Elmore's Corner...Round Eighteen.

I backed away but there wasn't anywhere for me to go. Once I felt the wall at my back my options narrowed to slim and none. On the one side were the recyclables, and on the other side there was Cole. I wanted to mouth off...badly...but everything stopped well short of my lips. The only sound I could manage to make, in fact, was a sort of whimper that seemed to please him greatly.

Cole:  Flash, you just don't ever learn, do ya?

He stepped into me then and there were rough hands on flesh that Billy
always treated gently.

Cole:  Gonna fight this time, Flash?  Or didja like it last time?

He pinned me heavily to the wall, driving the breath out of me with a
well-placed knee.  I slumped against him and he bent his face to the hollow
of my shoulder.  In case I thought about trying to escape, he applied his
teeth to the skin.  He didn't bite hard, but the message was plain:  he 
would if necessary.

Beth:  Deb, I brought you a Coke in case you...

She stopped short, eyes wide and horrified.  Cole raised his head, his
eyes locked on hers, and he grinned wolfishly.

Deb:  Beth...go get Billy, please!

Cole:  Well, I'll be goddamned, if it ain't Slick.  C'mere, you...

He snaked a hand out and grabbed hold of her jeans just as she jumped 
backward.  She must have seen something in the kitchen, because as she
started to fall, she unleashed a desperate yell.

Beth:  Bill!  Shit, Bill!

Deb:  Billy!  Out back!  Billy, Bully, Eddie...!

Billy came flying out the back door, his quick reflexes saving him from
a nasty fall as he leaped over Beth and down the last five steps.  He
skidded to a stop behind Cole and his hands slammed down on the man's 
shoulders.

Billy:  You sonofa...

Cole lost interest in me and turned to Billy.  He smirked broadly.

Cole:  Come on, little man.

Both Billy and Cole reached, got a handful of jacket at the same time.
It created an escape route for me, and I didn't need Billy to tell me to
take it. I darted out from behind them and leaped for the steps just as
Billy got off the first of several vicious right jabs to Cole's face, which
drove the man to his knees.

Deb:  You okay, Beth...?

The fall had erased the knee of her new jeans and there was a thin
trickle of blood from her skinned knee.  She looked to have sustained more
damage than I felt I had.

Beth:  Yeah, fine, I got a knee just like it on the other side,  We better
call in the...

Billy had stepped back to kick Cole, but his adversary had recovered
quickly and lunged forward, planting his shoulder in Billy's midsection.
The two big men slammed hard to the pavement, grappling, with Billy on his
back amidst the garbage and dust of the alleyway.  Cole reared back and
brought a piledriver of a blow down into Billy's sternum, which didn't seem
to affect Billy in the least but which drew a gasp out of both Beth and
me.  I'd heard of things like that stopping the human heart.  Cole followed
his first punch with a second, also powerful enough to break ribs, and was
lined up to deliver a third which might well have finished Billy.  His
third shot only caught Billy in the shoulder as Billy rolled away and then
reversed back to hook his huge fist into Cole's jaw, directly below the ear.
This sent Cole flying, and Billy used the momentum to roll to his feet and
reach down to grab Cole by the lapels and yank him to an upright position.
He slammed Cole first into the dumpster then, before the man could recover
Billy gathered up handfuls of the jacket again and catapulted Cole into the
brick wall of The Corner.

Beth:  We'd better get inside, Deb, come on, you can't help, all
you can do is get in the way...

Beth tugged at my arm but I resisted her good sense, riveted to the
spot, terrified for Billy.  As Billy jerked Cole away from the wall and
back into the deadly range of his fists, Cole caught hold of Billy's jacket
again and the two men spun away, toward the steps and into the bar.  Beth
yanked with panicky strength when she saw which way they were headed and
managed to send both of us crashing to our knees just inside the door, in
time for Billy and Cole to trip over us and lay us both out flat.

Deb:  Gee, I've always wanted to know what it felt like to be run over by
a stampede,  Last one to the emergency room's a rotten egg...

My head bounced off the stone floor and I think I might have greyed out.
When I came to again, Beth was gone and there was the sound of hundreds of
glasses and bottles shattering as the two behemoths hit the bar, literally.
I heard Sam yell from the back.

Sam:  Strannix!  What the hell, Beth, get your ass in here!

