15

After running everything through Baby and calling the dentist office, they discovered that the only one with a solid alibi was the nanny and Dove. The nurse even chuckled when she explained how Sandy got Dove to sit still during the routine tooth cleaning.

After going over everything and still not having any solid proof of anything, Matt and Roy decided to head over to the scene of the crime one more time, with Hoyt present and C.J. would stay behind, finishing up some paperwork before heading home herself.

She decided to drop by to see if Chris had been released and found out that not only had she been released but Warren had been the one to wheel her out to his car and drive her home.

With a little smile on her face, C.J. made her way back to her car. She didn't notice the car following her. Taking a deep breath, she thought about the case as she drove. That sweet little girl caught up in this whole mess. That train of thought led her to think about her own childhood. Floyd and Missy raising her like a ward of the state. There was one amazing bright spot to her life there, Matt. She smiled as she recalled meeting him at the creek that first day after she arrived. Then the way both he and his Daddy, Bill, had taken her in. She started to feel herself like she had a family too.

Maybe that was how Dove felt with all these people around her. She couldn't possibly grasp what exactly was going on around her, but had at least one strong person in her corner, Sandy. Then there was Joshua, who C.J. now really hoped was Dove's biological father. Of the men claiming her, it seemed he was the most sincere.

She got off the highway and turned down the winding road that led to the beach house completely unaware that she was being followed. After parking in her spot she took another deep breath as she noticed a couple with a young boy, about Dove's age walking along the boardwalk down toward the shops.

She got out of her car and that's when the man grabbed her. C.J. wasn't expecting anything like this. It came so out of the blue. It took a second for her to find her feet and recall her self defense moves. All she heard was a man's voice say, "Drop it or I'll drop you and that husband of yours."

The next thing she heard was Brad shouting, "Hey...Let her go...Hey!" He was running over and took off after the man who released C.J. and ran back to his car. Brad had caught up to it just as he tried to drive off and run Brad down. He jumped out of the path of the oncoming car and then got up to check on C.J. who was coming to him. "You ok?" he asked.

She nodded her head and said, "Thanks to you."

He smiled and said, "That's what I'm paid for. He followed you in. Did you notice him tailing you?" He asked in a very professional manner.

C.J. was surprised, "No, I didn't. I can't believe I missed that."

Brad then told her with a little good humored sarcasm, "Well, then I guess my job is secure." She smiled for a second and then he told her, "Don't worry about anything. Either me or Greg will be out here keeping an eye on things. Just have the police meet me at the coffee stand on the boardwalk. I'll have Greg come over to keep watch while I give my statement to keep our location secure."

She nodded, thanked him and then headed inside. How could she have missed that? They were working a murder investigation for crying out loud. She knows better. She made the call and heated some water for herbal tea while she waited for the police.

Matt and Roy walked around the now vacant mansion at the stairwell, where Macy had lost her life. Hoyt rubbed his face, "Houston, what is it exactly you are looking for? Its getting late and I told Anne I'd take her out tonight to make up for screwing up Valentines Day."

Roy bit back a chuckle while Matt just walked up and down the stairs. "I don't know what I'm looking for Hoyt. If I did, I'd tell you." He got to the top and something on the banister caught his eye. It seemed shiny in only one place. "Hoyt...what is this?"

Hoyt looked annoyed but walked up the stairs to him, "What is what, Houston? I don't see anything."

Matt then pointed to the spot and pushed Hoyt's head down a little to see it at the same angle. "That, you see that? See how its shiny right there, in that spot?"

Hoyt squinted but then said, "Yeah, I see it. I don't know what it is though. Could just be where the maid polished it differently or something." He then ran his hand over it, "Its not slippery or anything."

Matt then said, "Not now, but I wonder if it was when Macy fell. Hoyt we've been thinking she didn't grab the railing, but what if she did. What if it was slick because it had just been cleaned or something. Then she couldn't have stopped herself from falling and no one would have pushed her."

Hoyt looked skeptical, "I don't know. We have an awful lot of motive and next to nothing for alibis. You really think this was an accident?"

Matt then said, "Maybe. I mean I know none of these guys have an alibi, but none of the security cameras your guys just processed have them coming in or out. There were no prints on her body, her back, nothing. I mean, maybe Warren is right...maybe she just had an accident."

They all rubbed her heads when an officer came in with a note for Hoyt. He got that look on his face as he turned to Matt who said, "What?"

Hoyt told him, "Call just came in that C.J. Parsons-Houston was just assaulted in front of her house on the boardwalk."

Matt didn't even wait for Roy, but ran out to his car and sped off. The only thing he might have heard as he ran was Hoyt yelling, "She's ok, Houston!"

Hoyt then offered Roy a ride over and he accepted saying, "I guess I have no choice now do I?" They both smiled to each other and got out to Hoyt's car to drive over.

Matt's mind was traveling much faster than his car which was pushing 90. They shouldn't have split up. They are in the middle of a murder investigation. What if it had nothing to do with that though? He pushed harder on the gas pedal. What if it had to do with her life before Texas? What if whoever she had witnessed killing someone as a child had tracked her down? That last thought practically sent him over the edge.

Two cop cars with their lights flashing met him at their beach house. He got out and ran in, "C.J.!" He called out, "C.J.!"

She got up off the couch as he was practically leaping up the steps to get to her, "Matt, I'm fine." He grabbed her and pulled her into his arms holding her tightly for a couple of seconds.

He released her and pulled back with his hands on her shoulders to make sure, "You're alright? What happened? Did whoever attacked you, hurt you?"

