Thanks so much for the reviews, follows and favorites! Not going to drag this one out as it's largely unchanged from the original posting up to Chapter 7.
It's a weird kind of balance...getting reviews etc is good for the soul and makes the effort of writing something that makes some sort of sense seem worthwhile. Naturally the longer you hold out between posting chapters the more you get...but I'm an obsessive reader and if I like a story I want to just sit and read the whole thing so that's more the way I prefer to post.
Sorry, I'm digressing. In conclusion, I love and appreciate reviews etc but this will be posted in record time anyway.
CHAPTER 2- The Break
5 days. 5 days.
Steve, sitting at the desk in his office, let his exhausted head sink on to his arms. 5 days of frenzied activity since that fateful morning when Danny hadn't come to pick him up for work. 5 days of kicking in doors, having possible crime scenes analysed and re-analysed. 5 days of threatening, cajoling, bribing every lowlife he could lay his hands on. And 5 days of finding appropriate words to spout off to Grace, to Rachel, to Amber, to Danny's parents.
And yet there had been no ransom demands, no gloating bad guys, no whispers in the underworld, no New Jersey perps stalking the streets of O'ahu in search of revenge. Danny had just disappeared. His car was outside his house and his house was locked up securely. His phone, wallet, gun and badge were gone too, the phone off and non-functioning. Untraceable. There had been no activity on his credit cards. There were no signs of a struggle, no forensic traces to suggest an unexpected presence in Danny's vicinity, nothing. It was as though he'd left in the dead of night and walked off a cliff. Steve had overhead a uni suggesting just that and had barely restrained himself from tearing the man a new one. Barely. No way would Danny do that to Grace. To him.
But an ugly sliver of doubt niggled. Sure, Danny would never do that if he was in his right mind. But Steve had seriously underestimated the impact the Reyes incident had had on his friend. Had thought the grief and guilt was just over Matty, not the death of the bastard who'd killed him too. Sure, he had offered Danny support every step of the way. Some of it had even been accepted. But he hadn't pushed, he should have pushed. He'd thought he was doing the right thing, giving his friend space when he wanted it. And he had failed to see the gnawing guilt. He had missed that. Was he missing something else too..? Could Danny have had a breakdown?
A chain of poisonous thoughts joined the pity party in his tired mind. He had been a bad friend. Controlling. Not really listening. Reacting too easily to Danny's habitual bluster, which was one of the things that had drawn him to the man to start off with, for fuck's sake. He hadn't told Danny how much he meant to him since the day they had been trapped under that building, even with the clusterfuck of crap that had happened to them since. He had never told him he was his best friend, every bit as important to him as Freddie ever was. Why? What the hell was his problem?
Steve raised his head, looking through the glass walls of his office at his team. They were standing around the tech table, doggedly going through CCTV feeds yet again, desperate to find something, anything, that might give them somewhere to start.
Steve watched them, knowing they were feeling the glaring absence too, no doubt battling their own feelings of guilt, doubt and fear. He wished he could think of something to say to ease their burden, to give everyone a much needed boost, but he'd used up his repertoire of positive pep-talks. After the last one, Lou had placed a firm hand on his shoulder and held his gaze. Nothing was said, but his meaning was clear- It's OK. Concentrate on keeping yourself together. We all know you're feeling this the most.
No, he told himself firmly, Danny would never kill himself. He had been taken and therefore he could be retrieved. There was no evidence he was dead therefore they would continue to assume he was alive. End of story. But why him? Why Danny? What could Steve have done to prevent it? What was happening to Danny right at that moment, right then while Steve sat in his comfortable chair in his comfortable office with a cup of coffee in front of him made just the way he liked it. Was he suffering? Was he scared?
Steve drew a shaky breath and suppressed the thoughts again. Boxed them in, tucked them away. It was getting harder to pen them in each time they broke out. He picked up his coffee and downed it.
An automated tone sounded from the tech table. There was a moment of silence, then "Boss. BOSS!" Kono's voice, excited, a slight waver to it, sliced into Steve's consciousness. He was on his feet, sprinting to her side before she had a chance to turn his way. She was leaning over the tech table, tapping through menus, Chin and Lou standing tensely at her side.
"Kono! What've you got?"
"It's Danny's phone. It's been reactivated."
"Where? Where is it?!"
"Yours. It's at your house."
And now the rating switches to M... Proceed no further if you are of a sensitive disposition.
