Here's a two part cross fiction between MH and Women's Murder Club, (mixing both the series and the books)

Cindy sighed as she waited at the table for the rest of the Woman's Murder Club to join her. Claire had called saying that she would finish up with the last stiff of the day before being able to head there for the first round of margaritas.

Lindsey had to stay at police headquarters until later in the evening to finish up a case that she and her partner Rich had been working on for weeks. Cindy bristled at the news because of course; she had been shacking up with Rich for over three months. The rest of the Club had just learned about it and of course they had congratulated her for finally landing a guy and the round of drinks had been on Lindsey. The ballsy lieutenant hadn't been all that enthused at first because despite her engagement with Joe, she had the hots for her partner. Claire just shook her head at her long-time friend and had told her to get with the program, and that was that Cindy who supposedly was her friend had found a guy who made her toes curl and Lindsey as her friend should be overjoyed, not cranky jealous.

Cindy had arrived first having just made the deadline on some fluff piece she got stuck writing since being grounded from the crime beat because she had been accused of compromising her journalist integrity by sleeping with one of her sources which had been Rich. She had told her editor to hell with that and had picked up her purse, gotten into her VW convertible and continued onward to the restaurant.

On her way, Jill had called her on her cell and told her to save a table and to just chill out already about Lindsey harping on her happiness with Rich. If Rich's police partner couldn't keep her feelings for Rich under control despite having the most gorgeous guy in the city getting set to marry her, then she needed to go see a shrink.

The bored looking waitress came to their table and Cindy ordered another drink, figuring that she needed to be good and sauced before Lindsey arrived if she came armed for bear to go another round about Rich.

"I'll take another margarita with extra tequila," Cindy said, "and tell my friends when they get here that I'm starting on dinner without them."

Just then Claire came waltzing through the door, dressed in some comfortable clothes which was all she wanted touching her skin after spending a day working on carving up bodies in the morgue as the city's second highest ranking medical examiner behind her prick of a control freak boss.

"What you want to drink," Cindy asked her friend.

Claire just dropped into her seat.

"I can't drink anything hard core while I'm still feeding the kid."

Cindy nodded, just remembering that Claire had a baby, a miracle child really considering she had discovered that she was pregnant after coming out of her coma after being shot by a mad gunman last year.

"I'll take a ginger ale with a slice of lime," she told the waitress.

The waitress looked at her as if not believing it but jotted it down and scurried off to the kitchen, passing Jill by as the prosecutor headed towards her friends' table. She had a svelte looking woman with shoulder length wavy brown hair with her.

"Who's that," Cindy asked, while idly eating some tortilla chips.

Jill smiled.

"It's C.J. Parsons," she said, "We were sorority sisters in college while we both went to Stanford."

Cindy looked her over and raised her brows.

"You look like a lawyer," she said, "but nice to meet you anyway."

C.J. chuckled at them.

"Jill's right," she said, "You are a lively crowd."

"Our fourth's not even here yet," Cindy said, "Wait until you meet her."

C.J. sat down next to Jill in the booth and ordered a Scotch on the rocks.

"Are you from here," Cindy asked.

C.J. shook her head.

"I'm here from L.A. on business," she said, "and I ran into Jill in the courthouse."

Jill grimaced.

"She kicked my ass at a preliminary hearing."

C.J. shrugged.

"I'm getting paid good money to do that," she said, "And I'm staying with a good friend of mine."

Claire grabbed some chips before anyone else had the chance.

"How long are you in town?"

C.J. looked at her Scotch.

"Until tomorrow afternoon," she said, "

The three women looked at each other.

"Then we got to go out and have us some fun," Cindy declared.

Jill looked doubtful.

"I've got a big trial tomorrow."

Cindy flicked a chip at her.

"Party pooper."

Jill folded her arms.

"Okay, what do you think we should do then?"

Cindy gave it some serious thought. She really wanted them to paint the bay area town red but how could they do that…in a brand new way?

