Season 3 Re-Write
Chapter 11: Stolen
CJ drove over to Matt's house the next morning. The night before she sent him home early after their dinner since he was run down from lack of sleep and on the verge of getting sick – something that rarely happened, or at least he rarely admitted to.
She let herself into the beach house and headed right up the stairs.
"Just as I suspected," she said as she stood in the doorway of his bedroom. There was Matt sound asleep in his bed and breathing loudly through his mouth.
She walked into the bathroom and made just enough noise opening and closing a cabinet door.
"CJ, is that you?" he asked, stumbling out of bed.
"Yes, it's me," she called back as she walked into the bedroom. She took one look at him and sighed.
"You are sick."
"I am not."
He moved to greet her with a kiss but she backed up and positioned a thermometer in front of him.
"What's this?"
"What do you think?"
He made a face as she placed it in his mouth. She watched the minute hand on her watch.
"You're warm," she said, feeling his head with her hands.
He ignored her and moved his hands to her waist, drawing her closer. "And you… you are hot!"
She rolled her eyes and pulled the thermometer out of his mouth. As she looked at the reading she shook her head. "I'm calling the doctor."
"Aw, CJ … don't do that. I don't need a doctor!" he said, coughing in between words.
"Yes, you do," she said already dialing. "Hello? Yes, I'm calling for Matt Houston… he's sick ... he can see him right away? Great! I'll make sure he's there. Bye."
She put her hands on her hips and stared him down. Matt was going to the doctor whether he liked it or not.
The next day a woman names Cassie Stanley came to Matt's office seeking his help in finding her kidnapped son after she thought she saw him at a local park. Her son Johnny had been kidnapped from New York a year earlier. From interviewing a witness at the park Matt was able to figure out the name of the mother who was seen with Johnny: Sheila Amsterdam. Then they found her address and tried talking to her but were unsuccessful. Matt called it a day and went back to the office to join Roy and CJ, who were playing a computer crossword game.
"Not bad," CJ said to Roy over his last answer.
"What is a four-letter word for sartorial splendor?" Roy said as he eyed Matt's suit and tie outfit.
"Envy," he answered, conjuring up a laugh from CJ. "What's a matter, Uncle Roy, can't stand the competition?"
"On the contrary. I'm happy to find that I'm having some influence on you."
"Come up with anything?" Matt said as he sat down next to CJ.
"Yes, the Amsterdams were easy. They're society page regulars. He's a stockbroker. She's been involved with charities. They're respectable, well-liked people."
"But on the other hand, Cassie maybe be given to imagining things," said Roy.
"Are you trying to tell me that she imagined this whole thing? That she imagined having the baby?"
"No, she had the baby alright. New York, Doctor's Hospital, August 28, 1982. And he was kidnapped, July 2, 1983," answered Roy.
"Houston, since then she's been to the police and claimed she'd seen her son on 17 different occasions."
"At first the police ran down every lead and then after awhile they just stopped listening. I don't see how you can help her, Mattlock," said Roy.
Just as they were talking, Cassie was parking her car in the parking garage below. She was bringing some photos and birth records she had of her son Johnny. As she started to exit her car, though, a man jumped in her back seat, grabbed her from behind and threatened her.
"You're going to do exactly what I tell you to do, understand?"
She nodded.
"If you don't, the little brat's gonna be dead tomorrow, understand?" he said as Cassie nodded again.
"Alright, don't make a sound," the thug said as he tried to force Cassie to swallow a bottle of pills.
Just then Chris was arriving in the parking garage when she saw something suspicious. She immediately called up to the penthouse office and summoned for Matt's help. Matt decided the stairs were faster and ran down them while Roy and CJ took the elevator.
Matt came flying out of the stairwell and immediately tried to combat the thug by pulling him out of her car. But the thug caught him by surprise and hit him square in the gut with the car door. Matt went to the ground for a moment while the thug ran towards his own car and sped off. By the time Roy and CJ arrived, the thug was gone and Matt was collecting himself. CJ arrived and immediately checked Cassie and Matt for injuries.
"Cassie, are you alright?"
"I think so." Then CJ turned toward Matt and asked him the same question. He was still catching his breath so he just nodded. He figured he must be getting close to finding the person who stole Cassie's son since he was starting to collect bruises.
Matt headed to the police station to try and identify the thug while CJ and Roy assisted getting Cassie back to her hotel room with her own security guard.
CJ and Roy spent the day gathering some more research on the Amsterdams. Matt, who had gone home to rest upon CJ's insisting, had returned to the office by evening to check on their progress.
"Perfect timing," she said as she looked over her shoulder. "I just finished going over the hospital records on the Amsterdam baby. He was born August 28, 1982."
"Mother and son pronounced healthy and left the hospital two days later," added Roy.
"Normal development until 11 months, and after that no more records," continued CJ.
"Why?"
"Because they changed pediatricians. It happens all the time."
"But attempted murder doesn't. Now somebody got very scared when Cassie claimed the Amsterdam's child was Johnny. If that's true, what happened to the Amsterdam's child?"
