Danny was at Steve's house when he had gotten the call. Chin had turned the phone over to Danny before he left, assuming its use was seemingly obsolete without ever getting the at-one-time expected call. Continuous monitoring of the number Gabriel had used to call this burner had always found it to be inactive. It had remained powered off or perhaps it had even been destroyed.
After Chin had given it to him the night before, Danny had mindlessly plugged it in to charge alongside of his personal phone with the intention of carrying it with him around the clock as Chin had been doing for the last weeks. However, as recently as this morning, he had toyed with the idea of the pointlessness of the plan and thought of scrapping the whole thing and entering the phone in as evidence with the other items. He had even pulled open his desk drawer to deposit it with the other items and at the last second, decided to hold onto it a little longer.
Steve was using his couch as a bed to rest on. He had his right arm behind his head to prop it up a bit more and make it more comfortable to verbally spar with his partner. He would have used both arms, but his left side was still tender and chose not to stretch that side any more than necessary. Instead, that arm hung off the side of the couch, his hand resting on Eddie's head, mindlessly rubbing behind his ears every now and then.
He would have preferred to be outside, lounging in his beachside chair, but the inclement weather forced them to stay in. Danny was absolutely fine with it though and had taken over the TV, stopping on a baseball game.
To Danny's chagrin though, Steve was determined to monopolize his attention and pull him from the game with 'conversation'. Rachel had been the topic that had been chosen by Steve, getting his amusement from watching Danny try to avoid the subject by maintaining he was trying to pay attention to the game.
When the call came, both of them assumed it was his personal phone. "See," Steve chimed in, "there she is now."
"Would you pleeease give it a rest, would ya?"
Danny pulled out his phone and looked at the black screen then felt the buzz of the other one. He retrieved Chin's phone and held it up for Steve to see. He made eye contact with his partner who seemed to be catching on quickly to Danny's reaction.
Steve winced as he sat up a little too quickly for his injured body. Eddie sat up in reaction as well, sensing a change in the laid back atmosphere. "A wrong number?" he asked, feeling… knowing that was not the case.
Danny now stared at the screen. "It's him," Danny answered somberly.
Steve started to stand up and reached for the phone.
Danny turned his shoulder away from him to prevent the confiscation. He used his free hand to put on Steve's shoulder and easily push him back down. The ease of the chore was probably more akin to him being knocked over with a feather at the astonishment of the call than a physical deficiency.
"I got…" The phone stopped buzzing. He was too late. "… this." He started to hit the redial button, but the phone started again. Relieved, he expelled his breath and looked to Steve.
"Well, watcha waiting for, 'I-got-this'? Answer the damned thing," Steve snapped.
Taking one more deep breath, he pressed the accept button but didn't speak. Instead he waited. Waited for the one on the other end to make the first move.
"Hello?" He heard Gabriel's voice say. "Chin Ho? You there, brother?"
"Hello, Gabriel."
There was Steve's confirmation. It was Gabriel. Against Danny's obvious objection, Steve managed to stand, eager to be involved in the conversation. He reached again for the phone and Danny swatted at his arm and followed up with wide, protesting eyes and an index finger held in his face.
At the warehouse, Gabriel flinched. Simon saw him as he stepped back on one foot before regaining his stance. "Well, Detective Blondie, wasn't expecting you."
"Where've you been, Waincroft? Thought you'd fallen off the planet."
"I've been around, biding my time. Where's Chin?"
Put it on speaker, Steve mouthed to Danny, to which he received a barely noticeable but very dismissive shake of his head. Steve's hands immediately found a resting spot on his hips.
"He's not here," Danny answered.
"I need to talk to him."
"Talk to me."
"All right, I understand Chin brought my daughter to Oahu and now may be trying to take her back with him."
Danny's eyes narrowed in confusion. What? Where is he getting this false information?
Steve mimicked Danny's expression wondering why Danny looked speechless. He noticed Danny's eyes were darting around erratically trying to make sense of, and looking for a response to, whatever Waincroft had just said. His exclusion from the conversation was driving him crazy and he started to sway in his edginess.
Danny's mouth dropped open and his eyes finally met Steve's in realization. He quickly sobered when he figured out Gabriel's bewildering declaration. Knowing his control freak partner had about had it, he decided he would try to clue him in by his response.
"So, you know Sara was here," Danny calmly stated. Steve's head arched forward and an eyebrow went up, not sure if he had heard correctly. Again, he mouthed to Danny, What? Danny's finger came up again, pleading for patience. "Then you also know you're too late. That's why I've got the phone. They left this morning."
"I think you're lying. My guy saw them early afternoon."
"If your guy saw them, then you know they were at the airport."
