Six months later…

C.J. sat in her office working on a file that she had to submit to the clerk of the courts the following morning. She had been so focused on working on the 10 page motion that she had lost track of time. Chris had walked in earlier asking her if she had wanted to order takeout, Thai, Chinese or sandwiches from the Deli down the street. She had just gazed up at the blonde woman in a daze and after a long moment, voted for Thai.

All this work had been a godsend for her, helping her to escape from the present, to stop thinking about what had happened in the past few days. Matt's erstwhile girlfriend from a case he had solved not too long ago had wandered back into his life and they had picked up their romantic relationship where they had left off. It made no rhyme or reason to C.J. since Matt hadn't seen particularly attached to the soft spoken redhead. But right now, they were out having dinner in Chinatown after having spent the day out on his yacht sailing around the harbor.

It seemed clear to C.J. that her best friend had fallen in love. The realization of that had sent shards of pain into her heart when she realized that Matt might have indeed found the one that he had been looking for when he had decided that casual relationships and one-night stands weren't doing it for him anymore.

Not long after the two of them had finally returned home freed from the nightmare that had ensnared them both in some remote county in Arizona. They had returned to their busy lives and had tried to put that mess behind them, only in the process that had included their passionate interlude that began when she still had no memory of her own identity. By the time she had recovered from her amnesia, she hadn't cared one bit that she and Matt had breached the boundaries of their lifelong platonic friendship and had engaged in their affair.

Not until she returned to L.A. and the barrage of memories had hit her full tilt and she had to struggle to reclaim her life that she thought had been lost forever. He had pulled her into his arms for a kiss at the end of their first workday and at first she had gone with it, reveling in his embrace until something inside her felt smothered and she had pulled away from him. When he asked for an explanation, no words came from inside her, just a tangled bunch of emotions; some so raw they made her gasp with their intensity. She didn't understand it at all and no one could help her with making sense of what had been happening to her.

So she told him she couldn't be with him that way anymore and in the process, it had dissolved into an argument between the two of them that they both had walked away from angry and confused. They had made peace a couple of contemplative days later but she told him that she wanted things to be the way they were before they had crossed that line. And after looking into her eyes, he had agreed and so they had put that episode of their lives behind them.

Only she had found it nearly impossible to forget. The softness of his mouth against her own, the scent of his cologne on her skin, his touch…it made her close her eyes when the memories hit, the ones she had to push away.

Matt had gone back to his social activities and had a couple of girlfriends, none of them all that serious until Elizabeth. And when that relationship had intensified with her return, C.J. had been shocked. Rumors were that he would be asking Elizabeth to marry him soon and she didn't know how she felt about that so she had buried herself in her work.

That and having to go to Arizona and testify in a hearing as a witness in the prostitution ring prosecution weighed heavily on her mind. When the investigations had been completed on what exactly happened in Bannon County, grand juries had convened in secrecy and indictments had been issued by all the surviving principals in that scandal. Charges ranging from forcing women into prostitution, sexual assault to multiple counts of murder in connection with the 25 women who had been identified at that point. The sheer size of what had been revealed had knocked the breath out of C.J. as well as Fran and Rhonda who were trying to pick up the pieces of their lives. In the months that passed although she had been very busy in her own life, she had kept in close touch with the two women who had become like sisters to her when all three of them had first been captives and then fugitives.

Roy came in with a stack of papers.

"Chris left these but you don't have to sign them all," he said, "Matt will be in tomorrow to finish them up."

The older man didn't have to tell her that Matt was out with Elizabeth, their romance having picked up steam in the past few days.

"I guess it's getting serious between the two of them," C.J. said, "He's hinting that he won't be as involved with his investigative firm."

"He's not going to give it up," Roy said, "he's just focusing on other areas of his life right now."

She definitely knew that and she knew why, and that was because during his life, Matt had hungered so much for a family of his own especially after Bill had passed away. He had been raised from the cradle to value family above all including business and he had told her often enough that he had wanted a wife and children of his own some day. Just like she had harbored the same dreams for herself and for a time, both of them had seemed content to place them somewhere in the future, not too distant but just far enough so they could accomplish their dreams with their investigative firm.

