When they walked up the winding stairs that led to the princely manor, he gazed at the woman walking beside him.

Thinking that he'd never seen anyone who looked as beautiful as she did now, dressed in a black dress that hugged her figure and showed off her muscular arms with spaghetti straps. Her hair had been curled and held off of her face with elegant clips and her eyes lit up when she caught him looking at her.

When Matt had first seen C.J. in that dress, he'd wanted to charm her right out of it and onto the bed but they had the assignment ahead of them to do and any passionate interlude between them would have to wait. Still, he complimented her on how she looked and she smiled, color flushing her cheeks as she thanked him. He looked quite fine in his black tux even though he loathed the tie and allowed her to fix it for him while they ran over the game plan once again. You could never be too careful in these types of surveillance operations. They were dressed to play the part of guests but once inside the main estate, they had a job to do and the burden was mostly on C.J. He would keep attention off of her while he and Will gained information on those in attendance.

She turned towards him and fiddled with his bow tie again while he tried not to fidget. The scent of her perfume wafted to him and the brush of her hands against the skin on his neck.

"C.J…"

"Houston stay still and let me do this…you're really not being easy you know."

He waggled his brows at her.

"I'm easy enough in other ways."

Her mouth broke into a smile.

"Yes that's true…and we can talk about that after we're done here."

It wasn't supposed to be that difficult an assignment. The two of them had been through much harder jobs, including surveillance operations. But this one involved a federal agency as a client which made it much different. Matt felt unease that he could only take charge for part of the strategic planning but he figured he owed Brock. The door opened and what looked like a butler looked at them.

Matt reached into his jacket and provided his invite into the party and the man nodded and let them inside the entry hall which appeared grandly decorated. They had expected nothing less and their precursory examination was to look for vantage points and Matt spotted a couple familiar faces of what he knew to be other operatives. A man walked up to him who looked of new money.

Matt stuck out his hand and smiled.

"You must be Carlton Rochester…nice to finally meet you."

Carlton smiled and nodded.

"And I've heard a lot about you and your corporation," he said, "I do believe you have an electronics firm we might be interested in acquiring."

Matt chuckled.

"Right to the point, I like that. We can discuss business in a little while" he said, "I'd love to show my partner your impressive setup."

Carlton nodded.

"Sure…just help yourself to some refreshments," he said, "And have a nice time."

Matt and C.J. watched him leave and then he placed a hand on her lower back and led her into the main room where he saw other wealthy looking men with their dates, the men and women having segregated themselves in opposite groups. Matt knew the men would head off to the library to smoke cigars, drink sherry and discuss business while the women would be left to amuse themselves in the opulent mansion. That would give C.J. plenty of opportunity to act, to work her way to the office section where Carlton did most of his business while at home. His wife had died six months earlier and these days, he didn't head into his corporate headquarters much, nestled in the Mexican Rivera.

C.J. smiled at Matt.

"You go and have a good time," she said, "I'll just look around a bit."

He gave her a peck on the cheek.

"Just be careful okay?"

She touched his face.

"Aren't I always?"

And then she left him.

Matt ran into Will and Roy who were already sitting and smoking cigars around a table with some of the other businessmen who specialized in electronics. They looked up at Matt with some interest. Will leaned over towards Matt.

"I don't see him do you?"

Meaning that it didn't appear that Rodrigo or his entourage had arrived yet, but then he'd heard that Rodrigo didn't arrive on time to social galas, which meant that he likely wasn't serious about doing business or to put up a new factory in Mexico. His home base had been further south in Venezuela and he'd flown up in his Lear landing on a nearby airstrip so they knew from documents filed with the aviation division that he was in the vicinity.

"He'll be here…but will he be on his best behavior?"

Will sighed, sipping the sherry that he had refilled.

"I hope so…just want this to be nice and smooth."

So did Matt but his neck prickled in anticipation that it might prove to be anything but…then again he trusted Brock and his men to look after the operation from their vantage points.

One of the men looked over at Matt.

"You interested in doing any business?"

Matt looked over at Will and then across at Roy who sipped from his sherry quietly.

"I'm thinking about it," he said, "but I came down here to get away from the office and enjoy the scenery."

One of the men smiled.

"Yes it's very nice…especially this time of year," he said, "Lots of things to do and to see."

Will spoke to the men around the table after putting his glass down.

"Why don't we forget about business and talk about what's really important," he said, "Fast women and even faster cars."

Matt just glanced over bemused at his cousin but it might not hurt to loosen up the atmosphere to shed some of the formality before doing business. In the back of his mind, he thought about C.J. and whether or not she had yet made her move.

