Another installment up, thanks for reading and the feedback!

Matt just thought things couldn't possibly get more confusing this evening than they had already. What with all these women including some of his exes running around and getting themselves into mischief. Erin had escaped the mental institution to come to the Ball and Serena had stomped off in another pique. Courtney had ties to both Clarence and Rodrigo and had made a drunken speech before whipping out a tale that he had problems accepting as truth. And somewhere upstairs, Clover awaited his arrival in her lair.

At least his ex-fiancée Elizabeth hadn't popped up at his side in the past hour or so. Neither had C.J. for that matter and she seemed to have vanished hopefully to take a breath of fresh air from all this mayhem. He certainly couldn't blame her for that.

"How long do I have to sit here," Erin asked.

Courtney shot her a look and then looked at Matt pleadingly.

"I've been here long enough already," she said, "and you still don't know who threatened Clarence."

No he didn't, Matt thought and he wasn't sure he would get any closer to finding out the who, how or why about that from these ladies. Not that Courtney's account of Clarence's so-called sideline didn't shed some light on what could be going on but he needed more to go on.

"Okay, one at a time," he instructed, "Who is out to get Clarence?"

"I think it's a female," Courtney said, "Only a woman can be so vicious."

Erin shrugged.

"I don't know," she said, "I've been locked up all this time and pretty much don't know what's going on anywhere. I just want Clarence to love me."

Oh Matt knew what those little words she said meant and how lethal they could prove to be for Clarence, but he didn't think a psycho admirer was after Clarence, more like a cold and calculated individual whose line of business was blackmail and extortion.

Courtney looked scornful.

"Erin…dear…he could never love someone as pitifully unbalanced as you," she said, "He might feel sorry for you and that might be misconstrued as love but he's always liked strong, assertive and very sane women."

"I…I can be that woman," Erin protested, "I could be any woman…just ask Matt."

He just shook his head and scanned his eyes around the crowded room wondering if the perpetrator stood among the crowd, or by the bar filling up another round of drinks, or by the refreshment table loading up his or her plate. Everyone at the dance looked to be having a great time and only a few partygoers so far looked sloshed from the liquor but no fights had broken out, no crystal had been shattered and everything looked in its proper place.

This more than likely meant that Serena had left the building.

"No it's a woman," Courtney repeated nodding, "Men are the more brutal sex but we're more catty."

Erin shook her head again.

"Only women like you," she said, "I would never be that way."

Courtney scoffed.

"You…you killed a bunch of people and then you got shot after you tried to kill Matt's associate," she said, "It was in all the tabloids."

Tabloids…yeah Courtney was certainly right about that. His blood splattered carpet by the Jacuzzi and the knife were splashed all over various publications. Which reminded him, was Gloria still at the event? He hoped she had found something else to do with her time, her energy and her damn pen.

"I didn't mean to do it," Erin said, "Tell her Matt…I just did it because I loved you and she would have just gotten in the way."

Matt looked at Erin who clearly hadn't recovered as much as he hoped. But had Clarence become her new obsession? Perhaps that angle shouldn't be dropped from his list of suspects and motives just yet. But wait a minute, he still didn't exactly know what was happening to Clarence though it did sharply lean towards some form of blackmail probably over his private venture which probably violated his medical ethics not to mention a state law or two. He was going to have to go down for what he did if Courtney's tale was true and that wasn't necessarily a given with the mystery writer.

He would have to do some investigating on that end with C.J. after this night ended, that is if he survived it.

C.J. entered into the suite which had been elaborately decorated with scented candles that cast the room in a soft glow and were those rose petals on the bed…trailing to the door? Damn, this Lothario had read her mind. She turned to look at him, folding her arms.

"I'm not impressed," she said, "Way too sentimental for one thing..."

He didn't look too pleased by her critique and he still held the knife.

"I went through a lot of trouble to make it look nice and romantic."

"You went through a lot of trouble to drug me too," she said, "and that didn't work."

He started pacing and running his hand through his hair.

"I told you…it wasn't exactly my idea to do that."

She sighed.

"That's what you said, you blamed some unnamed woman," she said, "I think it's just an excuse and she doesn't exist."

"She does…and she's here at the Ball."

That piqued C.J.'s interest a bit.

"So is she joining this little party you've set up?"

"She knows about it," he said, "She set it up, said it would work out fine and she's downstairs handling something else."

"A multi-tasker, how nice."

He aimed the knife at her again.

"Let's get moving here."

She tried not to let fear fill her and forced a stern expression on her face. But she needed to buy some time here.

"What…no…music or dancing first?"

He thought about it.

"Okay what kind of music do you like?"

"Do you have R&B?"

He looked around the posh suite for the sound system and discovered it to be quite sophisticated. Taking C.J. with him, he walked over to start the music going. Soon enough, a love ballad wafted through the suite.

"So let's do some dancing to see if you still remember those lessons I taught you."

"Okay…"

C.J. forced herself not to flinch when he wrapped his arms tightly around her.

Matt looked around the room for C.J. who still hadn't returned. He looked at the other women and excused himself. He walked up to her friend who stood by the bar.

"Elise, have you seen her?"

"No I haven't and I'm getting worried," she said, "At first I thought she might have found someone after going out for some fresh air."

"It's been too long."

"She left alone," she said, "Maybe I should have gone with her."

"No, there's no reason to think that anything happened to her," he said, "Rodrigo's in jail and she's probably run into somebody."

Derek approached them still carrying a tray of champagne which he put down on a table.

