Third Person p.o.v.
It had been six days since Lisa had been paid a visit by the Clyde duo. The atmosphere was tense in the house as yesterday Lisa had made the money transfer into the account that had been given to her. Joe had been positive that things would get better after this, and Lisa did acknowledge that her impatience was getting the better of her, but after 24 hours they still had not been contacted by Jackson or anyone from his firm.
Had they just paid a ransom that meant nothing?
Would they take the money and then kill Amanda?
A part of Lisa wondered if she should have gone with her gut instinct of trying to involve the cops but another part of her remembered how she had single-handedly outsmarted Jack when he had threatened her on the red-eye flight. Amanda was a fighter and Jackson had never lied to either of them before. If this money was what they wanted then Lisa needed to trust that her baby sister would be brought back to them soon. She just needed to calm her nerves and wait for Jackson to get back in contact.
"Lisa, the detective has just rolled up outside the house…" The slamming of a car door made Lisa inhale sharply. It was too much of a coincidence for the transfer to have gone through and then for Tyler to suddenly appear the day after. Joe passed his daughter with a determined frown on his face. "I'll make the coffee."
"You better make it strong." Lisa really needed something to take the edge off and her current medication directly advised her to not consume any alcohol. If an extra strong, dark coffee was all she could have then it sounded better than nothing.
Two sharp knocks sounded throughout the house; it was time to see what Tyler wanted.
Detective Tyler waited outside of the door to the Reisert residence and exhaled deeply. He needed to calm himself down before he made them close off even more than they had done already. Tyler had thought that they trusted him enough with the rescue of the youngest Reisert that they would not keep secrets from him. However, the notification that his team had received this morning suggested otherwise. Rippner had been in contact and they had said nothing. He shook his head before forcing a more pleasant expression on his face as he saw the door handle twist.
"Good morning, Miss Reisert." Detective Tyler wore a stern smile and his eyes were free of emotion. Lisa could tell that this was going to be a difficult conversation. He knew of the transfer. He must know. She swallowed down the bile that threatened to rise up her throat and stepped to the side.
"Please, come in." Tyler met with Joe in the kitchen; he took a black coffee with a polite nod before following them into the living room. Lisa and Joe sat on the sofa whilst Tyler settled in an armchair. "Do you have any news?" The detective took a moment to take a long drink of the warm brew, causing the woman across from him to shuffle uncomfortably, before responding to the question.
"There are no new leads but you can trust me when I say that we are not giving up. This morning I ordered my team to restart their investigations and to swap files so that fresh eyes can study the evidence we have so far."
"Good..." Lisa's voice trailed off as the heavy atmosphere seemed to suffocate her. Tyler calmly sipped on his coffee and settled back against the plush cushion of the chair. He was in no rush. His team were handling everything perfectly and all he needed to do right now was get some answers. The only sound was the ticking of the clock in the room and the noises from outside. Nobody spoke or moved within the room; Joe cleared his throat and took a deep breath when he had finally had enough of the detective's games.
"You seem to have something you want to say, Detective." Joe stated with an even tone causing the other man to bite back a smile. He wondered how long it would take for one of them to break a little. Secrets always had a way of spilling out if they were left long enough.
"Well," The detective placed his mug on the coffee table and leant forward so he could look the pair in the eye. "…we've had an interesting notification-" The ringing of the phone interrupted the conversation causing Lisa to immediately let out a sigh of relief.
"I'll get it!" Lisa called out as she walked over to the receiver. "Hello, Reisert Residence." She leant back against the wall to take some of the strain off her leg whilst waiting for an answer. Desperation filled her as she thought of how it might be Jackson to say her sister was coming home.
"Good morning, is Miss Lisa Reisert available?"
"This is her."
"Miss Reisert, my name is Ruth and I am calling from the Continental Bank of Miami. We received a notice of a large sum of money being transferred from your account and we wish to confirm that you know of this." Lisa wanted the ground to swallow her up. The detective sent an intrigued look her way as Lisa turned her back to him and tapped her fingers against her leg.
