Vengeance by Bec Botefuhr Page A

stand and plod into the kitchen where our house maid, Mr’s Sadie, is preparing lunches. When Lilly is ready, I drive her to school. It is my RDO and so mom and I stop off at the shop and do a touch of shopping. We are laughing and giggling about old times as we are driving home, when I see a cloud of thick , black smoke coming from the direction of our house. We both stop talking.
    “Jade, is that…”
    “My house.”
    I hit the accelerator, and we zoom home. What I see, puts me into shock. My house, my beautiful house, is up in flames. Thick, black smoke fills the sky and red , angry flames tear from the roof. I run quickly towards the mass of firemen trying to get the blaze out. I see Jack and the crew. They are ok, thank God . I glance around, where is the maid?
    “ Mr's Sadie?” I cry out.
    Jack rushes over and takes my face in his hands. “Jade, thank heavens, it happened so quickly.”
    “ Mr’s Sadie?” I whisper again.
    He shakes his head. “We couldn’t find her in time…”
    I scream and crumble in his arms. He holds me tightly as the panic continues around us. I pull back and look up at him with trembling hands.
    “Who did this?”
    “I don’t know. We heard a loud bang, but figured something just fell. Then one side of the house just went up so quickly. We managed to get out the front door before the explosion hit. Fuel, all around the house. I couldn’t see anyone. I…think it was Ben.”
    “ Jack he was trying to kill us. He has to know Jax is away, he is trying to draw us out again.”
    “We need to get to a safe place. ASAP.”
    “I need to call Jax.”
    I slowly pull my phone from the pocket and dial Jax’s number.
    “Hey baby.” He answers.
    “J-J-Jax.”
    “What’s wrong?” He asks, concerned.
    “The house…Jax the house.”
    “What is happening?”
    “It’s gone.”
    “Gone? Jade breathe. What is going on?”
    “On fire, it’s gone.”
    Silence.
    “What?”
    “Blew up. Somebody lit it up.”
    He screams a curse, and I can hear the panic in his voice.
    “Get the fuck outta there Jade.”
    “ Mr ’s Sadie is dead.” I sob.
    “Put Jack on.”
    “O…ok.”
    I hand the phone to Jack and listen as he speaks with Jax. Going over the details. My mother holds me close as we wait for further instructions. The police officer walks over a moment later.
    “Is this your house mam?”
    “Yes.” I croak.
    “Do you know what happened?”
    I shake my head. “We arrived home to this.”
    “Was anybody here?”
    I can’t dob in the pirates; it will get far too messy. “Just the maid.”
    “Where is she?”
    “Dead.” I whisper.
    “Oh, mam, I am so sorry.”
    I nod weakly.
    “Do you know why anybody would light your house on fire?”
    Of course I bloody do. “No.”
    “We will ask questions later, I am sorry Mr’s Watts.”
    I nod. Jack walks back over and hands me the phone. I take it.
    “Hello?”
    “Hey baby, are you ok?”
    “I don’t know.”
    “Jack is taking you to Mack’s house. I don’t think Ben knows your father lives here. I am coming home. I will be a day or two. Don’t go out, stay in.”
    “My house.” I sob.
    “I know baby, we can build another one.”
    “No.”
    “No?”
    “I want to go to the island Jax.”
    He pauses. “We will talk later, just get to your dads and watch my baby.”
    “Ok.”
    “Hang in there , I will be there soon.”
    “Ok.”
    “Love you.”
    “You too.” I whisper, hanging up the phone.
    “Come on angel, we need to go.”
    I look over at Jack; my eyes hurt. I am not sure if it is from the smoke or the crying, but they are burning. My mother is silent, she just stares at the house, her mouth is slightly open, and her eyes are huge. Jack takes my hand, then hers and leads us to the car. When we are in, he chats with the officers a while before getting in himself.
    “Lilly, where is my daughter?”
    “We are going to get her now, it will be ok.”
    We ride in silence to Lilly’s school. When I see her come