Troubled Waters IV

Disclaimer: I do not own Hawaii 5-0. That does not mean that the muse won't keep me up nights creating story ideas.

Thanks to everyone who has read my little tale. I hope you are enjoying it.

Chapter 4

Down on the beach, Grover had been starting to wade out to the boat when he heard the sound of a gunshot ring out. He heard tires squeal to a stop and reversed direction, rushing to the foot of the bluff. The climb up was difficult with a sore arm but the cries of a woman spurred him to make an effort to move faster. More squealing tires that were followed shortly by another shot had him pause before sticking his head above the edge of the cliff. He grabbed his gun and then rose up to see McGarrett being shoved into the passenger seat of a green car. As he took aim at the perp who was running around the front of the vehicle, the rock his left foot was on gave way forcing him to throw both arms out onto the edge to keep from falling. Managing to find another foothold he raised his gun but his target was now in the driver's seat and shutting the door. He fired anyway and struck the side view mirror.

With a heave he pulled himself up onto the top of the bluff and scrambled to his feet, running to the highway to shoot at the car that was disappearing north on the road. He fired three more rounds at the car, the final shot shattering the rear window but not stopping it. Swearing loudly he finally noticed the sound of the sirens closing in from the south and he saw the couple that were huddled near the bluff edge, holding onto each other tightly.

"Are you two okay?" he asked.

They nodded numbly, unable to find their voices. Two cruisers pulled up to park on the shoulder of the road as Chin's car stopped on the road.

"Green Ford Taurus, heading north. The rear window is blown out, blonde driver has an injured McGarrett with him," Lou said curtly, trying to brief them quickly. Chin nodded through the open window and gunned the engine to pursue. One of the cruisers followed them while two officers emerged from the other to help with this scene.

Going over to the couple, Lou saw a Coast Guard boat out beyond the Aigle De-Mer and he considered heading back down to the beach to fill in the men getting into a smaller boat. Before he could move, a black Camaro screeched to a halt next to the cruiser. Danny Williams was bolting out of the car almost before it was fully stopped and charging towards Grover.

"What the hell is going on Lou?" the shorter man demanded.

"Do you want the long version or the cliff notes?" Lou asked and then continued without waiting for an answer. "One bad guy escaped in this poor couple's car and he took a wounded McGarrett with him Chin, Kono and another cruiser are pursuing them to the north. The Coast Guard has arrived down in the bay to deal with the guy in the speedboat and the body on the beach."

Another cruiser pulled up just as he finished the briefing and Duke exited and joined them.

"If you two want to join the chase, I can handle this here," he offered. "Chin reported that they are in pursuit and could use more backup."

"Sounds good," Lou responded. "Looks like the Coast Guard is sending some men in a boat to check out the beach. There's a man on the boat that may or not be breathing. McGarrett took out the guy at the foot of the bluff," Grover filled him in quickly. "The perps took two duffels off the other boat and the guy who has McGarrett has the bags."

"Copy that" Duke acknowledged. "Go on, I'll deal with the Coast Guard and take these people's statements."

Without waiting for anything else to stop them, Danny and Lou ran to the Camaro. Lou barely had the door shut before Danny put the vehicle in motion and headed north.

"You two sure have an odd idea of how to go fishing. Didn't I warn you about going out on the water with Steve?" Danny asked as he stared straight ahead, pushing the Camaro to greater speed. "Looks like he managed to get you shot."

"This is just a scratch and I managed to get shot on my own," Lou replied, touching the already drying wound on his arm. "McGarrett was the one who didn't look too good when that guy shoved him in the car."

"That's nothing new with McGarrett," Dann6y acknowledged grimly. "I'll take that long version now," he added.

Grover nodded, knowing Williams was as worried as he was.

"Okay…McGarrett and I were enjoying our fishing trip when an expensive powerboat showed up and circled us. It was clearly checking us out and two of the three men did not fit your tourist vibe and a shoulder holster could be seen under one man's jacket. We decided to follow them when they moved on and saw they were alongside an older fishing boat that must have been their target. When shots were fired, we moved in and saw them take two bags off the boat. They noticed us and came at us and Steve went all Navy SEAL on them, damaging their engine," Lou related. "They ran for shore and we called the Coast Guard while pursuing them. McGarrett also had winged the boat driver and he ended up beaching the boat in that cove. We followed and ended up in a shootout on the beach."

Danny shook his head, unable to wipe the smile off his face.

"Well at least you weren't stranded in the middle of the ocean in a leaking dingy with sharks circling."

"No and before this whole mess started I managed to pull in two beauties and put them on ice. Two," Lou said proudly as he held up two fingers. "McGarrett does seem to know the good fishing spots. As I was told, your little adventure did result in a mighty fine catch as well."

