CHAPTER 12

Wednesday afternoon, unknown location:

The click of the door brought Steve out of the doze he had reluctantly fallen into. After having tried to wiggle free from his restraints, there was nothing left to do except wait, and apparently sleep. Steve blamed his concussion for his sleepiness. Sitting up as straight as his restraints would allow, he concentrated on what was about to happen. After all, if he wanted to get out of here, he needed to remain alert and aware of his surroundings.

Pedro Fuentes entered the room with a cocky swagger. He shoved the door closed behind him with his foot. He grabbed one of the spare chairs, positioned it on front of Steve and sat down. Fuentes said nothing, just looked Steve up and down. Steve remained still under the scrutinising gaze of his captor. Neither man spoke as they stared at each other.

"So, Commander. It appears your reputation precedes you…" Fuentes began, breaking the silence.

Steve refused to speak, only staring angrily into the eyes of his captor. Pedro smiled at the anger reflected in the other man's eyes. Fuentes knew how dangerous the Navy SEAL was. His reputation alone was to be feared. That was enough to stop Fuentes from letting his guard down, even for a minute. Besides, if his plan played out as expected, he wouldn't have to worry about the dangerous man for much longer.

"While, admittedly, I didn't know you were not Williams, I underestimated you. You not only allowed my most valuable hostage to escape, but you also took out six of my men. Believe me when I tell you that I will not be making that mistake again."

Steve remained silent. Knowing that Fuentes didn't have Grace lifted some of the weight off his shoulders. He didn't remember much after telling Grace to run, thanks to his concussion. He didn't know anything about taking out Fuentes' men. He would just have to take Fuentes at his word. Steve realised Fuentes was still talking and drew his attention back to the man in front of him.

"I just had a lovely conversation with your partner. He has a temper, doesn't he?" Fuentes said, grinning widely to reveal his white teeth.

"You should try working with him every day. You get used to it after a while," Steve remarked.

"Perhaps you should teach him some relaxing techniques. I know SEALs are supposed to be able to stay still for long periods of time."

Steve sighed. "I've tried. He never listens to me. In fact, I think he just tunes me out most of the time."

Fuentes' grin turned serious. "Personally, I wouldn't take that kind of behaviour from a subordinate."

"Well, maybe it just works for us. After all, my team has taken down international drug dealers before," Steve taunted.

Fuentes ignored Steve's jab. "Since I know how important it is for a man like you to be in control and know everything about everything, I will tell you about the phone call I had with your partner."

Steve only raised his eyebrows in response.

"I gave the Detective a deadline. He has forty-eight hours to deliver his brother to me. As soon as he does, you will be released. I have promised, in the meantime, to not harm you in any way."

Steve snorted at that. It was unlikely a man like Fuentes would keep his word.

Fuentes paused, as though waiting for Steve to ask 'what happens if he doesn't meet the deadline?' Realising Steve wasn't going to partake in the conversation, Fuentes continued.

"If your partner does not deliver Matthew Williams to me by that time, you will be sold to the highest bidder."

That got a reaction from Steve. He narrowed his eyes at Fuentes, wondering what the man was talking about.

"Like I said, your reputation precedes you. It appears you have made many enemies in your lifetime; through the SEALs and apparently through Five-0. They are all itching to get their hands on you, particularly some interesting folks from Afghanistan. If your partner meets the deadline, the auction will be called off. If not…well, I'm sure you can guess what will happen. Personally, I couldn't care less what happens to you. After all, you are responsible for taking out my men. The only reason you are still breathing is because you are my only bargaining chip."

Steve's face remained impassive. He was used to threats, but this situation made him nervous. He knew the kinds of people who would be bidding on him. He understood their ruthlessness. They were terrorists, drug dealers, bomb makers; the worst of mankind. He knew he had enemies, sure. Now he was actually scared of having made them. He could only hope his team would find him before the deadline was up.

"I can see you like this plan as much as your partner did. You have forty-eight hours to pray to whatever Gods you will before you disappear to parts unknown." Fuentes leaned in to whisper in Steve's ear. "And if Matthew Williams is not delivered to me by that time, I will hunt the Williams family down until not a single member is left and you will not be able to stop it from happening."

"If you go after them, I will hunt you down and kill you," Steve threatened in a low voice as he jerked against the restraints.

Fuentes laughed as he leant back in his chair. "I see I've touched a nerve. Don't bother trying to escape, it's useless. While I have promised not to harm you, and I really would like to keep that promise, I hate having to clean up blood."

