Here is the 27th chapter of this story. I'm glad that there is still such a following for this story, and I really hope you enjoy this
chapter.
Victoria L.

Chapter 27

“How do you expect me to let this go?” Gwyneth asked into the
phone. “There must be something, Harvey.”
“There is nothing that we can do, this is out of our hands.”
“So this is someone higher up than us?” Gwyneth said, rubbing
her forehead in frustration.
“Yes, so listen to me, you need to let this go, do your job, and
when this is all over, it’s back to London for you, my friend. You’ve
been waiting a long time to get back over there, now this is your
chance, don’t blow it.” Gwyneth paused, taking into account
everything Harvey had just said. “Did you hear me over there?” he
asked again. “Don’t--”
“Don’t blow it,” Gwyneth said. “I got it, all right? Just keep me
informed next time, all right? I don’t like these kind of surprises.” She
unceremoniously hung up the phone, and sighed. “D@mn!” she said
loudly, pounding her fist on the table. How could this have happened?
She had been surprised when Brenda was accused of Martin’s murder,
but it made sense to her, especially since she knew that Brenda would
be released. But she hadn’t realized that one friend getting off for this
murder would mean another going down for it. She had to do
something, Denise was innocent.

Across town...

“What can we do?” Brenda asked, hanging up the phone and
watching Jax pace the room. “Come on, Jax,” she said, grabbing him
by the arm. “This doesn’t--I mean, I don’t understand how--”
“Maybe she did it,” Jax said, stopping to face Brenda. He didn’t
like the look of disgust she gave him, but he did his best to ignore it.
“Think about it, Brenda.”
“No, no, no! Absolutely not. I don’t want to think about it,
because it would never happen.”
“He humiliated her,” Jax said, as Brenda turned a deaf ear. “He
nearly killed her, and the child she’s carrying, as well as you. Come on,
Brenda, he was smothered with a pillow, he had been shot, anyone
standing over him on that bed would have been strong enough to do
it.”
“Why are you doing this?” Brenda asked, her hands on her hip as
she stared up at Jax. “You know her. We both do. Didn’t you say she
had some sort of an alibi?”
“Yes, the doctor’s letterhead.”
“Well there you go,” Brenda said, sighing deeply.
“Look, Brenda, don’t you think she would have showed that to
the police? It must not have been a real alibi. I mean, she could have
gotten that letterhead any time.”
“You mean you think that she planned to do this?” Brenda asked.
“How could you say something like that? No, there’s something else
going on here, and I’m going to find out what it is.”
“Alexis told you to stay out of it, remember?” Jax asked,
following Brenda to the front door and blocking her way.
“Move,” Brenda said, staring at the knob instead of Jax’s
pleading eyes.
“I’m not going to move,” Jax said, “and there’s no way I’m going
to let you out of this house, even if I have to sit on you. Your son is
coming home tomorrow, and so are Victoria and Jasmine. My parents
are coming down, Lois was here earlier, everyone knows about our
plans. I nearly lost you, Brenda, forever, and I just got you back. If
this is your chance to leave this entire situation behind, then I think
you should take it.”
“Even if it means I watch my best friend and business partner go
to prison for the rest of her life?” Brenda asked, a small tear falling
down her cheek. “I know where she is right now, Jax,” Brenda said,
putting her arms around him. “I know what kind of h#ll she’s going
through, and I at least got to spend my time in the hospital, instead of
a holding cell. But remember when Martin was first shot, just a few
days ago, I had to spend my time behind bars, just waiting for a
decision to be made about me. Can you imagine how long this is going
to take, Jax? She could be on trial for MONTHS. And she’s pregnant,
Jax,” Brenda said, almost sobbing. “How can we let that happen to her
and to her baby?”
“Brenda, you’re not looking at all sides of this thing. It is possible
that Denise got too scared that something would happen to her and
her baby--”
“No!” Brenda said, pulling away from him and tossing her purse
and coat back onto the couch. “I’ve known her for too long. She
introduced me to Daniel, she’s godmother to my son, she’s been with
me, by my side through EVERY major event in my life since I got out of
college. I couldn’t ask for a better friend, all those nights that she
watched Jody for me and when she took care of me after Daniel
died,--the way she led me to you. And you should know too,” Brenda
urged, sitting down on the couch and petting Maxie as she climbed into
her lap. “She’s taken care of Jasmine and Victoria for so long, there’s
no one you trust them with other than me, Denise and Carly, and for
good reason, Jax. Come on, you know her, she’s better than all of
this.”
“Didn’t you say that she pulled a gun on him?” Jax asked. “When
he was holding the two of you hostage at Denise’s place. Didn’t you
say that she pulled a gun on him?”
“He was trying to kill ME!” Brenda shouted, “and if you will
remember, it was ME that shot him twice that night, not Denise.”
“Well then WHY did she confess, Brenda?!” Jax said in sheer and
utter frustration.
“I don’t know, Jax, but something is wrong and you have to help
me find out what!” Brenda said, getting up and trailing Jax as he went
into the kitchen. “Please,” she said, as he turned a blind eye and
started putting up the rest of the groceries that Lois had left. “Please,
Jax, come on.”
“Brenda, I’m not doing this with you. I don’t care if it’s selfish,
but our children need you, the one that you’re carrying, and the ones
that are going to be here tomorrow morning, and all they want to do is
curl up with you and that stupid dog and be with you. It’s all they
want in this world, and I’ll be d@mned if I’m going to let you or anyone
else take that away from them.”
“But baby, I--”
“Do you know what I went through?” Jax asked, turning to her
suddenly. “Do you know how helpless I felt, having to send my children
away, in the event that their mother might go to prison for the rest of
her life?”

“I said I wanna touch the earth.
I wanna break it in my hands.
I wanna grow something wild, and unruly.
I wanna sleep on the hard ground,
In the comfort of your arms.
On a pillow of bluebonnets, and
A blanket made of stars.
Oh, it sounds good to me.”

“But you got me out, Jax, it was your strength--”
“It wasn’t my strength, Brenda, I had nothing to do with it, if
you’ll remember correctly. I was asleep when they let you out. All I got
was a phone call, it was no doing of mine. But I’m not going to tempt
fate by sending you right back into the same life or death situation that
you just came from. No, I’m not going to do it, so don’t ask me,
Brenda.”

“I said cowboy, take me away.
Fly this girl as high as you can,
Into the wild blue.
Set me free, oh, I pray.
Closer to Heaven above,
And closer to you.
Closer to you.”
“But--” suddenly, before she realized it, she was in Jax’s arm,
and he was kissing her, deeply, passionately, and holding onto her as if
she were a lifeline that he couldn’t risk losing again. His hands lost
themselves in her dark tresses as her arms circled around his neck. He
kissed her into oblivion, and when he removed his lips from her own,
she was speechless, and couldn’t even remember what she had been
saying.

“I wanna walk, and not run.
I wanna skip and not fall.
I wanna look at the horizon,
And not see a building, standing tall.
I wanna be the only one, for miles and miles.
Except for maybe you, and your simple smile.
Oh it sounds good to me.
Yes, it sounds so good to me.”
“It’s late,” Jax whispered, kissing her neck, and nibbling at her
collarbone. “I’m exhausted, you’re exhausted, we will have a house full
of people tomorrow, I suggest we make the most of our time alone,
before I have to share you with everyone.” A small smile escaped
Brenda’s lips as she stared up at Jax’s blue eyes.
“I have missed you so much,” Brenda said, laughing softly as she
touched his lips with the tips of her fingers.

“Cowboy, take me away.
Fly this girl as high as you can,
Into the wild blue.
Set me free, oh, I pray.
Closer to Heaven above.
And closer to you.
Closer to you.”

“Well you could have fooled me,” Jax said, “you seemed in such a
hurry to get out of here. Why don’t you spend a little time with me
before you go running off to save the world?”
“I just want--oh, yeah, I want that too,” Brenda giggled when
Jax leaned down to whisper something scandalous into her ear. “But I
just want to make sure we’re on the same page. Denise didn’t do this,
Jax. She didn’t.”
“I don’t want to talk about anything but me and you,” Jax said,
picking Brenda up and carrying her up the stairs to his bedroom.

“I said I wanna touch the earth.
I wanna break it in my hands.
I wanna grow something wild, and unruly.
Oh, it sounds so good to me.
Cowboy, take me away.
Fly this girl as high as you can,
Into the wild blue.
Set me free, oh, I pray.
Closer to Heaven above,
And closer to you.
Closer to you.
Closer to you.
Cowboy, take me away.
Closer to you.”
Jax closed the door with his foot and fell onto the bed as he and
Brenda erupted into giggles. He touched her hair lovingly, lost in its
beauty, her beauty, even after everything that she had been through.
“I love you so much, do you know that?” Brenda asked, her
breath husky as she unbuttoned his shirt.
“I do know that, and I love you too,” he said, kissing her neck as
he unclasped her bra. “And thank you again, by the way,” he said, as
his kisses trailed lower and lower.
“For what?” Brenda breathed, unable to concentrate on what he
was saying.
“For having my baby,” he said, as he kissed a small heart on her
abdomen. She giggled slightly when he tickled her, and then brought
his head back up to kiss him, her tongue plunging into his mouth, and
mingling with his, pent up frustration, desire and longing, finally
having their release. They made love long into the night, seeking and
finding a passion for and within one another that couldn’t be fulfilled if
they made love for the rest of their lives. But they would certainly try.

The next morning....

