Amanda's p.o.v.
We sat in an uneasy silence as the plane began to land. I fought the urge to scream as the turbulence wreaked havoc on my already tense nerves. I ignored Jackson's stare and kept my face to the window to my right so that I wouldn't catch Caz's eye either. If I didn't see them, then they weren't there. It went against everything that my therapist had taught me when speaking of my anxiety, but I really needed that small amount of comfort that ignoring them would bring. I needed to ignore the triggers that were ready to release a whirlwind of uncontrollable emotions from within.
I was fine.
The plane had just touched ground.
Nothing had gone wrong.
I am fine.
I repeated these sentences in my head despite knowing the situation really wasn't okay. I was physically unharmed apart from the ache that came from the scar on my face. The stings from my healing grazes were at the back of my mind, but whenever I felt the slightest bit of unease, the burning began on my cheek. It was like a constant reminder of what I had survived the first time.
My biggest worry right now...
Would I survive the second round?
"Earth to Amanda!" I jumped out of my worries to find Jackson cupping my face and staring into my eyes. "Are you with us?" My throat seemed to close up so I nodded to give a reply. When he moved to stand up I brought my hands to my chest; it was a pitiful defence but it made me feel a lot less open than before. Jackson unbuckled my belt and brought the handcuffs in front of him. "Caz is sorting out our ride-" My body lurched forward into Jackson's as if on cue multiple gunshots rang out. "-eh, he likes making a mess. He better hide the bodies better this time though… the feds are already on our asses after Mike was found." Jackson didn't seem to notice the shaking of my body as he roughly closed the cuffs on my wrists. He took off his jacket and placed it around my shoulders making sure that the front provided enough material to cover the metal bindings I found myself in. "Just in case we run into anyone. Perk up!" He tapped my face gently and pulled me up to my feet. I followed behind him silently dreading the bloody mess I might see in front of me.
We exited to the plane to see Caz with a spray of blood on the front of his face. He wiped it off with a grin and motioned to the grey car behind him. "Best I could do." As they spoke I took a moment to look around; it was exactly like the previous airstrip.
Private, deserted and empty.
No chance of assistance around here and even less of a chance of me escaping and finding help. I clenched my hands into fists as I fought back another bout of anxiety. Just breathe. Just breathe.
"It's ancient!"
"Exactly! Whoever owned this will be working class at best and there won't be some big event to find him. He was nearing 60 and only had half of his teeth left. He didn't even have a wedding band on his finger or any noticeable tattoos." Caz seemed pretty smug that the only person that had driven to the strip was more than likely an elderly man that had next to nothing to show for his life.
"You better be right."
"We won't have a problem." Caz opened the door to the backseats and motioned for me to get in. Almost as soon as we set off driving he lit up a cigarette; the car was so old that the AC no longer worked and his open window did little to get rid of the smoke that soon filled the whole car. I took in a deep breath of nicotine filled air and released it quietly. Was this one of his vices? Sure, I hadn't seen him light up before, but he seemed like the type - like me - to get hooked onto things they shouldn't. This was another thing to add to the list of things that I knew of Caz. What would the rest of my stay reveal? Perhaps there were a few more chinks in his armour that I could take advantage of.
Third Person p.o.v.
"Good evening, Mr Reseirt." He gave a professional nod to Lisa as she walked into the living area and sat next to her father. Tyler shook hands with both of them and took a moment to study the girl opposite him. She was naturally thin but had obviously lost weight; her fingers were slightly shaky as they shook hands which indicated that she may have not eaten much for a while. Dark circles had formed below her hazel eyes and her skin was paler than normal. Lisa set her crutch beside her and settled back into the soft cushion of the sofa.
"Do you have any news for us?"
"We have some new leads. They are small but they have certainly created a path for us to follow."
"That doesn't sound like something Jackson would do." Lisa interjected confused. He was usually more careful than that.
"No, it doesn't. This leads me to believe that he has teamed up with an associate of his. It would appear that Rippner is not working alone now."
"So you're saying that my little girl has two maniacs keeping her hostage?"
"It would appear that way. I can only assume that wherever he has gone there is work waiting for him. Therefore, it would only make sense that he would need someone to watch over Amanda. A positive of him appearing to have other jobs to do is that he is a high-profile killer and will not be given something that a lesser skilled assassin could do."
"Why is that a good thing?" Joe furrowed his brow as Lisa smiled a little.
"Dad, if there is a professional hit on someone then it is more likely to be Jackson that did the deed. It will give us a place to start looking for Amanda."
"You are correct, Miss Reisert. The fact that Jackson has an ego that will need to be stroked could be his downfall. I look at it like this: he attempts to kill someone high up the food chain, we get the notification, and from all of my experience in Rippner's case I can identify whether Jackson has been the one to commit the crime. If he does something like this, then we can pinpoint a rough area of where Amanda may be." Tyler felt his shoulders release a little bit of tension but kept his face neutral. He could tell that Joe was sceptical which was understandable, however, the small spark of hope that lit up Lisa's face give him enough courage to carry on. "I cannot tell you intimate details of what we have found but I will give you as much information as I possibly can."
