The minute the gunman had risen to his feet, James was issuing soft commands through the microphone and headset he was wearing to agents throughout the theater. As the gunman had moved closer to the stage, James had moved to stand almost directly behind Brenda.

When the stalker was about 20 feet from the stage, he stopped 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?"

"Is that…..is that you? Stanley?" Brenda’s voice had lost some of its fear and had turned almost maternal.

But the stalker had chosen that moment to notice James’s movements behind Brenda. The gun in his hand started to tremble with his nervousness. "Tell him to move away from you, Brenda!" When she pretended ignorance, he motioned behind her with his weapon. "The bodyguard guy – the other one who didn’t die today."

James immediately raised his hands to shoulder level and moved to the right of Brenda. He motioned for Kimberly and other officials assembled onstage to get behind their chairs. "OK – I’m moving. Don’t get excited, man. We’re all doing exactly what you tell us to do."

The stalker began taking deep breaths and his hands stopped trembling. "That’s better. That’s much better."

"It IS you!" Brenda’s eyes were wide as her memory placed his face. "Stanley Burnowski!"

"You remember me?" The stalker’s voice grew almost child-like.

"Of *course* I remember you, Stanley," Brenda said softly. "You played the drums for The Night Hawks."

"That’s right," he replied wistfully. Stanley almost seemed to go into a dreamlike state. "Peter played the electric piano, Denny played the bass guitar, and Tom – well, Tom played lead guitar and sang." He smiled crookedly. "Tom always had the most talent and all the girls loved him, but you used to say that you thought *I* had the most charisma."

"Well, you *did*, Stanley," Brenda returned, glancing over at James who nodded for her to continue talking to him. "I told you that when we first signed The Night Hawks to L&B."

"You gave us our first real break in the business, Brenda," Stanley reminisced. "You let us cut that demo record for no fee and then you even let us play warm-up for Eddie Maine at a few of his concerts."

"I remember! You guys almost got more applause than Eddie did at that concert at Wilmington, remember?" When Brenda looked over at James, he made a motion with his hand for her to continue taking the man on a trip down memory lane. But James didn’t realize that Stanley’s nostalgia had just run out.

"I remember!" Stanley said, his face alight with happiness. But then it abruptly fell and he clenched the gun more tightly in his hands. "But then you had to ruin it all. Right after that concert, you sent our lives down the toilet!"

"No, Stanley, I didn’t do anything like that!" Brenda argued, her voice not betraying her fear. "I just…..wait a minute…." Brenda glanced to the side and then back at the gunman. "….you guys went on that Eddie Maine tour, and I thought we had you booked into three more concerts after that! And then you were supposed to come back and cut a CD!"

"Yeah – we were *supposed* to!" he replied angrily. "But instead, you got *married*! To that awful Australian guy!"

"Yes, that’s right," Brenda replied. Her fears had taken a back seat for the moment as she tried desperately to remember what she had ever done to this man to make him want to kill her. "Jax and I got married, but The Night Hawks still went on the tour. And then, when you came back...."

".....then, when we came back, you were setting things up for us to cut that CD. But another tour came up, and you sent us on that first."

"Right." Brenda moved to the side of the podium, out in the open, and she heard James’ gasp of disapproval. She turned briefly back to him and gave him a "I can do this" look. "Which means that I never ruined your career. I gave you *more* public exposure."

"Yes, you did, Mrs. Jacks," Stanley sneered, particularly her name. "But there was just one little problem. When we got back from the second tour, we were all psyched to do the CD. Tom had written some new music with Denny, and Pete had even included a drum solo in one of the numbers. We were in top form. We even had our own groupies, for God’s sake!"

Brenda’s face grew increasingly pale as Stanley recited their history. "And then, after Jo was born, I took off for a few weeks. Lois had just had her first baby, but she assured me she could handle things without me."

Stanley gripped the handle of the pistol more firmly. "That’s right, Mrs. Jacks. But the thing was, Lois never understood us the way that you did. She only wanted that Eddie Maine guy to record. She just kept pushing us off the calendar and telling us that you’d set everything up for us when you got back from maternity leave. She was too busy with her own kid to watch out for our interests."

"But I *did* set things up for you!" Brenda’s face brightened. "The Night Hawks were specifically requested as a warm-up band for that round-the-world tour that Miguel was doing. And you went, and you were terrific!" She clasped her hands enthusiastically.

