This is a continuing adaptation of Judith McNaught's Remember When

Feels Like Home

Chapter 13

But I'm all right 'cause I have you here with me
And I can almost see through the dark there is light

Brenda paced the apartment in Manhattan restlessly as she waited for Lois, Ned, and her parents to arrive.  It had been just over twelve hours since Jax had been arrested that morning.  She'd spent most of the day at the police station.  She'd been able to talk to him twice more throughout the day and she'd brought in a lawyer for him.  Alexis Davis was supposed to be the best.  Jax fully believed that, which is why he'd had Alexis on retainer as his lawyer for years now.  He just never thought she'd have to defend him on criminal charges.

At two different times during the day, Brenda had tried to call Jax's mother and father in Alaska.  She'd gotten their answering machine at home both times.  Jane's cell phone was also out of range and wasn't answered.  It appeared that Jax's parents didn't have any idea of what was going on.  She'd made no attempt to reach his brother at all. 

A knock at the door interrupted her thoughts and she ran quickly to answer it.  Pulling the door open to reveal the members of her family there, she couldn't stop her shoulders from sagging in relief.

"Sweetheart," Gloria said as she enveloped her daughter into a hug.

Brenda's arms wrapped around her mother and held on for a few long minutes.  She'd felt the strength she'd had for Jax all day and for the last week leave her as soon as she saw her family.  Now, it was as if she was drawing on her mother's strength to collect herself and begin again.

Lois, Ned, and Brenda's father moved around them and into the living room of the apartment.  Brenda finally released Gloria and they joined them, taking seats on the couches and chairs.  Brenda offered everyone a drink, but they all declined, preferring instead to finally hear the whole story of what was happening.

"Brenda, tell us what's going on," Harlan said.  There was no hint of sternness in his voice, only concern for his oldest daughter.

"What have you heard?" she asked.

Ned sat forward on the couch where he sat next to Lois and said, "We only know what's been on television.  That Jax was arrested this morning.  And then you called us after that and here we are.  So, what's happening now?"

She took a deep breath to respond.  "An investigation into a takeover that Jax approved a few months ago led to his arrest.  Apparently, one of his employees used insider information to find out about the company and Jax knew nothing about it.  He's been fighting it like mad, but yesterday, they finally had enough evidence to arrest him.  They gave him the night and took him in this morning."

"Why didn't they arrest him last night?" Lois asked, curiously.  She almost regretted it when she saw the sad look and the tears that gathered in Brenda's eyes.

"Jax asked them to agree to a deal that he wouldn't leave town in the night if they would wait until the morning.  If he had, he would have been automatically admitting guilt and given the full sentence in prison."

"But why did he want to wait?"  Lois was confused.

"I'm not exactly sure, but he didn't come home until I went to find him."  She remembered how she'd found him the night before, how it had nearly broken her heart.  All the memories of what had happened to him over the past two days flooded in on her.  The way she'd seen him when he came in the night she got there, the way he'd sobbed in her arms in the shower, the streaks of tears on his face the night before, and the look of sadness and fear in his eyes that morning when they'd handcuffed him and taken him away.  Suddenly, she stood up and went over to the window, looking out on the city.  She couldn't stop the tears that began to fall from her eyes.  "I hate what this is doing to him, you know?  It's destroying him inside and he won't even let it all out.  He's still holding things back, emotions, feelings, things he doesn't want me to see."

Harlan got up from his seat and went over to his daughter, wrapping her in his arms as she cried.  He tried to comfort her as best he could, stroking her hair and waiting until she was through.  Several minutes later, he whispered, "You love him, don't you?"  He was thinking back to the conversation he'd had with Jax the day Brenda had brought him to dinner.  Jax had been in love with her then, but Harlan had known something was going on and that she wasn't in love with him.  It didn't matter now what plan had brought these two together, but it was certainly clear that she was in love with Jax now.  It wouldn't hurt her so much if she wasn't.

