Jax gave James a grim look as they both realized that Angie’s legs were trapped beneath the debris from Jax’s desk. Jax swiveled a little in his crouched position so that Angie couldn’t hear him. "Do you think we can wait for the paramedics? Even knowing CPR, I don’t think either one of us is prepared to handle this kind of injury or rescue."

Before James could answer, there was another loud "pop" from a corner of the office and a puff of smoke. Small tongues of flame licked the rubble and the hole in the window behind Jax’s desk fed oxygen to the fire. James shook his head. "This whole area is too dangerous, Jax. We can’t wait. We’ve got to figure something out."

Angie moaned, drawing the attention of both men back to her. "Jax, my leg hurts." She put her hands to her forehead, pushing her hair back and wiping soot from her grimy face.

Jax gently stroked her hair, turning back to her again and trying to hide his fear for her. "Are you in a lot of pain, love?" As he asked the question, he wasn’t really sure which answer he hoped to hear.

Angie moved around a little and Jax and James were both gratified to see her legs flinch. "My right leg feels kinda sticky and my left leg just aches a lot."

James leaned forward and put a hand on Jax’s shoulder. "That’s a good sign. She’s got feeling in both legs." Jax nodded quickly. "Angie, sweetie," he said, leaning past Jax, "do you think you can move your legs at all?"

Angie grimaced and to Jax and James amazement, her right leg slid out from beneath the desk. "Ouch!" Angie cut loose with a string of words that made her earlier use of profanity look like a Bible lesson. "I think my left leg’s stuck!"

James sprang closer to the desk and looked under it. He looked back up at Jax from his vantage point. "Some of the drawers must have fallen out when the thing blew. It looks like her right leg was in the space where a drawer normally would have been – like a mouse hole in a wall."

"Thank God," Jax murmured, trying to stroke Angie’s forehead gently to ease her pain. "Can you see what’s holding the other leg?"

James lay flat on the floor next to her, craning his neck to try to see under the desk. Angie shifted again, trying to pull her leg out, but then only yelped in pain again. "It looks like the desk is resting on her ankle, but only halfway. It’s holding the fabric of her pants too." He took a deep breath and patted Angie’s hand. "I think you’ll have a cast on that foot for a while, love."

"Great." Angie grimaced again and then screamed as another mini-explosion occurred. Jax dove forward to shield her with his body and James ducked. When the three came up for air, Angie was coughing and crying at the same time.

"We’ve got to get her out of here now, Jax," James said, rising to his feet and dusting off his hands.

"That desk was custom-made, James. It weighs a ton." Jax rose to his feet also so that he could speak to James without Angie hearing him. "I don’t think the two of us together could move the thing."

James looked around quickly, and then covered his mouth with his hand as he disappeared into a smoky corner of the office. "Jax? What’s going on?" Angie cried.

Jax came back to crouch beside her. "James went to get something so we can get you out of here, Ang." He patted her arm fondly. "You know I would never let anything happen to the best assistant I’ve ever had!"

Angie smiled grimly. "Takes too long to train a replacement -- I know." Then she grabbed Jax’s hand. "But you’ve got Brenda and the kids to think about, Jax! Get out of here while you can and then just send the paramedics up here to get me out!"

"No bloody way," Jax replied. He coughed as James came back to where they were with a long beam that he had broken from one of the wall panels. "What are you gonna do, mate?"

"See if my old high school physics teacher actually knew what he was talking about," James replied. He shoved the beam in the opening of the desk after pulling the remnants of a chair over and propping the beam across it. "You get down there with her. Hopefully, when I put pressure on this end, it’ll lift the desk enough for you to pull her leg out."

"Gotcha." Jax got down on his belly as James put both hands on the beam. But as Jax raised one hand and was about to wave a signal to James, there was another loud explosion from a corner of the office. Black smoke belched around them and out the open window, clearly visible to all the gawkers on the sidewalk below.

