It was even harder having to stay behind the second time. Though the visitors hadn't known Kono long, her bright smile and friendly personality had endured her to all three men, and so it was especially difficult knowing they were essentially left sitting on their hands while the remaining members of the Five-O task force raced to her house to investigate what could have happened.

Chin of course was closest, having already been nearby at his own home for the night, and so had already been on site for a bit when Steve and Danny finally made it through the busy city. The two entered the living room to find their teammate taking in the scene with the familiarity of a seasoned detective, his own distress with the situation leaving him with a pinched expression, though he otherwise maintained impressively impeccable control over himself.

"What have we got?" Steve questioned immediately as they came to a stop beside the man, clasping his shoulder lightly in a show of support for a moment before letting go and crossing his arms.

Chin shook his head, brows furrowed as his emotions broke through and exposed a mixture of distress, anger, and determination- along with a fair bit of confusion. "The door was locked when I got here and everything looked pristine when I pulled up outside. If Kono hadn't radioed in when she did-" His voice broke and he paused to clear his throat harshly. Steve and Danny dropped their eyes to give him a moment to regain his composure. He continued a moment later, voice tight. "If Kono hadn't radioed when she did, we wouldn't have known she was missing until morning when she would be late for work. And, I'm pretty sure Adam was here too."

"Adam? I didn't see his car outside."

"No, it wasn't. But his phone's plugged in in the bedroom- right next to Kono's." Chin replied gravely. "I know that's where they keep their chargers, but Adam's not the type to leave his phone behind, and there's no way she would have taken the time to go and plug her own in considering what she walked into. I don't know if she picked him up on her way home, or if he was already here before she got home? Him being here earlier would explain why the placed was already trashed. They could have taken him out first after a struggle, and then taken Kono when she got home. It would be the safer option to take them down separately."

"Okay, but why take the time to plug in their phones?"

"They wanted to make it look like they were still here?" Steve theorized with a frown of his own. "If the phones died, we wouldn't be able to trace the signal which could clue us in that something's wrong. They plug the phones in, we get concerned and track them, and it looks like they're having a romantic lie-in. Maybe they're hoping it could buy some extra time?"

"So, they're banking on the idea that- what? We're not planning to talk to or see Kono any time soon?" Danny questioned.

"It is the weekend. Usually Five-O is off duty unless we have an active case. Since we're not advertising out current assignment, they could have assumed Kono was free for the weekend and that we wouldn't expect to hear from her until Monday." Steve replied logically.

The questions, answers, and general knowledge being exchanged might have seemed obvious, might even have seemed redundant to speak aloud , but it was always better to talk things through. Sometimes the act of simply hearing something aloud could trigger a connection that could be otherwise missed, and sometimes the same information coming from a differing perspective could make all the difference they needed to break things open.

"Or maybe they were plugged in in order to set a scene." Danny spoke up, arms crossed tightly over his own stocky chest in his agitation. None of them were enjoying having the conversation, but such was a necessary evil. "Kono said the place was thrashed, right? I don't know about you, but this isn't what I'd typically describe as 'Thrashed.' Assuming it is, in fact, our current suspects who took them. We know they plan out their crime scenes meticulously. What if the house is less than 'thrashed' because they've already started moving things around to how they wanted them to be found? Really, they couldn't have expected her to be wearing an earbud off duty. If she hadn't been, she never would have gotten through to us in time."

Steve spoke up again, voice low and rough as he continued the thought. "And if she hadn't gotten through to us for those few seconds, we wouldn't have known she was missing until she didn't show up tomorrow. And, seeing as tomorrow is Saturday, they likely expected to have a bigger window before we came looking for them."

The silence grew as the three considered the situation and facts available to them. All of the crime scenes had been free of trace evidence and most of them were carefully staged. The purety of the scenes suggesting that the victims might have been abducted and then killed elsewhere, their bodies returned to the scenes to play whatever part or relay whatever message the killer was attempting at the time. The exception was, of course, the few murders that had been committed from a distance. Those had been left undisturbed until the arrival of Max and the forensics team.

It was possible the murders were committed in the same locations they'd been discovered, but things were just too clean, to precise, for that to likely be the case. The murder(s) would have had to scrub everything and there would have been some signs of recent sterilization- the smell of bleach in the air, a dampness to the carpet, fresh mop streaks on the tiles- something, anything at all, but there'd been nothing.