Brenda lifted her eyes to meet her father's and nodded.  "I do, Dad, I really do love him.  And he loves me."  She said it with a bit of awe still in her voice.

"I know," Harlan said.

"How do you know?"

"Jax told me.  Weeks ago.  It was the only reason I allowed you to stay in this sham of  marriage."

"You knew?"

He nodded.  "Of course, I knew, honey.  But Jax reassured me that he was in love with you.  I knew then that his determination would get you to love him, too.  I admired his guts for that.  He's a very determined man, Brenda.  That's why I know he's going to make it through this.  He just needs you to be with him every step of the way."

"I will be.  You can count on that."

"So tell us what you know, Brenda," Ned said from across the room.  "About the investigation, I mean."

She took a deep breath and let go of her father.  She began with what she knew from the day Jax received the phone call in Port Charles.  Ending with the suspicions that Jax believed he was being set up, Brenda sat down on one of the couches wearily.

"Set up?  By who?" Lois asked curiously.

"He doesn't know.  But you know he's in a highly competitive field.  He steps on people's toes every day of his life.  There are a lot of people out there that have been bested by him.  It could be any one of them."  She paused for a few seconds.  "Or it could be his father," she said softly.

"What?!" Gloria exclaimed.  "His father?  Why would he do such a thing?"

She had decided it was time to come clean about the deal that had gotten them into this situation.  "Dad you suspected this much already.  Jax and I did not marry each other because we loved each other."

Lois snickered softly.  "I think we guessed that much."

Brenda cracked a small smile for the first time.  "See, Jax's father made him sign an agreement that he would get married and stay married within one year.  He had to stay married for one year.  Somehow or another, he decided I was the best option for him to try to fool his father.  Jax had absolutely no plans of getting married in his life.  So when his father made him agree to this, it made him furious and he wanted a quick, easy solution.  I guess I was it."

"Why?  He hadn't seen you in ten years, Bren," Lois said.

"I know, that's what I said when I first saw him.  Why me?  He figured that we would both have something to gain from it.  He would win the fight against his father and I would be able to get out of the spotlight that Scott put me in when he left me.  If we made it look like I'd been planning to marry Jax, and not Scott, the entire time, it would sort of save my reputation and the magazine's."

"But why did you go along with it?  Were you insane?"  Lois's curiosity was getting the best of her.

"You could probably say that.  Then again, you know I could never resist that charm of his.  Not when I was sixteen, and not when I'm twenty-six.  So I agreed and we got married.  It was supposed to be a quick, painless, separate marriage.  One year and we would go our separate ways.  No settlement, no hard feelings."

"But…?" Harlan prompted.

"I told you I couldn't resist that charm of his!"  She laughed slightly.  "I couldn't help it.  I fell in love with him anyway.  I am in love with him.  And he loves me."  She fell silent for several minutes, her face reflecting the pain she felt for Jax.

"But what does this have to do with his father setting him up?" Ned asked.

"The deal they made was that if Jax stayed married to someone for a year, John would relinquish all hold on the stock he owns in Jax's company.  It's only ten percent, but with as much business as Jax does and as successful as he is, that small amount is worth a fortune.  The way I figure it is that John set Jax up so that when John lost everything, so would Jax."

"Have you told Jax this?" Gloria asked her.

