Warning: Rated PG for strong language

When Jax and Brenda got back to the cottage, Jax quickly rode into the corral and dismounted. He put his hands up to help Brenda down, and as she put her hands on his shoulders, he lifted her off the horse, sliding her down the front of his body. He held her in mid-air for just a few moments, her toes still not touching the ground, her lips even with his. He was breathing hard from riding back, and she felt her pulse accelerate at being held so close to his warm, muscular body.

He helped her take the bags off of Star, and then after quickly taking the saddle off and rubbing the horse down, Jax helped Brenda carry them back to the cottage.

She was in the kitchen putting things away when she looked puzzled. "Something wrong?"

She looked in the bags again. "I could swear I bought bananas. I can’t find them now."

"Maybe you just got rattled when those troopers showed up. You probably meant to pick some, and just forgot."

Brenda frowned. "No, the troopers didn’t show up until I got outside. I wonder what could have happened to them." She was still looking around when Jax put his hand on her arm.

She realized that depending on another person came hard for him. "Well, I just didn’t think that it was fair of them, to not even let you have a chance to defend yourself." Suddenly, her offended sensibilities took control of her mouth. "Why, isn’t that what the Constitution guarantees everybody? A right to a fair trial? What did our founding fathers fight for? What about "innocent until proven guilty?" Why did we even have the Rev…" She was about to go on when he stopped her with a finger against her lips.

He smiled indulgently. "Geez, you just don’t know when to quit, do you?" He shook his head, but then looked at her seriously again. "Thanks for the civics lesson." He cleared his throat, turned away and lifted a large container of juice to put in the refrigerator. "And thanks for everything, hellcat." He spoke so quietly she almost didn’t hear him.

She smiled to herself, but then frowned again when she couldn’t find the pudding cups she bought for him. As she was about to tell him, the phone rang.

"Would that be Sonny again?" Jax asked, moving toward the phone. He motioned for her to come too.

Brenda shook her head. "He always says he’ll call, but he’s usually so tied up with business that he doesn’t. It would be really strange for him to call twice in two days."

Jax motioned for her to pick it up and stood next to her again so that he could listen in. Brenda picked up the receiver and held it to her right ear as he squatted a little and listened with his left. "Hello?"

A low male voice responded. "Hello, Brenda? This is Jason."

Brenda held her breath. "Hi, Jason. What’s up?"

"Well, Sonny told me to check on you while he was gone…"

Before he could finish, Brenda interrupted him. "Oh, I’m fine, Jason. You don’t have to check on me. Why, I just went down to Wagner’s today and got a whole bunch of stuff so I’m set for a while." Jax nodded to her silently for making a good excuse.

"Brenda, would ‘ya just shut up and listen?" Jason said in exasperation. Jax snickered at his perceptiveness. "I’m down here at Wagner’s. I was on my way there to check on you with Benny and since he was hungry, we stopped in to get some junk food. Old man Wagner says you were just here and forgot a whole bag of stuff. You want me to bring it with me?"

Brenda turned pale. Jax strongly shook his head no. "Oh, Jason, that’s sweet of you to offer, but I can just pick it up some other time. I’m fine. You and Benny can just …."

"Brenda, we’re comin’ whether you like it or not. Sonny told me to check on you. I’ll send Benny in the car back to town and I’ll just swing this stuff by on my motorcycle. See ‘ya in a few."

As Brenda took a breath to argue with him, she and Jax heard the click of the disconnected phone. "Oh, God…" Brenda said softly. "What do we do now?" She walked away from the phone as Jax stood there thoughtfully. "Why did I have to be so stupid? If I hadn’t forgotten the stuff, maybe Jason wouldn’t have insisted on checking on me."

Jax looked puzzled. "Who’s Jason?"

Brenda put her hands on her hips. "He’s Sonny’s assistant, or flunky, or mobster-apprentice, or whatever. He was in an accident a few years ago and Sonny took him under his wing. Jason has no emotions. He can spot a lie at 50 feet." Tears began to gather in her eyes. "He’ll know in a minute that something’s wrong if I have to lie to him about hiding you."

Jax suddenly walked over to her and grabbed her by the wrist. He took her into the living room with him and went to the front window to look out.

"Jax, didn’t you hear me? Jason will find you and he’ll turn you in to the authorities in a heartbeat! He’ll see right through me if I have to make up some story about why he can’t come in."

Jax still stared out the window and didn’t face her when he spoke. "Which is why you won’t have to lie to him about hiding me. He’s going to be my ticket out of here."

