Gail Baldwin looked as though she were ready to tear her hair out. Trying to remain consummately professional, she merely folded her hands on her desk and leaned forward to speak in a motherly tone. "Brenda, I *really* think you should re-consider this decision of yours!"

Brenda Barrett returned Gail’s smile but spoke with equal fervor. "I’m sorry, Gail, but I just don’t see that therapy is helping me any. My feelings haven’t changed a bit."

"But I thought we were making some real progress," Gail crooned. "And you know Dr. Collins recommended that we work together on your problem…."

"…..and I appreciate your efforts, Gail," Brenda countered. "You and Kevin both have been wonderful through all of this." She shook her head. "I just can’t see how any of this is helping if I feel like I’m going to have a heart attack every time I come here for a session."

Brenda rose from her chair and went to a window of Gail’s office. She pulled a curtain back hesitantly to stare at the busy entrance to General Hospital below. "Look at all of them," she murmured, shaking her head. "They’re so blasé about it – dashing here and there, racing across town to have lunch with someone they don’t give a tinker’s d*mn about." She let the curtain fall back and sighed in disgust. "And it takes me an hour just to get up the nerve to walk to the corner for a morning paper."

Gail rose from her desk and walked to the window where Brenda stood, putting her arm around the petite brunette’s shoulders. "You shouldn’t be so tough on yourself, Brenda. There are millions of agoraphobics in this world. We’ve been over this before." Brenda wiped her eyes with the back of her hand and nodded quickly. "Everyone has fears and phobias," Gail continued. She gestured towards some of the people on the sidewalk below. "For all you know, that man in the brown coat might be deathly afraid of elevators." She chuckled a little. "Or that little lady in the blue parka might start screaming bloody murder when she sees the dog hiding behind those trash cans."

Brenda looked at Gail out of the corner of her eye. "Yeah, but even though she’s afraid of dogs, it doesn’t keep her from getting out and walking around in the world every day." She folded her arms and went back to the chair she had occupied in front of Gail’s desk.

"Which is precisely why this therapy is so important, Brenda," Gail argued, following her. "The fact that you’ve been able to get in a car and drive here once a week for the past two months is marvelous progress. You should give yourself a pat on the back!"

"Along with the two tranquilizers I needed each time to do it?" Brenda retorted sarcastically. She shook her head firmly and picked up her coat from the chair. "No, Gail – it’s just not worth it. I’m discontinuing therapy effective immediately." She spun around and headed for the door out of Gail’s office.

"What will you do, Brenda?" Gail sat down at her desk, folding her hands again. "Do you plan to barricade yourself in that old brownstone and just shrivel up into nothing?"

Brenda spun around with fire in her eyes. "You know darn well that I can survive perfectly well in that "old brownstone," as you call it! I can have my groceries delivered, and thanks to the Internet and my PC, I can run my antique business and keep a healthy balance in my bank account."

Gail shrugged, trying to mask her disappointment. "Well, if that’s your decision, I suppose there’s nothing I can do to change your mind……"

Brenda sighed and walked back towards Gail’s desk. "It’s not that I don’t appreciate all you’ve tried to do for me, Gail. It’s just that I don’t think the benefits outweigh the h*ll I go through every week to come here." Her resolution showed in her face as she put on her coat. "And although I know you say there’s nothing wrong with taking the medication, I don’t think it’s progress if I manage to drive here but feel like some drugged-out zombie in the process."

Fastening the buttons on her coat, Brenda turned to leave as Gail gave it one last try. "If you feel like the dose was too strong, Brenda, we could always try a weaker prescription! You just can’t leave it cold turkey like this…."

Brenda opened the door of Gail’s office with a triumphant smile. "I can’t?" She looked out into the hallway, took a shaky deep breath, and then looked over her shoulder at her therapist. "Just watch me."

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

{It’s not that far. Just stay calm ….. take deep breaths. It’s not that far. You can do this.}

Brenda kept repeating the comforting mantra to herself as she sat stuck in traffic twenty minutes later. She fiddled with the buttons on the radio, trying to find some stimulating talk program to distract her. But it was rush hour, and unfortunately the only subject the DJ’s found worthy of discussion was the huge traffic snarl on Market Street. The same very snarl that was causing Brenda’s heart to pound faster each passing minute. Because Locust Street, where Brenda’s powder blue Ford Taurus sat idling, intersected with Market Street just a few feet ahead. And until she passed that intersection and could make the turn-off for her beloved brownstone, Brenda had to endure her worst nightmare – being trapped in the outside world.

