Maddie walked into Five-0 headquarters a few hours later ready to have lunch with Steve. He had postponed their lunch "date" to 2:00 since something had come up that needed his attention. Knowing that he was busy, Maddie decided to stop on her way in to pick something up for them and just bring it to the office. She walked into his office and held up a bag displaying Kamekona's logo. Steve smiled at her gratefully as he ended the call he was on.
"You're the best," he said, "I'm sorry I had to change plans. It's been a crazy day."
Maddie waved him off, "You don't have to apologize. I understand." Steve cleared off a section of his desk for her to put the food on before getting up to pull a chair up for her and close the blinds on his office. For privacy... he'd said. Apparently, he didn't want his co-workers gawking at them while they tried to eat.
Maddie couldn't help but giggle at the scowl written all over his face, "I don't blame them for being curious. Have you told them what happened? With us, I mean?"
"I told them everything this morning after I dropped Stephanie off. They know the whole story now."
Maddie shook her head in understanding as she took a bite of her lunch. "They must not have high opinions of me," she said matter of factly.
"Why would you think that?"
Maddie gave him a wry look, "Come on, Steve. I hid a child from you. Our child…..Your child. They are your Ohana, so I know it must be a shock to them too."
"Yeah, it was a surprise," Steve admitted, "But I think they understand. Sometimes we have to make hard decisions, Maddie. And when we have to make those decisions so young, it's easy to look back later and say it was the 'wrong' decision…..but it is what it is. They know what happened with Doris and they've seen me deal with the hell it brought into my life. I don't think any one of them blames you for what you did any more than they would blame our parents for keeping us apart during that time. Hell, in retrospect, it probably saved both you and Stephanie from a lot of heartache….and danger."
"Still…..I know it must be…."
"Don't." Steve said. The tone of his voice left no room for argument, but his eyes were soft. "I'm happy you're here now."
Maddie's phone vibrated on the desk and she looked down at the caller ID. "It's Stephanie," she said as she looked at Steve. She pushed to answer the phone, "Hey sweetie. How are things going today?"
She heard her daughter sniffing on the other line, "Mom, you need to come down here. Something is wrong with Alyssa."
Maddie's gaze quickly darted up to meet Steve's. Alyssa was not only a fellow model, but she had also grown up with Stephanie. The girls had been friends since they were children, and although Alyssa had become somewhat distant in the last year, the girls still remained close. They had even been signed by the same modeling company which is why they had made this trip to Hawaii together. "What do you mean, something's wrong?"
Stephanie sniffed again, "We're sharing a dressing trailer today. I just came back in from doing a session and found Alyssa passed out on the bed. I haven't been able to wake her. Something is wrong!"
Maddie tried to soothe her as she put the phone on speaker so Steve could hear, too, "Sweetie, calm down. Is she breathing?"
"Yes, she's breathing, but I can't wake her up. I've been trying to talk to her…..and shake her….but she's not responding at all. I'm scared."
Maddie grabbed her purse, "We're on our way. You need to tell Diana or someone what is going on. She may need a paramedic."
"I tried….I told Garrett and he said she was just sleeping. He told me not to worry about it, but I know something is wrong."
Maddie wracked her brain trying to remember who 'Garrett' was but couldn't recall. "Who is Garrett?" she asked.
"Garrett is Christoph's assistant. He was coming out of our trailer as I was walking in. When I walked in and couldn't get Alyssa to wake up, I found Garrett and told him something was wrong with her. He just brushed it off and said she would be fine. But she's not fine, Mom! I know it."
By this time, Steve was grabbing his keys and holstering his gun to prepare to leave as well. He and Maddie shared a look of concern.
"Stephanie, stay right there, honey. We're on our way." Steve instructed.
He grabbed Maddie's hand and walked out of his office while motioning for Danny to follow.
"What's wrong?" Danny asked as he left his office to catch up to them.
"I'll explain on the way." Before leaving, he stepped in to Kono's office and handed her a piece of paper, "Kono, call paramedics and have them dispatched to this address…ASAP."
Kono looked up from her desk in alarm, "Stephanie?"