"Yeah, but we weren’t as good as that Miguel guy," Stanley answered. "You were the only one who ever appreciated us the way we deserved. At least -- you did, until you had to go and get pregnant again."

"I got pregnant with Jaz. That’s about the same time that Lois was pregnant again and we decided...." Brenda’s hands flew to her mouth. "Oh, my God....we decided that we’d hire a management company to run L&B while we both did the mommy thing."

"NOW you’re beginning to get the picture, Mrs. Jacks. When we got back from the tour, nobody at L&B gave a d*mn about us anymore. At least Lois used to be civil to us. But instead, some wet-behind-the-ears kid who didn’t know a diminished seventh chord from a hole in the ground was telling us we just weren’t good enough to record! Suddenly, there was no room on the L&B label for us anymore."

"Now, wait," Brenda argued. "We went through a lot of trouble checking out management companies before we picked that one. And they couldn’t just cut you off with nothing. You had a contract."

Stanley’s fingers began to tremble again. "Oh, sure....we had a contract. They started sending us to play gigs at airport lounges. Do you *know* what it feels like to play to a bunch of zoned-out business travelers once you’ve opened for Miguel Morez, Mrs. Jacks? Do you *know* what it does to your ego to find out that the receptionist at your record label doesn’t even know who you are, much less recognize the name of your band?"

"But why didn’t you *tell* me, Stanley?" Brenda pleaded. "I could have talked to them, or had Lois give them a call."

"Yeah, right," Stanley laughed bitterly. "Just try to get through to the lady of the manor when she’s out with her two precious children or her adoring husband." Brenda winced at his words. "We tried, Mrs. Jacks. We left messages everywhere that somebody would talk to us."

"Stanley, I’m so sorry....." Brenda just shook her head. "I don’t know what to say."

"Neither do I, Mrs. Jacks," Stanley returned. "I don’t know how to tell the grocery store that I can’t pay for the bill because my residual checks stopped. I don’t know how to explain to the car dealer why I can’t make the payments on the Mazarati because we’re not playing gigs any longer." He gripped the pistol tightly, his fingers clenching and unclenching. "It’s all your fault, Brenda -- you and that husband of yours. If you hadn’t married him and had kids, you would still be in charge at L&B. The Night Hawks would still be together. I would still have a life."

"Stanley, I’m sorry that things turned out that way, but it’s not too late," Brenda appealed as she moved to stand in front of James. "I’m sure that if I call them at L&B and tell them that it’s my specific order to have you on contract, they won’t countermand me."

Stanley shook his head as tears started to run down his cheeks. "It’s no good, Mrs. Jacks. Tom went solo last year and is doing dinner theater somewhere in Iowa or Idaho or one of those "I" states. Denny....." Stan snorted in disgust. ".....well, last I heard, Denny is playing Goofy down at Disney World on contract. Pete got married himself and started a family. I think he teaches music to little kids somewhere."

"You could do that too, Stanley!" Brenda said with enthusiasm. "I could make some calls to some music schools....I’m sure they could use a good instructor for drums." As Brenda distracted Stan, James was speaking in a low voice once again into the microphone in his pocket.

Stan shook his head, his hand shaking badly. "It’s no good, Mrs. Jacks. My life is over. I was only happy when I was in front of an audience. You and your *precious* family took that away from me. And now..." He pointed the gun at Brenda and cocked it. "........now, I have to take everything away from you."

Brenda put her hands up to her mouth but then suddenly she turned towards the center of the balcony. "Oh, my God!"

"Don’t pull that with me, Mrs. Jacks. I’m not falling for it. There’s no cops here tonight."

Brenda’s knees began to shake and she went completely white. "No -- it’s.......JAX!!!"

A voice came from the darkness of the balcony area. "You missed me, Stan. You failed again." The Australian accent confirmed his identity.

Stan’s hand shook even harder but he still didn’t look away from Brenda. "No! That can’t be! You’re supposed to be almost dead!!"

"They lied, Stan! Just like everyone’s been lying to you all your life! I’m still alive.......See?" There was a faint click and the house lights in the balcony came on to show Jax standing in the center, smiling, his arms out triumphantly to his sides.

Jax’s jubilant boasting was more than Stanley could take. He whirled around and pointed the gun at Jax. "You lousy Aussie! It’s all your fault!! Why won’t you just DIE???!!!!!"

As Stan began to squeeze the trigger, there were loud pops as bright cannon-style spotlights came on from all corners of the balcony. Brenda had to shield her eyes as they blinded her, and the effect in the audience area was even more blinding. James had counted on it.