{You did the right thing this afternoon, Brenda. See what happens when you try to be brave and go outside into the world? You get stuck in some insane traffic jam.} Brenda tapped her fingers nervously on the dashboard as she watched the cars ahead of her inch towards the stoplight. The traffic where she was – on Locust – really wasn’t that heavy. According to reports from the all-knowing traffic-helicopter experts above her, the slow-down on Market Street was the problem. Once she passed Market, it would be smooth sailing for the few extra blocks to River Street and then she’d be home free. But until then……

"That’s right…..easy does it….." Brenda started speaking aloud as the traffic in front of her eased towards the stoplight. "Yes! I’m almost there!" She pounded her fist on the steering wheel in celebration as she counted the number of cars in front of her. There had been so many changes of the traffic signal that Brenda had been able to calculate it precisely – with no snags, seven cars made it through on each green light. With only four cars in front of her, an end to her nightmare was in sight.

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

"FASTER, D*MNIT, YOU’VE GOT TO GO FASTER!"

Lieutenant Jasper Jacks shouted at his partner, pounding on the dashboard of the car with his left hand as he did. His right hand gripped the roof of the car through the open window on the passenger side as it was in hot pursuit of a black Toyota pick-up.

"I’m going as fast as I can, d*mnit!" Jax’s partner shouted a reply just before weaving to avoid hitting a stalled car in the icy road. "Maybe you’ve forgotten that this is an UNMARKED car, Jax! We’re not equipped with flashers and a standard issue siren!" Jax snorted in reply as the car’s driver peered through the icy windshield. "And weather conditions aren’t exactly ideal for this kind of pursuit, you know!!"

"Which is precisely why I wanted you to let ME drive!" Jax shot back. He leaned forward, anxiously watching the pick-up as it wove through the heavy traffic on Market Street. When he lost sight of it momentarily, Jax rolled down his window, unbuckled his seat belt, and heaved his upper body through the opening of the car. "Keep going!!" he shouted, banging his hand on the roof of the car for emphasis. "We’re finally gaining on him!"

"D-D, IF YOU DON’T GET THAT TIGHT @SS OF YOURS BACK IN THIS CAR RIGHT NOW, I’M GOING TO GRAB THE FIRST CONVENIENT BODY PART I CAN REACH AND PULL YOU BACK INSIDE!!"

Jax looked back down inside the car at the angry blonde driver. "OK, OK," he groaned, heaving his body back inside the car. He glanced once at his partner out of the corner of his eye and then slumped down in the passenger seat. "I’m sorry, Blue. I know I got a little carried away again."

"A little carried away? A LITTLE carried away?" Sergeant Blue Barr kept both hands on the steering wheel but took her eyes off the traffic often enough to glare at Jax. "You call nearly making yourself into a human hood ornament a LITTLE carried away?"

"Look Blue, I said I was bloody sorry – what do you want?" Jax snorted and folded his arms in the passenger seat. "I mean, you can’t blame me for being pumped about this one. We’ve only been hitting dead ends for the past fourteen months with this Dockside Slasher maniac." He gestured out the front window of the unmarked car. "And now we’ve got the guy less than a mile in front of us! If we could just get close enough, we could get a plate number off that truck he’s driving……"

"…..Ten bucks says it’s stolen……"

"…..or maybe get a good look at his face ……"

"……which is presently covered by a ski mask, Jax." Blue shook her head and then muttered a rather un-ladylike expression to the driver she barely avoided hitting. The weather had turned even nastier as pellets of sleet pinged off the roof of the car. "Or didn’t you hear that juicy little tidbit of information on the radio? The woman he tried to attack said….."

"….yeah, yeah, I know," Jax growled. He leaned forward again to peer through the windshield at the Toyota pickup they were pursuing. "But if we could just get close enough, I bet I could wrestle him out of the cab of that truck. Then it’s just one little flick of the wrist, and the ski mask is history."

Blue was about to dispute Jax’s ability to un-mask a serial killer with "one little flick of the wrist" when she frowned and stared straight ahead. "What the he…….."

Jax swore beneath his breath and then rolled down his car window again. Sticking his head out the window, he pumped his fist triumphantly. "They’re stopped cold, Blue. Market is completely grid-locked and he’s got no place to go." He pulled his head back in only to flip the handle and open the passenger door of their sedan. "I’m going after him."

"On foot?"

"No, I thought I’d take the horse we’ve got tied to back bumper – OF COURSE on foot!" Blue swore softly under her breath again and Jax froze in the doorway of the car. "Look, they say traffic on Locust is flowing smoothly. If he makes it to that intersection and manages to get onto Locust, we’ve lost him for good. I HAVE to get to him before he gets to that stoplight!"

