Elmore's Corner...Round Twelve.

Eddie was drowsing in the chair behind the lone desk in the office. He had been alone there for hours, had declined the offer of a ride back to Sam and Beth's to continue Perino's debriefing there. Something...almost otherworldly...told him to stay put, to keep watch. The unpleasant sound of tires screeching on pavement jolted him to alertness...and he knew that this was what he had been waiting for. He bolted from the room, toward the front door...and stopped.

Eddie:  Jesus Christ...

Deb:  Beth...somebody...

He could scarcely recognize the woman he had seen out the door a few 
short hours earlier.  That woman had been drunk but reasonably well put
together.  This one...had been ravaged.  From the snarled hair to the
laceless shoes, she looked as though she had been run through a grinder
with a set of blunt blades.  She groaned once and sank to her knees,
trembling.  She was trying to hold her blouse together across her breasts
and keep her jeans from falling down, but she was losing the fight for 
modesty.  Somebody had been very thorough.  He dropped down beside her,
reached to touch her gently.  She cried out, crabbed backward across the
floor away from him, her eyes riveted on his hands.

Eddie:  Deb...Deb!  It's me, Eddie!

He held his hands up, within her line of sight and well away from her.
There was no sanity in her eyes, she was mad with fear and pain.

Deb:  Hands...no hands...please, no hands...

Eddie didn't quite know what to do with his hands.  But it wouldn't
have mattered.  She kept trying to push herself into the corner and there
was nowhere for her to go.

Eddie:  Deb, I'm not gonna hurt you.  Let me see if you're okay.

She finally found a position that allowed her to cover herself and
watch his hands.

Eddie:  Deb...let me see if you're okay...let me check...

She shook her head frantically.

Deb:  No...I...are you alone here?  Where is...?

Eddie:  Bill's gone home to wait for you...'bout half the troops are in the
back.  Deb...please...I'm not gonna hurt you but I've got to see
if you're okay.

Deb:  I don't want any fucking ham-handed doctors, Eddie...I want Billy and
he's not here...

Eddie moved slowly, easily toward her, crouching low, trying to stay on  
her level and not hover over her.  She was curled into a tight ball,
shivering miserably and staring at his hands...his huge hands.

Eddie:  Deb...what happened?

As a response, she lowered a knee, held part of her torn blouse aside to
expose a breast.  Eddie saw angry bruises, bloody bitemarks and livid
fingermarks.

Deb:  He did that when he raped me, he and about five of his closest
friends.

Eddie:  Oh my God, Deb...who?

Deb:  Who else?  George Cole.

Eddie tried again to approach her, slowly and gently.  She covered
herself again and huddled back in the corner.

Deb:  Billy will be furious.  He'll say part of it was my fault and he'll
be right...

Eddie:  No, baby, it's not your fault...

He nearly whispered...

Eddie:  That fucking bastard.

Deb:  Yes, it is...I never listen...I never learn...he tells me what I need
to do to be safe and I never pay the slightest bit of attention.

She cried softly, tears rolling down swollen cheeks from blackening
eyes.  Bully had been drawn from the back room by the sound of voices, and
he came out in time to see her in this state.

Bully:  Eddie...what?

Eddie stopped Bully's question and his advance with a raised hand.  He
tried yet again to ease up to Deb, to try and hold her.  She found another
direction to crawl off in, and fetched up against Bully's legs.  Bully did
the gentlemanly thing, reached down to try and help her to her feet.  She
released her blouse and began slapping and hitting at him, to escape his
hands.

Bully:  What...Mallard, what the fuck did you do to my girl?

Eddie shot Bully a withering glance.

Deb:  ...hands...hands...not more hands...

Eddie:  Deb!  It's okay, it's okay...we're your friends!  You're safe now!

She finally managed to jerk away from Bully but did it so violently 
that she fell backwards, striking her head on the floor and laying herself
open to inspection.  Both men now saw the streaked blood, the full extent
of the bruises spotting the torso...the bitemarks neatly encircling each
nipple.  Eddie swore quietly again, while Bully moved quickly for the
phone.

Bully:  I don't know what the hell this is about, but I'm callin' Bill.

Eddie:  Deb...c'mon, girl, look at me...Deb...are you okay?

The room was beginning to fill with the night-crew, and Eddie quickly 
moved to prevent them all from rushing her at once, and to block their view
of the battered body.  Deb lay stunned, unable to find Eddie, let alone 
look at him.  Coley had managed to take up a position near Eddie, and he
looked with horror on the mess that somebody had made of Ma.

Bully:  Strannix, listen to me, you get your ass down here right the hell
now...I know who you're waitin' for and I'm tellin' ya, you're wastin'
your time...she's here and somebody did one hell of a job on her...
she's beat all to hell and if you can't be nice to the girl I will
personally bust your ass...

Coley:  What the hell, Eddie? ...Ma...?

