Hello to everyone!
I have heard rumbles that folks are really getting antsy to have Steve back in the story. Well... don't throw darts,or eggs, or tomatoes, but this isn't the chapter. He's in here, but not quite conscious. But I promise, he'll make his presence known in the next one. Pinky swear!
Again, thanks so much for the wonderful reviews. For the ones marked 'Guest', thanks to you also. The reviews really make my heart sing. And thanks again to the team of Sockie and Sym who manage to keep me on my toes. Oh! And I don't think I have mentioned it for a while, but these characters do not belong to me... never have. Although I *do* have them on my Christmas wish list. Here's hoping Santa will come through!
~~~H50~~~
'Emo 'ole Make loa
Chapter 10
At the same time, Officer Helaka opened the double doors. "Chin! Shots fired on the roof!"
Danny looked through the doorway at Steve, then back at Chin as they raced out of ICU. "Kono, stay with Steve and Max. And guard the door. We're taking Helaka."
"What's the problem?" Dr. Hanson asked from inside Steve's glassed-in room.
Kono shook her head in amazement and stepped inside. "Gunfire on the roof," she told the doctors, not quite believing what she had heard.
"What the hell?" Makani said. "Someone must really want him to die. And unless those drugs get in here soon, they'll have their wish."
Ten minutes later, Chin and Danny returned, Wade Gutches with them, carrying what looked like a drink cooler in his hands. The trio had smiles of relief on their faces.
"Thank God!" Kono breathed, stepping aside for them to enter. "What happened up there?"
A nurse took the container and turned to Dr. Hanson, who spoke quietly to her. She set down the cooler and then turned, spreading her arms wide, moving them all back away from the bed. "You can stay, but back here out of the way."
Danny nodded and stepped back with the rest, then turned to Wade who answered Kono's question.
"Whoever these morons were, apparently they had no clue there were two SEALs on the flight." He gave her a quick grin and added proudly, "there wasn't much of a fight."
"Are they in custody?"
"One is," Chin replied, quirking his eyebrow at her. "What I don't understand is why you were there?" he asked Wade.
"Danny had called and requested a plane which the Navy was able to dispatch from Manila. Jacks and I decided to meet it when it touched down here and take control of the container. We hopped in the chopper."
Danny clapped him on the back. "Good job. Glad to have you on our team."
Their attention was drawn back to the people surrounding Steve's bed, listening to Hanson's voice. "Draw up 2 ml of the antivenin."
"Which vial?" a nurse asked. "Aren't there two different strains of it?"
"At this stage, just give me one… we don't have time to choose."
She opened the cooler and muttered "Oh!" upon seeing the interior. "No choice, one is already broken." She carefully lifted out the intact vial and cleaned the top of it with an alcohol swab before inserting the syringe needle into it. Another nurse reached for the container and set it aside.
Danny slipped in and grabbed the cooler, finding a small bullet hole in the side of it. He viewed the shattered vial inside the packing material and glanced up at his friends, letting out a shuddering sigh. "That was way too close. We almost lost both vials."
"We didn't," Max told him, his attention on the activity around the bed. He kept inching closer to see what was happening, watching as Hanson emptied the contents of the syringe into an empty line leading into the port near Steve's collarbone. Max forgot he was supposed to be standing away from the bed and asked, "How quickly should this work?"
"Hopefully soon," Makani replied, shaking his head. "Otherwise, none of this will really matter."
Steve's friends waited in silence, watching, willing something to happen.
In vain. Because Steve didn't miraculously twitch, move, open his eyes or anything else.
Steve remained as still as before, and on the outside, nothing had changed.
Dr. Hanson nodded in their direction as he headed out the door. Makani and the two nurses remained at Steve's bedside, checking tubes, writing numbers, adjusting knobs, making small talk. Danny Williams thought he would scream, wanting someone to just say something.
Finally, Dr. Makani turned to them and smiled. "Well, once again we wait."
"Can't you tell us anything other than that?" Danny asked testily.
The doctor glanced back at the bed. "For the time being, he's no worse. Hopefully the antivenin will change things for the better. We'll be watching him closely for any sign of change."
Gutches looked at the rest of them. "You'll keep us posted?"
"Of course," Chin assured him. "Thank you for your help. And for the big guns."
