An update is finally here!

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They had driven for an hour when Sands started to slow down again.

"What is it?" Lina asked. Shouldn't they be putting as many miles as possible between them and the motel?

"I can't drive any further", Sands said holding his side.

His wound! He hadn't said anything about it and Lina had forgotten it in the middle of all her shock. She looked at his side that he was clutching with one hand. Even though he didn't show it, it must have really hurt. She began to quickly scan the surroundings for a good place to stop at. It was dark and hard to see, but soon she spotted a large building on the right side, a little off of the road.

"Turn there", she said pointing to it. He spun the wheel and the car turned to a sand road that led to the small building in the distance.
When they reached it, she saw it was an old barn. There were no other buildings in sight.

"Well, better go take a look then", Sands said and opened the door and tried to get up. The pain must have been too much and he fell back against the seat and grimaced.

Lina looked at his condition and then at the barn.

"Maybe I should go and check it out? You could wait in the car", she said hesitantly.

He stared into the distance for a while and then just nodded. She opened the door and got out.

"Wait, there's a flashlight in the glove compartment."

She bent back to open it and took the light. She turned it on and pointed the light to the barn wall and spotted the door. Carefully she tried it and found it unlocked. She opened the door and was greeted with a smell of hay and horses' neighs. It was a stable of some kind. Lina stepped in and saw two horses both in their own stall. In the back of the barn there was a big pile of hay. In one corner she saw a stack of blankets. She took a few and spread them on the hay and then returned to the car.

"It's okay, we can go in", she informed Sands.

Lina watched as he managed to get his feet out of the car, but he was still sitting and leaning against the back of his seat holding his side. "I might need some help, darling."

Lina hesitated for a moment, but then bent down so he could get his hand over her shoulder. With a little struggle he stood up and they walked slowly to the barn. He wasn't a big man but when he leaned on her, he was surprisingly heavy.
They walked over to the blankets where she then helped him to lie down.

"It's not exactly a five star hotel, but I guess beggars-"

"-can't be choosers", Sands finished her sentence.

"Right."

She noticed an old oil lamp in one corner of the barn and checked that it was usable.
"You have a lighter or matches?" she asked Sands soon remembering that of course he did, he was a smoker.

Gladly he spared her from any wise ass comments he might have had and threw her his lighter. She lit the lamp and soon it shed its warm light into the barn.

"The first-aid kit is in the car", he said then.

"I'll get it", she said and walked back to the car. At first she couldn't find it but then she remembered to look under the seat. There it was on the floor. She bent down and reached it. When she pulled back up, she suddenly froze. She looked at the dashboard.

He had forgotten the car keys in the car.

Lina stared at them not believing her luck. All she had to do was to jump in the driver's seat, turn the car around and head back to main road. Sands couldn't stop her in the condition he was in right then. He could barely walk, let alone run. There was no way he could get to the car in time.
Now was her chance.
Hastily she sat down on the driver's seat and put the first-aid kit on the passenger's side. Finally Lady Luck was smiling at her. Finally she could get away.

Then for some reason she glanced at the first-aid kid next to her and it stopped her. What about him? What would happen to him? He was injured and there was nothing much he could do to help himself and it seemed there was nothing here in miles. Without help he would most likely die of blood loss.
But there must have been some habitation near since there were those horses in the barn. He could get help, if not today, then tomorrow. Somebody would come, surely. Besides, why was she even thinking about him? Why should she care after all that he had done to her?

She grabbed the key and started to turn it.

After a moment's stillness she let out a long sigh, leaned back in the seat and closed her eyes. Who was she kidding? No matter what the man had done, she couldn't just leave him there wounded and bleeding. She couldn't live with something like that on her conscience, it just wasn't who she was.
She let her hand drop from the key. She couldn't leave him in trouble. She took the first-aid kit and stepped out of the car.
When she got to the barn door she stopped to look at the car once more, like asking herself if she was really sure of what she was doing. She turned and opened the barn door. She was anything but sure.

