CHAPTER 7

Monday morning, unknown location:

Grace was pulled along a dark corridor by her captors. She couldn't see clearly because her tears were blurring her vision. They came to a stop at the base of a set of stairs. She followed one man up the steps, painfully aware of the two men following closely behind her. They climbed two flights of stairs before they came to a large door. The first man opened the door and ushered Grace through, the other two men following behind.

The men led Grace through another door on the right. Grace squinted when she entered this room. The dull light from the basement was nothing compared to the bright LED light in this room. While the basement was sparsely furnished, this room was extravagantly decorated. There was a plush carpet on the floor and the walls appeared to be covered in what looked like velvet. The large window was covered in crimson coloured drapes. The walls were covered in shelves full of books, all neatly stacked side by side.

Grace was led over to a chair that sat in front of a large, polished wooden desk. The chair was so big that six Grace's could fit in it and still have space left over. Behind the desk sat yet another man. Unlike the other men, this man did not wear a mask or black clothes. Instead, he wore a well-tailored grey suit, complete with handkerchief. He had dark, slicked back hair and cold, dark eyes.

"Miss Williams!" the man announced as he got out of his chair and walked around the front of the desk before placing himself in front of it, half seated on the wooden desk. "It's a pleasure to meet you."

Grace remained quiet. She wasn't sure if she was required to respond. Besides, she decided she didn't like the man. His smile was sinister and his eyes were cold and hard. Just looking at the man made a shiver run down her spine. She glared back at him.

The man in front of her clapped his hands together and announced, "Okay, Grace. Here's what's going to happen. We need to make a phone call. When I ask you to speak, you may do so. If you say anything that you shouldn't, like where we are, you will spend the rest of your stay here by yourself. If you are a good girl and do what I ask, then you can go back with your father."

Grace straightened up at that. She could go home! She just had to do what they asked. She could do that. She nodded that she agreed to his terms.

The man in front of her smiled slyly, his eyes flashing with amusement. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a phone. He scrolled through it until he found the number he wanted. Looking at Grace, he dialled the number and brought the phone to his ear. A few moments later, someone apparently answered.

Grace didn't dare move. She watched and listened to the one-sided conversation taking place in front of her.

"Hello Matthew. Good to hear your voice again…Have you had more time to think about what I asked you?…No?…Did you not understand the task?…Well, there is someone here who might be able to convince you otherwise…"

The man knelt down in front of Grace, holding out the phone in his hand and putting it on speaker so Grace could talk. The man motioned for her to speak.

"Hello?" Grace said hesitantly.

"Grace! Gracie, is that you?" the voice on the other end exclaimed.

Instantly, Grace recognised the voice. She hadn't heard from him in about five months. The last she saw of him was when they went swimming at the beach. After he went back home, her Danno had appeared sad for a long time.

"Uncle Matt!" Grace exclaimed.

"Gracie! Are you okay? Where are you? Where's Danno?"

"Uncle Matt! I'm scared. I want to go home," Grace wailed.

"I know, sweetheart. I know. As soon as I help this man, you can go home, okay? Can you tell me if you are hurt?"

Grace sniffled. "No, I'm okay. I just want to go home."

Matthew Williams had been about to say something else when the man stood up and turned the phone off speaker and turned his back to Grace.

"I warned you of what would happen if you didn't comply with my instructions. Now your brother and his daughter are in trouble because of your mistakes. I hope this is enough incentive for you to cooperate this time…Good. I will contact you tomorrow."

The man hung up before turning back around to face Grace.

"Well, Miss Williams, if your Uncle decides to do what he is asked, you and your father can go home very soon."

Grace frowned at that. Was her Danno also here? Where was he?

"Since you did exactly what you were told, you can go back with your daddy," the man said, nodding to the men standing behind the chair Grace was sitting in.

Grace felt a hand on her shoulder and took that as an invitation to stand up. It took her some effort to wiggle out of the large chair. Once she was on her feet, she followed the same men as before; one led the way and the other two followed behind. They went back the same way they came. Before Grace knew it, they were in front of the door that led to the 'cell'.

Opening the door, they gently pushed her inside before closing the door loudly behind her. She cringed when she heard the sound of the bolt sliding across, effectively locking her inside. She glanced around the room, looking for her Uncle, before spotting him standing in the corner next to the thin mattress. She immediately ran over to him and wrapped her arms around him, relieved she was no longer alone.

Monday morning, unknown location:

Steve paced the basement. He reached one end of the small room, before turning and marching to the other end. He'd lost count of the number of circuits he had done. His thoughts were on Grace. What was happening to her? Was she okay? Where was she? Were they bringing her back? He continued to pace, refusing to let himself consider the worst possible outcome.