She sipped from her wine glass in a room where there were chaises and tables in what looked like an entertainment room. The décor was quite exquisite, the walls looking like they'd been carved from trees taken from the local forest and in the middle of the room, there was a fountain, with a statue of what looked like Davis in the middle of it.

One of the women sized it up.

"A bit tacky don't you think?"

C.J. frowned at her.

"What…"

The other woman smiled.

"He's not even anatomically correct," she said, "Michelangelo wasn't quite so modest."

C.J. had to smile at her observation and the woman took that as an invitation to introduce herself. She was an attractive woman older than C.J. but dressed in royal blue with short sleeves that rested just off of her shoulders. A stunningly beautiful diamond necklace accentuated her wardrobe.

"I'm Serena…my husband is in the room trying to get some business done while I amuse myself with the girls."

"Yeah my partner's trying to do the same thing."

Serena smiled.

"It's quite a good crowd here," she said, "Some of the highlights…Lucille over there is married to a man who designs software for military defense. She can be a bit frosty at times and Anna is engaged to the man in charge of the next great gaming expert."

C.J. sipped her wine slowly.

"That's nice…"

"So what part of that industry do you and your partner specialize in?"

C.J. drew on her script, the one she'd rehearsed so many times in her head.

"Oh security…security systems both private and commercial…"

Serena nodded.

"Sounds good…"

Lucille wandered on over with her drink in hand. She looked to C.J. like she'd been downing a few of them since the party started.

"All of our husbands…boyfriends are very important players and we're their props."

Serena flashed Lucille a look before rolling her eyes a bit.

"Hey I'm no one's prop darling," she said, "unless my husband and I are role playing."

C.J. had to smile at that and she sized up Lucille who wore red and a petulant look on her carefully made up face. That woman's cool eyes appraised her.

"Who are you? Haven't seen you in these circles before…"

C.J. just looked at her.

"My business partner is in the room cutting a deal and I'm keeping out of his hair."

Lucille just tilted her head back.

"I'm my husband's equal in every way...not some concubine."

She cast a look at where Anna stood talking to another woman and C.J. knew from intelligence briefings that she was the somewhat younger girlfriend of Carlton. After his wife of many years died, he had decided never to be remarry but it didn't mean he didn't want female companionship.

"So you and this partner of yours…does this extend to the bedroom?"

C.J. nearly blinked at Lucille's bluntness as the woman went to the wet bar to refresh her drink. But she had been ready for just about anything that could happen including bored edgy wives worried about women poaching on their turf.

She sipped her own wine steadily.

"None of your business…our only concern is how we make out tonight and that we leave this shindig with a sales ticket on our firm."

The other woman eyed her with grudging respect and then tilted her face.

"Just be careful…because there are some hard hitters in there though not all have arrived."

C.J. furrowed her brow.

"I haven't seen Rodrigo around…has he arrived yet?"

Lucille narrowed her eyes and Serena looked uncomfortable. She watched as Lucille's hand shook slightly as she brought the glass back to her lips.

"No…Rodrigo's not made his appearance yet but the party's still young."

"What's he like anyway? I've never met him."

Lucille looked at Serena and then at C.J.

"He's a very powerful and many say ruthless businessman who deals in different areas…not a man one can easily forget."

Watching Lucille carefully, C.J. could see that she certainly hadn't succeeded and wondered what their relationship had been like. But enough of the small talk, she had to get moving here.

"Excuse me…but could someone give me directions to the powder room?"

Matt and Will had been talking about the trip they'd taken to Monte Carlo to do some gambling and to take in the auto racing scene there. Matt had been there years earlier when a friend of his had been driving formula cars and winning a lot of races which upset the male drivers to no end. He'd enjoyed a brief affair with him that had been memorable but when they had reunited at another party two years ago, the embers had clearly cooled.

"So you been to the Casablanca road race," one man asked.

Matt nodded.

"About five years ago…not long after a trip to the Monte Carlo 500."

The man smiled and took out another cigar to light up. The room had filled with pungent smoke which nearly choked Matt who didn't light up himself but he ignored it. The liquor flowed freely and Matt sensed that underneath their casual conversation, were undertones of the deal making that would take place later on in the evening.

Only one player was missing…Rodrigo.