Eddie held Coley back and tried to move the others as well.

Eddie:  Come on, guys...give her some room here.

Coley:  Can'tcha get 'er somethin' t'cover herself with?

Coley didn't bother to wait for an answer.  Instead he skinned his own
t-shirt off quickly and knelt beside Deb to slip it over her head.  Eddie
noticed she did not flinch, but then she wasn't looking at Coley, either.
It seemed to make a difference.

Eddie:  Deb?  You want us to get Beth down here?

She was trying to sit up, head shaking in a dumb, bovine fashion as she
tried to clear it.  She looked up at Eddie and managed a nod...

Yes...Call Beth.  She was a woman...she'd been manhandled by Cole...she
would more than understand.  It was the first coherent thought I'd had
since I climbed into the cab and realized what I had done.

Bully:  Strannix just slammed the phone down in my ear...guess he must be 
comin'...

Since Coley was attending to me, his sweetnatured concern over-riding any
residual fear of his hands I might have had, Eddie stepped to the
phone, inadvertently putting it on speaker...

Sam:  Gerard.  This better be damn good is all I can say.

Eddie:  It's Eddie.  I need to talk to Beth.

Sam:  Eddie, she's finally got to sleep after a hell of a long day and I'm
not about to wake her up.

Eddie:  Sam, this is serious.  I need to talk to her right now.

Sam:  And I said she's had a long day and I'm not wakin' her up.  It'll
just have to wait until morning, Eddie.  Why don't you go on to bed, you
were up early.

Billy must have made it to the Corner in record time, driving balls-out.
He was wearing his uniform...denims and leather and why-for-Christ's-sake-
it's-the-middle-of-the-night shades, and he nearly tore the front door off
its hinges as he slammed in.

Billy:  What in hell...?

Eddie was still on the phone with Sam, and could only hit Billy with an
icy glare.  Bully rushed over to shut Bill up.

Bully:  Dammit, she's scared out of her goddam mind, whether of you or Cole
I don't know which and I don't care.  If you can't be gentle with 'er, say
so now and we'll take it straight the fuck outside.

Billy furrowed his brow and stopped, quite suddenly.  Bully glanced in my
direction and Billy allowed his gaze to follow Bully's.  My eyes were glued 
to Billy's face, seeing both an inquisitor and my salvation...I didn't know
which one I would get.  Billy slowly slipped his shades off and walked
toward me.  As he got closer, his face simply...fell.

Billy:  Baby?

Deb:  Billy...I didn't know, I never thought...I never think...I didn't mean
to...I did it again, I didn't listen to you...

Billy knelt beside me, reached out to hold me, crouched and tried to take
me to his chest, my refuge in times past...but I stiffened.  I drew away
from Billy, of all people...but all I could see were his hands, his hands, 
his hands.  I wanted to close my eyes and blot out the sight, so I could let
him do what he so obviously wanted to do, but I couldn't.  I was trembling
violently.

Eddie:  Sam, we need Beth down here five minutes ago.  This is serious.

Billy:  Baby...I'm not gonna hurtcha...I'd never hurtcha, you know that...

Bully:  Listen to her once...hands, hands, hands...she wants you, but your
hands come with you and she's scared of them.  You ever beat her up?  If
you have, you're a fucking dead man.

Billy rose slowly and crossed the room to where Bully was standing.
But once he got there, he didn't stop freight training into Bully's chest.
Bully planted his feet and met Billy head on.

Billy:  What the fuck did you just say? 

I spoke up, afraid of still more fighting and that I might wind up in the
middle of it again.  I was surprised at how small and whipped my voice
sounded.

Deb:  No...Bully...he never...he...stop, Bully, please...

Billy didn't hear me.  He was too busy grabbing huge fistfuls of Bully's
shirt and propelling him back into the bar.

Bully:  Since you got a hearing problem, I'll repeat it.  You ever beat her
up, cause if you ever have, you're a dead man.

Billy:  How dare you...you fuckin' bastard...!

Deb:  STOP!!!  Bully...Billy never raises a hand to me, it
was Cole, I told you that, now don't...please, don't...

I was utterly distraught by this point.  Both of the big men froze in 
mid-swing and they looked at me.  Billy broke eye-contact first, looked to 
Bully.  He didn't say anything, just gave Bully another shove into the bar  
as he stepped away.

Bully:  It ain't you, Bill.  Pay attention for once in your damn life and
take care of the girl.  Just take care of her.

Billy looked to Eddie, who had been ready to step between them.

Billy:  Do somethin' with these guys?

Bill's voice was low and tired.  Eddie nodded, understanding.

Eddie:  C'mon, guys...everybody to a post.  Need to keep a sharp lookout
tonight.  Bill...Sam and Beth are on the way.