#~#~#~#

Brenda and Paul arrived at the Jacks Tower just seconds before the second explosion. Paul had flagged down a policeman and after briefing him, left the children in his care. He could barely keep up with Brenda’s pace as she ran the few short blocks to the office building.

"Oh, my God, Paul, that’s where Jax’s office is!!" Brenda covered her mouth with her hands and tears ran down her cheeks. She looked around frantically and then was about to bolt for the lobby doors when Paul grappled her from behind.

"You can’t help him, Brenda. James is with him. You’ll only complicate things if you try to go in there!" Paul had to use all of his strength to hold back the grief-stricken woman.

Brenda turned to face Paul and grabbed his arms. "You don’t understand, Paul. That’s my husband in there, and my brother, too! I can’t just stand here and watch them both die!"

Paul still held her fast. "Let me see if I can find one of the emergency workers," he said, trying to calm her. "Maybe they can tell us more about what’s going on up there."

Brenda finally nodded quietly and Paul took her into his arms. But then, the second explosion puffed a large cloud of black smoke out the broken window, and Brenda broke down and sobbed in Paul’s embrace.

#~#~#~#

"I still think I should be carrying her," James said through gritted teeth as they made their way down the emergency staircase.

"Bloody h*ll, would you stop trying to play macho man and impress your girlfriend!" Jax spat. Angie had mercifully passed out after Jax finally managed to pull her from beneath the desk. Her head rested against Jax’s shoulder and he had looped her arms around his neck as they managed to get out of Jax’s office before it completely incinerated. "Besides," he puffed as they reached a landing, "I’m bigger than you."

"And more out of shape!" James returned sarcastically. "We’ve got a few more flights to go and you’re huffing and puffing like......like the Big Bad Wolf!"

Jax began to laugh hysterically. "Robert is *never* going to forgive us for corrupting you during this assignment. You’ve been reading to Jo too often!"

The smiled stopped when they both heard another loud explosion above them and the sound of sirens below. "Besides," Jax continued as they went to the next set of steps, "what if the wacko who set the bomb is still around here somewhere, waiting to check if he was successful in killing us? Do you really want *me* to be the one who’d have to take him out?"

James exhaled loudly. "Point taken. You get to carry her the rest of the way." They quickly descended a few more flights and the air became more breathable. But as they got to the door leading to the lobby stairs, James put a hand on Jax’s arm. "Wait. I need to talk to you before we get out there and get swamped by paramedics and press."

"Why?" Jax asked. Angie whimpered and shifted in Jax’s arms, and he put his lips against her forehead to soothe her.

"Because," James replied, pushing the hair back off Angie’s forehead, "I think maybe we can turn this disaster to our advantage -- if we use our heads."

"I’m listening." Jax finally nodded in agreement after James outlined his plan. Taking a deep breath, James put his shoulder to the lobby doors and they gave way.

#~#~#~#

"I’m sorry, ma’am, but you have to stay out here." The policemen had been oblivious to Paul flashing his badge at him and threatening to have him demoted to pigeon-doodoo patrol. "And I recognize you’re Mr. Jacks’ wife, and I realize you’re worried, but they’re still trying to get the victims out...."

Brenda, Paul, and the exasperated policemen were standing on the sidewalk across the street from the Jacks Tower. The police had set up a security line around the building and several ambulances had pulled up in front of the lobby doors. "Victims?" Brenda’s face paled and Paul put his arms around her again to support her. "Do they know yet......have they found....."

Brenda never finished her sentence. She put her hands to her mouth again and screamed. "Oh, my God! James!!!" She yanked free of Paul’s arms and pushed past the startled policeman as a grimy James emerged from the lobby doors of the building and began walking across the street towards her.

James stopped where he stood in the middle of the street and just wound his arms around her as she hurtled herself at him. She was sobbing visibly, and some television reporters nearby tried to get closer to her, pulling their camera personnel behind them. James turned her away from the cameras for a moment, whispering in her ear discreetly. "Brenda -- now listen carefully to me. Just do what I tell you -- no questions."

