A/N: Just a short chapter this time. Thought I'd go ahead and post. (By the way, I'm well into it, but not finished writing this one. Made me a little nervous to go ahead and put it out there, but I did, so now I'm committed. If you have any comments, ideas, let me know). Thanks for reading!
Disclaimer: Again, I do not own anything that is a proper noun (even though I would love to own a Camaro SS... midlife crisis and all... one day). No copyright infringement intended.
The vehicles left the area where Steve had been dumped on the road, both headed in the same direction but for different destinations. Danny's car pulled off the road when they arrived at the abandoned shell of a building. Chin's Mustang kept going, bound for the city. Lou's black SUV and a white HPD Crime Scene Unit van were parked where Danny's Camaro had been earlier that evening. He pulled in beside the vehicles and saw Lou walking towards them as they were getting out.
"Hey guys, how's McGarrett?"
"Just a little banged up but I think he'll be fine… man of steel and all," Danny quipped.
Kono added, "Chin's taking him to Queen's to run some tests, see if anything's broken or what not. What have you got here? Find anything?"
"Good to hear he's alright. CSU just got started, so nothing yet. But come on… I'll show you where we're at." Lou waved his hand in the direction of the lights on the other side of the building. Danny and Kono followed Lou toward the place Danny had been not long before. Familiarity caused a pang of unease to ripple through him.
Lou and the CSU had found the candlelit room and were concentrating their investigation where the attack against Steve must have occurred. Danny and Kono let Lou lead the way as they entered the room. High wattage halide light carts, running off generator power, brightly lit the once dim area. A pair of technicians had just begun to diligently process the scene for evidence.
Lou approached one of the techs that was coveting his attention and spoke in an indiscernible volume as Danny rested his thumbs in his belt at his sides as he pivoted 180 degrees and then back again to absorb the room's atmosphere in a way he couldn't before. It didn't feel like the same place. The brightness took away the eeriness. Kono looked at him intently noticing he was not his loquacious self. She went up to him and placed a hand on his arm. "Everything okay, boss?"
A slight grin crossed his face with the intent of easing Kono's concerns and disguising his internal struggling. "Uh, yeah. Just wish I could've caught that bastard." He offered something to conceal his true turmoil.
Kono was more perspicacious than that. "You know, it wasn't your fault. Steve chose the divide and conquer strategy. It was absolutely feasible for the situation."
"Yeah. You're right." He kept his comments uncharacteristically succinct, believing the best strategy to alleviate the awkwardness he felt was to pander to her. She, in truth, had not convinced Danny at all, so he immersed himself with what made him comfortable, the investigation.
After a few moments of studying the scene, he left the tedious work to the technicians and exited the room without a word to Lou or Kono. Once outside, he took advantage of the solitude to revisit his thoughts that he had started in the car chase. In his mind, he started at the beginning, recalling as much detail as would come to him. The notion that had revealed itself to him earlier that evening reemerged.
Kono came out of the room looking for Danny, just in time to see him walking away. She could tell something was still eating at him and thought she should probably follow him to see where he was going. He headed toward the breezeway.
"Danny?" Kono ventured.
There was no response, verbal or gestured. Deciding to forego a more audible hail, she picked up her pace and then jogged in the direction he had gone. His determined demeanor made it obvious to her that he had something on his mind. He had made the turn around the corner and out of her sight. As she rounded the corner she saw Danny headed up the nearest stairway. He had his flashlight on since this side of the building was not lit by the generated spotlights. She caught up to him as he passed several doors and stopped intentionally at a specific room.
"Danny?" She tried again.
This time Danny looked up to see Kono had joined him. His eyes glimmered in the glow of her flashlight. They each were very careful not to shine their beams directly in each other's eyes.
"Hey, Kono. I remembered something from earlier," feeling he needed to give an explanation of his quick retreat from the dedicated investigation area.
Kono's curiosity was stirred. She raised her eyebrows as a request for more information. "Go on…"
Danny put his left hand on the doorknob and shook his right finger toward the door. "I saw something in here as I was clearing this floor, and I'm not talking about the mouse." He turned the knob and pushed the door open.
Half expecting Kono to squeal or snarl her nose at the thought of a mouse running loose in this room, he was disappointed he didn't get that amusement. He should have known better. There wasn't much that scared or bothered her.
Danny led the way in and immediately saw what he was looking for. The partially burned candle was there. He confirmed that it appeared to be the same as the one in the room currently under investigation. "See, same candle." But it was the contents of the discarded food bag that he was interested in. He pulled a pair of black latex gloves out of his pocket and put them on as he approached the trash.
Kono crouched down at the candle to take a closer look. She agreed it seemed to be the same type. "Looks like we've found our secondary evidentiary location. We'll get CSU over here next."
"Mm hm." Danny's full attention was distracted as he carefully inspected the contents of the bag. He snarled up his nose in disgust. "Well, not a lot left." A very stale piece of hamburger bun was still in a Styrofoam container in the bottom. "We're lucky. Mickey didn't get it. He must not like Styrofoam."
She nodded in understanding. "Do they still use that stuff?"
"Guess some places do. At least it protected our evidence this time. Looks fairly recent. We need to get this to the lab for a possible DNA sample to run through CODIS. Maybe we'll find out who this son of a bitch is."
"Let's hope so." Kono was just as eager to find answers as Danny. She secured the trash in an evidence bag and went to let Lou in on what they had found.
Before CSU came to begin processing their new location, Danny did a cursory check of the room. He illuminated the floor, walls, and corners as best as possible looking for any other significant markings or items that may have been left by their perp. Having not found anything obvious, he left soon after Kono and made his way back to the far side of the building.
Danny glanced to the activity to his left then continued walking toward the pool area. He neared what looked to be an enclosure for concealing trash. It was also made of the same material as the upper floor railings, deteriorating, perforated concrete blocks. It was only about the height of an average trash bin so he was able to comfortably lean on it with his hands facing outward as he overlooked the space that once would have been an inviting swimming pool but now was a dark, gaping hole in jagged, broken concrete. In a nervous habit, he tapped his middle finger on the wall as he thought. An unsolicited inkling tugged at him.
He relinquished the support and stood upright, placing his hands on his hips. He took another quick look over to the lighted area where the investigation was centered. He was still the only one out here. The wind had calmed slightly but the drone of the ocean was undeviatingly resolute.
He huffed a breath as he involuntarily bent slightly at the waist with the expulsion of air to fuel his gumption and then conceded to his hunch. Daniel James Williams, this is crazy. His reasoning did not win out over his feeling. He stepped through the chain link gate of the fence surrounding the pool, the broken and rusty hinge squeaking in protest. He raised his flashlight to a higher angle as he neared the pool. His breaths were inexplicably coming quicker and were audible to his own ears. He systematically shined his light onto each square foot of the hollow. The incline of the bottom had created an accumulation of dark, algae covered rain water in one end. When his light made it to the other end, he saw what he didn't want to find.
Bitter bile rose in the back of his throat and he quickly turned and leaned over in case the contents of his stomach decided to make an appearance. He was able gain his composure and nothing came up. He slowly stood and turned and illuminated the spot again. This time, he crouched down and rubbed his forehead with his thumb and fingers, massaging his brain, trying to will his eyes to not see what they were seeing. The attempt was futile.
~to be continued~
A/N: Sorry to leave you hanging. I'll try to update soon.