Jax held Brenda close as she slept, well into the morning. He
was watching her, the sun reflecting off her golden skin, as her eyes
fluttered open. She smiled self consciously when she realized he had
been watching her sleep.
“Oh, you want to be shy now, do you?” he asked, kissing her
forehead. “Don’t you know that you are at your most beautiful when
you are asleep, my love?”
“Yeah, I must look really wonderful with my hair all over my
head and circles under my eyes since someone kept me up all night.”
“Hey,” Jax said, shrugging his shoulders, “you said you could
handle it, I took you at your word.” Brenda just laughed and turned in
his arms, their bodies spooning one another.
“When do the children arrive?” Brenda asked, looking at the
clock that read ten o’clock.”
“They should arrive any moment, but if I know Jane and John,
they’ll bring them straight here, we won’t have to go and get them.”
“They know we’re here?” Brenda asked. “They might go to my
house.”
“Well they’ve got a key, they’ll find out once they get here, or
they’ll call when they arrive. Everything will be fine.”
“I just can’t wait to put my arms around them,” Brenda said,
hugging herself. “Especially Victoria. She’s getting so big, you know,
pretty soon you’ll be fighting the boys off with a stick for her.”
“I’ll have to do it for her all right,” Jax said, laughing, “because
that one knows she welcomes any and all forms of attention.” The
shaking of Jax’s chest behind her comforted Brenda in such a profound
way. She could imagine the corners of his eyes crinkling as he
laughed, and the way he sighed after he finished laughing. His fingers
trailed along her arms and back, giving her goosebumps, but no touch
was more welcome than his own.
“Okay,” Brenda said, when she felt Jax’s hands rove lower than
they should, “it’s time for us to get up.” Jax groaned and she laughed,
giving him a kiss as she got up from the bed. “Come on now,” she said,
tugging in vain at his arm to pull him up. “We can’t be hidden away in
bed with your mother gets here, I’d die of embarrassment. Plus, I
have to cook, everyone’s going to be hungry--”
“You know my mother travels with enough food to feed a small
country,” Jax said, his head buried in the pillow. “Besides, it’s a bit of a
drive from here to the airport, their flight isn’t due for another hour, I
want to sleep.” Jax then placed the pillow over his head, as Brenda
stood in her nightgown, her hands on her hips. She delicately stepped
over to where Jax lay and lifted one corner of the pillow, exposing his
ear. She leaned down and whispered in his ear.
“You know that thing,” she asked, waiting for recognition to
come to him, “that long, slow, delicious thing that you love for me to
do when--”
“Yeah,” Jax said quickly, turning over and facing her.
“Well, if you don’t get out of that bed right now, and help me get
ready for everyone to come home, then I will never, ever, as long as I
live, do that long, slow, delicious--”
“Okay!” Jax said, hopping out of bed and nearly tripping as he
flew into the bathroom. “No need to tell me twice!” Brenda doubled
over in laughter and smiled to herself in satisfaction when she heard
the shower turn on.
“Thank you,” she said to herself as she made her way
downstairs.
Two hours later, Jax and Brenda sat at his kitchen table, finishing
breakfast and the make out session that Jax had insisted upon, since
they wouldn’t have much time to be alone for the rest of the day. “Do
you want some more coffee?” Brenda asked, getting up and pouring
some more into her cup.
“No thank you,” Jax said, getting up and petting Maxie as he
went to answer the ringing phone. “Jax here,” he said.
“Jax, this is Carly.”
“You sound horrible, what’s wrong?!” Jax asked, coming into the
kitchen and standing next to Brenda.
“Well I hear congratulations are in order, you’re both on the
front page,” Carly said. “Have you seen the papers yet?”
“No,” Jax asked, motioning for Brenda to get it off the porch. She
came back in moments, showing Jax that not only was there a headline
about her new found freedom, there was also, an even bigger picture
and an even bigger headline of Denise and her so-called confession.
Brenda sighed, sitting at the table, unable to hide her disappointment.
“Listen, thanks for calling,” Jax said, “and thank you for the
congratulations, we really appreciate it. Is there anything we can do
for you?”
“Could I speak to Brenda?” Carly asked.
“Sure, hang on,” Jax said, handing the phone to Brenda.
“What’s up?” Brenda asked wearily.
“Brenda, I know you just got home last night, and I know that
the kids are probably coming home from Alaska, right?”
“Yeah,” Brenda said, smiling softly, thinking of her children, and
suddenly of the fact that Carly was unaware of her impending
marriage.
“Is the baby all right?” Carly asked. “I saved the test for you, by
the way, I thought you might want to keep it.”
“Thank you, Carly,” Brenda said. “What can I do for you?”
“Well, I know how swamped you are, but--” before Carly could
finish, Jason’s voice came on the line.
“Brenda? This is Jason.”
“Hi Jason,” Brenda said. “What’s up?”
“Well, I hate to be rude, but if you don’t get over here in the next
twenty minutes, Carly and I are going to come and find you, and it’s
not going to be pretty.”
“What’s wrong?” Brenda asked, trying not to laugh. “Are you
helping Carly at Java House?”
“Yes,” Jason said, through gritted teeth, “I’m being a busboy of
sorts, or whatever you call it. I never knew you guys did so much
business,” Jason said. Brenda stifled the laughter as she imagined
Jason in his black T-shirt and apron, up to his elbows in pans and
dishes. Serving others was definitely not Jason Morgan’s cup of tea.
But Brenda had to realize with people refusing to work at Java House,
but everyone and their grandmother having no problem being
customers, and with Denise and herself both gone, Carly must be going
screaming mad right now.
“Jason, would you mind putting Carly back on the phone?”
“I’m here,” Carly said after a few moments.
“Listen, you are long over due for that raise, okay? And I promise
you, I’m on my way right now to help you, all right? And I’m so sorry
about this, I know you must be out of your mind, having to run that
place all by yourself.”
“You know it’s not hard when there’s the usual flow of
customers,” Carly said, “but I just can’t do it all by myself. I scorched
an entire container of cream this morning and of course, before I could
put more in, I had at least a dozen orders for those glazed doughnuts,
which is fine, but of course, I had to go and burn our second biggest
seller, those blueberry muffins of yours.”
“Oh no,” Brenda said, her voice full of sympathy, “I’m so
sorry.”
“I had to get Jason to help me, and I’m telling you, the man was
not cut out for this type of work, I doubt he’ll last another hour.”
When Jason tossed her a look, Carly laughed and said, “Make that five
minutes. I’ve got some more muffins in, and things are slowing down,
but I can’t watch the ovens, take phone orders, make deliveries, which
I stopped doing temporarily, and keep all the customers happy at their
table. Not to mention the fact that the phone is ringing off the hook,
and that woman you hired to do that PR work or whatever is having a
field day with all the publicity that Java House is getting. She seems to
think that bad press is better than no press at all.”
“I’m so sorry you’ve had to deal with all of this,” Brenda said,
gathering her things. “I can be there in ten minutes, and give Jason a
free plate of muffins or something.”
“Will do, see you then,” Carly said, hanging up the phone and
pinching Jason on the behind as she headed back into the kitchen as
the oven timer went off.

“They need you at Java House?” Jax asked, when he saw Brenda
putting on her coat.
“They really do, sweetheart,” Brenda said, apologizing with her
eyes. “And you know I’d never go, but Carly’s there all by herself, and
really how much help can Jason be? I’m sure they’re running out of
places to seat people, and she’s going to quit if I don’t go over there
and relieve her.”
“Well, I’ll just see you when you get back then,” Jax said. “We’ll
wait on you, don’t worry.”
“Do you think you could bring everyone to Java House?” Brenda
asked. “Maybe we could celebrate there? I’ll close the place around
2:00, business usually slows down between then and 4:00. We can
have a party of our own, because I don’t know when I’ll be able to get
away again.”
“Sounds like a plan,” Jax said, moving to hug her and open the
door for her. “Listen,” he said as he walked her to her car, “will you
please, please be careful? And I don’t want you worrying about Denise.
Alexis is representing her, and she’ll call us with any new
developments. They probably wouldn’t let you see Denise anyway, so
there’s nothing you can do.”
“There’s nothing I can do yet,” Brenda emphasized. “But I will do
something to help her, Jax, I have to.”
“I know it,” Jax said. “Just be careful.”
“I will, I love you, bye,” Brenda said, kissing Jax once more as
she got into the car and drove away.
“I love you, too,” Jax said, running his hands through his hair and
sighing, watching her drive away. He went back inside, thankful that
his house was clean and stocked with food, thanks to the women in his
life. All he had to do was sit back and wait until his children and
parents arrived. No sooner than he sat down on the couch with Maxie
did the door bell ring again. He got up, a smile beaming across his face
in the hopes that it was his parents at the door. His smile faded briefly
when he saw that it was Gwyneth at the door. “What are you doing
here, Gwen?” Jax asked. “I haven’t gotten a chance to talk much to
Lois yet--”
“This isn’t about Brenda’s shower,” Gwyneth said, “it’s about
something much more important. It’s about this case.”
“You’ve seen the papers then?” Jax asked. “Brenda’s finally free,
is that why you’re here?” he asked ushering her inside. “I have to tell
you, Gwen, you’re always so good about thinking of others. Brenda will
really appreciate that you stopped by, and she loved the plant, it’s a
great idea having Victoria take care of it. Would you like some
breakfast?” he asked, helping her out of her coat. “I know it’s terribly
late, practically lunch, but Brenda made so much, and who says you
can’t have pancakes for lunch?” Jax chuckled, not paying attention to
the look on her face.
“Jax, just stop for a moment, and listen to me, please.” Jax
stopped in his tracks, her British accent making her demand even more
so. “I’m sorry to come here like this, I know you must be wanting some
family time, but I’ve got to say that Denise is innocent. And I know
because I have some information. Information that could free Denise
for good.”
end chapter 27

Here's where it gets dicey, LOL, I hope you enjoy!
Victoria L.

