Disclaimer: Sam, Jo, Stuart and Phil are still not my property.
Chapter 26:
"Jo? Jo is that you?" Sam turned to Stuart; "You've got her? You bastard." The blonde punched the unsuspecting DC, causing him to fall to the floor, hitting his head on the wall as he fell. Not concerned about the unconscious man on the doorstep, Sam stepped over him and ran into the house, calling out for Jo as she went. The blonde followed the shouts that came in reply, running into a spare bedroom, finding the brunette tied to a chair, looking very weak, her mouth gagged, yet she had still managed to call out.
Sam rushed over, taking the piece of cloth out of the woman's mouth and kissing her, feeling relief rush over her as she was re-united with the woman she cared so much for.
"Are you okay? Are you okay?" Sam asked twice, not satisfied that once sounded concerned enough.
"Yeah, I'm fine." Jo reassured, wishing she could feel the same way she acted, still very shook up and struggling to believe she was actually safe.
"I thought, I thought…" Sam finally admitted what she had feared for so many days, "I thought you were dead."
"Never. I wouldn't give up on you so easily. I knew you'd find me."
"I love you so much Jo. I couldn't bear to think of life without you. I wouldn't have coped without you."
Jo realised what the blonde was saying, she tried her best to comfort her while still restricted by the ropes attaching her arms and legs to the chair she was on. "Don't say things like that Sam, I'm here, and I'm not leaving you. I love you. Don't talk about things like that."
By now the blonde was knelling on the floor, her knees unable to support her any longer, six nights of next to no sleep finally catching up on her. Coming to her senses the blonde realised Jo was still tied to the chair. Carefully undoing the knots, Sam finally allowed Jo to flop on top of her, unable to keep herself positioned in the chair she had been strapped to.
After a few minutes of silence, just relishing the fact they were together again, the blonde got up, "We need to get out of here. Stuart won't stay knocked out for ever."
"What?"
"Oh, I punched him when I heard you call out. As far as I know he's still on the doorstep unconscious."
Jo couldn't help but laugh, trying to imagine how someone as small as Sam could knock out Stuart.
Sam helped Jo to her feet, leading her downstairs and to the doorway. To her surprise, Stuart was still in the same position, a pool of blood gathering around his head.
"Sam, what the hell did you do to him?"
"I just punched him. He hit his head on the wall as he fell."
"And you didn't check to see if he was alright?"
"Jo, I was more worried about coming to find you."
"Oh right, yeah of course. You better call an ambulance Sam, that head wound doesn't look good."
Sam took out her phone and dialled 999, hanging up after a short conversation, "They're on their way, be about five minutes."
Jo nodded.
Sam then scrolled down her contact list until she found Phil's number, pressing the dial button she found she only had to wait a few seconds before it being answered. "Sam, how are you? Have you seen him? Are you okay?"
Sam interrupted the questions she was being bombarded with, "Phil, I've found her."
'What? Jo?"
"Yeah."
"Is she okay? Where is she?"
"She's fine, a few cuts and bruises but nothing serious, she's with me. Phil, can you come round, I've had to call an ambulance."
"What? Where are you? What's the ambulance for? She's not badly hurt is she?"
"She's fine. I'm at Stuart's house, the ambulance is for him."
"What? Stuart had her? What have you done to him?"
"Yes he had her. I think you can let Tess go…" Sam was interrupted by the brunette next to her asking questions about Tess, she held her hand up to Jo to signal to wait a minute while she finishes the conversation. Jo complied, allowing Sam to return to talking to Phil. "I hit him, his head hit the wall as he fell and he's unconscious, has been for about ten minutes now, his head wound is bleeding, badly."
"Right, okay, I'm on my way. Are you gonna go to the hospital and get Jo checked over?"
"Yeah."
"Okay, I'll meat you there. I'll let the team know she's safe, get some of them over to his house. I'll get someone to release Tess. I'll be there in about fifteen minutes. It'll give you and Jo some time on your own."
"Thanks Phil."
"Oh and Sam, you do realise you're gonna have to be questioned about Stuart, don't you?"
Sam's heart fell, she hadn't even thought about that. "Yeah, I know."
Sensing Sam's nerves the man reassured her, "Look Sam, you'll be fine. You only hit the man to get to Jo, right?"
"Yeah, of course."
"Then you've got nothing to worry about."
"Yeah, I'm sure you're right. Bye Phil."