Chapter 19 - New Faces

All members of the car were quiet as they drove down the well maintained dirt road. But where their mouths were silent, both Jackson and Lisa's minds were in overdrive. For Lisa, everything was a question. Where were they going? Why? Who were they going to be meeting? How long and was anything terrible going to happen? It was getting to a point for the poor woman that her fidgeting had become far more noticeable. She had never been one to fidget in the past when she became nervous. This was a new development. Before, she dealt with it in a far healthier manner by facing it, working to relieve it and eventually conquering it. But that was then, back when she, not some sociopath, mostly controlled the fate of her life. She was so caught up in her own unstable thoughts that she actually jumped when Jackson put his hands over her rapidly moving ones. He didn't say anything or even look at here but continued to look out the window on his side of the car. He just held her hands until they stopped and then released them to sit in the same manner that he had been before. For the first time in her life, Lisa actually envied some part of Jackson, his cool demeanor. He always had it. She imagined that there was never a time in his sick life that anything had ever really bothered him. It actually made her angry but she found that she preferred her anger to the constant and unquenchable agitation of moments before. God she hated him.

Despite what Lisa thought of him, however, Jackson at the moment was having issues of his own. He was just better at dealing with it than Lisa was. Jackson's biggest problem at the moment was uncertainty. Control was what he strived for in every aspect of his life and very soon, he was not going to be the one in control. He knew this would happen from the moment he'd decided to steal Lisa. Everyone that caged themselves a bird had to go through what lay at the end of this road in a house not too unlike his own. Knowing that didn't make him feel any better. He just didn't like the idea that someone else was going to decide the ultimate fate of the woman that sat next to him. He wasn't worried about what would happen to her if it was deemed that she wasn't suitable but rather it was the thought of all the time and effort he would have wasted in this pursuit that bothered him. Six months of constant planning and execution would be wasted and for what, a little bit of convenient sex?

Jackson squeezed his right hand tightly at his side and forced himself to calm down. He needed to keep his wits about him and he needed to keep extra attention on Lisa until all of this was over. Once he'd regained his mental composure he placed his left hand on Lisa's twitching ones to make her stop. It was annoying and didn't send out the right signals at the moment. When she'd calmed, he withdrew his hand and acted as though he hadn't done anything to begin with. From this moment on, he could not interfere. He saw the house come into view as they rounded a heavily vegetated bend in the road. It was out of his hands now and his months of training and work on his little bird were about to be put to the test. He took a deep breath and readied himself for the test to come.

Lisa studied the house out of her window as the car pulled into the semicircular drive. It looked simple enough from the outside with its one story and cream adobe exterior. The gardens that surrounded it were what really made the place impressive. It seemed that about an acre or two of land had been cleared of the lush tropical forest that surrounded estate and in its place were cultured and well maintained hedges, flower beds, trees and walkways that wove in and out of the different venues. It looked like a park with a small house nestled right in the center of it. Lisa's attention changed from the landscape to that of a woman as she exited the house and approached the car. Lisa didn't get a good first look at her before she passed out of view behind a large ornamental shrub. She jumped when her door was opened for her by the driver.

"Get out." Was all Jackson said as he opened his own door and exited the vehicle. Lisa took a deep breath and did as she was told. She stepped out into the still warm evening air and reflexively stretched a little.

"This way." The driver said as he directed her path with a gesture of his hand. She stepped around the car to find both Jackson and now the woman standing next to one another, obviously waiting for her. Lisa couldn't help but notice that the driver remained awfully close to her. It was plain to her that he was there to keep her from running if she had chosen to do so. He looked extremely fit underneath his jeans and white polo shirt. He was a bigger man than Jackson in every way. He stood at what Lisa guessed to be around 6'2" and probably weighed at least 200 pounds. He was dark and muscular with a few days of stubble on his otherwise handsome face.

"Leese, let me introduce you to a colleague of mine, Angie Mason." He politely introduced when she'd reached the waiting duo. The woman smiled warmly and extended her hand as though this were a regular meeting between two people in the normal world. Not fully sure of what to do, Lisa extended her hand in the same manner, all under the watchful eye of Jackson and their driver.

