Page 17 of After 5

His forehead sported a large bandage. I leaned against the wall opposite him. The holding cell was small in comparison to the living arrangements of the normal Gitmo prisoners. The WTF worried a brigand might summon a vessel, so they safeguarded by providing tight quarters, making it impossible to call for a ride home.

In the past, a brigand had his key until the WTF could torture it off. Proper torture took time and planning. Since the WTF discovered I had the ability to remove keys, the torture took a back seat, but we still took care when snatching keys to avoid the repercussions from the brigand’s posse.

“How’s your head?” I asked Toches.

“Hurts like a son of a bitch. But they gave me good drugs. I imagine it would hurt ten times worse if I didn’t take the meds.”

I nodded.

“I hate this place.”

“Most do.”

He bit his lower lip then looked up at me. “Why didn’t you leave me in Salem?”

“I couldn’t let you die at the hands of the hangman’s noose—that would be too poetic.”

“Those people were nuts.” A nervous laugh escaped, and he lowered his gaze to his bound hands.

“Why were you really there?” I asked.

“I told you before, I wanted to see a witch burn.”

“Who was the girl?”

“Just a girl.”

“Was she a traveler?”

Silence.

“Why did you save her?”

“I can’t tell you. Mortas would have my balls for breakfast.” He sighed. “He’s going to go berserk when he finds out I’ve been captured.”

“Toecheese, you weren’t captured. I saved your life.”

“Stop calling me that. It’s disgusting.” He stared at me in defiance, then dropped his head. By the way his shoulders slumped, I almost felt bad for the guy. “You don’t understand.”

I pushed away from the wall and squatted in front of him. “Help me understand.”

He raised his eyes to mine. “The old man thinks I’m a loser. Not good enough to be in his family.” Toches air quoted the word family with his fingers. “He considers me on the same level as the Cracky Clan. I might as well be pond scum.”

The Cracky Clan were the bottom feeders of the time travel world; however, they rarely caused damage to the past.

“Why do you care what Gian-Carlo thinks?” I placed my hand over Toches’s clasped hands, and a wave of jealousy and frustration washed over me. Toches yanked his hands out from under mine. The force knocked me back on my ass, and he laughed at me.

The ache in my backside reminded me of Jake’s warning not to touch Toches.

I stood and crossed my arms over my chest. I wasn’t giving up that easy. “If you give me something, I’ll try to get you out of here.”

“They can’t hold me. I didn’t do anything.” He fidgeted. “Besides, it’s personal.”

“You saved a girl from hanging. They can keep you until they find the girl.”

“For real?”

“Yes. Could be months, years before they locate her.” I knew this wasn’t entirely true, but hey, what’s one more little white lie in my book of tall tales? I crossed my fingers for good measure.

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