Matt came in the door and started to quietly make his way upstairs. He didn't want to wake Chris up with the door or anything. About halfway up the stairs he thought he heard crying and he recognized that it was C.J. so he started moving faster.

"C.J." he said softly when he saw her on the couch with her hands on her face. The room looked ransacked and for a split second he was afraid the attacker had found out where Chris was and shown up. He dropped the file he was holding and knelt down as he put his hand on his wife's hand on her cheek and asked, "Honey what happened, are you alright? Are you hurt?"

C.J. looked up at him and put her hands back down in her lap and said, "I'm fine Matt, Chris is the one hurt. You're right there is a link. She was hurt because of me. The animal who did this to her did so because I took this case."

Matt was confused still and needed to know what happened because the files and evidence were all over the floor. "Honey, just take it easy and tell me what happened here? Did someone break in? Is Chris ok?"

C.J. shook her head and told him, "No, no one broke in. I made this mess, I'm sorry I was just so angry. I just can't believe this, I can't believe any of this."

Matt took her cheek again and with his thumb brushed away her tears and told her, "C.J. some predator attacked Chris. This wasn't your fault, even if it is connected to your case. Do you hear me?"

She nodded her head and looked back at the mess, "I need to clean this up." She started to move, but Matt stopped her.

"Come here," he said. He took her in his arms and held her for a few minutes. She didn't resist, it felt so good to be in his arms, he was always the only one who could really give her any comfort when she was truly hurting.

After a few minutes and sensing that she had calmed down he asked her, "What happened when I left? How do you know what happened to Chris is connected to this case?"

C.J. then told him everything Chris had said in her sleep. Matt seemed just as surprised and then added, "The toxicology report from Chris' attack matched the one from Sheryl Marx. It would appear that Ricardo is innocent if it weren't for all the evidence collected at the scene from Marx's attack."

Matt then got up and started pacing. C.J. knew that was how he thought through cases, "I think we have two men, not just one attacking women. That can be the only explanation as to why the same drug was given to both women and why Chris' attacker would say something like that to her."

C.J. nodded her head. "Someone else wants Ricardo out of jail and that someone attacked Chris last night to send me a clear message."

Matt sat back down and took her in his arms again, rubbing her back as he told her, "He sent a clear message to me too. Actually it was more like a declaration of war and we're going to find him and he is never going to hurt another woman again." She nodded and he continued, "This showed me something else too, if we are going to let Chris take on a bigger role, she's going to need better protection. From now on, she doesn't so much as walk to her car at night without an escort and when she's up to it, she's going to join us in the self-defense training. In fact, I was thinking about starting a program for all of our female employees."

C.J. looked up at him and asked, "Why type of program?"

Matt looked back down, brushing her hair back and said, "Self-defense training workshops. I can hire the best trainers and they can hold Friday morning workshops. That way they can have the tools they need to protect themselves. I was thinking about making it clear to all supervisors that anyone who wants to attend one of them is allowed to, no matter what their workload is and even offering a bonus at the end of training. What do you think?"

C.J. smiled as she looked at his warm face. She loved Matt for so many reasons and his dedication to protecting people was just one of them. She answered him by saying, "Just when I didn't think I could love you any more than I do already….You are such an amazing man Matlock Houston and I am so lucky to be married to you."

He smiled and pulled her closer, "I love you, C.J." They held each other again and he thought he'd add one more little comment, "Just remember you said all that when we work out again tomorrow." They both smiled for a second.

Matt and C.J. worked together to pick up the mess she had made and put all the papers neatly back into the appropriate folders. The rest of the afternoon C.J. worked on putting together a list of questions she planned to ask Ricardo. Matt went back to the office after calling Uncle Roy to meet him there. Matt told him he'd try to be there soon, but had a couple of stops to make first. They decided to let him know what was going on as C.J. needed to stay close to Chris and Matt now needed more help on the case as they now knew the two were connected. They knew Uncle Roy also cared for Chris and would be more than willing to help. When they asked Chris, she nodded her head and said, "Ok, if you think he can help."

When Matt arrived he found his uncle and Lucy kissing in the hot tub in the penthouse. Matt cleared his throat loudly so as to announce his presence. He smiled at the two of them as they looked at him. Roy then sat up slowly and cleared his own throat and saying, "I was just showing Lucy around the office. And then we decided to take a little dip." He turned to her and said, "Why don't you head downstairs and change and I'll be right along in a minute to join you?" They kissed one more time as Matt looked away. Lucy took a towel and headed off and Matt knelt down by his uncle.

"Uncle Roy, I don't mind you two using my hot tub, but when you know I'm coming over here…" he started.

"Relax, boy, we weren't planning on going all the way here..." Matt started to blush and looked down, these were more details he didn't need to know about his uncle and his love life. "We were just having a little fun. So what's this case you've got that's going to tear me away from Lucy?"

Matt walked over to the bar to make coffee. Even though it was after noon now, they had some serious work to do. He told his uncle to change first and then they could talk. After walking Lucy to the elevator Roy joined Matt at the bar and took a cup from him.

"You gonna share what's going on or do I have to guess?" he asked.

Matt looked down at his cup of coffee for a second and then looked back at his uncle. He knew Roy viewed Chris almost like a daughter. He remembered Chris telling him how he drove her home the night they thought C.J. had died and how he took care of her so he knew this was going to hurt him too. He took a deep breath and looked back at his uncle who now looked worried and told him, "Chris was attacked last night and we think it is tied to a case C.J. took yesterday. C.J. is going to stay with her for a while and I need to investigate and I need your help."

Roy adjusted his jaw and asked, "Is she ok? How bad did the animal hurt her?" Matt could see clearly the fury in his uncle's eyes.

Matt nodded his head and told him, "She's recovering. I think physically she will heal….as far as psychologically, I'm not sure." He looked down again, "It was a brutal attack, I've never seen her like that. She was drugged…." Matt decided to stop there.

Uncle Roy closed his eyes for a second, thinking through all the things he could do to the person responsible when he caught up with him. There were several techniques they used back in the company to extract information from less than willing informants. He had a multiplicity of ideas of what to do with this piece of trash when Matt got his hands on him. "Let's get to work."