Just a three chapter story. It is finished but I'll post the chapters as they've been edited. Hope you enjoy! I had fun with this one and it's so nice to get back to writing!
PS HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Oz
The case was almost two months old and the body count was now at five with lord knew how many others. Danny Williams was a passionate fiery Jersey born Italian but he was also a professional and almost never did he let his anger get the better off him. Sure he'd spew and spit and rage but in the end, all he's T's were crossed and all his I's were dotted. As much as he would love to smash the face in of some of the scumbags he and his team brought in, he wasn't about to be the cop looking like an idiot when the perp got off on mishandling of the case.
He'd seen cops go bad, seen them lose it over a case that just hit to close to home and although he always felt bad for them, he never thought himself capable of throwing all the evidence of the window just for a good solid phonebook to the head for a confession.
Right up until now, however. Maybe it was the fact that the case had very little evidence to follow save the bodies that kept piling up. Maybe it was the fact that every lead they followed seemed to lead them off a cliff of uselessness or maybe he'd just been hanging around Steve to long; but at the moment, Danny was ready to un-holster his gun and shoot the man sitting in front of him.
"Tell us what you know Puana," Steve said for the billionth time. The twenty something Hawaiian man sitting in front of them looked about ready to pee himself but he also looked angry.
"I TOLD you! I don't know nothing about no Game Warden!" Rick Puana hollered back with a squeak.
THAT was what really got Danny's blood boiling. Just under two months ago they'd gotten a call from H.P.D. A body had been found and the locals weren't quite sure what to do about it. Why? The body was wearing a Game Warden's uniform and had been found miles from anything, without boots. Cause of death? Exposure to the elements and a severe beating.
Why H.P.D. had called Five-0 because the Game Warden's uniform… wasn't Hawaiian. In fact, it was from the State of Maine. Five 0 had gotten in touch with the wildlife service and they'd practically exploded over the phone. Yes they'd been searching for their missing Warden for two weeks. They thanked Five-0 for finding their man, dead or alive they were grateful and asked to be kept in the loop on who was responsible.
There were almost no leads from that point on and shortly there after, once again Five-0 got a phone call… this time it was a Warden's body from the State of New York. It was the beginning of the end, the next three Warden's were from Louisiana, Colorado and Texas.
It was official, someone was abducting Game Warden's from all over the country and for some reason, leaving them to die in the jungle's of Hawaii. Two of the bodies had been found on Maui, one on Kauai and the first and last on Oahu.
Needless to say after the second body showed up, an all call went out to all wildlife services across the Mainland United States. What came back both scared and concerned Five-0. In total ten Warden's were missing from nine States and for a varying amounts of time.
Due to the nature of a Game Warden's job, some of those who'd been missing for a longer period of time were assumed to have been lost in their respective wilderness. Two services had even been forced to call off their searches to wait for the spring thaw.
But now that everyone was on the same page a nation wide warning had gone out and all the Warden agencies were watching their men and women closer than ever before.
… they were also calling Five-0 on almost a daily basis to find out what was going on. Who was responsible and those who were still missing… had they been found?
They're method's and responsibilities might be different than a police officer or federal agent but they were still brother's and sisters in uniform; they still carried a gun and a badge and they still deserved the concern, the fear and the angry that fueled any Force of agency when they had a man down.
"Three of the Warden's had arrows in them Pauna," Steve went on. "The same type of arrow that was found in the boar you killed three days ago."
"Yeah and I told YOU, it ain't my boar!" Puana exclaimed. "I was hunting, sure but I just came into a clearing and there was the thing, dead already. Didn't look like no one was interested in takin' it so I did. It was a big one, can't let that go to waste."
"Your hunting license was suspended for illegal poaching Puana," Steve replied. "You shouldn't even been out there and now you're telling me you stole another man's kill?"
"So?" Puana shrugged. "When opportunity knocks…" Danny had to close his eyes and take a deep breath, when he opened them he couldn't stop himself any longer.
"Where did you find the boar?" he said with deadly calm.
"I already told you on the map," Puana huffed.
