Make the Call
Disclaimer: I don't own anything related to Red Eye!
Chapter Nine: Fate
Bang.
Lisa opened her eyes and saw the hit man's sprawled body covering Jackson. Jackson managed to pull himself out from under the dead man and crawl towards her. The gun fell from her hands with a loud crack as it hit the hard floor. Jackson wrapped his arm around her and pulled her close to his heaving body.
He was still alive. She had not killed him with her blind shot. Jackson was fine.
"Leese," Jackson whispered, his voice raspy from the pen wound that she had inflicted. "Let's go find your dad."
Lisa nodded and Jackson helped her stand. They were both exhausted and extremely weak, but they could not quit yet. There was still much to do.
"Come on," he said and they struggled up the stairs, hurrying to the second floor, praying that they were not too late. How long had the hit man been in the house before she arrived? Was her dad even in the house at the time?
"Dad? Daddy?" Lisa called, listening for some type of response. "Dad!"
They peeked into each room, Jackson leading the way, just in case there was another hit man in the house. Lisa and Jackson were passing her father's room when Jackson tried to turn her away from the door way. Her heart stopped beating and she stopped breathing for a moment.
"Dad! Jackson, let me see!" Lisa demanded, fighting his grip.
Jackson released her and she stumbled into the bedroom. On the floor lay Joe Reisert, beaten and bloody. And very, very dead…
"Oh my god!" she gasped, covering her mouth and quickly stepping backwards, backing into Jackson. He reached out to embrace her, to whisper promises in her ear and reassure her that everything would be okay.
But she wanted none of it. He had promised that her father was safe, and here he was, dead because of Jackson. Nothing would ever be okay again.
The hurt and betrayed look upon her beautiful face and in her tearing green eyes was too much for him to take. He had been trying to help her and look what had happened. He had gotten her father killed. He had been trying to do something good for once. Of course, it had back-fired.
"Leese," he tried to touch her again and she stepped backwards from him, almost as if his light touch repulsed her.
"No!" Lisa cried, smacking his arm. "No!"
She was going to have a breakdown. Her emotions were getting the better of her. She was getting ready to lose it and there was nothing that he could do to stop it. He wanted to help her, but what was there that he could do?
Lisa started to cry and her anger came out at the same time. She blindly punched and hit him; the blows not really hurting him—they were more of a nuisance—but it made her feel better. Finally, she collapsed; too tired to try to hurt him anymore and he caught her.
She sobbed onto his jacket and pulled the material into her fists. He placed his arms around her, getting small drops of blood on her white sweater. Lisa clung to him and he supported her, determined to help her get through this. This was all his fault. If he had not taken the job or not tried to free her father, then the Reiserts would both be free and safe at that moment, instead of her father dead.
If he had not fallen in love with her, none of this would have happened. It would have been just like any other job. But he allowed his emotions to get the better of him and now the one person he had not wanted to pay for his mistakes had paid dearly. Lisa lost her father because of him. He was responsible for the murder of Joe Reisert.
He should have done something differently. Once he knew about the other hit man, he should have done something differently. Called the police, or something.
But he had been blinded by his emotions for a woman that he could never be with, especially not anymore. He could never be with Lisa Reisert. It was their fate to be kept apart by his job and his lifestyle. As much as he wanted to believe that he could change enough to stay with her, he knew in his mind that it was impossible.
Their fate was sealed—Lisa and Jackson could never be together.
Even if they could be together, Jackson had lost Lisa's trust. She had trusted him to save Joe and he had failed. Failing to keep a promise was worse than lying. And he never lied and never broke his promises. All the same, he had lost the only person who had ever mattered. He had lost Lisa—both her trust and heart—due to one mistake. A mistake that cost an innocent man's life. Joe Reisert's only crime was loving his daughter too much.
Jackson's crime was failing to save him.
Author's Notes:
A sad chapter. It's short, but that because I lost my train of thought thanks to some rather nosy and noisy friends (I mean you, Robbie, TC, Dan, and Seth! Get out!) . And I have been unable to regain said train of thought. It won't happen again though. Next chapter should be up early tomorrow morning, before I hit the road for school.