If at first you don't succeed…

Disclaimer: I do not own any characters from Red Eye or anything affiliated with Red Eye.

A/N: Thanks so much to all of you reviewers! Your comments and suggestions help me out a lot. Casidebottom, thanks for helping me with those few grammatical problems. It's true; you really can't see the fault in your own work. : ) To answer the question about when Jackson will appear, very soon. Well here's the next chapter. I hope you enjoy it.

Runaway

"So he was doubled over when you threw open the door correct?"

"Yes." Lisa tiredly responded. Please just let me go home, I'm so tired. Her father reached out and gently took her hand in a comforting gesture. They had been at the station for so long, all she wanted to do was go to sleep and forget that this whole thing had ever happened. Before the police officer could ask any more redundant questions Officer Caldwell re-entered the small room.

"Thank you Adam." He said nodding to the other officer. "Please stay with Mr. Reisert, and Miss Reisert please come with me."

This must be serious, she thought. He hasn't called me Miss Reisert since the day that we meet. Lisa apprehensively got to her feet, grabbed her purse, and followed Officer Caldwell out of the room. As the door was closing she could hear her father arguing with the other officer about why he couldn't accompany Lisa.

She followed Officer Caldwell through the busy police station and was surprised at how busy it was. She didn't expect the station to be so busy at 4:30 in the morning. They both remained silent as he led her to some unknown destination.

In that silence Lisa found herself starting to panic as she replayed the events of the night in her mind. He's still alive, and he's after me. It's not fair; all I want to do is have a normal life! Why can't he just leave me alone? These thoughts and the question of what was wrong with Officer Caldwell plagued her mind. Lisa was pulled out of her thoughts when Officer Caldwell abruptly stopped in front of an office. The door had the name Caldwell written in dark black ink, which contrasted with the wooden door. Officer Caldwell opened the door and stepped to the side motioning for Lisa to enter first.

This room was nothing like the small-cold- interrogation room that she and her father had been in. This one had a couch, a few chairs, a desk, and lots of posters and pictures on the wall. On the desk there was a picture of a very pretty woman holding a little girl in her arms, both smiling up at the camera. I didn't think that Officer Caldwell had any family. Must be a sister or something.

Still silent Officer Caldwell walked over to his Oak desk, opened a draw, and pulled out a blue baseball hat, sunglasses, a gigantic navy pullover, and a pair of jeans. What on earth is going on?

"Lisa, I'm going to need you to change into these." He said while holding out the odd clothing to her. "Your current attire stands out to much." Okay, now I defiantly know something is wrong, but why on earth do I need to change?
"What?" Was all she was able to come out with.

"Lisa listen, we could not track down that man that was in your house tonight. And now that he has confirmed that Jackson Rippner is still alive and wanting revenge I've decided that it's too dangerous for you to stay here. After you change I'm taking you away from here to stay with a retired police officer. He's a good friend of mine and is the manager of an apartment complex. I've already contacted him on a secure line and he said it would be fine for you to stay there."

Lisa just stared at him dumfounded. Leave? To where? For how long? I'm not going to run away! I wont let Jackson ruin my life!

Officer Caldwell held out the cloths to Lisa again. "Please hurry." He said with urgency in his voice, but Lisa didn't make a move to take the cloths. She hardened her expression and looked up at Officer Caldwell.

"I won't run away." She stated

Officer Caldwell threw the cloths on top of his desk and ran his fingers through his hair in a frustrated manner. "Dang it Lisa!" He shouted. "We don't have time for this! Quit being so stubborn and put the cloths on!" Lisa was taken aback. She had never seen him like this before. What was the big rush, and why did it matter so much to him if she was in danger?

"Officer Caldwell." She said calmly. "I will not put my life on hold because of him. You may never even catch Jackson and his associate. I will not go into hiding for goodness knows how long."

"I know you can't hide forever Lisa." He said frustrated. "I have some people working on those blood samples that we got off of your floor, hopefully they will lead us to who was in your house. I also have a few of my men watching your house, so as soon as anyone tries something we'll catch them." Lisa still regarded Officer Caldwell with defiance in her eyes.

"Please Lisa, just give me two weeks." He silently pleaded. It was his change of behavior more then anything that made Lisa slightly less defiant.

