by Jan
The next morning, at Jax’s insistence, their house was turned into action central until Julia could be found. Jerry, Bobbie, and Lucas had moved temporarily into John and Jane’s house, and Harlan and Katherine spent most of their time at Jax and Brenda’s. Katherine found it a relief, actually having something to do. She became Brenda’s constant companion, trying to keep her calm while Jax was working with Harlan on locating Julia.
Rather than involve the local police, Jax had pulled some strings and called in a few favors with the WSB. Although his friend, Robert Scorpio, was involved in another assignment, Robert sent some of his best operatives and equipment to help them try to find the missing woman.
Katherine came into the living room, bringing a tray of sandwiches and coffee for the men.
"Any news?"
Harlan shook his head. "Nothing. Corinthos has us just where he wants us. Waiting and scared."
Bill came over, munching on a sandwich. "Explain something to me, Harlan. If the merger is already a done deal, why can Corinthos pull this now? What can he expect to get out of it?"
Jax indicated to Harlan that he would answer Bill’s question. "Well, for one, he can give us all a great deal of stress and worry, which is certainly no good for my wife at this point in her pregnancy. I’m sure it would give him a great deal of pleasure to see something happen to our baby." He looked with concern at Brenda, who was napping on the couch. "And, although the papers have been signed, the merger isn’t official until the proper government agencies sign off on it."
"So it could still be cancelled?"
"Technically, yes. But anybody hates giving in to blackmail or extortion. And we don’t intend to now, unless we absolutely have to."
At that point, Brenda stirred. Jax went over to her, brushing her hair off her forehead. "Did you get some sleep, my love?"
Brenda wiped her eyes. "For a little while. Unfortunately, although I would have gone on sleeping, your son thinks it time to rise and shine." She placed Jax’s hand on her stomach, and he smiled when he felt the baby kick. "Any news?"
Jax shook his head. "Nothing. We’re still waiting for a call. We’re ready when it comes, though." He looked at the complicated maze of wires leading to the telephone bank.
As if by telepathy, the phone rang at that point. Jax indicated that Harlan should answer it, and the operatives picked up at the same time.
"Hello?"
"Are you missing someone?"
"Who is this?" Harlan blustered. "What have you done with my daughter?"
Jax indicated he should calm down and draw the kidnappers out so that the call could be traced. "She’s fine. But she won’t be unless you call off the merger."
"That can’t be done. The papers have been signed."
The voice was deadly. "Papers can get lost. Files can be misplaced before the merger gets approved by the government. Just make sure it happens."
"I want to speak to Julia! How do I know she’s still alive, or that you’ve even got her?"
"You can’t talk to her right now. It’s nighttime, and she’s asleep. You just have to take our word."
"Nighttime?!" Harlan exploded with a string of expletives that made Brenda blush and Katherine jump. "It’s 11 o’clock in the morning! What have you done to her?" As Harlan was about to speak into the phone again, a dial tone was heard in the room since the call was being amplified.
Harlan hid his head in his hands, and then looked up with reddened eyes at Jax. "It’s my fault – I didn’t keep them on the line long enough. I shouldn’t have blown up at them."
Katherine came over to rub Harlan’s shoulders. "Did they get a trace, Jax?"
He checked with the men at the complicated listening devices. "We didn’t have a chance to get a specific location, Mr. Jacks, but we did narrow down the field a little."
The agent moved over to the large map in the room, and Brenda watched carefully. "We can narrow it down to a 40-square-block area – roughly…" he carefully traced an area on the map as the men came over, "…here."
Jax looked at the map. "In the area near the docks. Why does that not surprise me?"
The operatives looked at Jax. "What kind of buildings are down there, Jax? Warehouses?"
"Some, but also some re-habbed studio apartments and condos. It’s a mixture of occupancies right now."
"Does Corinthos own any property down there? His penthouse?"
Harlan shook his head. "Nope. We couldn’t get that lucky, I’m afraid. Although, that area does ring a bell," he murmured. "I just can’t put my finger on it, though." He took a deep breath. "Well, we’ll just have the police go down there and start conducting a door-to-door search right away," he said with authority.