"Let's go take her to see the dancing," she said.

Claire and Jill looked at each other. C.J. thought she saw some flush in the prosecutor's cheeks but she couldn't be absolutely sure.

"Dancing," C.J. said, nodding, "I love to do that to unwind."

Cindy burst out laughing.

"I don't mean we do the dancing…."

Jill rolled her eyes.

"She means that we watch them dance."

C.J. understood or so she thought.

"I really don't know…"

Cindy smiled widely.

"Oh come on," she cajoled, "Let's finish up this round and head on over to the Blue Room."

C.J.'s brow rose at the name.

"The Blue Room," she said, "Sounds like…"

Jill broke in.

"It's called exotic dancing," she explained, "but it's really a bunch of men…"

"Hot looking men," Cindy broke in.

"Okay whatever," Jill said, "but they prance around in costumes and then take them off."

C.J.'s eyes widened.

"Oh."

Cindy eyed her carefully.

"C.J., do you have a boyfriend?"

She just looked at them.

"Well…no not at the moment."

Cindy nodded.

"Okay then what's the problem," she said, "Because I do have one and he doesn't care as long as I behave myself."

Claire nodded.

"And I have a husband and I never behave myself…"

Jill looked at them as if they were crazy.

"What about Lindsey?"

Cindy rolled her eyes.

"Oh she's too busy tonight to hang out with us," she said, "but just in case we'll leave her a note."

The four of them finished their drinks and they took off in their cars for the Blue Room after C.J. had received directions. She had checked her cell phone and had two messages from Matt back in L.A. but didn't answer them. If he thought she would change her mind, he was just crazy. And she would probably see him after she got back to L.A. tomorrow and popped in the office for her messages. But tonight, she was footloose and fancy-free.

Matt drove through traffic that inched down one of the main thoroughfares before halting again. He looked out the window and saw that both directions on the street were packed with vehicles and he couldn't figure out where all of them were heading. All he had wanted to do was to find one woman in a city of hundreds of thousands of people. He had just left the hotel where he had spent all of about an hour settling in for he didn't know how long but hoped it wouldn't be more than a day or so. He had a full caseload of clients waiting his services back in L.A. But…he had to get this done first. He had to find her and persuade her to listen to reason. After all, she was a Harvard trained attorney and surely, she had the ability to do that quite well.

Earlier Matt had disembarked from the plane at San Francisco International Airport and stepped into the tarmac. He had decided only several hours ago to gas up the Lear Jet and head up to the Bay Area to talk some sense into his best friend. Talk her out of leaving L.A. and taking a job up here. Tell her how much he needed her back working with him at the agency. Yes, it was true in recent months he hadn't seen her all that much because Roy had moved to L.A. and he had slipped too easily into C.J.'s role as his sidekick and partner in investigating cases. C.J. hadn't said much about it but had kind of dropped into the background and had stuck to doing legal work.

But she hadn't appeared happy the last time they had spoke, not long after he broke it off with Elizabeth…like at the altar. He had been all gussied up in a tux and set to walk down that aisle with her waiting at the end of it, dressed up in white and he had to push himself into taking those steps towards her and his new life. But somehow, he had battled to even do that before Elizabeth herself had broken off the engagement with him. She had cited the fact that his dangerous work intruded in their personal life and with a crazed psychopath on the loose disrupting the ceremony, he couldn't really argue against her logic.

And when he thought about it, after the shock and dismay of the broken engagement receded, he had been relieved that the wedding had never taken place. Oh how guilty he had felt about that until he realized that it never would have worked between them. He needed a woman who would be much more understanding about the reality that investigation was one of his greatest passions and to not view his vocation in life as an intrusive mistress. Not to mention that she had to be gorgeous, intelligent, able to hold her own against him and be funnier than hell. Elizabeth just didn't score very highly in any of these categories and he didn't know who did. His cousin Will had joked and said that maybe he should sign him up for a round on some crazy reality show called Bachelor but he nipped that idea to the bud quickly. No, old Matlock would find his true love on his own…in due time. In the meanwhile, he had work to do, cases to solve and beautiful socialites to take to charity benefits and other social galas.

