Just as he grasped the door handles to slide them open he heard a woman's voice behind him.

"Where do you think you're going sir? That is my bedchamber you are entering!"

Jerry froze for a minute. Damn! What did he do now? Brenda had caught him where he wasn't supposed to be! And outside her bedroom no less! As he turned around, he started to try to explain. He knew he could talk his way out of this, especially to Brenda. After all, how hard could it be to convince a weakling like her of anything? "Okay, Brenda, you caught me… Wait a minute! Who are you? You're not Brenda?"

Jerry was at a loss for words. Whoever this beautiful brunette was, it definitely was NOT Brenda! He had no idea whom she was or why she was dressed like that. She looked like she lived in the house when it was first built in the 1880's, not its current resident.

"I ask you again, sir, what is your business here? This is not your residence. What gives you the gall to roam around my home uninvited!!"

Jerry just stared, unable to think of anything to say. "Who are you? You definitely are not Brenda, so why do you keep insisting this is your bedchamber? And why on earth are you dressed like that?" Something about the woman in front of him made Jerry very nervous. It was time for him to make his exit and fast! Whoever this was, he was sure she would make a beeline straight to Travis to report him, and that was the last thing he wanted. "If you will excuse me, madam, I'll just leave you now," Jerry said as he started to walk away.

When he got just a few steps the woman stepped in front of him again. "Heed me well, sir, you are not welcome in this house, nor will your presence be tolerated here. Leave now and never return!" With that said the figure stepped aside for Jerry to pass. As he did, he looked back over his shoulder and she was gone. He stopped in his tracks and turned around. Where had she gone? He had not heard any of the doors open, and there was no stairway at that end of the hall. Where was she?

Just as Jerry turned to go, a large hand grabbed his shoulder, causing him to jump. He quickly turned around to find himself face to face with Thomas. He knew he was in trouble if he didn't think quickly. "Hello, Thomas! How are you? When did you get into town? Does Jax know you're here?" Jerry figured if he acted like he belonged there, Thomas would be none the wiser and let him leave without any trouble.

"Jerry, Jerry, Jerry! I don't remember you being this stupid. Didn't the last time you were caught here teach you anything? Did you think Travis was kidding when he told you to stay away from Jax and Brenda and their new home? Now it's time to pay the piper." With that said, Thomas grabbed Jerry by the arm and started to lead him toward the stairs.

"This is all very funny, Thomas. Now let me go. By the way, who was that woman in the hallway that I was talking to?"

"What woman?" Thomas asked, suddenly realizing that he had again smelled roses, this time in the hallway where he had found Jerry.

"Right! You know exactly who I'm talking about, the tiny brunette in the long, white, Victorian dress. What is she, the tour guide?" Jerry's nervousness was beginning to show. If he landed in jail for this, there would be hell to pay with his parents. He had to find a way out.

"Jerry, what are you trying to do, plead temporary insanity? There was no one in the hallway but you." Thomas suddenly became uneasy. Now he was beginning to get an idea of what was going on in this house. First thing he was going to do when he disposed of Jerry was get all the information on the house and its past occupants, especially the first, from Travis and Matthew.

As they were heading down the stairs, Thomas called out to Travis, who was still in the library, "Travis, come out here. We have a visitor you're going to want to meet."

Having heard Thomas mention a visitor, Brenda came out of the parlor where she had been working with Matthew, reviewing room plans. She was surprised to see Jerry, with his arm in Thomas's grasp, coming down the stairs. "Jerry, what on earth are you doing here?"

Jerry looked at her with a smirk on his face. He was sure she would let him go rather than cause Jax any embarrassment. The one thing he had to give her credit for was that she was now VERY protective of Jax's image, probably because the cleaner she kept his image, the better she looked; like no one remembered her past! "Hi, sis! What's new?"

Just about that time, Travis came out of the library, followed by two security guards. Travis stopped short when he saw who Thomas had hold of. "How the hell did he get in here?" Travis looked around at the guards, then at Thomas, who shrugged, and finally at Matthew and Brenda, who both shook their heads in disbelief. "Jerry Jacks! What are you doing here? Don't you ever learn?"

