Double Cross
Chapter 1 Instinct
"I'm scared!"
The little girl's terrified whisper reverberated in his ears as he pressed the gas even harder and switched lanes yet again, desperately manoeuvring his way through the mid morning traffic of Honolulu.
"I'm coming Gracie, just hang in there kiddo. Five minutes and I'll be there"
Her call had come in just as he'd left the Governor's Office and he'd glanced at the unknown number quizzically, tempted to ignore it and get on with the work load he'd just been handed. But instinctively he knew he should answer and thumbed the key whilst he got into his truck.
"McGarrett"
He had to strain to hear the rapid breaths and soft whimpers on the other end. He knew it was a child.
"Who is this?" he pressed whilst he froze so that he could concentrate on the caller, half seated in the cab of his truck, key poised over the ignition but not engaged yet.
"Uncle Steve!" Despite the whisper he recognised her at once and knew immediately that it was serious. Key in ignition and engine turned, door slammed shut and he flicked his flashing lights on.
"Gracie what's wrong? Where's Danno?"
His reply was the sound of soft sobbing almost drowned out by the pounding of his heart as his fear for his partner and his child escalated.
"Where are you Gracie?"
"Daddy told me to hide."
He was out of the parking zone by now and on instinct he headed for Danny's place, his mind playing out scenarios, none of which were pleasant.
"Do you know where you are?"
"At Daddy's. They're shouting."
He forced himself not to bombard the traumatised little girl with the questions that were going round his head. How many? Were they armed? Did they force entry? In the end it didn't really matter. His partner was in danger and he was facing it alone.
"OK sweetie I'm coming right now."
"I'm scared"
"I know Grace. But its gonna be OK." He desperately hoped that he wasn't lying to her.
"They're hurting him! What should I do?" her whispers were frantic and he swallowed hard to quell his own sense of panic that he would not get there in time for his partner and that the little girl would break her cover.
Danny!
"Stay there Grace, don't move! Stay hidden until I get there! Please don't do anything! Just hang on!" his urgent tones betrayed his desperation to ensure that she stayed hidden and away from harm.
"Hurry Uncle Steve, I want my Daddy to be OK, please hurry."
"Grace I promise you I'm coming as fast as I can. I am going to go and call for help OK, stay on the phone, and don't hang up. I'll be back in a minute. Please don't move OK?"
"OK"
"Good girl" he thumbed his phone as he switched lane again, ignoring the honking horns of irate drivers he had just cut up. Speed dialling Kono he waited impatiently, glancing over his shoulder before switching lanes again, oncoming traffic splitting to either side at his onslaught.
"C'mon, c'mon!" he gritted his teeth as he ran a red, barely missing the delivery van to his right as it screeched to a halt.
"Kono"
"Get SWAT to Danny's place now!"
"On it!" Kono knew enough by now that the questions had to wait and she jumped to his command.
Chin's questioning voice came over the line.
"Steve?"
"Grace is on the phone, says Danny's in trouble; she's hiding. I gotta go"
"We're on our way Brah!"
He switched back to Grace.
"Hey Gracie, you there?"
He strained to hear, but this time there were no soft breaths or whimpers and his heart sank.
"Gracie?"
Dammit! He thumped the steering wheel in frustration and pressed on.
"I'm scared"
Me too sweetie!
-h5o-
It took three minutes and forty five seconds to reach Danny's apartment. Steve McGarrett drew his weapon, pointed it downwards and hurried towards the half open door of his partner's ground floor apartment. His eyes scanned his surroundings; ears straining for any sounds within, but all appeared to be calm. Glancing into the doorway he raised his gun and trained it into the room, his experienced eyes taking in the signs of struggle even as he checked each nook and possible hiding place for any indication of where Danny might be. In the distance he heard the sound of approaching sirens and knew that help was on its way, but he dreaded that it was all too little too late for his friend.
He slid along the hallway towards the bedroom and bathroom areas noting the blood on the side table and the smashed photograph frame as he passed. There was no sign of the Detective from Jersey anywhere in the small apartment. The wardrobe door was open revealing a cellphone encased in a green cover lying on the bottom shelf, Hannah Montana stickers prominent on the back. He picked it up and noted that there was still a call in progress and it was his number. A flash of metal under the bed caught his eye and he knelt down to look closer. It was Danny Williams' badge.
Standing up he rubbed his face then scrubbed his hands through his hair, then he turned and strode purposefully out of the room.
-h5o-
Kono Kalakaua got out of her car and regarded the scene with grim determination. Three squad cars were skewed in the lot in front of the door to Danny's apartment, but she noted that the officers appeared to be too relaxed to be involved in any form of conflict. One was on the radio, one stood at the door of the apartment building; two were talking to bystanders, taking notes. Unsure if this was a good thing or not, she exchanged a glance with her cousin and partner Chin Ho Kelly who shrugged slightly, his expression revealing nothing.
They walked over as their boss emerged from the apartment, giving instructions to the last officer. The expression he wore was granite; as if a hard mask had come down to conceal any emotions that might distract him from his purpose. Kono's heart sank as she waited. It meant only one thing, Danny was missing.