"I've been doing this all night and I'll tell you, I don't miss the jobs I did to put myself through college."

"We were looking for C.J.," Matt said, "Have you seen her recently?"

Derek furrowed his brow, and Matt thought he saw concern there.

"How long has she been gone?"

Matt and Elise looked at each other.

"About 45 minutes since she went to freshen up," Elise said.

Derek sighed.

"I'd better go find her."

Matt looked at the narcotics detective.

"What's going on here," he said, "Is there something you haven't told us?"

"Rodrigo's out of jail," he said, "I have no idea how but it looks like a technical error."

Anger filled Matt at that moment but he reined it in because if Rodrigo got out and was running around, he could easily find himself here.

"What do you mean a technical error," he said, "He could be here and if she's missing…"

Derek held up his hand.

"There's no need to jump to conclusions here," he said, "She could have gone outside and lost track of time."

"I doubt it," Matt said, "I'm going to go find her."

"Now hold on, I said I'll do that."

Matt threw him a look.

"If there's no problem, then it should be fine for me to go find my friend but I'd better not run into Rodrigo."

"Matt…"

"No…the man is supposed to be locked up in jail after what he did to her," Matt said, "and the system let him loose and she has no idea…"

"Actually she knew about it," Derek said, "I thought she told you."

Matt thought she would have done so too but maybe she didn't want him to go run off looking for Rodrigo or worry unless there was a good reason for it. But he knew that now C.J. had gone missing and more than likely it had been because her path had crossed with Rodrigo's.

"They could be anywhere in this hotel…or out of it."

"Matt, we'll get some officers off of Wilkinson and go looking for her, room by room if we have to do so."

Elise looked at Derek.

"Damn you if anything happens to her."

Matt held the same sentiments but he couldn't waste any more time. He checked his gun to make sure it was ready.

"Matt that's really not necessary," Derek said.

"At least you know I'm permitted to carry it," Matt said, "and I think we're all done talking here."

Matt left them to go out of the ballroom, not sure of where to look for her. He hoped it wouldn't be the proverbial needle in a haystack but the hotel was statuesque and had many rooms for its guests, not to mention those for other uses.

He'd start with the guest rooms.

C.J. and Rodrigo danced to the slow beat of the song and all she thought about was how she had to find a way to escape. But with the knife, that wouldn't be easy because he still held it on her now. She had felt its pointy tip against her neck and she knew that beneath the skin, lay vulnerable points that if severed, could bleed out within seconds. Would he really do it, she asked before reminding herself that he had put a potentially lethal drug in her drink to get her in bed with him.

"Maybe we should stop…"

She shook her head.

"No this feels…okay…"

"You're so beautiful," he said, "I knew that when I first lay eyes on you in my class."

She hadn't been dressed up or anything, just casual and comfortable clothes and her hair in a ponytail.

"Thank you."

"You know she had you all picked out," he continued, "but that hadn't been necessary."

There he went with talk of that unknown woman again, who was she and what role did she really play in all this?

"This woman…she won't come between us will she?"

He stopped for a moment and smoothed her hair back. She choked down her revulsion and looked up at him.

"She should be arriving soon," he said, "She's got a prior commitment."

"As long as she remembers that I come first…not her."

Rodrigo nodded.

"Of course darling," he said, "She's not like that…We have other arrangements."

C.J. thought about what he might be talking about but then he tried to brush his lips over her own and she moved away.

"Not now…it's too soon…the dancing's nice."

Fortunately he thought so too as they continued moving to the music.

Matt had gone up the staircase and had checked several rooms, interrupting some trysts in the process no doubt including one with a certain state senator and a woman who didn't resemble the woman who stood alongside him on the campaign trail but he didn't focus on all that. He bumped into a familiar face in one hallway.

"Gloria…"

She looked over at him and smiled.

"I trailed the state senator and his latest pickup all the way to the executive suite," she said, "but I'm done here. I have something waiting upstairs."

"Do you ever stand still long enough to think about the impact your irresponsible yellow journalism has on people's lives?"

"Hey, if you want to cheat on your wife and you're a politician, you just might have to pay the piper at some point."

Matt just shook his head at her.

"You'll go to any depths to get a story won't you even if it's not true."

Gloria folded her arms.

"That's a matter of opinion," she said, "The best journalists know that to get the best stories, sometimes you have to push them along."

"You remind me a bit of a former friend of mine who's inside state prison because he created his own stories, kidnapping and killing people."

She nodded.

"I know, you mean Robert Tyler," she said, "A great man, great talent and very ambitious."

"His ambition led to a spree of criminal behavior that finally caught up with him," Matt said, "but it took nearly a decade."

"He was one of the greatest minds of our time," she said, "Think of what he might have done."

The thought horrified Matt but given Gloria's own questionable journalistic ethics, he shouldn't be surprised she appeared to be an admirer.

"I've got to go find someone."

"C.J…yes I was looking for her myself," Gloria said, "to follow up on my earlier story."

"I don't think she has anything to say to you," Matt said, "Except to demand a retraction for your drug overdose story."

"Oh I think she'll have plenty to say," Gloria said, "good luck on your search."

She walked down the corridor and Matt watched her go.

C.J. decided enough was enough after they had danced to three songs. She just didn't want his hands on her body anymore and if all she had to do was to separate him from his knife, she'd have to do that.

"This is so romantic don't you think?"

She responded to that with a strong twist as she pulled herself away from his embrace before standing back to deliver a swift roundhouse kick. He toppled on the ground but grabbed her foot pulling her down on top of him.

Then he moved to slice her with the knife.