Chapter 2

June 2005

Jackson Rippner walked into the office and saw that there was a manila envelope on the desk for him. On top was a note,

"This is the woman to follow; she's the manager at the Lux Atlantic. Use her to have Keefe's room changed to room 4080. Use any means possible."

He opened the file and immediately held his breath for a moment, staring up at him was Lisa Reisert, someone he had wished for so many times in the last ten years. He quickly put his game face back on and left the office with the envelope. He nodded to another man from the company as he left the mansion and then got into his car and drove home.

When he had closed the door to his apartment behind him he allowed himself to release the shock he felt when he had opened the envelope. He took her picture out again and studied it more carefully. She didn't look like she had aged much in the ten years that had passed; she was still as he remembered her, except there seemed to be something missing in her eyes; the shimmer they once held seemed to not be there. He took out the information sheet on her; while he read he made the call to the airline and arranged a flight to Miami. Just before closing his suitcase he glanced over at the bookcase and wandered over grabbing the copy of Shakespeare's Macbeth he kept there and placed it into the carry on bag.

Jackson sat on the plane staring at Macbeth which was now on the table in front of him. The older woman sitting beside him glanced over at him out of the corner of her eye and smiled as he slowly opened the book and a photograph fell out.

"Who is that dear and old friend?" she asked.

Jackson looked up at her wary of what he should say, but then decided that an old woman couldn't possibly be from the organization, so he told her.

"It's a picture of my girlfriend from high school; we met in English class senior year."

"She's very lovely…do you still keep in touch with her?"

"I haven't seen her in almost ten years but I'm on my way to visit her now, I'm surprising her."

"Ten years, do you think that is wise…what will her husband think of you just showing up?"

"She's not married…I still keep in touch with mutual friends of ours," he said placing the photo back in the book.

"I see…well good luck to you young man. I hope you get the girl, as they say."

"Thanks," he said lowering the seat back slightly so he could rest better.

He closed his eyes and quickly fell asleep, dreaming of the past.

1994

It was now December and the Winter Formal was only a week away. Jackson was at the mall with his cousin trying to find a suit to wear to the dance. He had asked Lisa to go with him the week before; realizing that she would probably want to go to the dance. Now he was not so sure that had been a good idea.

"Jackson, you look scared stiff; what's wrong?"

"I guess I'm just nervous Mark; I don't do well in social situations. I hate crowds."

"Then why did you ask her to the dance?"

"Because that's what you are supposed to do in high school is it not? You know, take the girl to the dance, and make her feel special…"

"So you do like her; I thought you two were just friends."

"We are, but all of her other friends are going; she shouldn't be left out."

"No, you just didn't want her going to the dance with some other guy."

Jackson glared at his cousin while he buttoned up the jacket to the suit he was wearing.

"Well, does this look alright?"

"You look like the perfect boyfriend," Mark said smirking at his cousin.

"Shut up moron," he looked over at the sales clerk, "I'll take this one please."

"Excellent choice young man, she's one very lucky girl, if I may say so."

"Thanks," Jackson said as he stepped back into the dressing room to change out of the suit.

The guys left the shop and as they walked by one of the other many clothing stores, Mark grabbed Jackson's arm and pulled him to a spot where they wouldn't be seen.

"Look Jack; it's Lisa."

There she was in the store with one of her friends looking at formal dresses. They were talking but the boys couldn't hear what was being said so Mark quietly crept closer to the store, Jackson following, hoping to hear something.

"Mark, this is stupid, we are behaving like kids."

"Shut up, I wanna hear if Cindy is saying anything about me."

Lisa took a simple strapless full length gown with a sequin bodice off the rack and held it up to Cindy and the sales clerk.

"So what do you think?"

"You went straight for that one; been preparing for this a while have you?"

"No, just hoping that maybe I might have an excuse to beg my parents for it."

"And now you have it, only the second biggest dance of our senior year."

"Third if you include homecoming, which is probably more important than the winter formal," Lisa joked to Cindy.

"That is a very lovely dress Miss Reisert, would you like me to put it into the change room for you to try?" the sales clerk asked.

"Yes please; thank you," she said handing the dress to the woman. Turning her attention to Cindy she asked, "So what are you going to wear to the dance?"

"My bridesmaids dress from my sisters wedding last summer, I love it and it's perfect for winter formal."

Lisa rolled her eyes.

"Of course you think it's perfect, you did design it specifically with winter formal in mind; I know how your twisted little mind works."

"But of course; so what exactly is going on between you and Jackson anyway?"

"We are friends; we enjoy each other's company. That's all."

