"What are you saying?" he said slowly.
She swallowed. "I think that someone came here to look for information on the case. I can't think of why though. Or who?" she asked.
He turned away, beginning to pace. "Someone who knew you from your last year on the circuit, was jealous of you and James, and knew that you had the case files. They probably wanted the files, knew that it was to hard to break into HQ and saw you take them home."
"You think that someone I knew from surfing was involved in the trafficking case?"
"It's possible. I think that I'll call Danny and Chin and have them come work with the HPD guys." He turned to walk out of her bedroom, dialing Danny. "Pack up the rest of your stuff and head on down to the car. I think you're falling asleep on your feet."
It was true. Her eyes had started to flutter shut and she was leaning against the bureau. She simply nodded and took the bag into the bathroom as he updated Danny. He watched as she walked past him towards the car. Once she was gone, he went around moving everything back to where it had been when they entered.
He then walked out and started to the stairs.
Kono was sitting part way down, her head against the railing.
"Kono!" he called, terror ripping through him. He ran down the steps, stopping to kneel on the step in front of her. He looked up into her down turned face. She had tears running down her cheeks and her hair had fallen forward to shield her face.
He placed his hand on her cheek, raising her face to look at him. Her head was limp in his hand. She wasn't even trying to hold it up. She took a gasping, raspy breath as she tried not to cry.
"I can't do it," she stuttered through her tears. "Steve, I can't do it. I can't move."
"It's okay, it's okay," he said. "I'll carry you down and we'll go home, okay?"
"Okay," she said.
He let her lay back against the railing again. "I'm just going to grab the bag…" He threw the bag over his shoulder and then moved closer to her. He moved her body so that one arm was around his neck and her head was lying against his. Then he slipped one arm around her back and the other under her knees. He lifted her in one smooth motion and began to go to the car.
It was surprisingly easy. For such a strong woman, she was remarkably small and light. What he liked most though, was how toned she was. She was the type of person that people avoid in the gym. And she was tall. He liked tall women.
Not that he thought of her that way.
They reached the truck and he used the hand under her knees to open the door. She didn't seem to notice and he gently set her in the passenger seat. When he pulled away enough to look at her face, he realized that she had fallen asleep. She was completely dead to the world in barely a minute.
He smiled down at her. She was beautiful. No, she was gorgeous. Her face twitched as she slept and he tried not to laugh. He pulled the seat belt across her, gently buckling it. Then he shut the door quietly and went around to his side. He slipped the duffle in between the seats and then shut the door again, leaning back against it.
A minute later Danny and Chin appeared, followed by a HPD squad car. Steve stood to meet them. He told them what they had found and what they thought so far. Danny went up to start bagging and tagging with the HPD guys. Steve and Chin stayed to talk by the cars.
"She told you about James?" Chin asked.
"Yeah."
"Jeez, she hasn't ever talked about it, not with anyone. Only a little with me. And that's not to say I didn't try, brah."
"Well it was relevant."
"Yeah I guess," Chin allowed. "How she doing?"
"She's exhausted. Couldn't make it down the stairs and fell asleep when I carried her down. She's sleeping now. I'm going to take her home and put her in a real bed, let her sleep for a while."
"Good idea." Chin went over to look in the window at his baby cousin. He laughed slightly.
"What?" Steve asked.
"No matter how old she gets, when I see her sleeping, she still looks like my little cousin. Something innocent about her face when she's sleeping."
Steve smiled. "I know what you mean. Same thing with Mary."
Chin smiled, then turned serious. "I'm glad she's staying with you. If anyone can take care of her, it's you."
"But?" Steve said.
"But if you make a move on her, I will come down on you like a ton of bricks."
"I kind of guessed that all ready."
Chin laughed. "Yeah, I guess so. I just am still kind of protective of her."
"I was that way with Mer. Before we shipped back to the main land. She was only in junior high, but the way those guys looked at her…" He shook his head. "When we were getting on different planes, I told her to take care of herself and be smart. I don't think she understood what I was saying at the time."
"But you tried."
"Yep. Don't think it worked."
"If there was something between you and Kono - "
"There isn't," Steve said.
"Yeah, but if there was. If she wanted it, she would tell me to leave you guys alone. But if you ever hurt her I would come after you. Got it?"
"Chin there's nothing between us." Chin glared at him. "Got it."
"Okay. Now get her home. She deserves to sleep in a real bed for a while."
"Yep. See ya, brah." He got in the car as Chin went up to the apartment.
As Steve turned on the engine and went down the driveway to the main road, he glanced over at Kono. Her face really was innocent as she slept. It was sweet and gentle. It didn't show any evidence of the tough as nails woman she was when she was awake. He liked to see her so calm and relaxed for once.
And he realized that he hadn't said he wasn't going to make a move.