Hearts on Fire 3: Tasha(29)
“No. Now why would I do something like that?” She felt her cheeks warm and her heart leap with excitement.
Just then the door to the room opened and there stood Agent Merk.
“Hey, Agent Merk, what are you doing here? I thought you headed back to headquarters yesterday.”
He smiled as he walked in and said hello to her mom first and then looked at Tasha.
“I was going to but there were some last-minute details I needed from you.” He held a manila folder in his hand. “Do you think we could talk down the hall in the waiting room for a few minutes? I have some questions in regards to the case.”
“Sure thing. Mom, you’ll be okay for a little bit?”
“Of course. Go ahead.”
Tasha and Agent Merk headed out of the room, Steven wasn’t by the door, but a quick glance down the hall and she saw he was talking on the phone, his back toward her.
As they headed down the hallway, Merk brought her further down the wing of the hospital and past the waiting area.
“I thought you meant this waiting area? I left my cell back in the room.”
“I wanted to be sure no one can hear us. This is pretty serious stuff with the case,” he said as they passed the last door before another waiting area and the exit. As soon as she passed the open doorway and Merk motioned for her to enter first, she felt the prick to her neck. His arm wrapped around her waist and he held her upright.
“Don’t scream, don’t make a move, or Carlo will kill your mother,” he told her.
Tasha felt as if her heart fell to her gut. Her vision blurred and she became instantly disoriented. “Please don’t do this. Why?” she asked him as the doors to the hospital opened and he walked her down the loading dock to an awaiting vehicle.
“Because he wants you and then I’m all done with him.” He laid her down in the backseat of the car. The windows were tinted. The ability to move even an inch wasn’t possible. She was paralyzed as the tears rolled down her cheeks.
“Don’t worry, paralysis only lasts about twenty minutes or so. By that time you’ll be with Dash and his responsibility. Oh, and just a bit of warning, I would do whatever he asks of you, or this time, he will definitely kill you.”
Tasha cried as she closed her eyes and prayed that her loved ones, her mom, Lance, Tyler, and Eddie would be safe. That was all that mattered. Her life was over. Dash finally won.
* * * *
“Are you fucking kidding me? You didn’t know about this? You didn’t check to see why they lost Dash when he took off?” Jake asked Brook Thor as they stood in the main office at the sheriff’s department.
“We had verification from two other agents that it was legit. Then we came across these surveillance tapes from the club. These agents were paid off, too. Merk isn’t the only one on the payroll. He’s why Riker died and why Avalon was discovered and killed. We need to contact Tasha and the agents at the hospital. Everyone needs to be on the lookout for Agent Merk,” Thor stated.
Jake pulled out his cell and called Tasha. “Pick up, damn it. Come on Tasha, pick up.”
“Hello?”
“Tasha?”
“No, it’s her mom. Is this Jake?”
“Yes, ma’am. Is Tasha around? It’s important.”
“No, she went down the hall with Agent Merk. He said he had some questions for her. Is everything okay?”
“About how long ago did Agent Merk leave with her?”
“A while. Maybe fifteen minutes.”
“Okay, I’ll catch up with her later. Thank you.”
He disconnected the call and began to yell out orders. “We need to find that asshole. He took her. He’s got Tasha. I wouldn’t let on to her mom about the situation. She’s recovering so we need officers there now. Get that agent you have there and have him search the floor and then get to the surveillance tapes. We need to track down Merk before he takes Tasha to Dash. Fuck!” Jake yelled out as he and Thor headed out of the building.
* * * *
She couldn’t see where they were, or how far they traveled but it didn’t seem far at all. She could move her eyes around, and she was starting to get some feeling in her arms and legs. The stuff he stuck her with must have been wearing off.
The car went over some bumpy terrain and then into darkness. A garage, a warehouse of some sort? She wasn’t certain, and then she heard what sounded like a large door closing, then banging against metal. The car stopped. The engine died. The door opened and then closed. Her heart was racing as she wondered where she was and whether or not Dash was already here.
