Innocent People's Lives

Chapter Twelve

"Has she been in contact?" Keefe asked, not bothering to look at the man before his desk. He didn't need to. He had better things to do.

"Yes, Sir."

"Does she still trust you?"

"So far. She doesn't suspect anything. She trusts me still, not him."

"Good. I spent a lot of money and time making sure she worked for us and not for him. I spent a lot to make Jackson Rippner disappear. Now he's back and they're working together?"

"It doesn't seem that way. She seems to be his captive essentially. She can't run from him because she's afraid. She's stuck. Scared."

"She should be scared."

"Sir, what is our plan here? If I can get her to come in, what do we do next?"

Keefe looked up. "'We' don't do anything. Your job is to neutralize the threat. Jackson Rippner has to be put down. Then you bring me Lisa Reisert. If she can't be trusted, you know what to do. I can't let a threat like that live."

"Did you know Rippner was dirty? When you hired him?"

"I suspected he was still obsessed with her. I honestly thought he'd be pleased at a chance for payback. I didn't expect this level of betrayal."

He nodded. "And Lisa? If she's working with him..."

"Then she has to die. You understand, don't you?"

He swallowed nervously then nodded. "Of course. My duty is to protect you from harm. If she's a viable threat, then she, too, has to be neutralized."

"Good. Glad that we're on the same page."

After her five minutes were up, Lisa walked back to the car and a waiting Jackson. She felt more relaxed, but only just. She really didn't want to get back in the car with him, but she didn't have much choice.

"You really think this Mark guy will help us?" he asked after they both climbed back inside and he turned on the ignition.

"I know he will."

Jackson flipped on the blinker as they merged onto the highway, once again heading out of town. No other cars were on this particular road. "You're really that confident in him? You have that much faith?"

"I don't need to have faith. I know him. He's a good person."

"Like Keefe?" he taunted.

She shot him a dirty look. "Yes."

"Hmm."

Lisa rolled her eyes. "We should call him. We need help."

He sighed. "Next stop, we'll buy another burner. You'll get five minutes, then we break it and hit the highway. If it works, we'll make a meeting point tomorrow."

"Why are you so paranoid?"

"You call it paranoia but I call it survival. It's worked so far."

She shook her head. "Still paranoid."

"I'm okay with that."

"You're something else, Jackson."

"You'll get used to me eventually."

"Don't count on it."

She resumed questioning him out of shear boredom. He also seemed more receptive to her probing while they were on the road. Perhaps he found driving to be soothing. She certainly had on occasion. Anything except flying.

"I didn't think the CIA could work inside the US."

Jackson shrugged. "We can't run certain operations, yes, but we are here. We still have agents around the country."

"I don't understand how you could be a government agent and still have gone along with that terrible plan. How you could try and kill me and my dad."

"It wasn't that simple, Leese. You have to understand that. I needed to gain his trust. I need to prove to him that I was willing to do what he asked."

"But this time you saved me. He'll know you're not the killer you claim."

He nodded. "That is true. I just blew an operation that we've been working on for the last decade. And I blew my shot because I think you're more important. I think you know more than you believe. I think you can help me bring him down."

"But I didn't know anything. I had no idea he was dirty."

"You know his habits. His schedule. You know more about him than anyone except for Sarah."

"And she's dead."

"You'd have been dead, too."

She shifted uncomfortably on the seat of the car. "But I'm not dead. She is."

"And I will help you get revenge, but you have to help me first."

They were both silent for a long moment before Lisa broke it.

"I can give you schedules, but that's pretty much all I can do. I was the secretary... the assistant... I wasn't in the meetings. I wasn't at his side..."

"That's... that's the key. If you weren't in the room, who was? You have access to his security schedule?"

Lisa nodded. "Yeah, I would have those. But he doesn't always use security. He often refused his detail at times. Mark told me that."

Jackson sighed loudly. "I guess we need your boyfriend, too."

She tried not to say 'I told you so', but she certainly thought it.

True to his word, they bought a burner at their next stop. Jackson got them back on the road before he told her to call him. Paranoid as he was, she couldn't refuse him.

She dialed his number from memory. Mark answered after one ring this time.

"Lisa?" He sounded so hopeful. She wondered if he'd even slept since her last call.

"Mark."

"Lisa, look, we're all worried about you. You need to tell me where you are. I'll send someone to get you."

"I can't. But look, I need your help."

"Anything, Lisa. Just name it."

She sighed, his voice soothing her. He used to always make her feel safe and secure. "I want to meet up with you sometime soon."

"Name it. I'll be there. I promise."

She smiled. "I'll call again tomorrow with details. I just want you to know I'm okay."

"Charles wants to talk to you."

Before she could reply, Jackson ripped the phone out of her hand and snapped it shut. With one hand, he snapped the battery and SIM card out of it. Without slowing down, he rolled down his window and dropped the battery. At the next exit, he tossed the SIM card. A few minutes later, he ditched the body of the phone, hurtling it toward the woods. He didn't slow down once.

"That was unnecessary," she exclaimed after the last piece shattered on the ground. She hadn't bothered to fight him over the phone. She either would've lost or killed them both over a phone.

"I'll decide what's necessary, Leese. I'm just trying to keep you alive. You need to understand that."

"He can't hurt me through the phone!"

"He can lie to you."

"More than you already have?"

He didn't respond.

"Jackson, he's my boss. He's going to be worried why he can't reach me."

"He wants to know where you are so he can send people to kill you. He doesn't actually care about you."

"Whatever you say," she muttered, still pissed.

"Look you might not care about staying alive but I do. And right now it's my job to protect you from yourself."

She did her best to turn away from him. "You don't know him. I do."

"You only think you do. You know the side he shows you. Just like Keefe."

"And I suppose you know him?"

He snorted. "I know enough. I know his type."

"Enlighten me."

He draped one hand over the steering wheel and glanced over at her. "He tries very hard to be rule-abiding. The good guy. He always seems to do the right thing. He holds open doors. He's trying very hard to be seen as perfect. So no one will look deeper. So no one will notice who he really is."

"Which is?"

"He's not good. He's faking it to earn trust. So no one looks twice at him. It's the perfect disguise."

"Let me guess—you've done that before."

"Many times. It's great for espionage. People forget you're even in the room."

"Your world view is so dark and pathetic I don't know how you even get out of bed in the morning."

Jackson smirked, looking at her again. "I have your smiling face to look forward to."

She scoffed, her arms crossed in an attempt at disgust.

"I know it seems crazy, but that's how the world works. It's not pretty. It never is. Good people are few and far between. Almost everyone has an angle. It's just the way the world works."

"I refuse to believe that."

"Agree to disagree."

"I still trust Mark. You can keep your skeptical bullshit. I trust him."

"You're going to be the death of me," he growled.

She opted not to stick her tongue out like a kid, but it took a lot to resist the urge. He was practically begging for it.

No matter what he said, she trusted Mark. Until he proved otherwise, she would trust him. She'd already gone out on a limb to trust Jackson. She wasn't going to take his word over a good man.

She wasn't stupid. But she still had to figure out a way out of this mess. One way or another she would make it out. If Jackson helped her, great. If not, she'd leave him behind in favor of Mark.

Better the devil she knew than the one she didn't trust. And Jackson was most certainly the devil.

Author's Notes:

And the road trip from hell continues! (Lisa's words, not mine, promise!) Next chapter we get out of the car and back into action. But hey, at least Lisa got to address the elephant in the room a bit – why Jackson, if he's the good guy, attacked her after the flight.

And let's be honest, Jackson is nothing if not a paranoid motherfucker.