17

Matt held on to C.J.'s wrists as he wrapped his arms around her in the gym, trying to incapacitate her. "Come on now...what would you do if this wasn't me?"

It had been a little while since she had sparred with Matt like this. He had called in before they even left the house to have a couple of guys clear out a couple of the fitness machines so they would have room. She told him, "I know, I know..." She took a deep breath, they had been at this for about half an hour now, "use my legs to knock you off balance." She took another deep breath and tried to do just that.

Matt smiled and said, "You don't tell your attacker what you plan to do..." He blocked her attempt to break his hold.

She then kicked her foot behind his ankle which sent the two crashing to the floor with her on top of him. C.J. rolled quickly enough to the side to then grab his arm and twist it behind him. She leaned over his face with her hair spilling out of the pony tail, blowing it out of the way she then told him, "Now then...what were you saying?"

He then grabbed her legs, both of them, dropping her to the floor as he rolled over her, "I was saying, never let your guard down." He then licked his lips and said, "Well now, Ms. Parsons-Houston...you look pinned down."

She smiled and told him, "You know if I wanted to, I could get out of this position easily."

Matt smiled and said, "Says you..."

C.J. then told him, "You've left yourself exposed..." He furrowed his brow trying to figure out what she meant by that so she continued, "but I do want kids so I suggest you just get off me before I'm forced to do something we both might regret."

"Ah," he said and sat beside her as she sat up. She leaned over and kissed him for a second and he told her, "Not bad...you haven't forgotten everything."

She laughed, "Of course I haven't Matt, you taught me very well." She kissed him again.

He hated breaking this up because the shower was right there and they did need to get cleaned up. However, they had a case they needed to wrap up. One of those men was responsible for what happened to Blake and C.J. and they needed to be stopped before Matt and Hoyt proved what he suspected. He told Hoyt right before they left the hospital what he suspected had caused Macy's death and he assured Matt, his men would test the theory out later that day, just in time for the tribute.

So he pulled back and told her, brushing the hair out of her face, "We better get cleaned up. Uncle Roy will be meeting up with us later to head over to the tribute. Hoyt and I worked some things out while you were changing down here. You and I will sit in the front where Blake should be, Hoyt and his men will be crawling all over the tribute in plain clothes keeping an eye out and Uncle Roy will be posing as an usher."

C.J. nodded and then said, "I have that little black dress I brought back up here. I can wear that..." Matt smiled then again really big until she said, "it will look great with your tux."

Matt then said, "Yeah, my tux. Thanks for reminding me." She laughed again and kissed him before getting up to shower and change.

She asked him, "You...uh...going to join me?" C.J. began slowly peeling off her clothes as Matt got up and walked slowly over.

He drew her in for a long kiss before she could get her sports bra off and took her hands, "You know I want to, but we don't have as much time as I would require. I'm going to go get us some juice and I'll be back in minute, ok?" She nodded, got one last peck on the cheek, and he left her to shower.

He got upstairs and found his uncle on Baby. Matt furrowed his brow and went to sit beside him, "What are you doing on Baby?"

Roy then told him, "Well, Winston shared a little more with me at lunch. Seems our Mr. Perkins has allergies to just about everything, including lavender."

Matt then took a deep breath, "Then that means, Perkins definitely could not have killed Macy. It would be obvious if he had touched her body at all."

Roy nodded and then said, "This also came in about an hour ago, Larson has two alibis for the time Macy fell down the stairs."

Matt asked, "Two?"

Roy clicked a few buttons, "Yep, meet Lacy and Stacy. They both helped him sleep it off, if you know what I mean."

Matt nodded and then said, "So now he has an alibi or two. They all do which just confirms what I told Hoyt. Its an accident, she fell. I just don't understand why someone is trying to get us off this case?"

Roy then asked, "C.J. has met with all these men...she didn't recognize the voice of her attacker?"

Matt then said, "No, she told Marks it all happened too fast to really get a good sense of what he sounded like."

Roy nodded and then said, "Well, the police are no closer to figuring out who rigged Blake's vent to back up carbon monoxide in his house." Matt still seemed puzzled so he told him, "We may just need to wait for him to slip up."

Matt then said, "Yeah, but I don't like that. What if whoever this is, doesn't slip up but ends up killing someone in the process or Dove gets caught in the crossfire. No, I need to figure this out before she gets hurt."

Roy then took a deep breath as Matt got up to get the juice, "Have you thought any more about C.J. and her...past?"

Matt's drink caught in his throat. He swallowed hard and then said, "I meant what I said Uncle Roy. I want to just drop it. She doesn't need to relive whatever it is that witnessed as a little girl. I don't want her hurt."

Roy then walked over to the bar, "I know you don't, but sometimes Matlock, burying your head in the sand is only going to increase the danger."

Matt said still uncomfortable, "I know that Uncle Roy." He thought for a second and then almost dropped his glass, "What am I supposed to do, huh? When am I supposed to say, 'C.J. honey, I know you don't remember this entirely, but when you were little, you witnessed something so traumatic that it makes you sick just trying to think about, but why don't you give it a try anyway?' How am I supposed to do that?"

Roy then took a deep breath again and told him, "Why don't you start with...'C.J., I love you, but something from your past could be putting you in danger now and I want to help you remember it to keep you safe and then help you move on.' That might be a better way to put it."

Matt closed his eyes and then said, "Like I said, I really don't think whoever torched that old house is coming after her. I think they just wanted a couple of things destroyed that were in that house."

