ONE HOUR LATER

Max was exhilarated and angry as they bounced along the bumpy dirt backroad. Lorelai had her head pressed against the back of the seat as her next wave of nausea overcame her.

"Sorry, Lore, I really am," he muttered. "But if Jackson has any inkling we're coming, I don't want to miss him."

"No problem," she croaked and held a hand over her mouth.

Max pulled out his phone and dialed Luke as he drove.

There was no answer, so Max swore and threw it to the floor.

Jess knew Jackson would be beyond angry with him when he found out he'd given away his hideout, murderous, perhaps. So he began plotting deep inside his mind what he needed to do.

Jackson had put him through a brief training, a makeshift, discreet one in the prison. It was moreover a description of several rudimentary skills he'd need as an assassin.

One was coming back to mind now, an extremely convenient one at that. Now all he needed was an opportunity.

He received one as Luke's phone rang downstairs in the diner. Luke studied him carefully.

"Can I trust you to not move?" Luke asked warily. Then he chuckled. "Of course I can. You're tied up." He left and locked the door, just in case, behind him. Jess snorted disbelievingly. How he loved being underestimated.

He worked quickly at the bonds on his wrists, using the ends of his fingers to guide the rope where it needed to go. Jackson had taught him down to a square exactly what needed to happen to achieve perfection.

The knot finally loosened enough for him to slide his hands out, and then it took seconds to release his feet. Then he hopped up and grabbed a large baseball bat from Luke's bedroom, darting to the main door and twisting the knob. Locked. He forgot. He swore quietly, reaching into his pocket for a bobby pin. He inserted it into the lock and soon it popped open. He felt triumphant, silently thanking Jackson for being so intelligent.

He snuck downstairs and heard Luke on the phone.

"….side of fries, ok….onion rings? I thought you wanted fries. No, you only get one side….I don't care how many sides you get at Al's, you only get one here…..no, I won't give you a discount…no….no….ok, you know what, we're closed!" Luke slammed the phone down and headed back upstairs. He ultimately encountered Jess.

"Sorry, Uncle Luke," Jess grinned as he slammed his uncle in the head with the bat. Luke fell to the floor, blood trickling from a cut on his forehead. Jess smiled and crouched down next to him. "I wanted two sides as well."

Jess ran outside, jumped into Luke's truck, and was off.

Jackson woke before Lisa and pulled on a pair of pajama pants and a large sweatshirt. He smiled at her on the bed, auburn hair splayed out across the cotton pillowcase, pale skin slightly flushed with sleep. Even if he didn't love her, this sure was a nice way to spend an evening.

He padded out to the living room, where the early moon light shone through the royal blue curtains. He pulled them open and was about to start cooking dinner when his phone buzzed from deep in his jacket pocket.

He ran to the bedroom and quickly grabbed his bundle of clothes from the floor, bringing them back to the living room. He dug through the mess until he found his suit jacket, and then he retrieved his phone.

"Rippner," he was out of breath. Man, he was getting old.

"Hello, sir, this is Jess."

Jackson was livid. "Jess, you arrogant son of a bitch. What the hell were you thinking, compromising my safe house? You risked fucking up the whole job just for the sake of your own skin and-"

"Well, what is the job, Jack? Steal the broad and fuck her? I think you most likely already accomplished that."

Jackson turned red with rage, but he knew Jess was right. It wasn't really a job, just his secret adventure. "Watch it, Jess. You're treading on thin ice there. I could send any one of my guys over to the diner to finish you off right now. Speaking of which, how exactly are you talking to me now?"

"I untied myself, unlocked the door, and beat up Luke with a baseball bat." He seemed so nonchalant. Jackson couldn't help but feel a small surge of pride. He taught the kid that, after all.

"Nice job. So where are you now?"

"Heading to your place."

"Good. I'll need your help as long as you're not going to get all pussy on me again."

"I won't."

"Fantastic. Make sure no one's following you and be here within the hour."

"I'm roughly four hours away, sir."

"Four hours away doing the speed limit."

"I'll try."

"Don't try, Grandma, just do it."