"What about my dad and my job? I can't just pick up and leave." She said skeptically. Officer Caldwell looked at her hopefully.

"Adam will tell your father that you've been taken to a secure location for safe keeping. But he won't tell him where you're going because I'm the only one who knows. As for your job, don't worry about it. I'll take care of it. Now please hurry and go change." He once again pleaded as he picked up the cloths and handed them out to her again.

"But…"

"Lisa!" He interrupted, "We don't have time! Those people are tracking you and we have to go now!"

The fear and desperation in his voice got Lisa going. It was absolutely terrifying to think that something could scare someone like Officer Caldwell. Taking the cloths from him Lisa turned and started for the door, but was stopped when a strong hand griped her shoulder.

"No. I need to go grab a few things you change in here. The blinds are closed and I'll lock the door."
Officer Caldwell quickly left and as promised locked the door behind him. Lisa struggled to get out her business suit and into the provided cloths a million questions racing through her mind while doing so. What is he so afraid off? He must know more then what he is telling me. The urgency, fear, and anger in his voice filled her stomach with dread. The situation must be even worse then she originally thought.

Finally Lisa managed to change into the casual cloths. The jeans were a bit large, but they fit all right. The pullover however was like a tent. Lisa thought she looked extremely foolish, especially with the black dress shoes that she still had on. Placing the baseball cap on she heard a light tap at the door.

"I'm finished." She called out and hurried to unlock the door. Upon opening the door she saw that she was not the only one who had changed cloths. Officer Caldwell was wearing faded boot cut jeans, sneakers and a dark red jacket. Shutting the door behind him he quickly looked Lisa over.

"I think you should put your hair up in the cap, and put the sunglasses on too. We don't want to have any attention drawn to you." He said seriously, Lisa found that last part a bit hard to believe.

"Don't you think that someone wearing sunglasses at about five in the morning is going to look a little suspicious?" She retorted.

Officer Caldwell let out another exasperated sigh. "Just do it Lisa." He commanded.

Lisa was about to argue with him again but decided to do what he said for once. Grudgingly Lisa complied with his demands. Once she was finished he looked her over one more time then nodded in approval. He slipped on a pair of sunglasses too then grabbed his keys of the desk.

"Ready?" He asked

"No." She stubbornly replied.

He gave her a sympathetic look then held the door open for her. Lisa let out a sigh, and picked up her purse that she had placed on the chair while changing. He followed her out of his office, and they started through the busy station once again.

"Well can I at least go say goodbye to my dad real quick?" She asked.

"No, we've already gone over this, and we have to move now." Then with a sideways look at her he grinned and said, "And knowing your father he'd probably just argue and we would never get out of here."

Despite herself Lisa let a small smile cross her face. That would be one argument that she would actually side with her dad on. She didn't know why she was being so compliant, but some of Officer Caldwell's fear and urgency had vastly unsettled her. They had almost reached the doors to exit the police station when Officer Caldwell gripped her shoulder and prevented her from going through the doors. Now what? She inwardly sighed as she looked up at him with questioning eyes.

"The shift change is at five." He stated while looking around the office. "We'll exit with the officers that are going home." And sure enough no sooner had he said this then about eight police officers started heading towards the door. Many greeted Officer Caldwell and they all started exiting the building.
Officer Caldwell always made sure that Lisa was right in the middle of the procession while walking through the parking lot. Lisa didn't say anything; she just made sure that she was always by Officer Caldwell's side. She also noted that most of the officers were wearing sunglasses. It must be a police thing.

It was still completely dark outside. It probably wouldn't even start to get light for another hour or two. The storm had passed sometime while she was being interrogated, and the electricity had come back on shortly after she was attacked.

After Officer Caldwell said goodbye to the other officers he lead Lisa over to his car. It was a green Ford Taurus, a very common model, if he was trying to blend in then he was defiantly doing a good job at it.

He unlocked the doors and they both climbed in. Lisa pulled off the sunglasses and tossed them in the back seat. Before starting the car Officer Caldwell took his sunglasses off and hooked them onto the sun visor. They remained silent until he pulled out of the parking lot and onto the main road.

"So," Lisa said breaking the silence, "are you finally going to tell me exactly what's going on or are you going to continue keeping me in the dark?"