Roy nodded and said, "That sounds like as good a place to start as any. Why don't you do research on those things first, the ones you pulled out. You don't necessarily need to tell her about those things do you?"

Matt then saw what his uncle was doing, offering a compromise. He knew his uncle loved C.J. too and didn't want to see her hurt. He also know his uncle spent a good chunk of his life dealing with spies and saw his fair share of crime and criminal behavior. Perhaps a little research wouldn't hurt and he could do it without her knowing. He nodded and then the two men dropped the subject as she came in, dressed to go out.

After another minute of chitchat mostly of Matt trying to convince C.J. that he had a perfectly good black suit that he could wear instead of the black tux, he finally went downstairs to change himself.

That left C.J. and Roy alone as she went to sit on the couch with some papers. Roy carried over a cup of coffee for her, sat it on the table and then sat down beside her. He knew why his nephew didn't want to look too deeply into C.J.'s past, but there were still a couple of things Roy knew that Matt didn't.

He had learned more from Bloodhound than he had shared with Matt. Apparently the one who had witnessed the murder had not just witnessed one, but two. He also knew that the Marshals didn't typically hire freelance ex green berets unless it was a significant threat to the person needing protecting, such as a witness to a mob hit or something of the like. Unlike Matt, Roy had also looked at this from another angle...why now? Why was someone suddenly interested in that house now?

Roy took a deep breath, watching C.J. for just a minute as she read over legal and business papers, furrowing her brow for a moment before signing off on one and then putting it in the pile with others she had signed. He hated doing this, especially behind Matt's back, but it needed to be done.

He handed her the coffee and said, "Coffee?" She smiled, thanked him and took a sip. Then he said, "C.J., I know we talked the other day about Floyd and Missy..." He noticed her expression change only slightly, as if the topic bothered her, but she didn't want him to see that. He continued, "and I know its not easy to talk about."

C.J. then said, "Uncle Roy, its not that its not easy to talk about...its just that it was a long time ago. I don't remember a whole lot. I was really young then." She looked down then for a second before saying, "I just didn't feel like I belonged there, just felt so alone when I lived there I guess. But then there was Bill and Matt..." She took his hand and said, "and you and Flo and Will. You all made me feel like I was a part of your family and that made me feel less alone. That's what I think about when I think about living in Texas. All of you."

She smiled at him and he smiled back before taking another deep breath to go further. "CJ., you know you really added to our little family there. Bill felt so blessed having both a son and daughter essentially after everything that happened, losing Beth. Taking the two of you in made him feel like everything he worked so hard for was for a purpose, a reason."

C.J. was surprised. She had no idea Roy knew about Matt's adoption. She asked, "Uncle Roy, you know about Matt..." Roy nodded and she looked back for a second before saying, "Does Matt know that you know that..." He nodded again. She swallowed, "In every way that mattered, Bill was Matt's father and you still are our uncle."

Roy smiled and then said after taking her hand again, "That means everything to me. That's why its so hard for me to do this..."

She looked confused, "Do what, Uncle Roy?"

Roy then took deep breath and said, "Ask you something that's going to be hard for you to do."

She asked, "What is it you need to ask me? You know you ask me anything."

Roy then told her, "I need to ask you about your parents."

She blinked and took a deep breath, "Well you can ask, but Uncle Roy, I don't know how much I can tell you about them. They both died when I was so young, I just don't remember much."

Subconsciously maybe she started rubbing her head again. Roy was not only asking questions for the information though, but watching her reactions. He had his own suspicions that her memories caused a physical response as well as an emotional one.

He then said, "Matlock told me once that when you two visited their grave, just after you moved to California to start the agency, that you got very ill." She nodded, rubbing her head again. He continued, "It just seemed the other day, that when we talked about them, you got sick in a similar way."

C.J. nodded and said rather soberly, "I did get a headache, like the ones I used to get, but...I mean I know that I usually get ill when I go, but I've only gone twice Uncle Roy. I mean, how do I know I didn't just catch something both times. It could have all been a coincidence." She tried to smile for him.

Roy then rolled his jaw for a second, "C.J., have you thought of going to the gravesite in the last few months?"

That question surprised her and she answered, "No, not really. I really hadn't thought about them much in a while, well, until a couple of months ago."

This was what Roy was waiting for, what he needed to know. So there was some kind of newfound interest in her parents and her life before Texas, essentially initiated by her. He needed to know the reason though, so he asked, "What made you start thinking about them again?"

She rubbed her head and answered, "Well, I had to fill these forms out for the doctor on my family's medical history. I filled it out as best I could, but like I said, I don't remember much."

Roy then had a thought hit him, "C.J., did your doctor say they were going to try to get medical records for you?"

C.J. thought about it for a second and then said, "Not really, but she did get Matt's biological mother's records so I guess she would probably have been able to get my parent's too." She then started staring out in space and said softly, "You know I could probably get my hands on them myself..." She looked at Baby and said, "I never thought about doing that before."

Roy watched as C.J. put the papers down, rubbed her head, blinked several times and then tried to turn on Baby. Her hand was shaking so hard and she kept blinking so much that Roy leaned over, took her hand and told her, "I don't think right now is the best time. Why don't you think about doing that later. You and Matlock have a tribute to get to."

C.J. hadn't really looked at Roy yet, just kept staring at the buttons on Baby. She finally swallowed and then said very softly, "You're probably right, I..." She closed her eyes and laid back, "Maybe I should just take a minute before we go to just lay down, I'm just tired all of a sudden."

Roy watched her do just that, more concerned than ever.