AN ORDINARY LIFE: A HISTORY OF VIOLENCE MEETS RED EYE
"Shit!!!".
"Oh, shut your fucking mouth, James!! Please!!" Robert Finley shouted to the man sitting beside him inside the truck. He was cleaning his blood-splattered hands while his fellow was counting the money in his own hands.
"That fucking bitch!!! She gave us only 300$!!! I should have shot her in that slutty-face!!!" James Nolan continued in a hungry voice.
"Jesus, you damned asshole!!!! Shut up!!!" he replied nervously. Then Robert continued, taking off his shirt full of red spots. "You didn't shoot her in her face…but, anyway, you shot her in her chest…I think that doesn't make any difference…".
The other man gave him a cold look, without saying a word.
"Keep cool…and change clothes, please…you look like you've been taking a blood-bath…"
"Right…" he replied, more relaxed.
While changing his shirt and cleaning up his face, he asked a little worried "D'you think police is stalking us right now?".
Robert thought for a while before answering dryly "No…but, if we don't move quickly, they're gonna find us…so…hurry up, please…".
In a few seconds, James had his new and clean clothes on.
They hid the faster they could the splattered clothes in a sack under the back-seat, and thrust their pistols under their belts.
After only half a minute they were driving very fast towards Brillion.
Margaret Ramsay entered 'The Hungry Fox', her husband's café, with a big smile on her face, feeling joyful and happy. She searched with her eyes Daniel, who was serving a young man sitting on one of the stool at the counter, in front of him.
He raised his head and saw his lovely wife.
"Honey…" he smiled gently to her, not expecting the view of the woman.
She felt those sparkling, amazing blue eyes straight on her face, and she was about to melt down, like everytime he gave her that look. The woman loved it so much.
Margaret run towards the husband, bending to kiss him.
"Love!! How's today here?" she purred.
After kissing her, the man answered peacefully. "Like every day…everything's going great!" and he blinked at the blond-head.
She passed her fingers through his long, reddish-brown fringe, trying to tidy her husband's hair up. He kept it too long, according to Margaret. But that hairdo made him looking younger, even if his face itself looked like a younger man's one. Daniel Ramsay actually didn't seem to be nearly forty. His nice freckles gave him a pretty boy look, and his particular facial features did the same.
The woman gave him a gaze full of love and sweetness.
"I've just popped into…because…I was around here and I wanted to see you…" she hissed gently.
Daniel kissed her on her cheek. "I'm glad to see you."
Then she started "I was thinking…maybe that would be a good idea to take the children to the lake this week-end, wouldn't it?".
"That's perfect…absolutely...they'd have so much fun!".
A light shone in her green eyes. "Right then!!" she replied excited. "You're the most adorable man on earth…the best of the world…".
"Oh, well…I'm just a normal, ordinary man, Margaret…like many others on earth…I'm just…nothing special…".
"No, you're not an ordinary man…you're my man…" his wife told him softly.
"Now, love…I must go…see you later!!" she added.
"Ok honey…that's ok…me too, I must go back to work, otherwise people will complain very badly" he laughed pretty loudly "…see you…" .
The blond woman reached the front door and hissed softly "I love you".
"I love you, Marge…".
She smiled and went out, fading out into the streets.
Daniel stared at the closed door absent-mindedly, repeating in a low voice "Yeah…I'm just a normal man…". Then he came back to take the order of a red-head woman who had a pretty angry look on her face, had been waiting for a long time to be served.
"Sorry, ma'am" he tried to apologize, feeling a little bit awkward.
It was just closing time for 'The Hungry Fox', late in the evening. Daniel was settling some things beyond the counter. Lois Wellington, the waitress, was cleaning a ketchup-spotted table. Jim Smith, Ramsay's helper, was washing, next to Daniel, the last mug left to be cleaned. On another table, there was Lois' daughter, Ann, waiting for her mother. Sometimes, like that day, she helped her mom at the café.
The blue-eyed man was thinking about his children, while closing the cash till.
Suddenly, he heard the door opening with a loud noise. Two strange men entered.
Daniel turned his icy blues to them, while the others stopped and looked at the two guys with a questioning glance.
"Sorry, sirs…we're closing…" he said harshly to the men, frowning. He really didn't like their faces.
"Oh…" replied quickly one of them, with a strange tone "…really? Well…we wanna eat something…we're really hungry, man…right, James?" he gave to his fellow a conspiratorial look.
Daniel tightened his jaw and swallowed nervously. There was a weird atmosphere.
Lois, her daughter and Jim didn't say a word and observed silent the strange, dark glimpse on Ramsay's face.
The two fellows took a seat at the counter, one beside the other.
Daniel leant his hands on the cold surface in front of him, repeating with a very slow and sharp voice "I said…we're closing…sorry…".
"I don't think so…" Robert answered coldly, with a worring grin.
Daniel clenched more his jaw, making two steps backwards, keeping his eyes on the two men sitting in front of him.
"Right…" he hissed, a disquieting look on his face could be seen. "We have only some cold coffee and some cheesecake…nothing else…" he added.
"Ok, then…" the other man smiled at him. A cold, creepy smile.
Jim stood next to Daniel, not really at ease. "Jim…" the man said sharply, his freezing eyes still on the two guys "…please, take two pieces of that cheesecake and bring it to our customers…".
"S-sure…" replied quickly and nervously the helper. The two ladies were breathing very fast, following the whole scene with a worried glance.
While taking the coffee jug, Mr Ramsay told the woman airily "Lois, you can go home with your daughter now…you've finished for today…see you tomorrow…".
Ann got nearer her mother, smiling, trying to hide her uneasiness.
"R-right, Daniel…s-see you tomorrow…" the woman hissed. She took her purse and led the girl in front of herself, going towards the door.
Daniel could see Robert giving a quick look at his fellow.
"James…" he stated without making a move.
Suddenly, James grasped with a rapid movement one of Ann's forearms. The girl screamed terrified, and her mother tried to set her free from the man's grip.
He pushed the woman towards a table with violence, and yelled at Ann "You're not going anywhere, honey…".
Panic filled the café.
Daniel tried to keep cool.
"We don't have much money…take all the cash…if that's what you want…" the man said quietly, with his hands raised. He could see that the two guys had guns under their belts. Ann was crying. Lois was trembling with fear, some blood running down her arm. Jim stood silent.
"That's what we want to…and after it…we're gonna kill you all…" James replied coldly, laughing in a creepy way.
Daniel felt a chilling shiver running on his spine.
"But first, I wanna have some fun with this little flower…" he caressed Ann's cheek, wet with tears. She didn't move, paralysed and shaking horrified.
Her mother shrieked "Take that fucking hand off of my daughter, you…you…" her voice suffocated with the crying and fear.
James aimed quickly his gun at the woman. "…otherwise…what are you going to do, you dirty bitch? Huh?!" he gave her a freezing glance, touching with the other hand Ann's breast.
"James…c'mon…don't play the fool…" laughed ironical Robert, with his gun in his hand.
It all happened very fast.
Daniel took a knife from behind the counter, jumped beyond it and, with a precise stroke, cut Robert's throat deeply, spreading the man's blood all around. The robber fell backwards, on the ground, bleeding and gasping.
The gun fell from the man's hand, and Ramsay caught the weapon in less than a second.
James shot Daniel, causing only a superficial wound on his right shoulder.
Coldly, with an astonishing, freezing look on his face, Daniel shot the other man, one time, two times, three times, very quickly and frantically, not giving James enough time to realise what was going on.
The other robber dropped on his knees, before collapsing on the ground, blood running from the gunshots on his chest.
Silence fell all around. Only the rapid and nervous breaths of the three people cold be heard, together with Ann's desperate sobs.
There were huge red spots everywhere.
Jim looked oddly at Daniel.
He was standing steadily, blood dropping from his right hand, his fringe untidy on his forehead, the gun still aimed at the dead man laying on the ground in front of him. His breath was rapid, and a disquieting, freezing, strange look was pictured on his face, dirty with spurts of blood. His blues had a terrible creepy emotionless glance.
The others had never seen him like that. Lois felt really deeply scared by the man and, especially, by those eyes.
For that short moment, Daniel Ramsay totally seemed another person. He actually looked like a cold-blooded, merciless killer.
"Daniel Ramsay: a local hero. The thirty-nine year-old man from Brillion, Wisconsin, last night saved himself and three other persons from Robert Finley, forty-five, and James Nolan, forty-two, two dangerous criminals wanted by the police of thirteen states for mugging, murder and rape…".
Daniel turned off the television of his hospital room with the remote, annoyed by all that fuzz about the event. There was something that really disturbed him. An eerie feeling that didn't seem willing to go away.
He passed his fingers on his right shoulder, now covered with bandage. It didn't hurt much and it wouldn't have taken too much to heal.
The man took a look out of the window, staring at the sky lost in thoughts.
"My hero!!!".
A sudden and familiar voice caught back his attention. He turned quickly and saw his wife, with the children, standing there with a big, proud smile on her face.
"Daddy!!! Daddy!!" Christopher run towards his father, jumping on the man's bed.
Daniel embraced his son and kissed the top of his head.
"You're great, dad!!!" the child smiled eagerly.
Margaret got near her husband, with the little Elizabeth in her arms.
"Oh, my boy…I'm not so great…" he replied, a little awkwardly.
"You are, Daniel…" pointed out the woman, glad to see her lovely hero. "You saved four lives yesterday…not everybody can do a thing like that…".
He lowered his blues, tightening his grip on Christopher. Margaret was a little bit worried by the dark look of the man.
"What's the matter, love?" she asked softly, sitting beside him and rubbing his left forearm.
"Mh…I'm just a little…tired…you know…" he murmured.
"Oh, yes, I see…it hasn't been a quiet night this one…".
She stood up, caressing gently her daughter's blond curls.
"The doctor says you can come back home now…that's great, isn't it?" the woman stated with a huge, happy smile.
Daniel gave her a rapid glimpse, with a sigh. "Yes…it is…I'm really looking forward to go home…" he hissed with a strange uneasiness in his eyes.
Elizabeth put her little arms around her dad's neck. The girl gave him a sweet kiss on his cheek and told him with her little voice "I love you, dad…". The man stared at his daughter's green eyes, smiling, and then he leant his chin on her head.
"Let's go home" Mr Ramsay said, his gaze lost in some dark thoughts.
"Oh god…journalists everywhere…" Margaret noticed, rolling her eyes with resignation. The Ramsay family was trying to make its way to the car, surrounded by people with microphones and cameras.
"Mr Ramsay!! Mr Ramsay!! What did you think when you reacted to the criminals' threats?!".
"Mr Ramsay, please!!! A comment for our viewers!!".
"Mr Ramsay!! How does it feel like to be a hero?!".
Daniel felt terribly nervous and annoyed. He cast a sharp glimpse at the people all around, but didn't say a word. He kept his children and his wife very tight.
