Warning: Rated PG for strong language

It was late afternoon as Mac Scorpio and the troopers emerged from Brenda’s cottage, but when Brenda stepped into her doorway, she thought the sun was beginning to rise again. Bright lights shone into her face. She momentarily drew back from the glare, and the trooper at her side forced her to walk forward.

In horror, Brenda realized that a crowd of media had arrived at her cottage. Apparently Mac was turning the entire hunt for Jasper Jacks into a media circus, and as her eyes adjusted to the lights and she heard the hum of television cameras, she saw Mac walk to the center of a group of reporters.

"I have a statement for you all," Mac began, "but then we really need to get back downtown to monitor the situation." He looked down seriously, and then when he looked back into the cameras, Brenda’s stomach revolted at the hint of tears in his eyes.

"I have been informed that one of our own PCPD detectives, Officer Marcus Taggert, was found murdered at his apartment in Port Charles this afternoon. You may remember that Officer Taggert was the witness to the murder of Officer Thomas Kavanaugh and has been our primary source of information against Jasper Jacks. Apparently, Mr. Jacks decided to eliminate the source of the incriminating evidence and murdered Officer Taggert this afternoon."

Questions flew from the reporters. "How do you know it was Mr. Jacks?" one man asked, pointing a microphone at Mac.

"We have Mr. Jacks police-issue pistol, which was found at the scene of the crime. We are having ballistics tests run on the bullets which killed Officer Taggert, but we have strong reason to believe they will match the weapon found at the scene. We also have a witness who saw Mr. Jacks on the fire escape of Officer Taggert’s building around the time of the murder."

"A police witness?" the man pressed.

"No, apparently the witness is a woman who lives in the building. She was able to positively identify Mr. Jacks from the pictures we’ve been showing on television."

Brenda hung back, but then the trooper forced her to begin walking toward the police car. When a woman reporter saw her, she pressed to the front of the crowd around Mac and several other reporters made their way towards Brenda.

"Commissioner, can you tell us why Miss Brenda Barrett, model for the Deception perfume label, is being taken into custody in handcuffs?" The other reporters on the scene who hadn’t recognized Brenda immediately picked up on the scent of a scoop and moved as a pack towards her.

"Miss Barrett!" one shouted at Brenda, "did you help Jasper Jacks?"

"Did he hide here to escape capture by the police?"

"Are you a member of his mob?"

Brenda shook her head in disgust at their questions, and simply got into the police car as the trooper pushed her head down to avoid hitting it on the roof. Mac tried to draw the attention of the reporters back to himself. "Ladies and Gentlemen," he intoned, and they reluctantly turned back to him, "we are taking Miss Barrett downtown for further questioning. Right now the charges against her are indefinite, and will remain that way until the questioning has been completed. I will have a further statement for you at that time."

"Is she under arrest, Commissioner?" one reporter pushed.

Mac glared at him. "I told you, she is being questioned for her part in aiding and abetting Jasper Jacks in eluding our officers for the past few days. That’s all I’m willing to say at this time."

Mac turned on his heel and walked through the reporters to get into the front seat of the police car holding Brenda. As she hid her face to avoid photographers, the car pulled slowly away from her cottage and tears gathered in Brenda’s eyes.

"I guess that’s not what you would normally call one of your better photo ops," Mac sneered.

"You lying bastard," Brenda hissed back at him. "You lied to me about making a deal for Jax’s safety. I intend to tell the media about all of your little tricks just as soon as we get this all cleared up."

Mac smiled. "I DID make a call, Miss Barrett. I told you I would take care of things, and I did. After your little outburst back there, I called Garcia and told him to instruct the officers to take care and if at all possible, avoid wounding Mr. Jacks critically."

"Well, aren’t YOU a bleeding heart," Brenda said sarcastically. "You KNOW that Jax isn’t guilty of those murders. He’s no more guilty of murdering Taggert than I am."

Mac turned around to face her. "Is that some kind of confession, Miss Barrett? For all I know, you may be involved as an accessory to that crime, too. Now I suggest you keep your mouth shut until we reach headquarters, unless you enjoy the prospect of spending the rest of your life in jail."