Jax sighed. "It’s not that easy, Harlan. First we have to get the warrants. Then, the kidnappers will notice us if we come in with force, pushing our way past locked doors. In the time it takes us to search an area that size, they could move her or .." He let the sentence dangle, but everyone in the room knew what he meant.
"So we’re still back to square one," Harlan said in a quiet voice. As Jax nodded and moved back over to the listening equipment, Katherine tried to rub Harlan’s back and calm his ruffled nerves.
"Honey, won’t you have something to eat?"
"Not now, Katherine. I don’t seem to have an appetite."
She was at a loss as to how to comfort him. "Why don’t you come with me and try to rest for a while? You didn’t get any sleep last night."
"I’m OK." He looked at her and smiled wanly. "How about you? Why don’t you go watch some TV with Brenda or something?"
"That’s OK. I want to stay here with you." She began rambling about things at the house that Harlan hadn’t seen in the mail, in an effort to distract him. "Oh, and I got a call from Monica Quartermaine the other day. She invited us to stay with them for a while in that condo they own in New Orleans after the baby is born."
Harlan listened to her distractedly, and then looked up. "That’s nice, but they don’t OWN a condo in New Orleans, Katherine. Their summer place is in the Hamptons."
She looked back at Harlan with determination. "No, honey, they do." He was about to argue with her again, but she stopped him. "Well, THEY don’t actually own it. The paperwork shows the owner of the condo is ELQ, but you know how that goes. A tax write-off for the corporation, and all that kind of…"
Harlan’s face grew animated, and he jumped up and grabbed Katherine in a big hug and planted a kiss on her mouth. All the people in the room stared in amazement. "Katherine, you are a genius!! If I ever tell you to shut up again, you can tell me where to stick it!"
As her mouth hung open, he ran back to the other phone. He dialed a number quickly, and his eyes were shining. "Hello, Ida? This is Harlan. Pull a file for me, quick. The one we set up for the merger with Corinthos. I need the list of all the properties titled in the name of Stoneco."
Harlan looked at Jax, who was staring at him like he had lost his mind. "I’m always telling Ida to throw out old files. I pray to God that she didn’t listen to me this time – the old bat’s just as stubborn as I am!"
"But, Harlan," Jax said gently, "what does any of this have to do with Julia?"
"When I was planning to merge with Sonny, I had him prepare a listing of all of his assets. That included a listing of the properties he owned, both individually and corporately. Fortunately, his greed outweighed his good sense, and he listed ALL the properties, including those owned by dummy corporations he had set up."
As they waited for the secretary’s answer, Jax prodded. "And this Stoneco…"
"Is a dummy corporation for Corinthos. He named it after some protégé of his who died a few years back. He saw it as a memorial to the kid, but more importantly, a way to distance the corporation from himself. If I hadn’t asked for this listing of properties, it would take us days to sift through all the paperwork to get down to the real owners of properties in the name of Stoneco."
Everyone in the room fell silent, listening to Harlan’s end of the phone conversation with his secretary.
"Yes. What was that?" Harlan wrote furiously on a piece of paper. "Yes. That’s all. Thanks, Ida. You’ve earned yourself a HUGE raise!" He hung up and ripped the paper off the pad. "Stoneco owns a studio apartment and warehouse at 468 Bayview Road."
The agent checked the map. He turned with a gleam in his eye. "It’s in the perimeter." He looked at their superior.
The man spoke tersely. "Let’s move." Brenda stared with her mouth open as the room suddenly emptied of operatives. Harlan ran back to the couch to kiss Katherine and grab his jacket. As Jax went to grab his, Brenda struggled to rise to her feet. Katherine tried to help her, but when Jax saw what she was doing, he came to push her back down.
"Where do you think you’re going, little lady?" he asked in a low voice.
"You’re not going to pull some macho-pig stuff on me now, are you?" Brenda asked, struggling to rise again.
"No, I’m going to pull some overly-protective-husband-and-father-to-be stuff. How does that sound?"