They finally reached the car and quickly jumped in. Before closing the car door, the woman said harshly "My husband is really tired…and his family, too…so please leave us in peace, ok?".
"Mrs Ramsay! Please!! How…".
She shut the door with a big slam and after only a few seconds they went away, driving home, leaving behind a huge, unsatisfied crowd.
In front of Ramsays'house there was a Channel 4 crew, the reporter Natalie Thomson and her cameraman.
"Right! We're here, in front of Ramsay's habitation. The man has just left the hospital and we can see his car coming nearer! We'll be able, in a few seconds, to talk with this local hero!" the young woman said enthusiastically to the camera.
The man's car reached the house, and the journalist approached it very quickly. The family went out, clearly annoyed and tense.
"Good evening, Mr Ramsay! This is Natalie Thomson, for 'Channel 4 News'! How do you feel right now, after the extraordinary events of yesterday? How could you manage with such a coolness so dangerous a situation? What did you think in those moments?".
She bent the mic towards the man. He screwed up his eyes, giving a freezing look to the woman, who felt a creepy shiver through her back.
"I just did what everybody should have to in that moment…there wasn't much time to think it over…that's all…and now, I beg your pardon, but I'm feeling really tired and dizzy…" Daniel answered coldly, going straight to his home's door, followed by Margaret and the children. They slammed the door behind their backs, leaving the reporter and the cameraman alone, very upset.
"Oh…shit…" Natalie complained, frowning, after the camera was turned off. "This guy is so fucking rather unsociable…". She went on the Channel 4 truck with Bobby, the cameraman, and before closing the door she hissed "And…god…have you seen his eyes?! They were so scary…and so terribly…icy".
Margaret watched them go away from the living room window, sighing with relief.
"They've gone" she told Daniel.
"Oh, holy Jesus…" he leant on the sofa, closing his eyes. Suddenly, the woman cried out "Oh, hell!! There are more outside!! Why can't they leave us in peace for a while?!" and she left the room.
Daniel jumped on his feet, reaching the window and looking outside. There was a black car, parked on the other side of the street, with black glasses. A huge limousine.
The man had an odd feeling all so sudden.
"I don't think they are journalists…" he murmured worried, a dark glance on his eyes.
"Have you said something, love?" Margaret asked him from the kitchen.
"No…" he replied sharply and thoughtful, raising his voice.
After a moment the black limousine had gone away. Daniel kept staring out absent-mindedly for a while, before reaching his family in the kitchen, and trying to act as the usual.
That eerie feeling was still there, inside him.
"They're all for you, 'sweet hero o'mine'!!" Margaret pointed at the huge crowd sitting at the tables and on the stools of 'The Hungry Fox'. She leant her elbows on the counter, smiling at her husband, who looked very busy.
The café was really full of people, all there to see the 'great' Daniel Ramsay, the new hero of Brillion. It had never been so lively that little cafeteria. Everybody was chatting and laughing and so on.
Every now and then, new people came inside and told him how much they respected him for what he had done and many other similar things, which got Daniel not very at ease. He didn't like to be so popular.
He made only a little cold smile in response to his wife's words.
The man was serving an old woman, sitting beside Margaret, when he heard the door opening again.
"Other customers…" Mrs Ramsay told him very amused.
He turned to the people just entered, and felt suddenly an icy shiver. There were two men dressed in black suits, with black sunglasses. Between them, there was another shorter one, in a dark-blue suit, with black sunglasses, too. The shorter one reached the counter and put off the glasses. There was a creepy look on his face.
"Good morning, sir…how could I help you…" Daniel asked in a sharp voice from behind the counter, after swallowing.
The two other men took a seat beside the dark-blue dressed one, one on his left and the other one on his right.
"Good morning…me and my 'friends' would like to eat a piece of cake and drink something…" he replied calmly, but there was something very strange in his voice.
"Right…we make the best apple-pie in the whole state of Wisconsin…" Daniel added with an odd spark in his blues.
"Ok, then…we take it…and also some coffee, if you don't mind, Jack…" the other man told Mr Ramsay airily.
Daniel clenched his jaw and screwed up his eyes. His wife made a questioning and worried gaze.
"Or…do you prefer to be called with your full name, Jackson? I know you didn't like it so much…because with your surname it sounds like 'Jack the Ripper'…" the strange man added with a disquieting grin.
Daniel smiled nervously. "Sorry…but I think you have mistaken me with someone else…my name is Daniel…Daniel Ramsay…".
"Really?!" the other said pretending to be surprised, raising an eyebrow.The blue-eyed man poured some coffee in three mugs and gave them to the three strangers.
"Really." He stated dryly.
"Ok, then…if you say that…" the dark-blue-dressed man added ironically.
"And here's your cake…" Daniel lowered his gaze.
"Thanks, Jackson…".
Ramsay took a big breath and leant his hands on the counter, giving a dark smile to the stranger.
"I told you…" he stated nervously "I'm Daniel Ramsay…".
The other man replied in a sharp voice "Don't play with me…I could recognize those fucking creepy eyes among a thousands…You are Jackson Rippner".
Daniel shook his head slowly, keeping his eyes on the man's face.
"I'm sorry, sir, I don't really know who this 'Jackson Rippner' is…." he hissed, with a freezing glance.
The stranger laughed. "Oh, now you pretend you don't even know me…but…if this is what you want…ok then, 'Daniel'…". The blue-dressed man put his sunglasses on again, and stood up slowly, followed by his 'friends'.
Daniel kept his eyes on them, frowning.
Before going out, the man look backwards to Daniel.
"See you soon, Jackson…bye bye…" and smiled in a creepy way. The door closed behind their backs.
Margaret gave her husband a terrified gaze.
He kept steadily his hands on the counter, staring at the door, tightening more his jaw. The woman quickly took her mobile and dialed a number.
"Daniel…I didn't like those men…who the hell they were?! And what do they want from you?! Why did he call you that?! I'm calling the sheriff right now…" she cried out, with a horrified look.
"I don't know, Marge…really, I don't know…" he replied with an icy, slow, low voice, still staring at the closed door with an eerie feeling at the bottom of his soul.
The sheriff O'Brien was sitting in the Ramsays' living room, his hat in his hands.
"I followed the black limousine of those three strangers, I stopped it…and asked them some questions…" the man said to Daniel and Margaret.
The woman stared nervously at O'Brien, waiting for him to continue. Daniel seemed lost in thoughts.
"They looked really strange…and when I came back to the station, I did a little research in our database…that man is Richard Bloomfield, ex-leader of a secret organisation involved with international terrorism, drugs rackets, and other not very nice things…included the Deputy Director of Homeland Security Keefe's attempted attack in Miami about ten years ago…".
Margaret sighed, putting her hand on her own lips. "Oh my god…" she hissed, nearly about to cry. Daniel raised his gaze and looked at the sheriff with a dark glance.
O'Brien continued "I also searched for that 'Jack Rippner' in the database…but I didn't find him…instead, I found 'Jackson Rippner'…there wasn't much about him…neither a picture…anyway, he died ten years ago…he was involved in Keefe's attack, too…but he was killed during that 'mission'…he was a kind of killer…Bloomfield hired him for that, but Rippner failed, even losing his own life…and Bloomfield's implication came out…".
Daniel frowned, still silent.
His wife stood up quickly, starting pacing the room nervously.
"And what the hell he wants from us?! What the hell he wants from my husband?! Daniel's a good person!!! He's not a killer or a terrorist or else!!! He's a family-man, a worker…he's…he's…" she shrieked, tears running down her face.
The blue-eyed man stood up and reached Margaret, embracing and kissing her softly, trying to calm her down. "Shh…honey…don't cry…don't worry…he's only a crazy man…did you hear? He confused me with a dead man!! C'mon…" he hissed.
She looked her lovely man in those sparkling eyes, feeling a little relieved. The woman nodded her head, trying to smile. Daniel wiped her tears away with his own thumbs. "Are you better now, sunshine?" he smiled gently.
"Yes…" she sniffed.
The sheriff added "Maybe that criminal saw Daniel's picture on the television…and maybe your husband reminded him this 'Rippner', so he thought the killer who failed his mission is still alive…I don't know…anyway…we'll keep tabs on that Bloomfield, don't worry…he won't give you any more troubles…".
Daniel cast a cold gaze at him. "I wish" he stated dryly, rubbing his wife's back.
O'Brien put his hat back on his head and reached the door. "If you need something…call me…Goodbye, Daniel…Goodbye Margaret…".
"Ok, thank you, Roger…Bye" replied the woman.
"Mh" murmured Daniel awkwardly. Margaret could see that something worried her husband, but she didn't realize what. The woman was afraid. She didn't like his glance, for the first time in nine years.
"Mommy!! Look!!" Elizabeth was pointing at a beautiful puppy, in the animal-shop window of the big mall. Margaret went beside her daughter and, caressing her blond curls, said softly "Oh, it's beautiful, my dear little girl…but now…we can't have a dog, sweetheart…".
The girl looked up at her mother, upset. "Mum…I want a dog…" she purred.
"C'mon, Elizabeth…maybe in some years, when you grow up…" the woman smiled.
The little girl frowned, but didn't complain. "Ok, mommy…".
"You good girl…" her mother told her, with a proud glance. They kept back walking, when Margaret had a sigh.
"Oh…where's your brother?!!"
Elizabeth shook her head.
And within a moment, the woman felt a horrible sensation. She opened her eyes wide with fear, searching with them her son all around.
"Christopher!!! Christopher!!!".
Finally, she saw him leaning on the candy shop window, opposite to them. The woman sighed with relief.
"Oh, jesus…" she hissed nervously, and run swifly towards him.
"Christopher!! How many time do I have to tell you not to go around alone?! Huh?! It's really dangerous!!!".
The boy lowered his shining-blue eyes, and in a little and sorry voice he said "Sorry, mum…"
"Don't ever do that again, ok…? I was so afraid, my boy…" she replied more calmly, with a pity look.
She realized suddenly that she had left Elizabeth in front of the animal shop. The woman quickly turned her head backwards. The girl wasn't there.
"Oh my god…" she sighed, in a terrified voice. After a second, she heard her daughter's laughs.
"Elizabeth…" she run very fast, keeping Christopher's hand tight.
The girl was in front of a strange man sitting on a bench, who was talking to her. It took a few moments for the woman to recognize him. That was Bloomfield. She froze.
Margaret reached immediately her daughter.
"Mom…Richard was telling me a funny story…" the girl smiled eagerly to her mother.
"C'mon, honey, we must come back home…" she replied harshly, grabbing quickly her little hand.
"Oh, Mrs Ramsay…please…don't go away like that…we have so much to talk about…" Bloomfield said in a creepy ironical voice. The woman stood in front of him, screwing up her green eyes.
"Listen…I don't want to see you face anymore…please leave me, my kids and my husband in peace…I know who you are…you're a criminal…you're Richard Bloomfield…" she stated steadily, fire in her gaze.