Brenda fumed in the backseat of the police car. She cast her eyes upward. {Angels, I hope you’re working overtime. I really messed up big this time. Please take care of him.}

*~*~*~*

Jax sat on the couch in Kavanaugh’s cabin at Montauk, looking around him in frustration. Although Tom had told him frequently that he had stored the evidence for safekeeping in the cabin, he had never told Jax exactly where.

He rose from the couch and ran the fingers of both hands through his hair. {Where the hell would Tom have hidden the proof?} He had been at the cabin for about 45 minutes and had checked behind every picture for a hidden safe. He had tapped on every wall board in the paneled living room and every floor board, listening for evidence of a hollow space. He had checked every kitchen cabinet and inside the freezer and in every frozen juice can. He had even lifted the top of the toilet to look for a suspended hanging container. Nothing.

He glanced back at the police scanner he had sitting on the kitchen table. He had taken it out of Brenda’s cottage and although he hadn’t asked, he was pretty sure she would have given it to him in a heartbeat if she thought it would help him. He had tuned it in, and so far there were only some nuisance calls and static. He had parked V’s car far away from the cabin in the woods, and taken only back roads to get here.

As he began to open all of the kitchen drawers again, his attention was suddenly drawn to the scanner. "Attention all units! We are closing in on a location in Montauk where we believe suspect Jasper Jacks may be hiding. Be alert and approach with extreme caution. Suspect is armed and dangerous. Shoot-to-kill order is still in effect. Repeating…."

Jax didn’t need the repeat to realize that his scheme had been blown out of the water. Loudly voicing his displeasure with some choice epithets, he grabbed the radio and tried to smooth over any evidence that he had been in the cabin. He didn’t hear any cars yet, so he did one more quick review of most of the furniture in the cabin, feeling under cushions for hidden pockets. As he knelt on the floor to look under a chair, he began to hear the hum of engines in the distance.

He quickly turned out the lights, grabbed Brenda’s radio, and made his way cautiously out the back door of the cabin. He sprinted for the woods and after he was safely behind a dense area of trees, he squatted down to watch the circus unfold. Three cars of state troopers pulled up in front of the cabin and about a half-dozen officers spilled out, weapons drawn. They surrounded the cabin and after shouting a warning, they broke down the front and rear doors simultaneously.

Jax stayed there for about 10 minutes, listening to the cursing and shouting from inside the cabin. Obviously they were disappointed that he hadn’t seen fit to join their party. Then he heard the sounds of the inside of the cabin being torn asunder. Mac had probably instructed them to look for the evidence themselves. Part of him was elated that the noise continued, because it meant that they hadn’t been any more successful than he had in finding it.

After he watched for about 15 minutes more, he made his way back to V’s car and got in and closed the door. He put Brenda’s radio on the seat and took a deep breath. He couldn’t stand it any longer.

Grabbing V’s cell phone, he dialed a number, praying that the person would be available at the other end. He smiled when a husky voice sounded in his ear.

"Falcon? Is that you?" Blue’s voice sounded surprised. There was silence on the other end, and she realized his hesitation. "We’re clean. You can go ahead."

"I didn’t know if you would be at home, Blue. I figured maybe you would be out making somebody’s dreams come true," he teased.

"Now, darlin’," she purred slowly, "I realize that I’m GOOD, but I don’t think I’m quite good enough to be able to do that when we’re not both in the same building!" Her voice got serious. "Are you OK? Did you get out of Montauk before Scorpio’s Nazis moved in?"

"I’m not in the cabin, but I’m still in the area," he answered slowly.

"Did you find the materials you needed?" Blue asked hopefully.

Jax sighed, and Blue responded with a sigh of her own when she heard it and realized what it meant. "No. Kavanaugh did a REAL good job of hiding the stuff. I might have been able to find it with more time, but that whole debacle at Taggert’s place slowed me down."

She chuckled wryly. "Darlin, I’m beginning to think that if it wasn’t for bad luck, you wouldn’t have any luck at all."

"Oh, I don’t know about that," he returned. "I think I was pretty lucky stumbling onto a certain cottage in the woods about a week ago." There was silence on the line for about 15 seconds. "How was she after I left, Blue? Do you know if she’s OK?"

Blue took a moment to answer, and Jax gripped the steering wheel fiercely. "Blue, is something wrong?" Jax asked tensely.

"She’s OK, darlin’. She pulled herself together real well after you left, and V and I finished cleaning up the cottage." Blue hesitated, and Jax saw his knuckles turning white on the hand on the wheel. "At least, we THOUGHT we had cleaned the place."

