“You’re not leaving, I hope.”

Kyle stared at her, her eyes blazing. “I don’t know what hold you have on her, or what you’ve done to her. But you’re nothing compared to her.”

Brad’s laughter followed her as she roared away.

Dane raced through the streets, riddled with pain. She could still feel Brad’s hand on her arm, searing her flesh. She could see Kyle’s eyes on her, confused and questioning. She wanted to be done of it; she wanted to bury her pain and expunge her fear. She pulled quickly to a stop behind a line of cars and strode across the street in a fury. Her knock was answered at once.

The woman stared out at her, her smile cruel. This time she said nothing, merely stepping back to allow Dane entrance.

Dane slipped inside, shedding her jacket on the bench beside the door.

“Let me have something,” she said tersely.

The woman studied her for a moment, then nodded.

“Go upstairs. It’s open.”

Dane climbed the stairs, her mind closed to all thought except her need to escape. She entered the warm room and methodically began to remove her clothes. When the woman returned, she was naked.

“Give me your arm,” the woman commanded.

Dane stared at her for a second, then held out her left arm. The strap was tight where it wrapped around her upper arm. She flinched at the sharp point of pain that pierced her skin. She looked away. Her chest burned before the soothing calm overtook her. Her mind began to drift and she had to strain to hear the voice beside her.

“Are you ready?”

Dane nodded mutely and allowed herself to be led again to the scaffold against the wall. She waited calmly in a haze of shifting light, slowly disconnecting from her physical self. When the first blow came, she felt the pain, but it seemed to be happening to someone else. As the lash cut swatches of fire across her back, she acknowledged them with a slight shudder. Still, the pain failed to penetrate to her core. She could still see Brad’s face, hear her voice—where was Kyle? She searched the blackness around her, but she couldn’t find Kyle. She felt then the vice-like grip of Brad’s hand on her arm. Something hurt her, somewhere inside, and she knew it must be Brad - tearing at her soul. No! She wouldn’t let her do it again, she wouldn’t be broken again. She wouldn’t ask her to stop—not this time. Brad would never do that to her again! She heard the snap of the cat, far away, and wondered whom Brad was disciplining now. She felt something tremble inside, but it didn’t hurt. It didn’t hurt anymore. It was someone else! She laughed as she realized she was free—no one could touch her anymore! She sighed and closed her mind to the sound of the lash, grateful at last for the peace.

The woman lowered her aching arm. The room was quiet. The red glow of the lights reflected off Dane’s naked back and streamed to the floor. As she stared at Dane uncomprehendingly, she realized she had lost herself in the frenzy of her strokes. She took a step forward, instantly returning to reality.

“Dane,” she whispered fearfully. Quickly she released the restraints. She caught Dane’s limp body before she could slump to the floor. Her hand on Dane’s back came away damp. She pressed her fingers gently against Dane’s neck, finding the rapid, thready pulse. She covered her with a blanket from behind the bar and closed the door behind her.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

CAROLINE REACHED ACROSS Anne in the dark, trying to find the phone. She glanced at the bedside clock as she pulled the receiver toward her.

“Hello,” she said thickly, trying to clear the sleep from her throat. It was four o’clock in the morning.

“Caroline?” a deep voice said.

“Yes?”

“I have a friend of yours here who needs your help—now. Do you know Divisadero?”

“Yes—but who?” Caroline cried, sitting up in bed and shaking her head at Anne, who was awake now, too.

“The 2000 block. She’ll be in a grey Camaro.”

The line went dead before Caroline could reply.

She leapt out of bed and fumbled for her clothes.

“Anne!” she cried, searching for the car keys on the bureau. “Get dressed! Dane’s in trouble!”

Anne pulled on her jeans and sweatshirt and raced outside behind Caroline. “What happened?” she cried as Caroline maneuvered their jeep through the deserted streets.

“I don’t know. Someone called. Said she was in trouble.”

“Where?” Anne asked, frightened.

“Up this block somewhere. Do you see Dane’s car?” Caroline said frantically.

“Over there! On the left!”

Caroline screeched to a halt beside the familiar car.

“It’s empty!” Anne said.

Caroline leapt from the jeep as Anne followed. She pulled on the passenger’s door and it opened. She could see by the overhead light a blanket-covered figure in the rear seat.

“Oh god,” she moaned, as she pushed the front seat forward. “Dane!”

Anne looked in the window and gasped. “Caroline, there’s blood all over the seat!”

Caroline leaned into the rear seat, suddenly calm. “I know.” She checked for a heartbeat and sighed with relief. “Can you follow us home? I’ll drive Dane’s car.”

“Shouldn’t we go to a hospital?”

“No,” Caroline said, straightening up and heading for the driver’s side. “Do you know what they’d do to her?”

Anne stared at Caroline, then raced back across the street to the jeep.

Kyle paced her living room, staring at the phone. She had called Dane’s number, and the kennel, all day. No one answered. The tape at the kennel said someone would return her call shortly, but no one ever did. She looked at the clock. It showed nine o’clock. Where the hell was she? Or was she just not answering the phone? Goddamn her! It wasn’t going to be this easy. She couldn’t just race away into the night and expect Kyle to sit at home waiting. Kyle snatched her jacket off the hook and strode angrily to her big Harley. The gravel in her drive spewed out behind her as she pushed the bike toward the highway.

She looked for Dane’s car along the crowded street as she pulled in front of the bar. She paid her cover and searched the room furiously. She didn’t see Dane.

“Beer,” she tersely to the bartender, and pulled a cigarette from her jacket pocket. She fumbled her lighter from her pocket and smiled grimly at the shiny new gold surface. She drew a deep breath and surveyed the bar again. She recognized no one. She was on her third beer when a woman made her way across the room and stopped before her.

