Chapter 1

Steve stepped out of the elevator in the warm and friendly foyer of the children's hospital. He dug his hand into his pocket, pulling out his keys as he made his way to the sliding doors.

"Uncle Steve." He heard a familiar voice call out as Grace ran towards him.

"Hey Gracie." He smiled, noting Rachel was a couple of steps behind her.

"Steve." Rachel smiled thinly, unsure how he would react to her given what had happened with Danny.

"How are you?" He asked softly.

"I'm okay." She nodded, though her expression was less than convincing.

"I'm going up to see Dad and Charlie." Grace said coldly to her mother before walking away.

Rachel closed her eyes, fighting the desire to burst into tears.

"Things difficult between you two right now?" Steve frowned.

"She's angry, just like Danny is, but I don't blame them. I deserve it." She nodded. "She's staying with Danny at the moment. She's only with me because I picked her up from school. She won't even look at me, let alone talk to me." Rachel continued, though she stopped when she realized she was opening up to a person who also had every right not to care. It's okay. It's not your worry." She smiled sincerely.

Steve hesitated for a moment, he'd never really been close enough to Rachel to offer any kind of help. "Charlie's doing well. He told me that he's going home tomorrow."

"That's the plan." She smiled.

"You got to be happy about that." He whispered.

"More than anyone could ever know." She nodded. "Anyway." she said as she pointed over to the chairs. "I'm going to wait down here until Danny's done."

"Okay." Steve nodded gently as his hands gripped his keys.

The pair went their separate ways, Rachel taking position on one of the bright colored chairs by the window overlooking a beautiful courtyard. Steve walked towards the doors and stopped. He couldn't help but feel bad for Rachel. Yes she made a terrible decision, but she was nowhere near the caliber of his mother when it came to being ruthless and vindictive. Right now, with the amount of emotion she was clearly suppressing, perhaps she didn't have anyone to talk to. He sighed before turning around.

Rachel looked out the window at a group of children playing with the toys in the courtyard. It was obvious to her that a handful of them were living on borrowed time and she felt her heart break for their parents who sat with them and acted as normal as they could. In the corner of her eye she saw a figure standing next to her, she looked up to find Steve.

"Coffee?" Steve asked as he pointed over to the café.

She was surprised and yet grateful. "Wouldn't this be seen as fraternizing with the enemy? I don't want to cause problems between you and Danny." She said, shaking her head.

Steve smiled softly. "I'll handle Danny. Come on."

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Steve rested down a mug of coffee in front of her as he sat down at a booth. She smiled weakly, though her appreciation shone through. "Thank you."

Steve sighed as he leant back.

"I know this must be incredibly hard to believe, but the last thing I ever wanted to do was hurt Danny the way I have." She whispered. "But then looking back on the choices I made, the secrets I kept, I don't know how I could have ever have thought it would turn out any other way." She paused, lifting her hand to her head. "What have I done?"

Steve paused for a moment, thinking of his answer wisely. Though what she had done was wrong, he never thought it was ever out of spite. "You did what you thought was best for Charlie at the time."

She looked into his eyes. They were much like Danny's, soft and caring but behind them she could tell there was so much pain and torment. "When I found out I was pregnant, I was elated. I thought this might have been the chance that Danny had to move forward together. We made plans to go back to New Jersey, and I got wrapped up in the fairy tale." She said. "But standing at the airport, hearing the final call, and Danny not being there; it jolted me back to reality. He lives for the job, and that's not a bad thing, but it wasn't what I wanted either."

Steve listened carefully.

"He called while we were taxing out from the gate. Said that he'd be over as soon as he could get away, but he had to attend to a few things." She paused as her face creased. "He didn't tell me what was going on, he didn't tell me you were in trouble and he needed to help you. Perhaps if he had, maybe things would have been different. I would have had more of an understanding."

"When I was arrested for the governor's murder?" Steve recalled.

She nodded. "On that flight home, I decided that I would call it off. And I believed that to make things easier on everyone, I would give it a couple of days and tell him that Charlie was Stan's." Her face creased with deep regret. "The irony being that I had been a hundred times happier with Danny, even at our lowest point in our relationship, than I had ever really been with Stan. I look back now and I can see it just didn't make sense."

Steve's eyes drifted down. "What about you and Stan now?"