Brenda yanked hard on his arm to get him to face her. "What do you mean? He won’t take you anywhere."

Jax looked into her sad eyes and smiled. "I know he won’t take me anywhere." He looked back out the window. "But his motorcycle will."

"You’re going to steal it?" she gasped.

"I prefer to think of it as borrow it on a short term basis," he replied, pulling her to the front door. "Now tell me about him. Is he tall?"

Brenda stared at Jax. "I guess almost as tall as you. His hair is kind of blonde, too, but not as light as yours. He wears jeans all the time, and that d*mn black leather jacket."

"Leather jacket, huh?" Jax turned back to the window, a plan forming in his mind. "Nobody could tell then, especially with the helmet on."

Brenda backed into the living room. "Oh, sure. When Jason gets here, you’re just gonna waltz out there and say, "Hey, Jase. I’m a wanted criminal. Can I have your bike and helmet for a while?" ARE YOU NUTS?" She practically screamed the last part, and Jax finally gave her his full attention.

"Brenda, you should know me well enough by now to know that I have a more complex plan than that." He glanced back out the window to see if Jason was coming yet, and then looked back at her. "Oh, and I’ll need the jacket, too."

She started pacing around the room, waving her arms in the air. "You really have lost it now, do you know that? Even if you pull the strong arm tactics on him and try to force him to give you his bike, he’ll go down fighting rather than give in. The man has no fears. If you threaten him, he’ll still fight you."

Jax came and pulled her down on the couch to sit with him. "Which is exactly why YOU will have to get him to loan me those things."

"ME!!!" Brenda was practically hysterical now. Just as she was about to launch into another tirade, Jax put his finger to his lips. In the silence, they could both hear the distant whine of the motorcycle. Jax pulled her so that she was sitting on the couch facing him and looked deeply into her eyes.

"OK, hellcat, here’s your big chance to get rid of me. I know you can do this. You’re creative. You’re strong. And I need you to do two things for me." She stared at him with those eyes that were like the softest velvet he had ever seen.

He stood up. "The first thing is you need to get him to leave his jacket and helmet out on the bike and come in here." Jax put his fingers to his chin and looked around. His eyes lit up, and he started for her kitchen.

"Well, James Bond, your plan stinks! Jason doesn’t go anywhere without his jacket! How am I supposed to get him to leave it outside?" Brenda said, standing in the doorway of the kitchen with her hands on her hips.

Jax stood in the kitchen thoughtfully for a moment. Then he went over to the kitchen sink and fiddled with the faucet for a moment. Suddenly, water was spraying into the sink and in the air. As Brenda shrieked, Jax reached down and shut off the water valve. He stood back and wiped his hands together in pride. "There we go. Instant plumbing problem. He can’t very well fix that with his precious leather jacket on."

Brenda’s hands were still over her mouth. She was upset that he had made a mess in her kitchen, but she had to admire his resourcefulness. "OK, Mr. Un-fix-it, that takes care of the jacket. He’ll probably leave the helmet out there anyway."

"And the keys?" Jax asked.

Brenda thought for a moment. "I think he usually puts them in his jacket pocket." She began to walk back into the living room when she heard the distinct roar of a motorcycle engine and Jax followed her. "But if he doesn’t put them in the jacket and he puts them in his pants…."

Jax stopped her once again with a smile. "I understand. I’ll try to come up with a plan B in that case." He went over to the window and peeked out. "He’s almost here. I can see him. Nice bike."

Brenda stood by the couch with her hands on her hips. "OK, so I get him to leave his jacket and helmet outside so you can "borrow" his bike. What’s the other thing you need me to do – provide you with a map with the best routes out of the area highlighted? Pack you a sandwich? Fix you a travel kit with your favorite shaving toiletries?" She took a breath to go on, and Jax walked to her quickly and gripped her shoulders tightly.

"HELLCAT!" She stopped short and jumped a little, but stopped talking. "Thank you." He began to look at her in a totally different way, and his hands slid down her arms to rest at her waist. "The other thing I need you to do…" He pulled her to stand against him.

She was reeling. "Yes?"

His hands slid back up to cradle her face. They were so large and strong, capable of violence she could only guess at, but so gentle at the same time. "The other thing I need you to do is…..don’t marry Corinthos."

As he said it, he lowered his mouth to hers. His kiss was tender and beseeching, and she was lost to it from the moment it started. Feelings that had been kept inside for the past day bubbled to the surface as she wound her arms around his neck. She moaned softly, and he heard it and re-positioned his mouth to deepen the kiss. His tongue swept into her mouth and learned each crevice of it thoroughly, taking her breath away.

