?"

"Make a pot of coffee – can you handle that?"

"Somehow I don't think I'll have too much trouble with that." The teen cracked up and dutifully turned his attention back to the radar. "I wonder how Grandma and Uncle Roy are doing?" The couple had gotten married the day after Christmas – two days earlier – and taken Matt and CJ up on their offer of what was quickly becoming known as the Houston Honeymoon Hideaway by the friends and family that had used the cottage located in Tahiti. The resort had been Matt's wedding gift to CJ.

"Oh, I'm sure they've been working on their tans...or not." Both men cracked up. "I'll have to ask about tan lines when they get back."

"That might be a good way to get cut off from your lasagna supply."

"True. Maybe I better not." Houston laughed again and the pair continued to talk as they winged their way westward.