Chapter 6: A bitter pill.
Steve lets the anger out of him, while questions Sanders, who looks at him impassively, handcuffed to the chair in the interrogation room. Grover is interrogating his partner in the other room. From what he has seen so far, Sanders will be difficult to convince, probably because he's the one who has the most to lose.
Ten minutes after an unsuccessful effort, he leaves the room and, after closing the door, sits on the floor of the hallway, allowing a huge feeling of frustration to take hold of him. Two minutes later, Lou goes out with a very similar expression y his eyes, sitting in the floor next to Steve.
Seeing that the SEAL is about to lose his temper, Lou says, "Stay focused, Steve. Danny's life depends on this."
Steve looks incredulous at Lou, yelling, "And do you think I don't know that? I didn't think of anything else while this guy just made fun of me," he pauses, trying to calm down, "I'm sorry, man ... It's just that I can't help a lot of images block my mind. Every minute that goes by, Danny's situation is getting worse. We're wasting our time, Lou, I'm not going to spend a minute more; I don't care about the proper police procedure anymore ... Anyway, these useless guys are dead. As soon as the man on the phone finds out we have them, his life won't be worth a dime ..."
Steve stands up, his gaze changes and acquires that expression that makes Lou's skin go up, that expression tells him that Steve will use all the tools at his reach; special skills acquired during his time with the SEALs and that the Captain can only imagine.
He doesn't like to think about that, he prefers to see the man he knows. The good cop, worried about helping people, because the soldier who has defended his Nation countless times, also has his dark side. Lou doesn't doubt the man he admires and respects, the friend he loves, has had to use those special skills more than once, during his military life. He has no doubt it has always been to defend the greater good, but he definitely knows he wouldn't like to be in that guy's shoes right now, Steve can be ruthless.
Silently, he looks at Steve as he walks to the supply closet and takes a metal bucket, a piece of cloth and a car battery, saying, "Maybe Sanders thinks he can't break, but his partner is something else ... Let's change, you go with Sanders while I interrogate the boy ... "
"James Tadeusz ..." Lou says, "The boy's name is James Tadeusz."
"Fine!... Give me ten minutes with him and I'll see you out here, okay?" Steve says, as he fills the bucket with water and looks at Lou, who gets into the room where Sanders waits.
Takes a couple of deep breaths, God! He hates doing this, but at this moment he blesses his training, because, in addition to teaching him to resist torture, he was also taught to inflict it, whenever it's necessary. Slowly, activates the lock of the interrogation room and gets in.
Jimmy looks at him surprised, hoping maybe to see Lou again. Steve walks to the center of the room, stopping three or four feet from the boy and placing the bucket with water on the floor, along with the battery. The guy observes the objects fearfully and then looks at the Commander.
Steve looks really intimidating, his frozen expression, devoid of emotion and the muscles of his arms tensing like steel cables. Finally, as he approaches and opens the boy's shirt with a pull, making the buttons jump in all directions, Steve speaks hoarsely, "You'll see, Jimmy, I'm sure you understand that my time is running out and I won't leave you alone until I get what I want. Do you know who I am? " He asks. The boy nods silently.
"And surely you know I'm a SEAL", without waiting for the guy to answer, he continues speaking, "we, the SEALs are strange men, Jimmy. We have received the best and most specialized military training in the world; everyone knows we are the best ... Let me tell you the most useful thing I learned during my time at BUDs is to ignore the pain ... Do you know how to do that, Jimmy? "
Takes the bucket and throw its contents over the guy's head, soaking him, while he says, "Most of the recruits retire during the hell week ... the pain is unbearable ... but the hardest thing to overcome is the fear of pain. You see, when I joined the SEAL program, we were four hundred recruits ... After the hell week, we were only thirty-five guys ..."
Silently, he takes a couple of wires, which are connected to the battery, and approaches until his face is only four inches from Tadeusz's terrified gaze. "Last chance, Jimmy. Who ordered Detective Williams kidnapping? "
The guy shakes his head and tears begin to flow from his eyes, "I can't ... he'll kill me".