"Wouldn't that ruin any deal you might make?" Steve enquired, mainly out of concern for his own wellbeing.

"Oh, I won't kill you, but I can seriously maim you and still complete the auction. I'm sure the buyer wouldn't mind an extra hole or two in your body," Fuentes said with a smirk. "Now, in the meantime, I think it's time for you to take a nap."

With that, Fuentes produced a syringe from his pocket, waving it in front of Steve's face. Steve struggled in his restraints, trying to get free before Fuentes could inject him with whatever substance was in the syringe. Fuentes smiled as he watched Steve struggle. He enjoyed the power he had over his bound captive. He jabbed the needle into Steve's neck and quickly depressed the plunger.

Steve felt the pinch in his neck and continued to struggle despite the lethargy working its way through his body like lightning. His movements slowed and his thoughts became static. His eyes slipped closed involuntarily as his head dropped to his chest. His last thoughts were of Danny and Grace as he reluctantly gave in to the darkness.

Wednesday afternoon, Five-0 Headquarters:

Steve had been missing for almost three days now and they had less than two days to find him, or he would be sold like a pig to the slaughter. The team had spent the entire morning combing through everything they had, hoping to find a single straw to grasp onto. In reality, they had nothing.

Danny had sent Chin and Kono home to get some sleep with the promise to call them if he found anything. They had been awake for the last twenty four hours and needed to recharge. Danny knew he also needed to sleep at some point, but found he couldn't get his brain to turn off long enough to get any decent rest. So instead, he went to the smart table and opened all the information they had on Matt, Fuentes and Steve. He went through page after page until his eyes began to burn.

Danny slammed his hand down on the table. He was angry. He was angry at his brother for causing this whole mess. He was angry at Fuentes for kidnapping his daughter and his partner. He was angry at his partner for his selfless protective streak. Only he would manage to get hurt while protecting someone else. Typical trouble magnet!

Danny sighed. He knew his anger was misplaced; he wasn't really angry at his partner. He knew Steve had done the best he could, given the situation. If anything, Danny was thankful. Thankful that Steve had protected his daughter and, he was upset with himself for even thinking this, he was thankful that he wasn't the one in Steve's place.

Danny shook himself. His partner didn't deserve this. After all, it was Danny's own brother that had caused this, and Steve was just along for the ride apparently. Danny knew if their positions were reversed, Steve would probably already be storming the building where he was being held, effectively saving the day yet again. Steve would have already found the connections in the pile of papers in front of Danny with his surprisingly sharp mind. Steve would have called in all his favours and used his ninja skills and Fuentes would be rotting in a cell.

'But I'm not Steve," Danny thought glumly.

Steve would probably be having the time of his life. Danny thought Steve would see being kidnapped as the best way to start the day. But he was injured. And that worried Danny more than anything. He had seen Steve shot, cut and tasered before, but he always just go back up as if nothing had happened. Fuentes had said it was a flesh wound, but that could mean anything.

Danny stood, abandoning his current project. Going through every piece of information they had obviously wasn't getting him anywhere. His thoughts kept straying to Steve. He walked over to the storage closet and pulled out two large whiteboards. He dragged them into the centre of the room, positioning them side by side.

Grabbing a marker, he moved over to the first board. At the top, he wrote 'what we know' in large letters. He started with the subheading 'suspects' where he wrote Pedro and Andrew Fuentes. He added a few lines to indicate the other accomplices that have yet to be identified. He made a mental note to get Kono onto that quickly. He moved over a little bit and started a new subheading 'crime scenes', where he listed all the evidence found at Steve's house, including the broken lanai door, unidentified blood and the gun with blanks. They were still waiting for the report from the house on the North Shore where Steve and Grace were held, so he left some space to add the information later.

The next subheading was titled 'motive'. Under this, he simply wrote, 'Matt messed up' and left it like that. They all knew why this was happening. At the bottom of the board, he drew a timeline. Going sequentially down the line, he added all the information they had obtained so far, starting from Sunday night when Steve and Grace were grabbed. He included the trip to Kamekona's, the FBI tail and the phone call from Fuentes. At the end of the line, he put a small cross to signify the deadline that Fuentes had provided them with. Pausing, he stood back to evaluate his work before turning to the second board.

This board he titled 'questions'. He contemplated what they needed to know in order to find Steve. The first subheading was 'locations', under which he wrote his partner's name, his brother's and Fuentes', followed by a series of question marks. Under his brother's name, he tacked the picture of Matt Williams exiting the plane on the islands.