"Nooooo…." Danny dragged out stepping deep into the cuffed man's personal space. "You said you stepped into an open field when you saw the thing…" Danny pulled out the map that was practically crushed in his hand and gave Puana a few solid but harmless "whaps" on the head. "The spot you pointed out is in dense jungle," he explained. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Steve grinning like the cat that ate the canary, he'd caught that too.
Eleven hours of interrogation generally lead to a suspect tripping up in their lies.
"It… uh… yeah, yeah it was jungle… the uh, the clearing was before the jungle," Puana stuttered. Danny gave him another whack, this time, not so friendly and not so harmless. Steve's smile faded a little but the man simple stood there letting Danny have this one. His partner knew what these types of cases did to the detective and as such usually gave him a little bit more of a leash than usual.
"You know what I think?" Danny asked. The man in the chair had the good sense to look a little concerned as the detective leaned in with a deadly but calm look on his face. Who said Steve was the only one with "faces"?
Puana shook his head, sweat beading on his brow.
"I think…" Danny said leaning even closer and taking a good sniff. "You weren't out there hunting when you found that boar. I believe you." Steve's arms dropped to his sides as he did his best to hide his confusion by masking it with curiosity. Their suspect's eyes bugged out of his head.
"You do?" he asked.
"I do," Danny said backing off. He opened the map and handed it to Steve to hold up for him and pointed to a clearing miles from but close enough to the original spot that Puana had provided them with. "I think you were carrying because you were checking your crops… crops I'm guessing of a, let's say… pungent and illegal nature." Puana's eyes widened still and he swallowed hard, Steve's grin returned full force.
"A grow op… was wondering what that smell was," Steve muttered.
"I THINK…" Danny continued, "You pointed us in the absolute wrong direction because you're rather go down with a fine for illegal hunting or stealing another man's catch than you would a massive drug operation… Puana… Rick, buddy… State officers have been murdered, right now your lies make YOU the best and only suspect. So… let's clarify. Steven?"
"Yes Daniel?" Steve said almost with a laugh.
"How many of the States involved have the death penalty?"
"Three," Steve replied. "Texas is also one of the State's who lost one Warden, another still missing." By now Rick Puana looked about ready to pee himself right where he sat.
"Rick," Danny continued. "Is this the clearing where you found the boar?" Their prisoner didn't waste any time, he nodded affirmative. "When I go out there how many plants am I going to find?"
"T, twenty-seven," Puana squeaked.
"And how many booby traps?" Danny asked.
"S, seven."
"You're going to tell me where to find them?" Again another affirmative and scared nod.
"I… I'm not a c, cop killer brah," Puana stuttered. "I seen what they do to guys like that on tv, half of 'em don't even make prison… I'll go down for the grow but I ain't going down for no murders!"
"Thank you for your cooperation," the detective smiled, as if it had been a choice. Puana just sat their shaking as Danny and Steve walked out of the interrogation room closing the door behind them.
"Anyone every tell you you're scary when you go full on cop mode?" Steve said finally allowing himself a good solid chuckle. Danny smiled taking the map back from his partner and folding it up.
"Any longer in there and I was about to just shove my gun in his face," he replied. "Once the detox started kicking in I knew he had him. He was shaking like a wet Chihuahua."
"Nice catch partner," Steve said giving the shorter man a pat on the back. "So I guess we should gear up for another hike." Danny narrowed his eyes at his partner but didn't fight what he knew was coming. Somewhere out there were five more Game Warden's and frankly, the detective didn't really care if he had to trudge through a jungle, he just wanted to stop finding bodies and start finding people to return home to their families.
"We need to find someone alive Steve," Danny said echoing his thoughts. "And we need to nail the bastard responsible to the wall."
"I hear that," Steve said. "C'mon, lets go see if the others have anything. We'll send in and officer to get his statement about the traps and grow up then we'll call Fishing and Game to see if they can spare some Warden's to help search the area with us."
"Sure that's a good idea?" Danny asked. "Involving the Hawaii Game Warden's at this stage?"
"We need them Danny, they know the jungles better than us," Steve replied. They stepped into the elevator to take them back up to the offices. "Besides, we finally have something they can be a part of… or do you want to be the guy to tell them they can't come because they could be a liability?" Danny thought about that for a second, thought about when they'd first met and spoken to the head of the Hawaii Fishing and Game who'd basically been foaming at the mouth to be involved in any way shape or form.
