The thrust of his tan cowboy boot anchored to a 168-pound frame had hit and slid down the leg of a woman standing behind him, tearing her stocking and...gouging before being deflected by her ankle to thump on the hard-surfaced floor. The woman reached out for support. Merrick grasped that outstretched hand and swung his left-hand around her waist as she fell. Gently he lowered her to a sitting position. In and instant he’d pulled out his handkerchief – fortunately a folded and unused one – and. In the cold. With no jacket. Which seems like an oversight on my part, but actually isn’t. It’s only September and the place where the truck picked me up was having a warm day. Regardless. Five hours wandering around Dentra and I could not for the life of me find a place to crash for the night. And considering that some seedy old man had given me seedier directions, this is perhaps not much of a shock. I kept coming back to a bar for some reason, although again, perhaps not much of a shock. . He even had a list on his computer, complete with names, dates and if the event had been 'voluntary' or 'involuntary'. There were a remarkable number of involuntary notations, AKA 'rapes', and that had caused an even greater uproar, as most had never been reported. The few that had been reported to the local police or school counselors had been dismissed as post-coital regrets by the girls involved.But it was not just the guys who had been involved in Janey's rape. There was jealousy on the. What really was the point? Upper brass kept insisting on status updates and check-ins, which accomplished nothing useful he could see, except interrupt actual work on real projects.Stacy was a very pretty young woman, with long curly blonde hair, piercing green eyes, and an air of determined professionalism. She was dressed in a plain white blouse; sleeves rolled up. Her gray pencil skirt stopped just above her knees. She had been rehearsing her speech, but Mitt had found it so dismally.