Chin knew the area better than the Search and Rescue Team and took point as they headed toward the area where the couple said they'd left Garcia and McGarrett. Duke had managed to contact the Tremaines and given them his number. They'd called and given him enough information about their location that Chin was pretty sure where they were.
The man in charge had reluctantly given him the lead and now they were racing toward the couple in hopes they'd be able to lead them to McGarrett. Chin knew Steve would do everything to survive. The people who'd trained him had drilled it into him, and the man had come back from more than his share of injuries.
They'd been moving along the trail for more than an hour, but there'd been no sign of movement. He glanced at Kono and knew she was worried about the missing man.
"How much further to the rendezvous?" Lieutenant Rhonda Allen asked.
"Maybe ten minutes," Kono answered.
"You sure this is the right direction?" the lieutenant asked.
"Yes," Kono snapped, tired of the way the woman spoke to them. She might know her job, but she had no people skills, and sooner or later she'd need to learn them.
"Easy, Kono, she's trying to get to you," Chin said when they moved slightly ahead of the woman.
"She seems to think we don't belong here," Kono said.
"Then we prove her wrong," Chin said, loud enough for the other woman to hear. They continued along the trail, ignoring the beauty of nature in their haste to find the couple who could lead them to their friend.
5050505050
Danny was never so glad to reach the top of a trail in his life. It seemed as if he'd been climbing this cliff his whole life. There were times when the Search and Rescue Team had been forced to use ropes to secure themselves before moving along a narrow ledge. Danny had silently cursed the delay this caused, but understood the necessity of safety protocols.
Chin had called to give them the new coordinates, but the signal had been sporadic and he'd lost contact during the call. He'd given Wilson the information and waited while the other man verified the information before ordering them to move out. That had been nearly two hours ago and now they were moving north along the trail and should meet Chin and Kono.
"How long before we reach the coordinates?" Williams asked.
"We should be there in less than hour," Wilson told him and listened while his second in command told the others what trail they were to take.
"Thank God," Danny said and followed Wilson as another man fell into step beside him.
"The chopper should be in the air by now," Wilson said.
"Do they have the search grid?"
"Yes, they'll concentrate on a ten mile radius from the point where the Tremaines are now."
Danny nodded and thought he heard the sound of the chopper as they moved through some heavy brush before exiting onto the trail again. God, he hoped they'd find Steve before it was too late.
5050505050
Steve knew he couldn't go on much longer, as his reserves of energy were nearly spent during the trip. He would have given up long ago, except for a certain detective who was just as good at ranting in his subconscious as he was in real life. The problem was he could tune the man out when he ranted in real life, but the voice in his head just kept on talking or shouting, depending on how close to giving up Steve got.
'On your feet, Steven!'
"Huh," McGarrett muttered and opened his eyes, surprised to find he was lying on the ground. Unlike him, the sun had continued its journey and was now high overhead. He tried to turn onto his side, biting his bottom lip to keep from crying out as shock waves of pain washed over him.
'Come on, Steven, just think of how many criminals you haven't thrown in a shark cage or dangled off a roof by their ankles.'
"I ne...ver tied a m...man to the fr...front of my car, Danno," he answered the voice in his head as he managed to get to his feet. He swayed drunkenly and looked around, but his eyes refused to focus. He needed to get help, soon, because there was no way in hell he could survive another night out here, although right now he'd give anything if a cloud would appear and a little rain would fall.
'Suck it up, Son.'
This time it was Joe White's voice he heard and again he was compelled to do what he'd been trained to do. He sucked in air through his nose and forced his right foot to move one agonizing inch as he fought to keep as much weight as possible off his left leg. At some point he'd found a piece of wood to lean on, but it was gone now and he didn't have the energy to search for something suitable.
He heard a sound above his head and stopped, searching the sky for the object he knew would make the noise. Years of being in the military told him it was a chopper and if he could just focus his eyes he might just be able to find it and signal the pilot or passengers. He lifted his arms and waved them as he staggered toward a small clearing, but his left leg refused to hold him and he fell forward. He hit the ground hard and cried out as he struggled to breathe through the nauseating pain raging through his body.
Darkness reached out and Steve could no longer fight as consciousness left him. The silence was broken by the ragged sound of his breathing and the far off call of an exotic bird.
5050505050
Kono spotted the young couple huddled together on a log near a branch of the trail leading into the canyon. She hurried toward them as they stood up with fear written on their faces. "Its okay...I'm Officer Kalakaua, we're here to help you."
"Thank God...he was going to kill us," the young man said as the others joined them.
"Are you Michael and Natalie Tremaine?" Rhonda Allen asked and missed the eye roll from Kono as she tried to take control of the situation.
"Who else would they be?" Chin asked and moved toward the shaken couple. "I know you're frightened, but you're safe now and we need you to tell us exactly what happened."
"We were hiking in the canyon. We stayed on the main trail and it started to rain. We were going to head back, but there were two men," Michael explained.
