With regret, I roused Jess from sleep and let her know I was going to take Kat home. Eyes closed and hands rubbing her head, trying to moisten her dry mouth with her tongue, she grunted that she would join us later.

I carried Kat to my car. Her body was fighting the stimulant effects of cocaine and nicotine with the sedative effects of the heroin, and I just wanted to get her home to sleep it off. When we arrived, she was still a little on the hyper side, so I stripped her down and put her in the shower. Her body looked like a battlefield. There were ligature...