Disclaimer: Do you need to ask?
Author's note:I beg ten thousand pardons from my dear readers. I can only plead that school is evil; and internet classes are the devil. Therefore, I have prepared a nice long chapter for you. Enjoy.
Lisa slowly regained consciousness. Officer Cox looked worried. "Are you alright, Miss Reisert? You took a bit of a tumble there."
"Yes… I'm fine. I'm sorry. I just worry about my father. I lost my Grandmother not too long ago…" Her voice trailed off. "How long was I out?"
"About an hour. But I have semi-good news. Your father made it out of surgery. He'll be in recovery for a while. However, what I said earlier is still true; the best anyone can hope for is that he'll be paralyzed from the waist down."
Lisa nodded. "When can I see him?"
"Not for a while. I suggest you get as much rest as you can."
Jackson entered the hospital and made his way over to the receptionist. "Excuse me, miss, I'm looking for Joe Reisert."
The petite blond looked up at him. "He's in recovery right now, sir. Is there anything I can do for you?" She replied suggestively.
"You wouldn't happen to know where his daughter is, would you?" Jackson asked, ignoring her invitation.
"Upstairs… They put her in a room after she passed out."
"What do you mean she passed out?"
"Well, she was pretty upset. I guess the stress just got to her. Is she your girlfriend?"
"Yes." Jackson lied. "I need to check on her."
"She's in room 1019" replied the blond.
Jackson told her to have a nice day as he rushed up the stairs. In no time at all, he found her room. A police officer left as he entered the room. Lisa was curled up in a fetal position on the bed. Jackson mentally kicked himself for not driving her here. He walked over and sat down on the chair next to the bed. Lisa's eyes were closed. He took her hand in his, and rubbed her slender wrist with his thumb. "Leese… You have to be strong, ok? I know you've got it in you."
Lisa's eyes fluttered open. She stared at Jackson. "What are you doing here?" She whispered.
Jackson couldn't hold back a grin. "I'm checking up on you, Leese." He said softly.
"Why?"
"I was worried."
"About me?"
"No, the hospital…" Jackson said wryly. "You might try to stab it in the throat with a monster pen."
Lisa giggled slightly. "They aren't holding me hostage on an airplane."
Jackson grinned "I was doing a job… I wasn't supposed to fall in love with you."
Lisa's eye's widened at Jackson's sudden confession. "You what…?" Her question was interrupted by a man bursting into the room holding a gun.
"Hello Rippner… You really fucked up this time." The man said gruffly.
Jackson jumped to his feet. "What the hell are you doing here, Johansson?"
"I'm going to kill you and the bitch."
Lisa jumped off the bed. "What!"
Johansson walked over to Lisa and slapped her. "Shut up and sit down!"
Jackson was on him in less than a second. He grabbed the thug around the neck, whipped out his K-Bar and slit Johansson's throat. Lisa let out a startled yelp. Jackson turned to her. "Sorry, Leese, he was going to kill you. We need to get out of here, now."
"What about my father!"
"He'll be fine, Lisa. Right now, I have to get you to safety."
"And where exactly is safe!" Lisa demanded.
"Let's go. I'll tell you in the car." He replied grabbing Lisa's arm and tugging her out the door.
Jessica sat across from Lindsey in a ritzy, Miami bar. She was sipping on her third Baybreeze. Lindsey was studying her. "You really enjoy those don't you?" He asked, referring to the Baybreeze.
"They're my favorite."
"When did you start enjoying Baybreezes?"
"I started drinking Vodka soon after Jack left."
"He lets you call him 'Jack'?"
"He doesn't let me call him 'Jack'; but I am his baby sister, so what is he going to do?" Jessica replied with a grin.
Lindsey let out a small laugh. "I guess there really isn't much he can do. So where did the name 'James' come from?"
Jessica rolled her eyes as the waiter brought out another Baybreeze. "My middle name is Jaimie. My dad wanted a second son, and my mother loved the name Jessica. So they named me Jessica Jaimie Rippner. My dad called me Jessie James, just to annoy my mother. Jackson took up calling me 'James' to annoy me."
"I see. So the nick name stuck?"
"For Jack it did." Jessie replied with annoyance. "I can handle being called 'Jessie' or 'Jess', but 'James' bugs the shit out of me."
Lindsey grinned. "I'll keep that in mind. Would you mind if I asked a rather personal question?"
Jessie shrugged. "Ask away, I can always refuse to answer."