"Game Wardens it is," he replied. Steve barked out a laugh and gave his partner a sturdy whump on the back.
Danny was still smiling at the fact that they finally cracked their newest lead when he and Steve entered the main office. His smile instantly fell when he saw the body language of Chin, Kono and Grover standing around the computer table. On the screen in front of them was a Warden's identification card with a picture of a smiling young man.
The ID was Hawaiian.
"Who's that?" Danny asked fearing the answer.
"Eleventh victim," Grover said gruffly. The detective's stomach did a flip flop.
"How come we're only hearing about this now!?" Steve barked angrily. "Why didn't the State let us know they were missing a man?"
"Because it just happened last night," Chin explained. "Hikers on Hawaii said they found a body in the national park so Warden Don McCabe was sent out to check it out."
"Alone?" Danny asked incredulously.
"Not alone," Chin continued. "The Warden he was with says he turned his back for a second and them McCabe was just gone."
"Oh good… so we're chasing a ghost who can magically transport Warden's from all over the country to Hawaii without so much as a vapor trail," Danny snarled.
"Or we follow our strongest theory," Chin said. "Someone with a lot of money, strong knowledge of the wilderness…"
"And a serious grudge against Wardens," Steve finished. "Kono how we doing on checking the private jets going to and from the islands?" Kono's face was anything but reassuring.
"Every one of them is checking out," she said. "We've got the FAA double checking everyone who's coming in and going out and triple checking their destinations."
"Well one of them is lying," Danny said. "One of those planes is bringing in abducted victims and I'm about ready to go to the airport and personally search everyone one of them."
"You and me both," Grover huffed.
"The body… the one that the Warden's were sent to check out, what happened to it?" Steve asked.
"That's the thing… according to the remaining Warden, they couldn't find one," Kono replied. "That's why he and McCabe got far enough away that one could get snatched."
"That's new," Danny said. "Chin why don't you call the other departments, ask them the exact circumstances under which their wardens disappeared. What, if any calls were they on when they vanished."
"On it," Chin nodded turning toward his office.
"I've got a conference call with the FAA in thirty minutes," Kono said.
"And I've got some friends at the docks, goina see if any of 'em have seen any odd boats going between islands," Grover added. Steve nodded placing his hands on his hips.
"Good, Danny and I are just waiting on Puana's information about his grow op and traps where he found the boar, then we'll hike it out there with the Warden's," the Navy SEAL explained.
"Can't say no now can we?" Danny said nodding to the picture of Warden Don McCabe. "Not with one of their own missing."
"No," Steve sighed. "We ca-" He was cut off when his cell phone started buzzing on his hip. "McGarrett?" he answered. Danny watched as his partner's face folded into a frown to end all frowns. "Where?… yes sir… yes sir… I understand… I understand… We're do-… But if I could j-…. yes sir… will do." There was no goodbye, in fact, Danny was pretty sure he heard the echo of the Governor slamming the phone down from where he stood.
"Governor?" he asked needlessly. Steve nodded still staring at his phone with a sour look on his face.
"Maui Police just pulled a body from a remote pound… it's the second missing Warden from Texas," he explained.
"Damn," Danny snarled.
"The Governor also says if we can't solve this soon he's going to hand it over to the FBI," the Commander explained. "We need leads and we need them fast."
"Yeah because something tells me the FBI will not be as inclusive with Warden's as we are which might lead some of them coming here and taking business into their own hands… Remember that Texas Ranger?" Steve just rolled his eyes before replacing his cell phone.
"Did the Governor have cause of death?" Kono asked.
"The ME is going to forward Max the report but apparently it was pretty obvious," Steve replied.
"Do share," Danny said with a wave of the arm. Steve gave him a hard look.
"Three cross bow arrows to the chest," he replied. Oddly enough the second Steve said "cross bow" alarm bells started chiming in Danny's head.
"Son of a bitch," he hissed. Everyone looked at him curiously almost hopefully as he went over to the computer table next to Kono.
"What? Danny what is it?" Steve asked hovering over his shoulder as if he could figure it out by proximity.
