Chapter 15 CT
Matt followed C.J. as they went down a really long hallway looking for the security guard that had looked familiar to her.
"Where are we going," he asked.
She didn't even look back at him.
"I think I saw him heading this way."
"The gardens are out this way," Matt said, as they turned the corner.
C.J. had paused for a second, before making a decision to go down a different hallway.
"This place is much larger than it looks like outside," Matt noted.
"The garden's this way," she said as they saw a pair of French doors ahead.
"We've got to be careful in case we do run into him," Matt said, "There's a lot of blind spots in these corridors."
"Even more so outside," C.J. said, thoughtfully.
She stopped. Matt looked at her quizzically.
"What is it?"
"We need to have some plan or some idea of what we're doing," she said, "Maybe we should tell Jason…or Hoyt."
"You said Jason's undercover here," Matt said, "Is he one of the waiters?"
"Yeah," she said, "We were out in the gardens awhile ago when I thought I saw someone but it turned out to be some shadows."
"Are you sure?"
She nodded.
"Jason ran into the orchard and couldn't find anyone," she said, "And he's pretty quick."
"Maybe this Clyde Jenkins has help C.J.," Matt pointed out, "It won't hurt to go outside and take a look around."
She thought about it. It sounded risky because they would be by themselves and if they were ambushed…
"We won't be able to call for help," she said, partly to herself.
"What?"
She sighed.
"It's dangerous," she said, "I don't want anything to happen to you."
He narrowed his eyes.
"We always do this C.J.," he said, "It's part of the job."
"I know that Houston," she said, "but most of the time we try to come up with a plan or a strategy."
They started walking again towards the double doors which led out to the patio and then the gardens.
"I don't know why you're so worried," he said.
That irritated her but the words that spilled out of her mouth surprised her.
"Because you got shot just a few days ago," she said, "and that scared me."
He turned around suddenly to look at her and she grew flustered.
"Just forgot I said that," she said, brushing it off, "We'll go outside and look for him and we'll just be careful if we do."
He stroked her arm and she looked up at him.
"I didn't mean to scare you," he said.
"It's not your fault," she said, "I'm sorry I said that."
"Why?"
She looked up surprised.
"What are you asking?"
He hesitated.
"Why are you sorry about admitting that you're scared?"
She frowned, putting her hands on her hips.
"I'm not scared…"
He looked at her and noticed the wariness in her eyes.
"I'm not talking about what might be out there," he said.
She looked away for a moment.
"I know that."
They both looked up and saw Elizabeth and Ginger heading towards them.
"Where have you been," Ginger said, looking at Matt.
"We were looking for someone," he answered.
Ginger looked at C.J. and pursed her lips.
"The police might be looking for her."
Matt and C.J. looked at each other.
"They've got better things to do," Matt said.
"Like what?"
C.J. just looked at all of them and then walked away.
"I'm going to find him," she said, "Excuse me."
Matt looked out after her.
"Who," Elizabeth asked.
"A man that may not belong here," Matt said.
"Is he dangerous?"
"We need to find that out," he said, starting after C.J.
Elizabeth and Ginger followed him. By the time Matt found C.J., she was about to go outside the French doors.
"C.J., wait," he said.
She looked back at him.
"I'm going out there and look around," she said.
"I'm going with you."
She nodded.
"Where are they going," Elizabeth said to Ginger.
"I don't know," she said, "Let's find out."
Elizabeth looked doubtful.
"I don't know," she said, "It looks like it might be dangerous."
But they both walked towards the French doors anyway.
Matt and C.J. looked around as they walked down the pathway through the garden.
"Where did you see him," he asked her.
She furrowed her brow.
"I don't know if it was a person I saw," she said, "It was a shadow. Jason ran after it but came up empty."
Matt nodded and looked over at the fountain which was softly lit in the dark.
"This is pretty impressive," he said.
She agreed.
"About what happened…"
She looked at him, confusion on her face.
"What happened?"
He hesitated.
"Back there with Ginger," he said, "I know what she said."
C.J. looked back towards the trees.
"Oh that," she said, "Houston…"
"You don't have to say it C.J.," he finished, "I know you would never do anything to hurt me."
"No I wouldn't," she said, "But I didn't do the right thing. I wanted to, but you and Elizabeth…"
"We're over," Matt said, "I think we always were but I think you were right about my needing to work through what happened with the wedding that never happened."
"I'm sorry about that."
"You have nothing to be sorry about," he said, "The wedding didn't happen because it wasn't ever going to take place."
She tilted her head.
"What do you mean?"
He sighed and sat down on a nearby bench, gesturing for her to join him so she did.
"I don't love Elizabeth," he said, after a moment of silence, "We're two very different people and it never would have worked out if we had gotten married."
"I thought it was my fault," C.J. said, "With Robert showing up…"
"C.J., whoever gave him that furlough is to blame as well as Robert himself," Matt said, "You were willing to go through what he wanted to protect me."
She pursed her lips.
"You mean a lot to me," she said, "We've been friends most of our lives."
He nodded.
"Did you ever want anything more than that," he asked.
She looked at him, caught off guard. She knew from the expression in his eyes that her answer mattered more than he might say.
"Sometimes…"
"I've been thinking about it more lately," he admitted.
She ran her hand through her hair.
"So have I."
He looked at her and she gave him a sidewise glance.
"But you said in Tahiti that you didn't want that," he said.
"I know," she said, "But I was just scared…that we wouldn't be friends anymore if it didn't work out."