"What happened, Blue?" Jax asked in a whisper.

"From what my source tells me, Brenda hid the shirt you wore the night you got shot deep in the laundry hamper," Blue answered with a sigh. "She wanted to burn it, but didn’t get to before Mac and his goon squad showed up." There was a dead silence. "They found it, Jax."

Jax lay his forehead on his hand. "And I take it Mac used every trick in the book to scare the sh*t out of her. That’s how they found out where I was."

He almost heard her nod over the phone. "I figure he promised her some kind of deal for your safety if she told them where you were. Either that or he threatened to put her in solitary and throw away the key." Blue sighed. "She loves you, Jax. You know she wouldn’t have given you up unless she had a good reason."

Jax wiped at a tear that had spilled onto his cheek. "So where is she now?"

"I had the news on and they showed her being paraded out of the cottage in cuffs," Blue replied, stopping briefly while Jax made her blush with a string of words. "He told the press that the charges aren’t definite yet. He took her downtown to continue the questioning."

"Which means that he’ll really be putting the screws to her now," Jax said bitterly. He slammed his fist against the steering wheel. "It’s all my fault, Blue," he said quietly. "I can’t let her suffer on my account."

Blue was alarmed. "Now, Jax," she said, her voice rising, "don’t go doing anything stupid!" He hesitated for a few minutes, and Blue became more alarmed. "Jax – are you there? What are you going to do?"

"I’ve got an idea, love," he replied. "I’ll give you a call shortly with the details, so stay available, OK?"

"You got it," she replied. "Anything else?"

"Yeah. Pray." He almost ended the call. "Oh, and Blue? Better alert the eagle to be ready."

*~*~*~*

Brenda looked around her inside the tiny interrogation room in the Port Charles Police Department. It was sparsely furnished, consisting of only a long wooden table, uncomfortable wooden chairs, and a large mirror on one wall that she suspected allowed people in another room to watch the proceedings.

She shifted uncomfortably in the handcuffs, and Mac came through the door, accompanied by another tall, dark man. Mac nodded to the other man and he came and unlocked Brenda’s cuffs. She rubbed her wrists to get the feeling back, and purposely avoided thanking the dark man for freeing her.

"Sorry about the delay, Miss Barrett," Mac said. He was in the process of hooking up a small cassette tape recorder and plugging it into the wall. "I had to get this machine so we can record your statement. Then I’ll have it typed up and you can sign it."

Brenda sighed in defeat. She had failed Jax. He would probably be dead by day’s end, and now she was facing some pretty serious charges herself. The fact that Sonny would be returning soon was only icing on a bitter cake.

Mac started the machine and pointed the microphone at her. "Now, Miss Barrett, would you please start by telling us exactly when Jasper Jacks came to your cottage and how long you’ve been hiding him?"

Brenda stared at the machine, which was whirring softly. She briefly wondered why Mac was going back this far, since all she had admitted to was knowing where Jax was now. {But, since you’ve already got one foot in the grave, might as well jump in with both feet. Heaven knows there won’t be anything to live for anymore if Jax is dead.} She softly began telling the story, but Mac interrupted her.

"Would you please speak up and directly into the microphone, Miss Barrett?" Brenda nodded, and then proceeded to tell the story. Mac would interrupt her occasionally with questions. After he was finished, he stopped the tape recorder, popped out the tape, and then nodded silently to the other man.

"This is Detective Garcia," Mac said in introduction. "I’ll go get this statement typed up while he has a few more questions to ask you."

Brenda nodded with misty eyes. Her head was beginning to ache and her wrists were still sore from the handcuffs.

"Now, Miss Barrett," Garcia began, "you said that Jax left your cottage in a green car and was headed for Montauk? Is that right?"

Brenda looked at him as though he had grown another head. "Yes, detective, that’s correct. I already said that when Mac asked me."

Garcia nodded. Brenda began to get really confused when Garcia then asked her the same question again, worded in just a little different manner. In fact, she grew more and more curious about this whole thing when Garcia proceeded to ask her the same questions Mac had about 4 separate times.

"Didn’t I just tell you the answer to that?" she finally said in exasperation. Her head was really beginning to pound now. She tried to answer all of Garcia’s questions patiently, but just as she was reaching the end of her rope, his tactics changed.

