15

Matt found C.J. still sitting on the bed. It didn't appear to him that she had moved at all. He asked the nurse about him taking her for a walk and she checked for orders at the nurses station and found that Sydney had indeed approved it. He had made calls to his uncle and Seth to get the word out that he knew exactly what Daniel had on Nikkos Sacan and why he had Daniel and his wife killed, that he had the proof and that he was staying in the penthouse because he was heartbroken at C.J. losing her mind entirely. He wanted it to appear to Sacan anyway, that his plan had worked and only Matt, not C.J. were a threat to him. He needed Sacan to come back to town to do anything. Seth told him, he had contacts in customs that would alert him the second he walked off a plane.

He sat down beside C.J., taking her hand and asked her, "You wanna go for a little walk?"

C.J. just looked down for a second, then closed her eyes before saying, "Sure, why not?" Matt was unaware that while he had been talking to Sydney, the nurses who just changed shifts had been gossiping just outside her door about everything being reported about Matt, both true and false. C.J. knew not to trust all the information, but the whispers about him leaving her because he thought she had lost her mind, really hit home. The papers they were quoting seemed to know exactly where she was and said he had been drinking to forget her the night before.

He took her hand helping her up and then placed his arm around her waist, every few minutes rubbing the small of her back. As they got to the courtyard he said, "Its really nice out here."

She shrugged, "I guess so. What does it matter though."

Matt took a deep breath and told her, "You know I remember the last time we took a walk together. It was on the beach, just outside our bungalow."

C.J. smiled through a couple of tears and said, "That was the highlight of my life I think."

Matt told her, stopping in front of her, taking both hands in his, "There are going to be a lot more highlights, C.J. I promise you. I know this is hard..." She looked away and he looked up for a second and then said, "Ok, I don't know exactly how hard this is for you, but I'm right here. I'd give anything for this nightmare to be over for you and for us to go right back to that beach, but honey we have break this hold this whole case has on you. I know who killed your father and your mother now. I guarantee he is going down for this, but I can't break that hold, only you can, working with this doctor..."

C.J. took a deep breath and said with some anger in her voice, "Don't you think I know that!" Matt took a step back, blinking almost not recognizing C.J. at that moment. She shook her hands out of his and started fidgeting. Matt didn't know what was going on exactly. She looked up at him glaring and told him, "You think you have this whole case figured out! Who killed my father and my mother..." She started to black out, but Matt caught her. She shook her head and broke free from his embrace again.

Matt tried to talk to her but at a complete loss as to what to do. "C.J."

C.J. shook her head again, trying to regain her composure. Her anger had built up and even she couldn't exactly explain why. "Stop it! I'm going back inside. You don't have to stay Houston."

He got directly in her path and said rather firmly, "Houston? Since when do you call me Houston? I'm not Houston to you anymore, C.J., remember? I'm Matt, your husband. Now I know you're hurting right now and I know my not being here yesterday must have been difficult for you, but I'm solving this..."

She started shouting now, drawing the attention of the nurses. One turned around and headed to the nearest phone to call Sydney. C.J. yelled at him, "How would you know? How the hell would you know how difficult this is for me? Huh?! You didn't lose your parents like I did!" She started pushing at him, but he grabbed her wrists. As she struggled against him, hitting him she shouted, "Let me go! Damn it Houston, let me go!"

He pulled her wrists to her and then pinned her arms between her body and his as he pulled her into a tight hug. "No, I won't let you go, ever! C.J. calm down!"

Sydney then ran into the courtyard with a needle. He kept it hidden in his jacket, hoping to avoid using it, but bringing it just in case what the nurse told him wasn't an exaggeration. After showing Matt who was having an increasingly difficult time restraining her with her screaming, and pinning his body against hers to avoid her favorite defensive moves, he closed his eyes and nodded to him. Sydney took the syringe and injected the medicine into C.J.'s hip.

Her screams of "Stop it! Stop it! Let me go! I hate you! I hate you!" started to die down as her body processed the much more powerful sedative. Matt had fallen himself to the ground with C.J. pressed against him barely moving now.

Four orderlies and two nurses came and helped put C.J. on a stretcher and took her back to her room. Matt just sat there for another second, breathing heavily not really able to move yet. His eyes followed his wife, unconscious as she was being wheeled back inside.

Sydney had given a couple of orders to the nurse and then walked back over to Matt. He held out his hand to help him up and said, "Come on."

Matt just looked at him and said, "What the hell just happened?" He looked dazed and confused himself.

Sydney answered as he took his hand back and instead sat down beside him on the concrete walkway, "I think she's frustrated."

Matt almost laughed and said, "Frustrated? I've seen C.J. frustrated, but I've never seen her like that before."

Sydney then told him, "I don't mean regular frustrated. I told you earlier, I think that when confronted with those specific memories, she's supposed to follow those embedded commands. Not being able to do so, in this case with my giving her a sedative yesterday, put her on edge. Initially I think she went back to the old standby, become ill in some way. Then when that didn't work she got depressed. Now she's angry, frustrated because psychologically she can't do what she has been told to do. Don't take it personally."

