Sammy's Notes: I can't thank you guys enough for all the AMAZING reviews and the tweets and the emails and your general AWESOMENESS in supporting both this story and the entire REAL World project. You make the whole process of writing and posting an absolute pleasure. I've fallen behind on responding to the reviews as usual and again I apologize. Please know that I am reading every one, am touched deeply by your very find words, and will respond soon. I promise. It's just that once I get in posting mode I can't seem to stop tinkering and tweaking the story and I get so wrapped up in that I lose track of other things.
To those of you who reviews as Guests—since I can't thank you personally please accept this as my great big THANK YOU!
So I know I promised you an earlier posting today. Sorry. Real life, and my need to tinker with every story, did not cooperate. LOL I'd promise an earlier posting tomorrow but I don't want to jinx anything.
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An Earlier Heaven (7/8)
"A happy family is but an earlier heaven." George Bernard Shaw
Albanese Safe House
Honolulu
Thursday 9:45 P.M.
"That was good," Catherine ground out, breathing heavily. "Really good."
In through her nose.
Out through her mouth.
"One more time," she said encouragingly. "Just like that again."
She leaned her head back against the cool, metal support pole and braced herself for what was coming.
"Are you sure," Gabby asked timidly as she looked over her shoulder.
"Positive," Catherine assured her. "Just do it."
Quickly, before she could lose her nerve, Gabby raised her knee and brought her foot down hard again on Catherine's hand.
This time she heard a sickening crunch and Catherine felt several knuckle joints give way as she squeezed her eyes closed tightly and breathed through the pain. She concentrated her thoughts on breathing in and breathing out.
She was pulled back to the moment by the sound Gabby's frightened voice.
"Are you ok, Catherine?" she whispered frantically.
"I'm good. I think that did it," Catherine said as she continued her rhythmic breathing. "Great work."
Gabby slumped against the pole morosely and slowly slid back down to a sitting position.
"Just so you know," she grumbled. "I'm throwing away these shoes."
Catherine chuckled through her pain. "That might be a bit extreme."
Breathe in.
Breathe out.
"They're great shoes."
"True, but now every time I wear them I'll hear that nauseating sound of bones breaking," Gabby sighed as she swallowed hard.
"Knuckles aren't bones," Catherine replied as the initial wave of pain finally began to subside. "They're joints."
"Oh well, that's different then," Gabby said sarcastically.
"Well the shoes are Jimmy Choo," Catherine pointed out. "Unless I actually killed someone with one I don't think I'd throw them out."
"You know what's strange?" Gabby tilted her head thoughtfully.
"What?" Catherine asked as she began to maneuver her hands into position.
"I bet you could kill someone with a shoe." Gabby's voice held a touch of awe.
"At least three ways," Catherine said. "Ok, here we go."
She manipulated her wrist, rotating it as gently as possible until her now dislocated knuckles slipped through the small circular opening and she was able to pull free of the handcuffs. She held her left hand out in front of her and surveyed the damage as well as she could in the darkened room.
"Great news," she whispered happily, "from what I can tell you dislocated my pinky and ring finger knuckle joints. Those ones heal the fastest."
"I'm not sure whether to be terrified or impressed at the kinds of things you know." Gabby shook her head.
Catherine chuckled softly as she got to her feet and felt her way across the room to the couch. She quickly located the purple lipstick case amongst her other possessions and returned to her seat behind Gabby.
"Did Steve really get you a stun gun for Valentine's Day?" Gabby asked.
"He really did, and you know what, I love it," Catherine replied. "I think he got this particular one because the color matches a shirt I have that he's especially fond of."
Catherine could hear Enzo and his brother moving around upstairs and hoped they'd come down for one last check before calling it a night. She wasn't sure she could afford to wait until morning to warn Steve and Danny they were next on Patricio Albanese's list.
She removed the top of the stun gun case to confirm it was fully-charged.
It was.
"Ok, here's how this is gonna go," she said softly as she tried to ignore the throbbing in her left hand. "When they come back in here I need to get at least one of them as close as possible. That way I can put one down with the stun gun and deal with the other one-on-one. I'm not sure exactly how I'm gonna do this so I just need you to follow my lead and whatever happens … go with it. Are you ready?"
"Yeah," Gabby sat up straighter and steeled herself. "I'm ready."
