Secrets in Ink & Shadows in the Warehouse
The lamplight flickered against the clinic walls, throwing long shadows over the table where the dead man's ledger lay open.
Hetty, Belle, Fagin, and Broome stood in a semicircle behind Jack as he began his work.
No one spoke.
Everyone felt the weight of what was about to be uncovered.
1. Jack Deciphers the Ledger
"This code isn't meant to hide numbers… it's meant to hide guilt."
Jack traced a finger across the page.
Symbols.
Scratches.
Letters disguised as trade marks.
Amounts disguised as weights.
"This is not a normal ledger," Belle murmured.
"No," Jack agreed, "it's a cipher ledger—designed by someone who was either too clever, or too paranoid."
Hetty leaned in.
"Can you crack it?"
Jack exhaled slowly.
Sun Breathing — Concentration Form.
Sharpened Mind.
Images flashed:
the dead man's terrified eyes
the key hidden in the box
the map with routes burned at the edges
And the faint scent of opium spice.
"I've seen this pattern before," Jack said.
Belle widened her eyes.
"Where?"
"In a distant land," he answered smoothly, never revealing the system.
"From traders who hid their routes from warlords."
He pointed to the strange scratches.
"These aren't random. They're math disguised as weights."
Hetty blinked. "Math?"
"Yes. Every symbol equals a number… and the number equals a date or a location."
He scribbled quickly, converting marks into numbers.
Fagin peered over.
"Looks like gibberish."
Jack smirked.
"Until you know the trick."
Piece by piece, like disassembling a human body to find the disease, he broke it down:
the scratches = longitude marks
the small circles = shipment quantities
the large X symbols = officers involved
the red ink = bribes and payouts
Belle gasped as the final page clicked into clarity.
"Oh… Jack…"
She covered her mouth.
Hetty steadied herself on the table.
Fagin's cigar fell from his lips.
Even Broome murmured, "My God…"
The ledger revealed:
**Captain Gaines and multiple officers
were smuggling opium, weapons, and stolen colonial funds.**
Belle's voice trembled.
"My father's name is… here."
Not large.
Not bold.
But unmistakable.
Jack placed a hand on her shoulder — firm, grounding.
"You're not responsible for your father's sins. But you can help end them."
Belle nodded once.
Silent.
Determined.
3. Night Infiltration with Hetty
"Jack… if we get caught, they'll hang us."
"Not tonight," Jack said.
The Shadows needed proof beyond the ledger.
The coded entries pointed to Warehouse No. 4, near the edge of Port Victory—the officers' private storage.
Jack didn't trust Belle enough yet to bring her to the clinic, but he trusted her fire.
Tonight though—
this mission required quiet hands and steady nerves.
So he chose Hetty.
The Warehouse
The moon hid behind clouds as Jack and Hetty slipped through the alley.
Jack wore his doctor's coat—stained, worn, inconspicuous.
Hetty wore her nurse's uniform beneath a cloak.
"You ready?" he asked.
Hetty smirked.
"I cleaned your clinic… I can handle a warehouse."
Jack actually smiled.
They approached the back door—a heavy iron lock.
Hetty whispered:
"How do we get in?"
Jack pulled out a thin metal rod and a hook.
"Improvised lockpick," he murmured.
"Phoenix Foundation style."
"Who?"
"Doesn't matter."
Click.
The door opened.
Inside, moonlight filtered through broken windows.
Crates stacked to the ceiling.
Barrels marked with sugar.
Sacks labeled wheat.
Hetty sniffed the air.
"Jack… that's not sugar."
"No," Jack said darkly.
He opened a barrel.
Inside was:
Refined opium bricks wrapped in tea paper.
Hetty swore under her breath.
"This could destroy the colony."
"It already has," Jack replied.
They moved deeper.
Another crate—this one marked with the governor's seal.
Jack pried it open.
Hetty's eyes widened.
Inside:
military rifles
ammo tins
stolen government funds
forged shipping documents
Hetty whispered, horrified:
"This is… treason."
Jack nodded.
"And now we have proof."
But Someone Else Was in the Warehouse
A floorboard creaked above.
Jack froze.
Hetty grabbed his sleeve.
