The open-hand slap spun Donna's head to the right and the tray went flying.
Donna watched the cups and spraying cream sail away in slow motion as Steve grabbed the lapels of her robe and used them to fling her to the ground.
'You cunt!' Steve screamed as she hit the floor.
Donna tried to crawl away, but the pain from two strong kicks to her ribs stopped her. Another kick landed on her leg and she straightened in pain. Then, as swiftly as it started, the assault stopped. When s e are to look up, Mancini was pacing back and forth. Donna started to crawl across the floor toward the hall. Steve saw her and dropped next to her on the floor.
Donna curled into a ball with her hands protecting her head.
'No, baby, no. You don't have to be afraid. I'm sorry.
Please. I'm sorry.'
Donna looked up and Mancini saw the blood. The blow to Donna's face had split her lip.
'Oh, God! What have I done?'
Mancini jumped up and sprinted to the bathroom. He ran cold water over a towel. When he returned to the living room, the front door was open. Donna was gone.
Mancini threw the towel on the floor and raced out of the house. The car was parked in front. He looked right and left. Where was she? He couldn't call out. He could not let anyone know what had happened. Mancini ran down the street and st o ped on the corner. Where had p she gone? He had to find her. Without the car, she couldn't get far. He ran inside and grabbed the car keys.
He would find her. He had to find her.
Donna waited for the car to drive away before pulling herself to her feet by hanging on to the bushes behind J which she had been hiding. A sharp pain in her rib bled her over. She gritted her teeth and eased i standing position. Tears and blood mixed on her She loved Steve, but how could he beat her if he really loved her?
Donna wanted to change into her clothes, but she was afraid to go back to the house. Hervarents' house was too far to walk. Besides, they were worrying so much about Gary that she could not let them know that her marriage was failing.
Then she thought of Peter. He lived nearby. She could keep to backyards and Steve would not see her from his car. Donna checked the street for any sign of her husband, then she crossed the road and hobbled behind a house. She wanted to run, but the pain in her ribs was so intense that she had to walk hunched over.
A dog barked and Donna's stomach tightened. She kept moving, gasping for air when a sudden bolt of pain knifed through her. Donna waited for the pain to pass before going on. The next street was Elm and cars drove by frequently. Donna waited for a break and crossed the street as quickly as she could manage, paying in pain for speed. 'Just a few more blocks,' she repeated over and over unt 11, moments later, she was ringing Peter's doorbell.
Headlights turned onto Peter's street justas his porch light came on. When Peter opened his door, Donna was crouched down, looking over her shoulder with terrified eyes.
'Please, let me in,' Donna begged.
Peter took one look at her tearstained and bleeding face and he had her through the door.
'What happened to you?' he asked. Then Donna was sobbing in his arms and Peter was too startled to say anything. Peter led her to the living room. She clung to him. As he lowered her to the couch, she spasmed and gripped her side.
'Are you hurt?' he asked stupidly.
'He hit me, Peter. He hit me.'
'Who hit you? Is Steve all right?' Peter asked, confused by Donna's sudden, dramatic appearance and thinking that the couple had been attacked.
Donna shook her head. 'You don't understand. It was Steve. Steve hit me.'
'Steve?' Peter repeated inanely. Donna dissolved into tears and pressed herself against Peter's chest.
'Has ... has he done this before?' Peter asked.
Donna managed a nod. She got her crying under control and wiped an arm across her eyes.
'How long has this been going on?'
Donna did not answer right away and Peter touched her shoulder.
'I want to help. You and Steve are my friends.'
Donna looked at the rug.
'I know this is hard for you, but you have to talk about it. If Steve is doing this ... You can't let him keep hurting you, Donna.'
'It's been a nightmare, Peter.' She started to cry again. 'I never know what will set him off. He's so kind to me, so loving. Then, all of a sudden .. . I can't take it anymore.'
Donna was too exhausted to go on. Peter stared at her. Her hair was in disarray and her robe was open.
She was wearing a short nightgown because of the heat.
Peter could not hell noticing her slim, tanned legs and p the swell of her breasts as she breathed deeply. Peter raised his eyes to Donna's face, embarrassed.
'How badly are you hurt?' he asked.
'He kicked me in the ribs. He ... It was a hard kick.
It really hurts if I move quickly.'
'I'll drive you to a hospital.'
'No! No hospital. They'd have to report Steve.'
Peter thought-for a moment. Then he got an idea.
'I have a friend. A nurse. Rhonda Kates. She works at the hospital. Let me call her. I'll explain what happened.
Maybe she can check you out to make sure you don't have any internal injuries. If there's a problem, we'll make up a story and I'll drive you to the nearest hospital outside of Whitaker.'
Peter made the call and Rhonda told him to bring Donna to her place immediately. She even said that Donna could spend the night with her. While Peter talked on the phone, Donna tried to find a comfortable position on the couch and closed -her eyes. She was so ashamed that her marriage was a failure and she felt she must be partly to blame, but she could not figure out what she had done wrong. She wanted to talk to someone but the Harmons were not a family that discussed their domestic troubles.
'Let's get going,' Peter said, as soon as he hung up.
'Thank you, Peter. You're a good friend.'
Chapter TWENTY.
'Mr. Hale,' judge Kuffel said, addressing Peter formally because they were in court and on the record, your former co-counsel, Mr. Mancini conducted the hearing on the motion to suppress Mr. Harmon's statements. You've conceded that he was fully aware at the time of the hearing of the evidence you argue is grounds for reopening. Now, there is no question that Mr. Bosco's evidence favors the defense, but Mr. Mancini made a decision not to use it. I have no idea why he made that choice, but it doesn't really matter. Since he was aware of the evidence at the time of the hearing, I have to deny your motion to reopen the motion to suppress.'
If Peter were the judge, he would have ruled exactly the way judge Kuffel ruled, but his failure to win his hastily fashioned motion still depressed him. Peter closed his eyes briefly while he tried to regain his composure.
This was a mistake. Suddenly he was half asleep and it took all his willpower to raise his eyelids and return to full consciousness.
It had been two-thirty in the morning when Peter had returned home after leaving Donna with Rhonda Kates.
He was totally exhausted, but Don Bosco's revelation and Donna's dramatic appearance filled his head with so many disturbing thoughts that he had as much of a chance of dozing off in the privacy of his room as he had of sleeping at a rock concert. Peter had moved through the morning in court in a sleep-deprived fog.
'I've given a lot of thought to the matter of testimony about the peeping incident, the pornographic magazines found in Mr. Harmon's bedroom and evidence concerning the other two murders,' judge Kuffel