"You seemed pretty upset when you got back to your house. What happened?"
Jessie grimaced. "Everything just seemed to hit at once. One minute Jack is dead; the next minute he's alive and forcing me to move to Miami. My boyfriend pops by unannounced, only to tell me that he's going back to work for the government. I couldn't risk him getting in a tangle with Jack, so I dumped him." She said flatly.
Lindsey was stunned. He tried to hide it but failed. "Wow… sounds rough."
Jessie giggled as she gulped down a fourth Baybreeze. "Yeah… just a little." She said with a hiccup. She was drunk, and she was enjoying every second.
Lindsey, however, wasn't going to let her embarrass herself. He paid the tab and then stood up. "Come on, Jessica, let's go."
"Where?"
"We're leaving."
"Why?"
"Because you're drunk, and I'm tired. So I'm taking you home." It was a lie, but Jessica was too inebriated to notice as she shrugged and stood to her feet. She nearly toppled over, but Lindsey slipped his arm around her waist in time to catch her. "Ok, let's go." He said with a grin.
"Whatever you say; you're the lawyer." Jessie hiccupped.
Jackson sped down the highway. An extremely befuddled Lisa was seated next to him. "Jackson, what the hell is going on?"
"I'm driving you to safety, Lisa." He replied flatly.
"Why do I need to be driven to safety!"
"Because that man at the hospital was going to kill you, and he won't be the last."
"Why was he trying to kill me, Jack?"
"Because I fucked up the Keefe assassination, you're seen as the reason behind that mayhem."
"I still don't get it."
Jackson pulled over to the side of the road. "What I said earlier still holds true. I wasn't supposed to fall in love with. As a manager, that goes against every single ounce of training I went through. The key phrase in that statement is 'wasn't supposed to' but I did. I fell in love with you Lisa."
Lisa was stunned. "You fell in love with me? But you tried to kill me!"
Jackson sighed. "Leese, when the job failed, I had two choices. I could kill you, or I could force you into killing me. I didn't want to survive, but I did. I was supposed to kill you when the job was done either way. But I knew I couldn't do that the moment you…" He paused.
"The moment I what?" Lisa asked; her voice was far less fearful.
"The moment you screwed up your face when I guessed that you liked screwdrivers." Jackson replied with a smirk.
The taxi pulled up to Lindsey's house. He paid the driver and pulled a sleeping Jessica into his arms and out of the car. As the cab left, Lindsey carried Jessica inside. She stirred slightly as Lindsey put her down on the couch. He brushed a few strands of hair away from her face and then went to check the doors. When he came back, Jessica was sitting up. "Where are we?" She asked sleepily.
"My house."
"Why?"
"There was a strange car parked too close to your home. I didn't want to risk it."
"Oh. Thanks." The vodka was wearing off faster than Jessica would have liked, and it was giving her a killer headache. She massaged her temples.
Lindsey sat down next to her and turned her so that her back was towards him. He then angled himself so that she could lean back against his chest. "Lean back." He said with a slight tug. "I have a cure for that headache."
Jessica willingly complied. "Whatever works." She said softly.
For about ten minutes, Lindsey massaged Jessica's throbbing forehead. Then his hands moved to the base of her skull. After another ten minutes, he moved his hands to her shoulders. He could feel Jessica's entire body relaxing into his. He hadn't even known Jessica 24 hours, but he was smitten. Without even thinking, he leaned down and brushed his lips against her forehead.
Jessie looked up at the sexy, young lawyer. She wasn't sure she was interested in the guy; after all, she had just broken up with Riley. Screw Riley. She thought. He brought that on himself. Lindsey's sexy, and charming, and his hair…
"Was that too forward?" Lindsey asked.
Jessica grinned. "Yes, but who cares?" She replied as she slid her hand behind his head and pulled his face closer to hers. "I like being kissed." She said playfully.
Lindsey grinned as their lips met. To hell with being proper! After a short kiss, Jessica sat up and turned to face Lindsey. Their mouths met again and she began playing with buttons on his shirt. Lindsey stood to his feet, pulling Jessica up with him. Their mouths broke apart briefly. "The bedroom is more comfortable." He whispered; his voice was thick with desire.
Jessica grinned as she finished unbuttoning the last button on his shirt. She pushed it off of his shoulders. "I don't know if I can walk that far." She said mischievously.
"Well then, I guess I'll just have to carry you." Lindsey replied scooping her up in his arms.