With a groan, Clay staggered to his feet. Shaking his head to clear it, he ran after the intruder, down the hall, out the exit door, and around the corner of the building. A scan of the parking lot and the field beyond revealed no sign of him.
“Damn!” Fist clenched in frustration, Clay hurried back to Ellie. He found her huddled on the bed against the wall, her arms covering her breasts, tears streaming down her cheeks.
Clay sat down on the bed and eased her into his arms. “You’re all right, love.” With a sob, she turned and started crying against his shoulder, deep racking sounds that tore at his heart.
“Everything’s all right,” he whispered, stroking her tangled hair. “You’re safe now.”
“That man…. He tried to… He tried…”
“I know. Hush now, it’s over.”
Ellie looked up at him. “Oh, Clay…” She hung onto him even tighter. She’d just begun to gentle when Flex burst into the room.
“What the hell…?”
“Ellie had an unwanted visitor.” Glancing down, Clay remembered her nakedness and pulled the thin chintz bedspread over her shoulders, covering her from Flex’s prying eyes.
Ellie just clung to him. She didn’t look at Flex or say a word.
“Call the police,” Clay said.
Ellie bolted upright. Clay grabbed the bedspread to keep it from falling off. “No! No, Clay, please.” Her green eyes looked huge. “No police. I can’t go through that, I can’t. I have to ride. I have to win. Please…please don’t call them.”
Flex knelt in front of her. “Ellie, surely you don’t want us to let this man get away. He might do the same thing to someone else.”
He mouthed the wordrapeto Clay, who shook his head. “Thank God I got here in time.”
“I went out to get some ice,” Flex said. “I spotted the broken latch. Scared the hell out of me. Looks like she’s still pretty shook up. Maybe we should call a doctor or something.”
“No, please…” Ellie hung onto Clay’s neck as if he were saving her life. “I’m all right. I just need to…to pull myself together. I’ll be…be fine.”
But she didn’t look fine, and both Flex and Clay knew it. She looked so pale her skin appeared translucent, her eyes so huge they dominated her oval face.
“Let’s get you out of those torn clothes and into bed.” Clay helped her up, the spread still wrapped around her, while Flex rummaged through the dresser drawers and came up with a short, lace-trimmed, pink nylon nightgown, a little too sheer to suit Clay.
“Can you get undressed?” Clay asked. Ellie nodded but didn’t move.
“Get her a glass of water,” Clay said. “I’ll help her put on the nightgown.”
“Oh, no you don’t. Ellie would kill me.”
Clay looked at Ellie and sighed. “I guess you’re right. You’ve seen more of her than I have.” He couldn’t keep the bitterness out of his voice.
Flex opened his mouth, then glanced at Ellie. “We’ll both do it.”
Mechanically, they stripped away what remained of her ripped and tattered skirt. She sat beside them in a pair of white bikini panties.
“Damn, what a body,” Flex said softly as they pulled her nightgown over her head. Clay gritted his teeth but didn’t say a word.
Ellie just stared straight ahead, shivering every few seconds.
“I still think we should call a doctor,” Flex said.
“So do I.”
“No! I’m…I’m fine. Really I am.”
Clay laid a wet cloth against her split lip and bruised cheek while Flex poured her a glass of water.
