Casey slips in and out of consciousness and is unaware of how much time has passed.
She's aware that someone dressed her leg; Charlie, she thinks. She can remember him talking to her as he did it, rubbing her leg and saying words that angered her. She had been too weak to fight him off.
He had been bringing her food. A tupperware container and a plastic spoon were nearby, a small bag of chips and several bottles of water. She hadn't been strong enough to eat yet.
She rolls over onto her back, wincing at the pain in her broken ribs. She hurts everywhere, and laying on the hard ground doesn't help matters much.
She remembers Charlie's bringing her a bucket of water and soap and leaving it nearby, telling her she's allowed to wash once a week and that he will bring her clean clothes after each bath.
Her clothes are full of blood and sweat. She can't help but think that she smells horrible. Maybe that will keep Charlie away for now. She's much too weak and sore to wash right now.
He had also brought her toilet paper and told her that there's a small hole behind the pillar she is tethered to where she is to do her business. Like some kind of animal.
She's thinking about her friends and the possibility of them finding her when she falls asleep again. She hadn't even been aware that she closed her eyes until she feels someone brush the hair from her forehead.
"Hey, beautiful."
Charlie. He's sitting on the floor beside her, smiling down at her as she struggles to sit up.
"You - you hurt me again," she says softly, holding her ribs and wincing. "Why are you doing this?"
Charlie looks away from her, as if he's ashamed. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have done that."
His voice is empty and without emotion and he won't look at Casey as he speaks. He's playing with the hem of his shirt nervously.
Casey decides not to say anything more about it; not now anyway. She couldn't take another beating, and she knows she has to get with it and start thinking of how to escape. Her stomach growls loudly, reminding her she hasn't had food in days. She needs to eat.
"Your blonde friend and that cop are all over the news looking for you," Charlie tells Casey, sitting cross-legged on the floor next to her. The proximity makes her shiver. "I had to go talk to the police and your blonde was quite rude to me."
Thank God. Thank God they are looking for me, and already talked to Charlie. They know. I don't have long and they will come rescue me. I know they will.
Casey feels hope, something she hasn't felt in days. "Her name is Alex, Charlie. And she's my best friend. She's probably worried. Why don't you let me call her? I'll tell her I'm safe and she doesn't have to look for me anymore. The police will stop bothering you."
Maybe she can convince him to do so. Casey has no idea where she is, but even if she's able to get a little information through it will help.
Charlie smiles, and Casey can't tell if it's a falling for her act smile, or one of his crazy smiles. "I don't think so, Casey. I don't think you want to be here yet and you will tell her that. I'm not stupid."
Casey has felt every emotion possible since being held captive and the one rearing its head right now is desperation. She wants out of here, wants to go home and far, far away from Charlie. She wants him in prison and not to be hurt any more. She's about to play along however she has to to make Charlie trust her.
"You will want to be here, in time." He tucks Casey's hair behind her ear and she wants to puke at the touch.
He plays with the hem of her t-shirt, chills going through Casey. He shouldn't be touching her, and she's growing angry.
He continues his exploration of her body with his hands, reaching up under her shirt. "Just as beautiful and athletic as I remember."
Casey frowns, taking Charlie's hands and pushing them away. She tugs down her shirt. "Don't touch me, Charlie. I did not give you permission to touch me, and I never will."
Just as expected, Charlie throws that switch again. He stands and paces, running his hands through his hair as if he doesn't know what to do.
"You're ruining it!!!! Ruining it!" he shouts, not even looking at her.
Casey gets as far away as she can, knowing what's going to happen when he's like this.
He walks back over to Casey and slaps her across the face as hard as he can. Her flesh stings and she's sure there's a hand mark but Casey doesn't flinch. She's had much worse.
"You're supposed to be my wife! We're supposed to have a family! I have to be able to touch you. This is not supposed to happen."
"I'm not your wife and I never will be. And we'll never have a family. Everything you have in your mind is fantasy. None of it is real. You won't have those things with me. My friends will find me, then you'll be in trouble. You'll go to prison. Do you understand?"
The look Charlie has in his eyes Casey has never seen on another human being. It's like he heard what she said, but didn't hear her. Like the words went right through him.
