"Yes……." Alexis blinked rapidly, then shook her head to try to clear it. "I’m here. I just got a little dizzy there for a minute." She rubbed her eyes with her fingertips and took a deep breath, trying to concentrate. "Guess I didn’t eat enough for lunch."

"What seems to be the problem, ma’am?"

"My brother……it’s my brother!" Alexis cried, her voice breaking as she looked up and saw an unconscious Stefan. "I think he might have had a stroke or something!"

"Can you get him to the General Hospital Emergency Room, ma’am?"

"No……." She scrunched her eyelids shut against the dull pain that throbbed behind them. "He’s in a wheelchair and he’s passed out."

"OK……" Alexis heard a clicking noise as the woman’s fingernails tapped against her keyboard. "If you’ll give me your address, I’ll send an ambulance."

"1952 Lake Shores Estates." She shakily got to her feet, only to sink back onto the sofa with a thump. "We’re at the western end of the subdivision."

More clicking ensued. "Got it. The EMT’s should be there just as quickly as they can, ma’am. Now in the meantime, I need you to stay on the line with me until they get there. You said your brother is unconscious?"

"Yes……" Alexis grimaced when she tried to rise again and go to Stefan, only to fall back on the couch when the pounding in her head increased in volume. "I found him when I came home from the office."

"Is he breathing?"

Alexis’s eyebrows knit together as she tried to focus on her brother’s inert form. "Yes – I can see his chest going up and down." She massaged the area above her eyes in an attempt to get the blinding pain in her head to lessen. "He was conscious when I came home from work, but he was talking crazy – totally incoherent."

"Is it possible he overdosed on some medication? Or is he possibly under the influence of alcohol?"

"No……Stefan wouldn’t do that." Alexis licked her lips, only to have her stomach suddenly turn upside down in a violent wave of nausea. "He’s…….he doesn’t drink or do drugs. And he’s very careful about the medications he has to take."

"Ma’am?" A splitting pain behind Alexis’s eyeballs generated silvery fireworks that lit up the room. "Are you feeling ill, also?"

"I…..uh……" Alexis closed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose hard. "I’ve just got the *killer* headache……probably low blood sugar…….." She frowned and stared over her shoulder at the front door. "When are those paramedics going to get here?"

"Ma’am, do you have any other unusual symptoms?" The operator’s voice took on a new urgency. "Ma’am? Are you still there?!"

"I….uh……" Alexis exhaled in short pants now, fighting the pain that threatened to engulf her. "I’m kinda sick to my stomach……"

"Listen to me very carefully, ma’am," the operator announced, speaking clearly and slowly. "I want you and your brother to get out of the house RIGHT NOW."

"But……"

"I can’t be sure without seeing you, ma’am, but the symptoms you’re describing sound a lot like carbon monoxide poisoning. Do you have a fireplace? It’s possible the flue is blocked."

"No." Alexis grunted softly when the meager contents of her stomach rebelled against confinement. "No fireplace. It’s just a small house."

"A forced-air furnace then?"

"Yes – but we’ve never had a problem with it. And the house is fairly new."

"You’d be surprised how quickly these things can go out on you. We get a lot of these kinds of calls at this time of year when folks turn their furnaces on for the first time." Alexis faintly heard more clicking noises on the other end of the connection. "I’m dispatching a fire engine to your address to check it out, but you need to go outside and get some fresh air RIGHT NOW."

"But my brother……" Alexis forced her eyes open to stare at Stefan, still slumped over in his wheelchair. "I can’t leave my brother……." She summoned every ounce of strength she had and struggled to her feet. "Can’t I just open a window or something till the paramedics get here?"

"If your brother’s passed out and you’re dizzy, there’s probably a high concentration of carbon monoxide in the house already, ma’am," the operator insisted. "Opening a window will just be like spitting on a forest fire. Now GET OUT of the house!!"

"OK…..OK……" Alexis fumbled to set the phone down on the end table. She took a step, turned over on her ankle once, and then haltingly lurched towards the front door of the small house. As she grabbed onto a hall tree for balance, she turned back towards her brother. "I’m not leaving you, Stefan!" she gasped, tears now running down her face. "I’m just……" She managed to turn the dead bolt and grasp the doorknob, yanking with all of her impaired might. "I’m just going to go outside and get some fresh air…….so I feel better…….and then I’ll come back in and get you……."