Eddie cleared the room slowly, and soon the only other person in the
bar with me was Billy.  He put his hands awkwardly in his jacket pockets
and walked slowly to where I still huddled in the chair.  He sat cautiously
in a chair next to me.

Billy:  Baby...please.

Deb:  Please what?  I screwed up again...sometimes I think that's what it
should say on my W-4, screw-up.  I should have told you right away but you
were so busy and I thought I could handle it...

Billy:  Don't say that, baby.  Don't even think it.

Deb:  Don't think what?  That I need to learn to listen?  How many times
have you told me not to go out alone?  How many times do you have to tell
me before I figure out it's me you're talking to?  I'm an idiot...a
stubborn fucking idiot...

I couldn't look at him anymore and put my head down on the table.  I
started crying in earnest, then, and it gave Billy a chance to move as well.
He was able to slip an arm around my shoulders and ease me to his chest.

Billy:  No, darlin'.  Ssssh.

Deb:  I.  Never.  Learn.  I.  Don't.  Listen.  I'll make you hate me for a
fool before I get done and if I do that...if I do that...

Billy worked his other arm around me and held me in a light embrace.  He
kissed the top of my head.

Billy:  It's okay, baby.  You're okay now.

I had caught hold of his waist, and my arms were tightening around him.
I slid out of the chair, to my knees and a spot between his thighs.  I
burrowed my head in under his chin.  I was finally starting to feel safe.

Deb:  He kept kicking me...in the hip and ankle...so's I couldn't run...

Billy's jaw muscles were clenching like a vise, and I could feel him
fighting to control his breathing.

Deb:  I have to tell you...I have to...I kicked him once and he grabbed me
...by the...the hair and pulled and I...

Billy rocked me gently, his eyes tightly shut to fight back his own 
tears...of rage...of pity.

My next question sounded stupid even to me.  All my life I had been told
that no woman deserved to be raped and I believed that.  But I thought 
Billy might know something about Cole that I didn't.  So I asked.

Deb:  I...I didn't do anything to ask..for it...did I?

Billy whispered his answer, so low that I scarcely heard him.

Billy:  No, baby.  No.

I felt positively ridiculous...but I had caused him so much trouble and
distraction just when he didn't need it...

Deb:  Do you still like me?

Billy:  Baby, I love you.

The front door of the Corner opened to admit Sam and Beth.  Beth 
planted a hand in the center of Sam's chest, a signal to stay put, and then
stepped quietly across the room.  Billy looked up, and something unsaid but
mutually understood must have passed between them.  Beth spoke gently.

Beth:  Deb?

Beth crouched next to me and laid a gentle hand in the middle of my 
back, to get my attention.  I looked up at her, but wasn't about to leave
the safety of Billy's arms.

Beth:  Deb...are you...do you need a doctor?

Deb:  What are you doing here?...that's right...I asked Eddie to call...
I don't know if I need to see somebody...I might be bleeding...Cole's 
friends...

Beth was softly rubbing my back.

Beth:  Deb...I'm so sorry.

I shook my head against the comforting hardness of Billy's chest.

Deb:  Don't be.  It's over and done with.  Time for me to start dealing 
with it, somehow.

Billy:  Baby, let's get you to a hospital.

Deb:  No...no way...no hospital, none of that shit...

Billy:  Darlin', we need to see if anything's broken.

Sam:  She has to, Bill.  If nothing else, she needs the morning
after pill.

Billy whipped off a quick scowl in Sam's direction before returning his
attention to me.

Deb:  I know things are messed up...but the examination and the
pictures and the questions...no...I can't.  Sorry.  I just want to go home,
Billy.

Billy:  C'mon, baby.  The pipsqueak here can call her doctor.  She's a nice
lady.

Beth:  Yeah, Deb.  C'mon, please?  She'll take us straight at her office,
no emergency room.  And no questions, unless you're ready.

With the last statement, Sam shot Beth a look that would have withered
plant life.  Beth steadfastly ignored Sam, so Sam spoke to me.

Sam:  Deb...we need this.  If we...get the evidence now, we can pin this on
him, charge him with that as well...put him away for good.  And if we don't
manage to get him on the other...we can get him on the sexual
assault charge.  We'll give it to the DA since it's not a Federal rap, but
we'll get him.

Billy:  I'll be with you the whole time, darlin'.  I won't leave you for a
second.

Beth:  We should get you checked out, Deb.

I could feel myself shaking again, and my fingers were curled tightly 
in Billy's shirt.  I could feel his hands, fingers spread protectively
across my back.

Deb:  You're the boss, Billy.  Do I have to?

Billy slowly stood up, easing me to my feet with him.

Billy:  Yeah, Baby.  You have to.  Let 'em get this bastard.  C'mon.

Billy and Beth headed for the car, with Sam bringing up the rear.  I
would have been shaking...but Billy was with me, and Billy was all I needed.

TO BE CONTINUED...