I managed to squeeze this in to my schedule. I hope you'll enjoy my next story as much as the first.

WARNING: CHILD DEATH (if it's any consolation I don't write anything about torture or sexual abuse involved with young children. Any grisly details involving the death will be kept to a minimum.) Please don't read if it may disturb you.

The events in this story are set directly after "The Siege" (which I am currently in the middle of editing) however it's not essential to read that one first.

Prologue

The late afternoon sun beat down on the now deserted playground at St Joseph's School. A lone, rusted, weather beaten, brown station wagon had been parked at the curb outside the school gates for the past 45 minutes.

"Annie! Annie!" the panic stricken holler of one Mrs Harper vibrated in the warm Honolulu air. Still in her waitress outfit, Mrs Harper was only 10 minutes late to pick up her 8 year old daughter, Annie, from the private institution. Once more she cupped her hands around her mouth and called out her daughter's name as she stood on the sidewalk facing the school grounds.

"Mrs Harper?" a voice disrupted the hollering woman. Mrs Delaney, the school principal walked up to the gates, a handbag clutched in one hand and a set of books held to her chest in the other.

With her hands clasped in front of her, twining and untwining her fingers as if fidgeting, Mrs Harper walked over to the school gates. Her red rimmed eyes were filled with a mother's worst fears.

"I made a few calls to some of the mothers who came to pick up their children. I thought they may have seen Annie. Mrs Lennards said she was quite certain she saw Annie getting picked up by Father Davies. She said she couldn't see him through the tinted windows but she recognized the blue van immediately because of the little angel painted on the corner of the rear window. I don't have his telephone number. Perhaps if you called him? You can use the phone in my office, dear," The grey haired woman looped her handbag through her hand and over her wrist. She reached out for the catch on the gate then swung it open and draped her arm awkwardly around the young mother's shoulders, beckoning her to enter the grounds, "Come now dear, it'll all be cleared up. Father Davies probably drove by and noticed little Annie by herself. He probably figured you were held back at work again and took her to Phil's for her favorite milkshake!" Mrs Delaney's warm soft chuckle filled the worried mother with a new sense of comfort and a small smile slowly emerged on her lips. Still she knew there were still doubts clouding her mind and she would not be able to push them away until Annie was in her arms again. Nevertheless, the distraught mother allowed Mrs Delaney to lead her to the administration office at the end of the winding path.

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The phone rang for the umpteenth time before Mrs Harper finally hung up. Gripping the edges of the desk, the disconcerted mother looked up at Mrs Delaney's eyes seeking an answer.

"Mrs Harper if they've gone to Phil's, Father Davies may not be home yet. If it'll put your mind at ease, call HPD. They'd be able to straighten it all out for you," Mrs Delaney handed Mrs Harper a cup of water.

"No you're right, I'm sure she's probably with Father Davies. Annie would never get into a stranger's car. If she was seen getting into Father Daves' vehicle then that's what happened!" After taking a deep breath to calm herself, Mrs Harper nodded at the principal.

"Will you be alright getting home?" asked Mrs Delaney placing her hand on the concerned woman's shoulder.

"Yes. Yes thank you," Mrs Harper replied.

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In his poky cubicle of Five' O's main office, the oriental detective sat in the steno chair and signed off his report on the Grayson case. He placed the ballpoint pen on top of the document at the sound of the second ring of the telephone.

"Five' O Kelly speaking," the detective picked up the phone and answered the caller with his usual professionalism.

"My name is Simone Delaney. I'm a principal at St Joseph's school and I'm very concerned about the well being of one of my students. She hasn't been in school for 5 days," the caller replied anxiously.

"Have you contacted her parents? Perhaps she's ill?" Five' O's Chin Ho Kelly inquired.

"Yes I have called and the child's mother said she was feeling under the weather. The thing is, Annie, the child in question was in perfect health last Wednesday and she has since missed out on a field trip she had anticipated to attend as well as a school fate she helped organize. We offered to refund the money for the field trip which was not inexpensive, but her mother Mrs Harper just said not to worry about it! I haven't been able to make contact with either Mrs or Mr Harper for two days now. On the last afternoon I saw Annie, her mother was late in picking her up. She became very frantic and distressed. A fellow student's parent reported seeing the girl enter a van we believed to belong to Father Davies. However Mrs Harper was unable to reach the Father when she phoned him in the administration office that afternoon. Mr Kelly, I have this unnerving feeling that something has happened to the girl," Simone Delaney shuddered as she revealed her unsettled thoughts to the detective on the other line.

Chin listened intently to her words as he drew out his notebook from the inside pocket of his grey suit jacket. He placed it on the desk in front of him, flipped it open to a clean page before picking up his pen and jotted down a series of notes, "Have you called HPD?"

"No. I felt more comfortable speaking to someone from Five'O directly. Mr McGarrett helped my husband some years ago. I trust that man and I trust anybody associated with him," Mrs Delaney sighed after a momentary pause. Before Chin could reply she continued in a voice that begged for his assistance, "Please Mr Kelly, Annie is a wonderful child. She's very bright for her age. I fear - I fear she's been kidnapped!"