Off in the distance the rooster welcomed the morning sun. Something from the lizard family slithered into it's hole under the doorway of the hut and the sound of birds looking for breakfast reminded him he hadn't eaten in awhile. Luke looked around the hut and started taking inventory. His head hurt like hell. What had they given him yesterday?

Reaching down he realized he was completely naked under a blanket. His ribs were bandaged and his torn clothing was lying on the bed beside him. He tried to take a deep breath and found he could do it today. Whomever had bandaged him did a good job. But why were his clothes off and where did the blanket come from?

Luke tried to remember the night before. Everything was a haze that had to be fought through to recount the memories. He reached down the length of his body to see if anything else was bruised or broken since the day before. As he reached his groin, he felt a sticky substance drying there. Bringing his fingers to his nose he smelled the musk. All of a sudden the memories came flooding back.

Tracy...

Tracy was there. She bandaged him and cared for him. They made love...

She left...

But how? When? Why? Where was she?

"Tracy, where are you?" he asked.

"You say her name a lot, Señor. She is special to you, yes?"

The voice startled Luke and he looked to the door to see who was speaking. It was the same woman whom Robert had arranged for him, the woman who took that boy away yesterday, the woman who was probably responsible for his being there.

"None of your business" he snarled.

"Oh, everything about you is my business, Señor Spencer. Until we find out why you are here, everything you say is important, and you say that name a lot. This 'Tracy', is she your wife? I see the wedding ring. And you weren't interested in me that way when we first met. You think only of her I see."

"Leave her out of this. She doesn't mean anything to you."

The young woman just smiled a superior smile and went about her business. She placed a tray on the table with sweet coffee, freshly cooked tortillas and eggs that smelled as good as they looked. Luke felt his mouth watering involuntarily at the feast.

"What did you put in my food today? More of that drug from yesterday?"

"Señor, you are far too suspicious" she said as she turned back to him and handed him a new pair of pants and shirt.

Luke pulled the clothing on as quickly as he could over his bruised appendages, trying to hide his body from her sight.

"Call me funny. I tend not to trust people who get me beat up."

"Oh I didn't do that. You did it to yourself when you came down here and started asking questions. You have concerned yourself with the wrong people and now those people want to know why. And including an international agent..." she shook her head as she continued talking, "what are we to think?"

"What have you done to my friend?" Luke was getting really concerned now. Neither he nor Robert were as quick on the draw as they used to be. Was he already dead?

"Your friend? Some friend to abandon you here while he takes off. You don't have the best of luck do you, Señor. Perhaps this Tracy is better off without you as well."

Luke clenched and unclenched his fists. He knew this woman was trying to push every button and she was succeeding. If he was going to get out of this in one piece – and protect his wife – he needed to keep a cool head. As far as he knew, Tracy was thousands of miles away and blissfully ignorant of his situation.

"Temper, temper, Señor Spencer. This Tracy really is your weak spot. Well forget about her now and come eat your breakfast. You have a long day ahead of you."

"What kind of 'long day'?"

"Don't worry about that now, just eat your breakfast."

"I don't like being kept in the dark. Why am I here and why haven't you killed me yet?"

"So many questions. I told you, we want to know why you are here and who sent you. You seem to know things you shouldn't and we want to find out why. You are worth more to us alive than dead, at least for now. Come... eat..."

Luke realized he was going to get run in circles if he continued questioning the young woman, so he took a different tact.

"Why should I eat? Last time you drugged me. What's in the food this time?"

"Last night you were in pain and we wanted you to sleep, that's all. The medicine we gave you was perfectly safe and see it worked. Today you are much better. You can move around and the swelling is starting to go down in your eye. We have no intention of harming you as long as you cooperate."

"And what was yesterday? A friendly greeting?"

"Yes, yesterday was a bit much. I'm afraid they got carried away but they were stopped in time. We prefer to do things in a more civilized manner around here."

"We? Who's we? What are you a part of?"

"Again with the questions. You really don't know how to give up."

"I'm told it's one of my most endearing qualities."

"This 'Tracy' again, I assume?"

"I told you, leave her out of it."

"But I can't. You keep bringing her into it. Last night she was all you could talk about."

Luke felt the hair on the back of his neck stand on edge. A cold shiver went down his spine and he looked hard at the young woman through his one good eye.

"What about last night?"

"I told you, we gave you medicine so you would sleep. It took the pain away while I washed your cuts and wrapped your chest."

"You... you..." Luke couldn't get the words out. He felt as though a tonne of bricks had just landed on his chest.

"Well who else do you think cared for your wounds, Señor? Your Tracy?" she said as she waltzed towards the door. "And you were most appreciative."

With one final Cheshire cat smile, she left the hut completely and Luke remained alone as the weight of her words brought him to his knees.

"Nooooooooooooooooo..."