"That it did," Danny agreed. His expression sobered. "If we don't get to Steve in time, I won't be able to razz him about that anymore. He always seems to find trouble with his fishing as well."

"We both decided to go after that boat. Those dudes set off our radar."

"What do you think is in those duffels?" Danny wondered.

"I'm thinking drugs or money, you know…the usual. We don't know what and won't until we find out if anyone is still alive on the other boat," Grover answered. "I'm hoping that if we can't catch up to the guy who has Steve, we can get some leads from that boat or the powerboat."

"We'll find Steve no matter what," Danny stated firmly. "He isn't going to let this creep get the better of him….wounded or not."

"I'm with you on that," Lou grunted as he rubbed his own wound gingerly. He wasn't greatly injured but it still stung and his wife was going to chew on him for the ruined shirt.

"Why don't you see if you can reach Kono and see how they are doing?"

*H 5-0*

Steve's abductor, Terrence Whitley, floored the accelerator and pulled his cellphone out of his pocket. He thumb dialed a contact number and waited.

"Hey Boss, we had some trouble. I've got the stuff but we were seen by some cops. Chuck is dead, I think and I don't know about Keo. I'm heading your way, I need help," he blurted out once the contact answered.

"Where are you?"

"I'm speeding up 93 towards Wal'anae as we speak with the goods and a wounded 5-0 guy," Terry growled.

"5-0? Are you crazy?" the voice demanded.

"I didn't have a choice. He's my insurance since his crew is chasing me. I'll lose them but I'm going to need help with this guy once I get to you."

"You had better not bring any cops here. Deliver my product and we'll deal with your 5-0 problem. I'm disappointed in you Terry. It should not have been so difficult to retrieve my property from Nohea."

"I didn't know 5-0 would be out fishing and stick their noses in where they don't belong," Whitley whined.

"Just get in here clean or you're dead," the voice ordered and ended the call.

In anger, Terrence tossed his phone at his silent prisoner, watching it hit Steve's thigh and fall to the floor. He could hear the sirens behind him and see flashing lights in the rear view mirror.

"You are screwing up my life," Terry growled at McGarrett and slammed his right arm out and back into Steve's chest, causing a low moan to escape the unconscious man.

Nearing the outskirts of Wal'anae, Terry encountered more traffic with merging side roads and he began to weave in and out of vehicles never slowing down. Amid the cars and trucks swerving to avoid him and the blare of horns, he managed to clip the fender of a smaller car and sending it spinning into an old pick up that couldn't get out of the way. Another car then slammed into the two vehicles and came to a stop blocking the entire road.

Observing the mess that was now between him and the pursuing police Terrence laughed in relief. He glanced at Steve, whose body had slipped down awkwardly in the seat because of the wild driving. McGarrett's right hand was still clutching at his bloody side, his knees jammed down on the floor.

"Aw…..did I forget to tell you to fasten your seat belt?" Terry chuckled at the wounded man. "You're looking pretty bad buddy and I don't think your friends are going to get to you in time now." He reached out poke Steve's face but got no response for his efforts. "It's probably it's a good thing you are out cold."

Slowing his speed and keeping watch for other police, he travelled a little further on 93 and then turned onto a side road. His boss had just expanded his operation to Oahu from Maui six months ago and had found a place that was out of the way to work from. Terry had made sure to memorize the rough roads that led to the hideout. He knew there were several ways in since the boss made sure he always had an escape route.

*H 5-0*

Lou placed the call to Kono and was greeted by a frustrated voice on the other end.

"We are on our way, have you caught up with this guy yet?" Lou asked.

"No," Kono growled. "The hotshot caused a three car pileup and it took precious time to get around it. We left the cruiser there to tend to the scene and get the ambulances on the way. We have lost sight of the Taurus."

"We are beyond Wal'anae and in the open now but there's no sign of it. We're almost to Makaha but I think he turned off," Chin added. "Duke gave us the Taurus' license number that he got from the Tanaka's and we have a BOLO out but that will take time."

"The old needle in a haystack story," Danny commented. "We will start checking side roads as soon as we pass the accident scene."

"Sounds good and we are going to double back and check in town. Someone may have noticed a car with a broken rear window," Kono replied. "Keep in touch."

"Will do," Lou told her and disconnected. "This is not good."

"Trouble magnet…..the man is a trouble magnet," Danny muttered under his breath. "I cannot believe that the man is incapable of taking a day off without ending up trying to right all the wrongs in the world."

"Do you think it is in McGarrett's DNA to behave any different?" Lou asked.

"No," Danny admitted. "Steven is a "plunge in first and worry about consequences later" kind of guy. It's made him a great Navy SEAL and a threat to my safety ever since we met."

"You don't mean that," Lou chided gently.

End chapter

Thank you for reading. I think that the muse is inspired so we shall see what happens next.