Brenda had wrapped her arms around Jax’s neck, and began to thread one hand up through his blonde hair to pull his head down to her more forcefully. She moved her body restlessly against his, and he groaned when he felt her breasts rubbing against his chest. He broke the kiss, and moved his open mouth down to her jaw and then her neck. One of his hands moved slowly down from her face, and Brenda thought she would die before it reached the place she wanted it to touch. As he kissed her neck sharply, she threw her head back and arched against him. When he finally touched her breast softly and rubbed his thumb against the most sensitive part, she grabbed the hair at the back of his head and pulled him to her to kiss her again.

She had never felt this burning kind of wanting before. How could she let this man go, knowing she might never see him again?

She pulled back as tears started to form in her eyes. "Jax, you don’t have to…."

He stroked her forehead gently with his first finger. "Yes I do, love. I’m in a LOT of trouble." He tipped her chin up with his finger. "And we both know that if I stay here much longer, it won’t be against your will anymore. And I won’t take you down with me."

At that moment, the air was split by the loud roar of a motorcycle engine. They startled as they heard it rev, and then stop outside the cottage. Jason had arrived.

Jax pulled Brenda to him again for another tender, passionate kiss. When he broke the kiss, both sets of eyes sparkled with unfulfilled passion. Jax took his thumb and gently wiped the tears that had gathered in one eye.

"Don’t worry about me, Brenda. I came to the conclusion long ago that my guardian angel recruited a whole lot of help on the day I was born, since she knew she was gonna need it with me to protect." Brenda smiled weakly at his story, and he tapped her on the nose. "Remember – the jacket and the helmet." He kissed her once more, hard, and then pushed her into the living room as she went into the kitchen and closed the swinging door. She waited for a few seconds to try to control her breathing.

A loud knocking at the front door made her jump. "Brenda?"

She put her open hand on her chest to try to slow her heartbeat, and heard the click of the back door as it shut. She glanced at the closed swinging door and took a deep breath. She could hear Jason shuffling his feet outside on the wooden porch. She bit her lower lip while thinking, and then ran into the kitchen, propping the swinging door open.

She tried to remember where Jax had turned the valve to shut off the water. The knocking at the front door came again, and Brenda yelled, "Just a minute, Jason!" She bent down, and saw the shut-off knob. Grabbing and twisting with all her might, she was rewarded with a shower of water from the sink. It drenched her hair, and she spit water and pushed damp strands out of her eyes. {That pig better appreciate all of this.}

"Brenda, where the h*ll are you?" Brenda could hear Jason’s voice again as she ran back through the living room to the front door. {What a sensitive guy.}

She pulled it open breathlessly. "Jason! I’m so glad you’re here!"

He started to walk into the cottage and she put her wet hand on his chest. "Brenda, what were you doin’?" He walked into the living room of the cottage and put a bag of groceries on the couch. "Here’s the stuff you forgot at Wagners. Did I get you outta the shower?"

{Some kinda genius, this guy.} "The shower’s in my kitchen, Jason. Right after I talked to you, the pipe must have broken or something because water is spraying everywhere. Can you fix it for me?" She tried to bat her eyes at him, but the damp lashes stuck together. She spit out a little more water for effect, and he looked at her with disgust, and then down at the floor where she was making little puddles.

"I don’t know much about plumbing, Brenda…" he started to say. Brenda saw that he had left his helmet on the bike, but his keys were still in his hand and he still had the offensive jacket on.

"Oh, Jason, I would appreciate it if you would just take a look at it. I’m going to have to buy a boat soon if it keeps spraying like that. I don’t even know where to shut the water off." {There you go, genius. How much bigger of a hint can I give you?} "I know Sonny would want you to try to do something – anything at all."

Bingo. She had said the magic words – Sonny would want him to. He looked at her drenched form and the open door to the kitchen. "All right…I’ll try." He began to walk to the kitchen, but she grabbed his arm.

"Wait, Jason! It’s like a shower in there. You’d better take off the jacket or it’ll get ruined. Why don’t you put it out on the porch or with your bike or something. If you can’t shut the water off, it’s going to start flowing into the living room soon." She looked at him with big, "I’m a helpless female" eyes, and she saw that his love for his jacket won the day.

