7

Both slept in much longer than they had in a while. C.J. had drifted off quickly enough when they got in bed finally while Matt's head spun with everything that he had discovered about Floyd not being a relative of C.J., what he found in the house, and his wife seemingly working herself to the point of exhaustion.

He knew once he opened this door it might be like opening Pandora's box. Who knew what lay in a past filled with so many deceptions? At first he wondered if C.J. were aware of the fact that she wasn't related to Floyd but he knew that couldn't be the case. It had hurt her so much as they both grew up that Floyd and Missy never really treated her like family when she thought she was. Would all of this just open up those old wounds, or worse, cause fresh new ones?

She murmured something in her sleep about a stack of papers coming after her and Matt rubbed her back, whispering that she was off work, relaxing somewhere on a beach hoping to redirect her subconscious. He smiled when she then moved just a little closer with a smile on her face.

Thinking about her dream in the light of day now, he had already called down to the office to put the two lawyers and Associate V.P.s over the remaining paperwork for the rest of the week and to only call on her if they could prove to him that it was absolutely necessary.

Now 9am, Matt was dressed and ready to head in. C.J. lay sleeping so he took that opportunity to walk down to the boardwalk and grab a cup of her favorite coffee and a couple of her favorites from the local bakery.

As he made his way back, he noticed a man in a car that seemed to be watching the beach house. Going around the side of a neighbor's house he got to the front door and put everything down on the counter and then running upstairs. C.J. was in the shower and didn't hear him come in, grab his gun tucking it in behind him, and then cautiously making his way back out the front to sneak up on the man in the car. The car started to back up before he even approached and drove off. He jogged to where the car had been parked because he thought the sole person in the car had dropped something. He found a cigarette butt for a very expensive European cigarette.

After getting back in he found C.J. relishing the cream cheese strawberry pastry he had gotten her. Dressed in a nice, simple black pants suit, Matt chuckled just a little as she wiped the strawberry from the corner of her mouth. He picked up a napkin, handed it to her and said, "Now how do you know that one wasn't for me, huh?"

She laughed and said, "Because I know my husband very well and I know that Texas sized breakfast taco is yours."

He nodded smiling as his arms went around her waist and then asked, "What's with the black?"

She took a deep breath and then told him, "We have a funeral to go to today. I just talked to Chris and the official invite came in just after we left the office last night. It's a private ceremony at Peaceful Hills. We have a couple of hours so I was thinking we could head to the office, catch you up on the case and then head over where all our suspects will be together in one place. Interviewing them probably won't be appropriate today, but it should give you a good sense of what we're dealing with."

He nodded, grabbed his taco and the two headed out. Matt decided not to tell her about the man watching the beach house because he wasn't entirely sure that was what he was doing and didn't get a good look at him anyway.

After getting up to the penthouse, C.J. quickly brought Baby up and caught Matt up on the investigation. He watched her carefully for any sign that her headache would return, and luckily it appeared gone. He hoped that it was all the paperwork she had been doing lately causing a strain on her eyes or something like that and nothing more serious. Somewhere in his gut though, a voice was telling him it wasn't the paperwork.

"Well, I agree with Uncle Roy...statistically speaking the widower usually looks good for the murder of the wife." She just shook her head and Matt rubbed her back knowing she was thinking of Robert again.

Chris interrupted their thoughts, "Houston...Hoyt is on line one."

Matt answered, "Thank you Chris." He picked up the phone, "Good morning, Hoyt."

Hoyt answered, "No its not. I'm just calling to let you guys know a threat was called in to the funeral. Some crazed number one fan has decided that Macy Raven told him in a dream last night that she wanted to be cremated and told him who killed her. Just got the note about 10 minutes ago."

Matt then asked, "Are there any prints on it?"

Hoyt answered, "Yes there are one set. Belonging to one Devon Orlando."

Matt said it out loud and C.J. punched it into Baby, "Devon Orlando."

Baby pulled up information that Matt read back to Hoyt, "Devon Orlando, born 20 years ago in San Diego, California. A student at UCSB until about a year ago when he dropped out. No prior arrests or convictions."

Hoyt said rather irritated, "I know that, I have computers myself Houston."

Matt then asked, "You have a picture?" Hoyt said nothing so he continued, "You know Baby can access his student picture ID...you wouldn't want a copy now would you?"

Hoyt growled, "As a matter of fact, yes, I would love a one. You wouldn't happen to mind dropping it by would you? I kind of have a serious murder investigation on my hands here along with this death threat!"

Matt told him, "On my way Hoyt, don't mention it." At that point Hoyt hung up. Matt put the receiver down as his wife looked up at him.

She asked, "So, you want to take this to Hoyt now? I can meet you at the funeral home or the gravesite."

He nodded his head, bent down to kiss her and then told her to be careful. She smiled and told him to do the same.

Matt stopped Roy as he was making his way in and the two left to head to headquarters. As they drove, Matt took the opportunity to tell his uncle what he had found in Texas.

"So the question is Uncle Roy...who were Floyd and Missy to C.J. I mean if they weren't relatives then why did they take her in?"

