C.J. just glanced over at Courtney.

"Remember you promised…"

But watching the mystery novelist, she knew her fingers itched to slap Matt anyway. Just out of habit, she'd been so angry with him when he'd been working on that murder investigation. If Matt was concerned about being within reach of Courtney's temper, he didn't show it.

"Hello Courtney…"

She just smiled back at him.

"Matlock…you look well. I heard you've been very busy lately with your investigative work."

He nodded.

"You've become a great success," he said, "on the best sellers list."

She looked pleased with herself.

"I've branched out you know," she said, "I've started writing biographies of well known if controversial individuals."

"I didn't hear that."

He glanced over at C.J. and she didn't look too comfortable, almost on edge but it didn't take away from how beautiful she looked in her dress.

Courtney looked happy enough to continue, her hands safely relaxed at her sides.

"Yes I just finished a book that's going to be explosive when it hits the stands," she said, "I've sold hundreds of advanced copies."

"Who was your subject?"

She smiled widely.

"Marquis Duval Sr."

Matt's face looked incredulous.

"You've got to be kidding," he said, "He's just a terrorist leader who died in prison of some illness. All he did was kill people."

Courtney shrugged.

"Yes I know…some innocent…some not so much," she said, "But I found him an interesting subject and he left me the location of his private journals."

Matt looked puzzled.

"He kept journals?"

C.J. didn't wonder at his confusion. Duval Sr. just hadn't appeared to be the literary type. face looked incredulous.

"Yes he did…of most of his life," she said, "You know he had affairs with some well known women in the different arenas he frequented. He had a son, his namesake who was in prison serving time until recently."

Matt grimaced.

"Yeah until he got out on a furlough and dropped out of sight after seeing his father."

Courtney nodded.

"His son was his pride and joy even when he did careless things like getting arrested," she said, "but I imagine you know more about that than I do. Now apparently he's been spotted in L.A. by your associate here."

C.J. didn't like being referred to in the third person by someone like Courtney who had never impressed her.

"I chased after him, I got close to him but he got away," she said, "The police will catch up to him."

She shot a look at Courtney who just gave a slight shrug back. Matt didn't need to know the details about what might happen tonight if the information provided by Courtney about Duval Jr. proved to be true.

"Maybe…but his father what a colorful figure," Courtney continued, "I asked him about the women in his life and he wrote all about them too. Even the one who is the mother of his son."

C.J. and Matt looked at each other. They'd never known that much about Duval Jr. though Matt had heard about his father while researching the family after the son had shot him. Matt knew he had to testify against him and wanted to know what he faced. Unfortunately, the father forced his hand not long after that and used C.J. as a bargaining chip.

"Who is Duval Jr.'s mother," she asked.

Courtney smiled.

"It's in one of the journals but I haven't gotten to it yet," she said, "but with his son running around loose, this will be great promotion for my book."

C.J. just rolled her eyes at Courtney's idea of getting rich off of a dangerous man running around trying to kill people. But she wondered what the son thought of his father's tell all book. She wondered if he knew the truth about his mother, whether Duval had left him the answer to that question before he died…rather than just handed it off to Courtney to go hunt down inside some journal.

"He told me about all his exploits, Courtney said, "The women in his bed and how they marveled at his…talents."

C.J. wasn't interested in hearing about the man who'd kept her captive so she kept a keen eye out for any sign that his son might have arrived at the gala. She wondered what disguise he'd wear to keep anyone from spotting him. It wouldn't matter what he came as, guest or employee because she would pinpoint where he was at and nail him. She glanced over at Matt and wondered if she should have told him but surely he and his uncle must have a plan…even if Roy wasn't at the gala.

"Lolita was his mistress while he was at his island compound," she said, "but she was just a diversion to pass his time in exile. She was beautiful but the jealous type."

C.J. remembered the brunette woman who work the scarlet shift and had been doing her nails on the piano when she and Matt had been brought before Duval. They'd had words but she had kept that to herself. Matt nodded.

"I remember that…she wasn't charged with any crimes," he said, "They had her testify by closed circuit television and then hid her away somewhere under a new identity."

C.J. knew the U.S. Marshal's office had done that to keep her from getting iced by one of Duval's many disciples sprinkled all over the world though they had scattered when the feds had broken up his headquarters on the island several hundreds of miles off the Bahamas. She half listened to Courtney and kept an eye out for Duval.

"Yes that was true," Courtney said, "I tried to locate her to interview her for my book but no one can find her."

Hopefully Duval Jr. wouldn't try to locate his father's last known mistress. Somehow C.J. thought he had bigger priorities on his plate. But was the planned hit what was most important to him or was it just a means to increase his bankroll given that a lot of his father's bank accounts in various countries had been frozen by the feds from allowing the money to be used in the United States. That might leave Duval starving for cash at least until he slipped back into his old profession.

"I did read some journal writings about how Duval thought it amusing that she didn't like one of his female guests," Courtney said, "That was one of his last entries as a free man."

Matt knit his brows.

"Did you surrender them to the authorities?"

Courtney just smirked at him.

"As if that would happen," she said, "They can all just buy a copy of my book like everyone else."

Courtney's cavalier attitude just ticked C.J. off. Information in those journals would help save lives or track down some of the missing bodies so that loved ones could gain closure by burying them. After all, she'd been damn close to being among the missing herself…if it hadn't been for Matt coming back for her. Somehow despite all of Duval's efforts, he'd known where to find her.

Her role had been staying alive until then which hadn't been easy. But she'd put all of that behind her when she'd left the island with Matt.

Suddenly she saw a man come in with sandy hair and glasses carrying what looked like a case which might hold a musical instrument.

"Excuse me…"

She walked away from them.

"Where you going…?"

She glanced back at Matt and smiled.

"To get some fresh air," she said, "It's stuffy in here."

That was part of the truth because she didn't like where the conversation with Duval had been going. But she saw the man who just arrived heading towards not the ballroom but what looked like a study adjacent to the French doors.

As he walked down the hallway, she followed closely behind him.