Wrong Place, Very Wrong Time III
Disclaimer: I do not own Hawaii 5-0. That really is a shame, isn't it?
Thank you for all the support for this story. Let's see how the team does trying to find Danny.
Chapter 3
Steve McGarrett drove his truck slowly down the road to Waimea Falls, following Kono's car. She had the directions that the GPS had given her, directing them to where the Camaro sat. Chin brought up the rear on his motorcycle, following his cousin's lead.
Gripping the steering wheel tightly, Steve's stomach churned in worry. He feared they would find Danny's body with the car and no explanation for why this had happened. Suddenly Kono turned down an obscure road that looked no larger than an ATV trail. When the track opened up to a wider area, Steve halted his vehicle as Kono put the Cruze in park.
McGarrett exited his truck, his focus centered on the sleek black car sitting silently with its nose in the brush. He approached it cautiously, his weapon drawn as Kono did the same from a different angle.
"Danny…..are you okay?" he called out. "Hey Danno, talk to me."
With no response, he moved closer and glanced up at Kono who was approaching the driver's door. Peering inside the passenger window, he could see that the car was empty.
"No one is here," he said to Kono, looking over the roof of the car. Steve dug an evidence glove out of his pocket and opened the door. Looking inside…..he felt the concern ramp up when he could see no reason for the car to be abandoned.
"Where's Danny? Just how did this car get here?" Kono asked in confusion.
"CSU had better get here quick. We need the car processed immediately. Kono, pop the trunk," Steve ordered and Kono followed his instructions, opening the trunk of the Camaro.
"CSU is right behind us," Chin confirmed using a SAT phone to be sure he'd have a connection.
Kono and Steve had moved to the trunk and Kono cautiously lifted the lid. She felt mixed emotions at finding no body. Relief that Danny wasn't dead in there but unhappy that Danny wasn't there and only knocked out. She had hoped that he would be bound and gagged and waiting for them to find him inside.
"So there is no Danny," she said to Steve. "What do you think has happened? Why would he abandon his car out here?"
"He wouldn't, not knowing he needed to get to Grace," Chin replied as he walked up. "We all know that Danny did not willingly leave it here."
"So what the hell did happen to him?" Steve demanded. "If he ran into trouble on the highway, someone had to be a witness. We need to post a notice asking for information on any unusual activity on Highway 83 to call in to 5-0."
"We can do that," Chin agreed and once again turned to his SAT phone.
With hands on his hips, Steve surveyed the area around the car, his mind whirling furiously. This was not like Danny; he wouldn't have walked into a dangerous situation without backup. He would not have put himself in danger willingly. Danny had to believe this situation was not serious when he got involved. Steve circled the car and stared at the driver's seat, his eyes narrowing.
"Danny didn't drive the Camaro here," he declared.
"How do you know…oh, I see," Chin said as he stopped beside Steve. "The seat is way too far back for it to have been driven by Danny," he stated.
"And that means he was taken somewhere else and his car was dumped here," Steve muttered darkly. "We need help on this."
"It's been reported Steve, we just have to hope we can stir up a witness," Chin replied.
Steve refocused on the car, searching for any clues it could give him. Kono had crawled into the back seat, looking for clues. She found an envelope on the floor in front of the seat and peered inside.
"Here's the witness statement," she announced. "Whoever grabbed Danny was not interested in the report."
"So this may have nothing to do with the shooting," Steve said thoughtfully. "Just what kind of trouble did Danny stumble onto?" he mused.
"There's no blood, I don't think he was shot in the car," Kono answered. She continued to check the back of the car and noticed a cloth on the floor. "What's this?" she asked as she picked it up and showed it to Steve.
"That's Grace's. She must have left it in the car when Danny took her to cheer camp last weekend," Steve said automatically. He raised his head to look at Kono when she chuckled. "What…? I had breakfast with Danny and Grace that morning. She was wearing that scarf," he said defensively.
"Cute Boss," Kono smiled. "You are a very good Uncle."
