They woke up before the dawn and snuggled together in the darkness. His arms felt so good around her. She felt better for having told him what had happened to her and she knew that Matt would focus his anger at Bryce on trying to dig up information on him. To find out if he had anything to do with Betty's disappearance…she hoped they would find some answers.
But it might not be easy because when she had casually asked around about the missing exercise rider, people reacted by shaking their heads or shrugging, some looked nervous about it. That didn't bode well for Betty.
"Houston…if he killed her…to hide the affair…do you really think?"
Matt certainly did think Bryce might kill to get what he wanted which might include not wanting one of his indiscretions to come to light. After all, at the time Bryce had publicly involved with another socialite from a prominent family but that relationship had apparently ended at some point before he met Elizabeth.
"I think anything's possible…we need more answers to these questions."
"I can help get them…"
He knew what she was thinking and he most definitely didn't like it.
"C.J. I don't want you to have any contact with him…not after what he did…"
"What he tried to do," she said, "and I might have better luck than you."
Matt sighed.
"It's too dangerous…if anything happened to you…"
"Nothing's going to happen…and I'll be careful…"
He wanted to believe that would be enough but he remembered when they had conducted the sting on her ex-boyfriend Robert Tyler after she had set him up. Believing her to be a blackmailing socialite, he had pulled a gun on her and threatened to kill her. Even when C.J. revealed her identity, Matt had watched behind the one-way mirror, his heart in his throat during that moment when he knew Robert had been trying to decide what to do with his gun. Would he turn it against her…but instead he had thrown it at what he had believed to be a mirror. Had seen Matt and Roy behind it and Matt had taken off in chase.
No, he couldn't take any chances with her when it came to a man who might even be more dangerous than Robert. The homicidal anchorman had broken her heart, Bryce might do worse than that if he discovered her intentions.
"You can't…"
"I'm not asking your permission Houston…I think something terrible happened to Betty and I think he's responsible."
"I'm not disagreeing with you," he said, "but it's not safe for you…after all, he tried to blackmail you."
"I know what he tried to do…but if he killed Betty…"
Matt sighed, pulling her closer to him, not liking the way this conversation was heading. Damn she could be pretty stubborn. But he knew what had happened to her at the gallery last night had made her angry. Hell, it made him furious, his hands itching to pummel Bryce to a pulp. But at the very least, that would have to wait.
"And if he carries out on his threat to me last night, another scandal's going to erupt Houston and you're going to be caught up in it and your company just went through a crisis."
"Don't worry about me…or the company…besides I think he'll try to put more pressure on you before he does that."
"You might be right…all the more reason to see what information I can get out of him…
"C.J…"
"Houston…I promise I'll be careful…"
Matt clicked some buttons on the calculator but as he sat in the office while Elizabeth went to fetch them some more ledgers to review. Not that it would do anything but complicate the situation created by Bryce and Elizabeth refusing to be forthcoming about the unaccounted for payments. Elizabeth had said that she would get the information from her fiancée but hadn't said anything to him, just telling him not to worry about it. Well, Matt knew from experience when people said that, it was time to get a little worried.
She returned with a stack of ledgers and sat down next to him.
"This should be the last of them," she said, "Then we'll be done with this part."
Matt grabbed one and flipped it open…he scanned the pages and again, saw some dollar amounts on the spent column with no designated purposes.
"Elizabeth, it's going to be very difficult to check these books if there's no written record of where the money's being spent."
"Matt…I told you that you've got nothing to worry about…"
He sighed.
"You're right, I've got nothing to worry about…you and Bryce on the other hand, if the IRS comes to check your finances might have some explaining to do."
She shrugged.
"That'll be my fiancée's problem and he'll solve it," she said, "I have a lot of faith in Bryce when it comes to money."
He wondered if Elizabeth had any clue what Bryce had tried to pull with C.J. and he wondered if she did know, would she care…and after working closely with her for a week, he knew that wasn't a given.
Then he picked up the original ledger, the one with the strange payments that were at least initialized.
"Who's B.M.?"
Elizabeth looked up at him from what she was reading.
"I…I don't know…I imagine Bryce knows."
Matt sighed again, knowing that didn't help him much because Bryce wasn't passing his knowledge along. And he didn't really want to see him right now because he might just decide to deck him after all and that would mess up what C.J and he had planned. He still didn't like what C.J. had in mind but he couldn't stop her once she had her mind up…what he could do was watch her back.