Rachel raised her eyebrows. "He's gone back to the mainland. He's given me six months in the house, just enough time to get Charlie settled, then we'll start divorce proceedings." She nodded.

Steve sighed. "Rachel, there is nothing I can say or do that's going to make this better between you and Danny. But it will get better in time."

Rachel grinned sheepishly. "You have a lot of faith in your partner, Steve."

"I know he's a hot head, and he's hurt. He's got to accept that he missed the first couple of years of his son's life." He paused. "He's so devoted to Grace that he didn't hesitate to leave everything he loved and move to a place he likens to hell on most days. He left his job, his family, his home town because he didn't want to miss one minute of Grace's childhood. Visitation twice a year just didn't cut it with Danny."

She nodded.

"In a couple of months, when he and Charlie have bonded, things will look different to him." He said with confidence. "Sure this is always going to be in the back of his mind, but I believe that he will have worked through enough to know how lucky he is and to be happy with what he's got. Especially given what's happened to Charlie."

Rachel sighed with doubt.

"Trust me." Steve nodded before his cell phone chirped. "Sorry." He whispered to Rachel before accepting the call. "Kono..." he answered.

"Boss, I know you're with Danny and I'm sorry, but we've got something." Kono replied.

"Hold on." He said before pressing his hand over the phone. "I'm going to have to go." He smiled softly.

"Of course." She nodded. "Thank you so much, Steve."

"You're welcome." He replied before standing up and walking away, pressing the phone back against his ear. "What have we got?"

"An unidentified shooter walked into the site office at Kapula Quarry, just west of Waimanalo. He shot all eighteen of the employees, as they were in a daily briefing, and then left. HPD are canvasing the area but so far they have no clues as to who this man is or where he has gone."

"What's the status of the employees?" Steve frowned as he stepped out of the hospital and hurried towards his truck.

"Three are listed as critical, four are stable, two walking wounded and the status of the remaining nine is unknown." Kono replied.

He hopped into his truck and turned the key, bringing the engine roaring to life. "I'm on my way."

Rachel walked back out into the lobby when she was drawn to a man at the front desk. He was clear agitated as he barked at the lady who took enquiries.

"Doctor Neo. I want to speak to Doctor Neo." The man shouted.

"I understand, sir. But like I mentioned, he is currently in surgery." The woman reasoned.

Rachel hovered to the side, stopping as she used the excuse of concentration on the contents of her purse as a reason to have stopped. She knew the woman behind the desk well, Macey, she was a fifty something woman with a massive heart and all the love in the world for each and every person who came into the hospital. A breath of fresh air and a saving grace for so many who struggled to find any happiness.

"Get him out here." The man growled.

"Sir, that's simply not possible at this moment in time. I can let the OR know that you're here. They can ask him to come down when he's done." Macey answered with sincerity.

The man seemed to transition from nervous and uptight to being almost calm.

Rachel smiled softly, impressed with how Macey had handled the situation. God knows she'd had years of practice dealing with inconsolable parents in their darkest hours.

The man closed his eyes before pulling out a handgun from his belt. He pointed it at Macey. "You've got 30 seconds to convince him to come down here, or I'm going to put a bullet in you."

There were screams of fear as people ran for the doors or for cover.

"Everyone stay where you are. I'll shoot anyone who tries to leave." The man belted out.

"Oh my god." Rachel whispered as she sought refuge behind a chair.

The man turned back to Macey before looking at his watch. "23 seconds. How's that doc going?"

Macey picked up the phone, her hands shaking so wildly that she couldn't even press the right numbers.

He peered around, taking note of the layout and a room to the side marked with staff. "I want everyone in that room!" He yelled as he waved his gun towards a door. "NOW!"

Rachel fumbled for her cell phone, finally gripping it in her hand like her life depended on it. She pressed a speed dial and held it up to her ear, still cowering. "Danny…" she whispered, the fear and desperation in her voice was evident. "There's a man down here in the lobby, he has a gun. He's ordered everyone into staff area."

"What?" Danny asked as he stood up from beside Charlie's bed. "What are you talking about?"

"He wants to see a certain doctor, but he's in surgery. He's threatened to shoot Macey if she doesn't get him down here."

"Okay, Rachel, I'm on my way."

"No." she snapped softly. "No. You stay with the children. Keep them safe."

"Get up! Get in that room!" a mans voice could be heard as Rachel screamed. She threw her phone under the chair without him noticing.

