Faceoff

Chapter 6

Brenda saw her life flash before her as she stared into Jax’s ice-cold eyes. He was standing not three feet away from her and Brian, his feet spread, both hands gripping the butt of his .457 Magnum police pistol tightly. The barrel of the gun was aimed somewhere in the vicinity of the center of Brian’s now-sweaty forehead.

“Move AWAY from the woman and keep your hands where I can see ‘em!” Jax growled.

“Jax, this isn’t …….I mean, he’s not……” Brenda put her hands out towards Jax in supplication but he just re-positioned his feet and gripped the pistol more tightly.

“Shut up, Brenda!” Jax shouted. “Now I said MOVE, dirtbag!” When he c*cked the pistol, Brenda felt Brian’s entire body quiver.

“I’m movin’! I’m movin’! See, mister?” Brian released Brenda so quickly that she barely had a chance to get her footing. He backed towards the open back door to Brenda’s kitchen, slipping once in the puddles of slush. “See? I’m doin’ JUST like you said, so you can put the gun away!!!”

Jax kept his sights trained on Brian. “Brenda – come over here by me!” he snarled, extending one hand to her. But to his surprise, the pet*te brunette was far from thankful to him.

“Jax! This is RIDICULOUS!” Brenda balled her fists and stomped her foot in frustration. “Will you just LISTEN to me?”

“I’ll dance naked at your wedding if you just COME OVER HERE BY ME!” Jax replied. Silently, he told himself that he DID do the right thing in that hostage negotiations course. Working out differences through calm discussion was highly over-rated.

Brenda huffed loudly and then strode over to Jax. He reached out with his free hand to pull her protectively behind him, but she dug in her heels in an excellent imitation of a stubborn toddler. “Jax – will you PLEASE put the gun away? This is Brian Coleridge – my grocery delivery man!” One blonde eyebrow rose slightly. “Remember? I told you last night that he delivers *first* thing in the morning?”

Jax’s eyes flitted to the bags of groceries on the kitchen table and then back to the pale, shaken man standing near the doorjamb. “And is having you in a full-body clinch in the middle of your kitchen standard delivery policy for a grocery man?” he asked, re-positioning his feet and steadying his aim.

“It snowed last night, Jax,” Brenda replied. Her words were clipped and she folded her arms across her chest. “The snow on Brian’s shoes left puddles on my floor and when I went to get the money to pay him, I slipped. He was just catching me before I hit the floor.”

When Jax glanced down towards the floor to see the muddy puddles, he swore beneath his breath. “She’s right, man!” Brian suddenly exclaimed. “I can show you the receipts in my pocket for the other orders I have to deliver if you want! And you can check my truck to match them up – it’s parked right out back in the alley!”

There was another minute of charged silence, but then Jax finally raised the gun over his head and re-clicked the safety mechanism. He ran his fingers through his hair and grimaced before re-holstering the weapon. “I’m sorry, man. Honest mistake.”

When Brenda saw that Brian was still visibly shaking, she went over to him, carefully picking her way through the puddles as she went. “It’s OK now, Brian – really,” she murmured, patting his arm to re-assure him. “Jax is just a little……..over-protective sometimes,” she added, grimacing at her chagrinned bodyguard.

“No sh*t,” Brian whispered. He leaned closer to Brenda, removing his fogged glasses to wipe them on his coat. “I think maybe your boyfriend needs to lay off the caffeine a little, Miss Barrett.”

Brenda’s eyes widened. “Oh, Jax isn’t my boyfriend! He’s……..well, he’s my…….”

“Her brother!” Jax grinned widely and closed the distance to the door in seconds. He put his arm around Brenda’s shoulders and hugged her to him enthusiastically while extending the other hand to Brian. “I’m Brenda’s older brother, Jackson Barrett! No hard feelings, huh man?”

“Brother?” Brian shook Jax’s hand but his face still registered confusion. “Brenda never mentioned having a brother.”

Brenda took a breath to say something but Jax just gripped her shoulder more tightly. “Yeah, well I think I embarrass her a little.” He leaned towards Brian confidentially and winked. “You know how paranoid older brothers can be about their little sisters!”

Brian pulled back from Jax, his wariness still written all over his face. “Yeah – paranoid. Right.” In the process of backing up towards Brenda’s door, he bumped against the kitchen chair and almost knocked it over. “Well, I should really be getting along to the rest of my deliveries, Miss Barrett.” He nodded towards Jax. “Nice meetin’ you, Jackson – I think.”

Brian was halfway out the door when Brenda called after him. “Brian! You forgot the money for the groceries!”

He gripped the doorjamb as he leaned back inside – just barely. “You know what, Miss Barrett? Why don’t I just add it on to the next delivery and you can just pay me for both of them at one time?”

Brenda pulled free of Jax’s restraining arm and stooped down to pick up a five-dollar bill. “Are you sure, Brian? Because if you just give me a minute, I’m sure I can…….”

“I’m sure, Miss Barrett. REAL sure.” Brenda opened her mouth to thank him, but Brian’s boots clomping down her back steps was already echoing in the kitchen. She went to the kitchen window over the sink to watch him beat a hasty retreat to a battered GMC parked in the alley.

When she felt Jax’s breath on her hair behind her, Brenda crossed her arms and snorted in disgust. “You *scared* him, the poor kid.”

“He *scared* me, the dumb cluck.” When Brenda looked up at Jax’s face over her shoulder, he was eyeing the truck intently as it pulled away from behind Brenda’s utility shed.

“He’s just a KID!” Brenda shook her head and walked slowly towards the bags of groceries, which still were sitting on the kitchen table. “He can’t be more than 24 years old, for God’s sake!”

Jax leaned back against the sink and folded his arms. “Yeah, and for all *you* know he could have been voted “Most Likely to Take a Hostage” in his graduating class.”

“Brian Coleridge has been delivering my groceries for two years, Jax……”

“….which *still* doesn’t mean that he couldn’t be the Dockside Slasher!” Jax shrugged and ambled over to the table where Brenda was starting to take groceries out of the bags. “After all, serial killers need steady jobs, too, you know.” He took a grapefruit out of the bag, tossed it up in the air, and caught it again in the same hand. “Violent schizophrenia doesn’t buy a whole lot of grapefruit at the grocery store.”

“Brian just…….well, he *couldn’t* be the Slasher!” Brenda grabbed the grapefruit out of the air when Jax tossed it again cavalierly. “He’s too *dumb* to be violent! I mean…….well, he’s like a little brother to me!” He totally ignored her reasoning and started unloading the grocery bag in front of him. “Which reminds me ……..” Brenda slapped at Jax’s arm to get his attention. “What the *heck* was that bull about you being my older brother?”

“Well, he may be dumb, but I didn’t think he was dumb enough to buy it if I told him I was your *sister*!”

“You *know* what I mean!” Brenda grabbed Jax’s arm as he turned towards the refrigerator with a bag of lettuce and carton of orange juice. “Why didn’t you tell him that you were really a cop?”

