"Domino Effect"

**Immediately follows "Under Texas Skies"**

"The battleline between good and evil runs through the heart of every man."

Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

01

The G-550 swooped down from the clear California sky, landing gently and then taxiing to the hangar. Two men, both wearing jeans and cowboy hats, leaned against an old black Dodge Power Wagon and watched as their boss shutdown the engines. In just a minute he was emerging with a well-worn bag on his shoulder and a big smile on his face.

"How're you boys, doin'?" He shook with both of the men.

The elder of the two, Lamar Pettybone was all smiles. "Sure good to see you, Houston. We were awful worried about you when CJ told us about your back."

"It's fine now." The tall cowboy turned his attention to his other ranch hand, Bo Harper. "So Bo - you gotten into anymore poker games with girl bikers?"

"Dang it, boy! I was glad to see you till you went and opened up that can of worms!"

"Thanks for bringing the truck for me."

"No problem. I sure hate that your other truck got messed up so bad." He was referring to what Matt had called the Dream Truck - a midnight blue crew cab Ford that had been turned into Swiss cheese by a man shooting a Tech 9, one of the would-be killers who had been hired by Albanian businessman Vasil Barkowski. Matt had just taken down one of the people that had hired Barkowski to have him taken out - Donovan Biggs Lynch. Lynch had rolled - much to everyone's surprise - and turned witness against F. Patterson Lockwood, developer of the Cicero properties that had been burned down by an act of arson over a year earlier in Los Angeles.

"Well, I've still got old Faithful here to take up the slack. There was too much damage to the other one to justify fixing it." He glanced at his watch. "Guess I better get moving. I'm supposed to meet Don MacLemore in half an hour. Catch up with y'all later. And thanks again."

"No problem." The pair walked over to the other pickup and left for the ranch that was nestled in the Santa Monica Mountains.

Matt climbed behind the wheel of the truck and bumped the key, the quiet rumble of the engine bringing a smile to his face. He and that old truck had been through a lot together: it had been his very first vehicle and along with his best friend Chuck Wylie, he had rebuilt the engine at the age of fifteen.

The drive to the Fire Marshal's Office was uneventful - something that Matt was grateful for and didn't take for granted. With a hit out on him he was constantly on the alert these days for anything that seemed out of place. Something as innocuous as a piece of trash in the road was treated as a possible IED, a holdover from his days in Iraq and Afghanistan. He had thought that constantly having to assess threats was a thing of the past.

After parking in the lot and swiping his Fire Department ID, Matt entered the building and made his way to Don's office. The secretary outside the door smiled and told him to go right in. He tapped on the door and stuck his head inside.

"There he is! Get on in here!" Don MacLemore came around the desk and shook the younger man's hand. "You don't look any worse for wear."

"Thanks. Rich, how're you doing?" He turned to shake hands with the man who was the very reason that he was now a certified fire investigator and consultant to the department.

"Doing better now that you got Lynch to turn on Lockwood."

"So have y'all picked him up yet?"

"Yup. Got him this morning. He's cooling his heels in lockup. Now if the judge will deny bail…"

"Really." The three sat down. "So he hasn't said anything at all yet?"

Rich laughed. "Oh, he's said plenty - none of which was fit for human hearing. All kinds of wonderful swear words and observations of my family tree. I snugged those cuffs down tight, lemme tell you."

MacLemore leaned back in his chair, swivelling slightly. "His arraignment is tomorrow morning at ten."

"I'll be there."

After going over some of the evidence that they now had on the developer, Matt left and went to see an unlikely brother: LAPD Lieutenant Michael Hoyt. Though the pair had gotten off to a rough start they were now as close as brothers. Matt had even named one of his twin sons Michael and asked Hoyt to be godfather to the boy. He parked in the garage of the Central Precinct, clipped his department ID on his shirt and as usual, jogged up the steps to the fourth floor. He entered the lobby of the Major Case Squad and a round of applause and whistles went up among the detectives in the squad room. Detective Gabriella Giovanni approached.

"Long time, no see. How are CJ and the kids?"

"Well, she's got a leg in a cast at the moment. But the kids are just fine."

