The Edge

against the wall. I saw Laura over me even as I sat there, my head to one side.

    She was shaking me as hard as she could. "Mac, listen to me. I know you can hear me, you're looking at me. Blink at me. Yes, that's right. Whatever's going on in your head, you've got to control it. We've got to get out of here."

    I looked over at the glass windows. They weren't boarded up. The glass was solid, whole. And I wondered: Did we really crash through it the first time?

    "Mac, blink at me again."

    I evidently did because she started speaking again. Her voice was low. She was close to me. I could feel her breath on my face.

    "I want you to raise your hand now, Mac."

    I looked down at my hand lying limp on the floor. I looked and looked at it and then I thought, Just raise your damned hand. My hand came right up. I cupped Laura's face with it. "Whatever it is, it's going away. It's a weird feeling. Laura, we didn't use anything when we made love at Seagull Cottage. If I made you pregnant, I don't want you to worry about it, okay? We're going to get married. It'll all be okay."

    She grinned at me, leaned down, and kissed my mouth. It was a sweet kiss and I felt it throughout my body, and the feeling was healthy and real. "I'm better," I said.

    "Good. I want you to stand up now, Mac. Do you think you can do it?"

    I felt the journey of coming back into myself, of retaking control. I doubted in that moment if I would ever again even willingly take an aspirin. There is nothing more terrifying than losing control of your mind.

    I got up. I stood staring at the boarded-up windows. "My memory went haywire. I felt numb and everything was different. This damned drug is a killer." "Let's find Molinas, Mac." I picked up my AK-47. I felt strong again. In control.

    But for how long this time?

Chapter Twenty-Five

    I was frankly surprised when we went through a corridor on the far side of the office and found ourselves in an antique-filled bedroom. The man we believed to be Molinas was sitting on the side of a bed, leaning over a woman. Not a woman, she was young, perhaps eighteen. She had a white sheet pulled to her chin. Thick, shiny dark hair fanned around her face on a white pillow.

    Molinas hadn't heard us. All his attention was focused on the girl. He was wearing black pants, a loose white shirt, and his bald head gleamed beneath the mellow bulb just above the bed.

    He was speaking quietly, but I couldn't make out his words. I watched him stroke her hair, lean down to kiss her. He continued speaking in a low, warm voice even as he straightened again. I couldn't tell if he was speaking Spanish or English. I saw the girl's hand come up and lightly touch his shoulder.

    I nodded to Laura and pointed to the Bren Ten she held lightly in her right hand. She frowned a moment, then reluctantly handed it to me. How could she know what I intended?

    "Take the girl, Laura," I whispered. She nodded again. I left my AK-47 on the floor just outside the door. We went as silently as we could into the still air of the room. It smelled sweet in the bedroom, a vague rose smell. I didn't like it. It was cloying.

    He was completely focused on the girl, leaning over her, speaking. My boots creaked. I froze, but he didn't move. What were they talking about?

    I gently pressed the Bren Ten against his left ear. "Hello," I said. "Como le va?"

    The girl was sitting up now, pressed against the bed's headboard, her eyes wide, silent as death. She was terrified.

    I felt him coil then relax again. He said, "If you kill me you'll never get out of here alive."

    "It won't matter to you, Molinas," Laura said very calmly.

    "How do you know who I am?"

    "Who else would they send down here?" Laura asked. "You were assigned to keep us. As for all the fun you had with us, that was your own idea, wasn't it?"

    "Some of the men are animals. I protected you."

    I looked over at the girl, who still clutched the sheet to her throat, her narrow hands clenched. I said in Spanish, "Don't be afraid. We're not going to hurt you."

    Slowly she nodded and said in perfect English, "Who are you?"

    "My name's Mac. What's yours?"

    "Marran."

    Molinas moved and I gave him all my attention. "Keep an eye on her, Laura."

    I came down beside him and raised the pistol. "You're going to take us to where you're holding the other two agents."

    "They're dead," he said.

    "Then so are you." I pressed the pistol against the side of his mouth and cocked it.

    "No, don't," he choked