"Yeah…that’s a good idea." She held her breath as he began to take the jacket off, and realized he still had the keys to the bike in his hand. She shook a little all over like a wet dog, and when he felt the spray, he was so anxious to protect the jacket that he stuck the keys in the pocket without thinking. {Thank you, angels-who-watch-over-Jax. I sure didn’t want to wrestle him for those.}

He ran back out the front door of her cottage and put the jacket on the bike. Once he came back in, Brenda watched him go into the kitchen, and slowly sidled over to the front door, closing it and throwing the dead bolt. It would give Jax a few extra minutes to get away once he started the bike and Jason heard it and all h*ll broke loose.

Brenda longed to watch for Jax to make sure he got the bike started and see him one last time, but she knew she had to protect his cover by staying with Jason and acting the part of the harried homeowner. Jason was trying to make his way over to the sink, his arm up to protect him from the spray of water. "Can you get to it, Jason?"

Jason made his way carefully to the sink, trying not to slip on the wet floor. He bent down and began fumbling with the knobs under the sink, finally giving in to the fact that he was going to get wet and using both hands. Brenda stood in the kitchen doorway out of the spray, and she dared a glance outside towards Jason’s bike. At that moment, she saw Jax with the leather jacket on, putting on the helmet. She put her fingers in her mouth, praying that Jason wouldn’t find the shut-off for a few more minutes. Jax reached in the pocket and found the keys. He swung one long leg over the bike, and then reached down and started it.

Brenda breathed a sigh of relief as the motor hummed to life. Suddenly there was a loud crash as some dishes on the sink rattled to the floor. Jason cursed loudly, but still had not stopped the flow of water. She looked back and saw Jax once more, and he was looking in at her. He tapped his first two fingers to the crown of his helmet in salute to her, and then turned the bike around and sped off.

At that precise instant, Jason found the shut-off. The noise of the water ceased. "Got it!" he exclaimed proudly, and turned around to a now-smiling Brenda. He stood up and slapped his wet hands against his pants. "I think you’d better call a plumber, though, because…"

He stopped talking suddenly. He tipped his head to one side, and Brenda realized he heard the sound of the bike’s motor. "Did you hear that?" he asked Brenda, already on his way to the living room.

"What?" she asked innocently, and then as he went by her, she had the presence of mind to slip on the wet floor and land in his arms. "Oh….sorry about that." It bought Jax a few extra seconds of precious time.

Jason righted her immediately and ran to the living room door. His expletive shook the house. "What’s wrong?" Brenda asked innocently.

"WRONG? MY BIKE’S GONE, THAT’S WHAT’S WRONG!!" Jason replied.

Brenda tried her best to look shocked. "Gone? But that’s impossible! Who could have…."

Jason was pacing back and forth rapidly. He stopped and snapped his fingers. "I know! I’ll bet it was that guy the police are looking for… that escaped criminal. Have you seen him around here lately? The guy on TV?"

Brenda took a deep breath. "No, Jason, I haven’t seen any criminals around here lately." Brenda smiled inwardly. {It won’t cause a problem, because it’s not a lie. I don’t believe that he’s really a criminal. Not like you, anyway.}

Jason looked around and dashed back into the kitchen. He picked up the phone and punched in the numbers rapidly. Brenda took a peek out the window again, and Jax’s dust had already vanished. She heard Jason on the phone. "Benny…yeah, it’s Jason. I think that escaped criminal stole my bike! Yeah, that’s the guy. I was in here fixing a leaky pipe in Brenda’s kitchen, and I guess he could see we were busy cause he took it. Come by and pick me up at Brenda’s, would ‘ya? And call the cops and tell them to watch out for my bike."

Brenda’s insides twisted. She hadn’t counted on Benny still being close enough to come back for Jason or the theft to be reported that quickly. She twisted her hands together and looked out the window in the direction Jax had gone. {OK, angels. Time to watch over him again.}

#~#~#~#

It seemed like an eternity before Benny came back and picked Jason up. Once he was gone, Brenda locked the front door and faced the mess in her kitchen with a long sigh. {Oh, well. At least it will give me something to do.} She walked toward the kitchen, picking up the bag of groceries from the couch on the way.

Once she got in the kitchen, she set the bag down and gingerly picked her way across the wet floor to put things away. As she unpacked the bag, her breath caught when she pulled out the pudding cups. She held them to her breast for a few moments and then shook her head and set to work putting them away and cleaning up.

After the kitchen was presentable again, she went upstairs to her bedroom to change her clothes again. She walked into the bedroom, and the broken closet door brought back the memories again. {D*mn that pig – he’s bothering me almost as much when he’s NOT here as when he was.} She went into the bathroom to wash her face, and as she was drying it, she suddenly stopped and stared at herself in the mirror, the towel covering her nose and mouth. {The towel smells like him. He must have used it when he washed his face.} She found herself inhaling its scent, and letting out a long sigh. She walked slowly into the bedroom and sat on the bed with the towel to her face. After a while, she couldn’t tell if the towel was damp from the moisture from her face or from her tears, which were beginning to fall anew.

