Fortify

Chapter Four

[Small edit: meet Captain Kitch! He's played by Céasar Domboy]

I stared back at the captain, not bothering to hide my complete shock. Whatever I had thought he could possibly say to me, that hadn't even been my top 100. Sure, I'd had my fair share of people being suspicious of me—ahem, the Hatfields—but never had anyone pinpointed the reason I was sketchy.

  "I-I..." I floundered lamely.

  Beside me, Sinclair laughed heartily. "Look at his face!" he jeered.

  I glared down at him...and I may have exaggerated just how much I was looking down just to piss him off—which it did. He crossed his arms tightly over his chest and huffed loudly.

  The captain looked as if he was trying to hide his amusement—which probably meant he was more amused by Sinclair's huffiness than he was my disbelief. "Relax, kid," he said in smooth voice. "Your face might freeze like that before too long."

  I shook my head violently, holding up my hands defensively. "What the hell is going on?"

  Sinclair, who had taken a seat in a smaller chair, looked smugly up at me. With better lighting, I could make out his features a bit more, although he hid beneath his hat pretty well, something I thought was perhaps on purpose to hide a blemish or something—maybe he had an embarrassing scar? His skin was mocha brown and he had bright green eyes I swear were glowing. He was taking a bit too much pleasure out of my perplexity, which I couldn't understand for the life of me.

  "Not so funny when tables are turned, huh?" he mused with a wide smirk. "Now ya know how the people ya visit feel."

  I rolled my eyes. "I don't make a bit of difference to the people I visit."

  "Oh no?" the captain suddenly said, his tone turning serious. "I don't suppose the Hatfields would agree with that statement—that is, if they knew any better."

  My entire body turned cold. Suddenly, all those times I'd traveled and had that feeling of being watched started to come back to me. Who the hell were these people? I was afraid to ask. If they knew about Josie...was she in danger? I swear to God, if they did anything to her...

  "Oh, calm down," Sinclair muttered boredly. "Your little sister's still safe in her contraband lifestyle. For now."

  When I turned on him, my fists shook slightly at my sides. "What do you want?"

  Goddamnit, Josie was happy! She was happy and more careful than anyone and had given up everything for that happiness. I'd do anything these creeps asked to keep her happiness safe. But why would they even care anyway? Were they just blackmailing me? Was I going to have to go kill Hitler or something? Or worse...

  "You may wanna have a seat," the captain said.

  When he put his hand on my shoulder, I shoved it away angrily. "What do you want?" I repeated angrily.

  "Allow me to explain," the captain started in a slow drawl. He had no intention of just spitting it out.

  That didn't sit well with me.

  "Oh, you'll explain," I ground out hotly, "just as soon as you tell me my sister's safe and you haven't done anything to jeopardize her life."

  "You mean more than y'all already did?" Sinclair sneered. "Honestly, y'all didn't think you'd get away with shaping the whole history of the goddamn Hatfield and McCoys, did you?"

  I was getting so worked up, I could hardly think straight. All that mattered was that she was safe and happy—and that it would stay that way. And the way they were dodging my direct questions had my blood boiling.