Brenda finally pulled back from his embrace and nodded quickly. "What’s going on? Where’s Jax?"

As television cameras were rolling and reporters were salivating at the human drama before them, James put his hands on Brenda’s shoulders and whispered something in her ear. Her knees immediately began to give way and James caught her as she wailed. "NOOOOO!!" She began to cry even harder and James just held her tightly. Then she stopped abruptly and gripped James’s arms. "Where is he? I’ve got to see him!!"

One of the reporters tried to shove her way up to Brenda but Paul effectively pushed her back out of earshot. James saw Paul and mouthed, "Where’s the kids?"

"With a policeman -- they’re secure," he replied, moving to stand behind Brenda as she cupped James’s face in her hands.

"I WANT TO SEE JAX NOW!!!!" James shook his head and Paul looked grim, but Brenda pulled away from him and began running towards where the ambulances were parked. James turned as did Paul and they both took off behind her.

With television cameras still rolling, Brenda got around to the back of an ambulance as another pulled away. James caught her by the arm as a cameraman jockeyed for position and turned on the sound. "Brenda, it would be better if you didn’t see him yet," James shouted.

Brenda pulled her arm free of James’ grasp. "He’s my husband and I love him!" she shouted angrily. "I don’t care how bad it is -- I want to see him!!!"

James shook his head again and then went to the back doors of the ambulance and slapped them with his flat hand twice. They opened, and as he helped Brenda climb inside, the last thing the television camera caught was her wail of agony. The reporter tried to elbow her way towards the doors, but Paul just gave her a dirty look and closed the doors in her face as the ambulance pulled away, its siren blaring.

"So, Chris," the reporter intoned solemnly, "it appears that one of the casualties of this explosion in the Jacks Tower may very well be Mr. Jasper Jacks, CEO of J&J Jacks and current political candidate. We’ll be leaving here and heading for General Hospital, and we’ll interrupt regular programming just as soon as we have any news on Mr. Jacks’ condition."

Monica Quartermaine had a chart in her hand and was studying it intently as she came into the hospital room. "Well," she said, finally looking up at her patient, "I think that for someone who’s supposed to be near death’s door, you look pretty d*mn frisky, Jax!"

Brenda lay in the hospital bed next to Jax, firmly wrapped in his arms. "So, you think I’ll live, huh, doc?" He raised one eyebrow at her playfully but then winced in pain and swore softly.

Monica came over to gently press down the tape that held a bandage in place over his eye. "You’ll have to take it easy for a few days, Jax. You *did* suffer two cracked ribs and that cut over your eye. The stitches should come out in a few days but your chest will probably ache for a while."

"I’ll make sure he gets lots of rest, Monica," Brenda answered firmly. She snuggled closer to Jax’s side and he kissed the top of her head. "So – what about Angie?"

"Yeah – they took her off to surgery so quickly after we got here that I never got a chance to ask how she’s doin’." Jax shifted a little in the bed as Brenda’s hug touched a tender spot on his chest.

Monica sighed. "I just checked, and she’s out of surgery and in the recovery room. They had to put two pins in her ankle, but other than that, she’s in remarkably good condition for what she went through."

"What you *all* went through," Brenda amended, reaching her hand up to cup Jax’s face lovingly. "I still can’t believe I almost lost you today." Tears began to flow again. "I don’t know what I would do....."

Jax put a finger to her lips and smiled at her. "Well, you’ll never have to find out, sweetie, because I’m not planning on going anywhere real soon."

Loud voices in the hallway drew everyone’s attention to the door. A woman’s voice echoed above the rest. "I don’t care *who* the h*ll you are, I’m his campaign manager and I *demand* to see him!" There were hushed murmurs again, sounds of a scuffle, and then Kimberly burst through the door of the hospital room, stopping short as she did.

"JAX!!" She turned back to the doorway where James now stood, his face clearly showing his annoyance. "But you just said....." She looked back at Jax, back to James, back at Jax again to point at him, and then back to James. "....But he said.....he said you were....."

