Chapter Sixteen
It was Gina’s third night in the basement holding cell at the police station, counting from the night she had arrived.
The first night, after her rape, she had been left clinging to the mesh of her cage until the policewoman returned to uncuff her and remove her blindfold. Unresisting, she had been led to a tiny cot with a bare mattress, where one wrist was handcuffed to the frame. The woman left her a water bottle and a bucket. Gina didn’t have to ask what the bucket was for.
She fell into a fitful sleep, curled into a ball for warmth, and awoke shivering to the sound of cars. She realized that the station parking lot was just beyond the wall, and the roar of engines starting and tires crunching gravel filtered down to her from the floor above. The work shift was changi