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"What took you so long?" Sands asked immediately when she stepped in, sounding openly suspicious and impatient. Some of that might have been because he was in pain.
Lina closed the door behind her and walked to him.

"I couldn't remember where the first-aid kit was right away", she lied and kneeled down next to him looking at him for a while. She didn't know if he remembered the car keys and she wanted to get his mind off of the subject. "I… I think you have to take off the shirt for this. Can you sit up?"

"Yeah, sure."

With some trouble he sat up and began to unbutton his shirt. Lina went through the first-aid kit and took out what she thought she was going to need.

"Listen, could you help a little?"
She looked at Sands who had now gotten the shirt half off. His hand was still in the sleeve from the injured side. She helped him get it off leaving his upper body bare. Now that she got a closer look at him, she could see that this hadn't been the first shot he had taken. There was one scar on his arm for instance, that didn't look like it had been there for very long. Then again it wasn't really very surprising with the kind of business he did.

"This might hurt", she warned when she began to clean the wound. But he didn't make a sound, the only sign of pain she saw was that his jaw tightened.

"Don't you ever show pain?" she suddenly asked. The question just came out before she had time to consider.

He looked at her slightly surprised, but then became serious again. "That's funny, I could ask you the same."

"What do you mean?" Lina asked frowning confused.

Sands seemed to consider for a while before speaking. "I'm just saying that during all this time, through everything that's happened, I haven't seen a single tear from you."

Lina snorted and then laughed. "Is that what you've expected? That I cry?"

"Well, no. But that's a typical reaction with women."

Lina thought about it for a while and then shrugged. "Maybe, but it's not typical for me. I don't cry, it's not my thing", she said shaking her head. She looked at the wound again. "The bullet didn't stay in, it went through", she said wanting to change the subject. "That's a good thing, I think." That was reason it had been bleeding so much, but at least she didn't have to start digging a bullet from him. She wasn't sure she would have been up for it.

"So it's just a scratch then", he stated casually.

"I guess you can call it that, but it's not a small one. I'll put on the bandage." Only a little uncertain of how to do it she wrapped the bandage around his waist and on the wound. All the while doing it she felt his eyes on her, making her slightly uncomfortable. She had to bend very close to him to get her arms to go around him and she could literally feel the warmth radiating from him.

When she was finished she tied it as fast as possible. Her hands were shaking just a bit and she hoped he didn't notice it. "There, that should do it."

"Thanks."

She lifted her head up and looked at him. He was still looking straight into her eyes. She turned away quickly and grabbed his shirt.

"It's okay. Do you have a clean shirt? There's blood on this", she said looking at the blood stain.

"I have one in the car."

"I'll go get it", she said getting up again.

"Are you hungry?" she heard him ask when she had reached the door.

"No, not really", she lied. Actually she was hungry, but they didn't have any food. She didn't want to trouble him with the fact.

"Funny, because I'm starving after all that action", he said in a light voice.

"Oh?" Damn, what would she think of now. "Well… we don't have any food", she said hesitantly.

"We don't?" he raised his eyebrows. "That's strange because I distinctly remember raiding Raulo's kitchen before we left."

"You did?" Lina asked both happy and surprised. "Oh, thank God!"

He smirked. "I thought you said you weren't hungry?"

"I am hungry, I just didn't want to… concern you with it." Lina averted her eyes to her feet regretting immediately saying it. He didn't have to know she cared a rat's ass about him.

Care? Did she care…?

Her thoughts trailed off and she stole a glance at him and saw he had a surprised look on his face. She slipped out of the door and went to get all the stuff from the car. The car keys were still dangling in the ignition, taunting her.

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After Lina helped Sands get on the clean shirt, they ate the bread and the meat he had confiscated from Raulo's kitchen. Once they had finished, leaving some food for the next morning, he pulled out a bottle of whiskey, apparently also fruit from the raid. She looked at it suspiciously and he guessed her thoughts.

