Oooh updated this one finally. Hope you like it, thanks for reading and the feedback!
Matt thought back to those words his uncle had told him in the kitchen back then. C.J. of course had never told him anything about what had happened to her or that anyone had tried to harm her. He had heard from other people that she had mentioned something about an accident, a bad fall or something but nothing experienced at the hands of someone else.
He looked where she lay on the lounge chair on his uncle's veranda in the back. She had fallen asleep with the afternoon breeze on her face, settling under the shade away from the humidity that surrounded them. Her face appeared peaceful and her hands tucked against her and he marveled in her quiet beauty. That had knocked him off his feet a month ago as he finally realized that what he had wanted in his life to make it complete had been interwoven in it all along. When he had broached that subject with her, she had been wary at first. She later told him that she had felt that way because she had fallen for him before that and that standing as a witness to his scheduled wedding to Elizabeth had been so difficult that she had to find strength inside of her to do that. Because she deeply cared about her friend and if Elizabeth was the woman who could make him happy, then she had C.J.'s blessing.
But deep inside of her, much more so than she would readily admit she had hoped that he wouldn't go through with it, that something would stop him before he said those words of finality which would tie him to the woman with the fiery red hair that he had known mere months before their engagement. Now C.J. hadn't hoped for what did happen at his nuptials to take place because it had narrowly caused him and his fiancée their lives but she had gone out to stand by him on the helipad after Elizabeth had departed and then had invited him to catch a late night meal at his favorite restaurant.
Oh they had dinner and then she had left him with a kiss on his cheek and an embrace telling him she would keep things going at the office until he felt fine enough to return to his daily life.
And soon enough he realized what and who he wanted in that life, but persuading her of that took a little more time. They had been perfectly happy enough discovering each other through this new chapter in their relationships until the past had intruded. Now Matt had to figure out what to do to clear her of a murder he know she didn't commit.
After dinner, C.J. entered into the room and came by to give him a kiss. She had dressed in casual attire, jeans and a breezy shirt. The heat had just begun to turn stifling again and even as night approached, there hadn't been much in the way of relief.
He rubbed her shoulders with his hands looking at her.
"So what do you think of my going to talk to Jack," he asked.
She hedged.
"He's the one who filed charges against me."
Matt knew that but he also remembered back when he'd known the man who would later become the county's top prosecutor. Back when their daddies went on fishing trips together and talked business while their sons played.
"I might be able to get something useful out of him," Matt said, "We go back a ways."
"So did we," C.J. said.
Because she had after all, worked for the guy years ago though she hadn't ended her stint there quietly as it had turned out. And that had something to do with the man she had been accused of killing, but she could only remember bits and pieces of the encounters that her boss had with Dylan before his disappearance.
"I don't know if I can trust what he says," she said, "How do we know he's not involved in Dylan's murder?"
Matt paused at that, knowing she had raised an excellent point.
"I guess we'll have to find that out," he said, "We can't rule him out as a suspect because if he killed Dylan, framing you would be the perfect strategy to keep from going down for it himself."
C.J. rubbed between her eyes.
"I know they met more than that one time Houston," she said, "and if it's true that Jack was being blackmailed while running for office…"
"That's motive to get the blackmailer out of his way," Matt continued, "after drawing him in for the kill."
C.J. folded her arms.
"Okay so he does that," he said, "But if it were him, he might need some help to dispose of the body and cover it up all this time."
Matt stroked his chin.
"Who owned the land where they found him," he asked.
C.J. thought about it.
"It wasn't developed back then," she said, "Kids used to use it to play baseball but I think that at one point, it belonged to Robert Winston."
"My daddy knew him," he said, "He was mayor at one time back in the day."
Roy walked in the room with a Scotch.
"Uncle Roy, you spent time with Robert Winston didn't you?"
Roy sat in his chair, putting his drink on the table.
"I wasn't in town much, always on assignment," he said, "but in between, I used to play some poker with him and Jack's father, Jack Sr. and for a while, your father."
Before the two of them had the falling out which barely put them on speaking terms, of course.
"You did this regularly right," Matt asked, "When you were in town."
Roy nodded.
"I wasn't much for hanging out with the power players in Wild Fork," he said, "I had enough of that through my work and when I came back, I just preferred to unwind with my family and my horses. "
Matt could understand that, as he needed a place to decompress after particularly difficult cases. His ranch that he bought back in L.A. had served that purpose but now that he didn't frequent it much, he had gone to his cabin in the mountains. C.J. had joined him sometimes until she had killed a man there who had followed his obsession with her there to confront and kill her. After that, when she needed to unwind, she would drive up the coast to Bodega Bay and rent a cottage there.