Stan screamed and put his arm up to shield his eyes just as James vaulted off the stage and tackled him to the ground. There was a short scuffle, but in less than a minute, James had Stan pinned to the ground on his stomach and was handcuffing his hands behind him.

"Don’t hurt him!" Brenda was shaking and tears were flowing freely, but she still was concerned for Stan. He had always been the most sensitive of The Night Hawks. She never realized that his feelings ran that deeply.

As soon as James rose to his feet and pulled Stan up with him, the audience gave him a thunderous ovation. WSB agents rushed to assist James and surrounded the suspect. Brenda turned around and to her surprise, Kimberly was pushing a chair over to her so that she could finally sit down before her knees gave way. As she sank into the chair, Kimberly leaned down to her. "You did good, kid. I never could have done what you just did. You’ve got more guts than most Congressmen I know."

Surprisingly, Brenda began to laugh through her tears. "Actually, Kimberly, I’m not so sure that’s a compliment!!"

Once Stanley was safely in WSB custody, James rushed up to the stage to Brenda. "Are you OK?"

She nodded. "Where’s Jax?" She shifted so that she could look up into the balcony area where he had appeared earlier and started laughing. "Are those your new recruits?"

All the house lights in the theater had been brought up the minute James tackled Stanley and had him secured in handcuffs. Even the balcony area was brightly lit, and the spotlights that had blinded Stan temporarily were shut down. As Brenda shook her head and smiled, Grandma J stood behind one of the spotlights and waved at her, giving her a resounding thumbs-up. A man who appeared to be a WSB agent in a drab suit stood next to Josie, but she quickly pushed him aside to stand proudly next to the spotlight and pat it, as though it was a dog who had done a good job. "I couldn’t have done it without my backup crew," James laughed. Paul and several other WSB agents appeared at the other spotlights, and Josie looked at them hungrily and then gave Brenda another thumb’s up and a naughty wink.

Just as Brenda was beginning to feel the stirrings of panic again, the audience broke into thunderous applause as Jax walked onto the stage from one of the wings. Brenda rose from her chair as tears clouded her eyes again. She ran over to him and hugged him as tightly as his bruised ribs would allow. "It’s over now, isn’t it? Really over?"

Jax nodded and stroked her hair gently as flash bulbs exploded around them. "It’s over, love. No more threats." He tipped her chin up to meet his gaze. "I told you I would keep you safe and I did." Their lips met for a brief kiss. As flash bulbs lit again, reporters scattered throughout the theater were sure they had their picture for the front page the following day.

Jax held Brenda to his side as he moved towards the podium. "Ladies and gentlemen," he began slowly, "the reports of my near-demise were obvious exaggerations." He smiled and winced as he put his hand to the bandage over his eye. "I apologize to the good citizens of Port Charles, but this ruse was necessary so that we could force the hand of the stalker who has been terrorizing my family for months now. Should you see fit to elect me as your Representative, I promise that this will be the last time I ever intentionally deceive the citizens of this district or any district in our fair state of New York."

Thunderous applause again greeted Jax’s words. He waved once for the cameras and then put his arm around Brenda. "And now, if you’ll excuse us, I think I just want to take my wife home and get a good night’s sleep for a change!" There was a ripple of laughter and then another ovation as Jax took Brenda off the stage, followed by Kimberly.

"Pleeeeeease, daddy?" Jo sat primly in her chair as Jax dodged Jaz’s flying hands. "Pleeeeease can I just have Cocoa Booms for breakfast today like I have at Gramma J’s house?"

Jax sighed as she batted her eyes and stuck out her lower lip in an exact imitation of her mother. "Only because I’m not up to full strength this morning, munchkin," Jax replied. "Louise?" The housekeeper appeared in the doorway to the kitchen at Jax’s call. "Would you please bring Miss Jo some …." He looked at her once more and she folded her hands in silent, dramatic prayerful fashion. "……Cocoa Booms," he continued distastefully, "for her breakfast."

"Yes, sir, Mr. Jacks," she smiled.

"And some for me, too," Brenda added from the hallway as she rounded the corner. Louise nodded and went to the kitchen as Brenda put her hands on her hips. "So …whose idea was it to let me sleep in this morning?"

Jax tried to rise from his chair but Brenda got to him first and put her hand on his shoulder, pushing him back down into a seated position. "I just thought you might like some rest after all the stress you had yesterday, love," Jax explained after she gave him a quick "good morning" kiss.

