“Alice!” Cassie lightly slapped the young woman’s pale cheek. Her eyes opened to slits, revealing bloodshot whites. Drool trickled from the corner of her mouth. A puddle of vomit pooled on the floor near the bed. Cassie searched Alice’s arm and found a small trickle of blood.
Novak had drugged her before he came in to do the same to Cassie. It had been strong enough to knock Novak out the moment she plunged the juice into him, and he was twice Alice’s size. Cassie had felt the effects before, too. She feared the young woman had overdosed.
Normally she wouldn’t hesitate to carry the other woman out of their prison, but Cassie was underfed and over-drugged. She felt weak and she feared for her life. Taking Alice with her reduced her own chances of escaping.
But what if the effects on Novak wore off too soon? What if the other guy showed up? Cassie leaving would mean they took their rage out on Alice.
She gave the room a once-over, looking for something to put on Alice. Novak had left her nude except for dirt-stained panties. Cassie found a balled up dress in the corner of the room. She recognized it from the pictures she had seen of Alice early on in the investigation. Had it been what she wore when Novak killed her roommates and abducted her? Or had he returned to the house to retrieve it for her?
“I need you to sit up, Alice,” Cassie said, threading her arm around the woman’s back to assist her. “Come on, we don’t have time to linger.”
Alice groaned as Cassie lifted her back off the bed.
“That’s a girl,” Cassie said. “Keep talking to me.”
Alice groaned again. Cassie’s skin pricked and she swung her head around, expecting to see Novak in the doorway.
It was empty.
Alice’s torso leaned forward. Cassie shifted her weight against the woman to hold her up. Alice’s drool-soaked cheek slid down Cassie’s shoulder and upper arm.
“Help me out, girl.” Cassie worked Alice’s arms through the bottom of the dress and out the arm holes with little assistance from the woman. Then she wrapped her arms around Alice and pulled her to her feet. “I need everything you’ve got, girl. I know you feel weak right now, like you’re asleep, but you’re with me, Alice. You and me, we can get out of here, but we have to work together. You hear me? You can do this.”
Alice’s eyelids fluttered open. Her eyes rolled forward, made contact with Cassie.
“I don’t want to leave you here,” Cassie said. “Please don’t make me leave you.”
Alice’s grip on Cassie’s arm was hard. Her words were slurred, but understandable. “Let’s get out of here.”