7. Crash

He was tired, his head and wrists were killing him, his torn earlobe was on fire, he was trembling from
the chill and the indignity of being dumped naked and blind in some basement
cell somewhere, and the thing that got to Rico most was that he didn't know
what time it was. They'd been left alone for what felt like hours, but he
had no way to tell. And it was driving him mad.

His partner didn't seem bothered by the lack of clothing or watch. He had his own
hangup to worry over.

"They shoulda separated us by now," Sonny's words slurred a little. "Why
put us back together? It doesn't make any sense."

He'd said this before, but he hadn't explained.

The conversation was going circular on them. It was better than fishing,
though, which was what Sonny had demanded they talk about in exchange for
agreeing to the agonizing task of dragging his ass over to sit against the
wall next to Rico. Who knew there was so much to say about fish?

"Maybe they're not as well trained as you think."

He felt Sonny shake his head. "They're pros. It's all been standard
procedure. Straight from KUBARK."

Sonny's skin was icy next to his, and Rico wasn't feeling particularly
warm. His mind was working too slow. He had to fight both the cold and the
constant throb in his head just to connect his thoughts. KUBARK. He'd heard
of it.

"CIA interrogation manual, right?" He wished he could see his partner's
face. He hadn't said anything but Rico could tell he was in pain from the uneven way he was
breathing. "I heard they're using some version of it to train
counterrevolutionaries in central america. I take it you're familiar?"

Sonny let out a sharp bark of laughter.

"You could say that."

Sonny seemed to know the habits of the Company well enough. Not as
intimately as the lieutenant maybe.There had been hints that he'd worked
with Army Intelligence in 'Nam, but he'd never said anything about how far
his involvement went. What little he had said made it clear he'd had
his share of brushes with the CIA. The intelligence agencies were always in
each other's pockets, when they weren't actively undermining each other's
missions.

"So what's the standard procedure?"

"Hmm?" Sonny's breath hitched and he squirmed, his shoulder bumping into
Rico's. "Can't feel my damn hands anymore."

Despite the intermittent blasts from the damn air conditioner, his partner
had stopped shivering. Rico knew it was a bad sign. There wasn't much he
could do besides keep Sonny talking.

"Sonny," Rico pressed, "Tell me about this manual. About the standard
procedure."

"It was a long time ago," Sonny hedged, shifting again.

"You got anything better to do? Tell me what we're in for."

"The prisoner is taken by surprise, to maximize confusion. Kept cuffed and
blindfolded. Naked, obviously."

The AC shut down again. Wouldn't stay off long enough for them to get
warm, but even so it was a relief.

"What else?" Rico asked. Damn, but his shoulders hurt. The ache radiated
down his neck to his lower back, the muscles protesting with an occasional
spasm.

A long pause. When Sonny spoke again his voice was thin.

"Rico, I gotta lay back down."

"The floor's gonna make you feel colder."

"Tell me somthin I don't know."

"Dizzy?" Rico tried to remember the symptoms of shock. How long could
Sonny last in this cold? How much blood had he lost?

"Yeah," Sonny admitted, "Startin to regret that reuben I had at Benny's."

He sucked in a quick breath of air and then moved. Changing position
was hard without your hands but he did it, a little at a time, and the
effort left him gasping.

"Shit," Sonny panted. His hair brushed Rico's bare thigh. Rico gave him a
few minutes but his partner couldn't seem to get his breathing back under control.

"You okay?" Had he passed out? "Sonny?"

"Yeah."

"Stay with me, man. You gotta stay awake."

"Easier said..."

"Than done. I know. Tell me more about why you think these guys are
working from the CIA playbook."

"The exam," Sonny said.

"You mean the full cavity search? Not the usual MO of scuzz like de Soto."

"No. But it is if they're following KUBARK."

"So you don't think de Soto ambushed us?"

"Didn't say that. Could be hired guns. Spooks. Paramilitary.
Whoever they are..."

"They've got training," Rico finished. "Still, none of this fits with what
we know about de Soto's organization."

Sonny's agreement was drowned out by the click and whir of the air
conditioner's return to life.

"They'll keep that up," Sonny said, "And if we fall asleep they'll wake us
up at random intervals."

"They want us on edge."

"You got it."

"What you said earlier - if they're so well trained, they should be keepin
us in different rooms, right?"

"Yeah," Sonny moved again, his head butting into Rico. "Been thinking
about that. It's the only thing that doesn't fit."

"Could be they're improvising," Rico suggested He rested the back of his
head against the rough brick wall. "Might not have the kind of
space they're used to."

"Could be. Whatever the reason, they'll stay cool," Sonny's voice was
muffled against the floor. "More bark than bite. Try to
convince us we're on our own. That they're our only chance."

"They'll use us against each other," Rico added, though he knew Sonny didn't
have to be told.

"If they can. They'll... oh Christ..."

Rico felt Sonny push himself up, struggling as if he wanted to stand. His
leg wouldn't hold him and he crashed into Rico, hard, wheezing like he
couldn't get enough air.

"Sonny!"

But he wasn't listening. Sonny was locked in a mindless fight to pull
himself upright. Rico tried to curl around the cold body, tried to snap his
partner out of the sudden panic, even as his own heart nearly burst out of
his chest.

"Sonny, what is it?"

All at once his partner collapsed as if his strings had been cut. Lay
sweaty and shaking against Rico's shins.

"Billy," Sonny whispered.

Oh. Oh God. Of course.

"You think they'll threaten your family?"

Rico felt Sonny's swallow against the gooseflesh on his legs. This was not
good. He needed Crockett as focused as possible, not lost in a nightmare of
worry.

"We don't even know what they want," he protested. "For all we know, they
think they snagged Cooper and Burnett."

Sonny shook his head, but didn't argue. The man had a hell of a sixth sense
about these things.

"Billy's hours away, man. And Castillo will make sure they're okay."

It sounded weak even to his own ears. All Castillo would know was that they
hadn't checked in. If they were lucky somebody had found the caddie by
now. Vice might be looking for them but it had been at least eight hours
since the ambush.

For the time being, they were on their own.