"Well, Mrs Ramsay…I can see you know very well who I am…but I can assure you do not the same concerning your husband…" he had a scary smile on his face.
Margaret swallowed with a loud noise, before she replied. "I know who he is…he's Daniel Ramsay, a good thirty-nine year-old man born in Madison, Wisconsin…he's not a killer…he's not a terrorist…and he has nothing to do with people like you…" her voice was terribly nervous and angry.
"You seem to be so sure, Marge…" he said ironically again.
"I am" she added sharply. "Get off from our life". The woman was really tense.
"Keep cool, Mrs Ramsay…or…I should call you Mrs Rippner…" he laughed aloud. The woman frowned, hissing in a grin "You fucking bastard…".
"Hey, Marge…there are your kids here, c'mon…" his glance made her shuddering.
She turned quickly, going away in a hurry.
"Your husband is not the man you believe …there are plenty of things he's hiding to you…ask him about his scars…and about the coldness and the skilfulness with which he killed those two robbers…" he shouted at her, laughing, before the woman faded in the crowd within a few seconds.
"Daniel…".
Margaret was standing in front of her husband, with tears on her cheeks. He stood up from the sofa. "Honey…what's wrong?" he caressed her hair gently.
"Bloomfield…I-I think he followed me and the kids at the mall…" she sobbed.
Daniel froze, keeping his eyes on his wife's face.
"Oh, Marge…" he hissed.
"I'm scared, Daniel, I'm so scared!! He told me such horrible things!! And…" she cried out, trembling with fear. He held her tight, leaning his chin on the top of her head, rubbing her back. The man could feel her shaking. "Stay calm, sunshine…you're here now…don't worry…".
After a few silent seconds, she added in a low voice "Why is this happening to us? We are good people…" .
He lulled the woman softly, holding her tight in his arms.
"Sometimes bad things happen to good people, Margaret…" he whispered in her hear, before giving her a sweet kiss.
That night, Daniel and Margaret made love. But the woman felt something different. Her husband was different. He seemed to her more violent. He even hurt her a little. And his eyes had an odd spark.
After having sex, Daniel told the woman "I love you, Marge" and then, laying on his back, he fell asleep. She laid on her right side, staring at the man with a strange look. She was wondering something. She felt confused and worried.
Margaret, suddenly, reminded Bloomfield's words, and looked down at her husband's body.
She passed her fingers on his thigh, and touched that little scar he had there. A white, circular one, hardly visible.
Then she slid her hand on his chest and stomach, touching the other scars Daniel had there. Two of them seemed to date back to the same period.
The man was breathing slowly, completely asleep, and didn't react to Margaret's touch.
Finally, she reached his throat, where another scar was, less visible. The woman had cold shivers.
He told her he had had an accident a few years before they met, in which his parents lost their lives, and those scars testified it. Also, Daniel told her he had fallen from a window when he was a child, hurting himself badly. Some other wounds of those went back to that event.
She believed him. She had always believed him so far. But that night many doubts buzzed into her head.
Some scars of those looked actually like gunshots. It couldn't be possible, Margaret thought, trying to convince herself she was just too paranoid. The woman leant her cheek on her pillow, making a huge effort to calm down. She was trembling, watching at her husband's face.
He was so beautiful, like the first time they met, nine years before. She reminded the way he tried to approach her. Daniel offered her a drink, trying to guess what one she would have chosen. And he made it.
The woman was so fascinated by that handsome stranger with those marvellous shining-blue eyes. His voice was so captivating…but especially his glance…she thought she had never seen eyes like those.
They fell in love in a few days, and get married only five months later.
But that night, she felt scared by her man. Yes, he actually seemed different.
Margaret tried not to think anymore about it, and within some minutes she fell asleep, too.
Daniel was leaning on the counter, absent-mindedly. There wasn't much people that day at the café, so he took some time off to rest himself, waiting for someone else to come in. The noise of the door opening caught back his attention.
He froze, standing up quickly and casting a dark look at the man just entered.
"Bloomfield…" he murmured, tensing up.
"Good morning, Jackson…how are you and your wonderful wife today?" he grinned coldly.
"I'm not Jackson…god…O'Brien is not doing his job right…" Daniel said harshly.
The old man took a seat at the counter, in front of Ramsay.
"I've met your nice family, yesterday…you've got two beautiful children…the boy, Christopher, really looks like you…he's got your fucking freezing eyes…".
Daniel clenched his jaw. "Don't even try to touch my kids or my wife…" he said in a low, creepy voice.
"Otherwise?" Bloomfield raised an eyebrow "You'll take back your knife and kill me? I know you can do that, you were so fucking good…the best in America, and probably in the worldwide…the 'great' Jackson Rippner. Now, it's so weird to see you as a family man…you, such a precise, cold-blooded, shrewd professional…".
Daniel hit the surface of the counter with a punch, making the few people in the cafeteria start. "Don't call me that!!! I am Daniel Ramsay!!! Get out from my café!!!" he shouted angrily, with a terrifying glance on his face.
"As you wish, 'Daniel'…" he stood up calmly, reaching the door.
"I think you wife will appreciate more my visit…" and then he went out. Ramsay opened his eyes wide with terror. He jumped quickly beyond the counter, running out from the café very fast.
Bloomfield car was going away.
Without thinking much it over, Daniel started running rapidly towards home. He took his mobile and called Margaret while running.
"Honey…what's up?" the woman asked very surprised."Margaret!!! Hurry up!!! He's coming!!! Take the shotgun in the closet and charge it!! Hide in your room until I'm there!!!" he was gasping.
The woman, who was on her bed, jumped with a start, very confused "What are you saying?! Who's coming here?!".
"Richard Bloomfield!!!! C'mon, take that shotgun!!! There's no much time!!!".
"Oh my…" she was about to cry, trembling with fear. The woman run quickly to the closet, and searched for the shotgun. After she found it, she charged it.
"I'm scared, Daniel!!!" she shrieked.
"Hurry!!! Take the children with you and don't move!!! Shut the door!!! I'll be there in a few minutes!!!".
"Daniel!!Daniel!!!!".
He closed the conversation. She run outside the house, where the kids were playing. There was no one else.
"Mommy!!!" Elizabeth smiled happily.
"Christopher! Elizabeth!! Come inside!!!" Margaret reached as fast as she could the two kids, with the shotgun in her hands.
"Mum!! What are you doing!!" asked with a questioning glance Christopher.
"Get inside and don't say a word!!! C'mon!!" she yelled.
The woman pushed the kids towards the front door, casting strange and worried glimpses all around.
"Mommy!! What's up?!" the boy asked her terrified.
"Mum!!! I'm scared!!" cried out the little girl.
"Inside!!!" she shouted.
She slammed the door and grabbed her children tight, bowing on her knees and holding the kids with her free arm. They were all three trembling and gasping. Elizabeth was crying. After a minute the door opened with a bang.
"Oh, jesus…" murmured Margaret. That was Daniel, wet with sweat and breathing terribly fast. He leant on the wall beside him. The man looked nervous and angry. His eyes scared the woman.
"Daniel…what the hell…".
"Marge…he's coming…go in our bedroom and stay there with the kids!!!! Now!!!" he ordered dryly. He didn't seem the ordinary man Margaret knew.
"O-ok Daniel…" she hissed. The woman stood up and reached the stairs, still staring in an odd way at her husband. A noise could be heard, coming from outside.
"Go!!!" Mr Ramsay screamed. He went out. The black limousine was there, in front of the house. Two black-dressed man came out, followed by Bloomfield. They had guns in their hands, except Bloomfield himself.
Daniel stood steadily, staring coldly at them, swallowing nervously.
"We meet again, Rippner…huh, sorry…'Ramsay'…" the old man laughed. Those laughs made Daniel shudder, but he kept cool.
"Go away from my house…" he screwed up his eyes, speaking in a sharp voice.
Bloomfield made a gesture to his men, and within a second, they surrounded the younger one.
"Don't touch my daddy!!!" a sudden voice made the four of them turn their heads. Christopher was running towards them. Margaret was in front of the door, calling him out, crying.
"Shit…Christopher!!! Come back inside!!!" Daniel shrieked angrily.
One of the Bloomfield's thugs grabbed the boy.
"Take your shitty hands off!!! You fucking bastard!!!" the blue-eyed man grinned with a crazy glance, trying to get closer, but the other man aimed the gun at him.
"Jackson…we will let your son go away if you collaborate…right?" Bloomfield said harshly.
The younger man sighed, and nodded his head slowly, with resignation. The thug set the child free. The boy looked up at Daniel, with tears running down.
"Dad…" he hissed. His blue eyes shone the same light of his father's.
"Christopher, my boy…go inside with your mum and your little sister…dad has to talk with these men…" he replied gently to his son. The kid remained silent. He went back home, without keeping his gaze off his father.
"So…Jackson…here we are, finally…after ten years…" Bloomfield smiled coldly, with an ironical look.
"What do you want from me now, Richard? I'm not that man anymore…" Daniel replied frowning.
"I've just come around for…revenge, my dear Rippner…" added the other one.
"Revenge…yeah…I should have imagined…" the blue eyed-man stated nervously.
"You did know the terms of our agreement, we told you when we hired you…if you failed the 'Keefe-assignment', your job, you should have paid for it…after all that mess, we thought you were dead…but…".
"…As you can see, I'm not…but I'm another man now…".
"Yeah, Jackson…but…you showed you're still the old cold-blooded, professional man of ten years ago…you can't deny your past…and now you're a hero…ten years ago you were only a merciless killer, without any regrets or feelings…a truly glacial and skilful, professional one…and I still can see that killer-freaking spark in your eyes…" he grinned.
Daniel didn't replied. He kept staring at him with his freezing glance.
"You really disappointed us, Jackson…they told us you were the best…your plans didn't ever failed, and you did never miss a single mark…we trusted in you managing-abilities…but you failed, dear Jackson…god, man!!! How could a dirty bitch have wrecked so badly your plan?! You ruined us, me and my society…they discovered my implication in the Keefe's matter…and you can imagine the rest…now, I'm here to finish this job, Mr Rippner…not only because this was the agreement, but also 'cause I can't forget…and I can't forgive who ruined me…". Bloomfield paused.
"I don't think so…" Daniel replied sharply. The other men could see a disquieting, freezing light in his gaze. He smiled. A truly creepy smile, which made the others shudder a bit. Within a second, not giving the three men much time to realize what was going on, he took a long knife from under his belt, and, after cutting one of the black-dressed men's throat with a fast, precise and direct stroke, he threw it quickly right between Bloomfield's eyes, making him collapsing badly on the ground. A blood rush run down the old man's face.
The other man still on his feet tried to shot him, but with a rapid movement Daniel grabbed him by his neck and, with another rapid movement of his arms, broke it with a huge crack. "See you in hell…" he murmured to the man before killing him. Then he took one of the guns on the ground, reached Bloomfield, who wasn't dead yet, and, aiming it at the man, he shot, with a cold look on his face. "I always finish my job, too. Always." he stated dryly, taking a glimpse on the three dead bodies laying on his feet.