"Jacks and your guard have the perp in custody. Do you need anything from us before we take off?"
Chin shook his head. "I'll check back, but HPD was en route to take him in and take his brother to the ME's office." He shook the SEAL's hand. "Mahalo, Man. Appreciate your help."
Gutches nodded at all them, then told Max, "Looks like we created more work for you."
"After that stunt, I cannot say that I'm sorry. I will personally handle his case."
"Thanks, Max," Kono told the ME, giving him a quick hug.
Danny looked at his phone to check the time. "Eight forty-five. How should we work this?" He stared at his partner's still form on the bed, then back to Chin. They all were bordering on bone-weary exhaustion, but knew that they had a lot of work ahead of them that night.
Chin replied, "HPD is taking our shooter to our interroga—"
"He can rot in there for all I care," Danny interrupted.
"Not before I get answers," Chin said. "I'm going to find out who the hell Michelle Farris is."
"OK, someone needs to stay here," Danny told them, rubbing his tired eyes. "I am going to be there when you interrogate this idiot, but Kono, you're better on the research end of things. Why don't you—"
"If I may interrupt," Max quietly said. "I am still on… 'Steve watch'… if you will, until I am relieved later tonight. At that time, I will go to my office and will begin work on my newest customer. Until then, I would prefer to remain here. My suggestion is that you can all go to headquarters and find out who these people are and why they have targeted Commander McGarrett as they have. I would be most interested in their answers."
"You don't mind?" Kono asked him.
"Of course not. Even if one of you chooses to remain, I will also stay. It is my turn."
"Well, Max, thank you," Chin said with a grin while slapping the man on his shoulder. "We certainly wouldn't want you to lose 'your turn'."
"I appreciate that," Max agreed, with a nod.
"Thanks, Max. Call if anything… I mean anything changes," Danny ordered. "You got that?"
"Absolutely."
"Then let's go meet this brilliant perp of ours," he muttered. "But first," he moved to the bed and stood next to the nurse and grasped Steve's wrist. "You keep an eye on this moron for me, OK?" he asked her. She smiled as he released his partner's wrist and reached up to give Steve's shoulder a quick squeeze.
"Of course we will," she assured him. "Don't worry – we'll let you know if we see any change. We're all pulling for him."
Danny nodded. "Good to hear. Max, I'll be back later. And thanks, again."
~~~H50~~~
Barry Davidson sat in the holding cell of headquarters, handcuffed to a chair setting in the middle of the darkened room.
Alone.
He had been dragged in there a couple of hours ago and just left … without any indication of what they were going to do with him. He watched Walt get hit and with all the blood he was sure his brother was dead.
There was too much blood for any other possibility.
Just like when his half brother, Marcus had been killed.
Now Walt was gone and he was left. Just him and Chas.
But they would still get their revenge. He would make sure of it.
~~~H50~~~
While allowing Barry to stew inside the holding room, Chin, Danny and Kono were thoroughly combing through the information on the computer table, and files, learning all they could about the two brothers, Barry and Walt Davidson. They were from California, father and step-mother both deceased from an explosion in their house a few years ago.
What was odd was that the brothers' prints weren't on file anywhere… making them novices at crime… which was highly doubtful… or what was more likely… they just had never been caught.
Until now.
Bank accounts were pretty non-descript. Not a lot of cash moving in or out. Walt worked for a cleaning company; Barry was a mechanic. They were renting a house on Keolu Street. Their payment history was decent; not a lot of bills in their names. Whoever they were, or whoever they were working for, they were flying under the radar.
But that was about to change.
Danny and Chin were going to interrogate Barry. Kono pulled together a team from HPD to check out the house on Keolu Street. She was thankful that Duke was working that night and pulled on his expertise. He was more than happy to assist.
Barry looked up, a smug smile on his face when Danny and Chin entered the room and flipped on the lights, which caused him to squint up at them.
Chin slapped down the hastily-prepared file onto the floor and then opened the door once again and snared a chair and sat, all the time silently staring at Barry.
Danny chose to fold his arms and lean against the wall, also glaring at their perp.
After a length of silence, Chin leaned back in his chair. "So… Barry Davidson, what would you like to tell us?"
"Huh?"
