Sometimes…
Disclaimer: I don't own anything related to Red Eye!
Chapter Five
Joe Reisert clicked the news on and walked into the kitchen later that afternoon. It was around 4 o'clock and almost time for him to call Lisa. He was trying his best to call her less often seeing how it always annoyed her. But she was his only child and he was naturally concerned about her after all that she had been through.
He went about the business of making coffee and once it was finished brewing, he poured himself a mug and headed back into the TV room. He froze before he could make it to his favorite chair, conveniently seated in front of the TV. His eyes were fixed up the TV and the coffee cup he had been carrying fell from his hands and plummeted to the hardwood floor, shattering and allowed the contents to creep across the floor. He sank into his chair and turned the volume up, his ears straining to hear the words of the reporter.
"Earlier today, a car exploded in downtown Miami. No one survived the blast and it is suspected that person who was in the car was killed. The car was registered to a Miss Lisa Reisert, whose belongings were found burned in the car. There is no sign of a body yet," said the reporter as the footage rolled of the fiery car.
It was Lisa's car all right. He knew it even after the damage that had been caused by the explosion. The new station flashed a picture of Lisa, smiling and happy and continued on about his daughter, speculating on what might have caused the explosion and the death of his daughter.
"Miss Reisert was known locally as the manager of the Lux Atlantic hotel, until the attempted assassination of Deputy Director of Homeland Security, Charles Keefe. Her role in the assassination attempt has never been officially established and one can only assume that her death is related to the same incident," commented the reporter.
Joe Reisert was willing to bet money that he had something to do with it. Assassins do not simply change their stripes, despite what the court of law was inclined to believe. Jackson Rippner had been tried and found innocent, yet Joe did not believe it. After what had been done to his daughter, he knew that Rippner would never change. Neither Jackson nor Lisa had been present at the trial and Joe had spared Lisa the news of her captor's victory. She had already dug a deep enough hole for herself and he would not dare add to it.
Yet, she was now dead and Jackson Rippner was soon to be a free man. He would get away with murdering his daughter. Sadness over Lisa's death quickly gave way to anger towards the one man he believed to be responsible.
Jackson Rippner was at fault…and Joe Reisert would make sure that the younger man knew exactly what he thought about it.
"Jackson," Amy said, turning to face the blue-eyed man seated beside her. "Why did you ever let me go to begin with?"
Jackson sighed. "You told me to leave you alone and I listened. I never should have listened…"
"Whatever happened to me—it wasn't your fault…" she started to say but his finger on her lips silenced her. She sat, stunned as he spoke.
"Listen to me, Amy; I'm at fault for anything that happened. It was my job to look after you and I failed. I let you get away. Anything could have happened to you in those five years. I loved you and I let you get hurt. It's my fault," he said with another sigh and his finger dropped from her lips.
"I'm immensely stubborn—you wouldn't have been able to follow me," Amy teased, trying to lighten the mood. It did not seem right to her for Jackson to be so down and depressed. Surely, that was not his personality…
"True, true," he said, his face breaking into a smile. "God, I've missed you. I'll never forgive myself…"
"Shut up," she ordered and covered his lips lightly with her own in a brief kiss. "Just shut up."
Jackson was stunned and speechless after the kiss. Once he snapped out of his trance, he shook his head and stood up, backing away from her. "This isn't right," he declared, burying his hands in his dark hair.
Amy looked confused. "What isn't right?" she demanded. "You said we were engaged."
"For fuck's sake Amy, that was over five years ago! How could you possibly expect to waltz right back into my life? I haven't the slightest clue where you've been for those years! For all I know, you could have a whole other life with another man…" Jackson was clearly distressed and began limping in a mocking version of pacing. "We—I…it can't be this way."
"Why the hell not?" she wanted to know. If they loved each other, how could it be wrong? She had feelings for him in her heart and surely he had feelings for her. As for another life, how would that have been possible when it felt like the only man she had ever loved was standing in front of her?
"It's just not right. Not until we know what happened to you," he insisted, still pacing and staying away from her.
"You're far too good for me," she smiled. "Most other men would have taken advantage of the situation."
He stopped pacing and focused his gaze on her. "I'm not like other men, Amy."
"I know."
She knew? How the hell could she know? What did she know? Her memory could not already be back or else she would have starting screaming and trying to hurt him. Whatever it was could not be related to his job.
He was still surprised at his ability to manipulate her. He was receiving a sick pleasure from his games. He knew exactly what to say in order to produce the right reactions. Jackson Rippner was not a simpering fool who wallowed in self-pity. Jackson did not refuse advances coming from the right woman either.
Lisa Reisert was wrapped around his little finger and he was having a hell of a good time stringing her along. Soon, he would have her doing back flips and other equally absurd things on command. She was going to be a well-trained bitch once he was finished with her.
And when she was happy and believed every lie out of his mouth, he would extract his revenge then. He would bring her created world crashing down around her and when the moment was right, he would finish the job and kill her.
Revenge would be sweet…
Author's Notes:
Jackson's really enjoying his time with Lisa and I thought I'd give everyone a glimpse into his sick and twisted mind. We're going to delve deeper into his mind later on. And the amount of language used with began to start picking up, so I'm warning you now. It's just because Jackson's mind is a scary and dirty place later on. If things go according to plan that is… Anyways, thanks to everyone who's been reviewing. Enjoy!
