"I’m really sorry about the delay, Miss Barrett."

"That’s OK, Keesha." Brenda smiled as congenially as she could while nursing the remnants of a near-concussion. Every bone in her body ached as she sat on one of the uncomfortable wooden chairs outside Mayor Justus Ward’s inner office. "I don’t have to be in court until later this afternoon."

"That’s good." The young black woman winced apologetically again at Brenda. "It seems like some days are just worse than others." Keesha glanced at the firmly-closed door to Justus’s office. "Cuz was doin’ *so* well at sticking to his schedule today, but then he made the mistake of takin’ some phone calls and everything went to h*ll in a handbasket."

{Funny – that’s exactly what some people say about the way Port Charles has been running since your CUZ made nepotism a standard operating procedure.}

Brenda bit back the acid reply she longed to fling at Keesha. The poor young girl was really likeable enough – and most of the time she managed to get Justus’s phone messages right and made sure he returned Dara’s calls promptly. She didn’t deserve to bear the brunt of Brenda’s frustration that morning.

She re-crossed her legs for at least the sixth time since arriving in response to Mayor Ward’s urgent "summons." As she sighed and tried to occupy her mind until it was her turn in the "hot seat," Brenda couldn’t help but replay the events of the previous evening in her mind. Once Kismet had transferred her to Deacon Larry’s arms, the magnitude of the danger she had escaped finally hit with a vengeance. By the time her cab arrived at General Hospital, her hands were shaking uncontrollably. She was almost grateful that the good deacon had decided to accompany her to the ER, even though she knew his motives were less-than-selfless. Once she was closeted in a small examination cubicle, Deacon Larry took over "spinning" the night’s events to the assembled press like a pro.

Luckily, since word of the assault reached GH before she did, Brenda was the eye of a storm of medical personnel. However, when a large portion of the female personnel found out that Kismet hadn’t accompanied her to the hospital, the only doctor who remained to examine her was a grumpy third-year resident named Joe Scanlon. And when the sole remaining nurse – one Amy Vining – found out that Brenda didn’t know anything about Kismet’s *true* identity, she was left alone with Dr. Scanlon quicker than you could say, "dead end." He efficiently cleansed the minor abrasions on her arms and face and then, after reviewing the results of her CAT scan, he released her with the stern warning that she should notify him immediately if she began to suffer any nausea or severe headaches.

It was almost 1AM when a cab brought her back to her apartment at Harborview Heights. Thankfully, Lois had gone to bed before Tiffany Hill broke into normal programming to breathlessly inform viewers of the assistant district attorney’s latest brush with death. Brenda was able to slip into her apartment unnoticed and fell into a deep sleep about thirty seconds after her head hit the pillow.

When her telephone rang at 10AM, she expected to hear Dara’s voice. Instead, Brenda was rather shocked to hear Keesha Ward on the phone, politely asking if she would drop by the mayor’s office around noon for a short "conference" with His Honor – who also happened to be her cousin. Since the Corinthos trial wasn’t scheduled to resume until 3PM, Brenda had no good reason to decline the summons. Besides – she knew that if she turned Justus Ward down, Dara would suffer the consequences, and Dara Jensen wasn’t one to suffer in silence.

Brenda looked up when the door to the Justus’s office opened. But instead of the mayor, a rather frazzled Ned Ashton appeared. As soon as he saw her, he rushed over to where she sat. "Brenda!" Genuine concern filled his eyes. "Are you OK?" He took her hands in his and squeezed them. "I read about what happened last night in the papers and I’ve been so worried about you……."

"I’m fine, Ned," she reassured him with a warm smile. "You should know by now that my head’s FAR too hard for a little bump like that to bother me!"

"Be serious, Brenda!" Ned murmured, grimacing. "From the way the interviews with that Deacon Larry fellow sound, you could have been *killed* last night!"

"But I WASN’T, Ned!" she argued, lifting a hand to stroke the side of his face affectionately. Then she winked at him impishly. "Do you REALLY think I’d let some two-bit hood kill me before I had a chance to throw Sonny Corinthos’s sorry @ss in jail for the rest of his life?"

"No……." Ned laughed softly and shook his head. "I guess that IS pretty good incentive to go on living."

"Soooo…….. What’s going on with your boss?" Brenda tipped her head towards Justus’s door, which was closed again. "Any idea why my presence was demanded here today so urgently?"

