“Sounds good,” Nick said, then suddenly remembered what he was supposed to be doing. “Hey, have you two seen Cassie anywhere? Nobody has seen her for a while.”
A look of concern crossed Michelle’s face. “No, I haven’t seen her. She’s okay, isn’t she?”
“I’m sure she is,” said Nick. “Just need to check in with her, that’s all.”
“Wish I could help you,” said Alan. “But I can’t say that I’ve seen her all day.”
“Okay, then we’ll leave you to it.”
That’s not good. Nobody has seen her since this morning. Where would she have gone for so long?
On their way back out of the warehouse, Pauline made a suggestion. “Maybe, we’re overreacting. She might just need some alone time.”
Nick thought about the possibility. Cassie had been fragile from the beginning, and even more so after what Dash had tried to do to her at The Rainforest Café. He didn’t see her as the type of person that would willingly seek solitude. She would be far too nervous to be alone.
“I don’t think she would wonder off without telling anybody,” said Eve, echoing what Nick was thinking. “But I’m not sure she’d try to hurt herself, either.”
Nick stopped walking and looked at Eve. “Really? What makes you so sure?”
Eve shrugged. “I don’t know. The way she’s been talking the last few days, I suppose. She told me how glad she was that we were all safe and that she hoped rescue would arrive eventually. She was looking forwards, you know?”
“Then where is she?” Pauline asked.
“That’s what we need to find out,” said Nick.
They carried on walking and explored the zoo area of Ripley Heights. The various animals all went about their enclosures in the same way they no doubt had before things went bad. For them life was still the same. The rabbits were still just rabbits and the chickens were still just chickens. Life was no more complicated for them than it ever had been. Nick envied them.
Oh but to be a lowly badger.
Up ahead, they were coming back around to the orang-utan enclosure. Nick looked up at the treeline and was disappointed to see that Lily was no longer there. He hoped it wasn’t the last he’d see of her.
“This is where the orang-utan was,” Nick said.
“Where is she now?” Eve asked excitedly.
“Looks like she’s gone. Sorry.”
“That sucks.”
Pauline sighed. “Isn’t Cassie our main concern right now?”
Nick nodded. “Yes, of course.”
Suddenly, Mike came speeding around the corner, right towards them.
Instantly, Nick assumed the worst. “You’ve found Cassie, haven’t you?”
Mike nodded. “Yeah, she’s at the restaurant. I came to come and get you.”
“At the restaurant?” Pauline frowned. “But we just came from there.”
“She was in the cellar,” Mike explained.
Nick sighed. He suddenly felt very weak. “How did she kill herself?”
Mike frowned in confusion. “Kill herself? She’s not dead.”
“Then why have you come to get us?”
“Because she’s broken Jan and Renee out. Your prisoner friends have escaped.”
Chapter Thirty-One
“Cassie, what are you doing?” Nick had climbed through the window back into the restaurant and was surprised to find Cassie with Renee and Jan. All three of them were brandishing knives. Standing opposite, and also armed, were Dave and Shawcross. Mike, Eve, and Pauline decided to stay outside, not wanting to make a tense situation even worse.
Cassie stared at Nick. She was shaking like a leaf, but seemed firm in her actions. “We can’t keep Jan and Renee locked up like animals anymore. They deserve better. Jan saved me. He saved you, too, Nick. I’d feel safer with them both free.”
Nick nodded. “I agree. I never thought they needed to be locked up in the first place.”
“Well, it’s not your decision,” said Shawcross. “You made a deal when we let you stay.”