Thank you so much for the reviews/alerts once again, I seriously appreciate them since I'm still a little nervous about this story, but I'm enjoying writing it. (: I'm trying my best not to make this go cliché, and there's still a lot to reveal, so please stay tuned and don't be afraid to leave your thoughts down below.
"Max, any idea how and when this guy was killed?" Kono inquired as she loomed over Max inspecting the slightly pale looking cadaver. Chin was busy talking to one of the other officers located at the scene to try and find out more information on the now lifeless guy.
"I see you did not bother with any greetings today," Max concluded halfheartedly as he immaculately examined the dead body's bruised neck. After unbuttoning a few of the male's shirt buttons, a deep laceration came into view. A shiny, silver bullet shone through the bloodied wound.
"Sorry, did that offend you?" Kono joked, an innocent smile tugging at her lips.
"Well, I'm not usually offended by such things, since you are definitely a busy person and the scene isn't exactly —"
"Okay, Max." Kono laughed sweetly at his antics. "Found anything?"
He quirked his eyebrow, seeming a little confused. Max still hadn't quite grasped the concept of rhetorical questions. "Well, what I can tell you is that our vic's TOD is almost certainly sometime between 9AM and 10AM."
Kono checked her phone for a second. "Wait, but it's 11AM right now," she realized.
"Precisely, which leads me to conclude that he was killed very recently. The blood is still very much fresh, and whoever did execute this murder wasn't very careful." Max wiggled his eyebrows suggestively, but Kono didn't seem to understand the Medical Examiner's gesture.
Coughing awkwardly, Max then lead her to the baseball bat inconspicuously hidden behind a nearby tree. "I believe this is the murder weapon which was used to brutally murder our vic, and the bullet I found caved into his chest cavity also suggests a gun was used, but it seems to be missing."
Kono nodded, taking all the information in. Chin was quick to show up beside his cousin, and he didn't have the most gleeful expression in the world. In all honesty, who would after seeing the bloodied scene?
"Just spoke to the parents of the little girl who found the guy. She's pretty shaken up. It was supposed to be a normal family trek through the forest and ended up like this," Chin informed sadly.
Once the solemn expressions on all three disappeared, Max crouched down beside the reddened baseball bat to take a closer look.
"Isn't that a trail of blood?" Chin pointed toward the river-like trail of blood starting somewhat near the dead victim and ending just beside their feet.
"Indeed it is, Chin. The trail of blood leading to the baseball bat indicates that the the killer may have also been hurt and possibly, due to his disorientation, left the weapon behind carelessly. There are a number of possibilities, but that seems to be the most plausible."
"Okay, thanks, Max. You should go get that bullet examined, maybe it can tell us something about the gun it was shot from," Kono told Max, who acknowledged her with a silent nod. Turning to her cousin, she then said: "I'm heading back to HQ, I think I can find something about who our vic was and if he may have been dealing with people he shouldn't have."
"I'm coming with you, cuz."
"Well, this is just great," Danny moaned as he and McGarrett approached the abandoned car on the side of a pretty lonely road. "Who would do this, seriously? They're just kids."
"I don't know, Danny, but whoever did is either deranged or trying to get attention," Steve responded with an undercurrent of anger hidden in his voice.
"Commander," a distinctive voice called from behind the two. Sergeant Duke Lukela stalked towards them, concerned plastered on his face. "Ran the license plate in the system. Apparently, it was stolen, so it could have been taken by anybody. We believe whoever was in the car is now on the bus, too, since there's no sign of them anywhere."
"Okay, thanks, Duke. Guys find anything in the car? Any documents or IDs in the inside?" Steve asked, taking a peek inside the car through the tinted windows.
"No, nothing, it's completely clean."
"Who's that over there?" Danny questioned absently. Though Steve was quietly doing his own inspection of the abandoned car, he curiously looked up to spot a tall, black haired girl with her head in her hands, an officer attempting to calm her down.
"Her?" Duke pointed indiscreetly. "She said her name was Abby Francis. And apparently, her sister is on that bus. As a matter of fact, it was Miss Francis who informed HPD about the incident. Seems like her sister was able to message her without getting caught by the hijackers."
Not even Commander McGarrett could make sense of it all. A bus was currently under the possession of hijackers, kids lives were at risk, and there was absolutely no indication as to who was behind the whole scheme. Steve had to admit, whenever a case involved innocent kids, he felt even more obliged to help, and the same could be said for Danny, since he looked like he had been fuming prior to their arrival at the scene.
While Duke walked off, the pair decided they were going to question Abby, since she seemed to be the one with the most information. Once they were within earshot of the young woman, it was made clear this was no easy situation they were in. "Why is nobody doing anything? My sister and those kids could die!" Abby frantically bellowed at the officer with her, who was unfortunate enough to be witnessing her wrath.