"So, Jasper Jacks was your lover, correct? How long have you been his mistress?"

Brenda took a deep breath in indignation. "I am NOT his mistress! And whether or not he made love to me is none of your business since I am well past the age of consent!"

"Were you going to meet him at the cabin in Montauk? Is that your lovers’ hideway?"

Brenda put her face in her hands. "How can it be our hideaway if it doesn’t belong to him? It belonged to his partner, and I’ve never seen it."

"Do you have a Swiss bank account, Miss Barrett?"

"What does that have to do with anything?"

"Did you ever agree to launder any money for Mr. Jacks or the organization?"

Brenda almost shot up out of the chair. "THIS IS TOTALLY ABSURD! I have never agreed to do anything with regard to money for Mr. Jacks."

"Oh, so you DID agree to hide him, then? And he must have agreed to repay you for your kindness in some OTHER way?"

Brenda was hissing now. "I resent your implications, Detective."

"Just how many times DID he make love to you, Miss Barrett?"

"That’s none of your business," she answered coldly.

"So, he DID make love to you, then," Garcia pounced, and Brenda’s head felt like it was going to split in two. She had had just about enough of this.

"OK, that’s it. Mac said I wasn’t entitled to a lawyer before, but now that I’m under arrest officially, I demand to see my attorney." She crossed her arms, convinced that she had finally gotten the upper hand with this jerk.

"Oh, I’m afraid you waived that right, Miss Barrett," Garcia said, making notes on a legal pad.

"I did no such thing!" she returned vehemently.

Garcia smiled condescendingly. "Yes, you did, Miss Barrett, when you gave us your statement voluntarily."

"Voluntarily? You call this voluntarily?" Brenda now was almost hysterical. "Where’s Commissioner Scorpio? What’s going on with the manhunt? Have they found him yet?" She glared at Garcia. "I DEMAND to see someone else and if I don’t get to see someone, I’ll just deny everything! I never signed any statement, and I DON’T INTEND TO!"

"Sit down, Miss Barrett," Garcia said in a low, menacing voice. "You are hardly in a position here to make demands." She sat back down meekly, and then Garcia proceeded to ask her the same questions all over again for another hour.

Pretty soon, Brenda’s head was spinning, both from Garcia’s questioning, her hysteria for Jax’s safety, and lack of food and water. Finally, Mac returned to the room, looking fresh as a daisy.

"Well, how are we doing here? Would you like a glass of water or a cup of coffee, Miss Barrett?" Her eyes shot daggers at him, and he only smiled. "How about some Tylenol?"

"All I want," she said through grit teeth, "is to know if there’s any news on Jax. Has he been found?"

"Not yet," Mac replied grimly. "But I’m sure it won’t be long now. Now, why don’t we go to another room? The lights in here can be very tough on the eyes. I can have someone bring you that Tylenol and then after we get a few more things straightened out, you can go be fingerprinted before we book you."

Mac held out his hand and Brenda rose slowly from her chair. She felt ready to collapse from the emotional strain of the past few hours, and wished she had insisted on accompanying Jax to Montauk. She slowly followed Mac to another room. This one had one wall that was made out of glass from the ceiling to about 3 feet from the floor, partitioning it off from the rest of the headquarters. Brenda looked idly out the window to see officers scurrying around from desk to desk, but nobody seemed to know exactly what was going on.

Another detective brought in some Tylenol, which Brenda gladly accepted and downed with the glass of water. She also accepted a lukewarm cup of strong coffee, and hoped the caffeine would sharpen her senses again. She massaged her temples slowly and hoped the Tylenol would kick in soon.

Mac spoke in a quiet voice to the detective, and then turned back to Brenda. "Now, Garcia tells me that you’ve been asking for me and that you’re saying something about refusing to sign your statement."

"That’s right," Brenda sighed. "I want to see a lawyer."

"But you gave us your voluntary statement," Mac argued. "Now I think once we get this all straightened out, you’ll feel much better. Our accommodations may not have silk sheets like yours, but they can be comfortable."

{Accommodations? Does he mean jail? He’s going to put me in a cell?} Brenda listened carefully as the coffee rejuvenated her and she picked up on some frustration as the officer continued to talk to Mac. Something about fingerprints reports and pathology reports on a blood type being delayed. Mac didn’t look at all happy.