"Your father tried to get me more involved in the politics," Roy said, "but I was never really here even when I was in town. Working for the company had its benefits but I never could really put that job aside at the end of the day."
"I think I'll schedule some meetings with some of these power players," Matt said, "Jack's father is still alive but out of politics. I wonder if he's still the driving force behind his son."
C.J. shrugged.
"He used to spend a lot of time at the office telling his son what to do," she said, "Jack hated it. Sometimes I wonder if he hated him."
The phone rang then and Roy went to get it. Matt watched his uncle talk and then return.
"It's for you Matlock," he said, "It's Nadine."
Matt looked at C.J.
"Wonder what she wants this time of night?"
C.J. just rolled her eyes at him, knowing perfectly well. Matt's sometimes lover from long ago wanted to rekindle what they had. Nadine hadn't even tried to play the role of the grieving widow wanting justice for her murdered husband. C.J. expected more animosity towards her from Nadine than she got, maybe an attempted cat fight or two but inside, she knew the truth. Nadine may hate her guts for a variety of reasons but she didn't think C.J. killed her husband and C.J. had to find out why.
Matt picked up the phone.
"Nadine, what's up?"
Her voice sounded both relieved and more than a little sultry. Matt felt his awareness increase because he remembered what Nadine had been like. Both good and bad.
"Oh Matt, I need to talk to you right now somewhere else," she said, "It's important."
"What's so pressing that you can't just tell me over the phone?"
She paused.
"It's too risky Matt," she said, "Someone might overhear."
"Where are you," Matt said, though he already had a good idea.
"I'm at the Wrangler where else," she said, "Why don't you come down here and I'll tell you what you need to know."
"Nadine…I'm here on business," Matt said, "That's my only interest in talking with you is to find out who killed your husband because I know C.J. didn't do it."
He imagined her making a face on the other end but he knew he had to lay out some ground rules for Nadine even though it might not do much good. Nadine went after what she wanted and at one time, that had been him in her bed. But that had been some years ago and he had thought she moved forward. Hell, he knew she didn't seem to miss Dylan all that much but Matt didn't believe there had been much to miss in that sociopath.
"Nadine…"
"Oh Matt don't refuse my request," she purred, "Remember what we used to mean to one another."
Matt sighed. All the time they had spent together had been either at the Wrangler or inside some motel room hitting the sheets. Nadine had known how to make some really good moves but outside of that, she just seemed interested in his daddy's money and Matt's status in Wild Fork as his only son.
"Okay…I'll meet you there," he said, "but only to find out what you know about your husband…nothing else."
"Sure thing Matt," she said, "I'll see you in a little bit."
Matt clicked off the phone. Now to pass this one past C.J. who know looked up at him, her brows raised.
"That's Nadine…she wants me to meet her at the Wrangler," he said, "She said it's about her husband."
C.J. sighed.
"Houston, this late at night," she said, "She's only thinking of one thing after 9 p.m. when she's not thinking about it the rest of the day."
Matt heard a trace of bitterness in her voice and more than that of suspicion. And he knew she had good reason after all, she and Nadine had never been friends or even amiable towards each other all the time they had known each other growing up. But if it meant finding information that could clear C.J. by finding the real killer so they could head on home, he knew he would do anything. She knew that too.
"It will only be a couple of hours," he said, "You can come with me an maybe hang discretely in the background."
Her eyes flashed.
"Okay cowboy, you can go to the Wranglers to meet her but you're coming home with me."
He smiled at that.
"Fair enough," he said, "I like the way you think counselor."
She stood up.
"Maybe I can find out some information too," she said, "After all, I used to work there."
Matt hated being reminded of that because it had been a dark period in both of their lives when she had returned to town from Harvard after her uncle died and he had returned there still consumed by guilt over Will. But she hadn't worked there long, quitting even before he could get her to quit. He sighed now at the irony of both of them now returning to that old haunt in the hopes of solving a murder and putting the past to rest.
Matt hadn't changed much before they left for the bar but C.J. had decided she needed to spice things up with her own appearance so she returned to the front room dressed in a skirt that Matt didn't recognize and a shirt that accentuated her assets nicely.
"Let's go play some pool and solve a murder," she said, amused by his expression.
"C.J…"
"Oh lighten up Houston," she said, "and stop looking at my chest."
"I…"
She linked her arm in his own and they walked to the front door.
"We'd better get on down there in time for the wet tee-shirt contest."
