The whisky got into Eric’s eyes and nose. The sudden burning brought him back to the real world. He tried to see through the fog in his eyes. There were people around him who were looking at him hostile. He couldn't make any of them.  

‘Who the hell are you people?'  Eric shouted. Maybe it was best to act angry, he thought; and, so was he. 'If you want money from me, take it. Why did you tie me up like that? I don't have anything else. I'm not rich. I'm just a tourist.'

             'Wow,' said Carlo, opening his arms in astonishment. 'What a performance. Have you been to a drama school or what, you shithead?'

   'Let me cut his balls first,' said the woman. She dragged her chair nearer to him. It screeched on the floor. The noise echoed in the factory, uncannily. 'You know, it always turns me on,' she spoke to Carlo, 'You remember Madrid?' 

             'Oh baby, how could I forget?' 

             'Hey, hey, I don't want any blood around here,' said the man in suit. 'Find another way to make him speak.' 

             'Oh man, please,' Eric stretched the words, mocking them up. 'Give it a rest with this good guy, bad guy scenario. I'm a bit too old for this shit, come to the point. What the fuck do you want?' 

             'This motherfucker has a mouth like sewage,' whistled the other man, who was called Jack. He laughed and scratched his unshaven face.

             'And you baby doll,’ Eric turned to the woman, 'forget about cutting my balls. You look like the only thing you can manage is to give a blowjob, if you can handle even that.'

             'You motherfucker,' Nina jumped out of her chair. In a split second, with a unnerving metallic noise, an eight-inch switchblade appeared in her hand. 'I'll cut your balls now and make you eat it,' she shouted, the chair tumbled to the floor.

   When he saw her burning eyes and her teeth that were biting the air with vengeance, Eric yelled in terror and trembled in his chair violently, trying to get free from his ties. He knew that she was coming to give him what she had promised.    But, just before Nina reached Eric, Carlo grabbed her from her waist with both arms. Jack rushed from the behind and struggled with all his power to open her fingers that clinched over the knife. Until they had finally managed to rip it out of her hand, Eric howled like a wounded animal.

             Nina kept on kicking the floor furiously while Carlo dragged her away from Eric to the far side of the factory. 'Let me go. I want to cut him, I want to poke him,' she screamed until she had regained her calm in Carlo's arms.

             'Don't be provoked,’ said Carlo. ‘That son of a bitch deserves everything. But, keep your cool for the sake of the operation. We need him alive.’ He turned to Jack. ‘You stay with her here.’

             Carlo walked back to Eric. ‘Listen to me carefully you bastard,' he spoke slowly, putting emphasis on his each word.  'The only reason why I stopped her is that there is something we want from you.  And you know what it is.' 

             'Who are you first of all, for God's sake?' asked Eric begging. He was still disoriented from the shock treatment he had just received from Nina.

             'Haven't you figured it out yet, or are you dumb as you look?' said Carlo staring straight into his eyes.’

             'Oh God,' Eric moaned. ‘You’re Mossad!’