In the middle of the room, on the expensive sofa, sat the heavyset man with the gray beard. Two men in dark clothes stood beside him. Across from them, in an armchair, sat Dennis—bound with tape, eyes wide with fear.
North told Ian to sit down so they could talk like adults. Ian’s legs had gone weak. One of North’s men grabbed him by the collar and shoved him into a chair.
His arms were taped to the armrests in seconds. Now both brothers sat helpless in front of the man they had been warned about.
North gave a dry little smile and said introductions were probably unnecessary. Then he reminded them of October 3, when they had kicked an old veteran outside the bank.
He said their father’s turn would come, but tonight was about them. He described, in detail, how they had taken turns hitting the old man in the face and ribs.
Ian tried to explain, but with tape over his mouth he could only grunt. At a nod from North, one of the men tore the tape off, taking skin with it.
Ian gasped and immediately started saying they had only been following their father’s orders. North said that excuse had been worn out long before either of them was born.
Then Ian tried money. Any amount, he said. North told him money was no longer part of the conversation.
He walked to the window, pulled back the curtain, and looked out at the city lights. Then he told them who the old man really was—the man who had once saved his life in the mountains.
Dennis began crying behind the tape, and North had his mouth uncovered too. The younger brother immediately tried to blame Ian and their father, hoping to save himself.
North cut him off. He reminded Dennis that he had been the one who broke two of the old man’s ribs.
Then he gave them his sentence. They would be taken to one of their father’s construction sites, beaten in the mud, and left tied to rebar with signs on their chests. They would get the same number of kicks they had given the veteran.
Ian shouted that they would freeze to death. North said workers would find them in the morning. The night, he added, would give them time to think.
Then he turned and walked out of the dark apartment…