They had driven on down to the Wrangler which looked exactly as Matt remembered it except for the new paint job. Ron still managed it, and looking only a little bit older, he smiled when he saw both of them walk into his establishment.
"I never thought I'd ever see the two of you again," he said, "but in C.J.'s case, I hoped that I would and you look very lovely tonight."
Matt gave him a cool look.
"Forget it Ron," he said, "She's not working for you."
Ron looked offended.
"I wouldn't think of it. I heard she's a successful lawyer now," he said, "I also heard she's out on bail facing a murder charge for icing old Dylan."
"She didn't kill anyone."
Ron shrugged.
"Dylan was a loser but when he disappeared that night, I thought he'd just run off on Nadine again," he said.
Matt looked around at several men playing pool with several women dressed similar to C.J. watching them while nursing drinks.
"Speaking of Nadine," he said, "Have you seen her tonight?"
Ron smiled.
"She's getting a powder, she'll be back in a minute," he said, "You meeting her like old times?"
Matt shook his head.
"Strictly business."
C.J. looked over and saw that Nadine had returned, passing the pool table to exchange some quick words with the women there. She wondered if they were members of her old posse. But C.J. didn't recognize them and she would if they had been in the group that had made her life difficult while growing up. Though when Nadine had needed help, they had been telling her to go back to her husband.
Nadine sashayed up to Matt and after giving C.J. a frosty look, focused only on him.
"Oh Matt you came," she said, "Let's go someplace private where we can catch up."
"Nadine, I'm here to get some information that you said you had on your husband…"
"Oh…of course," she said, "Well let's go get a private table then."
She touched his back lightly before they walked away and C.J. just rolled her eyes at the woman. But she knew Matt and that he had business in mind and business only. She decided to make herself useful and so she sashayed up to the pool table to watch the game. One man with some impressive tattoos and dark hair looked up at her, his eyes scanning her body.
He smiled so obviously he liked what he saw.
"Want to play a game," he asked.
She smiled at him.
"I'm not really all that good," she said, "Do you think you can teach me?"
He approached her and he stroked her arm. She bristled at that, not that he wasn't attractive but she wasn't a plaything.
"Did you ride into town," she asked, "You look like you ride bikes rather than horses."
He smiled again.
"I do all kinds of riding doll face."
She sighed but she remembered him vaguely from high school and from when she worked at the Wrangler a few years ago. Maybe he would know something useful and if she played a long for a while, she could find out.
"I'm sure you do," she said, "We can talk about that later after you show me how to play some pool."
He handed her a cue and showed her the finer points of the game in an impromptu lesson, making sure his body hugged hers closely as he demonstrated the winning shots.
Matt glanced over at her and didn't like what he saw but he knew she was just trying to do what he was doing, get more information but Zeke, he had been a high school dropout who had spent more than a few weekends locked up in jail on various charges sometimes for fighting. He hadn't like Dylan much as he recalled and Matt remembered a couple of fistfights between them years ago.
Nadine chuckled at the sight.
"Looks like C.J.'s found herself a friend," she said, "Zeke will show her a good time or two."
Matt forced a smile on her face.
"C.J.'s a natural pool shark," he said, "I doubt he knows that."
"He's not interested in her abilities with a pool stick…"
Oh Matt knew that but he trusted C.J.'s ability to handle men who she didn't like but needed information from and Zeke had better not try to pull anything on her.
"Now what were we talking about," Nadine said, batting her eyes at him, "Oh my dead husband."
"Yes Nadine, you said you had some information about him," Matt said.
"I do, but let's break the ice first," she said, "I feel like there's some…tension between us."
"Nadine…"
His words stopped because at that moment, he felt a bare foot stroking his calf.
"What are you doing," he asked.
She leaned forward and smiled at him.
"What does it look like," she said, "I'm perfectly willing to get this information on one condition…that you come back with me to my motel room for old times' sake."
He just stared at her.
Zeke walked up behind C.J. pressing his body closer to hers while trying to position his hands on her own as she lined up her shot. She just looked over her shoulder at him.
"I can handle it from here just fine Zeke."
"I know doll face but you just feel so damn good," he said, "I've dreamed about this night for years."
She frowned at him.
"Dreamed about it," she said, "You mean since you took me to the dance and tried to feel me up right on the dance floor?"
He grinned at her, his hands wrapping around her waist.
"Oh man I knew you were one hot number back then," he said, "Even though the other guys were afraid to even approach you…"
That confused her.
"Afraid…why?"
Zeke pulled away then after she sunk her ball in the corner pocket and needed to line up her next shot.
"Damn you've been holding out on me again," he said, "You know your way around a pool table."