"Hello, there, Travis, nice to see you again. Well, I was just leaving when my old friend, Thomas, here insisted that I come say hi to all of you. Hi! Give my regards to Jax. I'll see you soon." Jerry tried to pull away from Thomas's grip and walk out the door, but to no avail. Thomas tightened his grip on Jerry's arm to let him know he wasn't going anywhere. To top it off, two of the guards had come to the end of the staircase with their weapons drawn. He knew he was in real trouble this time, and he wasn't sure that even he could talk himself out of this one. "What are you going to do with me now? Brenda, you aren't going to let them do anything that will embarrass Jax are you?" Jerry played his last card. He knew if he was going to get out of this, she was his only option. "I mean do you really want this in the paper? Think of how Jax will feel when you are responsible for dragging his name back onto the front page of the Port Charles Herald!" Boy, that felt good! He knew he had her with that one. He was as good as out the door right now, he could feel it.

"Sorry, Jerry! That doesn't work anymore. This incident probably isn't even important enough to make the crime page of the Herald, and even if it does, I'm sure Jax will survive it. After all, he survived you trying to kill him, how many times was it, twice?"

Brenda's sarcasm surprised Jerry. He had not expected it. "You know I never wanted to hurt Jax!" he insisted. "They were just unavoidable accidents that resulted from a business deal gone bad. Besides, no one got hurt anyway." He knew that statement was a mistake as soon as it was out of his mouth.

"Wrong answer, fool! Brenda took a bullet the first time, and Jax was burned -- although only slightly -- the second. Now which one of them exactly is nobody?" Travis was unable to keep the anger from his voice. This reckless fool had nearly killed two people he claimed were his family. Admittedly, ever since the news of his criminal involvement became public, neither Jax nor Brenda claimed him, and he obviously had no great affection for Brenda, but he did claim to love Jax.

"You know what I mean. Nothing serious happened. Everyone involved is walking around today. Now come on, let me go, this is getting ridiculous."

"Brenda, you're the boss here, what do we do?" Travis asked, looking at Brenda. He had a feeling he knew what she would say even before she said it.

"I don't see any other choice but to call the PCPD. After all, there is a court order preventing Mr. Jacks here from coming within 500 feet of either Jax or myself or our home. Now since this foyer is no more than 20 feet across I'd say he's in violation of that order wouldn't you, Thomas?" Brenda could not resist the urge to smirk. It was time Jerry got a taste of his own medicine.

"Absolutely, Mrs. Jacks. I would say he's about 480 feet in violation. Do you agree, Mr. Clark?" Thomas said as he looked over at Travis.

"Totally! Shall I call the authorities, Brenda?" Travis asked.

"Not yet. Why don't you call Jax first and fill him in on who we found? Where did you find him, Thomas? I saw you coming down the stairs with him." Brenda suddenly realized that Jerry must have been in the house for a while. How had he gotten upstairs without being recognized? She would have to remind Travis to recheck the entire house for security breaches, since they had no idea what, if anything, Jerry had been up to.

"I found him in the hallway outside your suite. He claimed to have been talking to a woman right before I found him. A woman, he said, who disappeared just before I got there." Thomas only smiled and shook his head. He realized how silly this sounded now that he looked back on what had happened. Yet something about it still bothered him. He still wanted to check things out with Travis and Matthew after this was settled.

Just then Travis walked back into the foyer. He had walked into the parlor, so as not to be disturbed when he called Jax. "Jax said to hold him here. He's on his way over. Brenda, he said for you to give him about 5 minutes and then call him on his cell phone. He wants to talk to you before he gets here. In the meantime, officers, please escort Mr. Jacks here into the kitchen and stay with him. Sit him in a chair and don't let him move. If he tries to leave, you have Mr. Jacks' permission to shoot him, only to wound though." Travis could not resist the urge to smile as he looked into Jerry's very nervous eyes, letting him know that the last instruction was not a joke. Jax had actually ordered them to shoot him.

Brenda had called Jax as he requested. They talked about their options for most of the time he was driving over and had decided what to do just as he drove up to the house. Jax hung up his cell phone as he was getting out of the car. Brenda met him at the door with a hug and a warm kiss. "Hi, there!" she said as she hugged him again. "Are you sure you want to do this? I mean, he may have been right about the publicity. The last thing I want is your name back in the paper because of me!" She looked up at him trying to read what was in his eyes. She suddenly felt a sense of peace because what she saw reflected in his eyes was his love for her, with no concern about the press. She was more than willing now to abide by their decision. Jerry was going down!

Once inside the house, Jax looked over to the group talking in the corner. "Gentlemen, where is he?" Jax was in no mood for delays. He wanted to confront Jerry, especially after hearing what he had said about the previous incidents.

