CHAPTER 8

Monday afternoon, unknown location:

Steve startled awake as his head dropped down to his chest. Quickly scanning the room, he realised his own movement was what woke him. He felt something move next to him and looked down, smiling when he saw Grace snuggling closer to him on the mattress. She looked comfortable in her pyjamas, as though she was having a sleepover. Steve, however, knew that was not the case.

Steve sighed. He hadn't meant to fall asleep and he cursed himself for his inattention. He needed to be alert in order to keep Grace safe. He wished his hands were free so he could wrap his arms around Grace and hold her close, protect her as best he could. He gave the ties another tug, hoping to snap them open. His movement caused Grace to stir slightly, so he ceased the movement.

As a SEAL, he had been trained to endure almost any situation. However, those situations usually applied to a war zone. But this, this was different. He was protecting a civilian. Not just a civilian, but his honorary niece. Before, any plan he might undertake would be carefully thought out in a few minutes and then acted upon, irrespective of the consequences. Now, he had Danny's only reason for living to protect, so Steve had to approach it with a different tactic to his usual 'shoot first, ask questions later' approach.

Steve glanced up at the ceiling. The single light bulb hung from the ceiling, mocking him. It was like saying escape was beyond his reach. He had no idea how much time had passed since they had been locked in this room with no windows. He had no inkling as to how much time remained until they contacted Matt again.

He surveyed the room again, hoping to find something, anything, that could aid an escape. The blank, cement walls stared back at him, not revealing anything. He had no idea of the layout beyond the door other than what Grace had told him. The only way he could formulate an escape plan was if they allowed him to leave the room. The only way that would happen is if they took him for the next ransom call.

Steve's mind started analysing all possible escape plans, each with their own back up plan. Grace inched closer to him in her sleep, the warmth from her body spreading through his. He rested his head against the cold wall, closing his eyes as he thought about all the ways he would harm anyone who dared to touch Grace. A small smile spread over Steve's features at the thought of bodily harm as he gave in to sleep, knowing that he would wake as soon as anything changed.

Monday afternoon, Five-0 Headquarters:

Danny looked up at the two remaining members of the task force. The look of determination on their faces told him he wasn't in this alone. He was beyond glad for that, because he would need all the help he could get. There was too much at stake; too personal to think objectively. He was tired. He knew the cousins were also tired, none of them having slept since Steve and Grace's disappearance. At least now they had a lead, something to go on instead of sitting idly by.

As much as Danny loved his brother, he knew this whole situation was Matt's fault. Having to explain it to the team was going to be harder than anything he had done before. The fact that his own family was to blame weighed heavily on his conscience. Once they got Steve and Grace back, Danny knew he would be having a difficult conversation with his wayward brother.

Chin and Kono were waiting patiently for him to explain what they were up against. Chin stood silently, with his arms crossed over his chest, while Kono sat in the chair in front of the desk, eying Danny with patience. Danny looked up at the cousins, surprised to see the underlying support present in their body language.

"Okay," Danny started to explain as he ran a hand through his hair. "As I'm sure you heard from most of that, that was my brother, Matt."

Danny paused before continuing at the cousin's encouraging nods. "It appears he is on the run, but not just from the FBI. Apparently, Pedro Fuentes is after him."

"Fuentes? As in the guy he borrowed money from? The drug dealer?" Kono asked, surprised.

Danny nodded. "That's the one. According to Matt, he was supposed to pay Fuentes the money on Saturday. He sent it, but it never arrived. Now, Fuentes wants his money and is willing to use any means necessary to get what he wants from Matt. The only problem is, Matt doesn't have the money."

"And by any means, I'm guessing he meant kidnapping Steve and Grace?" Chin asked.

"Not exactly," Danny said hesitantly. He sighed when Chin just quirked his eyebrow, waiting for Danny to continue. "Matt got a call from Fuentes, a ransom call. Fuentes told Matt that he had his brother and daughter."

