Lisa finally got changed into regular clothes and sat in the living room. She just sat there, peacefully in her own little world. Tom was in the connecting dinning room at the table in front of a computer. He looked up at Lisa and said, "So, how have you been since Natalie was taken?"
Lisa gave him the look that said, 'what do you think, idiot?' but it was pointless for he was looking back at the computer. She sighed and said, "Terrible."
"I would imagine so, losing a child is one of the hardest things anyone could go through," he said.
"Well, I didn't ever really think of her as my child. More like a really good friend."
"But even so, that's still incredibly hard to go through." He looked up at her. "I lost a good friend once. I'd known him since we were little. We'd gone through most of our school careers together."
Lisa looked at him. "What happened to him?" she asked.
Tom sighed and looked back at the computer. "He was killed in a drive by. You see, I lived in a bad part of Chicago and drive by's were nothing new. But we had always been so careful; running for cover when gunshots were heard, never walking without a big group of people after dark, and before we were old enough to own a gun license we carried tazers around with us, you know, just normal precautions for living in a big city.
"One night, he and I had to go across the street to the store to get some paper for his term paper that was due the next morning. We were across the street from his house when he died." Tom paused and took a deep breath. "I miss him every day. He was only 21 when he died. He died at the hands of senseless violence."
"I'm so very sorry," Lisa said quietly.
"It's alright. That was a long time ago. But that is why I am helping you get Natalie back. I don't want you to suffer the same pain as I did when I lost Matt."
In her book, Tom had just moved up from 'sleaze ball' to 'messed up for a reason that's understandable'. Lisa could swear that she saw a tear on his cheek.
Tom cleared his throat and said, "Let's get off this depressing subject. How did you and Jackson meet?"
Lisa was about to answer, completely forgetting that she should be uncomfortable answering that question, when Jackson walked in the room. "Lisa can you come in the back for a second?" and without waiting for an answer, he grabbed her hand and pulled her off the couch and into the back bedroom.
"What was that for! I was talking to Tom!" She wrenched her hand out of his grasp. "And for information he is a very nice man! He suffered a terrible loss similar to mine!"
Jackson gave a look of disgust in the general direction of the dinning room. "Are you telling me you actually believed that story?"
"Of course! Why would someone lie about something like that?"
"To make you so sad that when he comes into your bedroom tonight saying how 'sad he is right now' and 'how he doesn't want to be alone tonight'. And you will feel so bad that you won't say no to anything asks for."
By the time Jackson had finished his sentence, Lisa's jaw had dropped. "How dare you say something like that! He lost his best friend! No human being would use the excuse 'my best friend died' to get into someone's pants!"
"Then you have lived a very sheltered life. Every time he or I bring a girl back to the hideout he spills his heart out and tells her the sad sap story of his very best friend dieing 'at the hands of senseless violence' and she always ends up in bed with him!"
"Are you telling me that Matt didn't die?"
"No, I know Matt died. But not the way Tom told you." He paused and sighed. "I've know Tom for a while. He isn't the saint he would like you to believe. He and Matt were in this business together in the beginning. But one day, Matt got a little higher up on the status board then Tom and he didn't like that very much. So Tom invited Matt for 'celebratory drink' that night."
Jackson stopped, wondering whether he should finish. But before to long, Lisa said impatiently, "And?"
"Tom put arsenic in Matt's beer."
Lisa was speechless. She could feel her mouth open and close a few times, but nothing was coming out. "How dare you say something like that!" she was enraged. "That is even more preposterous then your accusation before!"
"It's true."
"Do you have any proof!"
Now it was Jackson's turn to look a bit flustered. "You have my word, isn't that good enough?"
"Oh yeah, the word of an assassin is the most trustworthy, right?"
"We've been over this already! I thought you trusted me now!"
"Well, maybe I am having a little trouble getting over the fact that you not only tried to kill my father, but, on several occasions, you tried to kill me!"
"Jesus Christ! How am I going to get it through your head that I am not trying to hurt you! What do I have to do to make you believe me, jump in front of a bus! Or maybe I'll slit my wrists! Then will you know that I am not going to do anything whatsoever to cause you even the tiniest pin prick of pain!"
"How can I trust you?" Lisa screamed.
"You are just going to have to take my word for it!" Jackson screamed back.
"But how can I trust you?"
Jackson threw his hands in the air and said, "I'm getting nowhere with you!" he grabbed Lisa's arms and shook them slightly, "Lisa," he spoke with deliberate slowness, "I… am… not… going… to… hurt… you… I am sorry if you don't believe me, but that's the truth." And he stormed off.
See I told you that I would post soon! But the next one may be a bit longer of a wait. Because you see, the original chapter seven was four pages long, so I just broke them into two chapters and added a bit more to this one when I saw that it was just a little to short. So, the next chapter is still in progress. But I may not get that job, so I guess there is a silver lining to every cloud, right? Stay tuned!
Love,
Celia
