I do not own Hawaii Five-0 or any characters. No copyright infringement intended.
Notes: so the saber toothed bunny got loose after "Hoa Aloha". I was positive he/she would be incarcerated forever or at least had exhausted the English dictionary. But never fear ... after some prodding from a cave, it returns. Thanks to CinderH and Jazzie for the ever-patient (super fast) and very wonderful Beta support.
H5O* H5O* H5O* H5O* H5O*
CHAPTER ONE - Prelude
Closing his eyes Douglas Pratt hung his head in despair. The receiver to his desk phone was still in his numb fingers and he only thought to move when the now dead line switched to the bland and repetitive reorder tone.
Pratt jolted and hissed in shock as his office door opened in its typical rush. "Andrea." He choked out her name, but as usual his Legal assistant was hurried and oblivious to his distress. But for once, he didn't lace her with an acidic rebuke demanding she knock when his door was closed.
"Doug, these documents for the Totorro case are urgent and require your signature. I've reviewed the addenda and there's nothing out-of-order." Tossing the short stack of papers under his nose, Andrea folded her arms meaningfully and waited.
Sweat dotted his forehead and as Doug weakly leaned back in his deep leather chair, he locked his gaze with Andrea Winston's. Her stance was different, willful and defiantly antagonistic and in that moment he knew.
"I'm waiting, Doug. Sign them." Looking from his eyes to his phone and then back again, Andrea drummed her fingers across the material of her silk blouse. She smiled coyly as he sloppily committed his signature blindly where indicated on each of the legal forms.
"Good. Thanks, boss." She waited after accepting the sheaf back only to place them neatly in a blue folder which was then slammed under her arm. Pratt's mind short-circuited as Andrea remained anchored in place. Finally rolling her eyes with mock aggravation, Andrea grinned.
"Files. Remember? You wanted me to shred particular files for you today."
"Uh." Doug blinked in alarm as sweat began to streak down into the collar of his dress shirt. He thought he'd have more time to work out a plan or call the police or to come to a different decision. He wanted choices and needed time but was now truly on the verge of panic.
Until that very moment, Douglas Aaron Pratt, Esquire and well-respected defense attorney, had no clue that his own Legal Assistant was the enemy.
As his discomfort grew and he fumbled for the important files in his drawer, Andrea smiled. "And when you give me those, I want that spare thumb drive you keep in the safe."
"There's nothing in the safe." Pratt objected with little credibility as he yanked the files out. Nearly dropping the paperwork in his shock, he noticeably blanched at Andrea's demanding correction.
"No, not the office safe. The other one. You know the one that I mean. The one in your private bathroom and behind the fake medicine cabinet over the sink." She was practically purring in delight. Yet it was startling that she even knew about that private safe which had been installed only under his direction two years earlier. It pre-dated her employment at the firm in fact.
However, he virtually passed out as his chest clenched in fear at Andrea's final calmly offered threat. She made it as she first caressed the framed family portrait on his desk and then blatantly laid it face down on his over-sized, chocolate-brown leather desk blotter.
"You do want her back, alive. Don't you, Mr. Pratt?"
~ to be continued ~