A/N: Here we go again! Thanks to all you reviewers.
Xx
Tuesday, December 27, 2006
8:00 PM
Lisa was having trouble understanding exactly what had happened early Christmas morning. Although she clearly grasped that, yes, she'd been arrested, she was eager for news on Rachel and the boys. Rachel, as she was told late Monday evening, was fine and in the hospital under the supervision of her family.
Which was good.
Jackson was, as it happened, a no-show. Lisa had difficulty remembering the events that had unfolded before her that morning, but she had a distinct recollection of Jackson's departure. Somebody shaking her shoulder, gruffly whispering in her ear before giving up and leaving her behind.
Betrayal. He could have brought her with him, and she knew it. It wouldn't have taken much more effort than he'd given to rouse her, and Lisa was hurt because she knew the truth.
Jackson Rippner was not lazy.
He was obviously just sick of her, and left her for the police.
It struck her as betrayal. Lisa thought they'd had something, that he trusted her, and, it stung her to admit, she trusted him. She never would have thought he'd have left her. It was the old army catchphrase—never leave a man behind. Granted, she wasn't a man, but that was beyond the point.
She tried not to dwell on it, at least not at the time being. She had her hands full enough as it was, with the police hounding her for information, certain she was the culprit behind the Keefe murder and had partnered in Rachel's kidnapping. Luckily, Lisa had managed to ascertain them that her father was not involved in any way, and he had been released but remained under close surveillance. She hoped to be in touch soon with Rachel, so that the girl could testify the truth and help Lisa's case.
She still had a slim chance of a fair trial, however, because of the infamous Sheila and the evidence that pointed in every direction to her false guilt. Her father explained to her that he'd hired a renowned lawyer to help her case and with that small hope and the probability of Rachel testifying, there was a minute chance.
Lisa stuck her finger in a hole in the table and twisted angrily, trying to calm herself down. None of that would help. But the injustice just got to her, struck her of how truly unfair this whole thing was.
She hadn't wanted any of this, hadn't deserved any of this, but it was obviously what she got. It wasn't fair that a person like Jackson Rippner be left free to roam the streets while she rotted in jail.
Not yet, she tried to reason with herself. The trial is in three weeks. You DO have a chance, Lisa. Nobody's giving up on you yet, so you shouldn't either.
Detective Vrampton sighed, obviously annoyed, and slapped a folder on the table, leaning back in his chair. "You're free to go."
"I can go?" Lisa jumped from her chair, beaming. "I don't have to stay?"
"At the moment, we can't incarcerate you without good reason. All we have is one witness that proves your guilt, so until the trial, you don't have to stay here. Of course, an officer will be watching you at all times, I hope you know that."
She nodded. "Of course." She motioned to the door. "So, can I….?"
He scowled. "Go."
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Tuesday, December 27, 200610:00 PM
Rachel let Gina take her hand as her mother unlocked the door and let them inside. Her father and brother followed at her heels, unwilling to let her walk half a step in front of them for fear she would injure herself somehow.
She moved through the rooms as her mother played through the messages in the kitchen. She turned her head away from the door as her ears took snapshots of each call.
"Hi, Sam, this is Laura, just wanted to express my sympathy for--"
"This is Detective Maddox down at the station, I have news--"
"Redford, this is Nolan, I got your message, pick up the phone--"
Rachel listened as her mother erased the old ones and began skimming through the new.
"Rachel, sweetheart, this is Mrs. Hungerford from school. I just wanted to let you I'm thinking of you--"
"Hi, this is Tina Morris calling for Rachel--"
"This is Veronica from Time Magazine, we were wondering if we could stop by sometime and talk to Rachel about--"
Rachel rubbed her face and tried to ignore them. She was sick of all this attention. She'd never been looking for the spotlight before, but now it was worse due to her increased lack of interest in life. Gina glanced at her sister and wrapped an arm around her shoulders, rubbing her arm kindly.
"That's a nice necklace," Gina said sweetly, nodding at Rachel's chest. Rachel looked down. The AR pendant still hung over her pajama top, unchanged, staring at her with a bit of mirth despite the circumstances. Rachel wanted to rip it off right then and there and crush it in her fingers. She hated the stupid thing, just a spiteful reminder of what she'd been through and of her desertion. But she didn't, for the simple reason that it was the only piece of him she had left. "Have you had it long?"
"No," Rachel muttered, rolling it between her fingers. "Actually, not long at all."
"Where did you get it?"
"A friend." Kind of. Rachel would never tell who exactly had given it to her, even if she had to lie. Because if she told the truth, it would be taken from her forever.
"Who--"
Rachel, shaking her head and trying to block her sister out, suddenly picked up again on the answering machine in the kitchen.
"Rachel, this is Lisa Reisert. I'm kind of in a bit—ok, well, a lot—of legal trouble and I could really use--"
Rachel ran out. "Mom!" she cried. "Don't delete that!"
"Who is it?" her mother frowned, her finger hovering over the 'Erase' button. "I don't remember ever meeting a Lisa."
"That's because I only met her a few days ago," Rachel said pointedly. "She was—well—kidnapped by Alex's friend."
"Alex?"
"Alec." Rachel cleared her throat. There was no need yet for her to find out that Lisa and Alex were, in fact, related. "Slip of the tongue."
"I see." Her mother handed her the phone and the pad of paper with the message scrawled in neat cursive. "Here. Go ahead and call her back. I think that's the number of the station down there."
When Rachel dialed the police station in Orlando, she was redirected to Lisa's home phone in Miami. At first, Lisa's voicemail began to pick it up, but at Rachel's voice was answered. She moved to the bathroom and locked herself in for privacy.
"Rach!" Lisa cried ecstatically. "Oh, sweetie, how are you? Are you doing okay?"
"I'm…" Rachel twirled her necklace around her fingers, letting the chain slide through her grip. "I'm…alive. That's good, right?"
"But not great," Lisa muttered. Rachel brushed away tears at her eyes. "Honey, I'm so sorry that you had to get dragged into this."
"It wasn't your fault." That reminded Rachel of the initial reason for calling, so she moved along. "I got your message."
"Yeah," Lisa paused, seemingly uncertain of whether or not to continue. "I kind of—would you—ok. Here's the thing. My trial is in three weeks, and I need a witness to help save me from jail, and badly. You're the only one I know who could help me other than an old lady and a small child who were on the plane. Plus—and they'll be springing this on you soon, too, trust me—they're starting to think I helped to kidnap you."
"What?" Rachel cried, flabbergasted. "That's insane!"
"So is thinking that I blew up my hotel and killed my friend," Lisa said, a catch forming in her voice. Rachel bit her lip.
"This is hard," she whispered sympathetically.
"Yeah."
"Why…why did they do that?"
It touched Rachel that Lisa didn't ask for confirmation of what she meant. "I don't know, babe. It's hard to tell why. For me, I guess, Jackson was just a little more self-absorbed than I thought. I guess, to him, I wasn't worth the risk."
"And the same for Alex," Rachel muttered, feeling bitter and depressed.
"No," Lisa argued gently. "I don't think so. I know Alex, Rach, and I know that he never lets go of what he feels is rightly his. He loved you more than the world, sweetie, and there must have been reason for why he left you behind."
"But he promised," Rachel whispered, a tear falling from her eye. "He promised me that he wouldn't leave again."
There was a long, dilated pause before Lisa spoke again. "Well, I guess sometimes promises are meant to be broken."