Thought this would be the final chapter, but looking like there will be one more.
Thank you all for reading and leaving comments.
"THE BOOTS" chapter 8
Kono slowly runs her hand down the back of her leg, undoing the long zipper to release her leg and foot from the boot. She then slides herself back a few feet away from the body before removing the other boot, which she leaves on the floor before walking away.
A FEW MINUTES LATER...
Steve walks around to the back of the SWAT van that he'd previously crashed through the building's door and gate, that had yet to be removed from inside the warehouse. There he find Kono setting against it's bumper, an ice pack held to her head and biting her nails like Chin had told him she did when she was tense. He can only imagine how she must hate the outfit she is still in, how degrading it must be, so he does the only thing he can think of; he removes the button-up shirt he has on over his t-shirt and places it around her shoulders, wanting to offer her some sort of modesty at the moment.
She rewards his thoughtfulness with a slight smile of appreciation, just enough to show her dimples that make her look much younger than she is.
"I need her at the ambulance, sir. Agent Eppes' orders." A paramedic says, addressing Steve.
"She'll be over in a few minutes." Danny assures the medic as he and Chin also come to stand by Kono, then watches the paramedic nod and walk away. For the first time he is glad his partner is a tall man, as his shirt that Kono now has draped over her is long enough to cover most of the outfit she is wearing.
"Let me see, Cuz." Chin says, attempting to move the ice pack aside so he can survey the damage for himself.
Kono looks up, making eye contact with him. "I'm okay, Cuz." She assures him at seeing the concerned look on his face. She was lying. Every part of her body hurt, that was one hell of a fight she had with Stevie. But she was not about to let anyone see her weak, not even him.
"I know you will be, but for right now you still need to get checked out." Chin reminds her, doing his best to conceal his emotions, which was hard, even for the mild-mannered even-tempered man. After searching for her, then finding her, and even being able to see her, but not being able to reach her. And now, now she stood before him, safe, but he knew she was lying about being 'fine' as the bruises that were now forming were a dead giveaway to the truth of how much pain she must be in. Besides, she was biting her nails, a dead giveaway to those that knew.
"I will. I just,... I just don't wanna be fussed over at the moment." Kono says, that part being true.
"That would probably be easier if you weren't bleeding." Danny states, as he hands her a hankerchief with one hand, while gesturing to her chin with the other, because that's where blood is about to drip from her split lip.
"What can you tell us about Abbie Webster, the Mayor's granddaughter?" Steve asks, changing to a subject that will make her more comfortable, although the sight of her eye starting to swell is making him uncomfortable.
"Most of the women here, were here of their own accord. But the younger girls, many of them were abducted, including Abbie. It appears that she came to like it here. Probably the attention, the clothes, being made to feel grown up and special. One of the girls told us that she was Stevie and Jimmy's 'rat among them'." She says, sliding her arms into the sleeves of Steve's shirt to better cover herelf.
"Speaking of 'Jimmy'." Steve says, "Any idea where he is?"
Kono shook her head, "No. He split earlier, leaving just Stevie here with us. Went to drop off more girls, I think, but never came back."
"We'll get an APB out on the van. It was the same one they used to pick you up." Danny says, while taking his phone out, then walks away to make the call to dispatch.
"Come on, Kono." Steve says, gesturing towards the ambulance, "They're waiting for you."
Kono looks over, seeing Eppes headed her way and stands up. She nods, giving in before Eppes can reach her, then slowly heads for the ambulance, Chin right beside her. She would never admit it, but she is grateful for his steadying arm around her shoulder.
Sargent Lukela was at the ambulance, taking statements from Miena and Walton. "Hey, Kono." They all greet her.
Walton's being checked over was meerly to follow protocol, but Miena had numerous cuts on her hands and forearms from the barbed wire at the top of the fence she had climed over earlier to escape.
"What a waste." Walton says, as Dr. Bergman and his ME assistant wheel Steven Hill's bagged body past them, the zipper part way open with most of the boot sticking out of it. Bergman would not remove the boot's stiletto heel from Stevie's neck until his body was back at the morgue.
"Yeah, of a perfectly good pair of boots." Miena says, obviously having no tolerance for those in the pimping business. "And a perfectly good pair of pumps, too." She adds, gesturing to the heelless shoes still on her feet.
Steve takes out his cell phone and calls Jenna Kaye, who had stayed at HQ where she had better computer access to help them. "Hey, any luck tracking down Jimmy?" Steve asks once he has her on speaker.
"No. He's still in the wind. He has no cell phone, no residence, and there's no luck yet spotting the van." Jenna replies.