Ned shrugged his shoulders and took a breath, lifting his eyebrows in a "darned-if-I-know" gesture. Before either of them could speak again, a buzzer sounded on Keesha’s desk. She lifted the phone, spoke briefly, and then smiled at Brenda. "You can go inside now, Miss Barrett," she announced, gesturing towards Justus’s door.

Brenda and Ned both rose. As he pulled away from her, she pouted prettily and frowned at him. "I don’t suppose I could talk you into going into the lion’s den with me, huh?"

Ned patted her hand for reassurance. "I’ve got a call Justus wants me to make – but I’ll be in just as soon as I can," he smiled. "I’m sure you’ll do fine without me."

She pursed her lips in a grimace and straightened her shoulders with determination. "Chicken," she whispered, then gave him another wink and strode confidently towards her appointment with the mayor.

As soon as Brenda entered the office, Justus looked up from his paperwork and gave her a broad smile. "Miss Barrett!!" He rose politely and gestured to a chair in front of his desk. "Please – come in!!"

"Good morning, Mr. Mayor." She nodded and returned his smile, coming to his desk to shake his hand before taking the offered seat.

"I appreciate you working me into your schedule today, Miss Barrett," Justus opened, leaning back in his chair. He folded his hands in his lap in a casual pose and stretched his long legs beneath the desk. "I hope I didn’t keep you from being in court or anything."

"Judge Monahan had a previous engagement this morning so court doesn’t convene until 3," Brenda replied smoothly. She couldn’t help but wonder what Justus was up to – even if *he* didn’t know the time for the Corinthos hearing, Ned would have, and Justus relied heavily on his right hand man for keeping him informed.

"So……..how’s the Corinthos case going? Do you think you’ll be able to get a conviction?" Brenda couldn’t help but notice Justus’s awkward movements as he picked up a pencil and tapped it against his knee nervously, even while smiling broadly at her. "I’m sure you know that putting that slimeball behind bars – and ALL of organized crime, for that matter – has been one of my administration’s priorities."

Brenda gave herself a silent pat on the back for being able to listen to Justus’s political rhetoric without throwing up. "I was doing some research in my office last night and found something I believe is going to blow the case wide open," she smiled, leaning towards him confidentially. "Mr. Corinthos is scheduled to take the stand this afternoon and frankly, I can’t WAIT to see how he tries to squirm his way out of this one!!"

"Very good, very good!!" The way Justus was grinning at her, Brenda expected him to rub his hands and cackle like the Wicked Witch of the West. But then, the smile seemed to fade a little and brought his hands together to make a steeple of his fingers. "Sooooo…….doing research in your office, hmmmmm?" He pursed his lips and nodded, tapping his first fingers against his chin. "Sounds like you had QUITE a night, in more ways than one."

"Ohhhh…….." Realization flared in Brenda’s eyes. "I see ………" Her glance strayed briefly to a copy of the Port Charles Gazette, which was perched on top of a stack of files on the left side of his desk. "You’ve already heard the bad news," she muttered with a grim sigh.

"Bad news?" His eyes widened and he sat up straight with politically correct concern etched on his face. "I thought I read that you weren’t seriously injured in the attack……..?"

"Oh – I wasn’t!" Brenda smiled briefly but then her face grew somber again. "I meant the bad news about our other potential informant."

"Yes……..the other young man who was killed…….." Justus reached for the newspaper and trailed a finger down the front page article. "Mr. …….um….……."

"Statler. Jimmy Statler." Brenda nodded as Justus set the paper aside again. "He was Nick Raines’ friend – the man who used to deliver the drugs with him." She took a shaky breath. "I want you to know, Mr. Mayor, that I feel awful about losing this potential informant….."

"Miss Barrett……"

"…….and I also feel that I was somehow responsible for his death – since I didn’t notify the police but went out to meet him on my own……."

"Miss Barrett…….."

"…….but I think that you’ll agree that the information we’ve gained on the drug dealer himself will MORE than compensate for……"

"BRENDA!!" She finally stopped when the mayor’s baritone bellow echoed in the spacious office. Justus smiled at her, holding up a hand to interrupt her flow of words as he sat up straight in his chair again. "You don’t need to apologize for what happened last night."

