Coldest Degree

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

Chapter Four

Three years earlier…

"Just kill me," Lisa moaned; the dried blood upon her face making it harder to speak and even to move her crusted lips.

"Not yet. Do you have any idea what you've done? Huh?" asked her torturer with a sly grin, his blade dripping her shiny blood. It's over…It was all for nothing…

She whimpered as the knife sliced the skin by her collarbone. Blood trickled down her throat and she coughed loudly. She was slowly yet surely dying. It was only a matter of time until she took her final gasping breath.

A single, silenced shot rang out and her tormentor groaned and slid down to the ground. Behind the smoking barrel was a pair of crystal blue eyes masked by a curtain of dark brown hair.

"It's okay, Leese. I'm here," Jackson whispered, walking over to the twitching body. He shot her a smile as he crossed the room. He was at ease—in complete control. This was his element.

He placed his left foot on the man's throat. "How dare you touch her? She's mine. She's got nothing to do with you!"

Jackson drove his own knife's blade into the dying man's body at least thirteen times before cutting her free. More blood trickled down onto her skin as the knife worked its magic. Lisa's exhausted and drained body collapsed into his arms and blood seeped from her wounds onto his freshly pressed and cleaned clothing.

"No, no…" she said hoarsely. She had to keep fighting even though she was beyond exhausted.

"Ssh, it's okay. It's over now. I'll protect you."

Her pitiful gaze moved him into action. He had a short window of opportunity before she would be beyond his help. He had risked everything to come back for her.

He did not know why he came back. He just could not let her die. Not with things still left unsaid. He had been whisked away from her side by ambulance following the flight. For six months they had lived apart with each haunting the other's mind.

"Don't you dare give up, Leese," he hissed. "You hear me?"

Lisa was beyond replying at that moment. The blood loss was too great for her weakened body. The man had been systematically tormenting her for days on end. He had almost been too late to stop the pain. It was his fault that she had been targeted in the first place.

His failure had nearly cost Lisa her very life.

"Mr. Reisert?" Caine answered the phone call that had been forwarded to his cell. "Horatio Caine, Miami-Dade PD. I was told that you wanted to talk to me about Lisa Rippner."

"Yes, yes! Lisa's my daughter. What happened to her? She told me that they were going away on a trip the day that he came back. She was all excited," Joe Reisert said gratefully. I hope that this man can help me. I need to find out what went wrong.

"When was the last time that you spoke with Lisa?"

"Over a week ago. She was going out to meet Jackson for dinner. He was going to meet her someplace and then they were supposed to be leaving on a short vacation together."

"Do you know where Mr. Rippner was? Before she went to meet with him that is."

"Well, Jackson travels a lot," Joe begin hesitantly. It's not my place to explain what happened between them. It's not his business. "Sometimes he's gone for weeks at a time. He hasn't left the country for at least three years. I don't know where he just went though. Lisa didn't tell me." I'm not about to say that he's on the no-fly list for out-of-country travel and that he arranges assassinations for a living. That has nothing to do with his relationship with Lisa. He loves her…he couldn't have done this.

"Mr. Reisert, do you have any idea where Jackson Rippner is now?"

"No. Jackson and I are hardly close. He's away too much for us to bond. Why?"

"Why would he run after he reported her missing? Is there any explanation for that type of behavior?"

Does he know about the red-eye? Does he know that he once tried to kill her? They think Jackson did it… They always blame the husband.

"How did she die?" Joe abruptly questioned; purposefully avoiding the question at hand.

"Excuse me?" Horatio asked; puzzled.

"What happened to Lisa? How did they kill her?"

"There's no nice way of saying this… but your daughter was systematically butchered, Mr. Reisert. It's not a pretty sight and there was a 'J' scratched into her arm with a knife…"

"A knife? Are you sure?" Joe was rapidly paling. Oh God, Jackson, what did you do?

"Yes."

"Jackson carries a knife…Lisa called it a KA-Bar. He's very good with it. But he couldn't have done this—not Jackson."

"Would Mr. Rippner have reason to want her dead?"

"Jackson kill Lisa? No, never! Not now…"

Horatio paused for a moment. "What do you mean by "not now", Mr. Reisert? Did he ever try to harm her? Don't lie to me."

"He loves her too much. He would never hurt her, let alone kill her! He never once hurt her," Joe protested.

"Why would he run if he's innocent?"

"To find her killer," Joe said solemnly. I'll tell him this much if it will keep them off his trail. All Jackson needs is a little bit of time to get to the bottom of this. He can handle it. "No one touches Lisa around him. He loved her and she loved him back. He would do anything to protect her."

"Apparently it wasn't enough."

"He didn't do this, Mr. Caine. I know that it looks bad but I trust him. He wouldn't do it."

"Did you know that Lisa was pregnant?"

"She was? Oh no…" Joe went from pleasantly surprised to down trodden. If Jackson knew…he'd stop at nothing for revenge.

"Would this by any chance affect his love for her?"

"No, but it will kill him to know that someone did this. They had wanted a child. He won't move on after this. You need to find him before he does something rash."

"Like what?"

Joe sighed deeply before beginning, "Killing. Once he starts, he's unstoppable. Only Lisa could control him. Without her, he's doomed. You have to stop him."

Author's Notes:

I tweaked the conversation a bit and removed Joe's spill to make it more realistic.