What Was Lost Is Not Found -

Chapter 1 -

It had been weeks since Steve had last seen Elisabeth. He didn't know if she were alive or worse, dead, but for all intense and purpose, she was legally dead. Joe was missing as well. It was like they both fell off of the face of the earth!

Where the hell are they?

Any leads that Steve may have come across on either one, never really panned out. Joe definitely knew how to cover his tracks well but it didn't mean Steve was giving up, though deep down, he knew it was over with Elisabeth, and he needed to move on. Only he couldn't get him to that point. It had become obsession for him. He'd let the job slide, even his friends and they meant the world to him. He was thankful that they covered him whenever the governor showed up, otherwise, he'd been fired along time ago. Of course it could still come to that if the Governor knew that Elisabeth had faked her death and the team knew all along.

As the lieutenant commander sat at his desk that morning with maps and files strewn all over his desk. He was tracking the last known whereabouts when the phone rang. Steve quickly snatched the receiver to answer it. "McGarrett here!" He nodded as he listened. "Uh huh, yeah. You just missed them? No, it can't be. You say a week? A week? Dammit! Thanks Robinson! I appreciate this. No, no, I understand. Thanks again!" Slowly, Steve set the phone back down in its cradle, more like slammed it down. It was then that he knew it was going to be impossible!

"Steve..." Danny entered the office, serious look on his face. "We gotta job." He nodded towards the toward, indicating it was time to go, though he knew it was going to be a tough sell once he glanced at the desk.

"I'll be there in a little bit..." Steve said absentmindedly as he shifted through his files again.

Danny shook his head, knowing he was just gonna have to ripped the bandage off of that wound. "Steve...buddy!" Danny made his way over to desk, leaning against it. "This has got to stop! It's time, man. You've been working on this along time and have come up with nothing. Face it, she's gone! It's time to just move on, let her go!"

As Steve looked up, Danny could see the pain in his friends eyes, and it broke his heart. "Don't you think I have tried?" Steve blurted out, instantly regretting the ton in his voice.

"Steve..."

"I know!" Steve looked away. "I know I just...I care about her, and I want to know that she's ok."

That made Danny smile. He knew that his friend was ok. "Something tells me that she's going to be ok, especially if she can kick your ass!"

"She did...didn't she?" A wistful smile crossed Steve's handsome face.

While at the gym nearby headquarters, Elisabeth was working the punching bang, weaving back and forth as it came at her, and suddenly someone placed their hand on her shoulder. Suddenly, she reached for the hand, and flipped the person over her and to the ground.

"I'm unarmed!" Steve said, holding his hands up.

To her surprise, it was Steve.

"Oh my god, Steve!" Elisabeth quickly removed her gloves. "Oh my god, are you okay?"

"Yeah...I'm...fine!"

Elisabeth reached for Steve's hand, and slowly, helped him to his feet. She noticed Danny laughing his ass off and she glowed at him.

"See now..." Danny knew that Steve realized she would be ok "Wofat is in jail. She's safe. You know she can't come back. She broke too many laws and left us to deal with the fall out and if anyone finds out, we're screwed. It's better this way. It's better that you move on. She'd want you too! " By no means was Danny upset that Elisabeth did what she did. He just didn't like how she went about it. What was done was done.

Danny was right. If anyone else found out it would bring the whole team down, and Five-0 would be dismantled for good! It would be Steve's fault and he couldn't allow that happen. Wofat had to stay in jail.

"You know, I hate it when you're right!"

"I know!" Danny grinned. "Come on..." He moved towards the door. "Let's go do our jobs!"

As Steve glanced down at everything on his desk, he realized it really was time to let go. It was really over. He tore himself away from the map and files but not before he saw Elisabeth's picture and he smiled. There were so many good memories but it was a shame they had so little time together.

The lieutenant picked up the picture, held it in his hands for a few moments, and silently wished her well in whatever she did. He then opened the desk drawer to his right, and set it towards the back, closing the drawer, and closing the door on the past and starting fresh for the future.

Sighing, Steve pushed away from the desk, stood up saying, "Where are we going?"

Danny smiled and nodded, happy that Steve had decided to move forward with his life. "To the Hilton..." They walked out to the main area only to be stopped by a young man with dark hair and a pimply faced. He was dressed in biker shorts, a jacket, and a hat. Definitely not a look anyone wanted to be dressed in.

"What's this?" Steve asked curious as the young man handed something to him.

It was a large white envelope with neat handwriting across the front of it saying "Steve McGarrett."

"I don't know. I was just told to give this to you at 9:30 on Monday." The young man looked at his watch. "It is Monday and it is 9:30."

"Thanks!" Steve reached in his pocket, pulled out a bill, and handed it to the young man.

"Thanks, Lieutenant, Commander McGarrett!" The young man took off.

"Who do you think it could be from?"

Studying the envelop a little more closely, Steve realized that there was something about the handwriting that had him curious. What was it? It was a woman's handwriting. That's what it was, but it seemed more than that. He ran his hand across the writing and then it hit him. It was Elisabeth's handwriting. Why would she be sending him a little? What was going on?