How complicated their joint sabbaticals from the busy circus that was L.A. had become in just a short period of time. Matt knew that she could probably agree with him on that. But he looked at the initials scrawled on the page in front of them and then got an idea of what it might mean.
C.J. finished putting the tack away after sorting out the tangled reins and bits…it was a job she had taken in between riding this morning and before heading to the racetrack this afternoon. To get her mind on whether or not Bryce would drop by to deliver anymore ultimatums and hearing from the doctor about her tests.
She could eat a horse right now, the way her appetite had been all morning and she felt warm but then the day had started heating up right after dawn.
Gloria wondered in.
"Flash got in another fight last night at that big bash."
C.J. sighed.
"Is he in jail?"
Gloria shook her head.
"Nah…they just sent everyone home this time…but you were at that art gallery weren't you?"
"Yeah…much quieter crowd there…"
Gloria sat down.
"That was Elizabeth's big show I guess…heard it went out pretty well…"
"Lot of people there," C.J. said, "Lionel sold some paintings."
"I heard Elizabeth did some serious drinking and her husband's eye went wandering again."
C.J. bristled.
"I guess she's going to have to figure out if this is what she really wants."
Gloria chuckled.
"Oh the problems of the rich and famous…oh let me get my hands on some of that fortune…"
"Being rich doesn't mean being happy…you either are or you're not..."
"I'd be more than happy to test that out myself," Gloria said, "but you'd think if she's going to marry him, she would ask him to be more discreet."
True, C.J. thought, she couldn't think of anything less than that than when he had asked her to unzip his pants outside the gallery and…she didn't even want to think about it…but what if someone had seen them…she hadn't considered that part at the time.
"Well it's pretty clear that word's not in his vocabulary," she said, "but the fact that he's cheating on her while engaged means he'll do it when married."
"You'll get no argument from me there," Gloria said, "but he's great looking, he's stinky rich and I can understand why women might be tempted…"
"Like Betty?"
Gloria paused.
"It took him a while to win her over…"
Ah, another man who liked the chase, the pursuit of a woman who he believed was just waiting to be caught. C.J. had definitely come across men like that and she had no intention of having anything to do with this one…but she wanted to find out what happened to Betty especially if that had been her body uncovered from the unmarked grave at the racetrack.
Speaking of which…she heard footsteps and looked up to see Bryce in the doorway. He looked at them.
"I need to speak to you for a moment…"
C.J. just looked at him.
"I have nothing to say to you…"
Gloria must have noticed the edge in her voice because she just looked at her but C.J.'s attention was focused on Bryce.
"I believe I have something to say to you…can you excuse us?"
Meaning he wanted Gloria to leave. The other woman looked at C.J. who finally nodded, with a sigh.
"I've got an errand to do for Rusty anyway."
She walked out and C.J. just sat there with her arms folded.
"What do you want to say…if it's another round of blackmail…"
He stepped into the room.
"I wasn't blackmailing you…I was merely…"
"Spare me…you were telling me to unzip your pants to give you a blow job or you were threatening to expose something in my past."
He smiled slightly.
"I see you have your own way of looking at it…and putting it."
She sighed.
"You were very clear what you wanted me to do…no problems there except I don't respond to blackmail."
"I told you what I would do…"
She shook her head.
"Go right ahead…do what you have to do…but I'd rather deal with a scandal than have anything to do with you."
"What about Matt…what do you think he's going to say?"
"I know…I already told him…and he's the only one who needed to be told by me."
Bryce's smile faded a little bit.
"Well this can still make life a bit unpleasant for you if it gets into the media…"
She shrugged.
"Do it then…I'm the worst person for you to try to blackmail Bryce…because I don't give a damn. I was young, I made a mistake, I paid for it and I've learned to avoid the men out there who are snakes…men like you."
He chuckled.
"Oh that's what you say but when you have the media parked at your house…and what about the fallout at Harvard?"
"What about I go and tell Elizabeth that her husband tried to blackmail her ex-fiancé's friend into sex…at a public art gallery showing…I bet she'll like that."
"She probably won't care…I'm aware she's been making a play for him…trying to rekindle the flame between them…doesn't that worry you?"
"Not really…now do you have anything to say…any more threats to make or are you finished here?"
He cast her a look that reminded her not to trust him.
