It's Just Our Fate

Jackson stood on the docks at 7: 28, looking around at the surroundings. It was a calm place, the smell of the sea around him, he sighed for a moment and checked his watch, 7:30. A car came out of nowhere, slowing to a stop at the entrance of the pier. The driver got out, walking to the opposite side of the car and opened up the door. Jackson turned around to watch as Rudy got out of the car and made his way down to him.

They both walked to one another, meeting halfway and hugged quickly, “Right on time, Rudy.” The man laughed and nodded, “Man of my word.” Rudy was an elderly man, with light blue eyes, almost so that they could appear white. He looked cheery whenever Jackson saw him, which was very strange being what Rudy specialized in. Jackson let out a breath, “So what is it?” Rudy nodded and put a hand to my back as we walked back to the edge of the pier, watching as the sea moved past us.

“I’ve got an offer for you.”, he said as he looked out into the sea. Jackson sighed and shook his head, “I’m not taking any offers. On vaction, remember?” Rudy smiled a bit then turned to look at Jackson, “You’re going to want this hit.” Jackson furrowed his eyebrows and listened as Rudy began to talk.

“When you left for New York, I had Martinez and Maxwell watch over Lily, and of course, they did it well..”, He sighed, “but they kept returning with the same news about a man.”

Jackson’s shoulders grew tense in defense, “What do you mean a man?” Rudy nodded and held his hands up, trying to calm him, “They said there was man with a beard, about 6’1, who always seemed to be waiting for someone infront of the schools that Lily worked in.”
Jackson clenched his fists and put them in his leather jacket pockets, “Every school?” Rudy nodded sternly, “I sent out Francis with them and he brought back these.” Rudy went into his trenchcoat pocket and pulled out a small manila envelope.

Jackson took the envelope, opening it quickly and took out pictures. Some of them were of Lily with Claire at lunch, walking into the school, smiling as she came back out of it. There was nothing too unusual, until he took a closer look at the photos of the schools. Lily worked wherever they needed a sub, and it usually wasn’t always at the same school.

In three different pictures at separate schools, a man with a jean jacket, glasses, and beard, stood in the background. Jackson let out an angry exhale, “Did you find anything on him?” Rudy shook his head, his smile now gone, “It’s like he doesn’t exist.” Jackson shoved the pictures back in the envelope and handed them back to Rudy.

“So what now?”, Jackson said. Rudy rubbed his face and shook his head unsure, “I’ve only come up with two conclusions.”, he said, “The first being that this guy really is some pedophile fuck. The second being that..” He stopped for a moment, looking at Jackson and then stared back out at the sea, “The second being that someone is figuring out who you are, and is targeting Lily for revenge.”

Jackson clenched his teeth and looked out to the sea, “I’m careful, no one would remember me.” Rudy let out a small laugh, “Jackson, you are the most well known assassin between all the mobs. You don’t think that they could somehow track you?”

Jackson looked over at Rudy, furrowing his eyebrows, “So what now?” Rudy sighed and put his hands in his pockets, “There really is nothing to do but wait and see what happens, Jackson.”

Jackson rubbed his face hard, not wanting to hear that, and shoved his hands back into his pockets. Rudy looked over at Jackson, studying his face, then softly said, “I know you don’t like waiting, and you wanna figure this all out to protect Lily, but this is what you have to do for right now. If I find out any more information, this guy is yours.”

Jackson nodded and looked back to Rudy, “Thanks for the heads up.” Rudy smiled and patted his arm firmly, “I like Lily, and she’s grown on me. I wouldn’t ever want to see something happen to such a girl.” Jackson nodded, thinking a mile a minute about the information he just received. “Well,” Rudy said, “I have to get going, other people aren’t on vacations, you know?” He winked at Jackson and walked back to the car, driving off quietly but quickly away.

Jackson stood at the pier still looking out at the sea, contemplating his next move. Maybe Rudy was right about it, maybe this guy was some freaky pedophile or just some random guy who kept appearing there. Jackson turned and started on his walk back home, thinking about it. Though it is strange that he always appeared at three different schools, what kind of bad luck would that be?

He listened as the cars started going by as he entered the city once more, shoving his hands into his leather pockets again to keep warm. And what if someone had actually tracked him down, found out where he lived,… found out about Lily. Jackson shook the idea out of his head and looked up, seeing he had reached the apartment building. It was a nice building, very suburban looking, something that Lily loved.

He opened up the door to it and walked up the stairs to the apartment. How was he going to handle this? He knew that he would be even more alert than he has been, knowing that what he did could involve Lily. He opened up the door stepping inside, and let the door shut behind him.

Max held up his head from his bed and then laid back down, tired from his playing. Jackson slid off his jacket and tossed on the couch, rubbing his eyes with the palm of his hands. “Lils, you here?”, he called out.

No answer.

He blinked a few times and walked to the back, into the bedroom, and looked around, “Lils, you here?” He opened up the bathroom door and didn’t see her. He quickly went from room to room seeing if anything were different. Her art room was fine, his office was fine, everything seemed okay.

Jackson walked back out into the living room, rubbing the back of his head, and glanced over at the coffee table. There was a blue writing pad open with a pen laying on it. He went over to it quickly and picked the notepad up.

Jack,
Claire called upset, her and Darren had a fight. Went over to calm her down, don’t know when I’ll be back. I have my cell.
I love you.

Jackson tossed the notebook back down, a bit irritated and worried that she left and didn’t call beforehand. He lifted his shirt and took out his gun, placing it back in its hiding place behind the books, and let himself fall back on the couch. He put an arm behind his head and let the other rest on his stomach. He needed to come up with a plan, some way to figure out whether this guy was a nobody or wish he was when he found him.

He kept his eyes up on the ceiling, listening to the few cars that passed, thinking of various scenarios and waiting for Lily to return.