She hoped her words sounded more convincing to Catherine than they sounded to her own ears.
"Okay good." Catherine placed her arms behind her back, the stun gun held tightly in her right hand, and tried to conceal the fact that her left hand was no longer in the cuffs. In the darkened room she knew the men wouldn't be able to tell until they got close enough she could strike.
As long as no one turned on the light she knew she'd be in good shape.
"Catherine," Gabby asked softly. "Do you really think we're gonna get out of this."
"I really do," Catherine said confidently. "I've barely gotten to cook in my new kitchen and you haven't even seen the backsplash up close yet. And there's no way I'm missing Christmas in New Jersey at Nonna's."
Gabby laughed. "Grace can't stop talking about the Christmas trip. She's very excited."
"That makes two of us," Catherine said, then rethought, "Well three of us really. Steve is every bit as excited as I am."
Before she could say anything else Catherine heard footsteps coming down the hall.
"Here we go," she said to Gabby. "Just like we planned."
She relaxed back against the pole and feigned a restless sleep as she heard the deadbolts unlock. The door opened part way and Catherine could sense one of the men, she wasn't sure which, leaning in to make she everything was secure. As he started to close the door Catherine scraped the chain of the handcuffs that no longer bound her hands against the pole.
Enzo froze and listened.
Catherine repeated her movements.
Enzo sighed and moved further into the room. He knew there was no way the women could get free, he'd double checked the cuffs himself, but he also knew that if anything went wrong in the final stage of this plan he was a dead man.
Patricio Albanese, Patsy as they called him in the old neighborhood, hired Enzo and his brother Argo nine months ago. He told them at the time it was to help with a 'special project' he was working on. The money was good and the hours were light so they didn't ask too many questions. Then one day in New York they opened the box they were supposed to be disposing of and saw body parts.
Enzo knew in that moment what his "boss" was capable of. And he didn't want to end up on Patsy Albanese's bad side.
He decided against turning on the light because he didn't want to wake the sleeping women. He figured the one who took the sleeping pill, the one Albanese warned him to be careful of, might be having a drug-induced nightmare. He'd seen a story on TV about the weird things some people do when they've taken a sleeping pill. Personally he'd always found a couple of shots of whiskey did the trick.
He crept closer.
Catherine couldn't believe their luck. As far as she could tell Enzo, at least she thought it was Enzo, had come down to do the last check of the night alone.
She rattled the handcuffs again.
He thought momentarily about going back to get Argo to cover him but he knew his brother would never let him hear the end of it.
How he'd been spooked by two handcuffed, unarmed women.
He leaned down slowly to double check that the cuffs were secure.
Catherine's right hand shot up rapidly and she discharged her stun gun against his neck.
He collapsed forward, hitting his head on the support pole on the way to the floor.
Catherine jumped to her feet.
"I can't believe that worked," Gabby hissed.
With light now filtering in through the open door Catherine could see more clearly. Her heart jumped as she realized their luck just kept getting better.
Enzo's gun was holstered on his hip.
She removed it swiftly then held it against her body with her injured left hand while she used her right hand to search Enzo's pockets for the handcuff key.
"Yes!" she hissed as she found it.
She released Gabby's cuffs then handed Gabby the key.
"Here, get mine," she said as she held out her right hand that still had the cuffs attached. "I can't hold the key with my left hand on account of … you know."
Gabby unlocked the cuff and finally both women were freed.
Enzo, who ended up face down on the floor after his encounter with Catherine's lipstick case stun gun, began to stir.
"Quick," Catherine said, "grab an arm."
She tucked Enzo's gun inside the waistband of her pants and used her good hand to maneuver one of Enzo's arms around the left side of the pole as Gabby managed to do the same on the right. They cuffed him just as he began to regain consciousness.
Catherine grabbed Gabby's elbow and pulled her away from the now awakening, and very angry, Enzo.
Before she could decide what their next move should be a looming shadow blocked out a section of the light from the hallway.
It was Enzo's brother.
"What's taking so long," he said angrily as he stepped into the doorway.
He heard Enzo muttering and cursing and immediately pulled his gun and turned on the lights.
He saw his brother on the floor, cuffed to the pole then saw Catherine and Gabby several feet away standing beside the couch.
