Chapter 4:
Twenty five minutes or so later, Steve and Chin arrived at the edge of Kuliouou Forest Reserve after sharing a few laughs. They got out of the truck. Steve smiled and stood at the front of his truck. "Okay, so where is your friend?"
"He's coming. He said he would be here a little bit after we arrive, because of loading and trailering."
Steve leaned against his truck. "Have a lean." Steve said with a smile gesturing to the spot next to him.
Chin walked over and leaned next to him as Steve folded his arms. They faced the start of a gravel lane. The tall spacious trees reminded Steve of a summer he spent with his dad. He chuckled.
"What?"
"Ah, nothing, I was just remembering a summer I spent with my father when I was young. It was really stormy and our tent had blown away. We made the mistake of not putting things in the tent to hold it down. So, my father and I went out in the storm, determined to spend the night outside, and tried our luck with building a lean-to but it kept falling down."
"So what happened? Did you go to a motel?"
"Nah, we slept in the back of my dad's truck with the cover on."
Chin let out a little laugh.
"Stubbornness is probably genetic. It might run in the family." Steve said with a smile.
"Yeah, you think?"
Steve chuckled and stopped to think. He hadn't talked about his father in a while. He hadn't even thought about him for a while. A gentle sadness settled over him at the realization.
"He was a great man, your father. I know you miss him." Chin said quietly.
Steve smiled weakly. "I do."
Their conversation was short lived as the sound of a truck rang in their ears. Steve turned to see a truck slowing next to his truck. It had a trailer hooked to the back with 3 ATVs. The truck stopped, the door opened and a muscular man stepped out. He was shorter than Steve but slightly taller than Chin. Chin walked toward the man.
"Lani!"
"Chin, howzit?"
Lani pulled Chin in for a brotherly hug. "Good, Lani, it is good to see you, again. Thank you so much for helping us."
"Ey, no problem, bruddah. The tanks are full, they've been checked and they should be okay but if you have any issues just give me a call and I'll help you out."
"Thanks. Oh, Lani. This is Lieutenant Commander Steve McGarrett. He's our boss."
Lani reached out his hand and Steve took it and shook it. "An honor to meet you. Chin and Kono speak highly of you."
"Thank you. It's a pleasure, Lani. And thank you so much for your help."
"It is no problem really. I am sorry I could only spare three on a short notice."
"Three is fine. We really appreciate your willingness to lend us these."
Just then, a car pulled up. It was Kono and Danny. Kono opened the passenger car door and hopped out. "Hey, guys." She said heading toward them. "Lani!"
Lani and Kono exchanged hugs.
"We have detected that the suspect is approximately 15 miles in." Danny said, joining Chin and Steve.
Chin spoke next. "And the terrain in this area is rough, but the ATV's should be able to handle it."
"Okay guys, let's hit the road."
They unloaded the ATV's, geared up, and finished saying their gratitudes and goodbyes to Lani. Then they set out. Chin and Kono took one ATV, Steve took another and Danny took the last. As Steve pressed on the accelerator and drove down the lane, he found himself enjoying the warm breeze that ran through his hair and met his face. Luckily this was a gravel road and not a dirt road.
They were riding fine for about 20 minutes when Steve heard something snap and the ATV slowed to a stop.
"Damn it!" Steve cursed after he had tried to start and restart the ATV. He hopped off to look over the vehicle. Danny was the only one to look back and turn around. He stopped along side Steve and turned off the machine.
"What happened?" Danny asked.
"I heard a snap and now it won't turn on."
"Sounds like the belt broke. Great."
"That's what I was thinking."
Danny pulled out his phone. "Damn. No service. Put it in neutral." Danny hopped off his ATV and got on the opposite side of the ATV that Steve was standing on. "We'll push it into these bushes, to keep it off the road."
They pushed and moved the ATV in the lush greenery. Steve watched Danny as he took the key and lifted the bags that were attached to the back of it and put them on his ATV.
"We don't have time to fix it." He said as he pulled out reflective tape from his bag and bit off a section of it. He then went to a tree and tied the tape around a branch.
Danny walked back to his ATV and turned it on. Steve just stood there watching his movements, not really sure what to think or do.
"Come on." Danny hollered to him.
Steve quickly hopped behind him on the ATV. He felt his lower abdomen tighten by being so close to Danny's backside. He took a deep breath and looked where to hold onto.
Nothing was said as Danny grabbed Steve's hands and pulled them around his waist. Steve was caught off guard and his stomach felt full of butterflies as he continued to grasp Danny's waist as Danny's hands clutched onto the handlebars. Steve's fingers twitched in small movements along Danny's midsection, feeling the fabric that hid Danny's abs and chest.
Steve's thoughts turned to his conversations he had with Kono and Chin earlier that morning. Wouldn't it be better to keep these feelings from Danny? It certainly would be safer. Steve wouldn't have to worry about being hurt or awkward around Danny, and they could carry on, as friends and as partners.
But would he even allow himself to do that? Or did he have to worry about his feelings getting out of hand, gaining fervor and eventually boiling over, spilling everything to Danny in some embarrassing situation?
