The Joker is Wild VII

Disclaimer: I do not own Hawaii 5-0. This story does not make me any money, I only hope it brings in reviews.

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Chapter 7

Baxter had thought his escape out very carefully. He had known that the heavier traffic would give him an advantage in his cat and mouse game. He parked the truck on the third floor of the ramp, put his rifle in a case and left the truck unlocked. It had been wiped down before the shooting and Baxter had worn a double set of latex gloves during the whole event. Hurrying to the stairwell, he took the steps two at a time as he headed upward the remaining two flights, exiting on the top level. Trying to look as casual as possible, he headed for a late model dark blue BMW sedan. With a key fob from his pocket, he popped the trunk and stowed the rifle inside. Closing the trunk, Baxter then tossed the truck keys into pile of trash laying nearby and reached into a side pocket of his cargo pants, pulling out a grey polo. Shrugging out of his red T-shirt, he pulled the polo over his head and got into the driver's seat of the BMW. He stuffed the T-shirt into the glove compartment along with his ball cap and the gloves. He retrieved a second ball cap out of another pocket and pulled it low over his eyes. After all that he gripped the steering wheel and shook as the rage he had bottled up inside finally broke free.

Another failure! Kelly was still alive and he had barely escaped from McGarrett's pursuit. This had never happened before, his previous kills had been flawless, perfect. This task force had proved to be much trickier to take down than any of his former targets.

The wail of sirens brought him out of his self-pity party and reminded him his escape wasn't a done deal. Securing his seat belt he carefully drove down the ramp, trying not to look in a hurry. The officer that had manned the position at the ramp exit was watching for a dark green Toyota or a person in a red T-shirt leaving the ramp. He wasn't prepared to question a man in a BMW with a Rainbow Warriors cap who politely asked what the trouble was after paying his fee. The young man even offered that he might have seen someone walking down the entrance ramp. With a wave, Baxter drove away.

Congratulating himself for pulling off an easy escape, Baxter drove away, smiling when he passed McGarrett's truck and headed out of Honolulu following every rule of the road as he headed to Makakilo City. Eddington liked living a comfortable distance from where he carried out his shootings, just as he did not like getting too close to make his kills. His new residence was perfect and he reveled in the solitude that the bungalow he had rented provided. Now he could plan his next mission, taking out Capt. Lou Grover. It was time to stop failing.

*H 5-0*

Tem minutes was all the time McGarrett was willing to give to cruising the area. He circled back and parked near the ramps as Kahala called to inform them they had found the truck but not the driver.

"You do know our Joker had an escape plan fully thought out," Lou stated disappointedly.

"I know but he has to be caught on camera somewhere. We have the ramp cameras as well as street ones…..something has to have an image we can use," Steve asserted. They waked towards the ramp.

"I'll call Renee, seems I won't be home for a while. Maybe I should send her and the kids to Chicago until this is wrapped up. Renee's mom has been asking for them to visit. Our guy doesn't back off a target so they are safer away from here."

"That makes perfect sense. How difficult a sell will that be?" Steve asked as they headed up to the third level of the parking ramp.

"Visiting her folks is my ace in the hole…..no pun intended," Lou said pulling out his phone. By the time they reached the third level, Lou had the trip to Chicago sold to Renee who was making the arrangements.

"Grab a squad right away and get your family packed and on that plane," Steve told Lou as they walked toward the Toyota truck. "I'll deal with this truck and then go back to HQ to go through the video feeds. Get them on a plane and then join me. We will find this bastard before he fires another shot."

"And how much longer before your cards show up? You are not safe either. He doesn't seem to care if he's succeeded before he alerts his next target," Lou pointed out. "It will be an ace of spades most likely."

"Good guess," Steve said with a small smile. "Our Joker likes to work fast but he's lost more than he's won lately. I figure my cards will be here sooner rather than later. He's going to become more unpredictable since he has never failed like this in the past. It's good your family is leaving."

"You are not making me feel better," Lou grumbled.

"At least my people are still breathing, I call that a win," McGarrett said as they approached the officers. "Just stay sharp."

As Steve joined the officers gathered around the green Toyota truck, Lou motioned to an officer standing by a squad car and told her he needed a ride to headquarters to get his SUV. Lou waved to McGarrett before getting in the squad car.

Steve waved back and then turned his attention to Officer Kahala who had been directing the search of the truck. They were all waiting for CSU to come process the vehicle. Once they arrived they confirmed what McGarrett already suspected, there were no useable prints on the truck. The good news was they now had a VIN number and registration to tell them what identity their shooter used to purchase the vehicle. Every little clue would be a step closer to finding where their quarry was hiding. Once they had confirmed what Steve had assumed, he decided to return to HQ and start sorting through all the video feeds of the ramp and surrounding area.

*H 5-0*

Grover had a lot of explaining to do on the way to the airport but in the end Renee felt better after talking things out with him. She did cling to him a bit longer than usual when saying goodbye and Lou had to promise he'd be careful. With a kiss goodbye and a hug for his kids, he watched them board the plane for Chicago.

Returning to HQ, he found McGarrett standing at the smart table staring at the overhead screen displaying the video feed from the parking ramp exit.

"Still reviewing the video? Wasn't the perp clear on any of the shots?" Lou asked in surprise. "There couldn't have been that many vehicles in and out in that time frame."

