Open Water – Chapter 09

US Coast Guard – 400 Sand Island Pkwy. – Saturday 1330 hours

Danny was pacing, trying to burn nervous energy. So far it was not working. "Why the hell can't you guys find him?" He asked, not for the first time. "You've been looking for him for hours now."

"Detective, it's not that simple. You can't just fly out there and pick him up. We're talking about the ocean here. With high waves, unpredictable currents, and many other complicating factors," Lieutenant Myers tried to explain. Also not for the first time.

"Aren't there charts with the currents?" Danny remembered Steve explaining the different currents around Hawaii to Gracie for one of her school projects. Steve had used a hydro… something chart to show her. Steve would probably smile at him for not remembering what it was called, and Danny would gladly be laughed at right about now. Because that would mean his friend would be right next to him, safe and sound.

"Yes, there are. But the storm is one of those complicating factors. It makes it hard to predict Commander McGarrett's position."

"I understand that. But Steve has been out there for about eight hours now. Who knows how seriously injured he is… you just have to find him," Danny said and tried not to choke thinking about his friend alone and lost at sea.

"We're doing all we can, Detective. Please believe me, we're doing all we can. If he's still out there, we will find him," Myers assured him.

"What do you mean, if?"

"The ocean out there is treacherous. Who knows what might have happened since he's been in the water. He could be seriously hurt and unable to swim for that length of time. And there is always the danger of hypothermia; something that is wildly underestimated in these warm waters." Myers looked at the distressed detective and pondered if he should tell him the statistics of survival for that many hours in high seas and injured. In the end he was sure that Williams didn't need to hear it from him.

Myers was sure that the detective was aware of the other, the most likely scenario… that McGarrett had already drowned. And that they would only recover a body… if they were lucky. Most people who drowned in open water were never recovered.

Before Danny could give Myers a piece of his mind about what he was sure the Coast Guard lieutenant was thinking, his phone announced an incoming call from an unknown number.

"Williams."

"Danny, I just came back to the hotel. They told me you had called."

This was not a conversation he wanted to have right now. Earlier he had called the resort on the Big Island, but as he had suspected Cath had not been reachable. "Why are you at the hotel?"

"That's a long story, but the short version is that my dad sprained his ankle pretty badly. It might even be broken. So, we came back," Cath said over the line. "Are you guys on your way?"

"No. Catherine, listen. Something happened. We think Steve is… he, ah, he went surfing this morning, and his board was found, but no sign of him."

"What?"

"We think he was swept out to see. The Coast Guard and the Navy are looking for him. Catherine, they will find him."

"I'll be on the next flight out. Where are you?"

"At the Coast Guard station."

"Danny, I'll be there as soon as I can."

"Okay, good."

Danny ended the call and turned back to Myers, "That was his girlfriend. You better find him," he told the Coast Guard man, thinking about the distress he heard in Catherine's voice.

Myers only nodded, but knew that they could really do nothing but wait for any of the search parties, either in the air or in the water, to find McGarrett.

H50 – H50 – H50

Five-0 Headquarter – Friday 1130 hours

"Listen up, guys," Steve gathered his two team mates around the smart table. "We know that this is a trap. Question is: do they know that we know?" He looked at Danny and Kono and when they both nodded he continued. "SWAT is in position. But remember these guys are professionals, they will not hesitate to use civilians for target practice."

"We shouldn't have agreed to this, Steven."

"And the alternative would be, Danny?"

"I don't know, but willingly running into a trap is not a good idea," Danny voiced his objections.

"No, it's not. They exposed themselves on purpose. They wanted us to find this," Steve said as he motioned to the file on the screen.

The FBI New York had found a connection between a rented warehouse here in Honolulu and Jimmy Cannon, but Five-0 was sure it was a trap. They were obviously sent on a wild goose chase.

"Then why play their cards?" Kono asked.

"Do any of you have a better idea? I'm always open for suggestions."

"No," Danny grudgingly had to admit that he didn't have a better plan. "But for the record, I don't like this."

"Neither do I, Danny." Steve looked over at Kono and knew that his next words wouldn't go down so well. "Kono, I want you out back with the SWAT leader."

"What? Boss, no, I… why?" It was clear that she wasn't happy, but she of course knew that it was not her decision to make.

"Jack said 'Danny and me' in the warehouse. No word about you, Kono. I want you to watch SWAT and make sure they don't storm in at an inappropriate time." Steve was well aware that she was pissed about this assignment, but also knew that she would do as told. And he knew that he could trust her to have their backs.

"Okay."

"Good. Any other questions?"

The three Five-0 were about to head out when they received a call from Max over their Skype-line.

"Commander, I just received the final report of the autopsy from a colleague in New York. I'm surprised they ID-ed a suspect. Didn't you tell me there weren't any leads? That's why I'm calling. The ME found a print on the body, and the FBI is sure it's from the killer."

"A print on the body?"

"Yes. It's a complicated procedure to extract any prints from—"

"Max, we have no information about that. Who is it?"

"I'm sorry, Commander. The print belongs to Marcus Philips."

"Does he have a record?" Danny asked.

"Oh, yes. A quite impressive one actually. It was attached to the ME's report. I sent it over and you should already have access to it."

"Thanks, Max."

"Oh, no, Commander, that's not all," Max was quick to interrupt Steve.

"It's not?"

