I'm so sorry for the long delay in posting. Thanks for hanging in there to the end! Aloha!
Chapter Twenty-Five
"What do think," Steve joked as he wheeled Amber back to her room, "for our honeymoon we hike the last part of the PCT?"
She laughed. "You are adventurous, aren't you? I would love to finish it someday but not pregnant or with a newborn."
"Or maybe a nice hotel in Canada at the end of the PCT," he suggested instead.
Amber laughed again, "Now you're talking." She looked across the room at the large bouquet of flowers as they came inside. "Oh, aren't those beautiful."
Steve stopped, looking at them quizzically, wondering who would send those to Amber. She had no friends on the island yet and certainly no family besides him.
Amber turned just slightly looking up at him. "Are those from you?"
He shook his head, "No."
"Maybe Danny then," she said, assuming so since there was really no other explanation.
"Maybe," he replied, but found that very unlikely. Not that he didn't consider Danny a generous person, but the timing with everything going on just seemed odd to him.
He left Amber sitting in her chair at the door and went around her bed to see if there was a note attached to them, pulling out his cell phone as he walked toward the bouquet.
Danny saw Steve's face appear on his phone as he pulled it out of his pocket.
"Hey, what's up?" he asked. "Chin and I are in the parking lot of Hairfield's hotel that he's been staying at."
"Is he there?" Steve asked hopeful, his attention being drawn away from the flowers to that new piece of information.
"I don't know. I don't see the rental car anywhere."
"Does the rental place have a GPS on the car?"
"No, its some cheap ass place that I've never even heard of. But if he's not here, then we'll hold up and watch the place. How's Amber?"
He stood next to the bouquet now, moving around the flowers, trying to see if there was a note hidden, "She's fine, but let me ask you something. Did you send her flowers?"
Danny shook his head. "No. Why?"
"Someone sent her a huge bouquet with no note, but…" his voice went silent as he froze, smelling the fertilizer and diesel fuel just before he saw the mixture, staring down into the oversized vase below the flower stems that was packed with the two ingredients, seeing a small detonator glowing.
"But what?" Danny asked.
"Holly shit!" Steve whispered, backing away. "Danny!" he replied, his voice steady; yet deeply concerned. "Call the bomb squad and get them over here!" He let his phone drop to the floor in his rush to get to Amber.
"What is it?" she asked as he leaned over her with his hands on the arms of her wheelchair, pushing her back out to the hall as he closed the door. "What's happening?" her voice stressing her concern over his behavior that went from calm and playful to tense and serious, seeing a hint of that same look that he had when Chris had her pinned against the car.
"Hey!" he shouted to the nurses across the way, pulling his badge off his belt and showing it. "I'm Commander McGarrett from Five 0, we need to evacuate this area immediately!"
"Steve!" Amber said becoming frantic. "What's happening?!"
He ignored her plea, giving the five nurses orders, all of which stared at him. It took about fifteen seconds to plead his case, but it was his presence of authority that convinced them that he was credible.
They barely had time to comprehend the situation when they heard the explosion inside her room.
Screams ricocheted around the area as the door to Amber's room rattled loudly. They could hear glass shatter as the windows exploded from the thin nails that had been mixed in with the lethal soil spewed out across the room.
It lasted only a few seconds and was thankfully contained to the room.
You ok?!" he asked Amber, seeing her terrified expression but was beyond relieved that she was not in the room when it happened.
"Yes," she replied, her voice shaky and weak from the frightening moment.
He stood up and turned to the rest of the scattered people about the room. "It's over. Everyone all right?"
He heard faint replies of 'yes' as people began to stand up after dropping to the floor.
He used his arm to get people moving, waving them toward the stairwell, "Everyone out!"
"No," one of the nurses replied. "We have patients that can't be moved this quickly. I'll stay with them." She turned to her crew of five other nurses. "Everyone else evacuate."
Three of them who were in training were ordered to leave while the other two stayed with the head nurse.
Steve evaded the argument of trying to get them all to leave. Mainly because none of them waited for his approval, they just spread out and went to work checking the other patients.
