Warning: This chapter contains scenes of violence toward women, most of it implied.
Course language.
Very intense situations. You have been warned...
I have been reassured by several people who should know that there is no such thing as Archangel. Really. Nope, doesn't exist at all...
McGarrett, Williams, Lukela, Cpt Peterson, and the captian of HPD's SWAT team were all clustered around the table in McGarrett's office where the maps were laid out. 81 North King Street was in the middle of the block, an abandoned bank building erected in the seventies, made of concrete and steel. The front windows were boarded up and the doors had been replaced by solid steel security doors. To the left was a two story building that housed grocery and variety stores on the ground floor and vacant storage areas on the second. The building to the right was multi use building that had a wig store on the corner and not much else. Getting into the building without alerting Chicken and his cronies was going to be difficult at best.
McGarrett had already sent Chin to the area to have a look around. He'd reported a white van with Navy markings parked in the alley behind the building. A quick look at the security camera footage from Tripler's front gate had a good shot of the same van following Maggie's Mustang. A call to the Navy confirmed that the van had been stolen the night before. Now McGarrett knew how the women had been transported off Ft Shafter.
The cell tower Danny had traced Chicken's first call back to was located half a block down King Street.
McGarrett checked his watch. Almost five. They were waiting for sunset. They would move in under the cover of darkness.
"How accurate is Archangel?" McGarrett asked.
"Classified, or it would be if it existed," said Peterson. "Just know that if that's the address you got from Mr. Kaye, it's good."
"I've heard rumor," Danny said. "At the seminar at Quantico. I don't know how much of it is true, but if it is it's a paranoid's nightmare. Rumor has it every cell phone made has a tracking program built in. One that can only be accessed by the NSA and a few other alphabet agencies. It's suppose to be able to track a cell phone within two feet."
"I'll worry about the paranoids later. Today I'm just happy it's in there." McGarrett said.
"How are we going to move our people into the area without the noise giving it away?" Duke asked.
"Easy," said Peterson, "We give them the Noriega treatment. We've got two trucks with speakers and amps ready to go when you give us the heads up. Put one at each end of the block, instant party." Peterson was a big blond farm boy type from one of those large, flat states in the Midwest with a love of pyrotechnics that could have proved troublesome had not the Army given him an outlet for his hobby. Duke understood this all too well, having once had the same love for exploding ordinance. Two tours of duty in Vietnam had cured him. Peterson, on the other hand, seemed to have found his life's calling.
McGarrett's private line rang. He pressed the record button, put the phone on speaker, and answered on the second ring. "McGarrett."
"Mr. McGarrett," Big Chicken said. "How are you this fine evening? Lovely outside, isn't it? A nice evening for a walk on the beach. Too bad your lady friend is indisposed."
"What do you want, Chicken?" he asked, trying to keep Chicken on the line and talking on the premise that if he was talking he couldn't hurt Maggie or Lu.
"What do I want, Mr. McGarrett? I want retribution. I want justice. I want to see you hurting. I want you to suffer, sitting there in your office, knowing I have the one thing you really want and that you will never be able to get it back unless I give it to you. The same goes for Sgt. Lukela. We have something he wants. You both cost me time and money and locked me away for years. It's time for payback. It's a pity that Officer Williams' little sailor couldn't join us."
"If you want any of us, all you have to do is ask. We'll meet you anywhere, anytime. Let those women go."
"Mr. McGarrett, Mr. McGarrett, where would be the fun in that?" Chicken said in the same slow drawling voice , each word carefully chosen to chill the blood of his listener. "I can't let them go because I can't get to you any other way. You can't be bought, and you refuse to die. This is what we're going to do. We're going to have a little party with these fine ladies. When we're done with them, I doubt they're going to ever want another man to touch them again and that includes you and the good sergeant and you get to remember what we did to them every time you look at them. The party starts now. I do so love technology. No wires to trace." There was the sound of a zipper going down. "Open up, Sgt Alden, Chicken has something for you."
"Don't touch her!" McGarrett said through clenched teeth. He wasn't use to feeling helpless. Duke wasn't doing much better. His face had gone unnaturally pale and his jaw was clenched tight. Everyone in the room listened, horrified.
When Maggie spoke the hate that was in her voice was plainly evident. "Anything you try to put in my mouth, you lose," she said.
"You bite me and I will kill you." Chicken said.
