Chapter Four

Sarah Morrissey McGarrett looked around the beautiful lecture theatre in the prestigious Columbia University. This was a great day for her since she was delivering her first guest lecture as a PhD student, and this would go a long way to adding to her credits.

Her career was going from strength to strength. She had a great position as a lecturer at the University of Hawaii and once she completed her PhD she would be a firm candidate to become the Head of the English Literature Department.

Now if only her personal life was going as well.

The thought of her personal life seemed to drain the happiness and the high from delivering a great lecture out of her body. If anyone had told her a year ago that she would be on the verge of a divorce she would have laughed in their face.

No matter how much shit Steve had put her through, she had always been secure in her marriage. She had always known that her husband loved her and their family beyond any measure and he would give his life up for any of them, especially her. She had been completely confident in that knowledge. Until that fateful day when she had walked into her worse nightmare.

She had known she had not been giving Steve and her family as much attention as they were used to. She had been trying to put all her efforts into her thesis so she could get her PhD done before schedule. It had bothered her that the intimacy in her marriage had gone and it had been her fault.

But she had never expected Steve to find it outside their marriage. She had naively believed that they could talk it out, go on a vacation to rekindle the romance between them. She had wanted to spoil him for being such a great support system for her in terms of her career.

Sarah could still feel the blood rushing through her ears when she had walked into Steve's office without knocking…

Sarah couldn't hide the smile on her face. This would drive Steve wild! He had once jokingly told her that he'd had a fantasy that she would come to his office, dressed in nothing but a trench coat and she had joked that no one in Hawaii wore a trench coat.

Well here she was, not naked underneath, but she had just gone and bought some very sexy lingerie. She blushed every time she passed someone by. She trembled nervously and checked her make up in the glass in the elevator. She had done up her eyes and wore a scarlet lipstick that she knew Steve loved.

She walked out of the elevator and down the corridor toward the Five – O office and to his office. She knew no one was there since she had called Kono and made sure the boys were out. The last thing she wanted to do was embarrass all of them and herself!

She reached Steve's door, the blinds inside were down so she couldn't see him inside. She took a big breath, and pushed the door open, a smile on her face.

Her smile froze as she tried to open her mouth to say something, but nothing came out. Her whole body was frozen in shock and a piercing shaft of pain went through her belly. Her lungs contracted and she forgot to breathe, cold sweat beaded her upper lip and forehead.

Her beautiful, handsome husband whom she loved with everything she had, was in the middle of a very passionate kiss with none other than his former lover Catherine Rollins.

As she stood stationary on the doorstep, the first thought in her head was to flee since they had not noticed her yet. She literally wanted to pinch herself, because this could not be real!

She took in the sight of Catherine leaning against the desk, Steve supporting her with his arm around her waist while he held her face with the other.

She must have made a sound because they both stopped and turned toward the door. For a brief second they didn't register her presence, then Steve pushed Catherine aside and started to speak.

"Don't say anything Steve" Sarah found her voice and before he could say anything, she turned and ran down the hall, in her impossibly high heels. She could hear him running after her and she knew if she didn't ditch her heels he would catch her. So she kicked off her sexy red stilettoes that she had bought for tonight and didn't bother picking them up.

"Sarah" Steve yelled after her. She managed to get to the lift and watched as the doors closed just as he came closer. But she wasn't as lucky, Steve managed to insert himself into the elevator, his breath coming fast like hers.

"Get away from me, Steve. I don't want to see your face ever again" she screamed loud enough for the building to hear but thankfully it was late at night and only security was around. She turned away from him and when she felt his hands take hold of her shoulders, she flinched then shrugged him off, not being able to stomach his hands on her, "Don't touch me with your filthy hands!"

"Sarah, baby I am so sorry" he said, his voice breaking as if he was trying not to break down. Well too damn bad!

"You're sorry you got caught, you bastard! I should have known why you were working late nights so often now that Catherine was back" she kept her back to him, not wanting to look at him.