"You need to be a bit more detail-oriented," Chin added. "Like what were your plans on that roof?"
"Screw you. You guys killed my brother."
"Not true. Your brother was killed by a Navy SEAL. You pissed off the wrong people, Barry."
"Huh?"
"Is that the only word you know? You need to work on a better answer. Next question. Who is Michelle Farris?"
"Who?" He looked at them with true confusion on his face, before covering it. "Look. I'm not talkin' to you or anybody else."
Chin looked at Danny who had remained silent. Chin shrugged his shoulders and stood, reaching for the file. "Suit yourself. We've got you for attempted murder in the case of the chopper on the hospital roof and also for Commander McGarrett, unless he miraculously pulls through."
Barry barked out a sharp laugh. "Don't know what you're talking about. I haven't killed anyone."
"Attempted murder," Danny finally spoke. "Of a police officer who is also a decorated Navy SEAL. Hmm, you know, Chin, the Navy might even take the case and charge him in military court." He shrugged his shoulders. "I'd gladly turn him over and be done with him."
Chin slapped the folder on his hand and chuckled. "Well, for Barry's sake, let's hope they don't come for him. That outcome wouldn't be very pleasant."
Barry looked from one to the other. "Wh-what do you mean?"
Danny shrugged. "Well, they really don't take too kindly at people who kill one of their own. Especially the SEALs… they're really a tight group. If you're lucky enough to escape the death penalty, well," he paused and shook his head. "I hear military prison is pretty scary."
Barry couldn't keep the fear off his face, even though they were feeding him a load of bull. "I didn't kill anyone."
"Well, you aren't being very cooperative, are you?" Chin asked.
"I can't tell you anything."
"Who's Michelle Farris?"
"Never heard of her."
"Right. Why was Commander McGarrett targeted?"
"Don't know what you're talking about. And while we're at it, I want a lawyer."
"We're not finished," Danny bit out harshly. "And for the record, we don't have to abide by the lawyer card."
"Of course you do," Barry said, although his voice didn't sound very sure of it.
"The governor of Hawaii has said we don't," Danny replied. "Now, who is Michelle Farris?"
"I told you… I've never heard of Michelle Farris. Why?"
"We found her print."
"So?"
"It was on Commander McGarrett's face," he shouted. "Put there in his own blood!"
"Huh? That was-" He managed to shut himself up. "Don't know what you're talkin' about."
"Right. Who was it?"
Barry shrugged just as Chin's phone rang. Chin moved away and turned his back to them. "Kelly."
"Chin… you guys need to get over here now," Kono's voice said into the phone.
"Got it." He didn't ask questions, but cut off the call, took the file and headed toward the door. "Danny, let's get him in lock up. Kono needs us. Urgent."
Danny stepped away from the perp when Chin got an officer into the room to escort Barry into HPD lock up.
"We're not finished," Danny promised him as he was re-handcuffed and pushed out the doorway. Barry smirked as he passed. Danny looked toward the guard and ordered, "Put him in solitary. No phone call. No lawyer. Not yet."
Danny couldn't wait to wipe that smirk off his face.
~~~H50~~~
The nurse watched Max as Max watched over Steve. "You're a good friend, Max," she softly commented.
"I beg your… oh, thank you, Calla. I am Steve's friend because he… looks beyond my… differences, so to speak and has always shown his friendship to me."
"Those friendships are hard to come by, aren't they?" she asked.
"And they are very binding."
"That they are."
Their discussion was interrupted by Dr. Makani's entrance. "How are things looking?"
She ran down her report, ending with the fact that there had really been no change in Steve's status.
"I think we're going to try and shake things up a bit," he commented, checking over the chart.
"How so?" Max inquired.
"I'm going to dial back on the sedation and see what happens." He wrote on the chart and then reached up and reset the IV pump. "My hope is that he will begin trying to breathe for himself. If it doesn't work, we can always try again later."
"How long do you think it will take?" Max asked.
"That's what I don't know," Makani admitted. "With the variety of chemicals in his system, I can't guess how quickly he may wake. But the sooner we start the process the quicker we will know what damage we can expect."
"And…" Max paused, trying to form his words. "You do believe there is damage?"
The doctor sighed and looked at the ME. "Let's say that I will be most surprised if he comes out of this whole."