"No, you won't." Maggie said, sounding disgusted. "You need us alive to get off this Rock. You kill us, you lose your leverage. Go ahead, kill me. Try to put that thing in my mouth and you'll have a dead hostage and no dick!"
Chicken slapped her, hard, across the face.
"The same goes for me, you fat bastard," Lu said. "Anything you try to stick in my mouth, you lose. With extreme prejudice. You ain't got jack shit! Come up through the ranks like we did, you learn how to take care of yourself and how to fight back. You'll have to kill us first, and then where will you be?"
"Shut up!" Chicken screamed. "Barker, gag them."
Barker gagged both women. He couldn't resist grabbing both Lu's breasts as he did. Barker had spent most of his life just this side of the law. His association with Chicken and Collins had given him the opportunity to stretch his wings and try a few new things. He'd enjoyed the hell out of strangling Roxie during sex. Now he couldn't wait to do the same to that big blonde. The only thing holding him back was the simple fact that he was scared spitless of Collins. He unzipped his pants and took Lu's bound hands, forcing them around his penis. "Yeah, baby, it's not going in your mouth but you're gonna take care of it."
Lu had had enough of Barker, Collins, and Chicken, she looked up at Barker, giving him what he thought was a look of total helplessness. She stroked him a few times, just to get his attention, then she grabbed, squeezed, twisted, and pulled down, hard. Barker let out a blood curdling scream and fell to the floor, clutching his testicles.
"Bitch, I'm going to kill you myself!" Barker screamed.
"Chicken," McGarrett said in a calm, icy voice. "If you hurt either of those women I will hunt you down like the animal you are. I don't care where you go, or how long it takes, I will find you."
"Mr. McGarrett, you are oh so predictable," Chicken said. "We shall speak again. Ciao."
Chicken hung up.
McGarrett sat down, his face in his hands.
"You okay?" Danny asked.
"I can't take much more of this." McGarrett said. "This morning I left without telling her good-bye. She was sleeping and I didn't want to wake her. I fussed at her once, for not waking me to tell me good-bye. I told her it was because you never know with cops. That it could be the last time. Then I left this morning without telling her good-bye or how much I love her."
"She knows, Steve," Danny said, gently. "You can tell her soon. It's going to be alright."
"We'll be ready for roll out in about half an hour, sir," Cpt Peterson said. "Time to suit up. Got any requests for music. Anything that'll clue the hostages in that the cavalry is on the way."
McGarrett thought for a minute. "Al Stewart, Year of the Cat. Play that one first. Then if you want loud, AC/DC. Maggie's got a thing for heavy metal. Thunderstruck followed by Hell's Bells. Play that loud enough and you could bomb Pearl Harbor and never hear it."
Everything was ready. Honolulu Power had killed the streetlights and from Maunakea to Smith Street. Public works had set up a construction detour around the area. Infrared satellite imagery courtesy of Johnathan Kaye and Lt Colonel Yablanski, indicated five people in the first floor center of the building, in a room that was once the bank lobby before all the counters and fixtures had been removed, leaving only a cavernous space with dim lighting. Duke and Peterson would lead the teams responsible for attaching the explosives to the doors.
Everyone was wearing black fatigues and Kevlar vests. Duke had an M-16A4 slung across his back, his .357 service revolver at his hip, and a 1911 Colt .45 in a shoulder holster. Everyone was wired for sound with high tech earpiece/microphone combinations provided by the hostage rescue team that were soon to be at the top of Five-O's wish list. He was leading the team that would enter through the back. He had half the hostage rescue team, four swat officers, and Compton and Marks, who'd volunteered for the rescue mission.
McGarret and Danny were out front with Peterson and his gang. Waiting.
It was pitch dark.
Inside, Maggie and Lu were still tied to the chairs. Maggie's back hurt like hell and the pain seemed to be spreading to her lower abdomen. Lu was plain damned angry and looking for the next target of opportunity.
From outside, Al Stewart started singing about a morning from a Bogart movie.
Maggie nudged Lu.
"Heads up, girlfriend." she said, voice muffled by the gag. "I think somethings about to happen."
"What the hell is that noise?" Collins asked.
"Must be a party across the street at that Chinese place. Probably some chink holiday." Chicken said.
"Sounds like someone strangling a cat." Collins observed.
Al Stewart melted away as Thunderstruck blasted through the evening.