She bumped her arm and right hip on the front door as she managed to open it. More falling than walking, Alexis staggered through the screen door into the crisp fall evening. As soon as she took a deep breath of the clean air, her lungs went into spasms, producing a violent coughing fit.

"Alexis?"

She had the vague impression of crystal blue eyes and finely etched features before she collapsed into her former fiancé’s waiting arms. "Jax!!"

Unprepared for her dead weight, he bent at the knees into a crouched position on the small front porch. "Alexis!! What…….why……" he stammered.

"Need air……." She gestured weakly over her shoulder towards the door as the color left Jax’s face. "Gas……."

Before she could even blink her eyes, he rose to his feet, cradling her against his chest protectively. "You’re OK now, love," he whispered over and over in her ear. She placed a limp hand against his chest as he settled her onto the grass of the front yard. "I’ll just call the paramedics….."

"No……." Alexis took a long, deep breath of cleansing air and then grabbed for his hand as he pulled his cell phone out of his jacket pocket. "Already called……." She suddenly grasped the lapels of his jacket and tried to pull herself to her feet. "Got to go back inside……..Stefan……"

"Stefan?" Jax’s eyes suddenly widened with realization. "Your brother’s still in there?"

She nodded feebly. "He passed out…….and then I got too sick to move him….."

Without a word, Jax shifted her to a sitting position on the grass and sprang to his feet. He dashed back inside the house, taking a deep breath to avoid breathing in any of the noxious fumes. After what seemed like an eternity, Alexis heard the screen door swing open and crash against the house. Jax emerged with Stefan over his shoulder, carrying him fireman style towards her.

"Stefan!!" Another coughing fit seized Alexis as Jax deposited her brother next to her on the grass. Tears clouded her vision when Jax pressed his ear to Stefan’s chest, then his mouth. "Is he……..breathing?"

"No." Jax quickly whipped his jacket off and tossed it to her. "Put this on so you don’t get a chill." He leaned over her stricken brother, pinched his nose shut, puffed gently against his mouth several times, and then straightened to begin chest compressions.

"The 911 woman said she thought it was carbon monoxide," Alexis muttered shakily. The approaching wail of sirens gave her some degree of comfort. "But I can’t understand how something could have gone wrong with the furnace…….or why Stefan was still home and not at the chess tournament……."

Jax shook his head briefly, puffed into Stefan’s mouth again, and resumed the chest compressions. "You feeling OK?" he choked, growing winded by his efforts.

"Better now," she whispered. She couldn’t take her eyes off her brother’s helpless, motionless form. Even when the ambulance and a fire truck pulled up in front of her house, sirens going full blast, it didn’t seem to register. Porch lights in neighboring houses winked on as a flurry of emergency workers swirled around the two victims.

"Step aside, sir!" Jax was quickly replaced by two EMT’s while a team of firemen barreled into the small house. He tried to slow his racing heart when he looked over and saw another paramedic place an oxygen mask over a protesting Alexis’s face. Heaving himself to his hands and knees, he crawled over to huddle behind her on the grass, wrapping his arms around her waist as the EMT quickly examined her.

A few minutes later, one of the EMT’s attending Stefan came over to Alexis. "How’s she doin’?" he asked his cohort.

"Not bad – her sats are coming back up with O2 by mask," he replied brusquely as Jax gave silent thanks. "Still a little residual nausea."

The EMT nodded. "We need to get the other one to GH," he announced grimly. "We did an emergency trake but he needs a vent stat….."

"My brother……" Alexis pushed the oxygen mask aside frantically as Stefan was transferred to a gurney. "That’s my brother!" she cried, trying to get to her feet. "Is he going to make it?"

"We can’t be sure, ma’am," the EMT replied matter-of-factly. Jax came up behind Alexis to support her when she swayed slightly at the dire news. "The doctors at GH will be able to give you a better idea of his prognosis."

"You should go to the hospital too, Alexis," Jax whispered, caressing her arm in a gesture meant to soothe. "Get *yourself* checked out to make sure you’re OK."

She nodded once, briskly, as Stefan was wheeled past her towards the waiting ambulance. "I want to go with my brother," she murmured, stumbling a little in the uneven grass of the yard.

"You do that." Jax put his hand to her elbow to steady her as Alexis went blindly towards the ambulance. He helped her up the few steps until the EMT set her down next to Stefan’s prone form. The doors had no sooner shut than the ambulance took off at full speed, sirens blaring in the stillness of the crisp autumn night.