Danny straightened as he listened helplessly.

The man had grabbed Rachel by the arm and was dragging her to the room. He stopped at the desk, looking at Macey. She placed the phone down on the handset, her face filled with disappointment and fear. "He's not coming, is he?" he said.

Macey's eyes flickered to Rachel before she shook her head. "No." she whispered.

"Okay." He nodded calmly. "Well you knew the deal." He said, lifting his weapon up and shooting her point blank in the chest. Macey fell back without a sound.

Rachel screamed for her to answer as he pulled her over to the door.

"Rachel!" Danny called as he could hear her voice becoming distant. "Rachel!"

Grace sat up straight in her chair, her expression fraught with concern. "Danno?"

"It's okay baby." He said calmly, though it was far too late for reassurances. "But I need your cell phone."

"Is mom ok?" she asked.

"She's fine. She's just having trouble with her cell." Danny replied. "Listen, I want you to stay in here with your brother. I don't want you to go out of that door unless I tell you too. You got it?"

Grace's eyes widened. She nodded.

Danny grabbed the cell phone and raced out the door, straight over to the nurses station. "I'm detective Danny Williams, I'm 5-0. There's an active shooter down in the lobby and he's taken hostages. You need to alert security, call HPD and lock this hospital down."

The nurse frowned with disbelief.

"Now. Do it." He ordered.

"Okay." She nodded as she reached for the phone.

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"What have we got?" Steve asked as he met Kono and Chin at the entrance of the quarry.

"Those nine I was telling you about, they're all dead." Kono answered as they started to walk up a dirt road to the crime scene. "HPD are still none the wiser on who this guy was."

"Okay, walking wounded. You talked to them?" He asked.

"Grover's with them now." Chin answered. "But from all accounts I'm going to throw it out there that this was premeditated."

"What makes you say that?" Steve frowned.

"The staff were all located in one of the demountable offices. Now usually, on any given day, by ten am they're spread out over the quarry doing various jobs. The owner of the business, Michael Lowrey, had called them in for this special meeting."

"Maybe he was lucky?"

"Maybe. But the security cameras went down over night. Someone cut the wires to the circuit board and for this guy to vanish like he has, I'd say he had a plan." Chin responded.

"Kono, can you do a property check on this place. Run it through the HPD dispatch, see if we get any hits. Also check anything against Michael Lowrey."

"You got it." She nodded as she headed over to her car.

"Lou?" Steve called out as he walked over.

"Neither of them recognized him." He said as he clutched his notebook in his hand. "But they said one of their colleagues had a cell phone in his hand during the shooting, it's possible they caught video or photo evidence."

"Okay, we need all the cell phones." Steve answered. "Do we know what the special meeting was about?"

"They didn't know." Grover answered. "Just that there was rumors going around that the quarry was being shut down for safety reasons."

"Safety reasons?" Chin asked. "Disgruntled ex-employee who had been injured at work?"

"Possible, but one of the witnesses has been here since it opened fourteen years ago. He would have known him." Lou nodded. "They both claim that the site's safety record is spotless."

"So I got nothing against the property." Kono said as she approached, holding a tablet in her hand. "Michael Lowery is a whole different story."

Steve frowned.

"He's had dealings with a neighbor of the quarry, a man named Kai Kap'ao. HPD reported attending his property in Manoa, due to altercations between the two men and Lowery reporting malicious damage to his residence in the past eight months."

"Does it say if Kap'oa was the cause for the malicious damage?"

"They have no evidence to support it but he is considered as a suspect due to the ongoing issues between the men." She nodded.

"Do we know what the beef between these two is about?" Grover asked.

"I need to do some more digging." Kono replied.

"Okay, we have a possible suspect." Steve nodded. "Lou, Chin, I want you to pay this Kap'oa a visit. Take an HPD squad with you, if this guy is armed and on the run for murder then he is likely to be unstable."

"Got it." Chin nodded.

"You get one sign that going near his house is too much of a risk, you pull back."

"Where's Danny when you need someone to get shot at?" Grover answered.

Steve grinned before his cell chimed. His smile faded when he saw caller ID. "Gracey? You okay?"

"No." Danny answered. "It's me. Do me a favor, just shut up and listen to me."

Steve's eyes widened at the urgency in Danny's tone. "What's happened?"