Chapter Eight

Lisa heard the sound of a gunshot outside. She quickly went over to the window to look outside. There was Jackson, and Lisa was relieved to see that he was the one who had pulled the trigger. One man was dead, and another one was wrestling with Jackson. He shot the man in the arm, and aimed to kill the man. At that moment, Lisa could see a man run up and place a gun at Jackson's head. Lisa tried to see the man's face, but he was turned away. Knowing that Jackson would probably be killed, Lisa slid down and put her hands in her face, waiting for the gunshot. But it didn't come. When Lisa looked down, the man and Jackson were gone. Lisa was puzzled. The man must have taken him inside, she told herself.

She stood, her legs shaking, because they were still weak from the drug. This is brilliant, she thought sarcastically. Now both of us are hostages. How are we going to get out of this one?

Lisa put a hand to her head. She was feeling dizzy again, but not as bad as in the alley. Why is this happening to me? she thought. When the moment had passed, she walked as best she could over to the bed and sat down, trying to think up a plan. She had to get out of the room somehow. She walked over to the door and examined it carefully. The door itself was sturdy, but the hinges were weak. The screws holding them in seemed to be falling out. She went over to her purse and got the keys. She started to unscrew the first hinge, and it came out easily. She looked at the second hinge at the bottom. All I need to do is get that one out, she thought, and I'm outta here. She crouched down and started to unscrew the second hinge. Unfortunately, it wasn't as easy as the other one, and she had to work at it. Just as she was about to finish it, common sense kicked in. What if someone is out there? she thought. She wasn't strong enough to put up a fight. I have to see if I'm alone. She went to her purse again. Her prescription case would work. The top of the door was parted because the hinge was gone, and she threw the container through the space and waited. Either the people out there were deaf, or she was alone. With renewed vigor, she crouched back down and began to finish with the last hinge. When she had finished, the door fell on her, and she put her hands up to stop it from crashing. She carefully put it down on the floor.

Okay, what now? she thought, looking around. The place was not a hostel as she had originally thought, but what appeared to be a gigantic, ugly rat hole. It looked as if the place hadn't been cleaned in over twenty years.

But that's not what this is about, Leese, she told herself. You have to find Jackson. You have to find Michael. You have to find Mattie. She shook her head, overwhelmed. This wasn't working. How could she do this?

She started to walk down the hall. just as she was about to open a door, she heard voices coming out of a door in the opposite direction. Quietly as she could, she walked over to the door.

"...couldn't scurry out of this one, could you, Rippner? I have to say, I am impressed by how well you managed to follow us. You must really like Lisa, if you're willing to put your life on the line for her."

Why did his voice sound so familiar? Lisa didn't have much time to think about it, because Jackson started speaking.

"Only what is necessary, Bentley."

"I guess it was necessary. Should I be getting jealous?"

That's an odd thing to say, Lisa thought, puzzled. She put her ear to the door, trying to hear more.

"Where is she?"

"She's just fine. It's you and me now."

At this point, Lisa heard a crash, which she assumed was either Jackson raising hell on Bentley, or vice versa. She heard them fighting for a while, and then the sound of a gun being cocked. The voice she heard next was Bentley's:

"I'm really getting tired of this, Rippner," he said, sounding terrifyingly enraged. "I'll tell Lisa goodbye for you."

This was all she could take. She burst into the room, about to yell "stop!" but the words died in her throat.

Standing in front of her, a gun at Jackson's head, was not a complete stranger.

"You..." she said, but couldn't finish.

The man, Dixon Bentley, was Michael.

HA! Double HA! Wrap your heads around THAT one! Bet you didn't see that coming. Well, yeah, you probably did. I hope you appreciate how much I had to hack and slash at this chapter to get it right. Anyway, two more chapters to go! Update will be soon!