Danny's phone suddenly rang bringing Steve out of his revery. "Chin..." Danny answered. "Yeah, yeah, we're on her way!" He glanced up at Steve as he ended the call. "We gotta jet. The governor has got his tidy whities in a bunch."

Steve smiled. "Let's go then!' He put the letter his pocket for safe keeping as they headed out.

****

Twenty minutes later, the guys pulled up to the crowded parking lot of the hotel. Press suddenly swarmed the car, peppering them with questions about the case, before they could even get out of the car. The other officers rushed over and pushed them away from Steve and Danny as they got out of the car.

"How the hell did the press get wind of this?" Steve shut the door angrily!

"Hey hey now!" Danny glared at his friend but it suddenly disappeared when a young, blonde, blue eyed reporter dressed in a black suit headed towards him. He definitely noticed right away and smiled. She was his favorite reporter on the nightly news.

The reporter gave him a shy smile. "Alyssa from Channel 8 news...Is it true that Lacy Combs, the star of the new police drama Hawaii Blue, is dead?"

Danny hadn't prepared to answer any questions. He shut the door, saying, "I have no comment for you at this time." What more could he say?

"Do you have any comment, Lt. Commander?" A male reporter asked Steve as he came around the car.

"No comment!" Steve pushed his way through throng of reporters. "Hey Jack!"

"Yes sir!" A short and stocky, balding police officer hurried over to Steve. "What can I do for you, sir?"

"I want you to clear the area of any reporters!"

"On it sir!" Jack turned towards the reporters. "Get back behind the tape."

"But that's..."

"Get behind the tape!" Jack ordered once again.

The guys hurried into the busy hotel. Some of the guests were sitting in the waiting area, ready to be interviewed, and wondering what was going on, while others stood around speaking with other officers. The staff was standing around waiting to go back to work.

Chin noticed Steve and Danny heading over to the hotel staff. "Will you excuse me, Mrs. Cullen. Officer Chung will be assisting you." Chin gestured to the officer to his right as he smiled her.

The officer was good looking oriental, dark hair, dark eyes.

"Thank you, Lieutenant Kelly." Mrs. Cullen smiled. She had brunette hair, tiny and pale as could be.

As the lieutenant was coming towards them, Steve spotted him and waved. "So what have you got, Chin?" Steve asked when he arrived.

"Lacey arrived back at her room around 5:30 after a shoot this morning and no one had seen her until this..." Chin held up his iPad and played the video of the security surveillance from the hallway outside of her

A male appeared to be about six feet tall dressed like a hotel staff member, pushing up a cart to the door, but his face was unseen. The cart had coffee, orange juice, oatmeal, and toast on it. Everything that she would have ordered for herself.

The young man knocked again and a few minutes later, the door opened, and woman peaked her head out into the hallway, they talked for a moment, and then she went back into the room, while the man walked inside, shutting the door behind him. He did not come out of the room for along time. There didn't seem to be any problems until he came out of the room, failing to close the door as he rushed out of the room. Odd.

When the video was finished, Chin closed the problem, holding the iPad at his side. "Mrs Cullen..." he pointed at the young woman he'd been speaking to only moments before, "found Lacey about an hour ago, when she went down for breakfast."

"Did she hear anything?" Danny inquired.

"No, not a thing. She took a sleeping pill the night before and didn't wake up until a little while ago. She came out of her room, noticed the door was open, she walked into the bedroom just to see if everything was ok, and found Lacey on the bed, dead. She rushed out of the room and into hers, call 911."

"What about the other guests?" Steve asked, placing his hands on his hips and glancing around before looking back at Danny.

"So far no one heard anything." Chin shook his head.

"And the staff? Have they seen anyone that meets the description." Steve mentally checked off the questions in his head.

"The staff hadn't recognized him and the guests don't remember seeing him either."

"You mean this guy slipped in and out unnoticed?" Danny was definitely annoyed.

That made their case even harder to solve.

"We've solved cases harder this. Come on." Steve said, heading towards the elevator.

As they turned to face the lobby from the elevator, they spotted a young man matching the description of their suspect passing them by. He glanced over at Steve and smiled knowingly when the doors closed. Steve and Danny glanced at each other when realization hit them.

"Ya think?" Steve pushed the open button and he and Danny rushed out of the elevator, and looked both ways, but the young man was gone."

"What is it?" Chin came running over when he saw Danny and Steve with their guns raised.

"The suspect was just here walking by the elevators," answered Danny.

"See if you can get video of from this angle," ordered Steve. "And find out who he is!"

"On it, boss!" Chin took off.

"The son of a bitch is playing us!" Steve placed his gun in its holster as did Danny.

"We got a good look at him. It won't be long till we get him!" Danny said.

Once again, the guys headed for the elevator, pushed floor number eight, and watched as the doors closed. A few minutes, they opened on to the floor and they stepped out into the crowded hallway. It was filled with police offices and morgue attendants. It seemed like the whole force was on the case.

Danny and Steve headed into the room, putting their gloves on, and quickly started their investigation. As Steve went to dresser drawer, he saw a white envelope similar to the one he'd revived earlier in an evidence bag.