“Because then he’d go back and tell all the little old ladies back at the grocery store that Brenda Barrett’s got a cop living with her because she saw the Dockside Slasher. And then those little old ladies would tell other people. And pretty soon, you’d have the media camped out on your doorstep, Brenda. And that’s the *last* thing we need,” Jax replied sarcastically. He opened the refrigerator and put the OJ inside. “If they’re waiting with bated breath and handi-cams for the Slasher to show up and eliminate the only person who knows what he looks like, he’ll *never* show!”

Brenda rose an eyebrow as Jax came back towards the table. “And you call ME psychotic! You’re here to protect me from this maniac, and yet you’re afraid he won’t come try to kill me because he might show up on the five o’clock news!” She shook her head and took several tall cans out of the grocery bags. “My therapist would have a field day with you, Jax!”

Jax gave her a pained grimace. When his hand shot out and grasped her wrist tightly, she jumped. “What’re those?”

“What’re………what?” Brenda’s heart rate tripled and then she realized Jax was referring to the cans in her hands. “These?” she asked, nodding towards the groceries. His silent, grim affirmative look raised the first tentative giggle in Brenda’s throat. “These are asparagus. Canned white asparagus, Jax.”

“Those are those things that look like thick weeds with the little green sprouty things on the tops,” Jax muttered, his eyes never leaving the can. “Mum always serves ‘em on Thanksgiving.”

Brenda fought back the smile that teased the corners of her mouth. “They’re really delicious in a cold salad too, you know! Or as a garnish with something hot, like eggs Benedict……” She pulled away from him and started digging in the bag of groceries. “Let’s see – I know there are some eggs in here……”

Jax pushed her aside so abruptly she almost slipped in a puddle again. “I’ll find the eggs. I’ll make breakfast.” At her shocked gasp, he gave her a look that was purely superior macho male. “I’ll have you know I can make a *mean* omelet, Miss Barrett……..” He gestured towards the can in Brenda’s hand. “…….and you can bet your @ss it won’t have any of those dandelion wannabes within 50 feet of the plate!”

Brenda backed away from the table, her hands locked behind her back. “Whyyyyyyy, Jasper Jacks! You’re a weenie!”

Jax set down the carton of eggs he was holding very carefully. “I’m a what?”

Brenda’s raucous laugh echoed off the kitchen walls. “A weenie, Jax!” She was laughing so hard that she had to ease into the nearest kitchen chair before falling down. “You chase serial killers and wave that gun around like that guy on Kojak reruns, but you’re afraid of a little can of white leafy vegetables!”

Jax’s eye narrowed at Brenda’s accusation. “I am NOT afraid of …….of……..of those things,” he blustered, pointing at the can of asparagus. Then he sauntered over to where Brenda sat, still giggling. “And just to prove my point…….” He handed her the carton of eggs. “I’ll *eat* your lousy fancy eggs, *including* those d*mn asparagus!”

Brenda stopped laughing when she saw the twinkle in his eye. “I sense an “if” coming in that sentence, lieutenant.”

Jax braced his weight by settling one hand on the kitchen table and one hand on the back of the chair, effectively trapping Brenda there as he leaned in closer. “I’ll eat the asparagus,” he grinned smugly, “IF you agree to come somewhere with me.”

“Somewhere?” Brenda’s breath caught in her chest. “Like the police station? To look at more mug shots?”

Jax looked deeply into her eyes. “No. Somewhere – like a movie. And maybe dinner first.”

“Dinner? And a movie?” Brenda blinked and swallowed hard. “You’re asking me out on a date?”

Jax knew he was probably breaking every un-written rule in the book. Being extremely unprofessional in his relationship with the PCPD’s star witness. But he didn’t care. “Uh-huh. After this is all over, of course.”

To his surprise, Brenda started breathing so hard he thought she was going to hyper-ventilate. She pushed at his chest angrily and threw him off balance enough to rise from the chair and sweep past him. “You really are a piece of work, Lieutenant!! Why don’t you just ask someone who’s afraid of heights to walk a tight rope between the Twin Towers?”

“It’s dinner and a movie, Brenda! And I would be right there with you!” Jax ruffled his hair with his right hand in frustration. “You can’t stay in this old house forever, you know!”

Brenda’s chin jutted forward. “Oh, yeah, Lieutenant?” She spun on her heel and strode angrily towards the kitchen door, turning back to him at the last moment. “Just watch me!”

After hurling that challenge, Brenda stomped off down the hallway. Jax heard her stamp her way up the steps and then cringed when the slamming of her bedroom door echoed through the large house. Muttering a choice expletive, he picked up the wooden kitchen chair and slammed it down again.

Wouldn’t you know it? Lieutenant Jasper Jacks was stuck playing nursemaid to a fruitcake. And the d*mn frustrating woman didn’t even have a cat he could kick.

*~*~*~*~*

A soft knock at the open library door made Brenda look up from her computer. “Jax?”

He stood framed in the doorway holding a tray. “I…….uh…….I thought you might like something to eat…….since I sort of screwed up breakfast this morning.”

Brenda fought back a smile. She had been mentally berating herself ever since she had done something as blatantly Scarlett O’Hara-ish as flouncing out of the kitchen and then slamming the bedroom door. After all, the man was putting his life on the line to keep her safe. All he had asked her to do was have dinner and see a movie with him. Anyone else wouldn’t have gone off the deep end just because he asked her to leave the house.

“That smells heavenly, Jax.” She sniffed at the delicious aroma wafting from the plate on the tray and then smiled knowingly. “Mushroom and bell peppers? And ham?”

Jax walked towards the desk proudly bearing his peace offering with a relieved smile. “I told you omelets were my specialty.” He set down the tray on the small portion of desk across from Brenda’s keyboard. Her stomach growled when Brenda saw two stoneware plates, each containing fluffy, steaming omelets. A piece of golden brown toast and orange slice kept each one company. After pulling a chair up so that he could sit opposite her, Jax handed her a fork and they each dug into their respective feasts.

Several minutes later, he finally pointed to the computer monitor, which was beeping quietly. “You ordering more groceries again?”

She shook her head. “No. I actually was checking my website to see how much money I made today.” Brenda swiveled the monitor towards Jax so that he could see the graphics. “See this here?” she asked, pointing with the fork to two blinking red entries. “By the time those two bidders get finished haggling over that particular Madame Alexander doll collection, I’ll make at least seven hundred dollars in commissions.”

“Dolls? You make that much money in one day for selling *dolls*?” Jax choked on his toast and needed a sip of orange juice before he could speak again. He squinted at the image of the dolls on the screen. “I think my little sister had some of those dolls when we were kids. Me and my brothers used to hold ‘em over the barbeque pit and threaten to roast ‘em alive!”