"I appreciate that, Mr. Mayor," she demurred, tipping her head to the side with a grim smile, "but you and I both know that……."

"……that it’s not the job of the Prosecutor’s office staff to hunt down the criminals and put them behind bars." He pointed a finger and winked at her. "And that ALSO includes protecting potential informants." Justus folded his hands on his desk and looked deeply into Brenda’s eyes. "After last night’s fiasco, I’ll be having an *extended* meeting with Mac Scorpio about the effectiveness of the PCPD, you can count on that." Brenda’s heart sank momentarily – Dara would surely feel the fallout from that meeting, as usual. But before she could object, Justus went on. "No, Miss Barrett, you have *nothing* at all to feel badly about!"

"Thank you, Mr. Mayor," Brenda smiled shyly.

"In FACT," Justus drawled, leaning towards her confidentially, "YOU have become a very important part of the District Attorney’s office!" He nodded to re-affirm the fact and pointed a finger at her again. "Did you know that?"

"Oh…….I……." She wasn’t quite sure why her heart started to hammer against her ribs and an uneasy feeling pooled in her stomach.

Justus sat up straight again and gestured to the side with his hand, palm up. "According to what you’ve told me, you’re in an excellent position to put Sonny Corinthos behind bars for the rest of his life. That ALONE gets you a gold star in my book! AND you did some fantastic work on the Bettonville trial last year!"

"Thank you," Brenda muttered uncertainly. She wasn’t quite sure where Justus was going with all of this praise, but she knew she didn’t think she was going to like his destination.

"Yesssss……." He leaned back in his chair again, folding his hands against his chest and propping his elbows on the armrests. "You, Miss Barrett, are probably the best litigation attorney we have in the DA’s office." He smiled again and winked at her. "A real GENIUS in the courtroom, that’s what you are. And THAT’S why you won’t be working on the Drew Brighton murder case anymore."

She was right. It felt like a two-ton elephant took a seat on her chest. "I………I what?"

"I’m taking you off the Brighton case." Justus sat up and took a file from the side of his desk, opening it and closely perusing the contents. "With all of the budget cuts that have been imposed on us, we have to use our personnel as effectively as we can, Miss Barrett. And if you’re worried that you’ll get bored just sitting around the office, you won’t." He pointed to several places in the open file. "You’ll be MORE than occupied with some of these other important cases that are coming to trial in the next few months."

"I don’t mean to be disrespectful, Mr. Mayor," Brenda muttered as politely as she could, "but you CAN’T take me off that case."

"I can…….and I HAVE." Justus flipped the file shut. "As I said – your talents lie in the courtroom, Brenda. That’s where you’re needed, and THAT’S where you’ll stay until further notice."

"But DARA is my boss……."

"And I’m HER boss." The good humor left Justus’s gaze and he looked pointedly into Brenda’s shocked eyes. "And if I say that I want you pulled from the case, then you’re pulled from the case. End of story." He tossed the file to the side of his desk, averting his eyes from her pale countenance.

"Mr. Mayor, no matter how much you deny it, I KNOW you’re doing this because of what happened last night." Brenda’s chin quivered but then firmed with anger and determination. "Maybe we *did* lose two important informants on the Brighton case thanks to me," she muttered, sitting forward and placing a clenched fist on Justus’s desk. "And maybe we *don’t* have a suspect sitting in a jail cell yet for an innocent man’s murder, but I *also* got an important lead on the drug dealer last night!" Her words were laced with barely-contained rage and frustration. "According to the research I did this morning, Joseph Sorel is wanted in at least three other states for drug trafficking. He’s been linked to two murders in Pennsylvania and allegedly was behind several gangland slayings in New Jersey three years ago."

Justus still refused to look her in the eye. "Then you should turn that information over to Mac Scorpio as soon as possible, Miss Barrett." He fumbled some papers around on his desk in an attempt to appear busy. "Now if you’ll excuse me, I really need to take a look at these revised funding proposals before I meet with the Board of Aldermen this afternoon……."

Brenda refused to let the hot tears she felt stinging her eyes roll down her cheeks. "But Mr. Mayor……."

Before she could make any further objection, the door to the outer office opened and Ned put his head inside. "Mr. Mayor?" He smiled a brief apology at Brenda. "That Boy Scout troop is here to take their tour of City Hall now……."

