Hi, guys. So, Sod's Law has been proven true. Remember how I said that the wifi at the cottage was working? Well, the day after I posted the last chapter, the wifi broke. So I'm now sitting in McDonald's, mooching off their free wifi, exactly as you suggested, Topazicatzbeth. But I'm connected now, so here's the next chapter. Enjoy :)
Two hours later, Steve was having no luck. McAllister was smart; Steve had to admit that the man was smart. The only time he used his credit cards was to withdraw money from an ATM, and he never used the same ATM twice; his recorded ATM uses were spread out across the whole south side of the island. Other than that, McAllister was a complete ghost.
With a growl of frustration, Steve leaned back in his chair and pressed his palms over his eyes. It had been two hours already since McAllister had taken Jodie. What was to say they hadn't already left the island? If they had, how would they ever find them? They'd disappear completely, without a trace.
Steve sighed and pushed himself to his feet and left his office, heading towards the kitchen area to get a cup of coffee. As he crossed the bullpen, the door opened and Danny entered, wearing hospital scrubs. His right arm was pressed protectively to his side, covering his wound, and he walked with an uneven gait. His cheek was slightly swollen and bruised, as was his eye.
"Danny? What the hell are you doing here?" Steve demanded, stalking over to his injured partner. "You should be at the hospital."
"I'm fine, Steven," Danny said. "Okay, I'm not fine," he amended at Steve's glare. "But the ER staff didn't think I'm in immediate danger of dying, so I checked myself out."
"And they let you?" Steve asked incredulously. "Just like that?"
Danny bit his lip before answering. "Well, they would have preferred if I'd stayed overnight for observation."
"And you should have! Or gone home instead. Either way, you should be resting."
"But that's the thing; I can't, Steve," Danny argued. "I can't just sit around and do nothing. I need to help on this." Steve looked torn between allowing him to stay and sending him home, and Danny was desperate. "Please, Steve."
Those two words were all it took to shatter Steve's resolve. The pleading look on Danny's face didn't help, either.
"Dammit… Okay, fine," Steve acquiesced. "But you stay in the office, understood? You rest when I tell you to rest, you eat what I give you to eat and if I say 'Take your pain meds', you'll take the damn things, okay?"
"Okay. I'll do whatever you tell me as long as I know what's going on," Danny said, and Steve nodded. "Do you have any ideas where Jodie is?"
"Not yet, no," Steve sighed, and Danny nodded, biting his lip. Steve grasped his shoulder and gave him a gentle shake. "Hey, come on; we're going to find her. We found Jodie last time; we're going to find her this time as well. Okay?"
Danny nodded and looked up at Steve. "Okay."
Chin and Kono's office doors both burst open at the same time, and the cousins both came running out.
"Boss, I found when McAllister arrived on the island!" Kono yelled excitedly.
"I got a hit on a car McAllister hired," Chin started at the same time.
Steve held up a hand to stop them in their tracks. "One at a time. Kono, you start."
"McAllister arrived on Oahu a month and a half ago, on May 15th. He came in using an alias: Curtis Wright," Kono explained. "I already put out an APB on Ian McAllister and Curtis Wright," she added when Steve opened his mouth.
The SEAL nodded. "Okay, good. Chin, did you find out if he hired a car?"
"Yes, I did. McAllister hired a car from Alamo Rent a Car. They didn't recognise the name, so I sent his photo over, and he was using the same alias, Curtis Wright. He hired a Toyota Corolla, licence plate RLS 014, on the 28th May - two weeks after he arrived. Didn't say how long he wanted it for, but the person I spoke to said that to hire a car is $40 a day, and McAllister paid an entire month's fee when he hired it. He hasn't paid for this month yet, though."
"He must have found a job, if he can afford $40 a day," Kono surmised.
"Chin, please tell me that car can be tracked," Danny begged.