“Yes, well if your mother had been able to save some of those dolls before they went to their fiery rewards, she would be a *rich* woman today, Jax!” Brenda wiped her fingers on a napkin and then moved the computer mouse and clicked, displaying another screen. “And if she’s got any of that Depression glass hidden away in a closet somewhere,” she added, nodding towards a picture of brightly colored water glasses, “I’ll buy it from her in a heartbeat!”

Jax grimaced and shook his head. “I think us boys managed to break most of mum’s good dishes before we moved out.” An awkward silence descended on the room, broken only by the soft whirring of the computer. “Brenda…….I……..uh………”

The telephone’s shrill ring made both of them jump. Brenda reached to answer it, but Jax put a hand out in warning. He got up and came around to Brenda’s side of the desk to pull the called ID box out from under a stack of papers. When he saw the number on the LCD readout, he pounded his fist on the desk and then turned away, hands on hips. “Bloody h*ll! It didn’t take them long to get this number!”

“Them?” Brenda glanced between Jax and the readout. “Them who?” She put her hand on his arm to force him to look at her. “Do you know who this number belongs to?”

Jax nodded grimly. “WLPC.”

“WLP…….” Brenda repeated the alphabet letters to herself slowly and then suddenly her jaw dropped. “WLPC – the TV station?” Jax nodded again and then strode around the desk back to his chair, his jaw set with determination. “What would WLPC want with me?”

“The station doesn’t want you, love,” Jax growled. “Tiffany Hill, the reporter, wants you.” Brenda frowned and inhaled to say something more but Jax just shook his head firmly. As soon as the telephone stopped ringing, he sn*tched it off the cradle and punched in a set of numbers. He put the receiver to his ear, pushed the breakfast tray aside, and grabbed for a blank sheet of paper.

“V? Yeah – it’s Jax.” He grimaced and listened for a few seconds. “Listen, V, I don’t have a lot of time to chit-chat this morning. Is Blue there?” He paused. “Well then I guess I’ll see her when she comes by. In the meantime, there’s something I need you to do.” The steely stare he gave Brenda sent a chill down her spine. “Call WLPC and get Tiffany Hill on the line. Tell her I KNOW that she called Brenda Barrett this morning. Tell her ……..” Another pause, then a smile. “I know. Tell her that if she agrees to keep a lid on Miss Barrett’s ident*ty, I’ll give her the scoop when she identifies the Slasher.” A more-relaxed pause. “Yeah, well let’s hope Tiffany’s bright enough to figure out that I’m handing her a Pulitzer story on a silver platter.” He nodded. “Yeah. That’s all.” Just as he was about to hang up, he took a sharp breath. “Oh, and tell Mac that there’s nothing new on this front. That’ll keep him off my back here, too.”

When he turned back to Brenda and hung up the phone, she was busily clicking the computer mouse and typing on the computer keyboard. “Making another million before lunch?”

Jax saw the blush that stained Brenda’s cheeks, even in the dim light in the library. “No…..I was actually sending in a grocery order.”

“Another one? I thought you told that delivery guy that you would send in another order in a couple of days?”

Brenda held up one finger to Jax, hit a few more keystrokes, and double-clicked the mouse. He heard the squawk as the modem signed off. “I put in a rush order for two porterhouse steaks and a bottle of Port.” Jax rose an eyebrow. “I……” Brenda folded her hands in her lap and stared down at them before raising shy eyes to meet Jax’s gaze. “Well, I thought that maybe instead of going out for dinner, you’d let me cook you something special.” A lazy smile spread slowly across his face, giving Brenda the encouragement she needed at that moment. “And I ordered a movie cassette from Hobart’s video department – “Run Silent, Run Deep,” I think. If…….” Suddenly her breath caught and Brenda sat up straighter. “If you’re free tonight, that is………”

“Tonight sounds…….great.” Jax stared at her for a few more minutes and then he abruptly rose from his chair. “You know, I should get these dishes downstairs and wash them before the egg gets too stuck to them, don’t you think?”

“Why don’t you let me do that?” Brenda got up from her chair so quickly it rolled back towards the wall, bumping it gently when it hit it. She rushed around to step in front of Jax and take the tray out of his hands. As she did, he had to stifle the groan that rose in his chest when her rounded derriere brushed against his groin. When she looked up at him, her eyes wide with innocence, Jax’s broad chest and overpowering male aura made her understand why heroines swooned in romance novels. “I…….uh……it’s the least I can do since you were nice enough to make breakfast for me.”

“OK…..” He should have backed out of her way. He should have moved far enough away that he couldn’t smell the lavender in her hair and feel the heat coming from her body. He shouldn’t have noticed how small she was compared to him – how the top of her head just barely came up to his shoulder. But it just felt so d*mn good, spooning her from behind like that, and Jax had the sudden urge to wrap his arms around her and not let go.

{What’s the matter with you, man? First you ask her out like some kind of single guy on the make, and now just standing next to her is making you hotter than a firecracker on the Fourth of July! She’s a witness, and you should be protecting her, Jax! Not wondering how good she would feel underneath you, skin to skin, chest to breasts, sinking deeper and deeper into her warm, wet……}

“Lieutenant?” Brenda’s voice snapped Jax out of her fantasy. Her eyes were so wide and trusting that it made him feel like a worse criminal than the Slasher considering the thoughts he had been having about her. “Are you alright?”

“Me? I’m fine…..FINE!” Jax backed away from her, looked back over his shoulder towards the open door to the hallway, and shoved his hands in his pockets awkwardly. “You know, I really should probably get cleaned up.” He pointed over his shoulder. “I keep a spare change of clothes in the Cherokee in case I get stuck on an overnight stakeout or something.”

He stepped out of the way so that Brenda could precede him into the hallway and towards the staircase. “You could take a shower in my bathroom, if you like……” Jax prayed that Brenda didn’t hear his loud gulp – the last thing he needed at that point was the idea of being naked in a place where she had been naked not that long ago. She paused at the head of the stairs and balanced the tray on her hip. “I mean, I’ll be downstairs doing the dishes, so you wouldn’t have to worry about us……I mean, about me seeing……..I mean…….” Brenda felt the hot blush rising up her neck. “Well, I guess you could use one of the guest bathrooms……. but I haven’t cleaned them lately and I don’t think there are any fresh towels……..”

“Your bathroom would be fine.” Jax was shocked that he could say the words without his voice breaking like a pre-pubescent adolescent. “And I’ve got a shaving kit in the jeep too, so I won’t need to borrow your razor or any of your girlie hair products……..”

She picked up the tray and narrowed one eye at him playfully. “They’re *organic,* Lieutenant, not girlie.”

“Point taken, Miss Barrett.”

They stood there in awkward silence again for a few seconds before Brenda took a shaky breath. “Well, I’ll just go get these dishes started then….” She started down the stairs but paused about halfway. “Just give a yell if you can’t find the clean towels.”

“I’ll do that.” Jax watched until Brenda had rounded the corner at the bottom of the stairs and he heard her footsteps tapping on the kitchen floor. He bounded down the stairs, grabbed his bomber jacket from the living room chair, and headed out the front door towards his jeep.

