Ho'ailona

by Cokie

Chapter 11

Tuesday evening, 11:25 p.m.

"Rachel, hi, it's me," Danny spoke into the phone. "Um…listen…I know it's late and I know you already want to kill me, but I'm outside the gate. Could you…would you please wake up Grace and let me talk to her for a minute? It's really important. And I need to talk to you, too if you'll let me."

"Danny, it is nearing midnight. She's still very upset but I don't think getting her out of bed will help."

"I know she is and that's what I need to talk to her about. Please, Rachel. I won't keep her more than ten minutes, I swear."

She sighed into the phone. "Use the code and come on in. I'll meet you at the front door. Stan is traveling again."

"Thank you, Rachel, thank you."

Once inside the door, he asked, "How long has she been asleep?"

"Probably not long. She began crying again tonight in the bathtub." Rachel gave him a tight smile while shrugging her shoulders. "Truth be told, I only left her room a few minutes ago. I got her calmed down and into bed and we talked for a while. She has lots of questions...and I don't really have the answers."

"This is good news, Rachel," Danny promised as they walked up the stairs to their daughter's bedroom. "She needs to hear it...tonight."

Rachel opened the door to her daughter's room. "Gracie-Bug, are you asleep?"

The little girl rolled over. "Not yet, Mommy."

"Look who's here."

"Hey, Monkey! Can I come in?"

She jumped straight up in bed. "Danno!" Before he could move, she had leapt from the bed and wrapped arms and legs around him, hanging on as if her life depended on it. "I waited for you and you didn't come."

Williams walked to the bed with Grace still tightly attached, then sat down, holding her in his lap. He kissed the top of her head and said, "I've missed you so much. But I promised I would come to see you just as soon as I could."

"Did you get the bad guy who shot Steve?"

"Did I get him?" He leaned back to glare at her. "What do you mean 'did I get him'? 'Course I did. With the help of a whole lot of other people."

She leaned against his chest. "I miss him already."

Danny huffed out a breath and looked to Rachel. "Okay, Grace, I need to talk to you." He placed his hands on both sides of her face and pushed back so she would look at him. "I've got good news, but you need to listen for me to explain, okay?"

She nodded, placed her small hands on top of his and looked into his eyes. "What's wrong, Daddy?"

"You know that Danno has always promised that I would never lie to you, right?"

"And you don't. Ever. It's our special promise."

"You're right. It is our very special promise. And that doesn't change. But there are times…" He struggled with words. "Sometimes, Grace, there are times when being a policeman, I have to tell people things that aren't true so that we can try to catch them. I lie to the bad people…and when I do that, sometimes everyone hears that lie."

"Danny, please just spit it out, because you really aren't making much sense," Rachel prodded, her arms across her chest in a defensive gesture.

"Okay, here it is. Gracie, we lied when we said that Steve was dead. He's not dead, but we pretended he was."

She shook her head in denial. "But the governor said so. And you said so, too. I heard you on TV. And you shouldn't lie to everyone on TV."

"Uh, that's a discussion we need to have later," he replied with a grin. "I know what you heard on TV. We both lied…and that's wrong. We had to pretend Steve was dead so the bad man wouldn't try to hurt him again. I was afraid someone was listening on my phone when you called me, so I couldn't tell you or your mom the truth. I wanted to, Baby, really."

"Well, if Steve is alive, why didn't he come with you?"

"Last week he really was hurt and he's still in the hospital. He's going to be okay, and you can see him soon. But…" he pulled out his cell phone. "This might be the next best thing."

The phone was answered on the first ring. "Gracie?"

"Got you on speaker, Partner. Say hello, Grace."

"Steve? It doesn't sound very much like you."

"Sorry, Grace. I've kinda got a sore throat. Did Danno explain stuff to you?"

"Yes, that you being dead was only pretend." She cut a glance at her father. "But it was really a lie. Are you hurt other than your sore throat?"

"I'm mostly tired. I'll be fine, I promise. And I'll see you the next weekend you spend with Danno, okay?"

"That's this week." She looked to her parents. "Can I see Steve this weekend?"

Absolutely," Williams agreed.

"Yes, of course, Grace," her mother promised. "Commander, it is good to hear your voice. Take care of yourself."

"Steve, you have to get better so you can take care of Danno, too. Because that's what partners do. My daddy said so." The little girl looked to her father for confirmation.

"Danno was right; that's what partners do."

"All right, it's time to say 'goodnight, Gracie'," Danny said, rolling his eyes at his ex-wife. "Although I don't know which one of you will be asleep first," he added with a smile.

"Night, Grace. See you soon."

"Good night, Steve. I'm glad you're not really dead."

He tried to chuckle. "Me, too," he agreed as he hung up the phone.

"So," Danny put his phone in his pocket and hugged Grace, kissing the top of her head. "Do you think you can sleep better now?"

She wrapped her arms around his neck and pushed him down on the bed. "Yep. But only if you tuck me in."

"Aw, man. I have to do that?" he asked with a groan. "I mean, that's like work, and I'm really tired. I've already worked all day."

She giggled at his theatrics. "I love you, Danno."

"I love you more, Monkey." He flipped her onto the bed, then jumped up, pulling the sheet up over her. Leaning down, he kissed her once more. "Sleep tight."

"Night. I can't wait for this weekend."

"Me, either. Sweet dreams."

He met his ex at the door of their daughter's room, turned out the light and pulled the door shut. Not knowing what to do next, he scratched the back of his head as they walked toward the stairs. "Thank you for that. I really appreciate it, Rachel."

"She needed it," Rachel admitted.

"I think I needed it more," he replied quietly. "It's been a bitch of a week."

"I'm glad you got the guy."

"Me, too. You don't know how glad I am." At the front door, he turned toward her. "Well, thanks again. I'm going to go home and crash, too."

She nodded. "We'll talk about this weekend. Good night, Daniel."

Danny had run out of words. He smiled, ducked his head and nodded. "Yeah."