Matt stretched out on the fishing boat, sitting on an old deck chaise, drinking some of the famed mango nectar that was a staple of this part of the tropics. They'd taken the fishing boat to haul in a hefty catch and to blow off some steam after that last job.
It'd been so damn tough. Seeing what had happened to a group of young children that had been either kidnapped or sold off to fight in a man's army. At least they were in a safe place on the outside if not inside their own heads.
Matt knew all about what that was like but he survived it and built a life for himself.
"Hey Houston…you going to lie and be lazy while we do all the work?"
He grinned.
"I caught the first net of fish," he said, "I'm taking my lunch break off the clock."
Zeke waved his hand.
"Yeah but we'll net more than you did then you'll have to spend the rest of the afternoon on the clock catching up."
Matt sipped his juice.
"We'll see…you know what they say about counting chickens before they hatch," he said, "You haven't caught those fish yet."
Zeke just shook his head and Matt relaxed while Brady grabbed a couple of tamales and sat on a creaky deck chair across from Matt.
"You getting some sun there?"
"Breeze tempers it a bit," Matt said, "right off the ocean. Doesn't get any better."
Brody smiled.
"Can't argue with that. So you ready to party? Do some celebrating in saying goodbye to the old year, welcome more of the new."
Zeke chuckled.
"It'll all be more of the same."
Brody shrugged.
"Maybe not…and Houston will be taking leave of us soon to head on back home…not enough excitement for him here."
Matt arched his brows.
"Plenty of that…I've been gone for six months…time to head back to my life…my uncle's handling my caseload…"
Brady nodded.
"You've got a business to run and you've got a woman waiting at home for you."
Matt pursed his lips.
"I'm not so sure she's waiting but I've missed her. Got plenty to tell her…"
Brady and Zeke looked at each other shaking their heads in amusement.
"What if she's got a man waiting there with her," Zeke said, "You hadn't talked to anyone back in LA since you left."
Matt realized that. It'd been part of what he'd needed to do when he took off that night after making the decision that he needed to get away from his life, drop off the grid and do a lot of thinking. He'd been running on empty since the broken engagement and he'd spent the first two weeks of his traveling barely standing still.
Six months later, he felt more relaxed…having gotten his running out of his system a while ago. But he felt restless in a whole different way.
He didn't know why but he'd woken up one morning and knew his traveling was nearly over.
"I just need to see her again. Catch up and we'll see what happens next."
Zeke shook his head.
"Man don't tell her that you want to get more serious until you know where she stands."
Matt looked out across the ocean towards the horizon which shimmered in the hot sun. He'd cross that bridge when he came to it.
C.J. finished preparing the mushy apples for the cider making and Thea had sterilized the jars. They put the mixture in the jars so they'd make enough for the party. C.J. washed her hands and poured herself some coffee.
Jed and the other hands had finished early just in time as a grey mist swept into the valley promising snow later, temperatures dropping which led to Jed rekindling the warmth of the fireplace. She sat on the sofa there pulling a blanket around herself as Jed and Thea joined her. She'd poured stew in bowls for them to eat as they talked.
"We found the stragglers," Jed said, "Cisco got past the lake again…but didn't reach the trail."
C.J. smiled. Cisco, the yearling had proven to be the Houdini of the herd and she'd taken Sienna out herself more than once to track him down. Once caught, he stood willingly allowing a rope to be snapped to his halter to head back to the pasture.
Thea smiled.
"He'll be able to start training soon on the longue," she said, "Then he'll have something to do with all that energy."
Jed nodded.
"He does look like a good one but then all the youngsters by Diablo El Sol have done well."
C.J. had heard stories about the legendary dun stallion that lurked somewhere in the foothills of the valley running wild but she'd never seen him.
Jed turned to her.
"So Kelly…Thea tells me you did the cider."
C.J. gazed at him and nodded.
"I enjoyed learning how for the Halloween Party. I wanted to help."
Thea smiled.
"You did…you feeling all right?"
C.J. rubbed her arms, feeling the slight ache in her shoulder.
"Fine…I'm really almost better."
Physically speaking, but inside herself not nearly…not that she could dwell on that part of her…not to stay alive. So she just focused on her recovery from the more visible signs of her imprisonment and escape.
Jed and Thea glanced at each other. Thea smiled.
"You're putting on weight," she said, "the doctor was pleased about that…"
C.J. smiled, thinking of all the meals that Thea had prepared for her once she felt like eating again. That and getting out in the fresh air, riding, working and splitting fence had helped her build muscle again. Even her broken wrist had mostly healed though it ached on the coldest mornings before she started using it.
Jed nodded.
"She's been working really hard. Working the other men into the ground most of the time."
She shrugged beneath her blanket, holding her bowl of stew.
"It helps me to think about work…focus on that."
She didn't want to talk about at night when her guard dropped with sleep and the images that filled her dreams. Not much she could do about it, she just had to get through each day and survive without being discovered.
Until Jonathan and the U.S. Marshal's figured out what to do with her next.
Jed tilted his face.
"Hard work can take your mind off of a lot," he said, "but it can't make you forget."
Thea cast a glance at him and C.J. felt her mouth dry. She reached for her coffee.
"What I mean is that I know when I've had a lot on my mind…working helps untangle my thoughts and things make more sense."
C.J. sighed.
"I know…but when Jonathan comes back, I'm going to have to sort things out better…with what happened."
She felt the familiar agitation, the tension in her muscles, and cold dampness on the nape of her neck. Thea rubbed her shoulder.
"You'll be able to do that when the time comes…"
C.J. wondered about that. Just thinking about the three months she'd spent imprisoned by her kidnapper…the numbness that nothing penetrated returned.
Jonathan would not be happy and she didn't know to change that.
Matt unloaded the catch of the day along with Brady after they moored the boat to the pier. They'd make quite a bit of money when they sold it to their vendors, something else to celebrate at the party. He went to shower and change in his bungalow eager to rid himself of the smell of fish and brine.
Heat still clung to the island like a wet blanket but the evening breeze would make it manageable. He wore some light slacks and a tee shirt and ran into Bertha as she tended to some mango trees next to the main building.
"So Houston…you heading on into town?"
She tossed him a mango and he caught it.
"Thought I'd check it out….supposed to be a floating poker game before midnight."
She smiled.
"Hard to pass that up. Bring us back some money this time."
He chuckled.
"I'm going to stop at Serena's station and make a call."
Bertha nodded.
"Your people back in L.A. They must miss you."
Matt sighed.
"I miss them…and it's time to go back."
Brady walked up to them having changed his clothes.
"Zeke will be here and we'll head on out."
Matt nodded. Zeke grabbed a mango.
"He said there's some rough customers in town…might be here from Sapphire Island."
Matt's hairs bristled on the back of his neck. He'd heard of the island just north of Venezuela where mercenaries and smugglers hung out in between assignments or shipments. Some characters much worse than that including a trafficker or two rumored to have compounds nestled the imposing mountain ranges.
"They here for the festivities or business?"
Zeke sighed.
"I don't know…we'd better stay out of their way if any recognize us."
Matt rolled his mango in between his hands.
"Those lieutenants we roughed up," he said, "They wouldn't name their boss."
"They'll never do that ever. They're dead otherwise. The guy just branched out into children…he mostly deals in women."
Matt considered that, hearing the stories. But he and the other men though interrogated by the feds, including ICE didn't have much to say about the faceless leader of the ring.
"They'll never find them. It's out of our hands."
He knew that he'd be leaving the island and all the intrigue behind to head back to his life in L.A. That thought preoccupied him as the men headed off to the village.