{Hmm……..red meat, red wine, and a submarine movie. Maybe she’s not such a fruitcake after all.}

***********

Jax was just locking up his Cherokee again when Blue pulled up in an aging squad car. She parked at the curb as he ambled towards her, his clean jeans, t-shirt, and flannel shirt rolled into a ball in his hands. “Hey, partner……” Blue rolled down her window at his greeting. “I thought you’d still be improving our relations with Croatia this morning.”

“I wish…….” Blue rolled her eyes and sighed dreamily. “You know, there’s nothing like a man with an accent to get your motor running.” She gave him a mock serious look. “Present company excepted, of course.”

“Of course.” A wink and a knowing grin punctuated his statement.

“So……how were things here last night? Any sign of the Slasher?”

“Not a nibble – unless you count that one anonymous call from a pay phone downtown.” Jax dug in his jeans pocket for the scrap of paper and handed it to Blue. “You can have the guys downtown run this number, but I doubt that they’ll find anything helpful.”

Blue nodded and grimaced. “Our boy wouldn’t have slipped through our fingers so many times before if he had made mistakes like that.” She shrugged and put the paper in her jacket pocket. “I’ll give it to them just the same.” One eyebrow rose suspiciously. “How did the jeep get here?”

“V thought it would be better if I had my wheels in case anything happened. She and Mac dropped it off last night.”

“Mac? Our fearless leader actually put in an appearance here?”

Jax rested against the black and white and crossed his arms, holding the change of clothing tightly against his chest. “Yeah, well I was a little surprised myself, but you have to remember this isn’t just *any* witness.” He gazed back at the brownstone thoughtfully. “If Brenda can remember what the Slasher looks like and we make the collar, Felicia gets that new mink coat for Christmas and Mac gets his own…….reward,” he added with a naughty waggle of his eyebrows.

“True.” Blue glanced down towards the driver’s side door handle. “Well, if you’ll get that cute butt of yours out of the way, I’ll take over so you can go home and get some rest.”

“Oh, that’s OK, Blue. I’ll stay here.”

Blue’s eyes narrowed suspiciously. “You?” She peered around Jax towards the brownstone. “You’re willing to spend another day here with……what did you call Brenda yesterday?” She crossed her arms as Jax whistled softly and shook his head at her sarcasm. “Oh, yeah – that’s right. The psycho fruitcake who lives in this run down pile of bricks.” She shook her head and pretended ignorance. “Now just *whatever* could have happened to change your opinion of the fair Miss Barrett?”

“Let’s just say that we understand each other a little better, OK?” Jax growled. He shifted his weight self-consciously and changed the subject. “On your way back downtown, why don’t you stop by WLPC and warn Tiffany Hill to keep her nose out of this one,” Jax said, pointing a finger at Blue as she started the car’s engine again. “Somebody from the station called here earlier today trying to get a scoop.”

“I’ll go put the fear of God into her,” Blue agreed. “You know Tiff and I are just like this.” She held her two forefingers as far apart as her arms could spread inside the car and then laughed loudly.

“And give Kevin Collins a call at GH, too. Maybe he could hypnotize Brenda into remembering something about the Slasher’s features.”

“Mac would have to approve it as an outside consult.” Blue arched one eyebrow at Jax as she made quick notes on a pad of paper attached to the car’s sun visor.

“Only if we actually go ahead with it. Just run it past Collins and see if he thinks it would work.” Jax patted the top of the squad car with the flat of his hand twice. “And now you be good around that Dr. Kovac, Blue. Let him know if he breaks your heart, he’ll have me to answer to.”

Blue winked at Jax as she slid the car into gear. “I’m *always* good, honey,” she drawled. “I just have to make sure I’m careful, that’s all!”

Jax watched the car until it turned back towards the Port Charles business district at the end of the street. Then he shivered a little and jogged back up the brownstone’s steps. There was only one thing that would feel better than a hot shower and fresh clothes – spending the day with Brenda.

************

“Bad word, bad word………BAD WORD!!!!”

Brenda straightened up and put her hands to the small of her aching back to massage it. She had cleaned up the minor disasters that Jax had left after making breakfast – actually, it wasn’t as bad as she had expected. About halfway through the dishes, she remembered the bag of bird seed that Brian had left on her back porch. It certainly wasn’t doing the birds any good inside the burlap bag, and with the fresh snow cover, they needed all the help they could to find food in a Port Charles winter.

When she spotted a lone blue jay circling her bird feeder anxiously, she hadn’t even bothered to finish the dishes. Brenda charged out of the kitchen onto the back porch, chewing on her lip and staring at the hungry bird with determination gleaming in her eyes. She grabbed an old, purple, insulated down coat that hung on a hook near the back door, shaking her head and praying that the fashion police didn’t catch her doing her imitation of an over-ripe eggplant. After she pulled a black knit stocking cap down over her hair and wrapped a tattered muffler around most of her face, she made her way slowly down the steps. She was so busy making sure she didn’t slip on the thin coating of ice that she neglected to close the back door to her kitchen. The sight of the large bag of birdseed momentarily put a crimp in her plans.

{You should wait until Jax is finished with his shower. You should get him to carry it to the shed for you and then you can feed the birds – and besides, the dishes still aren’t done.}

But when the blue jay’s angry screech shattered the morning’s quiet, Brenda threw “should” and “oughtta” out the window. After all, how heavy could a fifty-pound bag of birdseed be? She lifted heavy boxes of antique dishes all the time when she went to garage and thrift sales and found “treasures.” But once she tried to lift the seed, she quickly learned that dishes weighed a lot less.

With one eye on the circling blue jay and her mouth set with determination, Brenda had an inspiration. She tugged on the bag and was rewarded when it easily started to slide on the ice-coated snow. Never noticing the wide swath that it left behind, Brenda dragged the bag of birdseed through her back yard towards a shed near the alley. About ¾ of the way there, she stopped to take a breather and massage her back, which was loudly protesting her bent position and pressure on previously unused muscles.

Giving a loud grunt to get the job done, Brenda yanked on the bag. It slid the rest of the way to the shed door and even helped push the door open when it slumped against it. She fumbled for the small chain that would turn on the overhead light but her ungloved hands were stiff and clumsy from the cold.

She growled loudly to herself, gritting her teeth, and even stamped her foot once. If she had just thought to wear gloves, the blue jay outside would be having his breakfast and perhaps even taking some back to his hungry family somewhere. Brenda suddenly froze when she thought she heard a noise in the back of the darkened shed.

Keeping an eye on the interior of the shed, Brenda started backing up towards the door. She felt the threshold of the door with her heel and inched cautiously over it, still looking where she had been instead of where she was going. Just as she felt a cold blast of outside air on her back, the world turned upside down.

