12

Just before bringing C.J. back from hypnosis, Sydney told her she was tired and would want to take a nap after getting back to her room.

She told him and Matt that she was in fact feeling better. Matt took her back to the room. C.J. still refused to look at him much, but he softly took her in his arms for a second before she got back in bed and whispered to her, "I love you, so very, very much."

She whispered that she loved him back and then told him she was tired. He tucked her in and watched her drift off. After kissing her forehead again he nodded to the nurse sitting in the corner and then went out her door. He took a deep breath, ran his hands over his face and looked up.

Greg walked over to him with a styrofoam cup of coffee and said, "I haven't seen anything."

Matt nodded and said, "Good, just keep a close watch, alright?"

Sydney then walked over from the nurses station where he had just left a file, "She should be out for a little while. Why don't you go get a nap yourself? You look like you could use one."

Matt shook his head, "I can't...I have to make a little trip myself."

Sydney whispered, "Texas?"

Matt looked around and answered as he lead Sydney over to a corner, "I really need this to be kept between us."

Sydney nodded and said softly, "Don't worry..." Then louder he said, "I think you should get some rest, yes. Don't worry, if we need you, you're just down the hall." He then winked at Matt who smiled and mouthed, 'Thank you.'

Matt made his way quickly back to the penthouse. Roy was planted in front of Baby when he came in. He took a handful of messages from off Chris' desk. She wasn't there so he just grabbed them and headed in.

Roy was becoming more and more frustrated and didn't even hear Matt come in, "Come on Baby...you gotta give me something!"

Matt stepped down and put his hand on Roy's shoulder to balance himself, "Yelling at her doesn't work so well. You gotta sweet talk Baby." He then said, "Hiya Baby."

Baby texted back, "Hiya boss...no files found."

Roy then said sarcastically, "Yeah...sweet talking always works."

Matt asked, "No news on Sacan, huh?"

Roy then pulled up a printout. "All Baby could find is that he is tied to the Italian syndicate, he is actually leading the west coast branch of it. Seems he is the youngest son of one of the most brutal and ruthless syndicate leaders, Bartolmeo Sacan. When Daniel was representing him he was a minor player. Not unusual, families like this want to test the young bucks to make sure they can handle it. Just because the dad is strong doesn't mean the son is or will command that much respect and discipline."

Matt nodded his head and then said, "So he passes the test sorta speak and then moves up. He got off under Daniel's replacement." Matt shook his head, "I wouldn't want to represent him either. Daniel must have known the man was guilty." Matt then started to pace, "You know that makes sense, if Daniel knew Sacan was guilty and had proof, that would give Sacan one hell of a motive for murdering him."

Roy then said standing up himself, "Yeah, but why go after the wife? These guys usually don't worry so much about the law, especially back then. In fact, that would just bring more unwanted attention to himself. The company didn't just investigate communism you know...we looked at all threats to America. The last thing the syndicate wants is publicity and this was very public. It doesn't make the family look good and its all about protecting the family."

Matt looked up at the picture of Sacan on Baby and said, "I don't know, Uncle Roy, but I'm making him my prime suspect and I'm going to find out if he's the one who murdered C.J.'s parents, once and for all."

After landing the chopper at the airport Roy asked Matt, "Are you sure you want to go back to Texas alone? I knew my brother really well. If there is something hidden, you may just need my help."

Matt shook his head as the two walked across the tarmac to his jet that was being refueled. He took his approved flight plan from the attendant and told Roy, "No, I need you to stay here. See if we can't get a location on Sacan. I don't want anyone knowing I'm headed that way. I'll be back by tonight. Just keep plugging away. If I need your help I'll call and Uncle Roy..." He stopped just before climbing into the jet, "be careful."

Roy told him to do the same and then went back to the chopper. After watching Matt take off he flew back to the penthouse where he spent the rest of the afternoon with Baby unsuccessfully trying to track down Sacan.

It was a difficult flight for Matt. Most of the time when he flew his jet C.J. was with him and gave him someone to talk to. He inhaled as he thought about the look on her face that morning and everything that had happened in the last 48 hours. The silence was deafening. It shot through him quickly that if he lost her, this is what it would be like. There was already a hole where she belonged. His anger grew with each mile as the thought about the one who had caused her so much pain and threatened to take her away from him completely.

How would he handle losing her mind, if not her body? He knew all too well the dangers associated with messing with a person's mind like that. What if C.J. had one of those bombs planted in her psyche and what if, despite Sydney's best efforts, it went off anyway. How could he possibly live knowing she would do nothing more in life than lay in a hospital bed staring at the ceiling.

Matt had to take several deep breaths and tell himself that he was playing out the worst case scenario. That he was just tired and what he feared would never happen because he would never allow it to happen. He knew though, that all the money in the world didn't protect him nor C.J. from being injured, there was only so much it could protect them from.

He landed and headed straight for the homestead. Both Bo and Lamar were in the kitchen when he came in, they had just finished lunch. He didn't even acknowledge them.