"The lieutenant told me about that. Scary what can happen with a storm."

Just then, Michael Hoyt came out of his office. "Decided to slum it did you, PI?" He and Matt shook hands and then embraced. "You look pretty good. Got that beard again I see."

"Yeah, and you're looking older than ever." He ducked as the cop feigned a punch.

"Let's go in here and have a chat. Giovanni…" He motioned for the detective to join them. Matt entered the office and as usual, kicked back on the couch. "Lee is in your van watching Barkowski at the moment. Gabby here will take over late this afternoon."

Houston looked to the squad's newest detective. "I sure appreciate it."

"Barkowski is a sleaze bag. The pleasure is all mine."

"So obviously he hasn't noticed the van."

Hoyt propped his feet up on the desk and shook his head. "Apparently not. We've been very careful to make sure that the color gets changed up whenever they change shifts plus they park in a different spot."

The PI nodded. "We're still hopeful that Lynch will spill on Barkowski like he did Lockwood. Truthfully, I think he's scared of him."

Michael took a sip of coffee and looked at his friend. "You said that CJ had found out something about the Mexican part of the hit?"

"Uh huh…" He paused for a moment, considering Gabby and then went ahead. "Diego Mendoza is the one in Mexico."

"The head of Las Serpientes?" Gabby was somewhat surprised.

"As it turns out he's also my cousin." He waited in the ensuing silence.

"Holy...you're joking right?" Michael sat straight up in his chair.

"Nope. My mom's side of the family. First cousin."

"Damn."

The information had taken Gabby totally by surprise. "Your mom…"

"Since you've been going out on a limb for me you deserve to know the truth: Bill Houston adopted me when I was just a baby. My father was Wade Mattlock and my mother Carmen was half Comanche and half Mexican."

"Wow…"

"So what are your plans?" Hoyt took a sip of his coffee.

"Well…" Houston thought for a minute. "I'm supposed to be at Lockwood's arraignment tomorrow, but right this minute there really isn't anything else that I can do. Think I might go to the ranch and see about Buck. He's been giving Bo and Lamar some problems." With that he stood up and stretched. "Holler at me if you need me."

"Will do." Sitting back up the lieutenant sighed as he began looking at the paperwork that littered his desk.

The drive to the ranch in the Santa Monica Mountains was uneventful and as he always did now, Matt was constantly looking for any problems that might present themselves. He punched the code in at the security gate and drove right past the house and down to the barn. There was no sign of Bo and Lamar and he figured that they were out somewhere on the property working. As he exited the truck he heard a familiar sound, one that he had missed the last few months. His horse Cricket had spied him and was making the strange chirping noise that had earned her her name as she ran from the opposite side of the pasture toward him. He climbed up on the top rail of the fence and had a seat just as she reached him. "Hey, baby girl. How ya doin'?" The horse was eagerly rubbing her head against Matt and swiped the side of his face with her tongue. In just a second she was joined by her mate Jasper who was nearly as excited to see him. Buck also came at a trot as did the other four horses in the lot. He paid attention to each of them and then slid onto the back of Cricket for a ride around the pasture.

When he climbed back onto the fence he whistled and called Buck's name and began stroking the horse's jaw. "I heard you've been being hard-headed, boy. What's that all about?" His training of the horse had come to a screeching halt a few months earlier after the bone chip in his back had left him temporarily paralyzed while in Texas. "You're fixing to have a new home and trainer. I think Ben will get you on the right track. I'm sorry that I've been gone for so long." He continued to pet on the horse for a few minutes and then turned when he heard the sound of a vehicle up at the house. A small pickup had pulled in and Matt left the horses and drove his own truck back up to the house where he was met by Paul Novelli. The oldest son of Matt's friend Vince Novelli was attending USC and used the Houston's ranch as a home away from home.

"Hey, Uncle Matt!" The two embraced. "Looking good."

"Thanks. How's school going?" The pair entered the kitchen of the house and while Matt rummaged in the refrigerator for a bottle of water, Paul filled him in on the ups and downs in the life of an aerospace engineering major.