It was not like she wasn't having fun. She had been looking forward to a weekend with her father for a while. He had been quite busy the past two weeks and only managed to pick her up from her mom and stepfather's house to take her to school every morning. And during the ten minute car ride between the house and school they only managed a short 'how was your day at school yesterday' and 'did you sleep well last night' before reaching the front iron gates of the Montessori School.
Gracie had been invited to a classmate's birthday party but since today was the only free day her father could spend time with her, she skipped the party and went with him to the Waikiki State Park. She enjoyed their feeble attempts to fish an enormous trout or any fish for that matter but after an hour of fishing by the pond while exchanging stories and eating burgers (and five empty hooks after the fishes ate the bait), they had to give up.
Though she was having a great Sunday with Danno, her mind kept wandering to the party, and the collection of Hannah Montana dolls Crissy was going to show them. She was about to absent-mindedly lick the Vanilla ice cream she just bought when two rowdy little boys bumped her and sent her untasted ice cream sprawling on the cemented floor.
"Hey," she yelped and sighed in disappointment as the two boys went their way still horse-playing.
"Hello! Would you like some of my cotton candy instead?" came a soft voice a few feet away.
Gracie looked up and found a blond little girl in pigtails enjoying an enormous pink cotton candy, seated at one of the tables. The little girl was about her age and she held out her big cotton candy to Gracie as Gracie looked into her direction.
Gracie made her way toward the little girl and helped herself to some of the cotton candy.
"Thank you. I'm Gracie. What's your name?"
"I'm Martha, and this is my little brother Toby," replied the little girl.
Gracie eyed the small baby in the navy blue carriage just beside Martha's chair. On the table were a couple of bottled drinks, a baby bag, and an ipad.
"My mother just went to the lavatory. We'll be going to the zoo when she comes back," said Martha as she and Gracie shared the cherry flavored cotton candy.
"My mom's at home. I'm with my dad…"
Suddenly Martha and Gracie's attention were caught by a rain of bubbles that came out of nowhere. The girls giggled and started bursting them gaily. The more they burst, the more bubbles seem to appear. They were giggling and giggling, playfully trying to outdo the other in bubble bursting until in a blink of an eye there were no more bubbles and the girls were frightened by woman's shrill and hysterical scream.
"My baby! Where's my baby?"
Martha and Gracie froze as Martha's mother appeared.
"Martha, where's your brother? Where is he?" screamed the mother as she shook her daughter by the shoulder.
Martha started to cry, and her mother engulfed her in her arms as she burst into tears. Gracie was shocked and speechless. She felt like crying too. Her new friend who had a big warm smile for her just a few minutes ago was wailing bitterly. She wanted to tell her mother that Toby was just there beside them but as Gracie turned to where the carriage was supposed to be, it was gone, and she began to cry.
People were starting to gather around them. Suddenly Gracie found herself engulfed in a familiar cool water scent and a tight embrace from Danno.
"Gracie! What happened? Are you alright?" asked Danno as he hugged and kissed his daughter's head.
"My friend Martha's brother Toby… one minute he was here and then he was gone…" explained Gracie as silent tears run down her cheeks.
Chin was first to arrive at the Waikiki State Park. His bachelor's pad was only a few blocks away and he was just lying on the couch when he got a call from Danny. He parked his Chevrolet near the bridge where people around the lake were fishing. Beyond the lake was the roofed recreation and refreshment area where people can buy junk food and find the lavatory.
He purposefully made his way toward the area when he was greeted by Gracie with a tight hug that showed relief at the sight of another familiar face.
"Uncle Chin!" she exclaimed as she rushed to hug him.
"How are you, princess? Where's Danno?" he asked as he affectionately returned her hug.
"He's talking to my friend's mother inside the manager's office," said Gracie before running ahead of Chin to go back and seat beside Martha.
The sun wasn't blazing that day. In fact it was cloudy but Steve fell in beside Chin with a disheveled hair and enormous shades as Chin walked to the manager's office.
"Am I late?" asked Steve.
"I was only 10 minutes ahead of you. Let me guess, you were just bumming around the living room when you got the call," kidded Chin.
"Of course not! I was with a hot chick…okay you win. From one bachelor to the other, Sundays become lonely sometimes, after you do the grocery and the laundry, you go out then you see families and kids everywhere around you, so you go home instead and lay on the couch all day, sleep or watch tv," stated Steve with a straight face.
"Well, work can always keep us busy, and away from all thoughts of loneliness on Sundays," said Chin wryly.
When they reached the air-conditioned manager's room, Danny was done interviewing the mother, and the people who could be possible witnesses. He led them away from the hearing of the people and filled the two in.
"This is the third case of kidnapping in three weeks. Same M.O… public place, mother distracted, this time the sister…" said Steve.
"Victims all infants, all Caucasian," said Chin as the three hunky crime-fighting guys were outside the manager's office discussing the case.
"The last kidnapping syndicate we busted was kidnapping older kids. Do you think this has a connection to that syndicate?" asked Danny.
"We don't know yet," sighed Steve in exasperation. They were getting deeply troubled by the rampaging kidnapping.
"They are probably not related. Barishnikov's group was kidnapping older kids for child labour and prostitution in other countries but kidnapped babies are only for one purpose- They are sold to people who want to have children. Besides, we just put 3 of the big bosses behind bars, the group wouldn't be so bold to work again," put in Chin.
"Let's go back to the headquarter's and have our computer database work on the description of the witnesses. We'll have more leads when we know who are the suspects that work on a similar MO," said Danny.
Danny took Gracie and the trio started their way back to the car when they ran into the Lory and Kono who had just arrived on the scene an hour after Danny called.
"We're heading back to the headquarters to check on some data and then we'll be moving from there," he informed the girls. He couldn't very well scold them for their tardiness as it was a Sunday. One glimpse and he knew she wasn't at home like him thinking of her, scolding himself for having this certain feelings for his beautiful and reliable subordinate. Oh how he wanted to kiss her dark, wet hair.
Chin and Danny noted their damp hairs and their get-up before teasing the girls in amusement. Kono was wearing a skimpy Guess shorts and striped peach and white shirt while Lory's red bikini was quite visible underneath her thin white top. Both girls were in slippers.
"And where in heaven's name did you girls came from? Wherever it is, it must have been stormy," joked Danny.
"We didn't have the luxury to dry our hair. We came here as fast as we could," explained Lory.
"The beach is just ten minutes away," stated Steve matter-of-factly.
"No… uhm… we weren't at the beach. We were at the Wet n Wild water theme park," said Kono.
"And let me guess, you two weren't alone, were you?" teased Chin.
"I don't see that's any of your business," said Lory, trying to be evasive.
Danny and Chin burst out laughing.
"Next time, instead of going there with some other guys, why don't you girls invite us instead. We're your buddies and we'd love to have a little water fun" said Danny.
"Look guys, sorry we're late and if we're dressed rather inappropriately. We didn't have time. We were on the other side…" explained Kono.
"No one's reprimanding you. Now let's go. We've got work to do," said Steve rather cutting her off.
"Did he wake up on the wrong side of the bed or what?" asked Lory when Steve went ahead.
Chin shrugged his shoulders. "He can't have woken up on the wrong side of the couch and that's were he's been sleeping before Danny woke him," said Chin, trying to be funny.
Danny replied, "Nope. He was fine just a few minutes ago but I think I know what ails him. Come on let's go. Gracie can tell us her version of the events as she saw it and it may give us all a clearer perspective."
"Wait, what's wrong with Steve," asked Lory.
"That… I think is none of your business, " joked Danny as they all burst out laughing and Lory playfully slapped him on the back.
