Matt watched as Nigel walked away from him. He had to keep his wits about him so the bourbon in his glass was just for show. The other guests were drinking it up, the liquor flowing from the bar was plentiful. Quite a few people might not remember the night's events when they woke up in the morning hungover.

He glanced over at Clover who was hanging with Roy. The two were engaging in some animated discussions and damn if they didn't look good together. Matt knew that his aunt Flo had been the love of his uncle's life but he'd had other romances as well. He'd been involved with a beautiful female spy who'd turned double agent on all of them. That had broken his heart until the truth of her deception spilled out years later.

C.J. had run into Maureen and they were chatting it up near the bar. Still he knew C.J had her eye out for any signs of Marquis crashing the party to do his hit no matter what his disguise.

Still he didn't have a great feeling about how this played out. It seemed deceptively simple. Marquis would show up with his gang and do what some unknown person had paid him handsomely to do. He'd take out one of the guests on the A list and then, he'd exact some plan of action against his biological mother.

Seemed straightforward enough but both Marquis father and son had proven to be unpredictable. So he and the rest of the team had to be prepared to deviate from the plan at any given notice.

"Hey Houston, seen any sign of him yet?"

Matt turned to look at one of the LAPD detectives assigned to the detail. Grant, his name was and Hoyt had told him he was one of the best. Still he looked ill at ease in his tux.

Matt shook his head.

"He'll make his entrance soon enough but he's really good at his disguises. Once he makes his appearance we might not have enough time to react."

Grant digested that.

"Then we'd better be ready for anything…and we will be. This special squad of the PD's the best at countering terrorist attacks."

Matt hoped so, because someone out among the guests enjoying the gala had a target on their head and even with all the Intel in the LAPD, they had no idea who that person might be.

Not to mention Clover whose very life could hang in the balance? Not to mention the nagging voice in his head that was hinting that maybe they'd missed a key part of Marquis' game plan.

"Marquis will show up," Grant said, "and we will be ready for him."

"I plan to be…but he got the jump on me before so I don't underestimate him."

Grant smiled.

"Yeah I read about his attempt on the senator but even though you took a bullet, you still IDed him as the assassin."

"All the good it did, he's not in prison where he belongs. He's out there and he's back in business."

Grant rubbed his jaw with a couple of fingers.

"Yeah well after his daddy died…he might have felt the desire to make him proud. You know I ran into Courtney, the woman who wrote that tell all story about his father. I had no idea everything that he'd been into despite the usual garden variety of terrorism."

Matt hadn't read the entire book. He felt he knew all about Marquis Sr. that he needed to know. Besides the man was dead. What harm could he do now? No, his focus needed to be on his son who was wreaking havoc out there.

Grant continued.

"They had quite a sophisticated operation before you crashed in on it. Law enforcement in just about every country in that hemisphere had tried to break up their cell but you finally did it."

Matt knew that was true but it had exacted a cost. It had been torture for him to do what Marquis Sr. had ordered him to do in order to keep C.J. alive. Oh he had double crossed the terrorists and gone back and rescued her but he knew that the time she'd spent with Marquis Sr. had changed her. The 72 hours she'd spent on the island while he'd been back in LA which she never talked about with him or anyone else. That was why it never seemed like a victory to him to put both father and son into prison.

He knew C.J. had paid a hefty price for his act of heroism in LA that had put them in the crosshairs of Marquis' operation. That's why he'd refused to accept commendations from the City Council and Chamber of Commerce.

All he wanted to do when he and CJ along with Vince had flown back home was to put the whole episode behind him. He knew that's what C.J. wanted to do through her silence.

"You did read the book didn't you?"

Matt felt irritated at the question. It'd been one he'd been asked often because it related a chapter of his own life and it'd hit the top of the best seller's list which made people believe that Marquis' live and a piece of his own were public fodder.

"Only part of it and I'm not here because of Marquis' Sr.'s parting words to the world that's better off without him. I'm here to stop him from harming anyone else."

Grant shrugged.

"I thought you would have paid more attention to it after seeing what Marquis said about your business partner…you know who I'm talking about."

Matt tensed. Of course he did, after all he knew that Marquis had written about a lot of people that he'd crossed paths with in his destructive, miserable life including the most important person to him.

"I haven't gotten that far in the book yet and it doesn't matter to me. What C.J. went through on that island…it shouldn't have been part of any book."

Grant frowned.

"So she told you…."

Matt felt the hairs on his scalp prickle.

"Told me what?"

Grant felt silent for a long moment.

"Then I guess you don't know…because it's all over his book. Seems Marquis Sr. took a shine to your partner.

Matt shook his head. He didn't need to be reminded about that. The man was dead now and he couldn't hurt her anymore. Not even through the words of his bestselling book.

"What do you mean?"

"Just that he was bored with his current mistress and he was attracted to your partner. That he remembered their time together fondly."

Matt's eyes narrowed.

