Not much, he realized. But he had to at least try to save Tracy. He had a feeling that she was still alive only because the men hadn’t killed anyone as far as he knew. If they were murderers, they would certainly have killed either Molly or himself by now. He could only hope that the same held true for Tracy.
Only one way to find out, Tom thought.
He crept back out into the hallway. Quietly, he walked over to the door where the voices were coming from and held his ear to it.
“Looks like she’s out like a light,” he heard a voice say.
“She is. We’ll give her ten more minutes, then the Versed,” a second voice said.
“Why do we have to wait so long to give her the shot, Doc?” another voice said.
Christ! Tom thought. There were three of them in there! Who was the third man?
And what in the holy hell were they doing to Tracy?
“Because, Ernie, this is all about timing. The GBH we gave her will knock her out for several hours and make her an easy lay. I’ve also added something to help control the vomiting, which will make our experience all the more pleasant.
“But the injection should make her forget that anything bad ever happened to her. In fact, if all goes well, she will have amnesia and forget everything that’s happened since we picked her up. But we have to delay the injection. Otherwise, it would not only screw up the metabolic process, but probably kill her, too.”
“I see.” Ernie replied. “But why didn’t you give the little girl a shot of that stuff, too?”
“She is too small for us to take the risk with that combination of drugs. The last thing we need is a murder rap.”
“But she’s going to be able to ID us once we let her go, isn’t she?” the first man argued.
The man referred to as “Doc” chuckled. “We haven’t let her go yet, now have we? I’ve got another formula I want to try on the young one before we turn her loose. And if this little concoction works, she won’t know any of us from the man in the moon.”
“Whoa, that would be awesome! So if all of these drugs of yours work, we could get away with all kinds of shit with any babe we want-and no one will ever know the difference!”
“I’m more interested in the money we’re going to make, but yes, that’s what we’re shooting for. But neither of you are getting a red cent until we perfect the process, so don’t get all excited yet.”
“I know, Doc. But don’t think we aren’t enjoying these little experiments, right Billy?”
“That’s for sure. God, she’s a looker, ain’t she? I can’t wait to get my hands on those tits! When can we strip her down, Doc?”
Ernie answered instead. “Jesus, Billy, hold your horses! You damn near screwed everything up with that black chick by being so gung-ho, remember? If Doc hadn’t saved the day, we’d all be up shit creek by now.”
Tom stepped back from the door. His first reaction was absolute shock. Tracy was being forced to act as some kind of lab rat so this “Doc” lunatic could test his street drugs! She had evidently just been given a date rape cocktail and would be shot up with another drug in ten minutes. Versed -he’d heard of that drug before. It was a powerful sedative given before surgery to relax you.
So that’s what this is all about, he thought. These cretins, led by the doctor, were trying to develop the ultimate date rape drug-one that would not only make the victim more vulnerable to abuse but able to induce total amnesia. This would theoretically make it impossible for the guilty party to get caught since the victim’s memory would be completely eradicated.
Tom thought of little Molly Barnes and realized that she was very fortunate to have gotten out of this creepy laboratory when she had. The doctor’s plans of future experimentation on the girl would definitely have put her at serious risk.
And the “black chick” Ernie had referred to was most likely the same girl that had been dumped off in the alley. Tom recalled Frank saying that she had been raped and assaulted but had had no recollection of her attacker. She must have been part of these experiments, too, and the drugs had apparently worked.
He simply had to get Tracy out of there before they gave her that shot But how?
And why haven’t the cops gotten there yet? Had something happened to Molly to keep her from calling 911?
Tom looked at his watch. It had been almost five minutes since Molly had left the house-plenty of time for her to get to the BP and place the call. The cops should be here any minute.
Tom couldn’t wait any longer.
He suddenly heard someone walk toward the door. In a flash, he ran down the hall and into the spare bedroom. He stood there holding his breath and heard someone go into the bathroom to take a leak. He waited a little longer then heard the person go back into the bedroom and close the door.
Out of nowhere, Tom had a flashback of his dream. He and Erin had been speeding through the Midtown Tunnel with Chappy and his crony in hot pursuit, gaining on them. They had almost run out of time This gave him an idea. And it just might work.
He opened the door and peeked out to make sure the hallway was clear. Then he fled the room and moved silently down the stairs. Heading for the kitchen, he kept his eye out for anything he could find to create a diversion.
He found a Bic lighter in a counter drawer near the stove and considered the white linen curtains covering the window above the sink. Kindling, yes, but not enough fuel to sustain a fire. He peered over at the valence hanging over the window of the kitchen door. That wouldn’t work either.
Tom glanced at his watch and estimated they would be giving Tracy the injection in another two or three minutes. He was going to have to hurry or it would be too late.
He ran down the stairs into the basement and looked around. He spotted a cardboard box filled with old clothes near the workbench. He also found an old scuffed up baseball in another box and stuffed it into his pocket. Then he picked up the box of clothes and ran back up the stairs.
Tom closed the basement door and quickly dumped the contents of the box out on the floor. Using his feet, he banked the pile of clothes up against the basement door and ran over to the drawer where he’d seen a can of lighter fluid earlier. He ran back over to the pile of clothes, doused them in lighter fluid then squirted the basement door with the rest of the can. He stooped down, flicked the Bic and ignited the pile of clothes.
There was a huge whoosh as the clothes caught fire and flames ran up the door, licking the ceiling. Tom threw the can on the flames and dashed out of the kitchen.
His heart was nearly busting out of his chest as ran up the stairs as quietly as he could-just long enough to open the door to the spare bedroom. Then he ran back down the stairs halfway and stopped. He took the baseball out of his pocket and took careful aim at the large living room window at the far end of the room. Drawing in a deep breath and holding it, he threw the ball as hard as he could.
Tom saw the window shatter and then retraced his steps up the stairs, entered the spare bedroom and shut the door behind him. He immediately heard the door to the other bedroom burst open and the sound of footsteps running down the hall then down the stairs.
Tom held his breath. Any second now…
“Fire!” someone shouted from below.
Seconds later, he heard two more sets of footsteps running down the hallway.
“Where is it?” the doctor shouted.
“In the kitchen-the whole room is engulfed!” someone replied.
This was his only chance.
Tom ran out of the room, down the hall and into the bedroom. He was outraged when he saw Tracy lying on a bed unconscious, stripped down to her bra and panties.
He ran over and started shaking her.
“Tracy! Wake up!”
She was so lifeless that Tom wondered if it was too late. He looked around and saw a syringe lying on the bedside table. It was still full of the drug, thank god.