Chapter 9

"Damn!" Danny cursed under his breath in frustration as he banged his fist against the truck's dashboard. He had tried several times to contact the station by radio to no avail. The fierce winter storm must have been interfering with the transmission. So we're cut off, Dan admitted to himself. His mind kicked into problem solving mode and began to list priorities. He quickly searched the interior of the truck. Finding a blanket that was stashed behind the seat, he stuffed it into his coat to shield it from the snow and warm it against his body.

o-o-o

After Danny had left the cabin, Jenny let loose a couple of her own four letter words. Strangely enough, her outburst seemed to ease the pain; at least that was her impression. Then it occurred to her that she had unconsciously held back the un-ladylike language in Dan's presence and she wondered why. She pulled her coat up closer around her neck. The penetrating cold was becoming more difficult to ignore, made worse by the blasts of wind and snow coming through the broken window. She glanced up toward the window. The snow was falling thick and fast. She could no longer see the truck through the veil of white. "Oh no!" The words escaped her lips automatically.

o-o-o

Danny jumped down from the driver's side of the truck only to be assaulted by a barrage of cold wet snow. He circled around to the rear of the vehicle, opened the tailgate and grabbed a folded plastic tarp from the back before heading back to the cabin. The dense swirling blizzard made it difficult even to see the structure in front of him. When Dan reached the cabin, he entered quickly and slammed the door behind him as fast as he could. Jenny looked up at the snow covered detective who was shaking off the frosty coating as if it were toxic.

"The radio's out," Danny stated bluntly as he unfolded the tarp and unceremoniously draped it over Jimmy's corpse. Then he crossed the room, pulled the blanket from beneath his coat and wrapped it around the wounded woman's shoulders.

"Thanks," Jenny said, still shivering.

"We'll have to get you to the hospital on our own," Dan continued. "Think you can stand if I help you? I'll get you out to the truck and we can get out of here." The young man's adrenalin had kicked in and he was already thinking ten steps ahead.

"Danny," O'Neal said calmly but firmly. She clasped the detective's arm to get his attention and slow him down. "We can't go anywhere right now."

"We have to, Jenny," Dan countered emphatically. "We can't stay here; it's freezing and you need a doctor."

"I know, but..." Jenny inclined her head toward the madly falling snow. "Danny, look out the window; it's a whiteout. It's far too dangerous to drive in this. You won't be able to see two feet in front of the truck. We'll have to wait it out."

Dan glanced out the window. Even though he was determined to get them on the road to safety as soon as possible, he was also smart enough to heed the voice of reason. After all, he wasn't familiar with the behavior of snow storms like this and O'Neal was. "How long?"

"Maybe an hour or two. These squalls usually come in bands," Jenny explained, pulling the blanket around her body, relishing what little warmth it provided.

"An hour or two," Dan repeated, accepting the situation, his mind moving on to the next necessary task. "It's too cold in here to wait that long, unless…" He eyed the small stack of wood next to the fireplace. Several years ago, before he had quit smoking, he had always kept a book of matches or a lighter in his pocket, but after giving up his habit, he no longer needed them. "Do you have any matches?"

"No, I'm afraid not," O'Neal answered as she shifted her throbbing leg, trying to find a comfortable position.

"Well, maybe I can at least block that hole in the window." Dan rose to his feet and headed for the back door. "Be right back."

Upon inspecting the rear side of the cabin, Danny was both surprised and relieved that the building was old enough to have functional shutters. Against the stiff wind he pulled the aged boards as hard as he could on their rusted hinges until they met in the middle of the damaged window and then he hooked them together. That would be of some help, but they would still need some source of heat or the wait would be very unpleasant, not to mention dangerous. Hurrying to the back door to get out of the storm again, Dan tripped over a large lump in the snow. When he regained his footing, he brushed the accumulated snow off the offending object, revealing Jimmy's pack! He grabbed the pack, brought it into the cabin and set it down beside O'Neal. Then he knelt down and began pulling items from the pack.

"Room service?" Jenny asked wryly, her teeth still chattering in spite of the wool blanket she wore.

"Yeah," Danny replied automatically as he continued his search. Then a smile lit up his face as he pulled out a box of matches. "Bingo!"

o-o-o

"Danny's in danger, too, Steve!" Ed blurted out, returning to his pacing.

McGarrett kept his eye on Maguire. He could feel the tension virtually emanating from the older man's body. He could also feel the unease in his own gut concerning Danno's safety even before Maguire had put it into words. He knew that he needed to redirect Ed's mind back to procedure.

"Easy, Ed," Steve said in a low voice. "What's the plan?"

Maguire ceased pacing and started thinking again. "As soon as the snow lets up, we head for the cabin, silent approach, just like last night." Ed's tone again bore the strength of command. "Tony, get on the phone to public works; tell them the north road gets priority for plowing just as soon as they can get out. Lars, load up the snowshoes."