Every few turns, he yanked on the zip ties that held his hands behind his back. Normally, he would have already broken out of his restraints, but these ties must have been made of stronger material. He had searched the room for anything that he could cut them with to no avail. The walls were smooth, with no jagged edges.

He kicked the wall in frustration at the situation. Somehow, he had managed to let himself and Grace be kidnapped. For what purpose, he had yet to figure out. And now Grace had been taken from him. He had failed. Again! How could he face Danny if he let Grace get hurt? Steve knew he would never forgive himself, so how could he expect Danny to?

Steve stopped pacing when he heard movement from upstairs. Grace had only been gone for fifteen minutes. He settled himself in the corner of the room, next to the mattress. In this position, he would be out of sight when they initially opened the door. If Grace wasn't with them, he would launch an assault.

Steve stiffened when he heard footsteps approaching the door. He got ready to charge whoever came through the door. He heard the tell-tale sound of the bolt sliding across. As the door opened, Steve focussed his eyes on the figures in the doorway. As soon as he saw Grace, he relaxed.

Grace ran straight towards him, clutching him hard, but nowhere near as painfully as before. The door closed and locked behind them and Steve heard the sound of retreating footsteps. He knelt down so he could be closer to Grace and look her over, checking for any injuries.

"Grace, are you okay? Did they hurt you?" Steve asked desperately.

Grace shook her head. "No, Uncle Steve."

"Okay. Thank goodness," Steve whispered, more to himself than to Grace. "What did they want?"

"They brought me to a room upstairs. It was big and had these really big chairs in it. I thought the chair would swallow me when I sat on it. The room was absolutely ridiculous. It had carpet on the walls!"

Steve chuckled slightly at Grace's description. It was definitely a stark contrast to the condition of the room they were currently in.

"There was a man sitting behind a big desk. He told me that he wanted to make a phone call. The man looked mean and he had a creepy smile," Grace explained.

A ransom call, Steve thought.

"The man said if I was good and didn't say anything I shouldn't, that they would take me back to Danno. If I didn't, he said I would be staying somewhere else."

"Who did the man call?" Steve asked.

"He called Uncle Matt," Grace replied.

Matt? Why would they call Matt? Steve thought.

"Did you talk to Uncle Matt?" Steve asked.

Grace nodded. "Yep, he asked me if I was okay and where Danno was. He said he had to do something for the man before I could go home. Then the man took the phone away and they talked for a little while longer."

Proof of life. Now it all made sense. Matt had gotten himself into a spot of trouble. Obviously, these people, whoever they were, thought taking Matt's family would force him to do whatever it was they wanted him to. However, they somehow still thought that he was Danny.

"Did you hear what they were talking about?" Steve asked.

Grace scrunched her face up in thought. "The man said something about Uncle Matt not listening to instructions and then something about his brother and daughter being in trouble. Then he said he would contact Uncle Matt tomorrow. Then he hung up the phone."

There was a moment of silence as Steve mulled over that information. Grace interrupted the silence with a question.

"Uncle Steve?"

"Yeah, Grace?"

"They said that Uncle Matt's brother and his daughter were in trouble. Does that mean Danno is here too? Why isn't he with us?" Grace asked, her eyes tearing up.

Steve sighed. "Gracie, I need you to listen to me, okay? I think the bad guys think that I am Danno."

Grace frowned at that. "But, you and Danno look nothing alike. Why would they think that?"

It was hard trying to explain the concept of kidnapping to an eight-year-old child. "I think because we were together at the house, they thought that I was Danno."

"Oh, okay," Grace said, understanding. "So Danno is okay?"

Steve didn't know if that was true. The bad men could have waited for Danny to get back from the shops and ambush him. Steve hoped that wasn't the case. Even if they hadn't captured Danny, Steve wasn't sure if he would be okay. He couldn't imagine the state Danny was in right know, knowing his daughter had been kidnapped and not knowing why.

"Yeah, Grace. Danno is okay," Steve lied. "He had better be looking for us right now, otherwise I won't be buying him any malasadas for months!"

That got a small laugh out of Grace. Steve was pleased about that. He could deal with a happy, excited Grace, but not a sad, crying Grace.

"Besides, it sounds like we might be going home tomorrow, unless Danno finds us first," Steve said with a confidence he didn't feel.

Steve knew how most kidnappings went. The outcome of his father's kidnapping and subsequent murder still haunted him. He hoped the Five-0 team found them before this mystery man decided they had out-lived their purpose.

Monday morning, Five-0 Headquarters:

Danny stood in stunned silence. The words that came out of the device that he held to his ear sounded like white noise. He couldn't make out a single word; it all blurred together in a haze. He couldn't believe it. His brother, his brother that he hadn't seen in almost six months, was calling his partner's phone. Today of all days.

Danny finally shook himself enough to focus on the words being said. Now he understood why he couldn't understand anything. Matthew Williams was speaking so fast that the words themselves blurred together to make one, extremely long word.