Thomas pointed to the kitchen. Jax and Brenda headed there, followed by Thomas and Travis. Matthew, sensing this was a family matter, chose to stay behind in the parlor and continue his paperwork.

When Jerry saw Jax coming through the door, he attempted to get up. One of the guards put a hand on his shoulder pushing him back into his chair. "Well, well, well … what did they do, call in reinforcements? How you doin' Jax? Long time, no see!" Jerry put his hand out for Jax to shake, but it was just ignored.

"You never learn, do you, Jerry?" Jax did not even try to hide the contempt in his eyes. "You have to keep pushing, don't you? What did you hope to gain by coming here? Did you just want to prove that you could defy the court order? Did you want to scare Brenda some more, like having her shot wasn't enough!" Brenda could feel the anger building in Jax. She reached over and put her hand on his arm. He looked down at her and calmed down almost immediately.

"Typical of you, little brother. Jumping to the wrong conclusion every time. I came to check things out, so I could reassure mum that you and your wife would be okay here. You do remember your mother, don't you? You know, the blonde lady whose heart you broke when you walked away from the family." Jerry had not intended to make that last remark. The last thing he needed to do was antagonize Jax any more than he already was, but Jax's attitude toward him made it impossible not to.

"You son of a b…" Jax said as he lunged for Jerry. Travis and Thomas grabbed him, and Brenda jumped in front of him to stop him.

"Jax, NO! That's exactly what he wants you to do, honey!" Brenda pleaded with him. "If you hit him, he becomes the victim. Don't you see? He can claim he was in custody, and you attacked him!" Brenda had both hands on his chest as she looked up into his eyes, pleading with him to calm down.

"Listen to the little woman, Jax. She's only looking out for you. Just like she always has, right?" Jerry's last remark was directed right at Brenda. He had never had much love for Brenda in the past, and he was not about to be indebted to her now. She was a big part of the trouble between them. If it hadn't been for Brenda finding out and telling Jax about his dealings with Sonny and his friends, Jax would still be a part of the family, oblivious to the illegal dealings that had kept them rolling in money. That was something he would never forgive her for. Someday, he would find a way of returning the favor.

Jax tried to lunge at Jerry again, but was held back. "Her name is Brenda, Jerry -- Brenda Jacks. She's my wife and my only family now, thanks to you and your father." Jax spit out at him.

Jerry was taken aback by the hatred in Jax's voice. He had not realized how angry Jax still was. It had been almost two years since all the details of their involvement in money laundering had been made public. He knew Jax wanted nothing to do with them, but he had always attributed that to Brenda's influence. Now he was beginning to see that he might have misjudged the situation. Could it be that Jax really did want nothing to do with his family? Jerry suddenly became worried. He had been counting on Jax getting him out of this. Regardless of everything that had gone down between them, they were still brothers, and Jerry had been counting on that to help him out.

"Jax, what do we do with him? Let him go?" Travis asked.

"Absolutely not! Put in a call to the Port Charles Police. Tell them we have a trespasser in custody, one who is in direct violation of a court order." With that said Jax turned to Brenda and put his hands on her arms, "This could get a little public, you know. Are you ready for it? We might end up having to face them dredging up all that old news about the money laundering and J&J Jacks of Alaska. You okay with that?" He looked into her eyes, waiting for her answer.

Brenda glanced over at Jerry, who was smiling at her nervously, before looking into Jax's beautiful, blue eyes, "You know I am. I don't care what they put in the paper. We'll survive. We did the first time, and we will again, if necessary. If I've learned nothing else over these past two years, I've learned that we can overcome anything as long as we do it together." She stood on tiptoes and kissed him softly. She wrapped her arms around him as he wrapped his around her. They could and would face anything as long as they were together.

Jax looked over at Travis, "Call them. I want this piece of garbage out of my kitchen before Mrs. Kelly finds out about it. She'll have a fit that we're dirtying up her nice, clean kitchen" he said as he looked down at Brenda with a smile. He kissed the tip of her nose, and the two of them walked out of the room to wait in the foyer for the police. Travis picked up the phone on the kitchen wall and called the police. Jerry slumped into his chair, trying to figure out how he was going to get out of this one. If this went to court, he could lose his probation and end up in jail for 20 years -- just for visiting his brother's house.