"I want crime scene guys here ASAP! Every print, hair follicle, blood sample, anything. I want it yesterday understand?"
"Yessir!" and the policeman jumped to it, experienced with dealing with the leader of the 5-0 task force. Besides, one of their own had been taken, every HPD officer would be committed to this case.
"Boss!" Chin Ho looked around him. "What the hell happened?"
"I don't know! Place is a wreck. There's blood, don't know if its Danny's or not."
"Any sign of Grace?" Kono's lovely features were scrunched into a frown as she thought about their friend's daughter and what she might have gone through.
McGarrett shook his head.
"She said that Danny told her to hide. I found her cell in the wardrobe. I don't know if they got to her or not!"
"Did she say how many?" Chin asked.
Steve shook his head, eyes surveying the doorway and the ground in front of it. Chin looked through the door and made his way inside to survey the scene, whilst Kono observed her boss in action as he frowned, peering at the sparse lawn that passed for a garden area, searching for clues that might tell him who, why and how many. Recent rain had made the ground muddy and there were plenty of footprints, but on the whole they were indistinguishable.
"I make two, maybe three of them. Danny's in the middle of them. I can't get a clear print of his shoes. They were walking here."
He followed the tracks towards the parking lot eyes scrutinising the ground and stopped suddenly and beckoned her over.
"Look, he's struggling here. He fought them."
"Why would he co-operate with them up until here and then decide to fight?" Kono was confused.
Steve shook his head. He bent down and placed his hand beside one that went off in a different direction. His hand was bigger than the imprint.
"No," he said "He was protecting Grace! I think she might have got away" and he looked over in the direction of the little footprints and tracked them with his eyes.
Kono followed his gaze and saw that they went off to the left towards the street. Steve motioned for her to stay behind and he made his way slowly, carefully checking the ground for signs of the little girl's flight and any pursuit that she may have had. The soft ground gave way to the concrete pavement of the sidewalk, but her wet footprints were still visible although fading with every step. Twenty yards and they had all but disappeared. He stopped at an alleyway entrance and looked around him trying to pinpoint a hiding place.
"C'mon Gracie, where are you?" he wondered. She couldn't have gotten far, she knew help was coming. Where was she?
The sound would have been drowned out by traffic if there hadn't been a lull just at that moment. A rustle of cloth against a wall perhaps, or the slip of a sneaker on gravel, but it was enough to make him spin round and peer down the alley.
"Gracie?" he called gently. "Is that you?"
He walked tentatively towards the source of the sound, listening intently for any more noises.
"It's OK Grace, it's me, Steve. You're safe now."
He sighed with relief when he saw her brown eyes peering tentatively out from between two dumpsters and approached her swiftly, crouching down until he was level with her. He noted her dishevelled appearance and the tracks of dried tears that streaked down her face, her eyes almost fully black as she gazed at him.
"C'mon Gracie" he stretched out his arms and she melted into his embrace. "I'm taking you to mommy OK?"
"I want Danno" she sobbed into his shoulder. "They took him away, he didn't want to go, and he told me to run away."
"Shhh, its OK sweetie. It's going to be OK, I promise. We're going to find Danno."
He lifted her up and carried her back towards her father's apartment building and the waiting Kono.
"Thank God!" she whispered and she rubbed Grace's arm gently.
"I'm taking her home, I'll find out what I can," he said as he opened the passenger side door and strapped Grace in to the front seat. "I think she'll be able to tell us more if she's with her mom."
"HPD have spoken to witnesses who saw what happened. There were three, all asian with tats. Looks like a gang. We got a make and model of the car with a partial plate, I'll run it and see if we get any hits. I'll co-ordinate evidence as it comes in too."
"Run through any recent threat assessments too that we might have overlooked of missed. Anyone who's been released recently that made threats to Danny."
"It's a big list Brah"
Steve nodded as he glanced into the car at his small passenger. She had curled up on the front seat, hugging her knees.
"Kono," he said quietly, "I need to know what blood type it is in there."
Kono swallowed as she nodded and tucked her hair behind her ear. She too hoped that the blood was from one of the attackers and not their team mate.
"We'll find him Grace," Kono said, as much to reassure herself as the little girl, whose face hadn't looked up throughout the exchange. Grace had flinched at her words but otherwise did not acknowledge her. She looked over as Chin approached them, relief evident in his expressive eyes when he saw that Grace had been found.
"I searched the whole apartment. Danny's cell phone is missing, I'll run a trace." He looked at Grace and smiled sadly at her. "Hey Kiddo. I'm glad you're safe. Your Dad will be too." Grace looked at him with haunted eyes then back up at Steve who galvanised into action.
"We'll find Danny! I don't care what it takes, we'll tear this island apart if we have to but we will find him. C'mon Grace, let's go see your mom."
And at that, Steve drove off, leaving what was left of his team behind, all of them at a loss as they tried to work out what could possibly have happened to Danny Williams at eleven am on a Wednesday morning in Honolulu.