CHAPTER 2

After getting the information from Michael's office, Matt swung by the clinic that was run by Carol LeMaster and was waiting on the tailgate of his truck when CJ pulled in, looking quite pale. He got up and opened the door of the Navigator for her. "Hey…" She wrapped an arm around him and gave him a hug.

"You know, I don't remember this much morning sickness with Catey." CJ gave him a smile.

"I'm sorry, Babe." Matt felt really bad for her.

"Hush, you don't have anything to be sorry about. And technically we don't know for sure yet."

"You don't, but I do." He wrapped his arms around her. "Remember what I told you about my dream?"

"Yeah I do." She gave him a hug and they walked into the clinic, his arm still wrapped around her. After checking in and then waiting a few minutes, the nurse stood at the doorway and called CJ back and Matt went with her. As they headed down the hallway hand in hand Matt felt just a little bit nervous. He cut his eyes over at her. No matter how cool she tried to be he could tell; she was nervous, too.

After taking down CJ's vital signs, drawing blood and getting a urine sample, the nurse handed her a gown. "Carol should be about five minutes." She left the pair who exchanged a nervous smile.

"I'm glad you're here this time." CJ began undressing and Matt helped her into the gown and stood next to the exam table with his arm around her and holding her hand.

"I am, too. Sorry about last time." Matt had been on a plane to Little Creek, VA to meet up with a team of Navy SEAL's when CJ had learned for certain that she was pregnant with Catey.

"It was for a good cause." She rested her head on Matt's chest and jumped when Carol came through the door.

"There's my sis." She gave CJ a big hug and then Matt. "So…" She looked at the pair and laughed. "You look just a little bit guilty my friend." Carol put a hand on Matt's shoulder. He just grinned and looked down. "Alright CJ, you know what to do."

Matt stood right by his wife's side, holding her hand in both of his. No one spoke for a couple of minutes while the doctor examined CJ, and then Carol stood up and stripped off her gloves. "Okay, you can sit back up now." She continued to write on CJ's chart as the couple exchanged impatient looks. "So what I want to know is…" Carol turned back around to the pair beaming, "do you already have a name picked out? Congratulations!"

The couple both let out a whoop and the doctor started laughing. "Now that's what I like to hear." She watched as the pair kissed and Matt pulled CJ in close, tilting his head down on top of hers.

Pulling back from her he looked into his wife's eyes. "I love you so much, Babe." He stroked her cheeks with his thumbs.

"I love you, too – Daddy." She beamed. "Now, if we can just get rid of the morning sickness I'll feel a lot better about this whole thing." All three laughed.

"So what's the due date?" Matt looked over at Carol.

"According to my calculations you two really rang in the New Year." They all laughed. "September 24th should be it."

The couple hugged again, Matt looking down at his wife with a crooked grin. "I told you this was going to be a very interesting year for us."

"Now tell Carol your prediction." CJ squeezed his hand.

"So just because you guessed that the last one was a girl you think you know what this one will be?" Carol laughed.

"It's just a feeling." Matt looked back at his wife and brushed a strand of hair back. "It's going to be twin boys."

The doctor laughed and then noticed that Matt and CJ were absolutely serious. "There's no way you could possibly know that, Houston. Come on."

"I believe him, Carol." She reached up and stroked his face and the pair kissed again, the doctor standing there in shock.

After walking CJ back to her car and watching her head off in the direction of the office, Matt gave a fist pump and slid into his truck. He took a deep breath and smiled, then decided it was time to get some work done. He decided to head back to the location of the graffiti that morning and as he snapped a picture of it, he noticed for the first time that down in the bottom left corner there were two very small pictures: a nine ball and a devil. He snapped another shot of the last two items.

Looking down the list, the previous murder had been about four days before and had happened about six blocks east of his present location. He loaded up and headed that way. There was still a spot on the sidewalk where a slight rust-colored ring could be seen – the remnants of a life ended much too soon. The young man who had been killed there was fifteen years old. Matt searched the area, feeling eyes follow his every move from the windows overlooking the sidewalk. He walked for a block headed east looking at the sides of buildings as he went for any graffiti that seemed to apply to the case, but didn't spot anything. He turned and headed back to where he had come from before walking almost another block. There on the side wall of a building was another picture that looked fairly recent. It showed a pistol, football, and a tiger as well as a nine ball and devil, just like the last one. The private eye took more pictures.

The next stop on his list was about eight blocks west. Two young women, sisters, had been killed out in the middle of the street. Matt began his walk looking for graffiti and didn't have to go far. On the corner opposite the murder scene there on the wall of the bodega was another picture. Once again, the nine ball and devil were in the lower left corner. The main items in the picture were two koi and a pistol. Matt took pictures and then went back to his truck. He looked up when he saw a sudden flash of lightning, a loud clap of thunder sounded and the heavens opened up. The private eye started the truck and pulled away from the curb headed for his office.

