When Steve pulled up beside the isolated, open-air, maintenance vehicle shelter in the lush Hawaiian forest, the dark green van was already there. The van faced his vehicle but was angled to where he could see the passenger side but none of the driver's side. He intently surveilled the area and saw no one. He believed he saw a driver behind the wheel of the van but the angle of the vehicle and shadowing made it hard to tell. Let's do this. He expelled one long breath, grabbed the drawstring bag, and stepped out. He walked to the front of the truck and leaned back on its grill. He folded his arms and waited, never taking his eyes off the van.
He heard the sound of the van's back door open before he saw movement. Steve stood up straight in anticipation, abandoning the support the front of the truck afforded. One man stepped out from the right side of the van and took a 2 o'clock position to Steve. Another went to his 10 o'clock position. Both held assault rifles, not aimed at Steve but at the ready.
Another man now emerged from behind the right side of the van. Steve immediately recognized him as Sebastian King from the picture Chin had shown the team. He was tall with dark hair and a strong jaw line. He stopped and nodded at his man on Steve's left. The man approached Steve and gestured his intent. Steve lifted his arms and let the man pat him down. The man backed off and reassumed his position.
With his hands in his pockets, King walked slowly and confidently toward Steve. Steve's pulse quickened and his eyes started shifting between the van and King. He still did not see Danny. King stopped in front of him.
"Commander, nice to finally meet you face to face," King greeted him with a slight smile.
Steve choked back his disgust and willed himself to stay calm. "Where is Detective Williams?"
Without acknowledging his inquiry, he nodded toward the bag Steve was holding but didn't look away from Steve's eyes. "Is that mine?"
"Depends… as I said, where is… Detective Williams?" Steve steeled himself, his speech slow and deliberate.
King pivoted his upper body in the direction of the man on his right and jerked his head in the direction of the van. He then returned his attention to Steve, again meeting his gaze. "I knew your team would come through. You do excellent work. I was thinking, maybe we should work together again sometime." He smiled.
Steve hated his smugness… he hated him. He wanted to take him out right there but he reined in his ire.
Steve first saw him out of the corner of his eye. Two men were bringing Danny around the side of the van. Steve's arms dropped to his side and he shifted his weight on his feet. "Danny." The whispered name fell off his lips unintentionally as he let go of his resolve for a nanosecond.
He took in Danny's battered form completely now. His arms were restrained behind his back and he was gagged. The men each had an arm and were having to support most of his weight because Danny couldn't.
Though barely murmured, Danny still heard his name. He heard Steve's voice. He looked up and saw his friend. Feelings of relief and fear collided and clashed with each other, with the fear for Steve's safety gaining the edge.
When Danny's eyes met his, Steve saw Danny accept his own weight and stand on his own. However, his gaze quickly dropped from Steve and he lowered his head, almost as if he were embarrassed.
Broken.
Steve's stomach turned. The feeling of heartbreak overwhelmed him first, then a wave of fury burned his insides. Steve saw the stark white bandages on Danny's head contrasting with the bruises on his face. There were multiple other untreated lacerations and his eyes were swollen. His shirt was partially unbuttoned and there was a large dark burgundy stain of dried blood on its right shoulder. He observed other abrasions and bruises peeking out from under his shirt. When he saw Danny's eyes, he did not see Danny in them. This was a shell of what his friend used to be.
In an involuntary reaction, Steve must have unknowingly moved toward Danny because he noticed the armed men abruptly raised their weapons. He halted his advance, stood still, and glowered at King. "You bastard!"
"How sweet, your concern is endearing."
Steve hastily offered up the bag he held to King. "Let me help him."
Holding up a hand to Steve's chest, the subtle resistance once again stopped his advance. "My men can manage. Let me check this out." He took the bag from Steve's slack grip and opened it to inspect its contents.
As King made his examination, Steve watched as the men passed them by with Danny in tow. They opened the back door of the truck and pushed Danny in. Steve heard a loud moan come from his gagged friend. He turned to see what had happened but stayed put, waiting for consent from King before moving.
"Take it easy there, gentlemen!" he heard King warn his men.
He then directed his comments toward Steve. "The detective's a bit sensitive. I'm sorry for the state he's in. He wasn't as cooperative as we had hoped. You have a feisty partner there, Commander."
"You done? You got what you want."
"Yes, of course. I'm sure you're in a hurry. It looks like everything is good here. We appreciate your help. I think your partner is ready to go." The door on the truck slammed closed and the men stepped away.
Steve hesitated. He wanted to rip out the throat of the man in front of him, and seriously considered it. Several seconds passed as the two men stared each other down.
King wondered if Steve was going to try something but also knew his men were there if he did.
Steve moved first. He backed toward the driver's side. Steve pointed his finger at King. "We will meet again, King. I promise you that."
The not-so-veiled threat revealed to King that Five-0 had figured out his identity. He pursed his lips and nodded. He was impressed but not surprised. His confidence, however, didn't let that information bother him.
