Do My Part
Disclaimer: I don't own anything related to Red Eye!
Chapter One
Jackson Rippner absent-mindedly flipped through the files on his orderly desk. He had to memorize all of his notes before the plan went into full effect. Information was essential to his success.
Jackson flipped open the folder marked AS – CK805 Reisert, Lisa Henrietta. He scanned his hastily scrawled, sometimes nonsensical notes on her.
The manager of the Lux Atlantic Resort in Miami—target's preferred hotel. She is suspected of being involved with the target. She was once married, but her husband (David Roberson) is now deceased. She now lives alone and seems to enjoy being a loner.
Has a peculiar habit of eating scrambled eggs every morning at 3am. Is a workaholic and well-respected and trusted at work. Unfortunately, she is an excellent liar. However, she tries her hardest to please people.
Parents are divorced. Has a brother, sister-in-law, and nephew. Seems to be closest to her father.
She should play along without a fight…
A beeping sound from his laptop caught his interest. He glanced over at the screen, which showed various cameras that he had placed inside Lisa Reisert's home for the sole purpose of monitoring her. He had tried the old sleeping-in-the-car-out-front trick and all he ended up with was a sore neck. Video feeds to his trusty laptop were a much more efficient way of stalking his prey.
On the screen, Lisa Reisert was chatting on a phone. Jackson quickly picked up his headphones and listened in on her 'private' conversation.
"Slow down, dad, I didn't catch a word of that," Lisa's ever-calm and patient voice hit his ears.
"Leese, it's your grandmother — Henrietta. She's…she's dead."
On the camera, Lisa sank into a chair, disbelief written clearly on her face. "No…"
"I'm sorry. The funeral is in two days, if you can make it back in time."
"Do you know how…?"
"They said it was old age," her father sighed.
"I'll take the first plane out of Miami."
Jackson smirked and leaned back in his chair. Everything was going according to plan. One of his many associates had confirmed earlier that Grandma Henrietta was dead. It had been an act of pure genius on his part. Lisa Reisert would be trapped in close-quarters and unable to escape him and the phone call.
All he needed was one simple phone call from her and the target was dead.
"This is only the beginning," Jackson whispered in warning to the figure on the laptop screen.
She won't know what hit her.
True to her word, Lisa had booked a seat on the next flight out to Dallas, Texas. Jackson in turn had booked a seat, carefully making sure that he was seated in first class. Lisa would be seated back in coach and he could not afford a face-to-face confrontation yet. Their past history alone might be enough to screw the job royally. He had to be a stranger on their flight home.
He packed up his laptop, files, and several suits. There was no need to bother with the hassle of bringing a weapon through security. Not that he had not done it before with practiced ease... it just was simply not necessary this time around.
He stalked her through the airport, amazing himself with the predictions of her actions. It was assuming for him and almost as if he controlled her from afar.
And control her I will… She'll be caught like an insect in a spider's web — and I'll be the spider. There's no escaping me. She should know better after all these years.
It was interesting to see her in the flesh once more. She was as real as the belongings that he had riffled through nearly eight weeks earlier when planting the cameras. She was beautiful woman and there was no denying it. Any man would be lucky to have her.
But Jackson never would. He had passed up his chance almost eight years earlier when he had entered a train-wreck of a marriage with a con artist. Besides, his relationships with women were non-existent. He was the master of the one-night stand. One learned to avoid anything long-term in his business. At any moment, he could expected to pack up and fly half-way around the world, if he was given the word from his employers.
Nothing stayed the same in his life except for his stalking of one Lisa Reisert. She was an annoyingly boring person, but she was all he had. All he had to do was get inside her head a bit more and the rest would be a piece of cake.
Following her for the nearly eight weeks was not required, and he knew that he had spent extra time on an open-book type of person. A few days were all that he really needed, but Jackson knew better. Even the most innocent appearing of people could have one deep, dark secret that would royally fuck up his plans.
He knew this because that's who he was — innocent on the outside, a hardened 'criminal' on the inside. Not that there was anything illegal about his job. He was given orders and he followed them, just like everyone else on the planet.
I'm nothing but a loyal dog…everyone knows it. I don't ever mess up. That's why I make the big bucks.
"Flight 1515 to Dallas is now boarding," the loudspeaker announced and Jackson smiled. Time to go.
Jackson followed her as she strode purposefully to the gate and cheerfully presented her ticket to the gate attendant. For someone who had just lost a family member, Lisa Reisert was awfully good at putting on a mask of a happy-go-lucky person traveling. How can she be so seemingly unaffected?
Lisa Reisert had just gotten more intriguing for Jackson Rippner. She still had some secrets that she was keeping from him. He needed to learn what they were. He needed to know everything that he could possibly find out about her.
I have never failed before and I'm not about to start. No matter what, the target will die and she will be blamed. There's no way that she will get away from me.
And maybe, just maybe, once the job was finished, he would follow her some more — just to torment her and screw with her fragile mind. If he killed her, it would be too suspicious; therefore she had to remain alive for a while. Eventually, he could kill her off, but not right away.
Jackson could still have some fun with her after their enjoyable plane flight to Miami. That night he would sit next to her and become what nightmares are made of, but not right away. There was still several days left until the plan went into complete motion.
I'll be ready for you, Lisa. I'll be waiting. There's no escape…you can't hide from me.
Author's Notes:
Jackson needs to get a life. Of course, he could also seek some professional help, but that's just my view. In this story, Jackson had Grandma Henrietta killed so that he could trap her on the plane and make his job easier. Thanks for the reviews and enjoy! It might be another week before the next chapter gets up because I'm going away soon. But, you never know!