Matt hoped that he didn't opt out of attending the party but if he'd flown into the Rivera, he must be planning to make an appearance but so far nothing…and no signs of him approaching either. He usually traveled with several of his partners including his right hand man; a hardened ex-Navy Seal out of Miami named Milan. While more than capable of serving as some serious muscle, Matt suspected that Milan also was a major strategist in Rodrigo's syndicate. One to definitely watch if he showed up at the party as well.

But so far nothing and it'd been a couple of hours…Roy had left periodically to use the scrambled communication channel to send information to those watching from a distance. He appeared to be on his game and enjoying himself. But then he'd done this for a living for years. Will appeared to be having a good time as well, chatting with the other guests as they sat around a table.

Matt…well he felt uncomfortable as if something seemed almost off-kilter. But he didn't know what that might be…everything seemed to be going according to their plan so far. He hadn't seen C.J. since she went back to join the other women and he wondered how she was doing. Maybe he'd feel on edge until he saw her again.

They heard some commotion in the hallway finally and Matt looked up to see a man with jet black hair and a mustache on his face. His impeccable suit covered an impressive frame, cut with hard muscle the kind that never went soft. The men with him looked equally formidable but then most of them were ex-military from whatever country birthed them.

"Good evening…I was delayed by some business," he said, walking to pour himself a sherry with his men.

Carlton entered the room.

"I see Rodrigo and his partners found their way here," he said, "I'll join you in a moment…and we'll have some entertainment."

Rodrigo smiled and went to the table then turned his head to the man behind him.

"Milan you stay with me," he said, "the others will make sure everything stays secure. You can never be too careful in this part of the world."

He sat across from Matt and Will.

"I hear you're into private investigation Mr. Houston."

Matt smiled at him easily enough.

"It's a hobby of mine but I'm trying to hand off one of my electronics subsidiaries to someone here."

"I see…well I've done some investigation myself and found that your firm is very reputable and cutting edge."

Matt nodded.

"Indeed it is, but one thing it's not going to be is cheap."

Rodrigo looked over at Milan and then smiled.

"I see…I think I'm going to enjoy doing business with you…A partner of mine couldn't be here, but he brought some gifts for the night."

Rodrigo looked over at the door as did Matt and the other men and they saw several young women skimpily dressed in party dresses, their faces gazing around the room somewhat dazed.

"Who are they," Matt asked, "these girls."

Rodrigo folded his hands and put them on the table in front of him.

"They're what you might say are call girls…my partner deals in a higher class of whore and these are well trained you might say in how to please men who pay for their services…but tonight they are on the house."

Carlton tightened his mouth when he walked past the women to join them at the table.

"Rodrigo…I don't want whores in my house…not while…"

"Your mistress is in the other room," he said, "that sweet young thing that you turned to for comfort after your wife died?"

Carlton just stared at him.

"It's unseemly…we're here to conduct business."

Rodrigo tilted his head.

"Then consider them a fringe benefit of doing business with me," he said, "I don't have to return them to my syndicate member until the morning."

Matt glanced over at the women, who looked as if they were barely aware of where they were right now. Probably were drugged by their handlers before being brought here. He had already discovered reasons not to like Rodrigo, but another one was added to that list. The other men looked uncomfortable but Rodrigo just sipped his drink and he and Milan waited for the conversation to get started.

C.J. slipped out to go to the powder room but after going in there and after going in there a moment, she slipped out again to go find Carlton's office wing. She had an image of the mansion's floor plan in her head but knew if she wasn't careful, she could easily get lost inside the labyrinth. She found a hallway and taking a breath, she looked around to make sure no one was in the vicinity.

Finally she found the wing and moved stealthily down the hallway, wondering if she'd trip off some alarm system. She'd been told that it'd be off tonight because Carlton might slip away from the party to check on some business dealings. A hallway lined with closed doors greeted her and she sighed, trying to count inside her head which door would prove to be the right one, the one that would open if she tried out a certain code on the security keyboard. An operative who worked undercover as a maid here had uncovered it and slipped it to her contact outside while picking up Carlton's dry cleaning in town. The federal agency had key people placed around the Rivera and had contracted some former operatives who had retired down here, their homes paid for by their generous retirement packages…in exchange for if they might be needed to perform a service down the line.

She found the right door or so she hoped, looking around her again before trying out the five digit code. After punching the numbers in, she heard the clicking sound of the lock sliding out of the slot. She opened it slowly and slid inside the room into darkness. She flipped the light switch and saw an oak desk with a chair and several cabinets against the walls that were lined with photos taken of what looked like Carlton and the woman who'd been his wife. They had two children, a son and daughter who were grown up and living their own lives in Europe. She didn't know the details but both of them hadn't visited their father since their mother died.

