Day-to-Day

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

Chapter Twenty-three

"What?" sneered Jackson Rippner, a self-assured smirk plastered upon his face.

"It's too perfect—the timing, the training, the assignments…it was all about you, wasn't it? It was all a way to get to you and to kill you," Myra said softly, still shaken by the news. Her mother had never been a cold-hearted killer. She had been molded and shaped by others to kill the only person she loved. Myra was no stranger to the story of Lisa Reisert and Jackson Rippner. She was living proof of it.

If her mother was really Lisa Reisert, then her real father was Jackson Rippner. She knew that she was identical to Lisa in looks by seeing the picture in her file. She had never seen a picture of the 'dead' woman before and had never known of her resemblance. She remembered a time when her mother still had the red-brown curly hair that she inherited. Over the past few years, as her mother had grown more obsessed with the search for Jackson, the color of Lara—no, Lisa's—hair had changed continually. She had never understood the reasoning behind it, but now it made sense.

Despite the brainwashing that she was certain had occurred, Lisa Reisert, under the guise of Lara Richardson, still somehow knew exactly how to get to Jackson and how to evade him. She had gotten caught, but the truth was being exposed for the first time in fifteen years. Myra's entire life had been a fabricated lie and a ruse to catch her own father.

"Correct. If you piss the right people off, then they will do whatever it takes to bring you down."

"Why drag us into it? Huh? Why not just kill us all!"

"Max was a sick-minded bastard. He knew that he needed a back-up plan. What better way then to force me to lose everything? I thought I lost Lisa for good and I willingly gave up Kyra. I might as well have fed my daughter to the sharks."

A loud crash and a scream from the main stairs distracted Jackson momentarily. His gaze turned towards the sound, locking eyes with a stunned Kyra. Lara took advantage of Kyra's fall to snatch the knife away from Jackson. She quickly rammed the sharp blade into his thigh before withdrawing it. He howled aloud in a combination of surprise and pain.

Lara turned the tables on him; knocking him to the floor and straddling his hips. The blood-stained blade remained in her grip and she poised it above him, ready to either stab his heart or to slice his throat.

"It's only a job, right, Rippner?" Lara teased in a semi-business-like tone. She had been sent here on a job and it was quite simply a kill-or-be-killed type of a situation. She had to kill Jackson Rippner, or else Myra and herself were dead.

"Get away from him!" screamed Kyra, the dark-haired teenager furious. Myra was too numb from shock to acknowledge the appearance of her long-lost sister and the gun in her hand. "Or I swear I'll put a bullet in your head!"

"Jack, put the damn gun down," Jackson reprimanded rather calmly for a man in his predicament. He did not seem to be in any pain from

"I won't let her kill you!" sobbed Kyra. The gun wavered in her trembling hands. "I'm the reason that mom's gone and also why grandpa's dead. I won't lose you too!"

"Jack…listen to me. Your mother's alive. Lisa is alive."

"No! Stop lying to me!"

"She, she's your mother. She's Lisa," Jackson smiled.

Lara was caught between her target and the immediate threat. Jackson Rippner was no longer fighting her. It was his daughter that refused to back down. What did it take to kill a Rippner or keep them down?

"I'm not your mother," snarled Lara.

"Yes, you are," Myra said quietly, causing Kyra to drop the gun in surprise. She had forgotten about the fourth person in the room.

"Who the fuck are you?" Kyra snapped bitterly.

"Well, according to everything, I'm your sister. I'm Myra Richardson Roberson."

"Dad?"

Jackson nodded. Kyra glared at her father.

"I don't believe that you're her, but then again, I always knew that she was a killer—just like us," Kyra said sweetly.

"Jacqueline Kyra Reisert Rippner! Apologize!" scolded Jackson.

"Why should I? Give me one good reason—just one!—why I should forgive her. She shot me!"

"Can we settle this later?" Myra questioned nervously. "I have a feeling that they are closing in and I'd rather not die today."

"Fuck!" cursed Kyra, annoyed.

"Language, Jack!" warned Jackson.

Kyra made a face and then coolly flipped her father off. Lara just watched with an amused expression. Father and daughter made a rather interesting pair. Sure, she still had to kill them both, but for the time being she would enjoy their trivial fights. When the time was right, the Rippners would suffer accordingly for screwing up her perfect plan and for turning Myra against her.

She was not Lisa Reisert—it just wasn't possible.

Was it?

"Rippner's on his way. Swap 'em quickly. Hang on to the bitch's kid though. I'm sure Rippner'll want to try to save her as well. How such a feisty one managed to get him to settle down, I don't think anyone will ever figure out," said Max.

She was being carried. She was exhausted and in extreme pain. She had through some meticulous torture as far as she could tell.

She was passing by an infant now. Dark-haired and blue-eyed, little Jack Rippner was the spitting image of her father. She was unhappy and shedding large crocodile tears as she openly wailed.

"Jack…" she croaked, trying weakly and in vain to reach out and touch her daughter. "Jackie…"

Jack was no longer a shy, innocent baby. She was a stone-cold person without remorse and she knew that together, her and Jackson, had destroyed their oldest daughter. Myra had escaped the pain, even by growing up with a group of assassins and helping her on missions.

Myra had been born nearly nine months following that fatal night. Lisa had been alone during the birth and suffered through the pain alone. There had been no one to hold her hand or express joy when Myra entered the world.

Lonely—that's what she was.

She had been living in a world without love for fifteen years. Myra loved her, but it was not the same as the love she had once shared with Jackson. Despite everything, they had completed each other and made life worth living.

She knew that she still loved him, yet why had she tried to kill him? All for a job?

Brainwashing…she had been brainwashed. Following the attack, they must have taken advantage of her weakened and confused state. Until now she had forgotten the specifics of that night and the existence of her oldest child. She had lost her memory of who she was.

Lisa had nearly killed her own daughter…her baby Jack. After following her lover for years, and conspiring to kill him, she had shot her own child to try and kill him. All because she had been programmed as an assassin. They had been separated and the bond between them tainted and rotten with lies and torture.

Now Jack, or Kyra as Joe had always called her, despised her. Only Jackson trusted her. Myra seemed unsure. What had she done to deserve this? Was this her punishment for falling for a smooth-talking assassination manager named Jackson Rippner?

Or the punishment for having feelings?

Author's Notes:

I was freaking out earlier because I thought I deleted this entire chapter. Thankfully, I found it. Woo… Um there's probably only another two chapters left and maybe an epilogue. I'm not entirely sure yet. Anyways, it should be finished by Friday, which is going to be a sucky day for me, but I'll manage it. I managed to figure out where I can get wireless 'net in my school building, so I can now update and answer reviews and such at school. Anyways, the next chapter should be up tomorrow, provided it gets written tonight after I study for AP. The dreaded AP Euro exam is on Friday and then I'll have much more time to right. Big thanks to everyone who has reviewed!