Intrigue & Passion-6
by: Susan
3:00 am:
Brenda managed to regain some of her composure in the elevator. Her hands had finally stopped shaking, and the pain in her head wasn't so bad, but her emotions were boiling over. The feel of Jax's lips against hers, of his tongue, hot, wet and insistent in her mouth was threatening to bring her to her knees. Why had he kissed her?
Stepping off the elevator Brenda listened to the echo of her footsteps as she walked towards her motorcycle. Grinning as she approached it she wondered what Jax would say if he knew that she know rode a Harley. Grabbing her helmet off the handle she was about to put it on when a voice stopped her cold.
"Well, cara, I see that you still have a yen for the fast lane. "
Fear coursed through her veins instead of blood and Brenda forced herself to turn around.
"Darius, how did you find me? "
The man standing in front of her laughed and ran his thumb along her jaw before pushing her face up, roughly.
"Did you think that you could screw me over and get away with it? Did you honestly think that you had killed me at that compound in Peru? "
Darius Roan was an imposing figure of a man. He looked as dangerous as he was. At 6'4" he was built like a night club bouncer. There was a scar across his cheek
was still a nasty red and Brenda smiled to herself because she had given it to him. His hair was jet black and his eyes were a deep brown that appeared to be black when he was angry enough. And he was angry now, Brenda noted, very angry. She was in big trouble. Slowly, and as indiscreetly as possible Brenda put her hands behind her back. While he rambled on she slid the rings Jax had given her off her left hand. She knew Jax and Johnny would eventually come out of the gym. Maybe they would notice them, and know something was wrong.
"I suppose I'll have to do a better job this time. "
To cover up the clatter of her rings on the floor Brenda whipped her gun out of the holster she always wore now. Darius swore as she caught him in the arm with her first shot. She didn't get a chance for a second before she felt the sting of a bullet pierce her side. Biting a lip against the pain, she found herself being dragged to Darius.
"You little whore! "
He slapped her and then grinned as her face quickly started to bruise.
"I know that you're trying to take Sonny Corinthos down, and I know that you know he's one of my biggest suppliers. So, "
Darius grabbed her ponytail and yanked her head back. Her whimper made him laugh.
"In order to get him to give me more of what I need, I'm going to give you to him as a gift. You do know, don't you, that after the little stunt you pulled after you thought you had killed me, Sonny Corinthos now wants you out of the picture. "
Brenda gasped, both from shock and from the coldness that was seeping through her. She was losing a good bit of blood, and Darius's voice was getting dimmer.
"But perhaps, we can use you against your precious WSB, now wouldn't that be something. Knowing we have one of their most powerful agents would certainly be a good bargaining chip for us. Don't you think? "
Her teeth were chattering. The warmth that had lingered from Jax's kiss was gone and she was cold again, so very cold. She couldn't die without Jax knowing, without him knowing that she still loved him, that she always had loved him. Was he going to let her die? Brenda didn't know, but the last coherent thought she had before succumbing to the pain was of Jax, and his beautiful eyes smiling down at her.
Darius smiled as Brenda Barrett, also known as Pandora collapsed in his arms. She was going to take a nice little trip, it was going to be fun getting her to tell him all about the WSB's secrets, and she would tell him, he had wonderful ways of making people talk. He would have to convince Corinthos first, of course, so their first stop would be Port Charles. Dropping Brenda into the seat of his limo Darius watched as the doctor he had brought with him quickly staunched the flow of blood from her wound. Well, he smiled, Ms. Barrett was about to learn some very important lessons.
3:30 am
Jax and Johnny walked into the parking garage. There was an eerie silence that had both of them instinctively reaching for their weapons.
"Jax, do you smell it? "
"Yeah, blood and fear. "
He looked around.
"Not a very good thing to smell in our own parking garage. "
"No, "
Johnny agreed.
"It's a very bad thing. "
Both men kept their weapons drawn as they walked towards their cars. Jax spotted it first, the lone Harley standing a couple of spaces from his car. Frowning he wondered why it was there. As far as he knew only he, Johnny and Brenda… His eyes opened with fear. Brenda? No, Brenda didn't drive a Harley, at least she hadn't four years ago.
"Johnny. "
"Yeah Jax. "
"Whose Harley is that? "
Johnny saw what Jax was talking about and swore. Grabbing his phone he punched in some numbers as he flew to the abandoned vehicle.
"Brenda's! Shit Jax, that's Brenda's. "
Following Johnny's mad dash to the motorcycle Jax felt his heart pounding in his chest. Not again, he couldn't lose her again. Both men stopped at the scene in front of them. Brenda's gym bag was dropped on the ground, next to it was her helmet and a pool of liquid. Wincing, Johnny swiped his fingers through it and groaned when he saw red.
"Blood? "
Jax didn't think he wanted Johnny's answer. The squeezing feeling he had in his heart was enough. Brenda was in danger.
Johnny nodded and then caught sight of something sparkling under the handle of Brenda's bag. Reaching down carefully he pulled out Brenda's wedding band and her diamond. Standing up again he glanced over at Jax. He was standing with his weapon hung at his side staring down at something else on the ground.
"Johnny…"
Jax spotted the rings Johnny held and ran his fingers through his hair.
"Look at this. "
There, under Brenda's helmet was a tarot card. Looking down at it Johnny and Jax both swore. It was the death card.