Thank you once again for the alerts and I would like to thank Aquababy for the review... I appreciate it a whole lot. By the way, if anybody has any queries or anything they'd like to see happen in this story, do let me know! I'm all up for suggestions.
Also, I'm totally aware these recent chapters are very procedural, and I do apologize! The drama and mystery really starts to unfold in Chapter 5.
After Abby had been given the 'guest' lanyard and taken up to the Five-0's headquarters, she was introduced to a large, open space, not exactly the most modern décor she had seen, but it was certainly spacious. The walls were licked with a grey paint tinged with a little blue — not exactly a very uplifting color, Abby thought —, the windows and doors edged with shiny mahogany. There were offices in each corner by the looks of it, and since the blinds were all open, she could visualize the interior very clearly of each one.
She had briefly heard about the Five-0 come up before in conversation. Abby had only been in Hawaii for the past three months or so, and she'd decided it was a permanent move. The sole reason why Abby had moved in the first place was purely to strengthen the once unbreakable bond she had once had with her sister, Monica. Over the years, and due to the terrible long distance, it was like they became strangers. And not only that, but family issues pressurized the both even more. Brooklyn just no longer made her happy, too, and since Hawaii was known to be the paradise island, The Gem of the Pacific, she'd made the drastic decision to just get up and move. And, since she was a bartender, finding a job was the least of her concern. So far, she was loving it.
Except now her sister was in grave danger, and the only thing concerning her now was not having to call a funeral director to arrange her sister's final goodbye. The thought sent shivers down her spine.
Abby was introduced to the officer that Steve had mentioned earlier, Kono, a beautiful young woman with chocolate brown hair that sat neatly on her shoulders. There was something about her, an aura of innocence that almost radiated off of her. Then, Abby was introduced to Kono's cousin, Chin Ho Kelly, a slightly taller and wiser looking man with an exquisitely chiseled square jaw, his jet-black hair primly slicked back. He and Steve were definitely the most able-bodied looking, since their biceps peeked just slightly from underneath their t-shirts.
After the introductions, the team didn't waste another second and reunited at a large computer table centered slap bang in the middle of the room.
"So, our vics name is Ian Yahoa. 37 year old bus driver, had been for many years. No family or relatives," Kono began, readily flicking images and scanned documents onto another screen just above.
"Guy got a criminal record?" Chin pondered, his arms crossed tightly.
"Surprisingly, yes. When he was 16, he was arrested for minor theft at a supermarket. He only served 1 month and did two weeks worth of community service."
"Max find anything on the body?" Steve then piped in.
"Yes; Max found a silver bullet caved into the guys chest. When it was taken for further analysis, an inscription was found on it." Once again, an image slid onto the large LCD screen, this time of the silver bullet, its head crippled and tarnished but the engraving clear as day. Everybody curiously leaned in closer.
"Yu-Tsai," Steve observed. The words meant nothing at all to Abby. " I know these guys." Steve sounded awfully distant, as if recalling past memories or previousencounters with these 'Yu-Tsai' folks.
After taking a sharp breath, Kono once again bombarded the screen with pictures, documents and crime scene photos. "It's the name of an infamous local gang. About 6 years ago, its leader, George Saventown, was imprisoned for the possession of drugs. He was released a month ago."
"Max was also able to find a baseball bat sitting behind a tree near the crime scene. There was a blood trail leading to it, which Max suggested belonged to one of the killers," Chin added. Abby could barely stay focused as the thought of those scumbags hurting her youngest sister flashed through her mind.
"Yeah, and when the blood from the scene was taken to be tested in the lab, Eric was able to match it to two different people." Kono flicked the image of Ian Yahoa upward towards the screen, and then of a bulky, middle-aged looking Hawaiian. "That guy is called Jabba Kaiiki. 40 years old. No criminal record, up till now."
Everybody remained quiet briefly, soaking up the information they had just been told. "So, they kill a bus driver, maybe to keep him quiet so they can hijack a bus filled with kids. Still doesn't make sense," Danny deduced.
"What if it's the kids they want?" Abby suddenly blurted out.
Kono acknowledged her answer with a glance her way. "Either that, or George is back on the drug scene and is trying to make his comeback big."
"Okay, look..." Abby sighed. "I don't mean to be rude or anything, I'm not a cop, okay?" she put it bluntly, "but my sister said something about heading to Pearl Harbor. Shouldn't we be heading there if we stand a chance of finding anyone alive?"
