Chapter 1

Relax.

She could hear the word as clearly as if her father had whispered it into her ear. Fighting against instinct, Kono forced her body to relax in the water. First rule of surfing was learning how to hold your breath when a wave dragged you under. Initial instinct screamed to struggle and thrash until breaking the surface, but that was often what killed inexperienced surfers. Her father had taught her as a child to relax and wait for the lull between waves to surface.

Her struggles stilled and she stopped sinking, her body's normal buoyancy kicking in, but she was still at least a dozen feet from the surface with no way to propel her body to the surface. She could see the moon, watery and muddled, above her. An engine churned to life a few feet to her left as the boat started.

The momentum of the propellers flipped her twice as it came about and headed back to shore.

Panic swelled hard in her chest. The Pacific had been her second home since she was a child. The idea of dying in it, of being killed by it, was unfathomable. The cruel irony wasn't lost on her.

She tried working her legs together, remembering the summer she had her tonsils out as a child and watched The Little Mermaid every day, twice a day, for a week. As soon as she was allowed, she splashed into the water, determined to swim like a mermaid. She moved her legs in tandem as though they were a single fin. The result made her mother laugh for hours, but Kono was convinced she could make it as a mermaid.

She tried that now, rolling her body upwards, and feeling a surge of joy when she realized she was a bit closer to the surface. She repeated the motion again and again. After what seemed like an agonizing hour, but could only have been a minute at best, her head broke the surface. She gasped in a sharp breath before sinking back down.

She tried again, her head slipping above the surface just long enough for her to suck in another breath, this time with some salt water. She choked underwater, resisting the urge to try and breathe to clear her lungs.

She could hear a dull roaring as it approached and then lights moved on the surface.

Her heart sank as she realized it was probably the kidnapper come back to finish her off. He had probably seen her struggles and realized she wasn't dying as easily as planned. She let her body slide even deeper into the ocean, not fighting anymore. Maybe she could play dead until they passed. The burning ache lining her chest told her she wouldn't be able to hold off that long. She either had to surface and risk being shot or sink and drown.

Neither option was particularly appealing.

Two splashes above her made her look up. Something hard hit the water and was moving towards her. A firm hand latched onto her arm in a bruising grip and started hauling her up. Seconds later she surfaced, gasping in a lungful of air and coughing it back out. Her lungs burned as she worked to expel the seawater that had been trapped there. Fire spread across her chest and up her throat as she threw up the salt water back into the ocean.

"Easy, babe," a voice admonished gently.

A hand wrapped around her waist, towing her through the dark waters. Kono tried to blink the water out of her eyes, but she kept coughing and it seemed easier to just keep the closed. Then she was being handed up and out of the water, pulled by strong hands and passed into another waiting set of hands. A scratchy wool blanket was wrapped around her shoulders, followed by two strong arms.

"I got you," the voice said roughly. "You're OK."

Swallowing back another round of coughing, Kono pulled back and looked into two very worried blue eyes.

"Danny?"

He smoothed her wet hair back with a hand, keeping the other locked around her waist and holding her upright. "Jesus," he whispered. He pulled her close again, hugging her hard and pressing his lips against her temple for a brief second. "You scared the shit out of me, Kono."

"What … How did you—" She was cut off as she started coughing once more.

Danny guided her to a bench on the boat, waving over two people with an orange medical bag.

"Chin called," Danny explained as the medics began checking her vitals. He edged away a bit to give them better access to her, running his hands through his hair. "He told me what happened and that I needed to get to you."

Kono winced as the blood pressure cuff tightened around her bicep by the female medic. The male slipped an oxygen mask over her face which she promptly pushed away.

"Why? Is Chin OK? Where is he?" Worry for her cousin flooded her and she shivered hard against the wind as the boat cut a quick path to the harbor. She knew something had to be wrong if Chin wasn't there.

"Would you put that back on?" Annoyance flashed in Danny's eyes as her slipped the mask back over her mouth and nose. He let his fingers linger against her head, as if assuring himself she was real. After a beat he sank into the seat beside her.

Kono took a deep breath, relieved to feel some of the pressure lifting off her chest. She glanced around and realized they were on a Coast Guard ship. She tried to smile at the medical officers attending to her. One pressed a stethoscope against her chest and she flinched as the cold metal made contact with her skin.

"It was Delano," Danny continued, reaching for her hand and squeezing it. "He set the whole thing up. Fryer being shot, you being kidnapped … He also took Malia."

Kono reached up to yank the mask off, but Danny stopped her.

"Malia's at the hospital," Danny said softly. "Chin is with her. Delano tried to make him choose between you and Malia. I don't think he planned on letting either of you live since he shoved you overboard and shot Malia."

Her eyes went wide with fear and her fingers curled into his, her nails cutting hard into the back of his hand.

"I'm not sure what's happening," Danny admitted, already knowing what she was wondering. "I told Chin to get her and I came after you." He rubbed soothing circle against her back, trying to relax her muscles. "We'll head to the hospital now. Get you checked out and see how Malia is."

Kono nodded weakly. The terror of the last few hours washed over her, weighing her down. She leaned gratefully against Danny's shoulder and let her eyes slide shut as the boat raced to the shore.

"I can only imagine how many questions you have." Doris McGarrett twisted her hands together as she sat across from her son.

Steve blinked slowly, still unable to accept the woman sitting across from him was his mother. Her dark hair was longer and streaked with silver. Her blue eyes, identical to his own, were tired and sad.

"How?" The question slipped past his lips before he could censor it.

