"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 cocked 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 petite 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 snatched 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 identity, 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………