The leader going to Amber first, speaking to the nurse in training, "Take her down to the ER, explain what has happened and have them get her hooked back up to an IV. Her meds are going to wear off soon."
Steve put a hand on Amber's chair. She's staying here until I can get someone from HPD to guard her. His first thought was Kono.
"Steve," Amber said, reaching her hand out to him, her voice still shaky, "was it the flowers?"
He nodded, taking her hand.
"Chris?" she asked but didn't need an answer from him to tell her who had planted them there.
"Yes."
"He's never going to leave me alone," she whispered, her voice full of fear.
Steve squatted down next to her. "I'll catch him for you, Amber. He'll never get close to you again. I promise you that."
…..
Steve stood in the condemned hospital room with Danny and the HPD Bomb Squad as they surveyed the fragments from the bomb.
The area around the initial blast where the flowers had been sitting was torn up. The wall and ceiling had bits and pieces of glass and nails stuck in them. The hospital equipment that had been attached to the bed and wall were also destroyed. But it was the bed that had Steve's attention. The pillow where Amber had laid her head was black and torn, covered with debris from the vase.
"Definitely an amateur," Pele the man in charge said, holding a small piece of the detonator. "This here, they could have picked it up at any electronic store and by the way it was put together I can't believe they didn't blow themselves up. This was definitely a home job thrown together."
"But enough know how to cause some serious harm," Danny commented, glancing over at Steve as he stood like a stone statue with his arms crossed, the expression on his face just as hardened.
"Any bomb can cause serious harm, "Pele explained, "but when they added the nails and glass to the mix, it was obvious they wanted to do some serious damage."
"Enough to kill someone," Steve finally spoke, his voice low but the anger in it undeniable.
Pele looked up at him nodded knowingly, "Most definitely. If you were standing next to this when it went off, yes, it could be fatal."
"Or lying next to it," Steve added. He turned and walked toward the door.
"Thanks Pele," Danny said, following behind his partner.
They came out the hall that was barren of any nurses or patients, all of them evacuated to a different floor, including Amber who was now in a new room and under guard by Kono.
Steve turned around and faced him. "He's a dead man walking, Danny."
"I know," he agreed, as he reached in his pocket and pulled out his ringing cell phone. "Chin," he answered, putting it on speaker, "what do you got?"
"We finally got a hit on his rental car, HPD chased him up to the Pali lookout pass but lost him when he veered off the trail. I know that area up there. There's a lot of over growth and about a million places to hide."
"He can't hide forever," Steve replied, "and smoking out snakes that tried to hide is what I did best in the Navy."
"Well then this is going to be a showdown, because I did a background check on him and he's ex-military. He was a Marine. He worked as backup for the bomb squad."
"Well that answers a few questions," Danny added as he and Steve walked toward the elevator.
"Send me the GPS coordinates of the last place they saw him," Steve said. "Danny and I are on our way."
….
Steve pulled his vest out of the back of the Camaro and slipped it on as Danny did the same.
They both had their eyes focused on the beginning of the trail across the parking lot that was closed off to the public by the HPD, but their attention was on the officer who was giving them an update of where they had chased Hairfield and the precise spot where he had veered off the trail and they had lost track of him."
"My apologies, Commander," he said with a heavy sigh. "We should have had him in custody by now."
Steve patted his arm, "Don't worry about it, Rod, we'll sniff him out."
"We'll be right behind you, Commander."
"No you won't," Steve replied. "I want you and your men to pull out and place surveillance around the perimeter."
"What are you talking about?" Danny jumped in. "The more men we have the better chance we have of finding him."
"He's up in there hiding and obviously found himself a nice safe spot or they would have already found him. He's an ex-marine, they have patience," he explained. "I want him to feel safe. The quieter it gets up there, the safer he's going to feel, and that's when we'll grab him."
"It's going to be dark in less than two hours," Danny said.
"Yep, and Chin's on his way with that new night-eye drone. We'll see him the second he starts to make a move."
Danny smiled, "I bet you're just as excited to break out that new drone you purchased with last years budget as you are of catching him."
"Almost," Steve grinned, "but not entirely. My goal is to put Amber at ease, and she won't ever be until this guy is either in jail," he slipped his gun in holster, "or six feet under." He looked over at Danny, "And I'm fine with either one."