"You said that a body had been found?" Lisa was thankful that her sister had not been killed, but she had heard disturbing details on the news about the girl that had been found near an abandoned car.
"I will start at the beginning, and I warn you that some of this may be hard for you to hear. As you know, when we were tracking what we thought was Rippner's car a diversion was made and we lost track of it. I stayed at the house as the team did their best to find evidence as to where he may have gone."
"Did you find anything?"
"We got nothing in regards to his intentions, but at the house we took some swabs and found some of Amanda's blood on the premises. There was not enough to show a fatal injury however… we also found evidence that a sexual assault may have taken place and vials were found containing traces of a sedative."
"Oh, Amanda… Jesus Christ…" Joe muttered under his breath and placed his head in hands; Lisa wiped away a few of her tears before nodding for him to continue once her father had prepared himself for the rest.
"I received a call about a vehicle being found and it being matched to the one that had been chased. I went to the scene immediately but whoever had been driving was long gone. Sadly a few yards away in a ditch a body was found. I am not at liberty to say her name, but her appearance was similar to the images that I have seen of your daughter. She looked to be around the same age as well."
"An innocent girl has been killed?"
"Yes, it would seem that Jackson wanted to make the distraction as realistic as possible."
"Had it been quick?" Lisa didn't know why, but somehow it felt important to know this.
"She had been shot in the head; death was instant." Tyler allowed for this to sink in and gave them a few moments of silence. He himself felt a shiver down his spine as an inner thought made him flinch. Perhaps this had been a warning to them? Was Jackson trying to say that he had no qualms in hurting the girl or killing her himself and merely used Miss Thompson to send that message?
Buzz buzz
His ringing phone stopped his train of thought. "Just a moment, please." Tyler moved over to the window and answered. "Tyler."
"My friend you need to get yourself ready for this one…" Tom Hawk's voice was strained as he spoke. This didn't sound good.
"What do you have for me?"
"A second body. Another gunshot killing which seems to have taken place only a few hours after Rippner went off the radar."
"Where are you?"
"Laurens County, Georgia. I'll send you co-ordinates."
"Why Laurens County?" It didn't seem somewhere that Rippner would go.
"That's where the problem lies."
"Give me a straight answer, Tom." Tyler could feel the Reiserts burning holes in his back as they waited for news.
"There's a private airstrip. The owner is dead on the floor and the plane is no longer here."
"He's got in a damn plane?!"
"Yes, sir."
He could be anywhere across the ocean by now.
Amanda's p.o.v.
Where are we?
I felt like I couldn't speak. Each time I tried to open my mouth my throat began to close up as though deliberately preventing me from getting any answers.
Were we still in America? Had Jackson used the airstrip to make the FBI think he was going to be a lot further away than he actually was? For all I know we could have flown in a big loop and landed somewhere not so far from home.
"Welcome to Nevada!" Caz finally chimed up from the front passenger seat.
Nevada?
They've brought me to the desert?
I slumped back into the chair and sighed. We seemed to be going down a never-ending road so I imagine that wherever the safe house is, it is perfectly placed so that I cannot run.
"When this is over we can go and play slots, Mandy." I ignored Caz's sniggers and watched as more sand hit against the window. We carried on driving for another 10 minutes and had only passed handful of cars before turning left down a separate road. It appeared to be a private path and we soon appeared in front of a nice-looking house; the outside was a sandy colour with windows that had white frames, there was a quaint porch and a small garage attached to the side. It looked like a stereotypical house that you would find in one of the smaller towns of Nevada.
Caz got out of the stuffy car first and lit up a cigarette whilst Jackson came around to my side and slipped his jacket off my shoulders. He gave me a clear look of warning before undoing the cuffs and grabbing my wrist. His grip stayed tight for a few moments until I let out a sound of discomfort; he let go but stayed by my side and put his jacket under his arm. Jackson pointed to the sandy stone wall that surrounded the sides and back of the house. "There's a pool around the back so you can stop looking so pasty, Amanda. No one would ever think you lived in Florida with your current complexion." Jackson seemed happy with his comment and threw the keys over to Caz who gave me what I suppose was a flirtatious wink. "Get rid of the car. There's plenty of space for you to burn it and be able to walk back." I followed Jack to the garage and frowned as he whistled at the sight inside. A new, black Subaru Impreza greeted me. "Now, that's more like it." He walked to the back of the garage and unlocked the door that was connected.
He was expecting to get work done around here then, I assumed.
