Part 6 of Therese story

“Is that you, Teresa, my little sister ? He did not wait for her to answer. “It is,” he proclaimed as he reached down and plucked her from her chair. lifting her feet off the ground. He huggedl her to his chest and swayed side to side. He lifted her to his face level and kissed her on the forehead. The sight of him had brought forth conflicting feelings of terror and love to Therese. When she first realized who his funny looking man was, she was ready to run but now here in his arms she felt a strange emotion: safe. She wanted to hug him back and to kiss him and to even roll around on the floor with him and yet when he kissed her, she felt an oddness about him. Was he always this tall ?
“I was so worried about you. You have been gone all day but now you are back.”
He set her down back on her feet. “You should not worry your brother so much.” He turned to the young men still seated at the table. “How can I thank you young men for bringing me back my little baby sister.” He reached into his coat pocket and produced an incredible roll of one hundred dollar bills. He peeled off ten and dropped them onto the table. The young men were aghast. They had never seen so much money.
“This,” he said “is a small token of my appreciation.” He kissed them on the top of their heads. “Thank you, thank you.” He peeled off one more hundred and said, “This is for the food. Tell the waiter he can keep the change.” He put the bankroll back into his pocket, then his took off his coat and put it on Therese. It almost dragged on the floor.
“Baby sister,” he cooed, “you should not go outside without a proper coat. You’ll catch your death.” He grabbed her by the hand and walked her out the door. The whole time Therese and the T & T boys were speechless. It was Jack who broke the silence by exclaiming after they had left, “A ninety dollar tip. Maybe this night won’t be a total waste afterall.”

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He walked her to a red two seater convertable (top up of course) which was parked at the curb not too far from the restaurant. The car looked very expensive. She took this opportunity to pull her hand free from him and summoning up all her strength, she punched him in the face.
“You left me there to die !” she screamed. “You left me there to die.”
He rubbed his jaw. “You don’t have time for that now. I’ll let you punch me all you want later. Right now you have to get back to your hotel fast. Your little friends have poisoned you with a large dose of date rape drug. If you didn’t have your superior body, you would be a pile of jello right now. As it is, you have at most ten minutes to get back to your room and in bed before you pass out.”
He grabbed her hand and pulled her to the driver’s side of the car, opened the door and gently pushed her in. He shut the door and put a key in the ignition.
“Before you start the car, listent carefully. Your name is Teresa desAntos. It was as close to your real name as I could get. Your IDs are in that pink clutch purse on the passenger’s seat. You are currently staying in the hotel Avalon which lucky for you is about two blocks from here. When you start the car, the car will ask you where you are going. You say home. It will tell you how to get there. When you get to the hotel park in front. Get out, give your keys to the doorman wrapped in a hundred dollar bill. Tell him to take care of it. The money is in your coat pocket. Walk to the front desk and tell them you have lost your room key. They will know who you are. They will show you how to get to your room. Under no circumstances, should you allow them to take you into your room. You must be alone. And this is the most important part, do not under any circumstances take off your clothes. You must stay in these clothes tonight, no matter what. I will talk to you tomorrow. Stay in your room until then and don’t let anyone in - not even the maid.” He leaned over and kissed her. “Now go.” he commanded as he turned the key for her. The car started immediately.
“But I haven’t driven a car in over a decade,” she protested.
“Not really a problem,” he countered as began to cross the street, “that car could almost drives itself.”
As she tried to think of what to do next the car asked her in a sweet feminine voice, “Ms. Teresa, where would you like me to take you.”
“Home.” she sighed. “I really want to go home.”