CHAPTER FIVE

Martha sat still in her seat; looking straight ahead. She was trying her hardest to ignore the glances that Jack kept throwing her way. She shuffled a little in her seat; pulling her robe tighter around her body. She wanted to make sure he didn't see something he wasn't supposed too. She felt so naked in front of him and the way he kept looking at her was making her uncomfortable. Feeling his eyes on her once more, she finally snapped.

"Is there a problem?" she glared at him.

"No," Jack laughed. "I was just thinking about how much you had changed," he told her.

"Obviously," Martha said sarcastically. "It has been ten years since we last seen each other. I'm not a twelve year old kid anymore," she exclaimed with a roll of her eyes.

"Neither am I," Jack pointed out. "I'm curious; how did you eventually figure out who I was? Back at the diner, I mean," he asked Martha.

"It was that stupid smirk. I'd know it anywhere," Martha answered.

Jack laughed; thinking back to his childhood. They'd had some fun times when they were kids. "What happened to us?" he asked with a serious tone to his voice. "We grew up together. We were best friends; we practically used to eat out of each others hands. What happened to that?" Jack said to her.

Martha sighed. "The Henderson's and the Nadar's came along. And they………ruined everything," she trailed off. "They drove a wedge between our families. After that; things just changed," she said.

Jack nodded his head in agreement. "If only we knew then, what we know now," he exclaimed.

A brand new silence engulfed the car as they drove down the deserted road. After a few more minutes, Jack broke it.

"I'm sorry about your parents; it must have been hard," he said.

Martha shrugged. "Yeah; it was. But hey, shit happens," she tried to smile. "I'm sorry about your mum too," she suddenly said.

"Yeah, it was pretty rough," Jack nodded; keeping his eyes trained on the road. "She got hit by a car. It was about six months after the…um," he stopped.

"I like to think of it as the great divide," Martha smiled. "Yeah; I remember when it happened; my mum was really cut up about it. She really wanted to go to the funeral, but after the fight between our families; she didn't think it was a good idea," she explained to Jack.

After a few moments, Martha started to laugh. "You know; I think I have this picture at home of the two of us in the bath together when we were about six. My mum used to get it out all the time and torment me about it. So not funny for a fourteen year old girl," huffed. "Want to hear the big one though? I remember my mother saying that when we were kids, our fathers were thinking of an arranged marriage between us," she exclaimed.

"Really?" Jack smirked.

"Yes. Apparently we were to be married at the age of twenty," Martha nodded. She then smirked at him. "My mother also said that there was every indication that as an adult, you would be very well endowed," she wiggled her eyebrows at him. Martha laughed at the discomfort he was obviously feeling.

"Well, you're mother was totally right," Jack then started to grin.

"Wow," Martha gasped. "You've really got some tickets on yourself there, hey?" she remarked.

"I'm just confident," Jack stated.

"No, you're just up yourself," Martha snorted.

"Now….," Jack started but then stopped what he was about to say when he looked in the rearview mirror. "We're being followed," he told Martha.

Martha panicked as she turned in her seat to get a better look. She spotted the black car a few car lengths behind them. As the seconds rolled on, the car got closer.

"Fuck," Martha banged her fist on the dashboard. By now, the car was right on their tale. "It's going to ram us," but her words came too late.

The car smashed right into the back of them; sending their car lurching forward. Luckily enough, Jack managed to keep the car in control.

"Jack," Martha screamed as the other car sped up beside them.

"I know," Jack growled as he put his foot down hard on the accelerator.

"How the fuck did we manage to get stuck in this piece of shit?" Martha cried. "Can't this damn thing go any faster?" she yelled at Jack.

"I'm going as fast as I can," Jack yelled back at her.

"Not fast enough buddy," Martha snapped as the other car tapped at them again.

"Maybe if you shut that hole in your face; I'd be able to concentrate," Jack sneered at her.