"I know and I'm happy for him… It's just…"

She couldn't tell him, because he didn't know that during their run from the law in Arizona, she and Matt had become a lot closer than their friendship had allowed. Maybe he suspected something had changed between them when they both had returned to L.A. after the final arrest had been made in the case largely due to the work of the four of them. They didn't know whether or not this man had been the kingpin but figured if not, they had gotten close enough. At any rate, the prostitution ring had been busted and the surviving women had been sent home after giving detailed statements.

After breaking off with Matt, C.J .had tried to meet other men, to build relationships with them but she would find someone nice, great looking and want to get to know them better but after a couple of dates, she would opt out by telling them that she didn't want to see them anymore. And she didn't know why because she had really believed with each man that she had found someone and something special but when the issue of intimacy arose, that's when she shied away.

It didn't seem fair at all that Matt had been able to walk away from what they had shared so easily and her…she struggled to move on with her life. She didn't know when she would stop doing that but she would just fight harder to do that with the next man and if not him…the next.

"You are thinking about going home soon?"

She looked up at him and shrugged.

"I'm almost done here but then I have to figure out how to schedule my workload around testifying next month."

He sighed.

"Matlock will help you with that…"

"He's too busy right now with Elizabeth and I don't want to bother him."

Roy looked at the young woman in front of him and heard the pain in her voice, interlaced with what he knew was love for his nephew. He didn't know what had happened between two of the most important people in his life but clearly something had changed. Only it had left at least one of them feeling damaged. He was going to have a little talk with his nephew but he knew that C.J. was right in terms of his focus being elsewhere…on another woman.

C.J. just smiled at him.

"Thanks Roy, but I will be okay," she said, "Really."


Matt held the box in his hand before slipping it back in his pocket. He had been waiting all through dinner for just the right moment, the perfect time to ask Elizabeth the most important question in his life. He hoped when he did, he would receive the answer he wanted. When she had dropped by his office after they had spent several months apart, she had fallen back into his arms and his life so seamlessly. It must be love and he must be in love with her to feel that way, differently than he had felt about any other woman.

Except…but no that door had been shut and there was no wishing it were any differently. He had moved forward with his life, perhaps one step behind his best friend who seemed in a hurry to do so but now it seemed like everything had come together…at last. If she agreed to marry him, they would keep the engagement short and get married as soon as possible. Her family likely would oppose it but they had been pushed to the fringes of her life. She would find a new family with him and he with her and then life would be glorious…wouldn't it be?

They had fallen back into bed with each other too and the sex had been great which had helped him not to think so hard about what could have been. Elizabeth needed him, she needed his attention and that appealed to him, to know that he was the center of someone's life. Everything seemed perfect…except for some misgivings she had expressed about his choice of careers, the danger, the unpredictability and most importantly, whether he would be able to put his job aside and enjoy a personal life away from it.

That had been the one question she had asked when just after dessert, he had popped the question. She had been shocked but happily so but she didn't answer at first citing her main concern about having to compete with his career for him.

"Will you be able to do that my dear Matlock?"

He hadn't thought about it all that much before he answered.

"Of course darling…There will be plenty of time to spend together."

She had smiled and seemed a bit relieved upon hearing that and his heart had lightened. But in the back of his mind, he thought of someone else…how would she take news of his engagement when she heard it. No C.J. would be happy for him because she would want him to be happy and marrying Elizabeth would make him very happy indeed.

It had to because he couldn't think otherwise as they sat at the table mapping out their future together over crème Brule.


C.J. had gone home and Matt had left a message on her answering machine about needing to discuss something with her but she didn't need to ask him what. In her heart, she already knew that Matt had proposed to Elizabeth and she had accepted. She had gone home, taken a glass of wine to drink while she soaked in the tub.

She tried not to think about what she had shared with him hundreds of miles away from her, but her skin tingled remembering the sensations that he had generated while he loved her. Because she knew now that was what he had done, but now he loved another woman and she had to move on with her own life.

She got out of the tub and after drying her body, she wrapped herself in her favorite robe when the phone rang.

She picked it up and static greeted her.

"Who is this?"

No one answered but she heard what sounded like someone breathing.

"Who's calling me?"

This time the voice, deep and gravely said something to her.

"If you testify in court next month, you're a dead woman…."