Roy had listened carefully and then after a second or two asked, "You aren't asking me why Floyd would talk to Bill about adoption...It seems as though that isn't a piece of this puzzle, as if..." He watched the expression on Matt's face change and then said, "Who told you? I know it wasn't Bill."

Matt then looked at Roy completely surprised and almost ran a light. It took a second as they sat there but he finally took a deep breath and said, "You knew? Daddy told you..."

Roy slowly nodded, "I was there Matlock. He had just lost Beth in a car accident. Flo and I came to help with the arrangements. We were overjoyed to find out we were expecting ourselves. Bill couldn't wait to have a child with her, but they were having some trouble with it." Roy looked down as Matt continued driving, "I'd never seen him so down. There was another fellow helping out with his wife, your biological parents. When Bill found out about a month after Beth's funeral that Wade Matlock had lost his wife in childbirth, he ran right to his side, offering to help in any way he could. Bill knew that pain...loosing the love of your life like that. He thought maybe he understood what Wade was going through better than anyone. When it was clear Wade just couldn't cope, your Daddy took you in and raised you as his own." Roy looked at Matt then with tears in his eyes and said, "You were always his son, Matlock and you were always and will always be my nephew."

Matt then patted him on the back as they were now parked at the police station. He told him, "I know that Uncle Roy."

After a hug Roy then asked, "Who told you and did Bill ever know that you had found out?"

Matt shook his head, "No, I made sure he never knew. You remember helping with Elgin Cody, right?" Roy nodded his head. "Well, the first time he came after me was to get that land and he hired a local doctor to perform enough plastic surgery on someone to be able to pass as me and then sign over everything to Cody." Matt looked down then before continuing, "That doctor called up Virgil Wade, the name my biological father was going by then. He came to warn me and he ended up getting killed in the process."

Roy digested that and then asked, "He was that other man who was killed when you confronted Cody, right?" Matt nodded and he continued, "I had met him before when Bill was in the service. Doesn't surprise me that he would take a bullet for you. He was fiercely loyal to his friends, but when he lost his wife, it was like he died I guess." Matt put his head down for a second thinking about it again when Roy then asked, "Does C.J. know?"

Matt looked back at him and said, "Yes she does, Uncle Roy. It took me a while to wrap my mind around it, but she's the only other person who knows." He looked out at the parking lot for a second and then said, "I'm a little scared, Uncle Roy. If I look too closely into all this, what could I find and how will it affect C.J.? Coming to grips with everything was hard, really hard. How do I force her to do something similar? Open a door that's been closed for a reason."

Roy thought about it and nodded before saying, "Well from what you've told me it seems as though someone is pushing this door open. If someone was really watching your place, you might want to call in Greg to keep some tabs on it. I think doing some research on Baby into Floyd might be a good idea, get a sense as to why they would adopt C.J..."

Matt then gave Roy a rather irritated look and said, "Yeah, adopt her and not treat her like she belonged."

Roy then told him, "If he hadn't adopted her, you might not have met her."

Matt then conceded that saying, "I can't even imagine growing up without her."

While they went in to talk to Hoyt, C.J. got ready to leave. She gathered her things and caught Chris and Warren kissing in the elevator when the door opened. They clearly didn't notice so she cleared her throat. The two turned the cutest shade of pink as C.J. smiled just a little and said, "Well, I hope you two will excuse me but I really need to be going..."

They walked out and started to explain at the same time when she put up her hand and said, "No, no...no reason to explain anything. I need to run but you two are free to stay." She whispered to Chris as the doors were closing, "You have about two hours before anyone will be back."

C.J. felt so much better this morning and now afternoon. Last night with Matt was exactly what she needed. He always knew exactly what she needed and being married to him, well, his knowledge of her had become so intimate that it made her catch her breath.

Finding the church was not difficult and one would not think any services were being held today, at least from the outside. On the inside it was packed. Practically all the "A" list celebrities were there including singers, actors and other musicians. She found a seat to the back and waited patiently for Matt.

Finally the appointed time arrived and the casket was carried in by Macy's band followed by her first ex husband Sam Perkins holding little Dove Raven in his arms. With the two of them was another younger woman. C.J. didn't recognize her exactly and wondered who the woman was, but after the service started, it became clear that she was the nanny.

The preacher gave a short sermon about innocence lost and how she was being reunited with her loved ones now, those who had gone before. C.J.'s head began to hurt again but she kept her composure, no one would have noticed.

Then her band each spoke of how they would miss her and the world would no longer be the same without her. As they sang to her without backup music, the drummer took a white rose down to Dove. She took it, confused it seemed and after one last speaker, the funeral ended.

Matt still hadn't arrived so C.J. just left with the others and got in her car to head to the gravesite. The drive wasn't that far and C.J. was glad the paparazzi had not shown up if for no other reason than Dove Raven. That little girl had suffered enough. The more she thought about this, the worse C.J. felt physically.

After getting to the gravesite she parked but before getting out little Dove got away from Perkins and ran toward her. C.J. caught her, picked her up and took her back to Perkins. He thanked her, turned around and took her back to the line behind the casket.

C.J. walked back to her car and sat down for a second. It was getting difficult to breathe. She clutched her chest and then put her head down. There she stayed for the next hour.