Chapter 28

Jax stared at Gwyneth while she shrugged out of her coat and
hung it near the door.
“You have some information on Denise’s case?” Jax asked. “How
is that possible?”
“Just a moment,” she said, holding a finger up to her lips as if
she were quieting the class. She walked purposefully over to the plant
she had given Jax the night before, and picked up the bug that was
underneath the pot. Jax’s eyes grew wide as he watched her destroy
it. Then she turned to him, pausing, before saying, “I am a government
agent.” Jax looked back at her for a few minutes, before chuckling
lightly.
“You know, that really isn’t funny,” he said, moving past her and
walking into the kitchen. “This thing with Denise is very serious. Where
did you get that thing, anyway?” he asked, pointing at the small
microphone. “Some toy shop or something?”
“It’s very real, and I’m not playing any jokes,” Gwyneth said. “If
you don’t believe me, I’ll prove it to you. Last night, Alexis called you
and told you that Denise confessed. You and Brenda got into a rather
rousing conversation about her guilt or innocence. She tried to leave,
you blocked her path to the doorway. She begged you to listen to her,
and you cited your family, and the child that she’s expecting as reasons
why she should stay out of this situation completely.”
“You know us well enough to make that kind of assumption,
Gwen,” Jax said, “what kind of game are you pulling, here? This isn’t
like you.”
“I’m not playing any games,” she insisted. “I believe your exact
words were, ‘I’m not going to tempt fate by sending you right back
into the same life or death situation you just came from. No, I’m not
going to do it, Brenda, so don’t ask me’. Would that be correct?”
“Something like that,” Jax gulped, staring at her in disbelief.
“You’re a secret government agent?” he asked. Gwyneth nodded.
“What on earth are you doing here in Port Charles? And what does this
have to do with me or Brenda? Or Denise and Martin, any of us? And
why are you pretending to be a schoolteacher? I think you’d better
explain yourself.”
“Of course. This will all make sense, now. Martin Shayne--”
“Oh, don’t tell me he was some sort of agent--”
“No, he wasn’t. He was a horrible man, and everyone knew it. I
can’t tell you what part of the government I work for, but I will say
that Martin had a love for gambling. The boats along the Mississippi
River seemed to fancy him most.”
“Yes, I know,” Jax said, sitting down at the kitchen table, and
motioning for Gwyneth to sit as well.
“Well, he got into some significant trouble, he started playing
with the big boys, and got in entirely over his head. He sneaked off
one of the boats one evening and disappeared back here. He thought
he had gotten away clean.”
“Are we talking about the same Martin Shayne?” Jax asked,
confused. “Because the man was a smart @ss, but he wasn’t smart
enough to give professionals the slip.”
“Indeed he was not,” Gwyneth said. “But he thought that he was.
“And whatever it was that he did was enough to send you to Port
Charles, and have you go through all of the motions that you did with
Brenda, myself, and my children?” Jax asked, his eyebrows raised.
“No,” she answered. “The people that came after Martin are the
people that we are after. They are the same people that caused your
accident.”
“What?” Jax asked, standing up. “That wasn’t Martin?”
“No, but they wanted you to believe that it was. Of course, it
would make perfect sense that he would attack you, in retaliation for
that horrid display in front of his co-workers, that day after you
discovered he had beaten Denise.” Jax sat down, his shoulders
slumping.
“So these people were after Martin, and you were after them.
What did Brenda and I and Denise, our children, have to do with any of
this? Why did you approach me that day in Java House? And what
about when you found me by the side of the road after the accident?”
“After the accident, it was pure luck that I found you,” Gwyneth
replied. “I had no idea until I got a phone call after the fact, that they
had handled the accident.”
“Is that why you rushed out on Thanksgiving?” he asked, “after
everything was over?”
“Yes, that’s why. My people called me and told me that an
attempt had been made on your life, it was the same people who were
after Martin. I had to leave right away to find out why. And as for
when I first met you, at Java House, I was truly just there for show,
because I was pretending to be a new teacher. I only spoke to you
because you intrigued me.”
“You spent the entire evening with me, though,” Jax said. “You
started to date me. And you still haven’t told me what any of this has
to do with me, Brenda, Denise--there are so many unanswered
questions. Why did you let Brenda become arrested for this and not
tell me what you knew then?”
“Because I knew that she would be released. They needed
someone to blame for this thing right away, and Brenda fit the bill. I
always knew that she would be released as soon as they set up an
airtight case to pin on someone else. I just had no idea it would be
Denise.”
“All right,” Jax said, “let me just see if I can understand this. You
came to Port Charles under the guise of a schoolteacher, in order to
get the people who were after Martin, because of his gambling on the
boats?”
“Right.”
“Okay, so why not just keep an eye on Martin, grab the bad guys,
and get out of town? Why with the deception, Gwen?” Jax asked. “Why
did you get close to my daughter, befriend her and myself? Were you
keeping an eye on Denise or something? Why not cozy up to her and
become her best friend? I still feel like there’s something you’re not
telling me. And what about this information on Denise that could save
her? If these people are so crack that they have managed to foil the
police department, and myself, and point the finger at Brenda, what on
earth can you do to free Denise?”
“I don’t know, that’s why I’ve come to you for help. If I could get
to Denise, just talk to her, or you or Brenda could talk to her, get her to
tell you what happened, who got her to confess, what they’re
threatening her with--”
“How many bugs are in my house?” Jax asked suddenly, standing
up. “How many?”
“Just the one,” Gwyneth said, staring up at him, fear slightly
clouding her eyes.
“You’ve been in my home several times. My bedroom, even. Are
you going to tell me that I should believe you’ve been honest with me
the entire time? Why should I believe you’re being totally honest with
me now?”
“Because I AM!” Gwyneth said, standing up and facing him, head
on.
“Then answer my question--what does all of this have to do with
me, Brenda or Denise? Why was this operation so big that you had to
pretend to be a completely different person than you are? And don’t
give me some story about gambling boats on the Mississippi--”
“That is completely true--”
“Fine! But let’s hear the rest of it. Why were you involved in my
life and Brenda’s? Why?”
“Because I had to check you out as well, make sure you knew
nothing of the operation.”
“What would I possibly know?”
“Not you,” Gwen said.
“Well then Denise. I doubt Martin would be sharing the details
of his life with her.”
“I wasn’t speaking of Denise, either.”
“Brenda?” Jax asked, laughing. “What on earth would she know
about it?”
“Apparently nothing,” Gwyneth said, “but we had to make sure.”
“Why would you have to make sure at all?” Jax asked.
“That’s classified.”
“Classified my @ss, Gwen. You’ve told me this much, you may as
well finish it.”
“This is not what I came here to do,” Gwyneth said. “This is
supposed to be about you helping me to get Denise off for this, and
putting the person who’s really responsible behind bars.”
“I assume to do that we would have to bring down an entire ring
of people, correct?”
“Yes.”
“And those people are extremely dangerous, are they not?”
“Yes.”
“Then you better d@mn well tell me what this has to do with
Brenda, or I’m telling you right now, you can get out of my house, and
you won’t have to worry about counting on Brenda OR myself to help
you with any of this. You’ll be on your own.”
“Fine,” Gwyneth said, squaring her shoulders. “I had to come to
Port Charles to check things out, because we suspected a money
laundering ring that Martin was once apart of. He had a partner here
in Port Charles, and when his partner was taken out of play, Martin laid
low for a while, and then recently he resurfaced, tried to get away with
stealing a quarter of a million dollars. It’s a small amount relative to
the amounts we’re dealing with, but not small enough to be missed.
We suspected he was up to his old tricks, as were the people he stole
from. They followed him, we followed them.”
“Who was his partner?” Jax asked. Gwyneth sighed, shaking her
head. “Just tell me!” Jax said loudly.
“It was her husband!” Gwyneth shouted back, shocking Jax. “It
was Daniel. Daniel Buchanan was the head of a money laundering
scheme, and Java House was his cover.”
“No,” Jax said, shaking his head and stepping back. “It’s not
even a big enough operation,” Jax said. “It’s not. He couldn’t have
done that.”
“We had to check it out, we suspected that Brenda knew what he
was doing, and perhaps that she was helping him.”
“If that’s true, she had no idea it was going on,” Jax said,
defensively, “and there’s no way Daniel would have been partners with
such a horrible man like Martin Shayne.”
“Did you ever know Daniel?” Gwyneth asked.
“No,” Jax said. “I only met Brenda after he died.”
“Then you can’t speak to the kind of character he was,” Gwyneth
said. “Trust me, I know what I’m talking about. Daniel and Martin were
partners. Didn’t Brenda once say that Denise introduced her to
Daniel?”
“Yes, but that’s an old story, you could have heard it any time.”
“I’m not relating that story to prove any sort of relevance,”
Gwyneth said. “I’m merely stating that Daniel and Martin went way
back, further than you could possibly know.”
“Well are you saying that Denise and Brenda knew about this?”
“That’s why I came to Port Charles, that’s why I had to get
involved, because if it was still going on, Brenda was in a lot of
danger.”
“Is she still?” Jax asked, grabbing Gwyneth by the shoulders.
“Not that I know of,” Gwyneth answered. “We checked her out,
she isn’t involved in anything now. Transactions have been clean and
quiet since her husband’s demise.”
“Wait a second,” Jax said. “You told me that these people came
after me and arranged my accident. Why would they do that?”
“If they suspected Brenda, and or Denise of the same things that
we did, continuing her husband’s business, then they were sending her
the same message with you, that they did with Daniel.”
“And what would that be?” Jax asked.
“To get out of the way, and let the big boys handle it.” Jax’s
forehead wrinkled.
“I don’t understand.”
“Daniel was way too good at what he did,” Gwyneth said. “He
was a smart man, and he made millions.”
“Brenda was never that rich,” Jax scoffed.
“You are,” Gwyneth said. “And just how the Jackses made their
money has always been a mystery of sorts.”
“So I was suspected as well?!” Jax asked incredulously.
“You claim to have never met Daniel at all, but we had reason to
believe you knew him, and was helping him with his transactions, and
using Java House as a front.”
“That’s ridiculous, and completely untrue, and I welcome any
investigation,” Jax said, shaking his head.
“Fine, if you’re telling the truth, you have nothing to worry
about.”
“I’m worried about Brenda,” Jax said. “I don’t like these
accusations you’re making where she’s concerned.”
“They aren’t my accusations, Jax. I approached this case with a
file in my hand, pictures of you and your family, and all necessary
information. I didn’t count on being drawn to you, or making friends
with your friends, and falling in love with your children. But that’s why
I’m here now, because Denise needs our help. What I’ve just told
you--all of it, I could be--well, I’ll never get back to London this way.
That’s one of the stipulations on my cracking this case, and that’s
passage back to my own country.”
“What on earth are you involved in, woman?”
“I could ask you the same thing, Jax,” Gwyneth said, “but we
don’t have time for that. I need you to bring Brenda up to speed on
Denise’s case, but you have to keep everything else out of it. I only
told you because you wouldn’t have believed me otherwise.”
“I don’t know if I can do that,” Jax said. “How am I supposed to
keep something like this from her?”
“Because she may be involved still.”
“You just said that when you investigated, you came up empty.”
“That’s true, but that doesn’t mean she wasn’t up to her ears in
this when her husband was alive. So Jax, listen, I know I’ve given you
an earful here, but you’re going to have to try to forget about most of
it.”
“Forget about it?” Jax asked, staring at her as if she had two
hears. “How am I supposed to forget that my fiancée’s late husband
may have been in a money laundering scheme, and that she may have
been involved as well, and that I have been under investigation myself,
and that people have tried to kill me, and that-- oh my God,” Jax said,
realization hitting him all at once. “Those people killed Daniel,” he said.
“And they tried to kill me because they thought I was still involved.
Why have they never come after Brenda or Denise?”
“This is their definition of coming after them,” Gwyneth
answered. “Filing charges against Brenda, and then once they assured
themselves she was clean, they went after Denise. She’s innocent of
this, as well as being involved in this money laundering scheme, but
they don’t have anyone else to pin this on, they’re not going down
themselves, so this is the perfect set up, as they say.”
“My head is spinning,” Jax said, swallowing some water he
grabbed from the refrigerator. “I don’t know what to do,” he said. “Tell
me what to do, please.”
“Don’t tell Brenda any of what I’ve just told you about myself, or
Daniel, or Martin’s past.”
“What am I supposed to tell her, then?” he asked frantically.
“What am I supposed to think about her possible involvement in all of
this?”
“Just know that we don’t have anything concrete, yet, and from
what I can tell, Denise was never supposed to confess to this thing. I
thought my people were going to let this case go unsolved. We are the
good guys, believe it or not. This wasn’t supposed to happen to your
friend.”
“I just don’t know,” Jax said, shaking his head. “I don’t know
how I’m supposed to respond to any of this.” Just then, Jax heard
laughter and loud merry voices bursting through the front door.
Gwyneth spun around to see Victoria bounding through the door, Jody
on her heels.
“Ms. Stonecypher!” she yelled, opening her arms to her. “What
are you doing here?!” she asked, as Gwyneth pulled her up into her
arms.
“Just having a little visit with your daddy,” she said, hugging
Victoria and then handing her over to her father.
“Hi, daddy!” Victoria yelled, hugging her father as tightly as she
could. Jax closed his eyes and held his daughter close in his arms,
sighing.
“How have you been love?” he asked, kissing her cheek and
running his hands through her hair. She nodded and said,
“Just fine, Daddy. Grandma and Grandpa say you have a surprise
for everyone.”
“Well, yes, that’s true, I certainly do.”
“What is it?” Jody asked, stomping his feet and holding his arms
up to Jax. Jax placed Victoria on her feet on the table and leaned
down, picking up Brenda’s son.
“I can’t tell you just yet, son,” he said, “your mother’s got that
surprise for you later on today. Where are your grandparents?” Jax
asked, looking through the front door, and hearing a car door slam
shut.
“They’re getting Jasmine,” Victoria said, annoyance on her voice.
“I don’t think she wanted to leave the snow, so she cried the whole
way here.”
“Is she sick?” Gwyneth asked.
“Grandma doesn’t think so.”
“Oh, well that settles it,” Jax said, “if Lady Jane says she’s
healthy, I defy any doctor to say otherwise. Listen, why don’t the two
of you head on upstairs, and for a little bit, and we’ll come and get you
when we’re ready to go visit mommy, okay?”
“Sure, daddy,” Victoria said, grabbing Jody’s hand and practically
dragging him behind her. Jax just shook his head and laughed.
“Listen,” he said when they were out of earshot. “I don’t want
my children involved in this. Now you tell me what it is that I have to
do to protect them.”
“Keep what I’ve told you to yourself,” Gwyneth said quickly,
hearing his parents coming up the drive with a crying Jasmine. “Just
talk to Brenda, tell her that I work for the government, and I need her
help clearing Denise. That’s all you have to tell her, and I’ll call you
later tonight to schedule a meeting with you, myself and Brenda, to
see what we can do to help Denise.”
“Okay,” Jax said, lowering his voice as his parents came into the
room. “Well Brenda’s been bothering me to go and visit Denise.”
“Is she there now?!”
“No, she went to work,” Jax said. “And there’s no way she would
have time to leave and visit her without my knowing it.”
“Good. Keep her away from there until I speak to you again.
That’s all.”
“Gwyneth, dear, how lovely to see you again!” Jane said, coming
into the kitchen and hugging her. “I haven’t seen you since
Thanksgiving. I can’t thank you enough for the way you saved my
son.”
“It was nothing,” Gwyneth said. “I must thank you for making
me feel so welcome, and such a part of the family.”
“Well, once a Jacks, always a Jacks, that’s what I say,” John said,
kissing her on the cheek. “And sitting through a meal with the entire
lot of us definitely qualifies.” John’s hearty laughter rang throughout
the room.
“Well,” Gwen said, sighing, “I must be going, I’m afraid.”
“Oh, don’t let us and this brood of ours scare you off, stay and
have some lunch. I’m sure Jax doesn’t have anything edible, but I’ve
been dying to get my hands on this kitchen.”
“Actually, Lois and Brenda have both been here to see that
everything’s taken care of.”
“I’m so glad Brenda’s free,” Jane said, shifting Jasmine in her
arms. “When you called us on the plane, we bought champagne for all
of first class!”
“Well, you all have some celebrating to do,” Gwyneth said, “and
I’ve said my piece to Jax, so I’m going to go. It was lovely to see you
all again,” Gwen said, kissing Jasmine on the cheek. The little girl
stopped crying immediately at her touch. Gwyneth just smiled, and
whispered to the girl, “There now, all’s well, isn’t it love?” She smiled
and cast a sideways glance at Jax once more before leaving.
“That’s a lovely young girl, isn’t it?” John asked, watching her
leave. “Spitting image of Marian, isn’t she?”
“John!” Lady Jane scolded. “Blonde hair and height does not
make her Marian’s twin!”
“It’s fine, mom and dad,” Jax said, “I’ve noticed the resemblance
myself.”
“There’s nothing going on between you and that young girl, is
there?” John asked.
“Of course not,” Jax said. “I love Brenda, and you know that.”
John nodded, and moved before Jane could swat him with her free
hand. “Listen,” Jax said, “Brenda had to run to Java House so she
asked that we celebrate over there. I know you’ve been running
around with these kids all day, but would you mind helping me load
them up in the van and taking them over to Java House so Brenda
could see them? It’s been so long.”
“Of course not, son,” John said, taking Jasmine when Lady Jane
handed her to him.
“I’ll go round up the others,” Jane said, hugging Jax and kissing
him on the cheek once. “You be good son, and be well. You look tired
to have so much good news in your life right now.”
“You don’t know the half of it,” Jax said, once his mother had
disappeared upstairs.
“What’s that, son?” John asked, getting a sip cup out of the
refrigerator for Jasmine.
“Well, dad, you know how I told you about Brenda getting
released, right?”
“Sure, son, it’s excellent news. She isn’t still in trouble, is she?”
“No,” Jax hedged, “not exactly. You see, someone else confessed
to the murder, that’s why Brenda went free.”
“A stroke of luck if I ever saw one,” John said. “So, who did it?”
“Denise,” Jax said.
“What?!” John thundered. “Bloody h#ll! You’re kidding me, son!”
“I’m not,” Jax. “I mean, I don’t know that she did it, but--”
“She confessed!”
“I know, that’s the confusing part. Of course, Brenda believes her
to be innocent. And for a time, I did as well.”
“And now you’re rethinking that?” John asked. Jax just nodded.
“Well, do me a favor son, and don’t mention this to your mother.”
“There’s no way we can keep it from her for long.”
“Well the longer the better,” John said, heading out the door
behind Lady Jane, Victoria and Jody. “Even if it’s just for another hour.”
“All right dad, you’re probably right,” Jax said, grabbing his coat,
and closing the door behind them.
end chapter 28

Posted by Victoria L. on July 02, 2000 at 17:53:57:

Hey all this, chapter is REALLY long, so I had to break it down into parts. The song lyrics really spoke to me for this chapter,
so I hope you guys take the time to read them and let me know what you think.
Victoria L.

