Hoyt looked up at Matt and C.J. as they approached. The other police appeared out of the shadows of the garage, their hands on their holsters.
Matt glanced over at the lieutenant.
"Hoyt, what's going on here?"
His friend sighed.
"We got a call from that publisher of the Daily Mirror or whatever it's called that she'd been assaulted and battered by C.J. When I heard that, I thought that can't be true but then thought I should check it out."
Matt glanced sideways at C.J. who didn't look upset.
"Hoyt, C.J. didn't assault or batter anyone," he said, "Delilah came into the office with a letter opener making all kinds of threats and C.J. moved quickly to disarm her."
C.J. nodded.
"I did a roundhouse kick and knocked the opener out of her hand."
Hoyt tried to digest that.
"Okay that's somewhat different than how she reported it to dispatch," he said, "We'll investigate her allegations and see if there's any merit to them."
Matt protested.
"Hoyt, C.J. acted in self-defense. She can't be arrested for that."
Hoyt put up one of his hands.
"Wait…who said anything about an arrest," he said, "It's just an investigation. It'll probably wind up like you said, self-defense and if so, writing up an incident report will help you."
C.J. turned to Matt.
"In case we decide to take punitive action."
Matt didn't know how that'd work out unless they decided to sue Delilah. That was an option and the laundry list of offenses the publisher committed was growing but he really wanted to dig deeper into why she and Elizabeth were after Houston Enterprises. He needed Delilah to believe she had the upper hand in the situation to get any information out of her. The woman had an arrogant streak that made her less than careful in what she said. He planned to exploit that.
"C.J. I think we should live and let live…"
She narrowed her eyes.
"What Houston," she said, "She threatened to go after you with her rag she bought and she threatened the secretarial pool."
"All the more reason to back off of her a bit," he said, "Now let's do this report for documentation in case we need it and then get some food into you."
She demurred to that because she really wanted; no she needed some great barbecue right now, more than she'd ever needed it which made no sense.
"Okay then…we'll deal with her later but if she comes after you again, I won't be as gentle this time."
Matt duly noted that knowing she meant it. Hoyt cleared his throat feeling left out of the conversation.
"Okay the officers will need to ask you some questions," he said, "It's just routine."
Matt nodded.
"As long as it doesn't take too long," he said, "C.J.'s not eaten enough today and I intend to fix that."
She shot him a terse look.
"Houston, I'm more than capable of looking after myself even while…"
Matt smiled.
"I know and we'll talk about that after we eat."
She stood up taller.
"Excuse me Houston; did you just say what I thought you said?"
She didn't seem too happy with him right now. He had to choose his words carefully.
"C.J…we'll talk about it later."
She put one hand on a hip.
"We'll talk about it now. I told you that I can take care of myself and our baby."
Hoyt's brows shot up.
"Baby…?"
She looked at him, her mouth curving into a smile.
"Yes a baby…"
"C.J.'s pregnant."
Hoyt looked at Matt scrutinizing him.
"You mean…don't tell me that you two…"
Matt narrowed his eyes back at him.
"Why are you saying it like that," he said, "You don't think that I…C.J. could be having a baby."
Hoyt smirked.
"She's having the baby," he said, "Trust me; you'll have the easier part of it. You forget that, she'll remind you."
C.J. folded her arms.
"I should think so," she said, "he got the fun part of the deal."
Matt arched a brow.
"It was fun for you too as I remember."
Her cheeks blushed a faint pink.
"Yes it was, it's the giving birth part that I'm thinking's a lot harder."
Hoyt nodded sagely.
"Oh yeah…I went through four packs of Rolaids with my daughter was born."
Matt knew how much Hoyt doted on his daughter and that no one mattered more to him than family. He never let his job get in the way of that as happened with many cops.
"I also made dozens of trips to the store late at night to pick up pistachio ice cream and sugar beets because she just had to have them."
C.J. turned to face him.
"Did Ann ever tell you that she didn't need you to make every decision for her?"
Hoyt snorted.
"More than once…but after the second, third time I got the picture and it got easier."
C.J. arched a brow at Matt.
"See and Ann's a wise woman."
Matt had to demur on that statement. After all, Ann put up with Hoyt's moods and the work that he sometimes brought home with him. She'd kept him from falling apart when their daughter got kidnapped by a pedophile.
Hoyt chuckled.
"I do best when I remember that."
An officer walked up to them.
"What's up?"
