Author's Note: Thanks for the reviews, all! Here's the next chapter. Be sure to let me know what you think of it.

Chapter Six: The Associate Is...

"Wow, Lisa? Are you...are you okay? What are you doin' out here?" Davey said, leaning forward and holding out his hand in an attempt to take her by the arm and help her to her feet. But Lisa shifted away from him quickly and revealed the gun that had been out of sight by her side, aiming it at his head.

"Back off!" she demanded.

"Holy shit!" Davey exclaimed, straightening his stance and holding his hands up, palms open, level with his shoulders. He took two steps back. "Why, uh, why do you have a gun?"

"So I can shoot people." Lisa said, twisting up onto her knees and slowly climbing to her feet, keeping the gun trained firmly on Davey. "Why were you at my house?"

"What?" Davey asked, his eyes fixed on the weapon in her hand.

"What have you done with them?" Lisa asked, near hysterics.

"What are you talking about?" Davey said, taking a step toward her.

Without the slightest hesitation, Lisa kicked him hard in the shin with her bare foot and then, as soon as he hunched forward from the blow, she delivered a perfect left jab to his jaw. Among his many talents, Jackson had also been a feather weight boxer in college, though you never would have guessed it considering his perfect nose, but he had been. On their fifth date, he had taken Lisa to a gym and taught her the basics. Not exactly the perfect romantic evening, but so very Jackson. He had been especially impressed with her footwork, which she automatically attributed to her days on the field hockey team in high school.

Davey hobbled in front of her, favoring his just kicked leg and cupping both hands over his mouth which had begun to pool with thick coppery blood. Boxing was a surprisingly useful skill. She didn't trust Davey, but she was far from ready to shoot him. Hence, a secondary form of sedation. Davey let out a low groan that turned into a whimper. If he thought that that had been painful, he should see her right cross.

"What are you doing here?" Lisa demanded again, lifting the gun once again to aim it at him.

Davey turned away from her and spit out a mouthful of blood. "Damn, Lisa!" he exclaimed, "What the hell'd you do that for?"

"Answer me, Davey!"

"That really hurt." He continued to whine.

Lisa rolled her eyes, "Good Lord, suck it up!" She was beginning to sound like Jackson. Scary thought that was. She readjusted her stance and twisted her hands around the grip of the gun, almost as though to reassure herself that it was still there.

Davey looked up at her incredulously and wiped a smear of blood from his chin with the back of his hand. Lisa studied him carefully. He had just happened to show up at a rather inconvenient time in her life and after learning how Jackson and people like him worked, she no longer believed in coincidences.

"Just now, you pulled out of my driveway. Why were you there?" she said sternly.

"Yeah, I was there." Davey began fumbling over his words so quickly they were barely legible and his face turned this bright shade of red, "I came to see you. I wanted to, well, I don't really know what I was wanting. I wanted to see you, I guess. It was stupid. I know. I now see the error of my ways, but I thought...I just thought...I don't know what I thought..."

He continued to ramble as Lisa just stared at him, trying to sort through everything that he was saying until she finally couldn't take anymore. "Davey! Stop talking!"

Davey not only quit talking, he pressed his lips together in a tight thin line and blushed, resembling a very contrite adolescent youth. It struck her then just how young he really did look. He appeared about as menacing as a tee ball player, but Lisa had been fooled before and she did not plan on making the same mistake again. She kept the gun aimed right between his eyes.

"Why should I believe anything you say?" she said.

Davey looked at her like he thought that she had gone completely insane. "Lisa, I don't know what's goin' on, here, but, why would I lie?"

With those words coming from his young mouth, standing there looking at her with his hands spread in a gesture of innocence, Lisa didn't know how she should feel toward him. He reminded her very much of the way that she used to be when she was his age. Was he really capable of being a killer? Yes. Anyone was capable of it. There were too many thoughts going through her head at once, she couldn't get them straight long enough to wrap her mind around even one of them.

Lisa stood there with the 9mm fixed on him, but her hand had begun to shake violently. She didn't know what to do. She didn't know whether or not she could trust him. She wanted to trust him. She wanted very badly to trust him, but could she? With everything that she had been through in the past, could she really allow herself to trust someone new? Someone who wasn't in her little circle? Someone who wasn't Jackson?

She was answered when a bullet flew past her thigh and slammed into the front left fender of Davey's dark blue Lancer. Davey, who apparently was not used to being shot at, hit his knees. "Holy shit! Someone just shot at us! Is someone shooting at us?" he cried.

Lisa swung around, the gun leaving Davey and scanning the horizon of the field. She couldn't see him, but she knew that Clyde was out there, recomposing himself to strike. Where was he? Where did that shot come from? "Get up. We need to get out of here?" Lisa demanded, skipping to the other side of the car to get in. She decided to take a chance on Davey, hoping that she would live to regret it. She slid into the seat and yelled to Davey as she pulled her door closed.

"Come on!"

Davey crawled on his hands and knees to get back into the driver's seat. When a second bullet hit his door, he slammed his foot down on the gas pedal. He the right idea in Lisa's opinion. The only problem was that he was driving in the wrong direction. He was heading away from her house!