She was completely blindsided. Someone tackled her roughly from behind and threw her to the snow-covered ground. Brenda fought like a banshee, waving her arms and legs. But she felt like she had been hit by a Mack truck as the heavy weight of her attacker’s body pressed her against a frozen mattress. She opened her mouth to scream beneath the knit scarf but her breath caught in her throat when she saw the morning sun glint off something metal. As Brenda closed her eyes and prepared to meet her Maker, her last thought was that she *had* been right. If she just hadn’t gone outside, this would never have happened……..
 

To be continued………

Good morning, angels! This continues my J&B adaptation of Mary McBride’s novel, “Just One Look.” I’ll probably be posting a Jax/Chloe chapter next, and after that another chapter of “Faceoff.” This chapter picks up on events prior to Brenda going into the back yard from Jax’s perspective. Your feedback is most welcome! --------------- Jan
 

Faceoff
Chapter 7

Jax tipped his head to the side, pulled the skin on his jaw taut, and flicked away the last remnants of shaving cream on his neck. When he leaned forward to rinse off the razor in the stream of hot water, he eyed himself critically in the mirror. Setting the razor down, he turned to the side and straightened his shoulders as he assessed his half-naked upper torso and reflected on the events of the past 30 minutes.

He had heard Brenda humming in the kitchen when he came back inside after talking to Blue. Making sure that the front door was bolted and the security chain in place, Jax took the steps two at a time to the second floor where a hot shower awaited. He had shed his clothing in his usual fastidious fashion – the jeans and shirt lay in a heap outside the bathroom door on the floor, along with his shoes. He already knew the tricks to keeping his wounded shoulder out of the direct spray of the shower, and once he learned the quirks of Brenda’s antiquated plumbing, the water was soon beating a relaxing rhythm on his back.

Wrapping a large bath sheet around his waist, Jax had stepped out of the steamy shower and started to shave. Thoughts of Brenda and the prospect of an intimate dinner and movie in her living room kept intruding. {You can do this, Jax. You’re not Kevin Costner and Brenda’s not Whitney Houston – like that movie. Just because you’re getting closer to her doesn’t mean you can’t still protect her.}

He had carefully avoided Brenda’s lavender shampoo, but when he rinsed the last stubborn streaks of shaving cream off his face, Jax noticed a small cut on the side of his neck near his left shoulder. It was probably just a nick – another reminder of the Slasher’s parting “gift” to him the day before. It had been ignored in all the hustle and bustle at GH over the larger gash, but the last thing Jax wanted or needed was for it to get infected.

He rummaged through his shaving kit but the only thing he could find that came close to being antiseptic was his styptic pencil. Jax grimaced at the small white crayon. He knew it burned like crazy on the small nicks he got shaving, so it would probably feel like ground brimstone on a real cut. Chewing on his lip for a few seconds, Jax’s hand hesitated at the latch to Brenda’s medicine cabinet. He wasn’t a snoop. He wasn’t prying into her private life. He just needed some Polysporin, that’s all. Finally, Jax let out a sigh and yanked the door open.

{Hmmmm…….Crest toothpaste……a woman after my own heart ……..bandaids, extra-strength Tyelenol, those same prescription bottles I found in her purse, Listerine, deodorant……..}

Jax grimaced. No luck there. He closed the medicine cabinet and his gaze traveled downward towards the single drawer in the vanity below the sink. Using the same justification, he cautiously slid the drawer open as though he expected the hushed sound to travel through the tightly-shut bathroom door, around the bedroom door, down the stairs, around the corner, and into the kitchen.

{Hmmmmm…..disposable razors, tampons …… yuck …….hair spray, coconut mousse, a curling iron, sunscreen……..} Jax was pushing the contents of the drawer around when his hand froze in mid-air. {Ho-ly sh*t……….condoms…….} He slammed the drawer shut as though he was locking in all the demons of h*ll.

The thought that Brenda might have a “significant other” never even occurred to him. Well, it had – in the hospital, when she was still unconscious and he had checked for a wedding ring on her left hand. But in the 36 hours they had spent together, talk of a man in Brenda’s life had never come up. They had talked about Miranda – Brenda already knew *he* was single and available. But other than the fact that she was occasionally certifiably nutsoid, Jax knew little or nothing about Miss Brenda Barrett.

{Nah……..she’ *can’t* have a boyfriend. If she does, he’s one h*ll of a *lousy* boyfriend, not calling to check on her after all she’s been through in the past 36 hours. But she didn’t ask the staff to notify anyone at GH when she was being released, and nobody called here last night except that anonymous heavy breather……} Jax’s body relaxed a little at the thoughts. He dabbed the small cut with the towel and then snapped it up to rub it briskly across his hair to dry it.

{But then…….maybe *she* called him. Or maybe he’s one of those geeky computer freaks, and she was sending him hot, steamy e-mails when you walked in on her last night.} Jax froze in place, the towel draped over his head, as he stared into his reflection in the bathroom mirror. His eyes slowly dropped to the vanity drawer – he reached out a tentative hand – he pulled the drawer open just slightly, exhaled and pushed it shut, and then took a deep breath and opened it again.

{Awwww, geez……..Ultra-thin. Ribbed.} Jax slammed the drawer shut again. {MORE information than you needed, Jax. NOW how are you ever going to keep a professional att*tude when you’re around her?}

Swearing under his breath, Jax grabbed for the clean pair of blue jeans on the bathroom floor and shoved his feet into the legs. He was still zipping his fly when he slammed out of the bathroom door, allowing a cloud of steam to escape into the dim room. Brenda had pulled the drapes against the morning sun that was reflecting off the new snowcover.

Tossing the used towel on the floor next to the bed, Jax yanked a white t-shirt over his head. He picked up his socks and then stopped. Although he was showered and shaven, he still didn’t think Brenda would like him putting unnecessary wrinkles in her ecru bedspread. With his clean flannel shirt in one hand and his shoes in the other, Jax strode briskly out of her bedroom and down the steps towards the living room.

He had just finished putting on his socks when he noticed it. Jax was sitting on an ottoman in front of the fireplace when suddenly his head came up, his eyes darting rapidly towards the front door. It was still locked, and the security chain was firmly in place. Not breaking his pose, his gaze shifted to the other side of the portal from living room to hallway. “Brenda?”

Where there should have been the sound of running water or clanging pots, there was only silence. Jax ruffled his hair with his hand and then shot up to a standing position, his hands on his hips. {Brenda couldn’t have finished the dishes that fast. You made the mess – you oughtta know.} “BRENDA??!!” He called her name again, louder this time. Still nothing. Never even thinking to put on his shoes or flannel shirt, Jax sprinted into the hallway and towards the kitchen.

The sight that greeted him sent a chill down his spine. The dishes were still in the kitchen sink, the bubbles from the soap rapidly evaporating. The back door was standing wide open, allowing the frigid morning air free entrance into the warm brownstone. His eyes darted around and the thought suddenly occurred to him that he had left his shoulder holster and gun in the living room. He crept silently towards the door. Swearing again, he followed Brenda’s trail across the porch to another open door. When he saw the deep ruts in the snow where something had obviously been dragged, Jax felt like his breakfast was going to come back up.