Brenda looked at him, tears welling in her eyes. "Jax, she’s my sister. But more than that, you’re my everything. I couldn’t live if anything happen…"
He placed his finger against her lips, checking the door to make sure somebody was still there to drive him to the action. "Brenda, you know me better than that. I realize I’m only handsome, charming, sexy, and a fairly competent corporate raider. I’m no secret agent. I intend to stay far from the flying bullets, if there are any. That’s why I called Robert in the first place – he’s the expert on this stuff. I promise you I won’t get in harm’s way, and I’ll call you as soon as Julia’s safe."
Brenda looked into his blue eyes that were her lifeline, stroked his cheek, and then let go of his jacket lapels. Katherine moved over on the couch to put her arm around her. As Brenda watched Jax run out the door, Katherine hugged her. "Come on, why don’t you get some rest. I have a feeling you’ll have a welcome-home party to throw for Julia soon enough."
It was late in the afternoon when Jax finally pulled up in front of the house. He walked slowly up the stairs to their bedroom, and saw Brenda, sleeping peacefully on the bed, still in her lounging coat and slippers.
He walked over to the bed and gently sat beside her, tickling her nose with the tip of his finger. She opened her eyes, and grabbed the offending hand to stroke it against her cheek. When she opened her eyes again, they shone with the love she had for him. She saw it reflected in his eyes.
"Did you get some sleep, finally?"
Brenda nodded. "Finally – after you called from the hospital to say that Julia was awake and OK."
Jax moved over to the other side of the bed so that he could lay with her and hold her in his arms. "Katherine told me she made sure you ate something before you drifted off."
Brenda smiled. "She’s been so great through all of this – I think she finally found her peace with daddy." Brenda stared up at Jax. "Was it awful – when you found Julia?"
Jax sighed. "I really didn’t see a lot of the action. By the time I got close to it, Robert’s men had pretty well neutralized Sonny’s men. Sonny actually had under-estimated Harlan. He only had a few goons watching your sister. The only really bad part was when we found Julia and she was unconscious. We had no idea what they had been giving her."
Brenda shuddered as he continued. "But then the paramedics arrived, and by the time they got her to GH, she was beginning to come around. The doctors said it was something relatively harmless – she’ll just have a nasty headache for a few days, but nothing permanent."
"And Sonny?" Brenda’s voice was deadly somber.
"He’s apparently not even in Port Charles, but the long arm of the WSB tracked him down to someplace in Miami, and he’s in custody." Brenda let out a sigh of relief. "Thanks to him using a hideout owned by Stoneco, it will make putting him away for extortion and kidnapping much easier."
Brenda relished being in Jax’s arms, and snuggled a little closer. "So it’s finally over?"
He leaned over to nuzzle her ear. "Yep." He chuckled and patted her stomach. "Except for the debut of our little one here."
Brenda turned over to face Jax, and pulled him down to give him a deep kiss. Her tongue teased at his lips, and as he groaned, her other hand started caressing his chest and teasing him as it moved lower. He pulled away suddenly.
"Brenda! What are you doing? I thought Dr. Meadows said we should maybe … um… cut back a little? That it’s getting too late for …"
She smiled a devilish smile. "I know, Mr. Jacks." She withdrew her hand. "So kiss me once. And make it count."
Jax smiled back at her, his face mirroring the love in hers. "Absu-dam-tively, Mrs. Jacks."
Epilogue
"Can I hold the baby? Huh? Do you think I can hold the baby?" Lucas was almost exploding with enthusiasm as Jerry and he rode up on the elevator to the maternity floor.
Jerry watched the doors open. "I don’t know, sport. Aunt Brenda is going to have a lot of visitors, and we’ll have to see what the hospital rules are. But I’m sure once the baby comes home, you’ll have lots of opportunities to hold it."
Jerry took his hand and they walked down the hall to where Bobbie was standing at the nursing station. "I’ll bet you two are here to see Aunt Brenda and the new baby, right?"
Bobbie motioned that they should follow her down the hall, and she led them to the door of a private maternity suite. Jerry exploded with laughter once they got through the door.