"SteveIneedhelp. DannyandGracehavebeenkidnapped. Theywantmetopaythemseventymilliondollars. Idon'thavethatmuchmoney. PleaseSteve. Iknowyoudon'towemeanythingbutIneedhelp. DannyandGraceneedhelp!"

"Matty?"

The person on the other end of the phone stopped talking immediately. There was only silence over the line. Danny pulled the phone away from his ear to check if the call was still connected. It was.

"Matty? Is that you?" Danny asked.

"Danny?" Matt asked, sounding very confused.

"Yeah. Why are you calling Steve's phone?" Danny asked, also confused.

"Um…why are you…I mean…why are you answering Steve's phone?"

"What kind of question is that, huh?" Danny retorted sarcastically. "Who did you expect to answer it? Wait, don't answer that. Obviously I know the answer. Steve just can't come to the phone right now."

There was silence on the other end again.

"Matty! What is going on? Why are you calling Steve and not me?" Danny asked angrily.

Again, silence.

"Matty, so help me…"

"Sorry, Danny. I just don't know how to explain this."

"How about you start at the beginning?"

Matt took a deep breath. "Okay. Um, you know when I called you a week ago?"

"Yeah," Danny said suspiciously.

"Well, um, I had gotten into a bit of a situation that I didn't think I could work my way out of. I thought that I had sorted it out, but apparently not. I got a call this morning, saying that you and Grace had been kidnapped and that I needed to pay them seventy million dollars. That's why I called Steve. I thought you had been kidnapped and I needed Steve's help to get you and Grace back safely."

Danny's heart dropped to his stomach. "Are you telling me you are the reason my daughter was kidnapped?" he yelled.

Danny's yell caught the attention of Chin and Kono out by the smart table. They immediately stopped what they were doing and rushed into their boss' office. Kono opened her mouth to ask what was going on, but Danny put his hand up to stop her.

"Maybe…yes," Matt admitted quietly.

"You said they called you? Who is they?" Danny asked.

"Pedro Fuentes," Matt said succinctly.

Danny's eyebrows rose at the admission. "You mean the guy you laundered money for so you could pay back the clients you stole from?"

"Yes, that one."

"Matt, so help me God…"

Kono and Chin exchanged concerned glances, wondering what was going on and what it had to do with Matthew Williams.

"What happened? Why couldn't you pay him back?"

Matt sighed. "The money got stolen. I was ready to pay it back. I sent it over, but apparently it never made it there. I found out a week ago when Fuentes called me, demanding his money. He gave me until Saturday to pay him. When he found out I couldn't pay, he threatened that there would be consequences. I had no idea these would be the consequences. I'm so sorry Danny!"

"Well, you should have thought about that before you embezzled money from your clients, Matty! Now Steve and Grace are paying for it," Danny remarked angrily.

"Wait, what do you mean Steve and Grace?" Matt asked.

"I mean that a group of probably armed men broke into Steve's house last night and kidnapped my daughter and my partner!"

"But…why weren't you there?" Matt asked, confused.

"Because my idiot partner doesn't keep chocolate in his house, so I had to go and buy some so Grace could make chocolate chip pancakes. I left the two of them alone for maybe twenty minutes. They obviously thought Steve was me," Danny explained.

"That explains why you answered Steve's phone," Matt muttered.

"Hang on…when did you even get Steve's phone number?" Danny asked suspiciously.

"He gave it to me when we first met. He said to call if I ever needed anything. You know, Ohana and all that. I thought the situation called for a bad-ass Navy SEAL."

Danny sighed inwardly. Of course his partner would want to help his brother. That was just who he was. Steve could never think about himself. He was always looking out for everyone else, making sure they were okay. The fact that Steve had included Danny's brother into the Ohana he had created made Danny's heart swell. Sometimes Steve surprised him.

"Where are you now?" Danny asked.

Matt paused. "I'm not in Hawaii."

"Well, that's helpful," Danny said sarcastically.

"Danny…I think it was my call to you last week led them to you in the first place," Matt admitted.

"Are you saying what I think you're saying?" Danny said, afraid he already knew the answer.

"I think so."

Danny ran his hand through his hair. "Okay. Okay. Let me call you back."

"Danny?" Matt's timid voice stopped Danny from hanging up.

"Yeah?"

"What's going to happen when they realise Steve isn't you?" Matt asked the question Danny really didn't want to answer.

Danny sighed. "Honestly Matt? I don't know and I hope we don't have to find out."

Danny hung up the phone and turned to face the remaining members of the Five-0 team. He knew they had heard most of the conversation and that his brother was to blame for their current situation. He knew no matter what, they would support him and do anything to get both Steve and Grace back. Danny just hoped it would be enough to bring them back safely and in one piece.

"Okay guys, here's the plan…"