Lisa paused at the stop sign. Her hands were actually shaking. Not many people knew that James had an anger problem. He had worked very hard on it for years. He made a point of not getting angry to begin with. He also apologized right away in tense situations. It wasn't because he was weak or scared. It was because he had a vicious streak. When he was seventeen years old he had nearly beaten a man to death in a ft. Lauderdale bar. Only the fact that the other man had started the fight and had used a knife had saved James from prison. His young age kept the incident off of criminal background checks, but he had never forgotten what happened or especially what the judge had said.
"young man, the law finds you not guilty by reason of self-defense. The presence of the knife justified your use of force and the other man will make a full recovery. Today is a good day for you. What troubles me however is that I believe that other man's survival to be happenstance I believe that you intended to kill him. The evidence is ambiguous and you are presumed innocent, but I have grave reservations about sending you out into the world thinking that your actions don't have consequences. I find myself without any viable alternatives. So I hereby release you. For your own sake and that of your other potential victims, remember what could so easily have happened instead."
James had never forgotten. He had spent years in therapy and had thought he had beaten it, but now Lisa looked down and her hands were shaking. For the first time since yesterday afternoon she was not horny, the anger had burned her arousal off. There was only one place to go. She had been sad and confused before, but that note had changed things. She had wanted it to be true. She still did, but by tricking her this way. "Shannon" had ruined it. The whole day now tasted like ash in her mouth and she wanted to know why. She hated being mocked.
The drive was good. It was third time she had travelled this route in the last hour. Her confusion had burned off and she was driving with the ease of reflex, both the route and the transmission. Her anger cooled as she drove. Or rather her anger remained strong, but her hard earned control reasserted itself. She didn't know what "Shannon" was playing at, but what Lisa needed was information. So to begin she would go in fat, dumb and happy and see if she could figure out what other Lisa's plans were. If that didn't work she could always throw her off the roof. That last thought hit a little too close to home for comfort and she restarted her breathing exercises. They calmed her and helped her to center herself. By the time she was done, she was back at James' apartment complex. She walked quickly to the door, regretting the flip flops she was wearing, they were impractical for running or kicking or really anything besides walking on a beach. She paused at the main door and sniffed her shirt, taking in Jack's body odor. She drew strength from that smell. She didn't know what "other Lisa" was planning, but even now she could draw comfort from Jack. She buzzed James apartment and waited.