Doris smiled gently, leaning forward on the beaten sofa until her forearms rested on her legs. "It was your father's idea. Neither of us wanted to do it, but when it became obvious you and your sister were in danger, we staged the accident. Joe helped," she admitted as an afterthought.

A muscle popped in his jaw and he leaned back in the wooden chair. "Why didn't you come find me? Why all the secrecy? Why let Mary and I think you were dead for the last fifteen years?"

"Honey, it was to keep you safe," she stressed. She rubbed her pals against her jeans. "All your father and I wanted was for you and your sister to grow up safe and away from all of this."

"It's over now," he argued heatedly, getting to his feet and stalking the length of the small hut. "Wo Fat is in prison. You can come home—"

Doris surged to her feet. "No." She spoke the word sharply and coldly. Her entire body stiffened. "No, Steve. This isn't over. Wo Fat is only a small piece to a very large puzzle."

He crossed the room to her, taking her thin shoulders in his large hands, eyes blazing with determination. "I can help you. Let me help you."

Her hands came up and covered his. "No, honey. You can't. This isn't your fight."

"They killed my father," Steve spat, stepping back. "This is most definitely my fight."

She rubbed her temples, sighing. "I knew it was a mistake to bring you here. I don't know why I let Joe talk me into it."

Her admission hit him like a slap in the face. "This wasn't your idea?"

Doris looked at him, exhaustion lines marring her face. "This was all Joe. He knew you wouldn't let this go, and you've been getting so close … He said this might help you get closure. But you can't help me right now, Steve. This is bigger than you know. I can't risk you."

"I'm not exactly helpless," he scoffed.

Her gaze softened and she reached up, touching his face. "No, you aren't. I am so proud of you. Joe and your father kept me informed about all your work with the SEALs, and the task force you created in Hawaii? Steve, I could not be more proud of you."

She took a deep breath. "But that's where you need to be now. We both have a job to do, and I promise if I need you, I will call. Or send Joe. But for now, it has to be this way." She reached up and wrapped her arms around his neck.

Steve hugged her back, a desperate feeling churning in his gut. "I'm not going to see you for a while, am I?"

Doris stepped back, wiping her eyes. "No. Not until I can finish what we started."

"And Mary?"

"You can't tell her, sweetheart. She can't know."

Steve nodded and moved a few steps away, swallowing the hard lump in his throat. "Right. I understand."

A knock at the door had them both turning. Steve had his gun drawn in seconds, aiming it low. A glance backward showed his mother had her own clutched in her hands. He briefly wondered where she had been hiding that when the door pushed open and Joe stepped inside.

He held his hands up until they both lowered their guns. He extended a hand holding a phone to Steve.

"It's Danny. Something happened in Hawaii."

Kono couldn't breathe again. Chin had stepped into the cubicle and immediately hauled her into his arms as Danny stepped out to make a phone call. He was squeezing all the air from her lungs.

"I can't breathe, cuz," she warned lightly, only half teasing.

Chin shook his head as he eased his grip. He leaned away from her, his expression haggard and worn. "I thought I'd lost you." He shook his head and sucked in a ragged breath.

She smiled softly, trying to reassure him. "I'm right here." She hesitated. "How's Malia?"

A shadow crossed his face and he looked away. "She's in surgery. Doctors are worried the bullet may have hit her lung. A few inches to the left and…" He didn't need to finish. A shudder ripped through his body.

Kono reached for his hands, clasping them hard in hers. "She's a fighter, Chin. She's going to make it."

He looked back at her and she could see the internal war raging behind his eyes. "When Delano told me I had to pick one of you—"

"You made the right call," Kono said quickly, cutting him off before he could apologize or explain. "I would've been pissed if you picked me. And Malia never would have let you live it down."

Chin hugged her again, his touch more gentle this time. "I can't lose her, Kono. I … If I lose her …" He stumbled over the words, unable to finish the sentence.

"You won't," Kono assured him, turning her face into his shoulder and holding him for a few long seconds until the doctor came in with Danny trailing behind.

"Officer Kalakawa, my name is Doctor Rhodes," he greeted with a warm smile. He pushed his wire-rimmed glasses higher up the bridge of his nose as he glanced at her chart. "Doesn't look like there's any permanent damage from the swim and you only have a mild concussion from the hit you took to the head. A few bumps and bruises, but those are all superficial."

Kono frowned. If this was a mild concussion she'd hate to have a severe one. The pounding in her head was enough to make her dizzy. She didn't even remember being hit on the head in her house. She had woken up on the boat with a wicked headache that rivaled the one she had the morning after drinking an entire bottle of tequila in high school.

"I'd like to keep you overnight for observation to be on the safe side, but you can probably go home in the morning." Dr. Rhodes glanced at both Danny and Chin as he talked.

"No," Kono sputtered. "I want to go home now."

"You need to stay here and rest," Danny told her, using what she had dubbed his 'Daddy Voice.' It was the one he used when giving an order under the guise of suggestion.

Her gaze swung to his and she made a mental note not to move her head so quickly. "I just want to sleep in my own bed, guys."

"Delano's still out there, Kono. Until we figure out where he is, it's better if you stay here where I can post a guard. We need to regroup and attack this fresh in the morning," Danny said quietly. He clapped a hand on Chin's shoulder. "Any word on Malia?"

"Still in surgery," Chin replied quietly. He looked at Kono. "You need to rest."

"Fine, but I can do that in my own bed, guys," she argued.

Danny winced and scrubbed a hand over his face. "Actually you can't. Your house is a crime scene, babe."

She groaned and leaned back in the bed, exhaustion and fatigue starting to win her over. "Fine. But I'm leaving in the morning."