"Kono bring up all the autopsy pictures and reports for me," Danny asked after failing miserably to do it himself. With a few quick taps and flicks of the wrist all the terrible images of the dead Warden's popped up as well as their reports. As quick as he could Danny reread the reports and his suspicions were instantly confirmed.
"How did we not see that before!" he barked.
"What?"
"The victims!" Danny said his arms flailing. "Two were shot with arrows right?"
"Yeah," Steve nodded.
"And the others, they had puncture wounds… wounds that the ME's say were caused by sharp objects yes? That combined with the fact that they were all suffering from exposure to the elements and the boar that Puana found puts it all together! It also explains how someone would have enough money to make it happen!"
"What's your point, Danny?" Steve asked clearly getting impatient. Danny wheeled around at the others in the room and flailed his arms as if it should have been obvious;
"They're being hunted." No one moved, no one blinked, Steve just stared at him like he hadn't spoken English.
"Come again?" Grover asked finding his voice.
"Think about it, what's the one thing a Game Warden is highly skilled at and trained to do?" Danny asked.
"Be out in the wilderness," Steve replied then his schooled features started to morph into one of understanding. "Survive against the elements."
"But there also trained law enforcement officers," Kono said catching on. "They'd know how to use a gun, how to defend themselves."
"They'd be able to last for days on end… perfect prey," Steve added shaking his head.
"Are we saying we think they're being abducted from all over the country just so they can be brought to Hawaii to be released and… hunted?" he said Grover whooshed out in disbelief.
"You can't get off an island," Kono shrugged. "And the populations are small enough and spread out that someone who doesn't know the forests could be lost for days without finding civilization."
"Damn… good call Danny," Grover said genuinely impressed.
"Kono, when you're done with the FAA get together with Chin and get this theory out to the departments on the mainland," Steve said with a bit more vigour than before. Danny felt it to, finally it seemed they might be getting solid footing, FBI could sit on it.
"I'll get the Warden's here to get some choppers in the air," Grover threw in. "If this theory's right, it means those missing Warden's are probably being kept alive and in relatively good health."
"Yeah… until they're beaten up and dumped in the middle of a jungle chased by psycho's with crossbows," Danny snorted.
"Lets focus on finding them before they get there," Steve said. "Come on, we've got a hike to get ready for."
Four hours later, Danny swatted at bug that had decided to land on his neck and snarled. A short while ago he'd been excited, thought they were getting somewhere and was ready to start putting his boots to the ground. Except he hadn't anticipated just how muddy that ground would be.
It was just at the end of the rainy season and it seemed like mother nature was trying to squeeze every last drop she had onto the ground the exact moment he and Steve and a handful of Warden's and H.P.D. decided to make their way into the forest.
They'd finally come to the clearing that Puana hadn't wanted to tell them about and it was clear why. The plants were well hidden but the group had been smelling it for almost twenty minutes before they actually reached the crop of fully groan near ready to pick plants. Just eyeballing it Danny figured someone could make some serious money off those plants.
"Phew," Steve said yanking a plant out of the ground and wrinkling his nose at it.
"Skunky, I know," Danny replied. The small group of officers had spread themselves out over the area in twos to catalogue and yank the plants.
"Serious paco lolo, brah," the Navy SEAL nodded. Danny groaned.
"Don't do that, don't go all Hawaiian when I'm drowning in my socks here, it makes me hate you more," he hissed swatting another bug. "It's pouring rain! How are these damn bugs even able to fly?!" he exclaimed. Steve, looking happy as a duck with his poncho hood down letting the rain soak into his hair as if it were rays of sun, stopped what he was doing and looked at his partner.
"C'mon Danny, the jungle needs the rain, it makes everything so green and alive," he chuckled clearly enjoying his partner's misery.
"I'm going to make you black, blue and dead if you don't wipe that smirk of your face," Danny shot back. "Seriously, I think this rain is just going t-" The detective was cut off when suddenly a large camouflaged blur came charging out of the trees and foliage and slammed right into him.
"Danny!" Steve barked in surprise. Danny barely managed a yelp before he realized the blur had relieved him off his weapon. "Five-0! Get off him and drop the weapon!"
"Not a chance in hell," the blob of green and darker green foliage snarled. A beat later and the man started firing shots in the direction he came in.