Chapter 29

Jax and his parents made it to Java House, just in time to see Brenda
letting the last customers out with a pleasant smile. Once they turned their
backs, however, she promptly stuck out her tongue, the only retaliation she
had to their overtly personal questions and silly assumptions, to which she
could only smile, shake her head and say, “There isn’t any truth to that.” They
didn’t seem satisfied though. The customers that were in Java House today
seemed to want to see some emotional display, something they could tell
their friends about and maybe even give a story to the Port Charles Herald.
Well, she certainly wouldn’t give them the satisfaction. A smile broke out on
her face when she saw Jax pull up. She stood at the door, her arms wide
open as Victoria got out of the car first. Jody was kicking his legs and
reaching out to her in anticipation, so Jax helped him out of his car seat and
let him toddle after Victoria, to Brenda’s waiting arms.
“Mommy!” Victoria yelled, hurdling herself at Brenda.
“Hi, sweetie!” Brenda exclaimed, closing her arms around Victoria and
covering her with kisses, sending the little girl into a fit of giggles.
“Mama! Mama!” Jody said, stomping his feet and holding his arms out to
Brenda. “Mama!” Brenda just laughed and picked Jody up, spinning him in her
arms. She couldn’t remember when her heart felt so light, she couldn’t
remember ever being so happy.
“Oh my God,” Brenda said, as the tears flowed down her cheeks. “It’s so
good to see you all again!” Everyone followed her inside, and Brenda relented
to picking up Jasmine when the baby started crying fitfully again. “What’s
wrong, baby?” she asked, taking her in her arms and sitting down with her.
“Did you miss me?”
“We all did,” Victoria said, spreading her arms out wide. She went back
to her father, who picked her up with ease. “Mama, do you know who we
saw on the way over here?” she asked.
“Who, baby?” Brenda asked, kissing Lady Jane and John on the cheeks
and shifting Jasmine in her arms.
“We saw my teacher, Ms. Stonecypher! She was at our house, visiting
daddy.” Jax cleared his throat when Brenda tossed him a look.
“Oh really?” she asked non-chalantly. “And what did she want?” Victoria
shrugged her shoulders and struggled to get down out of Jax’s arms when she
saw Carly in the back, coming out with a plate of her favorite cookies.
“Hey, Carly,” Victoria said, smiling, “It’s me, your favorite person!” Carly
laughed, as did everyone else in the room.
“You know, Carly,” Brenda said, getting up and putting Jasmine in
John’s arms, “you really could go on home, now. I think I’m just going to
close up for the night.”
“Really?” Carly asked. “You know you always do great business in the
evening.”
“I know that, but my family’s back, and I really want to spend some
time with them, and I couldn’t ask you to stay any longer than you have. You
know what? I think I’ll close tomorrow, too.”
“Why?” Carly asked, taking off her apron and washing her hands.
“Because I’m not coming in tomorrow, and I know that you don’t want
to, either.”
“You’re right about that,” Carly said. “Thanks for the day off.”
“Oh, no problem,” Brenda said. “Take care of yourself, and send my
heartfelt thanks to Jason. I really appreciate him coming in here to help me.”
“Yeah, I’ll tell him,” Carly said, walking through the sea of children that
were the Jacks family, and calling behind her, “good luck to you all.” She
unlocked the door with her own key, and locked it behind her, signaling to
Brenda to use the back door, because she was setting the alarm. Brenda
nodded her understanding, and then turned her attention back to Jax.
“Thank you so much for bringing them all,” she said, holding her face
up so that he could kiss her.
“They wouldn’t be without you,” Jax said, shrugging his shoulders.
“And neither would I, quite frankly.” Brenda gave him a se*y smile and a
private wink before anyone could notice. He stood just behind her, his arms
circling her waist. When Jasmine began to settle down a bit, Brenda sat her
in a high chair that John had brought over, and then put her hands on her
hips, sighing and staring at them all. Her heart was full, there was no denying
that. Her hands wandered to her abdomen absently, as Victoria asked,
“Do you have a tummy ache?” Brenda jumped to attention then,
turning around to face Jax.
“Shall we tell them now?” she asked, hopefully. He nodded and smiled.
She glanced at John and Lady Jane before speaking. “Well, you know that we
have a surprise for you, right?” Brenda asked, speaking mainly to Victoria,
knowing that Jody and Jasmine were probably too young to fully understand.
“Yes, and I can’t wait!” Victoria exclaimed. “Is it a pony?!” Brenda
laughed, taking a seat next to her.
“No, honey, it’s not a pony, but I hope it’s something that you’ll love
even more.”
“Oh, I don’t know if I could love anything more than a pony,” Victoria
said, shaking her head. “I’m sure of it.”
“Well, maybe that’s because you haven’t thought of this surprise yet,”
Jax said. “One thing at a time though, Brenda. Tell them your other news
first.”
“Oh!” Brenda said, smiling bashfully. “I forgot the first step in this
equation,” she said, clearing her throat and glancing at Jane and John, her
cheeks pinking up. “Well, your daddy has asked me to marry him.” Victoria’s
eyes got very wide and soon she was beaming.
“Really, daddy? You’re going to marry Brenda?”
“I am indeed,” Jax said, kneeling beside her. “Is that okay with you?”
“Will I get to be in the wedding?” Victoria asked.
“Of course, you’ll have the very important job of flower girl.” Victoria
nodded, “and will I have a dress like Brenda’s?”
“Anything that you wish, my love,” Jax said, running his hands through
her long blonde hair.
“Okay then, oh wait--will Brenda live with us?”
“That’s what married couples do,” Brenda said. “Does that bother you,
honey?”
“No,” Victoria said, “just checking. Okay then, I’m happy. As long as
there’s no chocolate cake.”
“I don’t like chocolate cake either,” Brenda said, wrinkling her nose
and hugging Victoria. “So you’re happy about this?”
“Yeah,” Victoria said.
“Good. I’m very glad,” Jax said. “And what about you, young man?” Jax
asked, turning to Jody. “Do you mind if I marry your mother?” Jody nodded,
his hands wrapped tightly around a cookie and oblivious to the goings on
around him.
“He doesn’t care,” Brenda said, wiping the cookie crumbs from her
son’s face. “Just like Daniel,” Brenda said softly, “always with those sweets.”
No one in the room noticed the comment, and Jax normally wouldn’t have
either, but Daniel was on his mind. He was trying to think of any times that
Brenda might have shared with him that would give him a clue as to Daniel’s
business. All he knew was that Daniel had a great business sense, that he built
Java House with his own two hands, and made it the success that it was today,
and that he had loved it so much that Brenda learned to love it. Jax would
never have guessed that Daniel was into so much. “Did you hear me?” Brenda
said, startling Jax from his thoughts.
“I’m sorry, what did you say?” Jax asked, focusing back on Brenda,
instead of Jody’s face.
“I said,” Brenda laughed, “do you think they’re ready for the other
surprise, or is a wedding announcement enough for one day?”
“Oh, I think she can handle it,” Jax said, smiling down at Victoria.
“Okay then,” Brenda said, taking a deep breath.
“Mom’s going to have a baby!” Victoria burst out suddenly, jumping
from her chair and dancing around the room. “Right? You are?”
“Well yes,” Brenda gushed, “But how did you guess?”
“That’s where babies come from, don’t they?” Victoria asked, pointing
to Brenda’s stomach.
“Something like that,” Brenda said. “So this is good news?”
“Happy news!” Victoria exclaimed. “This is the best. And it’s what you
do after you get married anyway, you buy a house and a dog and a baby. We
already have the house and the dog though, so baby is next.”
“I am impressed,” Jax said, “my daughter is clearly a genius. Well then,”
Jax said, “Let’s all celebrate!”
For the next two hours, Jax and Brenda celebrated with their children
and family, talking about wedding plans, and flowers, and how Victoria would
do everything, including marry Jax and Brenda if she could remember
everything she was supposed to do. Victoria couldn’t have been more
delighted, and she made her happiness known over and over. She talked to
the baby as though it were right there in the room with her, which made
Brenda laugh so hard. Victoria held her face right up to Brenda’s stomach and
talked to the baby about everything from dolls and tea parties to the pros and
cons of kindergarten and first grade. Pretty soon though, Victoria’s eye lids
got heavy, and though she denied being tired at all, she could barely keep her
eyes open, and Jasmine was getting cranky again. Jax held Jody in his arms.
“My big boy’s about ready to hit the sack, I think,” Jax said. “The trip
and all the excitement’s probably really exhausted them. Mum and Dad,
would you mind taking them back home and sitting with them for a while?”
“Of course not, son,” Lady Jane said, standing up and gathering their
things.
“Jax, it’s the middle of the afternoon,” Brenda said, “if they sleep too
long, they’ll be up all night.”
“We’ll rouse them after a bit, we promise,” Jane said. “You stay here and
finish your business with Jax. We’ll be around.”
“Well, okay,” Brenda relented, kissing Jody in Jax’s arms, and then
Jasmine, and then picking up Victoria herself and carrying her out to the car
through the back door. She sat between Jody and Jasmine in their car seats
and let her eyes close the minute she sat down.
“All right, well we’ll see you later on this evening, right?” John asked.
“Yes you will,” Jax said. “I may drop Brenda off, at her own house--”
“Yeah, I might need to do a few things over there before I come home,”
Brenda said, lacing her fingers through Jax’s and staring up at him. Jax
cleared his throat and laughed heartily. John laughed and Jane sighed,
pretending to be exasperated.
“We’re off, loves,” Jane said as she slammed the door behind her. Jax
and Brenda waved to them as they left, and then she turned into his arms for
a passionate kiss. He held her hand and led her around to the back of Java
House so that they could go back in. Brenda initiated the kiss. It was
passionate and blazing, and her hands were undoing his shirt before he knew
it. He pulled back from her, giving her little tiny kisses until he could get
enough control over himself to stop.
“What’s wrong?” she asked breathlessly, running her hands up and
down his shirt and sighing.
“I have to tell you something,” Jax said, his hands sliding up and down
her back as she rested her head against his chest.
“Well what?” she asked, her breathing finally calming down. “You
sound so serious.”
“It is serious, Brenda,” Jax said, putting his hands on her shoulders and
staring down at her. She looked back at him incredulously, taking a small step
back.
“What is it?” she said softly, pulling him to a nearby table and sitting
down in his lap, keeping close contact with him. He rested his head against
her chest this time and she rested her chin on the top of his head. “How much
have we been through?” she asked when he didn’t speak right away. “You
know that there isn’t anything you couldn’t share with me, don’t you?”
“I do know that,” Jax said, “I just--believe me, I didn’t ever count on
having to say this to you.”
“Are you all right?” she asked. “Are you ill? Is anyone we know sick or
something?”
“No, everyone’s fine and healthy, that isn’t the problem.”
“Well then what?” she said. “Unless you’re telling me that I’m about to
be arrested again for something else I didn’t do, then there isn’t anything that
you could tell me that would shock me.”
“Oh, this will, believe me.”
“Then spit it out already,” Brenda chuckled. “I never knew Jasper Jacks
for a chicken.”
“Hey, I’m no chicken,” Jax insisted. “What I have to say is very difficult,
but I’m just going to come out and say it, because there’s no other way.”
“All right.”
“Gwyneth Stonecypher is a secret government agent.” He paused,
letting the first wave of news hit Brenda. She didn’t move, and for a few
seconds, he thought she must be in shock. When he started to say her name,
she began to laugh.
“That’s funny, Jax. Really. Come on now, is that what you wanted to
tell me?”
“It’s the truth.”
“It’s bull,” Brenda said. “Jax, come on, she’s a school teacher. She’s
Victoria’s school teacher. Where on earth did you get this? Have you been
hanging out at those PTA meetings? You remember how upset everyone was
when they thought the two of you were seeing each other.”
“She’s a government agent, and she was sent here to investigate
Martin.”
“Are you serious?” Brenda asked, moving out of Jax’s lap. Jax nodded.
“How did you find out?”
“She told me so herself.”
“This is unbelievable,” Brenda said. “I don’t understand this.”
“There’s a lot more that I have to tell you, so you’re just going to have to
hear me out. All right. She came to the hospital last night to visit you, and she
had that plant, remember?”
“Yeah.”
“Okay, well she put a bug in that and she was listening to our
conversation last night when Alexis called us and told us that Denise
confessed.” Brenda’s blank stare told Jax to go on. “Yes, before you ask, I’m
sure that she heard it, she recited back to me some things I said to you in
private. I know she heard the conversation, and she showed me the
microphone.”
“Are there more?” Brenda said, putting her hands against her chest in
disbelief. “I mean, she’s been to both our houses, she could have them all
over the place. She could have them here!”
“She doesn’t,” Jax said. “I’m sure of it.”
“Why because she told you that?” Jax nodded. “That doesn’t mean
anything!” Brenda said incredulously. “She’s been lying to us since she came
into town. How can you believe that anything she says is true?”
“Because of what she said,” Jax replied. “She told me that Denise’s
confession is a fake, that she knew you were going to be arrested and
released, that someone else was supposed to take the wrap for his murder,
but it wasn’t supposed to be Denise. It was supposed to be, I’m guessing,
another agent or something.”
“This is unreal,” Brenda said, sitting down and shaking her head. “So
what does she want us to do?” she asked after a few minutes of solid thinking.
“She wants us to help her get to Denise and find out who is making her
confess to this. If Gwen finds out who is doing this to Denise, and it must be
coming from the inside, then maybe she could do something to set Denise
free.” Brenda nodded, and began to pace the room.
“Okay,” she said, sighing. “Okay. Well, we’re just waiting for her call,
then?” Brenda asked.
“Gwen told me that she would call, set up a meeting for the three of us,
and we’d decide then what to do to help Denise.”
“I knew something was up,” Brenda said, shaking her head. “I knew it.
Didn’t I tell you? When Alexis called and said Denise confessed--I knew she
wouldn’t do something like this. Oh, Jax, her and her poor baby, to be forced
to go through something like this. You know, a lot of this doesn’t make sense
to me, but whatever you say. You’re a good judge of character, and if you say
that we can trust her, then I’ll go along with it. How soon do you think it’s
going to be before she calls us?” Brenda stopped moving long enough to
stare at Jax, her arms crossed firmly in front of her. “Jax? Honey, did you
hear me? Why do you keep spacing out on me?”
“Hmm?” Jax said, staring at the table. Brenda sighed and sat next to
him, placing her hands on top of him.