"For now…but I'll be back…"
C.J. sighed, watching him leave pretty sure of that. She didn't know whether or not he planned to make good on his threat to expose her past to the media but she didn't think there was anything she could do about it, even to brace for it.
Her phone rang and she picked it up and saw it was Chris.
"What's up…?"
"Murray's gone to speak in front of Congress and I have to say, he's been absolutely brilliant."
"What…oh you mean the hearings on the condom recall…I think he'll be in his element there …he's always wanted to go to DC."
"Yeah, he practiced all night at the office and I stayed with him…in fact, I think I'm going to head on home to get some sleep…finally…"
"You sound tired…I know the feeling…"
"Yeah, but at the same time, it was so exhilarating, so on the edge of my seat to take part in this critical process."
"Chris…wait a minute…you almost sound as if…"
"What…yeah I was excited…I helped write or at least inspire a speech that's going to be read on Capitol Hill."
"Are you…and Murray?"
Chris chuckled.
"Oh no…I mean we're going to go out when he returns…but it's just casual..he's got so many women calling and dropping by the office who want to meet him…some fainted in the lobby when they see him approach…it's like he's a rock star."
C.J. could only imagine that…she wondered how he would handle his celebrity status as the voice of calm and reason behind Rubber-gate. But then Murray had a sensible head so she thought that might be enough for him to survive. Houston Enterprises had weathered the scandal quite well and most of that was due to Murray and Chris.
"So speaking of Rubber-gate…"
C.J. sighed.
"I'm not pregnant…at least as far as I know…the doctor did run a test but that was just routine."
"You never know…and if you are, you're going to have to deal with that."
"I know Chris…but it's just outside the realm of possibility…after all, it only happened once and the rest of the time we were careful…lots of times…"
"It's not majority rules here…it only takes one time…"
"Yeah I passed health class…but I'm not feeling really sick…just a little tired because I've been working so hard."
"Well call me when you do get the results back…but I'm putting a ten spot that we're going to be adding a nursery to the penthouse."
"Oh…well I don't think so but I'm not betting…the doctor's supposed to be calling me back soon."
"Well I got to go get some sleep before I nod of here…talk to you later."
She hung up the phone and went back to finishing her work.
Matt had been fending off Elizabeth's flirtation for several hours but she now stood behind his chair as Bryce entered into the room. If he noticed anything odd about her behavior, he didn't let on and he looked over at Matt.
"I see you've been busy."
Matt of course wanted to smack him from one side of the shed row to another but he knew he had to remain calm…as he had a job to do like C.J. and that was to find out what happened to Betty. But he wanted to bring Bryce down and then kick his ass before handing him over to the police. He forced a smile on his face.
"We've been trying to figure out these numbers…the ones with the BM notations next to them…any idea what they mean?"
Bryce looked straight back at him.
"There's nothing to worry about there."
"I didn't say there was but you know in my experience and line of work, when people say that, it's usually to keep attention off of themselves."
"Not in this case…it's simply not your affair…"
"If the IRS asks you about it, you might have to give them the answer then."
"I doubt it will…they've got other people to go after…"
Matt shrugged.
"They will find the time eventually and they'll find you if you're breaking the law."
Bryce frowned.
"Elizabeth…will you excuse us?"
She just looked at both of them, sighing loudly.
"Fine…you two circle each other and call me when you're done."
They both watched as she left. Bryce looked at Matt.
"I told you…"
"Does this have anything to do with one of your affairs?"
Bryce frowned again at him.
"I…"
"Come off it…I know you're interested in C.J. since you've been here…you cheat on whoever you're engaged to at the time."
Bryce leaned against the door.
"Why are you so interested…isn't this what all men do up at our level?
"Maybe some of us do…some of us don't…"
Bryce chuckled.
"Don't give me that…I've read about you in the spreads…you've been with a lot of women including my fiancée…and you've broken a few hearts."
Matt couldn't deny that but he also knew he was no Bryce in his relationships. Especially if as he suspected the man had committed murder…which was what he needed to find out.
"I'm having a small dinner party tonight," Bryce said, "A working dinner…and I'll need you and my wife to be there."
Matt paused.
"I have other plans…"
"We need to go over these books…The Priory…at seven pm…and we'll see if we can get some of the answers you've been looking for."
Matt was about to argue but decided this would be a good opportunity for him to maybe get some answers out of Bryce in a casual setting so he agreed.