Steve half glanced at Danny lying in the back before climbing behind the wheel. He needed to get his partner out of there. He had made the decision to remove Danny from the threat of King and his men first and foremost. The parking area at the trailhead was just minutes away. There he could assess Danny's injuries and get back in contact with his team.
He heard Danny's moans from behind him. "Just hang on there, buddy. Okay? We're almost there."
He pulled into the lot, next to his own truck, and jumped out. He swiftly grabbed his phone from his console and dialed Chin as he headed back to Danny. When he opened the back door, phone held to his ear with his shoulder, he realized what had caused Danny his distress when he was loaded into the truck.
"Damn… damn it!"
A wet crimson stain was growing on Danny's shirt on his side. They had knifed him as they put him in the truck. Steve was not sure if they had been trying to finish him off or make one last statement but he knew Danny needed medical help right away.
"Steve, what is it? Are you okay? Did you get Danny?" Chin had answered and heard Steve's desperate exclamation.
"Chin, where's the ambulance? Danny needs help now! … Danny, can you hear me? Wake up, okay? … Chin?!"
"The ambulance is headed your way. We'll be there in a minute." Chin had been awaiting word from Steve at the children's playground parking lot, the nearest lot to the one Steve had to go to but out of sight of potential watching eyes. He was there with an ambulance.
Steve threw the phone on the floor of the truck. He then pulled the gag from Danny's mouth and fumbled for his handcuff key in his pocket. He tried to steady his hand long enough to get the cuffs off of Danny. He couldn't stand to see his spirited friend restrained any longer. He got the cuffs off and then rolled Danny back so he could get as much pressure on his free-flowing wound as possible. He could hear the sirens now, music to his ears.
"Danny, do you hear that? Come on, they're almost here. Danno, wake up, damn it!"
Danny began to moan again. "Good Danno, you're going to be okay. Just stay with me, okay?"
Danny did not open his eyes but he heard his friend, his brother, calling out to him. He'd try, but sleep felt much better. Maybe he could let go for just a minute…
~~~~~H50~~~~~
Sebastian King watched as Steve backed up the gray truck a bit before spinning it forward and speeding off. He then turned and flung the bag of diamonds at Jacobs as though they were a bag of beans. "Let's go," he ordered Jacobs as he headed away from the shelter down a short path to an opening in the forest. The complacent pair climbed into the waiting helicopter and Jacobs piloted it away.
From their respective positions, Steve and Chin had each heard and seen the chopper take off and leave the area, and they both knew who it was.
Brennan transported the rest of the men in the van back to the warehouse, following their instructions. They were oblivious to the fact that they were walking into a trap.
Lou and Kono had used the address they had gained previously and had swept the area while it was vacated. They made sure Lou's vehicle was hidden from sight and were awaiting the arrival of the group after the exchange went down.
Kono was located on a small knoll with her SR-25 rifle. She was positioned at a 60-degree angle of both the warehouse door and the gravel road that led to it. The angle wasn't optimum, but the elevation and vegetative coverage provided the best vantage point for sniping.
Lou was much closer to the warehouse, hidden behind a dumpster on the far side of the door from Kono's position. From where they were, they could not see each other but were in verbal radio contact.
Chin had already been in touch with them to let them know that Steve had secured Danny, so they were clear to use whatever force was necessary. He also gave them only vague information on Danny's condition because he knew very little himself. What they did know was that it sounded bad. But they were there to do a job and that had to come first.
The van stopped in front of the pull up door and Dexter, riding shotgun, got out to raise the door for access into the warehouse. Kono didn't have a good shot.
Lou made his move and exposed his location but maintained most of his cover. He announced their identification, "Five-0! Drop your weapons! Don't be stupid now, we've got you covered!"
The men didn't comply. Dexter jumped for cover behind a stack of pallets. Two of the men still left in the van foolishly exited their vehicle and tried to make a stand using the doors of the van as their cover. They pulled their weapons and opened fire in Lou's direction. Lou returned fire. He had done his part, now it was Kono's turn. She found her targets one at a time with precision.
Brennan had remained behind the wheel. As he saw his cohorts go down, he put the van in reverse and gave it gas. He was trying to make it back to the main road. When the van passed him, Lou came out from behind the dumpster, completely exposing himself, and aimed at one of the front tires. Brennan attempted a shot in his direction hitting the metal behind Lou as he jerked the wheel to get the van going forward.
Lou did not flinch from the missed shot as he squeezed the trigger. The tire exploded and the van fell on its side with help from the momentum of the directional change.
When everything went quiet, it was over.
Buck Brennan was subdued and taken into custody by Lou. "You had to be stupid now, didn't you." He had only suffered superficial injuries.
Kono called in for backup from HPD. One of the offenders had suffered life threatening injuries and had to be transported to the hospital. The other two were fatally injured, Dexter being one of them. Lou and Kono left the scene in the hands of HPD and they took off to join their ohana at the hospital.
~to be continued~
\,,,/
