CHAPTER 8

"Easy now." CJ followed along behind Matt as he made his way into the den three days later.

"So what else have you found out?" The cowboy eased down into his recliner.

"Michael is on his way over here to talk to us about what's going on. You need to settle down and wait for him."

"But…" He was shushed by his wife.

"If you don't behave you're going back to bed." Sheila entered the den carrying a glass of water and two Tylenol. "Take your meds."

"I'm a grown man and I'll do what…"

"You'll do as you're told or I'll call Michael and tell him not to come by here." CJ gave him the raised eyebrow look. The two locked gazes. "Your choice, Cowboy: what's it gonna be?" He looked between the two women, considered the odds, and then flipped up the footstool on the recliner. "Good choice."

"Are they ganging up on you, PI?" Michael and Lee walked into the den.

"You have no idea." Matt was still shooting the two women dirty looks.

"No, I've got a very good idea: I've been listening since you got in here." The two cops snickered.

Tilly came into the den from the nursery where she had once again been watching over Catey. The half Blue Heeler-half Husky laid her head on Matt's knee and he patted his leg, signaling to the dog to come up. "Tilly, they're pickin' on me." The dog worked her way up the recliner and lay down between her master's legs, her head and right paw resting on his thigh. "So what all do we have?"

"Two deaths solved: Tessa Holmes and Ted Deerfield – just like you said. He raped and killed her; Ramon Firenze bashed in Deerfield's skull with the wine bottle that you found."

"And what about Perrier or LaSalle – whatever he's calling himself these days?" The cowboy reached down and was scratching behind Tilly's ears.

"That's where we hit a snag." Michael and Lee both took a seat and CJ brought in a pot of coffee and five mugs. "CJ managed to get inside of his corporations and found out just how dirty he is."

Looking to his wife, Matt took the mug of coffee that Sheila handed to him, his hands still slightly shaky. "Thanks. So…what did you find?"

"The majority of his imports and exports involve porn. He's been doing business with some of the top producers in Hong Kong, Japan, Vietnam, Russia…all over the world."

"But nobody can find him – is that it?"

"Exactly. He must have found out that his operations had been hacked…" The lieutenant motioned to CJ. "Yesterday he shut down everything and disappeared before the Washington State Police raided his home and the businesses. He's in the wind."

Matt sipped on the coffee and thought. "You know he's going to show up again don't you?" His tone was very quiet, the anger in his voice unmistakable.

"I'm sure he will. But for right now…" The cop shrugged.

"Right now we wait." The PI drank the coffee as he thought about how to catch the elusive predator.