Chapter Twenty-Five "Everything Ends"

When they arrived at Danny's house, Steve got Jack out of his car seat and followed Catherine into the house. Rachel was waiting for them inside and showed Catherine to the recently finished guest room.

Steve stayed behind and went to lay Jack on the couch. But the two-year-old was still awake and held onto Steve's neck. So, Steve sat down and settled Jack in his lap.

"Daddy," Jack mumbled. "The bad guys can't get us here, right?"

Steve felt his heart in his throat. He knew this must have been how his father felt when their mother was killed. He knew his family was in danger and did the only thing he could think of to protect them. But Steve could never send his family away. He couldn't live wondering when or if he would ever see them again. Still, he had to do something.

"No, Jack, they can't" he said, not knowing how true it really was and thinking he had never knowingly lied to his son before.

But what else could he say? There was no way he would leave his son thinking he was in danger. He understood a little of why his father had said their mother died in an accident. A little.

"I promise I won't let anyone hurt you, Jack," Steve said. At least that was true.

Jack snuggled his head into Steve's shoulder, grasping his shirt in his small hands. "I love you, Daddy," he whispered.

Steve felt the lump in his throat become thicker. He wrapped his arms around Jack, holding him as tightly as he could without hurting him.

"I love you so much, Jack," he said. "I'll never let anything happen to you."

H-5-O

Once Jack had calmed down enough to go to sleep, Steve made his way to the guest room. It still smelled like new paint and freshly washed sheets. Catherine was in bed, but she wasn't sleeping.

After kicking off his shoes and changing his clothes, Steve slid under the covers next to her. Wrapping his arm around her waist he whispered in her ear.

"You okay?"

"Mmh."

"That's not an answer."

"I'm tired. Is Jack sleeping in the living room?"

"Yeah. He's out. Thank God."

Catherine turned around so she could face Steve. His hand rested on her hip and she took the other one in hers.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

"I wasn't there."

"That's not what I mean."

"I'm fine. Everyone's okay; why wouldn't I be?"

"Because someone broke into your house and threatened us, and you weren't there. You were out doing what you were supposed to be doing. You'd taken every possible measure to make sure no one got close to us. I can imagine you're not all that thrilled right now."

"Maybe..." Steve smirked. "Maybe I'll have to take one of those stay at home jobs where you address junk mail or whatever."

Catherine ran her finger down the side of Steve's face. "You would die after the first day."

"So, you see my problem."

"Yes." Catherine pulled Steve closer and rested her head against his chest. "I want this to be over just as much as you do. I want my family safe too. I was just thinking... I should take Jack to see my parents."

"What?"

"Well, I haven't exactly been close to them since he was born; they've never met him, and since we're getting married... I don't want to wake up one day and regret our relationship when they're gone."

Steve pulled back so he could look in Catherine's eyes. "You want to take Jack to Pasadena?"

"Yeah. It would give you some time to straighten all this out without worrying about us, and maybe we could see Mary Ann while we're there. You know she hasn't seen Jack since he was a baby."

Steve kissed Catherine softly, wanting more than that, but knowing it wasn't the time. "I love you," he whispered. "I don't want to be away from you. Either of you."

"I know," Catherine replied. "I don't want it either, but maybe being apart for a little while will make us able to be together longer after all."

Steve nodded. He knew she was right, but it felt an awful lot like what his father had done to him. "Fine," he said. "But only for a couple of weeks at the most. If this isn't all done by then, I'm coming to get you myself."

Catherine smiled. "I shall look forward to it."

H-5-O

Kekoa let Johnny in the house. The gun Steve had left him was sitting on the counter. Lani and Anna were in the living room.

Johnny gave the latter a curious look. She stood up and walked over to him.

"I came back after... a while," she said. "I decided being alone wasn't what I really wanted. I tried calling you, but..."

"I turned my phone off," Johnny said. "It's okay. I'm... glad you're here anyway."

They all sat down again, and Lani was the first to break the silence. "What is going on here?" she asked. "Yesterday you were shot at and now someone breaks into your brother's house."

"Is it the same ones that framed Steve?" Kekoa asked.

Johnny held up his hands. "I don't know, and yes," he said. "They keep threatening Steve because of his investigation into that car bomb. I think it all ties back to the guy Dad was going after when Mom was killed."

Lani looked up with wide eyes. "Your mother died in a car accident. Drunk driver, wasn't it?"

Johnny shook his head. "It was murder. Just like the woman who was killed a few years ago and the one this week. It's all because Dad and now Steve wouldn't let it go. Dad sent us away because Mom was murdered. Not because he... didn't want us, like I thought."

Johnny felt Kekoa's strong hand on his shoulder. "Your father always loved you, John," he said. Kekoa was one of very few people who ever called him by his father's name. Like Steve called him Jackie.

Johnny nodded. "I know," he said. "I wish I had spent more time thinking about that than about how much he hurt us."

Johnny ran his hand over his face, remembering again that he needed to trim his beard. He was starting to look like a logger in his own opinion.

"I'm sorry," he said. "I'm sure you're all really tired; it's almost three."

Kekoa rubbed his thumb against the tense muscles in Johnny's shoulder. "Are you going to sleep at all?" he asked.

Johnny let out a huff. "Probably not," he said.

"I'll stay up with you," Anna said. "I don't think I can sleep now either."

Lani nodded and patted Anna's hand. "Help yourselves to cookies," she said. "Or whatever else you want." She then took her husband's arm, and the two of them headed upstairs.

Anna went over to the front window. There was no moon that night, so the ocean was obscured on the fringes of streetlights. Sighing, Anna turned around again.

"This might seem like an odd question," she said. "But why does everyone I love die?"

