Jack groaned as the fist connected with his stomach. He was struggling to think clearly now and the pain, which had come in waves at the beginning, was now relentless. But still, he didn't think that this was the work of the Rodriguez Cartel. That made no sense. They hadn't followed him. He was sure of that. And if these were Rodriguez's men, well – if he were honest, he didn't think they were serious enough in their interrogation. Even were he to suppose that they valued him so highly that they wanted him left healthy enough to work for them – even then, he might have expected more. The pain was still manageable. At this level, he could just about control his reactions. He had been pushed past that level before and he didn't doubt that these men had the tools to do it again. But they had chosen not to.
He had tried to provoke Carlos. He didn't want to suffer the consequences but it was important to know how far this man was prepared to go - how else to judge his intentions? Even when the pain was at its most intense, Jack had tried to rein in his reactions. He had struggled to hold Carlos' stare throughout the manipulation of his fingers; an effort that he knew now had taken its toll on his strength. But the violence hadn't really escalated. Jack's experience told him this was odd. If Carlos were deadly serious, Jack thought, he would surely have broken his hand, his arm – he would have wanted to show his prisoner what he was capable of. But he hadn't. Carlos was calm – too calm – as if at some level, he didn't feel personally involved in the interrogation. And, yes, Jack had been frightened again when he was fastened to the wall, frightened by not knowing what he could expect next, but he did not think he was in the hands of desperate men. He didn't doubt that they were sadistic men, but he didn't think of them as desperate men; not men whose jobs and lives might depend on breaking their prisoner.
And they seemed to know too much about him too. When his shirt was torn open, he had heard a remark along the lines of 'looks like someone got here before us' as the scars from his previous interrogation were revealed. And Carlos had seemed to say. 'Yeah I heard about that'. From who? Jack thought. And he thought he knew then that only Ramon or Hector could be behind this.
Or Claudia. She knew his body well. Could she have fed information to another Cartel? Would she betray him? Maybe she would. But in sleeping with him, she had surely put her life on the line just as much as he...
Jack's thoughts were interrupted as he heard Carlos ask, 'How does this feel Jack? Does this make you want to talk to us?' And he knew that it was time to stop thinking; time again to channel his energies into endurance and survival.
The blade of the knife was cold and sharp as it scratched at the surface of his skin. Jack glared at Carlos who stood poised and ready to strike, enjoying the look of apprehension that he saw reflected in Jack's eyes. Jack was determined to ride out this pain as he had before; and he took a deep breath to prepare himself. And then he felt the blade as it went deeper. He felt the blood spill out and run down his skin. He was breathing noisily and he knew he could do nothing now but wait for the blade to rotate, wishing that unconsciousness might save him from the agony of that turn, but knowing that his endurance was too high for that to happen just yet.
And his torturer kept him waiting, understanding the torment of expectation, making sure that all of Jack's nerves were alive to experience what he was going to inflict. Then he turned the blade and Jack could think of nothing but the pain and he found that he couldn't completely stifle a noisy gasp.
And then the door of the barn opened. Jack saw Ramon and Hector enter and he knew immediately that this had been another of Ramon's tests. He felt sick to think that this had been no more than another of the brothers' sadistic games. The sickness heightened his pain and fuelled his anger. He groaned and spoke angrily. His voice was hoarse and rasping.
'Get me down now Ramon. I want no more to do with you'
Ramon walked up to Jack and stood in front of him, looking first at his hand, and then at the cuts on his body and then into his eyes,
'Please Jack. Don't think badly of me now. You know how I reward loyalty and you have shown it to me Jack. No more tests. I promise Jack. Now you will be like a brother to us.'