"Who's going to kill you, Jimmy? Sanders? Don't worry, the man is in more trouble than you at this moment. Give me a name Jimmy ..." Steve says.
"Gordon ..." the boy mutters.
"Who is he?" Steve pulls the wires away from the boy's bare chest, just a little bit.
"CIA ..." Tadeusz responds, his voice choked with fear. Steve shakes his head, bewildered and asks, "Gordon? Scott Gordon?" Jimmy nods in silence.
Trying to recompose his attitude, Steve says, "Good, Jimmy. It's not so hard, isn't it? ... Now, where's Detective Williams?"
"I don't know ..." Jimmy answers, but then a terrified scream comes out of his throat as Steve pulls the cables closer. "I swear to you, man! We were watching you and when you and your mother left, your partner got into his car and we followed him. Sanders had everything set... he had already called someone ... When we reached the agreed place, they appeared and blocked his way... They pointed their guns at him and put him in a truck... I don't know anything else ..."
"Where did they take him?" Steve looks at him, threatening.
Tears flow abundantly down the face of the guy, who answers quickly, "I swear I don't know ... you'll have to talk to Sanders... Come on, man!, I'm just a pawn, nobody tells me anything. I've told you everything I know ..." Steve nods and goes to the exit, the guy's sobs echo in the room when the door closes.
Lou looks at him expectantly, "What happened? Did he say something?"
Steve nods, rubbing his forehead with his right hand, trying to ward off the headache that builds up behind his eyes; He replies after a few seconds, "Scott Gordon ... The CIA leak." Noticing his partner's questioning look, he explains, "Scott Gordon, Deputy Director for Military Operations of the CIA."
"Do you know him?"
Steve nods, sighing "We served together in some missions in Iraq and Afghanistan, He was in intelligence and I was with the SEALs. He is a son of a bitch! He always complained about how little he received in exchange for how much he risked ..."
Steve shakes his head, "Something is missing, Lou ... Gordon must be working for someone else. Outside the Agency, Gordon doesn't have the resources or the brain to plan such an operation. Someone must pay him ... The guy who called me, it's him who really has Danny ... We have to find out who he is ... If we find him, we'll find Danny ... Did you get anything from Sanders?"
"Sorry man ..." Lou apologizes, "the man just looked at me and smiled. He had the nerve to ask for a lawyer."
Steve patts his friend's back and says "Don't worry ... We're just in the third inning ... Come with me." They both go back into the room where Sanders is. When he sees them, the man yawns bored and asks, "Where is my lawyer? ... I have the right to have one ... "
Steve stops in front of him, arms crossed over his chest. "You see ... We know when HPD interrogates you and you ask for a lawyer, they have an obligation to provide one ... But it doesn't work that way with Five-0, I'm afraid. I'm sure you did your homework and you know I don't give a shit about police procedures ... My partner always scolds me for that. "
After walking around the room, under Lou's watchful eye, Steve says, "I guess you know that the first to speak is the only one who gets a deal ... Pity for you, because Jimmy has already told us a couple of very interesting things. We know Scott Gordon is behind all this ... But there's still something that disturbs me."
Sanders speaks at last, trying to keep the nervousness in his voice, "What is it?"
"Oh, come on! You know the guy ... You know he can't add two plus two ... Someone is paying him for the information and I'm sure you know who ... " After a calculated pause, Steve asks, "Who ordered Detective Williams kidnapping? "
Sanders looks at him and Steve can guess the fear emanating from his blue eyes, "What do I get out of all this? If I tell you I'm a dead man ..."
Steve smiles sarcastically and says, "And if you don't, you're dead too ... Because I'll make sure Gordon knows you were the one who gave him away ... We'll get Jimmy out of this and give him police protection."
"Wait ... You can't do this." Lou sketches a smile full of admiration for Steve's interrogation techniques. Sanders begs, "I want a deal!"
Steve shakes his head and says, "You will go to prison and that is not negotiable, but if you tell me where Detective Williams is and who ordered his kidnapping, I may be able to do something for you ..."