"They looked like they were hurt...especially the man wearing the handcuffs. The other one said his name was Garcia and that he was a rapist and murderer and really dangerous, but I don't think he was. He told us to run and we did and we heard a shot, but we couldn't stop. We didn't know what else to do," Natalie told them.
"Can you describe the man in the handcuffs?" Kono asked.
"I think he was tall, but it was hard to tell because he was hunched over and favoring his leg. Dark hair...didn't really see his eyes, but he was hurt," Natalie said.
"What about the other man?" Chin asked, relieved that the Navy officer was leaving it to him and Kono to question the couple.
"I think he was Mexican. He had an accent and he seemed angry...I didn't trust him," Michael said.
"He had shifty eyes," Natalie offered.
"Sounds like Garcia," Chin observed and looked up as a chopper flew overhead. The Lieutenant had told them they'd have an air search going and it looked like she was right. "Any idea how far back they were?"
"No, we just kept running like he told us," Michael answered.
"We didn't know what else to do," Natalie said.
"You did the right thing," Kono assured her and turned to find Chin talking to Rhonda Allen.
"Kono and I can handle the search for Steve, but you need to get these people out of here," Chin said.
"Johnson and Ano can stay with the Tremaines and get them to a safe rendezvous point while we continue the search for Commander McGarrett," the lieutenant said.
Chin knew they needed as many people as possible searching for McGarrett. Now that they knew Garcia had the upper hand, they needed to find the two men ASAP. He knew Williams was topside and probably moving toward their position, and hoped one of them would find Steve before Garcia decided he wasn't worth the trouble.
"Chin, are you all right?"
"What?"
"I asked if you were all right. You looked like you were miles away," Kono explained.
"Sorry, I was thinking...we need to get moving," Chin told her and led the way along the trail with Allen and the others following behind.
5050505050
Williams was the first to spot the body lying near the edge of the trail and hurried toward it as Wilson ordered the others to check the area. At first glance it could have been anyone and Danny held his breath until he knelt beside the dead man.
"Is it McGarrett?" Wilson asked.
"No," Williams said and sat back on his heels as recognition made him giddy with relief. The man's sightless eyes told him Garcia was dead, and he was pretty sure that meant McGarrett was alive because there was no sign of him nearby.
"We've got blood over here and it looks like someone fell," Todd 'Doc' Darius told them.
Danny stood up and hurried over, searching the ground and easily finding three sets of footprints in the soft dirt. He knelt down and touched the depressions before turning his attention to the trail.
"Looks like there are three people," Darius told them.
"There are," Williams said and pointed to two sets that seemed to be taking longer strides. "I'd bet those belong to the Tremaines, and this set belong to Steve."
"If they do then he's injured," Wilson said.
"The steps are uneven, like he's drunk," Darius observed.
"More likely he's lost a lot of blood," Williams offered and walked along the trail.
"He couldn't have gotten very far," Wilson said. "You two stay here and call this in. Tell them we need the coroner out here."
"Better call for a Medivac too," Darius said. "I'll go with Detective Williams."
"All right," Wilson said and told another man to stay with Garcia's body.
Danny knew he wasn't much of a tracker, but anyone could follow the haphazard trail left by his partner. The blood scared him even more than the evidence that Steve fell every hundred feet or so. How could the man even move after surviving a plane crash and probably being manhandled by Renaldo Garcia.
Williams moved fast, wanting...needing to find his friend before it was too late. "Steve!" he called, but there was no answer except for the wind rustling the leaves of the trees.
5050505050
Grace Williams sat on the picnic table with an untouched Shave Ice melting in her hands. Her mother had called this morning, and Grace had told her she was fine and that daddy was going to bring 'Uncle' Steve home in time for Christmas. Now she wasn't so sure because Christmas was only three days away.
"Hey, Pretty Lady, Shave Ice tastes better when it's still ice. Is there something wrong with it?"
"It's fine."
"Come on...I'll make you a new one."
"I don't want another one," Grace said softly as she looked at the people playing in the ocean.
Kamekona sat on the table beside her and took the partially melted Shave Ice from the child's hand. He dropped it into the garbage container next to it and pulled her close. "It's okay, Gracie, they'll find Steve and he'll be okay."
Grace felt the man holding her and wished she could believe him, but she'd seen what could happen when there were bad people involved. She'd heard her parents argue over the dangers of police work and knew her mother had cried herself to sleep a couple of times. She was proud of Danno, but she did not like seeing him hurt, like the time the bad men had made him sick and he was in the hospital.
"Gracie, I know you're worried...so am I, but..."
"Danno will find 'Uncle' Steve...I know he will 'cause I prayed real hard to Baby Jesus."
"I did too and I bet so did other people who know what Five-O does to help people. Now why don't we get some Shave Ice and see if we can get a game of Beach Volleyball going."
"Okay," Grace said, but her heart wasn't really in it as she took the big man's hand.