“Jade?”
“What about Ben?” I ask. “Wont he keep hunting us?”
“I will deal with Ben.”
Yeah, but I am already dealing with him and he will do anything to get that treasure. Jax might be able to sort him, but until he does, Lilly and I are in danger. Tomorrow I am going to finish this, I have to. For my family.
“Ok.” I whisper, not bothering to argue.
Leaving Ben up to Jax is the logical thing to do but if Jax doesn’t find Ben right away, he will punish me or Lilly before he gets to him. I could tell Jax about Ben, but I know how that will end. Probably in divorce.
CHAPTER
15
When morning comes, I am up before Jax. I glance down at him, my heart aching. I know what I have to do, for him, for Lilly, for all of us. I have to confront Ben. I lean down and sweep a kiss across his forehead. I take his gun from the table and a few knives. God help me.
“I love you.” I whisper and drop my phone on the table beside the bed. I had to do this alone.
I can’t eat, or drink but I do because I have a feeling I will need the energy. I have text Ben, saying my phone is dumped and to meet me at the docks in an hour alone. I hurry out of the house; I hope to god I come out of this ok.
It takes me an hour to get to the docks and when I do, I can’t see anybody around. It is a quiet morning, not a person in sight. I slide out of the car and finger the gun in my pants. I am so nervous I can hardly take a deep breath without gasping. I see Ben standing by a large ship. Taking a breath, I walk over. He looks around, checking behind me, no doubt seeing if I am alone.
“Where is the treasure?” He snaps as soon as I am in front of him.
It is then that his crew emerge from around the sides of the ship; I freeze. Oh shit. I am in deep, deep trouble.
“I…my father destroyed it.”
“BULL
SHIT!” He flares.
“He did.” I say, in a stern but shaky voice.
Ben clicks his fingers and all his men raise theirs guns. Holy crap.
“You tell me the damned truth or you will die here and now, then I will go and find your daughter and kill her too.”
“My father took it with him, to destroy it. He left last night; I didn’t know.” I splutter.
“Fuck!” Ben hisses.
“By the time I contact him, it will be too late.” I lie.
“Not if we play it my way. What’s your fathers number?”
“What? I don’t know.”
He grasps me and drives a kick to my shins then presses the gun to my head.
“I will find it with or without your help, now you tell me before I blow your brains out.”
“Ah, 0405838294.”
Ben clicks his fingers again, and one of his crew members hands him a phone.
“This just got a whole lot more fun for me.” He grins.
I watch him dial the number, he throws it on loud speaker. Sick man.
“Yeah?”
I hear Mack’s voice come over the phone.
“Is this Jade’s father?” Ben hisses.
“Yes, who is this?”
“It’s Ben.”
“What do you want?” Mack growls.
“Not much, just the treasure you are sneaking off with. I have your daughter here; I will kill her old man, in a split second if you do not bring it to me.”
“You are lying, I saw her last night.”
He shoves the phone at me. “Speak!”
“Dad.” I croak.
“JADE?”
“Help.”
Ben takes the phone back. “Believe me now? Bring the treasure or she dies!”
“I am not in the country!”
“Then get in the fucking country, you have two days. In the mean time, stay tuned, I have a little game I want you to be apart of. You will love it. Watch this space.”
Then he hangs up. Turning, he glances at me. I hate him, hate him with the fire of a thousand suns.
“You’re a stupid little girl. I cannot believe you fell for the old I am going to kill your child trick. I was sure you would spill to your little pirate man.”
“What?” I rasp.
“I was going to kill you anyway, imbecile. I used your daughter because I knew it would work. Now, I have you and your daddy is going to give me what I want, but I am going to kill him, and you. Then, I will go after your daughter and husband. It is going to be grand. Stupid girl, you should have remembered the law of pirates. Trust only your own and always stay true to your Captain. You should have told him. Oh well, more fun for me.”
I swallow and clamp back my tears. “Let me go, have the treasure just let me go.”
“Not likely.” He snorts.
“Then kill me!” I scream.
“No, not until we play. This will be fun.” Then he hits me, hard. I drop to the ground and my world goes black.
When I wake, I am damp, like I have been in the rain and only dried out slightly. I open my eyes, and I can see trees, lots of trees. What the hell? I sit up; I am in thick, dense forest. I am alone. I wince at a sharp pain in my chest; I look down to see something silver under my skin. What the hell. A small phone rings beside me,
whose
phone? I answer it.
“Well hello Jade, we can’t talk long; that phone has minimum charge, so you can’t use it. You are in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by my men, we are going to have a delightful time hunting you. See that little silver thing in your chest, it is a camera. Smile and wave, your husband is watching, wait, your whole family is watching. That is right; they can see everything you are doing, say hello, they can hear you too. I can’t kill you and not let them enjoy it! You have over three thousand hectares to run, but remember, you can’t get away because we have secured the perimeter. So run pretty girl, we are coming. Don’t worry, we have made the game fun. We aren't tracking you, nor can we hear what you say or see your camera, so start hiding. We are going to enjoy the thrill of the chase. You have no food, no water and no weapons, best you get creative. Remember, every time we catch you, we are going to hurt you. Not enough to kill you but enough to slowly take your strength and energy, eventually we will end you, but not before you have begged us to live.”
The phone ends and I scream a high pitched, agonized scream. Oh please god, help me. This isn't happening. They are going to hunt me? I have no weapons, no food, nothing. I will die before I get out of here. Tears stream down my face. I glance at the small machine, wait, it has power still. I pick it up and dial Jax’s number.
“Jade.”
“Jax, I…help me.”
“I can see you on the camera Jade, not your face, but I can see your hands and your body when you look down. Oh baby, god, I am so sorry for letting you get caught.”