But the last part didn't satisfy him for as long as he might have thought. He wasn't quite the young buck he used to be but all his parts still worked. It's just that he wanted much more from women than he had been satisfied with in the past while out sowing his oats around the globe.

Roy had watched him with these personal struggles and had just shaken his head at amusement with them, poking fun at him on more than one stakeout they did together. But underneath his smile, Matt had bristled a bit. He had also looked around him and noticed that C.J. had made herself scarce again. He walked into the office one morning.

"Where's C.J.?"

Roy had been sipping his juice after returning from a vigorous round of tennis.

"Out."

Matt scratched his head.

"I can see that," he said, "Out where?"

"With a client."

Matt mentally thought back to his caseload and which ones C.J. had been handling.

"Which one?"

Roy looked at him as if he were daft.

"A client in a case that she took the other day," he said, "He's due in court."

Matt stopped and thought about that.

"She never told me…"

Roy looked at his nephew sagely.

"She didn't have time," he said, "She tried to run it past you and you were too busy with the Lancaster deal."

Matt remembered that case, where he and Roy had dashed around the Palisades trying to apprehend an illegal dealer in exotic animals. They had spent a good part of the day on the roof of Roy's SUV while a Komodo Dragon held them at bay.

He remembered what had happened when he had bumped into his best friend and they had discussed that case. Not that they had done that for very long.

Now days later, he had hopped on his Lear Jet to go to the Bay Area, track her down and persuade her not to resign from his agency and head off to the Bay Area. Looking at the massive crowds of people in the terminal as he opened its doors, he knew he had his work cut out for him.

But no problem seriously, once he looked at her and plead his case, she would certainly weaken. After all, they had been close friends nearly their entire lives, that would definitely work in his favor.

Suddenly, however he heard a disturbing noise and his car began to list on one side. Damn rental, he should have shipped up one of his sports cars but remembered that hadn't seemed practical at the time. He reluctantly navigated his way out of the gridlock and tried to find a place to pull over.

C.J. drove her car into the parking lot of the Blue Room and saw that the other three women had arrived.

"I texted Lindsey on where she could find us," Cindy said as they walked towards the club.

A bouncer greeted them with a grim expression.

"Hey Bo, drop us a smile," Cindy said, patting his hefty shoulder, "We're here to liven up things a bit."

He did what she wanted and then checked out her friends.

"Party of four," he said, "Your regular table waits…"

The other women looked at her.

"Regular table," Jill asked.

Cindy didn't even look embarrassed but amusement showed in her eyes.

"I come here…sometimes after making a really hard deadline," she said, "Oh come off of your high horses, we all think about the same thing when we're stressed."

"I think about food," Claire said, "not semi-naked men…except my husband of course."

C.J. entered with the others and checked the place out. Far from being seedy, the décor appeared quite stylish if a bit retro and the waiters that carried drinks around appeared well…mostly dressed. One of them looked their way and brought a tray of martinis over to them. They all grabbed one and Cindy plopped the olive off the toothpick into her mouth.

"Oh, I love this," she said, "Come on, let's sit down and check them out!"

Jill glowered.

"This is exploitation," she said, "at least that's what you would be saying if they were women."

Cindy shrugged.

"If it's good enough for us," she said, "It's more than good enough for them."

Some men stood on a stage and were surrounded by women with what looked like dollar bills in their hand. Jill watched them in distaste.

"Just look at what they're doing."

Claire cast an analytical eye.

"Looks like everyone's having a good time."

C.J. knew from experience that there was a lot of exploitation in this business as well as others and that women were ripe to be mistreated, a lesson she learned while amnesiac in Bannon County where she had spent time locked up in a detention facility that was being used as part of a prostitution ring. But the men who danced on the stage appeared to be having more fun than the female inmates back in that remote town in the Arizona desert.