"Wait!" she exclaimed, "Wait, you're going the wrong way! Turn around!"

"Are you kidding?" Davey shouted, "Someone back there is shooting at us!"

"No, you have to go back! We have to go to my house! My children!"

When Davey made no move to change direction, Lisa, without thinking about the consequences, leaned over and grabbed hold of the steering wheel and jerked it hard toward her. The car swerved into a mailbox, but Davey fought her off of him and quickly regained control of the car.

"What are you thinking?" he screamed at her.

"Turn around!"

"No!"

"Turn around!"

"I said no!"

Lisa cocked the hammer back on the 9mm and held the barrel up to his temple. "And I said turn around."

Davey had just looked down the barrel of that gun, fear more than evident in his eyes, when they were hit from behind and Lisa went crashing forward, her stomach hitting the dashboard straight on. The blow knocked the wind out of her and she had to lean back and mentally talk herself into calming down before she could return to breathing normally; but she managed to keep a hold on the gun. Clyde. How in the hell had he gotten another car so fast?

"God!" Davey said, "What pissed this guy off so bad?"

"Misunderstanding."

"Misunderstanding? What kind of a misunderstanding?"

"Davey," Lisa warned, her breathing finally becoming steady once again, "shut up and drive."

Clyde moved forward to rear end the car once more, but Davey as it would seem had some experience driving, and ducked quickly into the other lane, avoiding the strike altogether. Lisa scooted back up in her seat and peered over her shoulder out the rear window. She couldn't tell what kind of car it was that Clyde was in, but he was managing to keep up with them. She settled back around in her seat and looked at the road ahead of her. It had started to rain again. She turned and fixed her gaze once more on Davey.

"Turn around." She said.

Davey's eyes were darting back and forth from the road to the mirror and he was every so often swerving out of Clyde's point of attack, much the opposite of how a race car driver swerves to block an opponent from passing them. The ride was unsteady and Lisa kept bouncing up and down and slamming into the door every now and then. She found herself wondering exactly where it was that Davey had learned to drive like that.

"I said turn around, Davey." Lisa said again.

"Lisa, normally, your wish would be my command. But, right now, I'm a little busy." Davey said, jerking the wheel hard to the left, throwing Lisa against the window.

"If you don't turn around, I'm getting out." Lisa said.

"What?" Davey exclaimed.

With that, Lisa grabbed the door handle and with great effort, shoved the door open. She swung her legs out the door of the speeding car, squeezed her eyes tightly shut, and thrust herself forward. Amazing what a mother would do for her children. Davey's hand flew out and caught her by the upper arm and pulled her back into the car.

"Are you insane?" he screamed.

"Let me go!" was Lisa's reply.

"Shut the door!" he said, "And I'll turn around."

Lisa studied his face for only a second, though it felt much longer, as though she didn't believe him. After her moment of consideration, she brought her legs back into the car and pulled the door closed.

As soon as the door was shut, the back window cracked as a bullet crashed into it. Lisa screamed and sank down into her seat, dropping the gun to the floor and covering her head with her hands. She hated cowering. It made her feel so weak and that was a feeling that she had learned to fight ever since she had met her husband. The shot had caught Davey by surprise and he lost control of the car for a brief bit. Another shot cracked the glass in a second place and Lisa pulled her hands down from her face and glared at Davey.

"If you don't turn around now, he's going to kill us both!" she screamed.

She watched as Davey took a long shuttering breath, then all at once he spun the wheel all the way around to the left and slammed on the brakes. The car power slid sideways before coming to a complete stop facing the opposite direction. They were stopped for less than a second and Davey had the pedal nailed to the floorboard yet again. They could hear the sound of Clyde's tires squealing as he attempted the same move, but whatever kind of car it was that he was in, it obviously didn't have the traction for such a manuever. His headlights soon vanished out of the sight of the rearview mirror and Lisa found herself releasing a sigh of relief.

"So, what's so important back this way that you would be willing to kill yourself for?" Davey asked.

Lisa didn't know what to say to him. She didn't know whether to tell him the truth or to make something up. In the end, she chose the simplest explanation. "My children."

"Not your husband, then?" he said, turning to look at her.

Lisa didn't answer him. She cast him a warning look and he turned his eyes back to the road. The truth of the matter was that Lisa didn't know where Jackson was. She didn't know what had passed between him and Clyde once she had run from the room. She knew that if it was within his power, then he would be on his way to the kids as well, but she couldn't leave their safety up to the mere chance that Jackson was on his way. She leaned forward and fumbled around the darkened floorboard in search of the 9mm. Her fingers finally found it and closed around it. When she sat back up, she saw that they were about to turn onto her street and her heart rate quickened. She started taking extra deep breaths to calm herself. She could do this. She knew that she could do this. No. She knew that she had to do this. Her family needed her.

Davey needn't concern himself with Jackson though. He wasn't even in the same category as Jackson. He wasn't even the same species as Jackson was. It was horrible to think, but when other men tried to compare themselves to Jackson, they all came up wanting. It was hard to explain, but in many ways, Jackson was simply...untouchable. With the risk of sounding completely cliche', nobody could even hold a candle to him.

