Lisa watched precious minutes ticking by on the illuminated green digital clock as they neared the city limits.
I need to get away. This is valuable escape time that I'm wasting here.
She frantically pondered through solution. Jumping from the moving vehicle was an option. Wait, no, it wasn't. Damn. She'd forgotten the outer lock and swore mentally, biting her lip.
Jackson coughed. "I've never seen you so talkative, Lisa. God, shut up already."
She scowled but did not answer. Yes. She feared that, at the moment, her words would be too rage-filled and thus she opted for a vow of silence. I'll kill you with silence, bastard. You thought question-maniac Leese was bad? Well, get ready for the real thing, fucker.
"Your dad seemed nice, by the way."
Lisa couldn't stop herself. Maybe the old adage that redheads had bad tempers was right. "Do not talk about my father, Jack."
He smirked and only cringed slightly at the shortened name. "So, she does speak."
Lisa turned redder than her hair and crossed her arms. "Why am I here? Why didn't you just kill me?" And then, ladies and gentleman, faster than a speeding bullet, she can switch back to her old self.
He sighed and clicked his tongue, then said quietly, "I could, if you really want me to."
Lisa thought it over, though she was pretty sure that last jab was sarcasm. Nevertheless, she replied bitterly, "Depends on what the alternative is."
"Do you want the whole, 100 percent bonafide truth of why you're here?"
"No," she spat sardonically. "I want the lie."
He cut his eyes at her. "Watch it, Leese. Do you, or do you not?"
She grunted angrily, "I do." Why does that remind me so much of a wedding vow?
He took a deep breath. It rattled in his throat, and Lisa bristled at the thought of the hole in his throat. "You're here for a multitude of reasons, the first being that the Keefe job isn't finished yet." He still had to press a hand against his throat when he spoke. Lisa idly wondered when the hell he planned on getting treated for the gaping hole in his windpipe.
She swallowed. "And?"
He grinned. "The next is that, when an outsider is used for a job, they cannot simply be released. They either are killed or taken on by the company."
Lisa felt sick. "Kill me, then, because there's no way that I'm going to work for your company."
"You're lucky though, Lisa. There are exceptions."
She frowned. "Such as?"
"Such as personal vendettas. Vendettas in the form of a promise I made to you back on the plane."
Wracking her brain to its farthest, dustiest corners, Lisa still came up dry. "Which was...?"
"Lisa, I intend to steal you."
Her reaction was one quite similar to a fish out of water. Mouth drier than the desert, jaw falling open, shudders running down her body, and a thick, chilling sweat coursing her skin, Lisa nearly fainted.
"You...are not going to steal me!"
"Oooh, good comeback." Jackson flipped on the air conditioner as Lisa reddened.
"Why? I don't get it. What do you mean you're stealing me?" She bit back the whine in her voice, hating herself and hating Jackson. Hell, she hated that random guy walking on the street.
Jackson sighed irritably. "'What I mean', sweetheart, is that I never had any intention of letting you go. When I watched you, I'll admit, I found you interesting, different, compelling. Don't ask why. I'm not sure myself. You're not extraordinary by any means."
She stiffened, shocked that she could take personal offense even by the person who she hated most at the moment. "Thanks."
"So, I had a cast-iron plan. I'd brought a little gift that I would slip into your latte. Remember, Leese? Starbucks? Wouldn't that've been nice?"
The thought repulsed her. "I wouldn't have drank it. I hate coffee."
Jackson gripped her wrist, eyes flashing. "Why are you lying over something so trivial?"
His rough nails bit into her skin and she struggled. He didn't release her until his fingers had made two small holes in her arm, blood dripping slightly.
She winced and rubbed it once he jerkily released her.
"Bastard," she whispered.
"You could have had it so easy," he rambled on. Lisa raised a skeptical eyebrow at him. "We get off the plane, you obliviously drink your latte, take a little nap, and when you wake up-voila. We're at my apartment and I'm not as secretly pissed at you as I am now, as I was back at your house. I'm not murderous. You're not bruised and bleeding, and your family and friends are completely safe. By the way, are you aware that you're not wearing any shoes?"
Lisa ignored the last comment. "What do you mean? My family and friends aren't safe?"
"At the moment, they are," Jackson put his blinker on and coasted to the left into a driveway.
"At the moment?" Lisa cried. "What have you done to them?"
The car stopped in front of an expansive building in the woods. "Like I said, nothing...at the moment. But for every action there is a consequence."
Lisa rubbed her glistening eyes. "What the hell are you going on about?"
"Its simple, Leese, simple. You harm me physically in any way–goodbye, Daddy. You try to escape–see you, Mommy. Resist me in any way and that brother of yours is history."
Lisa's head snapped up. "I don't have a brother."
Jackson snorted. "Lies, lies, lies. I followed you for eight weeks, Leese. At the moment, I'm om-fucking-niscient. Twenty-two years old, student at Colorado University, tall, blonde, good-looking, an athletic dapper young man named Alex? Do you call him 'Al', Leese? Is he the turkey-cutter at Thanksgiving dinner? Did he used to beat up your old boyfriends? I'm sure they didn't mind though. Hell, if I were gay, I'd fuck him."
Lisa was shaking with white-hot anger. In an uncontrollable bout of violence, she slapped him. "Don't you dare talk about my brother!"
He grabbed her by the shoulders and slammed her against the window. Her neck collided with the plastic underneath and she felt a blackness slide briefly over her brain. Jackson forced her back into reality.
"So, I can't talk about your father or brother, Leese? Lets talk about you, then. You never answered why you were such a loner, other than the whole rape thing. You have to be over that by now. And tell me, why haven't you fought me so far yet? I know you're able, so why not? Am I finally working my way into your soft spot?"
Lisa tensed her jaw and spat at him. "Fuck you."
He calmly wiped his face and then dragged his hand over her face. She sputtered as he spoke. "All good things with time, Leese. All with time." Then he let her go and left her writhing against the window, scrubbing at her face.
He cut the engine and stuffed the keys into his pocket. "I'll expect answers to those questions, by the way. But not now. I'm too sick of playing Socrates at the moment." He opened the door and stepped out, then jogged around to Lisa's side to let her out.
Jackson grabbed her tightly by the upper arm and clutched her against him.
"By the way," he whispered into her ear. She cringed. "I shouldn't have to remind you not to run away. This place is surrounded by security cameras. Had you fooled, didn't I? These aren't ordinary trees. The cameras feed inside, where they are constantly monitored. If, rather, when, an employee of the Association sees you, you'll be shot and all three of your family members will die slow, painful deaths. Mostly painful. How's that sound?"
"Sounds just peachy, Jack," she hissed back in his face. He slapped her and her head lolled backwards.
"Watch it, Leese," he snapped. "You're treading on thin ice here."
Lisa desperately wanted to yell or scream at him, but did not. Instead she let him lead her inside. I'll be docile, Jack, for now. Just for now. You'll trust me and then, when you least expect it...I'll kill you.