Matt made a beeline for Bill's room. He found the armoire quickly enough but really didn't see where a secret compartment could be.

The other two came in quietly behind him. Bo asked softly, "Looking for something?"

Matt almost jumped 5 feet and then clutched his chest, "Don't sneak up on me like that, fellas.". Then he turned his attention once more to the armoire.

Bo and Lamar looked at each other confused and then Lamar asked, "So, ah...whatcha doin, Houston? We didn't even know you was comin back down."

Bo added, "Yeah, I mean we woulda picked you up from the airport and everything.". Matt continued without really looking back at them. Bo and Lamar looked at each other and then Bo added, "You wouldn't be down here for C.J. would ya?". That caught Matt's attention and he looked back at them slowly.

Lamar then spoke up just a little scared, "She's not still sore at us for that bar fight is she? I mean you were only defending her honor and we were only backing you up...I mean, can't you just explain it to her? I really don't want to be on the receiving end of another one of her practical jokes, huh, please?"

Matt smiled for just a second and then told them, "Look, I'll do what I can. I can guarantee that right now she isn't plotting to get back at us.". He rubbed the back of his neck for a second before asking, "Hey Lamar, you wouldn't happen to know who Daddy used to get to do all his carpentry work, do you?"

Lamar thought for a second and rubbed his chin, "Well, when he had me managing the the contractors and stuff it was Blake...uh, can't remember his last name. Why?"

Matt then asked, "Well do you know where I could find him?"

Lamar answered, "Sure, Dateville cemetery, he passed on about 5 years ago."

Matt turned back frustrated, "Damn!". He moved more things around trying it seemed, in vain to find this hidden safe.

Bo and Lamar still seemed confused so Bo spoke up, "Houston, whatcha lookin for?"

Matt took a deep breath as he stood up straight again and said, "A safe, Daddy had Blake build a safe in this somewhere but I don't know where."

He was about to give up. He had looked inside and outside and didn't see where there could possibly be a safe hidden in the wood, it simply wasn't thick enough. There was a old looking frame though in the door on one side of it on the inside. It caught Matt's eye. The two were still kids when it was taken one summer. In fact it reminded him of his 13th birthday, the same one when he got thrown by that horse and wound up in that manure pile. He softly touched it running one finger over C.J.'s face wishing so much he could just fly back and find her smiling that way again.

Then it hit him, that this was at the same time his Daddy had the safe put in. He started to fiddle with the frame as Bo and Lamar looked on. After a second he slid the picture out to reveal a small combination lock. 'Great,' Matt thought, 'now what?'

Bo and Lamar didn't prove that helpful here and ended up going back out to finish the daily ranching duties. Matt had tried every password Bill had ever used that he knew of, his birthday, Matt's, his mother's (that one was usually reserved for the really important stuff) and nothing. He was about to give up and just hire a welder to open the thick steel looking box, before he thought about C.J.'s birthday. He tried that and it opened right up.

Matt took a deep breath. Slowly he pulled out a large 8x11 envelope with a seal that seemed so full it was almost busting. It also looked a little old and weathered. Matt hoped it's contents were in better shape. He took it to the bed after checking to make sure there was nothing left in the safe before closing it. Then he took it all and opened it on the bed.

Matt didn't know exactly what to expect when he flew down in search of this file. What he found were notations on yellow legal pad paper about Nikkos Sacan and a murder case, blood tests, along with some kind of weird doodle. Matt figured these were written by Daniel himself. It caused Matt to stop for a second as he read it over. This was C.J.'s father's handwriting. It caused him to pause, in a sense paying homage to the man C.J. cared so much for.

Reading the words, Matt noticed that C.J. took after her father in some ways. He smiled for a second at that. The information he found was that, Nikkos wasn't even pretending to not be guilty of the crime, he had simply told Daniel to get him off and his Dad would pay him whatever. Daniel, it appeared didn't really have a choice. His firm had placed him under Daniel because he seemed to be the most up and coming of the newer hires and the one who thought quickest on his feet.

Matt then looked at the photos. They were crime scene photos from the murder Nikkos was being charged with. They were graphic and Matt knew now exactly what his father meant when he said he wished he hadn't seen them. Matt had seen some bad things, but these almost seemed inhuman, especially the burn marks.

There was also a smaller envelope from a hospital lab and a penciled notation, most significant, and Matt carefully pulled out the paper inside. It was some kind of lab result. It looked like a blood type report but it only said that sample x and y were not a match. That puzzled Matt, because if blood evidence was found at the scene, wouldn't it not matching work in Nikkos' favor? Surely Daniel wouldn't have let a man be found guilty if he wasn't. But then Nikkos was basically saying he was guilty. Matt didn't feel he was that much closer to solving this case than when he first got on his jet. Maybe Roy could help him figure it all out. Of course, the one best to ask was C.J., her expertise in all matters legal could really help him out, but he just didn't want to run the risk of triggering something himself. He gathered everything and headed back to L.A.