…
Danny pulled down on the front of his Kevlar vest just below his neck and twisted his head as if he were cracking his neck. "This thing was not made to be worn in the jungle," he whispered.
Steve looked over at him as they hid amongst a group of overgrown ferns and brush a couple hundred yards from where Chris had veered off the trail.
"They were made exactly for that, Danny," he countered. "Military has been wearing them for years in the jungle, in the desert and in the cold. You won't bitch too much when the bullet hits you in the vest and not the heart."
"Whatever," he groaned, "I'm just saying, it's hot out here and how do you even know he's still around? He could be back at his hotel by now."
Steve rolled his eyes, "What do you always tell me? Patience. Well patience, Daniel. Trust me, he'll surface."
"I hope so because my legs are starting to cramp up."
"Hydrate."
"You got an answer for everything, don't you?" he said annoyingly, pulling out the water bottle from the side pocket of his vest.
"Yes, except for why you have to act like a little girl."
"I'm uncomfortable. We've been sitting here for like twelve hours."
"So am I and it hasn't been twelve hours, its been four. Man up."
Danny huffed, "Me man up. What about you? When are you going to man up?"
"What does that even mean? I'm not complaining."
"I mean about Amber," Danny grinned, knowing that would shut him up.
Steve knew exactly where that line was going, countering it with a smug grin of his own. "I asked her to marry me. What do you think of that smart ass?"
Danny leaned back a couple of inches in shock over that. "Really? Wow!"
"Didn't see that coming did ya," Steve replied proudly.
"No, actually I didn't. So… what did she say? No, or I'll think about it?" he turned his head and smiled with a quiet laugh.
"Good one," Steve chuckled. "But sorry to disappoint you. She said yes."
"Well congratulations then."
"Thank you. We talked about the honeymoon and…" he stopped suddenly hearing Chin's voice in his ear.
"I hate to break up such a sweet conversation between you two ladies," Chin said as his voice came through their earpieces, "but we have movement. I'm sending the coordinates right now. It's definitely human, about six hundred yards east of you, moving northwest. It looks like he's heading toward you. If you head up north a few hundred yards and he stays on course, you'll run right into each other."
Steve stood up, holding his hand down to Danny. "Let's go throw him a surprise party."
Danny grabbed his hand and groaned from his stiff muscles as he stood up. "You are just a little too excited about this."
"I just can't wait to get my hands on that little fucker." Truthfully he wanted him more dead than alive after he had tried to kill Amber. "Hey, maybe I should just go alone," he suggested. "You hang back here incase he gets by me."
Danny looked at him like he was nuts, "No way! For one I pretty much guarantee, he ain't get by you, and two, after that comment you just made, that's exactly why I'm hiking up there through this jungle in the middle of the night, because I'm a little too uncomfortable about sending you up there alone with him. Orange jumpsuit is not a good look on you and I'm pretty sure conjugal visits are a thing of the past. So just thank me later for coming." He didn't wait for an answer, taking the lead through the brush as he pulled down the night vision goggles they had purchased with the left over budget money after the drone,
Steve followed behind with a slightly disappointed expression.
They made it about a hundred yards when Steve tapped Danny's shoulder, getting his attention. He looked back and Steve signaled with his fingers to split up in a V formation. He motioned for Danny to go right and he'd go left, coming up on Chris' either side, setting up a mini ambush.
Danny nodded and crouched lower as he headed off. The night vision goggles were more of nuisance than a helper. It was a humid night and they began to slip from the perspiration on his forehead, not as familiar with wearing them as Steve was. The fit was clumsy and they felt heavy.
"I lost him," Chin said into their earpieces. "He must have gone under some heavy brush again."
"Copy that," Steve replied.
Danny lifted the goggles, resting them on his forehead. "Are we still on track from your last visual," he asked.
"Yes, about a fifty yards north of you Danny. Steve, he is directly east of you. You're both narrowing the gap."
"I'm cutting across, "Danny said, "incase he makes a break for it."
"I'm heading east," Steve announced.