It was all finished. All.
Daniel was sitting on the bed of his hospital room, looking absent-minded. He hadn't been wounded, but they let him there for a check. Now, he was a hero twice. He protected his family from the threats of a really dangerous criminal. The truth was another one.
"How do you feel…?" Margaret was on the threshold of his room, looking tired. She had a dark gaze on her face.
"I'm fine, love…come here…" he hissed.
She got near him, very slowly, but she took a seat on the chair at the bottom of the bed. The woman was looking at him with fear. They kept silent for a minute, looking in each other's eyes.
She had a shiver running on her spine after staring in those icy blues. Once she loved them. Now she was terrified by them.
"Who the hell you are…?" she asked in a low voice, nearly about to cry.
"Margaret…" he tried to explain.
"Who the fucking hell you are!!!???" she shouted full of anger. Tears began to run down.
He lowered his gaze, still keeping a freezing glance.
There was another silence.
"You are…Jackson Rippner…or Daniel Ramsay? Please…tell me the truth…who is the man I married, I loved…who is the father of my children…?" she sobbed.
"Jackson Rippner died ten years ago." He stated with an icy voice.
"Oh, god…so…you are Jackson Rippner…" she sighed.
"Now I am Daniel…the man you married…the father of your children…that is Daniel…".
She stood up quickly, casting at him a horrified look.
"You are still Jackson!!! I saw him!!! I saw him from the window!! I saw the way you killed Bloomfield and his man!!! Only a pitiless killer could have done it!!! So, now…tell me the truth!!! Who the fucking hell you are!!!" she cried out, bending on herself, like everything was too painful for the her.
He took a deep breath, then he began "I was…I am Jackson Rippner…".
She sat down again, shaking and crying, her eyes still on him.
He continued. "I was more a manager than a killer…I planned high-profile assassinations…government overthrows…and other stuffs like those… I was, you could say, a freelance, from the age of sixteen…secret organisations and terrorist associations hired me for their jobs, and paid me a lot…I was…the best. Absolutely the best. Professional. Cold-blooded. Merciless. Male fact-based logic-driven. Scheming. High-qualified for every kind of assignment. I never missed a single mark. The 'golden boy' of killing. I travelled a lot all around the world, under disguise and with false identities…I can speak perfectly nine different languages. I'm skilled in five different kinds of fight-styles. I can use perfectly nearly all the weapons you can imagine, especially…knives…".
Margaret was about to throw up. She put her trembling hand on her own stomach. He looked cold and emotionless.
"But…ten years ago…I planned the Keefe's attack at the Lux Atlantic…it was just…perfect. Like every plans of mine. I took a girl as a hostage, on a red eye from Dallas to Miami. She worked at the Lux Atlantic. That bitch should have made a call and changed the Keefes family's room at the hotel, making everything easier. Otherwise an associate of mine would have killed her father. I really didn't care about that 'Keefe' and his family…the same for that girl and her dad…it was just my job. But things went wrong. We had a terrible fight, me and that girl, on the plane. And, then, at her home. I was shot, badly, and stabbed in my throat with – god! – a pen. I was really about to die…everybody thought that Jackson Rippner died…and actually…he did…that year, Daniel Ramsay was born…and I moved to Wisconsin…even if I was born in Albany, New York…and now I live in Brillion…I'm also using a faked accent…but it's not a problem…I got used to things like this".
Margaret sobbed, sighed, collapsed on her knees. She couldn't believe. It was all so confused around her. He raised an eyebrow, but remained cold.
"Sometimes they called me 'Jack'…I hated it because…you can see…'Jack Rippner'…'Jack the Ripper'…isn't it weird, after all?" the man showed a little, freaking, ironical smile. His wife lowered for a moment her gaze, weeping again, her arms tight on her belly.
After a while, she tried to speak. "A-and…so…tho-those scars…your p-parents…".
"The scars…'souvenirs' of some assignments of mine…and even…of that night of the red eye. My parents?...well…" he paused.
"I killed them." He added with a creepy icy smile.
"Oh…my…god…" Margaret cried hysterically. She tried to calm down, taking some deep breaths. After a while, she asked him the last question, shaking slowly her head.
"Da…Jackson…d-did you…like…your job?…I must know this…".
He stared at her with those freezing eyes, which now hurt Margaret.
The man sighed, and after this he replied sharply.
"Yes. I did".
His wife stood up quickly and reached within a second the toilet. Then she threw up.
"Good evening…how are you, Daniel?".
O'Brien was standing in front of Daniel, or, actually, Jackson, in the Ramsays' living room.
"Fine…really, Roger…I'm fine…" the blue eyed man said in a low voice.
"And you, Marge?".
The woman didn't look very well. She appeared tense and tired. She raised her swollen eyes, looking at the sheriff. She showed a little, timid smile, nodding her head, and sniffing loudly.
"I'm…I'm just fine, Roger…only a little…dizzy, you know…".
"Yeah…I see…after such an evening…god!! I just went in to assure you were ok…Well…the most important thing is that now it's all finished…and life can keep going on like the ordinary…" O'Brien smiled eagerly to the Ramsays.
"Yes…like the ordinary…" Daniel repeated slowly, absent-mindedly.
"Now, Roger, you can go…really…it's all ok…me and my husband, we are very tired…so…" she told him in a thin voice, trying to hide her uneasiness.
"Ok then…Goodbye…". He went out and the door closed behind him.
Daniel bent towards Margaret. He was about to say something, when she stood up and pushed him away, making him falling on the ground. She had a horrified glance.
"Don't touch me!!! Don't touch me!!!" she shrieked.
He stood up on his feet, and suddenly, an odd spark shone in his blues. Margaret shook with fear. His face was freaking creepy.
Daniel run quickly towards her, who tried to run away. He reached the woman, grabbed her with an hand on her chin and on her neck, and pushed her with violence against the wall. She made a sob, still shaking.
He got his face near the woman's one. She could feel his rapid, nervous breath on her cheeks.
"You're hurting me…Daniel…I can't breathe…" she sighed, desperate. The man had a frightening crazy grin. His fringe was untidy on his forehead.
"From now, sunshine…" he hissed sharply "…everything shall come back like before, right?! Not a word, nothing, about 'him', ok?! Everything still will be the same…understood, honey? Jackson Rippner is dead".
He stared at her eyes with a scary, glacial glance. Margaret bit her lower lip, nodding her head. Tears wet her cheeks.
"Right…" he screwed up his eyes, loosening his grip. Then, Daniel kissed his wife, with violence, and after this, he made some steps backwards, his eyes still on her.
The woman slid with her back against the wall, silent.
He bent his head on a side, before murmuring "This reminds me that night…that night on that damned red eye…" and he went away, leaving his wife there, sitting on the ground, her back leant on the wall behind her.
After a while Margaret stood up. She run in the bathroom. The woman stood in front of the mirror, observing her bruised neck. She could still see her husband's fingers impressions on her pale skin.
She bent on the sink and cried.
Daniel was sitting on the stairs in front of the door of the house, lost in his thoughts. After a second, nearly without realizing it, two words came out from his mouth.
"Lisa Reisert…". His voice sounded like a chilling hiss. Jackson had never forgotten her. The only person on earth who nearly killed him.
"Mom!! Look at this!!".
Lisa McAdams turned her face to her six year-old daughter.
"Oh, it's beautiful, Martha!! Really a masterpiece!!" the reddish-head woman took in her hands the drawing that the little girl had made.
"You're so good…really…when dad comes back home, we'll show it to him, too…" and she kissed the child on her forehead.
The television was turned on, on the news channel. There was a summary of the main news of the week.
Lisa was caressing her daughter's head, when she looked up at the tv-screen.
"Daniel Ramsay, thirty-nine year old man from Brillion, Wisconsin, saved his life…" the background voice said.
Suddenly, the woman froze, opening her green eyes wide. She reached the tv, and looked closer.
"This guy…reminds me…someone…but…" she hissed and frowned, thinking a little. Then, she opened her mouth, horrified, and put her fingers on her lips.
"Oh my god…" she murmured "His-his eyes…that can't be possible…".
She looked again at the picture of Daniel Ramsay on the screen.
"No…Lisa…keep calm…it's not possible…" she said in a low, nervous voice. The woman made some steps backwards, and leant on the sofa. She took a long, deep breath, and then said "No, c'mon…he's not him…for sure…".
The news changed, talking about a car accident in Salt Lake City.
She paused her tense gaze on her daughter, who was playing with a doll. Lisa shook her head slowly, with a little smile on her face.
"He's not him…Jackson Rippner is dead. I know it for sure. Me and my father, we killed him ten years ago." she thought. Then she took the remote and turned the tv off.
The McAdamses' living room became terribly silent, like it never had been before.
It was dinner time for the Ramsays. Like every day of their ordinary life. The dining-room was silent. Everyone was eating, without saying a word.
The kids were looking at their parents with questioning glances. Their mother and their father seemed so strange and anxious. Actually, they seemed different.
Mrs Ramsay was staring at her husband with an emotionless gaze.
"Mom, what's up?" asked Christopher, raising an eyebrow.
She turned her head with a start to the boy, showing an unnatural smile.
"Nothing, sweetheart…eat your dinner, otherwise it gets cold".
The child frowned and looked up at his father. The man had a strange, icy glance, but when he met his son's eyes he smiled gently at him.
"Are you ok, sunshine?" he asked his wife with a dark look.
"Yeah, Daniel…really…it's all ok…it's all like the ordinary".
"Good…" he replied dryly. "That's how he should be".
They kept eating, still silent.
Mrs Ramsay looked at Christopher's blues. They were the same of Daniel. The same, cold ones. The woman felt a chill at the bottom of her stomach.
Then, Margaret stared again at Daniel's eyes. An icy shiver shook her body.
Once she loved those eyes. Now, she felt scared by them. By what they had seen. By the pitiless light they could be able to show. By the odd, creepy spark they could shine.
He wasn't more an ordinary man for her. He wasn't more her man.
Another day was about to end, and another one would have begun for Daniel Ramsay and his family.
Another day of his normal, beautiful, ordinary life.
That was a day like the others in Brillion, a little and very quiet town in the east of Wisconsin. A cold November day.
Daniel Ramsay woke up early in the morning. Like every morning of his normal life. His wife, Margaret, was still sleeping beside him.
He bent down on her, kissing her long, blonde hair.
"Good morning, sunshine…" he hissed softly in the woman's ear.
Margaret murmured, half asleep "Daniel…it's so early…I'm so tired…".
The man jumped off the bed, and quickly reached the wardrobe.
"Your breakfast…" she yawned "…is in the refrigerator…".
The icy-blue-eyed man took a shirt, a sweater and a pair of jeans out, and went into the bathroom. He shaved himself and washed.
