Newfound Clarity
Disclaimer: I don't own anything related to Red Eye.
Chapter Twenty-eight
"It's the moment of truth and the moment to lie/The moment to live and the moment to die/The moment to fight, the moment to fight, to fight, to fight, to fight…We will fight to the death…" ~ This Is War by 30 Seconds to Mars
"Mr. Rippner looks really good for a dead man…"
Kat's head spun. Was it possible that her job offer was a lie? Why would someone track her down just for information on Jackson? How would anyone even know she knew him? Who were these people?
Her hands tightened into fists. "I don't know Mr. Rippner. You must have the wrong person…"
"No, no, Katherine," sneered John. "I have the perfect person. You have been hiding him, haven't you? Don't lie. I've seen the videos and photographs. Does your husband know how close you are to Rippner?"
"I don't know Jackson Rippner. I only know his name and his crimes from the news reports."
John slapped a folder in front of her. "Open it."
She didn't move. "No."
"Listen, Katherine. This is a matter of national security—"
"Bullshit."
"Excuse me?"
"Don't try that line on me. It's complete and utter bullshit. Jackson Rippner is dead. There's no pressing threat. He's just a look-a-like. Studies show that everyone has a doppelganger somewhere in the world. This is probably Rippner's…"
"Not likely, Katherine. Now you had better start telling the truth or losing your house will be the least of your worries…"
She couldn't help it. Her jaw dropped. "You… you did that?"
"I need you on my side, Katherine. You have information I need."
"You have the wrong person."
He put his hand on her arm. "I know exactly who I have. You're Katherine Lynn Murphy, born Lynn Carter, to teenaged parents. You were adopted and raised as Katherine Winters. You found your birth parents through a college project. Too bad they already killed your mother…"
Kat froze. How the hell do you know about that? Dad buried it. He buried it!
"You have me confused with someone else. I wish I could help you, but I think I'm going to pass on the job offer."
"The minute you walk out that door, Mrs. Murphy, Lisa Reisert gets a bullet in her head. You don't want that to happen, now do you?"
Kat glared up at him. "You're going to kill her anyway…"
"That depends on what she knows…"
"You're going to kill me."
John sighed. "Probably. But then again, you want to die, don't you? I can see it in your eyes…"
"You're insane."
He laughed, pushing her down into her chair as he loomed over her. "You have no idea, Mrs. Murphy. No idea at all…"
*~*~*~*~*~*
Back at Headquarters, Aidan Murphy ran a few searches, looking for her car, credit card activity—anything that might confirm where she went or what she did after he blew her off the night before. It was all he could do to not focus on the negative.
Kat might be depressed but she's not… she wouldn't…
Aidan tried to force that thought to the back of his mind as Kat's credit card history flooded his screen. Despite being an heiress to a multi-million dollar fortune, Kat preferred cash over plastic, K-mart over labels, and reliable over fancy. Her sedan was almost a decade old now. It had only been about three years old when she acquired it. She fixed it up, painted it tan to blend in, and got the windows tinted. She preferred to modify the reliable beast than buy a new car.
Her excuse? It'd only get scratched up anyways or dinged…this one's already broken in…
But that was Kat. She kept things past their prime and tried to save people and animals—sometimes machines—that others had long since given up on.
He clicked through the descriptions of various purchases, some clothes, some books, and then, bam, a hotel.
Thanks for leaving a paper trail, Katy…
He scribbled down the address and name. It would be best to visit in person, where he could be more convincing than over the phone. He also checked the name on the card, making sure his identification matched his wife's. They usually kept a variety of ID in their cars for emergencies, like this. And sure enough, Kat had used one of her aliases.
He jotted down the name as well before checking his gun and heading out to his car.
You'd better be okay, Kat. I'll never forgive myself if you're not…
*~*~*~*~*~*
The doctors weaned Lisa off the oxygen bit by bit. She'd suffered severe smoke damage. Jackson was hoarse, but she still wasn't quite breathing right.