"Kimberly, Kimberly," James drawled, shaking his head. He closed the door behind him, but not before giving some quiet instructions to a large man who was obviously a WSB operative. When he finally looked back at her, he put his hands on his hips. "I’ll probably be the first one to tell you this, but I really think that your *mouth* may be bigger than your ….."

"JAMES!!" Brenda cut James short with a maternal look.

"…….other body parts!" he finished with a grimace.

Kimberly sputtered in righteous indignation as Jax and Brenda tried vainly to stifle their laughter. Monica cleared her throat. "Well, folks, I can see that we’re far past the limit on visitors here, so I’ll be going." She made some quick notes in the chart but then James stopped her at the door on the way out.

"Make sure that Jax’s chart doesn’t become public knowledge, Monica," he said tersely. "We want everyone still to think that Jax is hovering near death."

"I know, James," Monica answered, flipping the chart shut and clasping it to her chest. "I’m using a fictitious name on this chart and keeping it locked in my desk until you notify me otherwise." She gave Jax and Brenda one last smile and then exited the room as Kimberly finally found her voice again.

"Why does SHE get to know what’s going on and I don’t?" Kimberly inclined her head in the direction that Monica had gone. "In fact," she said, tapping her toe briskly, "why does *everyone* seem to be in the loop around here except me?"

"Because we only put the "loop," as you call it, together about 30 minutes ago, Kimmy," James answered acidly. He walked over to Jax’s bed and shook hands with his brother-in-law. "How ‘ya feelin’?"

"I’ve been better," Jax answered, shifting in the bed and wincing again. "Have you seen Angie?"

"I just came from the recovery room. She’s still pretty groggy but she wants to know how many sick days she gets!"

"None, if I have any say about it," Jax growled. "I’ll have all of her office equipment moved to the house until she’s better." Then his face dropped. "Although, I suppose I’ll have to go out and buy all new stuff first, won’t I?"

Brenda shivered and hugged Jax as tightly as his ribs would allow. She looked at James and smiled, reaching out one hand to grasp his. "I haven’t had a chance to thank you yet -- for taking care of him." Tears welled up in her eyes.

"No thanks necessary." James clasped her hand warmly for a moment and leaned forward as though he were tempted to hug her, but then at the last minute he backed away and went to the window of the room, pulling the drapes. "We really need to discuss our strategy for tonight, though."

"What strategy for tonight?" Brenda looked back and forth between James and Jax and her face grew pale. "You’re not going to let him go to the speaking engagement tonight, are you? Not after someone just tried to kill him today!"

Kimberly rose to her feet. "But he *has* to go. It’s his last appearance before the election!" She undulated towards the bed and caressed the bandage on Jax’s forehead. "There are a lot of voters who don’t make up their minds until the last minute, and this sympathy thing could go a long way for us."

"OK -- THAT’S IT!" Brenda’s vehemence made Jax’s jaw drop. "You’ve pushed my husband and my family around enough for the past two months. My husband was almost killed this afternoon, and I’m not about to let you parlay his wounds into some kind of sicko public relations stunt!!" Brenda was rising from the bed, steaming towards Kimberly like a locomotive, but Jax managed to snag her at the last minute.

"Now, ladies," he said, "let’s all stay calm here, shall we?" Kimberly crossed her arms and tapped her toe while Brenda sank back onto the bed, still breathing heavily. "I think we should let James explain exactly what he’s got planned."

James perched on the end of Jax’s bed. "The first thing we all need to assume after today’s little fiasco is that the stalker is going to be pretty angry that he didn’t accomplish what he set out to do."

"The stalker? You think *he* was the one who bombed Jax’s office?" Brenda shook her head in confusion. "But I thought we had decided that he always struck when Jax and I were *together*. I was at the Port Charles Hotel this afternoon."

Kimberly grudgingly nodded her agreement with Brenda’s thinking. "Personally, I thought it was probably some political wacko, out to make a big name for himself by killing the candidate the day before the election."