She walked over to the desk and recalled the combination that Carlton used to access it which his wife's birth date. Not exactly the smartest of choices but then it made her job easier…she knew the disk would be inside but that timing had been everything because Carlton hadn't meant to keep it there for very long and she might not be the only one looking for it

After opening the door nice and slowly, she started foraging through it just as carefully. She saw folders, filing envelopes and some loose photos. She picked one of them up and saw what looked like a scared young woman getting some sort of a mug shot. She had blonde hair and blue eyes, looking like a model only the woman's face had been marked with fear towards whoever held the camera. She flipped it over and saw a number written on the back of it with the word, Excalibur Productions. After a moment, she let it slip from her fingers back into the drawer and focused on her search for the disk. But she more than sensed that Carlton was hardly the reputable, well known businessman he had appeared to be…no he was something else altogether.

The man whose latest business acquisition had just gone public to great fanfare last week had some secrets locked inside his office in his mansion but she was only interested in one of them. So she rummaged through the contents of the drawer further until she felt the envelope that had a hard circular edge of a CD or DVD inside of it. She reached for it with her fingers and then she heard the door click again.

That sound made her freeze but she acted quickly and crouched behind the desk as far out of the light as she could. A man slipped inside the room that was on the phone…his voice not familiar.

"I'm inside…I'll pick up the files from the cabinet on the merger and then have the courier pick them up when he drops by…yes I know how critical they are but it's hard to slip away from the party."

She listened without making a sound herself, even slowing her breathing down, each exhalation done slowly and quietly as she willed him to just get what he came for and leave again.

"Yeah Rodrigo arrived…acting like nothing's happening but the man's more lethal than a viper so I just want to get this over and done with before something happens."

C.J. heard him rummage around some filing cabinet, after he opened it and then he pulled something out before closing it. Then the man having clicked the phone already left the office flipping the light switch off as he left. She still had no idea who he might be, had he been working for Carlton? Was he double crossing him or even getting evidence for the feds, an operative that had been slipped in that she and the others didn't know about? She couldn't think too hard about it because she just wanted to grab the disk, get out of the office and slip back to the party.

Matt watched as Rodrigo and Milan left the other men to go out and handle some issue that neither elaborated on when they took their departure. He turned to Will who just gave him the same puzzled look.

"I don't know what they're up to," Will said, "but we can't let our guard down."

"I know that…but we've got a plan to follow and hopefully C.J.'s got what we came for already."

Matt hoped that was the case too, he knew at least she was probably trying to fulfill the most difficult part of her assignment. He worried for her especially since he was in the dark having not seen her in several hours.

C.J. walked back down the hallway carefully and then turned the corner, running into the two men. She looked up to see both Rodrigo and Milan staring at her. A smile curved on Rodrigo's face which bore a thin scar above one of his eyes.

"Hello there…I didn't see you earlier."

She took a deep breath, thinking of the disk tucked in her purse.

"I was on my way to the bathroom to…freshen up but this house has so many hallways and rooms it's easy for a woman to get lost."

Rodrigo flashed a look at what looked like amusement at Milan.

"Yes I can see that…but you're too beautiful to be wandering off by yourself…there's some very ruthless men here."

She tilted her face and looked at him.

"I can handle myself thanks…but I need to get back to the other women," she said, "We were discussing fashion designers."

He reached out a finger and stroked her arm, playing with one of the straps from her dress resting on her shoulder.

"You look just fine in what you're wearing…though I imagine you look better out of it."

She just stared at him indignantly. The man clearly had no manners, or any respect for women but then considering his background…not surprising. But she wanted to get past him, away from his slimy hands and back to the party.

"If you'll excuse me…"

Then he moved quickly and pushed her against the wall, his body hard and muscled against hers while Milan just watched, his own mouth curving into a smile.

"Just a minute…my partner and I want to check this out…you really are a beauty..."

She pushed him away from her, not an easy task but she finally put some space between them. He didn't look offended.

"Okay…but maybe a little later in the party after business is done…we can spend some time getting acquainted."

"No thanks…I'm here with my partner."

Rodrigo's smile widened as he stroked her face with a finger, while looking into her eyes, catching her gaze.

"I'm sure he won't mind…if he's serious about doing business."

She flinched away from him and both Rodrigo and Milan chuckled. As she moved away from them, she heard them talk among themselves.

"I'd like to break her in," Milan said, "Ride her hard and pull her up wet."

The men chuckled and C.J. left them in disgust, in a hurry suddenly to get back to the others.