The dread only continued to build in her stomach as they approached the driveway. What would she do? Who would she meet when she went through that door? She halfway expected Mellmott himself to have returned from the grave and be standing there at her front door waiting to finish what he had started all those years ago. That was just the fear though. The logical part of her mind knew that that wasn't the case and that was the side of her mind that she needed to be focusing on at the present. She needed to buckle down and push past all the fear and doubt that was swimming around in her mind. She needed to suck it up...for her kids. For Luhki and her radiant eyes that were a mirror of her own. For Mariah and her bouncy red curls. And for Jack Jr. and his infectious smile. It didn't matter what happened to her, now. They were the only thing that mattered anymore.

"Are you sure about this?" Davey asked from the driver's seat, breaking Lisa from her thoughts.

She looked at him. She had the feeling that he didn't really understand...or believe the gravity of the situation. Poor kid, being dragged into something he had no clue about and no reason to be involved in. She could have cried for him. Then she thought about Cynthia and she could have cried for herself and she probably would later. Mellmott had kidnapped Cynthia, now his brother had broken into her house and to top it all off, he had shot at Davey who hadn't even really gotten to know her yet. She wasn't going to have any friend left if she kept getting them shot at and kidnapped by murderers.

They started to make the turn into her driveway and Lisa felt her entire body start to go rigid. Could she do this? Yes. Was she ready for this? She had to be. She found herself looking around in panic, terrified that Clyde was going to come flying out from one of the side streets near her house and ram into them, killing them both on contact. Nervous adrenaline rushed through her veins as Davey flipped off his headlights and rolled silently into the drive. She took a deep, shuttering breath and paused for just a second to collect herself before moving to get out of the car. But, as she reached for the door handle, Davey caught her by the arm and held her in place with a surprising amount of force. Lisa glanced down at his hand then moved her gaze up to his face.

"Do you really want to do this?" He asked.

Lisa narrowed her eyes at him, "Davey, let me go."

"I'm worried about you, Lisa."

"Let me go, Davey."

"Lisa...I don't want you to go in there."

Suspicion crept into the pit of her stomach and began churning and bubbling violently. She studied the handsome features of his face. "What are you doing here, Davey?"

His dark eyes cast downward for an instant, then met hers once again and she saw something a little too familiar flash through their pretty depths. He made a snap decision and leaned forward and pressed his lips firmly against hers.

Lisa wrenched backwards in disgust and slapped him as hard as she could across the face. That unbelieveable little shit! How dare he try to take advantage of her while she was in this current situation which was quite literally one of life or death? She had half a mind to shoot him just for being an ass.

"What is the matter with you?" she hissed.

Davey had since turned back to face the steering wheel. He was gripping it so tightly that his knuckles had turned white, but he didn't look ashamed or embarrassed. Quite to the contrary, he had this contemptuous sulky look on his face. There was no sign of the boyish contrition that had made her feel so badly for him earlier. Instead, he looked like a spoiled little brat who hadn't gotten his way and there was a frightening look of anger in his expression.

Lisa didn't have the time to worry about his bruised male ego. She pushed the door open and leapt from the car. As soon as the rain hit her face, all thoughts of Davey and what had just occurred between them was driven from her mind and she switched into 'Jackson' mode, searching for the best point of entry into her own house. She needed to get inside undetected. As water began to drip in large droplets down her face, she sloshed her way around to the back of the house.

Jackson's eyes fluttered open. He found himself laid out flat on his back in the middle of his and Lisa's queen size bed. There was a loud ringing in his ears and he felt as though a train was rampaging through his head. He tried to move his arms, but soon looked up to find that his wrists were handcuffed to the bedposts. Now, it would have been one thing had he been latched to the bed with Lisa sitting on top of him, naked...but seeing that she wasn't, the entire situation was very disconcerting. He heard the sound of his girls crying and all of his attention honed in on that. He saw them huddled in the corner of the room, clinging to each other, tears streaming down their round little faces. Jack Jr. was also crying from his position still in his playpen. He went to move his legs but couldn't. He looked down and saw that his ankles were tied to the footboard with neckties. Jackson narrowed his eyes at the strips of material. He knew that he had had a good reason for always having loathed neckties. He took a breath and examined his current state. He needed to calm down and think of a solution. If he could only get his hands on a hair clip of some kind, he could pick the handcuffs and get free.

The girls' crying suddenly burst into one short loud scream and Jackson turned to see what had startled them. Another person had entered the room. His attacker he assumed. He heard the distinct sound of someone clearing their throat and began searching the room for the source. His eyes landed on a pair of rather shapely legs swathed in a pair of tight fitting stylishly ripped blue jeans and a dark blue tee shirt stretched taut across a flat belly. Full lips, button nose, and tasseled sandy blonde hair...in other words, the last person Jackson expected to see. She smiled brightly at him, showing off both rows of her pearly white teeth.

"Maggie?" Jackson breathed.

Author's Note: Okay, so, which sin would be worse? Davey being in on the plot against the Rippners or Davey actually having the nerve to kiss Jackson's woman? I'm curious to know. Be sure to tell me what you thought of the chapter, kay!