"Did you get the family off safely?" Steve asked, his eyes never leaving the screen. He did reach up to massage the back of his neck.

"Yes I did. Thanks for the call to upgrade them to first class, Renee was thrilled," Lou answered. "Now answer my question."

"Yes, I found the car. I have checked all vehicle purchases and the residences connected to them that are related to a dark blue BMW sedan. So far I have no matches but something should pop soon. I'm currently re-watching the feed of all the vehicles exiting the ramp to pause on the car and run the driver's facial recognition. And I want older footage of who delivered the car in the first place. It's taking longer than I like," Steve replied in frustration.

"So…..two sets of eyes might be better. Show me what you've got," Lou said taking a position beside Steve. He briefly touched McGarrett's arm with a smile, just enough to show he was Steve's backup.

Lou watched as Steve rewound the footage of the ramp's exit camera. They kept their attention on the screen until the blue BMW stopped alongside the police officer. The exchange between the two was brief and the camera couldn't get a clear view of the man's face because of the low cap once more.

"And again he hides his face," Lou muttered. "He managed to change shirts to a polo…..this was well planned."

"We need to talk to that officer, he may be able to give us more," Steve commented. "He believes he is smarter than us but even he has to have made mistakes. It's up to us to find them."

"I think we need to go back to the Sheriff's arrests that gives us a name. It's where he started, it's where a mistake will have happened."

"You have a point," Steve agreed. "We do need to go back to that. I was hoping we'd get something from facial recognition."

"So we hit the paperwork and find our connection. We also need that officer's report," Lou stated. "I'll contact HPD, get that officer in here. Then I'll go back to Sheriff Harter's arrests."

"I'll join you but first I want to see if we have video of that BMW being delivered to the ramp. We may have a different view of the driver. I have a feeling we won't get the Joker's real name on the purchase papers," Steve said in disappointment.

"Not if he's as smart as he's acted so far," Lou responded as he went to gather up Harter's arrest records. He had every intention of going over every name before he slept a wink.

They had been at it for a half hour when Steve's phone ringing pulled Lou away from the paperwork. After a brief conversation Steve pocketed his phone and ran one hand over his face. Picking up his empty coffee mug Lou headed out of his office and over to Steve.

"News on Danny?" he asked as Steve massaged the back of his neck.

"Yea," McGarrett nodded. "His fever has gone up a degree, still resisting the antibiotics. But he's still fighting."

"Jersey is a tough bird, he'll pull through," Lou answered, praying he was right.

"This isn't good given he's a recent organ donor. That could complicate his recovery," McGarrett confessed.

"Now Steve, you know that his liver has regenerated and he's been fine. The doctor said that there was no danger to the organ. You can't blame yourself for that," Grover chided.

"Danny is fighting for his life and I'm not any closer to arresting his shooter. I want this bastard," Steve growled feeling helpless. He was overwhelmed by the dead ends that they seemed to keep running into. He had finally found the shot of the BMW being delivered and it hadn't been a man behind the wheel. It seemed that every lead was coming up short.

"Steve….we will get him," Lou assured him. "He bought that truck on the island. That means paperwork he had to show a license, provide an address. They may be false but it will be a lead. Think….he missed Chin, only wounded Kono and even Danny is still breathing. He's failed three times so imagine how frustrated he is. This Joker as we're calling him…..never failed in previous attempts."

Steve let out a long breath, knowing what Lou said made perfect sense. He was letting his frustrated feelings control things and that was not a good sign. He knew he was tired and that was blocking his ability to keep himself focused on the hunt and not the setbacks. Angry with himself for letting his training take a backseat to his emotions for a while, Steve stood straighter and nodded to Lou. The man was right, this shooter was going to make a mistake somewhere and McGarrett intended to be there waiting when he did. They just had to keep digging.

"You are damn right, we are going to find him. No one can cover all their tracks all the time. The clues are there, we just need to find them. I found the BMW being delivered, the driver was a young blonde woman who pulled the ticket yesterday. She could be seen later walking out of the ramp and the street cams showed her catching a bus. It looks like Joker had it delivered to the ramp, he knew he would end up there. Without a VIN it will be difficult to trace, there was only a temp plate on the vehicle," Steve informed him. "I'm running her face through the system, she must have a license."

"The truck can give us a lead as well. Someone sold him that vehicle and we do have the VIN on it. I'm willing to bet that he didn't acquire the BMW at the same dealership as the truck," Lou observed. "He'd be too smart to go back to the same place. I'm thinking the girl might prove our best lead. Either she or someone she knows had to have dealt face to face with Joker."

"That makes sense," Steve nodded as he checked the progress of the search. There were lots of faces to go through on the island and the shot of the blonde had been grainy. He knew that they would have to bring this girl in and question her, she was their best lead. One way or another he was going to find this perp and put him away. He also had the request in to the DMV for the registration papers on the Toyota truck. Any paperwork on the BMW might be unprocessed at the moment depending on when the sale went through. Waiting was always the most difficult phase of any man hunt and without a name it was slower yet. It was difficult to be patient.

End chapter.

We have leads…now let's see if they will take Steve to the Joker or will Baxter be able to strike before everything comes together. Thank you for reading.