“The clouds above you, start to pour.
And all of your doubts,
Rage like a storm.
And you don’t know who you are anymore.
Let me help you find what you’ve been searching for.
Somewhere,
Somewhere there’s a field and a river.
Somewhere,
You can let your soul run free.
Someday,
Someday let me be the giver.
Let me bring you peace.”

“Is there something you’re still not telling me? I mean granted, what
you’ve just told me is enough to knock anybody on their rear, but you’re
acting as though you’re still holding something back.”
“I am, actually,” Jax said, in his mind, hearing Gwyneth warn him
against telling Brenda anything other than the situation surrounding Denise.
He had asked her what he could do to protect his children, and Gwyneth’s
answer had been to keep Brenda in the dark. But God help him, she was the
woman that he loved, she was carrying his child, and if there was anyone on
earth he trusted, it was Brenda. He couldn’t keep something like this from
her. It would be very nasty if she found any of this out in front of Gwyneth,
and on top of that, find out that he had been keeping it from her. They’d both
learned their lessons about keeping secrets, and wouldn’t make those
mistakes again. No, he had to tell her, and he had to tell her right now, before
anything else went wrong.

“Somewhere,
Somewhere there’s a break in the weather,
Somewhere,
Where your heart and spirit go free.
Someday,
Someday it’ll be for the better,
Let this bring you peace.”

“Jax? Are you all right in there?” Brenda chuckled, knocking lightly on
his forehead. “Come on, I thought that this was good news. You know, if
Gwen is secret agent woman, or whatever, she’ll help us get Denise off, we
beat the bad guys, and go on with our lives. Right?” She paused lightly for his
reaction.
“What I have to say,” Jax said softly, “is going to be hard to hear. I don’t
know if any of it is true, I only know what I’ve been told, and I hope for your
sake, that it isn’t, though I have to say I’m inclined to think it’s true.”
“What is it?” Brenda asked, now extremely concerned.
“Gwen told me several reasons for why all of this has happened, and
why it’s happening to us. Why we’re even involved. Why she pretended to be
a school teacher, why she bothered to get close to you and I at all, when she
was here investigating Martin.”
“You’re going to have to start from the beginning on this one for me,”
Brenda said, waving a hand. “You mean there’s more to this than just Martin?”
“A lot more, and it has everything to do with me and you.”
“Me and you?” Brenda asked. “What could we possibly have to do with
this?”
“Just let me get it out. If you keep interrupting me, Brenda, it’s quite
possible I might never be able to say this to you.” Brenda shrank back,
slightly wounded, but looked at Jax to go on. “Martin was a gambler,
everyone knew that. He liked to visit the boats on the Mississippi River
occasionally, you know that.”
“Right, Denise hated it when he left. He’d be gone for days at a time.
That was before he started--you know, hitting her.”
“Right. Well, the last time that he was there, he sort of cheated some
very powerful people out of a small fortune.”
“Oh my God,” Brenda said. “And that’s who--that’s why?”
“That’s why he was killed,” Jax nodded. “Those people, whomever they
are, came after him, and the people that Gwen works for, in turn, came after
them, all the way back to Port Charles. Okay, so they murdered him, and they
framed you for it, knowing that you would be a prime candidate.”
“Oh no,” Brenda said, her hands covering her mouth. “How powerful
are these people if they can control the Port Charles Police Department?”
“They must be pretty powerful, but Gwen’s people are even stronger.
From what she’s told me, they only meant to frame you for a few days, just as
they did. She knew that you would be released the entire time. That’s why
she brought the hospital plant when she did. She knew you were being
released.”
“All right then,” Brenda said, taking a deep breath. “So then if they
knew I was going to get off, they had to put the blame on someone else.”
“Right, and according to Gwen, it was supposed to be someone on the
inside who would go down for this. Not Denise. Gwen had no idea that she
would confess, and that’s why she rushed over here today when she heard
Alexis’ phone call.” Brenda nodded.
“Okay, so these guys are dangerous. No problem, we’ll just be careful.”
“Well, I haven’t told you everything yet. You see, there’s more. A lot
more. Like I said before, why would Gwen bother getting to know you and I
at all, why would she bother to become involved in our lives? Because she
was investigating the both of us.”

“Girl, I know you, think no one sees,
The weight on your shoulders,
But you can’t fool me.
And aren’t you tired of standing so tall?
Let me be the one to catch you when you fall.”

“Investigating us?” Brenda asked, wrinkling her nose. “What for?”
“Money laundering,” Jax said softly. Brenda laughed out loud.
“Money laundering?! Jax! Come on, don’t you think that’s just a little bit
far fetched? You have a blue chip company, you’re practically beyond
reproach where your finances are concerned, and me, I own a little coffee
shop. Java House doesn’t do nearly enough business to be able to pull off
something like that,” Brenda added, waving her hand.
“How would you know?” Jax asked.
“How would I know what?”
“How would you know how much money it would even take to
effectively hide it from the government?”
“Well I just assumed that it would take a richer company--Jax, why are
you looking at me like that?”
“Like what?” Jax asked, shaking his head and struggling to look her in
the eyes. “I’m not looking at you any certain way.”
“Yes you are,” Brenda said. “You’re looking at me like I’m some kind of
criminal.”
“Look,” Jax replied, “as I said, I only know what she told me.”
“And that’s that you and I are suspected of being money launders?”
“She told me that she came to Port Charles in order to investigate
Martin, and his dealings. There’s no doubt in their minds that he was indeed
a money launder. They were just trying to find out where he transacted his
business. He used a business here in town.”
“Well what? The construction company?” Brenda asked. Jax knew
then, with the look on her face, there was no way that Brenda knew what was
going on with Daniel and Martin.
“Brenda, you never told me, but were Daniel and Martin good friends?”
Tiny creases began to form on Brenda’s forehead.
“Why are you asking me that? What does Daniel have to do with any of
this?”
“Would you just answer me, please?” Jax asked softly.
“All right, well, I told you that Denise introduced me to Daniel, they
were the ones who were really good friends. Daniel and Martin hung out a
few times, not as much as me and Denise. I told you that Martin didn’t let too
many people get close to him. And when I told Daniel that I was pregnant, he
became Mr. Mom, you know? I never got him out of the house, he didn’t hang
out with anyone. Jax, can we get back to the issue?”
“Daniel’s the issue, Brenda.”
“What are you talking about?” Brenda asked, her voice beginning to
tremble.

“Somewhere,
Somewhere there’s a field and a river,
Somewhere,
You can let your soul run free.
Someday,
Someday let me be the giver,
Let me bring you peace, baby.”

“All right,” Jax said, clearing his throat, and looking Brenda in the eyes.
“Gwyneth told me that Martin and Daniel were partners. They laundered
money together for a few years, and they used Java House as a cover.” Jax
didn’t want to stop now, he knew he’d never get it all out if Brenda started to
speak. “He and Martin used it as a cover for a while, Daniel was really good at
what he did, and the money started to disappear. That’s where I came in.
Gwen’s people suspected that I was helping Daniel launder money through J
& J Jacks. I explained to her that I never even knew Daniel, and she seemed to
be satisfied with that. The people they worked for got suspicious, and they
arranged for Daniel to have a bit of an accident.” Brenda’s gasp didn’t stop
Jax from relaying the story. “That’s right, Brenda. They arranged for Daniel
to be killed in that car accident. And they’re the same people that arranged
my accident and tried to kill me. I guess that once Daniel had died, they
suspected that you carried on the business, and all that entailed, and that I
was helping you. Especially when I got into it with Martin. I’ve been
thinking, and the only thing that makes sense is that they thought our dispute
was over money, and not Denise’s bruises. So they arranged to put me out of
commission, too. They seemed to think that you need a man to help you with
the business, so as long as I was gone, they could take control again.”
Brenda’s eyes were wide with fear and pain as Jax spoke. Her eyes fluttered
close, and a single tear fell from each eye.
“Somewhere,
Somewhere there’s a break in the weather,
Somewhere,
Where your heart and spirit go free.
Someday,
Someday it’ll be for the better.
Let this bring you peace.”

Jax could see the pain in her face, and he hated himself for having to
put it there. He hated Daniel for creating the situation, and Gwyneth for
telling him about it in the first place. But it was too late now. He had said it,
and he couldn’t take it back if he wanted to. Brenda got up and turned her
back to Jax, her shoulders slumping, and her mind reeling. Jax got up and
moved to touch Brenda’s shoulders. She pulled away from his touch, and that
hurt him more than anything. When she turned to look at him, he saw plainly
that she didn’t seek comfort in him, and that she most likely would not for a
while.
“What?” she asked breathlessly, shaking her head. “What am I supposed
to do with that? What is that supposed to mean to me? What do I have to
do?”
“Nothing,” Jax said. “Gwyneth asked me not to tell you, she didn’t want
you to know.”
“Why? So she could keep investigating us?” Brenda asked, angrily.
“Probably. Look, I didn’t ask.”
“Oh my God,” Brenda said, sinking to her knees and standing back up
just as quickly. “I can’t believe this. When did--how did this happen? Daniel?
My Daniel? No, it’s just not possible,” Brenda said, shaking her head and
moving into the front of Java House. Jax could see plainly what she was
doing now. She moved angrily through the front room, slamming the chairs
upside down on top of the tables. She ignored him and moved quickly,
muttering to herself.
“Brenda--”
“Don’t! Don’t you say it!” They both knew what he was going to say.
That maybe she hadn’t known Daniel as well as she thought she did. After all,
none of them would ever have guessed that Martin would turn out to be the
kind of person that he was. “Don’t you tell me that I didn’t know my
husband. He was MY husband. I was married to him for nearly five years of
MY life, not yours. You never even laid eyes on him when he was alive. And
he was NOT partners with Martin, I don’t care what anyone says.”

“Let me bring you joy,
Bring you joy,
Let me bring you peace,
Bring you peace.
Take these tears that you cry,
Entrust them to me.”

“So you didn’t help him then?” Jax asked. “You didn’t know that he was
laundering money out of Java House?”
“NO! I did NOT know that he was laundering money out of Java House
because he WASN’T laundering money out of Java House! I did the books,
Jax,” Brenda said in disbelief. “I did. So what, are you going to start accusing
me, now?”
“Brenda, I’ll believe anything that you tell me.”
“Including the fact that Daniel had no part of this?” She asked, her voice
accusatory as she moved to stand extremely close to him. Her chin was stuck
out, daring him to argue with her.
“Except that,” Jax said softly. Brenda looked as if Jax had just taken her
heart and broken it in two just then.
“You’re talking about the father of my son,” Brenda said, putting her
hand on her heart, momentarily distracted by thoughts of Jody. She scoffed,
laughing underneath her breath. “Daniel didn’t live to see his son start
preschool, and won’t live to see him start kindergarten. Or graduate college,
or get MARRIED,” Brenda seethed. “I was married to him, and I loved him
every day of my life, including after he died. A part of me died when he was
in that car accident. He left for ice cream, do you remember that? Do you
remember that?!” She asked, hitting him with all the force she could muster,
but it didn’t do anything save force him to take a step back and hold on to her
hands.

