Chin arrived about an hour later. Gracie had been growing more restless in Steve's lap but he had been able to console her and keep her sleeping.
Chin stood next to the couch as Kono fired up the computer and Steve asked, "So, anything?"
"Nothing brah….absolutely nothing. They must have been wearing gloves"
Steve shook his head, "Damn it. They're professionals….this isn't Newalu"
Chin said, "You can't be so sure of that Steve?"
Their conversation stopped abruptly as Gracie's eyes opened and she said softly, "Uncle Steve?"
He smiled and looked down at her, "Hey baby"
"Uncle Steve, I need to go potty"
Kono handed the laptop to Chin and standing up she extended her hand, "Come on Gracie, I'll take you"
She took Kono's hand and stood up. Turning back to Steve she held out her Seal and asked, "Will you hold Stevie for me"
He smiled and took the Seal from her, "You bet sweetheart"
As the bathroom door closed behind them Chin asked, "Do you think she's going to be okay?"
"She'll be fine, once we find Danny"
"She's a tough little girl"
"She shouldn't have to be tough, she's only seven..." He sat forward on the couch and placing his elbows on knees and holding Stevie the Seal in front of him he said "Chin, whoever did this…..they involved Gracie…..this is personal"
The bathroom door opened and Gracie walked over to Steve and he handed her the Seal.
"Did Stevie behave himself?"
Steve grinned, "Yes ma'am, he is a very well-behaved Seal"
His heart warmed as she smiled at him, "Do you want to lie back down?"
"No, can I watch TV?"
"Sure you can. Would it be okay if Kono watches with you and Chin and I are going to be at the kitchen table working?"
She hesitated a split second before replying, "Yes, that's okay"
Steve and Chin moved into the kitchen with their equipment as Kono and Gracie cuddled up on the couch and began to channel surf.
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As Chin ran the blood samples, Steve paced the kitchen floor.
'Who in the hell had Danny?' He had felt a horrible sense of dread ever since he saw his partner's lifeblood spilled in his living room…so much blood.
"Steve….."
He walked over to the table, "Yeah?"
Chin looked at him and confirmed what they already knew, "The blood is all Danny's"
Steve asked, "Was there anything on his phone?"
"There was a voice mail that Rachel left earlier this evening but she doesn't say anything telling us where she is or if we could possibly reach her"
Steve nodded and ran his hand across his face, "I'm worried Chin…..shit, who has him and what are they doing to him?"
They turned to the sound of Gracie entering the kitchen, "Uncle Steve can I have a juice box?"
"Sure"
As he took one from the fridge and handed it to her, she asked "There's nothing good on TV, can I play with one of your games?"
A couple of months ago Steve had found a box of his old hand-held video games in the attic and Gracie had loved playing with them. As they walked over to the cabinet where he kept them he asked, "What do you want to play?"
"Frogger!"
"That's one of my favorites!" As he pulled the game from the box and tried to turn it on, he said "Looks like it needs new batteries"
The little girl said, "I can get them, where are they?"
Steve smiled, "There's a package in my top desk drawer sweetheart"
As she turned and ran off Chin said, "Kids are so resilient"
"Anything we can do to keep her mind off of what's happening is good"
A few seconds later they heard a crash and the sound of breaking glass coming from the office.
They raced into the room to find Kono kneeling on the ground in front of Gracie. The child's hands were out in front of her and she was repeating over and over again, "Daddy, Daddy, Daddy, Daddy, Daddy…."
Steve dropped to his knees next to Kono, "Gracie, Gracie….look at me baby"
"Daddy, Daddy, Daddy, Daddy, Daddy…." Her eyes were open wide with fear and tears were streaming down her cheeks.
"Gracie….Gracie, its Uncle Steve…look at me baby"
Her eyes focused on the SEAL and she turned towards him. He opened his arms and she threw himself into them. As he embraced her, her tiny arms clung to his neck tightly as she said softly, "He took Danno…. Uncle Steve, he took Danno"
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Danny hurt…..God he hurt. His head was throbbing but it didn't feel moist anymore so he figured that the bleeding had stopped. His chest was bleeding but he had no idea as to how bad the cuts were. His feet, oh God his feet hurt…he had heard about this type of torture before and now he could certainly attest to how painful it was. His broken ankle multiplied that pain ten-fold. The ankle had swollen severely and the leather strap was unbelievably tight around it. And to top things off, he was freezing! The cool night air hitting his nearly naked, sweat-drenched body had caused his body to shiver uncontrollably.
He decided now was as good a time as any to try implementing one on Steve's methods. He closed his eyes and he concentrated only on his breathing. He grinned as he could hear Steve's voice telling him 'relax partner…nice slow, deep breaths…...in, out…..in, out…..in, out…relax Daniel…..nice and slow'
He heard the Ocean water beating against the rocks just a few feet outside the cave. 'You know I hate the sound of the Ocean Steven…God, I hate the Ocean' He zoned in on the sounds around him as he continued to concentrate on controlling his breathing.
Soon the sensations of pain subsided and the sounds of the soothing Ocean filled his mind along with his partner's voice repeating, 'relax Danno…nice slow, deep breaths…in, out…..in, out…..in, out…'
****** This is a shorter chapter, but I thought it was a good place to stop…next up, the kidnappers identities are revealed and Steve receives their terrifying package – I'd love to hear what you think! Remember, reviews make writing all worthwhile! HAPPY READING ******