Before Blue could utter another word, Jax took off like a shot. "JAX!" she shouted after him. Spouting a string of words that would have brought a blush to the cheeks of many of her comrades, Blue punched the buttons of her cell phone furiously. "This is PCPD 27 …… in pursuit of the Dockside Slasher …..headed due north on Market……officer needs assistance! Repeat…..Officer needs assistance!"

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

"NO! NOOOO! Don’t DOOOO that!" Brenda wailed aloud in frustration as the drivers on Market once again blocked the cross-street. "Don’t you guys know there’s a law against getting stuck in the middle of an intersection? If you don’t think you’re going to make it across, you’re supposed to stay on YOUR side of the street and not block things up for us nice people on Locust!"

Brenda glanced up at the stoplight and nervously counted the seconds that were wasted on their rotation of the green. "That’s it, that’s it," she crooned as the cars on Market moved just enough to allow traffic from Locust to flow through again. "Now if we all JUUUUUST go fast enough, I’ll make it through on this….."

She never finished her sentence. Just as her Taurus pulled up to the front spot, the signal turned yellow. Brenda chewed on her lower lip, debating whether or not she should be as selfish and unthinking as the drivers on Market. "If I went ahead and blocked the intersection, I could be home in just a few minutes. Home……safe…….inside…….away from the world……" She glanced in her rear-view mirror and saw the driver behind her giving her the universal gesture of impatience with his right hand.

"That’s it. I’m gonna do it. I’ll just tell the cop that there were extenuating circumstances and I thought I could make it through the signal. Besides, there’s never any cops around when you need them……"

But just as Brenda pressed her foot on the gas pedal, the sleet accumulated beneath her tires decided to play a role in the afternoon’s drama. Her wheel spun and the car went nowhere. By the time she took a deep breath and applied gentle pressure to the gas, the light had turned red.

"OH……BAD WORD, BAD WORD, BAD WORD!!" Brenda pounded on the dashboard for emphasis, hot tears flowing down her cheeks. Then she took deep, shaky breaths. "It’ll be OK, Brenda. You’ll make it through on the next light. You’re the first car in line. There’s nothing that’ll stop you now……"

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

"JAX!" Blue’s strangled cry forced him to turn around where he was crouched, next to the rear fender of a Dodge mini-van. "Stop there and wait for back-up!"

"I can’t wait, Blue!" Jax growled. He unzipped his jacket and pulled the .457 Magnum he routinely carried from his shoulder holster. "The Slasher’s pickup is first in line at the stoplight! If we wait for backup, the light will turn green and he’ll slip through our fingers again!"

Blue shook her head as Jax crouched down low to the ground and sprinted between the stalled cars. "They all warned me not to take Jax on as a partner," she muttered, reaching behind her for her own 9 millimeter, standard police-issue weapon. "But what did I say? I’ll take him on, I said. I know he’s suicidal, but I can control him, I said. He won’t put MY life in danger, I said. I can handle him, I said."

Four cars ahead, Jax tried to move as quietly as possible as he approached the black pickup. Although he was still three cars behind, he could see the driver’s head, covered by a dark navy ski mask, nodding nervously in time to the radio. When the driver glanced in the rear-view mirror, though, Jax had just raised his head high enough to see in the mirror himself. Eyes met and Jax saw panic in the killer’s eyes. Jax knew he had to make a move, and fast.

Just as the signal changed giving the green light to Locust Street, Jax stood up straight. He gripped the deadly weapon in both hands, aiming it at the Slasher’s head. "FREEZE! PCPD!!" He tried to filter out the terrified screams of drivers in surrounding cars.

The cars on Locust had barely begun to move through the intersection when the Slasher stomped on his gas pedal, hurtling into the left front fender of a powder blue Ford Taurus.

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

"Hi-ho, hi-ho, it’s off to home I……" Brenda never finished the happy dwarf song as the black Toyota pickup slammed into her front fender. She gripped the steering wheel tightly to prevent the car from spinning on the sleet-coated street. When both cars had stopped cold, Brenda blinked her eyes. She could already hear the sound of angry car horns from drivers now trapped on both Market and Locust.

She was so shocked and upset that she never noticed the driver jumping out of the black pickup. {I can’t believe this!!!} Her heart started racing as a choking panic crept up her diaphragm. {It’s just a little dent in my fender. That’s all. I can still drive. I SHOULD still drive. I could just step on the gas and then once I was home, I could call the police station and get all the details and apologize…….}

Brenda was so busy planning her explanation to the police that she didn’t expect it when the pickup’s driver opened her car door and grabbed her by the arm. "Get outta the car, lady," he barked in a guttural tone.

