She was roused when the jet wheels touched the ground and it was beginning to slow. Outside the window she could see a dirt runway surrounded by a dense forest of deep green tropical trees and brush.

She was very far from the apartment now.

"Are you ready?"

Alejandro was kneeling before her again, untying the straps that had snaked over her chest and wrists. His eyes were on hers as he moved with slow, careful precision. Remaining still, she met his gaze and was silent. She was afraid to do anything, her heartbeat was increasing in speed. The dizziness from before was just as quickly returning. The growing tightness in her limbs became painful.

"Kate," his voice was far away but still clear. "Breathe."

The command echoed inside her skull for a long moment. Then she did so, her lungs expanding in size with the cabin's air. He continued to stare at her, and she began to realize that the jet had come to a stop. Exhaling, she looked at his hand resting lightly on her arm.

Her flattened palm came across his face before she could stop herself. It was a forceful slap, as hard as she could possibly strike in this moment. Despite the power of the blow, its sound barely registered in the still humming jet cabin. Alejandro's head was thrown to the side, eyes on the ground. His cheek and jaw immediately reddened. He did not look surprised as he studied the floor beside him for a few slow breaths.

Then his grip on her arm tightened, and he reached towards his waistband to draw the handcuffs from a pocket.

A moment later, she was outside the jet with her wrists tethered behind her once again. He steadied her balance, steering her quickly across the sun-laden dirt runway. She squinted in the bright light. The new location's heat was instantaneous, damp and clinging so differently than that of the desert they had left hours earlier. The sounds of the jungle around them were alien and deafening to her ears.

There was a sleek black SUV with its engine running only a few yards away. Alejandro opened one of the back passenger doors and placed her in the backseat, sliding in next to her. He was wearing his jacket now, and she glimpsed the holstered gun within, just below his arm. His sunglasses had also returned so she could not see the expression in his eyes any longer above the reddened welt she had put on his face.

"Listos," he said to the large, imposing man behind the wheel. Another such man was sitting next to the driver, staring straight ahead, silent and still. They too had on dark sunglasses. It was cool and quiet within the vehicle and it smelled of new leather.

The SUV then drove down a tree-shaded dirt road for what she guessed was a few miles. No one spoke. When the trees began to open up, she saw the low, sprawling house emerge from the foliage. The drive under the vehicle became stone, smoothing out beneath the wheels and winding up to a covered entrance guarded by another large man wearing dark sunglasses. She could see the outline of the guns holstered beneath his suit jacket. The vehicle stopped there. Alejandro pulled her out, and they entered the house. The door to the outside closed behind them with a low click.

She was whisked down a darkened, quiet hallway and through another door. Only once they were inside and the door was closed behind them did Alejandro finally speak again.

"We will stay in this house a few days while I finish some business. You are to remain in this room. If you try to leave, the men who guard this property will shoot you on sight. They do not trust you. Do you understand?"

This was the most he had ever said to her.

She gave a slow nod as he unlatched the handcuffs from behind her back. Her wrists throbbed, cut up and red as she turned back to him now.

"Do you trust me, Alejandro?" she asked in a quiet but even voice.

"No," his response came swiftly, as she knew it would. "And I don't expect to either."

He touched her shoulder and met her eyes.

"I will return soon."

The door locked behind him. She was alone.