CHAPTER 4

Matt and CJ left the office at about 2:00 and dropped Hoyt off on their way. CJ looked over at Matt, who appeared to be in deep thought. "So what is the plan for tonight?"

"I'm not completely sure. It depends on when Alderson and his boys call it a night. I'll have to wait until they leave to drop the critters." He looked over at his wife and grinned. "What have you got planned for this afternoon?"

"Oh, nothing. Guess I'll just sit in front of the TV and vegetate." She looked over at him and gave him one of her smiles that drove him wild. "Unless you've got a better idea?"

"I believe I can think of something much better to do." Matt took her hand and kissed it.

Matt left a sleeping CJ at 9:00 that night and headed to the parking garage of the office to meet Uncle Roy. They took the van that they used for surveillance jobs and parked in an alley across from Alderson's shop. The pair moved to the back of the van and used the cameras that Matt had installed on the front grill to keep an eye on the activity. There was a steady stream of vehicles coming into the shop, at least one every thirty minutes. After 4:00 am the men working there left. Matt saw Alderson himself lock up the doors.

Matt waited a few minutes, then headed across the street wearing a baseball cap pulled low across his face in case anyone spotted him. He disabled the alarm and picked the three locks on the door. Once inside, he switched on his flashlight. CJ had been right – there were plenty of cockroaches in the building already. They scattered everywhere he shined his light.

Moving on back through what appeared to be at least fifty cars, Matt spotted the office. He had to pick an additional three locks to get into it. After getting inside he planted three cameras each showing a different area of the office, and went through the filing cabinets. There wasn't anything there that had to do with Hoyt. He exited the office and locked the door behind him and started placing cameras around the shop: one to focus on the cars coming in the bay door, one to focus on the main entrance, one aimed at the side entrance, and one placed up high to give an overall view. Then he exited the building locking the doors after him and rearming the alarm.

When he got back to the van, Uncle Roy nodded his approval. "Good job, Matt. Those ought to catch every face going in there."

"And every vehicle." Matt smiled at his uncle. The two went back to the parking garage at the office. "Don't guess there's any point in me going back home, I'll just have to turn around and come right back." He looked a little depressed.

"Oh, I'm sure your afternoon off wasn't wasted. You'll be fine." Roy winked at him, got into his car, and left. Matt headed up to the office and stretched out on the couch for a couple of hours of sleep. He was awakened three hours later by the smell of fresh coffee and sausage and biscuits. Opening his eyes, Matt saw CJ smiling over him.

"Hello, sleepy head. How about some breakfast?" She handed him the steaming cup and a plate of the biscuits that were making his mouth water.

"Thanks." He started to take a bite out of a biscuit, but decided he better kiss the cook first. He put down the cup of coffee and the plate and instead grabbed CJ and brought her down on the couch in his lap. The pair kissed, then CJ scooted over onto the couch and handed him the biscuits.

"So how did it go last night?" She reached up and smoothed his hair down.

"Real good. No problems at all. As a matter of fact do you want the honor of taking the first look?" He pointed toward "BABY". CJ moved down the couch and started the computer. Matt moved down next to her and continued eating his breakfast. In a minute, he was seeing the inside of the shop from the point of view of the cameras that he had installed.

"Nice." CJ punched a few keys and they could see the inside of the office. No one appeared to be working yet. "What time did you finally get in there?"

"About 4 am." Matt yawned and stretched. He leaned over and put his arms around his wife and pulled her to him and kissed her. "Guess I better go get a shower and some fresh clothes." He headed downstairs.

Michael Hoyt came walking into the office a little later and found CJ sitting in front of BABY working on the list of names that the two of them had compiled the day before. "Good morning." "Good morning to you." She clicked over to monitor the cameras as he came and sat down beside her. There was still no one there. "So he got the cameras taken care of, I see. Nice work. You can see everything that goes on in there."

"Yep, should prove to be interesting." She got up and headed for the bar. "Coffee?"

"Sure, thanks." Hoyt followed her and sat down on one of the bar stools. "Is Houston in yet?" From the stairs leading up from the gym he heard the familiar drawl of the man himself.

"Yep, been here since about 5 am." He walked over to the bar and took the coffee that CJ poured for him.

Hoyt sat there in thought for a minute. "Houston, there's something I've got to ask you. What in the world do you people spend on coffee in a month's time?"

Matt and CJ laughed. "Well, believe it or not, Hoyt, it's free. See, a few years back I helped out a fella that owns a coffee plantation in Hawaii. He was just getting started out and I told him not to worry about the fees. So, every month I get paid – in coffee." He took a sip. "Best stuff going." Hoyt just shook his head and smiled.

"How was your date last night?" CJ walked back over to the couch.

"We had a great time. Even forgot all about this mess – at least for a little while." Hoyt looked over at Matt. "Speaking of fees…"

"What fees?" Matt got up and went to sit beside CJ.

"Come on, Houston. All of this surveillance and time is not cheap." Hoyt sat down on the couch with them.

"Neither is friendship." Houston looked at him. "Look, we've helped each other out a lot over the years. I know you've had your butt crawled more than a few times because of me. It's the least I can do." Hoyt looked down at the coffee cup in his hand. Matt could tell he was upset, so he decided to liven up the conversation. "Besides which, if you're not working there anymore I'll have to work on another contact."

Hoyt's head shot up. He was about to let Houston have it when he noticed the smile that the private eye just couldn't hide and the lieutenant sighed. "Why do I fall for this stuff? Every time? Hook, line, and sinker?" Matt and CJ both snickered.

