Tasha ran for the door and to the motel office. The woman there was shocked by Tasha’s appearance, and as she listened to her story, she quickly showed her to one of the rooms attached to the office. “You stay here, honey. I’m calling the police.”
Tasha collapsed into the nearest chair, crying. She could let go.
Tim, please hurry, she prayed.
* * * *
Tim was frantic. When Jason answered Tasha’s phone, he went from rage to fear and back again. He had to keep calm and was glad when Kurt poured him the shot.
“Evan’s on his way and is tracking her phone as we speak. We’ll find her, man.” Kurt tried to reassure Tim, praying it was true.
It wasn’t long before Evan called with an approximate location. They didn’t know what Jason had planned or what he was going to do or how far ahead of them he was. He couldn’t be that far ahead. It hadn’t been that long since Tina had last seen Tasha.
Tim and Kurt jumped into Tim’s truck and headed for the coordinates Evan had given them. Tim got more frantic with each stoplight and turn.
“Man, you have to calm down. We’ll find her.” Kurt tried to get Tim to relax.
All Tim could think about was getting to Tasha. He’d never let her go again. When his phone rang, he almost jumped out of his skin. Answering it without looking, he almost dropped it when he heard Tasha’s voice. He was so relieved. When he got off the phone, he quickly gave Kurt the address Tasha had given him. They weren’t that far.
“Hit it, man! We have to get to her before that jackass gets back,” Tim told Kurt frantically.
“Chill, man. She’s a smart girl. She’ll do what you told her to.”
As they pulled into the lot for the motel, the cops were right behind them, which Tim and Kurt were both glad to see.
Kurt didn’t even have the truck stopped before Tim was out and running to the office, screaming at the top of his lungs, “Tasha!” as he ran through the doors.
The lady behind the desk had a shotgun pointed right at him. She had no way of knowing whether he was the man that had kidnapped her or not.
Tasha heard Tim’s voice and pulled herself up and started moving toward it.
“Tim!” she called. “Tim, I’m coming.” She was moving faster and calling louder.
She opened the door to the office, and several things happened at once. The lady behind the desk pointed her gun at Tim. The police came rushing through the door, with Jason after them. The place was a state of chaos.
Tasha tried to get to Tim. Jason screamed when he saw Tasha. The police were yelling for everyone to get down and for the motel lady to drop the gun. It would have been funny if it were in a movie.
Eventually the police got everything sorted out. Seperating everyone and talking to each individual to get their story, Jason was arrested, protesting the entire time that he loved Tasha and wanted to marry her. Then everything would be fine.
The police allowed Tim to take Tasha home, even though everyone, including Tim, thought she should go to the hospital, as long as she promised to make a formal report within the next three days.
“I just want to go home.” Tasha looked pleadingly into Tim’s eyes, and he couldn’t resist her.
Kurt drove Tim and Tasha to Tim’s house. Tim held Tasha on his lap the entire time, not willing to let her go for even a second.
When they arrived at Tim’s house, Kurt promised to bring the truck right back and told them to call if they needed anything.
Tim carried Tasha into the house and straight to the bathroom. Filling the tub with hot water, he stripped, then turned to her.
“Oh, baby, I was so worried,” he told her as he pulled her close and just held her for the longest time, burying his face in her hair. He couldn’t get enough of her. He pulled back and started removing her clothes. As each bruise or mark was revealed, he murmured his disapproval and gently kissed each mark, big or small.
Finally Tasha threaded her hands in his hair and pulled his head to hers. “I’m fine. I’m just glad you found me.” She planted little kisses on his face, trying to reassure both of them that she was fine.
When Tim had all her clothes off, he carried her to the tub, crawling in behind her and just holding her.
Tim couldn’t believe he almost had lost her. He was never going to let her go. They sat in the tub for the longest time with Tim holding and gently caressing her, placing soft kisses on her hair.
Tasha started crying, softly at first, then huge racking sobs. Tim slowly turned her in his arms until she half sat, half lay against him, letting all the stress and tension out.