"It's not that easy. It's not the first and won't be the last time a criminal lies about their whereabouts in order to create a distraction. As of now, we can't trust that information. It could be a trap, and I'm not leading my team into one," Steve proclaimed without missing a beat.
"Then what now?"
Giving every single person a glance, Steve then began to spew orders left, right and center. "Chin, try tracking her sister's phone, maybe we can track the bus then intercept it before it gets to the harbor. Abby, you're going to stay right here, and I'm going to make sure you don't leave the building. Anything from your sister, you inform Chin. Kono, talk to HPD for backup because we won't be able to stop that bus on our own. Me and Danny are going to see if we can find anything at Jabba Kaiiki's that can give us a clue about why they're doing this."
"On it, Boss," Kono uttered.
Abby forced herself not to make a fuss like a little five year old girl.
"Hey, Steve?"
"Yes, Danny?" Steve answered as he peered through the window of the rather scruffy looking house. The lawn was a complete mess, and the house was hungry for a repaint.
"Catherine said anything since she's left?"
Steve paused and turned to look at his partner. "No." He then returned into 100% cop mode as soon as his back was turned. Nobody seemed to be home, so Steve decided to try the back porch.
Danny followed shortly behind. "Oh, really? What about you?"
Steve stopped suddenly, nearly making Danny crash into his broad back. That would've hurt. "What is this, you're my relationship counselor now?" Steve snapped.
Danny held back the eye rolling as he recalled Kono saying something very similar. "No," Danny replied calmly. "I just think you're mind has been in space lately, and seeing as I am very good at detecting – exactly why I am Detective Danny Williams —, you, my friend, are a terrible at hiding emotions."
Steve let out a breath, looking over at the sea which was in clear view from the back garden of Jabba Kaiiki's home. "So what if Catherine's gone? It's not like I can do anything about it, okay? She made her choice," Steve bitterly let out. He recalled that somber day before she left: it was that damn phone call that ruined everything for him. Once he realized she was speaking a foreign language to God knows who, his fear had turned very tangible. She was leaving. Again. He was damn sure of it.
Who was Steve kidding? Of course he loved the woman, there was no denying that, otherwise he wouldn't have had a ring stuffed into his cargo pants that day, ready to go on one knee and prove to her, to show her, what she meant to him. Instead, he was left to stare at the back of her car as it drove off into the nothingness. She'd chosen Nepal over him. And he hated all the secrecy... And secrets in general when it came to those closest to his heart.
Steve's heart was torn, churned, diced and then devoured. Although Catherine was his world, it seemed he was merely an island to her. Steve was a rational most of the time (except when it came to interrogations because, and according to his lovely partner, Danny, he was a 'neanderthal'). Never would he let his emotions get to him, because that's how he was taught to function; those years as a Navy SEAL weren't for nothing and had been extremely fruitful. He was made of pure muscle and steel. He could handle it, couldn't he? But on that day he was going to propose to her, he walked home with an empty heart, ran for an hour on the beach, before collapsing on the sand and finally breaking: he was crying over Catherine.
Once the last tear drop had fallen, he'd composed himself, hid the ring right at the bottom of a drawer and told himself he needed to set his priorities straight.
And that's what he had done. It had been approximately 2 months since Steve had seen her and he was slowly but surely gluing all the pieces of his heart back together. He was fine not talking about Catherine, nor actually talking to her — Steve was aware that sounded cold and bitter. However, like he'd said, she'd made her choice. And she'd gone off and left more than once. Steve knew where he stood. He wasn't going to get burnt by the same candle twice.
"Earth to Steve, Earth to Steve, hello?" Danny waved his hand right up in his face. "You okay?"
Steve gently swatted his hand away. "Yeah, I'm fine," he spewed out robotically, typical of Steve when he found himself immersed in his hurtful thoughts. "Can we get into the house now or do you have any more questions? Just wondering when the next session is going to be, Doctor Williams."
"You're very funny, Steve," Danny retorted sourly. "After you, babe."
Once the door had been practically broken off its hinges — making Danny wince —, both separated to check each room.
"Clear!" Steve yelled from one corner of the house.
"Clear!" Danny repeated from the other.
When Steve approached the kitchen table, that's when he noticed the gargantuan pile of papers. Sitting right in the middle was a map, a few locations circled in red Sharpie, others with an obnoxious X. Pearl Harbor, however, was immensely scribbled. Were they really heading there?