Sanders shouts, "I want you to lock me up! Put me in a maximum security cell, where Gordon or the other guy's men can not reach me ... Protect me and I'll tell you everything I know ..."
Steve agrees in silence and Sanders says, "I don't know his name ... I only know him as 'Hades' He leads a criminal organization in the Mediterranean; his huge organization does everything ... Weapon traffic, drugs, prostitution networks, everything ... I have the phone number of the men he sent to kidnap your partner ... "
Steve takes out the phone that they took from Sanders during the arrest, and starts checking the calls. Two of them get his attention: the first, an incoming call from an international number, probably a satellite phone. The second is a call to a local cell phone number. Silently, he shows the screen to Sanders who points to the second number and nods silently. Steve looks up and turns his head to Lou, giving the phone to him and muttering, "Ask Jerry to track this number." The captain leaves the room.
Sanders says, "You better hurry up, Commander. Your partner is in very serious problems. I would bet my life he's no longer on the Island ... " Steve looks at him scornfully and says, "Be careful what you ask, because someone could grant it ... And if you're going to bet, bet something worthwhile, because, as you said before, your life is not worth a penny." He turns around and leaves the room, leaving Sanders speechless.
Walks down the hall when the elevator door opens and Tani comes out of it, Clara comes with her. Steve stops for a minute, trying to calm down. He doesn't know what to say to Danny's mother. Tani looks at him in a silent apology, "Clara and Grace arrived a moment ago ... Gracie is waiting for you in your office. We didn't want to tell her anything until you talked to her, but ... Clara insisted on talking to you ... "
Clara interrupts Tani and says, "Please, Steve. I know something is wrong with Danny. He's not answering his phone ... I understand you don't want to tell Grace, but I ... need to know. Try to understand, Steve. He is my boy".
Steve nods and says, "Clara ... the truth is we don't know where Danny is ..."
She begins to sob softly, saying "Oh My God! I can't do this anymore! ... This is too much. First Ed and now Danny! "
Steve comes close to her and wraps her in a tight hug, "I'll find him, Clara! I swear I'll bring Danny home or I'll die trying, all right? ... For now I need you to go home with Rachel and stay with Grace and Charlie ..." Steve looks at Tani and after a brief pause says, "Tani, Call Duke and tell him to put surveillance on Rachel's house. " The rookie nods and goes back to the elevator.
Noticing the restlessness in her eyes, he says "Listen, Clara ... We have two guys in custody and they have given us some clues about Danny ..." Steve knows this is a half truth but it's necessary for her to calm down, "I have to follow these clues. Police protection is just a precaution ... I don't want to take any risk... A police officer will take you and Gracie home, okay?"
She nods between sobs, hugs Steve again and begs, "Bring my boy home, Steve. He trusts you ... Please do everything you can to get him back safely!" Steve fondly caresses her back and whispers. "I'll do it… I promise!"
After the crying has subsided and Clara breathes more easily, Steve puts an arm around her shoulders and they both get into the elevator. A few minutes later, Steve opens the glass doors and enters the headquarters, finding Pua in front of the smart table. He makes a sign to Tani to take care of Clara while Steve tells the officer, "Pua, I need a favor, buddy."
The good officer answers, "Whatever you need, Commander ..."
"I need you to take Gracie and Danny's mother to Rachel's house ... and please take care of them, Pua ... Don't leave them until we've solved all this mess, okay?"
"Yes, sir ... I will."
Steve starts walking towards his office. Now he will have to take the bitter pill. This is a hundred times more difficult than dealing with criminals. A Dejà vu comes to his mind. Gracie sitting on the garden swing ... he walks towards her and they both sit on the bench, looking at freshly cut green grass. He knows today he'll have to make a promise similar to the one he made that afternoon. A promise he wished he didn't have to do anymore ...
When he opens the glass door of his office, Grace gets up quickly. He can see his eyes red and swollen from crying, with a hoarse voice he says, "Gracie!"
She throws herself into his arms, crying inconsolably. He hugs her tenderly, gently stroking her hair and giving her a kiss on the head. Suddenly, she looks at him and asks, "What happened to Danno, Uncle Steve?"
