Montez nodded once, his face carved from stone. The click of his shoes against the cracked concrete echoed as he strode toward the steel doors. They aswung open, darkness swallowing him whole.

The air inside was thick with the stench of sweat and blood. A single bulb swung from the ceiling, casting a pale, sickly glow over the scene.

In the center of the room, a man was tied to a chair. His clothes were torn, his face a canvas of bruises, blood dripping from a ...