Finally, she stood up with resolve. {There must be something I can do to find out how he is.} She ran downstairs and flicked on the TV, hoping for a news bulletin, but the same schedule of soap operas and game shows was all that was on. In frustration, she turned it off, and sat on the couch with her head in her hands.

Suddenly, she sat up straight and ran for the hall closet. She pushed her way past the heavy winter coats and shoe boxes in the front, and finally made a happy little noise when she found a box buried way in the back of the closet. She pulled it out and took it to the now-dry kitchen table.

Her fingers were shaking as she broke the seal on the box and fumbled to get the back off the police-scanner radio. {I always hated this thing. I never could understand why Sonny gave it to me. Now maybe it will finally serve some useful purpose.} She jumped up to get some batteries out of a kitchen drawer, and put them in the back of the radio. When she flipped it over and turned it on, the squelch hurt her ears, and she tried to fine-tune it. After a few attempts, her heart leaped when she heard human voices.

"That’s affirmative, Schwartz. We have no report of the fugitive from anyone on Kelsingham Road." There were some repeated clicks, then voices again. "Come back, Johnson. We had a report about 20 minutes ago of a stolen motorcycle spotted on Cooper Road."

{Cooper Road? What would he be doing there? That’s not far from here at all. Didn’t he have enough lead time to get further than that?}

More clicks, then more voices. She inhaled sharply when she heard Mac Scorpio’s voice. "This is Scorpio. I’m at the roadblock at highway KK. The motorcycle was spotted here over an hour ago. He had to turn back. Double-check the area between here and Cooper’s Ridge."

{The road block. He would have made it further if it hadn’t been for the road block. I guess he had to double back.} Brenda ran to the front window of the cottage to look outside, but everything was still.

She walked slowly back to the kitchen, but then her heart rose into her mouth. "This is Mabry! We’ve got him sighted on Wellingham Road! We’re in pursuit!" She went to stand in front of the radio, wringing her hands and praying the whole time. There was a lot of static, and then voices in confusion. "This is Scorpio! If you see him, take him out! Shoot on sight, do you hear me? Shoot on sight!"

Brenda’s words to the radio were very un-ladylike. She sat down nervously. Then she heard some popping and her hands went to her mouth. "We have shots fired! This is Mabry, we have shots fired on Wellingham near Cooper’s Ridge!" Brenda sat and tears began to flow down her cheeks in earnest as she waited tensely. Mac’s voice came through the radio sharply. "Is he down? Is the suspect down, Mabry?"

After the longest pause Brenda had ever known in her life, the voices came back. "This is Mabry. We had shots fired at the suspect, but we’re not sure if he’s down or not. We may have hit the cycle. Our last sighting was the cycle sliding down into Cooper’s Ravine." Mac’s terse voice came back after a series of clicks. "Outfit a squad with search lights and weapons and get down into that ravine immediately. We’ll be there for backup as soon as we can reach you."

Brenda shot up from the table and switched off the radio. She ran into the living room and grabbed her keys and was out the door in a flash. She ran to the stable and pulled Star out of her stall. As she quickly saddled the horse, thoughts raced through her head. {Cooper’s Ravine is close to here. It’s steep, so they won’t be able to get down there on foot easily. Especially not in the dark. If I take the service road, I can come in the back door of Cooper’s Ravine and find him.} She grabbed an extra blanket out of the stable, and then jumped on Star’s back. She leaned down to whisper into the horse’s ear, "Come on, Star. We’ve got a pig to rescue!" She dug her heels into Star’s sides and took off out of the stable on a gallop.

After riding for about 10 minutes, Brenda got to what she called the "back door" to Cooper’s Ravine. She was in familiar territory, having ridden there several times in the past to find some tranquility. She could hear noises in the distance, and saw the reflections of search lights in the clouds. {Those angels must be helping Jax tonight. With so much cloud cover, they’re going to have a tough time seeing anything through the trees.} She started nudging Star forward cautiously, making her way over the steep enbankments and sliding rocks.

Finally, she came into a clearing and she reined Star in sharply. About 500 yards in front of her lay Jason’s motorcycle. It was on its side, and there was smoke coming from the front of it. She smelled leaking gasoline. And laying about 5 feet from it was the still body of Jasper Jacks.

To be continued….