{That’s it! Mac doesn’t have anything concrete on me! He’s being so nice to me because if I don’t sign his stinking statement, he can’t keep me here. There weren’t any fingerprints thanks to Blue and V, and without those lab reports, I’m in the clear. For now.}

Brenda began thinking back to the photos Mac had shown her and Jax’s statements about his investigation. {Wait a minute – he probably worked undercover while he was investigating the mob. Otherwise, how would he have known about those meetings Sonny attended?} While Mac spoke with the detective, Brenda began to put two and two together. {Those pictures were of Jax working undercover! He probably played the part of a mob trainee just to get information on them!} Brenda looked at Mac from beneath her lashes and began to loathe the sight of the man. {Maybe the pictures weren’t even real to begin with. He might have altered them to make them look like what he wanted. Photos have been altered before. Just look at the tabloids.}

Mac finished speaking with the detective and turned to Brenda, smiling. He certainly wasn’t prepared for the miniature volcano that erupted in his face.

Brenda rose slowly from her chair while she fumed at him. "You lied to me all along, you son of a b*tch," she snarled. "You showed me those pictures but you made up stories to go with them. Maybe you even changed the pictures to show what you wanted them to show. Well, you won’t get away with it." She sat back down and folded her hands. "I demand to see my lawyer."

Mac saw his plan unraveling and tried to stay calm. "Now, Miss Barrett, I realize you’re tired. Why don’t you just calm down a little and once we get your paperwork processed and you sign your statement, I’m sure things will go smoothly." He looked at Brenda for cooperation, but she continued to glare at him. The detective left the room and he leaned forward towards Brenda. "Miss Barrett," he intoned seriously, "do you realize that harboring a fugitive carries a sentence of 15 years or more in the state penitentiary? You are facing very serious charges here."

"I told you," she repeated in a low voice, "I don’t intend to cooperate with your little scheme to convict an innocent man." She leaned forward and almost spat into Mac’s face. "You, Commissioner, can go straight….to…..hell!!"

Mac’s eyes began to glare back at her as he feared that his scheme wouldn’t work out after all. Just as he drew a breath to answer her, they were both startled by the sound of an accented voice from the doorway.

"Bloody hell, Mac, you never let me get away with talking to you that way!" Brenda suddenly turned to face twinkling blue eyes, a well-defined body, and the vision of the man she loved more than life itself. As Mac sputtered in disbelief, Jax sauntered into the room and stopped to rest one hand on a chair. He had his other hand on his hip and his eyes were sparkling with mirth.

"Jax!" Brenda breathed softly, still not fully sure that she wasn’t hallucinating. {He’s alive! He didn’t get shot because of me!} Brenda looked out into the squad room, and most of the officers were just standing at desks with their mouths open, still not able to believe their eyes either. Her attention was drawn back to Mac when she heard him begin to swear.

"Jax!" he said in a low voice. "You bastard! How did you get in here?"

Jax looked at Mac as though he were a small child. "Well," he drawled, "I opened the door to the station, and then I walked through it, and then I just sort of put one foot in front of the other and I followed the irritating sound of your whining." He smiled at Mac, and it only infuriated the man more.

"That’s not what I mean and you know it!" Mac growled. "How the hell did you get in here without somebody shooting you?" Mac looked out at the rest of the officers, who still stood frozen in shock.

Jax looked back at them and then smiled at Mac. "It was pretty easy, actually. I guess most of your manpower is out looking for some dangerous escaped criminal. My feelings are a little hurt, though. Nobody even bothered to say hello to me!" He smiled jauntily at Mac, and then looked at Brenda for the first time since entering the room.

She smiled at him in relief and was ready to launch herself into his arms when she noticed the look he gave her. She froze, and then sat back down slowly. His eyes started at the top of her head and moved slowly all the way down her frame, and then back up again. She felt like he had undressed her with his one glance, and it almost made her shiver. {What’s going on here?} Realizing that he must be up to something, she didn’t speak a word, and it was a good thing she didn’t.

Jax smiled obscenely at her, turned to wink at Mac, and said, "Oh, I’m sorry, mate. I didn’t realize you were busy. Who’s the looker? Is she from your stable of playmates, or did vice bring her in tonight?"

To be continued…