“Isn’t that something John Lennon said, before he was gunned down?” I asked and then swallowed a spoonful of something that looked like chicken soup.

She cocked her head to one side and answered, “Ha! I did not know that. It was just something I picked up from some place.”

“Uh huh,” I confirmed. “It’s something I remember from my Nana. An urban legend of sorts, ‘round where I grew up. Because he was gunned down in front of a building that was near where I grew up. I still live there, actually.”

“Central Park area, right?” Bai asked as she poured another cup of water for me.

I nodded my head, and thanked her for the water.

After I swallowed and set the half-empty cup of water down, I asked her quietly, “Can you tell me what happened? How’d I end up here?”

She gave me a small smile and gingerly sat on an empty spot on the bed, across the overbed rolling table.

“There’s a story that leads up to what I’m about to tell you … are you sure you’re ready for this?”

I nodded, and then told her half-playfully, “I’m about to dig into the jello, so now’s as good a time as any. I love jello!”

She smiled at my attempts to lighten the mood, and then she started, “Well … you were taken by a bunch of guys who’d been hired by this target we were chasing, and who you were helping us catch.”

“Brom had this guy Jack, who’d been helping you in all this, insert all sorts of tracking devices on stuff you were wearing so we never lost track of you.”

I licked at the spoon, looking at her quietly.

“When did this all go down?” I asked.

“About six hours ago, more or less,” she answered. And then she asked gently, “Do you want to hear more?”

I nodded.

“At one point, about an hour after you’d been taken, after we overcame the surprise attack on us, we managed to scramble and track you to a van that was quickly heading out into the desert.  It had taken backstreets to get out of the Vegas area and was driving at highway speed to the desert. As we gave chase, it turned into a dirt road in the desert.”