Sorry I haven't written in so long but here's another chapter thanks to the prodding and prodding from Geneva, Karen L. and
Cheri. Hope you enjoy. Hugs, Susan

***
It was late Christmas day when Brenda finally fell into bed. She knew Jax was down the hall in the guest bedroom but she
doubted he was asleep. The man was strung too tightly after the party at the Cerullo’s that evening. He hadn’t let Brenda walk
into her own apartment first, he had, in an over zealous move, pulled out his gun and scouted out the place with her tucked
behind him.

After brunch she hadn’t been able to get any answers out of him regarding why he was guarding her, why his father had found it
necessary to move her out of her apartment, okay granted the apartment she lived in was a pit, but she hadn’t planned on
moving just yet. The money she had gotten in back pay was going to go a long way in getting her modeling career off to a start.
A portfolio was first on her list, she didn’t worry about clothing to wear in the pictures that would be easy with Chloe’s designs,
it was getting a photographer to do the shoot that was worrying her.

She, Chloe and Lois had managed to sneak away from the festivities to hold a little summit meeting of their own as Jax and
Jerry had done the same. The secrecy that surrounded the whole situation of their life changes had bother all three women but
they decided to live by the old adage don’t look a gift horse in the mouth and take advantage of the situation.

Chloe had already spoken to a friend of hers who was a lawyer about getting the documents she would need to start her own
design house and Lois was inquiring about what kind of paperwork was needed for a record company. They all three had
dreams in their heads, but something in the way Jax and Jerry had looked at them made her worry about what the future really
held. She shook her head and rolled over on her side, her eyes slightly closed her breathing evening out even though she really
wasn’t all that sleepy despite everything that was happening.

Her thoughts drifted more and more until she knew she couldn’t fight the sleep any longer, or the dreams they would bring of
the future and fame, and of finally, finally being able to put her past where it belonged, in the past.

Jax padded by her bedroom just to check and make sure everything was okay. The party at the Cerullo’s had all but worn him
out, primarily because of the broken arm, and because of the stress of the situation. It wasn’t just that he had been out of action
for a while, it was this nagging feeling inside him that nothing he would do, could protect the young woman he had been ordered
to protect. The fact that she worked for the family company, had suffered because of the family’s neglect at checking things out
thoroughly only made him more frustrated.

He stood silently in her doorway watching her body rise and fall softly in the depth of sleep, she had just drifted off and to Jax
the sigh she had emitted just before heading into her dreams made him long for something he couldn’t, didn’t have a right to
long for. A long time ago he remembered the feeling of a woman snuggled next to him at night, her sigh escaping her lips before
she drifted off, the contented morning coffee and paper in the kitchen. He didn’t deserve the comfort of love, didn’t want the
closeness it brought or the awareness of somebody else’s soul it was all too easily taken away and Jax didn’t think he could
stand that experience again.

With regret he turned away from Brenda’s sleeping form and padded softly down the hall again. He lay in the guest bed and
frowned to himself his arms, even the broken one across his chest as the thoughts rolled over him like a tidal wave.

Brenda Barrett’s brother–in—law was out for her blood and Jax was going to see that he didn’t get it, if it killed him. His bigger
problem at the moment was why Todd was coming in to town. Todd was up so high in the agency that not many people knew
he existed. So, why now, why was he coming out of seclusion for this case. It had to be something big and it made Jax nervous.
As his lids drifted closed Jax vowed to keep Brenda alive even if it was the death of him. There was just something about her
that made him want to protect her.

***
“We have a problem. “

Jake glared at the receiver in his hands. It was midnight on Christmas day and his wife and son were sound asleep and he
wanted to join them shortly. If only the incompetents he had hired weren’t so stupid he would have his arms wrapped around
Julia right now, but everything thing he did, including putting a hit out on her sister, he did for her. She would understand
someday but in the meantime, while she was still nursing feelings of guilt for leaving her sister to swing in the wind after their
father’s or rather Brenda’s father’s death, he couldn’t tell her anything.

“What is it now? “

His irritation was palpable and the man on the other end of the line swallowed nervously.

“The address you gave us for Ms. Barrett isn’t accurate. “

The fool couldn’t possibly be serious.

“EXCUSE ME??? You aren’t serious are you? “

“Well, ummm…”

The receiver fumbled in the man’s sweaty hands and he nearly dropped it.