Steve slowly put together what Danny was talking about. Someone had seen Chin with Joanie and assumed it was Sara. Even though he hated the idea of someone watching his sister and niece, he still calmed a bit as he was, at least, understanding what happened. He folded his arms as he listened and watched, amazed at his competent partner.
"I know you're about as sharp as a cue ball, so let me explain. That means they were flying, in an airplane, off the island." Danny held a hand over the receiver and this time, mouthed to Steve, call Mary.
"They're still here and you'd better stop them before they do leave. I'll get off so you can make your calls. I want to hear back in ten minutes, got it?"
Steve was shaking his head that he couldn't reach his sister. Chin, was Danny's next silent suggestion. "Why would we do that, Gabriel? It doesn't make… Gabriel? He's gone," he now spoke to Steve. It was his turn to wait and observe his partner's phone call.
~~~~H50~~~~~
"Buddy, we've heard from Gabriel," Steve said it again when Chin didn't respond. Unlike Danny before, he took the two seconds of silence and pressed the speaker button for Danny to join in.
Chin's facial expression fell from one of pleasant curiosity to serious dread. With it, his voice unintentionally dropped to a whisper. "You've what?"
"You heard me right. First off, are Mary and Joanie still with you or did they make their flight?"
"No, I mean no, they're not with me, but yes they made their flight. I watched them board. Why Steve? What's going on?"
"He thinks you've brought Sara to Oahu and are trying to take her back. One of his men saw you with Joanie and even though she's younger and very blond, somehow he thought it was her."
"He must have seen us when we arrived. She had her rain jacket hood pulled up and he probably just saw it was a little girl and doesn't have a clue about size. No, Steve, really, she's fine and Mary is, too. They're probably half way home by now."
"Gabriel wanted us to try to stop you. He thinks it's not too late. He still thinks he can get her back."
Danny looked at the time on his phone. They had seven more minutes.
"All right. I'll head back. Maybe we can use that."
"That's what I was thinking. Let's let him think we stopped you before you left. We're supposed to call him back in ten." Danny held up seven fingers. "In seven," he corrected.
Danny's personal phone began to buzz. It was Jerry.
"Wait a minute. He left his phone on for you to call him back?" Chin questioned.
"That was the instruct… oh, wait I see what you're getting at," Steve said.
"Would he be that dense to think we wouldn't trace it?"
While he kept Jerry on the line, Danny cut into Steve and Chin's conversation, "Jerry was alerted that the call was made to the phone and the connection was long enough that he was able to trace it to Kalihi-Palama."
"I don't know about dense, but he may have just made a costly mistake," Steve spoke to Chin. "Looks like Jerry's got a general location."
"I told Jerry we're supposed to call him back and the phone is still probably active. He's trying to narrow that down," Danny informed. "We got three minutes."
"So, that's the plan? Make him think Sara's still here?" Chin questioned.
"We're running out of time. I think the possibility has him off his game. Until we think of something better, we're going to go with it."
"Sounds good. I'll call Kono on my way. See you soon." The connection ended with Chin.
"So, you gonna let me do it this time?" Steve asked as he pointed his fingers toward his own chest as he held up his other hand in a shrug.
"What's the matter? Don't think I can handle it?" Danny challenged.
"You did a great job, but I think I want a crack at him."
"He asked me to call him back."
"Daniel."
"Steven… oh, all right. Knock yourself out… you big schmuck." Danny handed over the phone. He needed to coordinate with Jerry anyway to let him know what was going on. "Just take it easy. Don't hurt yourself."
Steve rolled his eyes as he looked at the time. They were one minute past the deadline Gabriel had given for the return call. Steve was just about to call Gabriel back when there was a knock on the door.
"Go ahead. Make your call. I'll get it," Danny goaded. He opened the door to a bashful looking Tani.
"Is it a bad time? I just thought with Mary gone, he may want some company, but I see you've got it under control, so I'll just…"
"Would ya stop it already. Get in here," Danny directed as he held up a finger to his lips. "Just be quiet. We got something going on. I'll fill you in."
Tani saw that Steve had just put the phone up to his ear. "Who's he calling?" she whispered.
"Gabriel," he stated matter-of-factly as he watched his partner. He missed Tani's mouth dropping reaction, but heard the choked cough. He turned back to her with a grin and nodded that she had heard correctly. Now she became part of the captive audience as well, beginning her process of putting pieces together.
"I'll overlook that you're late," Gabriel answered.
"Hello, Gabriel."
"Commander? Is that you? Well now, isn't this a pleasant surprise. I must be pretty special if the head of Five-0 himself is calling. So, how are you doing anyway? Recovering nicely, I see. Did your little sidekick wimp out on you?"
"Cut the chit chat, Waincroft. You know why I'm calling."
"Well, damn, I guess I'll have to save my sincere apologies for almost causing your demise for another time. Maybe we can get together and compare scars. No, I do know why you're calling. And? What kind of interesting information do you have for me?"