"Good question. I'll put Baby back to work on it and see what we can dig up," offered CJ.
"First thing in the morning I think I'll try going directly to the source."
The next morning Matt visited Sheila Amsterdam and gently pleaded with her. It must have worked because later that day she called his office asking to see him. By the time he got the Amsterdam home, however, it was too late. The thugs had been there already, taken Johnny, and wounded both of the Amsterdams in the process. CJ arrived there a few minutes later with Cassie, joining Matt and Hoyt inside the home.
"CJ just told me that you saw Johnny?" Cassie asked anxiously.
"I saw a small boy."
"Is he all right?"
"He's fine but we still can't prove that it's Johnny. Now the hospital records show that the Amsterdams had a baby boy."
"They also show that he died of crib death at eleven months," CJ informed as she handed Matt a piece of paper.
"What?"
"It's a copy of the death certificate. I did some checking, Houston, and found that filed under Shelia Amsterdam's maiden name."
"The Amsterdams' child died, they must have adopted another."
"Who just happened to be Cassie's kidnapped son."
"Those poor people," said Cassie.
"They paid a terrible price," commented CJ.
"The Amsterdams are not the kind of people that would deal directly with a kidnapper. There's got to be somebody else involved."
"Why do I get the feeling that you have an idea who that might be?" said Hoyt.
"I don't. I just have an idea how to find out who it is."
"Hmm," Hoyt thought out loud.
"The place to start is with the Amsterdams' financial records."
Matt found out the name of Amsterdam's C.P.A. from looking through their financial records. Then he and Roy went to the office of their accountant and found a receipt of a large sum of money that was given to a lawyer named Bradley Denholm. The next day Matt went to Denholm's office and took a chance by threatening him. Denholm took the bait and asked Matt to meet him at a construction site. Jake, the thug, tried to kill Matt at the construction site. Matt pretended to be dead after getting grazed with a bullet and then surprised Jake by pulling a gun on him. Meanwhile, Roy staked out Denholm's office in hopes that he would lead him to where he was holding Cassie's son.
"Are you sure you're alright, Houston?" asked CJ over the phone.
"I'm fine. The bullet just grazed me."
"Alright," she said as she received another call.
"Hold on a second. Uncle Roy?"
"Bad news. I lost Denholm. Tell Matt."
"Roy, why don't you tell him yourself, he's on the other line. I'll patch you through."
"What do you mean lost him? How?"
"The same way I lost Karpov in Prague in '51."
"Tell me about it later, Uncle Roy. I convinced Denholm's henchmen to give me the address where they're holding Cassie's boy."
Both Matt and Roy arrived at the house and were able to subdue Denholm and his other accomplice. Cassie and another mother were successfully reunited with their children.
Later that night, CJ arrived at the beach house and used her key to open the door. She was worried and wanted to check on Matt in case his cold had gotten worse or if the bullet had done more damage then first thought.
"Houston?" she called out as she walked up the stairs.
As she arrived on the main level, she breathed a sigh of relief when she saw him standing on his balcony and looking out towards the bay.
"Matt?"
"Oh, CJ. I'm sorry. I didn't hear you come in," he said as he turned and greeted her with a kiss.
"I can see. You seemed a million miles away just now. Something on your mind?"
Matt paused a moment. "This case reminded me about something. Something that I've never shared with anyone."
CJ's heart skipped a beat and then started racing. What could Matt possibly be talking about?
"There's something about you that even I don't know?"
"Yeah. I guess it was something I just wanted to keep to myself for a while. I planned on telling you sometime, though."
"Well, you definitely have my attention."
"Do you remember that old wild-catter in Texas named Virgil Wade?"
She thought a moment. "Yeah, that man who took a bullet for you?"
"Yeah."
He paused as he sat down on the sofa, thinking what he was about to say.
"CJ, Virgil Wade was my biological father."
The news stunned her and she stood looking at Matt a moment.
"Bill wasn't you biological father? You were adopted?"
He nodded.
"I didn't know it until last year. Virgil Wade said my mother died having me. He loved her a whole lot, thought it was a lousy trade. He started drinking, didn't stop. Daddy was his best friend and so he gave me to him. By the time he sobered up, Bill and I had become so close that he decided to walk away."
"Oh, Matt," she said tenderly, walking over to him and putting her hand on his shoulder as she sat down next to him.
"At first I was mad at him. Then I realized that he loved me and he did me a favor. Bill was a great Dad. There's something special about the love of an adoptive parent, isn't there? Some say it's the most unselfish love there is."
CJ hugged him and rested her head on his shoulder, glad that he told her. As he put his arm around her, he leaned his face against hers.
"CJ?"
"What?"
"Are you feeling alright?" he asked as he felt all around her head with his hands.
Before she could answer his question he had already decided.
"You're burning up – we'd better get you to a doctor."
"Houston, I don't need a doctor."
Now he was sounding like her.
"Yes, you do. Let's go."
"Houston, it's after normal doctors' hours. The only thing open is the emergency room and we go there enough, doncha think?"
"And that's where there's a certain Dr. Flynn there that I know would be more than happy to take care of you."