The door opened and she spotted Merk. He was sweating as he pulled her by her legs.
“Why are you doing this? You don’t have to do this.”
“I do have to do this. Just cooperate. Maybe you’ll live.” He hoisted her up and over his shoulder. She was getting full function of her joints again but would remain as if she were paralyzed from the drugs still. No one would know where to look for her. The thought brought on tears of emotion and fear. She got to love her men. She got to see her mom and know that she was now a survivor of cancer. If she died at the hands of a madman, then so be it. But this time she was going to fight.
He carried her into a wooden elevator shaft. It was wide and smelled like old wood and fuel. She definitely smelled some kind of fuel. That made her think crazy thoughts like what Dash had in mind, and what sick plan he created to cause her and her loved ones more pain.
“Don’t do this, Merk. Just turn around and leave. You don’t have to listen to him. You can save us both.”
“Shut up. I do have to listen to him. Once he has you, I’m long gone and it won’t matter.”
“You think he’s going to let you walk out of here alive?”
He paused as the rickety elevator brought them up higher in the old building. It didn’t look like there was much around. Some offices, some construction that looked abandoned.
“He’ll let me go because I did everything he told me to do.”
“If you believe that, then you’re stupid. You’re as good as dead. Dash is going to kill you.”
The elevator stopped and it shook, causing him to lose his balance. Merk gained it back, cursing under his breath about the old building and being condemned instead of being restored. That was when she realized where they were. Right outside of Treasure Town and on the border of the swamp fields. The entire hundred acres was being renovated and knocked down for community centers, elementary schools, and a small senior living facility. It had been an eyesore for several years and after the builder finally convinced the owner of the warehouse to sell, the plan was on its way to destroy the building.
He walked along the upper floor. There was glass everywhere, old office furniture, metal filing cabinets and broken windows that bordered the entire room.
She was upside down feeling all the blood rush to her head and tried to ease the pressure and look upward when she spotted a man. He had hair along his jaw and upper lip. His hair was long, to his shoulders. She squinted her eyes and then it hit her. It was Dash. He stood there in jeans and a button-down shirt. He was in disguise.
Abruptly Merk lifted her upright, and shoved her down onto a rickety old chair.
“No one followed you?” Dash asked.
“Of course not. You got her. I’m done now. Where’s my cut?”
Dash walked closer. He grabbed Tasha by her hair on the back of her head. “Ouch!” she screamed out, nearly falling off of the chair.
He stared at Merk.
“The money is in that bag.”
Merk smiled. “I’d like to say it was a pleasure,” Merk started to say and then walked closer to the small black bag. He opened it and pulled out the money smiling.
“You’re sure no one followed you?” Dash asked.
“Positive,” Merk said as he stared at Dash and then looked at Tasha.
“Good. Then I just have one more loose end to take care of,” Dash replied.
“Loose end?” Merk asked and Tasha screamed as Dash shot Merk right in the forehead. Merk fell to the ground, and the money in the bag spread across the floor.
She screamed again as Dash straddled her body over the chair and held the gun to her throat.
“You’ve been very, very bad, my sweet baby girl.” His eyes looked wild and she knew that he had lost it. He was on the run. He was desperate and he wanted revenge. He had obsessed over her for far longer than even the agents knew. Hell, even the agents like Merk were involved. How was she to know who else was on Dash’s payroll.
“You were fucking those three firemen all this time, weren’t you?”
She shook her head and he slammed the gun across her jaw and chin, cutting it.
“Please stop this, Dash. Please don’t do this.”
He shoved her and the chair back against the large metal pole. She screamed out as her head hit the metal, causing her vision to blur a moment. He pressed his body against hers and gripped her hair. Using the barrel of the gun to push down her tank top he stuck the barrel hard against her breast right over her heart.
“You love them, don’t you? That’s why you couldn’t give all of yourself to me?”
“I do love them.”
He pressed the gun harder and she cried out in pain but didn’t reach up for the gun afraid that he would pull the trigger.