Brenda shook her head softly.  "I can't do that to him.  He may hate his father for making him sign that agreement, but this would kill him.  He'd lose the very little faith he has in his family altogether.  I can't do that."  She took a deep breath again.  "That's why I have to prove who's behind this without letting Jax in on it.  And you guys have to help me."

~~~~~~~~~~

The following morning, Brenda slipped out the door of the apartment before her family was even awake.  They'd been up fairly late the night before brainstorming ideas of how to help Jax.  When she had finally gone to bed, she had stayed awake for another two hours, just thinking in the dark, alone.  That was the major problem, she thought, she was alone.  Jax wasn't with her to reassure her that everything was going to be okay.  She had to do that for him.  That's where she was headed now.

She entered the police station with her head held high and told the desk sergeant that she was there to see Jasper Jacks.  Being his wife, she was allowed to see him and she waited restlessly in the drab gray room for Jax to appear from the cell block beyond the barred door.  She paced nervously, gathering her strength.  She wore one of his shirts, as was becoming her habit and a form of comfort, and she pulled the sleeves down over her hands as she chewed her lip.  Her back was to the door when Jax entered in front of the guard.

Suddenly, Brenda turned around having heard the door open behind her and sensing him now with her.  "Jax!" she exclaimed, forcing a smile to her lips.  Oh, how she wanted to run to him, to hug him kiss him, and tell him it would be all right.  But there was no physical contact allowed in this room.  Instead, she held back and studied him carefully.

He wore the standard denim shirt and pants of the city jail and while usually dark blue only served to brighten his eyes, this time, his eyes were tired and dulled.  She couldn't tell if it was defeat or exhaustion or sadness that made them that way.  She suspected it was a combination of all of them.  His hands were handcuffed together as he was led to the table and shackled to it.  She sat down opposite him.  Daring the guard to do something about it, she reached across the table and grasped his hands with hers, linking their fingers firmly together.  He held hers in return and finally smiled slightly at her.

"How are you, sweetie?" she asked quietly.

"How should I be?"  He didn't really want to talk all that much.  All he wanted, after only one night in jail, was to look at her and memorize every detail of her.  What he really wanted, but couldn't, was to take her in his arms and kiss her senseless.  Instead, he had to settle for the feel of her fingers in his hands and the look of love and concern on her face.

"I don't really know either," she responded.  "You look…" she trailed off, not knowing really what to say.

"Like hell," he finished for her.  "I know I do."  He smiled again. 

"But it'll be okay, Jax.  Alexis is working her hardest to get you out of here."

"You really think they're going to let me out?"

"They have to, don't they?  I mean, you can make bail and then there's some time between now and the actual trial, isn't there?"

He nodded sadly.  "Yes, there is, Bren.  But they won't let me out of here between those times.  Think about it, sweetheart.  If ever there was a flight-risk, don't you think it would be me?  I have the resources and the ability to leave the country for good and they would never find me, if I wanted it to happen that way."

"But you don't."

He shook his head and leaned forward.  "No, I don't.  I want my name cleared and I want my company back, but the courts don't know that.  All they know is that I have a heck of a lot of money put away and I could easily disappear without a trace."

"What about that agreement you signed the other night?  Wouldn't that count?"  She wanted him out of this place and she was going to do everything she could to see that it happened.

"That was for one night only, I suppose.  Besides, what difference does that agreement make if I disappear and they never find me to prosecute me?"  He wanted out as badly as she did, but he and Alexis had already gone over everything they could think of.  Unless she had a new idea, he was staying in jail until the trial was over with.

"Well, we're going to find a way to get you out of here, honey."

"We?"

"Oh right, I didn’t tell you.  My parents and Ned and Lois are here now.  They're at the apartment.  They send their love.  They know about us, by the way."  She smiled encouragingly.

Jax sighed deeply and closed his eyes momentarily.  He supposed that one family was better than none.  If his own mother wasn't going to show at this time, he should be glad that Brenda's parents cared enough about him.  "What do you mean they know about us?" he asked as he opened his eyes, realizing what she had said.

"They know about the arrangement we made.  I think they always knew, Dad at least did.  But they also know how much I love you and that I'm going to stand by you through this whole thing."

He gripped her hands a little tighter when he heard her say she loved him.  It still gave him a rush whenever she said it.  He hoped it always would.  "And just what exactly do you think your family is going to be able to do for me?"

"They're going to help us find a way to get you out of this, for you to be found innocent."

"How do you propose that they do this?"

She shifted a little in her seat.  "Well, we haven't quite gotten that figured out yet."  She didn't want to tell him the theory about his father or the other they had come up with.  There was no sense in making him feel worse than he already did. 

"How about when you do, you let me know?"  He was trying to joke, but he was sure it wasn't coming off that way.  In his situation, there wasn't much that was funny.

"Oh honey," Brenda sighed and leaned forward.  She raised their hands to her lips and kissed one of his knuckles.  "You have no idea how much I wish you could go home with me right now."

"I wish I could, too."  He blinked rapidly to keep the rush of emotion from showing in his eyes. 

Brenda stayed for a little while longer, just staring into his eyes, telling him without words just how much she loved him.  He needed all of that he could get these days.  She apologized when she had to leave finally.  After he watched her go, the guard led him back to his cell.  An eight by eight room surrounded on three sides by bars.  How much more depressing could it get? 

The handcuffs were released from his wrists and he stepped back into the cell.  The door slammed shut behind him as the guard left.  Jax walked slowly over to the low bed covered with a stiff, gray blanket that scratched any time it was near his skin.  Sitting down at the top of the bed, he drew his knees up to his chest and rested his arms on top of them.  After a few minutes of silence, he buried his head in his arms, determined not to feel sorry for himself.  His wife would get him out of this. 

But he didn't know if that was just an empty assurance.

