A child is kidnapped and the motive appears to be ransom. But all isn't as it seems in the beginning. As Steve and the team begin to unravel clues, Steve must begin to work through some of his own demons.

There is a possibility for a new romance between Steve and an OC. We'll see how it plays out.

Rated "T" for now due to language, but may change to an "M" later.

As usual, reviews are welcome! Let me know what you think!
*****************************h50**********************h50***************************h50

Steve looked at the caller ID on his phone. Governor Denning.

He grimaced…..So much for a day off.

"McGarrett," he answered.

"Commander, I'm sorry to interrupt your day off, but we have a situation."

"What kind of situation?"

"A 5-year old has been kidnapped and I want your team on the case. Her name is Kiera Carlyle. She was taken from her school playground this morning."

"In broad daylight?" Steve was surprised. That move was bold and a sure indication the kidnappers were pros. "Okay…..so what else can you tell me?"

"I don't want to discuss it over the phone. Get your team together and meet me at your office in an hour."

Steve was intrigued. It was rare for the governor to visit personally to give details on a case.

Turning his truck around and heading towards the Palace, he called the rest of the team to brief them. No one was happy about giving up their first Friday off in literally months, but duty called. They all felt the urgency upon hearing a child was involved.

Steve and Danny arrived at the same time. "So what do you know?" Danny asked as he exited his Camaro.

"Nothing more than what I told you. A child was kidnapped from her playground in broad daylight. The governor's going to meet us here to tell us what's going on."

"Here?" Danny asked, his curiosity mirroring Steve's.

Steve gave a quick nod of his head. "That's what he said…That's all I know."

They walked into HQ and found Junior and Lou around the smart table.

"What do we have?"

"Not much," Junior replied. "I was able to pull up Kiera's school information and find out her mother's name. Since we don't know exactly what's going on, I didn't want to send up too many red flags by asking questions too early."

"Good thinking," Danny said. "So what do we know about the mother?"

"She's MIA. We're still trying to locate her," Lou answered just as Junior pulled a picture up on the board for all to see.

"Wait…so does she even know her daughter is missing?" Steve asked.

"That's what we need to find out. Maybe Governor Denning can give us some insight when he gets here." Lou said a little impatiently as he looked at his watch for the tenth time that hour.

Tani walked into HQ and looked at the screen. "Oh, my God. That's Ana Leigh!"

All eyes turned toward the screenshot of the woman's driver's license with the name Leeann Carlyle listed.

"No…..it says Leeann Carlyle." Junior corrected. "Looks like her address is on the North Shore."

"I can see it's what's on the license, Junes, " Tani continued, "but that is most definitely Ana Leigh."

All eyes turned towards her. "Who is Ana Leigh?" Steve asked.

Tani looked at them in disbelief. "Who is Ana Leigh?" she repeated. "Are you kidding me? Ana Leigh has been on the New York Times Best Sellers list for the last year and a half. How is it possible you have not heard of her? I mean where have you been? "

Danny's face exhibited his well-known expression of utter confusion. "Never heard of her," he said. "So what does she write? Cookbooks? Biographies? Self-help mumbo jumbo…What?"

No one missed the slight blush on her face and neck. "Uh…..no…..not exactly."

"So what does she write?" Steve pressed again.

"Novels," Tani answered as she shuffled her feet somewhat nervously.

Steve's eyes squinted as he looked at her. "Go on."

She let out a long sigh, "Fictional novels…..okay? They're sort of…ummmmm….well…..They may be a little…erotic…..in nature."

All four men's eyebrows rose as if in sync with each other.

"Erotic novels, huh?" Danny asked.

"Yes." She confirmed without saying anything else.

"So you've read these erotic novels, I take it?" Steve asked as he grinned at her and folded his arms in front of his broad chest.

These guys…..They loved giving her a hard time.

"Maybe! But what does it matter?!" She sound exasperated which made all of them chuckle. "We have more pressing issues at hand, right? What do we know about the girl?" she said trying to get them to re-focus.

Governor Denning and his security detail chose that moment to walk in and make their way to the group.

Steve turned in his direction as he pointed at the picture in front of them. "So who is it, Governor? Leeann Carlyle or Ana Leigh?"

Governor Denning approached the table. "Both," he answered.

"What do you mean, both?" Danny said. "It's either one or the other."

"Her legal name is Leeann Carlyle. However, her pen name…..the one she publishes under…. is Ana Leigh. Her father is an old friend of mine. Leeann is his only child and Kiera his only grandchild. I don't have to tell you that time is of the essence to find them both."

"Ok, so what else do we need to know?" Steve asked sensing there was much more to the story.

"Leeann's father is the head of the Southwest NCIS Division. Her husband, Travis, was a Navy SEAL named…."

Recollection suddenly hit Steve as he finished the sentence, "Travis Carlyle." All eyes turned to him and Governor Denning turned his full attention towards Steve.

"Yes. So you understand why I needed your team on this," Denning confirmed quietly. "Finding Leeann and Kiera safely is of utmost importance. This family has already lost enough."

Danny raised his hand, "So for those of us who are still totally confused, care to fill us in on what the hell is going on?"

"Travis Carlyle was one of the Navy's best snipers," Steve explained. "I can't tell you his number of kills, but he was up there with Chris Kyle."

Lou's eyebrows shot up again. "Chris Kyle as in the 'American Sniper'?"

"Yes…..He was killed three years ago on an Op that went wrong. That's all I can tell you."

"Let me guess….it's classified." Danny said sarcastically.

"It was," Denning began, "but now you need to know whatever you can to find the girls." He released a breath before shooting a 'look' to Steve and continuing. "Travis was part of a team deployed to bring down Khalil Assad. And while I can't share all details of the mission, what resulted was that Travis and most of his team were killed…..but not before they had burned $3 million U.S. Dollars in drug money and a stash of weapons Assad's team had piled up. It was a huge loss to them financially."

"So if Carlyle and most of his team are gone, why come after his daughter and wife?" Lou asked. "What do they hope to accomplish?"

"Leeann has become a very wealthy woman since Travis' death." Denning explained. "I believe they are coming after Kiera in an attempt to get to her…..and recover financially."

Everyone felt the weight of the moment. This one was serious.

"How long has Kiera been gone?" Steve asked.

"Four hours," Governor Denning said. "She was taken from the playground during 'drop off' at 8 o'clock this morning…..Right after Leeann dropped her off, so they were watching."

"And what about Leeann?" Tani asked.

"No one knows where she is. She isn't answering calls from any of us." Denning said sadly.

Steve clapped his hands together. "Okay…..so we have a baby girl as one victim that we know of…and possibly another. I want a trace on Leeann's cell. If it bumps off of ANY cell tower today, I want to know!" Turning towards Governor Denning he said, "Call Leeann's dad. If he knows anything…If he's heard anything…..we need to know!"

****************h50****************h50***************h50***********************h50

This is a short "first chapter", so I'm just wondering what you think. Would you like to read more? What do you think so far?