"Don't worry", he said smiling, "I made sure this doesn't contain any un-wanted 'genies'." He took a long gulp of it and then offered it to Lina. She took some and was left with a burning mouth and throat.

"Strong stuff", she grimaced and gave the bottle back to him.

She walked to the horses that had been quietly observing their surprise visitors. The other one was chestnut color and it had a white dot on its muzzle. The second one was a black white splashed, a blue eyed kind looking thing. It was black but had a white face, belly, legs and tail. Lina noticed she was with foal. She bent down and grabbed some hay to feed to it. The horse smelled the hay in her hand, but because she was a stranger, it hesitated for a while. She let her sniff her hands and finally the mare accepted the offered hey. Lina felt its warm breath on her palm. She stroked its neck with her other hand and clearly enjoying it, the horse leaned its head on her shoulder. Lina liked the girl immediately. It reminded her of her old horse very much.

"You seem very comfortable with them", Sands suddenly said.

"We used to have horses back in the States when my mother was still alive. I'd love to have one of my own again someday", she said still massaging the horse.

"Your mother is dead?" Sands asked.

"Yes, she died a long time ago", she said in an 'I-don't-want-to-talk-about-it'-tone.

"What did she die of?" Either he didn't get her tone or chose to ignore it.

She turned to look at him. Why should she tell him and why was he even asking? "Why do you ask?"

He shrugged. "Just making conversation I guess. It's a long night, you know."

Lina looked at him suspiciously, but then thought why not. What did it matter after all if she told him.

"She had a brain tumor", she began to tell. "By the time the doctors found it, it was too late. It couldn't be operated anymore."

"I see", he said and nodded.

She patted the horse one more time and walked to sit on the blankets, but made sure to leave a distance between herself and him. She took her wallet from her purse and took out the picture she had taken from the frame while packing. She stared at it like trying to draw strength from it somehow.

"That your folks?" he asked looking at the picture too.

"Yeah, that's them."

"Your mother was very beautiful."

"Yes she was." Lina smiled at her picture. Father used to tease mother by saying they were like beauty and the beast. But that hadn't been really true, father had been a handsome man.

"You look very much like her."

She looked at him confused. Had that just been a strange way to pass a compliment? She didn't need any compliments from him so she quickly tugged the picture away and ignored his comment.

"How's the wound?" she asked.

"Oh, it's pretty good. I'll be as good as new by tomorrow."

She didn't quite buy it, but she didn't say anything. He offered the whiskey again and she took it.

"How did you know how to do all that? I mean to tie the wound properly", Sands then asked.

Lina thought for a while whether to tell him or not. She didn't know exactly what made her decide to speak.
"I have some experience. I was 13 years old when my mother's tumor was diagnosed. Now she was probably the kindest and sweetest creature this earth has ever carried on it. She would never have hurt anyone intentionally. But the tumor, it… it affected her head, her behavior", she said and sighed. "She started having these horrible, violent rage attacks when she would just scream, kick and brake things. It was like she was someone else, another person altogether or… obsessed. Every time we saw it coming, my father and I would just try to stay out of the way and make sure she didn't hurt herself."

If he was getting impatient for her to get to the point, he didn't show it. He nodded for her to continue.

"Well, one time she had found my fathers gun that he kept in case of some sort of trouble. Anyway, she found it and she shot him with it. She'd never even held a gun before and luckily she only hit him in the leg. Father didn't want to go to a hospital. He said they'd only ask awkward questions and that we would just have to fix it at home. I of course had to help him because God knows mother couldn't do it. So he instructed me with what to do and eventually his leg was better. He walked with a slight limp for the rest of his life."

"What about your mother?" Sands asked.

"Mother? Luckily she could never remember anything after her 'blackouts'. She died a month after the incident."

He nodded in silence and took another drink from the bottle. Lina wrapped one of the blankets around her, it was getting colder.

"So you're not from Mexico?" Sands asked again after a while.