There was no time to go for his gun. He dashed back into the kitchen, yanked open a drawer, took the first paring knife he could find to use as a weapon, and then went back to the screen door to the yard. The cold air hit him like a freight train when he stepped onto the icy pavement. His hair was still damp from the shower but Jax never noticed it. All he could focus on was the trail that led from the back steps of Brenda’s brownstone to a small utility shed at the back of the yard.

Jax sprinted through the yard and took cover behind a tree next to the shed. When he heard a thump echo from inside, he gripped the knife tighter in his right hand. The thumping got louder – Jax wasn’t sure if it was the Slasher or his heart making the racket. When he saw the first hint of a shadow darken the threshold of the shed, he told himself to hold back……..wait……..

Random thoughts that his teachers at the Academy would have been proud of him flitted across Jax’s brain as he made a flying leap at the intruder. Jax tackled the down-clad stranger with a vengeance, sending them both sprawling into the snow. He felt the stranger struggling mightily beneath him, but the thought that he might find Brenda’s bloody body inside the shed fired Jax’s fury.

Eventually Jax’s larger, bulkier frame allowed him to straddle the intruder. As Jax raised his right hand, knife glinting in the sun, he pulled off the stranger’s stocking cap with his left. “DON’T MOVE, YOU SCUMBA…….”

Terror-filled chocolate brown eyes stared back at him. Raven curls spilled out into the snow. As Jax’s chest heaved, he reached down and pulled the scarf from around Brenda’s lower face. “Jjjjjjj……” She could barely form the word. “Jax?”

“Brenda?” Jax rubbed his left hand briskly over his face in disbelief. “BRENDA???!!!!! What the bloody h*ll are you doing out here?”

He never saw it coming. Jax’s helpless, dependent damsel in distress brought her right knee up and caught him somewhere behind the family jewels. “GET OFF ME, YOU JERK!!!!”

Jax rolled off her immediately into the snow. Another long string of loud swearing sent any blue jays Brenda might have fed flying for safety in the next block. As she sat up, clutching her sides to try to calm herself, Jax rolled towards her with venom in his eyes. “What the H*LL were you doing out here, Brenda?”

Her lips were chattering, probably from a combination of cold and fright. “Bbbb…….birds………”

Jax’s eyes narrowed as he struggled to understand her and regain his dignity. “The friggin’ BIRDS dragged you from the porch to the tool shed?”

The punch Brenda leveled at Jax’s shoulder was ineffectual but soothed her bruised ego and body. “No……..birdse……..BIRDSEED!!” She pointed to the shed as her chest heaved with the effort to breathe. “I brought …….. seed for birds………big bag…….”

Jax’s eyes widened with understanding. “The birdseed that the grocery kid brought? You dragged THAT through the snow to the shed?” When Brenda nodded, he sat up and swore again. “You’re bloody NUTS, Brenda!!”

“I’m nuts? I’M NUTS????!!!!” Brenda’s face grew even redder. “You haven’t even got shoes or a coat on out here, but *I’M* nuts?”

Jax finally noticed that Brenda was still shivering, despite her down coat. He hung his head, took a deep breath, and then before she could say a word, he got to his feet, swept Brenda into his arms, and started to carry her back to the porch steps. The dampness from the snow had already soaked his arms, making getting a firm grip on Brenda in the squishy nylon coat almost impossible.

As she almost slipped out of his arms again near the porch, Jax growled, “D*mnit, Brenda, this is like trying to carry the Tasty Puff Marshmallow Man!” He had barely set her on the back steps when she jerked away from him and stomped onto the porch angrily. {Doesn’t she know I was just trying to save her life? Doesn’t she see that I’m cold?} His thoughts sent his temper past the boiling point. “I don’t believe you! You’re p*ssed, and I’m freezin’ my butt off out here, Brenda!”

“Well, excuuuuuuse me, Mr. Superhero Warrior!” she shot back sarcastically, her hands on her hips. “But I didn’t *ask* you to come charging out in my back yard without a coat, or hat, or even SHOES, and then throw me on the ground like some warped snow-angel deviate!!”

Jax’s shoulders jerked mightily in an up-and-down motion as he tried to catch his breath and control his temper. “I CAME out there without a coat, Miss Junk Dealer Wacko!” he seethed, “because when I came out to the kitchen looking for you, all I found was a sink full of dishes and the back door standing wide open!” Brenda started to shrink under his accusations. “Then, when I get to the back yard, I see drag marks in the snow leading from the OPEN back door to the shed!”

Deep down, Brenda started to realize the anguish Jax must have felt in finding the deserted kitchen. But she wasn’t about to give him the satisfaction of being right – not yet, at least. “And what did you think? That I was doing kinky things with the shovel in the shed??!!”

Jax’s chest puffed up even larger. “No! Silly me – I just kept remembering how scared you were of leaving this house! How there was no way you would have left voluntarily! How maybe that goofy kid Brian came back, lured you out to the porch, and then dragged you out to the shed so he could slit your throat like all the Slasher’s other victims!”

“BRIAN??!! You’re STILL accusing Brian of being the Slasher?” Brenda shrugged the down coat off angrily. “And exactly *how* do you think Brian would have *lured* me to the porch, huh?”

As they stood glaring at each other, both with their arms akimbo, Jax fought the urge to just take Brenda in his arms and thank God she was safe. He felt some of the rage flow out of his body and a smile teased at the corners of his lips. “I thought……well, maybe he had waved *huge* family-size cans of asparagus at you and you just couldn’t resist the temptation!”

It was that d*mn cleft in his chin – the cleft and the way his hair fell across his forehead that made you want to run your fingers through it to put it back in place. When Jax broke into a delicious smile, Brenda pressed her lips together, looked down at the floor, and then relaxed her stance a little. “I…..uh……..I guess things did look pretty suspicious…..especially after I made such a big deal about not stepping foot outside the house ever again.” She chewed on her lower lip and then crossed her arms. “I ……uh……I guess I should thank you for taking such good care of me.”

All of Jax’s breath left his body on a soft whoosh – as though he had been punched in the stomach with a velvet fist belonging to a brown-eyed, dark-haired temptress. “I…..uh……well, maybe I over-reacted, too.” He glanced down at her wet clothes and the way she was still shivering. “You should probably get out of those and take a warm bath – in case I gave you any bruises when I tackled you.”

There was a heated pause while Brenda’s eyes locked with Jax’s. Then she abruptly took a deep breath and rubbed her damp hair. “Yeah – a warm bath. That would probably be a good idea.” She rotated her shoulders and winced. “Geez, Jax…….I guess you must have thought I was the Slasher with that stocking cap on, but did you have to tackle me quite so hard?”

She turned and walked back towards the door to the kitchen. The sound of his voice didn’t reach her right away. “No.”

Brenda turned back to Jax, who was still standing by the door to the yard. “What did you say?”