“I went to her apartment and she wasn’t there. The place has been cleaned out boss. Not a speck of dust even. “

He stood up and started to pace. No, this was not happening. He should have moved earlier, he should have killed her the
other day in the store when he had a chance, when Sonny had managed to get her back into the stock room. Now it appeared
that she was gone.

“Find her. “

“But boss, there’s no trace…”

“I want you to find her, and my plan has changed. Don’t kill her right away, bring her directly to me. I’ll tell you where later
when you’ve proven to me that you aren’t a complete incompetent. “

Jake slammed the phone down on the cradle and steepled his hands together as he thought. It appeared that the young Ms.
Barrett had some protection that Jake hadn’t counted on. He would find out who it was, weigh the challenge and take them out
one by one before getting to his goal.

He always enjoyed a challenge and as he picked up the phone again he planned his first move to through of the sent.

***
“Chloe, I don’t like you being alone right now. “

“Jerry listen, I’ll be fine and it will only be for one night. “

Jerry had stood in the doorway, his arms crossed and a frown on his beautiful face. He didn’t like it when she told him he was
beautiful but he was. If she hadn’t seen the family photo’s she would have doubted that he was Jax’s brother he was so dark
compared to Jax’s fair coloring. She sighed as she put the last few things she needed with her for her designing in a box and
carried it out to her car. The house was empty now, a shell of what it had once been.

Gertrude had managed to wipe out a lot of the happy memories Chloe had there as a child but now, as she got ready to move
into Jerry’s place with him, he had insisted after all, she wondered who would buy the lovely old mansion and hoped, upon
hope that it would be a family that could be happier there than her own was.

She didn’t hear the sound behind her, the footfall was silent even on the coating of snow that had started to fall again, and she
felt only a moments pain as the gun slammed down on the back of her head knocking her into empty darkness, Jerry’s name a
scream echoing in the night.

****
Lois sat up in her bed at her parent’s house, a notepad on her lap and her headphone’s blaring. She could envision it their
business. L&B Records, she and Brenda had dreamt about it for a long time and now it would be a reality. Lois’s didn’t kid
herself though, Brenda’s first desire was to be a model, to prove to the people who had degraded her all her life that she was
desirable and beautiful. Lois didn’t think it would take Brenda long to realize that dream. There was something in the way Jax
was already looking at her. She shook her head, set the notebook aside and fell asleep dreaming of gold records lining the walls
and artists waiting in line to record on her label.

***
Jerry paced in his penthouse. Glancing towards the door every five seconds, wondering what on earth was taking Chloe so
long. He had a bad feeling and he just wanted her home safe where he could hold her into the night.

“Jerry? “

His mother wandered out of his parents side of the penthouse wrapped in the long fluffy robe his father had gotten her years
before on another Christmas. She was still shrouded in sleep only awake, he guessed because of his pacing.

“I’m waiting for Chloe mum. You go on back to bed. “

Jane yawned and patted her son on the shoulder. It was nice to see him so in love.

“Where did she go off too at this time of night? “

“There were a few things she wanted from the house. “

She raised an eyebrow.

“You let her go? “

“She’s just so stubborn. “

He raised his hands in frustration and then dropped them.

“She doesn’t understand the danger of the situation. “

“Then explain it to her son, when she gets home. “

Jerry hugged his mother before she turned to go back to bed.

“I will mum. Thanks, and night. “

“Night sweetie. “

Jane wandered down the hallway back to her husband and mentally made plans for her first-born’s wedding.

****
The house lights were on full. He left the door to the house wide open, scattered the contents of the box Chloe had been
carrying on the front step, then took the hankerchief he had used to blot up some of the blood from the blow to the head he had
given her and dropped it on the step as well. With a smile on his face he turned to the car. The trunk was wide open; he had
dragged her through the snow to make it look like there had been a struggle. The pearl necklace she had been wearing
scattered and blended into that same snow.

All in all it was perfectly planned, a ploy to through them off the real target. He thought personally that it was some of his best
work, especially where he had stashed the prize. In an afterthought, he left the driver’s side door open with the keys in the
ignition and the lights on. Just perfect. He practically skipped down the driveway to his own vehicle humming. The New Year
would be an interesting one.