A shadow moved on the upper walkway.
Slow.
Silent.
Watching them.
Jack's grip tightened on his hidden blade.
"Run?" Hetty whispered.
"No," Jack said quietly.
"If they know we were here… we're dead."
The shadow stepped forward—
A boot heel struck wood.
A faint glint of metal.
And a voice whispered:
"Doctor…"
Hetty gasped.
Jack's eyes widened—not with fear, but recognition.
The figure stepped into the moonlight.
Captain Gaines in the Dark
The wooden railing creaked as the shadow leaned forward, and the moon finally revealed the man standing above them.
Captain Roland Gaines.
Uniform crisp.
Sword at his hip.
Eyes hard as polished stone.
Hetty's breath hitched.
Jack felt her fingers tighten on his sleeve.
The captain looked down at the open crates — the opium bricks, the stolen rifles, the governor's stolen funds — and then at Jack.
His voice was low, cold, and confident:
**"Doctor…
You really should not be here."**
Jack didn't move.
Didn't blink.
He simply tilted his head.
"Odd," Jack replied softly.
"I was about to say the same thing to you."
Gaines smiled—the kind of smile predators make before they strike.
He began to descend the stairs with deliberate, measured steps.
Hetty whispered urgently:
"Jack… we need to go—"
"No," Jack murmured.
"We can't run.
He'd have us hunted by dawn."
Gaines stopped halfway down the steps, standing directly in the moonbeam.
"Funny thing," he said casually, "these crates… this warehouse… none of it exists. Not officially."
He tapped the railing with his knuckles.
"So if someone were to break in… if someone were to discover anything they shouldn't…"
His smile widened.
**"…I could make them disappear.
No questions asked."**
Hetty's heart hammered in her chest.
Jack stepped forward, calm as a sleepless sea.
"And if the colony were to discover that their beloved captain is selling opium, weapons, and government property to criminals?"
Gaines' eyes sharpened like a blade.
"That would be quite the accusation," he said softly.
"Especially coming from you, Dawkins."
He took one more step.
"After all… you are still a thief. A criminal. A convict."
He leaned in slightly.
"And you're still mine to command."
Hetty's fists clenched.
Jack's expression didn't change.
"…But you're not as clever as you think, Captain," Jack said quietly.
Gaines raised an eyebrow.
"Oh? Enlighten me."
Jack lifted the ledger.
"I know your routes.
Your contacts.
Your bribes.
Your shipments."
He closed it with one hand.
"And I know about your wife."
Gaines froze.
His expression twisted—not with fear, but with pure rage.
"You dare—"
"I can destroy you," Jack said calmly, "more quietly than you destroy men on the battlefield."
Hetty swallowed hard—Jack was provoking a wolf.
Gaines descended the last step.
He stood one meter away from Jack.
Close enough for Jack to smell the whiskey on his breath.
"Be careful," Gaines whispered.
"A man like me… has nothing to lose."
Jack smiled faintly.
"That's where you're wrong."
Jack lifted his hand—
—and showed the captain a folded slip of paper.
Hetty gasped softly when she realized what it was.
Belle's handwriting.
Belle's information.
Belle's evidence.
Captain Gaines recognized it instantly.
His face turned stone-white.
"You're bluffing," he growled.
Jack didn't look away.
"I never bluff."
For the first time, the captain's confidence cracked.
His jaw clenched.
His hand hovered near his sword… then stopped.
He exhaled slowly—controlled fury simmering beneath the surface.
"…What do you want?" he finally muttered.
Jack answered without hesitation.
**"You will not touch me.
You will not touch Hetty.
You will not touch Belle."**
Gaines' nostrils flared.
"And if I do?"
Jack's eyes hardened.
"You won't live long enough to regret it."
They stared each other down.
A silent war.
Then—
Heavy bootsteps sounded outside.
Voices. Lanterns. Footfalls.
Soldiers.
Gaines' men.
Hetty's eyes widened.
"Jack—there's no way out the back!"
Gaines smirked darkly.
His voice was almost gentle:
**"Well then… Doctor…
Let's see how well you operate under pressure."**
Jack grabbed Hetty's wrist.
"Move."
And everything exploded into motion.