She didn’t know which caused the goose flesh to break out on her arms – the cold outside air, or just the fact that it was OUTSIDE air – the outside world – invading her private, warm little space in the car. "Look, I ddd…d….don’t know where my insurance card is," Brenda shuddered. It was becoming harder and harder to breathe. "But if you’ll jjj…just let me go hhhh..home, I promise I’ll call you and then….."

The Slasher gripped her arm tighter and pulled. "Look, lady, I don’t give a flying f**k about your insurance card. Now get outta the car and give me the keys!"

"My keys?" Brenda looked down numbly at the ignition keys in her hand and then back up into the panicked expression of the other driver. "Oh, no……NO!" she yelped as realization dawned. "You CAN’T have my keys! Then I wouldn’t be able to drive my car, and I HAVE to get home…..NNNN…..NOW!"

"Shut up, lady!" the Slasher hissed. He glanced back towards Jax, who was rapidly approaching the intersection. As Brenda continued to whimper about not giving him her keys and tried to close her car door, he lost patience. The Slasher pulled Brenda out of the car and against his chest and shoved a blunt object against her ribs. "If you don’t hand over the keys right now I’ll gut you like a pig right here on the street!"

Jax froze when he saw the Slasher pull the woman from the car against him. He lunged towards a car and crouched down next to it, propping his elbows on the hood to steady his aim. Gripping the weapon tightly, Jax tried to train his sight on the Slasher’s upper chest. "D*mnit, love, just give him what he wants and get out of the way!" Jax growled. He swore again when the woman continued to struggle with the Slasher, ruining his chances for a clear shot.

"I can’t – I can’t let you have my car!! I have to get hhhh….home! I just want to go hhhh…..home!" In Brenda’s growing hysteria, self-preservation skills she didn’t know she had kicked in. When she raised a knee to try to hit him where it hurt the most, the Slasher anticipated her move and they spun around in the street. Brenda looked up at the man’s face hidden by the ski mask. "Just let me go HOME!!!!!" With a surge of strength and the last ounce of oxygen in her lungs, she gripped the top of the knitted hood and yanked it off the carjacker’s head.

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

"I don’t believe it…….I bloody DON’T BELIEVE IT!!!"

Blue ran up to the car where Jax had crouched, her weapon gripped tightly in both hands and aimed skywards for safety. "What’s going on?" She saw Jax’s face turn pale. "What happened?"

Jax pointed at the Slasher, who was still fighting for control of the car keys with the scrappy brunette. "She pulled his mask off!!" Jax turned to Blue with eyes wide as saucers. "That little dame bloody pulled his mask off and he’s got his BACK to us so we can’t see his face!!"

"Jax, snap out of it and stop gawking like a star-struck teenager for God’s sake! Now, are you going to take him down or should I?"

Jax regained his composure and took aim once again, gripping the butt of his weapon with both hands. "I still can’t do it, Blue," he groaned. "The dame keeps wiggling and getting in the line of fire. If she would just……"

Both Jax and Blue held their breaths as they saw the Slasher pull back his left hand. When his fist came back around and connected with Brenda’s jaw, Jax let out a whoop. "That’s it!" He jumped up. "You’re history, slimeball!! FREEZE!!!"

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

"Give it up, lady! Just give me the keys and I won’t hurt you!" The Slasher’s eyes widened when Brenda pulled off his mask but he kept focused on his main objective – a car pointed in the direction where there was no traffic jam.

They struggled for a few more seconds that seemed like hours to Brenda. Black dots swam before her eyes as the sound of people screaming and car horns blaring made her eardrums dance. She ached to just cover her ears with her hands and crouch down on the street in a fetal position, but then she knew this maniac would have her keys and she’d be stuck out in the real world even longer.

The Slasher stopped struggling with Brenda abruptly. He kept his back towards Jax and pulled back his free left arm. "I’m real sorry about this lady," he muttered. Brenda frowned at him but then the left fist came back around, sucker-punching her square in the jaw.

{Why is he sorry? He tries to steal my car and then he’s sor…..?} Brenda never got the chance to finish her mental question as the stranger’s fist connected with her jaw. A sharp pain shot into her forehead, stars exploded in front of her eyes, and then Brenda slipped to the ground at the Slasher’s feet, her keys in one hand and the ski mask in the other. As her body hit the ground, her head connected with the pavement with a sickening "thunk."

The Slasher crouched down and fumbled for Brenda’s keys with gloved fingers but when he felt the ground shaking with the force of Jax’s steps, he knew his time was limited. Pulling the ski mask from her hand, he put it back on and lifted Brenda’s limp form in front of him as Jax came up behind him.

