Disclaimer: I don't own Red Eye or any of its characters, but Sam is mine.

Chapter 2

"Leese, can you please tell me what we're doing?" Sam was jogging to keep up with her sister, who was pushing past people on her way to the door.

They stepped out into the street and suddenly their path was blocked by a tall, slender man who smiled as his pale blue eyes locked on Lisa.

"Hi Leese, did you finish your drink already?" His voice was friendly, but there was an undertone of menace that Sam picked up on instantly. Whoever this guy was, he wasn't a friend.

"What are you doing here?" Lisa's voice was shaky, a far cry from the confident sister Sam had been so happy to have back.

"I heard you were in town and thought we could do some catching up. It's been, what, six months?" He placed a finger under her chin, tilting her head so that she was looking him in the eyes. "I'd been planning on a reunion, and then you just fell into my lap."

"Listen, pal, I don't know who the hell you are," Sam stepped foreword, unwilling to be an observer any longer. "But you can take your hand off my sister and back off."

"Well, well. What have we here?" Those pale eyes were now focused on her, and Sam suddenly felt naked, like he could see right through her. "This must be little sis. She has some spunk. Have you told her about me, Leese?"

"Jackson." Lisa was pulling herself together. "Leave her out of this. Better yet, leave altogether."

"Jackson…" Sam's eyes widened in realization as she recalled the tale Lisa had related to her of that flight home from Texas. "Rippner? Oh shit."

Jackson's reply was cut off by the ring of a cell phone. He frowned and pulled out the phone, flipping it open to check the display.

"Unfortunately I have some business that needs to be taken care of, so I'll catch up with you ladies soon." With that he disappeared into the stream of pedestrians, leaving the two women temporarily speechless.

"Lisa?" Sam put a hand on her sister's shoulder. "Are you okay? We need to go to the police."

"Right." Lisa took a deep breath and tried to slow her pounding heart. "Where is the nearest station? They will be more likely to do something about this if we go in person."

Sam tried to remember if she had seen a police station anywhere nearby, she had never paid much attention to such things. Her mind wasn't focusing easily; she kept remembering those eyes…now she understood what Lisa had tried to tell her months ago when she spoke of that flight.

The ring of Sam's cell phone caused both of them to jump.

"Hello?"

"Hi Samantha," Even though she had almost expected it, hearing his voice sent a chill down her spine. "Do you mind putting your sister on?"

"Actually, I do mind. What do you want?"

"I'm just making sure she isn't going to try something stupid like going to the police. After all, she wouldn't want to put an innocent girl in danger, would she?"

"What are you talking about, Rippner?"

"Your roommate, Amy. I have a guy watching your apartment. You go to the cops, or tell anyone about this, and she dies."

Sam's breath caught in her throat, and before she could form a reply, Jackson ended the call. Tears welled in her blue-green eyes, but she blinked them back. Turning back to her sister, she saw that Lisa was pale.

"What did he want?"

"He said if we went to the police, one of his guys would kill Amy." Sam was surprised at how calm her own voice sounded. "He could be bluffing."

"No." Lisa's voice was far away. "He doesn't lie."

"So what do we do?"

"I want you out of here, Sam," Lisa looked her sister in the eye. "You can go to mom's house for break; I'll pay for the ticket."

"No way, Leese. I'm not leaving you to deal with this freak by yourself." Sam shook her head emphatically. "He's done enough to you. If anyone should get out of here, you should. If you leave now, while he's occupied with something, you can get away."

"But he'll only find me again."

"Maybe not." Sam was almost pleading.

"It's his job, Sammy, and he's good at it."

"Well, I'm not leaving." Sam's look dared Lisa to challenge her, but apparently her mind was occupied with other things. Taking this as permission to stay, Sam began to think out loud.

"We know he's watching my apartment, and probably your hotel room too, since he knew you were here." The logical part of Sam's brain was taking over, as it often did when she was facing a crisis. "What if we didn't go back to them? Chicago is a big city, we should be able to lose him…up until he threatens to kill Amy if we don't come back."

Sam flopped down on a bench and slouched foreword with her head in her hands. Lisa placed a hand on her back, a gesture that did more to assure her that she wasn't alone than it did comfort her sister. Sometimes she felt like the younger one, especially at times like this, when Sam always stayed so collected. Lisa could act collected, but with Sam it was the real deal.

"I know it's not going to help much, Leese, but I'm going to call Amy, just to make sure she's okay." Sam said after they had been sitting in silence for some minutes. She pulled out her phone and hit the speed-dial number for her apartment.

"Hello?" Her roommate's perky voice never sounded so welcome. Sam let out a long sigh of relief before responding.

"Hey Aim, what's up?" She hoped her worried tone didn't carry over the phone.

"I'm heading out with Tommy; I'll probably end up staying over at his place tonight."

"Good." Sam hoped the girl wouldn't change her mind. "Just…don't go anywhere alone, okay?"

"You're one to talk, Samantha, since when do you worry about stuff like that?"

"It must be Lisa rubbing off on me." Sam forced a laugh. "I'll see you tomorrow. Tell Tommy I said hello."

She had no sooner shut the phone than it rang again. Prepared this time, she hit the talk button.

"What now?"

"Our little chat was cut short," the now-familiar voice was casual and friendly. "We should remedy that."

"You know, I'd love to, but unfortunately we've made other plans that we just can't cancel." Two could play his little game.

"That's funny Samantha, but I'm afraid I'll have to insist."

"So, what, we meet you for coffee or you kill my friend?" Part of Sam knew that she shouldn't be mocking this guy, but another part just didn't care. "That's a little extreme even for you, Jack."

A chill traveled down her spine when a strong hand gripped her shoulder and Jackson's voice, no longer diluted over the phone, whispered harshly in her ear.

"You don't want to play this game, Samantha, it only leads to pain. For you, and everyone you care about.

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A/N: First, let me say thanks to everyone who reviewed. You guys keep me motivated! If anyone has suggestions for me, I'd be happy to hear them. I have an idea for where I want this to go, but it's only an idea.

Now, the more reviews I get, the faster I'll get the next chapter up, so let me know what you think!

-C