"Jax! Why didn’t you just rent out the Versailles Room? This looks like a bloody convention!"
Jax was sitting on the hospital bed, beaming from ear to ear. Harlan and Katherine were sitting in chairs on one side, and Jane, John, and Josie were in chairs on the other.
"So, where’s the new mum and the little one?"
Jax motioned them to come in. "Brenda’s down in the nursery, feeding the baby. For some strange reason, the nurses thought Brenda might be distracted if she tried nursing in the room, and they took her down there for some peace and quiet. She should be back any second."
Jerry kissed Bobbie, and she headed back to the nurse’s station since she was on duty. As he perched on the window sill with Lucas between his legs, Josie came over to stand right in front of him.
"Hi, grandma! How’s tricks?"
Josie smiled benignly at Jerry, and then covered Lucas’s ears with her hands. Her face took on a scowl. "Jerry, there’s bird poop on the Bentley," she said succinctly.
Jerry shook his head and whined. "Ahhh, grandma, not again!"
"You know what that means?"
"It means you should stop parking it under those trees in Mum and Dad’s driveway," Jerry growled.
Josie gave a big sigh. "Now Jerry, have you forgotten our deal?"
"Awww, geez, grandma…."
She shushed Jerry, smiled again at Lucas, and then looked daggers at Jerry again. "I believe it was that either you agree to wax my Bentley for a period of 5 years, or that I agree to tell your sweet wife what you said to Jax that prompted him to break up with Brenda, which will probably result in her denying you sex for the rest of your natural life."
Harlan and Katherine hid their laughter as best they could, while Jax smiled and stared at the opposite wall, the picture of innocence.
"Yeah, grandma, I remember. But I really don’t see what the big deal is. I mean, yeah, Jax and Brenda broke up for a while, but now they’re back together, and they’re married, and the baby’s here, and everything’s fine!"
Josie made funny faces at Lucas, who still couldn’t hear anything that was being said, and then faced Jerry. "Jerry, do you see the hair on my head?"
"Yeah, grandma," he said in pain.
"Jerry, that hair was a beautiful golden brown before Jax and Brenda broke up."
"Nowwww, wait a minute there, grandma," Jerry began to object.
"Wellll, maybe there were a FEW gray strands mixed in, but not nearly as bad as they are now," she said, giving a little ground. "But I know I took at least 10 years off my life worrying that Jax would get back here in time to stop Brenda from marrying that horrid little man, Scummy.""
"Sonny, Mrs. Jacks," Harlan intervened quietly.
"WHATEVER!!!" Josie said, in her best Valley-girl imitation. "Anyway, we almost didn’t have a happy ending thanks to you, Jerry, and I think you’ll agree that Bobbie will be quite upset when she finds out why…."
"OK, OK, grandma, I’ll wax the car. I give up," Jerry said tiredly. "Just PLEASE try to park it somewhere else, OK?"
Josie let go of Lucas’s ears, and did a little dance of victory. Then, she got a serious look on her face. "I WILL have t do something about this hair, though, John. I mean, I’m too young to be completely gray. I’ll just have to buy some of that stuff in the bottle." She paused for a few minutes, then looked John in the eye. "And I’m gonna buy the expensive stuff, too, cause I’m D*MN well sure I’m worth it!!"
Jane patted John Jacks on the shoulder for reassurance as he shook his head at his mother’s antics, and just as Josie was about to go on about possible hair color options, the door to the room slowly opened.
Bobbie pushed a wheelchair through the door, and Brenda smiled at the assembled group. "Wow, what a fan club I have! It couldn’t possibly be that anyone’s here to see my little friend here, could it?" She gazed down at the small bundle in her arms, and Jax ran over to the door to help Bobbie push the chair through.
Brenda looked radiant in a mauve silk dressing gown, her hair pulled back by a large pink sash. It fell in soft curls down her back.
Jax looked down lovingly at her. "You’d never guess the woman only got four hours of sleep, would you? Somehow I think our new addition will be a night-owl and take after Brenda, being born at 3 this morning!"