Jax stared at the departing vehicle for a few minutes, hands on his hips, until a fireman came up behind him. "You know these folks, mister?"

He turned to face the somber young firefighter. "The young woman and I are…….." His breath caught in his chest. "We’re engaged to be married."

"Well then, I think you’d better come see what we found inside," the firefighter announced, nodding his head towards the house. "And I don’t think you’re gonna like it one bit."

*~*~*~*

"You really gave me a scare this time, you know," Alexis whispered as she straightened the covers on Stefan’s bed. She stared anxiously at his features, reaching out to cup his cheek lovingly as she settled into a chair at his bedside. "When Jax said you weren’t breathing……" She choked back a sob. "I just……..I can’t lose you…….you’re all I’ve got……."

Tears gathered in her eyes again as she glanced over at the myriad of machines that were helping his body heal from the effects of the carbon monoxide. A solitary light overhead cast an eerie glow in the private hospital room. Loud whooshing noises accompanied the ventilator that eased Stefan’s breathing. The rhythmic beeping of the heart monitor both calmed Alexis’s fears and got on her already-frayed-thin nerves. A large blue hose protruded from a narrow cannula, which was taped to the side of his mouth. Tubes with intravenous medication criss-crossed his inert form.

"But now, I shouldn’t be talking that way!" She quickly wiped her tears and put on her best "brave" face, nodding at the unresponsive man. "The doctor says he doesn’t think there’s going to be any permanent damage from the exposure to the carbon monoxide. He just wants you to …….rest," Alexis added with a hitch in her voice, "and get all that nasty stuff out of your system!" She reached out to push some errant hair off Stefan’s forehead. "And then you’ll wake up and we’ll talk about ……. lots of things." She pressed her lips together, sniffled softly, and then leaned closer to the bed. "I really NEED to talk to you about something, Stefan……I just……." She blinked back tears as she raised her eyes to look out the hospital room window. "I’m just so confused about a lot of things, and I need to talk to you…….to help straighten them out……."

"You know, I’m always here……" Alexis jumped slightly and turned at the sound of a husky voice behind her. She instantly relaxed when she saw Taggert’s head poking through the door of the hospital room. "I’m told that I can be a pretty good listener……" He ambled inside, letting the door slide shut slowly behind him. "Just until the big guy wakes up, of course," he added with a sheepish grin, pointing towards Stefan.

"Thanks." Alexis swayed into Taggert’s gentle hug as he came up next to where she sat. "I appreciate the offer, but I think I’ll hold off until Stefan wakes up." She winked at her cohort. "It’s just some brother/sister kinda stuff, you know."

"Gotcha." One side of Taggert’s mouth lifted in a wry smile. "But the offer still stands if you ever change your mind." He looked intently into Alexis’s eyes. "So how are YOU doing?"

"The doctor says I’ll be fine," Alexis replied with a sigh. "I didn’t have as much of the gas in my system, so after they gave me some oxygen in the ER, I felt much better." She snorted softly and rolled her eyes. "Guess I learned my lesson about having the furnace inspected every year, huh?"

"Alexis….." Taggert’s expression became somber compared to Alexis’s false light-heartedness. He glanced over his shoulder at the door to the hallway. "Can I talk to you about something……outside?"

Her smile faded. "Sure….." She peered around Taggert, then looked back at Stefan hesitantly. After placing a tender kiss on her brother’s forehead, she rose and dutifully followed Taggert into the hallway. "Is something wrong?"

"Yeah…..you might say that." Taggert glanced upward with a "why-do-I-have-to-be-the-one-to-tell-her?" look on his face, then propped his hands on his hips and stared into her eyes. "The fire department guys did an inspection of your furnace after the ambulance took you and Stefan away, Alexis." He lowered his voice. "There wasn’t any mechanical problem that would have caused the carbon monoxide to leak into the rest of the house."

Her eyes flared with shock. "Then how….."

"They found holes in something called the heat exchanger." Taggert explained grimly. "Holes that didn’t just happen out of the clear blue." She frowned and took a breath to ask a question but he went on before she could. "Somebody PUNCHED those holes in the heat exchanger so that the carbon monoxide would go into the air ducts instead of out the chimney."

Alexis’s face lost what little color it had. "Are you trying to tell me….."

"I sent Hastings and Wilson over to your house, Alexis." Taggert looked down at his shoes for a minute, obviously uncomfortable with being the bearer of bad news. "When was the last time you used the outside door to your basement?"