"Wait, are you telling us that Steve was taken because they thought he was you?" Kono asked, surprised.

"I believe so."

The room was silent as the information was taken in.

"There's something else…" Danny said.

The cousins waited in anticipation as Danny gathered the courage to explain.

"Matt called me last week. He called to say sorry. It sounded like he was saying goodbye. I didn't think much of it at the time. I told Steve about it and he said he'd see if he could trace the call, find out where Matt was and hopefully get him out of trouble. Matt said he thought the call he made to me last week may have led Fuentes to Hawaii. He thought Fuentes may have bugged his phone, or even mine, waiting for him to call me so he could catch Matt."

Ignoring the fact that Danny didn't tell them about the call earlier, Chin enquired, "Do you think all our phones are compromised?"

Danny looked around Steve's office and shrugged. "I don't know. The only way we could be bugged is if it happened months ago, when Matt first took off. I think it's more likely that Matt's phone was bugged."

The cousins nodded in agreement, although something still bothered them about it. Why would Matt use his bugged phone to call Danny months later?

"Where is Matt now?" Kono asked.

"I have no clue. He didn't tell me," Danny said.

"How much money does Matt owe Fuentes?" Chin asked.

"Seventy million dollars," Danny said, slumping in Steve's chair.

"Wow. Okay, we have a suspect. That's a start. Let's take this like we would any other case," Chin suggested, even though they all knew it was anything but a normal case.

Danny nodded, grateful for Chin's calm manner and distraction.

"Okay guys, here's the plan… Kono, you and Chin go to Kamekona's, see if he's heard anything at all about Fuentes. We'll meet back here when you are done," Danny said, concentrating on the case at hand.

"Will do. What are you going to do, Danny?" Kono asked.

"I'm going to call the Governor and contact the FBI. Maybe they know something about Fuentes," Danny said.

Kono smiled sympathetically and clasped his shoulder. "We will find them, Danny."

Danny nodded, afraid if he spoke, the emotion welling up in his throat would be released. That would get them no where. He had to concentrate and follow the evidence. That's what Steve would do (or so he hoped that's what he would do).

Monday afternoon, Kamekona's Shrimp Truck:

Chin and Kono arrived at Kamekona's Shrimp Truck and sat down at one of the tables to wait for the large man to come over. The drive over had been silent, as they thought about their boss and friend, as well as little Grace. They hoped they would be found soon, otherwise Danny would lose his sanity. It was a pretty messed up situation. Soon enough, Kamekona came over to ask for their order.

"Good afternoon cousins. What can I get for you? Where's da two haoles?" Kamekona said by way of greeting.

"Sorry, man. No food or us today. We need information. It's kind of personal." Chin said, deterring the big man.

Kamekona raised his eyebrows suspiciously. "Sure, what do you fine police peoples need?"

"We were hoping you might have heard something about a drug dealer, Pedro Fuentes, being on the island," Kono said, keeping her voice down so no nearby tourists could overhear their conversation.

Kamekona looked around to check no one was listening in before answering. "Yeah, I might've heard something. About a week ago, word was that some big-time drug dealer was coming to town. Apparently, they wanted information about Five-0."

Chin sat up straighter at that news. "What kind of information did they want?"

"I don't know. That's all I heard," Kamekona said, looking miserable about the fact he didn't have anything more useful.

"We have one more question for you, Kamekona. Have you heard anything about Danny's brother, Matt, being in town?" Chin asked.

"Nah, brah. Nothing like that. What's going on? Is Danny's brother in trouble again?" Kamekona asked.

Chin and Kono stood up. "Thanks for your help, big guy. See you later, alright?" Kono said, ignoring the large man's concerned questions.

"Sure thing," Kamekona said as he waved goodbye.

Chin and Kono walked back to the car and got inside. Chin started the engine and pulled out of the parking lot. Looking into his rearview mirror, he spotted a dark sedan that had also pulled out at the same time and appeared to be following them.

