C.J. and Elena hit the mall on Saturday afternoon with Chris and Butterfly. The inside shopping center hadn't yet filled up with people which would happen when the day heated up. Summer was on its way out but the weather had yet to catch up.
The weather forecast had indicated that it would be hot and steamy until perhaps a thunderstorm blew in before the sun set to cool the area before the stars came out. Such was the climate this time of year and it hadn't taken C.J. long to remember how to adapt to it.
"I'm going to check out the computer store," Butterfly said, "to see if that new film editing software came in yet."
Chris nodded.
"Okay…I got to check out baby stuff," she said, "Anyone want to go with me?"
Butterfly just made a face.
"No thanks…I'm not having any babies."
Chris smiled.
"That's good to know…you've got plenty of time to think about it."
Butterfly shrugged, whipped her hair back and took off to the computer store.
"What about you Elena," Chris asked, "Oh yeah…around the corner from the escalator is a great place for riding boots."
Elena looked at C.J.
"Go ahead…we'll meet you at the food court for some lunch okay?"
She smiled and took off. C.J. and Chris walked to the Mother & Me Store.
"She's looking really great," Chris said, "She's changed a lot in the past year."
"I think the time she spends with her family's really helped her," C.J. said, "She's already caught up in her schooling and made friends."
"She met with the prosecutors?"
C.J. nodded.
"This morning…she did fine with it…Derek hit her hard with some questions about her relationships with her brothers."
"Wow…that must be difficult for her."
"Yeah, but Elena's resilient, she's had to be and I'm hoping that when she puts this behind her, she can look forward to a full life…and a new start."
"She's sure earned it…but what about you…what about your life?"
C.J. paused as they reached the boutique and walked inside it. The store was filled wall to wall with all things for babies and toddlers. From furniture to strollers, to toys and clothing, everything was there. Chris had put off working on the nursery because she had to do some light carpentry on it and then paint it. But she had ordered some furniture and that left her the items to fill it with including clothing.
"There's so much stuff here, I don't know where to start."
C.J. had already walked to check out the infant clothing including a cowboy romper.
"So what about you," Chris asked, "You thinking about kids…you and Houston?"
C.J. nodded.
"Yeah…someday not for quite a while…we just have so much ahead of us first…the trial and just working on things in our lives."
"Everything's going okay isn't it?"
"Yeah…we just need to work out our schedules so we can see each other more…we both travel…at different times and I love what I do but I miss him."
"You'll work it out. It takes time…I know it did with me and Dan."
"Neither of us are leaving for at least a month," C.J. said, "That will give us some time together."
"Dan's been busy too with that big client he and Matt have…Stefan Kostas, some big shot in the pharmaceutical industry."
"Houston told me how impressive his estate was that they tested overseas," C.J. said, "Lots of original artworks and his own menagerie."
Chris looked through a rack of infant suits.
"I read somewhere he's a very private man," she said, "keeps his family life private. I can't wait to meet him at the party."
"Yeah me neither," C.J. said, "It should be very interesting."
Stefan sliced up his steak on his plate after the waiter poured more wine. He had been on the phone for a conference call back in London after finishing his seminar up in the heart of Copenhagen.
He'd returned to the stylish hotel and had hit the spa where he'd swam laps in the pool before dropping into the ice pool, which made his body almost immediately tingle almost painfully. He'd stay in there, testing his resolve as the skin on his body numbed, and then the familiar feeling of warmth filled him. That warned him to be carefully lest he slip into the seductive embrace of hypothermia.
Then he'd spend some time in the sauna before rinsing off and heading back to his suite to change for dinner. The regimen which he had followed during his traveling kept both his body and mind, strong and supple. In his line of work, a man could never lose his edge; never turn his back for one moment.
He had made the obligatory call to his wife who was touring Italy with the children looking at vineyards, as he had promised to buy her one. She didn't ask when she'd see him again or when he'd return as they talked.
His appetite had been hearty and so he had ordered several entrees in the dining room. Sasha hadn't called him yet with her report since she had arrived at the hotel the previous day. But he knew that she had already begun to set their game plan in motion on her end.
After the seminar ended, he'd be heading for the States. A couple of stops in New York City and Chicago to talk with potential investors in the drug protocol and in between them, he'd be testifying in front of a Congressional Subcommittee on it. Then he thought if that ended early, he'd walk across the hall and sit in on another subcommittee meeting addressing changes in laws to impact human trafficking.
Sitting in there with some of the foremost experts including some of the same ones looking for a faceless foe called the Jaguar who had vanished like a phantom. He'd learned in his life that the best strategy for someone like him was essentially to hide in plain sight.
He had no intention of ending up like Andre who had been about to be shut down by the global dragnet even if his security head hadn't killed him. Nor like Lucian who was hiding as a fugitive somewhere between Thailand or the Philippines.
Stefan chewed his steak thoughtfully as he thought about never returning to the world of human trafficking. He had made over a billion dollars from his years he had put into it, and it was socked around the world in different bank accounts and investment portfolios.
If he lay low and kept his public profile going, the authorities weren't likely to find him and he had enough money to throw about to keep them from even getting close. Everyone who had been hunting him expected him to reemerge like the phoenix and take advantage of the vacuum of power in the global industry but he had done the opposite, he had walked away from it.