"Fine, Ned." Justus arched an eyebrow at Brenda meaningfully. "Miss Barrett and I had finished our discussion anyway, hadn’t we?" She opened mer mouth to object but before a sound came out, he rose from behind his desk and strode purposefully towards the door. "I think I’ll take them to see the Rotunda first……" He smiled broadly and patted Ned on the shoulder. "Much better place for a photo op, right, Ned?"

"Right, Mr. Mayor……." Ned’s smile disappeared as quickly as the mayor did. He turned to Brenda, who was briskly rubbing her eyes to dry the tears. "Brenda……..are you OK?"

"No…….I’m not, Ned." Her voice shook as she rose, leaning heavily on the armrest of the chair.

Ned rushed towards her and put his arm around her shoulders as he led her towards the outer office. "Tell you what……let’s get out of here. We can go down to the cafeteria for a cup of coffee and we’ll talk."

Brenda nodded and gave him a weak smile. "Sounds good to me."

"Good." Ned squeezed her shoulders again as they made their way towards the door to the hallway. Just as they were about to leave, Keesha called Ned’s name and he glanced back at her. "Can’t whatever it is wait for just a few minutes, Keesha?" he asked gruffly.

"I’m sorry to bother you, Ned," she said with a demure smile, "but I just need to know which account I should deposit this check from Mr. Jacks into?"

Ned felt Brenda’s body stiffen. "The General Operating Account will be fine, Keesha," he replied tensely. "Now I’ll be down in the cafeteria……"

"Oh, and Mr. Jacks’s secretary called to thank you again for working him into the Mayor’s schedule this morning. Especially on such short notice."

Brenda pulled away from his embrace as ice water coursed through her veins. "You…….."

"She said Mr. Jacks especially appreciated *you* sitting in on the meeting since you have such a busy schedule, too."

Ned nodded a grim thanks at Keesha as he turned and ran to catch up to Brenda, who was already halfway down the hall. "BRENDA!!" He grabbed her arm just as she punched the down button for the elevator. "Let me explain!!"

"Explain WHAT, Ned?" she growled, wrenching her arm free of his grasp. "How you let me blindly walk into Justus’s office when you knew all along what was going on?"

"Brenda……."

"How my good FRIEND turned out to be a lowdown SNAKE of a BACK-STABBING son-of-a……"

"BRENDA!!" Ned glanced around guiltily as his voice echoed in the deserted hallway, then gritted his teeth and put his hands on his hips. "It’s not like you were *fired*, for God’s sake……"

"The Brighton case was *important* to me, Ned!" she hissed, her hands in fists at her side. "You *knew* that, and yet you sold me out for a big fat check from the deepest pocket!"

"It happens ALL the time, Brenda!" Ned shot back. "It’s called POLITICS, you know?! One hand greases the other, I do a favor for you and you do a favor for me………It’s not pretty, and it’s not always clean, but it’s worked for two hundred years so far and until we find something better, it’s all we’ve got!" He sighed loudly as she continued to glare at him and ran his fingers through his hair. "And if you want to know the truth, I was *glad* Jax asked Justus to pull you off that case." He narrowed one eye at her. "I just about had a heart attack myself when I read the newspaper this morning and imagined what *could* have happened to you last night."

"Yeah, well it didn’t!" Her eyes were still filled with scalding, indignant tears. When the elevator chimed and its doors opened, she gave him one last dirty look before striding angrily inside and punching the button for the main floor. "But Kismet better be handy this afternoon," she snarled at Ned, "cause when I get through with him, Jasper Jacks is gonna need some major rescuing of his OWN!!"

"And send a copy of that letter to Ryan Harrelson at Fleet Industries, will you, Addie?" Jax flipped a file shut on his desk and smiled at the petite, middle-aged, blonde woman seated in the chair in front of his desk. "Put a note on there that I’ll call him soon and we’ll get together for a dri……"

"I DON’T CARE WHAT HE’S DOING, I WANT TO SEE HIM!!"

The door to Jax’s office slammed open and Brenda appeared in the opening, her chest heaving and her eyes filled with enraged fire. "Good afternoon, Brenda," he said with a calm, cool smile. "What an unexpected surpri……"

"Cut the cr@p, Jax!" She walked briskly to his desk, giving Addie a look that would have made a charging T-rex turn tail and head for the hills. "I need to speak to you – alone!!"

