So sorry! I was going to post this before I went to work and it didn't work out that way. Only 3 more chapters to go.
And I had to add this after the first few reviews... please don't throw eggs at me! Yes, Steve is being a little... slow, but it is his long lost mother. Sniff, sniff... I promise that he'll wise up and make it up to all of you really soon.
Steve was several cars behind as he followed Danny back towards the apartment. Two blocks from their destination he was stopped at a red light. The enticing smell of the pizza filled the cab of the truck making his stomach growl and tempting him to take a bite. Grinning, he pictured Danny's face if a slice would be missing when they opened the lid. Traffic was heavy in town due to the evening dinner rush and he drummed his fingers on the steering wheel as he idly watched the Camaro a block further away cruise towards the entrance to the apartment lot. Suddenly, Steve sat up straight as the silver car unexpectedly surged down the road passing the entrance.
"What the…?" He asked out loud as he wondered what was going on. He glanced around trying to figure out how he could escape the tightly packed group of cars waiting for the stoplight to change. Hitting the lights and siren on the Silverado, the drivers ahead of him finally moved out-of-the-way after the cross traffic cleared. By this time Danny was far ahead and the Camaro just a dot in the distance.
Steve pushed the gas pedal down chasing after his partner. Further down the road there was a sudden explosion and his heart jumped into his throat. He finally slowed and pulled to a stop when he spotted Danny's car parked near an exit ramp leading towards the highway. Relieved, he noted the car was intact.
A small group of people were standing next to a man who was leaning against a semi truck that had damage to the front left fender. At the bottom of the curving ramp, lay a black SUV on its roof engulfed in flames. Sirens could be heard coming towards the accident.
Steve rushed towards the semi while anxiously scanning the growing crowd for his partner. Checking first with the driver, he found the man was shaken up, but not hurt. As the first fire truck pulled into place, he finally spotted Danny and several other men standing near the burning vehicle.
As he hurried towards the flaming car, another small explosion had everyone ducking and moving back. The SUV was fully engulfed and it was obvious that no one could have survived. Black smoke billowed from the burning vehicle as the firefighters turned on their hoses and began putting out the flames.
Steve waited where he was as Danny joined him. "Are you alright?" He asked worriedly eying Danny's soot stained shirt.
"I'm fine. They aren't though. I couldn't help them. It was already too late when I got down there." Danny replied sadly looking at the flames. "Come on, I've got to talk to the responding officer to tell him what happened and who they were."
Steve stood back and listened curiously as Danny gave his statement to the responding officer.
"I think you'll find that their names were Ross and Annie River. I was pursuing them with my lights and siren on as suspects in a case I'm investigating." Danny said glancing briefly at Steve. "The driver decided to run and once he was on the exit ramp, attempted to pass the truck on the left side. The semi driver said he didn't see him until it was too late. There wasn't enough room for both vehicles and the semi bumped him." He explained. "Rivers lost control and flipped the SUV, rolling it down the hill on to the edge of the highway. It exploded when it hit the pavement. The semi driver wasn't at fault."
All three men became silent when the van from the county morgue pulled up on the highway near the still smoking wreckage.
As the patrolman asked more questions, Steve noticed that Danny seemed impatient and kept edging towards his car. Finally satisfied, the officer said he would contact the Detective if he needed further information.
Immediately Danny hurried towards his car with Steve following. "So do you want to tell me what that was all about?" he asked.
Opening the door, Danny started to get in. "It's the same one, Steve. It's the same SUV that had been following me. And it came out of my apartment lot. I have to get home. I'll call you later." With that, he pulled the door shut, started the car and sped off.
"You're not getting rid of me that easy, Danno." Steve said as he walked back to his truck. The Camaro had disappeared by the time he maneuvered around the backed up traffic. When he reached Danny's complex, he parked next to the Camaro and hurried to the apartment door.
Danny felt his stomach tighten with trepidation as he walked up to his apartment door. Taking a deep breath, he grabbed the doorknob and slowly turned it. The door swung in easily since it had been tampered with. Inside, books lay scattered about the room. Cotton tufts were visible in a couch cushion that had been slashed. The glass in a photo hanging on the wall of him and Grace was broken and glass shards lay on the floor.
The damage wasn't nearly as bad as it had been the other time, but after just witnessing his suspects die in a fatal accident combined with the stress he had been under earlier, he was filled with an incredible rage.
Grabbing a plastic glass which was setting on an end table near the front door, Danny threw it across the room. As it bounced off the door frame, he whirled around and with a clenched hand slammed his fist into the closest wall. Barely registering the pain, he pulled back to throw another punch when a hand grabbed his wrist.
"Danny, no!" Steve yelled as he struggled to get a firmer grip on Danny's wrist.
"Let me go!" Danny growled out between clenched teeth. Jerking his hand free, he shoved Steve away. Unprepared, Steve lost his balance and felt himself falling. As he hit the floor he felt a sharp pain near his shoulder.
Seconds later, Danny was kneeling at his side. "Damn Steve, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to do that. Let me see."