"Okay, boys, looks like it's show time." CJ had just noticed Alderson coming into the shop. "And look, it's the head cockroach himself." The trio watched as Alderson unlocked the office, went inside and started a pot of coffee. "Cockroaches like coffee. Who knew?" CJ looked at Hoyt and winked. He snickered and bumped Matt with his elbow.

"No wonder you're always so happy when you're coming to me for help – you've got a comedian on staff." He looked at CJ and gave her a big grin.

"Yeah, and she's one hell of a cook, too." He reached over and put his arm around CJ. Uncle Roy stepped out of the elevator and walked into the office. "Ah ha, so we have a new channel to watch this morning. Coming in crystal clear." He poured coffee and joined the other three on the couch.

Hoyt looked around. "Maybe this is what I'm doing wrong at work. I should be working from my couch instead of the desk." Everyone had a good laugh.

"Hey, hey, who do we have here?" Matt had spied someone coming into the shop. "Now, I could be wrong, it's been known to happen once or twice, but that looks like one of the guys that came out of your meeting with IA yesterday." Hoyt leaned forward. "Yeah, I can't think of his name, though."

"Sgt. Ryan Adkisson. He was sitting next to Brannigan in the meeting." CJ looked over at Hoyt.

"Yeah, you're right." They watched as Adkisson handed a fat brown envelope to Alderson, who took it and stashed it in his desk drawer. "Bet that wasn't a birthday card he just handed over." Hoyt was glued to the screen.

CJ punched a few keys and the audio become much clearer. Adkisson walked to the window of the office and looked out. "He says that's all until the whole thing is over."

"Is that so? Well, I believe he's forgetting who's in charge here." Alderson got up and walked over to Adkisson. "Does he need to be reminded?"

"Look, I'm just the messenger. You got a beef with him - take it up with him, not me." He walked out the door, through the shop, and outside.

Matt and Hoyt exchanged glances. "Sounds like the cockroach isn't playing well with others. We need to keep a close eye on Adkisson as well. What do you know about him?"

"Nothing. Yesterday was the first time I ever laid eyes on him. Could be he's new to IA." Hoyt was still watching the monitor.

"Uncle Roy, do you want to take that angle?" Matt looked over at his uncle.

"I believe I can do that." The dapper older gentleman stood up straightening his tie and whistled as he made his way to the elevator.

"Now, while Uncle Roy is taking care of that, I think we need to do a little more investigating into Brannigan." Matt got up and walked around the office. "What do you know about him?" He turned to look at the lieutenant.

"Not much. That's the way it is with most of the guys that work for IA. They keep very low profiles. I've heard that he's tough on the people he investigates, whether or not they are found guilty. As a matter of fact, several of the people that he has investigated in the last couple of years that were found to be innocent left the department anyway." He looked at CJ and then Matt. "As a matter of fact, I'm considering it myself." He got up and walked to the window as Matt and CJ looked at each other in shock.

"Hoyt, just because this jerk is causing a few problems…" Matt walked over to his friend and put a hand on his shoulder.

"It's not just this, Houston, although it is definitely a trigger. It's just…I became a cop because I wanted to help people, not drown in paperwork and politics. I've got fifteen years in, so if this mess doesn't drag me down into the sewer my pension will still be good." He looked at Matt who was still in shock.

"You don't mean it. You're just tired, and who could blame you. But really, man, think about it. Those pensions are fine as long as you've got other income, but that alone, no way. Plus you've got Kathy's college to consider." He was really concerned; it wasn't like Hoyt to just give up.

"I'm tired of fighting." Hoyt sat back down on the couch.

"You're tired of fighting? Hell, it's hardly been twenty four hours since all this started and you're gonna tell me you're tired of fighting?" Matt was quickly becoming irate. "I thought you had more guts than that, Hoyt. So what's Kathy going to think if you just roll over and quit? Have you thought of that?" He stared at his friend in disbelief. "We're just starting this thing. And you want to quit."

Hoyt looked at him and put his head in his hands. CJ felt sorry for him, but like Matt she couldn't believe that he would quit. "Alright, let's say I don't quit. Tell me: where do we go from here?"

"Hell, Hoyt, you just heard that there's business being conducted by an IA officer and that scum sucker Alderson. That's a jumping off point right there. We just need to do some digging."

"Pit bull, huh?" Hoyt looked over at CJ, referring to the remark she had made the day before about Matt.

"Yep. Wouldn't you hate to be the other guys?" She gave him an encouraging smile.

"Alright. Let's go after them. What do we do now? You guys get to play by different rules than I do, you know. It takes some getting used to." He smiled at Matt, who walked over and sat down next to him.

"Well, right about now Uncle Roy is running a check on Adkisson. By the time he's done, he'll know what kind of diaper cream the guy's mom put on his butt as a baby." Matt was grinning broadly.

"God, you've got a way with words." Hoyt cracked up and rubbed his hands together. "What can I do?"

"Well, you're going to be pulling the night shift with me, keeping an eye on Brannigan." He got up and stretched.

"How are we going to do that?"

"Well, CJ is about to run a check on him, including his bank records, credit cards, all that good kind of stuff. Do you know if he's married?" Matt stood up and walked behind the couch.

"I didn't see a ring yesterday, but we can find out for sure." CJ did some more key punching. "Yep, according to this he's been married six years to one Pamela Shoop."

"Got any idea if she's employed?" Matt sat back down next to her.

"She works for the DMV. Poor girl. Married to that jerk and working at the DMV. I think she needs to dream a little bigger."

Matt looked over his shoulder at Hoyt. "Feel like taking a little ride?"