Casey expects another fit of rage. But to her surprise, Charlie calmly stands back up. He looks at her as if nothing happened and says, "You want to hurt the man who loves you, then I'm going to hurt you too. You will be begging for me to help you and comfort you when I'm done. And once you finally realize you love me, we'll be together."
He disappears back up the ladder, pulling it up and slamming the door.
Casey is gripped with fear. She knows Charlie is suspected and her friends are looking for her, but how much can happen before they find her? Charlie is capable of anything; he's proved that much.
She pulls at the shackles around her ankle. The chain is thick; she knows she can't break it. And the cement pillar she is tethered to won't give. She shivers when she realizes he built that just to tie her to it.
For one desperate moment Casey considers breaking her own ankle to get out of the shackles. Then overpowering Charlie and using the ladder to escape. But even with a broken ankle she doesn't think they would come off, and how far would she get with a broken ankle and a bad leg?
Her stomach growls again, and she grabs the bag of chips and Tupperware container.
It's leftover spaghetti, and Casey has no idea how old. But she's so hungry she doesn't care. She grabs the plastic spoon and eats so quickly that she gets the hiccups. She also eats the bag of chips and downs a bottle of the water so quickly she starts coughing.
She's just about to look at the bullet wound on her leg when she hears the heavy door open again and the ladder is lowered down.
Charlie climbs slower than usual, and when he's at the bottom Casey realizes it's because he's carrying a small pot.
"What - are you going to do with that?" Casey asks, her voice giving way to how scared she really is.
She can see steam rising off the pan. How Charlie managed to carry it down the ladder without spilling it she doesn't know
"It's for you," Charlie says. It puts it down on the ground, just out of Casey's reach. "Or not. It's up to you."
She swallows the lump in her throat and stares at the man she once loved; the man she once shared an apartment with.
"Lay down and take off your pants and underwear," he demands, standing next to Casey.
Casey doesn't even hesitate to shake her head. "No. I'm not doing it."
Charlie looks like he expected that answer. He roughly grabs her by her injured leg and forces her on her back. Casey is screaming, fighting him as best she can. He's pressing hard on her side, irritating her broken ribs but still she doesn't stop trying to fight him off.
Charlie is trying to unzip Casey's pants and in his haste he rips the button right off her jeans. She manages to raise her leg and kick him right under the chin.
This angers Charlie and he grabs the pan of scalding water. Without hesitation he pours the entire contents all over the waist of her jeans.
The pain that hits Casey is excruciating. She's never experienced anything this bad. The scalding water burns her immediately as it spreads.
She screams uncontrollably and desperately tries to remove her jeans. They are clinging to her burning flesh, and as Casey slides them off a huge chunk of her flesh comes with it.
Because of the shackles on her ankle, it's impossible to remove the jeans completely. Casey lets them pool at her feet as she rolls onto her back, trying desperately to make the pain stop. She reaches down and all she feels is sticky, burning flesh and blood.
Charlie looks as shocked as Casey is as he listens to her pained screams. He backs up so quickly that his back hits the ladder. Tears are streaming down his face as he quickly mutters something under his breath and climbs up the ladder.
"Fuuuucccckkkk," Casey groans out, gasping for breath. She had heard that burns were painful; and she can confirm this is true.
Casey considers herself a tough person with a very high pain tolerance. But right now she's rolling around, desperately clawing her underwear off so she can see how bad the damage is.
It's bad. Her flesh is pink and oozing all around her waist. Blisters have already started to form on her stomach. And she feels raw inside, knowing the scalding water got in there too.
It's then that Casey realizes just how dangerous he is, and just how much trouble she's in.
4 Weeks Missing
Four weeks isn't that long in the grand scheme of things, but it is sure is a long time when someone you care about is missing.
Olivia and Alex's wedding is now only a month away and instead of last minute preparation, every waking hour spent not working, they have been looking for Casey.
Charlie's apartment had been searched, which Alex had been present for at her insistence. Neither Casey or any trace of her was found and after interrogating Charlie again, he was cleared as a suspect.
Alex had gone to speak to Casey's mother, who is a resident of a nearby nursing home. She has advanced dementia and stared blankly at Alex as she explained to her that her daughter was missing. Even though she showed no emotion or indication that she even heard her, Alex had taken her hand and promised she would find her daughter.
