03

Early the next morning Marty pulled up behind the house and cut the engine on the white pickup, a concerned look on his normally jovial face. He entered the kitchen of the Houston home and found CJ in the laundry room tossing clothes in the dryer. "CJ…"

"What's up?" She closed the door and hit the button.

"A courier just brought this to the gate while I was on my way in from the feed store. It's addressed to Houston, but…"

"Thank you." She frowned when she saw that the package had come from Nuevo Laredo. Chewing her bottom lip thoughtfully, she carefully opened it and removed the envelope inside. After looking it over carefully, she opened it and removed a sheet of paper. Her jaw dropped as she read the words and then her eyebrows raised as she read it again. "Well...there's a little good news."

"What's that?"

"It's from the new leader of Las Serpientes. He wants Houston to know that there is no longer a contract on him and that they will be more than happy not to have any further dealings with him." She looked at the foreman who seemed just as surprised. "According to this he and Will took out all but one of the top members of the gang. The remaining man is the new leader. He says that Houston has nothing to fear from the gang and that they bear no grudges against him. Apparently Diego was not very well thought of; there was a coup in the making when the kidnapping occurred."

"That's some great news." He breathed a sigh of relief. "Maybe that will help Houston."

"I don't think it will hurt any at all." She gave a relieved smile.

Later that afternoon CJ checked her phone and saw the text coming in from Harris County Sheriff Francine Martinez: call me when you can. Once she was sure that the kids were down for their naps, the lawyer stepped out onto the back porch and looked around. Matt had gone for a run a little while earlier and wasn't back yet. Punching the sheriff's number on her phone she continued to look around. "Hi."

"Thanks for getting back to me." Martinez stood looking out over Buffalo Bayou and the downtown Houston skyline, the view from her office a spectacular one that she unfortunately didn't get to enjoy nearly enough. "How's he doing?"

"A lot better." She described the laughter and sing-a-long with the kids plus his reaction to the letter from Mexico. "He's out running right now."

"That's a big relief. The reason I wanted to talk to you…" She paused. "When we pulled him out of the river he had a pistol and he gave it to me."

"Okay." CJ had no idea; nothing had ever been said about it.

"I ran the numbers on it. It was Wade Mattlock's service weapon."

"You're kidding me. Where...ohhhhh." She thought back. Matt's father Wade had been a joint owner of a bar in Nuevo Laredo. His partner Pablo Escamilla had helped Matt with a vehicle and cell phone. Apparently he had also given Matt the pistol. She explained it to Francine.

"Okay. Well, I cleaned it up for him. After being in the river it needed it. I just wondered if you thought it would be okay to give it back to him?"

CJ paused. "I'm not sure. Let me talk to Dr. Mullins. He's been taking a rifle out with him for snakes while working on the ranch and has had to shoot a couple and it hasn't bothered him. But since the pistol was involved with what happened in Mexico, it might be best to ask him. Do you mind holding onto it for a little longer?"

"Not at all." She sat back down behind the desk. "Just let me know."

"I'll do it. Thanks." CJ hung up and looked up to see Matt jogging back up to the house. He had been running along the fence lines of the ranch the last week or so. Heavy physical activity seemed to calm him and probably, she thought to herself, gave him time to think.

Stopping at the bottom of the back steps he leaned on the railing and stretched, his tank top and shorts covered in sweat. The temperature was 94° and the humidity was nearly as high. Clouds were blooming up in the afternoon heat and thunder had started rolling across the area a while earlier.

"I think we're going to have to hose you down before you can come in the house, Cowboy."

"Well…" He pulled the shirt off and she noticed that the scar from his latest wound was still a bright pink. "I thought about going skinny dippin' in the river." The smile on his face was worth more than anything to her considering how much pain he had been in over the last two months.

"Good thing you didn't. The fishing never would be the same again." They both laughed.

He looked at his watch. "Better get a shower. Doc Mullins will be here pretty soon. I stayed out longer than I had planned." Buzzing her cheek he went past into the house.

Sitting down on one of the big swings on the back porch she was thinking that she hadn't been told about the appointment with the psychiatrist. Was it a good sign?

Fifteen minutes later Marty called to let her know that he had let the doctor through the security gate. Roger Mullins parked behind the house and stepped out of his car. Slightly shorter than CJ, he was an interesting sort. He had served in the Army in Iraq for four years before coming home and getting a degree in psychiatry. His main clients were veterans and their spouses.

She stood as he came up the steps. "Good afternoon."

"As long as the air conditioning is working it is." He shook his head. "This humidity is terrible!"

"Can I ask you something before we go in?" She had lowered her voice.

"Sure." He listened as she told him about the phone call from Martinez. "And you say he's been carrying a rifle on the property?"

"He has - there are a lot of copperheads around here. Plus rattlers. He's had to use it twice."