Keeping his eyes on the road he said, "After we brought you back to the station I had one of my men search your house and we found that your phone line was being watched. We also have good reason to believe that you are being tracked, which is why we have to leave quickly and can't stop by your house to pick up any supplies. If you are being watched, which I believe you are, then going home and packing a suitcase would look highly suspicious. You'll just have to pick up some supplies when we get to the apartment"

I'm being followed again. I wonder if it's Jackson who's keeping tabs on me. But why would he be watching me, what does he want from me? Is it just revenge, or is it something more. Then she remembered that she still had absolutely no idea where she was going.

"And where exactly is the apartment?" Lisa asked.

"It's in Atlanta, Georgia. I figured it was far enough but close enough at the same time." Well that makes sense. Lisa thought sarcastically. She decided then to ask a question that had been haunting her for some time.

"Why do you care so much about what happens to me?" She quietly asked. He didn't answer at first; he drove on in silence for a few minutes before finally speaking.

"About twelve years ago my wife and daughter went to the supermarket to pick up some groceries, several men with masks on entered the store. We think that they were either on drugs or drunk. They all had guns. They robbed the store and killed everyone inside." Then he turned to look at Lisa with eyes glistening but no tears falling. "My daughter would have been about your age right now. You remind me of her. I would never want a father to go through what I had to go through."

Lisa felt her eyes start to water up and felt the familiar sensation of her heart tightening. That's so awful. Poor man. Reaching out Lisa put a hand on Officer Caldwell's shoulder.

"Officer Caldwell, thank you… for helping me." She whispered.

Turning to face her again Officer Caldwell managed a small smile and responded, "Please call me Jim."

They smiled at each other for a moment and then without warning Lisa let out on extremely loud yawn. She flushed slightly and Jim chuckled.

"Why don't you get some rest, we have a long drive ahead of us."

Lisa leaned back in her chair, and before she knew it she entered into a dreamless sleep.

Jim drove straight through the rest of the day only stopping to refill the gas occasionally. Sometimes they would talk and other times they would merely sit in silence each submerged in their own thoughts.

Late that night they arrived at the apartment complex, which was set in the heart of Atlanta. There was a grocery store just down the street and a Christensen's clothing store about a block down. Pulling into the parking lot Lisa noted that it was a lot larger then she thought it would be. There were five rows of very nice looking apartments. Each apartment was two stories and painted a light blue.

Throwing the car door open Lisa grabbed her purse of off the floor, hopped out of the car, and stretched. Taking a deep breath of the night air she let the gentle breeze ruffle her hair. Maybe being here won't be so bad after all.

She joined Jim and the two of them walked through the well-lit parking lot towards the office. Stepping into the warm cozy office Lisa saw a man sitting behind a desk. He was a slightly plump man who appeared to be in his mid sixties. He had white hair, which was balding in several spots.

"Jim! Hey, long time no see!" The man exclaimed while getting up and walking around the desk.

"Hey, Greg it's been awhile." Jim said as the two men embraced. Afterwards they both turned to Lisa and Jim said, "This is the girl that I told you about over the phone."

Extending his had towards Lisa she shock it and introduced herself. "Hi, I'm Lisa Reisert. It's a pleasure to meet you."

"The pleasure is all mine Lisa, and you can call me Greg. So how about we go and take a look at your home for the next little while?" He kindly asked. Lisa immediately liked Greg. He made her feel so at home and at ease.

Lisa smiled and then started digging around in her purse. Where is my blasted credit card, surely he'll want me to pay for the apartment in advance. A warm hand covered hers halting her search. Startled Lisa looked up at Greg. Shaking his head he said, "I reckon you've been through enough. Don't worry about paying; any friend of Jim's is a friend of mine. The only thing that you owe me is to keep yourself safe." He said with a wink.

Lisa was touched. She didn't know what to say, so she said the only thing that she could think of. "Thank you." She whispered.

Greg nodded back at her and the three of them made their way towards Lisa's apartment; she was going to be staying in apartment 33. Pulling out a key Greg unlocked the door and allowed Lisa and Jim to enter with him following behind. Greg walked over and quickly switched on some lights. Lisa was then able to see that the door opened up into an extremely spacious living room. Lisa was about to go explore the apartment when Jim's voice stopped her.