"The outside door?" She frowned for a moment. "I can’t even remember – we usually just go down the stairs from inside. Why?"

"The officers found a broken pane of glass in that outside door. It was unlocked and standing ajar when they got there," Taggert announced. "Somebody apparently broke the window, reached in to open the door to gain access, and then deliberately punched those holes in the heat exchanger."

She swallowed hard. "So somebody was trying to KILL Stefan and me?"

"Not Stefan, Lexie," Taggert replied. He moved closer to her as chills danced a tango down her spine. "Just YOU."

The shock, combined with exhaustion from the evening’s events rendered her speechless for a few seconds. "But……"

"That chess match of Stefan’s has been front page news for the past week and you know it," Taggert argued. "I’ll bet my next paycheck that 9 out of 10 people I asked would have known that your brother was going to be at the tournament all afternoon and evening." He let out a long, disgusted breath. "Whoever did this probably knew that Stefan would be long gone from the house by the time the fumes accumulated to a lethal level. They didn’t count on his disability making him more susceptible to the gas."

"So it just built up in his system, and he didn’t even realize it," she whispered, pressing her fingertips to her lips. "That’s why he was incoherent when I got home."

"You, on the other hand, came home to the full effects of a house full of carbon monoxide," Taggert nodded. "It hit you harder and faster. Whoever did this was counting on it."

Alexis wrapped her arms around her waist as tears pooled in her eyes again. "So Stefan almost died tonight because of me?" Her voice broke and Taggert opened his arms to her. "Somebody was trying to kill ME and he got caught in the crossfire?"

"That’s the gist of it." Taggert just held Alexis tight against his chest until she nodded quickly and pulled away a little. "Now we just have to find out which of your *acquaintances* happens to be a homicidal maniac."

"Probably the same one who rented a black car and tried to run her down the other day at the Cheshire." Alexis and Taggert broke apart at the sound of Jax’s voice. He ambled slowly towards them, his hands shoved deep into the pockets of his black jeans. "How’s Stefan doing?" he asked her softly, tipping his head in the direction of his hospital room door.

"The doctor is optimistic," Alexis said, swallowing hard. She could feel the tension building in Taggert’s body in reaction to Jax mentioning the incident at the Cheshire and hoped against hope that the lieutenant would ignore it. "Of course, we won’t know for sure if there’s any damage until he wakes up, but I’m trying to stay pos……."

"What the H*LL do you mean, tried to run you down???!!!" Taggert finally exploded. He broke their loose embrace and propped his hands on his hips, six feet of furious-at-being-left-out-of-the-loop male.

Her sable eyes clawed at Jax’s face, angry that he had let the cat out of the proverbial bag, before she shifted her attention to Taggert’s question. "I met Jax late Friday afternoon for a drink at the Cheshire Inn," she explained quietly, pursing her lips in annoyance. "When we came out and I was walking back to my car, this guy came out of nowhere in a black car and ……" She shrank back a little when the ire on Taggert’s face increased exponentially. "Well, he almost ran me down."

Taggert fumed silently for about ten seconds, tapping his toe like a father scolding a teenager. "I’m not even gonna ASK why you didn’t tell me this before, Alexis!" he growled, then pulled out his notebook and glanced in Jax’s direction. "So you say it was a GUY……in a black car?"

"We’re not really sure if it was a man or a woman. And before you ask, I didn’t get a good look what kind of car it was, either." Jax’s eyes were riveted on Alexis’s face as he anticipated Taggert’s question. "When I heard the tires squealing and saw that car barreling towards her, I threw myself at her to get her out of harm’s way."

"Thank God for that," Taggert muttered, still furious at being kept in the dark.

"I’m sorry I didn’t say anything about it this morning, Marcus. I just…….." Alexis licked her lips, trying desperately to soothe her cohort’s ruffled feathers. "Well, I *really* thought it was just some drunk who had had too much at the bar." Jax gave silent thanks when she didn’t bring up her "theories" about Jerry’s complicity in the event.

Taggert sighed and flipped the notebook closed. "Well, I guess at least we can narrow it down to all the BLACK cars in Port Charles," he sighed. "Not that it makes our job any easier."

"I’ve already got somebody checking out the rental agencies." Jax moved to Alexis’s side and put an arm around her shoulders when she shuddered slightly. "I figure that whoever tried to run her down wouldn’t have been stupid enough to use their own car." When Taggert arched an eyebrow at him, he added, "Visible damage and easy to trace and all that."

"Welllll, THANK you Dick Tracy!" Taggert sneered sarcastically. He pressed his lips together and then glanced around the hospital hallway. His expression softened slightly when he noticed Alexis’s slumping shoulders and sagging eyelids. "Look," he said in a hushed tone, "we’re not going to get anywhere tonight with this. You’ve been through enough for one day without having to answer a million questions."

"I appreciate that, Marcus," Alexis whispered, her eyes warm and still misty. "Right now, there’s nothing I want to do more than just go home, take a long, hot bath, and go to sleep for a week."

"You’re going to have a little problem doing that, Lexie," Jax interrupted, grimacing. "The firefighters told me that you should probably avoid going back in the house for at least forty-eight hours – to make sure that all the carbon monoxide’s been cleared." He glanced towards Taggert. "They needed to talk to *somebody* after Alexis and Stefan left in the ambulance," he explained.

"Well, I was *about* to say that I wouldn’t let you go back home tonight anyway, Alexis," Taggert said, giving Jax a "is-it-my-turn-to-talk-now?" smug look. "I’m putting you up in a secure hotel room with a police guard for the night."

Jax nodded. "I agree. She needs protection."

"Wait a minute…… WAIT a minute!" Alexis groaned, putting a hand on each man’s chest. "Can we just stop the chest-beating and lower the testosterone level a little here, guys?"

"There’s been two attempts on your life in the past seventy-two hours, Alexis," Taggert insisted. "And for all we know, they might be connected to Chloe Morgan’s murder!"

Alexis gave Jax a knowing glance – she stifled the urge to tell Taggert about her suspicions that Jerry was the one who tried to run her down. "Look, Taggert, this is ME you’re talking to, OK?" she argued. "I KNOW how bad Mac’s been chewing you out lately about going over budget. And I also KNOW how badly under-staffed the PCPD is right now." She shook her head gently while patting his chest in a gesture meant to re-assure. "You just use all the manpower you’ve got tracking down Chloe’s killer. I’ll be FINE."

Taggert grabbed her wrist gently but firmly. "And YOU look, Counselor!" he retorted, echoing her turn of the phrase. "I’m not talking about putting you up in the Presidential Suite at the Port Charles Hotel, alright?" He thrust his jaw forward resolutely. "I’m SURE we can find the money SOMEWHERE in the budget to afford a room at the Comfort Inn by the highway….." Jax drew his attention when he made a strangled, disbelieving noise. "…..and as far as staffing goes, I’ll stay with you MYSELF if I have to!!" He glared at Jax, quickly diffusing the blonde man’s objections. "I’m NOT going to take any more chances with the assistant district attorney and my BEST FRIEND’s life!"

Alexis’s gaze bounced between Jax and Taggert. Then she sighed and wilted visibly. "OK – I give. I’ll do it. At this point, as long as there’s a hot shower and a soft bed, I REALLY don’t care WHERE I lay my head tonight." She glanced over her shoulder at the door to Stefan’s hospital room. "Just let me go inside and check on him one more time."

The shrill beeping of Taggert’s pager made all three of them startle slightly. He looked down at it and swore beneath his breath. "Why don’t you go see what that’s about?" Jax offered, putting a hand to Alexis’s elbow. "I’ll make sure she gets to the hotel and stay with her until you can get there."

The policeman scowled again when he read the electronic code on the pager. "OK – I guess I don’t have a choice." He pocketed the beeper and then pointed a finger at Alexis as he started to walk away from her. "This shouldn’t take any more than forty-five minutes." Taggert shifted his gaze to Jax. "It’s the Comfort Inn at Highway 95 and Fourth Street, OK? Check her in under the name Lucy Buxton." When Alexis’s jaw dropped, he pointed a finger at her. "And I’ll have my cell phone on, so you CALL me if there’s any problem, you hear??!!

A disturbing silence fell as soon as Taggert rounded the corner and disappeared from sight. "I’ll…..uh……" Jax stammered, shoving his hands in his pockets again. "I’ll just stay in the doorway while you look in on Stefan," he murmured. "Just to make sure that everything’s OK."

"I seriously doubt that the killer managed to sneak into Stefan’s room while we were out here talking, Jax," Alexis returned curtly. Then her tone softened again. "I’m sorry. I shouldn’t be snapping at you like that, especially after you saved both of our lives." She massaged her eyes with her fingertips. "It’s just been a long day……"

"I understand," Jax said softly. He hung back by the door when she went into the darkened room, watching as she leaned over and spoke quietly to Stefan before placing one more kiss on his forehead. Then she turned and wordlessly left the room, walking at Jax’s side as they went to the elevator and back down to the main floor of the hospital.

When she allowed him to put a protective arm around her waist, Jax’s heart soared. He put aside thoughts about her motive – sheer exhaustion, thankfulness for saving her life, or perhaps even a dent in the emotional armor she had donned after he had hurt her so badly. Whatever the reason, he savored the feel of her firm body against his fingers. It brought back sweet memories of the way she had felt just that afternoon, returning his kiss so fervently in her office.

"The Jag is probably still in the ER parking bay," he explained, guiding her down another hallway leading to that entrance. "I tried to get here as quickly as I could after you left with Stefan, but the firemen held me up explaining what had happened."

"So they told you about the thing with the heat exchanger?" She shook her head. "I STILL can’t imagine somebody breaking into the house without anyone knowing about it."

"I told you this afternoon that I went by the house but nobody was home," Jax said. He held out a hand towards his gold convertible, still parked in a spot that was clearly marked, "doctors only." "I didn’t see anything suspicious." He dug in his pants pocket for the keys, pressing the remote button to unlock the security system on the car. "It’s possible that the person had already been there and was gone." As they arrived at the car, he frowned. "But that still doesn’t explain why Stefan wouldn’t have answered the door when I knocked."

"He was getting ready to take a shower when I left for the office," Alexis offered. She let Jax open the passenger door for her and then slid into the bucket seat gingerly. "Maybe whoever did it broke in while the water was running." Her expression hardened. "Stefan never heard it. He didn’t realize that every minute he spent in that house was slowly killing him. By the time you knocked, he was probably already feeling the effects of the gas so he couldn’t answer…."

"Don’t blame yourself, Lexie." Jax lay a hand on her arm tenderly. "You couldn’t have known that whoever did this would come to your house and put your loved ones in danger." He slammed her passenger door and then sprinted around the front of the car to open the driver’s door and climb in. As they pulled out of the parking lot, Alexis slumped down in the plush padded seat and closed her eyes. Jax glanced over at her once, then his jaw set with determination and his blue eyes sparkled with purpose.

"Just because I have my eyes closed doesn’t mean I won’t know if you’re speeding." Alexis’s admonition inspired Jax to smile slightly. "I remember the way you used to drive," she continued, opening one eye as she turned to him. "Just like your life motto – TAKE NO PRISONERS."

His dimples winked at her and the cleft in his chin deepened at her easy familiarity. "I promise I’ll try to obey all the traffic laws tonight, Counselor." He drove in silence for a few seconds before glancing over in her direction. "I was thinking as we were walking to the car……"

"Lord help us all……"

His smile grew broader. "I’ll ignore the sarcasm just because I’m thankful you’re getting back to normal." Then it faded. "Seriously, Alexis – what if that Von Alden character found out that my father denied paying off Chloe’s loan? Do you think he could have broken into your house and done this?"

She sighed and closed her eyes again, resting her head on the seat. "Nope. Not possible."

"He’s still in custody?"

"No……" She let out a long, defeated breath. "The forensic report came back late Saturday night. His fingerprints didn’t match any of the ones in Chloe’s apartment so we had to let him go."

"So then he COULD have done it!"

"Nope." She shook her head firmly. "Just to be safe, Taggert put a tail on Von Alden after he left the PCPD. He called me this afternoon after you left. The officer said Von Alden hadn’t left the fleabag hotel he calls home since he got there."

Jax muttered an obscenity under his breath. Then he flipped on his turn indicator and gently maneuvered the car around a turn onto a highway entrance ramp.

"Jax?" Alexis opened her eyes, frowned, and sat up straight in the seat. "What are you doing?" She looked over her shoulder and pointed out the window. "The hotel Taggert told you about was back there!"

"I know." His eyes remained focused on the road in front of them.

"Jax…….." Alexis’s voice regained its sharp edge. "Where are you taking me?"

He glanced up in his rear view mirror before answering. "Someplace where I can be sure you won’t have to put up with second rate protection or lousy accommodations. Someplace safe." Jax finally looked over at her, his eyes bright Caribbean blue in the darkened car. "I’m taking you back to my place."

To be continued…….