Author's Note: Hi all! I'm back and hopefully, better than ever! For all my faithful readers who read Traveling Mercies, thank you once again and you are the reason there is now a sequel being written. If you haven't read Traveling Mercies, you'll be a little lost so I suggest you read that first. Also, if you haven't read it already, A Rippner Christmas acts as a bridge between Traveling Mercies and On my Knees. So that will fill in some gaps for you as well! With that all said, I hope you all enjoy the second installment!
Oh, and I don't own Red Eye, Lisa, Jackson or anyone else from the movie. I'm not making any money off of this story.
Red Eye:
On My Knees
Jackson crept through the house, trying not to make a sound. He still wasn't sure where all the creaky floorboards were but he did know all the hiding places. It was just a matter of checking all of them, cross them off one by one. The thrill of the hunt, that always was the best part. The strategy, planning and executing always brought an adrenaline rush that nothing else could. He had forgotten how much he enjoyed the stalking of a prey.
She had to be here. There was no other place for her to be. But where was there? The house was only two floors and three bedrooms. There were only so many places for her to be. What if she had slipped outside? What if she had taken off down the sidewalk and someone from the neighborhood picked her up? Panic started swelling in his chest. He had to find her and now. He couldn't take this anymore.
"Claire?" he called. "Where are you, Claire?" Frightening silence greeted him. "Claire! Time to come out, sweetie!"
A giggle came from the back of the house and he rushed towards the sound. He found her peeking out from underneath the laundry basket with mischievous blue eyes and a relieve sigh escaped him.
"Daddy lasted a whole three minutes this time," Lisa said with an entertained grin as she changed the clothes over from the washer to the dryer. "Maybe one day he'll actually find you before his panic attack."
He lifted the basket off of her and scooped her up. He hoped Lisa didn't notice the tremor in his hands. Maybe he should just admit he had to stick to Candyland. He could talk foreign diplomats into a completely different approach to a hit, organize a scare tactic for a politician that's getting out of line but he can't handle playing hide-n-go-seek with his four year old daughter.
"I won!" Claire announced with joy.
"Hate to break it to ya, kiddo," Lisa kissed Claire's cheek, "that's going to be the story of your life where your Daddy's concerned." She kissed Jackson on the cheek too.
Jackson snagged her lips before she passed him. "I will never make fun of you for being a Daddy's girl ever again."
"And I will hold you to that." Lisa pulled out a package of chicken from the refrigerator. "When does your flight leave?"
He held up his watch so it faced Claire. "What does that say, honey?"
She squinted at the digital numbers. "Two-oh-eight."
"Oh shit, I have to go."
Claire gasped and covered her mouth, giggling.
" Jackson ," Lisa reprimanded.
"Daddy didn't say a bad word."
"Yes, he did," Claire laughed.
He kissed her on the cheek before putting her down and reaching for Lisa. "I'm sure Mommy will punish me when I get back."
"You can only hope," she quipped, quietly enough so Claire wouldn't hear. "Be safe."
"Always," he kissed her full on the lips, much to the delight of Claire. "Love you."
"Love you, too."
Claire followed him to the front door and tugged on his pants after he grabbed his duffel bag. "When are you coming back?"
"I'll be back tomorrow night, alright?"
"Okay."
"Think you can take care of Mommy that long?"
"Yes," she nodded fiercely, her auburn curls bouncing as she did so.
"Good. I won't worry over you two then." But he knew he would. He always worried about them when he had to leave. Thankfully, he didn't have to do it that often but sometimes possible clients were stubborn and he had to go to them. He was running late but something pulled at him, an unknown feeling. He dropped down to one knee and hugged Claire, feeling her little arms hook around his neck. "I love you, sweet pea."
"Love you, too, Daddy."
He didn't want to leave. He never wanted to leave but this was different, stronger. He hadn't felt this level of protectiveness since shortly after she was born. He chalked it up to his previous bout of worry when he couldn't find her under the laundry basket and he kissed her cheek again, only this time he gave her raspberry. She squealed with laughter and let go of him. He already missed her and he wasn't even out the door yet. But he had to leave now or miss his flight so he stood up, gave his daughter one last smile and stepped through the front door of his home.
***
Time always dragged its feet when Jackson had to leave but it seemed like it was purposefully crawling tonight. Lisa fixed dinner for herself and Claire, settled down on the couch for another viewing of the Little Mermaid and finally tucked her in to bed. No sooner did she turned out the light in her daughter's room and close the door, did the phone ring. Not wanting her daughter to wake up, she grabbed the phone before the second ring.
"Hello?"
"Hey, Leese."
She couldn't help but smile. "Hi, Jackson. I take it you're there, safe and sound?"
"Safe and sound but lonely."
"Aw, poor baby." Lisa retrieved a bag that she had hidden in one of the many shoe boxes in her bedroom closet. "What time is your meeting tomorrow?"
"Nine but then I have to go to lunch with them afterwards. My flight leaves at two tomorrow afternoon so I'll be home by dinner. What did my girls do tonight?"
"Nothing too exciting," she answered, pulling the box out of the closet and sitting it on the bathroom counter. "Claire wanted to watch the Little Mermaid again."
"I hope she grows out of the movie soon. If I hear 'Under the Sea' one more time..."
"It's all white noise to me now. So what are you going to do with your time tonight?"
He sighed loudly into the phone. "Try to get some sleep and miss you. Are the doors locked?"
"Of course."
"Alarm system on?"
"Yes."
"Good."
Lisa frowned slightly. "Is something wrong?"
"No," he answered but didn't sound completely convinced. "I just...I don't know."
"Bad feeling?"