Were things to continue in the same vein as they had been, it was very possible their killer had abducted Kono and Adam, and planned to return to the house to set, or to finish setting, the scene up as they desired, utilizing the bodies as a centerpiece or focal point as they'd been doing thus far over the past three months. It was a horrifying though, and none wanted to voice aloud what they were all thinking. Instead of forcing it, they instead began searching for other possibilities, other avenues to explore.

"When DiNozzo met with Roberto on Tuesday, why did he word things the way he did?" Danny questioned, breaking the tense silence with a change of subject though his brows furrowed.

"What do you mean?" Chin questioned.

"If he was planning to move today, why not say by Friday, or by this weekend? Why say 'by this time next week?'?" he elaborated.

"He didn't want to give away his timeline?" Steve replied, tone a question as much as it was a statement.

"That seems like the obvious answer, but what if there's more to it than that?" Chin spoke up. "Taking Kono hardly gets us all out of the way like he claimed. There has to be more to it than that. What's the end play here?"

"Maybe she's the bait." Steve answered, voice subdued. "Maybe they took her to lure us into a trap."

"But then why take Adam?" Danny questioned. "Don't get me wrong, the guys grown on me, but why would they think her boyfriend would have an effect on the rest of us? Why not just kill him and be done with it? He'd hardly be the first body left behind."

"Take Adam to get Kono, take Kono to get to the rest of us?" Chin offered quietly. "The only female on our team, it wouldn't be a stretch to pin her as our weak spot and she's already shown that he's hers."

"That's very possible, but we can't rule out the possibility that they took Adam for some other reason. Yes, he might be Kono's boyfriend, but we can't forget that he's also a Noshimuri. Operating on the right side of the law now or not, his family name alone still holds a lot of influence. They could have taken him on his own merit, or because of his own background." Steve argued logically. They needed to consider all possibilities.

"By that theory, they could have taken Kono to control Adam, and not because of her relation to Five-O at all.."

"No, I don't think so. Roberto specifically mentioned taking our team out, Kono has to be related to that. It would be too big of a coincidence otherwise."

"Or it could be a combination of both. What's better than a two-for-one?" Danny replied, voice taking on a sardonic edge in his agitation. "Use Kono to control Adam, Adam to control Kono and Kono to control us?"

Steve frowned deeply, lines becoming visible across his forehead and emphasizing his steadily increasing age. "Either way, we have to assume Kono's alive. Chin, I know you already did a sweep, but six eyes are better than two. Let's go over the place again before Forensics get here." Chin didn't argue. Working together, they went over every foot of space from top to bottom and from corner to corner. It wasn't a huge house and so didn't take very long at all before they finished.

There were a few clear signs of a struggle left behind; the side table had been knocked just slightly out of place, the usually tidy pile of surfing magazines had been knocked off the coffee table and were scattered haphazardly across the floor as though they'd been kicked or tripped over at some point, a painting on the wall hung just the smallest bit askew, the couch had been shoved a couple of feet backwards, and the surf board that was often left propped against the corner nearest the door had fallen over and lay abandoned on the floor with a carelessness Kono would never allow.

They were hopeful the forensics team might be able to pick up some trace evidence they couldn't spot with the naked eye, considering the chaotic and messy nature of the scene. Surely they would find something, somewhere?

Wanting to give the arriving team the space to work, the three retreated from the house and worked as a trio to interview the few neighbors nearby. It was an odd setup compared to the two-man teams they normally utilized, but Steve refused to allow Chin to go on his own without backup, and so a trio they remained. As was becoming familiar with this particular case, none of the neighbors saw or noticed anything unusual- not earlier in the day, or even over the past week. It was like their suspect was a ghost, able to move unseen and unheard despite leaving absolute devastation in their wake. How was it possible to go so long without making a single error?

After they eventually reached a dead end with all of the neighbors, they headed back to the Palace. Once there, they begin searching for every single camera that had stored memory in the surrounding area- government operated and privately owned alike. Unfortunately, the closest camera to Kono's house was a personal security system installed three homes down. The lens could only see half of a single lane of the road in front of the house, and it wasn't very good quality of video besides. Regardless, they reviewing it's footage first, beginning at the present time and then running the film backwards.

When that camera revealed itself to be yet another dead end, they moved onto the next closest, and then the next, until they'd reviewed the past twenty-four hours' worth of video from the five closest cameras. Though they wanted to continue, they simply didn't have time to review all of the footage themselves, not when they had other leads they could be attempting to track down, but they also couldn't ignore what might prove to be their biggest clue yet.