Matt ran his hand through his hair, "Right, don't take it personally. I feel like I'm losing my wife..." His words stuck in his throat.

Sydney patted his shoulder and told him, "Come with me. I think I may have something that may help you."

Matt agreed but only if he could see for himself that she was safe back in the room. Once he got to the door he looked in and saw her laying on the bed peacefully sleeping, but with restraints on her wrists. He was mad again, but before he could say anything Sydney lead him out. All Matt could say was, "I thought I was clear..."

Sydney softly said, "Come on, follow me." He lead Matt to what looked like an old shed. He explained, "This old building is used to fire the pottery some of our patients create in therapy. We also use it to release a little of our own frustrations." He took a glass bowl and threw it against the wall.

Matt looked at him like he was crazy and said, "Did you just throw a perfectly good bowl against the wall to break it?"

Sydney chuckled and answered, "Yes, yes I did. You see some of our patients create pottery and some of them create mosaics from broken glass. We sane ones are the ones who do most of the breaking." He took a glass and threw it against the wall. "There's nothing crazy about it, in fact its quite liberating." He took an old vase and handed it to Matt, "Here, you try it."

Matt looked skeptical but then threw it. He blinked a couple of times.

Sydney rolled his eyes and said, "Not like that..." he picked up another glass, "like this!" He then threw it hard against the wall.

Matt picked up another glass and after tossing it in his hand for a second threw it as hard as he could toward the wall. It shattered into a million pieces. Good thing they were standing so far away from it.

Sydney then told him, "Good, there you go. How do you feel now?"

Matt told him, "Hand me another one."

Sydney gave him a larger glass and Matt threw it just as hard. He watched Matt throw 10 more objects and start breathing heavily again. Then he spoke up, "I think that's good for now."

Matt looked back at the broken glass, "Alright..." He took another deep breath, "Were you able to read the files I gave you?"

Sydney nodded and said, "I got through the Marshal's report, but not much further. I think I have a good idea as to what happened to her back then."

Matt nodded his head and then asked, "Can you help her?" Tears were forming in his eyes as he asked.

Sydney thought for a second and then said, "I think so, but I won't lie to you, I can't guarantee anything." Matt looked down for a second but he continued, "A very smart, but very dangerous and disturbed man put her under hypnosis and left commands so powerful they are influencing her actions today, years later." He shook his head, "That isn't something that's easy to do and its very difficult to undo."

Matt nodded again before saying, "How do we undo it?"

Sydney answered, "We don't, she has to. I concur with your original assumption about all this. I believe that whoever planted in her mind that she should kill herself at the memory of her parents' deaths, used that pain to manipulate her. I fear that it was probably during those two weeks she was kidnapped..." Matt closed his eyes again, "that this was done. If I'm right, she was put under hypnosis just after her mother was killed in front of her and that fear entrenched those commands. The only way to undo this, is to put her under hypnosis and have her relive the whole experience all over again and then intercede when this psychiatrist started putting her under."

Matt exhaled and then inhaled sharply, "Isn't there some other way?"

Sydney answered softly, "No, I'm afraid there isn't. Even if you were to have this man who you believe orchestrated all this arrested and sent away for life, she would still have this programming in her mind. It has to be erased for her to move on."

Matt looked at him and asked almost angry, "She's been fine, perfectly fine all these years. Why can't we just tell her to forget it again?"

Sydney knew what Matt was trying to do, he was trying to avoid causing her any more pain. His solution wasn't an option though and he explained why, "We can't do that now, she remembers too much. There's no way to tell her to forget without tying you to those commands. They've already been triggered. Whoever approached her that first time with legal documents, as you called them, probably was just showing her again, what it was she was supposed to do. Those legal documents may have been nothing more than the list of commands, word for word the way they were told to her the first time."

Matt closed his eyes and said, "So what you're saying is we may have already triggered a little bomb in her mind and I could actually lose her."

Sydney then told him, "We didn't trigger anything, whoever is manipulating her did. However, I think that possibility is there that you could lose her yes, I won't lie to you. But, from what I've read, what you've told me and what I've seen, I don't think you will lose her. Every time C.J. has blacked out or done something, like taken those sleeping pills, she responds to your voice. You told me when she was on the ledge about to jump, in a trance you said, but when she heard you tell her you loved her and heard your voice, she moved back. As strong as these commands are that she has, you seem to be stronger, your love or her love for you is stronger. I think its that love that will pull her through this." He then patted Matt's shoulder and said, "It will pull both of you through this." Sydney then lead Matt back inside.

Matt left after calling a car to come pick him up and checking on C.J. one more time. He brushed a soft kiss off her forehead before leaving her. He told Greg, "Things are about to get dangerous. Stay sharp."

Greg asked him after nodding, "You getting close to whoever has been after her?"

Matt nodded with a look of steel determination, "I am and he's not walking away."

It did not take long for Matt to make it back to the penthouse. Chris awaited him at her desk and only told him, "Murray called earlier and said he was handling everything for a while and could get a couple of junior v.p.s to handle anything C.J. would need to sign and he took care of the press conference uncle Roy arranged. So far you've received 118 messages from friends offering their condolences and to help if you need them."