"Yeah. Just keep your eyes open. I'll be home as soon as I can."
It wasn't often that Jackson had these "bad feelings" but Lisa learned to listen to him. She wanted to ease his mind though. "I handled you."
He laughed. "Yeah, you did. Make me feel better and sleep with a pen under your pillow."
"I already do. How do you think I keep you on your side of the bed?" Of course, it wasn't true. Neither one of them had a "side of the bed" as they always slept cuddled against each other in the center. She wasn't going to get much sleep tonight. Maybe she would sleep in Claire's room.
"I better let you go. I'm sure you're tired."
She really wasn't but she did have something to do tonight. "Yeah, Claire wanted to go to the park tomorrow. I better be rested for that."
"I'll see you two tomorrow, alright?"
"Alright."
"And remember-"
"Be careful," she said. "I love you."
"Love you too."
She hung up the phone and headed into the bathroom. She had waited until Jackson left for this trip to take the home pregnancy test. When she had told him about being pregnant with Claire, his excitement level had gone through the roof. She didn't want to get his hopes up and then have the test be negative. She leaned against the counter and started reading over the directions when Claire appeared in the bathroom doorway, clutching her stuffed panda bear and crying. Lisa dropped the instructions and immediately went over to the crying girl, picking her up.
"What's the matter, sweetie? Did you have a bad dream?"
Claire shook her head. "There's a scary man in my room."
Suddenly Jackson's bad feeling didn't seem that far fetched to Lisa anymore. She rushed out of the bathroom, hoping she could get to the gun in the bedroom but she found the scary man blocking the entrance to her bedroom. She couldn't see his face for the black ski mask and he looked three times her size. She backed up slowly and turned to the stairs but they were blocked too. This man wasn't disguised at all. In fact, he was smiling pleasantly, dressed in a dark suit.
"Mrs. Rippner, I assume?" His steel gray eyes shifted to Claire. "And you must be Ms. Rippner."
Claire turned her head and pressed it against Lisa's shoulder. Lisa wrapped her arms protectively around her. "What do you want?"
"It's very simple, really. All you need to do is come with me for a few days."
Lisa could sense the black clad man standing behind her. "I don't think so."
"We can do this the unpleasant way but I'm sure you don't want your daughter exposed to that level of violence at such a young age."
***
Jackson checked his watch again. It was twenty after nine in the morning and he was still stuck staring at the receptionist in the San Diego high rise. That bad feeling that he had yesterday was only growing and he hated sitting there, doing nothing and having time slip past him. Something was terribly off about this trip, this office and this deal. He would give his contact until nine thirty before speaking to the receptionist about rescheduling.
At nine twenty five, the receptionist's phone rang and she picked up after the first ring. Jackson only half listened for certain words that may have been related to the tardiness of his contact. But the call was short and she didn't say much on her end of the conversation. She replaced the phone to it's cradle and stood up from behind her desk, picking up her coffee mug.
"Mr. Sauve said that he's ready for you," she told him. "You can go right in."
Jackson watched her leave the waiting area and disappear down the hall. It struck him as odd, just as everything did when it came to this contract. Standing up, he passed by the desk and looked at the phone. The light he had seen briefly flashing when the call came in was an outside line. The call didn't come from a conference room or office in the building. He glanced over his shoulder and saw no sign of the receptionist so he picked up the phone and hit the star button, followed by sixty-nine. The phone rang twice before someone picked up.
"Is it done?"
Jackson immediately recognized the voice. "Reynolds."
"Ah, Jackson. My old friend, how are you?"
"What are you playing at?"
Reynolds was quiet for a moment and when he spoke again, all false pleasantries were gone. "This is no game, Rippner."
Jackson felt his heart rate spike. "What do you want?"
"Right now? I would like a blueberry bagel and a cup of decent coffee. In the future, I want my father's company back in family hands."
"The panel voted on the new chain of command. Declan is making the Agency respectable-"
"Respectable doesn't get the job done, Rippner. You have to sink below the level of the people who hire us. They offer us jobs, money and resources because they know we can do what they can't. O'Malley has turned the employees of this Agency into candy ass lackeys. Even your beautiful wife didn't put up much of a fight when we paid her a visit last night."
It took Jackson a few moments to control the outrageous speed his heart was beating. All he could hear was the blood pounding in his ears as a murderous rage overtook him so fully, he was shaking from head to foot. "What did you do?"
"Nothing yet." Reynolds laughed slightly. "Your daughter is absolutely enchanting by the way."
Threats were on the tip of his tongue but he quickly ground his teeth together to keep them from spilling out. He could hear Reynolds moving around on the other end of the phone. When he spoke again, it was distant sounding.
"Hey Claire, you want to talk to your Daddy?"
"Hi, Daddy!"
Jackson unlocked his jaw. "Hi, Sweetie. How are you?"
"Fine. I miss you. When can we go home?"
"Soon, honey," he swallowed convulsively, "I'll be there soon. How's Mommy?"
"That's enough, kiddo," Reynolds said, taking the phone back. "See, she's fine."
Those threats that had been brewing in his mind came back full force. "You know what I'm going to do to you when I find you."
"Is that a question or a statement, Rippner?"
"It's a promise."
"Unfortunately, it's going to be one that you have to break. Good day, Rippner."
Jackson slammed the phone down on the desk and hit the caller ID button on the base. The area code told him what he needed to know. They were in Colorado. He glanced over at the frosted glass door of the so-called office of his possible client and saw a blinking red light on the side. Most people would have mistaken it for an answering machine that had a message but after the call he just had, he knew exactly what it was and took off running. He had almost made it to the elevator when a deafening explosion rocked the building around him.