Chapter Five

Lisa parked the car in the driveway, looking sullen. What are you getting yourself into, Leese? She asked herself, nearly banging her head against the steering wheel. How can you possibly trust this man? After all he's put you through...She looked over at him, while he stared patiently back.

"Shouldn't we be getting out of the car?" he asked sarcastically.

Lisa groaned. Leave it to good old Jack to make some witty comment. "I will get out of the car when I need to," she said, trying to sound as menacing as possible.

Jackson just shrugged. "Fine by me," he said, stepping out of the car.

"Wait!"

Jackson turned around, sat back down, and shut the door. "Yes?"

"Why..." she started, then stopped, not sure how to ask the question. "Why do you want to help me? What did this Bentley do to you to make you so...angry with him?" she asked, feeling foolish. Why was it her business?

Jackson stared at her, looking sad, angry, and confused all at once. For a while, there was silence, and then he started to talk. "I had a life once," he said, his hands clenched into fists, "and a wife. Julia. I loved her more than anything." He stopped again, looking like someone had slapped him. "One day, I witnessed something. A murder. Bentley killed a man who had tried to accuse him of conning him. Bentley saw me, and threatened to kill Julia. I was stupid, I didn't think he would really do it. I thought that, if the police caught him in time, he wouldn't have time to carry out his threat." he looked at Lisa, a hard, miserable look. "I underestimated how many criminals were under him. One day, I went home, and..." he trailed off. "I found her. They had shot her six times. Not only that, but Bentley managed to disprove the murder I had accused him of. So he's been on the streets ever since." Jackson looked away. "I've been looking for him ever since. I had a contact that told me about Bentley's plans to create a terrorist group. That was right before the red eye flight, ironically. I was going to report it, but didn't have time before..." he grunted uncomfortably before continuing. "Anyway, I couldn't report it. And when I was at the hospital and in jail, I had completely forgotten about it. But then...then I started hearing news about a terrorist group forming, and I thought, who else could it be, other than Bentley? So I reported what the contact had told me to the police. Almost everything." he shook his head. "I wanted to be able to give enough information to get out of jail, but not enough to prove him guilty. You see," he looked at Lisa with an anger that she had never seen before, "I want to kill that son of a bitch myself." He turned away. "Anything else you want to ask?"

Lisa couldn't speak. "I'm...sorry..." she said, looking stricken.

Jackson looked at her another moment, then said, "We should be getting inside."

He stepped out of the car, and stiffly headed towards the door. Lisa leaned her head against the back of the seat. So this was why he was...the way he was. He had had a wife? So he had a reason for being a complete pain-in-the-ass. And for some reason, she despised him for it.

Because now it was harder to hate him.

Jackson sat heavily on the couch, feeling like choking something. Why, why did Lisa have to be so damn curious? He had told her something that he had never told anyone else. Why couldn't he have just ignored her? Why didn't he just give some witty retort and walk straight into the house? Then he wouldn't have had to answer her question.

At that moment, Lisa walked in. She looked confused. Just as she was about to speak, Jackson said, "So what are we going to do?"

His question had clearly taken her by surprise. "I...don't know," she said, looking foolish.

Jackson sat up. "Well, it's pretty clear that he wants us both in that alley," he said, "so the best idea is to just have you going in, and me at a distance..." Lisa seemed to be distracted. "Are you all right?" Jackson asked.

Lisa seemed to wake up. "Oh...I'm-I'm fine," she said, shaking her head.

Jackson seemed unconvinced. "If you insist," he said, looking concerned. He continued, "Anyway, you can go to the alley alone, and I'll be a few blocks down."

"But...but how will I be able to contact you if something goes wrong?" she asked nervously.

"Well..." he hadn't thought of that before. "Um...scream really, really loud."

Even as he said it, the idea seemed ridiculous. Evidently, Lisa seemed to think so too, because she began to laugh. Jackson looked stricken.

"A laugh," he said, smiling, "Haven't heard one of those out of you in five years."

She stopped, cleared her throat, and resumed talking. "Anyway, is there any other way I can contact you?"

He thought for a minute. "Afraid not, Leese," he said, shrugging. "Believe me, I'll know if something's wrong."

"How?"

He thought a moment. "I'll be closer than I originally thought. I can probably get away with being right next to the alley," he said, "There's a driveway right next to the alley on Westwood. I can hide out there. I'll know if something goes wrong."

Jackson looked at her, trying to look confident. Why was he so concerned for her life? What happened to the nights brooding over what she had done to him?

It was simple, he told himself. He needed to find Bentley, and he needed her to do it. It was the only way...

Alrighty, chapter five done. Chapter six will be when Lisa meets Bentley in the alley. Lets just say that Lisa's not exactly going to be at her safest.