Jackson only left her side for small amounts of time—such as to snag decent food—since they were hiding in the hospital. It was Frederick Memorial Hospital, a rather decent hospital in the heart of downtown Frederick, but still a hospital. At the moment, Lisa was listed as a Jane Doe suffering from gunshot wounds and currently in the ICU. Jackson had been checked in with some back-up identification provided by Aidan—and an embarrassing story about a kidney stone that would've made Kat laugh—and then discharged.
With Kat missing, Aidan had been reluctant to rush them to another safe house, especially since Lisa still needed medical treatment. So it was Jackson's job to protect Lisa.
They hadn't spoken much since his confession of love.
Jackson plopped back into his familiar chair at her side, munching on a sandwich from the nearby campus or maybe one of the forty-seven Subways around the block. He certainly hadn't gotten it from the cafeteria. He pronounced it inedible after one bite.
"Hungry?" she teased, her voice stronger than it had been this morning.
He nodded, his mouth full. After he swallowed, he muttered, "Starved. Had to go three blocks northwest and fight a bunch of college students for a spot in line. Then get back here and spend about fifteen minutes walking in circles around the hospital."
"Why? Did you get lost?"
"Nope. Trying to lose a tail, if I had one."
"When are we getting out of here?"
"Aidan said maybe tonight, if the doc clears you and he can find a place. But he needs to check on Kat first."
"I can't believe he ditched her like that."
"Leese, we don't know what's going on between them. It's not our place…"
She took a deep breath. "Jack, Kat's my only friend here. You're…you're whatever you are. Aidan was right… something's wrong."
"She's probably just asleep or drunk."
"How can you be so cold?" she demanded, frowning at him.
"Katherine has a drinking problem. It's genetic. Her father drinks like a fish when under stress. She does the same. She's probably just passed out."
"You think?"
Jackson nodded, "Don't worry. Aidan'll find her. She didn't go far."
She nodded, her eyes closing again. Not being able to breathe wore her out.
"Sleep, Leese. I'm not going anywhere…"
*~*~*~*~*~*
Aidan walked straight up to the desk, his gun tuck in the back of his jeans, his t-shirt draped over it. He turned on the charm that had kept him alive on the streets.
"Can I help you?" asked the girl at the front desk.
"Yes, I'm looking for my wife. Her name's Caterina Hamilton. She was supposed to check in last night. I just got off a plane and I'm running late. Could you give me a keycard?"
"Is she expecting you, Mr…?"
"Hamilton. Andrew Hamilton." He handed over his driver's license, one from another state no less, and watched her examine it.
He tried to stay calm, hoping that the desk clerk wouldn't give him too much trouble. Especially not when their IDs should match. At least when it came to names. Depending on which license she had supplied, their address might be very different.
"Do you want me to call up there?"
"Sure." He smiled at her warmly.
She picked up the phone dialing a number. She waited a few minutes and hung it back up. "There's no answer."
"She's, uh, a heavy sleeper. If I could just have a key…"
The desk clerk looked at her computer again and his ID. She handed him back the ID card along with a thin envelope underneath.
Aidan shot her a smile and mouthed a thank you.
*~*~*~*~*~*
"Look, all you have to do is let me leave and we can forget about all of this, okay?" Kat tried. "I don't even know your names."
"But you saw our faces, our offices—don't waste your breath, Katherine. You're not going anywhere."
She swallowed, wishing she'd thought to bring her gun in with her. It wasn't doing her a hell of a lot of good in her car's trunk. "What do you want to know?"
"Well, what do you know about the Miami job?"
"You mean the Keefe job? Only what was in the news."
John snorted. "No, you know much more than that, don't you? You see, Jackson Rippner was never admitted to any hospitals. His paperwork was forged later. There's no record of any official ambulance transporting his body…but you already knew that."
She closed her eyes. Daddy, what did you do wrong? I thought it was all set up…
"So? Records get lost."
"Not every record. Usually at least one person remembers seeing an injury as severe as Mr. Rippner's. I checked. No one saw him. Someone else got to him first. So I did a little digging and, look what I found…"
He pushed a picture of her father wheeling a stretcher in front of her. What followed was a series of shots from down in Florida, from outside the office down there, to one of their private residences. There were pictures of her father helping Jackson, of Aidan as well.