"Um, hi." Was all that Lisa managed to get out. She wasn't sure why but she'd been expecting a man to be Jackson's business partner, not a woman and certainly not a woman that looked like the one before her. She was short. Several inches shorter than herself with thick, dark brown hair pulled back into a high ponytail. She wore tight fitting cargo pants and a tight, plain white tee shirt that accentuated her rather large breasts and slender physique. If she had ever thought of what a hit woman looked like, this never would have been the image that her mind supplied. The 30 something woman looked more like someone that would frequent her hotel with a 50 something husband and spend all her time on the beach or shopping. Of all the words in Lisa's vocabulary, the one that best described the woman whose hand she was now shaking was…cute.

"It's good to finally meet you Lisa. I've learned so much about you; it's good to have you here in the flesh." Before she let Lisa respond to the odd greeting, she continued. "Well let's get into the house before the bugs really start to come out." And the four of them started up to the house. Directing the question at Jackson's very attractive acquisition, she spoke again. "Do you notice that at your place Lisa, that all of the really annoying critters come out right before it gets dark?"

The simple question threw Lisa for a moment but she answered after an awkward pause. "Um, yeah…I guess they do." This new woman's easy conversational tone was somewhat disconcerting and set Lisa further on edge.

"Yeah, I thought so. It's not like you're all that far away. Pretty convenient if you ask me." Lisa's brow furrowed but she continued to walk with the troop. She couldn't help but wonder what this new woman meant by convenient.

Once they arrived inside of the house, Angie stopped them all inside of the small foyer. Jack, why don't you and Derek go fix yourselves a drink. Might as well get this stared after all." When no one moved, Angie laughed and moved to push the driver in the direction she wanted them to go. "Don't worry about me you big goof, I can handle this just fine. Fix Jack one of your famous cable cars. It'll be on the sweet side for his tastes but make him one anyway." When they finally started to move to one of the connecting rooms Angie stopped them. "Oh where are my manners, do you want anything Lisa? A Sea breeze or something?"

Lisa's mouth opened slightly in response and Jackson cringed. He knew there was a reason he'd been dreading this. When she didn't get a response she just shrugged. "Nothing for you eh? Alright then you two can get going then." Angie watched them leave before turning to an increasingly agitated Lisa.

She looked at Jackson's bird for a few moments. In a way she felt sorry for the woman. It was her habit of placing herself in other people's shoes no matter who they were. It was part of her style when she had been a field agent. It was part of what made her such a successful killer. Her empathy for others allowed her to more accurately guess what their next move would be. She always felt sorry for them but only for a moment. Once it was done, so were her feelings. Killing people was her job but today it was to assess the viability of Jackson's choice. She wouldn't know today or tomorrow, this was just preliminaries to give her an idea.

In a truly soothing voice and gently touching Lisa's shoulder, Angie spoke. "Hey, calm down. Nothing bad is going to happen. I just want to talk to you is all. Now just go in there and have a seat." She said, pointing to the room to their left. "I'm going to get us some coffee." When Lisa didn't move right away, Angie prodded some more. "Come on, right in there. I'll be back in a second. Trust me, it's really good coffee."

Lisa just acted on autopilot and went into the room. The door closed behind her and she quickly noticed when she looked at it that it looked just like the doors in Jackson's home. Undoubtedly she was locked in now. At the moment, Lisa had no idea what to think or what to do. She thought about trying the door but even if she got out where would she go. This house was the only sign of civilization she'd seen since the airstrip and she was not a survivalist. So she just sat down in one of the chairs that surrounded the central gathering area of the room and waited for her coffee and the unnerving woman to return.

xxxxxxx

AN: Well here's another one and less than 24 hours later. Thanks for the reviews but a special note to megganc. You're very right about my lack of description in the last chapter, thanks for pointing it out. In fact, you're review made me think of how to introduce something rather important in the next chapter! I enjoy all reviews but constructive ones are simply the best, especially after such a long break and my own rustiness. Thanks again.