"Now we're talking," said Collins. "That's party music."
The last cord from Thunderstruck died. Then a bell started tolling, deep, evenly spaced peals.
"What the hell?" Chicken asked.
Maggie had managed to get her gag loosened.
"He's coming for you." she said.
Hell's Bells rang through the street.
The music died.
Then a voice over a bullhorn.
"This is McGarrett. We've got you surrounded. You've got five minutes to come out with your hands up or we're coming in for you."
Chicken looked at Collins. "How did they find us? Barker, you idiot, were you followed?"
McGarrett looked at his watch.
"Fuck it," he said, activating the com link on the earpiece. "Blow those damned doors now!"
Explosions rocked the street. The doors blew open. The hostage rescue team stormed in.
Chicken cut the ropes tying Maggie to the chair. He jerk her to her feet, gun pointed at her head.
Duke and his team poured through the doors at the back of the building, guns drawn.
McGarrett's team kicked down what was left of the doors to the lobby where Chicken was holding the women. Guns at the ready.
Lu was still tied to the chair. Barker was having trouble standing up. He held a Glock 9, pointing it at Lu.
"Drop the gun, Chicken. Let her go and drop the gun and you get to walk out of here alive." McGarrett said.
"Maybe I don't want to walk out of here, Mr. McGarrett. If I kill her, it's all your fault and you get to spend the rest of your life knowing she died because of you."
Duke was slowly moving behind Chicken, waiting for the right moment to make his move.
"Let her go Chicken. This has nothing to do with her or Lu. Let them go."
"Never, Mr. McGarrett." Chicken appeared as greasy and demented as ever. He never changed tone, each word a dagger aimed at his victims heart, in the slow, drawling cadence he had acquired through years of violence and intimidation. "I've got you where I want you. I love seeing you suffer. Even if you kill me, I'll go to my grave knowing you will spend the rest of your life regretting that you let her die. All because you don't know when to back down."
Maggie doubled over in pain as the first cramp hit, causing Chicken's grip on her shoulder to loosen. Duke saw the opening and fired his .45, hitting Chicken in the lower back, exploding his spine. Chicken went down, alive but badly wounded.
Collins fired the shotgun, hitting Compton low on the right side. McGarret fired twice, putting a single round from the .45 through Collins' forehead and one through Barker's right shoulder.
Compton went down, cursing. Duke stopped momentarily to check him, deciding that anyone cursing like that was going to survive. The wound looked worse than it was. Compton had been lucky. The shotgun Collins had been waving around had been loaded with birdshot, and most of that had went into his Kevlar vest. The rest of the birdshot went into his hip and upper thigh. He gave Compton a reassuring pat on the shoulder and stepped over to where Big Chicken lay bleeding on the floor.
Duke kicked Chicken in the head, twice. Because he could and because it made him feel better. He kicked the gun out of Chicken's hand. He crossed to where Barker was writhing on the floor, kicked his gun out of reach, bent down, and jerked Barker to his feet. "You'll live," he said, "unless you hurt her, then I swear I will kill you myself." He caught Barker with a backhand that sent the scrawny creep flying into the wall. Then he went to Susan.
"Susan, baby, my Kukana." he whispered, he took off the gag and wrapped her in his arms, holding her like he'd never let go, covering her face with soft kisses.
"Duke, sweetie," she said, "unless you've go something really kinky in mind, could you please untie me?"
"Sorry," he said, taking out his pocketknife and cutting the ropes.
"Robbie's been hurt," she said.
"Looks superficial. I think he'll be okay. Ambulances are standing by."
Maggie lay on the floor in a small heap, McGarrett kneeling by her side.
"Maggie, baby," he said, scooping her up and holding her close, "are you okay."
"Hurts. Oh, god, please no! Not again." she whispered as she fainted.
There was blood everywhere. He couldn't tell if it was her's or Chicken's.
"Get a damned EMT in here now!" he yelled.
The EMT's were already coming through the door. "Women and police officers, first." Duke said. "I don't care if those two bleed out on the floor." No one had ever seen Duke Lukela that angry before.
McGarrett gently placed Maggie on the gurney. "She's pregnant," he told the EMT's. "She's due in February."
The EMT was shining a light in her eyes. "Get an IV started STAT! She's bleeding out. Doesn't look like she was shot. Christ, she won't live to make it to Tripler. She's going to Queens. Now!"
