Chapter 7- Making the Trip Back

Mid-morning sunshine cascaded through the windows of the master suite of Jax’s Malibu estate. A gentle ocean breeze drifted through the gauze curtains carrying sounds of the gulls and the sea, and turned Jax’s attention from the sleeping Brenda, to the sweeping view of the ocean stretched out in front of him. Storm clouds brewed in his eyes, as they clouded with confusion, worry, and doubt. Raking a hand through his golden hair, Jax recalled the first time he had really seen Malibu, when he had seen it through Brenda’s eyes. He walked to the balcony, watching wave after wave rise to meet the shore, fulfilling their destiny in a single, solitary, burst of water, foam, and inevitable beauty. Brenda had returned to him the same way, the only way.... "You know what I really love about the ocean? How it’s so smooth and calm on the surface, but you know that there’s this whole other world going on underneath...."

Jax turned toward the bed, and the breath surged out of him, as it had every time he looked at her; Brenda gave new meaning to "taking his breath away." After she fell asleep in his arms on the pool deck last night, he had selfishly brought her to their bed. He needed to feel her in his arms, to hear her shallow breathing, and gentle, steady heartbeat. It was the first night since Brenda had gone that he hadn’t had the dream, that he hadn't relived the nightmare of her funeral, that she hadn’t come back to him as a ghost. But she *had* come back. Jax had studied her, in her sleep, since sleep was no longer a comfort to him. It had once been the only place for them to be together, and now that Brenda was alive, and real, he refused to abandon a second of their time together.

He had reluctantly gotten out of bed, earlier in the morning, to place a call to Jerry. Having heard, from Charles, about the two goons in pursuit of Brenda, Jax chose his words carefully, sure that his phones had been tapped. As much as it hurt, he had no choice but to turn to Jerry for help, this time.

Jerry had answered the phone on the first ring, and Jax could hear Bobbie and Lucas in the background. "Jerry, its Jax." "Jax...." Bobbie’s head swiveled around, and she escorted Lucas outside, to give Jerry privacy on his long-awaited call from Jax. "What, what’s going on, Jax?" Jax took a deep breath; this had to work. "I need help, Jerry. I really do." Jerry’s heart thundered in his chest. "Where are you, Jax. I’m on my way." "No, Jerry. I’m in Malibu, but not for long. I’m-" "Jax-what? What is going on?" "Jerry, it’s Brenda."

From their own beach house, Sonny and Miranda listened closely to Jax and Jerry’s conversation. When Jax had mentioned Brenda, Miranda had taken the gun from her purse, and put it to Sonny’s temple. "If he’s with her, Sonny....If your little whore has come back from the grave to him-" Miranda’s threats were interrupted by the sound of breaking glass.

Jerry’s hands had begun shaking so bad that he had lost his grip on the glass of juice. "Brenda, Jax? What about Brenda?" "Jerry, I saw her. Last night on the beach, I saw her." Miranda put her finger on the trigger, and watched Sonny cringe in cowardice. "Miranda, don’t. Hear the man out. Maybe it’s just his mind-"

"It’s just your mind, Jax. Playing tricks on you." "No, Jerry. I don’t think so. I know what I saw." "Good-bye, Mr. Corinthos. Parting is such sweet sorrow." Before she could pull the trigger, Jax’s voice came through the transmitter; she could hear that he could no longer hold back the tears. "I’ve seen her before, Jerry. Every night, every day, everywhere I look, she’s there."

Sonny breathed a sigh of relief, as Miranda lowered the gun, and Jax continued. "I think I’m losing my mind, Jerry. I do." Jerry managed to sit down on the sofa, unable to stop his shaking. "Jax, Jax-Listen to me. Bobbie and I are on our way. She’ll check you out, okay? And we’ll bring a doctor-the one that Brenda saw? What was her name?"

Back in Malibu, Jax brushed a stray hair from Brenda’s face, and grinned; Jerry always had been easy to bait when it came to him. He sniffed, "Gail. Gail Baldwin." "Baldwin. Got it. We’re on our way to Malibu." "No, Jerry. I’m not staying here. I’m working on a J-9, and I’m heading to the mountains."

In Port Charles, Jerry was confused. With the abolition of J&J Jacks, there was no longer any use for their business lingo, like J-9, a decoy. A decoy. It dawned on Jerry, and before he could ask any more questions of Jax, the line was dead. "Bobbie, get in here."

That was 45 minutes ago, and with everything packed, Jax, Brenda, and Charles headed to the airport. Charles and Addie would be re-located until this mess was taken care of, and he and Brenda were headed as far from the mountains as possible. He only hoped Jerry could figure out his encrypted message in time.

*****

"Time? Time?" Miranda cackled. "The one thing we don’t have, Sonny. Besides *Brenda!*" "Look, Miranda. Jax is leaving. He thinks he’s going crazy, and he’s heading off to the mountains to be with his brother. It’s perfect. It’s like taking candy from Candy-Boy. He won’t even realize that she’s alive, and we’ll have her back in no time." "No, Sonny. Jax is too smart, we’re missing something." "Look, Miranda, if you’re so worried that he’s got Brenda, let’s head to whatever mountains he’s heading to, and you’ll see, Brenda will be no where in sight."

*****

"She has to be completely out of sight, Charles." Getting Brenda onto the plane was becoming more difficult. Jax’s only saving grace was that Charles and Addie’s brother, Maxwell, was Jax’s personal pilot. They were safe, for now.

Once on board, Jax bucked Brenda’s seatbelt, and as he put his arms around her, Jax could feel her relax. This had to work.

*****

"This *has* to work, Bobbie. This *has* to be what Jax means." Bobbie looked anxiously at Jerry and at Gail as they boarded the tiny plane. "Jerry, are you sure that Jax isn’t going to the mountains?" Gail knew that Jax would do anything for Brenda, or in her memory, but she didn’t understand all of the decoding and abbreviations Jerry had been spouting non-stop since they had picked her up. Preparing the jet for take-off, Jerry turned to his companions. "Simply, J-9 is what we Jacks say when we’re trying to pull a fast one on someone. If Jax said he is pulling a J-9 and going to the mountains, then the mountains are the last place we’ll find him." "Then where?" Bobbie wondered. "The farthest place from a mountain is a valley." "Yes, but-" Jerry replied, "we don’t have any valleys. What else can you tell me about mountains?" he asked, purposely baiting them. "Snow," answered Gail. "So we’re headed someplace warm," Bobbie guessed. "Mountains, "she pondered. "Snow." "Right again," said Jerry. "And what about snow? What is the complete opposite of powdery, white snow?" Gail thought for a moment as the plane taxied down the runway and took off. "Sand." "Give that woman a prize!" Jerry exclaimed. "But not just any sand. Black sand. Ladies," he said with a twinkle in his eye that masked the fear and worry in his heart, "in just a few hours, we will be landing in the most perfect paradise every imagined: an azure harbor, a black sand beach. We’re going to Kronos, and so is Jax."