Then simultaneously, the Bail Jumpers cranked up behind the chicken wire
and a riot cranked up in front of it.  Very 'Roadhouse'.  I wouldn't have
been at all surprised to see Patrick Swayze flying by when I stuck my woozy
head into the barroom.  I was in search of Billy.  Beth was standing in
the door already, trying to decide if this intersection was ever going to
clear.

Beth:  I was wondering if I need to increase my health insurance...

Deb:  You get hit in the head?

Beth:  But, hell, I hate to miss a good bar fight.

I was making my way unsteadily into the barroom, heading with some foggy 
purpose to where I could see Billy's broad back.  Cole swung hugely at him 
but he ducked rather more successfully than he did in a similar situation
with a certain Navy cook, and Cole's fist thumped solidly against the back 
of Brad Little's hard head.  Little had no real idea who had hit him, but he 
assumed it was one of the drugstore cowboys and he went on joyously pounding 
New Jersey ass.   I turned my head and called to Beth.

Deb:  Hey, I can hear Sam back there, yowling like a scalded cat.  You
might wanna go check in with him.

Brad had flung a chair, and this chair apparently had sailed past right 
where my face had been.  Beth turned and limped painfully toward the
office.  In the act of dodging falling bodies, she got turned around a few
times and was in real danger of getting creamed until she caught sight of
Elmore.

Beth:  Hey, Elmore, wasn't I headed in the other direction?

Elmore had no idea where she'd been trying to go, but he knew where he
wanted to see her.  He scooped her up in his brawny arms and carried her to
the office, out of harm's way.

Elmore:  Not anymore, Honey.  Sammy, Tom...keep an eye onner, huh?

Sam made no response, and he didn't seem to know if he was grateful to
Elmore for rescuing Beth from certain annihilation, or infuriated with the
big ox for carrying her when he, Sam, couldn't.  Meantime I was still in
the barroom, attempting to make my way across it and shaking my head in a
bovine fashion, trying to clear it.  I don't know whether it was me
bumping into Bully or Bully plowing into me, but he was sailing back from
somebody's right cross and he laid me out flatter than a pancake.  I lay 
there, in a state of supreme indifference to my continued health and well 
being since I couldn't even breathe, until I felt a hand slide under my 
back and another one take mine and help me to my feet.  I focused my eyes 
on the bearded face of Woodrow Call.

Call:  You alright, Ma'am?

Deb:  Why, Captain...how gallant of you...the Mountain has not only come to
Mohammed, but I think it fell on him this time...

The Captain gave me one of those patented narrow-eyed looks, but I was
beyond his kind of analysis.  I swayed on my feet and nearly fell against
my benefactor.

Call:  Ma'am, you'd be a might safer in th' office, I think.

Deb:  Sorry...some of the wiring seems to be shorted out.  I think you're
right, Captain.  No...no...I can find my way, thank you...

Beth was glued to the window of the office door, desperately trying to
see what was going on.

Beth:  Ohmigod, she'll never make it!

TLJ:  Who'll never make it?

Beth:  Deb!  She's trapped in the middle of that brawl!

Sam:  Baby, I can't go out into that mess and you're not.  She'll have to
take her chances until she can find her way here.

I had to fight off the urge to vomit and doubled over.  I saw a shadow
pass overhead.  Quint sailed across my back and landed on Johnny Vohden and
several cowboys that he was beating into unconsciousness.

Quint:  'Scuse me, son.

Vohden:  No problem, pard.

This particular direction was getting me nowhere fast and I had lost 
sight of Billy.  I picked another way to go and stopped to get my bearings.
Tom Boyette slid by in front of my feet, I looked watched him go with a
curious feeling of detachment.

Boyette:  Careful, there, Ma.

Deb:  I'm always careful, thank you.  Watch yourself, there.

Beth cringed.

Beth:  Yikes, that was close.

I felt something nudge the back of my leg andbent backwards to see what
it was.  My nose had another close call, this time barely avoiding John
Neville's fist.  Beth groaned, clutched her ribcage, and reached for the
office doorknob.

Sam:  It's only a matter of time.  Where you think you're goin'?

Beth:  Somebody's gotta lead the blind.

Sam reached out and caught her leg, looped his arm around her thigh and
held on.

Sam:  Not you, baby.  Not this time.