"She mentioned that she used his interest in her to try to escape…but it didn't work. I think it did help keep her alive."

"Probably though you and Vince were already closing in on him…that was one hell of a plan you two whipped together…"

Matt didn't need to be reminded that the two men had to work fast to figure out how best to get back to the island and rescue C.J. even though they had no idea on which of a hundred of uncharted islands she was being held. After the Calvary arrived, they had taken every surviving person on the island into custody including Marquis' current diversion.

"His mistress turned state's evidence against him in exchange for immunity and a new identity."

Grant shrugged.

"That must have hurt. Maybe she was upset that he'd grown bored with her and wanted to get back at him. Courtney wanted to write her memoirs too but she'll never find her."

Matt knew if Marquis' former mistress resurfaced she'd be marked for death by his son and whatever loyalists still remained on his payroll.

He glanced over at CJ standing with Maureen, chatting with her while nursing a drink. It was still early, the party getting started and yet Marquis had yet to make his move.

C.J. had glanced at Matt a couple times while she'd been talking with Maureen. Her former sorority sister was so excited about the party, and that several members of her favorite baseball team were in attendance.

"Oh and there's the star of that new talk show, Whitney Preston…"

C.J. grimaced as the stylishly dressed women with the silver hair walked past her. She'd been trying to avoid her phone calls about setting up an interview to discuss what else? Marquis' memoirs and her role in them as one of the women in his life.

She nearly spat at that notation. But she had figured out already that Marquis had spun what had happened between them in his own way, to fulfill his own agenda and to have the final word.

Maureen smiled.

"So you going to take her up on it?"

C.J. shook her head.

"I'm not talking to anyone about any part of what happened on that island. It's not any of their business."

Maureen sipped from her drink.

"Courtney made it their business with her book. They're only doing their jobs. You can't let them get to you."

C.J. closed her eyes, trying to force back the quick, visceral response to comments like that even from her friends.

"I…know…but it's different when it's your life they're trying to make money off of…and having no say in the manner."

Maureen softened.

"I'm sorry…I should know from that experience we had when the tabloids made hay out of when our sorority sisters were being murdered."

C.J. remember that too. She'd missed some of it because after putting the killers away and recovering from the attempt on her life, she'd flown off with Matt in his Lear Jet to do business with Murray and some media conglomerates in Singapore.

Putting some distance from the tragic events in L.A. for a little while had helped and Matt made it clear for her that he was there for her if she needed just like always.

She smiled at that memory and glanced over at him where he'd left Grant and was walking towards a waiter that C.J. new was one of their undercover operatives.

"It's all right. I do understand what you're saying. I think I'm going to tell Houston after all this is over. It's been something I've wanted to do for a long time."

She knew that she wanted to tell him before he read about it in the book. Not that he'd give credence to whatever Marquis claimed had happened.

"I think you should…I'm sure he'll understand…"

C.J. heard what she was saying but her eyes focused on some movement near the doorway into the food buffet.

One of the waiters attracted her attention.

Marquis stood in the food buffet area, knowing that no one bustling around him would recognize him even if they took the time to notice him. He turned to a woman who was dressed as a server. She was quite pretty and quite useful in different ways including those quite pleasurable.

Her sister Tamera had been one of his father's most loyal soldiers back at the island fortress. Her loyalty had gained her a lengthy stint in federal prison when she refused to provide evidence or testify against her leader.

What she had done is provided support to him after his escape in the form of her younger sister, Nikita. And he'd made quite good use of her many skills.

She looked up at him.

"So when does this party really get started?"

Marquis glanced around to make sure no one was watching them.

"I'll give the signal when to make your move. Gunther's scouting out the party right now for the targets."

She frowned.

"Who are they anyway? Since we're going through all this planning and trouble and putting ourselves on the line?"

He shook his head.

"You can't know that. The fewer people that know for the longest period of time, the better…in case you get caught, you can't give anyone up."

She scowled.

"I would never do that. I'd do anything for you…you know that. And I can be trusted…"

He sighed.

"You'll know soon enough…Just do the task that you've been assigned to do. And right now that's to fit in."

She smirked.

"All these filthy rich, spoiled debutantes out there…not to mention these corrupt politicians…"

He chuckled.

"Easy now…You'll get your chance to get back at all of them. But first we have to pull off this operation…and get to the airstrip before anyone can think about trying to catch up with us."

She nodded.

"I understand…"

Gunther approached them then and Nikita walked back to look busy setting up one of the buffet dishes served in sterling silver trays.

Marquis had been waiting for this night for a long time including the many similar nights spent in his solitary prison cell plotting and waiting.

"So you spotted the targets?"

Gunther nodded.

"They're out there like sitting ducks…though I think I spotted some undercover operatives from the LAPD and the FBI."

Marquis smiled.

"They are no match for what I got planned. Shock and awe first, then hit the two targets…"

"Yes…"

"Remember one is to kill, the other to capture…I can't wait to finally fulfill my promise to my father…"