"Um… yeah, I do know of this and I made the… decision myself." Lisa let out a deep breath as she tried to hide the topic of conversation from Tyler who was no doubt listening intently.
"Alright, well we just need to go through a security procedure with you to doubly confirm you wishing to make the transaction as we have frozen the money at this moment."
"Yeah, sure… I understand."
"Fantastic. Okay, so you have a security code that is seven digits long. Can you tell me that number?"
"4912867."
"Second question: what is the first name of your great-grandmother?"
"Roberta."
"Third question: can you please tell me your sister's middle name?"
"Isabelle."
"And, finally: the name of your first pet?"
"Larry the goldfish." Lisa couldn't help but smile as she had remembered that stupid little fish that had entertained her little sister more than she could describe. Amanda would break out into laughter each time she saw his mouth open and close to breathe as he swam around the tank. She had been such an easily pleased little girl before her world was tipped upside down after to her mother's tragic death.
"Okay, thank you for taking a few minute to complete the series of questions. Here at the Continental Bank of Miami we like to ensure that you are always protected. The money shall now be released to the chosen account."
"Okay, have a nice day." Lisa put down the phone before 'Ruth' had a chance to reply.
"Everything alright, Miss Reisert?" Tyler let out a deep breath as he fought to keep his frustration under control. Why didn't they just confess so that things could get underway? Time was precious in a case like this and the pair of them keeping secrets from him was not making things any easier for the team to find Amanda Reisert. He understood that they thought they were doing what was best, but they weren't out in the field. Tyler needed their trust and complete cooperation otherwise there may be another body on their hands before they knew it. Tyler didn't think Jackson would kill Amanda, but the assassin had proved unpredictable before. Quite frankly it wasn't a risk he was willing to take and if he had to get hard on this family to ensure that Amanda was returned safely then so be it.
"Yeah! Everything is fine." Lisa hobbled back over to the couch and sent her dad a nod. They had wondered if the bank would contact them to confirm their choice as the sum of money was so large, but their timing of calling when Tyler had arrived was almost funny. Almost. Fate seemed to enjoy making their family squirm.
"As I was saying, we received an odd notification. You see, we make an effort to keep a track of everything on cases like these. Something that we find particularly important is bank records. Sometimes kidnappers like to send ransom demands under our noses and force the family to act before we can intervene. It's their way of making sure that we don't find out until it is too late."
"They're not called villains for nothing." Joe commented whilst taking Lisa's hand in his.
"Exactly! So… out of curiosity, would you be able to fill in a little blank?"
"We will do anything to ensure Amanda's return." There was a challenge in Joe's eyes that told Tyler everything he needed to know. The statement had two meanings: we will work with you, but if we get the opportunity to save Amanda on our own then we will take it.
"Why has a sum of $100,000 gone from your account, Lisa?" He dropped his formal tone and stared at the pair across from him. "We have access to everything so someone better start telling me the truth."
Amanda's p.o.v.
I had done my best to stay clear of Caz over the last number of days.
When he would be upstairs, I would be down.
When he was in the living room, I hovered in the kitchen.
If I felt like he was purposely trying to cage me, then I would escape outside. In fact, my formerly pale skin had gotten a bit of a golden glow to it now due to the amount of time I had spent in the pool to get some space.
My fingers lazily moved through the water as I rested on my back. I stretched out my limbs to mimic a starfish shape in an effort to keep myself afloat. Caz had been kind enough to pick out some pieces of swimwear, but the stringy material certainly wasn't my style. A smug smile had reached my lips as he looked at me in disappointment when seeing the bikini covered with a vest top and shorts. Of course I still had more skin on show than I had wished but it was an improvement compared to the actual swimwear that was just begging to humiliate me.