"You'll be glad to know we were able to reach Chin."
"They hadn't left?"
Without answering that question, he went on, "He says he'll meet with you."
"I bet he did."
"Where?"
"Is Sara with him? He needs to follow through with his decision."
"She's being looked after and if I have anything to say about it, you'll never get your hands on her."
"Sounds like you don't have anything to say about it or he wouldn't have brought her back in the first place. This is between me and Chin. If you don't believe it, ask him yourself. He gets it. He understands what's at stake. I'll see him when he gets here."
"Gets where? Gabriel?"
"Goodbye, Commander." The call ended.
"What the hell was that? Somebody please tell me what's going on," Tani pleaded.
Danny jumped in, "In a nutshell, Gabriel thinks Chin brought Sara back to hand her over and since he hadn't made contact, he thought Chin was about to leave with her, so he had us call Chin to stop him before they left."
"Before 'they' left? She wasn't here."
"One of his goons saw Chin with my niece when they went to the airport together this morning and thought she was Sara. Now Gabriel believes it, so we're using it against him," Steve added. He suddenly felt a wave of fatigue and slight nausea and sat back down on the couch.
"Hey, you okay?" Danny asked concerned.
"Yeah, just a little tired."
"So, they didn't leave?" Tani asked.
Letting Steve take a break, Danny filled her in a bit more, "Mary and Joanie left. Chin's flight wasn't 'til later so we caught him in time. He's on his way here now."
"And he's supposed to meet Gabriel? How does he know where to go? Sounds like you didn't get that important tidbit of information out of him."
Steve was resting his head in his hands with his elbows propped on his knees. Without looking up, he said, "He knows that we know where he is."
"You know where Gabriel is?"
"We know where Gabriel is?" Danny parroted. "Yes, we know where Gabriel is," he answered his own question. "That's what Jerry was doing. I'll check in with him."
But before Danny could, Steve rubbed his forehead and added, "That's why he didn't tell me. He knew we'd be able to locate the phone. That's why he didn't limit his time and had us call him back. He left a clear trail of bread crumbs."
"Do you think it's a trap?" Tani vocalized her concern.
Danny answered, "He wouldn't have had time. This just came up a few hours ago. He's acting on impulse right now. We need to make a move first. Catch him by surprise."
Steve looked up. "I hope you're not saying what I think you're saying."
"Well, if you think I'm saying that Tani and I should head over now, you're right."
Steve started shaking his head. "Nuh un. Impulse or not, this could be a trap."
"Unlikely," Danny reinforced.
"So, you admit it?"
Danny didn't acknowledge Steve's question and forged on. "Before you say it, I won't be alone. Tani will be my backup. Right, Tani?"
"Uh, yeah, right. Of course," she agreed. "Let's go kick some ass."
"Nope," Steve calmly spoke again, still shaking his head. "We're waiting for Chin. He's calling Kono. We'll get Junior and Adam over here and Jerry and Lou on the phone. Nobody's going anywhere until we've figured this out."
"I love ya, babe. You know I do and I hear you, but you know this is right. This is exactly what you would do. We can't give him any more time to prepare or change his mind. We gotta go now and if you can't be there, I'm sure glad this is who I've got to back me up."
"Ah, shucks," Tani joked as she fluttered her eyelids.
Danny halfway thought he may have gotten through to Steve when he hesitated for a minute and looked to be seriously considering Danny's plan. He was wrong.
"Who says I can't be there? I'm going with you." Steve stood.
"Ooooh, noooo, you're not. Look at you. You've overdone it today. You're as pale as a ghost. You look like you're about to drop as it is."
"I can do this."
"You would be a hindrance. I'm sorry that sounds tough, but you know it. You'd jeopardize the op."
"The op?" Steve wrinkled his nose.
"What can I say? You've rubbed off on me. Chin will be here anytime. You need to be here to let the team in on what we're doing. You ready?" he asked Tani who nodded her reply.
"At least wait for Junior or call in a SWAT team to meet you there?" Steve was grasping at straws.
"SWAT will cause too much commotion and we can't waste any more time waiting for the others. Just send them when you can."
Steve followed them to the door, protectively covering his injured side with his opposite hand. With the other hand, he grabbed Danny's shoulder. Danny turned to face him. Tani had already walked out.
"I don't like this, not one bit," Steve admitted.
"I know. I don't either. I'd tell you to save me a beer for when I get back, but you can't drink anyway. We'll celebrate with some OJ or something later. Okay?" He followed Tani out who was already climbing into the passenger seat of the Camaro as Danny was pulling out his phone to call Jerry.
"Danny?!" Steve yelled knowing Danny hadn't heard him. "Be careful," he spoke under his breath.
~to be continued~
\,,,/BronsonL