"Amanda!" I rolled my eyes at his shout and entered the house. Wow! The outside is where the stereotypical look finished; the décor was peach and brown to match the warm atmosphere, there was a massive flat screen TV hooked onto one of the walls and even a personal bar by my side. The latest gadgets were in front of the flat screen and in a small corner was an Apple laptop on a shiny new table. There was a wall to the left and I could see through the doorway that it led to the kitchen that housed various appliances and a dining table that would seat four people comfortably. It seemed a lot more basic than the living room but I suppose that would fit nicely with Caz's attitude. He seemed to be the type who was happy as long as he had all of the entertainment he needed within his reach. "What do you think?"
"I don't suppose it will matter if I'm just going to be kept locked in a room all of the time."
"Now, now, don't be such a sourpuss. You will have your freedom to walk around the house and go to the pool out back if you wish. There are clothes for you in the room upstairs and as long as you do everything we say, none of that has to change. Caz will be here when I am out and if you want to go for a run then I assure you he will accompany you. This doesn't have to be your prison as long as you behave."
"Yeah, until Lisa perhaps slips up with whatever task you've set her and then it's bye-bye Amanda!"
"Why don't you just go upstairs? Hm? Your door is open so you'll know which room is yours." Jackson seemed to have had enough - and honestly after all of the travelling, I couldn't fault him for just wanting to relax - and opened the door that was in the kitchen to go outside.
"Fine." I muttered under my breath and walked up the stairs. There were four doors; two straight in front of me, another to the left of the staircase and the other to the right. Curiosity got the better of me so I ignored the open door that was ahead of me and went right. It opened up to a simple bathroom that was light beige in colour with gleaming marble counters. The door opposite the bathroom was locked, the one next to that was mine and as I predicted, the door opposite to mine was also locked. So, I was trapped with one of them across from me and the other to my right. I didn't know whether it was worse to think of Caz being opposite the bathroom or exactly opposite my bedroom. "Ugh!" I nudged open my door and was surprised to see a rather comfy looking room.
The bed was a single with toffee coloured sheets and baby blue pillows. The walls and floor matched most of the house's sandy-beige theme. There was a window above the bed that had no bars on it, but did have a safety mechanism on so it would only open enough to let in the smallest of breezes. A small chest of drawers was beside the bed with a plain white lamp on it; I felt unnerved to find clothing in my exact size filling the chest. A few pairs of shoes, mostly trainers, were lined up underneath the bed and a coat was hung up on the back of the door.
I think I would have preferred my previous abode… at least there was no chance of me getting comfy in that cell-like room.
Yeah, this bed isn't inviting at all, I thought as I kicked off my shoes and sank into the soft mattress…
Perhaps a nap would do me good…
Just a few minutes…
'Torn apart at the seams and my dreams turn to tears, I'm not feeling this situation
Run away try to find a safe place you can hide
It's the best place to be when you're feeling like...
Me... (me!)'
-All These Things I Hate by Bullet For My Valentine-
AN: Hello!
I am sorta struggling with what to write for the next couple of chapters as I have planned out the end of the story but I don't wanna just have filler updates in between now and then! So, I want you to tell me what you want to see! What interactions do you want? Do you want less Lisa and more Amanda? Do you want more spots featuring Detective Tyler? Are there any subjects you think should come up in conversation? Just leave me a little review with what you think the story might be missing. I want to make these chapters as exciting as I can because we only have about 4-6 more to go!
Just to be clear, I am from the UK and I have very little knowledge of US maps/cities etc so I have used Google and tried to come up with a few places in which Jackson could go to. I really just needed for the private airstrips to be found to further the story so if Laurens County and Nevada doesn't fit the bill then I apologise. However, I hope you can appreciate that I've tried to make this as real as possible. I haven't done any detailed information on the smaller areas of Nevada, but if any of you would like to help me build a bit more meat onto the bones of this part then feel free to message me!
Oh, and I have begun a new poll on my profile. After the addition of Caz the previous poll wasn't working for me so this new one will help me a little with the final chapter or two. I know what will happen for the most part, but you all shall be responsible for Jackson's fate!
A BIG thank you to BW4eva for reviewing the previous chapter. I am so happy that you are getting along with Caz as a character. I don't usually add in OCs when the plot is so deep but I'm pleased that my risk has paid off. I hope you are feeling better since you left the review! I'm just sorry that it took a while for me to update again. However, I am reverting back to my old style of writing in which I have a notepad to write chapters rather than just relying on finding inspiration when on my laptop. I hope this will help me churn out chapters quicker because I still have Christmas/January in mind for completing this fic!
So, I just have two favours to ask once you've read this amazingly-long 'note': take the poll on my profile if you want a say in some of the ending, and please leave me a review saying what you would like to see be added into the next few chapters. I think the next update will have a bit more Lisa because she returns to work and is met with a nasty surprise!
Have a nice day,
Mikki xx
P.S. I haven't had a chance to proofread this properly as I really wanted to get the update up! Any errors will be corrected at the weekend.