McGarrett refused to leave her. He was on the com link as the medics were loading her into the ambulance. "Chin, get a chopper and get to Tripler. Find a Dr. Sessums. She's Maggie's doctor. Get her to Queens."
"Gotcha, anything else?" Chin asked.
"See if you can get her medical records sent over."
"Maggie going to be okay?" Chin asked.
"She'd better be."
The medic was on the radio, reading the info off Maggie's dogtags. "We're going to need as much O positive blood as you can get your hands on. Have a team from OB/GYN standing by. And one from ortho. She's got all kinds of hardware holding her spine together. Make sure the ER staff knows no MRI's under any circumstances. Got that? All the O positive blood you can round up and no MRI's!"
"Hold on, baby," Steve said, holding her hand. "Stay with me, my little Menehune."
Dr. Sessums had just got done with what she hoped would be the last delivery of the day, a healthy baby girl. She was looking forward to going home and soaking in the tub for about an hour and then going to bed. As she stepped into the corridor outside the birthing suite, she knew instinctively knew that wasn't going to happen.
A older Chinese man in black fatigues was waiting for her. He took out a badge. "Chin Ho Kelly from Five-O. There's a chopper standing by to take you to Queens Hospital. It's Sgt Alden."
"Oh, god," she said, "What's happened."
"I'm not sure. All I know is the Big Man said to get you there. Whatever it is, it can't be good."
Dr. Sessums nodded. Her area was women's health. She didn't really follow the news unless it directly effected her patients. She hadn't realized that Sgt Alden's fiance and the father of her baby was the head of Five-O until one of the nurses had pointed it out to her. She had a bad feeling something had gone horribly wrong.
"Give me a minute to grab my bag," she said, running to the locker room.
Five minutes later the chopper was airborne and on it's way to Queens.
The trauma unit at Queen's Hospital was the best in the Islands. Maggie was whisked down the corridor into an exam room within seconds of her arrival. IV lines attached to blood bags were inserted into one arm and into the vein at her neck.
"BP 85 over 60 and dropping!"
"Get the O2 going," shouted the trauma surgeon on duty. "Express that blood bag. Get her clothes off and find that damned OB!"
Dr. Sessums ran in breathless from the sprint across the parking lot. "I'm her OB. Get a fetal monitor on her, STAT! Who the hell is that?" she asked, pointing to a tall man in black fatigues standing at the back of the room.
"He's one of the cops who brought her in," the nurse said. "That's McGarrett from Five-O."
"He's her fiance. Get him the out of here, now!"
"I'm not leaving her." McGarrett said.
"Yes, you are." Dr Sessums said. "And you're going now or I'm calling security. I need to do my job without worrying about your reactions. OUT!"
One of the nurses took his arm. "This way, sir," she said gently.
He allowed himself to be led into the hallway. Chin was there, waiting. Duke came in soon after, arriving just after the ambulance bringing in Compton. Lu was with Duke, protesting she didn't need to see a doctor. Chicken and Barker were brought in, Chicken unconscious, Barker complaining loudly about police brutality until Duke told him that if he really wanted police brutality, he would be happy arrange some.
Danny was still at the crime scene, tying up loose ends and gathering evidence. Duke had already given him the .45 he'd used to shoot Chicken. It was standard procedure. He needed to collect and bag the weapon McGarrett had used to shoot Collins and Barker. IA and the Review Board were going to want answers to some questions real soon. Duke took one look at McGarrett and knew the man was in no shape to answer anyone's questions.
McGarrett stood by the trauma room, far enough away from the door not to be in the way but close enough to hear what was going on. Lu, still in her rumpled and torn uniform, hair a mess and huge bruise starting to bloom on her cheek, went to him.
"Steve, honey, she's going to be okay. This is nothing compared to what the damned Republican Guard did to her. She's a fighter. You'll see." She wrapped her arms around him in a motherly hug. He hugged her back, resting his head on her shoulder, eyes closed.
"Thank you," he said. "Could you tell me what happened? I need to know."
Lu pulled back from his embrace. "Duke was asking the same thing. I think I can tell this one time tonight, and that's it. Both of you, over here." She led them to a where a pair of sofa's met at right angles in a small alcove. She sat down, indicating for Duke to sit by her. McGarrett took the opposite sofa, with Chin hovering near, notebook out, ready to take her statement.