~~~~~~~~~~

"Alexis, seriously, what are his chances of getting out on bail after the arraignment this morning?" Brenda asked the lawyer in the hallway outside the courtroom a few minutes before Jax's appearance.

"Well, I never like to underestimate the possibilities, Mrs. Jacks, but the chances are not good.  I'm sure you know that Jax is a flight risk and the court is bound to see him as one."  Alexis Davis adjusted her glasses and switched her briefcase to the other hands as she talked to Brenda.

Brenda nodded.  "Yes, he did try to convince me of that.  I know he probably will be seen as one, but you're a good lawyer.  Can't you get the judge to realize that Jax will not leave this case unsolved?  He hates the idea that he's losing his company over something he didn't do."

"I know he does and some of that may work in his favor.  But honestly, the chances are very slim that Jax will be released on bail."

"What about some type of house arrest?"

"Mrs. Jacks, I know you don't want him to spend any more time in jail than he has to, but they just don't do house arrest for this type of crime.  You need to prepare yourself for the fact that Jax will not be coming home until the trial is over and he is acquitted."

Brenda knew Alexis was right, she was just desperate for some way to try to save her husband.  "You sound pretty sure that he will be acquitted."

"Aren't you?"

"Well, yes, but I'm his wife and I love him.  No offense, but you're an outsider and you're saying that."

"Because I believe it.  I wouldn't be defending Jax if I didn't think he was innocent.  Believe me on that."  Glancing at the clock above their heads, she motioned to Brenda to follow her into the courtroom.  "It's time," she said softly.

The courtroom was small compared to what Brenda was expecting.  Only four rows of chairs separated the back door from the swinging gate that led to the front of the room.  Two conference tables with chairs faced the bench.  The District Attorney was already seated at her table.  Brenda sat in the first row behind the seat she knew Jax would be sitting in.  Alexis went around to the front and took her own seat.  A few other spectators and a few reporters were in the room, as well.  Brenda's family would have been there, but she had told them to stay at the apartment and research the theories they had about who was setting Jax up.

Jax entered the room from a side door following a tall bailiff.  His hands remained in the handcuffs as he was directed to take a seat beside Alexis.  He turned and flashed a half-smile at Brenda behind him.  Alexis leaned over and whispered to him until the door to the judge's chambers opened and the older judge appeared behind the bench.  Everyone sat down again and Jax's arraignment began.