"Lisa," he started, "I have to leave you now. I need to get back to Miami and start with the investigation. You'll be in good hands; Greg will take care of you. Oh, and don't call your father. He's lines might be tapped. I told Adam to tell your father not to call your cell. If you want me to pass a message on to him then call my cell."

Lisa nodded glumly. She couldn't talk to her father, and Jim was leaving. She suddenly felt very alone and afraid. The calm that she had felt when she first arrived quickly left her.

Jim looked extremely uncomfortable as he stepped towards her and then awkwardly pat her on the shoulder and told her to take care of herself. Then he left. Greg threw a sympathetic look at Lisa.

"So how about I give you a grand tour of the apartment?" Greg asked with a smile. Lisa started to feel slightly better as he proceeded to show her the house.

There was a rather large living room as she had noticed before, with a television set, couch, and recliner. The living room also connected with the kitchen, and there was a small bathroom downstairs next to the broom closet.

Lisa followed Greg up the narrow stairs to the second level of her apartment. The top level consisted of a bedroom and large bathroom. The king sized bed looked extremely enticing to Lisa's weary body.

After the grand tour of her apartment Greg took Lisa shopping for food, a few pairs of cloths, and other odds and ends. They stopped and picked up a pizza on the way back to her apartment and she and Greg and ate their dinner in her apartment while chatting about this and that. Around ten o'clock Greg left to go back to his apartment and told her to call if she needed anything. As soon as he left Lisa crashed on the king size bed and was out until morning.

Over the next three days Lisa started getting into the swing of things. She would usually wake up at about nine, take a shower and then get ready for the day. After getting ready she would make herself brunch and watch day time t.v. for about an hour. Once she had finished her daily dosage of soap operas Lisa would head down to Greg's office and play a few games of cards with him and just chat.

Greg called all the time to check up on her. Just like her father had done he would usually call her at random hours during the night and day just to make sure that she was okay. Jim also frequently called to check up on her and pass messages on from her father.

After she had finished playing cards with Greg she would usually go window shopping or to the library. Of course she always had her cell phone and pepper spray on her, and would always be in a very public place.

In order to go out she had to promise to call Greg every half an hour, which was a bit inconvenient but livable. She also had to be back an hour and a half before it got dark.

Once she was finished in town she would go back to her apartment pour herself some coffee and watch t.v. After she finished with her coffee she would always brush her teeth. (It was just one of those neurotic habits that she had, she hated the feeling of not having a clean mouth and teeth.) She would usually then pour into bed around midnight. All in all it was a pretty boring schedule, half of it consisted of just watching television.

On the third day of her stay after playing a few games of poker with Greg, which she lost, she went to the mall then afterwards decided to go to the library for a bit. Lisa started reading Pride and Prejudice and completely lost track of time. (Greg had been quite upset when she had called him and told him that she was still at the library.)

Lisa pulled into the apartment parking lot just before it started getting dark. She went into the office to give Greg back the keys to his Jeep and bid him goodnight.

Finally getting back to her apartment she tossed her keys down on the kitchen counter and proceeded to maker her nightly cup of coffee. How long am I going to have to keep up this boring schedule? She asked herself.

After fixing herself a cup of coffee she walked back into the living room, grabbed and the remote, and turned on the t.v. She flipped channels for a few minutes before finally settling on a re-run of ER.

During a commercial break Lisa climbed up the stairs into the main bathroom to brush her teeth, as usual.

She opened up the drawn to grab her toothbrush but stopped dead in her tracks as her hand grasped unfamiliar objects. Looking down Lisa screamed.

The entire drawer was filled with the exact same Frankenstein pens that she had rammed into Jackson's throat. Covering her mouth and shaking her head she started to back out of the bathroom when she suddenly heard a creak from the stairs.

It was then that unimaginable fear clutched at her heart, and she knew without a doubt that Jackson Rippner was still in her apartment.

A/N: Sorry about taking awhile to update. I've had a really bad cold and didn't think that it would be the best idea if I tried to write while hyped up on cold medicine. Anyways I hope that you all liked this chapter. Please review, I love getting feed back. Lena