The officer frowned.
"We can't find the complainant."
Matt sighed.
"Delilah left the building soon after to make her deadline."
C.J. rolled her eyes.
"See, if her deadline mattered more than an assault and battery then there's nothing to those allegations."
The officer looked at Hoyt.
"Should I go send some manpower to that newspaper?"
Hoyt nodded.
"Go get her version of events," he said, "then hand the report to your sergeant to sign."
"You want a copy of it lieutenant?"
Hoyt nodded and then the officer returned towards the others processing the scene. Matt turned towards Hoyt.
"Are we done here?"
"You know the drill Houston…you're free to go and stay out of trouble."
C.J. slipped her arm around Matt.
"We'll remember that Hoyt," she said, "See you later."
They headed to one of Matt's Porsches, the nice silver one and got inside to head to the barbecue place. Matt drove them out of the garage and onto the main street. The sun still baked the city but the sea breeze had blown in so C.J. opened the sunroof.
"Houston…I'm not sorry about what happened in the office."
"No reason why you should be," he said, "Delilah was armed."
"She was just waving it to make a point," C.J. said, "but I just felt…like I needed to protect myself even from her so I acted…"
Matt smiled.
"Maternal instinct maybe…"
Could be, C.J. thought, along with the weariness she felt and the whole bladder thing, she guessed it was her body's way of handling pregnancy.
"Houston, I don't want them to win," she said, "I know that we can always build another company again from scratch but we worked so hard on this one to have it taken away."
Matt shrugged.
"There are more important things like family."
She rubbed his shoulder for that but she still worried. She knew what Cal had told her and she intended to find a way to stop Elizabeth and Delilah in their tracks. Her mind had worked overtime on it already and when she came up with a way, she'd explain it to the man next to her.
"I know but that company…it just makes no sense why she'd want it…Now I know you're quite a prize Houston but a company?"
He feigned looking hurt.
"I am quite a prize…"
That earned him a smile.
"I know but it makes me wonder if there's not more to this than we think. It's almost like it seems impossible for her to pull this on her own. I know she's got money but…"
Matt turned onto a side street.
"She doesn't have the savvy to pull it off," he said, "She's worked in charitable foundations but Houston Enterprises is more complicated."
"Exactly…maybe there's a silent partner."
They'd discussed it before but the challenge had been who would want to hook up with Matt's ex-fiancée to go after his company.
"It might be someone she knows or met later on," she continued," Someone who's got a grudge against you and is using her to get to you."
Matt considered that possibility. But then he knew that if she was right, the list of suspects could number into the hundreds.
"Okay we'll start working on a list then," he said, "going through client records on the cases starting tomorrow."
She frowned.
"Why not after we eat?"
He turned into the barbecue restaurant to find a space in the crowded lot.
"Because after we eat we're heading back to my place for some relaxation," he said, "I thought a walk on the beach might be a nice way to start."
She looked at him as he parked the car.
"You mean that as foreplay right?"
He grinned.
"If you say so C.J…"
She rolled her eyes but she smiled as she got out of the car and they headed inside the restaurant. The waitress, Madeline led them to their favorite booth in the back.
"You'd like your usual beers right?"
Matt shook his head.
"No beers for the lady for a while," he said, "We'll both have some iced tea."
Madeline nodded as she jotted the order down.
"Okay two iced teas…got her knocked up didn't you?"
Both Matt and C.J. looked at each other.
"Houston…"
He caught that probing look from C.J. and rubbed the back of his neck.
"She just is good at guessing C.J.," he said, "Yeah she's pregnant."
Madeline smiled.
"Had one of your swimmers hit home," she said, "Good for you…The drinks will be on Mac."
The guy who owned the barbecue place and whose life had been saved by Matt on one of his cases. Madeline left them and Matt looked across at C.J.
"Remember when we first came here?"
She tilted her face.
"Yeah…you nearly drove the car into the restaurant and chased some bad guys in here and Mac helped you knock a couple of them out cold."
"He's got quite a right hook."
Matt discovered that when Mac had took a swing and he'd been caught in between it and its target. C.J. had packed his jaw with quite a few icepacks later on at the office while he moaned about her trying to kill him over some minor bump.
Mac had proven to be a good friend and they'd been regulars at his restaurant. They'd get another great meal there and then head back to the beach house where he'd find a way to get her to understand that he wanted to take care of her and the baby.
He knew he could do it, if he chose his words right.