"Well, that wasn't very helpful. Do you think the drug dealer Kamekona was talking about was Fuentes?" Kono asked, unaware of the car tailing them.

Silence was Kono's only response. "Chin?" she asked.

"I think we've got company," Chin said.

Kono glanced in the mirror and saw the dark sedan following close behind. She nodded that she had seen it.

"Let see if they follow us," Kono suggested.

Chin drove through the streets of Honolulu, making multiple consecutive left turns. The car still followed them, although at a greater distance. Chin pulled into a quiet street not far from the Palace, waiting for the car to appear behind them again.

"Amateurs," Chin muttered under his breath. "Hold on, Kono," he said loudly as he slammed on the brakes.

Kono and Chin for out of the car with their guns raised at the driver of the black sedan. The car suddenly reversed back down the street, but not before Chin got a glimpse at the plates on the car.

"Why the hell is a government vehicle following us?" Chin asked angrily.

"I have no idea, but the circumstances are suspicious. Let's get back to HQ and see what Danny found," Kono suggested.

"I'm getting a really bad feeling about all of this, Kono," Chin shared.

"Me too, cous. Me too," Kono muttered as they started the drive back to headquarters.

Monday afternoon, Five-0 Headquarters:

Chin and Kono returned to headquarters to find Danny yelling at someone on the other end of the phone in Steve's office. They waited for him to finish the angry phone call before entering the lion's den. After roughly fifteen minutes, the conversation appeared to have finished. Looking back into the office, the cousins were surprised to find Danny slumped in the chair, his head on the desk.

They exchanged concerned glances before Kono sighed. Kono headed to her office and rummaged around in her bottom draw until she found what she was looking for. Knocking on the door, she entered without waiting for permission. She dropped the bottle of Tylenol on the desk and sat down to wait for Danny to look up. When he finally did, Kono was taken away by the utter exhaustion present in his eyes. Danny sighed and picked up the bottle, shaking out two tablets. He swallowed them with the last sip of his cold, stale coffee.

"Thanks, Kono," he said.

"Sure. So, despite the headache, how are you feeling?" Kono asked.

"I feel the need to punch something, really hard. The Governor has ordered us to work with the FBI due to their 'invaluable knowledge on the subject'. I didn't even get around to telling her about Steve and Grace."

"I suppose now is not the time to tell you that we think the FBI were tailing us?" Chin said from the open doorway.

Danny's eyes widened before narrowing in anger. "What? What the hell is going on?"

"Looks like we are about to get some answers," Kono said as she watched four men enter the bullpen.

The team sighed collectively at the sight before them. The four men were dressed in suits that just screamed FBI. No one liked dealing with Federal agencies. They had a habit of taking control of cases and shutting out smaller law enforcement entities.

Danny stood and led the way to the group of agents. "Good afternoon Agents…"

Danny's speech dropped off as the Agents turned around to face them. He was not expecting to see one particular agent again.

"Agent Kipton…Good to see you again," Danny said diplomatically while his mind whirled back to when he last saw the FBI agent. About the last time he saw Matty.

"Detective Williams," Agent Edward Kipton said, extending his hand for Danny to shake.

Reluctantly, Danny gripped the other man's hand and shook.

Agent Kipton looked around the room, his eyes travelling over Chin and Kono. "Care to introduce me to the rest of the team?"

"Oh, sorry. These are Detective Chin Ho Kelly and Officer Kono Kalakaua. They are an integral part of Five-0," Danny said, distractedly.

Chin and Kono shook hands with Agent Kipton. Kipton's eyes continued searching the bullpen, as though expecting someone else. "Where's McGarrett?"

Danny's heart dropped into his stomach at the mention of his partner's name. "He's…on medical leave. Busted his leg during the last case, leaving us with all the paperwork. He won't be back for another few weeks."