Lina shook her head. "No, I've lived most of my life in Texas, in a small town near Austin. We used to have a farm there."

"What are you doing here then?"

"It's a long story", she said.

He spread his hands. "We've got all night."

The whiskey they had been consuming during their conversation was taking effect and that might have been at least one reason why she was willing to tell him so much about her life.

"After my mother passed away, father and I stayed on the farm, trying to continue our lives. But it turned out that staying there was hard for dad. Everything there reminded him of mother until he finally couldn't take it anymore. He said he had to get away from it all. I on the other hand felt differently. To me it felt like mother was still with us somehow on that farm. It was my childhood home, I didn't know about anything else. I tried to convince my father to stay but he had made up his mind. His head couldn't be turned, he was stubborn like that", Lina said letting out a small laugh.
"He sold the farm, the horses… everything and we came to Mexico. Mother had had this dream of opening a bakery somewhere in Mexico. She had these old recipes in her family and she wanted to share them with others.

"Why in Mexico?" Sands asked. "It would have been more profitable in the States."

"She had spent time here as a child and she always told she had loved it. She said the people here were different and she liked it. Father wanted to make her dream come true. He found a house for us from this little town and a good place for the shop and we settled down. Father loved it. He was in his element with the people and I guess he got satisfaction knowing he was making mother's dream come true. I on the other hand was somewhat miserable. I didn't like it here at all. I went to an English school so I didn't even learn the language nor did I want to. The village felt too small, there was nothing interesting there for a teenager. Father and I would fight all the time and that didn't help things. Finally we decided it might be better if I went back to Texas to stay with my mother's sister. She agreed and I packed my bags. Father stayed here with his shop, but on every vacation I came here too. I finished school in the States and got a job from there still visiting father often. Of course we missed each other sometimes, but I think we were both much happier like that."

"Is your father still in Mexico?"

Lina swallowed hard before answering. She remembered the empty store and house she had left behind. "Well actually, I'm here now because a few weeks ago I received a message that father had passed away. His health was always good, but he had a sudden heart attack. I was told he died calmly in his sleep."

"I'm sorry", Sands said quietly.

Lina was slightly surprised, she didn't think the word sorry belonged to his vocabulary. "It's alright, I like to think he's with mom now."

When Sands looked at her she hurried to add: "I know it might sound silly, but it gives me comfort. I think they're happy where ever they are."

There was a long silence. God, did she really just tell him all that? No more whiskey… But she decided she should try and ask him something in return.

"So now you practically know my life story, but how about you? What are you doing here?"

"Me? Well, I was working for the CIA here in Mexico. I wasn't too happy about my job so I had this little plan to gather up money to retire early. But I guess you could say I ran out of luck and the plan backfired badly. The government was pissed when they found out and I was left here more or less penniless and short of a job."

He could have told her he used to live on a cloud and write loves poems all day and she would have been more likely to believe that than this story. From a CIA agent to a thief? But he looked serious as he took some more whiskey.

"You worked for the CIA?" she asked still doubtful. His answer had been so unexpected that she forgot her earlier decision about the whiskey and took the bottle again.

"Yep."

"And now you're here", she said trying to make him go on.

"Yep."

Apparently he didn't want to continue and she didn't know what to say anymore. So she lied down on the blankets and stared at the dark sealing trying to absorb what he had just told her. But there was something else on her mind too. Something she had been thinking about ever since the beginning, but hadn't dared to ask. Maybe now was the time.

"Can I ask you something?" she began carefully.

"Depends on what it is", he said.

"Well, I have been thinking about this for long. Why…" she paused gathering her thoughts and finally continued. "Why am I here? I mean what do you want from me and where are we going?" She didn't have the courage to look at him after her question so she kept her eyes on the roof.

He didn't answer and she could hear him drinking. The silence stretched and stretched. Just when she thought he wasn't going to answer at all, he talked.

"Does the name Miguel Ramirez mean anything to you?"

When the name sank into her brain, she jumped right up on her feet.

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R&R please!