As he stepped off of the elevator Matt looked up to see Chris Chase struggling to reach the top shelf where a package of paper was stored. "Un uh, hold it right there." He walked over and pulled down the box of paper, setting it on the desk. Removing the top, he handed the secretary a pack out of the box and then turned to look at the shelves. "What's on the bottom shelf that you use the least, Chris?"

"Uh, well…" She looked. "Actually I use a lot of what's down there."

"Well, the paper is going to be down there too from now on. You don't need to be stretching and trying to lift something like that, hear me?" He gave the secretary, who was now almost three months pregnant, a serious look.

"Okay." She took the paper and filled the printer and put the excess in the bottom left drawer of the desk as Matt rearranged the items on the shelf.

"Will that work?" He stood up and slid off his jacket.

"That's great, boss – thanks." The secretary gave him a big smile.

Matt reached over and gave her a little hug. "Gotta take care of my girls here ya know." He winked at her and headed on into the office whistling along the way. After hanging his jacket on the back of one of the chairs at the poker table, he headed for the coffee pot and filled up a cup before going into CJ's office. "Hard at work I see." He leaned down and gave her a peck on the cheek, then turned her head up and gave her another more involved kiss.

"Well one of us has to get something done." She grinned. "So what have you boys been up to?"

"Let me make a phone call to Michael real quick and I'll show you. I'd like your input on it." He went back out to the outer office and pulled up BABY, turning the computer on as CJ sat down on the couch next to him. "Hey bud, can you send the files on Cristobal De la Fuente, and Hua and Ping Santiago?" There was a pause. "Yeah, I'm at the office. Alright, I'll let you know. 'Bye." He hung up and wrapped an arm around his wife as he whispered, "How are you feeling?"

"I'm okay. As soon as the morning upchucks go away I'll be great." She gave him a big smile. "I am so excited I don't know what to do!"

Matt laughed and then got serious. "I think we need to keep this under wraps for a little longer, how about you?"

"Yeah, but I can't wait. Can't you imagine how happy Mama is going to be?" Vince Novelli's mother, Rosa was like a mother to both Matt and CJ. She had been so happy when they announced their first pregnancy and was bound to be just as excited again.

"I can't either. This is gonna be hard to keep quiet."

He pulled out his phone and brought up the pictures that he had shot. "Anyway, back to the case. These…," Matt scrolled through the pictures, "…were found near the scenes of the last three murders."

"Not to be negative here, hon, but there is a lot of graffiti out there. How do you know it's even related?"

"It makes sense, CJ. Look here." He pulled up the picture from the most recent murder. "Now the victims were a young mother and her four month old daughter who were stabbed." He pointed to the rose and bud and then the dagger. "A young woman in her prime and a baby…stabbed."

"It could just be a coincidence. You don't even know when that was done."

"Yes I do – last night. When Michael came past there on his way there wasn't anything on the wall. When we were leaving this morning it was there. It was just around the corner from where they were murdered. The paint was still slightly tacky."

The PI went to the next picture. "This one was near the scene of a murder that happened four days ago. The victim was a fifteen year old boy who was shot. That's all I know about his case so far. And this…" He scrolled to the next one, "…was found on the corner opposite of the scene where two young sisters were killed. Shot to be exact."

Leaning forward, Matt checked his email. "Here we go." He tapped a couple of keys and pulled up the file on Cristobal De la Fuente. "Fifteen years old, played running back for Obispo High School." Pulling up a web browser he typed in the name of the school. "That's what I thought – they're the Tigers." Looking back over at his wife, he leaned back on the couch.

"That's...odd. Okay, maybe you're on to something, but it could still be a coincidence."

Matt punched a couple of keys and opened the file on the Santiago sisters. "Hua and Ping Santiago. Their mom is Chinese, dad was Hispanic. The two fish could represent them and they were shot."

"The pistol again...hum." CJ nodded and ran her hand over Matt's shoulders. "That is starting to sound kind of like a message. But what does it mean?"

"It could be someone taking credit for it..." The PI got up and refilled his coffee cup and made his wife a cup of peppermint tea before walking back over to the couch, stepping over the back of it as was his custom, before handing the mug of tea to his wife. He sat down. "Or maybe they're trying to tell us who did it." Matt started to take a sip of coffee and stopped mid-way.

"What?"

"I think I need to go talk to Lorenzo Adolfo." Standing up, he turned and kissed her. "He's not involved in the gangs anymore but he might be able to shed a little light on the nine ball and the devil." Matt headed down to the elevator. "Love ya, Babe."

"You too. Be careful." CJ sat and looked at the screen. Mimicking her husband's Texas drawl, she spoke. "Babe, see what you can find out about the Santiagos and De la Fuente."

The PI had just walked back into the room for his jacket. "I heard that." CJ's head spun around and the shock on her face started him laughing. "Good idea." He winked at her and went back down the three steps to the lobby, chuckling.