But, what if Chin and Kono were right? What if Danny just so happened to feel the same way? Steve went on to think about a life he could have with Danny. Eating breakfast together. Being able to stroke his sun kissed skin, kiss it.
And…
Being able to satisfy him endlessly.
Being satisfied day in and day out himself.
The thought sent shivers down his spine and a heat grew in Steve's cheeks as the cool wind whisked along his face. Steve had to forget about it. Surely, Danny didn't feel the same way. He can't expect Danny to feel the same way. For hell's sakes, they were partners, best friends. He was Danny's leader, his boss. Steve couldn't put Danny in a situation of awkwardness just because he had a silly school girl crush on him. That would be bad, emotionally and publicly for them, the team, and the Governor. For all Steve knew, Danny probably had a girlfriend, or at least a friend with benefits. They hadn't talked much about each other's love life's recently, mainly because of their busy schedules, but anyone who ended up with Danny would be lucky.
They rode on and Steve pushed those thoughts out of his head. He needed to focus on the task at hand, on the case. The man they were after hadn't had any priors, and yet he had jumped to such crimes as homicide and illegal gun dealing. It didn't make sense. There must be something more to it than what the present evidence suggested.
Eventually, they caught up to Chin and Kono. They all stopped about a mile and a half from the suspect's cabin, as they had agreed, as to not arouse suspicion. They would hike in quickly but quietly.
"Where did you guys go?" Kono asked Steve slyly.
"No where. My ATV's belt snapped and Danny was nice enough to give me a ride." Steve patted Danny's shoulder.
"You guys were looking kind of cozy there." Kono pushed with a smile. Steve shot her a glare and glanced at Danny, seeing a little pink hue rise in his cheeks as Danny turned to back to the ATV they rode and open the bags.
What was that? Steve thought, his eyebrows furrowing as he continued to look at Danny. Chin handed him a vest pulling him out of his thoughts. He placed the vest on himself and looked around. Trees towered over them and a coolness hung in the air as Steve looked further into the forested area. Steve smiled at the thought of hiking and trekking through the woods, for he loved it. It reminded him of the days when he was trained vigorously by hiking on the toughest trails available to the SEAL's along with running on the beaches, underwater training and many other courses they were put through.
Steve looked back to his team just as they were finishing gearing up.
"He shouldn't expect us, but if he is expecting us, he can become dangerous. The plan is to just get in, get out and take him in." Steve said to them placing an ear piece in his ear.
Everyone nodded in agreement.
"Okay, I'll lead and Kono, place third. Chin's second and Danny's last. Is that okay?"
Everyone nodded once more.
Steve turned to Danny. "Hey, I know you're sore. Will you be okay?" Steve asked.
Danny looked up at him as he tightened a strap across his abdomen. He winced slightly at his sore muscles.
"Yeah, I'm good. I might be a little slow but I'll try to keep up."
Steve smiled. "Just say something if we go too fast. And that goes for everyone." He said to Kono and Chin.
"What, you don't think we can keep up with you?" Kono asked with a smile. "You think we're that outta shape?"
They all shared a chuckle.
"Nah, I know you guys can keep a good pace. We all good?" Steve asked. Everyone nodded. So they set out, with Steve going first.
For about 15 minutes, they jogged, leapt over logs, ducked below branches, and weaved in and out of the trees. Then, finally, Steve spotted the cabin down the ravine between several trees. He stopped and squatted, heaving and breathing in the cool mountain air.
The rest of the team paused leaning against the trees. They were all breathing pretty hard, too. Steve looked to Danny to see how he was doing. With every breath, the man winced slightly at his sore muscles. His skin slightly glistened in the shade from the running and some of his blond hair strands had escaped from their usual slicked back style but he still looked wonderful with his shirt sleeves rolled up. Steve could see a bit of his chest hair peeking out of his shirt and bullet proof vest. Steve shook himself from his thoughts of playing with Danny's chest hair his fingers and focused on the job at hand.
"Okay, approach quickly with caution and try to keep low." he whispered.
They nodded and started toward the small cabin on the side without windows. They moved as quickly and quietly as they could. They finally reached the cabin and sneaked to the front door. Danny and Steve knelt by the door. Kono took her position next to Steve and Chin by Danny.
"5-0, open up!" Steve shouted.
No one answered.
"5-0!"
Still no answer.
All of a sudden Steve heard footsteps around the back of the cabin. "He's going around back!" He quickly jumped over the railing to the steps leading up to the cabin and took off around the back of the cabin.
He heard the rest of the team enter the cabin as he ran through bushes and shrubbery. He saw a small figure in black. The figure glanced behind its back and kept running. Steve followed him for about 80 more yards when the figure dashed around a bend around.
Next thing Steve knew as he was making his way around the wall of rock, he had been hit in the back with some kind of object, knocking the wind out of him. He staggered as he felt an arm grab him around his neck and a damp cloth was put to his mouth and nose. Steve struggled in the hold, trying to grab at the arm around his neck as the scent wafted into his nose. It was strong, ether-like, and sweet smelling.
Chloroform.
A forced relaxation set upon him immediately. He felt his consciousness start to go as he felt the lack of restrain around his neck. The last thing Steve saw was the blurry world around him as he fell to the ground, and everything around him went dark.