The way he smirked at her made her heart skip a beat. “I said no – I didn’t have to tackle you that hard. I knew all along it was you.” Brenda quirked an eyebrow at him. “I just wanted to knock you off your feet.”

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
 

“I just wanted to knock you off your feet.”
{Stupid, stupid, STUPID!!! Did your brain get frozen in that back yard along with your feet, Jax?}

Jax paced Brenda’s living room like a caged animal. He was tempted to beat his head against the wooden arch leading to the hallway, but instead he just pounded his right fist into his open left palm. Ever since he had watched Brenda slowly climb the steps to the second floor to take a bath, he had been mentally berating himself for letting things get so out-of-control in the back yard.

After he heard the reassuring sound of the water running in the upstairs bathroom, Jax walked back over to the sofa and flopped down on it full length. He covered his eyes with the back of his right arm and sighed loudly. {Asking the woman out on a date wasn’t enough – nooooo, you had to go and hit on her like some second rate gigolo in a singles’ bar. You KNOW that you’re supposed to be here in a professional capacity. You’re supposed to be protecting her. Now instead, you need somebody to protect her from YOU!!}

What hurt Jax the most, although he wasn’t ready to admit it to himself, was that he had basically failed Brenda. He had let her slip through his fingers like some dumb rookie, and then when he realized it, he had acted on emotion. If it HAD been the Slasher he had tackled in the backyard, Jax knew in his gut that he would have broken every procedure in the book. There would have been no Miranda warnings; no handcuffs; no splashy frontpage picture of Mac as he booked the suspect. If Jax had found Brenda’s bloody body in the shed, he would have seen to it that the Slasher shared her fate in short order. No – he was definitely getting too involved in this case. And it would only hurt Brenda in the end. Kevin Costner was right.

Jax sat up so quickly his head spun for a minute. Then he reached for the telephone on the small end table next to the sofa. After punching in some numbers, he put the receiver to his ear and rubbed his eyes with his thumb and forefinger while he waited for an answer. “Blue? It’s Jax.”

“Jax? Everything OK there?”

“It is now. Brenda and I had a little misunderstanding but it’s all settled now. Did you call Kevin Collins?”

Blue fought a smirk. If Jax had called it a misunderstanding, it was probably something closer to an international thermonuclear confrontation. “Yeah – I manage to catch Dr. Collins right before he left for a seminar in Dallas.”

“A seminar?” Blue moved the receiver away from her ear when the obscenity exploded. “How long will it take?”

“A week – but then he’s taking a week’s vacation after that. And before you get started,” Blue went on, ignoring Jax’s outburst, “he told me that he couldn’t even blink at Miss Barrett without Mac authorizing the outside consult.”

“So we’ll just get Mac to approve the consult and use somebody else.” Jax sighed. “I’d prefer to wait for Kevin, but we need to get this thing settled.”

“Jax, you KNOW the department’s over budget already. There’s no way Mac will approve the consult.” She paused. “Oh, and while I’m on the subject of “good news” – the lab boys checked out that pay phone. It was about a block from GH.”

“Let me guess – it was wiped clean. No fingerprints.”

“Well, once we were able to elbow our way through the four people waiting to use it, yeah – there were no identifiable prints.”

Jax buried his face in his hand. “This Slasher guy is really getting on my nerves. Not only is he demented, but he’s smart enough to use a phone that gets a lot of traffic so he won’t be noticed.” Blue heard Jax’s long whistle of defeat. “Is Ardanowski around?”

“Nope. She’s out on some special project for Mac.”

“What about you? Could you stay here with Brenda tonight?”

“H*ll no, darlin’! I’ve got another date with Luka, and I don’t intend to break it just because you put your foot in your mouth with Brenda again.”

Jax grimaced and ignored the accusation. “It’s still early. Check around a little for me, will you? See if there’s anybody else who wouldn’t mind staying here with her just for tonight.”

“OK, DD, but if you said something to hurt her feelings again……”

“I DIDN’T……” Jax growled something under his breath. “Just try, OK, Blue?” He hung up the phone before she could say anything more. Before he could change his mind and tell her that the last thing he wanted to do was turn Brenda’s safety over to somebody else. Somebody who didn’t care…….not like he did.
 

***********

“I just wanted to knock you off your feet.”
{Stupid, stupid, STUPID!! You should have *said* something, Brenda – not just stood there like a lovesick teenager who just got her first kiss! Just because a man who looks like he belongs in Hollywood instead of on a police force actually made a pass at you! YOU – a borderline-psychotic stay-at-home who’d rather just watch life out her window than go out and experience it.}

Brenda angrily tore the last leaves of romaine lettuce and threw them into a large colander in the sink. She had soaked in the tub until her fingers were pruney and she had finally stopped shaking after her encounter with Jax in the back yard. When she came out of the bathroom, a towel wrapped around her hair, the first thing she had noticed were Jax’s discarded clothing and wet bath towels on the floor from earlier. As soon as she picked them up, she caught his scent again – that uniquely masculine scent that made her feel warm and – could she say it? – almost safe.

After drying her hair and pulling it into a ponytail high on her head, she had gathered up all the dirty towels and come downstairs. Jax was sitting silently on her couch watching television – actually, surfing the channels on her television was more accurate. They had spoken to each other civilly but curtly. Brenda told him she would be working in her library on her antique business for most of the day, and Jax had grunted an acknowledgement. She told herself that at least he couldn’t accuse her of keeping him in the dark as to her whereabouts.

Brenda stared at the computer screen for several hours – closing a few auctions, promoting a few others, making a tidy sum for herself that would more than cover the expense of a steak dinner, a nice bottle of wine, and a video. She heard the front doorbell once. Brian had made sure to make this delivery at the *front* door, to Mr. Jackson Barrett in *person.* As she stood at the top of the stairs and watched Jax grudgingly tip Brian, a smile played at her lips.

{Enjoy this while you can, Brenda. As soon as he catches the Slasher, he’ll be *more* than ready to hightail it out of here as fast as he can. Why would a gorgeous man like Jax be interested in a hermit like you? He’d want out – just like Sonny did after you told him the way you felt.}

As soon as the door closed behind Brian, Brenda had gone down to take the groceries from Jax. He went back to his television in the living room while she took them to the kitchen. A quick glance at the clock told her that she should really start the salad and put the steaks in the marinade before returning to her paperwork. While she was tearing the lettuce and cleaning some carrots, Brenda was planning the rest of the menu when the thought struck her.

“Bad word, BAD WORD!!!” Jax appeared at the entrance to the kitchen just in time to hear Brenda’s exclamation. She was bent over at the waist, peering into the refrigerator, stamping her foot on the kitchen floor to vent her spleen.

Jax tried to will the blood that rushed south of his belt at the sight of her rounded derriere back up into his brain. “Is there a problem?”

Brenda sighed loudly and slammed the refrigerator door shut. “Yeah, there’s a problem. I don’t have any grated parmesan.”

“So?”