"Whoa whoa whoa!" Danny exclaimed finally finding his feet. "The hell are you-" He was once again cut off when an arrow sliced through the air inches from his head only to have the blob who'd taken his weapon fire once more. There was a cry of pain followed by the sound of a body hitting the jungle floor.
"Take that you bastard! I win!" the blob with the gun howled.
"Drop the weapon! Now!" Steve yelled. Apparently his orders didn't need to be delivered again as the camouflaged man dropped to his knees and tossed the gun away. Danny quickly retrieved his weapon as the others from their group finally converged on the area. The whole incident had taken mere seconds but it had felt like hours.
"Check the woods for the bow shooter," Steve ordered. Two H.P.D. jogged away while Danny and Steve carefully approached the heaving figure on its knees.
"Take off your cammo and identify yourself… slowly!" Danny ordered. It took several moments but finally the man pulled off the make shift cammo and dropped it to the forest floor with a plop. With a brief glance Danny could just make out shredded pieces of a uniform of some kind.
The second the man's face was visible Danny's eyes went wide as did several others around them. His chest was bare and marred with bruises, cuts and gashes, there was the broken end of an arrow sticking out of his shoulder. Steve and Danny shared a look before they both dared round the man took get a look at his face.
"Sir?" Steve asked carefully. "Can you tell me who you are?" Two fevered eyes looked up at the members of Five-0, the face was bruised, his nose was bloody but the smile that creased those features was as big as any Danny had ever seen.
"I won," the man grinned as his whole body began to shake slightly. No doubt the adrenaline wearing off. The smile started to fade as tears sprang to the man's eyes. "I SURVIVED," he choked. "Please… please just… let me go home."
"We'll get you home, just tell us your name, buddy," Danny asked gently.
"Josey Lafayette," the man hiccuped. The face was familiar but the name Danny had memorized as he'd done with all the missing Wardens; his heart started racing.
"From Montana," Danny breathed out. Josey let out a whimper but nodded.
"Get Army Evac in here now!" Steve ordered. Not surprisingly he whipped off his poncho and put it gently over the injured, trembling man.
"You're going to be okay Josey, you made it," Danny said with certainty. "You're safe." Apparently this was what the man was waiting to hear, his shaking got so bad that it seemed like his body started to shut down as he listed forward. Both Danny and Steve surged toward him; the detective forgetting his hatred of the mud and rain in favour of catching the victim. Their Warden, the first one found alive.
"M'safe…" Josey slurred as sobs started to over take him. "M'safe. M-" That was all the man had left as he went completely boneless in the other two men's arms. With no choice but to wait for evac the two partners simply held the man and shared a look with one another. Curiously Danny noticed his fearless partner was a little two wide-eyed for the brief shot of adrenaline.
"Y'alright?" the detective asked. His answer came when Steve winced and shifted a little and their unconscious Warden slid forward a bit more. When he caught sight of the problem it took everything he had not to roll his eyes. Apparently the arrow that had narrowly missed Danny's head had sought a target elsewhere and though it didn't puncture, Steve now had a very deep gash on his bicep.
"Flesh wound," the Navy SEAL casually brushed it off.
"Right," Danny sighed shifting so they could lay the Warden down on a tarp that had now been laid out for their victim. "Doesn't need stitches at all right?" he asked sarcastically. Steve did his best to hide how much the wound stung but Danny saw right through his partner's brave face. "Steven..." the detective warned.
"Maybe a stitch or two," the SEAL relented. Then once again he winced with the slightest movement of his arm. "Or ten..." he muttered. This time Danny did roll his eyes, he was tired, he was wet and he was now covered in mud. Yes they'd finally found one man alive which he was grateful for but now he knew the case was no longer stagnant. Things had finally heated up.
One look at the battered man on the tarp before him and Danny felt a rage surge in his gut; If he hadn't been pissed off before he damn sure was now. Someone needed to pay for these horrific crimes and when they did?
Danny was going to make sure it hurt.
Forgive me, forgive me, forgive me for any issues or problems when it comes to describing the Game Wardens from various US States! I thought I'd try something new!
Anyway, hope you liked the first part of three and you'll stick around for the rest! Reviews and/or favs are awesome!
Thanks for reading,
Oz