"No, one of the other girls…a friend of Stephanie's….is apparently unresponsive. Stephanie can't wake her up and she said no one there seems concerned. We're going to check it out. It could be nothing, but I'd rather be safe than sorry. Get paramedics en route and tell them we're on our way, too."
A look that Steve couldn't quite interpret crossed Kono's face before she quickly disguised it.
"Something wrong?" he asked her.
"Uh….no…..nothing, Boss. Go. I'll have them meet you there."
Steve, Maddie, and Danny quickly made their way to Steve's truck and drove to the warehouse that had been turned into a studio for the day. When they were getting close, Maddie called Stephanie to let her know they were almost there. Steve was just parking the truck, when Stephanie came running out of her trailer wearing a terry cloth bathrobe. Maddie put an arm around her and walked with her behind Steve and Danny. A security guard on the set saw them approaching the trailer and tried to step in the way of the door.
"You can't go in there." He started.
Steve pushed him aside impatiently and leveled a glare at him before flashing his badge, "This says I can. Now get out of my way."
He made his way in and quickly found Alyssa lying on the bed in the back. Sirens in the background signaled help wasn't far behind. Steve was relieved to see that Alyssa was breathing although her breaths were shallow. A quick check of her pulse told him it was very faint. She definitely needed medical attention.
"Danny, meet the guys outside and lead them in. We need to get her to a hospital."
Stephanie started crying and Maddie pulled her into a hug, "It's okay, sweetie. They'll take care of her."
As the paramedics made their way into the dressing trailer, Steve recognized them immediately. One of them addressed Steve.
"What do we have, Commander?"
"Hey, Kyle. This is Alyssa McLayne…..16… She's been unresponsive for at least thirty to forty-five minutes. Pulse is faint, breathing shallow."
As the two men began checking her vital signs, the robe that Alyssa was wearing shifted slightly revealing bruises on her thighs.
"Did you see this, McGarrett?" Kyle asked.
Steve peered over his shoulder to look at the marks Kyle was pointing at. His eyes moved upward to see similar marks on her wrists. It was almost as if she had been restrained.
He turned back towards Stephanie, "Who did you say was in here with her when you came back?"
"Christoph's production assistant. His name is Garrett. He was coming out of the trailer just as I came in."
Steve looked pointedly at Danny. The men shared a look that told Maddie they were communicating without words. Whatever it was, it wasn't good. Anger flashed in Danny's eyes, "I'll find him."
Danny didn't have to go far. As he stepped out of the trailer, Garrett was a few feet away making his way there. Noticing Danny coming out of the trailer, Garrett shouted at him, "What's going on?"
"And you are?" Danny asked calmly.
"I'm Garrett Jensen. Who are you and how did you get in there?"
Danny flashed his badge, "Detective Danny Williams, Mr. Jensen. You're just the man I was looking for. Do you have somewhere we can talk?"
As they turned towards the dressing trailer, the paramedics were in the process of transferring Alyssa out and onto a gurney for transport to the hospital. Steve was talking to Kyle as he exited with them. Although he was trying to keep his voice low so as not to upset Stephanie any further, Garrett was still able to over hear his instructions as he spoke to the paramedic, "Make sure they do a rape kit on her when you get her to the emergency room. I'll send Kono over to talk to her in a little while."
"You got it, Commander."
Garrett stopped in his tracks, "Rape kit? What the hell is going on here?"
Steve turned in his direction, "You must be Garrett?"
"Yes, I'm Garrett Jensen, the production assistant…and I demand to know what's going on here. Why are you taking her to the hospital? She's scheduled in front of the cameras in fifteen minutes!"
Steve took a determined step in Garrett's direction and stood within inches of his face. It was intimidating, to say the least. Garrett, who was a few inches shorter than Steve, straightened to his full height trying to give the impression he wasn't affected by Steve's presence. But Steve knew better.
"I would like to know what's going on, too, Mr. Jensen. In fact, we're going to go in and have a nice long chat….and you're going to tell us everything. Understand?"
Garrett's gaze wandered over to Stephanie and Maddie. Maddie's arms were wrapped protectively around her daughter who was still distraught over finding her friend in such a state. Anger flashed in his eyes.
