He had a lot of time on his hands, following this girl around. There were days he'd sit in boredom outside of her home with nothing more to do than watch the grass grow and wait for her to do something. But he knew she wouldn't. She was so typical, so predictable. Always at home or at work, nothing in between. No partying with friends, if she had any friends at all, he noted to himself, he hadn't seen any.
Just a lonely girl who ordered a Sea Breeze when she decided to drink, alone, and sometimes went to visit her father, whom she obviously loved and adored with every ounce of her being. He felt a twang of remorse for what he knew was going to happen to her in less than a month's time; a hostage situation, a test of her morals and whatever else went through her head. He could empathize, in a way.
Jackson Rippner, ran a thumb across his lip, watching Lisa move from one room to another in her apartment, sitting down in front of the television with a plate of scrambled eggs in her hands. He checked his watch, a ghost of a smile gracing his mouth when he saw the time he knew he would: three am. Typical, typical Lisa. His eyes were shadowed in the dark, but the streetlight a few feet up gave him enough lighting to make out the interior of his car.
It was an inconspicuous vehicle, nothing too flashy or ostentatious, with the right amount of tinting on the windows to keep him from being seen. Dark blue in color, small, affordable by any regular middle class person. His thoughts were interrupted as the lighting in the apartment changed, and he realized that his target had finally gone to bed. He reclined his seat back, his striking blue eyes still on the window in case he needed to do anything else.
He could feel sleep creep up on him; he had very little for the past month, and he would have very little for the next month after this as well. Sometimes, he wondered why he got involved with all this; this managerial position, as he called it to the women who asked him. Rippner put his hands behind his head, staring at the ceiling, the darkness feeling soothing to his tired eyes. Sometimes Jackson felt like he was in over his head, fearing for his life. He was thankful that he had no close connections that could be threatened, like this girl. She had her father, and he had no one at all.
This would be the last job though; he'd take the money and run, far away, where no one could find him and use his skills again. He chuckled to himself, wondering when he thought of his ability to manipulate and charm as some sort of desirable job quality. Even then, he never had been in a position where he had to pull the trigger; all he had to do was just get the wheel turning, get the ball rolling to make it happen. He didn't get to know the marks, didn't learn who they were, what they were about. He'd get attached, he'd feel remorse.
But his ability to compartmentalize was unmatched, which, Rippner thought wryly, wasn't really much of a helpful job skill in the legal world. However, it had gotten him through to the big boys, the bad boys, the ones you don't mess with and you really should run away from quite fast if you valued your life. There were times though, where Jackson didn't value his life; where he wished he could just stop setting up murders and assassinations and start living and doing something worthwhile.
Or at least contribute something other than massive amounts of blood on his hands to society.
He tapped his fingers together, stealing a glance at the apartment before turning back to his musing. This girl was something else, altogether. Although she seemed to be your average woman, reasonable job, simply life, she had something about her that he found... appealing. He wondered what it would be like to meet this girl, to talk to her, watch her move from up close. She seemed almost like an apparition from so far away, that at any moment she would fade away.
Jackson Rippner shook his head, sitting up again so he wouldn't fall asleep just yet. There was too much that he'd done, too much that he still had to do. Even if this job went perfectly, she would still hate him for the rest of her life. There was no room in his life for anyone, no matter how lonely he got, no matter how close he was to losing the tiny bit of sanity he had left. Lisa Reisert was innocent and naïve, nothing he could say or do would change that now.
Finally, as the clock ticked in his head, he decided it was safe to sleep for an hour or two. His mind needed a break from thinking, from feeling, from regretting the life he might have had outside of all this bullshit.
He was going to run the first chance he got. Hell, maybe he'd take her with him. Life had a funny way of showing you it was about fucking time to get busy living, or get busy dying and Jackson Rippner wasn't ready to throw in the towel yet.