"Wha.. What are you talking about?" Steve said shaking his head to clear it as he struggled to sit up.
"The glass. From the picture." Danny gestured to the broken picture frame. "You landed right in it." Helping Steve sit up he added, "That might need stitches, I'm afraid." Steve looked down to see a bleeding two-inch cut on his arm. "
"Just help me up." Steve said struggling to stand. Once on his feet, Danny steered him towards the kitchen. A cabinet door hung on one hinge. Plates and bowls lay scattered on the countertop and across the floor. Grabbing a towel, Danny wet it and carefully wiped the blood off Steve's arm.
"Well, it doesn't look deep enough for stitches but it's probably going to be a little sore." he said. "I'm sure that salt water might sting a bit on your next swim."
Steve was glancing around. "Damn Danny, was it like this before?" he questioned.
"No. The last time was way worse." Danny replied quietly throwing the wet towel down on the counter.
Steve then noticed that Danny's knuckles were bleeding. "Hey, you'd better wash off your hand and see if you're going to be the one needing stitches."
Danny turned on the water and washed his hand. "It's fine." he said unconcerned as he dried it off. Bending down, he started to pick up the plates. After a moment he spoke. "Hey, sorry about that. Why don't you go on home and we can talk tomorrow."
Instead Steve walked to the living room, knelt, and started stacking books together. "Why don't you turn your oven on so the pizza will stay warm while we clean this up?" Picking up the books, he set them back in their place on the bookcase and walked out of the apartment.
At his truck, he grabbed the pizza box and took a deep breath. Guilt assailed him as he realized this was what Danny had been dealing with over the past few months. In addition to the everyday strain of their jobs there was also Danny's never-ending problem of getting along with Rachel. Between work, Catherine and his mother, Steve had his own hands full, but it was nothing compared to what Danny had been enduring. Walking back to the apartment, he wondered if the couple who had died earlier had done this, what else they could be guilty of.
Once inside, he went to the kitchen and put the cold pizza in the now warm oven. Danny had a screwdriver out and was tightening the hinge on the cabinet door. Two beers were already opened and waiting on the counter. The dishes had been picked up and were soaking in a sink full of hot water. Steve didn't hesitate to thrust his hands in and started washing. Danny finished tightening the cabinet door and moving next to Steve, began rinsing then drying.
"So, start from the beginning, would you?" Steve asked. Grabbing one of the beers, he took a deep drink. "When did everything start happening?"
Danny glanced at his friend before he spoke. "Three and a half months ago. I came home and found the first envelope about a job offer. The next one arrived two weeks later." Before Steve could ask, Danny continued. "No, there weren't any prints, just like I'm positive there wouldn't be any from this either. Charlie checked each one and didn't find anything."
Danny put the dishes in the cabinet and leaned back against the refrigerator. "Some things would happen back to back, but then there might be a week or two before the next."
Picking up his beer he took a drink before adding, "I would just begin to think it was all over, start to relax, and then something else would take place. I hate to say this Steve, but I started keeping track of when you told me Doris was out-of-town." He added guiltily.
"It's okay, Danny. I just feel bad I didn't know what was going on. " Steve told him.
Danny opened a drawer and pulled out a hot mitt. "Now I don't know about all the job offers, but I did check on one I received about an opening in Chicago." At Steve's alarmed glance, Danny smiled. "No you goof. I wasn't inquiring because I was interested. I know a detective on the Chicago PD and wanted to find out if it was a real job posting, which it was."
"Chin told me that one of them had money in it?" Steve asked.
Danny frowned. "I told him that I'd talk to you about this."
"I know you did. Don't be mad at him or Kono." Steve said quickly. "I asked them earlier and they told me what little they knew. We all felt it was time to get this out in the open and taken care of before you get killed."
"Yes, one of them had five thousand dollars in it." Danny replied as he reached in the oven for the pizza. "I turned it in to HPD and told them I'd found it at the marina. They thought maybe it was from a drug deal gone bad. I finally get blessed with a pile of money and it turns out to be a bribe." Grabbing several paper plates and their beer, the men walked into the living room and sat down. Danny looked in disgust at his couch.
"We'll get it fixed, Danno." Steve assured him.
Danny nodded than resumed talking. "You know, I really have no concrete proof it's your mother. It's just little things that have happened that could tie in to the larger ones. Although the night at your place, after you left to get her dinner, she pretty much confessed."
Steve took a drink then picked up a slice of pizza. "What sort of things?" he asked slowly.
"Well, other than the serious stuff, it's mainly been things to let me know that I'm not her favorite person. She poured coffee over my hand and brought that pineapple pizza to the office. Then remember the day she came in to drop off that file you left at home and she accidentally knocked a bottle of water over on the pile of reports I'd just finished? And how about when Grace and I came over and her homework somehow got mixed up with the newspapers Doris threw away?"
"Well...that could have been an accident." Steve said in embarrassment when he remembered the incidents.
