Free Caravan of Thieves by David Rich

them or not, we had to assume they were there. The door opened. Two masked men came in. First they assessed whether I was going to be a problem. I sat back. They came forward and lifted Dan to his feet. As soon as they started out, I kicked one behind the knee. He buckled. The other man threw Dan against the wall and turned to me. I punched with my right. Too slow. He dodged, caught my elbow, and rammed me headfirst into the wall. By then, the other man was up. He slugged me in the kidney, but he didn’t have to. I was on my way to the floor, woozy and beaten. I looked up at him. His mouth hung open, showing the gap where his front teeth should have been.
    From the next room, I could hear the desperate chorus.
    “You’re out of your league, Dan.”
    “National security implications. Join us. Join us.”
    “We know who you are. We know your past.”
    “Tell us where the money is, Dan.”
    “I don’t know.”
    “Bring in his son.”
    They dragged me out of the cell. I didn’t resist. Before we went into the next room, I caught a glimpse of a thin man, medium height, wearing a mask, walking out the other way. I had never seen that one before.
    The interrogation room had a window, a desk with a couple of bottles of water on it, and two chairs. Dan was passed out in one of them. They hadn’t bothered to tie him to it. His face was raw and swollen from the beatings. Fresh blood dripped on the dried blood on his shirt.
    For the first time, I saw faces. Two guys, older than me, in their thirties, stood guard over Dan. They wore combat gear. The one on the right wore gloves. He had blond hair and a huge chin. His eyes glinted with delight. It wasn’t because he was going to beat Dan; it was because I was going to watch it happen. The one on the left held a baton. His head was shaved, and when he spoke his words were mush. His mouth did not open properly. Then Blondie said, “Maybe he’d like to take a turn hitting the old man.”
    The other man said something like, “Ah wanna killminetoo.” He was mumbling to hide the gap in his mouth. But then he smiled. The combination of baldness and missing teeth made him look more zany than threatening.
    The man in charge sat in a chair facing Dan. He wore fatigues and a black beret without insignia. His skin was tight and tanned and his eyes were such a light blue that he looked possessed oralien, though you could tell they were his pride and joy and he thought everyone was transfixed by them. He said, “Stand over here, soldier, so your father can see you.”
    I looked behind me. The two who brought me in were guarding the door, masks still on, weapons drawn. I moved in front of Dan. One of the guards had to move aside to make room for me. “You’re McColl,” I said. He gave me the full treatment with the eyes, blank, disinterested. But I could tell I was right and he didn’t like me knowing.
    “Your father stole money from us and he isn’t cooperating. Now you’re going to have to help us.”
    “You want what you’ve rightfully stolen.”
    “Do not be insolent, soldier. You have no idea what you’re talking about.”
    “National security, huh? Top secret. Hush-hush. How about if I take a vow of secrecy and we all put on our masks and do the initiation ceremony? In this case, that would be the Order of the Greedy Fucks Who Washed Out of the Third Army.”
    The baton came down hard on my shoulder. I buckled for just a moment. Toothless held the baton ready, threatening more. McColl gestured for him to back away. “I know your record, soldier. I respect it. I have no gripe with you. I’m only doing what’s necessary to accomplish the mission.”
    He seemed to think his little speech would convince me that torturing Dan was okay. I couldn’t see any sense in arguing with McColl and I had the feeling that I shouldn’t have shown defiance to start with. Dan wouldn’t have.
    “Dan, your son is here. We’re going to kill him if you don’t tell us where the money