Another installment of this FF story is finished. Thanks for reading, and your feedback. I hope you enjoy it!


After they sailed back to the dock, Matt tied up his boat and they met up with their horses that seemed none the worse for wear for the time they spent together.

"That was nice," C.J. said, "It's been a while since we took her out on the lake."

Matt grabbed his hand in his own.

"We could always go out fishing when things slow down on the ranch," he said.

"What about your work back in L.A.," she asked.

He responded by pulling her closer.

"I've been pretty busy here," he said, "to even report back to the office."

"Murray must be frantic, don't you think?"

Matt shrugged.

"He's been running the conglomerate for a while now," he said, "I don't really think he needs my help."

"What about the agency," she asked.

"Well sometimes Murray's been pretty helpful there."

She chuckled.

"No, I think it's something that you'd want to go back to…when all this drama with Marquis is over and done."

He released her hand as they both went to their horses, untying them for the ride home.


The man in the diner had gotten off the phone with his boss. He shook his head at the instructions, thinking really, this wasn't the way he would have handled the situation at all. First of all, he wasn't used to taking orders from other people. He had been the master of his own destiny…at least until he had wound up in prison. No thanks to his current quarry.

In fact, he had been kicking back inside one of California's maximum security prisons serving a life sentence or two when one of the jail's messengers had sent him a folded piece of paper tucked inside his meal while he had been in solitary for a week. The message had no known sender, just that if he wished to leave prison in another way besides a coffin, he should await further instructions.

Naturally he had been interested, who wouldn't be? Despite what the judge had said at his sentencing, he had no intention of spending the rest of his life, even his formidable years locked up in a dirty cell. He had other pursuits he wished to follow enough to keep him busy for years. More messages came with more instructions for him to follow and all that was asked would be for him to do a favor once he had been sprung.

Ah, the catch that he knew would be behind this unsolicited assistance to render him once again a free man. But what the hell, nothing in life had ever been free and he needed to be back in the world where his talents as he called them would receive greater appreciation than they had from those responsible for locking up.

Including the man who had broken his nose before police officers had handcuffed him and carted him away to jail. Some two-bit investigator that had been trying to thwart his efforts to carry out a plan to wipe out a list of victims that happened to include someone he knew. Because of that man, his plans to marry one of the wealthiest women in L.A. (who just happened to be blackmailing him) had come to a grinding halt. Alas, the woman he had planned to marry had been convicted of conspiracy to commit multiple murders and was serving out several life sentences in the female equivalent of his own prison. He hadn't heard much from her since.

The escape had taken place without a hitch. Proving that the unknown individual who masterminded his escape had to be some kind of professional, a master criminal perhaps even more cunning and even smarter than himself. He prided himself on his abilities to pull off the crimes, after all he had some so close to accomplishing his goal and getting away with it. Except for…well what he did know about his mystery benefactor was that he hated Matt as much as he did because his own plans to commit mayhem had been sacked by the investigator.

He chuckled at that thought, as he also prided himself on his taste in humor having been an expert at it himself in his sunnier days. Abbott, Costello, Groucho, W.C. Fields, Laurel and…well Hardy was doing some serious prison time too. But even in prison, he had earned some privileges by entertaining the other inmates when he hadn't gotten into trouble and wound up doing solitary time.

Now a free man, he had enough cash left over to enjoy if not the finer things in life (as his tastes once ran quite expensively), he could eat food at a local restaurant, drive a car and sleep in a nice bed at night even if all this took place in somewhat…rustic surroundings. That would be remedied when he completed his job for his temporary boss and then received the balance of his money. Then he could take his huge wad of cash and slip back into the fabric of society.

But not before vanquishing the world of the people who put him away.


"Hoyt, I thought that was you," Matt said, as he walked from the barn where he and C.J. had left their horses.

She had headed to the garden to harvest some more of those cayenne peppers she just had to have. C.J. certainly had some interesting tastes of late, Matt mused as he listened to Hoyt provide him with the latest update from Interpol.

"Houston, there's not much from Interpol," the lieutenant said, "But the feds are sending out an evidence team to your barn."

"Now hold on here," Matt said, "I thought you said you didn't think that had anything to do with it."

Hoyt sighed.

"If C.J. got an email about it just before, then the sender would have to at least know about it."

Matt knew it was more than that. The sender had to have been responsible for what had nearly happened to him. He clearly had decided to play some sick games with them before he tried to exact his full revenge.

"So did they glean anything from her email?"

"Negative," Hoyt said, "It was layered in so many anonymous layers that it's untraceable."

"Not surprising," Matt said, "But someone's been sending us both emails and they're filled with things that Marquis said to each of us after the kidnapping."

"So clearly it's him behind it."

"He's been out long enough to find himself plenty of accomplices or start up a new cell if that's what he wanted to do," Matt said.

"He's been keeping it really close to the chest," Hoyt noted, "but these recent incidents…"

"Indicate that he's got at least one accomplice," Matt said, "and that this person's pretty close by."

Hoyt paused.

"Have you actually seen anyone?"

Matt sighed.

"No I haven't," he said, "but some of the ranchers have been approached by strangers asking questions about C.J. and me."

"What kind of questions?"

