The members of Five-0 were meeting to discuss the upcoming exercise that was planned across all the emergency services to practice for the arrival of a dignitary like the President and dealing with any protests that there might be along the way. Groups of 'protestors' had already been selected from the general population to give everyone the experience necessary in policing large groups. It was something that was done on a fairly regular basis and there was always an element involved that was determined to give the police a real workout and cause real trouble. A list of the people who had volunteered this time had already been given to the police and they were checking into the backgrounds of them all.
"Where's Danny?" Steve McGarrett asked. It was just past 7am and the sun was already shining brightly out of a clear blue sky.
"He must be running late," Kono offered. "Maybe got some car trouble, or slept in. He'll be here." Danny was seldom late and Kono supposed that he was entitled to one lapse.
"Well, we'll just start without him and he'll have to catch up," Steve decided. He was rather annoyed that Danny was late. This stuff was important. He would be having words with young Mr Williams when he decided to show up. This meeting had been scheduled for some time and tardiness this morning was not acceptable.
The briefing began, but there was still no sign of Danny. Chin Ho was talking about the various people on the volunteer list, but Steve realised that he hadn't heard a single word for quite some time. He blinked and focused on what Chin was saying, but it was no use. Another glance at the clock showed him it was gone 8.30 and Danny's absence was making alarm bells ring.
Dragging his gaze from the photo of a young Hawaiian man that was being projected onto the wall, Steve reached for the phone and punched in Danny's number. It started ringing at the other end, which was something of a relief, but as it rang and rang and rang, Steve began to grow more and more anxious.
By now, Chin had stopped talking and both he and Kono were watching Steve. "No answer," the big man grunted unnecessarily. "Put out a call for Danny's car. Something isn't right. The briefing will have to wait a little longer." Steve glanced at the picture on the wall for a second before he shut it off.
It was a pity he hadn't looked at it more closely, for it was the picture of the man who had kidnapped Danny Williams the night before.
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It had been a lengthy and nightmarish trip for the young detective. He slid helplessly around the back of what he now knew was a truck, banging off the side walls as it swung wildly around corners. With his feet bound, he couldn't get any leverage to stop himself moving and he was unable to shake the hood from his head. He was bruised and miserable by the time the noisy engine died.
Rough hands grabbed him and threw him to the ground. While he was still gasping for breath, his feet were untied and he was dragged off, held by someone on each side, struggling to get his feet beneath him, hoping that something would happen that would give him the edge he needed to escape. Nothing did.
The ground beneath his feet was soft and yielding and he correctly guessed that it was sand. It slid between his toes at every step, adding to his discomfort. After a few minutes, it gave way to more solid ground and he could hear things crunching beneath their feet. From the things that brushed against him, Danny guessed they were in a forest somewhere. His foggy mind sought to figure out where they were, but he failed.
They were climbing up now, Danny being hauled along, slipping, sliding and tripping over things he couldn't see. He was relieved when they came to a stop and he was thrown to the ground. He was panting from the exertion and fear, but he was allowed no chance to catch his breath. He was yanked into a sitting position and his back placed against something sturdy. He felt the rough bark beneath his fingers.
Before he could marshal his resources, he felt his feet being bound again. He resisted, kicking out and tried to push himself to his feet using the tree as leverage, but one of his captors backhanded him viciously across the face and he fell to his side. His feet were swiftly secured and then he was propped back against the tree and tightly tied to it.
The hood was snatched from his head and Danny blinked in the wavering light of a couple of flashlights. He licked his bleeding lip. "Who are you?" he asked. "Why are you doing this?"
"You Haole pig!" one of the men spat, getting right into Danny's face. "You mess with my sister!"
"I walked her home!" Danny protested and got punched for it. Shaking his head to clear it, he doggedly continued, "I didn't do anything to her." He had guessed from Elena's attitude that her family wouldn't welcome her involvement with a haole man, but this violence was excessive.
"You were pumping her for information," the man accused him. "Admit it."
"What?" That didn't make any sense to Danny. The man who crouched by his side was Hawaiian, but he had never seen him before. He couldn't make out the features of the other man, who kept the flashlight trained on his face.
If Danny had been able to see the other man, his heart would have sunk. Kanani had no record to speak of, but his friend was well known to the police on the island. He went by the single name of Eddie and he had a rap sheet as long as your arm. He had been in trouble for everything from armed robbery to rape, but had somehow managed to slither out of the more serious charges by making deals. He had done some time, but not as much as would be expected for his rap sheet. He had had a variety of accomplices, most of who were now banged up for the crimes that Eddie had master-minded. Kanani was useful at the moment. When he stopped being useful, Eddie would get rid of him.
Meantime, Eddie was wondering if Kanani hadn't been over reacting. The younger Hawaiian was a hothead, which made him perfect for the plan Eddie had in mind. They had been drinking this evening while going over the plan and when Kanani saw Elena with the cop, he had put two and two together and it looked like he might have come up with less than four for an answer. This cop didn't seem to know what Kanani was talking about, but perhaps he was just dazed from the blow to the head, or perhaps he was cleverer than he looked. Imperiously, he gestured Kanani aside and, handing the flashlight to the other man, he crouched by Danny.
There was no question that Danny knew who he was. He flinched back, his eyes widening. "Eddie!" he exclaimed.
Five-O had been trying to pin Eddie down for years and each time, he had managed to slither free. He was one of the top men on the wanted list and to suddenly find himself Eddie's prisoner was scary. Danny had intimate knowledge of what Eddie had done to other captives in the past and there was nothing comforting about that knowledge. While he had been scared and confused before, Danny was now even more confused and absolutely terrified, although he was determined not to show it. Danny swallowed dryly. He had seen Eddie's face; he was as good as dead already.
The big Hawaiian smiled. It was not a pleasant expression. Kanani had jumped the gun, but Eddie could see possibilities. He had been planning to use Kanani as a walking bomb – what would later become known as a suicide bomber – but for Kanani it wouldn't be suicide. He would not know what he was carrying as he went about disrupting the crowd during the exercise the emergency services were planning. Kanani would be killed, and possibly so would many others. Now, Eddie decided that Kanani would still die, unknowing, but this pig would be by his side and would know what was going to happen.
Right now, he didn't know how he would keep the cop quiet in the crowd, but he would think of something. "You were getting too close," Eddie told the blond detective. "But you picked the wrong girl. Elena knows nothing about the hit. Too bad for you, though. You ain't never gonna tell McGarrett what you know."
It was all Danny could do not to protest his innocence, but he kept his mouth shut. He didn't have a clue what hit Eddie was talking about, but perhaps he could learn and then he would be able to tell Steve when he managed to escape. He glared at Eddie.
"We're gonna keep you here," Eddie told Danny, his voice a sibilant, scary whisper. "Then you're gonna die at my hand, but nobody's gonna know that it was me. You'll be just another cop gone bad."
"You won't get away with it," Danny declared, although he knew that his statement sounded ludicrous, bound the way he was. "Someone will find me."
"Don't count on it," Eddie crooned and reached out to stroke Danny's cheek in an obscenely gentle way. He smiled as Danny froze and quickly checked his captive's bonds, then ripped a long piece from the tail of Danny's Hawaiian shirt and used it to gag the young detective, backhanding him several times as he tried to resist. He rose to his feet and he and Kanani left Danny alone in the dark.