But once again; words were too late. The black car rammed into the side; sending it spinning out of control. Jack could hear Martha's screams. They shattered his brain as the car flipped and suddenly her screams became quiet.

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Jack opened his eyes; he could feel the blood rushing to his face. He was hanging from his seatbelt; upside down. He could feel the blood dripping down his face and landing in a puddle below him. He groaned at the pain in his head as he unhooked his seatbelt; letting him drop from his seat.

Jack pushed at the door and pulled himself from the wreckage. He stood up and shook his head; trying to remember what had just happened. He looked up at the road and spotted the other car; it looked as though the driver was slumped in their seat.

Jack spun around when he heard something ignite. The car was on fire. He ran around to Martha's side and pulled open the door. She was just hanging there; blood dripping from her face. She was unconscious. Jack wrapped an arm around her and quickly unhooked her seatbelt. He needed to get her out of there before the car blew.

He pulled her from the car and started to drag her away when he heard a female voice from behind him.

"You're not going anywhere Holden," she said as she cocked her gun.

Jack turned around to look at the red-headed woman. "Zoë," Jack laughed. "What? Now Corey and Ash have women doing their dirty work for them?" he asked.

"Put the fucking girl down," Zoë ordered.

Jack noticed that she was a little unsteady on her feet. The crash must have fucked her up as much as it had them.

"Put your hands where I can see them," Zoë screamed at him.

"Fuck you," Jack snarled at her.

"I wanna see your hands," Zoë roared again. Jack sniggered when she almost tripped in the mud as she approached him.

"Put the fucking girl down now," Zoë spat as she waved the gun around.

"Okay, okay…" Jack said, trying to reassure her. He couldn't risk Martha being shot by this bitch, so he opted on putting her down.

"Fucking hands," Zoë smiled sadistically. Jack raised his palms so she could see that he wasn't armed.

Zoë grinned at him "I have a message from Corey and Ash," she told him.

"See you in hell Holden," and with that a shot was released. Jack closed his eyes as he flung his hand into his jacket; grabbing for his gun.

As he brought it out to fire he watched as Zoë suddenly fell to her knees and then face first into the mud. Shot dead.

Jack stood on the spot stunned. That is, until he looked down and found Martha kneeling at his feet; a small caliber gun in her hand.

"Fucking bitch," Martha spat out.

Jack laughed at her. She'd shot Zoë. Shot her with a gun that she'd snatched from his leg holster.

Martha looked up at Jack with a smile on her face. "You didn't think the Macklin women would be raised without knowing how to fire a gun first, did you?" she laughed at him.

"Apparently I did," Jack scratched his head. He then leant down to help her up.

"My head hurts," Martha groaned. "I'm driving the next car Kenevil. I'm never letting you drive again," she added.

"We'll have to take her car," Jack pointed down at Zoë's dead body. "Speaking of cars, we have to move right now. Ours is gonna blow," he urged as he held out his hand for her to take.

"How do you know?" Martha asked as she took his hand and started running with him up the steep ravine with him; towards Zoë's car.

"There's a can of petrol in the back seat," Jack cringed as he said it.

Martha gasped. "They were going to set me on fire?" she was horrified.

Jack shrugged. "I'm sure they would have shot you first. You wouldn't have felt a thing," he assured her.

"You're unbelievable," Martha snapped. "Fuck you," she cried as she stomped off towards the car.

"Women," Jack muttered as he followed her.

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"There are no lights on. I thought Martha was going to be home," Charlie said to his brothers as they walked up towards the front door of their mansion.

"She probably went out," Macca suggested.

Charlie didn't like the feeling he was getting. "Something isn't right," he exclaimed.

He unlocked the door and walked inside; moving towards the alarm so that he could turn it off. "The alarm isn't set," he spat out when he noticed that the alarm wasn't on.

"She told me she'd turn it on after I left," Macca started to get worried.

"Get the tapes from the security camera's; something is wrong," Bruiser told Charlie as he launched himself up the stairs towards Martha's bedroom.

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