“Fuck me,” Dumas exclaimed, staring at White with admiration for the first time in his life.  “I didn’t know you had it in you.  Nicely done, accomplice.”<br/><br/>Since White was now also in danger of arrest, Dumas felt even more determined to get this over with quickly.  Unfortunately, his captive had apparently decided that lying would be a good idea -- and he was doing it very badly.  Dumas was accustomed to people underestimating his intelligence.  Hell, he’d even concede that he wasn’t very quick or clever.  But<span style="font-style: italic">girlfriend</span>?  Really?  Even if Mari had completely lost her mind, Dumas still couldn’t believe that she’d date this loser.<br/><br/>“Yeah?” he snarled at the man.  “You always bring a buddy along when you go to meet your girlfriend?  Just incase you can’t get it up?”<br/><br/>Dumas’s first impulse was to shoot the man in the foot and see if that inspired a more truthful response.  But it was still just barely possible that he was dealing with an innocent civilian.  So instead, he shoved his captive up against the alley wall and pinned him there by holding his arm across the man’s throat.  “Listen,” Dumas hissed, beginning to exert pressure on the man’s windpipe.  “Someone I care about is in trouble.  And that means you really don’t want to fuck with me right now.  So either tell me what business you had with that girl, or I’ll beat you senseless, steal your phone, and see what I can learn from it.  Understand?”