Matt took one stack from her and softly told her, "Thank you for handling all this." He rubbed his face, "Uncle Roy in yet?"

She nodded and he left to go into the penthouse. He was greeted by Hoyt, uncle Roy, Warren and Seth. They had documents spread out all over the couch and Baby was pulled up. Matt walked over and got a cup of coffee.

All four men turned to look at him. Uncle Roy spoke up, "How is she?"

Matt gulped down his coffee to keep his emotions in check and said as he walked over, "She's sleeping right now." He didn't want to share with anyone what had happened just an hour ago. "What are you fellas doing?"

Warren told him as he handed him two mug shots, "These are the men whose prints are on those cigars. That first one is Nikkos Sacan, that's his mug shot from the arrest for the 1st ward massacre. The other one is Vicente Sacan, older brother."

Seth then interjected, "Vicente died after a shake down went bad a year after the massacre, a shake down Nikkos was in charge of. Vicente was the boy wonder, the favorite by all accounts of his Daddy and the other brothers. According to our records, Nikkos was the outcaste of the family for a couple of years as a result. He wasn't arrested with Nikkos for the 1st ward massacre because no evidence at the scene tied him to it, no one really even suspected he was there or even around Nikkos then, not for another year anyway. I'm betting Nikkos was trying to impress him. Impress the favorite, impress Daddy."

Matt rubbed his forehead and said, "So little brother wants to impress big brother and then impress Daddy. How does Nikkos end up running a shake down over Vicente?"

Uncle Roy answered, "Appears Nikkos was a loose cannon, always running around, taking huge risks. Seems the father was tired of bailing him out and told big brother to show him how to run things. After the debacle of the 1st ward massacre, he put Vicente over him, that we know. That shake down was his first test after training you might say."

Matt then said, "Ok I guess that makes sense." He looked at the cigars and then something struck him. He said, "Uncle Roy, pull up that crime scene photo of C.J.'s mother." Uncle Roy looked confused but did as he said. Warren and Seth had to take a couple of deep breaths as they had not seen these yet. Matt blinked a couple of times, but squinted to see something. Then he told him, "Have Baby zoom in on her right shoulder there." Uncle Roy did and they all saw burn marks. Matt looked back at the cigars and found a tiny strand of blue fabric, it matched the blue fabric of the dress Deborah was wearing at the fabric on her shoulder was burned as well. All men, it seemed, held their breath for a second.

Seth then said, "Oh my God...she collected evidence. She must have seen them do that. I thought she just took the evidence her father collected." He shook his head.

Anger was building up and rising high in Matt. He swallowed and said, "She did. Damn it."

At that point the phone rang. Chris answered it and knowing she would call in, Warren stepped up and shut off Baby quickly. He didn't want her to see that image and had been working with Roy and knew what to it. Not to mention, Chris had shown him a time or two when they were in the office alone. As if on cue, she opened the door and said, "Marshal Parkdale, phone."

Seth thanked her and took it, "Marshal Parkdale...yes...are you sure? Alright, thanks." He then hung up and made another call, "Lisa...yeah its Seth, I want that trace renewed on Nikkos Sacan. I want every credit card receipt, every bank transfer, everything. He buys a cup of coffee, I want to know what kind, got it?...good...thanks." He then hung up and turned around.

Hoyt took a deep breath, "Let me guess, Nikkos Sacan is back in town."

Seth answered, "Customs just reported his arrival. We've got a federal warrant to track his every move. Any financial transaction he makes, we'll know about it before his bank does."

Uncle Roy just shook his head, "There is still something missing here. He can't be arrested again for the 1st ward massacre, double jeopardy. Even if we could prove he killed Daniel and Deborah Parsons, he was out of the country, safe as it were. Why come back?"

Matt answered, "He's after me. I'm the threat to him. You see, I don't think he gives a damn if I tie him to either or both deaths. I know something even more dangerous to him and he's got to come back and take of that himself, no more sending messengers."

Hoyt warned him, "Houston, this man is responsible for we don't even know how many deaths. And I can tell you, the reason its so hard to nail syndicate bosses is because they rarely do the dirty work themselves. What makes you think he isn't going to just get a family member or hire someone to take you out? You're taking an awfully big risk."

Matt then looked at him directly and said, "I'm taking a big risk?" His voice was rising even though he didn't mean it to. "My wife is lying in a hospital bed, tied to it literally. That man paid someone to psychologically manipulate her to the point where she doesn't control her own actions. He's killing her from the inside out and there isn't a damn thing I can do about it! But I can and will make him pay for it." He turned around and walked back to the bar saying more quietly, "I promised her I would at least do that."

Seth then asked, "Do you have a plan?"

Matt took a deep breath and said, "I think I do..." He turned around to face them, "but I'm going to need all of your help." They all agreed and Matt walked back over and explained his plan, only leaving out one detail, what he had finally figured out, the real reason Nikkos Sacan had come after C.J. again.