Author's note: A big, big thanks to you guys, you have been really great. I hope you like the following chapter, too.

Chapter 10

Jackson seemed to relish her palor. "The thing is … in order to make a grand enough entrance for everybody to forget about my little mishap I need a grand gesture."

"What kind of gesture, Rippner?" Keefe looked at Lisa and she could tell he did not like where this was going. Neither did she.

Flashing a smile, Jackson winked at her. "Kidnap her."

"You have got to be fucking kidding me," Whitley huffed and got up from his chair to stomp into the back of the room.

"Think about it. I'm marked, I botched my last assignment." Was there a hint of annoyance in his words? "What better way to bounce back than to get her from under your very noses? All you have to do is leak the word that I'm back and wanting revenge on the person who foiled my plan back then. Tighten security around her. And as soon as I have the girl, the news will spread into all the right circles, believe me."

"And then what, Jackson?" Lisa couldn't believe his words. Nor could she believe the fact that Keefe hadn't terminated the conversation right then and there.

"You stay with me, look very frightened whenever I have a meeting with someone and once I'm done, you're done. Sound like a plan?" Jackson was so content, it made her sick to her stomach.

"I stay with you! As in chained to a wall or something?"

"Only if we have visitors. The rest of the time you are free to run around in my place as much as you wish. The outside's off limits, though."

Lisa hated those trips down memory lane. The way he talked to her, matter-of-factly, courteous, yet relentlessly pressing his issues with an undertone of menace. Her disbelief about the situation she found herself in, how helpless she felt. And she truly felt helpless, because in her heart, she was sure they would ask her to do this. It was too good an opportunity to pass up.

Jackson continued, shifting his eyes to Keefe. "You know, you have a once in a lifetime chance here. All I want is my freedom in exchange for invaluable information you very desperately need." He was almost singing the words now. "Mull it over. Take your time."

Lisa walked out of the room. She had barely made it past the door when she sensed the familiar nausea, the feeling of going under. With two tumbling steps, she reached the wall and slid down. Whitley's agents made a dash for her and tried to steady her, but Lisa couldn't find the strength to stand. One of them carried her into another room and stretched her out on the floor, using his jacket as a pillow for her head. "There now, Ms. Reisert. Breathe." For a few blessed seconds, there was nothing but the sound of her labored breath and his soothing voice, but then Keefe and Whitley entered her line of sight. Somebody sat her up and handed her a glass of water she could barely hold.

"Are you allright, Ms. Reisert?" Whitley actually sounded concerned, which surprised her a little. At the same time, it bothered her. Lisa was so tired of always being the one people worried about, squirming under their miscroscopes more often than she cared to do.

"Give me just a few minutes alone, please."

They all left her. As soon as she thought she was able to do so, Lisa stood up and took a few tentative steps around the room. It was bare, obviously used for interrogation. She found she didn't like these rooms, the threat they held, the stories their walls could certainly tell. Lisa longed to get out and be free of it all, but would she ever be? As long as Jackson was in here, he would keep sending for her, tearing the delicate web of peace she had weaved around her life. But who was to say that he'd leave her alone if she helped him and he got out? The question burned her. Lisa took a deep breath and joined the others in the hall.

"I need a moment with him. No listeners."

Whitley carefully took her arm and walked her back to where Jackson was. "Ms. Reisert, I know you don't like me very much and that can't be helped, I'm afraid, but I just want to tell you how much I admire what you're doing here," he said quietly before opening the door for her without waiting for a response.

Jackson looked at Lisa and the intensity of his blue-eyed examination made her want to turn around and run, but she had given a promise to herself and she was going to keep it. Lisa felt deep down within her mind until she had found the rage that simmered there and let it feed her words. "Know this, Jackson. This time I will NOT be forced, so if you want something from me, you'll have to make a deal that I like. Is that understood?"

"Let me guess - if we do this and I get free, I am to disappear from your life and never to return." No smirk, no insults. Apparently, she had gotten her point across.

"Do we have a deal?"

"We do. If I could, I'd shake your hand, but …" With an exaggerated helpless gesture he moved his arms until the restraints rattled against the chair.

Lisa left him without another glance.

They let her fly home and she couldn't wait to be back. Her father, Cynthia and Jay picked her up from the airport and even her mom was there. When she saw their smiling faces, she struggled for a moment before she let out the sobs that had tightened her chest. A few minutes later, they all released each other with a laugh when they realized they had somehow formed into a group hug and that people were staring at them.

"Baby girl, my little baby girl, it's so good to see you again." Lisa's mother held on to her arm. "I know you hate the question, but are you allright?"

Lisa didn't have to lie … yet. "Kind of. Let's go have dinner, there is something I need you to know."

Dinner was a difficult affair. All she could tell them was that she was needed in Washington for an unspecified amount of time and that she would have to break off all contact for the duration of the assignment. Her parents and her friends were completely against the idea, but after a while, they caved in. They had to - there was something new about Lisa, a quiet determination that was different from her usual soldiering on.

In the following weeks, Lisa spent as much time with her family and friends as she possibly could, which she knew unsettled them. She had quit her job at the Lux Atlantic and it was all too clear that she wanted to enjoy the time before "the assignment" almost as if she would never come back.

About a month after her trip to Washington, Lisa was spending another evening with her father, Cynthia and Jay when her cell phone rang. Keefe's voice was low and tense when he told her it was time.

She was going to go to Washington and move into Jackson's local safe house together with the man himself. The next day, Keefe's staff would leak the information that Jackson Rippner was back in the States and that Lisa was his suspected target.

The idea to stage the actual kidnap with Jackson and Lisa in their respective roles had been deemed far too risky, so a Lisa double was to take her place in her apartment. As soon as the agents could be sure the information had reached the right people, they would escort the double to the local Federal Bureau office on the outskirts of Miami.

Later, that very double would be "abducted", but in a highly controlled environment: the federal agents were briefed, the kidnappers consisted of Keefe's own people and even the eye witnesses who would give their statements to the local police were government agents.

After a tearful goodbye to the people she loved so much, Lisa got on a government plane. She cried all the way to Washington until she felt there were no more tears to shed. As soon as they had landed, she was immediately escorted to a limousine that took her to a nondescript house in the capital's suburbs. Whitley, who was in charge of the operation, welcomed her, took her bags and gave her an encouraging smile before he escorted her inside. Jackson was already there. After a brief talk and a few severe threats from Whitley directed at Jackson, they were left alone.

Lisa didn't quite know what to do with herself. She looked at Jackson, who in turn looked at her with a blank expression. It was fairly awkward, but then he shook his head and the corners of his mouth settled into a slight grin.

His tone was pleasant, yet it sounded like a challenge when he said, "And again, it's just you and me - without restraints. That's so much better, don't you think? Here, let me show you around … roomie."