Luckily, they had three sets of idle eyes eager to help and so more than happy to continue reviewing the footage back at the safehouse. While Tony, Stan, and Almeida got to work, Steve and Danny headed out to see Kamekona, hoping the man could reach out to his many contacts and try and catch word of who on the island had been bold enough to attack and abduct a member of Five-O, for surely such an action couldn't remain quiet for long?

Chin, meanwhile, remained at the Palace to coordinate and chase down a few leads of his own that he'd though up. And so, as the only member of the team left at headquarters, he was also the one to receive the call from Fong requesting someone come to the lab to review some of the results they'd already gotten back from their evidence collection.

~Meanwhile, at an undisclosed location on the island~

Kono woke slowly, head aching like the morning after the first and only time she'd gotten blackout drunk. Her entire body ached, and she could feel a wave of pain pulse in time with her elevated heartbeat. She was tempted to try and ignore the waking reality by falling back asleep, if only to escape the agony she was currently in, but something was tickling the back of her mind. Something was off, something felt wrong, and she forced herself to awaken further rather than giving in to her desire for peaceful and painfree oblivion.

She could hear someone talking to her, she realized sluggishly. They sounded familiar and they sounded like they were upset. Her brows furrowed and she forced her eyes to open. Everything was blurry and muddled and she had to blink a couple of dozen times before her vision to start to clear.

"Kono, Koibito [sweetheart], can you hear me? Kono? Koibito, answer me. Kono, please! Koibito!"

Her brows furrowed even further, a quiet and pained moan escaping her parched throat as she forced her head to turn towards the voice to her left. "Adam?" She murmured quietly as her sight finally began to focus enough to make out shapes in the darkness.

"Oh thank God!" She heard him exclaim quietly before responding to her. "Yeah, Koibito, it's me, I'm right here. Are you okay?" He sounded so worried, why did he sound so worried?

Was she okay? She started taking stock of her body through the haze of pain still engulfing her, wiggling her toes and working her way up until she was able to wrinkle her nose. "Yeah," She croaked from her position tied tightly to heavy metal chair. "I'm okay. You?" Concern filled her as she made out the blood trickling from a small gash on the right side of his forehead, just under his hairline, along with the split lip that had swollen to what must have been an uncomfortable level.

"I'm fine." He brushed off uncaringly, straining against his own restraints in a futile effort to get closer to her.

Her eyes dropped as he struggled, mind still a couple of beats behind what was happening. She could a chair identical to the one she was sat in herself, frame a heavy square shape that was sturdy enough that it would be hard to knock over even if it wasn't bolted to the floor below. "Stop." Her voice cracked on the word but he responded all the same, freezing in place. "Stop," She repeated, stronger. "You're hurting yourself." She breathed, eyes locked on the chafed flesh of his wrists. She could see blood there too, atop the enflamed and bruised skin that told her he'd been attempting to loosen his bonds for a while, at least.

The expression on his face was quietly heartbroken, even as he made an attempt to lighten the situation. "Though we'd managed to get past these types of situations." He joked, voice rough. They hadn't an easy time of their relationship, after all. Why should they expect to get peace now?

She smiled despite the throbbing in her head, even as she tried to figure out what had happened. She remembered driving home, looking forward to spending a couple of hours with Adam before retiring for the night. She'd pulled into her drive and made her way up to the door, looking down for the correct key and not up at the house itself as she approached. It was a rookie move, but who honestly expected someone to be lying in wait inside the security of their own home?

She'd put the key in the door, but when she went to turn it she realized she didn't need to because it was already unlocked. It was a bizarre realization, as they'd taken to keeping the doors locked at all times- regardless of whether they were home or away- as yet another added layer of protection against the danger of their lives. It might have done more for their peace of mind than any actually defense, but they'd continued the practice regardless.

They'd been home for a while now, perhaps Adam had simply grown complacent and forgotten to lock it after he'd entered? He said he would be waiting for her, and she knew she'd locked it when she left that morning. Her headache increased as she focused on the memory, and she could hear Adam continuing to talk to her, tone growing concerned again as she failed initially to respond, but she needed to figure out what was going on before focusing her attention on him.

She'd turned the handle slowly, cautiously, free hand resting atop her holstered gun but not yet drawing it out. She could see that the house was a mess as soon as she moved far enough inside the doorway, her belongings tossed around and covering the floor chaotically. She'd frozen, still only part way inside, moving to wrap her hand around and draw her gun while the left moved to the radio she still wore in her ear. She'd forgotten to remove it, the sensation having become familiar during the long hours wearing it, and she was grateful for the lapse as her left hand rose to press the button to connect her to her team.