"I was just finishing up some dictation, Brenda, but then I’d be happy……"

She slammed her briefcase down on the chair next to where Addie sat. "NOW, JAX!!!"

Twenty seconds of highly-charged silence later, he smiled broadly at his puzzled secretary. "Well, then, I suppose we can finish those later, alright, Addie?" The blonde rose from her chair, smiled somewhat uncertainly at Brenda, and then quickly scurried out of the office, making *sure* to close the door behind her. "So……." Jax sat back in his chair, trying to be pleasant although deep down inside he knew why Brenda was so furious. "You seem upset, Brenda. Is something wrong?"

"Wrong?" She laughed raucously, throwing her hands up in the air at her side. "Is something wrong, he asks?" Before Jax could take a breath, she leaned over the desk and glared into his eyes. "You know D*MN WELL there’s something wrong, buster, and you’re the cause of it!!"

Jax sat up in the chair and tried to take her hands in his. "Now look, Brenda, I’m sure if there’s a problem we can work it out, but you should really calm down first……."

"CALM DOWN??!!" She ripped her hands out of his grasp. "And how exactly are you going to calm me down, Jax?" Her right eye narrowed as she folded her arms across her chest and glowered at him. "Do you think that maybe Mayor Ward can get me to calm down?" She stared at the distant corner of his office where the wall met the ceiling. "Yeah – that might work. Maybe if Justus just pulls me off EVERY criminal case on the docket and assigns me to prosecuting traffic violations for the rest of my career, I’ll be able to CALM DOWN!!" She leaned across his desk, her voice dripping with acid. "Of course, then you’d have to send another big fat CHECK to his re-election fund, wouldn’t you?"

Jax’s lips thinned and he let out a long breath. "Brenda, you don’t understand……"

"Oh, I understand better than you KNOW, Jax!!" When she strolled around the side of his desk, she saw the front-page article about her adventure with Kismet sitting on top of a stack of files. "I guess I don’t have to ask how you found out about what happened last night……." She picked up the paper, glanced at the article briefly, and then tossed it back at him. "I have to hand it to you, though – either you REALLY work fast or you get a REALLY early edition of the paper!"

"And just how do you think I was *supposed* to feel?" Jax replied tersely, pushing the paper off to the far side of his desk. "Finding out over my favorite jelly donut at breakfast that someone I care about deeply almost DIED last night……"

"Yeah – almost died because of Joseph Sorel!" Brenda pounced on Jax’s words, stabbing a finger at him in accusation. "THAT’S the part that really got to you, isn’t it, Jax?" She lifted her right hip to perch on the edge of his desk next to where he sat. "See, I did some research this morning before my little "conference" with Justus, and I found out a lot about Sorel – including the fact that he killed a police officer right here in Port Charles five years ago." The raw pain that glittered in Jax’s eyes slammed into her midsection like a fist, but she went on. "It said he seriously injured another officer in that same attack – an officer who was in a coma for a long time." She softened her voice just a little when he propped his elbows on his desk and rested his face in his cupped hands. "That was you, wasn’t it, Jax? Sorel is the man who killed your partner and shot you, isn’t he?"

"He killed my best friend, and he nearly killed me, Brenda." Jax spoke in a halting whisper, finally lifting his face to look at her with tears glistening in his eyes. "How do you think I felt when I read Sorel’s name in the paper this morning and found out he almost took *you* away from me?"

"So you had to go behind my back and bribe Justus to keep me safe?" she asked incredulously. "You think that just because you were worried about me, it justifies the devious, underhanded means you used?"

"How else was I supposed to get you to drop the case, Brenda?" Jax rose from his chair and paced around to the front of the desk. "How many times have I begged you……." He placed his hands flat on the desk to support his weight as he leaned towards her. "…….PLEADED with you to drop the case and let the police handle it?" His breath caught in his chest when he inhaled. "Do you REALLY think I’m gullible enough to believe that you’d back off, just because I asked you nicely one more time?"

"So instead, you had to take care of it all FOR me," she shot back at him, "like I’m some kind of eight-year-old ninny who can’t manage her own life!" She stomped fiercely around the desk to the front. "I’ll have you know I’ve been on my own for some time now, Jax……..I’m a BIG girl, and I can take care of myself just fine!!"