Thankfully the doors opened and she stumbled out, grateful when Steve caught her elbow. Then she remembered who he was and shrugged him off again. "I said don't touch me". She didn't know how but she got to her car and got in, started and screeched out of the parking lot. She had no idea where she was going but she couldn't go back home.

Her precious home that had been full of loving memories of her life with Steve was now ruined. He had thrown it all away and she could never forgive him for that. She found herself driving down to Ala Moana Beach Park, where she sat in her car and cried her eyes out.

Sarah came out of her painful memories when her cell phone rang, it was Sylvie's number on her caller id. "Hi sweetie, where are you?"

"Hi mom. I'm at the front desk but I don't know what room you're in" she said sounding out of breath.

Once Sarah told her the room number she pulled out the tin of chocolate covered macadamia nuts her daughter liked so much as well as other things that were in the care package Sky had put together for her older sister. It had postcards of Oahu, a pair of flip flops, some Kona coffee beans and other stuff that was hard to find here in New York.

She smiled as she pulled out the framed photograph of the four girls that Sky had had enlarged from the original that was placed on one of the living room side tables back home. The twins were identical, the only physical difference their hair, Sky had a long black French braid and Sierra sported a red bob. Sierra also had the sassy attitude to match that hair, although these days the sassiness was being manifested into something else. Something that as a parent scared the hell out of her. Stephie sat in Sylvie's lap holding a beer bottle in salute.

They had taken this picture when they had borrowed Jay's boat and gone sailing. Grace and her boyfriend at the time along with Danno had joined them as well and they'd had such a blast.

There was a knock on the door and knowing it was Sylvie she opened the door. "Hi there lovely" she took in the sight of her second daughter. Sylvie stood at a proud five feet eleven and looked like a young gangly model, with her ripped super skinny jeans, topped with a loose white t – shirt and trendy bolo hat. She wore biker boots and her hair was an artful messy tangle down her back.

"Hi Mom!" Sarah was enveloped in a tight hug, then lifted off her feet.

"Put me down! You'll give yourself a hernia!" Sarah yelled as they both laughed at the same time. Sylvie had always been the crazy one, her laugh was a loud cackle, she could belch out the national anthem and swore like a sailor. Her young daughter was unapologetic in the way she lived her life, like a bohemian living on the bare minimum as a student studying art and supporting herself by sitting in Central Park as a portrait artist and selling her work. The only time Sarah had ever seen her being judgemental was when she had found out what had happened with Steve.

"Women don't get hernias" Sylvie said as she put her down, "You look good. I think you need to get out of Oahu, get a job at a university up here".

"And what about the twins?" Sarah asked as they moved into the room. Sylvie dumped her weekend bag on the first double bed and flopped onto it, her arms spread eagled and her hair flying around her to settle in a dark halo around her head.

"There are plenty of schools here and we'll be close to Nanny and Pop" she closed her eyes.

"And what about your father?"

Sylvie breathed heavily then opened her eyes, sitting up and leaning back on her hands, her blue gaze so much like Steve's, "He made his bed the day he decided he wanted to give up his family for a piece of ass".

"Sylvie! He is your father, show him some respect" In spite of everything, Sarah hated it that her kids, who loved their dad, adored him and worshipped him, couldn't stand him anymore. Steve may have cheated on her and he may have fallen out of love with her, but he would always love his children.

Sylvie snorted, pulling her boots off to reveal holey socks, a bright blue toenail peaking from one, "He lost my respect, the day he cheated on you".

"But he is your father and you need to forgive him" Sarah tried her best to make her see that no matter what he was still her father.

Sylvie pointedly asked, "Have you forgiven him?" and when Sarah didn't answer, "I thought so". She got off the bed, walking toward the mini bar, "The day you decide that dad has atoned for his sins and he is worthy of our forgiveness, then I will forgive him too. Until then, he is public enemy number One" she bit into a chocolate.