It was over in what seemed like a matter of minutes to Brenda.  In reality, it was just over an hour.  That's all it took for the judge to decide that there was indeed enough evidence to bind Jax over for trial.  There was a bail hearing scheduled for later in the day.  Brenda had to fight back the tears as she heard the judge's decision.  It wasn't the decision so much as it was the way Jax's shoulders had sagged when he said it.  Even with his face turned away from her, she could imagine the expression on it and her heart broke.  She reached over the railing and place her hand on his shoulder, reassuringly.  She felt him stiffen at the touch and wondered why.

Too quickly, the bailiff led Jax away and back to his jail cell.  She hadn't even had the chance to hug him or kiss him or tell him everything could still be okay.  It had happened too quickly for all that.

She cornered Alexis again in the hallway before she went to see Jax.  "You're still going to try to get him out on bail, right?"

"I told the judge that we were requesting bail, yes, but like I said, don't be expecting it to be granted.  There is virtually no chance for it.  Now if you'll excuse me, I have a meeting to get to before the hearing this afternoon."  Alexis turned and walked down the hall to the elevators.

Brenda leaned against the wall collecting her thoughts for a few moments.  Why had Jax tensed when she touched him?  What was he feeling now?  And was he going to allow her inside to help him deal with the pain he must be in?

She waited in the visiting room for ten minutes before a guard came back in and told her that Jax was refusing to see her right now.  His message was 'not now.'  He would see her again at the hearing in the afternoon.  Brenda didn't know whether to be upset with him or upset for him.  She fought back the tears again when she called the apartment on her cell phone to update them on what had happened.

"I'm so sorry, Bren," Lois said sympathetically when she heard that Jax's case was going to trial.

Brenda sighed.  "It's okay, really.  We kind of knew it was going to happen.  It was expected."

"Still, it had to have hurt him."

"Probably, I wouldn't know," she replied in a hurt voice, but she didn't elaborate.  "How's it going on your end so far?"

"Not well, I'm afraid.  So far, we're coming up empty on Jax's father.  The only thing we've gotten is that he's having you and Jax investigated, but you already knew that, right?"

"Right.  Nothing else?"

"Not really, no.  But you know, there was something interesting that Ned came across in that file you're having us look at.  Ned and Dad have been doing most of the looking since they know what they're seeing, you know."

"Yeah, what did he find?"

"Just that Jax wasn't the one who hired that employee."

"Who did?"

"That's just it, we can't figure that out yet.  I'm sure it's nothing.  I mean, Jax doesn't know about a lot of the hiring that his company does, I'm sure."

Brenda nodded to herself, dejected.  "Yeah, you're right.  He's got several departments to do that for him.  He told me himself he doesn't even know the names of all of his employees.  But follow up on it anyway.  You never what may come of it.  Anything else?"

"Nope, not yet," Lois said.

They talked for a few minutes longer before hanging up to go back to what they were doing before.  Brenda returned to the police headquarters and asked to speak to the District Attorney.  She was told that the DA was at lunch and therefore, out of the office.  All she really wanted was to see Jax.

Brenda waited outside in the visiting area, asking the guards to tell Jax she wanted to see him once every half an hour.  She figured if she was persistent enough, he would eventually speak to her and let her in.

Jax, for his part, sat in the corner of his jail cell on his bed, staring at the wall.  He was done fighting his emotions when he was alone, but there were no more to express.  He wanted to punch a wall, to scream and yell that he was innocent and that this was all for nothing.  But what good would it do him?  Instead, he sat silently on his bed.

The guards kept coming in and he began to notice a pattern to it.  Every time they were in, they would tell him that his wife wanted to see him.  Not Brenda Barrett or Brenda Jacks, but his wife.  He told them no every time.

Finally, a guard said something just because he was tired of relaying messages for the couple.  "Look, Jacks, we are not your message service.  Either see your wife or tell her that you don't want to see her yourself.  This is ridiculous."

That was half an hour ago.  The guard was due back any moment to tell him that his wife was there again.  It wasn't that he didn't want to see Brenda.  He did, with all of his heart.  He just knew that if he did, he would lose it and the weight of his current situation would come crashing down on him. 

