Lubowa gave the man a final punch to the face before he stepped back from the mattress. He wiped his hands with one of the dirty rags, tossed it aside and nodded at Gregory.

‘He’s all yours,’ he said. ‘Let us know when you’re done. Make sure you don’t get started on the next prisoner without us.’

‘Wouldn’t dream of it.’

The colonel barked at the guard. The latter stubbed out his cigarette and followed his boss out of the cell, closing the door behind them.

The rebel leader groaned in agony. Bowman could barely believe what he was seeing. He remembered the box of cattle prods he’d seen in the wine cellar. He remembered the look of fear in Major Mavinda’s eyes when he had heard Gregory’s name. Suddenly understood. The guy isn’t just Seguma’s chief of security.

He’s running his own personal torture camp.

Gregory walked over to the bench, picked up the cattle prod. Held it out towards Bowman.

‘This usually gets a good reaction from them. Who wants to go first? Josh?’

For a moment, Bowman was speechless.

‘You’re not serious,’ he said finally. ‘You can’t fucking do this.’

‘Why not?’

‘It’s wrong. It’s against the Geneva Conventions, for Chrissakes.’

Gregory waved his hand dismissively. ‘Don’t pretend to be offended. You know the president’s track record. How he operates. This can’t come as a great surprise to you, surely.’

‘I don’t give a crap about Seguma. The guy’s a tyrant. But I thought you would be above all of this.’

‘I’m his chief of security. This is my job.’

‘Torturing prisoners?’

‘Sending a message to his enemies.’ Gregory held up the cattle prod. ‘This is the only language these scum understand. You can’t sit down and negotiate with these people, Josh. They’re not interested. The only tactic that works here is violence.’

Bowman shook his head furiously. ‘This isn’t like you, Mike. You would never have stood for this shit in the Regiment.’

‘That was then. Things are different down here. Torture is a fact of life in Karatandu. I’m not just talking about the president. The KUF are as guilty of that as anyone.’ He pointed the prod at Kakuba. ‘The general is personally responsible for hundreds of killings, rapes and mutilations. His men massacred the president’s staff at the palace. They’ve razed dozens of villages. He’s not one of the good guys.’

‘Doesn’t make it right.’

Gregory stared at him with a downturned mouth. ‘I’m disappointed, Josh. I thought you’d be fine with all this. Your bosses certainly don’t have a problem with it.’

Bowman frowned. ‘What’s that supposed to mean?’

‘Vauxhall knows what we get up to down here. They’re perfectly comfortable with the arrangement. As a matter of fact, they’re the ones who supplied the cattle prods.’