"Just in general," Matt said, "and about the ranch."

"You've got plenty of security haven't you?"

"I hope so Hoyt," Matt said, "but it's never going to be enough to keep Marquis out if he really wants to make his presence known."

"I'll call you back if anything comes up."

"Thanks Hoyt."


C.J. had been picking some more peppers from the new plants that Bo and Lamar had brought to the ranch. She broke one open and tested it. Hot and spicy, just the way she liked them. She smiled and collected some more. The sun that day hadn't shined as brightly as it had earlier in the week and she felt a cool breeze drift through hinting of the ocean. She brushed her hands on her jeans and reached for her water to take a long sip. Knowing how important it was to stay hydrated, she always kept a bottle nearby when she worked.

Her phone rang.

"Sheila, aren't you supposed to be working," she said.

She heard laughter on the other end.

"It's an office party at the Red Onion."

That explained it. She knew that Sheila's workplace held boisterous parties, having attended a couple when she had been with Randy.

"Houston and I went sailing out on his boat."

"Oh that sounds romantic," Sheila noted, "On a lake right?"

"Well yes, there's a large one bordering the ranch," C.J. said, "He brought his sailboat over and we took it out for a spin and then had lunch."

"That sounds fun," Sheila said, "So he's really pulling out on the stops on reeling you in."

"We've been having fun if that's what you mean."

"How long is he staying on the ranch," Sheila said, "before L.A. calls him back?"

"Until Marquis is captured and returned to prison," C.J. said, "Hopefully that will be soon. He's been making his presence known."

"That doesn't sound good."

"He's getting closer and he's letting us know it."

"You do have plenty of police around you?"

"Security from Houston's company," C.J. said, "They're the best in the business."

"How are you otherwise?"

"You mean since we last talked," C.J. said, "I'm fine. I think I've been tired a bit. Probably from all this work catching up with me."

Sheila sighed.

"You need to take it easy," she said, "You put too much in your work and you've got a boyfriend to keep happy now."

"He's been a great help with the ranch work."

"I'm sure he's been great in other ways," Sheila clucked, "Oh I do envy you."

"I'm out here in the garden picking some peppers for dinner," C.J. said, "And breakfast too."

"You mean with omelets."

"No actually they go great with oatmeal."

Sheila paused.

"Excuse me?"

"No really," C.J. said, "You should try it sometime."

Her friend chuckled.

"I think I'll take your word for it," she said, "But that sounds kind of strange."

C.J. paused.

"I know," she said, "I used to be unable to stand eating oatmeal."

Her friend paused longer this time.

"Uh C.J…you are being careful aren't you?"

"Well yeah, considering there's a terrorist running around loose…"

Sheila snorted.

"That's not what I mean," she said, "I mean when you're with Matt. You're using something."

C.J. grew indignant.

"I always use something," she said, "I never leave it up to the guy…ever since Zack."

"Okay then…so then you are taking precautions?"

"Yeah I'm on the pill, so?"

Sheila hesitated again.

"It's just that you say you're feeling tired and you're…eating oatmeal which you don't even like with peppers in it."

C.J. sighed.

"That doesn't mean anything," she said, "I couldn't possibly be pregnant."

"Are you sure?"

"Of course," she said, "It's impossible…the pill's nearly 100% effective."

"Actually it's a little less than that," Sheila reminded her, "I'm just saying sometimes even the most reliable methods don't work out."

C.J. knew that but she still couldn't possibly be pregnant. Yes, she and Matt had been quite…busy since they had gotten together but her friend was just acting crazy. Absolutely crazy, after all it wasn't as if she were…late. Well actually wait a minute there; she thought quickly doing a couple calculations in her head.

Oh damn. Houston, there might be a problem.

"C.J. are you still there?"

Definitely a problem...but nothing really to worry about, it had to be nothing.

"I'm here."

"Okay good I haven't lost you so you really don't think that you could be…"

"I don't know…I'm sure everything's all right."

"Oh it's going to be just fine," Sheila said, "This isn't Zack you're dealing with after all."

"No, I couldn't possibly be pregnant," C.J. said, "I've got too much work to do still and he..we just got together and…"

Sheila chuckled.

"Biology doesn't work that way," she said, "Remember what you learned in health class?"

Suddenly she heard someone walk into the garden and she looked up and saw Matt.

"I've got to go," she said, "I'll talk to you later."

She clicked her phone and stood up to walk over to Matt. No, she couldn't be and if she took a test, it would most certainly be negative. It couldn't possibly be otherwise not with everything else that had been going on, what still lay ahead. Damn where did you find a pregnancy test in the middle of nowhere anyway? Well, maybe she could order one through Amazon...overnight delivery. Damned if she were going to fly back to L.A. and buy one especially since Matt would insist on traveling with her, given that Marquis was currently running around.

"What's up," he asked her.

She looked at him.

"I was just on the phone to Sheila," she said, "She wondered when you were heading back."

"She needs an investigator?"

C.J. shook her head. Matt raised a brow at her small pile of peppers.

"You going to use all those," he asked.

"Probably," she said, "They do taste good."

"I can see that," he said, "Come on, let's take them in the house and get ready for some dinner."

She took his hand and squeezed it, as they walked back into the house.