The second kick hits him in the back and he screams into the rag stuffed into his mouth. It comes out as no more than a stifled mumble. He should close his eyes, but he can’t. Instead, he keeps them open wide, staring up at Yassim. Unable to believe that this is happening, that his friend would do this to him.

Now Yassim squats down. He slowly pulls the rag out of his mouth, grabbing hold of Jacob’s throat.

‘What the hell have you done?’ he says. ‘What kind of worthless fucking idiot are you? Do you understand how fucking dead you are?’

Jacob just stares at him and shakes his head, he can’t answer even if he knew what to say.

‘You took the chip out,’ Yassim continues quietly. ‘How could you be so fucking stupid?’

He finally lets go of his throat, and Jacob gasps for breath, his mouth dry from the rag that’s been stuffed inside it for hours. But before he can say anything at all, Yassim has punched his face. There’s a flash before his eyes, and he cries out in pain, humiliation and confusion.

‘Now you’re going to tell me where the chip is,’ Yassim says.

Jacob tries to swallow, tries to make his mouth work again. ‘W-why are you doing this?’ he sobs.

Yassim grabs hold of his neck again and starts to strangle him.

‘Did you think I ever cared about you?’ he hisses, then a laugh that’s both dry and joyless. ‘You’re so much more naive than I ever could have hoped, you little faggot,’ he says. ‘You thought we had a relationship after only seeing each other three times? Don’t you get it? You’re a tool for me, nothing more.’

Yassim loosens his grip on Jacob’s throat slightly, and Jacob gulps for air and coughs and almost chokes on his own breath.

‘Tell me where the chip is,’ he says. ‘Or, I swear to God, I’ll strangle you right here.’

Jacob sniffs, tears run down his cheeks. ‘Don’t kill me,’ he whispers. ‘Why are you doing this? Don’t kill me.’

‘Then tell me, you stupid little shit,’ Yassim says, leaning over his face again. ‘Tell me.’