He pointed his gun at Catherine at the same time she raised Enzo's weapon with one hand and leveled it at him
HPD Interrogation Room
Thursday 10:00 P.M.
Steve and Danny burst into the interrogation room to find a terrified Peter Fields sitting alone at the table, knees shaking and hands wringing nervously.
They passed on the pleasantries and got right to the point.
Danny took a position with his back against the wall, just inside the door while Steve took first crack at the witness.
They didn't really have a plan for how this was going to go.
But Danny knew one thing for sure, he was walking out of this room with more information than he walked in with, whatever it took to get it.
"Tell us what you know about Patricio Albanese," Steve said as he sat down across from Fields and fixed him with an icy stare. "And it would not be a wise decision for you to leave anything out."
"I don't know who you're taking about," Fields said as every single physical indicator from his squeaking voice to his sweaty palms screamed he was lying.
Steve and Danny exchanged a look and Danny gave a small nod which Steve knew indicated they were about to engage in a little round of Bad Cop/Worse Cop.
"Do we," Steve indicated Danny with his hand, "look like we're in the mood to play games?"
Fields straightened his posture and fixed his face with a disdainful look. "I told you I have no idea … " he started.
"Cut the crap," Danny exploded from his position across the room. "I have far more important things to do than stand here listening to you tell lies … and not very good ones at that. Tell us where Albanese is and where he's hiding the women."
"What women?" Fields said bewilderedly.
Both Steve and Danny took note, even in their own heightened emotional states, that Fields seemed genuinely confused when asked about Catherine and Gabby.
"Oh," Danny nodded as he took off his badge and weapon and passed them to Steve. "So that's how it's gonna be."
Steve calmly accepted the items Danny handed him then looked squarely at Fields and shrugged his shoulders with a look that said 'I warned you'.
"Wait, wait, wait," Fields stammered as he cast a terrified look at Danny. "OK, I'll admit I know Patsy Albanese. But I don't know anything about any kidnapped women."
Danny leaned against the table, well within Fields' personal space, and glowered at him.
"Start at the beginning," Steve said in an even tone. "Tell us everything you know. And don't leave anything out. I think you've seen how angry that makes my partner."
Fields case a wary glance and Danny then addressed Steve.
"I met Patsy years ago at some charity event thrown by the Clark and Amber Curry. I don't remember specifically which one. There were so many. But if you wanted to get anywhere in the agricultural research field you had to kiss their ass so I showed up every time I was invited.
Amber Curry is the one who introduced us. Everyone knew her and Patsy were an item. Even Clark. But he didn't care. The guy was a billionaire. He got more action than he knew what to do with.
Anyway, Patsy was just getting started in the security business then. Our paths would cross occasionally and he was always cordial."
"So tell me something," Danny leaned towards Fields and as he advanced Fields leaned back further in his chair. When Danny was mere inches of the skittish inventor's face he asked, "How did you go from what… occasional cocktail party chit-chat partner … to helping him commit nine gruesome murders?"
Danny pulled away slightly but never took his eyes off Fields.
Both he and Steve heard the man take an audible gulp.
"I didn't help with the murders. I swear I didn't," Fields insisted vehemently as he shifted slightly in his chair away from Danny. "I wasn't aware Arthur Fogelsong was going to be killed here in Hawaii until it was too late to stop it."
"What do you mean too late to stop it?" Steve growled.
"I didn't even know Patsy was on the island until the night of the murder," Fields explained. "Then I saw him in the lobby of the hotel talking to Arthur before he left to go take pictures at the beach. By that time it was too late. What was I supposed to do?"
"Call the police," Danny yelled and Fields jumped.
"The police would never have believed me," Fields argued. "Broke inventor accuses billionaire businessman of committing seven gruesome murders. I knew by the time I could get anyone to listen to me Arthur would be dead."
"What made you think Arthur Fogelsong was in danger from Patsy Albanese," Steve asked as he folded his arms on the table and leaned forward.
Fields now felt like he was under attack on two fronts.
"When I heard the lawsuit was dropped after Vitorio's death I figured that was the end of it you know. Though I'll admit I was hoping maybe one of the other relatives would revive it. So I put a Google Alert on everyone involved in the case. All the witnesses, the judges, the lawyers. I figured if something was happening again I'd be the first to know. Then I started getting articles about their murders and I noticed how they were all killed the same way. I knew it had to be related to the case and I knew it had to be some relative of Vitorio. Patsy is the only one left. So when I saw him there in the lobby, I knew Arthur was a goner."
