Bad Things Happen
Disclaimer: I don't own anything related to Red Eye!
Chapter Four
Lisa shuffled into the city morgue, her heart clutched tightly in panic and she found it hard to breathe. In a few moments, she would know if her feelings were right and if Jackson Rippner was really dead or alive. It was the moment she was both dreading and looking forward to at the same time.
"Miss Reisert? Come this way please," said the same bored assistant who had called her on the phone.
Lisa followed him into the viewing room, where a single body lay on the stainless steel table, covered with a clean white sheet. She waited for the assistant to lift the sheet and she slowly stepped closer. Her heart sank and rose at the same time.
"No, I've never seen this man before in my life. Whoever he is, he isn't Jackson Rippner," she told him, shaking her head. This man looked nothing like her tormentor.
"Okay, thank you for coming," the morgue assistant said in a monotone and showed her out of the chilly morgue, and into the sunshine.
Lisa hopped into her car and leaned her head against the steering wheel, barely resisting the urge to start beating her head against it. This could not be happening. He could not still be alive. He could not come back. He was supposed to be dead or at the very least in a hospital. Now, she knew that he was wandering the streets and would soon be coming after her. It was only a matter of time.
Jackson would not leave her alone, not after what had happened. Not after what they had done to each other. She had ruined his job and he would want revenge. Not mention the fact that she had single-handed beaten the shit out of him and brought him down.
Where did she go now? Who could she turn to? She could not tell her dad—he was far too much of a worrywart without knowing that Jackson was on the loose and would be after her blood.
Her first step was to buy a gun, yet her dad kept one in his house. Surely he would not mind if she borrowed it for the time being…until she could complete the registry paperwork on her own. Lisa glanced at her watch and relaxed when she noticed that he was most likely already gone for the bulk of the day. He had told her that he had errands to run that day, which meant she would have enough time to sneak in the house and back out with the gun before he returned. The police had decided to let him keep living there, despite the unfinished investigation.
Lisa floored the gas pedal, speeding all the way to Blossom Palms Lane and pulling up in the driveway at 9321. She jumped out of the car before it had barely jerked to a stop and slipped in through the back door, because the front door had been temporarily sealed with plywood. She raced up the main stairs, taking them two steps at a time, and entered her dad's office. She tried not to remember that the previous day she had been flipped over the rail and thrown down the very same flight of stairs by Jackson.
She ransacked the office quickly in her mad search. Her father would hopefully not notice the mess and assume that it had occurred during her fight with Jackson. He had other things on his mind besides a messy office.
Sure enough, the .22 was in its hiding spot, along with a box of extra bullets. Lisa shoved the box and the gun into her purse and exited the same way that she had entered and sped away. She did not stop driving, speeding, and swerving until she reached a brand-new office building downtown.
She hopped out of the car, locked the doors and strode towards the building. She needed to see her lawyer—a friend of her father's who had been called in the other day to handle the case against Jackson and the possible charges that she faced. Maybe he would have some advice about what to do concerning Jackson Rippner.
Little did she know that many floors above her head, Jackson Rippner was sleeping fitfully upon a couch.
Author's Notes:
Just a short chapter. In the next chapter, Jackson and Lisa will meet. Enjoy!