Chin nodded and moved towards the computer table. "Yeah, there's an anti-theft device installed in every single car; if it's not returned by the date it should be, the tracker is activated. The company gave me the code to activate it. Just give me a second…" He typed the code into the computer and waited for the tracker to show up on the map. After a few seconds, a blinking red dot appeared. "The car's on Wilder Avenue."
"Get back to the rental company; tell them to call us if McAllister shows up at their office," Steve ordered. Chin nodded and disappeared back into his office. "Kono, call HPD; get them to secure that car, but wait for us to arrive."
"On it," Kono replied, already pulling her phone out.
Jodie sat on the bathroom floor in a dingy motel, legs pulled up to her chest. She had one arm wrapped around her knees, while the other was handcuffed to a pipe. The skin underneath the metal bracelet had been worn away where Jodie had struggled against the restraint, but she had stopped when blood had started flowing from the cut.
Sniffling slightly, Jodie leaned her head back on the wall with a quiet thump. She was absolutely terrified right now; from the moment she'd seen her father, Jodie had known that this would end with someone in the hospital. Or dead.
Tears filled Jodie's eyes as she thought about Danny. She had no idea if he was alive or not. When Ian had caught up to her, his hands had been covered in blood, and Jodie had known instantly that it wasn't his own. She prayed that Danny wasn't badly hurt, because she didn't know if she could live with herself if he died.
How could she have been so mean to him? Jodie didn't understand how she could have said all those things to him. She didn't know how she could have been so cruel. If Danny died, she'd never be able to tell him she was sorry, and Jodie didn't know if she could bear living with the guilt of the harshness of her words.
Jodie stiffened as she heard the door open, and Ian entered the room again. He came into the bathroom, stopping in the doorway and looking down at Jodie.
"Are you okay, sweetheart?" he asked. Jodie flinched slightly when Ian used Danny's term of endearment for her, but said nothing. Ian sighed and came further in, crouching down beside her. "I'm sorry I had to cuff you in here, but I had to. I didn't know what lies your mother or that man told you to turn you against me."
Jodie glared at him. "Don't you say anything against Mom!" she growled. "And they didn't have to tell me anything to turn me against you; you did that yourself!"
"Don't you speak to me that way," Ian snapped. "I am your father!"
She scoffed at that. "You stopped being my father after you beat Mom so bad again you put her in the hospital. After you couldn't even be bothered to sober up when I came to visit!" Jodie yelled. "Danny's been more of a father to me in 18 months than you have in 14 years!"
The sound of skin hitting skin reverberated around the small bathroom. Jodie's mouth hung open slightly in shock, and she raised a shaky hand to her cheek where Ian had backhanded her. She felt a small cut, and blood dripped down her cheek.
Ian was clenching and unclenching his hand, while a muscle in his jaw twitched. "Now look what you made me do," he growled.
Jodie remembered Ian's temper from when she was younger, and knew better than to do anything else to anger him. "I'm sorry."
Ian took in a deep breath and exhaled slowly. "It's okay." He gently examined Jodie's cut, ignoring how she recoiled slightly. "I'll get you some ice for your cheek." He disappeared and returned a few moments later, ice wrapped in a cloth, and pressed it gently to Jodie's cheek.
"Thank you," Jodie murmured.
"You're welcome, honey," Ian replied, smiling at her. "I have to go back out for a bit, but I'll be back soon. And no more struggling," he added, pointing to her wrist.
Jodie nodded. "Okay."
"Good. I'll be back in a little while." Ian stood up and left the room, shutting and locking the door behind him. Only when his footsteps had receded, did Jodie allow the fear to overwhelm her and the tears to fall.
I hope you all enjoyed that; I re-wrote this chapter several times, trying to get it perfect. Read and review, please.
I watched The Back-Up Plan yesterday; it is a hilarious film, and if you haven't watched it yet, why the hell not?! It's got a shirtless Alex O'Loughlin in it! Get the film and watch it!