Jo nodded seriously. "And daddy told me and Jaz he would feed us our breakfast," she volunteered. "But he’s letting me have Cocoa Booms, and I even get to drink the milk out of the bowl when I’m done like Uncle Jerry does!!"

Brenda’s eyes widened. "Table manners like Uncle Jerry?" She fanned herself as she sank into a chair. "Good grief, Jax, I think I’d rather have the stalker back than suffer through that!"

"Uncle Jerry has good manners!" Jo cried as Jax raised one eyebrow skeptically. "He knows lotsa stuff about different countries and how they eat, too!"

"I know I’m going to hate myself for asking this, munchkin, but what does Uncle Jerry know about manners in other countries?" Jax directed Jaz’s spoon back into his cereal bowl, just as he was pretending it was an airplane and Jax’s head was the landing strip.

"Well, he told me and Brooke that when you’re in Rabia and you want to tell the cook she did a good job, you should….." Jo hesitated and she looked at her mother and bit her lip. "…..you should burp real loud," Jo finished, deciding to take a chance since her father had asked the question in the first place.

"That’s true, Jo." James leaned against the doorway, his arms crossed and a smile on his face. He was wearing some black jeans, a cream-colored turtleneck, and a black leather jacket. His hair was mussed and his eyes were bloodshot, but altogether, he looked more relaxed than he had in weeks. "And the louder the burp, the more it means you liked the food!"

"Remind me to put you and Uncle Jerry at the children’s table next Thanksgiving," Brenda said with a smile, but then she pulled out a chair next to her. "Have you eaten breakfast yet?"

"I had some coffee at the office earlier, but there’s always room for another cup," James nodded as Louise came into the dining room with a fresh pot of coffee, cups, and a large plate of donuts. "Aha!" James grinned at Brenda, "I see your mommy has requested her favorite breakfast, too!" He reached for a chocolate Long John on the top of the stack, only to have Brenda grab the same donut.

Brenda smiled at her brother. "More like my husband decided we all deserve comfort food for breakfast after such a trying day yesterday." Jo glanced up at her with questions in her eyes that Brenda preferred not to answer at that point. "Ummmm, Louise," Brenda said, moving to take a different donut as James nodded his thanks, "could you please set Miss Jo up in the family room to watch Rugrats and take Jaz out to the kitchen for his bottle?"

"Yay!!!!" Jo didn’t have to be told twice. She jumped up and ran from the room as a harried Louise followed with her cereal and milk. A few minutes later, Louise returned and scooped Jaz out of his chair, but not before he had successfully launched a spoonful of cereal at Jax’s hair.

Jax was still dabbing at his hair and laughing when Brenda cleared her throat loudly. "So…..has Stan confessed to being our stalker?"

James swallowed a mouthful of coffee and nodded. "Yep. Signed a statement late last night. Basically he said the same thing he had told you in the theater – that he blamed Jax and the kids for taking you away from L&B and ruining his life."

"The man obviously needs help," Jax said quietly. "Now that I saw him and heard him talk about the old days, I remember him." He shook his head. "I never would have figured him for the violent kind."

"He’s extremely intelligent," James said, reaching for another donut and the coffee pot to pour himself a fresh cup. "No dummy could have put together that set-up in the helicopter or the bomb that blew apart Jax’s office."

"He was working on a degree in chemical engineering in college." Brenda shook her head sadly. "That’s where he met the other guys in the band. They used to play for a lot of the university coffee houses, and one night Lois and I went in one to scout for talent. Lois wasn’t too impressed with the group, but I thought they had a lot of potential."

"Stan apparently had a secret crush on you, Brenda," James added, to Brenda’s shock. "Part of his revenge against Jax was because he wanted to marry you himself."

"But what about that slasher in the restaurant?" Jax asked, sitting back in his chair and wiping at his hair once more. "If Stan was so impoverished after losing his career at L&B, how could he afford to hire a hit man?"

"Apparently he hocked everything he had, including some antique drum sets he had collected and some signed copies of original sheet music," James replied. "He was living in some old flea bag hotel." James shook his head again and snorted. "You know, he told us that he fully expected Brenda to realize it was him. He thought she would realize how cruel she had been to him in the past and that she would leave Jax and the kids to come be with him."

Brenda finally rose from her seat with a smile and went over to Jax, running her fingers through his hair. "Actually, honey, you don’t know how many times lately I’ve been tempted to do just that. After all, a man who plays the drums is infinitely more appealing than a man who wears strained rice cereal for hair gel!"

