Don't Look Back
Note: This story takes place immediately after "Some Kind of Crazy".
CHAPTER 1
"Matt, we're never going to get this closet cleaned out at this rate." CJ was putting her clothes back on as Matt just lay there watching her with a big grin on his face.
"So my plan is working, huh?" He wiggled his eyebrows at her and laughed.
"You're impossible, you know that? But you sure are cute." She walked back over to him, leaned over and gave him a kiss, only to be grabbed and brought back down on top of him in the floor of the closet. Both of them started laughing, but that soon stopped as Matt began kissing her again, just like he had earlier when the chore of cleaning out the closet had been derailed.
He stopped for a moment and looked into her eyes. "I love you, CJ." He started kissing her neck and nibbled on an earlobe. Off came her shirt and neither of them were thinking about the closet anymore.
"So how was your weekend? Did you two get that closet cleaned out yet or is he still stonewalling on it?" Chris brought a stack of papers into CJ's office and handed them to her to sign.
"We're working on it – ever so slowly." CJ smiled as she thought about how her weekend plans for the closet had been totally ignored in favor of – well, other pursuits that Matt had in mind.
Chris caught the smile and could imagine how two newlyweds in an enclosed space like a walk-in closet could forget what they were there for, especially when the newlyweds in question were Matt and CJ. She was happy for the two of them. After years of denying their feelings for each other they had a lot of lost time to make up. She exchanged a smile with CJ as she took back the stack of papers and headed back to the outer office.
The elevator doors opened and out came Lt. Michael Hoyt. "Hi, Chris. Is Houston here?"
"He sure is. Go right on in. He's finishing up some paperwork. I'm sure he'll be happy to see you." Chris and Hoyt both laughed. Matt loved nothing better than solving a case, but hated the paperwork that was involved.
Hoyt walked into the inner office and saw Matt sitting with his feet propped up on the poker table, a stack of folders in his lap, and his head tilted back on the chair lightly snoring. The lieutenant walked over, picked up another stack of folders and dropped them heavily on the table. Matt's eyes flew open and the chair fell over backwards. As he picked himself up out of the floor, he shot a glare at Hoyt. "That was just plain mean, Hoyt." The police detective was laughing so hard he was nearly in tears.
"Sure is hard having to do all that paperwork, huh, PI?" He continued to laugh as Matt started grinning.
"Looks like I got caught catnapping." Matt picked up the folders that had ended up in the floor. "What's going on with you?" He couldn't stay mad at Hoyt for very long. He was a good friend. They had helped each other out on so many cases and even saved each other's life over the years.
Hoyt's expression turned to one of seriousness. "I need your help, Houston. I guess you saw the news over the weekend: someone's been on a murder spree. And yours truly has been landed with the job of trying to catch the idiot."
"No, I haven't really kept up with the news the last couple of days." He smiled. "Do you know for sure that it was all done by the same person?" Matt moved over to the bar and poured coffee for the two of them. They sat down on the barstools.
"Yeah, I guess newlyweds don't watch the news much, do they?" Hoyt shook his head. "It looks like the same person. So far there have been murders Friday, Saturday, and then again last night. All of the victims were killed in movie theaters. Strangled with a rope - and their eyes were removed."
Houston stopped mid-sip. "Well, that does tend to make it sound like one suspect. Where were they exactly?"
Hoyt pulled out his notebook. "The first victim was a Frank Bartholomew – age 53. Single. Lived up in the Silver Lake area. The manager of the theater on Edendale was making sure it was empty before closing up for the night. Thought maybe he was asleep, but soon found out otherwise. The second victim was Elyse Oppenheimer – age 48. Married. She lived in the Boyle Heights area and was found in the theater on Whittier. The cleaning crew was going through and found her. Number three was Charles Rickman, age 50, also married, found at a theater over on Third. The kid from the concession stand was checking to make sure everyone was gone and discovered him."
"Do we know anything else about the victims? Did they have anything in common?" Matt set down the coffee cup.
"That's where we stand right now. I was hoping to speed things up by getting you to help. I was out of town all weekend and when I got to work this morning the captain dropped all of this in my lap. Of course he expects us to solve it and have the perp locked up by the close of business today as always." Hoyt said the last with a half-grimace on his face.
"Nothing unusual there. If I can get a copy of your notes it will sure help out." Houston stood up and took the notebook from Hoyt and headed to the printer located in CJ's office.
"Whatcha doin', Cowboy?" CJ looked up as her husband came into the room. He stopped long enough to give her a peck on the cheek.
"Making a copy of Hoyt's notes. He's got three murders that he wants us to look into. All of them happened over the weekend in movie theaters." He filled her in as he made a couple of copies.
"Well, guess I won't be going to the movies anytime soon." CJ moved a stack of folders into the outbox on the desk. "I've got my desk cleared now, so I can go see what Baby has got on the victims if you'd like." She stood up and walked toward the printer.
Matt handed her a copy of the notes and took her into his arms. "Guess I'll go check out the theaters." He gave her a kiss, then another longer one. Hoyt walked in, shook his head and cleared his throat. "Are you done with my notebook, PI?"
Houston held out his left hand with the notebook in it, but he and CJ continued kissing. "I thought we might go together to look at the crime scenes, since I haven't seen them myself." He waited. The couple continued to kiss.
Finally, CJ broke it off. "Time to get to work, Mr. Houston." She rubbed the stubble that was already showing up on his chin.
"Uh huh. Guess I'll see you later, Mrs. Houston." He brushed her hair away from her cheek and gave her another kiss. "I'll call you."