"Yeah right; you know there's been talk Leese. People think that you and Jackson spend way too much time alone together."

"Yeah…well let them talk. Frankly my dear I don't give a damn," Lisa said smiling.

"Alright, now you'd better go try on that dress; I think you are making the sales clerk nervous."

Lisa went into the dressing room laughing and it was then that Jackson grabbed Mark's arm and dragged him away from the store.

"What are you doing man, she's about to come out of the dressing room?"

"If I see it now then it won't be a surprise, will it."

"I thought you didn't care about that?"

'Neither did I,' Jackson thought to himself as they walked away.

The night of the dance came quickly, all the seniors were preoccupied and Jackson and Lisa were no exception. In English class they had come to a compromise, instead of her moving to the back of the room or he to the front, they simply sat in the middle row together. Shortly after they had changed seats to sit together Lisa had stopped being one of the girls to silently swoon over their teacher, her focus was now solely on Jackson; without her even realizing it.

As a last minute push before the Christmas break they were studying poetry in English class and before them on the desk was The Highwayman by Alfred Noyes. Poetry was not either Jackson or Lisa's strong suit but they were working through the questionnaire both releasing a sigh of relief once the bell rang, Lisa's relief was short lived though as the teacher asked her to stay after class for a moment. Jackson looked at her with a questioning look and silently asked her if she wanted him to stay with her or not.

"Go ahead, I'll see you outside in a moment; I'm sure it's nothing."

"Alright," Jackson said hesitatingly.

Jackson waited outside the classroom for Lisa nodding politely at the other students who walked by. A couple of the girls whose lockers he was near looked at him sideways and scanned him up and down; he knew what they were thinking, but pretended not to notice. He had heard the rumours beginning to circulate around the school about him and Lisa and found he sometimes wished what everyone was saying were true. He liked Lisa very much; he found it hard to not think about her when they weren't together. He wondered if she felt the same way and decided that he would try to find out tonight at the dance.

The door opened beside him and he quickly stood straight and fiddled with his locker a few feet away so she wouldn't think he had been waiting for her. He heard her say good bye to the teacher and then she turned towards him walking to her locker. She brushed past him gently tugging on his jacket and smiling at him as she opened her locker and dropped her books inside. Struggling to get her Biology textbook into her knapsack for the weekend, she dropped it right between the two of them and when Jackson bent down to pick it up for her; he gently brushed his hand along her arm and looked up into her green eyes as he stood, never losing eye contact with her.

"You were in there for awhile; is everything okay?"

"Yeah, everything is fine. Mr. Jones just needed to talk to me about the quality of my work," she paused and looked at him as he handed her the book. "He says I've been distracted lately."

"Gee, I wonder why?" Jackson remarked

"Must be this silly dance; speaking of which, I'd better get home so I can get ready for tonight."

"I'll drive you, it's started raining out," he said leading her out to his car after she closed up her knapsack.

Jackson took her hand and they ran to the car, Lisa climbed into the passenger seat as Jackson held the door open for her and immediately leaned over to unlock his door. Once they were both inside Jackson smiled one of his rare smiles, the ones only Lisa ever saw, at her and gently wiped away the rain drops that had settled on her cheek. The 10 minute drive to her place was silent, save for the radio. When they pulled into the driveway Lisa unbuckled her seat belt, Jackson did the same and turned to face her.

"Thank you for the ride Jackson; though I really need to get my car fixed so I can start driving myself," she laughed nervously.

"I don't mind Leese, really. I'll be by at 7:00 to pick you up, so until then my Lady," he said smiling at her.

"Until 7:00 my Lord," she replied.

Taking her hand in his own he gently placed a kiss on her knuckles and then waited until she was safely inside her house before driving away. Lisa closed the door behind her and announced her arrival home; her mother came running down the stairs telling her to get a move on so they could get to the salon on time. Lisa just rolled her eyes and felt the quiet moment she had just shared with Jackson fade into the back of her mind.

2005

Jackson was awoken by the captain's voice coming over the speaker announcing their arrival to Miami in just a few minutes. He raised his seat, did up the seatbelt and waited for the plane to land. When they landed his first order of business was to rent a vehicle and get a room somewhere. An hour later he was sitting in his room at the Pacific Hotel standing in front of the bathroom mirror, and looking at Lisa's picture. He knew what he had to do; he managed assassinations, made sure they went off without a hitch, and this time Lisa Reisert was needed to pull this one off. He had been promised that he could retire after this job. He looked at his reflection in the mirror once more; he had changed a bit over the last 10 years, he only hoped it was enough that she wouldn't recognize him. If she did recognize him, he didn't know if he would be able to go through with what he had to do to her.