Matt nodded thoughtfully.
"And it's just as well anyway," she said, "Because we returned and Elizabeth was here, wanting to get back together with you."
"But you thought you were pregnant with my child," he said, "and you never said anything."
She bit her lip.
"Not for long," she said, "I took the test and it was negative. Actually I took a few of them so there wasn't much to say after all."
"I wish you had told me."
She wished she had told him too but the circumstances had not been right.
"When was I going to do that," she said, "Come up to you while you're out to dinner with your fiancée…"
"Ex-fiancée," he corrected.
"Okay, ex-fiancée," she said, "and tell you that I might have gotten pregnant while we were on your honeymoon in Tahiti and I'll get back to you when I know for sure."
"C.J…"
She looked directly at him.
"No…how was it going to go down," she asked, "We haven't even spent time together since we got back."
"You've been traveling on these business junkets."
She sighed.
"I know," she said, "I think that was what was causing me to feel so fired not…"
"You've been working very hard," he said, "I should have handled some of those cases myself."
She folded her arms.
"You don't have a law degree," she said, "the legal side of this is my responsibility. Besides, I've had plenty of time the past week to relax and take it easy."
He looked at her doubtfully.
"Yeah dodging Molotov cocktails and getting shot at," he said, "What if you had been…"
"Pregnant," she finished, "Would I have been out living my life you mean."
"What we do is dangerous."
She sighed again.
"I know that Houston," she said, "I would never endanger my…our child if it turned out that I had been pregnant. If you don't know that, you don't really know me."
He heard that her voice was tinged with anger and with something else.
"I do know you," he said, with a smile, "I know you would never jeopardize the safety of our child but I would be worrying anyway."
She softened her posture.
"So would I," she said, "I never really thought having a family and I realized that I'm not really ready for it right now. I do want children some day but there's so much I want to do first."
"And I want you to do those things," he said, "But I would have never walked away from this. I would have been there no matter what."
She looked down at her hands.
"But what about if you had been getting back together with Elizabeth," she said, "I didn't know what you were planning anyway and the negative tests made the point moot anyway."
"I wish you had told me," he said, "I know what you went through last year…"
"You mean when I thought I was pregnant with Robert's baby," she said, "That's much different."
"You loved him," he said, "Before you know what he was."
She nodded.
"I was in love with him," she said, "But even if he hadn't turned out to be a murderer, I don't know if I would have married him."
That surprised Matt.
"What do you mean," he said, "I thought…"
"He came into my life after years away and swept me off of my feet," she said, "But I think I was more in love with the idea of that than him."
Matt rubbed the bridge of his nose and watched the expression on her face change.
"I didn't see the real him until it was almost too late," she said, "And then when he crashed your wedding, I felt like it was my fault."
He raised his brows.
"Why," he said, "He's responsible for his own actions not you."
"I know," she said, "but if I hadn't…"
"It was very difficult to do what you did," he said, "but you did the right thing."
"It took me a long time to realize that," she said, "But I finally did."
Matt looked at her a long moment.
"You're a very special woman," he said, "And I…"
Suddenly, they heard footsteps and saw Elizabeth and Ginger heading towards them.
"What's going on here," Ginger said, out of breath.
"We're looking for one of the security guards," Matt explained, "except he might not really be one."
Elizabeth looked confused.
"You mean…"
"He might be a hit man," Matt said, "There's a lot of prominent people at this gala event and anyone of them could be a target."
Ginger sighed.
"I know," she said, "I've been hit on by a famous basketball player and a talk show host just in the past hour."
"No not that," C.J. said, "There are a senator here and the mayor…"
"Oh them," Ginger snorted, "I hardly think they are worth the trouble."
"Ginger," Elizabeth sighed, "Just listen to what Matt has to say."
Ginger folded her arms.
"Okay so what are you going to do about it?"
"C.J. and I were out here looking for a guard who she bumped into in the hallway," he said.
Ginger struck her hand up.
"So that's where you were hiding," she said, "You know the police are looking for you for assaulting me in the ballroom."
"I didn't assault you," C.J. said, "I slapped you but I'm not getting into it with you because there's more important things to deal with."
"How can you say that," Ginger said, "My cheek is still pink."
C.J. got up from the bench.
"Bill me," she said, "I'm going off to find that man."
"The one who shot at you," Ginger said, incredulously, "You really are crazy."
C.J. didn't listen to her but began walking towards the fountain. Matt followed her, grabbing her arm.
"C.J. you can't just walk out here by yourself," he said.
She faced him.
"I won't be by myself if you come with me," she said, "and I can make my own decisions."
"I know you can," he said, "so let's decide what we're going to do next."
They both looked into the darkness of the orchard.
"I don't think there's anyone here," C.J. noted.
Ginger caught up to them, with Elizabeth trailing behind her.
"Where are you two going," she asked not for the first time.
C.J. and Matt turned around to face her.
"Wait a minute," Elizabeth said, suddenly.
"What is it," Matt asked.
"I think I saw a strange looking man near the wine cellar," she said, "It's not far away from the French doors that we just came through."
"Elizabeth, how do you know it's this…this hit man?"
"I don't," Elizabeth said, "but we won't know unless we go find him."
Ginger groaned as the other three went back into the house but followed them.
"Where is this wine cellar," she asked.
Elizabeth suddenly looked uncertain.
"I'm not sure."
Suddenly Gracie came running up the hallway.
"There you are," she said, "Something's happened in the ballroom."
They all looked at each other and then they ran down the hallway after Gracie.