And she always keeps her promises.
Alex had set up a Facebook page to help find Casey, which she posts to with updates and monitors several times daily. There have been several tips posted to it; all have been dead leads. But Alex still holds out hope that the right person will see it.
It's Saturday, and effective Monday morning, Alex is to be the new District Attorney. A month ago she had been over the moon with excitement about this promotion. Now, it hardly seems important at all.
Alex, Olivia and Amanda Rollins spend their Saturday handing out missing person flyers of Casey at the local fair in Manhattan.
Alex had hundreds printed up. She included the address to the Facebook site she started to help find Casey, her email address, and Casey's ADA badge picture.
The three of them split up, each hitting a different section of the downtown fair. Alex chooses the carnival.
She gives a flyer to basically any adult she sees, and talks to anyone who will give her a few minutes to listen. Most people disregard the flyers, shoving them into their bags soon to be forgotten. But Alex knows anything is better than nothing, and maybe they will reach that one person who knows something.
She walks around until her feet hurt and her throat is dry from talking, and until her phone incessantly buzzes with text messages from Olivia and Amanda telling her it's time to go.
She meets them by the food trucks as planned, and is pleased to see that each has handed out their entire stack.
"Anyone have any luck? Talk to anyone who had any sightings, or knows anything?" Alex asks, getting right to the point.
The disappointed looks on Amanda and Olivia's faces give her the answer.
Amanda has to part ways, and Olivia turns to look at Alex with a smile after Amanda leaves. "Why don't we walk around for a bit? Maybe go on the ferris wheel and have some bad carnival food? We both need to get our minds off everything."
Alex is typing away at her phone and doesn't even look up as she shakes her head. "No. I have some emails here that I need to get back to. Maybe one will pan out and we'll find Casey."
Olivia sighs and tells Alex she will drive them home.
But once there, she doesn't let Alex off so easily.
Alex is still on her phone as they walk into the house. She hadn't said a word to Olivia all the way home. She starts down the hall, when Olivia's gentle hand on her arm stops her.
"I need to talk to you."
Alex immediately slips her phone into her pocket and stands by the couch in the living room. Olivia has her attention.
Alex's posture is all off. She usually stands so tall and so confident. But right now she's putting her hands into her pockets and fidgeting, as if it's awkward with Olivia.
"Alex, I miss you. You're not you anymore. What's happened to Casey has taken a toll on you. We basically have no relationship; we just exist in this apartment together. You barely talk to me, we haven't been intimate in a month, you don't come to bed until the wee hours of the morning. And I understand how much you're hurting, I really do, but you can't shut me out like this. You have to let me help you and be there for you. If you don't trust me enough to do that, how are we going to get married?"
Alex looks away from Olivia sadly, hating how much she's hurt her these past few weeks.
"I talk to you, and you're not there. You have yourself so invested in this - finding Casey - that you you're doing it at the expense of everything else in your life. Including me."
Alex sits down on the arm of the couch.
She knows Olivia is right; everything she's saying. She's let her relationship take a backseat, and she's let her career take a backseat. All because every day the guilt in the pit of her stomach grows bigger. Casey is someone that Alex cares deeply about, and the guilt she feels for her missing overrides anything else. Guilt is the strongest emotion for Alex
"I know it's only been a month. And I am hoping she is found, Alex, I really am. But you have to start opening your mind to the possibly we talked about before. That maybe she just left," Olivia says, her voice full of compassion for her fiancee.
Alex finally looks her at. They lock eyes, and Alex looks into those brown orbs she's looked into so many times before and always saw love in. And she still sees love, but this time there's something else too. Something she can't quite put her finger on.
"She didn't take off, Liv. You don't know her like I do. She wouldn't do that. I know for sure she wouldn't." Alex gets up off the arm of the couch and starts to pace the living room, a nervous habit of hers. "I wish you would listen to me."
"I am listening to you, but we've found no trace of her anywhere."
"Exactly. If she took off, don't you think they would? They've checked her credit cards, bank accounts. All activity stops that Friday she went missing. She made no large withdrawals. She left her phone at her apartment. She left her car," Alex reasons.
