One By One
Matt stood on the patio of his penthouse office after another woman left his life.
"God I love her, " he thought out loud.
The emotions emanating inside him were overwhelming to the point he was numb. He was almost used to it.
The phone rang. Reluctantly he went to answer it.
"Houston…"
"I'm gonna get you Houston. Once and for all. Start saying goodbye to all your friends," a raspy voice taunted.
"Who's this? Identify yourself!"
The voice laughed manically and hung up.
Great. Not only did he have to deal with a broken heart, he had a nut case on his hands.
He dialed Hoyt.
"Yeah, Hoyt, listen. I just got a threatening phone call that I think you should know about."
His uncle was next to get a call.
"Hey sorry to wake you up but I just got this absurd phone call. Everything okay over there?"
"Never better. Do you want me to come into the office?"
"No. Just stay put and watch yourself until we can ascertain whether or not this guy's a crack pot."
"Okay."
C.J. was next.
"Hello …" she answered groggily.
"Sorry to wake you, C.J. It's me."
"What's up?"
"I got this threatening phone call. Are you okay?"
She sat up to get her bearings and scanned the room. "I'm fine," she said, her voice lower and more awake.
"Okay. Well, just be on your toes. Call me the minute you see or hear anything suspicious, okay?"
"Will do," she answered, almost annoyed with the order. Threats and danger were commonplace for this seasoned detective. "Can I go back to sleep now?"
He sighed. "Sweet dreams, C.J."
He set the receiver down contemplating his next move. He could stay at the office and wait for another phone call. Or he could go home, try to get a good night's sleep and tackle this with a fresh mind in the morning.
He opted for the second idea.
The basement parking garage was unusually still as he walked out of the elevator. Keeping a keen eye on his surroundings, he was almost at his car when he saw something suspicious out of the corner of his eye. Turning his head slightly to the left he saw a puddle trickling towards the floor drain. When he studied it further he realized it was blood.
With an accelerated heartbeat, he followed the trail to its source which eventually led to the body of a woman. Face down it only took him a second to realize who it was.
"ELIZABETH!"
He dropped to his knees and gently turned her over.
"NO! GOD! NO!" he screamed, searching for signs of life. There was none. The blood had already drained from the multiple slashes in her neck. The wound disgusted him so much that he had to tear away from her body for a moment to lose his dinner.
With her blood on his hands he scurried to the phone in his car.
"Hoyt! I need an ambulance to my parking garage. Someone attacked Elizabeth!"
"What?!"
"Get here yesterday!"
He was being optimistic. The investigator in him knew she was dead, but still he hoped by some error on his part, that she could be saved. She had to survive this. He couldn't bear to lose her this way. All the time he was upstairs contemplating his life, a nut case was murdering the person he loved most in the world!
The police came, an ambulance came and then a coroner came. Elizabeth was dead. Matt was inconsolable. Hoyt and Roy escorted him upstairs to the office.
"I can't believe this," he said over and over, shaking his head in disbelief.
"I'll go with Michael to the precinct, start sorting things out," his uncle announced gently. Hoyt seconded the suggestion.
"Sounds good."
"I'll come too," Matt offered.
They thought otherwise.
"I don't think that's a good idea. This one's too close for you, Mattlock."
"But I..." he started to protest when the phone rang.
He took a deep breath and picked it up with Roy and Hoyt listening on the other lines. "Houston ..."
"Do you believe I'm for real yet?" the voice said.
"I believe you. Who are you? What do you want from me?"
"I don't want a thing," the raspy voice continued. "Except revenge."
Click.
The men looked at one another.
"I can't believe this," Matt uttered again.
"Mattlock," his uncle suggested. "Why don't you let me drive you home, huh? Let Hoyt and I work on this. You've been through enough tonight."
Of course Matt negated that.
"No. I couldn't sleep anyway. We've got to figure out who this guy is, or who his next victim is."
"Alright if you insist. Can you tell us again, word for word, what he said to you when he first called?"
"He said 'I'm going to get you Houston once and for all. Start saying goodbye to all your friends.'"
"Is that all?"
"Yes."
"Did you tell C.J.?" asked Roy.
"I just called her about an hour ago."
"So, she doesn't know about …"
"No."
Roy dialed her number. She picked up on the second ring.
"Houston, I'm fine."
"C.J., it's me," Roy informed her. "Something's happened."
A knowing feeling started in her gut.
"What's wrong?"
"Elizabeth was murdered tonight."
"WHAT?"
"We think it was the guy who called and threatened Matt. Are you okay?"
She didn't answer.
"C.J.? C.J.?"
Matt heard the concern in his uncle's voice and picked up the other line.
"C.J.? Are you okay?"
She didn't answer him either.
But a maniacal laugh did. "Number two, Houston. Done."
Matt's eyes grew large. His gut bottomed out. He threw down the receiver and bolted for the elevator.
When he arrived at C.J.'s house he bypassed a broken front door and headed straight for her bedroom. He found her as soon as he rounded her bed, on the floor, gasping for air.
"Hous …" she tried as she gripped her neck.
He darted towards the bathroom, grabbed a towel, rushed back to her and pressed it on her wound. Hoyt was right behind him and immediately called for an ambulance.
"This is Lt. Hoyt. I have a woman here with a stab wound. She needs a bus, stat!"
Matt cradled her head, lifting it slightly to aid in stopping the blood. He kept a firm weight on the wound, which probably hurt like hell, but it was the only way to save her.
"Just hang on, C.J. Hang on. Help is on the way."
She wanted to answer him but she couldn't talk. She reached for him with her hand.
Then she passed out.
"C.J.! C.J.!"
He leaned closer to her chest and listened for her heartbeat. It was there, but it was faint. "God! When's that ambulance getting here?" he cried.
Hoyt rushed outside to ascertain that very thought.
It was only minutes later but it felt like hours. As soon as the paramedics arrived Matt announced, "She was conscious when I got here."
"How long ago was that?"
"About ten minutes, I think. She passed out. I was worried she died…"
"No she's still alive … barely. We'll take it from here. Are you her husband?"
"No, a friend … we work together."
"Well, you probably saved her life."
Matt took small comfort in that victory. He wouldn't relax until C.J. was conscious.
"Any word?" Roy asked as Matt felt a hand on his back.
"Not yet."
"You said she was conscious when you got there. That could mean she saw her attacker. When she wakes up from surgery she'll be able to identify him or at least give us clues."
"Are they dusting at the crime scene?"
"Yes. No news yet but Hoyt's got his best men on the case. We'll find him."
"I'm worried that when the news hits that C.J. survived, he'll come back and finish her off."
"We can keep her status confidential for a while, order round the clock protection for her while we look for this creep."
Matt stared at the hallway leading to the operating room.
"Mattlock?"
"I can't lose her too, Uncle Roy. I can't."
"Matt … you've had a horrible night. Why don't you let me drive you home, huh?"
He kept staring at the operating room doors.
"No. I can't. I've got to stay here and wait for C.J. to wake up. God only knows what he did to her before knifing her. I want to be here for her. She'll be scared, maybe confused. I'm supposed to protect her … I was supposed to protect both of them and I failed."
"Mattlock, don't. You can't blame yourself for this."
"No?"
"No you can't," he said firmly, grabbing hold of his shoulders in the process. He knew it would be awhile until Matt could deal with everything that happened this night.