C.J. shook her head and told him, "As I was just telling Officer Marks here, he grabbed me from behind, putting me in a choke hold and telling me to drop the case. That if I didn't he'd drop both of us." She looked down then, "It all happened so fast, I just didn't think fast enough to fight him off. Its a good thing Brad was there."

Matt nodded and then said, "So Brad saw what happened and came to help you." She nodded and he asked one more time, "You sure you're alright."

She told him, "Yes, I'm fine. Just shaken up. I just can't believe I was followed home and had no idea. I know better, I'm smarter than that, I..."

He put his finger over her mouth and told her, "Shhh, now. Everything's fine. That's why I had Brad outside in the first place. Are you sure they wanted us to drop the Macy Raven case?"

C.J. looked at him confused, "Well yes, I mean he told me to drop it or he'd drop us. What else could he be talking about?"

Matt then took her back in his arms and said, "I'm just glad you're alright that's all. Hearing that you were assaulted from Hoyt scared me, honey."

She told him into his chest, "I know." She finished giving her statement to the police and assured Roy and Hoyt she was just fine while Matt went to talk to Brad.

He asked, "Brad, C.J. told me you got that guy off of her. Were able to make out a face?"

Brad told him down at the coffee stand, "Not really. I noticed her drive in and a car park several spots away and watch her for a minute. She took a minute getting out of her car and that gave the guy enough time to sneak around. I got out and tried to head him off when she stepped out and he grabbed her. He didn't hold her long at all and then took off."

Matt asked, "You get a look at the plates or anything?"

Brad then told him, "No, but he did leave a little something behind. I noticed he flicked a cigarette into the lot just before going over to the back of her car." He then handed Matt an Italian cigarette and looked very confused as Matt seemed relieved. He asked, "That mean something?"

Matt told him, "It means someone connected to the case we're on wanted to send me a message. And I got it."

He got back in to the beach house and found his uncle making C.J. a cup of herbal jasmine tea as she sat on the couch. Hoyt was talking to one of the officers and walked up to him, directing him out to the patio. Hoyt started, "Well, I have more news. Seems Calindis does have an alibi. Officer Salazar over there swears he spotted him driving his sports car at a high rate of speed at about the time Macy would have fallen down the stairs."

Matt exhaled, "Then why didn't Calindis just tell us he got a ticket. That would have taken him right off the suspect list and made our job a lot easier."

Hoyt then told him gesturing, "Now hold on. Calindis doesn't know he was spotted. Salazar was just telling me he's given the guy so many tickets that keep getting thrown out by judges because of who he is, that he doesn't feel like wasting the ink and paper anymore. He just sees him on a consistent basis and tries to hit his light quick enough to at least make the guy slow down."

Matt then said, "Ok, so that takes him off the suspect list. Sandy Kennedy, the nanny also has an alibi..."

Hoyt nodded, "The dentist..." Matt looked confused so Hoyt continued, "C.J. told me."

Matt told him as he thought through everything, "So I think whoever attacked C.J. tonight, telling us to get off this case is worried we are getting too close. We know Blake has an alibi...yea...he's in the hospital right now in intensive care and almost found himself a victim. Then there's Calindis and the nanny, both with solid alibis. That really just leaves the drummer and the manager."

Hoyt agreed, "Well, if you're looking for motive that may have just gotten a lot harder to find." He rubbed the back of his neck.

Matt asked, "What do you mean?"

Hoyt then answered, "Well, according to Marks who just came in tonight, its all over the news. Macy's band and manager are both in a tough legal jam. Apparently Macy's label had a contract with both that does not allow them to work for anyone else for the next 8 years, for any reason. Her death just cost both of them their jobs."

Matt then said, "Well, I guess what we need to try to figure out is if either of those men would think a payoff now is worth it. I mean they had to know her sales would go up with news of her death. They know they are supposed to get an inheritance. I guess its just a matter of was it worth it to them."

Hoyt then said, "You know the one who stands to gain the most from all this is Perkins. He's always claimed to be Dove's father. She gets the bulk of it."

Matt nodded and then said, "Maybe we need to look more closely at him." Hoyt agreed and then rounded up all the officers and left. Roy kissed C.J. on the cheek, telling her he was glad she was safe and left himself.

C.J. then sighed as she sipped the last of the tea and Matt walked Roy out. He joined her back on the couch, "You sure you're alright?"

C.J. smiled, "Yes, I am sure. I just wish I could have responded faster. I don't know why I didn't." She took another deep breath and then sat her tea cup down.

Matt told her as he rubbed her back, "Maybe we need to start the self defense workout again..."

She shot him a look and said, "No thanks, I'm sure this was a one time slip up."

Matt then looked at her, much more serious, "It only takes one time, C.J. One minute to have someone incapacitate you." He shook his head, "No, I think maybe we need to workout a little more, but I promise..." He seemed to soften, "I won't be as rigorous as last time. Deal?"

She agreed and then told him, "I'm wore out, let's go to bed." He got a smile on his face and she grimaced a little before saying, "And I mean to sleep. I really am tired."

Matt got a very mischievous look on his face as a smile crept across it. He told her softly, running his hand through her hair, "What if you let me do something very special for you to help you relax. Trust me, you will most definitely enjoy yourself." The look on his face warmed her insides. She didn't know what he had planned that he seemed so sure would get her pregnant right away, but the way he was touching her right then, not exactly sexual, but sensual made her really want to find out. His gaze was almost intoxicating as she nodded to him. He took her hand and led her to the bedroom.