"There's one coming this way," Cindy reported.

She reached into her wallet. Jill rolled her eyes and Cindy looked at her, laughing.

"Girl, you need to take a chill pill," she said, "Are you like this around your boyfriends?"

Jill harrumphed.

"Of course not," she said, "Not that I have one at the moment."

Cindy snorted.

"I can see why."

Jill sighed.

"I need to spend time by myself."

Cindy just folded her arms.

"That's what you've been saying for months now," she said, "You need to live a little."

"I'm doing just fine…"

C.J. watched the banter and she knew that Cindy genuinely cared for her friend but she could understand Jill's defensiveness. Besides Jill had always had a little of that as long as she had known her sorority sister. And she had been teased a lot about it by the others in their house but not C.J. After all, who was she to talk? During most of her college years, she had been studying most of the time or tutoring other students for extra money. Often it interfered with her involvement in sorority activities but she had her eye sharply focused on her dreams of being an attorney and Jill had that same commitment too. And the woman had turned out to be one of the bay area's kickass prosecutors, as C.J. learned firsthand earlier in the day.

She herself had felt out of practice because she had been focusing on corporate law to help Matt with his businesses. But the excitement of the criminal case she had been hired to handle for her mentor F. Lee Bailey had stirred the embers of how much she really enjoyed this branch of law. Much more than her earlier case involving the murdered teens of Lake Utah had done.

Cindy poked C.J.

"Hey, why are you off daydreaming when these hot men are in our midst, here to make us happy?"

C.J. looked up at the male stripper who had well, removed all of his construction style clothing down to his rather skimpy underclothes. He flexed his pectorals and flashed them all a grin as the women around them began reaching for their wallets.

But C.J. didn't really see him at all. She saw someone else.

Matt looked at his watch as he waited for the triple A man to come change the tire on his car. He could have deftly handled the task himself…if the car had a spare which it did not. So he had to sit on his hands when he needed to be out finding C.J. while he awaited assistance. He had called the friend that C.J. had been staying with to ask where she might be and the woman had told her that C.J. had planned to spend the evening with the prosecutor who had gone up against her during her court hearing that day.

That narrowed it down a bit but not a whole lot because after all, San Francisco looked like a huge city, on the ground. But Matt knew his investigative skills and determination to find her would bear fruit probably before the night ended.

Suddenly, he looked up and saw a blue car with a siren light attached to it pull up behind him. He didn't know if that were good news or bad but the woman with the long brunette hair who got out of the car didn't appear hostile. She appeared to be sizing him up as she approached, wearing slacks and a print blouse and of course, a badge.

"My car broke down," Matt said, "Tire's flat and I don't have a spare."

She just nodded.

"That's a tough break," she said, "It'll take hours to get help for it. Lots of cars broke down on the bridges tonight."

Matt didn't really like the sound of that. He wanted to get going quickly so he could continue his search.

"I can't stay here then," he said, "I've been looking for someone."

She flashed her eyes at him.

"Your wife?"

He shook his head.

"My business partner and best friend," he said, "She came up here on a case and we didn't part on the best of terms so…"

The officer folded her arms.

"You wanted to check up on her."

"I need to talk to her," he said, "I don't want her to quit her job due to some misunderstanding."

She sighed.

"Why is it that the men always think that it's the woman who doesn't understand correctly?"

He looked up at her.

"What did you say?"

Then she realized she had said her thoughts out loud.

"Nothing," she said, all business again, "I can give you a lift somewhere if you'd like and call in for your car to be towed back to your hotel. The rental should cover it."

He brightened.

"That would be great," he said, "as for the ride, I'm not sure where I'm heading."

"I'm off-duty until tomorrow," she said, "So I could drive you around to a couple places but I do have a situation I have to check out at one of our clubs."

"And you're…"

She smiled for the first time.

"I'm Lt. Lindsey Boxer with the San Francisco PD."