In front of the mirror, studying his own image in the frail morning light, the man rubbed his fingers on a little, not very noticeable scar on his throat, losing himself in thoughts for a while. His blues shone an odd spark. Then, he got dressed.
He could hear his wife speaking in a very low voice, without making a move, "Have a nice day, love…", and then she fell asleep again.
Daniel smiled at her, amused to hear his loveable sweet-pie snoring in such a funny way.
The house was so quiet and peaceful. The kids, an eight year-old boy, Christopher, and a four year-old girl, Elizabeth, were sleeping, too.
He felt so relaxed and full of happiness, eating his half-frozen breakfast and preparing himself to go to work, namely the direction of a little café in the eastern suburb of the city.
A new, beautiful day of his ordinary life was about to begin, and nothing seemed to be on the way to spoil it.
"Shit!!!".
"Oh, shut your fucking mouth, James!! Please!!" Robert Finley shouted to the man sitting beside him inside the truck. He was cleaning his blood-splattered hands while his fellow was counting the money in his own hands.
"That fucking bitch!!! She gave us only 300$!!! I should have shot her in that slutty-face!!!" James Nolan continued in a hungry voice.
"Jesus, you damned asshole!!!! Shut up!!!" he replied nervously. Then Robert continued, taking off his shirt full of red spots. "You didn't shoot her in her face…but, anyway, you shot her in her chest…I think that doesn't make any difference…".
The other man gave him a cold look, without saying a word.
"Keep cool…and change clothes, please…you look like you've been taking a blood-bath…"
"Right…" he replied, more relaxed.
While changing his shirt and cleaning up his face, he asked a little worried "D'you think police is stalking us right now?".
Robert thought for a while before answering dryly "No…but, if we don't move quickly, they're gonna find us…so…hurry up, please…".
In a few seconds, James had his new and clean clothes on.
They hid the faster they could the splattered clothes in a sack under the back-seat, and thrust their pistols under their belts.
After only half a minute they were driving very fast towards Brillion.
Margaret Ramsay entered 'The Hungry Fox', her husband's café, with a big smile on her face, feeling joyful and happy. She searched with her eyes Daniel, who was serving a young man sitting on one of the stool at the counter, in front of him.
He raised his head and saw his lovely wife.
"Honey…" he smiled gently to her, not expecting the view of the woman.
She felt those sparkling, amazing blue eyes straight on her face, and she was about to melt down, like everytime he gave her that look. The woman loved it so much.
Margaret run towards the husband, bending to kiss him.
"Love!! How's today here?" she purred.
After kissing her, the man answered peacefully. "Like every day…everything's going great!" and he blinked at the blond-head.
She passed her fingers through his long, reddish-brown fringe, trying to tidy her husband's hair up. He kept it too long, according to Margaret. But that hairdo made him looking younger, even if his face itself looked like a younger man's one. Daniel Ramsay actually didn't seem to be nearly forty. His nice freckles gave him a pretty boy look, and his particular facial features did the same.
The woman gave him a gaze full of love and sweetness.
"I've just popped into…because…I was around here and I wanted to see you…" she hissed gently.
Daniel kissed her on her cheek. "I'm glad to see you."
Then she started "I was thinking…maybe that would be a good idea to take the children to the lake this week-end, wouldn't it?".
"That's perfect…absolutely...they'd have so much fun!".
A light shone in her green eyes. "Right then!!" she replied excited. "You're the most adorable man on earth…the best of the world…".
"Oh, well…I'm just a normal, ordinary man, Margaret…like many others on earth…I'm just…nothing special…".
"No, you're not an ordinary man…you're my man…" his wife told him softly.
"Now, love…I must go…see you later!!" she added.
"Ok honey…that's ok…me too, I must go back to work, otherwise people will complain very badly" he laughed pretty loudly "…see you…" .
The blond woman reached the front door and hissed softly "I love you".
"I love you, Marge…".
She smiled and went out, fading out into the streets.
Daniel stared at the closed door absent-mindedly, repeating in a low voice "Yeah…I'm just a normal man…". Then he came back to take the order of a red-head woman who had a pretty angry look on her face, had been waiting for a long time to be served.
"Sorry, ma'am" he tried to apologize, feeling a little bit awkward.
It was just closing time for 'The Hungry Fox', late in the evening. Daniel was settling some things beyond the counter. Lois Wellington, the waitress, was cleaning a ketchup-spotted table. Jim Smith, Ramsay's helper, was washing, next to Daniel, the last mug left to be cleaned. On another table, there was Lois' daughter, Ann, waiting for her mother. Sometimes, like that day, she helped her mom at the café.
The blue-eyed man was thinking about his children, while closing the cash till.
Suddenly, he heard the door opening with a loud noise. Two strange men entered.
Daniel turned his icy blues to them, while the others stopped and looked at the two guys with a questioning glance.
"Sorry, sirs…we're closing…" he said harshly to the men, frowning. He really didn't like their faces.
"Oh…" replied quickly one of them, with a strange tone "…really? Well…we wanna eat something…we're really hungry, man…right, James?" he gave to his fellow a conspiratorial look.
Daniel tightened his jaw and swallowed nervously. There was a weird atmosphere.
Lois, her daughter and Jim didn't say a word and observed silent the strange, dark glimpse on Ramsay's face.
The two fellows took a seat at the counter, one beside the other.
Daniel leant his hands on the cold surface in front of him, repeating with a very slow and sharp voice "I said…we're closing…sorry…".
"I don't think so…" Robert answered coldly, with a worring grin.
Daniel clenched more his jaw, making two steps backwards, keeping his eyes on the two men sitting in front of him.
"Right…" he hissed, a disquieting look on his face could be seen. "We have only some cold coffee and some cheesecake…nothing else…" he added.
"Ok, then…" the other man smiled at him. A cold, creepy smile.
Jim stood next to Daniel, not really at ease. "Jim…" the man said sharply, his freezing eyes still on the two guys "…please, take two pieces of that cheesecake and bring it to our customers…".
"S-sure…" replied quickly and nervously the helper. The two ladies were breathing very fast, following the whole scene with a worried glance.
While taking the coffee jug, Mr Ramsay told the woman airily "Lois, you can go home with your daughter now…you've finished for today…see you tomorrow…".
Ann got nearer her mother, smiling, trying to hide her uneasiness.
"R-right, Daniel…s-see you tomorrow…" the woman hissed. She took her purse and led the girl in front of herself, going towards the door.
Daniel could see Robert giving a quick look at his fellow.
"James…" he stated without making a move.
Suddenly, James grasped with a rapid movement one of Ann's forearms. The girl screamed terrified, and her mother tried to set her free from the man's grip.
He pushed the woman towards a table with violence, and yelled at Ann "You're not going anywhere, honey…".
Panic filled the café.
Daniel tried to keep cool.
"We don't have much money…take all the cash…if that's what you want…" the man said quietly, with his hands raised. He could see that the two guys had guns under their belts. Ann was crying. Lois was trembling with fear, some blood running down her arm. Jim stood silent.
"That's what we want to…and after it…we're gonna kill you all…" James replied coldly, laughing in a creepy way.
Daniel felt a chilling shiver running on his spine.
"But first, I wanna have some fun with this little flower…" he caressed Ann's cheek, wet with tears. She didn't move, paralysed and shaking horrified.
Her mother shrieked "Take that fucking hand off of my daughter, you…you…" her voice suffocated with the crying and fear.
James aimed quickly his gun at the woman. "…otherwise…what are you going to do, you dirty bitch? Huh?!" he gave her a freezing glance, touching with the other hand Ann's breast.
"James…c'mon…don't play the fool…" laughed ironical Robert, with his gun in his hand.
It all happened very fast.
Daniel took a knife from behind the counter, jumped beyond it and, with a precise stroke, cut Robert's throat deeply, spreading the man's blood all around. The robber fell backwards, on the ground, bleeding and gasping.
The gun fell from the man's hand, and Ramsay caught the weapon in less than a second.
James shot Daniel, causing only a superficial wound on his right shoulder.
Coldly, with an astonishing, freezing look on his face, Daniel shot the other man, one time, two times, three times, very quickly and frantically, not giving James enough time to realise what was going on.
The other robber dropped on his knees, before collapsing on the ground, blood running from the gunshots on his chest.
Silence fell all around. Only the rapid and nervous breaths of the three people cold be heard, together with Ann's desperate sobs.
There were huge red spots everywhere.
Jim looked oddly at Daniel.
He was standing steadily, blood dropping from his right hand, his fringe untidy on his forehead, the gun still aimed at the dead man laying on the ground in front of him. His breath was rapid, and a disquieting, freezing, strange look was pictured on his face, dirty with spurts of blood. His blues had a terrible creepy emotionless glance.
The others had never seen him like that. Lois felt really deeply scared by the man and, especially, by those eyes.
For that short moment, Daniel Ramsay totally seemed another person. He actually looked like a cold-blooded, merciless killer.
"Daniel Ramsay: a local hero. The thirty-nine year-old man from Brillion, Wisconsin, last night saved himself and three other persons from Robert Finley, forty-five, and James Nolan, forty-two, two dangerous criminals wanted by the police of thirteen states for mugging, murder and rape…".
Daniel turned off the television of his hospital room with the remote, annoyed by all that fuzz about the event. There was something that really disturbed him. An eerie feeling that didn't seem willing to go away.
He passed his fingers on his right shoulder, now covered with bandage. It didn't hurt much and it wouldn't have taken too much to heal.
The man took a look out of the window, staring at the sky lost in thoughts.
"My hero!!!".
A sudden and familiar voice caught back his attention. He turned quickly and saw his wife, with the children, standing there with a big, proud smile on her face.
"Daddy!!! Daddy!!" Christopher run towards his father, jumping on the man's bed.
Daniel embraced his son and kissed the top of his head.
"You're great, dad!!!" the child smiled eagerly.
Margaret got near her husband, with the little Elizabeth in her arms.
"Oh, my boy…I'm not so great…" he replied, a little awkwardly.
"You are, Daniel…" pointed out the woman, glad to see her lovely hero. "You saved four lives yesterday…not everybody can do a thing like that…".
He lowered his blues, tightening his grip on Christopher. Margaret was a little bit worried by the dark look of the man.
"What's the matter, love?" she asked softly, sitting beside him and rubbing his left forearm.
"Mh…I'm just a little…tired…you know…" he murmured.
"Oh, yes, I see…it hasn't been a quiet night this one…".
She stood up, caressing gently her daughter's blond curls.
"The doctor says you can come back home now…that's great, isn't it?" the woman stated with a huge, happy smile.
Daniel gave her a rapid glimpse, with a sigh. "Yes…it is…I'm really looking forward to go home…" he hissed with a strange uneasiness in his eyes.
Elizabeth put her little arms around her dad's neck. The girl gave him a sweet kiss on his cheek and told him with her little voice "I love you, dad…". The man stared at his daughter's green eyes, smiling, and then he leant his chin on her head.