"Now why would an upstanding businessman, such as your father, James Robertson, be helping a wanted terrorist?"
"I wouldn't know. I don't see my father often."
John grabbed her by her chin. "Liar, liar, pants on fire, Katherine. You're daddy's favorite. You're the princess. You speak to him all the time."
"So what if I do?"
"Why are you helping a killer? Huh? Why are you protecting him?"
"I'm not!"
"Then tell me where he is or your husband joins the list."
Kat stared directly back at him. "Go ahead. Kill him. See if that loosens my tongue."
He backhanded her, her head snapping back. Coppery blood fell onto her tongue, her teeth piercing the end of it.
"This game is going to end badly for you, Katherine. Do you want to end up in an unmarked grave somewhere?"
Kat narrowed her eyes. "I don't care."
The man called John sighed. "I really wish you would cooperate…"
"Never."
He slipped on a pair of leather gloves. Kat watched as he reached into his desk and selected a sharp knife. It looked a bit like a scalpel to her.
She took a deep breath to prepare herself. This is what you wanted, remember? You wanted to die…
John grabbed her right hand. He placed it on the desk, scalpel in hand. "Last chance, Katherine. Where is Rippner?"
She gritted her teeth. "Dead. He's dead."
The scalpel came down, biting into the skin of her ring finger, just below her wedding ring. Kat couldn't control the scream that slipped past her lips. It was her scream that made the man before her grin more than seeing her blood bubble to the surface as he slowly sawed into her finger.
*~*~*~*~*~*
Aidan swiped the key card in the electronic lock. It flashed green, releasing the bolt. He put his left hand on the door knob, pushing in just a few centimeters to clear the lock. His right hand slipped his gun free of his waistband. He flipped the safety catch off.
His left hand let go of the door, his foot kicking it open as he began to sweep the hotel room, his gun aimed at any potential threat.
The room was empty, the bed rumpled. A black duffel bag rested on top of a dresser.
Aidan cleared the tiny bathroom as well, making note of the toothbrush and hairbrush on the sink ledge.
Satisfied that the room was empty, he returned to the door, kicking it closed and chaining it shut.
He took a deep breath and lowered his gun.
"Where the hell are you, Katy?" he muttered, touching the bed. It still held a small measure of warmth in one spot where the sheets were kicked back. There was no pillow on that side. Kat must have tossed it in her sleep.
She'd been there. She'd laid in that bed, possibly slept in it. She'd been there.
He dug through her duffel bag. Her clothes from yesterday were shoved inside and there were still a few changes left including two pairs of jeans and a workout outfit. The only thing missing was her work clothes—a suit and heels.
Aidan frowned. Why would you wear that, Kat? Out of everything… why not jeans and a t-shirt?
It didn't make any sense to him. She hadn't gone to the office and half the time she wore casual clothes and sneakers just to piss her father off. There was no reason for her to wear her suit. It wasn't like she was going to the bank—or was she?
He cursed his stupidity and reached for his cell phone.
The bank phone rang. After two rings, a woman picked up. "Thank you for calling BankFrederick. This is Cindy, how may I help you?"
"Cindy, it's Aidan Murphy. I was wondering if Katherine was in."
"That's strange… she's supposed to be here but no one's seen her."
"What time was she supposed to work?" he asked, praying she was just stuck in traffic or lost.
"Umm, she was due in about three hours ago."
"Shit. Thanks, Cindy. Call me if you hear from her, okay? The number's on Kat's desk."
"Okay, see you later, Aidan."
The phone clicked off. Aidan closed his eyes. How can you just… disappear? Especially when you're supposed to be at work. You've never missed a day at the bank before…
Gruesome images filled his head: Kat dead on the side of the road, her car wrecked, Kat abducted in the parking lot, Kat hurt, Kat dying.
His left hand curled into a fist. Please, please be okay… if you're not…
Aidan punched the wall in his frustration. Why had he yelled at her last night? Why did he push her away? Why, why, why?
This is my fault.
Author's Notes:
Sorry about the long wait between chapters! Thank you so much for reviewing and sticking with the story so far. Please keep the comments and criticisms coming!
Big thanks to my wonderful beta, cypriss88!