"What did she tell you? Did she say I did something to Alyssa? If she did, she's a lying bitch!"
Danny's eyebrows shot up in surprise.
Steve stood in front of Garrett effectively blocking his view of Stephanie and Maddie. His voice barely hid the fury burning in his chest. He wanted to pummel the guy into the ground for making such a comment about his girl. HIS girl, "What did you say?"
Garrett looked back at Steve and decided to choose his next words wisely. He definitely didn't want to provoke him any further. "I just want to know what's going on with Alyssa."
"Well then, we're thinking alike, Mr. Jensen," Steve continued, "Because so do we. Now let's go somewhere and talk."
Garrett begrudgingly led them to the trailer being used as an office for the shoot. On their way, he called onto the set to let Christoph know what was going on and inform him that another model would have to be used in Alyssa's place. As expected, Christoph wasn't happy about the change in plans at the last minute, but it couldn't be helped. As Garrett walked into his office with Steve and Danny close on his heels, he excused the other staff members so they could have some privacy.
He settled himself at a table as Steve and Danny took seats across from him.
"So why don't you tell us what you were doing in Alyssa and Stephanie's trailer earlier?" Danny began.
"I was going over the schedule with Alyssa because we had to rearrange some things today. Then, our stylist brought over the gown she was going to wear in her next session. I was talking to her about the particulars of the session and letting her know what Christoph was looking for."
"Did she act 'out of sorts'?" Danny asked.
"What do you mean?"
Steve's impatience got the better of him. "What he means is…..did she act sick or disoriented?"
"She acted a little tired, but she seemed fine otherwise. She wanted to lie down and I told her she had no more than half an hour before she would have to start getting dressed for the next shoot."
Steve and Danny looked at him skeptically.
"Stephanie said she was all but passed out when you were leaving and she wasn't able to wake her. How could you not know the difference between tired and passed out?" Steve asked.
Garrett sighed, "Look gentlemen, it's a well-known fact that a lot of these girls take medications to control their weight, their moods, their anxiety, their energy levels, etc. Between diet pills, anxiety medication, and speed…who the hell knows what they're taking on a daily basis? They can be a temperamental bunch, believe me. It is entirely possible that Alyssa took something to 'take the edge off', so to speak, but I don't know that for a fact. When I left the trailer, she was lying down for a quick power nap and had set the alarm on her phone to wake her up. That's all I know."
"So you didn't give her anything yourself?" Danny asked.
"What?" Garrett looked appalled. "Absolutely not! Why would I want my models sleeping on the job, Detective? And while we're at it…..may I ask why you've ordered a rape kit to be taken at the hospital?"
Steve and Danny were silent for a moment before Steve finally spoke, "She has bruising on her wrists and thighs. It's indicative of either rough sex or unwarranted sex. Given the fact that she was basically unconscious when we found her, we are thinking it might be non-consensual. Would you know anything about that, Mr Jensen?"
"No, of course not!" Garrett had an uneasy feeling and decided to get some of the heat off of himself.
"Look, if you want to be suspicious of anyone fooling around with her, you might want to talk to Tristan Bishop. He's one of our male models and he's been pursuing her pretty aggressively."
Satisfied that they had all they could get out of Garrett Jensen at the moment, Steve told him to stay available if they needed him to answer any other questions. Then, he and Danny made their way back to Stephanie's trailer so they could talk to her as well.
They found Maddie sitting on a couch with a cup of tea in hand.
"How's she doing?" Steve asked.
"She's in the back changing her clothes, but she wants to go to the hospital to be with Alyssa. Frankly, so do I. Can we go?"
"Maybe in a little while." Steve answered, "But we need to talk to her first. Something going on, Maddie, and we need to get to the bottom of it...now."
Maddie shook her head in agreement as Stephanie emerged wearing cut-off denim shorts and a tank top. Her face was make-up free and she'd pulled her hair back into a ponytail. She looked every bit the teenager she was. Even though Steve suspected she knew more than she had shared thus far, Steve's heart twisted at the innocence in front of him.
They had to get to the bottom of what was going on. Period.