‘Give me your jacket,’ she said to Kyle. When he hesitated, she yelled: ‘Jacket – NOW! Don’t look at her. Keep away from her.’
‘Layla…’ started Ellie, reaching out.
Layla shrugged her aside. Grabbed Kyle’s jacket, draped it over Precious, concealing her bruised, bloodied body from view. She looked up at Chris. ‘He didn’t go back through the club, did he?’ She was panting, trembling, her eyes flicking from Chris’s shocked face to Precious, and oh shit, all the blood, she could hardly make out Precious’s face, there was so much blood.
The men looked blankly at each other. Ellie shook her head.
‘Then he must have gone down the corridor and out the fire exit at the rear,’ said Layla. ‘Get after him!’
Chris, Junior and Kyle turned and raced along the corridor and out into the alley.
‘I’ll call an ambulance,’ said Ellie, dashing off.
‘What’s happening?’ Opal was at the door, letting out a shriek as she saw Precious lying there. ‘Oh my God…’
Layla fell to her knees beside Precious. She was moving a little, and moaning softly. Her eyes were rapidly being reduced to slits, swelling up where he’d hit her. Her lip was split, it looked as though he’d knocked a couple of teeth out. Precious’s exquisite nose was crooked and bloody. Layla thought with a stab of ice-cold rage that it must be broken.
There was a lot of blood coming from a wound on the back of Precious’s head, where Layla guessed she had collided with the edge of one of the wall-mounted speakers when that bastard whacked her face. ‘Blame it on the Boogie’ was still thumping out of the speakers, adding a surreal note to the proceedings. Layla thought of the sheer brute size of the man, and of Precious’s sweetness and extreme femininity, and felt sickness choke her.
Precious’s eyes were half-open, maybe she could see Layla. She doubted it, but she spoke to her anyway, tried to offer reassurance.
‘It’s going to be OK,’ she said, taking hold of Precious’s hand. She saw that three of the nails there were snapped and bleeding, where she had tried to shield herself from attack. ‘You’re going to be fine. Help’s on the way.’
Opal was starting to cry hysterically.
‘Get her out of here,’ said Layla. ‘That’s not helping.’
Chris, Junior and Kyle returned. Chris looked at Layla and shook his head.
The men escorted Opal out of the door, and Ellie came back in, shutting it firmly behind her.
‘She going to be all right?’ Ellie asked anxiously. She was looking at Layla like she’d never seen her before.
My God, thought Ellie, seeing the way she was snapping out orders, taking control.