"We left Tripler around noon. We were going to go to Iolani. Maggie wanted to tell you about the baby, Steve. Oh, god, she was so happy. I thought I'd drag Duke out of there for lunch, or at least to take a break. Only we decided to stop by the print shop first, to see how fast they could get the invitations done, because she was going to have to move the wedding date up. We got paper samples and schedules and prices and all that stuff in a portfolio. We were walking back to the car, and she had the card from the hospital out. She kept looking at it. Like she had to convince herself it was real. There was a white van parked next to the car. We didn't think anything of it because it had Navy markings all over it. I thought it was some sailor picking up an order from the print shop. Only the big one was waiting in front of the van and that skinny creep Barker was behind the tree. The big one tried to grab Maggie, only she kicked him in the knee, and when she did, he hit her across the back with what looked like a riot baton. Barker put a knife to my throat and threatened to kill me if I screamed. Then he held a rag to my face that had some sort of smelly chemical on it and the next thing I knew I woke up with hood over my head tied to a chair. And that's about it until you guys showed up like knights in shining armor and rescued us poor damsels in distress." The last was hard to understand. She was sobbing and holding on to Duke, her face buried against his neck. The nurse came over and told them there was an exam room ready for her. Duke helped her to her feet and walked with her down the hall, his arm protectively around her waist.
He was back as soon as he had her settled in the exam room. "I called Colonel Dale and let him know we found them. He's going to let Ivory Thompson know that Robbie was hurt and he'll bring her in with him. He should be here soon."
"He's a good commander." McGarrett said.
"Yes, he is. I had Peterson call Susan's ex husband. I don't have his phone number and their phones are still part of the crime scene. I told Peterson to have him call me if he needs to talk to Susan."
McGarrett nodded.
Dr. Sessums came out of the trauma room, looking grim. McGarrett got up to meet her.
"I know we haven't been formerly introduced," she said. "I'm Dr. Sessums, Sgt Alden's OB/GYN." She held out a hand.
"Steve McGarrett," he said, taking the surprisingly strong hand in his, "Maggie's fiance. Please, Doctor, any news."
"She's being prepped for surgery now. You're about to get a crash course in human reproduction. As you know the fetus is attached to the uterine wall by the placenta. Sometimes the placenta tears away from the uterine wall. This is called placental abruption. It is an extremely serious condition and can be a very dangerous one for the mother. That's what happened to Sgt Alden. From the looks of things, and from what she was able to tell us, which isn't much, is that she took a very hard hit to the lower back. Then she was tied to a chair for several hours and finally that she was jerked to her feet and held at gunpoint. Chances are they placenta was torn when she was hit. She was probably bleeding internally for hours. When she was moved abruptly, the tear was complete, causing the hemorrhage. I'm going to go in and try to stop it."
"What about the baby?" he asked, not wanting to know the answer.
"I'm sorry, Mr. McGarrett. There's no easy way to say this. There's no fetal heartbeat. She's lost the baby."
He stood there, suddenly feeling older than time. He nodded, slowly. "Can I see her before she goes to surgery?"
"Yes," Dr. Sessums said. "You can have about five minutes. This way please. And, please, she's on some serious painkillers right now. Don't expect her to make a lot of sense and don't expect her to remember any of this afterwards."
Maggie was lying on a hospital bed, IV's in both arms and one at her throat, hooked up to machines that beeped and chirped and buzzed. He placed his hand on her forehead, pushing back a stray lock of hair, and kissed her softly.
"Maggie, sweetie, can you hear me?" he whispered.
Her eyes fluttered open, unfocused without her glasses and from the pain medication. "Steve, you're here. I knew you'd come for us."
"You know I can't live without my little Menehune," he said.
She tried to smile. It faded before it got to the corner of her mouth. "Everything hurts and Dr Sessums says I need surgery. Don't let them take our baby." She was crying, fat tears were running down her cheeks.
"Hush," he said. "Don't cry. Everything is going to be okay. I love you."
The nurse came in. She gave him a small plastic bag containing Maggie's jewelry and dog tags. "I'm going to have to ask you to leave now, sir. We have to take her down to surgery."
He kissed her before they took her away.
Dr. Sessums caught up with him at the door. "The ortho docs want to talk to you next. They get her after I'm done. You better get some coffee. Its going to be a long night."