"Maybe she had cash stashed away. And maybe she left her phone because she didn't want to be tracked." Olivia places a hand on Alex's shoulders, causing her to stop pacing. "Alex, you just need to stop blaming yourself and live your life."
At the passage of those words, Alex grows angry.
"Live my life, and stop blaming myself? That's your advice?" Alex scoffs. "You can't possibly know how I feel right now, Liv. My best friend came to me and told me she needed to talk to me about something important and I promised I'd be there for her. But instead I had sex in my office with my fiancee, like a horny teenager. And then she disappears, on the very same night. I don't think you have any idea how it feels to be me right now."
Alex is about to do what she always does when things get too heated with Olivia - retreat. Once she feels that constriction in her chest and she knows she's about to lose her composure, she bails. She can't appear weak, not even in front of Olivia.
"Alex!" Olivia spins around and follows Alex down the hall, catching her before she goes into their bedroom. She holds tight to Alex's wrist and looks at her with sad eyes.
"Stop this. Stop doing this to yourself! Don't you see what it's doing to you? You don't sleep, you barely eat. You just took on a higher profile, higher stress job, and you're like a zombie there. Because your mind and your heart are not in it. You're too invested in doing your own investigations to find Casey, instead of letting the police do their job. You sit in front of that computer and on your phone emailing back and forth and Facebooking people who are just wasting your time. It could be dangerous for you, and I worry. I love you, Alex, and I can't stand what this has done to you."
Alex has unshed tears in her eyes but she refuses to let them fall. Olivia loves her - of this she has no doubt. But she can't know what Alex feels right now; no one can.
"The police let Charlie go. They dropped him as a suspect. How am I supposed to trust them?"
"They had no choice. They had nothing on him. He passed the polygraph, her restraining order was expired, and they searched his apartment. He cooperated. I hate him for what he did to her too, but he had nothing to do with her disappearing."
"You really believe that?" Alex demands. "You seriously believe that, Liv? That Casey just up and disappeared, leaving everything behind including her pet rabbit? That she would do that to the DA's office, or to us? And that Charlie had nothing to do with it?" Alex's voice quivers as it hits a higher pitch.
"We don't have much to go on," Olivia tells her. "So I don't know what to believe. I'm just considering every possibility."
"But you believe Charlie is innocent." It's not a question; it's a statement. Alex can read it all over Olivia's face. She already knows the answer.
Olivia hesitates before she speaks again, choosing her next words carefully. "I believe we don't have any evidence that he is guilty."
Those are the words that Alex expected to hear, but they still sting. To know that Olivia has such little faith in what Alex believes is like a kick in the stomach to Alex. Olivia's opinion matters the most to her.
"We disagree, so I think it's best not to discuss this any further," Alex says quickly, as if speaking to one of her subordinates at the office. "Thank you for handing out flyers with me today. Now please, I wish to be alone the rest of the day. I'm going to set up another press conference and this time offer a reward."
Olivia just watches Alex stalk off down the hall and go into her home office, slamming the door behind her.
2.
Alex is interrupted about an hour later by someone walking into her home office.
She's sitting at the desk in front of her laptop computer and quickly straightens her back and dabs at her eyes. She had been crying after her fight with Olivia and doesn't want anyone to know that Alex Cabot is capable of crying.
It's Amanda. Olivia must have let he Amanda closes the door to Alex's office and wordlessly comes to stand beside her chair.
Alex sighs. "I'm working on a headache. I don't have time for -"
Amanda interrupts her but sliding a piece of paper across her desk. Alex looks down at it; an address is scrawled across the front.
"I did some digging. Charlie's mom has a residence about an hour away."
Alex looks at Amanda, her eyes wide.
"What do you say we go talk to her? Check the place out?"
Olivia would never approve. Alex would not be able to tell her where they are going. She doesn't like lying to the brunette. But this isn't really lying - it's withholding the truth.
"I got a sitter for Jessie," Amanda says. "Look, Casey is my friend too. I want to find her."
Alex doesn't have to be told twice. She grabs her purse and her jacket off the back of her chair and follows Amanda out the door.
So what do you think? It's amazing how one event can cause a snowball effect on your life; that's what is happening to Alex here. what will happen with Olivia, her job? Do you think Alex and Amanda will find Casey?