She looked around the restaurant at every table but Sands was nowhere to be found. She saw a table with a plate of Puerco Pibil and a tequila with lime, Sands' favorite meal, just sitting there with nobody around. She walked outside again to see if he was outside smoking a cigarette when she felt a sharp pain in the back of her head and everything went black as she fell unconscious.
She woke up some time later. Her mouth was dry and she was tied to a chair. She couldn't tell how long she had been out but her head was pounding. The room was mostly dark but she could see a woman was sitting on a nearby table.
"So, you're finally awake?" The woman said sarcastically. "Good."
"Who are you and where is Sands?" Samantha asked growing concerned for both their safety.
"My name is Ajedrez Barillo. I'm Sands girlfriend," she said matter-of-factly. "Didn't know that did you? Didn't know that he had a girlfriend already and you were sleeping with him. Well, he belonged to me and I don't like people taking what is mine. He always did have a wandering eye, but I fixed that didn't I?" she laughed a quick barking laugh and Samantha wondered what she meant by "fixed."
Samantha could feel the hurt welling up inside her. Sands had a girlfriend and he didn't tell her. He had slept with her while he was still involved with another woman.
"What did you do to him?" she asked, fear apparent in her voice. Barillo, she thought, wasn't that the name of the guy that arranged the coup?
"What? Do you actually have feelings for him? Is that possible? Well, I suppose he can be very charming when he wants to be, can't he? She asked walking around Samantha's chair. "But you should know that Sands doesn't care about anybody. Heck he probably didn't even love his own mother. He'd probably slit her throat if he needed to."
"Look, I don't want to hear your complaints about Sands, just tell me what you did with him," Samantha said harshly.
Ajedrez slapped her hard across the face. "Don't you dare talk to me that way, again. I am in charge here and I don't have to tell you anything. You, on the other hand, have to listen."
She sat back down on the table and looked at Samantha. "You aren't even that good looking. Who are you?" she spat at her.
Samantha didn't reply, she just glared at Ajedrez. Ajedrez got back up off the table and started walking back toward her.
"Sands told me that you were just some poor lost tourist girl that he helped back to her hotel room," she snorted. "He's not even a good liar. I mean, couldn't he think of something more convincing than that? I was almost insulted that he didn't seem concerned that I wouldn't believe him. So, again, who are you, really?"
"I'm just a girl on vacation. What he told you was the truth," she said.
"Liar!" Ajedrez yelled and smacked her across the face again. "Then why did you have all the guns and why were you the one to come to Sands rescue? Hmmm?"
"Because he called me and asked me to bring him a phone, that's all. I don't know anything else," blood was running down her chin from the corner of her mouth.
"I don't believe a word you're telling me, but that's OK, it makes the torture part all that much more fun, don't you think? It gives me an excuse to tear your face off, like I needed another excuse anyway," she laughed and hit her again making her see stars.
Samantha was going to have to figure a way out of this, but how? She was slowly working her hands loose from the binding behind her back but they were tight and she wasn't sure how long it would take her to get free. She had to keep Ajedrez talking.
"I really didn't know he had a girlfriend. I would never move in on another girl's territory if I knew," she said trying to calm some of the other woman's anger.
"Well, he'd never have told you. He always was a cheater and a liar and a thief, shall I go on?" she walked briskly around the chair. "What to do with you?" she mused aloud. "Are you CIA?"
Samantha ignored the question. "I can see that you are right about him. I barely know him really. We only just met," she said.
"You knew him well enough to sleep with him though, didn't you? Don't patronize me. I know what you're doing. You could care less about the fact that he had a girlfriend. You're just some easy two bit sleaze," she smacked her again making her nose bleed this time.
"No, I….would never.." She could feel herself losing consciousness again but she hung on until her head stopped spinning and she could see straight again.
"It was a mistake. I know that now," Samantha said.
"Well obviously it was a mistake and now here you are tied to a chair at the mercy of his girlfriend. This is just too good. I'd love to see the look on his face if he knew I had you here, too," Ajedrez said, amusement in her voice.
"Too? Samantha thought. Did that mean that he was here, or had been here, as well?
"Is he here?" she asked.
"No, not anymore," was her abrupt reply.
Samantha began to wonder if Ajedrez had killed him and the thought of that made tears well up in her eyes but she fought them back.
"Then where is he?" Samantha asked hoping she would say that he was still alive.
"You are not the one asking questions!" she barked at her and backhanded her.
They sat and stared at each other for a moment while Samantha recovered form the last blow to her face.
"Are you going to tell me who you are yet or do I need to blacken both your eyes?" Ajedrez asked. "Or, maybe I should just remove them. I have a friend who is very good at that," she laughed.
Samantha wondered what kind of evil woman this was to think of something as wretched as that. Then she finally worked her hands free.
"OK, I'll talk," she said quietly so that Ajedrez could barely hear her.
"What was that?" Ajedrez said getting closer to her so she could hear her.
Samantha suddenly threw both her arms up and grabbed Ajedrez around the throat and kneed her in the stomach, then shoved the woman backwards knocking her to the ground. Then she turned and darted to the door behind her.
She made it out the door and fled down the street and into an alley. She could hear Ajedrez yelling to someone for help. She zigzagged her way a short distance down some side streets and then hid behind a vendor's cart who had apparently left for a break.
She had no guns left. She cursed herself for being so stupid and getting caught. Where was Sands, she thought? She hoped he wasn't dead or wounded somewhere. She had to look for him. She could hear gunshots off in the distance and she remembered about the coup. Surely if Sands were alive, and able, he would be there. She slowly got up looking around to be sure that nobody was looking for her and she started to make her way toward the sound of the gunfire.