James shook his head strongly. "Nope. Both wrong." He shifted position, pulling his knee up under him on the bed. "Let’s remember that Jax wasn’t the only one up there this afternoon. My forensics agents have been over the place already and their initial findings are that some pretty sophisticated timers were used on the explosives. The stalker had this thing set for some time, and was just waiting for the right moment to push the plunger."

"When he could kill the most people on his hit list?" Brenda shuddered a little.

"Exactly. Now it’s possible that he saw Jax and I enter the building, but only got a partial view of Angie. We all know that she’s passed for you before, Brenda. Times when you wanted to divert the press early in the campaign." Brenda nodded. "So, he probably thought that he was getting the two birds he wanted most, and I was just icing on the cake."

"But by now, he knows that it wasn’t me. It was Angie." Brenda looked at Jax. "So if he’s out to get both of us, and he thinks Jax is as good as dead thanks to your dramatics......" She looked at James with wide eyes.

"He still has to take care of you." James rose to his feet. "Which is why I want Brenda to show up in Jax’s place tonight at the dedication."

"Like bloody h*ll she will!" Jax exploded. "That’s making her into a sitting duck! I won’t have her used for bait, James!"

"Brenda will be perfectly safe, Jax," James assured him. "She’ll be outfitted with a bullet-proof vest and we’ll have plain-clothes operatives all around her. But we need to do this to draw the stalker out or we’ll never be able to put him away." He looked back and forth between Jax and Brenda. "It’s our best hope of ending this nightmare once and for all."

Brenda inhaled shakily. "He’s right. Let’s do it."

Jax reached out to take her hand and pull her back to him. "You don’t have to do this, sweetie." He looked daggers at James. "I hate putting her life on the line like this."

"Jax, she’s not only your wife," James said, his voice cracking once, "she’s.....she’s my sister." Brenda saw just the faint glimmer of tears in James’ eyes before he quickly wiped them away. "Do you really think I would ever let her do this if I thought there was a chance she could get hurt?"

Jax quickly shook his head no. James nodded, and then looked at Kimberly. "OK, then I need you to show me the plans for tonight’s speech. We’ll need to re-write it for Brenda and throw in some references to make it look like Jax is still near death."

"You mean, I get to do the spy stuff too?" Kimberly squealed. Her bosom bounced with excitement as she went to her briefcase and pulled out a sheaf of papers. "I’ve always wanted to be like....Miss Moneypenny!"

Jax cast James a wicked grin. "Well, Kimberly, I’ll bet if you do a good job on this one, James could put in a good word for you with Robert Scorpio. Have you ever thought of joining the WSB?"

Kimberly never saw the gesture James gave Jax behind his back, but Jax and Brenda both shared a hug and smile as they laid out the plan that they hoped would restore sanity and peace to their lives.

Beams from huge klieg lights lit the sky above downtown Port Charles as Brenda stood nervously in the wings of the renovated theater. She was rubbing her arms and staring down at her feet when James came up behind her and put his hand on her shoulder, startling her. "You OK? Having second thoughts?"

Brenda shook her head and returned a weak smile. "Second thoughts? No. OK?" She laughed a little. "Now *that’s* another matter entirely."

James put a finger to an earplug in his right ear. "There’s nothing for you to worry about. I’m in touch with other agents that are spread throughout the theater and I’ll be right up there on the stage with you. I had our WSB explosives guys sweep the theater before you arrived, and it’s totally clean." He grasped Brenda’s shoulders. "You *know* I would never ask you to do anything that I thought was seriously dangerous, Bren. I …..well, Jo and Jaz….." He stared down at his feet and cleared his throat awkwardly.

Brenda smiled and pulled James towards her for a hug. "I know, James. You don’t have to say it."

Kimberly appeared from the other side of the stage, a stack of papers in her hand. "They’re just about ready for you onstage, Brenda," she said, glancing back over her shoulder. "Are you ready for me to introduce you?"

