Ok, this is probably a setup, C.J. thought to herself. But in broad daylight? Granted there weren't many people home on her street during the day, but still did Robert really think he could attack her during the day and not risk getting caught? Still, last night in the midst of that nightmare, Houston almost lost his life to Robert, what if he planned to go after Matt. She took one last deep breath and checked the gun to make sure it was loaded before she slowly unlocked and opened the door. Holding the gun in front of her, she decided to go on the offensive, "Robert, I know you're here. I'm not afraid of you, in fact when I see you, I'm going to put a bullet right through you." Nothing, not so much as a creak in the floor. She moved in a little further, slowly, careful to keep her breathing in check and slow so she could hear even the slightest movement.
He watched her from behind the door in her bedroom. Come along, my sweet, he thought to himself….just a few more steps.
She could hear her heart beat in her chest. Nothing it seemed was more deafening that the silence in her house at this moment. She looked into the kitchen, nothing there, so she moved more cautiously toward the bedroom. She stopped at the door for a moment and then proceeded into the room. She didn't see him behind her. If she had, maybe she could have stopped him.
"What do you mean why didn't you take the chopper? Wouldn't that have been the most direct route off the building?" Matt asked his uncle clearly irritated. I mean he knew his uncle would second guess him from time to time, but seriously, this was a dangerous situation, he should have listened.
"Sorry boy, I didn't think about the chopper, don't get on me like I'm the nephew here." Roy shot back, he didn't get on Matt very often, but he was more than irritated that Matt assumed he should have thought of something he didn't. Besides everyone was fine now anyway so what seriously was his problem?
"C.J. called you, I know she did, so why didn't you do what I asked that's all? This could have been a very dangerous situation." Matt said.
Hoyt walked over and interrupted, "Well, it looks like it was all just a false alarm. The dogs didn't find anything and bomb squad guys are convinced there is nothing here. Guess it was someone's idea of a bad joke." He said as he rubbed his neck.
Roy spoke up then, "Matt, when did you say C.J. called me?"
Matt looked back over at his uncle and suddenly something didn't feel right, "She was calling you when I left her at the beach house." Hoyt caught the look in both Matt and Roy's eyes and caught his own breath for a second.
"I never got a call Matlock." Was all Roy said, and then they knew. The bomb scare was a ruse to get C.J. alone.
He seemingly came out of nowhere. Before she knew it, he had knocked the gun out of her hand and had her pinned to the bed. "Yes, yes, yes…." He said as he held her wrists together with one hand and felt her up with the other. She used a couple of moves Matt taught her for self-defense and probably broke his nose, but then he punched her. She fought so hard not to black out. She had another gun, she thought to herself, its in this room, in the drawer, just…have…to…get….to…it…she thought as she struggled with Robert on that bed, trying to remain calm and focus on what would be his weak points and her strong ones.
"Yes, go ahead and fight me" he snarled as he punched her again, "it will make this a lot more fun. For me that is" and he twisted her wrist until it felt like it was going to break. Then he took the rope he had on his back and wrapped it around her wrists, so tight they started to bleed. He picked her up under her arms and threw her against the headboard. She saw more stars and started to feel nauseous. He wiped the blood from his nose and smiled at her. That's when he pulled the knife out and played with it for a minute before looking back at her. "No, don't worry, I'm not going to plunge this into your beautiful skin yet, I want you awake and fully aware of what I'm about to do with you. Its just been so long you see….since I've been with a woman. Well, other than Martha, you know her, Martha Mason….she was absolutely delicious, but a poor stand in for you."
At that revelation C.J. almost fell into shock, oh my god, she thought to herself….that was Robert….he was the one that killed her….and now he plans to do the same to me…. She screamed out in her mind "Houston!"
"Matlock slow down!" his uncle cried as he held on for dear life in Matt's convertible.
"I've got to get to her Uncle Roy….he plans to kill her, he always did, even when he pretended to love her and asked her to marry him….he was using her….he just wanted to be famous." Matt played out in his mind all the things she could be going through at exactly that moment but had to push some of those scenarios out of his mind. He had no idea what Robert wanted to do to her other than kill her in some way. Matt knew it would only take one bullet if Robert wanted to kill her quick before he got back. No, just no, it couldn't come to that….he was stomping on the gas pedal trying in vain to make it go faster. He just knew something had happened though, he could feel it. He tried to push any potential tears from forming for now, because there was still time, there had to be. Somewhere deep in his gut though, he felt the voice telling him you may not be able to protect me from everything, and that's ok. But it wasn't ok to him….losing her wasn't an option.
He started to rip off her shirt when her phone rang and it caused him to stop. He looked over at it and she watched him. He sighed, "Couldn't he wait, I'm not even halfway done with you yet." He got off her and answered the phone. She thought to herself, he called someone from my home, that's good, they can trace that later and connect him to whoever is on the other end of that line. She tried slowly to maneuver her hands in the rope that were now tied to the headboard, the gun, it was just in the drawer, she just had to get to it.
"I told you…" Robert yelled into the phone… "I have one little task of my own to complete and then I'll get you the rest of the information! She's the only that's made the connection between you two, so I'm doing us both a favor. Now judge, trust me, Drayton does and I've proven myself more than loyal….yes, I'm doing it in a different order….now I have to get back..." he looked at C.J. "my lady is waiting."
Judge, she thought to herself….it had to be Judge Newman. She wasn't the only one to make the connection though. Seth, wait a minute, that's right, she called him. Plus, he might have the judge's phone tapped. Surely Seth would come to her aid. She just needed to hang on a little longer.
"Go, go, go!" Seth shouted to the agent driving the car as they ran a red light. He got the voicemail after hearing Judge Newman's taped phone conversation. They had been tracking calls coming in and out of his office all day to this general neighborhood, but when he heard C.J.'s message, he knew exactly where to go. Tyler made it sound like he already had her injured and he knew his plan.