Captor

The disclaimer is, unfortunately, that I do not own Hawaii Five-0.

Prologue

Steve scans the busy diner for any sign of his sister. She told him to meet him here.

Minutes pass. Nothing. Steve fingers the phone in his pocket. Where is she?

Finally, she steps through the door. He gets up to meet her.

'Hey, you ok?' She nods before lowering herself into a chair opposite Steve. Then, silence.

'Mary?' She ducks her head.

'Why did you want me to come?' He sighs. 'Look, you know you can talk to me-' He stops as the unmistakable sound of sobbing reaches his ears.

'Mary, look at me.'

She pushes the curtain of sandy blonde hair out of her face before meeting his gaze.

'Hey, it's gonna be okay. You just need to talk to me.'

Mary's voice catches in her throat.

'Steve-' she chokes on her own tears. 'Steve… Adam's left me.' She puts her head on the table, her whole body shaking. He puts his strong arms around her frail body. She rests a tear-stained cheek on his shoulder.

'It's ok, hey, it's gonna be ok. You're going to be ok.'

She looks up, and it hits him. Hard.

The worry lines etched across her forehead. The huge bags under her eyes. He splutters suddenly.

'Mary, what's happened? Why are you so stressed?' He sighs. 'C'mon, Mary. I need you to tell me.'

She looks at the floor. 'I met… Someone new. Dominic, Dominic Hardwood. I didn't want to tell you, in case it didn't work out.'

Steve puts his hand gently on top of his sister's. 'Mary, you should've mentioned it…'

She shakes her head. 'I was going to, after he moved in, but then he started… 'Her eyes well up once more.

'He started… getting angry. Like, really angry. He screams, even…'

Dark thoughts enter Steve's mind. He becomes firmer. 'Even what, Mary?'

She lowers her voice to a whisper. 'He- Steve, sometimes he gets so angry, he…' She balls her fist. Steve looks down. Looks away.

She doesn't need to finish her sentence.

Soon after Mary's confession, Dominic Hardwood was sentenced to eight years in prison. He was found guilty of domestic abuse, and later discovered to be an ex-convict.

His step-daughter moved away from their home in Los Angeles and sent to live with her uncle, Steve McGarrett, in Hawaii, after Mary admitted to not being able to cope with being a single mother.

But nearly nine years on, Dominic has done his time. Today is the day he comes out of prison. He wants his daughter back. He has rights.

She is too afraid to meet him again.

Today is the day that she fights to stay in Hawaii.

Chapter 1

Tessa

Sunlight streams in through the huge windows of the holding room. My hands are shaking as I glance at my speech, trying to remember every word.

Steve is sat next to me, arms crossed over a broad chest. He turns. Brings his eyes level with mine. I drop my head.

'I don't know if I can do this.' I mutter, not daring to say it to his face. 'If I have to go back... To where I was before, I...'

'Hey,' he says softly. You're gonna be ok, buddy. You can get through it.'

I force a smile. 'I guess.'

The piercing eyes of the jury bore through me as we enter the court room. Trembling, I walk to my seat.

'All rise for the judge,'

I get nervously to my feet once again. The judge sits down, before nodding my way. I clear my throat and begin.

'I… I want to start by saying that whatever happens today, won't change me. A lot have things have happened in the last few years. I've been to a lot of different places, had to make a lot of decisions. But I realised something. I realised that I belong here.

'I know that I wasn't born here. But even when I started to realise that things were going downhill, I knew that someone would be there for me. I may not have the safest, most normal life here in Hawaii, but it beats being back home.

'Sure, living with a cop can be tough. But I've been here for nearly a decade. The things I had to go through when I was living with my step-dad are things that I still don't understand. Dominic might be my father, but I can't go back to living with him. And if I can't live with Dominic, and I can't live with my mother, that only leaves me with one choice. To stay here. And I don't understand why anyone would want me to live with someone who's had to go through eight years in jail to realise that what he did was wrong.'

I catch Steve's eye. He smiles. I stop speaking for a moment, just a second. Long enough for the thoughts to come back.

In my mind's eye I can see Mum, sitting at the table, head in hands. I can hear shouting. A man stands next to her, shuddering with anger. How can she live with him, when he's like this? He isn't my Dad, not when he's angry. He's… He's just him. One person. A person that can do a hell of a lot of damage.

He storms over to me, starts to talk. His voice gets louder. So much louder. He grabs me by my shoulders. Shakes me. Hard. His dirty fingernails leave marks on my skin. Tears slide down my red cheeks.

Is this what I might have to face again?

Before I know it I am running. Out of the court room, past the lines of people in the holding room. Out of the doors, into the cool afternoon air.

I slide down the wall, deep sobs choking me. I couldn't. I couldn't face it again. I have to stay.

I close my eyes, anger and sadness engulfing me. I feel hands pulling me to my feet. The slam of a car door. The shooting pain of a needle puncturing my skin.

The squealing of rubber against tarmac. I am jolted forward. The echo of a gunshot.

Then, nothing.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
I wake up groggy and disorientated. Every muscle in my body feels like lead as I fight the fear that's taken over.

Ignoring the creeping panic, I try to survey my surroundings. Everything is swathed in darkness, except for a ray of light that is seeping in through crack just metres in front of me. The humming of an engine. I must be in the back of a truck. But who is the driver?

I struggle to my feet only to be lurched backwards. My spine hits a wall of thick wire. I turn. As my eyes adjust to the darkness I make out a layer of black mesh covering the wire panel. Gingerly placing a hand on the panel, I dig my fingernails into the thin netting, eventually pulling it apart.

I bend down further, ignoring the shooting pain in both my arms and my head. Taking a deep breath, I look through the gap.

The sight sends me crashing to the floor once again. My breaths come out shallow and fast. A feeling of dizziness invades me.

My step father.

My captor.

Fighting to push the thought of him from my mind, I brace myself and look again.

One huge hand rests on the steering wheel. The other is clutching something. A rifle.

I turn away and close my eyes. This man, this… monster. He could kill me.

But why would he want to? Why go to all this effort of shipping me off somewhere if he could just put a bullet through my head? No. I've still got time to work out a way to escape.