“Let me give you heart,
Give you heart.
Let me give you hope,
Give you hope.
Be the one constant love,
That you’ve never known.”

“Brenda, please--”
“No! How can you say this? How can you believe this? How can SHE
believe this? She didn’t know him either. I’m the only one that knew him,
Jax. No, no, no. Do you hear me? No! He never did anything,” she said,
turning from Jax, her hands on her heart. “Never, not one thing. He never
said a word to me in anger. He never raised his hands to me. The man didn’t
have a mean bone in his body. Daniel Buchanan gave me EVERYTHING I
ever wanted in this life, including a son, the only thing I have left of him. He
wouldn’t have done something like this to me. He was a good man.”
“I don’t doubt that he was,” Jax said, taking a step towards her. She
held him at arms length shaking her head.
“So what are you saying?” Brenda asked. “That he’s a good man, he just
broke the law, committed a few felonies right here under my nose, lied to me
every day of our married life? I don’t--no!”
“Brenda--”
“Jax, just stop it! Okay? Please,” she said, bursting into tears. “I knew
him. Why can’t you just believe me? Why do you have to believe her?”
Brenda was becoming undone, and Jax knew it. He didn’t know how he was
going to stop her, but he knew this was escalating and it was escalating fast,
and he was more worried about his child inside of Brenda than he was about
whether or not he kept Daniel’s memory in tact. “He was such a good
husband,” Brenda said. “He was the best.” Suddenly, a calm came over Brenda
as she continued to clean up the dining room of Java House. “Where’s your
proof?” she asked, sighing deeply once she had wiped down the last table and
replaced the last chair. “Hmm? Did she show you any?”
“I never saw any proof of anything,” Jax said softly. “I only know what
she told me.”
“Then how dare you?!” she asked. “How dare you believe her--”
“Have you not heard a word I’ve said?!” Jax exclaimed, getting a little
angry. Brenda merely rolled her eyes and moved to the back of Java House,
wiping her eyes on the backs of her hands. “They succeeded in murdering
Daniel when he got too good at what he was doing. And they tried to kill me
when they thought that I was helping you and Martin open things up again.”
“Stop it!” Brenda begged him, pushing her fingers into her ears. “I
don’t believe it. Daniel had an accident! Read the police reports. And you
know that Martin was behind your accident. Don’t you remember
Thanksgiving?”
“I remember that I never got a good look at who was following me, and
that we only assumed it was Martin, because we didn’t know who else it
could be. Think about it, Brenda. Martin is in the minor leagues where all of
this is concerned. He had no idea what was going on, or don’t you think he
would have gotten the h#ll out of Port Charles? He knew enough about
money to accept the bribe that I offered him in GH. He knew enough then to
get out of town, why wouldn’t he have known before when he held himself
up by threatening you and Denise? He did that because he thought he had
gotten away clean. He had no idea his time was up, Brenda, and I’m guessing
that neither did Daniel.”
“Just STOP!” Brenda said, facing Jax, her eyes blazing. He was
momentarily taken aback at the conviction in her voice. “This is Jody’s father.
This is the man that I loved, that was TAKEN from me. The man I’ll always
love,” Brenda said, challengingly, knowing it was the most hurtful thing she
could say to Jax at that moment. Jax was so put off that he could barely
register anything in the room. He sighed deeply, just staring at the floor.

“Somewhere,
Somewhere there’s a field and a river,
Somewhere,
You can let your soul run free.
Someday,
Someday let me be the giver,
Let me bring you peace, baby.”

“I’m sorry,” he said finally. “I didn’t mean to hurt you.”
“You’re not sorry,” Brenda said, her voice thick. “I’ve always--what did
you call it?--put him on a pedestal.” Jax looked up at Brenda in amazement. He
recalled immediately a conversation he’d had with Denise nearly a year ago
when his feelings for Brenda had first gone from friendship to romance. “Oh
yeah,” she nodded. “Denise is my best friend, Jax. Do you think she would
keep something like that from me? Women tell each other everything, you
should know that by now. What was it that she told me you said? That I was
blinded by the circumstances surrounding his death? That I would never see
him as an average man, because he had become so much more in death. He’ll
always be young to me, he’ll always be my guardian angel, and I loved him so
much, you were sure I’d never love anyone else. Is that how it went?” she
asked, clucking her tongue against the roof of her mouth, and wiping in vain
against the tears that continued to flow. It was his conversation with Denise
word for word. Had Brenda thought about it enough to commit the words to
memory? He must have really hurt her with those comments.

“Somewhere,
Somewhere, there’s a break in the weather,
Somewhere,
Where your heart and spirit go free.
Someday,
Someday it’ll be for the better,
Let this bring you peace.”

“I don’t know what to say,” Jax spoke softly, running his hands through
his hair. “This wasn’t supposed to be this way.” Brenda just shook her head.
“I don’t know you at all, do I? I don’t know, maybe we shouldn’t even
be getting married.”
“Brenda!” Jax said. “Stop it, please, you don’t know what you’re saying.
I love you too much, please.”
“What?” she asked. “You love me?”
“You know that I do.”
“You don’t love me enough to believe me over some woman who has
lied to our faces since she came into town. You know what? I’m going to call
her. Where is she, what’s her number? I want to see this PROOF that she’s
got against my hus--against Daniel.”
“We have to wait until she calls us, Brenda, I don’t have her phone
number. I tried calling the other one on the way here in the car, and it’s been
disconnected.”
“Why am I not surprised?” Brenda asked, shaking her head. “Fine. I
don’t want to hear anything from you except this. Am I under investigation?”
“No.”
“Are you?”
“Gwen says that she knows we’re both clean now, but she’s still not
sure of our pasts--either one of us.”
“Do I have to worry about being arrested any time soon?” she asked
sarcastically.
“No,” Jax said softly. “Brenda, look, you’re nearly done here, why don’t
we go back to the house, and you can rest.” Jax put a hand on Brenda’s arm,
but she pulled away quickly, looking at the floor.
“No,” she said, “I don’t want to go back home with you. I want to go to
my own house.”
“Brenda--” when she began to move away from him, he knew there
was no more getting through to her. He watched her shaking as she picked
up the telephone and dialed a number he couldn’t see.
“Carly?” she asked, when someone answered.
“No, it’s Jason, hang on.”
“Hello?” Carly said, laughing into the phone. “Brenda?”
“It’s me,” she said, the tears obvious on her voice.
“What’s wrong?” Carly asked, pushing Jason away but holding on to his
hand.
“I’m at Java House, could you do me a really big favor?”
“Of course, what?”
“Do you still have that car seat that we bought for you?” Brenda asked.
“Of course.”
“Well would you mind picking up Jody and bringing him to my house.
He’s at Jax’s.” Brenda moved her back towards Jax.
“Um, sure, are you on your way home now?”
“I’m walking out the door,” Brenda said. “He’s already there, so if you
could just pick him up and bring him to me. Oh, and Carly--would you mind
stopping somewhere and getting him something to eat? I’ll pay you back
when you get there.”
“Sure,” Carly said softly. “Are you all right?”
“I’ll just see you when you get there, all right?” Brenda asked.
“Fine, hon, I’ll see you later.” Carly hung up and stared at Jason. “That
was odd.”
“What? Something wrong with Brenda?” Jason asked, turning his
attention back to the dinner he was preparing for the both of them.
“Yeah,” Carly said, moving to pick up her coat and purse. “I have to run
out for just a minute,” Carly said. “She wants me to drop Jody off at her house.
It’ll take 45 minutes, tops, sweetie, dinner won’t even be ready then, right?”
“Go ahead,” Jason said, “It’ll take about an hour and a half. If Brenda
needs you, would you just please call me and let me know that you’re both all
right?”
“I promise,” Carly said. “Brenda’s done so much for me, I have to do
what I can for her,” she added, kissing him on the lips before stepping out of
the apartment.
Back at Java House, Brenda rushed through the back, making sure all
the ovens were off and the trash cans all empty. She didn’t think she could
tackle sweeping the floors tonight, or doing anything else. She picked up the
strong box on the table and her keys. She shrugged into her coat, not
allowing Jax to help her.

“Somewhere,
Somewhere,
Someday,
Let me be the one,
Let me be the one to catch you when you fall.
Somewhere,
Someday, let me bring you peace.”

“Don’t do this, Brenda. Don’t shut me out.”
“I hope you’re ready to leave,” she said, “because I’m leaving now, and
I’m going home.”
“Call Carly back,” Jax urged. “You know she’s got her cell phone. Call
her and tell her you changed your mind, she’ll understand. You don’t need to
be alone, Brenda, you need to be with the people who love you.”
“I will be with the people who love me,” Brenda bit back, not looking
at Jax.
“What about Victoria and Jasmine?” he challenged, saying the single
most difficult thing to her. “You know how much they were looking forward
to spending time with you.”
“Do NOT use Victoria and Jasmine to get to me, Jax.” He couldn’t help
it, they were his only weapons.
“You know how very much they love you.”
“I love them too, Jax,” Brenda said. “You know that.”
“Then be a mother to all of your children, Brenda! Including mine that
you’re carrying inside of you right now.” Brenda stopped in her tracks, her
back to him, and then suddenly started walking again, ignoring him.
“Tell the girls I’m sorry,” Brenda said. “I’ll see them later or something.”
“Tomorrow?” Jax asked hopefully.
“I don’t know. Just tell them I’m sorry.”

“Somewhere,
Somewhere there’s a break in the weather,
Somewhere,
Where your heart and spirit go free.
Someday,
Someday it’ll be for the better.
Let this bring you peace.”

“I won’t do that,” Jax said, following her to her car.
“Fine, I’ll call them later.”
“I’ll look forward to talking to you.”
“I won’t be calling to speak to you, Jax,” Brenda said.
“Why are you doing this?” he asked. “Why are you separating our
children like this? I’m Jody’s father, and I haven’t seen him in days, either. I’d
like to spend some time with him.”
“DANIEL, is Jody’s father,” Brenda said through clenched teeth. “Not
you.”
“What in the h#ll is that supposed to mean?!” Jax asked, his heart
coming up in his throat.
“I need to just go,” Brenda said, shaking her head. “Before I say too
much. Goodnight, Jax.”
“Brenda, wait!” It was too late. She was in her car and had locked the
doors before he could take a step after her. He reached into his pockets,
having the other set of keys to her car, but she peeled out of the parking lot
before he could even reach the door. She was gone in an instant.

“Somewhere,
Somewhere there’s a field and a river,
Somewhere,
You can let your soul run free.
Someday let me be the giver,
Let me bring you peace, baby.”