"Yeah, you're right. I guess they could be, not that I believe it. You know, on those pizzas, she knows I don't like pineapple. Think back when we were sitting at your place talking about toppings and she was right there? After I left work I was going to go to the hospital for my ribs, but instead I came home, found my door jimmied opened and the place trashed. The next day there was a menu from the same place she bought them from in my mailbox."
"But that might be that they were sending out advertising since they're new in town." Steve said in defense.
"You're right, it could be. She also mentioned how much she knew I liked cheeseburgers after you'd left. Cheeseburgers, like at the Shellshell Grill?" Danny continued. "I know it's only indirect evidence and would be looked as more as harassment, but I do have the photographs."
"What photos?" Steve questioned beginning to feel uneasy.
Danny stood up and pulled a file folder out from beneath the couch. Opening it, he pulled out several photographs. Meet the Rivers'." Danny said handing Steve the picture he'd taken the day before. "Do they look familiar?"
Steve studied the photo then with a slight frown looked back at Danny. "Yes, but I'm not sure where..."
"The Seashell Grill." Danny reminded him.
"Yes! That's where I remember them from." Steve exclaimed. "She stayed at the table, but he got up and walked to the restrooms which are at the back of the building. He would have had to walk by the grill on his way there."
"I know, but Kono said there were no cams in the area to nail it to them, not that it matters now." Danny replied thinking of the burning wreck as he took another drink.
"Their names were Ross and Annie River. Ex-C.I.A. agents. They worked with your mother." Danny said glancing over at Steve.
"Now how would you know that they worked with Doris?" Steve asked him.
"This photograph was taken at a holiday party. I received this from a contact I have in the C.I.A. He was doing me a favor." Danny said handing Steve the black and white one. "The Rivers are sitting here and there is your mom."
Danny then handed Steve the other color photographs. "This was yesterday at the Royal Hawaiian."
"I knew you weren't at home." Steve exclaimed as he took the photographs. "Taking a nap my …" He trailed off as he studied the pictures.
"That's the same vehicle that's been following me around. It had three matching tires and the back right is a different brand." Danny told him. "They may have been agents, but I think they were low on the totem pole. They sure didn't know anything about being discreet."
"Alright, so they obviously knew each other. That still doesn't prove its my mom behind it. It could have been these people. " Steve protested still not wanting to believe his mom could try to kill his friend.
"Steven! Why on earth would this couple, who I've never met, come to the island to try to harm me? What reason could they have?" Danny asked frustrated.
"Danny, I know you and mom got off on the wrong foot, but do you really think she'd stoop so low…" Steve started to say.
"Yes, I do. She told me straight out that you'd making more money working at the C.I.A. and that…that you'd be better off without me around." Danny picked up his beer and took a swallow.
Steve looked over at his partner. "Chin and Kono told me you said the same thing to them. She mentioned the C.I.A.?" he asked with a sinking heart remembering how Doris kept badgering him to work there instead of the task force.
"Steve...She told me I was holding you back and if Grace wanted to grow up with her father around to leave Five-0." Danny said sounding impatient and starting to get angry. "She sat there spouting out some garbage from an article she was pretending to read about how children of divorced parents often turn out dysfunctional with problems of drug abuse and pregnancy. I know she was just trying to make me angry the way she was talking about Grace."
"Danny, are you sure that she mentioned the C.I.A.?" Steve asked again starting to believe at least some of what Danny said was true.
"Now look, I knew this would be hard for you and that's why I never said anything about it, even after all this crap I've been dealing with. I know you're happy having your mother back in your life and that's why this is so difficult." Danny said plainly upset. "Let's just drop it, alright?"
"No, we're not going to drop it." Steve replied quickly. "I spoke to her earlier and she said that she had no idea what I was talking about."
"And what? You think she'd come right out and admit it to you?" Danny replied angrily. "Do you think I enjoy almost being hit by a car or having someone use me for target practice or threatening that Grace might grow up without her father around?'
"No, I don't think she'd admit it, but I think I would know when my mother isn't telling the truth." Steve growled out without thinking.
Danny sat his beer down and looked intently at his friend. He felt awful for what he knew Steve was dealing with. Taking a deep breath, he asked, "Really? Really Steve? You know she's been lying to you since she came back here. Why would you think that she'd be telling you the absolute truth now? She's admitted she killed Wo Fat's father. Would it be so hard for her to kill me too?"
Steve couldn't speak for a moment. "She wouldn't do that Danny. She couldn't. She knows you're my best friend. She knows..." Steve's voice trailed off.
Both men were silent for a moment before Danny took a deep breath "Look, I don't know why she has it out for me. Maybe now it's a game to her. Yes, we are obviously not each others bosom buddy, but for some reason she has a grudge and wants me out-of-the-way."
"I'll talk to her again in the morning, Danny." Steve said sadly. "We'll get it figured out."
Nodding his head, Danny picked up his beer and held it out. Steve picked his up and as they clinked the glass necks together, Danny said unwaveringly, "Okay, Partner..."