Page 13 of Rami

Toth stood. “Got it.”

August’s curiosity was palpable, but Rami didn’t give him the grace of a glance. Shitty thing was, this could all be for nothing. There was no way to be sure Ivy was there, no way to be sure they wouldn’t be shot on the spot. They’d do their due diligence before storming the location, but regardless, they were going in blind.

And if she was still alive, she might not have twenty hours.

***

“I know what you’re doing.” The scornful voice came from the bedroom off the short hallway somewhere behind where Ivy lay.

She groaned and stared at the ceiling. The low light coming through the cracks of tinfoil on the window told her it was either very early in the morning or very late at night. Considering dumb and dumber were still up, it had to be nighttime.

She swallowed and stifled a gag. God, she needed water. She lifted her head but it was too heavy. The muscles in her neck kinked, and her head dropped back to the floor. A wave of sleepiness pulled her in.

Within a few minutes, Marty and Wayne’s bickering roused her again. “You look at her and then you want to fuck me,” Marty hissed. “I’m not stupid. I know you’d be all over her if I wasn’t here.”

Revulsion prickled the back of Ivy’s mouth. The woman wasn’t wrong. Wayne barely even tried to hide the drool when he got near her.

Directing her attention to her body, Ivy took stock. The last time they’d drugged her she’d been out for a while. It seemed every time they injected her, her mind had a harder time coming back. Now, she had to reacquaint herself with her surroundings all over again. The strength she’d had yesterday seemed light-years away. Had she really been able to get to her knees? Pull a nail from the wall? Or had she been dreaming?

She turned her head to face the wall and the room spun. Nausea collected in her esophagus.

Don’t puke, don’t puke.

Her mouth watered as she fought the urge to keep in whatever acid existed in her stomach. If she retched, they’d hear her.

The next time they drugged her would surely be the last. She had to get out now—tonight.

“Uh, yes. Harder!”

The cries from the bedroom made Ivy shudder.

Get up. Get up!

The shrill cry in her head made her eyes snap open. The wall loomed before her, and she dragged her gaze to the lifted linoleum. Using all her brain cells to command her fingers, she dragged them to the little nook where she’d stashed the nail.

Marty and Wayne’s bedroom noises stopped. Maybe they’d fallen asleep. If they had, and she got free of her bindings, she might be able to make an escape.

Her fingertip touched smooth metal, but she couldn’t conjure enough strength in her limp hand to grasp it. Tears leaked out of the corners of her eyes.

This was it. Her last shot.

And she was failing.

Even if she could grab the damn thing, she wouldn’t have enough strength to get through the shackle around her ankle. Her shorts and tank were loose around her body—she’d lost weight. Probably a lot. Not to mention muscle tone from being chained up and drugged.

She didn’t have a fighting chance.

Had she really believed she’d escape using a nail? It was almost comical. She could see the headlines: “Woman Escapes Human Traffickers with Nail.”

A chuckle rasped from her lips.

The bed groaned. Someone stood.

Shock jolted her insides. Oh god. They’d heard her.

“She’s awake.” Marty’s annoyed announcement carried through the stale air.

Life surged to Ivy’s limbs. No. If they knew she was awake, they’d drug her again. And it’d be the last time the needle plunged into her skin. The last time she floated in and out of reality.

---