Steve had responded to her call, and she'd stepped the rest of the way inside feeling more secure with him on the line. She should have waiting, she realized sitting on the cold hard metal. She'd started talking to him quietly but quickly, filling him in on the situation as she moved into the entry way with her gun held loosely between both hands and pointing towards the floor in front of her.

Suddenly, faster than she'd been able to react, a hand had reached around from behind her and ripped her earpiece free while at the same time a damp cloth was against her face with the force of a sledgehammer. Her eyes had watered from the strength of what she assumed was a man's' palm slamming against her nose and mouth. She'd raised her hands, prepared to shoot first and ask questions later all things considered, but the hand that had yanked away her only accessible means of communication came back to wrap around and restrain both of her slender wrists effortlessly. She'd tried to fight back with her body, attempted to headbutt him and throw her entire body weight at his knee to try and buckle him.

He'd lifted her clear off her feet like a ragdoll. Her strength and failed her quickly, fruitless struggles growing weaker and weaker with every passing second until the black dotting her vision engulfed her completely. And then… nothing. Not until she'd woken here.

How much time had passed? Her panic increased a notch as the situation began to register. Where were they? The room was large but empty, and could have been a garage, a shop, or even the office of an old warehouse. It was so dimly lit it was hard to make out the details surrounding them, and so she focused her attention back on the man she loved. She cleared her throat, lifting her head up straight as she realized it was still slumped against her shoulder. "What's happened?" She asked, voice a little stronger.

Adam frowned, expression nearly heartbroken as his eyes scanned over her. "I don't know." He admitted lowly. "I went to your place, but they must have been waiting in the house. There were four of them, they surrounded me and were on me before I realized what was happening. I tried to fight back, but-" He shrugged, the outcome obvious considering the given situation. "The dragged you in here maybe an hour after me? I'm not sure exactly, I don't really know what time it is, they took my watch, but I've been trying to get you to wake up for a while. I didn't recognize any of them though, and they definitely weren't Yakuza. Do you know what's going on?"

She opened her mouth to answer, but before she could the door opened and bright overhead lights flicked on, sending her headache spiking higher still and causing her eyes to clench against the pain. When she opened them again, she found half a dozen armed men surrounding her and Adam- Adam who looked much worse under the harsh lighting than he had a moment before in the near darkness.

Three more men entered the room then, the two cousins alongside their enforcer, Marc Ricci. Tony had warned the team about him during their initial briefings- if the mans one record hadn't been enough of a warning in and of itself- after he'd been tagged outside the bar. Still, sometimes what made a man dangerous wasn't a simple fact that could or would be written out plain as day in black-and-white. Sometimes what determined a mans danger was more instinctual, it went deeper that what a report could convey.

Ricci was once such man, and his threat level was based more largely on the sheer amount of pleasure he took in preforming and fulfilling his duties. Tony had described him as 'the Michelangelo' of enforcers, explaining the man had never failed a task, be it given or self-appointed, due to a combination of skill, tenacity, and an almost licentious passion for meeting those objectives- the bloodier the solution the better.

Kono wasn't ashamed to feel a surge of cold prickling fear run up her spine at the sight of the man who had his lethal attention split evenly between her and Adam, a curious gleam shinning from his cold blue eyes. Logically, she knew Ricci wouldn't act without the cousins' orders, and so they were who she really needed to concern herself with. Still, logic alone was a cold comfort when compared to her every instinct warning her to get away.

Roberto was the one who began addressing them, and Kono finally forced herself to look away from Ricci to focus her own attention on the known leader of the little group. "Adam Noshimuri and Kono Kalakaua, welcome. I've been looking forward to meeting you for some time."

Tbc

Notes:

Wow! I'm glad so many of you are still reading and enjoying this story! Thank you to those of you who checked in, I really appreciate you taking the time to leave feedback!

I'm sorry to leave you all with another cliff hanger, but this was getting a little long and it seemed like a good spot to leave off. If it helps, I'm going to try my best to stick to (at minimum) weekly updates until this is finished. I hope this chapter continues to meet your expectations, and I look forward to hearing what you thought! {Also, for those of you who are concerned, please note that I don't have 'Major Character Death' tagged here for a reason ;) }

Thank you so much for reading!