Sarah decided to drop the topic, "Okay enough of the depressing stuff. Tell me, have you found any one special? What happened to that French fellow you met in your Dutch Masters class?"

"Oh we went out for a coffee and dinner a couple of times, but then when he realised that I was not one of the artists who slept around, he decided to drop me. Further adding to my conclusion that men are douche bag idiots who only think with the brains that reside in their pants" she had found the can of the chocolate macadamias by now and started munching them. "So what should we do? Wanna help me shop? I have to attend this opening night for one of our sculpting professors at some swanky gallery and I have nothing to wear".

Sarah recognised the change of topic as a ploy for her proud daughter to not reveal her heartache so she didn't pursue it. "So that's why you wanted to see me. You needed me to buy you a dress!"

She smiled her mischievous smile and winked at her mother, "What else are mothers for?"

"Oh shut up! Let's go. I'm having dinner with my mentor tomorrow and he wants to introduce me to some people, so I can do with a new dress as well".

-X-

Stephie came into the living room, going through the mail and checking to see if anything had been forwarded to her. She was nervously waiting on her acceptance into Law School and hoped that this would be the week she would hear from them. However, no such luck today.

"Sky? Sierra?" she called to get the girls to come in for lunch. They were supposed to all go Christmas shopping with Grace.

The doorbell rang and when she answered it, Grace was standing there, her little boy Danny Jr. on her hip, his white blonde hair shining in the sun. "Hi, you girls ready?"

They hugged and the baby was automatically transferred to her, "I just had lunch on the table but the girls are nowhere to be seen. I think they're still outside".

"Let's just take the lunch out. I haven't had a day off in ages and I don't want to waste it". She sounded a little grumpy and it was understandable. Being a cop wasn't easy and being Detective Danny Williams' daughter was not easy either. And to top it off, her husband was an Assistant District Attorney. There were expectations set on Grace that she had to deal with always and it took a toll on her.

"So how has work been?" Stephie asked as she followed Grace onto the lanai, with baby Daniel on her hip. Grace carried out the platter of sandwiches and bowl of salad. When she spotted the girls sunning themselves, she yelled out their names loudly. Daniel covered his ears making Stephie laugh, "Your mommy's got a loud voice!"

"Work's been crazy, but I just closed a case so that's satisfying" she sat down and dug into a sandwich. "Stephie, could you please bring Daniel's bag so I can feed him".

The twins finally got to the table, Sierra nursing yet another hangover. After lunch they all headed to Ala Moana Shopping centre. It was a good day over all, with quite a bit of shopping getting done so that they had time enough to relax in a café outside Nordstrom and have a coffee.

On the table next to them a very good looking man, albeit built like a steroid laden brick house, sat and smiled at us. Sierra, who was sitting in front of me, batted her eye lashes and gave him a flirty wave. "Do you know him?" I asked her, curiously.

"No. But he is hot" she muttered, "Look at those arms" she sighed.

"He looks like an over grown ox with those muscles" Grace muttered as she fed Danny a piece of her cup cake. Stephie and Sky laughed at that, which seemed to piss off sierra.

"I don't care what you guys think, he looks amazing! I can just imagine what he'll be like in bed" she said saucily, causing Sky to choke on her tea.

"Sierra!" Stephie scolded. "Watch what you say!"

"Hey, at least I'm not a prude" she said as she smiled at the guy again, who by this stage had gotten up and was leaving, as he smiled back at her and left something on the table. Sierra grabbed it as soon as he left and squealed with delight, "He left me his phone number".

"Which you will not be calling. You're only fifteen years old!" Stephie scolded again, knowing it was not going to help.

"I'll be sixteen next month and I'm not a baby that I need you to look after me" she replied back rudely again.

They stopped arguing when Grace declared it was time to head home, because baby Daniel needed a nap.