"Matt Houston, private investigator out of L.A."

She nodded.

"Okay get in the car and we'll get going," she said, "I've been invited by my friends to join them at a club but the club has been a source of police complaints for quite a while. Not surprising considering its nature."

"It's what?"

She turned to face him.

"It's a club with exotic dancers," she explained, "Male dancers."

His brows rose.

"I imagine that your vice squad might be checking in from time to time."

"Them and Narcotics," she said, "We busted some dealers in the back room just last month."

"Haven't you thought of shutting the place down?"

She sighed.

"There's a whole process with that," she said, "and as soon as the owner got wind of it, he had some of the more…loyal customers sign petitions and send them straight to City Hall."

Matt nodded, understanding or so he thought.

"Anyway, my friends are right in the middle of it," Lindsey said, "but it's their choice of entertainment not mine."

"Why did they go tonight?"

"Oh Cindy, the crime reporter got transferred to writing feel-good features and she needed to blow off some steam," Lindsey said, "Claire and Jill are just along for the ride and Jill brought the lawyer who went up against her in court this morning…makes for a lively evening out."

Matt didn't doubt that. He supposed he had some time to ride with Lindsey while thinking of the different places he could look for C.J. He wondered idly what kind of friends Lindsey had while they drove to the club.

C.J. took her second round of drinks as the other women gathered around one of the male dancers who smiled at them.

"Anyone want to dance," he drawled.

He had been the one dressed up like a cowboy complete with hat, boots and lariat. One who reminded her a little of…never mind.

"What about you," he said, looking at her.

She stared up at him.

"I don't think so," she said, "I've had a long day and wouldn't be much fun."

"All the better," he said, reaching his hand down.

"Oh go on," Cindy said, "It will be fun."

C.J. wasn't so sure of that but she thought back to that last conversation she had back in L.A. and felt emboldened so she let him take her hand and pull her up on the stage. Then the dancing began and she had to say, it felt nice to have a man pay attention to her. One who hadn't been a psychotic murderer or killed by one. All of her men appeared to fall into those two categories these days and she had begun to feel burned out by the whole dating scene. He grabbed her waist and pulled her closer as the music slowed down. She closed her eyes against his shoulder and just went with it.

Matt and Lindsey pulled up at the Blue Room and Lindsey pointed out some familiar looking cars.

"They're here," she said, "We'll just walk inside."

A man dressed in faded jeans and a tank shirt walked up to them.

"The bouncer," Matt asked.

"No, one of the vice detectives," Lindsey said, "What's up Vic?"

He looked Matt over and shrugged.

"There's some dancing going on inside there with some rowdy women," he said, "I believe you know them and they've got some sexy brunette spitfire with them."

Lindsey shook her head.

"Anything happening besides that?"

"Narcotics shut down some drug dealing in the corner lot," he said, "and there's been some underage patronage."

Lindsey took a deep breath.

"Is Rich around?"

Vic nodded.

"He's working the bar," he said, "but you won't be able to see through his disguise."

"I know my own partner…"

Matt and Lindsey walked away from Vic and headed into the joint.

C.J. enjoyed dancing with the man and had gone through a couple numbers with him already. She felt the buzz of a couple of shots of tequila and felt the events of the past few days fade from her memory, as she enjoyed herself. Cindy had gotten on the stage with another dancer.

Jill looked at Claire.

"Have they gone crazy or what?"

Jill nibbled on some pretzels.

"It's normal for Cindy but C.J…well I haven't seen this side of her in a long time."

Claire eyed the bar.

"That weirdo bartender is eying them again," she said, "What's his problem?"

Cindy looked at the doorway.

"Look there's Lindsey and who's that guy with her?"

Claire checked him out.

"Doesn't look like Joe," she said, "Maybe it's another cop."

Cindy shrugged.

"Could be," she said, "Look they're coming our way."

