The whole drive to Five-0 Head Quarters was quiet, the only sound being the rapid wind buzzing Harper's open window and the raging battle in her mind. She finally pulled into a space and cut the engine of her van, sitting a minute. It was such a heavy decision. But, once she'd made it, she felt a weight lifted from her shoulders. She talked herself up in her mind. Convincing herself was easier than she'd thought, but still a task.
She pushed through the doors and into the building. The officer at the front desk recognized her, and it was easier to get upstairs this time. He gave her a visitor's pass and showed her to the elevator. He left her there to wait, and a second later the doors had opened, and she stepped inside. She pressed the right level's button and stepped back. As the doors began to close, she heard a familiar voice calling, "Hold the elevator! Hold the-"
Harper lurched forward and instinctively shoved her hand against the rapidly closing door, causing it to jerk back open. Jerry sighed in relief as he slowed his fast pace to a walk toward the opening doors. Harper smiled. "Hey, Jerry," she greeted. He stepped in beside her and smiled back, a little out of breath. "Hey, Harper. What brings you by?" he asked, panting. The doors slid closed, and the elevator began its ascent.
"Oh, Steve wanted me to come by. Something about the case, I guess," she explained, casually.
"Ah. I see," his eyebrows lifted just so as he turned to face the silver elevator doors, and Harper raised a brow at his actions. She smiled, shaking her head. "Jerry, It's not a social call," she assured.
"Uh huh," he smiled a cheesy, closed-mouthed smile. She chuckled a little on a sigh, turning to face the doors. "I just figured, you know, you're smiling an awful lot for it to be about a case, is all." He shrugged, glancing at her. Harper nodded knowingly. Just then, the doors opened on Harper's level. Before she stepped out, she turned to Jerry. "That, my friend, is for an entirely different reason," she said, giving him a small smile. "Nice seeing you, Jer!"
As she started out, he replied, "Good seeing you, too, Harper!"
Steve sat at his desk, going over the evidence they had on the case. That would be almost completely nothing. They had nothing that could tie the ring to anyone specific. It was all hearsay, he said she said. There was no concrete here's who did it, and it was starting to bug Steve incredibly. He sighed heavily. Then his head shot up at a small knock on his office door. He was surprised to see Harper there so soon, but she was a welcome sight.
He noticed she was smiling, but it looked different on her. It was like before she was kidnapped. The ends of her eye lids crinkled, her lips curved all the way up, and the brightness reached her eyes. It was completely genuine. It surprised him even further. "Hey," she said, stepping in a bit. "Bad time?"
"What? No, no- uh, come in," he stood, gesturing for her to enter. She nodded and walked in fully, letting the door fall closed behind her. He walked around the desk to meet her, placing a kiss on her forehead as his arms snaked around her middle. "Before you say anything, I need to tell you something," Harper said, pulling back to see his face.
He raised an eyebrow, pausing. "Should I be worried?"
"No, It's good, I promise. At least, I think it's good," she inhaled a deep breath before speaking again. "Layla told me she has a flight planned for Saturday. There's a plane heading back to Florida and she was going to be on it but, this happened, and it kind of foiled the plan."
"Okay..." he tried to urge her to continue, but she seemed nervous. He couldn't quite tell if it was a good nervous or a bad nervous. He put his hands on her upper arms supportively, getting her attention. "Hey. It's okay. Whatever it is, I won't be mad. I promise."
She looked at him for a nerve-racking second, then exhaled. "I'm gonna go," she finally announced. Steve paused, unsure if what he heard was real or a figment of his imagination. She was actually going to leave. It was almost unbelievable. He smiled brightly. "That's great! I'm so happy for you," he pulled her into a hug.
"Really? You don't think it's bad timing? I mean, with Layla and the baby-"
"No. I think it's perfect. I think you deserve time off, and you deserve answers," he replied, standing back a step. "I'm proud of you. I really am." She smiled and wrapped her arms around his neck tightly, feeling an almost bubbly excitement in her chest. She was actually going to do it. She was actually going to leave. Then she remembered why she was there to begin with, and she stepped back. "Okay, now, what was it you called me here about?" she asked.
"Right. Come with me." His fingers locked with hers and he led the way out to the touch screen table. It was already set up and ready to use. Steve had readied pictures of the known associated members of the fight club. So far, that was just the fighters—Megan, Bryan, Kylie, Will—the man who handled the bets—Adam Kent—and the possible middle man, connected to everyone, including the ring leader—Andrew Delle. The goal was to have Harper look through the pictures.
Mostly, it was to have her look at Adam Kent and Andrew Delle. Maybe she'd seen them and didn't even know it? Her eyes scanned the photo of Adam Kent. His scruffy appearance wasn't entirely familiar. But there was something about him that was. "Talk to me. What are you thinking?" Steve asked, watching her.
She sighed. "I don't know. This guy looks sort of familiar. I can't place him."
"What about Andrew Delle? Seen him before?" he asked, swiping the image left. Andrew's face appeared next on screen. He was a lanky man with long black hair and odd, round sunglasses. The only pictures they had of him were stills from cameras at the Airport when he arrived three months ago. They weren't the best quality, but they gave a pretty good view. Harper shook her head. "No," she answered.
Steve nodded. "Okay. Did anyone ever say any names? Did they talk about-"
Steve's words were cut off by Chin bursting into the main room, hurrying through the glass doors. Both Harper and Steve were alarmed by his sudden entrance. "HPD just picked up Derek West," Chin announced. "They've got him at the hospital now—he was in pretty bad shape. He's asking for you." Chin looked at Harper when he said 'you'. Her eyes widened and she looked to Steve. "Alright, come on," he said, gesturing for her to follow as he headed after Chin, through the glass doors.