She smiled at him.
"Well they're useful…for a couple of things."
He chuckled.
"I always thought you were hot," he said, "but Dylan…"
Her attention turned to him in a flash.
"Dylan…what do you mean about him?"
Zeke watched as she fired another shot, sinking another ball.
"He didn't want anyone hanging around you," he said, "He wanted you for himself."
Not exactly news to C.J. but she hadn't been aware that others knew about his attraction to her when she had come back to town.
"He told you that?"
Zeke nodded.
"And his wife overheard…"
Matt looked across at Nadine who looked like she wanted to just eat him up. The predatory look in her eyes that he knew so well couldn't be misinterpreted even after the years that passed.
"Nadine, I don't think…"
She sighed.
"You think too damn much," she said, "That's always been your problem."
Matt looked over at C.J. and saw that Zeke had wrapped his arms around her purportedly to help her line up her pool shot. Nadine noticed, and her mouth curled into a smile.
"She seems right in her element," she said, "with men flocking around her."
Matt noted some resignation in her voice along with animosity.
"You mean like she had caught Dylan's attention."
Nadine nodded.
"He used to say that she was coming onto him like a cat in heat," she said, "but I think he wanted what she had to offer."
"Maybe she didn't want it Nadine."
Nadine chuckled.
"All women want that Matt," she said, "Some of us are just more honest about wanting a man's attentions."
Matt didn't think that C.J. ever had that problem. She had always been direct in her relationships with men as far as he had known. She had told Matt once in a quiet moment spent with him up in his cabin that she hadn't wanted any misunderstandings.
"She could do worse than Zeke," Nadine said, "He knows how to please a woman."
"Sounds like you know from experience."
She scowled.
"We had our good times," she said, "but he's really not my type."
"No I suppose not," Matt said, "were 'those times' while you were married to Dylan?"
He thought she might be angry with him but she just looked pensive.
"Maybe…more a thought than action."
Matt looked back over at C.J. who had moved away from Zeke who had gone to line up a shot. He wondered how far C.J. was ahead in the game. He sighed as he felt Nadine stroking his leg with her foot again.
C.J. had been surprised when she had learned the extent of Dylan's interest in her. He had been the first man she had ever fallen in love with albeit until he dumped her after their brief affair while he worked on Matt's family ranch. She had been young and pretty naïve about physical relationships and she assumed he had either gotten bored with her or had other women lined up on the side. It had stung when he left but she had gotten over it and moved on quickly enough. Zeke returned to her and this time he placed his hands on her waist from the front.
"You held out on me," he said, "You've played this game before…"
She found herself wondering what he meant…oh yeah pool. She had played the game while growing up and she and Matt had played it a lot especially when stumped on the particulars of a thorny case.
C.J. took a deep breath when Zeke's hands moved up from her waist to well, not where she really wanted them.
"Hey doll face, why don't we play for a wager?"
She looked up at him, trying to ignore that his hands had moved towards stroking her back. She had learned to play along when playing a role to get more information from a subject. Not that she always liked it but whatever worked to solve a case.
"Like what?"
He grinned at her.
"I win the next round, you spend the night with me," he said, "and if you win…"
"I'll get my pick of any man in the bar," she finished.
He scowled at her, not liking that addition to the rulebook at all.
"Well actually…I was thinking…"
"That I'd go with you anyway," C.J. said, "Now what kind of conditions are those, either way I do it your way."
"Oh we could be doing it all kind of ways…"
Okay, either the alcohol had loosened up Zeke or he was always had a lecherous bent. She extricated herself from his embrace but he didn't want to let her go.
"Put your hands off of me," she said, "or I'll show you what this doll face can do."
He moved his hands all right to her breasts which she didn't like at all. And he probably wouldn't like what came next.
One of those power packed moves that Matt had taught her when she had gone to him several years ago asking him to teach her how to defend herself. And he had done that without laying any conditions on her.
It didn't take Zach long to know she could take care of herself.
"Why darling…I never saw this side of you…"
Matt looked over and saw trouble. But he noted that C.J. appeared to have the upper hand on the groper and was about to send him down on the floor. Then he remembered something…she couldn't get in a fight in public because she was out on bail.
"She's going to get her ass right back in jail," Nadine noted. "The woman never did have class."
Matt shot Nadine a look and walked over to where C.J. had looked like she was going to disable Zeke with a knee to the groin.
"You tease," he gasped while he blocked her move.
Matt grabbed his arm and pulled him back. C.J. looked up at Matt startled.
"Houston I've got it all under control."
