Matt helped himself to another cold beer after Stefan walked away from him on the beach. He hadn't given much thought to the mysterious businessman he'd bumped into in Germany some months earlier but he hadn't forgotten him either.

What was he doing on the island? After all it was quite the coincidence in a world as big as this one that he'd meet up with him again.

Unless…but no. Stefan was asking all kinds of questions about the men who'd just tried to hire Matt to find a missing woman. A faceless, nameless woman who obviously had something in her possession both men wanted.

He looked up to see Brady join him to fetch another beer. The party was still in full swing with midnight not far off.

"That conga line was getting a bit hairy," Brady said, "I don't know what they're serving in that still in the corner there."

Matt smiled. He knew it was fruit that had been picked, a species unique to the island, and slowly fermented until it packed a powerful punch. One flirtation with it had taught him to steer clear. He'd stick to beer himself.

"Pretty strong stuff…I'm steering clear. It's a long hike back to camp after all."

Brady nodded.

"Yeah it sure is…so where were you all this time?"

Matt glanced up at his friend, trying to think up a simple answer. But there was nothing such about the man that he met up with on the beach…the same man he'd met up with in a German village months ago. Only this time…Stefan wanted something from him and the other mercenaries. Something to do with a woman who'd eluded more than one interested party. He knew nothing about this woman except she was young and beautiful and had something that some colorful and dangerous figures wanted very badly.

"I ran into an old acquaintance on the beach…"

"An old friend?"

Matt sighed.

"I wouldn't call him that," he said, "He's looking for the same woman that those other men wanted us to find."

Brady flashed a look of disbelief.

"Really…what a coincidence. I mean this island is small but I didn't think…that small. What is this woman and what does she have that these men want?"

Matt shrugged.

"I don't know…but I'm not inclined to work for any of them. She might be someone who had reason to escape from someone. I don't want to be the one who tries to find her and brings her back."

Brady paused then nodded.

"I don't either….not after what we'd just been through with those children…I never thought of this side of the business. I know that trafficking people in this side of the world is popular but kept myself out of it."

Matt looked at his beer bottle.

"Not so much this last job."

Brady tilted his face and Matt saw his body tense in defensiveness.

"We rescued some children and sent them to a refugee center," he said, "If we hadn't…they'd still be cannon fodder in some civil war in South America…"

"I know…but I'm not going to do this. I'm not going to go looking for this woman. No matter how much money they offer me…"

Brady nodded.

"I got you…but the other men," he said, "They see it as a way to earn enough money to just spend the rest of the year deep sea fishing."

Matt sipped his beer.

"You will talk to them. You know them much better than I do. This isn't an assignment they'll want."

Brady leaned against the retaining wall.

"I guessed that. I don't want to get dragged into some man tracking down one of his missing whores," he said, "but the others….I'll talk to them but can't guarantee anything."

Matt nodded.

"Just do your best…."

C.J. listened as Jeb shared his latest poetry with the rest of the people at the New Year's Eve gathering. They all sat in the living room around the fire, crackling with the wood that he'd added after the guest refreshed their wine glasses. Jeb had been working on his poetry to prepare himself to give readings at the annual Elko Cowboy Poetry Festival and C.J. knew that Bonnie had been coaching him.

The two were slowly getting sweeter on each other but C.J. knew that Jeb still wore the pain from his past as a cop in NYC. Bonnie had her work cut out for her but she'd been making inroads.

C.J. had wrapped herself in a blanket and listened after her run in with Jonathan over the damn disc of information she'd taken with her when she'd escaped from the compound in Washington. Thea had arrived just in time to put her son in his place. C.J. just felt so much on overload right now when it came to the rational side of deciphering her months spent as a prisoner in that compound. Jonathan and his men pushed and pushed and pushed beyond what she wanted to remember. There'd be a day for all that but not right now.

She sipped the wine, which warmed her throat while Jeb wowed the audience with descriptive imagery wrapped up in iambic pentameter. The fire proved hypnotic In the plethora of colors even before its warmth reached her. The winter storm had amped up into a full-fledged blizzard and Jeb and Reed along with his younger brother Carter had been drenched in a blanket of now when feeding the horses. C.J. had offered herself up to help them but Thea had vetoed it.

She knew that Jonathan's mother did so out of concern but C.J. did feel stronger even her wrist stopped paining her.

Bonnie sat beside her.

"Hey he's good isn't he? I'm sure he'll win a prize at the festival in Elko."

C.J. nodded absently. Her mind had been slipping away to forbidden places, like her life back in L.A. with Matt, his Uncle Roy…Chris…no she had to shut that part of herself off. It did her no good while she remained her, unable to tap into her identity including her real name. Matt still traveled the world somewhere trying to sort out his own life after breaking off his engagement…and her own life had grown so damn complicated.

But still…

"Hey Kelly…it's really coming down out there," Bonnie continued," the storm…I'm hoping the road into town isn't closed tomorrow from it."

C.J. hadn't thought about that much but knew that it impacted people like Bonnie who lived in the valley but worked miles away from it in town. She shrugged.

"I'm sure it'll work out."

"I hope so…it's better for you since you're hiding out from your ex…"

C.J.'s muscles jerked until she remembered her cover story. She was a woman fleeing an abusive ex who beat her up…that was much better than the truth and safer for those around her than the truth.

She looked down at her wine glass, held with scarred fingers.

"I suppose so…"

She knew what Jonathan wanted from her. She just didn't know if she could give it to him.

Matt and Brady stood in the back of the cheering crowd as they counted down the final seconds of the end of the year. The men in dark suits who'd approached them seemed to have left and the party had picked up its rowdiness.

Zeke joined him and Brady as they saw the island's version of the glittering ball drop to give the old year its proper sendoff.

Matt tried to focus on the shimmering orb and the crowd that cheered it on….but he found his thoughts drifting elsewhere to his best friend, who no doubt was partying it up with friends in L.A.

He had so much to tell her and with the new year arising, he wanted to do it right.