In an instant, the darkness transformed to daylight, a blinding glare that dug at his eyes and made him feel unbalanced. By reflex, he covered his eyes with his bloody palms.
He heard a noise that sounded like people clapping and he dropped to a crouch, making himself as small as possible.
“That took you long enough,” said Teddy’s voice from somewhere beyond Graham’s covered eyes.
Graham peeled his hands away, and as his eyes adjusted, he saw the torturer approaching him. His head told him to run, but his instincts told him to wait.
“I wanted you to feel that adrenaline rush,” Teddy went on, “because for every rush there is a crash. I think the most important thing that someone in your position must remember is that hope is imaginary. By breaking through that window and coming out into this space, you did exactly what I expected you to. That’s why we’ve been waiting. Though I must tell you that we’ve been waiting for much longer than I thought we would. Sooner or later, you will give me what I want.”
Graham could see people gathered behind Teddy — many of the same faces he’d seen in the room with the tub — but they seemed to be hanging back. Graham stood and took a couple of steps back, maintaining his distance from Teddy.
“I gave you an assignment last time we spoke,” Teddy said. “Have you had a chance to think about the options I gave you?”
Graham knew that if he tried to bolt, they would hurt him, so he stayed put, unmoving.
“I expect an answer, Graham,” Teddy said.
This was the big moment. He could declare himself to be sniveling, or he could show some pride. Graham stood to his full five-foot, nine-inch height and faced Teddy head-on. “Yeah, I’ve thought about it,” he said. “I’ve decided you need to believe the truth — I don’t know anything you want to hear.”
Teddy planted his hands on his hips, the posture of a man who was sorely disappointed. “That’s very sad,” he said. “It’s a decision that makes your life many times more difficult. In my opinion, too many people value bravery and defiance over common sense. We will do it the more difficult way, then.”
His heart screaming for relief, Graham tensed and waited for the attack. He had no experience fighting, but he had plenty of experience running away from fights, and in this place, there was plenty of room to duck and dodge. That couldn’t go on forever — certainly not against people with guns — but every delay brought him a new opportunity for a miracle.
Only, they didn’t rush him. Instead, they sneaked up on him from behind. He sensed them before he saw them, and before he could react, a noose dropped over his head and pulled tight around his neck. He brought his hands to his throat to protect his windpipe, and when he did, the noose pulled tighter, lifted higher. He had to stand on tiptoes to keep his head from being pulled off.
“Hands to your side, Graham,” Teddy said. His voice kept a relaxed monotone that sounded so easygoing and businesslike. “Relax them. We’re not trying to kill you, we’re trying to control you.”
Graham did as he was told. He lowered his hands, and the man who controlled the noose loosened it.
“Good man,” Teddy said. “And a good lesson in cause and effect. Now cross your wrists behind your back.”
Graham hesitated. They were going to tie his hands, and once that was done, he’d be finished, his chance for survival over. The hesitation caused him to be lifted off his heels again and onto his toes. The rope — he couldn’t see it, but he was certain that it was a rope — chafed the flesh of his neck. He battled every instinct to claw at the noose, and instead did as he was told, and crossed his wrists behind his back.
The pressure eased. He stood still and tried not to give into the tears that pressed behind his eyes as someone slipped a loop over his hands and pulled it tight. The plastic ratchet sound told him that they’d used the zip ties he’d seen on cop shows.
“Your future is in your own hands now, young man,” Teddy said. “Failure to comply means pain. Doing the reasonable thing means less pain. It’s that simple.” Teddy started walking away, and Graham’s minder followed, lifting slightly on the noose to encourage his captive to follow.
There was no doubt in Graham’s mind as he danced through the broken glass on the floor to the amusement of his handler that they’d deliberately chosen the most painful path. To stumble at this point would be to hang himself.
When they were through the glass, Graham swiped the sole of each foot against the opposite calf to rub away any straggling shards, and then allowed himself to be led to wherever they were taking him. He knew he was in trouble the instant he saw the big freezer door. This was probably the very route they’d carried him into the building, but of course he hadn’t been able to see anything then. As soon as Teddy pulled on the door latch, his suspicions were confirmed.
The first thing he saw was the hooks hanging from the ceiling, and then he took in the table that he’d tried to turn into his shelter. The room looked smaller from this angle, and somehow even more frightening. The meat hooks dangled from overhead like so many gleaming, blood-ravenous bats. The table mocked him as the slab on which to perform his autopsy. The floor still glistened with ice. Graham felt sick, but he was determined not to give his captors the satisfaction of seeing him puke.
“Remember,” Teddy said, “this is all your choosing.”
The goon on the other end of the rope led/dragged Graham to the center of the room, and positioned him in a precise spot. Graham didn’t know what the spot meant, but apparently, it was important to whatever lay ahead. Only a few feet in, the frigid air enveloped him like a blanket of razor blades.
Equipment of some sort moved behind him, but his efforts to turn and see earned him a slap in the gut, so he resigned himself to being surprised.
Time and opportunity.
Graham felt a slight tug on his neck — nothing like the first ones — and then people moved away from him. When he looked up, he saw that the far end of his noose had been tied around the J of a meat hook.
“Be careful,” Teddy said as Graham’s minder pulled away. “That noose is a one-way knot. Once it tightens, you need hands to loosen it. And, well, you don’t have functioning hands anymore. Remember what happened last time you grew so cold?”
The asshole actually waited for an answer. Graham refused to give him one.
“Do you really want me to pre-tighten the knot?” Teddy asked. “When I’m in control, questions get answers. Now, again. Do you want me to pre-tighten the knot?”
Graham shook his head.
“Motion is not an answer,” Teddy said. His voice was getting reedy. Graham didn’t know what that meant for him, but he knew that it couldn’t be good.
“No,” Graham said. “I don’t want you to tighten the knot.”
“Very well, then. The question I asked is, do you remember what happened the last time you got very cold?”
Graham scowled. The God’s-honest truthful answer was no, he didn’t remember. He remembered being cold and frightened, and then he remembered being in the warm bath. Everything else was either nonexistent or a blur in his memory. But he sensed that Teddy wouldn’t want to hear that.
“You’re confused,” Teddy said. “That’s because you fell unconscious. And that, my young friend, is the point. If you fall unconscious now, I will not rescue you. What you know is important, but not so important that we cannot live without it.”
“What is it?” Graham asked. He stood taller than was necessary, keenly aware of the nonloosening knot and the lack of slack in the rope. “What do the numbers mean?”