Brenda nodded. James caught Kimberly by the arm as she spun to go back out of the wings. "Now remember, Kimmy, no deviations from the script we wrote. No adlibbing. Brenda’s life depends on it. Got it?"

"Duh!!?? Yes, Jamesssss," Kimberly hissed. "I understand *perfectly*." She turned her back on them, flipping her blonde hair over her shoulder as she did and smacking James across the face with it.

A polite smattering of applause was heard as Kimberly made her way to the podium. "Ladies and gentlemen, as many of you already know, our featured speaker this evening, Mr. Jasper Jacks, was involved in a serious accident this afternoon at his office." Kimberly gripped the podium dramatically, tears beginning to glint in her eyes. "Even now, Mr. Jacks is barely clinging to life at General Hospital. But since this docks project is so important to her husband, Mrs. Brenda Jacks has graciously agreed to come and say a few words to you in his place." Kimberly turned to the wing. "May I present to you, Mrs. Jasper Jacks."

Brenda walked onto the stage to a thunderous standing ovation. She smiled bravely as hundreds of flashbulbs went off, trying not to think that any moment she could feel a bullet ripping into her body. She put her hands out to try to stop the ovation and it died as everyone resumed their seats. "Thank you, Kimberly," she said graciously, nodding towards the blonde. James took up a place behind and to the right of Brenda.

Brenda tried to control her shaking hands as she smoothed the sheets of paper in front of her. "First of all, on behalf on my husband and myself, I want to extend Port Charles’ most sincere thanks to Mrs. Betsy Barrington-Bates and her husband, Andy." She smiled at a couple in the front row of the auditorium. "Your mother should be proud of you, Betsy. By contributing the funds necessary to turn this grand old theater from an eyesore into a sparkling jewel of the theater district, you’ve carried on her tradition of bringing glamour and elegance to the Port Charles waterfront."

Brenda glanced around the theater as Betsy and Andy Bates rose from their seats and accepted the applause. Chandeliers glowed and the crystal prisms that decorated them sparked fire as the lights came from somewhere in the balcony region of the theater. Although the renovations would allow first-run movies to be shown at the theater, it was also equipped with a functional stage and lighting area so that plays and musicals could take a turn.

As the applause slowed and Betsy and her husband resumed their places, Brenda continued. "One of the causes that is near and dear to Jax’s heart is the renovation of the Port Charles docks. He was truly looking forward to appearing here tonight…" Her breath caught in her throat and she looked down at the podium for a moment, appearing to try to get a grip on her emotions. "….excuse me….I’m sorry…" Brenda apologized, and a ripple of murmurs went through the audience until a voice rang out from the middle of the auditorium.

"You were supposed to be with him this afternoon, Mrs. Jacks."

Brenda’s eyes immediately were drawn to the darkened audience as she looked up. "Excuse me? Is someone talking to me?"

James began looking around, his eyes darting towards the balcony, his hand going to his breast pocket. "Start bringing up the house lights, slowly," he growled into the cordless microphone attacked to his shirt collar.

"You were supposed to die too, Brenda. Why weren’t you with your husband?"

Panicked cries were starting to sound from the audience and as the lights got brighter, a man suddenly rose to his feet about halfway back. As he lifted both of his hands up to chest height, the theater lights reflected off a lethal-looking handgun aimed at Brenda’s chest.

"EVERYONE STAY CALM!!" Brenda tried to shout above the cries of terror in the audience and she gripped the podium tightly. "Please – don’t panic!!"

"NO – Don’t panic." The gunman moved slowly out to the center aisle as people who had been sitting next to him vaulted over the rows to give him clear passage. "I’m not interested in anyone but Mrs. Jacks. Nobody else is going to get hurt."

As the man walked slowly down the aisle and got closer to the stage, Brenda gasped. "Is that…..are you……?"

The man got about 20 feet from the stage and held up the weapon to point it directly at Brenda. "Why did you have to do it, Brenda? Why did you have to ruin my life?"

To be continued……