I do not own Hawaii Five-0 or any characters. No copyright infringement intended. The same goes for the fantastic show and wonderful characters portrayed in Flashpoint.
Notes: Yeah, I know .. another cliffy. Oops! thanks to all for the encouragement - I'll post as I can. My family keeps wondering where I go - LOL!
Chapter 9
H5O* H5O* H5O* H5O* H5O*
Danny and Ana had made it all the way to the top only to find out that the upper floors were also setup for extreme meth production. Long metal tables, large glass beakers, an incomprehensible amount of household products, and jars with row upon row of propane gas tanks. And this was where Robbie had simply shot him after Danny had shoved Ana protectively behind his own body.
Covered in sweat and breathing heavily from the exertion, it was all Danny could do as Robbie caught up to them much too quickly. And 'simply' was the right word. It was "àpropos". Danny knew Steve would like that word. It was a good one and he'd chuckle warmly about it and then keep driving or he'd take a swig from his beer with an approving grin. Those were other examples of something perfectly 'àpropos' because they were appropriate examples. He was also knew that he was in shock from being shot; however, that was ironic because the bullet came from his very own police-issued revolver. Danny almost giggled though because in a way, that was 'apropos' to the circumstance.
His mind was muddled and Danny was stuck in the thoughts like a vinyl record skipping on a record player. Just stuck; going round and round and round for no reason. Unable to break the weary mental chain as he lay there and attempted to rationalize when and how he'd been shot with his own revolver.
But using the vinyl record as an example wasn't apropos because Danny was positive that the other three people arguing and crying in the room probably had never actually seen one in their much too young lives.
"Run, Ana. Just go." His voice was faint and hollow by now. But she heard him and cried harder before practically screaming at Robbie that he was wrong. He had to be wrong because her Uncle Danny had not killed her mother.
"He didn't do it. He saved me .. he took care of me!" Ana was yelling and sobbing as she rocked on her knees by Danny's side and tried to stop the blood leaking out of his side with yet another torn piece of her jacket. Her anger made her surge back to her feet as she confronted Robbie to physically push him backwards.
"I hate you, Robbie! And you're a damned liar!"
Pulling her to her feet, Robbie grinned though while he enveloped her trembling blood-stained hands in his own. "Then why isn't he saying so, Ana? Why is your dear Uncle Danny so very very quiet?"
And then Danny must have missed something as he faded away from the too distant conversation. Some of the yelling had stopped by the time he realized that Ana was on her knees next to him again and asking him a tearful question.
"Did you? Did you kill her? Tell him it's a lie." Her voice was a broken whisper and Danny struggled to keep his eyes on her face. She had grown so pretty with her long black hair. And she was wearing a proper suit for her job; ruined now because of the treacherous morning. He faded briefly on that last thought until he heard Ana calling his name in fear.
"Uncle Danny? No! Wake up!"
He forced his eyes back open and smiled gently as he tried to shrug around his bound wrists. After being shot, Robbie and Paul had dragged him to a heavy table and retied his already battered hands to its metal legs. He and Ana hadn't had a chance once the only door to the roof was similarly booby-trapped. And this one Danny definitely recognized and Steve would have been proud of him. Two military grade hand-grenades were subtly positioned at their only final point of egress.
"Ana." He sighed her name out on a plaintive exhale. It begged her forgiveness but Danny refused to say another word and that made Robbie laugh cynically.
"Now, who's lying, Ana? Me .. or him? My bets on him. Your Uncle Danny is a murdering, lousy cop liar."
So besides the one disappointing door, there would be no roof or fresh air and definitely no escape. Danny was forced to listen to Robbie's gloating comments. Each one slowly twisted Ana into knots and filled her with confusing doubts and uncertainty. But Danny refused to rise to the bait; it was better this way. And it didn't matter because regardless of what Robbie said, he was going to kill Danny anyway. He squinted up at the boy as he tried to toy with them both and attempted to get him riled enough to deny it.
"Come on, Uncle Danny. Just say it and I'll let you go." Agitated and impatient, Robbie was tapping the gun against his thigh. Ana was staring at him and crying while Paul paced in the background nervously.
"Say it! You only took care of Ana because you know you're guilty. You don't love her .. you never did!" But as he expected, his continued silence was also good enough for Robbie. Thinking that he made his point to Ana and with Danny out of commission, Robbie decided to end his plan in grand style.
"Turn those on. Every single one of them." He pushed Paul to the rows of propane tanks and pointed. "Go on .. I just need you to open the valves on those canisters. I'll do the rest."
The hissing of each tank filled the room as gas began to settle along the ground. And then it was too easy for Robbie to set a ten minute timer. One spark would be all it would take to create an inferno and he positioned the old car battery perfectly next to the small copper wire.
"Time to go." Robbie leaned down to roughly pull Ana up and away before bending down once more to Danny. She stumbled blindly to her feet not entirely realizing yet what Robbie intended to do. But Danny was coughing more deeply as the gas moved invisibly across the old floor of the building and directly into his lungs. The hissing sound was nearly overwhelming and he began to strain against his bonds again.
"Robbie .. don't do .. this." Danny tried and then shook his head in a vain attempt to clear his vision.
"Ana .. run .. get away from him." His eyes were closing as his voice failed and dwindled away. The propane gas was heavier than air; it lurked along the ground in an invisible swirl and Danny began to heave in smaller and smaller amounts of air. He felt as if he were drowning, but without the luxury of water as he gasped and choked for precious oxygen.
"It's been nice. But don't worry, I'll take real good care of her now that she knows the truth." The hand that fisted Danny's hair lifted his head off the floor. Robbie was sharing some final thoughts with a nasty sneer. Anxiously wanting to move, Paul had Ana by the arm and was dragging her to the doorway.
"See? And you didn't even have to really say it out loud. What do they say? Silence means consent?" He laughed and bent down closer.
"Sorry about breaking my promise. But you're a smart guy, right? So you already knew that wasn't going to be part of the bargain. Actually, maybe that's why you kept your damned mouth finally shut!"
Danny struggled weakly but it was of no use and he sagged down completely into the filthy floor as Robbie got to his feet. His coughs began to increase in frequency as he failed at finding clean air. He thought he heard Ana just one more time before the door slammed to the room. Screaming that they let him go, but Danny couldn't even think anymore to form a complete thought or sentence as all sounds faded but for the loud hiss of the propane tanks.
~ to be continued ~