"Let's go home" Mr Ramsay said, his gaze lost in some dark thoughts.
"Oh god…journalists everywhere…" Margaret noticed, rolling her eyes with resignation. The Ramsay family was trying to make its way to the car, surrounded by people with microphones and cameras.
"Mr Ramsay!! Mr Ramsay!! What did you think when you reacted to the criminals' threats?!".
"Mr Ramsay, please!!! A comment for our viewers!!".
"Mr Ramsay!! How does it feel like to be a hero?!".
Daniel felt terribly nervous and annoyed. He cast a sharp glimpse at the people all around, but didn't say a word. He kept his children and his wife very tight.
They finally reached the car and quickly jumped in. Before closing the car door, the woman said harshly "My husband is really tired…and his family, too…so please leave us in peace, ok?".
"Mrs Ramsay! Please!! How…".
She shut the door with a big slam and after only a few seconds they went away, driving home, leaving behind a huge, unsatisfied crowd.
In front of Ramsays'house there was a Channel 4 crew, the reporter Natalie Thomson and her cameraman.
"Right! We're here, in front of Ramsay's habitation. The man has just left the hospital and we can see his car coming nearer! We'll be able, in a few seconds, to talk with this local hero!" the young woman said enthusiastically to the camera.
The man's car reached the house, and the journalist approached it very quickly. The family went out, clearly annoyed and tense.
"Good evening, Mr Ramsay! This is Natalie Thomson, for 'Channel 4 News'! How do you feel right now, after the extraordinary events of yesterday? How could you manage with such a coolness so dangerous a situation? What did you think in those moments?".
She bent the mic towards the man. He screwed up his eyes, giving a freezing look to the woman, who felt a creepy shiver through her back.
"I just did what everybody should have to in that moment…there wasn't much time to think it over…that's all…and now, I beg your pardon, but I'm feeling really tired and dizzy…" Daniel answered coldly, going straight to his home's door, followed by Margaret and the children. They slammed the door behind their backs, leaving the reporter and the cameraman alone, very upset.
"Oh…shit…" Natalie complained, frowning, after the camera was turned off. "This guy is so fucking rather unsociable…". She went on the Channel 4 truck with Bobby, the cameraman, and before closing the door she hissed "And…god…have you seen his eyes?! They were so scary…and so terribly…icy".
Margaret watched them go away from the living room window, sighing with relief.
"They've gone" she told Daniel.
"Oh, holy Jesus…" he leant on the sofa, closing his eyes. Suddenly, the woman cried out "Oh, hell!! There are more outside!! Why can't they leave us in peace for a while?!" and she left the room.
Daniel jumped on his feet, reaching the window and looking outside. There was a black car, parked on the other side of the street, with black glasses. A huge limousine.
The man had an odd feeling all so sudden.
"I don't think they are journalists…" he murmured worried, a dark glance on his eyes.
"Have you said something, love?" Margaret asked him from the kitchen.
"No…" he replied sharply and thoughtful, raising his voice.
After a moment the black limousine had gone away. Daniel kept staring out absent-mindedly for a while, before reaching his family in the kitchen, and trying to act as the usual.
That eerie feeling was still there, inside him.
"They're all for you, 'sweet hero o'mine'!!" Margaret pointed at the huge crowd sitting at the tables and on the stools of 'The Hungry Fox'. She leant her elbows on the counter, smiling at her husband, who looked very busy.
The café was really full of people, all there to see the 'great' Daniel Ramsay, the new hero of Brillion. It had never been so lively that little cafeteria. Everybody was chatting and laughing and so on.
Every now and then, new people came inside and told him how much they respected him for what he had done and many other similar things, which got Daniel not very at ease. He didn't like to be so popular.
He made only a little cold smile in response to his wife's words.
The man was serving an old woman, sitting beside Margaret, when he heard the door opening again.
"Other customers…" Mrs Ramsay told him very amused.
He turned to the people just entered, and felt suddenly an icy shiver. There were two men dressed in black suits, with black sunglasses. Between them, there was another shorter one, in a dark-blue suit, with black sunglasses, too. The shorter one reached the counter and put off the glasses. There was a creepy look on his face.
"Good morning, sir…how could I help you…" Daniel asked in a sharp voice from behind the counter, after swallowing.
The two other men took a seat beside the dark-blue dressed one, one on his left and the other one on his right.
"Good morning…me and my 'friends' would like to eat a piece of cake and drink something…" he replied calmly, but there was something very strange in his voice.
"Right…we make the best apple-pie in the whole state of Wisconsin…" Daniel added with an odd spark in his blues.
"Ok, then…we take it…and also some coffee, if you don't mind, Jack…" the other man told Mr Ramsay airily.
Daniel clenched his jaw and screwed up his eyes. His wife made a questioning and worried gaze.
"Or…do you prefer to be called with your full name, Jackson? I know you didn't like it so much…because with your surname it sounds like 'Jack the Ripper'…" the strange man added with a disquieting grin.
Daniel smiled nervously. "Sorry…but I think you have mistaken me with someone else…my name is Daniel…Daniel Ramsay…".
"Really?!" the other said pretending to be surprised, raising an eyebrow.The blue-eyed man poured some coffee in three mugs and gave them to the three strangers.
"Really." He stated dryly.
"Ok, then…if you say that…" the dark-blue-dressed man added ironically.
"And here's your cake…" Daniel lowered his gaze.
"Thanks, Jackson…".
Ramsay took a big breath and leant his hands on the counter, giving a dark smile to the stranger.
"I told you…" he stated nervously "I'm Daniel Ramsay…".
The other man replied in a sharp voice "Don't play with me…I could recognize those fucking creepy eyes among a thousands…You are Jackson Rippner".
Daniel shook his head slowly, keeping his eyes on the man's face.
"I'm sorry, sir, I don't really know who this 'Jackson Rippner' is…." he hissed, with a freezing glance.
The stranger laughed. "Oh, now you pretend you don't even know me…but…if this is what you want…ok then, 'Daniel'…". The blue-dressed man put his sunglasses on again, and stood up slowly, followed by his 'friends'.
Daniel kept his eyes on them, frowning.
Before going out, the man look backwards to Daniel.
"See you soon, Jackson…bye bye…" and smiled in a creepy way. The door closed behind their backs.
Margaret gave her husband a terrified gaze.
He kept steadily his hands on the counter, staring at the door, tightening more his jaw. The woman quickly took her mobile and dialed a number.
"Daniel…I didn't like those men…who the hell they were?! And what do they want from you?! Why did he call you that?! I'm calling the sheriff right now…" she cried out, with a horrified look.
"I don't know, Marge…really, I don't know…" he replied with an icy, slow, low voice, still staring at the closed door with an eerie feeling at the bottom of his soul.
The sheriff O'Brien was sitting in the Ramsays' living room, his hat in his hands.
"I followed the black limousine of those three strangers, I stopped it…and asked them some questions…" the man said to Daniel and Margaret.
The woman stared nervously at O'Brien, waiting for him to continue. Daniel seemed lost in thoughts.
"They looked really strange…and when I came back to the station, I did a little research in our database…that man is Richard Bloomfield, ex-leader of a secret organisation involved with international terrorism, drugs rackets, and other not very nice things…included the Deputy Director of Homeland Security Keefe's attempted attack in Miami about ten years ago…".
Margaret sighed, putting her hand on her own lips. "Oh my god…" she hissed, nearly about to cry. Daniel raised his gaze and looked at the sheriff with a dark glance.
O'Brien continued "I also searched for that 'Jack Rippner' in the database…but I didn't find him…instead, I found 'Jackson Rippner'…there wasn't much about him…neither a picture…anyway, he died ten years ago…he was involved in Keefe's attack, too…but he was killed during that 'mission'…he was a kind of killer…Bloomfield hired him for that, but Rippner failed, even losing his own life…and Bloomfield's implication came out…".
Daniel frowned, still silent.
His wife stood up quickly, starting pacing the room nervously.
"And what the hell he wants from us?! What the hell he wants from my husband?! Daniel's a good person!!! He's not a killer or a terrorist or else!!! He's a family-man, a worker…he's…he's…" she shrieked, tears running down her face.
The blue-eyed man stood up and reached Margaret, embracing and kissing her softly, trying to calm her down. "Shh…honey…don't cry…don't worry…he's only a crazy man…did you hear? He confused me with a dead man!! C'mon…" he hissed.
She looked her lovely man in those sparkling eyes, feeling a little relieved. The woman nodded her head, trying to smile. Daniel wiped her tears away with his own thumbs. "Are you better now, sunshine?" he smiled gently.
"Yes…" she sniffed.
The sheriff added "Maybe that criminal saw Daniel's picture on the television…and maybe your husband reminded him this 'Rippner', so he thought the killer who failed his mission is still alive…I don't know…anyway…we'll keep tabs on that Bloomfield, don't worry…he won't give you any more troubles…".
Daniel cast a cold gaze at him. "I wish" he stated dryly, rubbing his wife's back.
O'Brien put his hat back on his head and reached the door. "If you need something…call me…Goodbye, Daniel…Goodbye Margaret…".
"Ok, thank you, Roger…Bye" replied the woman.
"Mh" murmured Daniel awkwardly. Margaret could see that something worried her husband, but she didn't realize what. The woman was afraid. She didn't like his glance, for the first time in nine years.
"Mommy!! Look!!" Elizabeth was pointing at a beautiful puppy, in the animal-shop window of the big mall. Margaret went beside her daughter and, caressing her blond curls, said softly "Oh, it's beautiful, my dear little girl…but now…we can't have a dog, sweetheart…".
The girl looked up at her mother, upset. "Mum…I want a dog…" she purred.
"C'mon, Elizabeth…maybe in some years, when you grow up…" the woman smiled.
The little girl frowned, but didn't complain. "Ok, mommy…".
"You good girl…" her mother told her, with a proud glance. They kept back walking, when Margaret had a sigh.
"Oh…where's your brother?!!"
Elizabeth shook her head.
And within a moment, the woman felt a horrible sensation. She opened her eyes wide with fear, searching with them her son all around.
"Christopher!!! Christopher!!!".
Finally, she saw him leaning on the candy shop window, opposite to them. The woman sighed with relief.
"Oh, jesus…" she hissed nervously, and run swifly towards him.
"Christopher!! How many time do I have to tell you not to go around alone?! Huh?! It's really dangerous!!!".
The boy lowered his shining-blue eyes, and in a little and sorry voice he said "Sorry, mum…"
"Don't ever do that again, ok…? I was so afraid, my boy…" she replied more calmly, with a pity look.
She realized suddenly that she had left Elizabeth in front of the animal shop. The woman quickly turned her head backwards. The girl wasn't there.
"Oh my god…" she sighed, in a terrified voice. After a second, she heard her daughter's laughs.
"Elizabeth…" she run very fast, keeping Christopher's hand tight.