Get caught? Oh god, he didn’t know I went willingly to them. Oh god.
“I don’t know what to do, help me Jax.”
“We will find you, hang on. You fight Jade, with everything you have. Stay strong, I will find you. Keep talking to us, please.”
“I love you, guard Lilly with your life.” I whisper as the phone goes dead.
Now I know Jax can hear me, I have a small amount of comfort. I have to fight, have to run, hide, save myself. I put my hands out in front of me and make an I love you gesture at the camera, then I speak.
“I don’t know if you can all hear me, but I am sorry. I love you all. I am sorry.”
I drop to my knees and rake my hands through the soil, it’s damp. Maybe if I start noting things like this, Jax and my family will find me. I speak slowly into the camera.
“The ground is damp, it has rained very recently.”
I look up at the sun, it
’
s midday by the looks of it.
“I was with them this morning, when Ben knocked me out. Unless I have been gone a night, I am within two or three hours from home.”
I don’t know if these details matter, but I can only try. I stand and slowly turn, facing the forest and letting the camera sight everything.
“The jungle is lush, thick. The bark isn't red, so it’s not towards where we live. The trees are tall, old, a national park maybe? Guarded land? There are no recent trees that have been chopped, so it’s protected.”
I begin walking, the ground is soft, and the air is damp and cool.
“It’s cooler than home, the air is damp and humid.”
I walk further into the thick trees, leaning down to fetch a stick as I go. I find a nearby rock and dig through the small stones at it’s base to find a sharp rock. Slowly, I begin picking away at the thick stick until the end makes a sharp point. I hold it out for the camera.
“It’s a weapon.”
I carve two more, and by the time I am finished, it’s getting dark. I peer around, nervously.
“I’m scared.” I whisper.
I crawl to the base of the rock and sit up against it, pulling my legs to my chest. Tears well in my eyes but I swallow them down. Talking, it helps, it makes me feel like I am home with my family. I know they are watching; I know Jax is listening. He won’t stop listening.
“Jax, remember that time you took me to my first theme park? How we sat at the beach eating hamburgers. You have showed me the best times of my life; you made me who I am. I love you so much; you are my
soul mate
. Don’t worry for me, I will be ok. Take care of Lilly, don’t let her see this, please, never let her see this. I had the most incredible day yesterday; you looked so beautiful standing on that ship waiting for me…”
My voice trails off. I can hear motorbikes. Oh no. I jump up and run, tearing through the trees and slamming into the ones I don’t see. The bikes are nearing closer. My grip tightens on the spear, and I pick up speed. I can feel blood pouring down my head, can taste the metallic liquid in my mouth. I must have split my head hitting a tree. Suddenly, a bike whips out in front of me, and a light is flicked on. It allows me to see Ben on the bike in front of me, pointing a gun. Beside him are three men, my gaze falls on one and I gasp. He looks like Jax, god, the resemblance is incredible.
His eyes meet mine; they are the same emerald green. His hair is cut short, but it’s just as dark. He is shorter than Jax and solid as a rock. Are they related? His eyes seem, gentler than Ben’s and even Bill’s. A gun shot rings out, and tears through my leg, I scream and fall to the ground. I didn’t see that one coming. I lash out and stab my spear through the nearest pirates leg; his scream echoes through the trees.
I roll quickly and manage to avoid the next gun shot. I lash out again, shoving my spear through Ben’s tyre, he curses and lifts the gun, pointing it at my other leg. I roll again, missing yet another bullet. I crawl through the scrub quickly, to get out of sight. I manage to get to my feet, and I run, hard. I can hear the bikes roar to life, and I pound my legs harder. My advantage is that it
’
s dark. My leg is screaming; the pain is incredible but my determination to live is bigger.
I see a mob of thick bushes, making a last minute decision; I duck behind them. I hear the bikes nearing, and I squat lower. They come to a stop and the light shines around for a moment. I hold my breath, trembling. They start up again and zoom off. I breathe a sigh of relief; it is not over, but for now I am safe. I sit in the same position for hours until I am sure I am alone, then I crawl out. I am sobbing in pain, it’s intense. I can’t see my leg to assess the damage, so I tear my shirt and tie it around my thigh to stop the blood loss.
I curl up, and I am fairly sure the pain causes me to pass out. When morning light stings my eyes, I sit up and scream. My leg is on fire; the pain is too much. I glance at my spear; I want so desperately to drive it through my chest, to take away the pain. I look down at my leg, knowing the camera can see it too. It’s swollen and covered in dried blood. I pull away the shirt and stare at the deep red hole. The bullet is still in there; I know it is because it hasn’t come out the other side. For the first time in days, I wish I had never gotten rid of my power. I had never experienced pain to this level. In the distance, I hear the thrumming of a bike. I leap to my feet and stagger as fast as I can.
“Please no.”
I try and limp away, but I can’t move fast enough. When the bike whips out in front of me, I hold up my spear. It’s only one pirate, the one who looks like Jax. I tremble and hold my spear out towards him; his eyes scan me and my leg, then he switches the bike off.
“Just kill me. I beg you.” I scream.
“You are Jax’s wife?”
I blink. “What?”
“Answer me. Are you Jax’s wife?”
“Yes.” I cry.
“And you two have a child together?”
“YES!”
He nods. God the way he looks is so like Jax I just can’t take my eyes off him.
“Who are you?” I croak.
“My name is Maddox.”
“Maddox! Jax’s brother?” I stammer.
“You know about me?”
“Yes.” I whisper.
“Good.”
“You are not here to kill me?”
“No. I thought it would be the ultimate revenge, killing you after what my brother did to Mark, but it’s not. You’re an innocent.”