Matt slammed Zeke against a wall.
"But you're on bail and you can't violate any laws or ordinances or they'll revoke it."
She hadn't remembered that part of the fine print on her release forms.
"Good point," she said, "We'd better just go. I'm sure he's had enough."
"He's not going to report it?"
C.J. shook her head.
"It'd be too embarrassing for him if it ever got out," she said, "I'm done here."
She smoothed out her skirt and her shirt.
"The action was always lousy here."
Matt bit back a chuckle and placing a hand on her back, they walked on out. Nadine walked up to them.
"Wait Matt…I hadn't gotten to the best part of what I had to say…"
"Later," he told her as he and C.J. walked out of the bar.
Driving back, she didn't say very much at first and he remained focused on what Nadine had told him in between her attempts to seduce him. That she probably had been cheating on Dylan during their marriage and possibly with Zeke.
"So how'd it go with Nadine," she asked finally.
"She seemed awfully cozy at one time with your guy."
"Oh you mean Zeke," C.J. said, "Well he and Dylan didn't always see eye to eye either but he did tell me that he never approached me back then because Dylan told him not to do it."
That surprised Matt.
"So Dylan was why you…"
She smiled.
"Okay just say it," she said, "Why the pickings for me were especially scarce here."
He had pulled into Roy's drive and they parked the car but chose to sit inside it. Matt listened to the noises of the engine ebb to be replaced by the sounds of crickets outside the window.
"Except for you of course," she continued, "That weekend we spent together…was still my favorite."
Matt moved closer to kiss her and her lips eagerly met her own as his hands rested on her to bring them even closer together. He broke away, and still breathing heavily, they gazed at one another.
"Mine too," he said, "If I had known it would take so long…"
She put her fingers on his lips.
"No regrets okay," she said, "We had to live the lives we did and make our choices to get back to where we are now."
Matt had known that to be true but damn it was hard to reconcile himself with the fact that they had lost valuable time trying to keep themselves from crossing that fine line again when they could have been doing other things.
"You're damn sexy when you are reasonable…"
She smiled and he pulled her closer this time, much closer. His lips started at her mouth but traveled down to her chin, the area beneath her jaw, her neck. Her skin intoxicated his taste buds, the hint of her shampoo reached him.
"Houston…"
"Don't say anything," he gently scolded, "I'm too busy here."
She could see that and definitely feel that, when his hands began stroking her before stealthily slipping underneath her shirt.
"I haven't done this since I've been a teenager," she whispered.
"You mean made out inside a car," he asked, "We'll have to remedy that."
She chuckled and then sucked in her breath as his hands toyed with the straps of her camisole underneath her shirt.
"Houston…"
"That's my name."
Damn it felt so good to be in his arms like this, she thought, but she found herself pulling away from him.
"I can't…"
He looked at her puzzled, his face flushed.
"Can't do what?"
"This," she said, "I want to so much, it's just that…"
He knew that she spoke the truth but that something held her back from expressing herself as much as she wanted to do so.
She tried to slow down her breathing and adjust her clothes after she put some distance between them, about as much as could be done inside a cramped car.
"What's the matter," he asked.
And when she looked at him finally, he saw tears sparkle in her eyes, lit up by the moonlight.
"I don't know what's going to happen to me," she said, "or what kind of future I'll have left. I could be spending the rest of my life in prison or even on death row."
He closed his eyes at the images which raced inside his head. But he knew she needed him right now to not be caught up inside his own concerns.
"That's not going to happen…"
"Who's going to stop it," she said, "Houston, I'll be going on trial facing murder charges and right now, there's nothing pointing towards the real killer."
"We'll find out who really did it and clear you."
She heard the stubbornness in his voice intertwined with love. Damn, she had been looking her entire life for what had been right in front of her the whole time and ready to embrace all of it before her past rudely intruded.
"I don't want to start something with you I can't finish…"
His face softened then and he caressed her face while moving in closer to brush his lips softly over hers this time.
"Oh we're definitely going to do much more than start something," he said, "C.J. I've found the woman I want to spend my life with and I'm not letting her go."
Despite her fear, a smile curled her mouth.
"Oh really, do I know her?"
He just smiled at her and opened his car door to get out.
"Come on," he said, "Let's go inside and move this to the couch…"
"But Houston…"
He put his hands up.
"I'll behave myself I promise," he said, "but cuddling on the chaise in the back porch will do us both some good."
She nodded at that and took his hand in her own as they walked to the house.
"Houston…"
"Hmmmm…."
She winked at him when he looked at her.
"Don't behave yourself too much…"