Chin and Kono exchanged confused looks, which went unnoticed by the agents. Danny looked them in the eyes, willing them not to say anything. The cousins nodded minutely, showing they understood his intentions, but expected answers later.

"Okay. Let's get down to business, then. We are here to help find Pedro Fuentes and take down his drug trade," Kipton provided.

"And what of my brother?" Danny asked.

"His involvement may allow us to find Fuentes quicker," Kipton said cryptically.

"What does that mean?" Kono asked.

"We have evidence that Matthew Williams has been on the island recently," Kipton said as he placed a file on the smart table. "We found an unregistered private plane that touched down two weeks ago. Video footage shows Williams leaving the plane with what appears to be a large bag. We assume it's filled with the money that he stole from Fuentes. Best guess is that he brought it here to hide it."

"Do you have any evidence that Matt has left the islands?" Chin asked.

Kipton shook his head. "No. All we have is this footage. We have no idea where he went after arriving. It's like he just vanished. We think Fuentes may come looking for Matt."

"So, you basically have nothing? Why are you even here?" Danny questioned angrily.

"Not as of yet, Detective. We just hope that Fuentes hasn't found him yet. We want to protect Matt, and to do that, we need to stop Fuentes. You will let us know if you hear from your brother, won't you, Detective Williams?" Agent Kipton asked, pinning Danny with an intense stare. The implied 'or else' hung in the air, creating a tense atmosphere.

"Absolutely," Danny said with false sincerity. "You have our full cooperation."

Kipton studied Danny's face for a moment before conceding. "We will call you when we have more information."

The FBI agents left the office without so much as a goodbye. As soon as the door closed behind them, Chin and Kono rounded on Danny and confronted him.

"Why didn't you tell the FBI about Steve and Grace?" Kono asked angrily. "They could help us find them!"

"I know, Kono. I just have a bad feeling. Their presence here is a little too convenient. My gut is telling me Kipton has another agenda. I don't trust him and I don't want to put Steve and Grace's safety in the hands of people I don't trust, much less the FBI. The only people I trust are in this room, or currently indisposed," Danny explained, willing the cousins to understand his reluctance.

"Okay, so we find them on our own. Where do we start?" Chin inquired, bringing them back to the primary issue: Steve and Grace.

"We need to find Matt and find out if he is still on the island. He is the key to this. Even if he doesn't have the money, we would still have a bargaining chip. We need to track that removals van, hopefully get a plate or an image of the driver," Danny said.

"Okay, I hate to be the one to ask this, but what happens when Fuentes realises that Steve is not Danny?" Kono asked.

"Hopefully, it works in Steve's favour. As soon as Fuentes realises he has the wrong person, he would want to make a trade. We could use that as a way to catch Fuentes," Chin replied.

"How does that help Steve?" Kono asked.

"Fuentes is less likely to harm Steve and Grace if he thinks they can give him Matt and his money," Chin explained.

"Alright, let's get to work," Danny announced. "Kono, see if you can find the removals van. Use all CCTV in the area and see what you can find. Chin, coordinate with the FBI and see if you can get more information on Matt's time on the island. Maybe we can find where he hid the money. Also, see if the lab has processed the blood from Steve's house."

"What are you going to do, Danny?" Chin asked.

"I'm going to see if any of Fuentes' associates are on the island."

The trio split up to go about their tasks. Chin and Kono convened in the break room to get some coffee for what was going to be a really long night.

"Are you sure about this, Chin?" Kono asked when the door closed behind them.

"I don't know, Kono. Ideally, I'd like to leave Danny out of all of this. I would love to not work with Kipton, but the Governor gave us our orders. I want to help Matt, but in order to do that, we have to find him first," Chin said, sighing tiredly.

"We all want to help. I just have a bad feeling about all of this," Kono said quietly.

"Yeah, Kono, me too," Chin said, shaking his head solemnly.