"I wasn’t trying to manage your life, Brenda," Jax murmured insistently as he took her by the forearms and forced her to face him. "I did it because……."

"Because you care about me……I know." She felt some of the anger flow out of her like a balloon slowly deflating. "And I appreciate that, Jax……I really do…….."

"It’s more than that, God help me…….." Jax shook his head and pulled her closer to him, keeping her eyes locked with his. "I love you, Brenda…….."

He lowered his head and seized her lips, taking advantage of her open-mouthed shock to sink his tongue deep inside. His kiss was blistering, fueled by a flame that sparked a fire in Brenda’s veins. Her initial surprise quickly faded to desire, which prompted her to wind her arms around his neck and return the kiss.

When he finally broke the kiss to draw air into his oxygen-starved lungs, she opened her eyes to see conflicted tears glittering in his. "I told myself five years ago that I would never suffer that kind of pain again, Brenda." He rubbed his thumb on her lower lip, tracing the throbbing blush his kiss had created. "I couldn’t let myself care for anyone like that and face the possibility of losing them. But I can’t fight it anymore…….not when I love you this much!"

It took her breath away, hearing it out loud. All the times when she saw the glimmer of it in Jax’s eyes, she told herself she was imagining things. When she felt it in his kiss in the back of his limo, she had fooled herself into thinking it was just the intimate setting or her imagination. But deep down, she knew it was happening -- and what frightened her even more was the possibility that she was falling in love with him, too.

But was she? True – the night before, she had murmured Jax’s name in the heat of passion. But if Kismet hadn’t pulled away, would she really have stopped him from making love to her? And how could she think she was in love with Jax if she had come that close being intimate with another man?

"Jax……." She pushed at his shoulders when he tried to kiss her again. "I just can’t………" She took ragged breaths, trying to clear the haze that seemed to cloud her mind ever since meeting both of these amazing men.

"I love you, Brenda," he repeated in a husky whisper. "Let me show you how much." He turned her so that her back was to his desk, lifting her to sit on the edge as he buried her face in the valley between her breasts. With his nose and lips, he nuzzled the sweet curves, drawing a moan from deep within her.

"Jax, please……." She threaded her fingers into his hair, burying her face against the fine sweet spun gold as he nudged the first button of her blouse open with his chin. "We can’t………." Brenda finally managed a rational thought when she dragged her eyes open and she saw the clock on the opposite wall. "I have to be in court ……… this afternoon……."

He froze, then reluctantly pulled away from her, his eyes downcast. "You’re right." He cupped her face in his hands, placing one last tender kiss on her lips. "You need to put Corinthos behind bars……."

Jax lifted her gently off the desk, walking away as she re-adjusted her blouse guiltily. "I can’t just let this all go, Jax," she finally said in an agonized whisper. "Not even if you love me – I can’t just walk away from the Brighton case……"

He ran his fingers through his hair and then nodded briskly. "I know. I thought I’d give it a shot, but somehow I figured you’d find a way around it." When she moved towards the door, he picked up her briefcase and handed it to her. "Brenda, I just want you to know – even if you’re not sure yet about your feelings for me, I’ll understand. It won’t change the way *I* feel." She took a breath to object but he held up a hand to stop her from speaking. "I’m not asking for even money here…….." He blushed slightly and took her hand to stroke his thumb across the back of her knuckles. "Even if you don’t love me yet………I know you feel *something* for me, and I still want to be with you."

"I just don’t know, Jax………" She caressed the side of his face tenderly before placing her hand on the doorknob to his outer office. "I *do* care about you – but you deserve so much more……..a woman who can feel just as deeply about you as you feel about her…….and with so many other things going on in my life right now, I just can’t seem to think clearly……"

He gave her a quick kiss and tapped her on the nose. "Then you go put Corinthos away." He managed a weak smile. "Go take care of all those other *things*…….. so that the next time, there won’t be any doubt about how you feel about me. You’ll know."

Brenda returned his smile, then silently opened the door and left him alone in his office. As Jax closed the door behind her, he leaned against it and sighed loudly. "You DO love me, Brenda………." The cleft in his chin deepened with determination. "I guess I’ll just have to work EXTRA hard to keep you alive long enough to realize it."

To be continued…….