Johnny moved into a more comfortable position on the couch. "I don't know," he said. "But I know what it feels like."

"So what's the point? Of anything."

Johnny shook his head. "I'm not sure if I know that either, but when so many people with such worse problems keep fighting through every day, who am I to complain?"

Anna watched him for a moment as if trying to make sense of him. "I think you underrate your life experiences. I mean, everything you just said about people murdering your family and coming after you and Steve, don't you think that's pretty bad?"

"Pretty bad. Not as bad as the proverbial starving children in Africa, though."

"So, if we just imagine others have it worse off, we'll be okay?"

"I don't know. I just don't think we should ask what's the point when maybe we don't get to know that. Maybe it's impertinent to ask."

"Is that your way of saying we just have to deal with he hand we're dealt or what?"

"There was this one time we we're out in the mountains, and I looked out over all these beautiful green valleys. I said it looked like it never ended, and Steve told me 'everything ends sometime.' I didn't really understand what he meant, but I think it means that we don't get to decide when things are too bad to go on. We just go until we drop dead, and that's the end."

"Fatalistic much?"

"No. See the whole point is that we don't know. I think that's something I should have learned from Steve a long time ago. He tried to tell me, but I just wanted to be angry at him instead of realizing that I should take advantage of the time I have. You'd think I'd have learned that when my mom died, but I was nine and a little irrational."

Anna finally sat down again next to Johnny. "Just once," she said, "I'd like to have a happy ending."

Johnny put his arm around her shoulders. "You said you didn't want me to stop trying to cheer you up," he said. "That still the case?"

Anna gave him a sidelong stare. "What did you have in mind?"

"Well, for now, how about coffee and cookies. And then if we feel real ambitious, we can go out and terrorize a few sharks."

Anna mock sighed. "You gotta love living in Hawaii," she said.

H-5-O

Everyone was long asleep as Steve sat at the front window of the Williams' living room watching the sun rise. He had only slept a couple of hours in the new guest room. Part of the reason was certainly that Jack was on the couch behind him sleeping as if his night had not been interrupted by gunshots and shattering antique guitars. Steve needed to be close to him, to be sure.

Steve shook his head to himself. But he was thankful that his son did not have his difficulties when it came to sleeping. He hoped that Jack never would.

In the back of his mind, Steve played the tune to Johnny's song about rain. He couldn't remember the words having heard it only once. And it was a clear morning. It felt like rain, though.

It was barely six when Steve heard soft footsteps on the stairs. He looked to see Rachel stepping onto the main floor. She made eye contact, but knowing Jack was there, said nothing.

Steve turned back to the window, listening to Jack's breathing and Rachel's footsteps toward the kitchen. A moment passed, and he heard her humming softly.

Steve took a moment to consider his position. Nothing in the last week and a half had turned out like he expected. He started out alone and worried about very little. Now his brother was back in his life and threatened on multiple occasions, Steve was engaged to the woman he had loved for as long as he'd known her, and now they were all in danger.

Taking another look at the sleeping Jack, Steve left the window and headed for the kitchen where the smell of coffee began to diffuse. Rachel was leaning against the island with her arms around herself watching the coffeepot. The way her sleepy eyes regarded it with something like indulgence almost made Steve laugh.

"Did you sleep at all?" Rachel asked without looking up. Her voice still carried the heaviness of sleep.

"A little," Steve replied. "I'll sleep better when this is all over."

"How soon is that to be likely?" Rachel turned her head and met Steve's eyes. Her deep brown irises had a way of preventing any platitudes or white lies.

Steve shook his head. "I don't know."

Rachel pushed herself off the island and reached for a cup. Even the way she poured her coffee seemed unnecessarily elegant. She handed Steve a cup and sipped in silence.

H-5-O

The cold water jolted Johnny's mind into a state he wasn't sure he'd ever been before. He was thinking not of Alana or of the threats on his life or of anything but the warm body beside him, the sea of golden hair reflecting in the early dawn light.

Anna dove into the waves in her jeans and t-shirt, pulling Johnny along with her by the hand. The salt tingled against his skin. He was too cold to shiver.

Surfacing again, he heard Anna's breathless gasp for air and saw her bluing lips. She was treading water a few feet from him. Then she dove under again, and Johnny watched her long body glide through the water.

She came up again, her hair in her eyes like so much misguided seaweed. "What?" she asked meeting Johnny's eyes.

He laughed. "Nothing," he said.

"You don't hide things very well." Anna shivered.

"I was admiring the view," Johnny admitted.

"Of me looking like a drowned rat or what?"

"And with the sunlight reflecting off your head and the water... I never thought I'd..."

"What?"

"Know someone I could write about."

Anna smiled, a real, genuine smile. Johnny wasn't sure he'd met this creature before. But it was far lovelier than he could have expected.

"It's gonna sound really dumb," Johnny said, "but I have never felt like this about anyone. Ever."

Anna was now closer to Johnny, close enough to reach out and touch him, and she did. She smiled again, and though her eyes showed a look of surprise though she seemed to understand.

"How is it?" she asked. "That you feel, I mean?"

"I... want to... protect you."

Anne pushed her hair from her face. She ran her fingers along Johnny's cheek. "No one..." she began. "No one does that anymore."

Johnny shook his head. "My brother does," he said. "Has done since I can remember. I just never knew that I would ever... do that for someone else. But yesterday when you were so upset, and I was the only one there..."

"You handled it better than anyone. How... I mean, I've lost people before, but I've never been able to be like you were."

Johnny nodded. He reached for Anna's hand. "Another thing my brother inadvertently taught me," he said. "To think about other people instead of myself."