He was aware that he was holding out on his emotions from Brenda.  She hadn't seen him before she found him in his office the other night.  He'd been a mess after the agents had left him.  As soon as the door closed, he'd had to resist the urge to throw the glass paperweight on his desk against the farthest wall.  It was a full fifteen minutes before he let the ramifications sink in.  He was going to jail, he'd realized. 

But the thing about it that hurt him most, that tore his heart into tiny pieces every time he thought of it, was that he was going to have to leave Brenda.  That thought was what had done it to him.  With that realization, he hadn't been able to stop the emotions he felt from surfacing.  That was the reason he'd cried that night.  Not because he was going to jail or because he was losing his life's work.  Because he was losing the one woman he had allowed himself to love in his life.  He'd cried himself to sleep over that.

And now, he knew that if he saw her, with the judgment that morning, he would lose it in front of her this time.  Each day there was something new that took him one step closer to losing her for good and that was what was really destroying him inside.  That was what he couldn't share with Brenda.

Predictably, five minutes later, the guard walked through the door again.  "Jacks, there's someone to see you.  Your wife, of course."  Then, just loud enough for Jax to hear, but so that it seemed that he was saying it under his breath, he said, "Who else?"

Jax smiled to himself at her persistence even though he wouldn't see her.  He knew he was hurting her by refusing, but now that he had gotten his thoughts straightened out a little, he decided to finally see her.  They had an hour before his bail hearing.

Brenda finally saw the inside of the visiting room again.  After asking every half hour for close to three hours, she was able to see her husband.  She wanted to know how he was taking this and tell him that she was still completely behind him.  But most of all, she just wanted to tell him she loved him. 

The door opened and Jax walked through it, his hands cuffed together again.  Without any regard whatsoever to the rules, Brenda ran to him and threw her arms around his neck.  He couldn't hug her back, of course, but she felt him receive her hug.  She kissed the side of his neck and whispered 'I love you' before stepping back and taking a seat at the table.  Not risking it again, she didn't take his hands while they sat at the table.

"Jax, how are you, really?  And why wouldn't you let me in?"  She had so many more questions for him, but figured those were two he would likely answer.

Jax sighed and gave her a lop-sided smile.  He shook his head ruefully and shrugged his shoulders.  "Honestly, I don't know the answer to either of those questions, Brenda."

She looked puzzled for a moment.  Then, she brightened, knowing he would tell her and open up to her in his own time.  "Jax, I know this morning's hearing was a set back, obviously.  But remember, there's still this afternoon."

"And what about it?  They'll deny me bail and I'll spend the next three weeks to a year in jail waiting for my trial date."  That was obviously the extreme, but it was what he was feeling right now.

"You can't think like that!  If you do, it's sure to come true.  You'll get out on bail.  And once you do, we'll find who's set you up, we'll prove it, and we'll get the charges dropped completely."

He sighed deeply again and leaned forward, touching his forehead to his clasped hands on the table in front of him.  Softly, he groaned in frustration.  "You are so damn optimistic, Brenda!" he finally exclaimed, louder than he had intended to.  He could see immediately that he'd hurt her feelings.  "I'm sorry," he apologized after a long, deafening silence between the two of them.  "I didn't mean to yell at you."

"No, you were right," she admitted reluctantly.  "But, Jax, I cannot accept that you will be spending this time in jail.  I just can't.  If I do that, I…I'll…" 

She didn't finish the sentence, but he caught her meaning anyway.  He felt the same way.  "I know, me, too," he whispered softly.

There was a knock at the door and Alexis walked in when the guard opened it.  "It's time," she said solemnly.

Jax nodded and Brenda stood up from the table.  Once again ignoring the rules, she leaned over and kissed him gently on the lips.  "I love you," she whispered.

"I know," he replied hoarsely.  He wanted to say it back, but she turned from him before he did.  He watched Brenda follow Alexis out of the room before the guard came and escorted him toward the courtroom.