"FREEZE!" Jax ordered. He was standing with his feet spread, his arms locked in front of him with the pistol aimed at the Slasher’s head, when the suspect sprang to his feet and held Brenda’s body in front of him as a shield.

The Slasher’s only reply was to hold the six-inch blade of a knife to Brenda’s throat. Jax could see his eyes darting back and forth anxiously beneath the ski mask and when the knife wavered, he held up a hand towards his nervous suspect. "Just take it easy and put the knife down, man," Jax coaxed. "You haven’t got a prayer of getting out of this!"

When he caught sight of Blue trying to make her way around to the Slasher’s rear, Jax slowly started walking closer to where the Slasher still held the petite brunette. But her progress was slowed by the other drivers, who kept rolling down windows and clutching at her arm, asking for explanations or screaming that they were going to die. For all intents and purposes, Jax and the Slasher were one-on-one.

For some odd reason, Jax noticed that the pellets of sleet made the woman’s dark hair look like a mass of black velvet sprinkled with salt. He shook his head to clear it. "One last chance, Slasher! Let the woman go and then put your hands in the air!!"

But Jax’s quarry had other ideas. The Slasher glanced again towards Blue, who was hung up with a hysterical woman and a station wagon full of children. He pulled the knife away from Brenda’s throat, flung it with deadly accuracy at Jax, and then let Brenda slump to the ground as he took off running down Locust.

Jax swore loudly as the knife came at him. He put up his left arm to fend it off and felt the sharp sting when it sliced through the sleeve of his jacket. Doubled over for just a second, he looked up in time to see the Slasher dashing down Locust on foot. "Thank you, God!" he muttered through gritted teeth. "I’ve got you now, you filthy excuse for a human being!"

Clutching his cut arm to his body and holding it with his right hand to stanch the bleeding, Jax took off running after the Slasher. But when he got to where Brenda lay on the street and he looked down at her, something flashed in his brain. Another winter day. Another brunette lying in the street, the sleet gathering on her cold ruby lips.

"Don’t die, Miranda! I’ve got you, and help is on the way!" But no matter hard Jax clutched his wife’s body to his own, he couldn’t bring warmth back into it. He couldn’t make her breathe again, couldn’t make a smile light up her face, couldn’t make her eyes open and grow heavy with desire for him……

By the time Blue came running up to where the pickup had smashed into the Taurus, she found Jax seated on the ground. He had the brunette cradled in his arms and was rocking back and forth with her, softly mumbling something to her about being alright.

"Jax……" Blue started cautiously. She looked in the direction that the Slasher had run and then back down at her usually gung-ho partner. "What happened to the perp?"

Jax raised eyes filled with unshed tears to Blue. "I couldn’t do it, Blue. I just couldn’t leave her." He looked down at Brenda’s face and pushed the hair back out of her eyes. "She just looked so cold and helpless, you know……and I didn’t want her to be cold……"

Blue chewed on her lower lip for a moment and then saw the blood stain on Jax’s left arm. She crouched down next to them as the faint sound of sirens could be heard in the distance. "You’re hurt," she said flatly, touching the spot on his arm where the crimson blotch was growing.

Jax glanced down at his arm with a look in his eyes that told Blue he didn’t even feel the pain. "It’s nothing – a scratch." He looked back at Brenda’s face and stroked a finger against her cheek. "I wonder what color her eyes are," he whispered vacantly. Then he stared up at Blue with an expression that tugged at her heart. "They’re probably brown, don’t you think? Something about dark eyes and dark hair and rubies goes together, don’t you think?"

Blue smiled painfully and cupped the side of Jax’s face with her hand. "It’s not her, Jax. This isn’t Miranda." Jax blinked twice and then something inside him seemed to snap to awareness. Blue continued to speak softly as she reached into her pocket and pulled out her cell phone. "I’m calling an ambulance so we can get you to the hospital and have them take a look at that arm….."

Jax cleared his throat awkwardly and Blue recognized his usual no-nonsense tone returning. "We need to get her to a hospital too, Blue. We need to talk to her as soon as she wakes up."

Blue rose to her feet, shaking her head as she did. She put the cell phone to her ear and waited for the connection, glancing back down at Jax, who was still holding the woman but seemed less catatonic. "H*ll of a day, isn’t it partner?" She turned to look into the distance. "We have the Dockside Slasher right where we want him and he slips through our fingers again. Clean. And none of us get a good look at him."

"That’s not true, Blue." Jax stared down into the angelic face of the brunette he cradled closer to his body. "ONE of us can identify him." Then he looked off into the distance. "And the Slasher knows that……"