Higgins glared at her laptop screen. She'd had frustratingly little luck trying to figure out what had happened to Magnum and Katsumoto.
Both of their cell phones were off or destroyed, and the last locations where they'd pinged had not turned up any clues so far. HPD had combed the tiny gas station where the Ferrari had been located, but there were no security cameras and unfortunately no witnesses.
Katsumoto's car had been discovered as well, still in the HPD parking lot. His badge and keys were found nearby, but nothing that helped give a hint as to the missing man's whereabouts. Infuriatingly, the security footage was virtually useless. Gordon had been parked at the edge of the unfenced lot, just barely within the camera range. It had captured the detective walking to his car, but as he circled around to the driver's side he disappeared entirely from view.
And...that was it.
Juliet had nothing, and it was maddening. She had run down old cases, both Magnum's and Katsumoto's. She had meticulously tracked their actions from the past week, cross-referencing any possible overlaps and hoping for a lead. All her work had proven fruitless.
"There's no way two highly trained men disappeared without a trace," she muttered to herself. "There has to be something we've overlooked."
Suddenly her phone rang, and Juliet answered with barely a glance away from her task. "Rick? Tell me you have something."
"I was talking to Kawika," the bar owner said hurriedly. "And I think I may know what happened."
Magnum's right leg had been consumed by white-hot fire. With each step it alternately flared up to his hip and pulsated all the way down to his toes. He could barely think past the agony, but instinctively he knew they couldn't afford to slow down. Absolutely everything hurt and somewhere beyond the pain he was feeling nauseous too. Misery resonated throughout his entire body, and he was quite certain that if Katsumoto wasn't holding him upright he'd have pitched face-first into the dirt already.
His injured leg was becoming more and more uncooperative, and after a while it was all he could do to drag it along. Katsumoto's makeshift bandages had long since soaked through, and Thomas could feel blood trickling down his leg and soaking into his jeans. Every movement was excruciating and although he fought hard to carry his own weight, he was leaning a little bit further into Gordon with each passing minute.
"Sorry," Thomas gasped as they staggered through the underbrush.
Katsumoto glanced over. "What? Why?"
"Slowin' you...down," the private investigator managed between pants. "Should...leave me."
"Oh for Christ's sake," Gordon spat out. "I'm not leaving you behind, you idiot."
"Gonna...get you...killed," Magnum insisted.
Katsumoto ignored him, simply adjusting his grip on the waistband of Magnum's jeans.
After a few more moments, Thomas tried again. "Gordie…"
"Shut up, Magnum." The detective stopped in his tracks and gently eased the injured man down to sit on a large, flat boulder. "Let's rest for a second, then we'll keep moving."
Thomas started shaking his head and Katsumoto cut him off firmly. "Hey. HEY. Listen to me. We're going to rest, because you're losing a lot of blood and I need to take a look at your leg." He knelt in the dirt and set about the task as he continued talking. "And there is no chance that I'm going to leave you here, so just forget about it right now."
"Why? You've got a better...chance of surviving...alone." Thomas eventually managed to catch his breath but he was tired. So, so tired, and kind of cold despite the warm Hawaiian day. He just wanted to go to sleep, and he knew from experience that meant he had lost a dangerous amount of blood. "It's okay, man. I'll stay here...distract them so you can get away." He shivered, and wrapped his arms around himself in an attempt to hold in what was left of his body heat. His thin aloha shirt provided little in the way of warmth, and somewhere in the back of his sluggish mind Thomas distractedly wished for a jacket.
Gordon didn't bother to respond to that as he examined the wound and instead simply commented, "I've got to try and slow this bleeding down." He watched as Thomas shivered, and knew the private investigator was unavoidably going into shock. With a frown, Katsumoto pulled off his own undershirt and began tearing it apart to use as a bandage.
Leaving the original dressing in place, Katsumoto began layering additional fabric on top of Magnum's wound. As he worked, Thomas retched suddenly and Gordon paused in his ministrations. Unsurprisingly, there wasn't much to bring up but Magnum continued to helplessly dry heave, wheezing loudly between convulsive gags. After a few long moments during which Gordon looked on worriedly, the heaving finally stopped and Thomas rolled bloodshot eyes in his direction.
The message was clear.
"I am not leaving you here to die," Gordon responded with finality.
"Aww," Thomas managed weakly. "I knew you cared-" he cut himself off, grunting in pain as Katsumoto secured another strip of fabric tight around his thigh.
The detective snorted. "Look, it's not that I care, it's just that I could never find my way out of this forest without some help, that's all," Gordon said. He tilted his head, considering the other man thoughtfully. "And I thought you were supposed to be a SEAL, anyway. What happened to that 'never quit' mentality?"
"I'm not quitting. If you leave me here, then you'll have a fighting chance," came the quiet reply.
"Thanks, but I'm not going to let you sacrifice yourself for me," Gordon said flatly. His tone was dry as ever, but the naked concern in his eyes gave him away. "Besides, there's no point. Even if I managed to survive on my own, Higgins, Rick and TC would kill me for leaving you behind." He paused, allowing his words to sink in. "Now are you with me or not?"
Thomas smiled faintly and sat up a little straighter. "Okay, Gordie. I'm with you." Slowly he held out a trembling hand and with a deep breath, allowed Katsumoto to pull him to his feet yet again.