Beth:  Come on, Sam...she's gonna get nailed out there!

Sam:  Nope, I said.  Let Strannix bail her out.  You've had enough for one
day.

I stopped next to a strange looking table.  I decided that it looked
strange because it was still standing on all four legs.  It quickly took on
a more normal appearance after Quint landed on it.

Quint:  Just thought I'd drop in.

Deb:  Oh, but they'll miss you if you're gone too long.

I reached to help him up but rapidly discovered that I was the one in
need of assistance.  His solid weight dragged me forward and I staggered.
Quint rolled to his feet and caught me just as I started the downward
slide to his chest.

Quint:  Can I help you get somewhere?  Couple ways we can do this...

Deb:  Thank you, no.  I'm on my way to the office...please...brawl on.

Quint headed back into the fray.  Meantime, a well placed chair threw
Gus my way.

Gus:  Debra, darlin'!

Deb:  Why, Gus...always a pleasure.  Security got this little fracas under
control?

Gus:  Hell, darlin', ain't nothin' like a barfight t'make a man feel young!

Deb:  Then you'll always be young, Gus.  Excuse me, there's a fist calling
you, I believe...

I watched Gus swandive back into the battle.  I knew the office was
somewhere on the other side of this mess, and that somewhere in the middle
of it all Cole and Billy were oblivious to the happy chaos they had
perpetrated and were rolling around amidst the broken glass and furniture
pummelling one another furiously.  I headed back into the heart of it.
Meantime, back in the relative safety of the office, Beth was stretching
and massaging her ribcage again.

Beth:  I ask you, what is it about this place that makes people come to
blows?

Sam:  Something to do with Strannix, I suspect...

Sam pulled her down onto his knee, gently rubbed her aching back with
a firm hand.

Sam:  That better?

Beth:  Yeah, lots better.  But I need to get out there somehow...

Sam:  You.  Sit.  Down.  You are too small to be wandering around out in the
center of that.  They'll squash you like a bug.

Beth:  Too late, Marshal.

Sam:  You tell her, Tom...that's no place for a lady out there.

Obediently, Tommy Lee did as Sam asked.

TLJ:  That's no place for a lady out there.

Beth was beginning to be tired.  Not just beat up, but tired.  She 
closed her eyes and leaned against Sam.

Beth:  No place for a lady...Deb'd kick both your asses if she heard you
say that.

Sam:  She can get out of that shit in one piece, she can kick anything she
can reach.

TLJ:  Speak for yourself, there, Sammy.

Sam:  Besides, she's not the lady you are.  You stay here with me, she'll
manage.

I took a solid cross-body check from Steve Butler and landed flat on my
ass with a bone-jarring thud.  I bit my tongue - exquisite pain! - and
spit a crimson blotch into the spilled beer covering the floor.

Steve:  Damn, I'm sorry, Ma!  You alright?

I rose to my knees, still spitting unnerving amounts of blood.

Deb:  I don't think tho.  I theem to have thcrewed up my tongue.  And my
ath hurth.

Steve:  You need some help?

Deb:  No thankth, Thteve, I'm goin' to the offith.  I can die there.

I never got any farther than my knees.  Johnny Vohden tripped over my
back and while I was trying to get my bearings again Hank Marshall finished
the job.  By this point  I was not fine, not at all, but I was far too
stubborn to ask for help.

Hank:  Pardon me, Deb, I am so sorry!  Can I help you?

Deb:  Don't worry about it, Hank, but when you thee your wife, thlap her 
for me.  That'd help a lot.

I decided about that time that if I just stayed low to the ground I
wouldn't have as far to fall the next time I was clotheslined.  My theory 
was proved within a minute or two, when the Captain landed flat on me and 
all I had to do was let my knees and hands slip out from under me. I
resumed my way to the office on my hands and knees.  A table blocked my way
but a body hit it with such stunning force that it seemed to disintegrate.
Billy had finally found me.

Billy:  Goddamn!  What the hell you doin' out in the middle of this,
anyway?

Deb:  I theem to be a little lost.  Billy, you're bleeding!

Billy:  Well, that'd make two of us, baby.

Billy scooped me up and stood in a single movement.  He strode to the
office door.

Billy:  Can't take my eyes off you for five seconds, they're wheelin' you
off to the emergency room...you stay the hell outa the way...