Thomas sat down next to Jerry. He had never seen Jerry like this. He looked totally defeated. "What's wrong, Jerry? Don't you have any snappy remarks? Why didn't you tell Jax about the woman in the hallway? Did you finally figure out that she was a figment of your imagination? Or was she a defense that you figured out wasn't going to work?"

"Thomas, you know where you can go…" Jerry suddenly felt very angry. If nothing else came out of this debacle, he was going to find out the truth about that woman. "And cut the act about the woman. Who was she -- a security guard to watch the workers? You can tell me, who'd believe me anyway?" He had had enough of these games. He was going to get a straight answer from Thomas, no matter what.

"Jerry, there was no woman security guard. There was no woman in the hallway. You were the only one there when I found you. All of the rooms were closed, and I was blocking the only stairway. Since no one passed me on the stairs and there was no one in the hall but you and me, where did she go?" Thomas tried very hard not to let his feeling show in his voice.

Just then a Port Charles Police car pulled up in front of the house. When the two officers came to the door Jax let them in and led them to the kitchen. "There he is gentlemen; he's all yours." The contempt in Jax's voice had returned.

One officer went over to Jerry, put him in handcuffs and read him his rights. The other officer came up to Jax and Brenda and asked for some information about what had happened. They related what had happened, with Thomas adding his information at the appropriate time. When the officer finished his questions, he closed his notebook and walked over to Jerry. "Sir, it is my duty to inform you that you are being charged with the following: trespassing on private property, illegal entry into said property, and violation of a valid court restraining order prohibiting you from coming within 500 feet of these people and this residence. Do you understand what you are being charged with?" The officer looked at Jerry and waited for his reply.

Jerry looked at Jax and then Brenda before he responded in a soft voice, "Yes, I do." He couldn't believe that Jax was doing this. Could it be possible that he truly did hate the family for what had happened? No, he couldn't accept that. Jax was angry right now, but when he calmed down, Jax would realize that he had no harmful intent in what he did and drop the charges. He had to!

Jax and Brenda stood off to the side as the officers led Jerry away. Jerry looked Jax in the eye as he passed and for a split second he thought he saw a glint of sympathy there. Maybe there was still a chance. He would have to find a way to get to Jax when that wife wasn't around. He knew he could convince Jax to drop the charges. Maybe their mother would be the one to intercede. After all, she was the reason he was in the mess anyway. Her concerns for her "baby boy" had been why Jerry had come here in the first place. If Brenda had just let Jax see his mother, none of this would have happened. Jerry now knew what his next step would be. He'd have his mother come talk some sense into Jax. Maybe some good would come out of this mess, after all. This might just be the way to get Jax and their mother talking again. That was it, Jerry thought, all I have to do is get mum to go see him and this will all be over.

After the police left with Jerry, everyone, except for Jax and Brenda, went back to work. They remained behind in the kitchen. Brenda looked up at Jax, "Honey, are you okay with this?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. He just made me so angry! Why does he do things like this? He knows the only one who ends up paying is him! It's always like that! He does things without thinking of the consequences to be paid. Well, this time he's going to learn what the price really is." Jax wrapped his arms around Brenda and pulled her close to him. He needed to feel her near him right now.

Brenda could tell how upset Jax was. She wished that none of this had ever happened. She decided that she would talk to him later about dropping this whole thing. She couldn't stand the thought of the pain he was suffering again because of Jerry. Jerry would never learn! Why should Jax be the one to suffer again because of Jerry? "Honey, let's go home. I think we both have had enough for today!" She looked up at him, waiting for his answer.

"Sounds like a plan to me. Can you leave? I thought you had all these secret deliveries today to attend to?" He couldn't resist the urge to smile as he looked down at her.

"Well, yes, there were, but most of them have already arrived, and those that haven't Matthew and Thomas can handle. Come on -- let's go home. I think we need some quiet time for just the two of us, don't you?" She looked up into his eyes with an expression that he knew very well. There was no way he was going to turn her down, and she knew it.

"Lead the way, my lady. Your wish is my command!" Jax was finally starting to relax, looking forward to a long afternoon and evening with his beautiful wife. "By the way, Brenda, did someone send you flowers here?"

"No, why do you ask?" Brenda could not imagine why he would think she had received flowers, or why he would think she would accept flowers from anyone but him.

"Well I could have sworn when we were in the kitchen that I smelled roses. Didn't you smell it?"