He began going through the papers, and at first, came across rather normal looking things: bills, letters, etc. However, when he searched a little deeper, he came across the photos. Staring back at him with empty eyes were kids tied up, pure fear in their small little eyes, streaks of tears all over their reddened cheeks. The more he dug through, the more kids that showed up. Every time got to the next, his heart wrenched a little more, and then a little more, until he could no longer take it. What the heck were these son's of a bitches doing with these kids?
Maybe Abby's assumption had been right all along. It's the kids they want.
"Hey, the bedrooms are clear and — what's that?" When Danny came across a rather grief-stricken Steve hunched over the kitchen table, he himself became curious and wandered over to the piles of paper.
"They're just kids," Steve barely mumbled, more to himself than to anybody.
When Danny leaned in to inspect the images, he too began to witness himself the turmoil of emotions. These were kids, innocent, filled with life. They'd barely tasted what life was. And now there they were, tied up, and only God knows if they were still alive or not. This could have been Grace. His Gracie. The mere thought angered him.
The deafening silence that fell upon on them was broken when Danny's phone rang. Steve remained motionless as he continued to stare emptily at the photos.
"Chin, got anything?"
"Yeah, thankfully," Chin said. "I managed to locate the bus and as long as the phone remains turned on, we can keep the signal running. Looks like they're going through the mountains in order not to get caught. They're still awhile away from the harbor. What about you guys?"
"Uh, yeah, about that..." Danny quickly glanced over at Steve. Sighing, he proceeded to say: "Found a bunch of... Photos. Kids tied up, I don't what this is, but I'm pretty sure the reason they took that bus wasn't to go on a delightful school trip. This could be some human trafficking ring."
"Oh, God," Chin breathed on the other end.
With a simple hand gesture, Steve signaled Danny to pass the phone. Almost aggressively, he grabbed the cell. "Hey, Chin, it's Steve. Look, we need to stop that bus before it gets to the harbor, now. Has Kono spoken to HPD?"
"Yep, they're ready."
"Okay. Get everyone ready. You and Kono follow the signal, tell HPD to form road blocks wherever there's an exit or entrance, wherever. Make sure Abby doesn't go anywhere with you guys."
"Got it, Steve. I'll send you the map alongside the signal so you'll know where they are. Meet you there," Chin announced.
"Thanks, Chin."
"Where do you think you're going, sunshine?" the tallest one spat.
If there was one word Monica despised more than any other at that moment of time, it would have definitely been 'sunshine'. The other two men that stepped onto the bus were just as idiotic as Jabba, who was now driving the bus supposedly to the Harbor. One of them presented themselves as the 'boss' now, informing everyone present that they had to follow his rules to a T. The other remained dreadfully quiet and he gave the impression that he was some sort of bodyguard. The bus was covering mountainous ground, and she was growing concerned that they were taking them somewhere far worse.
The two much more finer looking gentleman stalked back and forth the entire bus. When Monica decided to stand up to check on the other kids, the 'boss' stepped right into her bubble called 'comfort zone'. He reeked of manly colognes and aftershave.
"I'm checking on the kids," Monica intoned. By now, the majority of the boys and girls remained terrifyingly quiet, clinging onto each other for dear life. Even little Lea had clung onto her arm like it were going to miraculously save her by doing so. Monica was seriously considering this as her last day alive.
"No worries, we can do that for you," the fool replied, obnoxiously chewing his gum like a cow munching hungrily on grass. It infuriated her. She found herself wondering if Abby had received her text, and was desperate to check if she had replied again. She had managed to get in another text a few minutes ago while all their backs were turned.
"At least tell us whats waiting for us at the harbor," Monica pleaded.
The man snorted like she'd just said a joke. "You don't need to know."
Turning away from him, two broad arms came lunging at her from behind. A cold hand slid into her trouser pocket and removed the phone that she had been attempting to hide.
"What's this?" the guy snickered proudly like he'd found a nugget of gold. "Abby? 'Help, oh, help me'," he mimicked like the brute he was.
Monica's eyes gaped as she stared at her phone sit in his hands. She was screwed. Dead for sure, she concluded.
"I wonder what she's got to say." The ugliest smile spread across his face as the phone began to ring.
"Monica? Monica?"
I hope you enjoyed this longer chapter. May I also note that Catherine, as you can tell, will not be ignored or cease to exist in this story. She will affect the story line both positively and negatively in later chapters as the relationship between Monica and Steve unfold, and after all, Steve is/was in love with her. Though I'm not a huge fan of her (mostly because I wish McGarrett was in love with me!), I feel like Catherine's character doesn't deserve to be neglected. Anyway, don't forget to leave me your thoughts. (No flames, though! Constructive criticism only, please). (: