{It can’t be!} As much as she was tempted to hope that it was all just a bad dream, that tall, lean body, golden blonde hair, and those sparkling blue/green eyes could belong to none other than Congressman Jerry Jacks’ younger brother. She gripped the edge of the desk tightly when her head started buzzing in a prelude to a faint – but not so obviously as to give Jax the satisfaction of seeing how much he rattled her. {He leaves me on the night we’re supposed to be celebrating our engagement – to search for his supposedly dead first love – doesn’t call me or even drop me a line for over three years – and then just waltzes back into my office like nothing’s happened? Like I’m not supposed to wonder where he’s been or what he’s been doing?}

"Jax………" His name came out on a sigh but then Alexis quickly got hold of herself and steeled her voice with cold professionalism. "Just what the h*ll are you doing here today?"

He shook his head, flashing a charismatic smile that still – to her chagrin – made her weak in the knees. "You never *were* one to beat about the bush, were you?" When Jax saw Alexis’s icy demeanor, he lowered his voice to an objective level to match hers. "I’m here today as Jerry’s attorney……"

"But you’re NOT Jerry’s attorney – Scott Baldwin is!" Alexis bit her tongue when the protest came out a little too loudly.

"Yes, Scott normally represents me," Jerry interjected smoothly. "But since he’s getting married at the end of next week and we weren’t sure exactly why you called us here today, Jax agreed to represent me until my newest brother-in-law’s back from his honeymoon."

"Ahhhh, yes……Scott’s wedding." Alexis prayed that Jax didn’t see her hands trembling with nervous dread. Even with shaky circumstantial evidence, she was sure she could send Jerry to prison if Scott had been representing him. But with Jax as his attorney, she’d have to be on top of her game. All the I’s would have to be dotted and all the T’s crossed. Any less and Jerry would get away with murdering her best friend without even a slap on the wrist.

And even *more* upsetting than that scenario – she would have to face the prospect of seeing her former almost-fiancé every day in court. She would have to listen to that voice and trying not to remember the husky way it sounded first thing in the morning when he woke her with gentle kisses. She might need to randomly touch his hand when exchanging court documents or perusing evidence together, and somehow push aside the memory of the way those same hands could bring her to the heights of ecstasy.

No, having Jasper Jacks back as Jerry’s attorney – particularly for THIS case – was simply NOT an acceptable option.

She took a halting breath and then gestured towards the two chairs in front of her desk. Even after three years, Jax’s appearance was never less than stellar. He undid the bottom buttons of the suit coat as he took a seat, revealing a starched white shirt and maroon silk tie. "It’s perfectly understandable why you’d be back in town – for Jessie’s wedding," Alexis stated conversationally. "She IS your baby sister, after all." {And I suppose you’ll be bringing your true love, Brenda, to her wedding…..} "Although I suppose Jessie had to send out at least a dozen search parties in all the corners of the globe to find you."

"Don’t you understand, Alexis? I HAVE to do this!"

"Yeah, Jess had to do some fancy footwork to talk the young chump here into dressing up in a tux and being one of Scott’s groomsmen." The sound of Jerry’s chuckle drew Alexis back to the present. "But it was never a problem, getting him to come home. Jax has been in and out of town for almost eighteen months, Alexis. He’s just been busy with some cases that dad’s asked him to handle….."

"Eighteen months?" Suddenly, flames leapt in Alexis’s soft sable eyes. "You’ve been back from your little *treasure hunt* for eighteen months and you didn’t even think about giving me a call?" she hissed, glaring at Jax.

"It *wasn’t* that simple, Alexis," Jax retorted through gritted teeth. "I just……..well, I couldn’t………"

"I know it’s a lot to take in, son, but I’m sure that when you think about it, you’ll realize that I’m right."

"Is THAT what this is about?" Jerry’s sudden fierce exclamation drew Jax out of his reverie. He narrowed one eye and pointed a finger in accusation at Alexis. "You’re still angry that Jax broke it off with you three years ago, and so you decided to take it out your frustrations on *me*?"

Alexis’s chin quivered ever so slightly but then lifted defiantly in Jerry’s direction. "I can assure you, Congressman, I had a very legitimate reason in calling you down here today, along with your…….." Her gaze flickered in Jax’s direction before coming back to rest on Jerry. "……..your attorney, *whomever* he might be."

"Then why don’t we get down to it!" Jerry growled, glancing down at his wristwatch. "Jess has some kind of luncheon planned today for all the members of the wedding party, and there’ll be h*ll to pay if Jax and I miss it!"

"Fine!" Alexis took a deep breath, let it out slowly, and then placed a closed file folder on the desk in front of her. "Since you brought it up, Congressman, do you remember when Jax asked you to be his best man?"

Jerry settled back into his seat, his uncertainty about where Alexis was going quite visible. "Of course I do."

"And do you remember Chloe Morgan?"

"She…..uh……." When Jerry closed one eye and glanced upwards as though in deep thought, Alexis almost gagged on his shallow theatrics. "If memory serves," he drawled, "I think she was going to be your maid of honor, wasn’t she?"

"That’s correct." Alexis folded her hands primly on her desk – so as to avoid wrapping them around Jerry’s throat. "I believe you met her at our engagement party – tall, thin, blonde……."

"Hmmmmm…….yes, I think I recall her now," Jerry lied, pointing a finger at Alexis. "Although she *really* didn’t make that much of an impression, you know…….." He leaned forward and grinned at her conspiratorially. "I’ve got more of a thing for redheads!" he added, referring to his flamboyant wife’s equally-flamboyant hair color.

"All of which brings me back to Jerry’s original point." Jax sat back in his chair and gripped the arms tightly. "What does this little trip down memory lane have to do with why you called us here, counselor?"

"I’m getting to that, *counselor*!" Alexis echoed, giving Jax an acid look. She calmed herself and returned her attention to Jerry. "So, Congressman, if you don’t have that much of a *thing* for blondes, why have you seen Chloe Morgan on numerous occasions since the engagement party?"

"I’m……." Jerry smirked in Jax’s direction and then gave Alexis another condescending smile. "I’m afraid you’re way off base on this one, Miss Davis." He crossed his legs, lazily propping one ankle on the opposite knee. "Miss Morgan and I haven’t seen each other since your engagement party."

"Really?" She opened the file and ran her finger down the sheet of paper inside. "They why do I have several statements from her neighbors that indicate they’ve seen you in her apartment complex?" Jerry took a breath but never even got a syllable out when Alexis went on. "And others from staff and frequent guests at the Port Charles Hotel, stating that the Congressman and Miss Morgan were seen at the Grille there together quite often."

When a muscle in Jerry’s arm jumped and he gripped his ankle tightly, Jax leaned towards Alexis and tried to take the paper out of the file. "I’d like to see those statements, if you don’t mind, counselor."

"As soon as we get to court, *counselor*." The truth was that she was looking at a blank sheet of paper. She was bluffing, although even as they spoke, Taggert was out canvassing Chloe’s old neighborhood. His next stop was the Port Charles Hotel. Alexis was sure that by the end of the day, the file would be brimming with the statements she was currently fabricating.

"Wellllllll…….." Jerry pursed his lips and shifted his foot back to the floor in obvious discomfort. "It’s possible that Miss Morgan and I saw each other occasionally."

"You were having an affair with her." Alexis’s words were clipped, her voice curt.

Jerry shrugged his shoulders. "If infidelity has become a criminal offense, then you’re going to be a VERY busy woman, Miss Davis."

Alexis smiled briefly but then sobered. "You got her pregnant."

It surprised Alexis when the normally staid and unflappable Jasper Jacks gasped audibly. "This ……. This……..This is a witch hunt!!" he sputtered, sitting forward in his chair. His blue eyes glittered with furious silver sparks.

"Calm down, Jax…….." Jerry’s flat, unruffled command was Alexis’s clue that he already knew about the baby.

"You were *right*, Jer!" Jax looked back and forth between Alexis and his brother. "She’s still angry with me for what happened three years ago, so then when her *dear* friend gets caught playing fast and loose, she decides to stick YOU with the little bastard!"

"I said that’s ENOUGH, Jax!!" The muscles in Jerry’s neck stood out and his cheeks bloomed with barely controlled anger. After about thirty seconds of silence, Jax finally sat back and crossed his legs again, propping his elbow on the armrest of the chair and his chin on his fist.

"Chloe told you about the baby, didn’t she?" Alexis was remarkably composed.

Jerry folded his hands in his lap, glanced down at them, and then looked up to meet Alexis’s piercing gaze. "Even if any of your allegations were true, Miss Davis, I fail to see why you called us in here today." He grimaced and his eyes flickered once towards Jax. "If anything, this kind of dispute would be handled in a civil proceeding, not a criminal one."

"We’ll order DNA testing." Jax’s words were slightly muffled by the fist that still rested against his lips. His blue eyes were icy, his demeanor distant. "We’ll get a court order requiring that Miss Morgan have a blood test to determine whether or not this is really Jerry’s child."

"I’m afraid that’s going to be a little difficult, Mr. Jacks." It felt strange, addressing the man who used to be her lover and had almost been her fiancé so formally, but passage of time and the current circumstances made it a little more palatable.

"Why?" Jerry’s eyes suddenly widened. Alexis noticed he surreptitiously gripped the arms of the chair more tightly. "Did she…….did she have an abortion?"

"Not exactly." Alexis licked her lips, glanced down, took a deep breath and then looked up at the two Jacks brothers again. "Chloe Morgan was in a serious accident last night." She heard a soft whooshing sound as Jax let out the long breath he had been holding. "She’s dead."

"Dead……." Jerry’s chest caved in and he lurched forward as though somebody had punched him. He swallowed hard and Alexis almost thought she saw the glint of tears in his eyes. "How?"

"Her red Miata went off a steep embankment on Hawkins Road last night around midnight." Alexis closed the file and folded her hands on top of it. "Although we don’t have a report from the ME yet, all appearances indicate that she was killed instantly on impact."

Jax’s eyebrows drew together in a slight frown. "It was raining last night." His voice was hopeful yet not argumentative. "If I remember correctly, there’s a sharp turn at that point in the road. She probably lost control in the dark and couldn’t make it."

"Commissioner Scorpio seems to subscribe to your theory, counselor," Alexis retorted sharply. "Even though there were NO skid marks on the road to justify his belief that it was a simple accident."

"Mac Scorpio couldn’t find a nut in a forest, even if he was the only squirrel," Jax snorted sarcastically.

"So there was no clue why the accident happened?" Jerry’s voice was weak and shaky.

"The patrolmen found some empty beer cans in the front seat of Chloe’s car," Alexis replied. "Although I would stake my professional career that they’re not going to find a drop of alcohol in her system when they do the autopsy." She gave Jerry a meaningful look. "Ever since she found out she was pregnant, Chloe hasn’t touched a drop of anything stronger than unadulterated grape juice."

"Is it possible……." Jax glanced sideways at his still-shaken brother. "I hate to bring it up, but has anyone considered the possibility that Miss Morgan ……. well, that she *deliberately* drove off the road……"

"You mean, did she kill herself?" Alexis gave Jax a look that could have frozen an inferno. "No." As she took a shaky breath, he saw the first crack of grief in the dispassionate mask she had been wearing all afternoon. "Chloe and I discussed her pregnancy at length several times since she found out." She looked at Jerry again. "She *wanted* this baby, and she *wanted* to live."

When Jerry buried his face in his hands, his elbows propped on his knees, Alexis couldn’t help but be surprised. His initial reaction to her accusations had been predictable. She had expected him to hem and haw, denying any involvement with Chloe. Actually, she had anticipated a stronger rejection of the charge that he had gotten Chloe pregnant. Jerry hadn’t exactly confirmed the fact, but then again, he hadn’t denied it either. The way he spoke to Jax during that part of the interview spoke volumes to Alexis. But when she had actually told him of Chloe’s death, his palpable grief came as a shock. {Did Jerry really care for Chloe? Is he that good of an actor? Obviously he knew about the baby – could he have murdered her and their unborn child, and then put on this kind of a show? Am I possibly barking up the wrong tree?}

Alexis’s mental gymnastics were interrupted by Jax’s sudden gasp. "Wait a minute ……" His blue eyes were wide and he gripped Jerry’s arm tightly as he looked between his brother and the woman he almost married. "Are you trying to say…….." Gray storm clouds began to gather as his brow furrowed. "Are you charging my brother with Chloe Morgan’s murder?"

"Murder?" Jerry’s voice was weak, his tone incredulous as he looked up at Alexis. "You think I murdered her?"

"It’s far too early for any formal charges to have been filed." Alexis reverted to her cool, disinterested, "Assistant District Attorney" voice. "The official autopsy isn’t scheduled until later this afternoon." She arched an eyebrow at Jax. "We’ll need to wait for the results to confirm certain salient points of the case, such as Chloe’s pregnancy and whether or not she was indeed sober when the car went off the embankment."

"But I didn’t……." When Jerry started to rise, moving towards Alexis’s desk, Jax pulled him back firmly. He wrapped an arm around his older brother’s trembling shoulders and squeezed.

"Don’t say another thing, Jerry." When his older brother took a breath to speak, Jax put up a warning finger. "I said – not another word." He glanced briefly in Alexis’s direction, then back at Jerry. "Why don’t you go downstairs to the car and wait for me?" he asked softly. "I need to discuss a few things with Miss Davis, and you could probably use some fresh air, hmmm?"

Jerry’s chest heaved with emotion but then he nodded once, briskly, and turned towards the door to Alexis’s office. He had his hand on the knob when he turned back to face his brother’s former fiancée. "Do you know…….." He pressed his lips together to stifle the emotion that threatened to overflow at any minute. "Have any arrangements been made for a funeral?"

"I imagine Chloe’s Uncle Herbert will be handling those details." Alexis rose from her chair, tapping a pencil on the desk blotter to disperse some of the nervous frustration. "It’ll probably be in the papers by this afternoon."

"Right." Jerry gave her a wan smile and then turned to leave the office. Jax waited at least fifteen seconds after the door closed until he spun back to face Alexis with fire in his eyes.

"You’ve got one H*LL of a nerve, counselor!" He tunneled his fingers through his hair and then propped his hands on his hips, his eyes narrow with rage. "I always thought I knew you, Alexis…….but I guess I was wrong!"

"Yes, well I might say the same thing for you, *counselor*!" Alexis hissed in reply. She tossed the pencil down on her desk and folded her arms, shifting her weight to one side impatiently. "Even if you found Brenda and decided there was no future for us, I *thought* you would have at least have the common decency to come back and tell me about it!"

"I WAS RIGHT!!" Jax pounded his fist on her desk in frustration. "That was some show you put on today, acting like you didn’t know that I had come back to town!" He leaned towards her, placing his hands flat on her desk to support his weight. "You knew D*MN well that I was back, and just because your precious feelings were hurt, you decided to pin the blame on Jerry for something he didn’t do!"

"I did NOT know you were back, and for your information, Jerry is the IDEAL candidate to be Chloe’s murderer!!" Alexis pointed towards the door where Jerry had exited only moments before. "Your brother, Mr. PERFECT Public Servant, Mr. Happily Married Man, went out and had an affair with my best friend and got her pregnant! Now, with Jerry in the limelight running for Governor, an illegitimate child can be pretty damaging to his image, don’t you think?" She straightened and lifted her eyebrows at him, cocking her head to the side. "I’d say that’s a pretty strong motive for murder, wouldn’t you?"

"You may be able to manufacture a motive, but you don’t have one SHRED of evidence to support your case, Alexis!" Jax pointed a finger at her angrily. "To begin with, you don’t have any concrete proof that Chloe even WAS pregnant, or whether or not she was intoxicated when her car went off the road! You said that yourself! This charade was all just a bluff!!"

"So I was six hours premature in calling him in here." Alexis tipped her head to the side in concession. "Once the autopsy is complete this afternoon, I’ll have all the proof I’ll need."