"Hey. Hey!" Danny called out, grabbing the frantic woman's shoulders and pressing tightly in the most comforting way his years as a cop had taught him. Comforting the vics was more of Steve's forte, but he tried nonetheless. "We're going to catch whoever did this. You're sister is going to be fine, okay? And so are the other kids."
Lieutenant Commander Steve McGarrett simply sent a soft gaze her way, almost to say "she'll be fine", which was what Abby desperately needed at that precise moment. The thought of losing her older sister crippled her to her very core. She really didn't want to remember her sisters last words as being "help".
Abby bit her lip, a nervous tick of hers, before nodding. "I'm sorry... It's just... Sorry."
"It's OK. Abby, right?" Steve said.
"Yeah, Abby Francis," she told them, unaware that the two already knew her name. "They've told me about some... Task force? I'm guessing you're both in it?"
"Yes, indeed, I'm Detective Danny Williams, by the way, this is Commander Steve McGarrett, my partner," Danny introduced, receiving a simple curt smile from the woman. "Duke told us about a message, what exactly did your sister say?"
Abby sighed deeply. "Nothing much. It was short sentences, clearly she was in a hurry, didn't want to get caught... I don't know. She said they're heading to Pearl Harbor."
"Pearl Harbor?" Steve repeated. He'd gone there many times before, in fact, he knew the place very well. It infuriated him a little to think those scumbags behind the hijacking would drag their sorry asses to such an important piece of American History.
"That's what she said." Abby stood still for a moment in thought. All of a sudden, she straightened her back and looked up at both of them. "I want to help. The task force, I mean, at least on this case."
"I'm sorry, Abby, but we can't let you do that," Steve informed her. "You could get hurt and we're not taking that risk."
"What?" Abby knew she was asking too much already, but she wanted to do anything possible to get her sister back alive and well. She wasn't going to lose her again.
"Look, it's not going to be safe for you." Steve stepped forward to stand closer to the other two, shooting a glance Danny's way. "Me and Detective Williams will ensure whoever did this rots behind bars, you hear me, Abby?"
A curt silence later, the black haired woman sighed, pursed her lips and then said, "Yes." Both McGarrett and Danny seemed much more relieved, if the glances they shared were anything to go by.
"But I'm coming. I'm sorry, commander, —" Abby made sure to look him right in the eye, then, she proceeded to give the stoniest look to Danny Williams. "— Detective, but there's no way I'm going to sit back and do nothing. You don't understand: I was in Brooklyn for years, never came to visit her in Hawaii. Only recently could we even look at each other without a fight blowing off. I'm not going to let her down anymore, I'm not going to let it happen. I can help you guys, and if there's something I'm good at it, it's shooting. Dad taught me... When I was younger."
When Danny noticed Steve's aneurysm face, he knew it meant his partner was considering taking her along. Danny had always considered himself the more rational one, and he was quick to intervene before any words were even spoken. "Woah, woah, woah, okay, I think you're going a little too far there," Danny told her.
Steve was quiet for a moment, staring into Abby's distraught eyes. He completely ignored his partner's intervention. "You're not going to take no for an answer?"
She shook her head adamantly.
Steve genuinely was reconsidering, but his mind was set once he saw the urgency and pain beneath her brown eyes. "Tell us everything you know. Officer Kono Kalakaua just texted to say she's got something on our vic."
While Steve and Abby walked off towards Danny's car, Danny was left perplexed, frozen in the same spot. "Oh, okay, Steve, I see discussing important issues with your partner involving our case clearly did not cross your mind! No offense, Abby, this has nothing to do with you but more to do with my slightly delusional partner here," Danny complained as he tried catching up to the other two.
"Uh, no worries," she muttered. "I'd rather you guys resolve your... Marital issues now rather than later. I'll wait in the car."
"Danny, what is it now?" Steve let his hands fall to his hips.
"Really? Allowing a civilian — the vic's sister, to be precise — to get involved in the case? Are you nuts!?"
"Look, I didn't have much of a choice here, Danny. She was insisting and I had a feeling if I didn't say yes, she'd go off on her own and try and save her sister herself, or do you want people to get hurt? Is that what you want?"
"Commander McGarrett and Detective Williams, I believe Officer Kono Kalakaua is waiting for us?" Abby intervened.
"How did you ever become a cop, huh, Steve? Because it beats me," Danny fumed, while Steve smirked.
I really do apologize if this seems to be droning on and on but it's important for the story and I'm not a fan of fast paced story telling. Hope you still enjoyed the chapter anyway.