The next subheading was 'auction'. If Fuentes was advertising the sale of a Navy SEAL, surely someone would have heard about it. If they could get access to it, they may be able to trace where it was coming from. Danny made a note to ask the Navy and Kamekona about it. Then he pondered the question that had been bugging him since the whole thing started: 'how did Fuentes know I had contact with Matt?'

Standing back, he took a moment to think that one through. He knew Matt was concerned that his phone may be bugged. That didn't seem plausible enough, given Matt had been on the run. When would Fuentes have been able to bug the phone? The other option was that someone in the know had relayed the information to Fuentes. But the only people he had told were on the team and he trusted them explicitly. It's possible Steve could have said something while he was being held hostage, but Danny doubted that.

The sound of beeping drew Danny away from his thoughts. He paused, listening for the sound to repeat itself. When it did, Danny found it was coming from Steve's office. Curious, Danny walked cautiously towards his partner's office. For all he knew, there could be a bomb in there. Danny stood in the doorway before realising the sound was coming from his partner's computer. Entering the office, all thoughts of a bomb disappeared from his mind.

Danny woke the computer and was surprised by what he saw. The screen was filled with different algorithms, all of which appeared to have been running for days. Danny was often impressed by his partner's intelligence, but this blew his mind. A small box in the top right-hand corner was flashing, probably the cause of the beeping sound. Danny quickly clicked on it and the screen was filled with a series of pictures and documents.

Looking closely at the pictures, Danny could see they were of a plane, with two people walking off onto the tarmac. Zooming in on on of the pictures, Danny was able to get a better look at the people in the photograph. Danny swore when he realised who it was.

The pictures showed his brother exiting the plane with someone very familiar. Danny quickly printed off the photos and then opened the documents. The documents were a travel manifest for the plane, travelling from Los Angeles to Massachusetts. Looking at the date, Danny realised it was one day before Steve and Grace were captured.

Sometimes, he really appreciated his partner. Quickly picking up his phone, Danny dialled Chin's number. Chin answered on the second ring.

"Hey Danny. Find anything?" Chin answered, sounding very alert for someone who was supposed to be sleeping.

"You could say that. I believe I found the mole…and my brother," Danny announced.

"What? How?" The disbelief in Chin's voice was evident.

"It would be better if I showed you. We actually have Steve to thank for this."

"Who's the mole?" Chin asked curiously.

"None other than our favourite FBI friend, Agent Kipton," Danny replied angrily.

Wednesday afternoon, Five-0 Headquarters:

Chin and Kono rushed into headquarters after Danny had called them with the information about the mole. They had to see it for themselves. Danny was waiting patiently for them by the smart table. Danny was jittery, like he had had one too many cups of coffee. Obviously whatever Danny had found had him agitated.

"Okay Danny. Show us what you found," Chin said, snapping Danny out of his jittery state.

"Right, so I was working on the case when I heard Steve's computer beeping. When I opened his computer, I found this," Danny said as he brought up all the algorithms from Steve's computer.

Chin whistled as he pursued the data. Danny continued, ignoring Chin's admiration for a bunch of lines.

"I'm guessing that SuperSEAL had been looking for Matt ever since I told him about the phone call. Steve said he would look into it. I thought he meant keep an ear out or ask around, not go actively searching for my wayward brother. Anyway, it appears these thingies found some useful information on Matt."

Chin and Kono smiled at Danny's use of the word 'thingies'. To the untrained eye, it would just look like a series of graphs and lines. To someone familiar with algorithms, it looked like a series of cofactors designed to search for certain patterns. In this case, looking for anything to do with Matthew Williams.

Danny brought up the images of Matt disembarking the plane in Massachusetts. Alongside it, he showed the cousins the manifest.

"This was taken less than a week ago. The plane landed in Massachusetts, after leaving from Los Angeles," Danny continued explaining.

"Is that…" Kono began.

"Agent Edward Kipton of the FBI?…Yes, it is Kono," Danny said smugly.

"So Kipton lied to us. Not only was Matt not in Hawaii two weeks ago, but he knew where Matt was this entire time," Chin summarised.

"It definitely looks that way, Chin," Danny muttered.

"Are you saying that you think Kipton told Fuentes that Matt was here?" Kono asked.

"I think the phone call Matt made to me was orchestrated by the FBI to draw Fuentes out. I think this is some elaborate scheme to catch Fuentes and take out his industry," Danny revealed.

"I think it's time we get Kipton down here and ask him some pointed questions," Chin said as he brought his phone out of his pocket.