Max thought a moment and then nodded. "Fair enough. But I will go on record and state that you don't know my friend as I do."
Makani tipped his head and smiled. "Fair enough. And for the record, I hope you're right."
~~~H50~~~
Kono was outside, leaning against her car when Chin and Danny arrived. The house had been quickly cleared and now forensics was going over it with a fine-tooth comb and she couldn't wait to show them what had been found. The three bedroom house in the middle class neighborhood held secrets the neighbors would never have guessed.
"What'd you find?" Danny asked when they met her on the sidewalk.
"Just wait," she replied, moving up the steps. As they walked through the house, she spoke over her shoulder. "First, let's check out the utility cabinets." Opening one of the doors, they found numerous bottles, vials, and boxes full of unknown substances.
"Holy sh…!" Danny exclaimed, opening up the next full cabinet. "What is this stuff?"
"Samples have been sent to the crime lab, but I'm willing to bet they'll find some of those drugs on Steve's tox report."
"How about prints?" Chin asked.
"The two brothers and Michelle Farris," Kono confirmed.
"Who Barry Davidson claims he doesn't know," Danny added. "Can't wait to talk to him again."
"There's more," Kono told them. "Come with me. Just be prepared."
They followed her into one of the bedrooms and immediately stopped when they saw the opposite wall. Pinned to it were photos.
Many photos. Of all four of them.
Together. Separate.
With Kamekono. With Max. One with the governor.
At crime scenes. At their homes. Steve swimming. Lots of photos of Steve swimming.
All time stamped.
Kono watched as the guys took it all in before she spoke.
"All were taken by Michelle Farris. Her prints were the only ones on the camera."
"Who the hell is Michelle Farris?" Danny shouted, walking toward the wall. Checking out the photos, he glanced at the dates and time stamps. "All of this comes back to her. Looks like she didn't begin taking pictures until about three weeks ago."
"Right," Kono agreed. "So, can we assume something happened recently to set her off?"
"Possibly," Chin remarked, walking around the room. It was a generic room with no personal items in either it or the attached bath. Other than a bed and a mostly-cleaned out chest of drawers, the only items were the pictures on the wall. The closet was near-empty as well. "Anything in the other rooms?" he asked.
Kono shook her head. "Forensics is still working. So far, nothing."
"Hey, Kono!"
They heard the shout from the den and walked in that direction. A technician held a recycled bag from a local grocery store in one hand and a cell phone in the other. He held it out to her. "Found this in the pantry with the phone inside. Looks like a burner, but maybe you can get something from it."
"Is it turned on?" Chin asked.
"No," she replied, switching it on. Once it was active, she found the recent history and stared at it. "Guys…"
"What is it?" Danny asked, moving to her side.
"We need to get back to headquarters," she said, looking at both of them. "This is the phone Chastity Raymond used to call me yesterday… supposedly from Nebraska."
"Bingo." Chin smiled. "I think we need to pay Barry another visit." They headed for the door when Danny's phone dinged and he stopped to answer. After listening for a moment, he sighed and muttered, "son of a bitch," to no one in particular. "Yeah, thanks," he spoke into the phone and went outside to meet Chin and Kono.
"What's wrong?"
"Is it Steve?"
Both Chin and Kono fired questions at him when they saw the look on Danny's face. He blew out his breath and shook his head.
"Barry's dead."
"What?" Chin asked.
"They found him in the holding cell. After a meeting with his lawyer."
"We didn't authorize a meeting with his lawyer," Chin argued.
"His female lawyer," Danny reiterated.
"Chastity."
~~~H50~~~
By the time they drove back to Headquarters, it was nearing three a.m. They dragged themselves inside and Danny looked around the empty office before making a decision. "Guys, we're running on fumes. You two go home and get some sleep. Kono, lock the phone up… it will be there in the morning. I'm going to the hospital for a while to check on Steve and allow Max to go home."
Chin wanted to stay, but nodded his agreement. "We're all tired. Let's regroup at the hospital for breakfast – deal?"
"Yeah," Kono replied around a yawn. She went into her office and locked the phone in her desk before meeting the guys near the door. "Tomorrow's gonna be better guys."
"I'm going to hold you to that," Danny replied, squeezing her shoulder as they walked through the door.