“I’m Chris—we met here a few months ago.”

Kyle nodded, smiling slightly. “I’m sorry, I wasn’t thinking. How are you?”

Chris shrugged and replied, “Okay.” She looked at Kyle uncertainly for a second, then continued. “Listen, you’re a friend of Dane’s, aren’t you?”

“I know her.”

The woman looked around and lowered her voice unnecessarily in the noisy room. “Some of us were wondering, well—you know how it is. There are always stories, and most of us never believe them. But, still, you never know, sometimes when you go home with someone you don’t know—” She stopped and looked at Kyle expectantly.

Kyle felt fear rise in her throat but she stared back calmly. “I don’t know what you’re getting at.”

Chris looked embarrassed. “Some people heard— there’s talk.” She cleared her throat. “We heard there was a bad scene. That Dane got mixed up with a heavy top and that there was trouble. The rest of us, we worry, you know. No one knows who it is.”

Kyle tried to quiet her racing thoughts. “I don’t know who it is.”

Chris shrugged and started to turn away.

“Wait!” Kyle called, grasping her arm. “Do you know two women—Anne and Caroline—friends of Dane’s?”

Chris frowned. “I’ve seen them in here.”

“Do you know where they live?” Kyle asked, her heart pounding.

Chris shook her head. “I don’t know them that well. Wait a minute—I went to a discussion group at their place once. I don’t know if they still live there.”

She gave Kyle the address and stared after her as Kyle turned and shouldered her way hurriedly toward the door.

Caroline tried to ignore the persistent ringing of the doorbell. She sat at the table in a worn sweater and faded jeans. She looked like she hadn’t slept in days.

“Hon,” Anne asked tentatively as she poured more coffee, “shouldn’t I answer that?”

“I guess,” Caroline answered. She looked over at Anne and realized that the younger woman was as exhausted as she. “Never mind, babe, I’ll get it.”

When she opened the door, Kyle took a step toward her, then stopped abruptly.

“Is Dane here?” she asked quietly, instantly aware of Caroline’s state.

“Yes.” Caroline said tonelessly.

“Is she all right?”

Caroline looked at Kyle, considering her answer. Finally, she sighed and opened the door. “No. Come upstairs.”

Kyle followed her upstairs and into the kitchen. She saw Anne cast a frightened glance in Caroline’s direction.

Caroline saw it too. “It’s all right. Is there more coffee?”

Anne nodded and moved silently to pour Kyle a cup.

Kyle sat down at an empty chair and pushed some of the clutter aside. She thanked Anne for the coffee and looked pointedly at Caroline.

“Can I see her?”

“She won’t know you’re here.”

Kyle shook her head. Fear twisted in her guts. “I don’t care, I want to see her.”

“Caroline, no!” Anne cried.

Caroline continued to look at Kyle. “It’s not pretty. Are you sure you want to?”

“I’m sure,” Kyle said, needing to know.

“I’ll come with you.”

“I’m all right,” Kyle answered tightly.

Caroline shook her head. “I’ll come with you.” She led Kyle down the hall to the rear bedroom. There were no lights coming from the partially closed door.

“Just a minute,” Caroline said as she entered the room and lit a small dim light off to one side. The room was mostly in shadow. Caroline called to Kyle and slipped tiredly into a chair in the darkness along the wall.

Kyle pushed the door all the way open and approached the bed. She looked down at Dane for a long time. She sank slowly down on the floor beside the bed. She pushed her back up against the wall and reached her hand up into the golden hair framing Dane’s face. She closed her eyes and gently let the strands fall through her fingers. She thought about Dane’s satin-soft skin in the firelight and how it had glowed with perspiration as they made love. She thought about the sharply etched muscles in her back and hips as she rose above Kyle in ecstasy. She traced the fine lines of Dane’s face and remembered how she looked just before orgasm. She sat still for a long time, listening to Dane’s quiet breathing. When she felt the strength return to her limbs and the anger flood her heart, she stood up and stared down again at Dane, burning the image into her soul.

Dane was lying on her stomach, her face on the pillow, her arms curved upwards. A sheet covered her, stopping just above her buttocks. A raw, open wound extended from the base of her spine to the top of her shoulders. Kyle could make out the pattern of crosshatches from what must have been a thick whip, even as the single lash marks blended into one. The bleeding had stopped, leaving behind patches of crusted coagulation between islands of swollen flesh. The sinewy planes of her perfect body were obscured by fluid pooled in the layers of injured tissue.

Kyle turned and walked into the kitchen. She looked at Anne, her grey eyes as cold as a winter sky.

“Do you have any scotch?”

Anne nodded and got up. “I think so.”

Kyle sat back down at the table and lit a cigarette, turning the small gold lighter aimlessly between her fingers.

Caroline switched off the hall light behind her and sagged into a chair, pushing her graying hair out of her eyes.

“Are you sure you can take care of her?” Kyle asked tonelessly.

Caroline nodded. “I have before. Never like this, but I can manage.”

Kyle took the scotch from Anne and swallowed what was in the glass. She closed her eyes for a second. “Who did this to her?” Her voice was harsh, her pain unconcealed. I’m going to find her. I’m going to kill her!

Caroline looked at Kyle, her eyes bright with sympathy. “Dane did it, Kyle. I don’t know whose hand held the whip. She’s never told me. But she sought it; she allowed it.”

Kyle swallowed. “She’s done this before? I never saw a scar—her body, it’s—” her voice broke, “her body is perfect.”

“It’s never been like this before. She always knew when to stop. Something must have happened. There’s a track mark on her arm.”

“Drugs?” Kyle asked, wanting to scream but knowing she must finally understand. “Is that what this is?”