Deb:  Never mind me, your poor lip...I wath...was on my way here but I
never theemed...seemed to make it.  You need to put some ice on that,
Billy.

I reached out, touched a shaky finger to his split and swollen lip.

Billy:  Stop your damn fussin' over me, woman!

Billy all but kicked the office door off its hinges and stormed across
the office.  He eased me down onto the couch beside Tommy Lee.

Billy:  Christ, can't you people see this woman needs some help, here!

Deb:  Ice...on your lip and your eye, too, Billy...don't go out into that
again...

It was probably too late the minute the fight started.  Billy had already
left, crashing the door shut behind him.

Beth:  Don't forget to wear your rainboots when it's cloudy!  And look 
both ways crossing the street.

Deb:  Give him instructions and those'll be the first things he ignores.
Should we call the cops?  This is way out of hand.  I'm afraid Cole's
gonna kill him.

Sam:  On their way, girl.

Elmore stumbled into the office with his hair standing on end, his 
t-shirt ripped nearly away and a crazed look in his eye.

Elmore:  Don' wanna call the po-lice but they're takin' the place apart...

Tommy Lee had only been an interested observer this whole time.  Now
he had apparently decided to involve himself a little.  He stood up and
stepped toward the door, rolling his shoulders in a way that made Beth
shiver.  She had seen George Cole do the very same thing.

Beth:  Tommy Lee, whaddaya think you're doin'?

Beth and I were surely thinking the same thing, that this fabulous 
looking man was going to step out into the middle of that disaster and get
himself destroyed.

TLJ:  Maybe I can help.  Let me over there, Elmore.

Elmore stepped aside and Tommy Lee took his place.  He inflated his
lungs and, in his best Sam Gerard voice roared...

TLJ:  POLICE!!!  HANDS, HANDS, LEMME SEE THOSE HANDS!!!!

Beth and I looked at each other.

Beth:  Damn, he's good.

Deb:  Had a helluva teacher.

There was a rustle as countless pairs of hands went skyward.  The Bail
Jumpers finally quit whanging away and sirens that had been undetectable
suddenly filled the room.  There were already tires screeching in the
parking lot.

Sam:  I am impressed, boy.

Beth looked from Tommy Lee to Sam to me.

Beth:  And this is why I love this man!

I wasn't sure which one she meant, but either one did it for me.  Before
I could ask her which one she was referring to, Lubbock's finest, the State
of Texas' finest and more than a few FBI jackets burst through the front
door, led by Roy Foltrigg and his everpresent cellphone.

Roy:  Let's make sure we cuff that one...

He indicated a battered George Cole.

Roy:  ...and that one there, particularly...

He pointed out Frank Cosmo, who had been hiding in a corner not too far
from Clay Shaw.

Cosmo:  I'm sure I don't know what you mean.

Roy:  We've got a court date, Frank.  We'll explain it all then.  Boys...
please?

Deb:  'Scuse me, Tommy Lee...say...there some law in Texas says you need to
have three names?

Tommy Lee grinned and shook his head as I slipped past him and hurried
to lunge behind the bar.  I salvaged some ice and wrapped it up in a bar
towel, then brought it to Billy.  He smiled at me and pulled me against
him with one arm.

Billy:  Where you gonna put that, girl?  You gotta full range of choices.

Deb:  Right here...

I laid the dripping towel gently against his eye and held it there until
he flinched away with a soft expletive.

Deb:  I know, it's cold, it stings...I'm sorry, but it'll keep the swelling
down...hold still...

Billy stroked my hair behind my ear and cupped my head in his hand.
When he spoke, it was very quietly.

Billy:  Little mother.

I felt myself flush, and I dropped my eyes to his shoulder.

Deb:  Always thought you could use a little mothering...did I see that
animal punch you in the kidneys...you're gonna have such an awful headache
in the morning...

Billy:  We'll sleep in, then, baby.

Deb:  Not me, I'll have to be down here until all hours straightening this
place up so everybody has somewhere to sleep...

Billy laid his big, warm hand over my mouth.

Billy:  I said we'll.  Sleep.  In.  They can all come to the house if they
have to, and we can all come down tomorrow afternoon.

I nodded and kissed his palm, to indicate that I understood.  What else 
was there for me to do?  What else was there, ever, for me to do?

TO BE CONTINUED...