Midnight Angel [Jenlisa FF]

~'~'~ Chapter 9 ~'~'~

"It's a good house." What did the man want? Lisa wondered. She wasn't dumb enough to believe the chief of police was checking up on her wellbeing. There was an ulterior motive written all over her face.

"Just needed a little good old-fashioned TLC," he said with a chuckle. "No problem with trespassers or anything."

Ah, so that was it, Lisa thought. "Trespassers? No, why?"

"I heard in town you'd seen someone wondering around," Philip relayed, his eyes staring Lisa dead in the face.

"Oh, that. I'm pretty sure it was a dog. I've seen some footprints in the sand," Lisa covered quickly, the lie running smoothly off her tongue.

"Hmm, well," the chief said vaguely. "You'll let me know if you have any problems?"

"Yes, of course," Lisa lied again. She had no damn intention of telling the man anything.

"Good, good." Philip nodded pleasantly. "Well, I must run along. Got a dinner meeting to attend."

"Thank you for stopping by," Lisa stated, flashing her most pacifying smile.

"No problem." Philip took a few steps, turned back to Lisa. "Welcome to Cambria, Ms. Manoban."

"Whatever," Lisa muttered under her breath as she watched the police cruiser pull out of her driveway. She was going to have to be very careful what she said to any of the townspeople. Tongues obviously waggled in this place.

~'~'~

The unexpected knock at her back door almost made Lisa drop the beer she was holding. Who the hell was knocking at her back door? Peering out the window, she saw Jisoo, Jackson and Jin waiting for her to let them in. With a shake of her head, she opened the door.

"I didn't hear you guys pull up," Lisa said with a faint frown and peered over her at driveway, finding no car there.

"Oh, we parked in a lot about a mile down the beach," Jisoo explained as she walked into the kitchen.

"Umm, maybe this is a stupid question," Lisa began, her voice weary. "But why?"

"Cuz, it wouldn't look too good for us to be seen over at your house regularly," Jin relayed, and made himself at home by walking to Lisa's refrigerator and pulling out a beer.

"Right," agreed Lisa, pressing her fingers to her temple. Damnit, she was getting another headache. "I had a visit from your friendly chief of police today."

"Walker was here?" Jackson's hand paused in the act of opening his own beer. "Why?"

"Oh, he claimed he just wanted to greet the town's newest resident," Lisa said sarcastically.

"Yeah, sure," Jin snorted. "And little piggies fly around my head while I sleep."

Lisa eyed Jin for a moment. Strange man, she decided. "He was fishing for info. Heard that I'd seen something on the beach. I told him it was a dog."

"Good choice." Jin toasted her with his beer.

"Where are the pictures, Lisa?" Jisoo cut in anxiously.

Grabbing the folder off her counter, she handed them to Jisoo, saying nothing. Lisa watched as she pulled them out, stared at the images. All the colour drained from her face, and she fell heavily into the one of the chairs at the kitchen table.

"Oh, God. Jennie," Jisoo whispered, choking back a sob.

Jin and Jackson gathered around her, looked down at the photo of Jennie staring out over the ocean. "Damn," Jackson breathed out, his eyes closing slowly.

Jisoo looked up, a single tear falling down her cheek. "She's alive." Anger flashed into her eyes; her hand tightened on the photo. "She's alive," she repeated, this time stronger.

Before anyone could speak, she leapt out of the chair, the photo still gripped in her hand, and dashed out the back door.

"Where the hell is she going?" Jackson asked in tired exasperation.

Jin gave his a steady looked, flicked his eyes to the door. "Joo Won," he said then followed after Jisoo.

"Christ," Jackson mumbled, letting his head fall back.

Grabbing her car keys off the counter, Lisa strode quickly to the door. Jisoo wanted answers. And, so, did she.

~'~'~

"What the hell are we doing?" Jackson hissed at Jin as Jisoo pounded on the front door to Mr. Kim's house with a barely restrained fury.

"If you have to ask, then your bloody stupid," Jin bit out, his eyes trained solely on his fiancé who seemed to be holding it together by a mere string. His own emotions were in turmoil, but Jisoo was a powder keg ready to blow.

Lisa stood behind the three, hands jammed in her pockets. This was their fight. She was just a bystander, really. They were the ones who needed answers the most.

Jisoo was still pounding on the door when Mr. Kim finally appeared. "Jisoo, what's-."

He didn't have a chance to finish speaking. The angry redhead had shoved the picture clenched in her hand before her eyes. Every ounce of colour drained from her face; her mouth dropped open. Jisoo ignored it all.

"I want answers, and I want them now, Joo Won!" Jisoo demanded and pushed her way into the house.