Then, there was the clasp of a hand on her shoulder!
She whirled around and began to scratch at Cash's face. She felt him grapple with her and thrust his powerful arms around her waist before easily lifting her as she kicked her legs high into the air. Then she was rising back up the stairway completely limp in Cash's arms… now being carried… and then half-walking, half-stumbling back into the upper rooms of the warehouse.
"Goddamn, the little bitch can really put up a fight," Cash exclaimed in near admiration as they entered the living room again.
"See, what did I tell ya," Sylvia chided in a loud shrill voice, a look of self-satisfaction on her face. "Ya can't trust the stuck-up slut two feet."
Ellen began weeping in frustration and fright, turning away from the figures that were pulling on trousers and shirts and still brushing the signs of sleep from their eyes.
Billy looked at Ellen without malice. He knew why she had tried to escape, but there was nothing he could do about having to bring her back. Now it was either he or she, and it was obvious that he could not let her live if he wanted to protect himself in the eyes of the gang.
"Lock her up in the bedroom," Billy shrugged, jerking his thumb toward the room in which he had ravished her willing body last night. "Ya might just tie her up, too," he added, attempting to show his concern to the others.
"I think we oughta get rid of her now," Pop said and sneered towards the bowed head of the young girl. "It ain't safe lettin' her set here by herself. She gets loose and there'll be hell to pay."
"We still need her until after the hit is made and we're on our way. Vito and Sylvia will stay with her," Billy said, demonstrating a sense of command over the situation. "I don't want Vito in on the kill at this point."
"What ya mean I don't get to go," Vito roared at Billy. "I been in on this from the first and I intend to get my licks."
Billy sighed sardonically and looked from Sylvia to the thin-lipped little man who stood enraged in front of him. "Ya got plenty to attend to here, Vito. Don't worry, ya got your money comin' to ya, too."
"How do we get to the boat," Vito said, bringing up something that hadn't been fully explained earlier.
"We're coming back for you – for all of you," Billy said in thinly veiled warning.
Ellen bent over slightly and felt a shiver of cold deep fear run down the length of her spine at the callousness of Billy's remarks. Her life obviously meant almost nothing to the gang leader, even after the gently caressing lovemaking of last night. In a moment he would be gone, and her fate would be held in the hands of Vito and the jealous gang girl who stared at her from across the room with a cruel sadistic look. She just wouldn't be able to persuade the two envious gang-outcasts that she harbored no malice against them, and she knew they were at the point where they would torture and maim before they imposed the final humiliations upon her defenseless body.
"P-please, don't leave me alone," she pleaded, tears streaming down her face in piteous profusion now.
"There ain't nothin' I can do about it," Billy answered softly. "I gotta get goin', and I need Pop and Cash to help me."
Ellen looked up toward the gang leader, her facial expression and hands turned toward him in supplication. "I-I can't take it," she moaned. "Please… help me! Don't leave me alone!"
"There ain't gonna be no problem," Billy repeated. "If there's any trouble they'll have to answer to me about it. Besides, ya got old Rex here to take care of everything."
The gang leader knelt down and patted the German Shepherd on the head. The animal looked up at his master and let out a shrill whine, thumping his tail against the floor in response. Billy looked up and jerked his head toward the other room, "Get her out of here," he said.
Cash grasped the blonde hostage's arm and pulled her, sobbing. She went without struggle and lay limply against the wall, permitting him to tie her arms tightly beside her. A few minutes after she had been secured to some bolts in the wall, Billy peered through the door. He studied her tear-stained face for a second, then walked slowly across the room and bent down in front of her.
"Okay, he did a good job on ya," he smiled tensely. "Ya ain't gonna have no trouble with them. I told 'em to leave ya alone, and they gotta follow what I say. We got it figured so you'll see us sometime soon. Probably on the boat goin' to Mexico, as a matter of fact." He paused, looking unsure of himself and embarrassed. "I don't even know your name." When she started to reply, he quickly put his hand over her mouth. "No, I don't wanna know. It don't matter none anyway."
Then he turned and without a word left her alone. Billy's mention of Mexico sent the young girl into a new stage of uncertainty. She had expected to be killed after the assassination, and had no idea that she would be kidnapped out of the country. Was it because the tough gang leader really cared for her? Or was he simply taking no chances, and planned to use her as a hostage until their escape was made?
After awhile Ellen heard several footsteps moving down the stairs and with a slow build up of terror she realized that she was now completely alone with Vito and knife-wielding Sylvia. The sound of the truck moving out of the warehouse signaled the beginning of what she assumed would be her final struggle, and she began to tremble, trying to steel herself to what the two remaining criminals had in store for her. A tiny flicker of hope still remained that the weasel-like Vito would protect her out of fear of the gang chief, but she knew that the chances were slight that he would be able to stand up to Sylvia's jealous prodding. Ellen eased down onto the floor and felt her bonds loosen somewhat. She tried to empty her mind of all thought, knowing that thinking was useless and could only send her into deeper despair.
Surprisingly, she went to sleep.
Sometime later, Ellen awakened out of a hazy, dream-filled half-sleep and noticed the door to the bedroom slowly pushing open. Then lurching around the open door came the tall cat-like figure of Sylvia whose face reflected an arrogant self confidence that for Ellen could only mean one thing. The tall smirking brunette stood a few paces from the young girl, staring and saying nothing for a long time. It was obvious that she had been drinking.
"Well, the house whore has finally decided to wake up from her nap." Sylvia laughed evilly and swept her hand towards the door in a gesture of finality. "Ain't it funny? There's just you, me, and Vito. I think we ought to have a little party."
Ellen stiffened and tried to struggle up from the floor. She wanted to say something that would erase the hateful expression on Sylvia's face, but everything she thought of would make the situation worse. The only thing she could do now was stall for time and hope for some kind of intervention that would save her from what lay ahead.
"B-Billy, he told you not to touch me. Please don't touch me, you know what he'll do to you, if you do anything."
The gang girl laughed again, and the ugly sound of her voice seemed to echo back to Ellen the absurdity of her remarks. Even to herself the protest seemed weak and feeble as though she did not believe it, and she held her breath when the girl approached her with eyes glinting ferociously.
Sylvia took carefully small half-steps that prolonged the anguished tension of waiting, and Ellen tried to raise herself higher off the floor, feeling her bonds painfully clench around her arms and the tightness of her jeans, that had hitched up beneath the lower ropes, cutting into her waist. Suddenly, in one lightning movement, Sylvia's hand shot down and grabbed Ellen's hair, wrenching the young girl's head upward until she was staring into the other woman's hate-filled face. In this moment Ellen caught the full brunt of Sylvia's contemptuous wrath, and the pain tingling through her scalp was nothing compared to the force of sadistic glee sparkling in the gang girl's eyes.