Huffing and puffing, Dave pedals his bike with all of his might, mentally urging the twin tyres to spin faster with each pedal. His rhythmatic motion mirrored the only thought cycling within his head.
'Gotta help Teri! Gotta help Teri!'
The Seasons Inn was quite a distance away still but Dave figured he could catch the underground train and hustle the rest of the distance on foot. It's times like these that makes him wish he'd taken his dad's advice about taking up some sports.
His thoughts strayed to Teri again and wondered what could've happened to make her so scared? She sounded close to hystarical on the phone, her voice was so shaky it made Dave himself shiver with fear.
The rest of the trip passed by in a blur of mindless peddling and endless train rides. (do trains run late at night?) Dave kept checking his phone every so often to see if Teri had tried to call him. Once, he had gotten excited when his phone vibrated as he was on the train, but was disappointed to find it was his mother asking where he was. He quickly told her that he was studying at a friend's house and might be back late.
The fact that Teri hadn't tried calling him made him more worried by the second.
Finally, after what seemed like hours, Dave unboarded(?) the train and made his way to Seasons Inn. As he ran closer to the inn, Dave noticed a police car coming into view just outside. His radar suddenly went into red alert as he dre nearer. A feeling of dread started creeping up his spine.
Was Teri inside the inn? Is she being held hostage? But if that's the case, why is there only one police car out here? They should have had the whole building surrounded so the bad guys don't get away.
Then the police car door popped open and Teri came bounding out and ran towards Dave as he slowed down, relieved that she was alright. The other side of the car door opened up and a man came out, and walked behind Teri as she slid to a stop in front of Dave.
"Dave!" she said, her face flushed by the short sprint. "Dave! My dad and Austin's in trouble! They're being held hostage by these three guys and I think one of them is Austin's uncle but I'm not sure who the other two are-"
"Whoah Whoah Whoah! Slow down Ter!" Dave said, putting his hands gently on Teri's slender shoulders. "Take a deep breath and tell me what's up."
"Your father's holding them hostage in there son," The man who had been walking behind Teri said as he reached them. His face was stiff and unreadable but there was a little bit of an edge in his voice. Dave saw Teri wince as he spoke.
"That's impossible," Dave said, "dad's out working in the grocery store late tonight."
"Do you have any proof of that?" the man said, the edge in his voice starting to make itself more obvious with each word.
"How can I have any proof? He's out working and that's all I ever hear of him!" Dave said, his own voice rising with anger. How could this man just randomly accuse his dad of being so desperate as to take people hostage?
"Mr Niall? There's no need to get angry at Dave," Teri said softly, pulling at the man's sleeve, "he doesn't know what's going on. It's not his fault that Austin's in there."
The man called Niall seemed surprised at himself, and took one long steadying breath. "I'm sorry," he said to Dave, who was somewha surprised and absolutely confused as to what was going on. "It's just that... My son is in there... Being held hostage by a man called Gomez..."
They proceded to tell Dave the story from when Teri was kidnapped as she left her house that day, and about how Austin and Teri's dad had gone to give the ransom money, then about how the police had arrived and how the big man named Gomez had become paranoid and refused to release Teri, Austin and Teri's dad. Dave listened intently, yet not able to figure out how he fit into all this.