"Which just proves what I said in the first place!" Jax spun and grabbed for his briefcase before turning back to face her. "Our little interview this morning was cruel, vindictive, and totally unprofessional. You have NOTHING to back up your claim that Chloe Morgan was murdered." He glanced down at the floor and his expression softened somewhat. "If it IS true that he and Chloe were having an affair and he got her pregnant, it was heartless to break the news to Jerry that way – and ESPECIALLY to imply that he’s going to be charged with her murder!"

Alexis’s chin jutted forward, her lips thin. "Would you rather he have seen the news on the television instead, or read it in the newspapers while having dinner with the family tonight?" When Jax took a breath to reply, she smiled and snorted sarcastically. "Oh, wait a minute – I forgot. NOTHING comes as a surprise to John Jacks." She strolled around the edge of the desk to come within inches of Jax. "After all, he’s got connections around the world that can do just about anything, doesn’t he?" She coldly stared up into his aquamarine eyes. "For example, if ANYONE can find a dead first love, John Jacks can do it, can’t he?"

"And we’re back to square one, aren’t we?" Jax shook his head sadly and shifted his briefcase, gripping it tightly. "That’s what this morning was REALLY about, isn’t it?"

"No, Jax." He saw tears glisten at the corners of her eyes again. "This is about losing someone." She wiped away the dampness furiously with the back of her hand. "I lost my best friend three years ago when he decided to go chasing a ghost halfway around the world. And now, I’ve lost the only other friend I had in the world." She lifted her chin defiantly. "I don’t intend to let your brother murder Chloe and her unborn child and get away with it."

Jax’s jaw clenched and he shook his head. "If you decide to go ahead with this ridiculous fraud, make sure I get copies of the autopsy report." He gripped the handle of his briefcase again, turned, and walked briskly towards the door. Just as he was ready to leave the office, he turned back to face Alexis. "You’re making a big mistake here, Alexis," he said, his voice surprisingly gentle. "Jerry didn’t kill Chloe."

Thankfully, she maintained her grip on her self-control for just a few more seconds. "We’ll see." She watched in silence as Jax went through the door. The "click" when he closed it echoed in the room like a cannon shot. As soon as she was sure he was out of earshot, Alexis let out the sobs that had been building ever since Jerry Jacks walked into her office.

Fifteen minutes later, the phone on her desk rang. She quickly blew her nose and then picked up the receiver, clearing her throat of any sounds of crying. "Alexis Davis."

"Hey – Alexis." Taggert’s voice made her shoulders droop with relief. "You OK? You sound funny."

"Let’s just say it’s just been a rough morning." She took the file from the side of her desk and opened it quickly. "So what have you found so far?"

"Not much – but I’ve got a few people from Chloe’s building who recognized Jerry Jacks’s picture. They said he came to her apartment on quite a few occasions." Alexis heard Taggert shuffle his notebook in the background. "The bartender at the Port Charles Grille wasn’t much help, and neither was the desk clerk at the Hotel, but I’ve got a maid and a waiter who both remember Jerry and Chloe coming in for dinner together and then sharing a room afterwards."

"Good." Alexis tapped her pencil on the desk blotter again. "Get them down here to make formal statements." She stared off into the distance frigidly. "I don’t want John Jacks and his fat check book to get to them and persuade them to have convenient memory lapses before we can get their statements in writing."

"Got it." She could hear a scratching noise as Taggert made notes. "Listen Alexis – I’ve got a friend in the coroner’s office who can get us into the autopsy hearing this afternoon if you’re interested."

"Ohhhhh, Marcus……." She placed trembling fingers against her lips as tears welled up in her eyes again. "I just don’t think I could sit through that……."

"No! I didn’t mean that!" She could hear the concern in his voice. "What I was trying to say is do you want ME to go to the autopsy? Maybe I can get some of the information so we don’t have to wait until some temp secretary in the steno pool types it up six hours from now."

"Thanks, Taggert." Alexis nodded and blinked rapidly. "I’d appreciate that."

"Anything for you, kid." She smiled – just as she knew he was smiling. "You take care of yourself, OK?"

"I’ll be fine, Taggert." Alexis chewed on her lower lip, staring at the chairs Jax and his brother had occupied only forty minutes earlier. "Once we put Jerry Jacks behind bars for the rest of his miserable life."

To be continued……….