Jax pulled her into his lap. "Oh, so you want appealing, do you Mrs. Jacks?" He nuzzled her neck playfully as James rolled his eyes and rose from his seat.

"OK, I get the hint. Time for me to disappear." But Brenda came up like a shot out of Jax’s lap, her eyes clearly showing her distress.

"James, now that the stalker is behind bars, will you……I mean, do you have to….." Brenda chewed her lower lip as she remained seated in Jax’s lap.

James sighed and put his hands in his pockets. "Frankly, Brenda, I haven’t decided yet what I’m going to do. Technically, the assignment is over, but I spoke with Robert this morning and he wants me to stick with you all until after the election. Just in case there are any other wackos out there who decide to try to take out the candidate at the last minute."

Jax struggled to keep a straight face. Brenda had quickly fallen asleep the night before, but when he heard her tossing and turning later, it didn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out why. He had placed a call to Robert earlier that morning, and was thankful that James didn’t put two and two together and expose his meddling.

Brenda looped her arms around Jax’s neck loosely. "So, I guess all that’s left is the voting?" Her face dropped. "Don’t tell me you have to make any more appearances today!"

"Nope – school’s out and I’m officially free," Jax replied with a smile. "Although I told Monica I would check back with her at the hospital – just to make sure that no other bumps or bruises showed up from the accident." He sighed. "And I suppose I should start looking for temporary office space."

"I’m going by the hospital now to see Angie," James offered as he moved towards the door. "I’ll be back later to check with you," he nodded to Jax, "in case you want to go scouting those office spaces."

James left the room and Brenda let loose with an audible sigh. "How are we going to keep him in our lives, Jax?" She lay her head delicately on his shoulder. "I just found him, and I don’t want to lose him."

"I have a feeling that down deep, he doesn’t want to lose you either, sweetie," Jax replied, cuddling her as closely as his ribs would allow. "You seem to have that effect on people who love you." Brenda smiled at her husband and then the two of them shared the kind of morning kiss that they deserved.

Loud noise almost prevented the anchor from being heard on the broadcast. "And so, Tom, we’re expecting the candidate and his family to appear any moment here. Early returns and exit polls continue to show Jasper Jacks with a commanding lead over his opponent, Carly Roberts Morgan."

The voice of the studio anchor was heard as the camera shot continued to show the roving reporter. "Do we know yet if Mr. Jacks has heard from Mrs. Morgan with any kind of concession statement?"

"As I said, Tom, we expect that when Mr. Jacks appears in the ballroom tonight, it will be to announce that he’s received that phone call and to officially declare victory in his quest for the office." The reporter put her finger to her earphone and looked around towards a small stage at the front of the room. "I see Mr. Jacks’ campaign manager, Kimberly Forsythe, speaking with several reporters now. I’ll try to work my way up there and see if we can get something more definite on when Mr. Jacks and his family might be arriving."

The television station cut back to the studio for other news of the day. The bright lights of the television cameras went out, but it was almost un-noticeable in the large room with all the din and excitement. A large crowd of well-dressed supporters had gathered to congratulate the newest representative. They had been fed Chef Slay’s best appetizers and had been drinking some of the finest wines that the campaign budget could afford.

She counted on the noise and confusion. As Veronica Wilding Barrett made her way into the ballroom, nobody stopped her. She had found an appropriate dress at a thrift shop so she blended in nicely. She even had found a matching evening bag at the same shop that conveniently hid her pearl-handled revolver.

The new owners of the first house she and Harlan had occupied when Brenda was a child were so hospitable. They never gave it a second thought when Veronica had dropped by the day before, wanting a chance to see the old house one more time. She shook her head at their gullibility. They gladly allowed her the time alone in the attic, giving her time to find the loose board behind which the gun had been hidden for all those years. Harlan never suspected that she knew about it.

Veronica patted the purse lovingly. With all the confusion, it would be easy to execute her plan. She would get even for all of the disgrace and embarrassment Harlan had ever put her through.

"Ladies and gentlemen," Kimberly shouted into the microphone, "I’m honored to present…….Mr. and Mrs. Jasper Jacks!"

Jax and Brenda appeared in the doorway of the ballroom as thousands of flashbulbs exploded. They waved to the gathered crowd, but Veronica hung closer to the stage. It would give her a better vantage point for when she got the chance to carry out the plan she had been hatching for so long.

Revenge would be sweet.

To be continued……