But did that mean forever? He didn't know the answer to that question yet. He wouldn't until the heat died down, hopefully after the upcoming trial. If they could hang up a few of the players as examples of their zero tolerance on trafficking, then they might go back to their usual inattention the next day. If he bode his time, he could slide back into position with no one ever the wiser.
Either path he chose, he had to be very careful right now and that meant eliminating any means that the authorities or anyone else had of tying him to the identity he had walked away from nearly years ago. No doubt, Interpol had caught some of his activity in its radar but before it could put it all together, he'd be done.
When he finished his dinner, he thought about ordering dessert. But while he looked at his menu, a redheaded woman in a silk dress walked up to him. She had caught his eye at one of the seminars, but then the meeting had dispersed.
"Hi…fancy meeting you here…"
He looked up at her.
"And you're…you're beautiful but your name…"
"Cynthia…I work for a company in London…"
"Ah yes…I remember…have you had dinner?"
She nodded.
"I was thinking of some dessert actually," she said, "What do you recommend?"
He smiled at her.
"Why don't we discuss that in my suite…."
Matt and Dan had spent the morning and part of the afternoon at the car show. Not that they'd ever bought anything so far but they enjoyed checking out the latest models including some luxurious vehicles. They went to the dining room to pick up some lunch.
"How'd you like to test that Corvette?"
Matt smiled.
"I used to own about six of them, back when Slim took care of my fleet."
"But the silver one looks like it could corner much better than the older ones."
Matt could definitely think of different ways a car like that might come in handy but he still stuck to looking at the displays. They went to stand in line for some barbecue and Matt looked around the room. His eyes widened as he saw a familiar looking woman, tall and blonde, wearing a blue dress, with a gold belt. A little dressy for a car show but that's not what caught his attention.
He remembered suddenly where he'd seen her a couple years ago when he'd been traveling around the world, taking a break from his life and responsibilities after his busted engagement with Elizabeth.
She had headed to stand behind them in line but when she reached him, her eyes sparkled and she smiled.
"Hey, aren't you….oh my god, it really is you…"
Dan looked at the two of them, arching his brow at Matt.
"Clarissa…what a surprise…what are you doing in Texas?"
She looked nearly the same as she had when he'd seen her last in that German town where their paths had crossed. Her hair had been styled differently back then and she looked thinner than he remembered.
"Matt, aren't you going to introduce me to your friend?"
Matt blinked.
"Oh yeah…Clarissa, this is my business partner and friend Dan and Dan, this is Clarissa."
Dan shook hands with her.
"Where did you meet this pretty lady anyway?"
Clarissa chuckled.
"Let's say we collided in some town in Germany during Oktoberfest and spent a few days together."
"So you two… you went out together?"
Clarissa looked at Matt and nodded.
"Yes, then I had to leave to fly back to London…where I worked at the time," she said, "and never saw him again."
Dan nodded.
"He's been really busy the past couple of years."
"So I heard…or read too…something about breaking up a slavery ring?"
Matt shrugged.
"Well the military and enforcement folks did that…I didn't do all that much."
She shot him a look.
"Somehow I have trouble believing that."
Dan chuckled.
"Would you like to join us for lunch?"'
She looked at her watch.
"Sorry I can't…I have a prior engagement…but it's been great running into you," she said, "Maybe we can get together some other time and catch up."
Matt looked at her.
"I'm in a relationship now…"
She smiled.
"That's fine…I'm engaged to be married…we can just talk."
Matt looked at her as she handed him a slip of paper with her cell phone number on it before she walked away.
"Man, she's pretty hot looking…you and she…fess up bud."
Matt shot him a look.
"We have some fun together...but that was then and I'm where I want to be now. Still it's interesting running into her."
C.J. had been looking through the baby clothing one minute, flashing to an image that lived in her mind of a little girl with curly dark hair and sparkling eyes that had frequently shown up when she had been in crisis. She had no idea why the girl had only shown her face during those times, the last being when Nick had been trying to squeeze the life out of her back in Colorado.
She had first seen her in her dreams, or what she had believed to be dreams way back when she and Matt had first arrived in L.A. and she had been helping him set up his business while studying for her bar exams. But while taking the exams, her appendix had flared up right before a huge power outage had seized the city and Matt had spent most of the rest of the day and night trying to get her to a hospital in time to save her.
That day she had first met Mama Novelli who had been instrumental in sheltering her on what had been St. Patrick's Day and had become an important part of their lives as had her son Vince.
But she'd wondered about the little girl, whose eyes looked so familiar. Chris had gone to pay for some clothing items, relieved that she had made a bigger dent in her preparation for her upcoming baby. She had been so excited and no one deserved that more than her and Dan after everything they'd been through to get to this point.
C.J. wondered if she and Matt would ever be at that point where they'd be ready to start a family. But then that was probably at least a few days away because she felt that even marriage had to be in the distance. She just had trouble thinking too far in the future …Matt had wanted to talk about it but she just hedged as if she would jinx herself. She knew it was crazy but she just had this feeling that she couldn't shake that somewhere, out there, a faceless man was looking for her.
Someone she didn't even remember or recognize even if he stood right in front of her.
