“We’re good,” said Dupree.
Lucas pulled away from the curb.
They were in the commercial space of the Woldu property on North Capitol, just above Florida Avenue. They had parked in the alley and walked Lumley in through the back door after removing his ankle restraints. Once inside, Dupree had used the bolt cutter to take the handcuffs off as well. Lumley himself ripped the duct tape from his mouth. Lucas told him to go into the bathroom, and he complied.
Lumley had said nothing. He was not being stoic. He had lost his color, and he seemed too afraid to talk.
The bathroom was large, with exposed pipes in the ceiling and a full tub. When Dupree entered, wearing the stun gun in a holster clipped to his belt, the space shrank.
“Take off your clothes, Charles,” said Lucas.
“What for?” said Lumley, uttering his first words since they’d pulled him off the street.
“All of them,” said Lucas. “Fold them neatly and hand them to me. I’ll put them outside the door.”
Lucas knew that there could be few things more humiliating for a man than to be naked in front of two fully clothed assailants. Lumley would now be submissive.
“Nice suit,” said Dupree, as Lumley stepped out of his shoes and then removed his jacket and tie.
“Canali,” said Lumley, trying to endear himself to his captors.
“Where’d you get it?”
“I have a salesman at Saks on Wisconsin Avenue.”
“I bet he let you in when you came to the door.”
Lumley kept his eyes downcast and finished undressing. When he was done he handed Lucas his clothing. Lucas, as promised, placed his folded clothing outside the door, along with his wallet and cell.
Lumley stood naked before them. He was a thin man with gym muscles on his chest and arms. He’d made the common mistake of not working his legs, so that the effect in total was artificial and incomplete. His penis wasn’t small. Still, he crossed his hands over it as if he was ashamed.
“Relax, Charles,” said Dupree.
Lumley let his hands rest at his sides.
“This is about Grace Kinkaid,” said Lumley, to Lucas.
“Correct,” said Lucas. “Answer our questions and I’ll give you your clothing back and let you go.”
“What do you want to know?”
“You’re working with Billy Hunter,” said Lucas. “What’s Hunter’s real name? Where does he stay?”
Lumley looked down at the checkerboard tiled floor.
Lucas glanced up at the pipes in the ceiling. He’d seen no chairs out in the main space, and Lumley wasn’t tall enough to reach the pipes. If he had a chair, he could have Lumley stand on it, bind Lumley’s hands behind his back, bind his hands to the pipes, and wait for him to fall forward. This would cause much pain and dislocation. The venerable Palestinian Crucifixion. But Lucas had no chair.
“Okay,” said Lucas. “Go stand in the doorway, Charles. Raise your hands and grab the molding up top.”
Lumley went to the doorway and did as he was told. “Like this?” he said, hopefully. It didn’t seem like anything, yet.
“Just like that,” said Lucas.
Lucas and Dupree had a seat on the edge of the tub as Lumley held his position.
“We shoulda brought a deck of cards,” said Dupree.
“We’ve got our phones,” said Lucas. “We could play Words with Friends.”
“I don’t want to play that game with you. You make words up, man.”
“No, I don’t.”
“Last time, you played dhole. What is that?”
“It’s a word,” said Lucas.
Lumley began to feel some ache after fifteen minutes. It was hard to hold his arms up as the blood rushed to his lower body and he lost his strength. At the half-hour mark he experienced cramping and dizziness. He was sweating profusely. He made childish choking sounds.
“You recognize this place?” said Lucas. Lumley nodded weakly. “Billy Hunter, or whatever his name is, and a guy named Serge, and a third guy with a beard, they were renting this spot for a while. I imagine you came here when you were doing your dirt with Billy. Let’s keep this simple: again, where are Billy and his partners now? Where do they stay, Charles?”
Lumley sharply shook his head. He briefly took his hands off the molding and began to lower them.
“Don’t do that,” said Lucas. “My friend will hit you with the stun gun again. This time he’ll put it right on your testicles.”
“God,” said Lumley.
“Ain’t no God in this room,” said Dupree, though to him that was a lie. In his mind, the Lord was everywhere. Today, this disturbed him.
“Tell me where Billy Hunter stays right now,” said Lucas. “Tell me where Grace Kinkaid’s painting is.”
Lumley shook his head.
“Hang there,” said Lucas.
Twenty minutes later, Lumley fell like laundry to the tiled floor. Lying there in the fetal position, he shook and sobbed.
“Where’s Billy Hunter?” said Lucas, after Lumley had composed himself.
“He’ll kill me,” said Lumley.
“Does that mean you’re not going to tell us?” said Lucas.
“I can’t.”
Tough guy, thought Lucas. He was surprised.
Lucas looked at Dupree and jerked his head toward the hot and cold taps. Both of them stood. Dupree opened the spigots and began to fill the tub.
“What are you doing?” said Lumley. “Are you two soldiers or something?”
They didn’t answer.
“Are you going to waterboard me?”
Dupree chuckled. “We don’t even know how to do that, Charles.”
Lucas got two more pairs of restraints from his bag, turned Lumley over, and bound his hands and feet behind his back as the tub filled. He tore a long strip of duct tape off the roll. When he was done, the tub was sufficiently full.
“Is that water hot?” said Lumley. “Is it hot?”
Neither Lucas nor Dupree replied.
“One more chance,” said Lucas.
Lumley winced and shook his head.
“All right,” said Lucas. “This could have been easy. You made a choice.”
“No,” said Lumley. “No.”
Lucas wrapped the duct tape around Lumley’s mouth. Then he grabbed his biceps and hoisted him up to his knees. He scooted Lumley to the edge of the tub so that he was bent forward and looking into the water. Dupree, behind them, gripped Lumley’s ankles. Lumley was wide-eyed and shaking.
“Blink if you’re ready to talk,” said Lucas.
Lumley did not blink, and with his hand firmly on the back of Lumley’s head Lucas pushed his face down into the water. He held him there. At first, Lumley didn’t move. Then he began to struggle.
“The tape wasn’t a good idea,” said Dupree. “He’s gonna take water up in his nose.”
Bubbles came to the surface of the water.
“Maybe you’re right,” said Lucas.
Lucas waited. He pulled Lumley’s head up. His chest was heaving and he was trying to take in breath through his nose, but there was water in there, and he coughed, his breath out-denting the tape. Lucas ripped the tape away and let Lumley get his breath.
“Billy Hunter,” said Lucas. “Where is he? Where’s the painting?”
Lumley said nothing. Lucas pushed his head back down into the water and held it fast. Lumley writhed beneath his grip, his legs kicked out, and Dupree grasped his twisting ankles.
“Dude’s stronger than he looks,” said Dupree.
Lucas watched the water and studied the bubbles with a curious distance. Time passed. Lumley jerked violently and a great deal of bubbles burst on the surface. Lumley went lank and urinated on the floor.