It was a different room and a different judge for the second hearing of the day.  Jax, fully expecting the worst to come of it, sat at the table with an impassive expression on his face.  There was nothing this judge could say that would change what was going to happen and he knew it.  Alexis would try her hardest, but it just wasn't going to happen.  He sensed rather than saw Brenda was watching him while Alexis and the DA got up to begin.

"We cannot get around the fact that Mr. Jacks is a flight-risk," Jax heard the DA say fifteen minutes later.  The judge was nodding along with what she was saying, knowing she was right.

"Your honor, if I may again insist that although he may have the means to do so, Mr. Jacks is not going anywhere.  He will not leave this city, let alone the state if he is released on bail for the duration of the trial."

"Ms. Davis, I just don't see the proof of that," the judge responded.  "Mr. Jacks is a very wealthy man and has a very wealthy family.  He certainly has the means and motive to leave before the trial is over, especially with the evidence that has been presented."

"You are absolutely right, your honor.  But Mr. Jacks is a very wealthy man whose assets have all been frozen," she pointed out.  "He cannot access any of that wealth that you speak of.  And as for his family, he has virtually no contact with them and would certainly not ask for their help in this matter."

"And his wife?  How do you explain that she is also one of the wealthiest women?  She can provide him with the means."

At that comment, Brenda couldn't stop herself from jumping to her feet.  "But I wouldn't do that!" she exclaimed loudly.  Alexis spun around, a disapproving look upon her face telling her to be quiet.  Jax had also turned when she spoke up, his expression one of almost anger that she spoke out.  "I--I'm sorry," she said quietly and sat down again.

"No, wait," the judge said.  "Please stand up, Mrs. Jacks, right?"  Brenda nodded.  "Please repeat what you just said."

Nervously, Brenda repeated, "I wouldn't do that, your honor."

"Wouldn't do what?"

"Give my husband the money to run away or disappear."

"And why not?"

"Because he wouldn't want me to," she said simply.  "My husband has every intention of staying right here in New York until his name is cleared and he has his company back in his possession.  Neither he, nor I, am going anywhere until that happens.  I can personally guarantee you that."  Her tone was probably more defiant than it should have been, but she knew that it held all of her conviction, too.

"Thank you, Mrs. Jacks.  You may be seated again."  The judge didn't look very happy with her when he turned his attention back to the attorneys in front of him.

For the next half an hour, Alexis and the DA debated the merits of Jax's character and Brenda's word.  When they finished and returned to their seats, there was a very long silence over the courtroom.  Brenda began to twist her wedding band nervously.  Jax continued to look ahead, trying to remain stoic, but what he really wanted to do was throttle Brenda for what she'd done.  And then he wanted to take her in his arms and hold her forever because no one had ever stood up for him like that before.

The silence continued until the judge finally cleared his throat.  "Usually, I can decide what to do about bail in a matter of five minutes.  It's either you let them go on bail or you don't.  It's pretty clear cut.  This time, it just isn't.  While I wholeheartedly agree that you are a major flight risk, Mr. Jacks, I cannot dismiss the argument your wife so persuasively gives.  I believe you are an honorable man and I believe your wife means every word of what she says.  Therefore, I am setting bail at five million dollars.  Do not make me regret this, Mr. Jacks."  He pounded his gavel and got up, leaving the room quickly.

Brenda and Jax both sat in their seats, riveted in shock.  It took Alexis shaking him to get him to finally look up.  He turned slowly to meet Brenda's eyes and saw the huge grin on her face.  He couldn't stop one from spreading to his face.  Despite everything that had happened that morning, something was finally going right for them.  He would have the chance to help prove his own innocence.  And he would do just that.

 

Chapter 14

 

Song excerpt: Feels Like Home by Chantal Kreviazuk and can be found on the Dawson’s Creek Soundtrack.

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