The Captain's House, and the Woman Who Lied Too Often
Jack Dawkins did not trust Peggy Gaines.
Not for a second.
Manipulative.
Deceptive.
A woman who played every man she touched.
Someone like that could not be allowed close unless she was controlled.
So Jack didn't wait for a mistake.
He went first.
A Night Visit
The Captain's house sat silent under the fog.
Jack, masked and hooded, moved like a shadow across the yard.
The system's Lightfoot Step made his movements soundless.
Sleeping powder in one hand.
A cloth in the other.
He slipped into the window effortlessly.
Captain Gaines slept heavily — drunk, as usual.
Jack didn't care about him.
He cared about her.
Peggy was asleep in a separate room — vanity table full of men's gifts, letters, trinkets from secrets she should never have kept.
Jack pressed the powder-soaked cloth gently over her face.
Her eyes fluttered in confusion.
Then darkness.
The Safe House
When Peggy woke, she was tied to a chair in a dimly lit room, hands bound, feet pinned.
Her breath hitched.
Fear flooded her face.
A shadow stepped forward, removing his mask.
Jack Dawkins.
Her fear sharpened.
"You—" she whispered. "You kidnapped me?!"
Jack didn't raise his voice.
"You lie for sport. You cheat for pleasure. You manipulate because it amuses you."
He crouched in front of her.
"And I don't trust anything that amuses itself with destruction."
Peggy trembled.
"What do you want from me?"
Jack leaned closer, voice cold as a scalpel.
"Information."
Peggy swallowed.
"About—about my husband?"
"About him," Jack said, "and the men he drinks with. Their secrets. Their plans. Their crimes. The documents they hide. The conversations you pretend not to hear."
Peggy looked away.
"And if I refuse?"
Jack didn't smile.
He didn't threaten violence.
He simply stood, walked to the window, and tapped the wall with a knuckle.
No echo.
No sound escaped.
"Peggy," he said quietly, "no one knows where you are. No one can hear you. No one even knows you left the house."
She shivered.
Jack stepped closer, voice low but steel-hard.
"You will feed me information. You will pass me letters. You will listen to conversations and repeat every word. And if you decide to betray me…"
He lifted her chin with one finger.
"…then I promise you, I will know."
Peggy's breath shook.
"I… I don't have a choice."
Jack nodded once.
"Correct."
He cut her ropes.
She didn't run.
She didn't scream.
She simply sat there, breathing fast, understanding exactly what he was.
Not her owner.
Not her master.
Something worse:
A man who didn't need chains to control someone.
A man whose silence was more dangerous than any threat.
A man she could not lie to.
Jack opened the door.
"From now on, Peggy Gaines," he said, "you will work for me. Quietly. Properly. Without games."
Peggy nodded shakily.
"Yes… Doctor."
Jack slipped his mask back on.
"You may go home now. And tell no one you were taken."
Whispers From a Cornered Woman
Peggy Gaines had always been a master of secret glances, hidden affairs, and whispered lies.
But now… her hands shook.
Because she was no longer lying for herself.
She was lying for Jack Dawkins.
A man who didn't shout or beat or threaten.
A man who scared her far more than the ones who did.
Her First Message
Three days after Jack abducted her, the first message arrived.
Hetty handed Jack a folded paper during his late rounds.
"A woman dropped this off," she said.
"She didn't say a word. Just ran."
Jack recognized the perfume instantly.
Peggy.
He unfolded the paper.
PEGGY'S SECRET NOTE — WRITTEN IN A RUSH
"Two nights from now, Captain meeting in the old customs warehouse.
Men from Sydney arriving.
Talking about a shipment—'medicine'—but I heard them say 'powder.'
They said it must not reach the Governor's ears."
Jack's eyes narrowed.
Not medicine.
Opium.
He burned the note in the lamp flame.
Belle approached, arms full of linens.
"You're awfully serious," she said.
"That another patient problem?"
Jack didn't answer.
He simply said:
"Belle, take the west ward tonight. I have preparations."
Belle frowned but nodded.
When she walked away, Hetty stepped closer.
"That was from her, wasn't it?"
Jack didn't deny it.
Hetty sighed sharply.
"Whatever you're doing with that woman… be careful, Jack. She's dangerous."
Jack's voice was cold.
"She's afraid of me now."
Hetty shivered.
"That's what I'm afraid of."
Captain Gaines Senses Something Wrong
While Jack planned his night surveillance, something else was happening across town.
Peggy sat at her vanity, brushing her hair with trembling fingers when her husband entered.
Captain Gaines wasn't observant
—normally.
But tonight, he noticed the way Peggy jolted when he touched her shoulder.
He frowned.
"You're jumpy."
"I—I'm fine."
But her voice cracked.
He narrowed his eyes.
Peggy was many things—vain, shallow, dramatic—
but she rarely looked afraid.
"Were you out recently?" the Captain asked.
"N-No. I was resting."
He studied her face.
"You seem tired. And your wrist… that's a new bandage."
Peggy swallowed hard.
"Just a small strain—"
The Captain grabbed her hand firmly.
"Peggy," he said with a low warning tone, "I am your husband. You hide something from me, and I will know."
Her heart pounded.
Jack's warning echoed in her skull:
If you betray me, Peggy… I will know.
The Captain leaned closer.
"Who treated your wrist?"
Peggy froze.
For a second, she almost said, "The Doctor."
Almost said Jack's name.
Almost exposed everything.
But Jack's cold golden eyes flashed in her memory.
She whispered:
"A nurse. I forget her name."
Gaines didn't believe her.
Not for a moment.
His eyes narrowed into slits.
"Peggy," he said slowly, "if I find out you've been meeting anyone behind my back—anyone—there will be consequences."
Peggy lowered her head.
"I understand."
But her fear wasn't for the Captain.
It was for the man whose mask hid the truth of what he would do if she broke their agreement.
Meeting in the Shadows
That night, Jack stood on a rooftop overlooking the customs warehouse.
The moon was low.
Fog clung to the streets.
He watched the Captain enter with three officers and two men from Sydney—smugglers pretending to be merchants.
Jack's system chimed softly:
[MISSION UPDATED]
Intercept illegal opium shipment.
Identify corrupt officials.
Reward: 4th Sun Breathing Form + Reputation (Underground) Increase
Jack exhaled.
So Peggy's message had been accurate.
Good.
She was listening.
He crouched low, eyes sharpening.
Transparent World activated, showing him—
—men hiding crates,
—the path smugglers took inside,
—the slight limp of the Sydney leader,
—the Captain's nervous shifting.
Jack murmured:
"Now, Captain Gaines… what exactly are you hiding from the Governor?"
He smirked beneath his mask.
Peggy's fear-driven obedience had led him to something big.
Something worth destroying.