"That night,” Kate said, “I was in bed, sound asleep when they came in
the room. I remember opening my eyes as they lifted me off the
bed, wondering what was going on. Was I dreaming or was it really happening?

There were two of them. But it was dark. I couldn’t see their faces.
They cuffed my hands behind my back and wrapped tape around my mouth
and eyes. It was hot and the air thick and wet and it was difficult to
breathe through my nose.”

Kate picked up her wine glass by the stem and sipped the Chardonnay.

“They took me out to a Jeep and strapped a seatbelt around me in back
and drove out of town toward the jungle.”

Owen said, “Who’d you think they were?”

“Garza’s men,” Kate said.

Owen said, “The one who hit on your friend.”

“He didn’t hit on her,” Kate said. “He raped her. I thought he was
paying me back for standing up to him, offending his Latin sense of
honor.

It was the only thing that made sense. I thought they
were doing it to scare me. I didn’t think they were going hurt me. I
worked for the U.S Government. They weren’t that crazy, I told myself,
but I was wrong.

“We drove for a while, fifteen, twenty minutes maybe and the Jeep slowed
down and stopped and they pulled me out and took me into the jungle and
one of them whispered: “Tu vas a morir.”

Owen said, “What’s that mean?”

“You’re going to die,” Kate said.

“Jesus,” Owen said.

“I could feel the slash of wet branches across the front of my T-shirt
and shorts and the mosquitoes relentless, feasting on my neck and face.
I remember the sounds: birds cawing and the low hum of locusts and the
loud high-pitched clack of the tree frogs. I remember the smoke from
their cigarettes mixing with dense earthy smell of the jungle, trying to
breathe that heavy humid air through my nose.

“We walked for some time, ten minutes, at least and then stopped and
they passed a bottle back and forth. I could hear the liquid splashing
to the neck and back. They were drunk. I could hear the sound of
theirboots, feet unsteady, taking steps to keep their balance. They were
speaking Spanish, talking about who’d go first with me, and then
flipping a coin to settle it. “They cut my T-shirt off with a knife. I
could feel the blade pulling the fabric before slicing through it. Then they were mauling me.

They pulled my shorts down and cut off my panties. One of them let go of
me and I heard the jiggle of a belt buckle and the sound of a zipper
The other one started humping me from behind and I turned and brought my
knee up into him and he grunted and let go. “Then I was tackled, taken
down hard and they were trying to spread legs apart. I tried to fight
them and they beat the hell out of me.”

Owen picked up his beer and took a long drink. He said, “Jesus Christ,
this is unbelieveable.” Kate sipped her wine. “You want to hear the rest
of it?”

Owen said, “I want to go to Guatemala, get those bastards.”

Kate said, “I woke up trying breathe through the one nostril that wasn’t
swollen shut. I started to panic thinking I was going to suffocate. I
knew I had to get the tape off my mouth fast. I could hear them close
by, snoring. I rolled on my back and stretched my arms and brought the
handcuffs over my hips to the back of my knees and then slid my legs
through. I ripped the tape off my mouth, taking in gulps of air. I found
the seam and pulled the tape from my eyes. It was early, the sun was
just starting to rise. I was naked and put on what was left of my
T-shirt, the back slit open--and found my shorts and sandals. “Then I
studied the men who were sleeping fifteen feet away, two Ladinos in blue
Policia uniforms. I moved to the closest one who was thin, slightly
built like a lightweight fighter and slid the gun out of his holster. It
was a Beretta. I released the safety, and racked a round into the
chamber.

The second cop wasn’t wearing a gun but had a knife in a sheath on his
belt. He was a bigger man with a fat stomach--on his back snoring.

“I aimed the gun at the skinny cop and kicked him in the ribs with the
wooden toe of my sandal. He opened his eyes and looked at me and
grinned. I told him to give me the key to the handcuffs or I’d his blow
head off.