Jax raced to his car, he knew there was no point in following her, but
he also knew if he could get to his house and keep Carly from getting Jody,
that Brenda would be forced to get him herself, and she had too stubborn a
streak in her to let him spend the night. Then he could force a conversation
with her, perhaps even force her to stay. He didn’t want to have to, but there
was no way he was going to leave things the way that they were.
As he drove, he thought about why Gwyneth had told him not to tell
Brenda about anything except saving Denise. It wasn’t so that they could
keep any secrets, or keep investigating her. If that were the case, she wouldn’t
have told Jax, either. No, Gwyneth was a smart woman, and she’d advised
him as any woman would. This was Brenda’s husband, the father of her
children, and to learn something like this about the person that you loved had
to be pretty devastating. He put himself in Brenda’s position. If ANYONE had
made such accusations against Marian, the woman whom he watched die
giving birth to Jasmine, he’d have ripped them limb from limb for accusing
her. He thought further and imagined if it had been Brenda who’d told him
something like that about Marian. He couldn’t and wouldn’t hurt Brenda for
anything in the world, but it would kill him to hear it from her, yet he didn’t
know how he could stand to hear it from anyone else. It was a double edged
sword, and there was no way he could have won this thing.
As he pulled into his own driveway, he continued to think of how
stupid he had been. Why couldn’t he just keep this to himself? Martin was
dead, Daniel was dead, Brenda was innocent, he was innocent. He knew if
Gwen kept investigating, she wouldn’t find anything, they’d get Denise off for
this, and then it would all be over. Brenda would never have had to know,
and she would never have had to doubt her husband and her son’s father. He
had taken away the last good memory she had of him, and that had to hurt
like h#ll. He was guilty of doing the same thing with Marian. His
embellishments had never hurt anyone, and it made good bedtime stories for
his children. How their mother was a gourmet chef, when she was really as
useless with a spatula as he was. How she was an ethereal beauty. She was
tall and blonde and gorgeous, but angelic she was not, though she was kind.
The real Marian had been goofy and funny, not matronly, or graceful, as he
seemed to remember her now. She preferred shorts and T-shirts to the
flowery dresses and her hair was always braided, now that he thought of it,
not flowing down her back the way he described it to his daughters. Nothing
could ever destroy his memories of her though, unless someone, Brenda
especially, had told him that Marian lied to him every day that they were
married, and that even though she had died giving birth to his daughter, she
was still a felon and wanted by the police.
He slammed the door in anger, feeling how stupid he had been to do
this to Brenda. He hadn’t wanted to carry this guilt around in him, keeping
secrets from her, especially when she was having his baby and they were
getting married. But he would get her back, that much he was sure of. He
wouldn’t lose her over something like this, he would die first.
Jax came into the house to find Victoria on the living room floor,
kicking her legs and singing along to a video. Jasmine must be upstairs
sleeping, he didn’t see her anywhere. John sat on the couch, reading some
book, and Lady Jane, of course, was in the kitchen, cleaning. Jax sighed. He
didn’t see Jody anywhere. Maybe he was upstairs sleeping, too. He peeked
into Victoria’s room and saw that Jody’s bed was empty. Carly must have
beaten him there. He came back downstairs, defeated. “Dad, did Carly come
and get Jody?”
“She did son, you just missed her,” Lady Jane said. “Would you like
anything? I’m making meat loaf.”
“Where did you get the stuff to make meat loaf?” Jax asked, moving into
his mother’s side and holding his arms out for a hug.
“What’s this?” Lady Jane asked, gladly taking her son into her arms. “My
son asking his old mother for a hug?” When Jax didn’t let go right away, Lady
Jane held him, cooing to him as though he were a child. “Where’s Brenda?”
she asked.
“She’s gone home,” Jax said. “That’s why she asked Carly to come and
get Jody.”
“Well why didn’t she come and get him herself?” Lady Jane asked.
“She didn’t want to see anyone, I guess.”
“You two didn’t get into a fight, did you?” John asked, coming up
behind him.
“We did, actually, and it’s a really long story. One of these days I’ll tell
you about it.”
“Oh, I am sorry,” Lady Jane said. “You two will be able to work things
out, though, won’t you?”
“I hope so.”
“Because after everything you’ve been through, you need this time
together more than ever. You will try and talk to her, won’t you? Don’t let
this go for more than an evening son. Is there any use in going over there
now?”
“She won’t see me now,” Jax said. “I’m sure of that. I’ll see her in the
morning, though, she can count on that.”

Across town at Brenda’s house.

Carly pulled into Brenda’s driveway, and seeing Brenda’s car already
there, she began to take a sleepy Jody out of his car seat and carry him, and
his dinner into the house.
“Hey, thanks,” Brenda said, taking Jody from Carly’s arms when she
opened the door. “I think I’m going to have to up that raise,” she said softly.
“Thanks, really though for all that you do.”
“Of course,” Carly said, closing the door behind her. “You know after
everything you helped me with when I didn’t have a cent--”
“How’s that going?” Brenda asked, changing the subject.
“I’m in the black, if that’s what you mean, though just barely. I can
breathe easy and start saving again for tuition.”
“That’s great, Carly,” Brenda said. “And thank you for bringing his
dinner. He’ll be up soon, and want it then, and it’ll really help me tonight if I
don’t have to worry about cooking.”
“What’s going on?” Carly asked. “What’s the matter?”
“Hang on,” Brenda said, “let me put him in his bed.” She was back
downstairs in moments. Carly was still rooted to the same place.
“I haven’t been to see Denise,” Carly said, “I haven’t had time.”
“Neither have I,” Brenda said, offering Carly a seat on her couch.
“Is that what’s bothering you?” Carly asked. “Because visiting hours are
over for the night, but I can go first thing in the morning if it’ll make you feel
better.”
“That’d be great, but you spend your day off tomorrow with Jason. You
two deserve it. Without you, Java House might very well have gone down the
tubes during all of this. You guys have kept the place afloat for me, and I can’t
thank you enough for that.”
“You can tell me what I can do to help. I don’t know anything or
anyone that could put such a look on your face except for Jax. Did you two
have a fight or something?”
“Not really,” Brenda said, playing with some fringe on the ends of her
pillows. “It’s really complicated, and there is nothing I would like more than
to sit here and hash it all out with you.”
“Good, then do, I’m all ears.”
“I can’t,” Brenda said. “And it’s not because I don’t want to, but I’m
really not at liberty to say. It has to do with my case, and with Denise’s, and I
have a lot of work to do before this night is over. One day though, real soon,
you can count on one of our four hour telephone conversations, okay?”
“Promise?” Carly asked, standing up, and hugging Brenda.
“Oh yeah, I promise,” Brenda said, resting her head on Carly’s shoulder.
“Thanks again.”
“Any time,” Carly said. “You take care of yourself, and that boy you’ve
got up there.” Brenda nodded. “Daniel would be so proud of you,” Carly said,
shaking her head. “You hold on to that.”
“Yeah,” Brenda said, fighting the tears that suddenly wanted to come
streaming down her face. “I’ll see you, Carly. Bye.”
“Bye, Brenda,” Carly said, stepping out quietly. When Brenda saw
Carly’s taillights, she knew she was gone. She sprung into action then,
searching through all the boxes she had put away when Daniel died. She
spent hours going through the old records from the books the year that
Daniel died. It was so obvious, she thought to herself, as she sat there in
disbelief. The discrepancies were plain as day when someone looked at them
month by month instead of day by day as she had been.
“Oh my God,” she whispered. “He’s guilty. He did it.”

“The clouds above you,
Start to pour,
And all of your doubts,
Rage like a storm.
And you don’t know,
Who you are anymore.
Let me help you find,
What you’ve been searching for.
Somewhere,
Somewhere there’s a field and a river.
Somewhere,
You can let your soul run free.
Someday,
Someday let me be the giver,
Let me bring you peace.
Somewhere,
Somewhere there’s a break in the weather.
Somewhere,
Where your heart and spirit go free.
Someday,
Someday it’ll be for the better,
Let this bring you peace.
Let me bring you joy,
Bring you joy.
Let me bring you peace.
Bring you peace.
Let me give you heart.
Give you heart.
Let me give you hope.
Give you hope.
Be the one constant love that you’ve never known.”

Song Credit: “Somewhere Someday” by N’Sync from the Pokemon Sdtk. Mark
Muller and Andy Golomark.
end chapter 29

Here's chapter 30, which is sort of filler, but I hope you like it, it keeps things moving right along. Let me know what you think,
and happy reading!
Victoria L.

Chapter 30

“Oh my God,” Brenda said softly, trembling. “Oh, Daniel,” she said,
kneeling on the floor amongst all the papers. She buried her head in her
hands and wept silently for a few minutes, before wiping her tears and
studying the papers once again. “I have to be sure,” she said to herself. “I have
to be sure.” Suddenly, as she read the invoices and bills and read over the
transactions that she herself had kept track of, she could see it plainly. “How
could I have been so stupid?” she asked herself. “How?” An anger came over
her as she gathered up the papers that were scattered around her bedroom
and on her bed. She dumped them all back into the box she’d kept them in
since Daniel died, and took them downstairs. She was in such a rage that she
didn’t hear Jody calling for her. Once she made it back upstairs, she checked
in on him, and saw that he was in tears. “What’s wrong, honey?” she asked,
going to him and holding him in her arms.
“I had bad dream,” he said, holding tightly on to her. “I want daddy,” he
whimpered.
“Oh, I’m sorry baby, daddy’s not here. I’m so sorry.”
“I want daddy,” he continued crying. She just held him and cried
herself until he feel back to sleep. When she was sure she wouldn’t wake him
if she stirred, she replaced the covers and crept quietly out of the room.
Closing the door behind her, she sighed to herself and closed her eyes,
leaning against the wall.
“No,” she shook her head. “Something’s wrong, there must be some
kind of mistake. He couldn’t have done this.” She went back downstairs and
dumped the entire box of papers once again, this time pouring over them,
forcing herself to pay attention to every sent that came in and out of Java
House in the years surrounding Daniel’s death. It was plain to see. Not to the
untrained eye, though. Anyone doing their books might not notice, but all
one had to do was go back and look over months at a time. Brenda threw the
last invoice down in defeat. “You b@st@rd,” she said softly. “I can’t believe
it’s true. Oh, but it is,” she said sarcastically to herself. “And you were so in
love with him, you didn’t see it.” Brenda shook her head and sighed.
Suddenly she felt tired and weak all over. She felt simple and stupid and that
her life was so complicated, she thought she’d never see the end of it all.
Getting up from the floor, Brenda remembered how she’d treated Jax, the
things that she’d said in anger and hurt. She glanced at her watch, and then
the clock on the wall. It was far too late to call, she’d wake the whole house.

“Some things are meant to happen.
Some lives are meant to be.
Brought together over oceans of time,
And a world of adversity.
Where there is hope,
There is love, sweet love.”

Part of her was glad that she couldn’t call, but the other part ached to
hear his voice, ached for him to say that he forgave her. She knew that he
would, but thinking back, she already knew she’d said some things she could
never take back. She’d thrown it in his face that he wasn’t Jody’s real father,
and that she would always love Daniel. Her words cut like a knife, and she
knew it. She hurt him more than he’d hurt her, and it wasn’t as though Jax
was the one hurting her. It was Daniel, and his actions that were making her
feel this way. Jax had only told her because he wanted to be honest with her.
He hadn’t done it to ruin her memories of Daniel, and truth be told, it would
have killed her to hear it from anyone else, or find out when it was too late.
She shook her head softly and sat on the couch, curling up and throwing a
blanket over her legs. She hugged herself tightly and tried to remember her
life with Daniel. The memories usually came easily. His laughter, his eyes, his
hands. But they wouldn’t come to her now. Only Jax’s laughter, Jax’s eyes,
and Jax’s hands. She couldn’t erase him from her mind, or what she had done
to possibly end things between them. How she regretted it.

“And where there is trust,
We can learn to live,
Learn how to forgive, I know.
Where there is hope.”

The hours went by slowly, as they often did when one was in
anticipation for the morning light. Brenda didn’t move from her spot on the
couch all night long. She simply sat, thinking of Jax, thinking of Daniel, how
similar they were, how different. Both tall, strong, and protective of her. Both
kind and good. So what was the difference? Jax was more passionate, Daniel
was a home body, and more of a mother than she herself was. She shook her
head, trying to comprehend him. If he was such a good man, how could he
have done this to her? Not only did he lie to her, but he risked her freedom,
and their son’s well being. If what Jax said was true, and she had to face that
it was, then Daniel could have been arrested any time, and Brenda right along
with him. What would have become of their son?

“Sometimes passions end the moment.
Ain’t it funny when we see,
That there’re only little roads that take us
away from where we need to be.
Where there is hope,
There is love, sweet love.
And where there is trust,
We can learn to live,
Learn how to forgive, I know.
Where there is hope.”

Brenda was so unsure of herself now. Unsure of how she would go on
with the knowledge that the man she loved with all her heart was a liar, that
he had risked their lives so carelessly for so long. That he was partners with
Martin of all people. Daniel wasn’t like Martin though, that much she knew
for sure. He may have been laundering money, but he was never unkind,
never hateful, and she knew it. Part of her wished she could say that he was,
that she knew it all along, but she had been completely oblivious. She’d
fancied him perfect, and now that was taken away from her. While sitting
there on her couch, Brenda realized that it was morning, that the sun had
been up for at least an hour, and that soon her son would be up, too. There
was one person that was already up though, and she couldn’t wait a second
longer to talk to him, to apologize.

“Uncertain as this moment,
As fragile as we are,
There’s a light that drives a spirit burning,
Somewhere in the dark.
Where there is hope,
There is love, sweet love.
And where there is trust,
We can learn to live,
Learn how to forgive, and let go.
Takes a mountain of strength, oh, I know.
But love finds a way to grow.
Where there is hope.
Only God knows, where there is hope.”

She waited impatiently for the phone to start ringing. Once it did, she
felt the same apprehension that she did when they had first started dating.
Only this time, part of her was dreading hearing his voice. What if he hated
her? What if he decided that all of this business with her was too much, and
she’d given him the out that he needed? What if, what if, what if? It was
driving her crazy. Why wasn’t he picking up the phone? Why wasn’t
ANYONE picking up the phone? She slammed it down in frustration after the
tenth ring, sighing to herself. It was her own fault, really. She wrapped her
hands around her still flat abdomen. “I’m sorry, baby,” she said, “that I hurt
your daddy. I don’t know if he’ll forgive me, but I’d give anything in the
world, if--” her thoughts were interrupted by a loud knock on the front door.
Who on earth could that be? She walked to the door, giving no heed to how
she looked, which was quite frankly, terrible. She swung the door open to
find Jax standing there, with his heart in his hand. Literally. “Where did you
get that?” was all she could think to ask. Jax held a big heart in his hands,
made out of what looked like construction paper, and a really bad crayon job.
She recognized it as Jasmine and Victoria’s handy work.