"What's this?" Steve picked it up, and pulled the letter out, studying the handwriting closely. "Danny look at this!"

"The handwriting is the same..." Danny agreed. "That's Elisabeth's handwriting."

"What?" Kono crossed to them, and she looked around as if someone else might have heard their exchange. "You don't think..." She didn't want to finish the sentence for fear it was true.

Rushing the close the door, Danny didn't want anyone else knowing what they knew. It was something that they had to keep to themselves. At least right now anyway, until they figure out how Elisabeth seemed to be connected to this case.

"No..." Steve followed her train of thought and shook his head. "She'd never have anything to do with this. She's not capable of that."

That was definitely a relief, but it still didn't answer any questions.

"Maybe she is one of the victims..." Kono said almost in a whisper.

The lieutenant commander shook his hand no! He refused to believe that it was going to come to that, but deep down, he knew it was a possibility.

"Open it!" Danny ordered.

They had to get to the bottom of it and fast before anyone else found out what they were doing.

Quickly, Steve opened the letter he'd gotten. It was one single line. A riddle. It wasn't Elisabeth's handwriting. But why did she write on the envelope?

What is that you desperately want that I have?

"What does that mean?" Kono was stumped as she glanced up at Steve.

"I don't know." Steve reread the riddle again. Nothing was coming to mind. "What does the other one say?"

Kono pulled the letter out of the evidence bag and opened the envelope. It was the same, short, one liner, in the same elegant handwriting.

You found my masterpiece, but have you found yours?

"This psycho is just messing with us!" It made Danny upset to think this idiot was capable of getting under their skin.

"I want the handwriting on the letter analyzed. Check for any prints." Steve handed the letter over to Kono.

"Got it!" Kono took the letters and put them back in each of the envelopes and into the evidence bag.

The guys then turned to the dead, naked actress on the bed. She was slender, dark long hair, exotic looking. Her left arm was posed on her forehead, palm facing up, while the right was under her chin. Danny felt uneasy with the girls eyes watching him. Wherever he moved, the eyes seemed to follow him.

"Man, I got to close her eyes!" Danny went over her and closed her eyes. "It doesn't look like she was strangled." Danny observed closely as he pointed to her neck.

"No blood either. It looks as though the killer may have cleaned up." Steve walked into the bathroom but that was spotless. Even her cosmetics were neatly aligned on the vanity and the towels were picked up off the floor and hung up on the hook behind the door.

A moment later, Max had entered the room. "Hello! Please excuse my lateness...there was a Heroes marathon on earlier this morning, I guess I...over slept." He rushed over to the body without looking at the guys, knowing all to well, if he did look, they would tease him.

As Max had begun to examine the body, he quickly noticed two puncture holes on the base of her neck. It was as if a vampire had bitten her neck and sucked her dry, but that would be preposterous, vampires don't exist. But it had happened in another case that he'd come across from his old mentor's files. Each of the victims had been drained of blood much like this looked like

The tiny medical examiner stood back, glancing over the body. The way she was positioned was exactly like each of the victim's he'd read about. They had a serial killer on their hands. Max turned towards the guys, "This body was drained of its blood." He pushed his glasses up his nose.

"What? How?" Danny and Steve had asked at the same time.

"That would prompt further examination..." That was a question that eluded Max but he figured that it was done with an IV.

The guys leaned in, looking down at the marks which had begun to scab over. Anyone would have assumed the markings were beauty marks.

"Give me a guess, Max..." Steve looked up at him.

"IV perhaps..."

"So he staged her body and removed her blood." Danny paced back forth trying to wrap his mind around the strange events. "What kind of sick, pervert does this sort of thing?"

"This isn't the first I've seen this..." Max said after a moment. "I've read about cases similar to this where the victim body's had been staged like that..." He gestured toward the lifeless body. "In each case, the killer was able to get into the home by pretending to be a police officer, fireman, someone that would be trusted."

"Like an employee of a hotel?" Danny asked curious.

"Exactly." Max nodded.

"That explains why there was no blood," observed Steve, running a hand through is dark hair. "I'm gonna need to see these cases, if you don't mind, Max.

"Oh, of course, I will have them sent to your office right away."

As Steve and Danny headed out in the hallway, they saw Chin walking towards them. By the look on Chin's face, they knew he had no luck. This was certainly turning out to be one hell of a case to figure out.

"The guy disappeared and any video footage is now gone."

"Dammit!" Steve shook his head annoyed. "How did that happen?"

"The guy's good with computers," surmised Chin.

"Get a sketch artist down here." Danny demanded of Chin. "Then run his face through the data base. He's got to have a record."

"On it!" Chin pulled out his cell phone and dialed a number.

For more privacy, the guys walked down the hallway from the other officers.

"I want to keep a lid on..." Steve said quietly. "If anyone else find about the letters and Elisabeth's possible connection, then all hell is gonna break loose."

It was making sense why Steve was suddenly so obsessed with finding Elisabeth; he must have known on some level, she was missing, hurt, or worse, dead. He was going to do all he could to find her.

"Hey!" Danny tapped him on the arm. "We'll find her."

Steve gave him a curt nod and they headed back towards the crime scene.