Danny took about ten steps when he heard a snap and felt a terrible pain in his calf. He let out a muffled groan and reached back, feeling something through his pants leg, but it went unnoticed as he was now more concerned about the 9-mm Beretta gun pointed in his face.
"Get'em up," Chris said of his hands as he quickly scanned the area around him for others.
Danny slowly raised his hands, "You're making a huge mistake, Chris. I'm assuming you are Chris Hairfield," he said to him, watching his every move as he took out his gun from his holster and tucked it behind his back.
"I'm not going to prison," Chris said.
"Too late for that," Danny chuckled. "But the amount of time you spend in prison is greatly increasing every second that you have that gun pointed in my face."
"Shut up," Chris snarled. "Where's your partner? I know there are at least two of you. The uniforms gave up. Who are you supposed to be?" he chuckled; looking Danny over in his blue, long sleeve shirt that was rolled up to his elbow and khaki dress pants, "Hawaii's version of SWAT,"
"No," Danny said, "I'm just a plain clothed detective like you. Nothing special about me, but you seem to have some skills, catching me the way you did," he winced over the pain in his leg.
"Shut up," Chris whispered to him, moving him back against a tree with the gun still pointed at him.
"Marines huh," Danny said. "That's impressive. But if you're looking for my partner it might be a little harder to trap him."
"Oh yea?" Chris grinned. "Like you said, I've got skills."
Danny shrugged, "Well yea, you were a Marine and that's all good, but my partner Steve…"
"Steve?" Hairfield quickly replied, grabbing Danny by the collar of his shirt with the gun still pointed at his head. "Steve McGarrett is your partner?"
"Well yea, and I was saying, you were a Marine, but Steve, he's more like a Ninja. Just when you think you got him," he looked Chris in the eyes, "he's got you."
Chris felt the sharp blade of the knife up against his throat slightly cut into his skin as he gasped.
"Drop it," Steve said to him, "or I'll slice you open from ear to ear."
Chris lowered the gun as Steve grabbed it out of his hand. Danny took it from him as well as his own gun that was behind Chris' back.
"As I was saying," Danny continued, "you were a Marine, but my partner Steve here was a Navy SEAL and had an even more impressive career of sneaking up on the bad guy and not getting caught."
Steve turned Chris around and pushed him up against the tree that Danny had been on, keeping the knife at his throat as he quickly frisked him for any more reachable weapons. "So we meet again, Detective Hairfield." He pushed the knife harder against his throat, enjoying the fear that Chris was trying to hide. "Leave us alone for a few minutes," he said to Danny but kept his eyes glued on Hairfield.
Danny limped over to another tree and leaned up against it. "He set a trap and got me in my leg. I'm not sure I can hike out of here."
Steve looked over at him in shock, "What?! Are you ok, Danny?!"
"Yea," he moaned, trying to get a look at the piece of wood sticking out of his calf, "but it's starting to hurt like hell."
Steve tossed the knife over at Danny's feet and shoved Chris harder against the tree and then backed up, "C'mon, you and me, right here, right now. Show me how tough you are? Big bad marine," he tormented him, "you fight like a pussy. I bet when you got into combat you hid like a scared little girl."
"Screw you!" Chris fired back, his jaw taught as he became angrier.
"C'mon tough guy!" Steve nagged, "I know you want to a take shot at me. Or is it just women you beat on, like your piece of shit dead partner? He was a pussy too. He couldn't even die like a man anymore than he could live like one."
"Fuck you!" Chris shouted, taking a swing at Steve, connecting with his jaw.
His head jerked to the side at the same time he heard Danny shout out, 'Don't do it.'
It was exactly what he was hoping he would happen.
The connection to his jaw barely dazed him. He ducked back and away from the second punch like a trained boxer. The missed blow caused Chris to have his shield down for just a second, but it was all Steve needed and had planned for.
He put a hand on Chris' chest and shoved him hard back against the tree and then brought his fist up and hit him in the same place he had just been struck, yet his blow was far more damaging, coming from built up anger toward this man who had purposely harmed the people in his life that he most loved, Amber and now Danny.