"We have to find Danny for Grace's sake," Steve muttered. "I can't go back to her and tell her I've failed. Danny can't die on my watch."
"We will find him Steve," Kono assured him quietly. "This feels like an unplanned action, the perp may have just over-reacted and did something stupid. We will find him," she added with more confidence than she felt.
"We had better," Steve growled and turned away from the car. He went over to Chin and held out his hand for the phone. Chin handed it over.
Walking away with the phone, Steve called Catherine. He waited impatiently for her to answer.
"Hey Cath, how's Grace?" he asked when she finally answered.
"She's fine Steve. She is worried about Danny but when I explained you were going to bring him home, she relaxed and seems happy. Right now she is swimming and I am right here on the beach watching her. I told her Danny is on a case and can't come see her at the moment. Grace is cool with that and after dinner she is going to do her homework and then we are going to watch a movie. What have you learned?" Catherine asked.
"We found the Camaro up at Waimea Falls but no Danny. There is no sign of a fight and no blood…just the abandoned car. The driver's seat is set farther back than what Danny would have it so we are sure that someone else left the car here," Steve informed her. "The witness statement is still in the car.
Catherine could hear the strain in his voice and her heart went out to Steve. She didn't know how to relieve the stress she knew he was feeling.
"You will find him Steve. Whoever took him had to leave some clues behind, this sounds like a random act if the statement is still there. Don't worry about Grace; I will take care of her until you bring Danny home."
"Thank you Cath, that means a lot," Steve said sincerely.
"Don't worry Sailor, I've got this covered. Bring Danny home soon, Grace and I will be waiting," Catherine replied. "We'll wait for your call," she added before hanging up.
Steve stared at the phone for a moment and took a deep breath, sighing deeply. He had wanted to give Catherine good news but so far none had presented itself to him. He trusted Cath to take care of Grace and shield her until they had definite answers but it didn't make this situation any easier. He walked back to where Kono and Chin were standing by the car.
"Grace is doing okay so now we need to concentrate on finding Danny," he told them. "I want someone to stay here and supervised the CSU. Every inch of this car needs to be gone over. I'm going to retrace Danny's steps back to the witness. Somewhere along the way he ran into trouble. Maybe our reluctant witness can tell us something new, something he did not realize."
"I'll stay here," Kono offered. "You two retrace Danny's steps."
Steve nodded curtly and as he headed for his truck, his mind all ready focused on tracking down the last person he knew had seen his partner. Chin gave Kono a smile and got on his bike to follow.
McGarrett backed his truck up to the main road and then drove to the highway, his mind turning over all the possibilities of what could have happened to Danny. Could this be retaliation by the shooter they were trying to identify? That just didn't fit with the fact that the witness statement was left in the car. Steve was sure that Danny would not have gotten involved with something serious without getting back up, even with poor cell service. It had to something Williams had not deemed dangerous until it was too late. That thought did nothing to ease the growing knot of worry in his gut. Danny had not seen the danger, of that Steve was sure.
Automatically, Steve's eyes darted back and forth on the road as he headed north, looking for any sign of an altercation on the road. Deep inside he felt that whatever went down had to have occurred near the Falls since it was unlikely that Danny's assailant would not have driven a long distance to dispose of the Camaro. And that brought up the idea that there were most likely two people involved since it would be necessary to have someone pick up the driver of the black car once it was left behind.
Approaching a curve in the road, Steve spotted a trail of gravel that led across the road to a wide shoulder area. Deep tracks in the dirt led to a ditched spot and Steve pulled over with Chin parking his bike behind him.
"What did you see?" Chin asked as they waited for a car to pass before crossing the road,
"I'm not sure but from the skid marks there and the ruts in the shoulder over there, someone ended up in that shallow ditch," Steve replied, pointing it out as they crossed the road. "It looks fresh to me and it may be nothing but we need to check everything out."
End chapter.
We are getting closer to learning the truth. It takes time to put the puzzle pieces together. Thank you all for reading.
