“I don’t view the whole situation with you the same as my friend Mr. Jackson. He thinks it’s a game of some kind. You see, we get terribly bored here in Afghanistan. So he bet me a thousand bucks that he could get you to come over here. He risked almost a whole day’s salary on this crazy scheme. I would’ve been satisfied to pop you in the back of the head with a nine-millimeter whenever I got back to the States. But that’s me, I’m a nut for efficiency. But now that you’re here, you might satisfy some other needs we have.”

“So this is just some kind of crazy revenge plot.”

The Deep River supervisor shrugged. “I told you not to screw up our plans in New York. I gave you a chance to just walk away. You didn’t listen to me. Why should I explain things to you now?”

There were some shouts from a room in the back of the house. Jackson and the younger man who had driven us earlier jumped from their seats and raced back. Allmand seemed content to keep talking to me. Even though he wasn’t telling me much.

Now, instead of just learning Jackson’s routine and possible weaknesses, I had someone new to focus on. Clearly, he wasn’t rattled easily. I could hear shouts coming from the back of the house, but this guy wasn’t bothered by it in the least. He just kept looking at me with those calm brown eyes.

As I was assessing this man, Jackson and his helper carried a moaning prisoner through the main room. His feet dragged along the floor with an arm across Jackson’s shoulders. Blood dribbled from the man’s nose and split lip.

The man talking to me glanced at them, but made no comment. When I kept staring at them, he said, “They’re going to clean him up in the shower in the garage. Everyone gets cleaned up at least once a week.”

As Jackson was about to follow the injured man out the door, he said, “He was freaked out because Parwez touched him. I had to smack him just to calm his ass down.”

“Parwez is not contagious.”

“Everyone is terrified. They don’t know he’s not contagious. He looks like he died already. It’s disgusting.”

Allmand said, “I’ll check on him in a little bit.” He focused back on me.

I said, “Why’d you pick this house, in this neighborhood, to house prisoners?”