Chris grunted as his head flew back and hit the tree. The next punch came from the other side and he felt his left cheekbone crack from the impact, yet he didn't fall.
"Tough marine huh," Steve growled, grabbing the back of neck and bringing his knee up as he pulled his face down.
The connection shattered Chris's nose.
Steve lifted him back up, putting his hand on his chest to prevent him from falling over. He hit him twice again across the jaw, whipping his head back and forth in both directions.
"Enough!" Danny shouted.
Steve looked over at him with his fist clenched and a look of sheer rage on his face. "He tried to kill her!"
"So you're going to kill him?!" Danny shouted back. "Where does that leave Amber and the baby, huh? Enough!"
He looked back at his victim whose head bobbed; the only thing holding him up was his hand on his chest, pressing him against the tree. He had no remorse for his victim and if it wasn't for Danny he might have actually killed him, but the stern words were a quick wake up call.
His clenched fist relaxed and he removed his other one from Chris' chest. The moment he did, he collapsed on the ground in a heap at Steve's feet.
He backed away looking at him as if he were nothing more than a piece of trash that was lying in the unspoiled Hawaiian jungle.
Danny turned his mic back on, turning it off as things had escalated, knowing Steve had too. They were on visual from the drone, but it would show that Hairfield struck first, yet the words of torment would not be known. It didn't matter to Danny, Steve deserved that moment and so did Hairfield.
"You ok?" Steve said to him, squatting down and flashing a light on Danny's injured leg, seeing a stick about three inches long in his leg. "It's not very deep, I'm going to pull it out on the count of three. Ready? One," but he didn't wait until three, yanking it out on one.
"OUCH!" Danny shouted. "What the hell happened to two and three?!"
"Why prolong the agony," Steve said, using a piece of gauze from a pouch on his Kevlar vest to cover the wound and then ripped open a larger band aid with his teeth, securing it to Danny's leg.
He looked up at him, "Can you make it out of here?"
"Yea, it's good."
Steve stood up and pulled out his water bottle, taking a drink and then squeezing the remains on Hairfield's face. "Wake up!"
Chris opened his eyes, feeling his body being jerked off the ground to a standing position and then his hands being pulled behind his back. Steve secured them with a zip tie and then faced him, gently slapping him on the cheek that was bloodied by the broken nose. "Wake up princess, I'm not carrying your sorry ass out of here."
He was still groggy and half unconscious as each man took an arm. They began to walk in the direction of the trail with guidance by Chin.
As they walked, Chris began to mumble incoherently, neither Steve nor Danny paying too much attention to him, but then he began to confess his soul to no one in particular but they were the ones that heard it all.
They stopped abruptly as Chris' head bobbed and he began to quietly weep.
Steve leaned forward and looked over at Danny whose stunned expression mirrored his own.
"Did I just hear him right?" Steve asked.
Danny's mouth hung open in shock, about to ask Steve the same question. "Judging by the look on your face, I think we heard the same thing."
"Holly shit," Steve said with an uncomfortable chuckle. "That's weird."
They both started walking again, "Yea, but don't get any ideas partner about me. I don't find you that attractive."
Steve grinned over that. "You'd be lucky to have me," he joked. "I've got Ninja skills, I heard you finally admit it."
"I had a gun pointed in my face," Danny countered. "I would have said you were a Bruce Lee clone if it would have got your ass over there any faster. And by the way, what took you so long? I was chatting it up like I belonged to an old lady sewing circle and you were nowhere to be found!"
"I couldn't just walk up and say 'Hey there bad guy, would you mind not pointing that gun in my partners face', seriously Danny I had to use my Ninja skills to get in close so I could unarm him, which I did," he said with a smug grin.
"Oh my god, you are never going to let that Ninja thing go are you?"
"You said it," Steve replied.
"Ladies please," Chin butted in, "my ears are hurting over your bickering. Head south about fifty feet and you'll hit the trail."
"I said it out of duress," Danny defended himself.
"But you did say it," Steve replied needing the last word.
Chris raised his head and mumbled something using Kevin's name and then it fell forward again and his feet dragged even more.
"Damn this guy," Danny groaned and limped, feeling the wound on his leg begin to throb.