"No. Marcus Philips came to Hawaii three days ago. Under the name of Skip Redding. And Redding rented office space on Kapiolani Blvd. – it's all in the file," Max said not without pride to know so much about their possible suspect.

"Max, you were a great help. Thank you," Steve said to their ME and they all could see that Max was practically beaming with happiness.

Of course that information changed the game plan dramatically. "Kono, you're going to the warehouse. But do not engage if not necessary."

"What are you going to do?"

"Danny and I will check out the office."

"Just the two of you?" Kono asked.

"Yeah. That way we might be able to surprise them. If they are even there," Steve added as an afterthought. "But we will have HPD waiting nearby. Danny, can you call Lukela?"

"Sure."

A couple of minutes later Danny and Steve were on their way to the offices rented by Skip Redding, and Kono was on her way to meet the SWAT team ready to take down the group of blackmailers at a warehouse at Kapalama Basin.

H50 – H50 – H50

Between Oahu and Kauai – Saturday 1400 hours

Suddenly Steve's flailing left arm hit something solid. The force behind it almost broke his wrist, but he didn't care about the pain, he grabbed on to whatever he just came across. It took a moment to realize that he had encountered a piece of a boat or yacht. Maybe the remains of a life boat or raft.

Whatever it was, or where it came from, it might just be what would save Steve's life. He managed to drag his upper body onto the surface without sinking it. His legs still hung in the water, but Steve had neither the energy to get completely on it, nor was he sure that the plank would hold and take his weight.

Steve couldn't lie his head down, he lay too deep in the water for that, but just not needing to tread water was enough to make him almost cry in relief. He was utterly exhausted and knew that he would not be able to swim for even one more minute.

His head was killing him, and his vision had been blurry for the last hour. His right leg felt like it was on fire despite the cold that had taken over the rest of his body. He had never felt pain like that before. Every little movement sent incredible jolts of agony into his groin, down his leg and into his back. It took his breath away.

With his upper body now almost completely out of the water he could also feel the sunburn on his neck and shoulders when the pounding rain hit the sensitive skin. He was sure his face was also a bright red from the exposure to the sun's rays for so many hours. The sun screen he had used lost its protection long ago. And now even his back was exposed to the rays that penetrated the dark clouds. It was such irony that he got his worst sunburn on one of the cloudiest days.

Too bad that no warming rays got through the thick clouds, only the dangerous ones found their way to Steve's already sun burned body.

Steve adjusted his hold on the piece of wood and crossed his arms to create a cushion to lay his head on without dipping into the water. His bodyweight pushed the plank slightly under, so that his upper body was not completely out of the wet element. His vision was graying at the edges more and more with every passing second. For a moment he worried that he would slip off the plank, but he simply didn't have the energy to do anything against the impending darkness.

The last thing Steve felt before his body finally gave out was water washing over his arms and face.

H50 – H50 – H50

"Rescue 103, please repeat." The voice coming over the headphones could barely be heard over the noise from the rotor and the wind and rain beating against the helicopter.

"We think we saw something in the water. It's hard to see due to the heavy rain and high waves. We're going further down."

The pilot, Lieutenant Thomas Drake, thought it was kind of ironic that he and his crew again were searching for the lieutenant commander. Of course, the last time they had been lucky and found Williams and McGarrett in the middle of the night out at sea.* This time however they had been looking for McGarrett for hours now without any sign of him.

"Billy! Anything?" Drake called to his co-pilot who searched the waves for any sign of the missing man.

"No, let's fly another round. I was sure I saw something a minute ago." Billy Reagan told his partner.

Normally the two men in the back of the helicopter, one diver and the guy manning the winch, would also be on the lookout. But the weather conditions didn't allow flying with the big sliding door kept open. So it was up to the two pilots to be on the lookout. Of course, the two men at the back also looked out their windows, but they could see even less than up front in the cockpit.

"Base, come in," Drake called their command center.

"Rescue 103, we hear you loud and clear."

"Base, we will make one more sweep over grid 2604, and then heading back for re-fueling."

"Roger Rescue 103, one more sweep, and re-fueling."

"We'll call in when we leave."

"Roger that."

The communication went silent again and both men concentrated on the waves below. A minute later Billy suddenly called out. "There it is."

The helicopter hovered over a large piece of debris. It looked like it belonged to a boat or yacht. It was idly bobbing in the waves. Unfortunately it was not what they were looking for.

"Okay, we need to head back," Thomas looked at his friend, and could see that he felt as bad about it as he did. It was never easy to abort a search. But they had no choice if they didn't want to end up in the drink themselves.

"Alright, I'll call it in."

"Base, this is Rescue 103. It was only debris we saw. We're heading back."

"Roger, Rescue 103. Grid 2604 unsuccessful."

"Billy!" Drake suddenly called out.

"Ah shit. Base, we found him."

Hectic, but controlled activity started after the sighting. The helicopter hovered over the body that floated face down about 30 feet from the debris. The diver was in the water in seconds and it only took him a moment to reach the man.

They didn't waste any time with a rescue basket but hooked him into the harness and a few moments later the lifeless body of Lieutenant Commander Steve McGarrett was on board the SAR helicopter.

H50 – H50 – H50

So, you all wanted Steve out of the water. Are you happy now? ;-)

*In 'Recovery' Steve and Danny were fished out of the water by the 'Rescue 103' crew. Were they too late this time?