“Soooooo, I was planning to serve twice-baked potatoes tonight with our steaks, and I can’t do that if I don’t have grated Parmesan.” Brenda planted her hands on her hips and chewed on her lower lip.

“Sooooo, make something else instead.” Jax folded his arms, shrugged, and then shot her a smile worthy of Einstein. “How about French Fries??!!

Brenda’s eyes widened in desperation. “This isn’t *McDonald’s*, Jax!” She stomped back over to the sink and flipped on the water to rinse the lettuce as she talked. “We’re having porterhouse steaks, a fine Port wine, and a mixed green salad with vinaigrette dressing. We *need* to have those twice-baked potatoes, and I *have* to have that grated Parmesan.”

Jax pursed his lips and thought for a moment. “Could you call that Hobart’s place and order some?” He waggled his eyebrows. “I’ll bet that Brian kid would deliver some for you in a New York minute,” he added, leaning forward confidentially. “I think he’s got the hots for you.”

Brenda ignored the jibe. “Hobart’s won’t deliver any more today.” She shook her hands to rid them of excess moisture and glared at Jax as she reached for a towel. “And he does NOT have the hots for me!”

“Then what about another grocery store? Is there anything near here?”

She chewed on her lip. “I think there’s a convenience store at the corner of Water Street and 7th. That’s only about ten minutes from here, and they’d probably have grated Parmesan.”

Jax’s brilliant smile made Brenda’s heart sing. “Just let me grab my jacket and keys to the jeep.” He disappeared so quickly that she didn’t even have a chance to thank him for volunteering. As she turned back to the sink, it occurred to her that some fresh strawberries and whipped cream might be a nice touch for dessert. Brenda hung the towel back on the rack and reached for a pen and paper, making a quick list of at least half a dozen other “necessities” for their dinner.

She was just finishing the list when Jax re-appeared in the doorway. “So – you ready?”

Brenda nodded and looked up at him. “I just thought of a few other things I needed – I hope you don’t mind.”

Jax grimaced and strolled over to the chair to take the list from her. He glanced at the items and shook his head. “Well, all I can say is I’m glad *I* don’t have to be the one to find this Swiss chard stuff.”

Brenda’s face dropped. “What do you mean, YOU won’t have to be the one to find it?”

“I mean, *I’m* not goin’ inside that convenience store to find all this exotic stuff! I can barely find the baked beans and Spam at the store most of the time!”

She looked up at him incredulously. “But I thought you just said you’d go get the Parmesan for me!”

Jax tossed the list back at her, his face set like flint. “I said I’d drive to the convenience store. I never said I’d leave you here alone.”

Brenda rose to her feet as the list fluttered to the table. “But I *can’t* go with you! You know that!”

He shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly. “Then I guess it’ll be French fries after all, won’t it?”

As Jax slipped the jacket off again, Brenda fumed and stomped her foot indignantly. “Jax!” His name came out on two syllables.

Jax turned back to her, “duh” written all over his face. “Bren-da!” he sing-songed back at her. “This is NOT negotiable! You either come along with me, or we go to plan B for the menu!”

Her inner conflict was written all over Brenda’s face. She glanced down at the list and then up at the infuriating, devilish, endearing man who had managed to turn her life upside down in the space of 36 hours. After chewing on her lip for a few minutes, she grabbed at his arm just as he turned to leave. “What about a compromise?”

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Ten minutes later, Jax’s jeep pulled into the parking lot for Harrison’s Handy-Mart. He glanced over at Brenda, who was staring straight ahead and gripping the armrest for dear life. “You OK so far?”

“I’m OK – I’m OK.” She had been repeating the same mantra ever since getting into the Cherokee. Jax wasn’t exactly thrilled about her staying inside the locked car by herself while he went inside the market. But he figured it couldn’t take him more than ten minutes to pick up two kinds of cheese, strawberries, and a roll of paper towels. And as long as he parked in a spot where he could keep an eye on the jeep, she would be safe. Down deep, he got a kick out of the fact that something as trivial as what kind of potatoes they were having for supper could get her to overcome part of her neurosis. Maybe there was hope for Brenda after all.

As Jax swung the jeep into a parking space in the second aisle and killed the motor, he turned to her. “You’re not gonna pass out or throw up or something while I’m inside, are you?”

Brenda took a shaky breath, her knuckles white as she gripped the passenger door handle. “I don’t think so. But don’t dawdle, OK?”

Jax grinned indulgently and patted her hand for reassurance. “You’ll be fine in here, Brenda. Just lock all the doors after I get out and don’t open them until I get back.” He tried to pull her a little more towards the center of the front seat. “See? If you move over here and tilt your head a little, you can watch me inside the store the whole time.”

“Right. I’ll be fine. I’ll be fine.” Then, Brenda’s eyes widened and she stared down at the floor of the jeep. “What was that?”

“What was what?”

“That beeping noise!” Brenda shrank back into the seat. “Something beeped at me from beneath the dashboard!”

“Ohhhhhh……..” Realization dawned and Jax reached beneath the dash for a small black box. “Police band radio,” he replied. “I usually keep it turned down except for emergency calls.”

He fiddled with the control buttons and a few seconds later, a feminine voice echoed through the jeep’s interior. “Attention all units, attention all units…… 459 with hostage in progress. Suspects considered armed and dangerous……698 Water Street……Attention all units, all units in the area, please respond………”

Brenda looked up at Jax, whose face was pale and grim. “What’s a 459?”

“Armed robbery.” His eyes widened and he replied through gritted teeth, glancing up towards the Handy-Mart. “Where did you say this place was?”

“7th and Water……..” She took a sharp breath and grabbed his arm. “Oh, my God, Jax…….are they robbing……..” Brenda turned towards the store and pointed inside. “Are they in Harrison’s??!!”

Jax shoved the radio back beneath the dashboard and then pressed Brenda down further in the seat with the back of his arm. “I can see one of them,” he said bleakly, nodding towards the front of the store. “Looks like he’s got a semi-automatic pressed against a young woman’s back.”

“Oh, my God!” Brenda craned her neck, trying to push up against Jax’s restraining arm to see what was going on. When Jax started fumbling with his seat belt, she shimmied forward in the jeep and pressed her nose against the windshield. “Jax! I can see them! Oh, my God, you have to call somebody so they can get that girl out of there!” She gripped the front dash of the jeep tightly, feeling more helpless than she ever remembered feeling in her life. “Jax? Aren’t you going to call someone or do something? Jax?”

She didn’t realize what had happened until she turned to look at him. When Brenda saw the empty seat and open door on the driver’s side, her heart came up in her throat. “Jax?” Undoing her seat belt in record time, she slid across the front seat of the jeep. “JAX???!!!”

When Brenda peered over the steering wheel at the front door of the store, she clapped her hand over her mouth to stifle the scream. There – sauntering through the glass doors of the Handy-Mart like he was walking his dog on a frosty morning, whistling and smiling as though he didn’t have a care in the world – was Lieutenant Jasper Jacks.
 
 
 

To be continued……..