He shuddered. "Hate damn snakes. I think it would be okay for him to have the pistol but let's talk about it this afternoon and see."

"I think you're going to be impressed with him. He's improved a lot."

"Good. I've felt like he was on the verge of a breakthrough and when he called this morning I could tell a definite change."

They entered the kitchen and were getting drinks when Matt entered. "Hey, Doc."

"How's it going?"

"A lot better." Matt grabbed a glass out of the cabinet and poured himself some tea.

"If you're ready we can get started." Mullins carried his tea as he followed Matt into the study. "CJ, join us please."

She nodded and closed the door behind her as she entered the room that looked out over the front lawn of the ranch. Sitting next to Mullins on the love seat, she looked at Matt as he sat down behind the desk.

"So tell me how it's going." He pulled out a small notepad and began taking notes as Matt told him about the last couple of days.

"I don't know why…" The cowboy leaned back in the chair. "It's just like something started to click last night when I got home."

"In a good way?"

"Yeah. It's going to sound stupid…"

"Like we've discussed before, nothing that you're feeling is stupid."
"It's just...like I actually tasted the fajitas last night. Nothing has had a taste since Mexico. It's just been there, know what I mean?"

"Uh huh."

"And then talking to CJ about the kids, and them wanting me to play the guitar…" He paused. "It felt...like it used to - like it should."

"Very good."

"And when I woke up this morning, Mexico wasn't the first thing on my mind for a change. I was thinking about clearing out the brush in pasture 27 and checking the fences and...normal stuff."

"That's great." He continued to write. "And you've been getting a lot of exercise CJ tells me."

Matt chuckled. "You could say that. Been working my butt off around here. But it gives me time to think."

"I know you told me before that working around the ranch helps you to relax. It seems that's still the way of it."

"It is. Kinda like being on autopilot. It's stuff I've done most of my life so I really don't have to think about it."

"So it frees your mind for more important things."

"Yeah."

"Great." He wrote some more. "Now I want to talk about something else - something that relates to Mexico if that's okay."

"Alright."

He related what he knew about the gun, not telling Matt that Martinez was concerned as to whether or not it would upset him. "Can you tell us a little more about the pistol?"

Matt looked thoughtful and then a slight smile crossed his face. "Pablo Escamilla was my father's partner in a bar in Nuevo Laredo…" He went on to explain his visit there and how he had acquired the gun. "I was thinking this morning that I would like to get it back. I guess Francine still has it. I'd like to clean it up and put it on display on that wall right there." He nodded to the wall behind the loveseat. "Thought it would be a good place next to that picture of Wade and Bill."

"So thinking about it doesn't cause you discomfort?"

Matt was quiet for a minute and looked at Mullins appraisingly. "If I tell you something…"

"It's in the strictest confidence. You know that."

"Yeah, but I don't want you to think I'm crazy." He chuckled a little as did CJ when he looked at her. She had a feeling that she knew what he was about to say.

"You're probably one of the sanest people I've ever met, Houston."

"You are in bad shape, aren't ya?" He gave another little laugh and it made CJ's heart leap for joy.

"Go on…"

"Well…" He went on to explain how he had met his grandmother for the first time during the attempt to break Will out of Diego's estate. "She told me that she knew how it was going to end - that she had been dreaming about it for over a year." He paused and gauged the expression on Mullins face. It was unreadable. "And she knew that I have dreams like that."

"Dreams where you see the future?" He sounded intrigued.

"Sounds crazy. But you can ask CJ, it's come in awful handy at times."

The doctor looked to his right where the lawyer was nodding her head. "Really?"

"It's true."

"Interesting."

"So I've really been thinking about that the last couple of days - how she said she knew how it was going to end. And…" He took a deep breath and blew it out. "I really don't feel like what happened was my fault anymore. I did everything I could possibly do to keep it from happening. And Will could have had an alarm installed at his house but he wouldn't hear of it. I had no control over that." There was another pause. "If the truck's gas tank hadn't been hit by the gang he would still be alive. That one is on them. Not me."

"Very good." Mullins finished taking notes. "And we've talked about survivor's guilt before…" The answer was a nod. "How are you feeling about it now?"

"I hate that he's gone. We loved each other like brothers. But both of us dying wouldn't make things any better."

"Good." The psychiatrist put down his pen. "I think you've come a long way."

"And?"

"I think we should continue to talk at least once a week for a while. More often if you feel the need."

"Okay."

The Houstons walked the doctor out to his car about the time that the kids came rushing out onto the back porch after their nap. Matt was immediately set on by them and went down to the little playground with them that they had designed and helped to build. CJ and Mullins watched as he held Vinny up so he could go across the monkey bars.

She looked at the man. "So what do you think?"

"He's out of the woods. He's going to be okay."