"Let me get this straight," Danny said menacingly. "You knew this man was committing gruesome murders all over the country … and that your friend was next … and you did what … nothing?"
"There was nothing I could do," Fields argued. "Albanese is a dangerous man. If I said anything he would have killed me too. I knew the killings wouldn't last forever. Eventually he'd take care of everyone on the list."
"If you want to use that as an excuse for not calling the police… whatever." Steve's face showed his obvious disgust. "I mean I don't buy it but I'm not a sniveling coward like you. But how could you not warn your friend?" he asked.
"Arthur wasn't my friend," Fields spat out. "Arthur stole my life."
"What are you taking about," Danny asked. "You couldn't say enough good things about him the first time we met you."
"Arthur and I studied engineering together at Oklahoma State. We always had kind of a friendly rivalry. After we graduated we were both working on developing an automated harvester," Fields recounted. "It was kind of a race to see who could get their machine into production fastest. I mean the market was hungry for the product so whoever got there first was gonna have a big advantage."
"And Arthur got there first," Danny guessed.
"Only because he took short cuts," Fields snotted. "My machine had additional guards and safety features and that made it more expensive and time consuming to manufacture. Arthur cut corners with his."
"And …" Steve said scornfully. He was not about to spend any more time than was absolutely necessary listening to Peter Fields attempt to justify his inaction when it wasn't helping them locate Catherine and Gabby.
"He got his to market first and unfortunately it's speed over safety in the agriculture game." The words tumbled out of Fields' mouth in a way that made it perfectly clear the pain of that defeat still felt fresh even all these years later. "Arthur made millions and I'm still waiting for my first big breakthrough invention. When Patsy's brother filed the lawsuit he came to me and inquired about some papers I'd filed with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration years ago claiming Arthur's machine was unsafe. He wanted to know if I'd be willing to repeat my allegations in court and I said I would."
"Did Arthur ever find out you planned to testify against him?" Danny asked.
"Of course he did," Fields sneered. "The agricultural research community is like a small town. Everybody knows everybody else's business. I figured he'd be furious when he heard but he wasn't. He said he understood and I should do whatever I felt was best. That was typical Arthur. Never held a grudge. Not even against Vitorio Albanese even though the man was trying to ruin him in court."
"What do you mean?" Steve asked.
"Arthur heard Vitorio wasn't doing well and he told me he went to visit him. He said he could tell the stress was killing the guy so he offered him money. Offered him a chance to settle the case and to work with the Vocational Training Program to make it safer. But Vitorio Albanese wasn't having any of that. He wanted revenge. He wanted his day in court."
"So you think Arthur would have been willing to talk to Patsy if they ran into each other?" Steve asked, remembering Keone Akuini's description of the two men chatting in the parking lot.
"I know he would have," Fields nodded. "He felt bad about Angelo Albanese's death. He didn't believe his machine was to blame, you could have never convinced him of that, but still he felt bad."
"So where is Patsy Albanese right now? What's his next move," Danny leaned in menacingly again.
"I honestly don't know what his plan is. The only thing I know … " Fields hesitated.
"What?" Danny growled.
"Look if he finds out I told you he'll kill me." Fields leaned back in his chair.
Steve stood and leaned across the table.
"If you don't tell me," he said, his voice a deadly calm, "and anything happens to Lieutenant Rollins or Dr. Asano, I will kill you. You have my word on that."
"And then I'll revive you and kill you again," Danny promised.
"All I know is that he asked me to pull some strings and get ahold of the exact machine that killed his nephew so I did. He had it shipped here to the island. He told me he had it modified with enough explosives to take out a city block."
Albanese Safe House
Honolulu
Thursday 10:15 P.M.
"Don't do anything stupid," Catherine said as she leveled her gun at the man's head. She could sense Gabby frozen in place beside her and worried her friend might panic and do something rash. The last eight hours had been hard on her and she could only imagine how much worse it was for Gabby.
Not only was she grabbed off the street, detained against her will and chained to a pole in a basement but it was all at the hands of a man who less than forty-eight hours earlier had interviewed her for her dream job.