That night, Stephie got a call from Sylvie and they talked a little, then she called her father to ask what time he would be home so she could have dinner ready for him. He informed her that he would be working pretty much all night on an urgent case and was not sure what time he would be back.

After a nice relaxing bath Stephie read for a while and then went to bed.

A scratching sound woke her up and she checked the clock beside her, the time flashed 3:30 am. Dad must be home, so she got up and went down the stairs. When they were younger, the house had been given an extension to accommodate all of them and the twins had been given a room to share unlike Stephie and Sylvie.

When she reached the kitchen she expected to see her father, but she didn't find anyone. She walked to the door leading to the lanai, but that was shut as well. She was sure she heard someone moving around the house, so she thought to check the windows, maybe one of them was open and the neighbour's cat came in.

All the downstairs windows were shut, so she checked the bedroom windows. Sure enough Sierra's window was open and there was no sign of her in her room. She should have known, her baby sister was going to pull something like this sometime. She left her room and looked across where Sky slept and her door was open. When she went to check on her, she was shocked to find that the bed was not slept in.

"Sky?" she called. This was so not like her. Sky was the responsible one and she would never sneak off the way Sierra did.

Just then her cell phone rang from the vicinity of her own room. She ran and caught it just in time. "Hello?" it was an unknown number.

"Stephie, you gotta help us" came the frightened voice of Sky.

Stephie felt cold sweat trickle down her back, soaking her t-shirt. "Sky? Where are you?" in her panic, she started to pace.

"I'm sorry Stephie, but Sierra convinced me to come with her to meet that guy" she said between sobs.

"Guy? What guy? And who's number are you calling from?"

"The guy from Ala Moana who sat next to us today. The muscle guy" she finished on another shaky sob.

"Okay calm down Sky. What has happened?" she asked, praying for calm herself. She could not help her sisters if she was a wreck herself.

"I don't know where I am. But Sierra is lying next to me and she isn't moving" she wailed and then there was a harsh voice followed by a thump and a scream.

"Sky? Sky? Baby you there?" Stephie put her on speaker phone and started to shove her legs into jeans and put on a bra. "Baby I'm gonna get Daddy. Don't worry everything will be okay" she wasn't even sure if Sky could hear her, but she had to keep talking.

"Yeah you better hurry bitch. Or these two little sluts are dead" came a man's voice. There was nothing sinister about his voice, it sounded normal and it did not match the sinister threat.

"Who is this?" she asked as she ran down the stairs and grabbed the Jeep keys.

"Give your daddy a message" he paused, "He has something of mine and if I don't get it in the next five hours, his precious little babies will be gone forever. You will never find even a speck of them" he said and disconnected the phone.

Stephie didn't waste time and called her father. He answered sounding distracted. "Dad, listen carefully. Sky and Stephie have been kidnapped. I just got a call from the man who has taken them".

Her father's voice, when he spoke sounded cold as ice, "What do you mean kidnapped?" Stephie quickly explained everything to him. When she started to cry he spoke to her, "Honey, you just stay at home and wait for us, everything will be okay. Have you called your mom?"

"No. Dad he said you have something of his" she said as she waited impatiently for the light to turn green. "What do you think he means?"

"I'm not sure. But we'll find out" she listened to her father and for the first time in forever she felt real fear. Her family's breakup and the nightmare of their parents' split was nothing compared to the prospect of losing both her baby sisters.

"I'll send you the number from which the call was made, that might help" she told him.

"Okay baby. Get the gun from my bedside drawer and load it. You remember your lesson?" he asked her, reminding her of all the times he had taken her and Sylvie to the gun range.

"Yes, I remember"

"Good. Stay put and we're coming"

"Come soon, dad. I love you"

"Love you too, baby"

This was her father, Commander Steve McGarrett, he was an ex SEAL, head of the Five-O department. He could do anything. And in this case he had to.

With this thought, Stephie sat and waited.