Brenda handed the precious bundle to Jax while she got out of the chair and into bed with Bobbie’s help. Jane and Katherine came over to pull the blanket back and coo at the baby.
Josie, meanwhile, had plopped herself down in the rocking chair in the room. "Well, Jasper, are you going to bring that baby over here so I can hold it? I’m not getting any younger, you know."
Jax smiled at Brenda, and then walked over to where Josie sat. He carefully handed the baby to her. "Grandma, may I present Miss Josephine Ellen Jacks, born May 5, 1998, at 3:18 AM."
Josie’s eyes immediately began to well up with tears. "Josephine? You’re naming her Josephine?" she said in a whisper.
"That’s right, grandma," Jax replied with a big grin. "But I think she’ll go by "Jo," if that’s all right with you."
"I’ve always loved the character in "Little Women,"" Brenda piped up. "And Ellen was daddy’s mother’s name."
Everyone looked at Harlan, and he shifted uncomfortably in his chair. Katherine put her arm around him, and she could see the mist in his eyes.
Jax put his arm around Brenda. "How did the feeding go?"
Brenda smiled at Jo, who was now surrounded by Jane, Katherine, and Lucas. "My dear, although she seems to have gotten my dark hair, she certainly has your appetite! But, we had a nice long talk and she said that she’s glad she had such a supportive dad waiting for her, helping her mom when she was being born." Jax blushed a little, and Brenda pulled him closer. "I couldn’t have done it without you, Jax. You really helped get me through the labor."
"It was scary, seeing you in so much pain, Brenda. I wished I could suffer some of it for you. But I am in awe of our beautiful daughter. Thank you for giving her life, my love."
Josie suddenly broke the mood. "OK, you two, enough of the mushy stuff. Tell me about my namesake. How much did she weigh? And will she ever open her eyes so I can see what color they are to go with this beautiful black hair?"
"7 pounds, 9 ounces, grandma," Jax responded mechanically. "And they’re…"
As he was about to finish, Jo suddenly opened her eyes, looked up at Josie, and yawned silently, as only babies do. Her little arms flailed around a little, and Josie gave her one of her fingers to grasp.
"They’re blue, just like Jasper’s!" Josie breathed reverently.
"Grandma, all babies have blue eyes," Jerry said sarcastically.
Josie was deadly serious as she stared into the baby’s face. "No, Jerry, these are MY Jasper’s blue eyes." Her eyes filled with tears again. "I can see him just as clear as day, just looking into them."
There was a silence in the room, and then Josie cleared her throat. "Well, enough of the mushy stuff again. Brenda, did you say she already ate?"
Brenda laughed. "I’ll say she did. She amazed all the nursery staff at how much milk she took."
Josie cuddled the baby to her, as Jo opened her eyes and stirred a little again. "That’s good, young lady," Josie said to her, "because I’ve got a story to tell you, and it may take a while."
Jerry leaned down to John. "Here it comes again, dad."
John looked back over at him with a warning glare. "Jerry, if I were you, I’d be quiet, or you’ll be waxing the Bentley for ANOTHER five years!"
Jerry nodded, and Josie looked down at the baby again. "Let’s see now, I think it starts like this – Once upon a time, long before your mom and dad were born, a handsome young man named Jasper Jacks met a beautiful young girl named Josephine Quartermaine…"
Brenda nearly came off the bed and she punched Jax in the arm. "Jax, you didn’t tell me your grandma’s maiden name was Quartermaine!"
He looked down at Brenda seriously. "It’s not something grandma talks about frequently."
Brenda stared in surprise at Josie. "Are you related to Edward?"
"Unfortunately, yes. His father, Lawrence, and my father were brothers. That would make Eddie and I first cousins, I believe."
"So why don’t you talk about it?" Brenda asked.
"Well, that’s another long story, but Lawrence was kind of the black sheep of the Quartermaine family."
The room was still rippling with astonishment, but Josie shushed them all. "Now, can I get back to my story?" She looked down at Jo again. "You sweet little thing. You have such a wonderful life ahead of you. Now, where was I? Oh, yes, once upon a time…..
The End