Lindsey and Matt had entered the bar and right away, Matt's observation skills had led him quickly in C.J.'s direction. His eyes widened as he watched her dancing on the stage with some strange man wearing not very much. He closed his eyes for a second, waiting for his mind to catch up with what he had just witnessed.

"Oh my god," he said, simply.

Lindsey gave him a funny look.

"What's the matter," she said, "It's just my friends having a good time."

"The woman on the stage," he said, "That's my friend."

Lindsey watched her dance.

"She's pretty good," she said, "Cindy's in fine form as usual."

They walked over to where Claire and Jill sat, watching all the activity. The two women looked up at them.

"Hi Lindsey, took you forever to get here," Claire noted.

Jill just crossed her arms.

"You should have seen them earlier…"

Matt watched the woman that he had spent most of his life with and realized that just when he thought he had known everything to know about her, she had knocked him through a loop once again.

"What's C.J. doing?"

Jill just stared at him.

"I think it's obvious," she said, "It's called dancing."

"I know that," he said, "It's just that this is a side of her I've never seen."

"She's been dancing with that guy for about 30 minutes," Jill explained, "Cindy joined her soon after."

"What are you doing up here anyway," Claire said, "You are the man she works with aren't you?"

"Yes I am," he said, "I'm up here because I need to talk with her. We had a bit of a disagreement."

"A fight," Jill corrected.

"She told you about it?"

Jill nodded.

"You know you can be a jerk Matt," she said, "and I always remembered you being a nice guy."

Now Matt felt lost and a bit taken aback at her criticism.

"What is going on here," he said, "We just had a disagreement…about business."

Jill shook her head.

"You know it was more than that," she said, "C.J. really felt that you were pushing her away. That you didn't need her around anymore since…"

Matt guessed the rest of it.

"My uncle came to town."

"That's why she came up here to handle the case for Bailey," Jill said, "and she's dropped her card and resume off at some law firms."

So she really had gone and done it, Matt thought, she really was leaving him and the agency. Not that he could really blame her, because he had done just what she had told him he had done. And now she danced on a stage looking like she was having a great time, not giving any thought to what she had left behind in L.A.

"I don't want her to leave," he said, suddenly feeling helpless.

"Then why you don't just tell her that," Claire said, "Make her happy and get yourself out of the doghouse."

Matt pondered that. Lindsey flashed a look at Rich and he left his gig at the bar and walked on over.

"What's up partner," he asked.

Lindsey gestured up to the stage.

"Your girlfriend's up on that stage."

Rich shook his head.

"She's got this wild side to her," he said, "I just can't tame and who's that other chick up there?"

"This here is Matt and that's his business partner C.J. up there."

Rich watched the women dancing, unaware of their presence.

"She's pretty hot," he said, "You're a lucky man but clearly not a smart one."

Matt studied the bartender cop.

"Say again?"

"How could you ever let a woman like that go," he said, "Some other guy's going to win her away from you."

Matt rubbed his head.

"It's not like that between us."

Now Rich cast him a critical eye.

"Then you're more stupid than I even thought," he said, "I mean if I weren't with Cindy, I would be…"

Lindsey put up her hand.

"Rich…later," she said, "We've got to decide what to do with this joint."

He looked disinterested.

"It's got borderline criminal element and you know what happened last time," he reminded her.

Oh yes, the crates filled with petitions by angry and distraught customers to protest the closing of the Blue Room. Letters filled with testimony of how this club had changed their lives, had allowed the women of San Francisco to cut loose and enjoy themselves. The mayor eying a reelection bid just couldn't commit political suicide by shutting the place down.

He just shook his head.

"My girl's one hell of a dancer…"

Matt looked at him.

"You mean it doesn't bother you that she's up there dancing with…"

"A semi-naked guy," Claire chimed in helpfully.

Rich chuckled.

"She might be up on the stage with Mr. GQ now but later on, she'll be coming home to me."

With that, he sauntered back to the bar, leaving Matt and Lindsey to handle the situation. Matt looked at C.J. dancing on the stage, totally at a loss of what to do.