The first thing that graced his consciousness was the sheets; they were crisp and uncomfortable, starched too much. He didn't open his eyes right away, keeping his eyes closed he quickly surveyed his body. He slowly moved both legs, feeling stiffness but no pain; he breathed deep in his chest and slowly moved his arms and head. After assuring himself that he wasn't dead or paralyzed Jackson Rippner slowly opened his eyes. He glanced around the room and immediately recognized that he was in a hospital, and was equally happy to realize that he wasn't handcuffed. "Apparently" he thought to himself, "I'm still important enough to rescue." He smirked to himself, feeling very self-important, that is until he remembered why he was in the hospital, and why he had to be rescued by his firm.
"Lisa" he said out loud to no one in particular, and with more venom then he meant to.
"Yes, Jack. She would be the reason you're here," said a voice from the door. Jackson looked over and sighed, there stood his boss, and probably the only person who could get away with calling him Jack. Lucas Gallow, had trained Jackson as a manager since day one, he had been the best manager the firm had ever had and was now the man in charge of the entire firm. He still had the best instincts, mentally and physically, in the business.
"So you decided to bail me out huh?"
"Jackson, you made one mistake, and while we would much rather not have to bail out our managers…you're still the best we have. You've never fucked up before, and we are confident that you'll be fixing your mistake and making up for it many times over."
"How long have I been out?"
"You've been in and out for about two months…you lost a lot of blood and that little foray down the flight of stairs didn't do you any good."
"I've been out for two months?" Jackson asked incredulously
'You were in a coma, kinda, not fully, but listen you're fine. We can get you checked out right now if you want." Before he'd even finished the sentence Jackson was out of bed and looking through the chest of drawers for his cloths.
"Look in the closest; I brought some stuff from your apartment."
"What happened to Keefe, I'm assuming he's been taken care of?"
"Yeah, I did that personally, came out of retirement just for you Jackie."
"What about Lisa?"
"She's back at work; I believe she started last week. We decided you might want to deal with her and her father." Lucas didn't need to wait for an answer Jackson's face said it all. The cocky smart ass grin that usually graced his face was back, but the smile didn't reach his cold ice blue eyes.
"I'll be waiting outside." With that Lucas left Jackson to change into the black suit, and dark green under shirt. In the little time he'd been conscious and the majority of the time he'd been unconscious Jackson had been dreaming of Lisa Reisert and what he'd do to her for fucking up his life.
As he left the hospital he spotted a black BMW, Lucas was behind the wheel, Jackson walked toward the car, and realized that he was no longer in Miami, the pine and evergreen trees were dead give aways. He sauntered over to the passenger side of his car and got it. Before he'd said a word Lucas had started the car and pulled away from the hospital.
"Where are we?"
"Vermont, we needed to get you far away and fast, one of our guys retired and bought the hospital…he's very useful. Listen, Jack, I know you want to get back at Lisa but you have got to tell me what happened? How'd she best the great Jack Rippner?"
"Please" Jackson said through gritted teeth, "Don't call me Jack." Lucas smiled; he'd wondered how long Jackson would let being called Jack slide.
"Fine, how then Mr. Rippner?"
"I underestimated her, and I promise you that won't be happening again."
"So, I'd guess you want to leave immediately?"
"As soon as possible."
"Here's your plane ticket, your flight to Miami's in a couple hours, I'll drop you off and this is the address of the place we've been renting for you. Look, take all the time you need Jackie, but take care of her…she's dangerous to have around, and call me when you're ready to come back, there are many assignments that require your special talents."
"Thanks Lucas, I'll take care of her."
"The father too, Jackson." With his trademark smirk, Jackson looked at his boss and said "sure" and then stepped out of the now parked car into the small private terminal they had stopped in front of.