“When I see you there, I’m so aware,
Of how lucky I am, baby.
Cause I don’t deserve, I don’t come close,
To understanding, baby,
The logic of your kind of trust.
It amazes me,
That someone like you
Would care enough to just believe.”

Jax gave her a big dopey smile and handed her the heart. “Will you
forgive me?” was written on it, along with, “We’ll always love you, Jasmine,
Victoria, Jax.” Brenda laughed out loud and shook her head, opening her
arms to Jax, who immediately picked her up and came into the house. She
was so light in his arms, he just held her, her feet dangling off the floor. She
sighed and closed her eyes, burying her face in his neck.
“I’m so sorry,” she said, whispering, and trying to hold back the tears.
“So am I.”
“What do you have to be sorry about?” she asked. “This is all my fault.
Can you ever forgive me?” Jax put Brenda on her feet.
“Only if you forgive me.”
“Forgive you? Jax, those terrible things that I said to you, I didn’t mean
them. I’m so sorry. What I said about you, and Daniel, and Jody, I--I can’t
believe I said that, I was so wrong about everything, and if you’ll only forgive
me--” her speech was cut off by Jax as he pressed his lips to hers in a deep
kiss. “Does that mean you forgive me?” she whispered, her body pressed
against his. Jax nodded. “And you are forgiven as well,” she said. “Though I
don’t know what for.”

“Your faith in me, it pulls me through,
When there’s nothing around to hold on to.
When I fall, when I’m weak,
All the strength that I need is your faith, baby.
Your faith in me.”

“Because of the way that I told you.”
“You broke it to me as gently as you could,” Brenda said, shaking her
head and stroking his cheek. “How on earth did you know to come here
exactly when I needed you?”
“I have a sixth sense when it comes to you,” he joked. “I just felt you,
and I knew that last night, you couldn’t have heard me no matter what I did. I
waited until the morning, I was going to wait until later, but I just couldn’t.”
“I’m glad you didn’t wait. I don’t want to make you wait ever again, Jax.
Ever.” She pulled him into another deep kiss, his hands running through her
hair and caressing her body. She sighed against his mouth and gently pulled
away. “There are some things that I want to say to you,” she said, pulling him
towards the couch.
“Can’t it wait?” he asked, still trying to kiss her. “We just made up.”
“Not quite,” Brenda sighed, a serious look coming over her face.

“Even when you’re gone,
I get along, cause our love is real, baby.
It’s like salvation to my soul,
Cause that’s how it feels, baby.
It’s a sacred thing that I keep close,
To carry on.
And I know that I will be all right,
In your healing arms.”

“Don’t look at me like that,” Brenda said. “It’s not that bad. First of all, I
want to say to you that I love you. With all of my heart, and I can’t apologize
enough for what I said, and the way that I hurt you last night. I’m not much
for words, I can’t begin to articulate to you how blessed I feel to have you in
my life, and your girls, my girls. You are Jody’s father, the only one he’ll ever
know, the best one he could ever have. And I’m not just saying that because
of what Daniel did. I’m saying it because it’s true.”
“Brenda, I’ll always forgive you, no matter what. And I’ll always love
you, no matter what.”

“Your faith in me, it pulls me through.
When there’s nothing around to hold on to.
When I fall, when I’m weak,
All the strength that I need,
Is your faith, baby,
Your faith in me.
You make me feel I can walk on water.
I can reach above the storm.
And nothing comes against me,
Safe within your arms.”

“I’m so lucky to have you,” Brenda said, kissing Jax once again. “And
this is the last thing I have to say, but it’s the hardest.”
“What?”
“You were right, about Daniel, about the money and everything. I
guess I should say Gwyneth was right. I looked through some old invoices,
bills and books. I can see it plainly, all you have to do is look at the right
dates, ask the right questions. I only have about three years of work up there,
though, there’s no telling how long he was doing it, or how much money was
moved.” Brenda spoke solemnly, embarrassed to have to be admitting this,
but glad in some small measure, that she finally knew the truth. Jax nodded
and moved to hold her in his arms as she cried.

“Your faith in me, it pulls me through,
When there’s nothing around, to hold on to.
When I fall, baby, when I’m weak,
All the strength that I need,
Is your faith, baby,
Your faith in me, oh.
When I fall, baby,
When I’m weak, baby,
All I need, baby,
All I need baby is your faith in me.
When I fall, baby,
When I’m weak, baby,
All I need, baby, is your faith in me.
Is your faith in me.
Your faith in me.”

“You know that I love you, right?” Jax asked. Brenda nodded against his
chest. “And you also know that I would do anything in the world for you.
Those papers that you found last night, they don’t mean anything. Gwyneth
certainly isn’t going to turn Daniel in, there wouldn’t be any point. Besides,
they already have all the proof they need. I think that you were the only one
that was meant to see those papers, Brenda. You just had to come to terms
with it for yourself, no one could do that for you, and I should have seen that
before, I’m sorry.”
“You know, I’ve been thinking,” Brenda said. “About how and why and
when, you know? When could he have done it? Was there ever a time when I
thought I noticed a discrepancy in the books? Why would he have risked
everything like that? I mean, what did he do with all the money? We had a
nice house, two nice cars, and the best of everything for our son. But we
weren’t rolling in the dough. Where did all that go?”
“I don’t know,” Jax said. “But there’s one thing I do know, and that’s
from hearing you speak of him. Daniel was a good man, he just made some
mistakes.”
“He was a good man,” Brenda nodded. “And I’m glad that you believe
that. He never spoke a word of anger, he was so quiet and calm, I just--that’s
why I’m having such a hard time with this.”
“But the money doesn’t lie, Brenda.”
“I know it, and I believe it now, it’ll just be hard to know that he was
lying to me for so long. I wish I could talk to him and ask him why, you
know? Was he hurting? Was he in debt? In trouble? I guess I’ll never know,
and that’s the hardest thing to take. If I could shake him and yell at him,
things would be different, but I only have myself to use to deal with these
feelings and questions.”
“Not so,” Jax said. “You have me, and you have our children, and my
parents, and Lois, and you have Carly and Denise. You’ve got a whole zoo of
people that are just waiting with open arms.”
“I wish my parents were still alive,” Brenda said. “It’s so hard to imagine
life without them, but I’ve been used to it for so long, I guess it just doesn’t
register anymore. John and Jane are really the only parents I’ve ever had. I’ve
never felt more loved than I do at this moment,” Brenda said softly, after a few
moments. “Never. Not once in my life. And you’d think that wouldn’t be the
case, you’d think that when I got married, or had my son, or when you
proposed to me, that I would have felt differently, surrounded in love. But I
don’t. Now, more than any other experience. I guess because of what we’ve
all been through, you know? My son is sleeping upstairs, my girls are happy
and beautiful, and I have John and Jane who love me like parents, and I have
you, the best thing to ever happen to me, and this baby, that I love so much it
hurts. I’ve really been focusing on the negative lately, you know?”
“Yeah, everything that’s wrong or off in our lives.”
“Mm-hmm, but there’s so much more, Jax, there’s so much more that’s
so totally and completely right, I just can’t take it all in sometimes. There’s so
much love in my life, I have the love of my life right here in my arms.”
“Me?” Jax asked, chuckling.
“Yes you,” Brenda said, punching him the arm. “I’ll never love anyone
the way that I love you. You’ve proven to me time and time again that I can
trust you, you’ll always tell the truth, you always have. You trust me more
than I trust myself, and there’s nothing more valuable to me than that.”
“Wow,” Jax said, “did you rob a Hallmark store or what?”
“Shut up,” Brenda said, getting up from the couch. “A pregnant woman
is allowed to express her emotions.” Jax stood to face her.
“Are you going to be all right now?” Jax asked. “I mean, after
everything.”
“Yeah, I really think I will,” Brenda said, moving into his arms. “What
I’ve learned about Daniel is going to be hard to take, it’ll always bother me
that I never had all the answers. But it won’t ruin my memories of him
altogether, I don’t think. He was a different man at home than at work. Kind
of like you.”
“Like me?” Jax asked.
“Yeah, you know how you are, a work horse and tyrant when you’re
on the job, closing the deal, making your next million. And then when you
get home and Victoria shines those baby blues at you, you’re putty in her
hands.” Jax just smirked and hugged Brenda. “Touché. So, do you feel like
going back home with me, now?” he asked. Brenda wrinkled her nose.
“I think I’d kind of like to just stay here for a while, just you me and
Jody. Would that be all right?” she asked, almost worried that he would say
no. Jax was so attentive of his daughters, she figured he would want to be
there when the woke up.
“Of course,” he asked, hugging her to his chest tightly. “You sound as
though you were worried.”
“Not really,” Brenda shrugged, “I just thought you might want to be
there when they got up this morning.”
“Lady Jane and John are there, and I’m sure their grandmother will
stuff them to the hilt with food, so they are taken care of. Jody’s the only guy
in a house that’s usually full of women, so I think some alone time is exactly
what we need.”
“I’ll make breakfast,” Brenda said, “blueberry pancakes?”
“Sounds good,” Jax said, heading upstairs.
“Okay, oh, and Jax? He had a nightmare last night and was calling for
you. He may be a little shaky when he wakes up, he tends to dream over and
over.”
“Thanks for the warning, I’ll take care of him,” Jax said, smiling down at
her from the top of the stairs. Brenda watched until he was out of sight, and
then made her way into the kitchen, stepping over the boxes she had brought
down last night. As she prepared the meal that she and Jax and Jody would
share together, she finally felt at ease for the first time in weeks. Things were
really going to be okay. She was going to have her husband, and her man, and
her family. Now the only thing she needed to do was help her best friend
fight the battle of her life.

One hour later....

“Jax, don’t!” Brenda screamed, as Jax squirted her for the third time
with the sprinkler hose attached to the kitchen sink. She laughed and wiped
the wet hair from her forehead. “I need a shower,” she said, running her
hands underneath the water to rinse off the last of blueberry pancake batter.
Jody just laughed as Jax squirted her yet again. “You are so going to pay for
that later,” she said, laughing so hard she had to double over. Jax nodded,
continuing to wash the dishes. Brenda lifted Jody up into her arms and
started up the stairs, to the little boy’s protests.
“Where are you taking him?” Jax asked, his back still turned to her.
“Oh, I was going to put him in the tub with me,” she said, “and I think
he knows it too, which is why he’s doing battle with me,” Brenda said, as she
struggled to hold on to her four year old.
“Have fun,” Jax said, knowing that Jody was going to make his mother
regret putting him in a tub full of bubbles. Jax would have just sat the boy in
the driveway and hosed him off. He laughed to himself, picturing Jody run
around the yard, trying to escape the water hose. It was almost worth
Brenda’s over protective shriek when and if she caught Jax hosing off her
son. Jax’s thoughts were interrupted by the ringing phone. Jax looked up at
the ceiling, to see if Brenda would answer it. She usually did, and after all, it
was her house. But when it continued to ring, and Jax heard the bath water
begin to run, he answered the phone. “Buchanan residence,” he said. “This is
Jax speaking.”
“Jax, it’s Gwen.”
“Hey, what’s up?”
“Well, they’re having a bail hearing for Denise, and she’s going to
probably make it.”
“That’s good news, isn’t it?” Jax asked.
“Well, it depends on how you look at it. She’s going to get to go home,
but if I know these people that we’re after, they’re not going to let her make it
from the jail to her house.”
“What?” Jax asked. “But I thought you said that they needed someone to
take the wrap for all of this.”
“WE need someone to take the wrap. It was supposed to be one of the
people who worked on the inside, because the others are too high profile for
us. The bad guys that we’re after don’t need anyone to take the wrap for
anything. What they need is for all interested parties to disappear. Including,
and especially, Denise.”
“Well what can we do?” Jax asked.
“Come on down to the station,” Gwyneth said. “I’ll meet you there,
we’ll post bail, and then we’ll bring Denise back to the safe house with me.
We’ll find out who is making her confess once we get there. Jax, are you
there?”
“I’m here,” Jax said after a short pause. “And we’re on our way.”

Song credits: the first song was taken from an episode of Guiding Light, and the other is "Your Faith In Me" sung by Jessica
Simpson from her debut album, "Sweet Kisses", written by D. DeViller, S. Hosein, and T. Lacy.
end chapter 30