~~~H50~~~
"How's he doing, Calla?" Danny asked as soon as he entered the room. He had talked to Max in the hallway and filling him in on yet another victim. They had asked for Barry's body to be sent to Max for autopsy, so both brothers were on the docket for in the morning.
"Hi, Detective," the nurse replied. "Things are about the same. Certainly not any worse. His temperature is still a concern; we just can't seem to get it down, but other than that, nothing has really changed. Although his pressure looks better," she added, checking the newest readout.
"That's good to hear… and call me Danny."
"Of course, Danny. The doctors cut back on the commander's sedation and they're hoping he might begin showing signs of consciousness in a couple of hours."
Danny stood on the opposite side of Steve's bed. "Do they think the antidote worked?"
"Hope so. We're still waiting to see. They gave him 2mls initially and are infusing the rest through the central line. It should soon all be in his system."
"So, what you're saying is that 'we wait'… again."
"Yup, that's what I'm saying, so you might as well get comfortable," she replied with a kind smile. "You know where the coffee pot is when you need it."
Danny plopped down onto the plastic chair and tried to find a comfortable spot. Realizing that wasn't going to happen, he reached for his phone and began scrolling through messages, hoping to catch up on some business.
~~~H50~~~
Here.
He was here.
Although where 'here' was, was anyone's guess.
It was dark, but that was OK. It didn't hurt, and he did remember pain from before.
Steve remembered his Dad had an old radio setting in the garage window and in order to listen to it, he would have to turn the knob to tune it. Every time he turned it on, they would hear static and then a few notes of a song, then more static until finally it was tuned in to the station.
That's the way he felt now. Static, then snippets of words followed by more static. He tried to fine tune his hearing, but in addition to what he knew were words, he heard blips and beeps that drowned out the voices.
The sounds weren't really unpleasant, so he floated and allowed the sounds lull him back to sleep.
He was here.
Somewhere.
~~~H50~~~
"Danny?"
"Yeah." He glanced up from his phone.
"Look." Calla nodded down to where Steve's right arm was lying by his side.
Danny watched as Steve's ring and pinky fingers curled onto the sheet then straightened to lie flat.
Almost afraid to break his partner's movement, Danny stood and leaned over the head of the bed, reaching his hand down to clasp Steve's other hand. "Steve, can you hear me? Squeeze my hand, OK partner?"
The fingers of his left hand finally curled around Danny's. "Good, Steve. You can move. That's great news."
"Danny, he's still not conscious…"
…yes, I am.
"but this is good news. I'll get one of the doctors in here."
She stepped to the door as Danny looked back down at his partner. He could see Steve move his left wrist but the left arm was wrapped in a gauze bandage, covering the damaged skin around his elbow at the injection site. He then moved his right arm, trying to draw it upward just as Calla returned to his bedside.
Calla grasped Steve's wrist before he reached his mouth with it. "Hold on, you're not going to remove that."
Have to. Gotta… talk…
She wasn't prepared for Steve's response when his arm flew back in her direction, hitting her in the chest with the back of his hand.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, Steven!" Danny reached across the bed and grabbed Steve's hand. "You don't just wake up and start beating up on the nurses. She's one of the good guys, Steve." He set the hand back onto the bed. "Now you leave that there."
"He's waking up quicker than they anticipated," Calla explained, "and he's beginning to fight the vent."
No, I'm not… just need to warn… Danny.
"Steve, just remain calm, the doctor will be here in a few minutes." She rubbed her hand on Steve's shoulder, hoping to keep him grounded, while glancing at Danny. "Dr. Makani has left the building and Dr. Hanson is with another patient at the moment. He'll be here as soon as he can."
Steve raised his arm once again and she grasped his hand.
"Shh, it's OK. We'll take it out soon."
C'mon… please. Now.
Calla looked at his vitals and could see that he was stressing. Touching a couple buttons on the IV pump, she explained to Danny, "I'm going to give him just a bit more. Maybe we brought him out too quickly. With drug overdoses, you don't know how a person will react to the combination of drugs in their system. There. That should help a bit."
Steve recognized the lethargic feeling and panicked, reaching his hand up once more.
No! Please. Danny, stop her. I need to…
Once again his world was filled with static.
~~~H50~~~