So here I was: strangely feeling like a queen as I floated in the swimming pool. I hated to admit it, but this house was slowly winning my affections and this pool definitely deserved five stars. I despised how comfortable I had begun to felt over the last few days. My need to be with my family was still giving me anxiety, but much like the… 'incident' with Jackson, I had become very good at forgetting about it. Apparently my thought process had gone back to its unhealthy nature in which I prefer to live in denial than face my demons. In a way I was thankful for Caz's unnerving presence. He kept me on my toes and stopped myself from slipping too far into my own mind.
Speaking of Caz…
"Having fun, Amanda?" I could feel his smirk on my skin as his shadow fell over me. I straightened my body and trod water in an effort to look up at the man.
"What do you want, Caz?" He placed a rather enticing icy drink on one of the tables outside. The heat had increased so much out here and that was just what I needed. He obviously knew this as he took a quick sip and made his way over to me. Caz made a show of swallowing the cool liquid before licking his lips. I rested back against the wall of the pool that was further away from him as he knelt down so he could run his hand through the water.
"I think you know."
"I would never let you touch me."
"Let? Considering your recent history with Jackson, that's a very interesting word choice for you." Stop. Please, just shut up. I internally prayed that he would not be sick enough to carry on with his train of thought. "Can I join you?"
"No."
"Okay…" He stared at me for a few moments before straightening up. "Okay, Amanda… we'll play like this, if you want?" I didn't even want to ask what he meant by the term play. "You'll see it my way soon enough." His signature shark-like grin caused me to shiver as he sent me one last glance as he left to go back into the house.
"Weirdo." I muttered under my breath when I knew he could no longer hear me.
? p.o.v.
A small sizzle disturbed the natural atmosphere.
A tall figure leant against a blacked out car window; a puff of smoke leaving their mouth as they exhaled with a sly grin. Everything was beginning to fall into place.
A ringing sound came from their pocket causing the individual to let out a chuckle. Leather gloves took out the phone; they quickly checked the familiar name that flashed on the lit up screen before pressing the green button. "Is it done?"
"We've got the money. You know what to do." The caller hung up abruptly making the contact smile.
"Alright, let's get this over with." A black gun rested on the passenger seat; it shone under the bright glow of the sun as though enticing someone to pick it up and use it. A cartridge of bullets lay next to it.
The sound of a car door shutting echoed out into the wide open space of the desert.
The still-burning cigarette fell from the open window. The red hot tip was slowly snuffed out as a gust of wind blew dust around.
A black car drove off towards the small town that was visible in the distance.
'It comes in waves, I close my eyes.
Hold my breath and let it bury me.
I'm not okay, and it's not alright
Won't you drag the lake and bring me home again?
Who will fix me now? Dive in when I'm down?
Save me from myself, don't let me drown.
Who will make me fight? Drag me out alive?
Save me from myself, don't let me drown.'
-Drown by Bring Me the Horizon-
AN: Hello!
Yay for a fairly quick update! I am sticking to my late-February/March end deadline and I think it is easily done as I have half of another chapter written already. I've checked for errors and I think I caught them all but my eyes are feeling a bit heavy so please politely let me know if you find any further corrections that need to be made.
This update is mostly Lisa/Joe/Tyler but I decided to give a small dose of Caz/Amanda as well. What did you think of the ? point of view? Are you intrigued? Can you take a guess who it is? I mean, I think it's fairly obvious but I think it still delivers a nice bit of mystery.
Thank you to the few new followers/favouriters that have popped over the last month or so. I love that this story is still getting some attention! Any chance you can give me a review and say hi? ^.^
Oh, and a big thank you to ShadowSpade for reviewing the previous update! I wanted to show a bit of humanity within Jackson and bring forth some more of Caz's villainous side. Caz is definitely gonna step up his game in the near future and I wonder if you will still like him after that… only time will tell!
So, I hope to do another quick update - perhaps one chapter every two-ish weeks? - and I hope this pleases you all.
Don't forget to leave a review and/or take the poll that is on my page! I love hearing from you!
Have a lovely day,
Mikki xx