"He was talking on a cell phone earlier." Walton informs.
"Then how's there no record of it?" Kono asks.
"It's just not registered in his name, so with no clue as to who's name it is under..." Danny says, trailing off.
"His mother." Chin blurts out. "The only contact info we could get on him was his mother's address. She's an elderly lady that thinks her son can do no wrong."
"So, maybe she's added his phone to her cell's family plan." Steve finishes for him.
"I'm on it." Jenna says before hanging up.
Once Miena, Kono, and Walton all finish at the ambulance, they are load into a Vice SUV for transport back for debriefing.
LATE THAT EVENING...
Steve knocked on Kono's door. He'd given Chin some paperwork to finish, to delay him, so he could have a chance to check on Kono for himself before her cousin got there. "We got 'im." Steve says as soon as she opens her front door.
"Good." Was her simple reply, accompanied by a sigh of relief, as she steps aside to let him enter.
Steve entered and slowly sets a sack of Chinese food on the table, taking the extra moment to take in her appearance. Her hair is still wet from an obvious shower, but her arms were red. "Did it work?" He asks.
She noticed the expression on his face. It wasn't quite 'serious', but maybe more 'concerned', she figured. "Did what work?" She questions, not sure what he is referring to.
"You've just spent two long days dressed and acting like like a prostitute, being treated like a piece of meat for men to ogle and fantasize about. And now your arms are red, either from a scalding hot shower or from scrubbing yourself raw. Either way, wanting to get it all off of you." He pauses, "Did it work?" He asks again.
"I wish it had." She replies, and it occures to her that Agent Miena had been wrong when she told Detecitve Walton that it would wash off. There is another knock at her door.
She opens it to find Danny standing there, "We got 'im." He states as she gestures for him to enter. "But, you already knew that." He adds at seeing Steve standing there, then sets the sack of Italian food on the table.
"Yeah." She says, "I heard."
"You okay?" Danny asks her in a concerned tone and surprisingly still hands, taking in her appearance, especially her black and blue eye that is swolen partly shut.
"Like I said earlier, I will be." She answers with a heavy sigh, glad at least that she had track-style pants on. At least they couldn't see the bruises on her legs.
"Come on, Kono, talk to us." Steve urged, taking a step closer to her.
She looked away for a moment, then turned back to the men and gestured for them to sit on her couch. She didn't really want to talk about it, but knew them well enough to know they wouldn't give up. Besides, she'd rather talk to Steve and Danny and get it over with, before her cousin showed up, and she knew he wouldn't be far behind the others. She took a seat across from them before speaking, "Where do the girls come from? How do they end up like that? What will they do to get out?" She asked without making eye contact, as if thinking out loud. She pauses and grapped the small pillow next to her, hugging it to her chest. "It's all just so messed up. Most of those girls could've left. They could've gotten out of there. But they didn't. Some have no place to go, except right back to the hell-hole they ran away from. Some are so ashamed of what they've done that they would rather keep selling themselves than face it. Then there are girls like Abbie Webster, who start out abducted, but end up staying for the thrill. Then the ones like Laura Hopes, who try to escape, or even think about it, end up dead."
"You're right, Kono. It's messed up." Danny agrees, noticing that she had finally made eye contact with him. He gives a sideways glace to his partner, neither man having anything to add. It was messed up, really messed up, and some things in life you just can't change.
Another knock at the door pulls the three's attention from the heavyness that had settled in the room. Kono stands and answers it to see her cousin there. Just who she expected.
"We got 'im." He announced with barely a foot across the threshold, then quickly realizes, at seeing his colleagues presence, she already knew that.
Chin places a sack of Mexican food on the table before giving his cousin a gentle hug, careful not to hurt her. "How ya doin', cuz?" He asks, taking in her appearance just as the others had done.
Kono can't help but smirk, then gestures to her bruise covered face, which included a swolen eye and crusted-over split lip, "Well, clearly I can't hide how I'm doing." She said, then pauses. "But it's nothing some comfort food, an ice pack, and a little sleep won't fix." She adds, with a familiar twinkle in her eye as she tries to lighten the mood. "Now, let's eat. You guys have brought enough food to feed the whole bullpen."
The rest of the evening is spent with a familar and comforting feeling of Ohana, the guys filling Kono in on their case of trying to find the Mayor's missing granddaughter Abby Webster, then nothing else was said about the previous two days. They talked about and everything non-work related until finally Kono pushed all three men out her front door, telling them she was fine and they could go home.
THE NEXT DAY...
Yep, looks like I was right, there will need to be one more chapter to wrap this story up and for you to find out what happens the next day.
Please leave a review before you go.