It was a lot to take in.
"Shoot her, Argo," Enzo spat out. "That bitch tasered me."
"It wasn't a Taser, it was a stun gun," Catherine corrected then turned back to the man in the doorway who she now knew was named Argo. "I repeat, don't do anything stupid."
"Don't you do anything stupid," he said with a cocky smile as he looked her up and down in a way that made her feel like she needed a Silkwood shower.
"Listen, I'm with Five-0. Just put the gun down," Catherine said calmly as she stepped in front of Gabby to shield her friend in case things started to go wrong. "No one has to get hurt here."
"I don't know. You look kind of awkward holding your gun with one hand like that. I bet they didn't teach you that at Five-0 school," Argo said mockingly. "Maybe you should put your gun down."
"Don't you worry about me," Catherine said flatly. "I can shoot with one hand."
Argo began to advance slowly into the room. "I don't know. I think I'm willing to take a chance."
Catherine wasn't sure if the man was extremely brave or extremely stupid, maybe a little of both, but she knew she had to act before things got out of control. "Pick a number between one and eight," she said as she looked at the row of pictures hanging on the wall to her right.
"What are you talking about?" he sneered. "I'm not gonna be distracted by some stupid game."
"Just shoot her," Enzo yelled again. "I don't care what the boss said. Just shoot her."
"Shut up," Catherine heard Gabby say from behind her, directed at Enzo. "She's not talking to you."
"You might have gotten one over on my brother," Argo said with a patronizing tone. "But I'm not Enzo. Your mind games aren't going to work on me."
"Please, just humor me," Catherine said. "There are eight pictures on the wall right there," she indicated with a nod. "So pick a number. One to eight."
"Five," he said arrogantly.
Catherine turned slightly and fired a shot dead center of the fifth picture.
Then another dead center of the fourth.
Argo's mouth dropped open as he looked at the pictures then back at Catherine who once again had her gun leveled straight at his head.
"I forgot to ask if you meant fifth from the left or the right," she said. "So I did both. Now, here's your next choice, between the eyes or through the heart. Pick."
Argo swallowed hard then crouched down slowly, placed his gun on the floor, and kicked it away.
"Smart man," Catherine smiled. "Now why don't you just go over there and have a seat across from your brother. My friend here is going to help you on with your handcuffs and if you so much as twitch in her direction in a way I don't like, you're dead."
Catherine would have preferred to cuff Argo herself and keep Gabby away from the action but she knew the gun in her hand was the only thing keeping them at bay at the moment so she had to risk it. She hoped her intentionally escalated tough talk would serve its purpose and help keep the men in line.
And it did.
As Gabby was cuffing Argo and Catherine was retrieving his weapon from where he'd kicked it half under the couch, she heard Enzo mumble, "You should have just shot her."
She finished up, checked to make sure both men were secured, then crossed to Catherine.
"You're kind of a badass," she said with nothing but admiration in her voice.
"You're not so bad yourself," Catherine smiled.
"Does that mean I'm the Bess Marvin to your Nancy Drew?" Gabby asked.
"Better," Catherine smiled, "You're the Honey Wheeler to my Trixie Belden. Now let's get out of here."
Five-0 Headquarters
10:25 P.M.
Danny walked into Steve's office, breathing deep to keep his emotions under control, and handed his cell phone to his partner.
"It's Grace. She wants to talk to you," he said then mouthed 'she knows' as he left Steve's office and went to the bullpen. He'd just wrapped up a very emotional conversation with his daughter and needed a few minutes to pull himself together.
He tried hard to shield Grace from most of the ugliness that came with his job. He never talked about cases at home or in any situation where Grace might overhear. And as tough as it was sometimes, and as much as it was easier said than done, he tried very hard to leave work at work. To not let it affect his home life.
He wanted to protect Grace from the harsh realities of the world for as long as he could.
Not that he sheltered her. He didn't. Like all good parents he warned her from a very young age about 'stranger danger'. As she grew, and began to spend more time outside of his direct supervision, he talked to her about how even adults you know can sometimes do bad things and if she ever felt threatened or uncomfortable she should speak up immediately.
Now that she was getting older the topic of boys was beginning to creep in. It was all still innocent crushes at this point but Danny was well aware that before he knew it the conversations would be turning more serious.
He just wanted her to enjoy being young and carefree for as long as possible.
Unfortunately, no matter how much he wanted to, he couldn't always shield her from what was going on. Especially not when it directly affected people she knew and cared about.
This was one of those times.
Word of Catherine and Gabby's abduction had been all over the news from the minute the crime scene unit descended outside Island Breeze Boutique. The local press was already on high-alert after a mutilated body turned up on the Capital Building lawn so as soon as they got even a whiff that the two cases might be related every local station moved to wall-to-wall coverage. Soon afterwards the story hit the internet news sites and Twitter lit up with theories and speculation as well as false sightings. The conspiracy nuts were having a field day.
If you were on the island, unless you were living under a rock, you couldn't help but hear about the missing women.
Rachel apologized for letting Grace watch so much of the coverage. By the time she realized what was happening their daughter had already seen and heard too much. Danny assured it was ok; there was nothing she could have done in this case to prevent Grace from finding out.
In the opening minutes of his conversation with Grace he worried if he would be able to find the words to comfort his frightened child.
Until he realized that wasn't the purpose of the call.
His sensitive, caring, kind-hearted daughter called to comfort him.
To make sure he was ok.
To make sure he was taking care of himself.
And when she was through talking to him, assuring him she had faith in him and she knew he was doing everything he could, she asked to talk to Uncle Steve.
Danny looked through the glass wall into Steve's office and watched as his partner nodded, listening intently to everything Grace had to say.
He knew she loved her Auntie Catherine and she was so happy to have Gabby back in her life.
Danny prayed they could bring them both back unharmed.
For his sake.
For Steve's sake.
And for Grace's sake.
When he saw Steve disconnect the call and lay the phone on his desk he reentered the office.
"Everything ok?" he asked.
"Yeah," Steve smiled. "You've got a great kid there, Danny."
"I know," Danny nodded. "What did she say to you?"
"She said she knows we're doing our best but that she wanted to make sure we remember to eat because she knows sometimes when we're busy on a case we don't and her Health teacher said people don't make good decisions when they're hungry."
"She's very practical sometimes," Danny smiled.
"And then," Steve paused and took a deep breath, "she said she knew everything was going to be okay because Auntie Catherine promised her just the other day that she was never going to leave and Auntie Catherine always keeps her promises."
Albanese Safe House
Honolulu
Thursday 10:30 P.M.
After securing Argo to the support pole in the basement along with his brother and promising to send someone back at some point to retrieve them, Gabby and Catherine bolted up the stairs to look for a way out.
They grabbed a cell phone they saw laying on the table in the breakfast nook.
No service.
They looked around for a land line.
There was none.
They checked the garage for any kind of running vehicle.
Nothing.
"I don't see any keys around here anywhere so it wouldn't matter if we found a car or not," Gabby said in an attempt to console herself.
"If we find a car we don't need keys," Catherine said. "I'll hotwire it."
"Of course you will," Gabby said as they moved out onto the house's small front porch.
Suddenly Gabby felt herself being yanked back inside.
"What's wrong," she asked exasperatedly as Catherine pulled her down below the level of the window.
"I saw someone out there patrolling the property. One guy for sure, maybe two," Catherine said.
"What's that mean?" Gabby asked fearfully. "What do we do now?"
Catherine raised her head and peeked outside again, careful to stay out of view as much as she possibly could.
She noticed when they initially arrived that the house was isolated. By her estimation it was at least several miles to the nearest neighbor and there was no guarantee they'd have a phone or any way to reach Steve and Danny. She recalled that when they turned off the main road they travelled several miles down a winding gravel lane before turning off onto an almost equally long driveway. She replayed the ride from the Island Breeze Boutique in her head and took a minute to get her bearings.
"I don't see any other choice," she said as she squatted down beside Gabby and pressed her back against the wall. "We're gonna have to make a run for it. Between these two guns I have ten bullets left. Those men out there have automatic weapons. And as soon as Argo and Enzo get the one brain cell they share firing again they're gonna start screaming for help and bring those guys in here."
"So what do we do," Gabby asked fearfully.
"If we slip out now we have the element of surprise," Catherine said as she peeked outside one more time. "Once they hear the guys downstairs yelling for help we lose that. They seem to be walking some sort of grid pattern around the perimeter. We wait till they're as far away from the house as they're going to get and then we head for the woods. We have to go now, Gabby."
Catherine looked into her friend's frightened eyes and tried to convey as much encouragement as she possibly could.
"Let's go then," Gabby replied determinedly.
The two women slipped out of the house and made their way through the shadows to the edge of the gravel driveway. As soon as they hit the gravel a motion sensor light lit up the entire area and the guards turned and yelled "STOP!"
"Run," Catherine exhorted and they headed across the yard as fast as they could move, Gabby following her friend's steps as closely as possible.
They rushed into the woods at top speed, not slowing down even when they were struck in the face by tree branches or had their clothes caught by thorns.
"Don't stop for anything," Catherine yelled over her shoulder as she did her best to dodge tree roots and assorted other hazards on the forest floor.
"I won't" Gabby yelled back as the two women continued to run a zig-zag pattern through the dark woods.
After they'd run for about fifteen minutes Catherine stopped to assess the situation.
"Town should be that way." She pointed up a fairly steep hill to their right as she gulped in air. "Are you good to go?"
"You haven't let me down so far, so you lead, I'll follow," Gabby panted.
Catherine didn't want to mention it to Gabby but she had a feeling the men who'd been patrolling the yard weren't all that far behind. That meant they didn't have the luxury of stopping to catch their breath for even a minute.
She turned and headed up the slope with Gabby right behind her. The ground beneath their feet was soft and the new moon didn't provide much light by which to avoid things like loose rocks and downed tree limbs. As a result the trip was difficult and full of small slides backward.
When they finally crested the hill they were both exhausted and dirty but it was all Catherine could do not to scream in triumph.
She knew where they were.
Practically back to town.
At the bottom of the hill she saw the familiar lights of the shopping plaza where the Foodland she and Steve shopped at regularly was located. She knew there would be people there working the overnight stocking shift and a phone she'd be able to use.
She grabbed Gabby's hand and the two women took off down the hill.
In less than twenty minutes they were at the door of the Foodland. Catherine hoped one of the employees who knew her was working so they would feel safe opening the door immediately to let her and Gabby in.
She wanted to get inside and call Steve as soon as possible but she realized that together the two of them made quite an alarming sight. Covered in dirt, out of breath, sporting facial scratches and random bloody scrapes. She understood how someone might find them frightening and choose to wait for police to arrive to deal with them.
She breathed a sigh of relief when she saw Jirou Ko, the store owner, approaching.
He appeared, as she suspected anyone in his position would, surprised by the sight of two women, clearly in distress, pounding on his door at midnight.
That certainly wasn't a normal occurrence.
He hurried to let them in and as he got closer he recognized one of the women as Catherine. He nearly dropped his keys in his haste to get them inside the store and offer whatever assistance he could.
He and his wife had been following the news of their disappearance since it first broke earlier in the afternoon.
"Catherine, are you okay?" he asked as the door finally slid open.
"We are now," Catherine said, relief flooding her voice. "We need to use your phone. We have to call Steve and Danny and then HPD."
"Please. Please. Use my office. I saw the story on the news. They said you'd been kidnapped. I came in to make a spread of food to send over to Five-0 and HPD in the morning. I know it's not much but … it's what I do."
"That's very sweet, Jirou. And very generous," Catherine told him. She moved to hug him then pulled back. He was wearing a crisp white shirt and apron and she hesitated to get him dirty.
He drew her into a tight hug.
"Clothes can be washed, Catherine," he whispered in her ear. "Or thrown away. But people are precious."
"Thank you," she said, her voice choked with emotion.
"And you too," Jirou said as he turned to Gabby and drew her into a hug. "Any friend of Catherine's is a friend of mine."
"Thank you," Gabby smiled as she returned the hug gratefully.
"I'm not sure but there might be people following us," Catherine said.
She looked across the parking lot and saw nothing but she wanted to warn Jirou just in case. The last thing she would ever want was to bring trouble to his store.
"Nawai, Likeke, Paulo," Jirou called.
Within seconds three very large men emerged from the aisles where they had been stocking shelves.
"Watch the door and make sure no one gets in until the police arrive, please," Jirou said.
"Our pleasure," one of the men said as they took up positions at the front of the store.
Jirou led the woman to his office and pointed to the phone on the desk.
"I better call Steve first and let him know we're safe," Catherine said. "Could you possibly call 911 off your cell phone and tell them a Five-0 officer needs assistance."
"Absolutely," Jirou said, then noticed Catherine's hand. "Catherine, are you ok?"
"No worries. I'll be fine," she assured him
"I'm going to get you some ice." Jirou exited the office as Catherine dialed.
She wrapped her arm around Gabby to calm her shaking friend.
"We're fine now," she said just as Steve picked up the phone.
"McGarrett," he said gruffly, clearly wondering why Foodland was calling at midnight.
"Steve, it's Catherine," she blurted out. "Gabby is here with me. We're both fine. We're at Jirou's Foodland."
It took Steve a minute to realize he wasn't dreaming.
Catherine really was on the phone.
He felt himself gasp and it was as if he could breathe again after hours of holding his breath.
"You're ok?" he whispered reverently as he stood up from his desk chair prepared to go to wherever she was immediately.
His words and movements drew an instant reaction from Danny who was sitting on the couch.
"A few bumps and bruises but we're fine," Catherine told him, her voice suddenly thick with emotion.
She believed in Steve and she knew that together he and Danny could handle pretty much anything that came their way. But those hours in the basement, knowing he was in the crosshairs of a brutal serial killer, not sure if she was going to be able to warn him in time, picturing Eddie Garza's mutilated body over and over, it all finally caught up with her.
"Is Danny with you?"
She realized it was a stupid question.
Of course they were together at a time like this.
"He's right here," Steve said, realizing that his partner was now standing directly beside him.
"Put me on speaker please," Catherine said happily.
"Go," Steve said as he pressed the speaker button and tossed the phone to Danny. He grabbed his keys and Danny was already following him out of the office when he heard Gabby's voice.
"We're fine, Danny! We're ok!" Gabby said breathlessly.
"Oh thank God, oh thank God," Danny kept repeating over and over.
The two men made it down the stairs across the lobby and into the Camaro in record time.
"We're on our way," Steve said as he buckled his seat belt and backed the car out of its space at a speed that would have made Mario Andretti wince. "Danny and I are on our way. We'll be there in 20 minutes. Make it ten."
"We'll be here," Catherine smiled.
"I love you Catherine," Steve said.
"I love you Steve," she beamed.
She hung up the phone and looked at Gabby who was grinning. "What?"
"I just can't get used to hearing you two say that."
Catherine smiled. "I thought it might feel weird after all this time but it feels like the most natural thing in the world."
"You didn't tell him about your hand," Gabby grimaced.
"I figured I'd wait till they gets here and sees for himself I'm basically okay before we go into that," Catherine laughed.
"Probably a smart move," Gabby chuckled then suddenly she turned serious. "Honestly Catherine, you were great back there. I feel bad that you got caught up in this. If you hadn't come to pick me up you never would have gotten kidnapped and your hand would be ok … " Tears filled her eyes. "But I never would have made it out of there alive without you."
Catherine hugged her friend. "We would have come and found you. Please know that, we would have come and found you and we would have never stopped until we did."
"But it might not have been in time," Gabby tears started to flow. "I know what Albanese said about not hurting us but I'm not sure you can take a killer at his word."
"We made it out. We're safe. Steve and Danny are safe. That's all that matters," Catherine said as she wrapped Gabby in a tight hug.
A few minutes later Jirou reentered the office with a bag of ice and reported HPD was on the way.
Seconds later they heard Steve and Danny's voices as they entered the store.
Catherine looked at her watch. "Seven minutes. That might be a new record."
Steve and Danny hit the office at the Foodland store on a dead run.
"Oh thank God," Danny said as he grabbed Gabby and wrapped her in a tight hug. "I'm so sorry. This is all because of me."
"I'm ok. Everything's fine. I'm ok," Gabby kept repeating as much to convince herself as Danny.
Steve stepped wordlessly across the office and embraced Catherine.
"I love you," he whispered in her ear.
"I love you," she replied.
He wrapped his arms around her and allowed her breathing and her warmth and the fact that she was squeezing him back calm him and convince him that she was truly okay. After holding her close for a few seconds he felt something very cold against his stomach and stepped back.
"What happened to your hand?
END CHAPTER 7
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