"Hold on," Steve said, stopping and leaning over, allowing Hairfield to slump over his shoulder. He stood up and began walking again, carrying him.
"Thanks," Danny said, following behind them. "I know you'd rather drag him back than carry him."
"That's true," Steve replied, "but my Ninja strength allows me the extra burden."
"Oh god," Danny moaned.
…
Amber opened her eyes and smiled at the one being given back to her.
"Hi," she said to Steve as he leaned over and kissed her forehead next to the bandage.
"Good morning. How do you feel?"
"Tired, but better. It's nice waking up to a gorgeous man smiling at me."
He blushed slightly over the compliment, never being very comfortable getting them about his looks. "You make me smile."
Coming from him and knowing what his life had been like over the past year, it was beyond just a compliment, it was heartfelt.
"I caught him, Amber," he said proudly, "just like I told you I would."
Her eyes got big over that pleasing piece of information. "I knew you would."
"He won't bother you anymore."
She sat up the best she could, reaching out for him as he leaned in and hugged her.
"I love you. Thank you."
"I love you too."
He sat back down in the chair that was next to the bed. "They're releasing you tomorrow. You need to take it easy for a few more days, but that's ok," he slid his hand inside of hers, "I'll take care of you."
"You do that well," Amber whispered.
"The worst is behind us, Amber. We only have good things to look forward too." He reached under the blanket and rested his hand on her slightly swollen belly, caressing it. "Much better things."
"We've come a long way since that day I found you naked," she grinned.
Steve laughed, "Yes we have." He thought of his turbulent life back then compared to how he felt right now.
"I wanted to ask you a question for a long time," she said.
"Oh yea, what's that?"
"The day of the avalanche. Do you remember telling me to go in the tent and get out the towel from your backpack?"
Steve shrugged slightly, "Yes, vaguely. It was pretty crazy that day. My mind was going about a hundred miles an hour. Why?"
"I reached down inside your backpack and I found something." She saw by his bashful grin that he knew exactly what she was talking about. "My dress that I had worn that night we had slept together. I had left it in the hotel room on purpose. You said you had left something behind and went back up, but you went back up for the dress, didn't you?"
"Busted."
Amber smiled, "I remember I was so cold that day in the tent, I was covered in ice and snow, but when I pulled that dress out and saw it, it warmed me from the inside out. Why did you feel the need to go back for it?"
He thought about it for second but knew the answer. "I remember laying in bed in the hotel that night and you were laying next to me. I felt so ashamed and guilty, like I had somehow cheated on Catherine, but at the same time I was fighting feelings for you. I was scared to death to get close to anyone again. The next morning it was so awkward, do you remember that?"
She rolled her eyes, "Oh my god, yes. There was this huge elephant in the room yet you and I both did an amazing job of ignoring the obvious."
Steve chuckled, "Very well put and you're exactly right. That's why I went back for it."
She tilted her head in confusion, "I don't get it."
"I thought it was going to be just that one time event and even though I had mixed feelings about it, knowing the next morning that you did too, I still couldn't deny the fact that you gave me hope after that night. I felt guilty and ashamed after we had sex, but none of that crossed my mind during. It felt too good being with you. I wanted something to take away with me from that night, knowing then that it would never be you, so I took the dress that you had kept on, before, during and after. It was like having a part of you with me if I couldn't have the real thing."
Amber felt tears sting her eyes, recalling that night so vividly. "I fell in love with you that night."
Her confession surprised him. "You did?"
She nodded, "I tried to ignore the signs too but I gave in, knowing how incredibly special you are, but I also knew how much you loved your wife." The tears erupted then, "I feel so blessed that you want to be with me. My life was hell, beyond hell, and you brought me back to life."
He felt his own emotions begin to get the better of him. "I don't know how we found each other in this giant world, but we did and I'm grateful every second for it."
"Me too," she agreed, wiping her eyes.
She put her hand over top of his that rested on their baby. "I have a family again."
"And I have wife," he smiled, resting his forehead on hers, soaking in this moment that they had both clawed their way through hell to get to.
A year ago they felt cursed, but not today, today they felt blessed.
The End