The girl was in front of a strange man sitting on a bench, who was talking to her. It took a few moments for the woman to recognize him. That was Bloomfield. She froze.
Margaret reached immediately her daughter.
"Mom…Richard was telling me a funny story…" the girl smiled eagerly to her mother.
"C'mon, honey, we must come back home…" she replied harshly, grabbing quickly her little hand.
"Oh, Mrs Ramsay…please…don't go away like that…we have so much to talk about…" Bloomfield said in a creepy ironical voice. The woman stood in front of him, screwing up her green eyes.
"Listen…I don't want to see you face anymore…please leave me, my kids and my husband in peace…I know who you are…you're a criminal…you're Richard Bloomfield…" she stated steadily, fire in her gaze.
"Well, Mrs Ramsay…I can see you know very well who I am…but I can assure you do not the same concerning your husband…" he had a scary smile on his face.
Margaret swallowed with a loud noise, before she replied. "I know who he is…he's Daniel Ramsay, a good thirty-nine year-old man born in Madison, Wisconsin…he's not a killer…he's not a terrorist…and he has nothing to do with people like you…" her voice was terribly nervous and angry.
"You seem to be so sure, Marge…" he said ironically again.
"I am" she added sharply. "Get off from our life". The woman was really tense.
"Keep cool, Mrs Ramsay…or…I should call you Mrs Rippner…" he laughed aloud. The woman frowned, hissing in a grin "You fucking bastard…".
"Hey, Marge…there are your kids here, c'mon…" his glance made her shuddering.
She turned quickly, going away in a hurry.
"Your husband is not the man you believe …there are plenty of things he's hiding to you…ask him about his scars…and about the coldness and the skilfulness with which he killed those two robbers…" he shouted at her, laughing, before the woman faded in the crowd within a few seconds.
"Daniel…".
Margaret was standing in front of her husband, with tears on her cheeks. He stood up from the sofa. "Honey…what's wrong?" he caressed her hair gently.
"Bloomfield…I-I think he followed me and the kids at the mall…" she sobbed.
Daniel froze, keeping his eyes on his wife's face.
"Oh, Marge…" he hissed.
"I'm scared, Daniel, I'm so scared!! He told me such horrible things!! And…" she cried out, trembling with fear. He held her tight, leaning his chin on the top of her head, rubbing her back. The man could feel her shaking. "Stay calm, sunshine…you're here now…don't worry…".
After a few silent seconds, she added in a low voice "Why is this happening to us? We are good people…" .
He lulled the woman softly, holding her tight in his arms.
"Sometimes bad things happen to good people, Margaret…" he whispered in her hear, before giving her a sweet kiss.
That night, Daniel and Margaret made love. But the woman felt something different. Her husband was different. He seemed to her more violent. He even hurt her a little. And his eyes had an odd spark.
After having sex, Daniel told the woman "I love you, Marge" and then, laying on his back, he fell asleep. She laid on her right side, staring at the man with a strange look. She was wondering something. She felt confused and worried.
Margaret, suddenly, reminded Bloomfield's words, and looked down at her husband's body.
She passed her fingers on his thigh, and touched that little scar he had there. A white, circular one, hardly visible.
Then she slid her hand on his chest and stomach, touching the other scars Daniel had there. Two of them seemed to date back to the same period.
The man was breathing slowly, completely asleep, and didn't react to Margaret's touch.
Finally, she reached his throat, where another scar was, less visible. The woman had cold shivers.
He told her he had had an accident a few years before they met, in which his parents lost their lives, and those scars testified it. Also, Daniel told her he had fallen from a window when he was a child, hurting himself badly. Some other wounds of those went back to that event.
She believed him. She had always believed him so far. But that night many doubts buzzed into her head.
Some scars of those looked actually like gunshots. It couldn't be possible, Margaret thought, trying to convince herself she was just too paranoid. The woman leant her cheek on her pillow, making a huge effort to calm down. She was trembling, watching at her husband's face.
He was so beautiful, like the first time they met, nine years before. She reminded the way he tried to approach her. Daniel offered her a drink, trying to guess what one she would have chosen. And he made it.
The woman was so fascinated by that handsome stranger with those marvellous shining-blue eyes. His voice was so captivating…but especially his glance…she thought she had never seen eyes like those.
They fell in love in a few days, and get married only five months later.
But that night, she felt scared by her man. Yes, he actually seemed different.
Margaret tried not to think anymore about it, and within some minutes she fell asleep, too.
Daniel was leaning on the counter, absent-mindedly. There wasn't much people that day at the café, so he took some time off to rest himself, waiting for someone else to come in. The noise of the door opening caught back his attention.
He froze, standing up quickly and casting a dark look at the man just entered.
"Bloomfield…" he murmured, tensing up.
"Good morning, Jackson…how are you and your wonderful wife today?" he grinned coldly.
"I'm not Jackson…god…O'Brien is not doing his job right…" Daniel said harshly.
The old man took a seat at the counter, in front of Ramsay.
"I've met your nice family, yesterday…you've got two beautiful children…the boy, Christopher, really looks like you…he's got your fucking freezing eyes…".
Daniel clenched his jaw. "Don't even try to touch my kids or my wife…" he said in a low, creepy voice.
"Otherwise?" Bloomfield raised an eyebrow "You'll take back your knife and kill me? I know you can do that, you were so fucking good…the best in America, and probably in the worldwide…the 'great' Jackson Rippner. Now, it's so weird to see you as a family man…you, such a precise, cold-blooded, shrewd professional…".
Daniel hit the surface of the counter with a punch, making the few people in the cafeteria start. "Don't call me that!!! I am Daniel Ramsay!!! Get out from my café!!!" he shouted angrily, with a terrifying glance on his face.
"As you wish, 'Daniel'…" he stood up calmly, reaching the door.
"I think you wife will appreciate more my visit…" and then he went out. Ramsay opened his eyes wide with terror. He jumped quickly beyond the counter, running out from the café very fast.
Bloomfield car was going away.
Without thinking much it over, Daniel started running rapidly towards home. He took his mobile and called Margaret while running.
"Honey…what's up?" the woman asked very surprised."Margaret!!! Hurry up!!! He's coming!!! Take the shotgun in the closet and charge it!! Hide in your room until I'm there!!!" he was gasping.
The woman, who was on her bed, jumped with a start, very confused "What are you saying?! Who's coming here?!".
"Richard Bloomfield!!!! C'mon, take that shotgun!!! There's no much time!!!".
"Oh my…" she was about to cry, trembling with fear. The woman run quickly to the closet, and searched for the shotgun. After she found it, she charged it.
"I'm scared, Daniel!!!" she shrieked.
"Hurry!!! Take the children with you and don't move!!! Shut the door!!! I'll be there in a few minutes!!!".
"Daniel!!Daniel!!!!".
He closed the conversation. She run outside the house, where the kids were playing. There was no one else.
"Mommy!!!" Elizabeth smiled happily.
"Christopher! Elizabeth!! Come inside!!!" Margaret reached as fast as she could the two kids, with the shotgun in her hands.
"Mum!! What are you doing!!" asked with a questioning glance Christopher.
"Get inside and don't say a word!!! C'mon!!" she yelled.
The woman pushed the kids towards the front door, casting strange and worried glimpses all around.
"Mommy!! What's up?!" the boy asked her terrified.
"Mum!!! I'm scared!!" cried out the little girl.
"Inside!!!" she shouted.
She slammed the door and grabbed her children tight, bowing on her knees and holding the kids with her free arm. They were all three trembling and gasping. Elizabeth was crying. After a minute the door opened with a bang.
"Oh, jesus…" murmured Margaret. That was Daniel, wet with sweat and breathing terribly fast. He leant on the wall beside him. The man looked nervous and angry. His eyes scared the woman.
"Daniel…what the hell…".
"Marge…he's coming…go in our bedroom and stay there with the kids!!!! Now!!!" he ordered dryly. He didn't seem the ordinary man Margaret knew.
"O-ok Daniel…" she hissed. The woman stood up and reached the stairs, still staring in an odd way at her husband. A noise could be heard, coming from outside.
"Go!!!" Mr Ramsay screamed. He went out. The black limousine was there, in front of the house. Two black-dressed man came out, followed by Bloomfield. They had guns in their hands, except Bloomfield himself.
Daniel stood steadily, staring coldly at them, swallowing nervously.
"We meet again, Rippner…huh, sorry…'Ramsay'…" the old man laughed. Those laughs made Daniel shudder, but he kept cool.
"Go away from my house…" he screwed up his eyes, speaking in a sharp voice.
Bloomfield made a gesture to his men, and within a second, they surrounded the younger one.
"Don't touch my daddy!!!" a sudden voice made the four of them turn their heads. Christopher was running towards them. Margaret was in front of the door, calling him out, crying.
"Shit…Christopher!!! Come back inside!!!" Daniel shrieked angrily.
One of the Bloomfield's thugs grabbed the boy.
"Take your shitty hands off!!! You fucking bastard!!!" the blue-eyed man grinned with a crazy glance, trying to get closer, but the other man aimed the gun at him.
"Jackson…we will let your son go away if you collaborate…right?" Bloomfield said harshly.
The younger man sighed, and nodded his head slowly, with resignation. The thug set the child free. The boy looked up at Daniel, with tears running down.
"Dad…" he hissed. His blue eyes shone the same light of his father's.
"Christopher, my boy…go inside with your mum and your little sister…dad has to talk with these men…" he replied gently to his son. The kid remained silent. He went back home, without keeping his gaze off his father.
"So…Jackson…here we are, finally…after ten years…" Bloomfield smiled coldly, with an ironical look.
"What do you want from me now, Richard? I'm not that man anymore…" Daniel replied frowning.
"I've just come around for…revenge, my dear Rippner…" added the other one.
"Revenge…yeah…I should have imagined…" the blue eyed-man stated nervously.
"You did know the terms of our agreement, we told you when we hired you…if you failed the 'Keefe-assignment', your job, you should have paid for it…after all that mess, we thought you were dead…but…".
"…As you can see, I'm not…but I'm another man now…".
"Yeah, Jackson…but…you showed you're still the old cold-blooded, professional man of ten years ago…you can't deny your past…and now you're a hero…ten years ago you were only a merciless killer, without any regrets or feelings…a truly glacial and skilful, professional one…and I still can see that killer-freaking spark in your eyes…" he grinned.
Daniel didn't replied. He kept staring at him with his freezing glance.
"You really disappointed us, Jackson…they told us you were the best…your plans didn't ever failed, and you did never miss a single mark…we trusted in you managing-abilities…but you failed, dear Jackson…god, man!!! How could a dirty bitch have wrecked so badly your plan?! You ruined us, me and my society…they discovered my implication in the Keefe's matter…and you can imagine the rest…now, I'm here to finish this job, Mr Rippner…not only because this was the agreement, but also 'cause I can't forget…and I can't forgive who ruined me…". Bloomfield paused.
