Guilty As Charged
Disclaimer: I don't own anything related to Red Eye!
Chapter Five
Miami – Lisa's Hospital Room
"Mrs. Rippner? Are you okay?" one of the police officers interviewing her asked.
"No…" she rasped faintly, her head dizzy. Could Jackson have tried to kill her?
She'd watched him efficiently murder men threatening her life before. She'd seen his cruel side more times than she could count and felt the effects of his rage. He could be pushed, prodded, or forced into killing. Violence was second-nature to Jackson Rippner.
But could he kill me?
"Mum!"
Lisa blinked; turning to see her teary-eyed daughter push past the policemen to reach her side. Myra wrapped her skinny arms around her before climbing up on the uncomfortable hospital bed.
She stroked her youngest daughter's red hair.
"Mum… are you okay?"
"Sore, baby. Just sore. Where's your sister?" Kyra shouldn't have left Myra alone. As unstable as Kyra was, she still knew better.
Myra shrugged. "She disappeared."
Again? Kyra…you sure have inherited your father's personality. He was always rather good at disappearing when he was needed.
An officer cleared his throat impatiently. "Mrs. Rippner."
"You may continue with your questions," Lisa said politely. She wasn't going to send her youngest child away just because they felt the need to disturb her.
The two men didn't seem pleased by the idea.
Miami – Law Office of Maura Brown
She glanced up at the pure white ceiling and let out a loud sigh.
Kyra hadn't been content that Maura left her behind. She wanted to see her father—even more than she wanted to hear about her mother. She understood that Maura had a job to do yet she didn't like the idea of him being interrogated.
He'd never responded well to stress. Not to mention his hatred for law enforcement and questioning. He was liable to piss off whoever was in with him as well as drive himself insane.
She slid off the couch she'd been lying on and started to pace. Maura had promised to call her as soon as she learned anything. It had been close to an hour since the older woman left the office. An hour which Kyra had spent losing her mind.
It was Jackson's bland reactions to Lisa lying still on the floor. His silence as she followed the ambulance in his BMW. His detached mental state concerned her more than the charges he was facing.
What happened in that room, dad? Did you really try to kill her? Or was it just an accident? Was it because of me?
Kyra's cell phone rang and she frowned at the unfamiliar number. She answered it warily. "Hello?" she called.
"Miss Rippner… what a pleasure it is to finally speak with you…" a smooth, charismatic voice floated over the phone's earpiece.
She felt a few hairs on her arms prickle. "Excuse me?"
"Oh, you didn't get my greeting card? What a shame."
"Greeting card? What greeting card?"
Great… a psycho has my cell number. This day just keeps getting better and better.
"It's a real shame that she's still alive. She ruined the message."
"The message?"
"Oh, your father didn't explain it to you?" She could swear he was smiling thanks to his cheery tone. "I guess he's still in shock."
"Shock?"
"Miss Rippner, can you not hear me clearly? You seem to be repeating an awfully lot. Am I speaking too fast for you?"
Kyra pried the phone from her ear and glared at the screen. "No, I can hear you. I just don't understand why you tried to kill my mother."
A laugh came over the line. "Finally, you catch on. They told me you were smart—just like your father. In fact, even more like him."
"What is it you want from me?"
"The game wouldn't be any fun if I told you that."
"The game? What game? This is my family you're talking about! You're toying with people's lives!" She was horrified. No matter how many times she witnessed similar situations Kyra was repulsed. She could still remember Mark's twisted ploy to turn her against her father.
"Now, now, Miss Rippner… you need to relax."
"What did you do to them?" she snarled.
"I'm just trying to finish the job. It's that simple."
"The job?"
"Yes, the job," he hissed impatiently. "It's taken over two decades to get to this point and I'm not going to let it get much farther."
Two decades? I wasn't even alive then… oh no. Dad—it's got to be about him and mum.
"What do you want from me?"
"Miss Rippner, if you don't follow my directions exactly—your whole family dies. If you succeed… then perhaps we can find a way to get your father out of prison."
Kyra closed her icy eyes for a moment. She couldn't allow her family to die and she couldn't leave Jackson in jail. She had to break him out no matter what.
She sighed reluctantly. "Tell me what to do."
Author's Notes:
Yes, there is a reason why Kyra is being contacted and a reason why Jackson's completely out of it. All I'm going to say at this point is that it all goes back to when Jackson and Lisa first met and we're going to see Kyra in action.
I'm sorry that this is such a short chapter but this seemed to be the best place to end it. Hopefully I'm going to start updating faster now that I've figured out exactly what's going on. Thank you to anyone who's still reading—please leave reviews! Enjoy!