Chapter 4: Hit The Ground Running

The hospital was a buzz with activity when Steve and Danny arrived. HPD had swarmed in as soon as Chin had made the call. They found the girls parents in the waiting room and still no word on the girls condition.

"When did she go missing?" Steve asked of a detective that had been assigned to the missing person's case.

"They reported it as soon as she didn't come home from school yesterday," the detective answered. "The amber alert went out right away."

"I was aware of the Amber alert," Steve said with a nod.

"And did you find anything suspicious in your investigation into the disappearance?" Danny jumped into the questioning.

"The school has surveillance cameras out front and we saw her leaving but nothing else," the detective answered with a shrug. "It all happened so fast."

"No suspicious vehicles or people lurking around the school?" Danny continued suspiciously. "Did you talk to teachers, parents, administration. They would know because they would see everything day in and day out. Things like that would stand out."

"We hadn't gotten that far, Detective." The man answered indignantly. "School was back in sessions early this morning, and then the body was found and we were called here."

"So what did you see on the surveillance?" Steve asked as he could see Danny was already nearing blow up status.

"At the end of the day, all there is to be seen are cars and people," The detective spat. "And whatever extracurricular activities that were happening, happened after she allegedly went missing."

"We're just trying to be thorough," Steve jumped in before Danny could go on the defensive.

"Well I guess it doesn't matter now. It's Five-O's case and we will be turning everything over to you. My department will be in touch," The man huffed and walked away.

"Damn right it is!" Danny stated under his breath before turning his attention to the parents who had been brought in to the hospital.

"Who could do such a thing?" the mother sobbed as she clung to her husband.

"Pure evil, ma'am," Steve answered. "But we're very lucky your daughter is a fighter. She may be able to help us catch this guy."

"He's done this before, hasn't he?" The father questioned.

"We believe so, yes." Danny answered.

"I remember the reports on the news, but it seems so long ago now," The father said sadly. "And you never imagine it ever happening to you."

"What can we do to help?" the mother piped in as she breathed deeply and set her resolve.

"We just need some information and when your daughter wakes up we will need to talk to her," Steve explained. "If she's feeling up to that."

"You mean, if she wakes up," the woman whispered.

"I have to have hope that she will pull through," Danny commented optimistically though he wasn't really feeling it. "She fought too hard to give up now."

"What do you want to know?" The father asked as he straightened up and gave his wife a reassuring glance.

"Have you heard anything of her condition yet?" Steve began.

"Yes, there was one doctor who came to tell us they would do surgery to clear her lungs and they were treating her to counter act the chemicals in her body," the man answered and continued. "She was having scans and test to monitor the damage but she'd been sedated to keep her from waking. They called it a medically induced coma."

"So had she come back to consciousness?" Danny asked.

"They didn't say," the man shook his head.

"I'm sure they are doing everything that they can," Steve added with a nod and then waited through a moment that was far too long and awkward. He broke the silence by speaking again. "Did your daughter walk the same route to and from school every day?"

"Yes. It was a planned route we'd set her on since she was little, and she walked it everyday unless we picked her up," the mother answered.

"Could you draw the route for us?" Danny queried as he held out his note pad.

The father nodded and took the pad of paper and sketched out the two and a half block route, complete with street names, the number of houses and driveways, and then handed the pad back to Danny.

"Can you track her in two blocks?" the father asked almost helplessly.

"If there aren't cameras that can track her on her walk home, I will personally walk the route and knock on every door to see if any one has seen anything that might help us," Danny vowed.

The family nodded their understanding and fell silent once more.

"My thoughts and prayers are with you and your daughter, and I will do everything in my power to see to it that this evil person doesn't do this ever again," Steve added comfortingly.

"Thank you," they replied in unison.

Danny and Steve walked away from the couple and stopped in the doorway before heading into a quiet hallway away from the officers and nurses who scurried about.

"Are you ready to tackle this?" Danny asked as he turned to face his partner.

"Are you?" Steve's look was full of concern.

"I've got what I came for. We have work to do," Danny answered and passed by Steve and headed down the hallway toward the exit. "There is no time to lose on this one, especially if the news gets out that she lived."

"Hey, wait for me," Steve called as he had to rush to catch up. "Why are you in such a hurry. Kono and Chin are on this from their end. Just take a breath, compose yourself and let's be smart."

"We need to move quickly because every moment this monster is free is a moment another child could be snatched up. We have to go now and we have to put the schools on high alert," Danny said with great passion and haste.

"Where are we going?" Steve asked as he stepped in front of Danny to stop him and held out his hands to demand the keys to the Camaro.

"The girls school," Danny answered and handed over the keys. "We're going to retrace her steps." he added and raised his phone to his ear.

"Who are you calling?" Steve continued his questioning and fell into stride with Danny.

"Toast," Danny answered and carried on in haste.