"I don't think so…" Daniel replied sharply. The other men could see a disquieting, freezing light in his gaze. He smiled. A truly creepy smile, which made the others shudder a bit. Within a second, not giving the three men much time to realize what was going on, he took a long knife from under his belt, and, after cutting one of the black-dressed men's throat with a fast, precise and direct stroke, he threw it quickly right between Bloomfield's eyes, making him collapsing badly on the ground. A blood rush run down the old man's face.
The other man still on his feet tried to shot him, but with a rapid movement Daniel grabbed him by his neck and, with another rapid movement of his arms, broke it with a huge crack. "See you in hell…" he murmured to the man before killing him. Then he took one of the guns on the ground, reached Bloomfield, who wasn't dead yet, and, aiming it at the man, he shot, with a cold look on his face. "I always finish my job, too. Always." he stated dryly, taking a glimpse on the three dead bodies laying on his feet.
It was all finished. All.
Daniel was sitting on the bed of his hospital room, looking absent-minded. He hadn't been wounded, but they let him there for a check. Now, he was a hero twice. He protected his family from the threats of a really dangerous criminal. The truth was another one.
"How do you feel…?" Margaret was on the threshold of his room, looking tired. She had a dark gaze on her face.
"I'm fine, love…come here…" he hissed.
She got near him, very slowly, but she took a seat on the chair at the bottom of the bed. The woman was looking at him with fear. They kept silent for a minute, looking in each other's eyes.
She had a shiver running on her spine after staring in those icy blues. Once she loved them. Now she was terrified by them.
"Who the hell you are…?" she asked in a low voice, nearly about to cry.
"Margaret…" he tried to explain.
"Who the fucking hell you are!!!???" she shouted full of anger. Tears began to run down.
He lowered his gaze, still keeping a freezing glance.
There was another silence.
"You are…Jackson Rippner…or Daniel Ramsay? Please…tell me the truth…who is the man I married, I loved…who is the father of my children…?" she sobbed.
"Jackson Rippner died ten years ago." He stated with an icy voice.
"Oh, god…so…you are Jackson Rippner…" she sighed.
"Now I am Daniel…the man you married…the father of your children…that is Daniel…".
She stood up quickly, casting at him a horrified look.
"You are still Jackson!!! I saw him!!! I saw him from the window!! I saw the way you killed Bloomfield and his man!!! Only a pitiless killer could have done it!!! So, now…tell me the truth!!! Who the fucking hell you are!!!" she cried out, bending on herself, like everything was too painful for the her.
He took a deep breath, then he began "I was…I am Jackson Rippner…".
She sat down again, shaking and crying, her eyes still on him.
He continued. "I was more a manager than a killer…I planned high-profile assassinations…government overthrows…and other stuffs like those… I was, you could say, a freelance, from the age of sixteen…secret organisations and terrorist associations hired me for their jobs, and paid me a lot…I was…the best. Absolutely the best. Professional. Cold-blooded. Merciless. Male fact-based logic-driven. Scheming. High-qualified for every kind of assignment. I never missed a single mark. The 'golden boy' of killing. I travelled a lot all around the world, under disguise and with false identities…I can speak perfectly nine different languages. I'm skilled in five different kinds of fight-styles. I can use perfectly nearly all the weapons you can imagine, especially…knives…".
Margaret was about to throw up. She put her trembling hand on her own stomach. He looked cold and emotionless.
"But…ten years ago…I planned the Keefe's attack at the Lux Atlantic…it was just…perfect. Like every plans of mine. I took a girl as a hostage, on a red eye from Dallas to Miami. She worked at the Lux Atlantic. That bitch should have made a call and changed the Keefes family's room at the hotel, making everything easier. Otherwise an associate of mine would have killed her father. I really didn't care about that 'Keefe' and his family…the same for that girl and her dad…it was just my job. But things went wrong. We had a terrible fight, me and that girl, on the plane. And, then, at her home. I was shot, badly, and stabbed in my throat with – god! – a pen. I was really about to die…everybody thought that Jackson Rippner died…and actually…he did…that year, Daniel Ramsay was born…and I moved to Wisconsin…even if I was born in Albany, New York…and now I live in Brillion…I'm also using a faked accent…but it's not a problem…I got used to things like this".
Margaret sobbed, sighed, collapsed on her knees. She couldn't believe. It was all so confused around her. He raised an eyebrow, but remained cold.
"Sometimes they called me 'Jack'…I hated it because…you can see…'Jack Rippner'…'Jack the Ripper'…isn't it weird, after all?" the man showed a little, freaking, ironical smile. His wife lowered for a moment her gaze, weeping again, her arms tight on her belly.
After a while, she tried to speak. "A-and…so…tho-those scars…your p-parents…".
"The scars…'souvenirs' of some assignments of mine…and even…of that night of the red eye. My parents?...well…" he paused.
"I killed them." He added with a creepy icy smile.
"Oh…my…god…" Margaret cried hysterically. She tried to calm down, taking some deep breaths. After a while, she asked him the last question, shaking slowly her head.
"Da…Jackson…d-did you…like…your job?…I must know this…".
He stared at her with those freezing eyes, which now hurt Margaret.
The man sighed, and after this he replied sharply.
"Yes. I did".
His wife stood up quickly and reached within a second the toilet. Then she threw up.
"Good evening…how are you, Daniel?".
O'Brien was standing in front of Daniel, or, actually, Jackson, in the Ramsays' living room.
"Fine…really, Roger…I'm fine…" the blue eyed man said in a low voice.
"And you, Marge?".
The woman didn't look very well. She appeared tense and tired. She raised her swollen eyes, looking at the sheriff. She showed a little, timid smile, nodding her head, and sniffing loudly.
"I'm…I'm just fine, Roger…only a little…dizzy, you know…".
"Yeah…I see…after such an evening…god!! I just went in to assure you were ok…Well…the most important thing is that now it's all finished…and life can keep going on like the ordinary…" O'Brien smiled eagerly to the Ramsays.
"Yes…like the ordinary…" Daniel repeated slowly, absent-mindedly.
"Now, Roger, you can go…really…it's all ok…me and my husband, we are very tired…so…" she told him in a thin voice, trying to hide her uneasiness.
"Ok then…Goodbye…". He went out and the door closed behind him.
Daniel bent towards Margaret. He was about to say something, when she stood up and pushed him away, making him falling on the ground. She had a horrified glance.
"Don't touch me!!! Don't touch me!!!" she shrieked.
He stood up on his feet, and suddenly, an odd spark shone in his blues. Margaret shook with fear. His face was freaking creepy.
Daniel run quickly towards her, who tried to run away. He reached the woman, grabbed her with an hand on her chin and on her neck, and pushed her with violence against the wall. She made a sob, still shaking.
He got his face near the woman's one. She could feel his rapid, nervous breath on her cheeks.
"You're hurting me…Daniel…I can't breathe…" she sighed, desperate. The man had a frightening crazy grin. His fringe was untidy on his forehead.
"From now, sunshine…" he hissed sharply "…everything shall come back like before, right?! Not a word, nothing, about 'him', ok?! Everything still will be the same…understood, honey? Jackson Rippner is dead".
He stared at her eyes with a scary, glacial glance. Margaret bit her lower lip, nodding her head. Tears wet her cheeks.
"Right…" he screwed up his eyes, loosening his grip. Then, Daniel kissed his wife, with violence, and after this, he made some steps backwards, his eyes still on her.
The woman slid with her back against the wall, silent.
He bent his head on a side, before murmuring "This reminds me that night…that night on that damned red eye…" and he went away, leaving his wife there, sitting on the ground, her back leant on the wall behind her.
After a while Margaret stood up. She run in the bathroom. The woman stood in front of the mirror, observing her bruised neck. She could still see her husband's fingers impressions on her pale skin.
She bent on the sink and cried.
Daniel was sitting on the stairs in front of the door of the house, lost in his thoughts. After a second, nearly without realizing it, two words came out from his mouth.
"Lisa Reisert…". His voice sounded like a chilling hiss. Jackson had never forgotten her. The only person on earth who nearly killed him.
"Mom!! Look at this!!".
Lisa McAdams turned her face to her six year-old daughter.
"Oh, it's beautiful, Martha!! Really a masterpiece!!" the reddish-head woman took in her hands the drawing that the little girl had made.
"You're so good…really…when dad comes back home, we'll show it to him, too…" and she kissed the child on her forehead.
The television was turned on, on the news channel. There was a summary of the main news of the week.
Lisa was caressing her daughter's head, when she looked up at the tv-screen.
"Daniel Ramsay, thirty-nine year old man from Brillion, Wisconsin, saved his life…" the background voice said.
Suddenly, the woman froze, opening her green eyes wide. She reached the tv, and looked closer.
"This guy…reminds me…someone…but…" she hissed and frowned, thinking a little. Then, she opened her mouth, horrified, and put her fingers on her lips.
"Oh my god…" she murmured "His-his eyes…that can't be possible…".
She looked again at the picture of Daniel Ramsay on the screen.
"No…Lisa…keep calm…it's not possible…" she said in a low, nervous voice. The woman made some steps backwards, and leant on the sofa. She took a long, deep breath, and then said "No, c'mon…he's not him…for sure…".
The news changed, talking about a car accident in Salt Lake City.
She paused her tense gaze on her daughter, who was playing with a doll. Lisa shook her head slowly, with a little smile on her face.
"He's not him…Jackson Rippner is dead. I know it for sure. Me and my father, we killed him ten years ago." she thought. Then she took the remote and turned the tv off.
The McAdamses' living room became terribly silent, like it never had been before.
It was dinner time for the Ramsays. Like every day of their ordinary life. The dining-room was silent. Everyone was eating, without saying a word.
The kids were looking at their parents with questioning glances. Their mother and their father seemed so strange and anxious. Actually, they seemed different.
Mrs Ramsay was staring at her husband with an emotionless gaze.
"Mom, what's up?" asked Christopher, raising an eyebrow.
She turned her head with a start to the boy, showing an unnatural smile.
"Nothing, sweetheart…eat your dinner, otherwise it gets cold".
The child frowned and looked up at his father. The man had a strange, icy glance, but when he met his son's eyes he smiled gently at him.
"Are you ok, sunshine?" he asked his wife with a dark look.
"Yeah, Daniel…really…it's all ok…it's all like the ordinary".
"Good…" he replied dryly. "That's how he should be".
They kept eating, still silent.
Mrs Ramsay looked at Christopher's blues. They were the same of Daniel. The same, cold ones. The woman felt a chill at the bottom of her stomach.
Then, Margaret stared again at Daniel's eyes. An icy shiver shook her body.
Once she loved those eyes. Now, she felt scared by them. By what they had seen. By the pitiless light they could be able to show. By the odd, creepy spark they could shine.
He wasn't more an ordinary man for her. He wasn't more her man.
Another day was about to end, and another one would have begun for Daniel Ramsay and his family.
Another day of his normal, beautiful, ordinary life.