Day-to-Day

Disclaimer: I don't own anything related to Red Eye!

Chapter Twenty-two

Jackson pulled the black car into the driveway at Joe Reisert's deserted home. Lara was still silent and he left her restrained in the front seat while he retrieved Kyra from the backseat. Her color was slowly returning and she appeared to be stronger.

He carried his daughter into the house and up the stairs. Kyra mumbled directions to her room, which was Lisa's old room. He gently laid her down on the bed and covered her with a blanket. Sleep was what she needed at the moment. He gave her a kiss on the forehead.

"Daddy…" Kyra whispered softly, as her blue eyes fluttered closed.

"Sleep," he replied, before leaving the room. He had to settle the matter of Lara Richardson first before he could finish healing his daughter. It was his fault that Kyra was hurt, just as it was his fault that Lisa was dead.

Jackson strode back out to the car and unhandcuffed Lara. She struggled to free herself from his grasp, but he quickly ended all attempts by pressing a minor pressure point. Lara went limp in his arms. He dragged her into the house and tied her tightly to a chair. He returned to the car for his interrogation kit—mainly because he wanted to give her a shot of truth serum to loosen her lips when she woke.

He injected the liquid into her arm and then slipped upstairs to check on Kyra. She was still peacefully sleeping and still alive. It appeared that she was stronger than she seemed. He smiled and then returned to his attempted murderer and current captive.

Lara was stirring when Jackson pulled a chair up beside her. His trusty knife was by his side and he was prepared to kill this woman. She still reminded him very much of Lisa but he had convinced himself that Lisa was dead. This was just an unhappy coincidence.

"Who are you?" Jackson demanded. "Where are you from?"

Lara glared at him, but replied anyways. The drug coursing throughout her bloodstream was forcing her to respond. "My name is Lara Haley Richardson and I have lived all over the world for the past fifteen years."

"Before then?" The time frame was too close for comfort.

"I worked in retail in South Carolina. I was a store manager."

At least she didn't say that she was hotel desk manager in Florida…

"What made you change careers? Did you get sick of being bossed around?" Jackson teased, smirking broadly at the blonde assassin.

"I grew vengeful after I was attacked. I joined a group who trained me and took me in following it. I went on my first mission shortly after Myra was born."

"When was Myra born?" This could not be Lisa. Lisa had not been pregnant again following Kyra.

How would you know? You left her to die!

"May 10th, 2009. Her father was already dead—killed in the attack. I was left for dead."

"Who was he? The girl's father?" Jackson's voice was strained. No, no… the time was too close. It fit too well.

"James Roberson was his name."

"Tell me about the attack," he urged. He had to know. There were far too many similarities for his comfort.

"I don't remember much," Lara said with a soft sigh.

"Tell me what you know."

Her green eyes were unfocused as she spoke to him. "It happened at home. I was home alone, but when James returned, they kill him right in front of me. It was a home invasion gone wrong, I believe. They left me to suffer and die once they had their fun."

"What exactly did they do? Did they rape you?"

Lara flinched at his second question as if the words stung her. "No, nothing like that. They didn't touch me that way. I was tortured though. And they reopened that scar that you found…"

Could that really be her? Could my Lisa really be sitting in front of me? What happened to her then? What did they do?

"Then they left you for dead?"

Lara nodded. "Yeah. And I was recruited two days later."

"Why Jack, huh? What did my little girl ever do to you?"

"I've been following you ever since your so-called 'death', Rippner. I knew you weren't dead. I got tired of waiting. She was the perfect bait."

"You have a daughter yourself—how could you shoot mine? Don't you have a heart?" Jackson questioned. Lisa would never have shot Jack.

"It was a job," was Lara's quiet response. "She was collateral damage. I didn't mean to shoot her."

"She's only a little girl!"

"She's a killer, Rippner. Your precious little Jack is just like you."

Jackson could not take it anymore. He snapped on the inside and grabbed Lara's throat. "Jack will never become a killer… I won't allow it."

Lara smirked and head-butted Jackson, stunning the former manager momentarily. A brief shuffle ensued with Lara, and she managed to grab his knife. She slit her bonds and was soon tangling with Jackson upon the floor. They were both fighting over the blade and missed hearing a loud crash in the kitchen.

Jackson smoothly pinned Lara to the hardwood floor. She struggled under his weight, but the former manager had the upper hand and now the knife.

"You can't forget who you are, Lisa. You know it all—it's just locked away. I won't let you get away," Jackson told her, smiling down at her.

"Then kill me because I'm dead."

"I can't do that Lisa. I love you."

"I'm not Lisa!" Lara screamed.

"Ssh, you'll wake Jack. She's sleeping. I don't want to upset her."

"You're crazy," Lara insisted, shaking her head. She had studied Jackson Rippner for nearly a decade and had never seen this side of him. He was concerned about the daughter he ignored for fifteen years and yet a violent man.

"Get off her!" cried a young girl.

"Myra, get out of here!" Lara ordered, pleading with her daughter to leave.

"Let my mom go!"

"No. Do you have the files?" Jackson asked, pressing into Lara more as her struggle intensified. He ignored the whimpers coming from her and concentrated instead on her daughter.

"Yes. Now let her go!"

Jackson sat up and yanked Lara onto his lap. One arm was wrapped around her throat in a chokehold while his free hand stroked her braided hair. "Read the files to me. Compare Lara's file to Lisa Reisert's file. Her file's on the table," Jackson ordered, jerking his dark-haired head in the direction of the manila folder he had carried with him for fifteen years.

Myra eyed him warily, her green eyes untrusting, before reaching for the folder. She flipped through both folders and refused to read them aloud. His face was smug and she wanted nothing more than to make him eat the folders that she held in her hands.

"Oh god…" she muttered. "No…"

Right there, in black-and-white, was the truth. There was no Lara Richardson. She was a fabrication created to erase the presence of Lisa Reisert in a plot to bring Jackson Rippner down. Lisa was the only person who had ever succeeded in outsmarting him and she was the only one who could kill him. She had been turned into a killing machine known as Lara in order to kill her lover—and Myra's father.

Jackson Rippner and Lisa Reisert had two daughters…Jacqueline Kyra Reisert Rippner and Myra Richardson Roberson.

Author's Notes:

A minor cliffie! Hehe. Enjoy, the next chapter should be up tomorrow!