WARNING: This story contains some violence.
Hi everyone, this chapter as well takes place much before the season finale. Just a heads up to let everyone know that it will be coming.
Chapter Ten
Steve and Danny reached Sarah's house an hour and a half before they were due at HPD, where she would have to ID Koloi. She had wanted to drive there, but Steve had insisted that he pick her up. Danny had been given the heads up by one of the detectives at HPD that the gang that Koloi belonged to was stirring some kind of trouble. So just to be safe, Sarah needed to be watched.
He rang her bell and heard her calling, "Coming!" a moment later she opened the door. She wore a pair of skinny army green chinos with a tan leather belt and tucked in she wore a loose white cotton shirt open at the collar. She wasn't wearing her heels today, instead she wore purple leather ballet flats and she wore no make – up at all, while her hair was in her usual loose topknot. She looked great as always, but instead of her usual bright smile, her smile lacked the excitement. He knew it was nervousness and dread at the coming few hours.
"Hey baby, you ready to go? I thought we could get some breakfast before heading in to HPD" Steve cupped her face in both his hands and kissed her forehead and then her lips, "Smile for me a little" he whispered, "Don't look so worried, both Danny and I are here". She then smiled as she rested her head against his chest.
"I just want to get this over with" she sighed. Then she pulled herself together, took a deep breath, "Alright, lets do this. I think I'll just have a coffee, I can't face food right now" she went back in the house and grabbed her big tan leather bag with dangly bits from it. Steve marveled at her multitude of bags, every time he saw her she had a different bag and she joked that she had a different bag for each day. He hoped she was joking.
He took her hand as they walked to the car; Danny was waiting next to the car. "Hey" he came and hugged Sarah, "How are you doing?"
"I just want to do this and then never think of it. My arm just hurts thinking about it" she tried to joke, but she was strained and it was obvious.
They went to a small café close to the HPD headquarters, where Steve and Danny tucked into a big breakfast each while Sarah chewed on a butter and jam toast and sweet coffee.
Steve looked at his watch, "Okay, time to go". They all got up and walked toward to HPD building. In the elevator, Steve pulled Sarah close to ease her tension. "Relax" he kissed the side of her head.
They were shown into a small room where a tall, cool blonde in a smart business suit stood looking through some files. When she saw them she smiled, which transformed her face into a beautiful one instead of stern. "Good morning, I'm Anna Martin the ADA working the case" she shook hands first with Sarah, then Danny and then him. When she looked at him, he saw a bit of sexual interest reflecting there, and her smile was different. Steve felt a little uncomfortable.
"So what is required of me today?" Sarah asked the ADA.
"Well for now all you have to do is ID the guy. It will be a lineup since it is a legal requirement. Once that is over, we can talk further. Lets do this one step at a time" she smiled at Sarah.
They were led into a dark room with a large window. Then a moment later a line of men filled the other room, each holding a number. Steve could tell as soon as she spotted Koloi because she tensed up and her hand squeezed his hard. He didn't realize the strength she had in her small body.
"Its number six" she said without hesitating. When prompted by ADA Martin whether she was sure or not she said, "Of course I'm sure, he was a student in my school and he is the one who shot me. I could never forget his face".
They were again ushered into a room with the ADA and the defense lawyer for Koloi. They were legal dealing and they came to the conclusion that he would be charged with murder and attempted murder instead of manslaughter since he was the one carrying the gun.
"We will be having a Grand Jury hearing, where you will be testifying. Since you also ID'd him, that means you will be required to testify to that in the trial" Anna gave Sarah the details and finished by giving her a business card with her office phone number.
As soon as they walked out of the building he felt Sarah take a deep breath, "That wasn't as bad as I thought it would be".
"So I've taken the day off, do you wanna head off to the beach or something?" Steve asked both Sarah and Danny.
"Sure why not" she replied then looked at Danny, "Hey why don't you ask Rachel if we can pick Grace up from School then take her to the beach?"
"Sounds good. Where are we going?" he asked to which Steve replied, "My place".
Danny talked on the phone while they drove, Rachel would be joining them since Stan was out of town again. Steve had noticed Danny wasn't as opposed to Rachel anymore. Maybe they were working things out for Grace's sake.
All of them ended up having a great day at his beach. Since Danny hated the water so much and Sarah didn't know how to swim, Steve took Grace into the water with him, showed her some swimming moves. He really liked the kid, probably she was the only kid he was close to and he secretly loved it when she called him 'Uncle Steve'.
Things got a bit rough when Grace made him pull her father into the water, while Danny dragged in Sarah as well. When she came up sputtering Steve pulled her to him and showed her how to float, while he tried no to laugh. One of these days he would have to teach her to swim.
They had a leisurely dinner on the beach, steaks grilled on the fire with some beer and wine for the ladies, while Grace dozed in her father's lap. They stayed out quite late, just chatting. It was one of the most enjoyable evenings that Steve had spent with Sarah and also with Danny, who by now was one of his best friends.
Sarah and Rachel were in the kitchen, when he and Danny came in after clearing the beach. Soon after Rachel and Danny left with Grace, Sarah and Steve were alone. He looked at her and she looked sleepy and rumpled. He pulled her into his arms and she cuddled there, "You want to go home or stay?"
"I think I'll head home. I need to get a good nights sleep so I can get up early and do my lesson plans" they kissed for a few minutes before they headed to her house.
It was around eleven thirty but Sarah had told him, Alisha and Jack were late sleepers and the porch light was always on till the last person to enter the house switched it off. And it was off now, which was strange. Stranger still was that none of the lights inside the house were on, but Sarah didn't seem to notice. They walked to the front door and one of them stepped onto glass from what looked like the broken porch light.
Automatically Steve drew his back up weapon from his ankle, "Baby stay back, something's not right". He took her keys from her and opened the door. The entire house was dark, but he could make out that it had been ransacked, "Don't come in till I check it out. Call Chin and let him know that your place has been broken into".
He went further into the house; the living room was tossed so he went into the kitchen. What faced him stopped his heart.
A man tied to a dining chair was badly beaten and as he moved closer, Steve recognized that it was Jack. He quickly checked for a pulse but found none. He closed his eyes. He heard a moan and turned toward the sound, it was Alisha and she was lying on the ground, her hands and feet tied together, and she had been badly beaten as well. Steve went to her and quickly untied her, "Hey, its me Steve" when she panicked. She started to cry. He picked her up and carried her outside.
Sarah saw this and her eyes went wide, "Oh my God, what the hell happened?" she asked as he rushed toward them.
"Did you call Chin?"
"Yeah he is bringing the others and the processing team" she brushed back Alisha's hair from her forehead, she had lost consciousness, "Where is Jack?" she asked.
"He didn't make it".
"What?" Sarah started to cry. Steve put Alisha on the seat of his truck and Sarah held onto her hands while she cried quietly, "Poor thing. Oh my God, who would do this Steve?"
His heart was breaking at her expression. A half hour ago she was happy and laughing, now her shoulders were shaking with grief for her friends and he knew she was feeling guilt as well.
He heard Chin and Kono's car stop along with other emergency vehicles, since Steve had called them as well. Alisha was loaded into an ambulance and Sarah went with her, leaving Steve to do his thing.
"Jack's dead. Looks like they tortured him while Alisha watched. I don't think this is a random act of violence. This is a nice neighborhood, stuff like this does not happen". Steve filled Chin and Kono in. "This has to be Koloi's gang. They knew Sarah would ID him and testify in court. She was the real target, when they didn't find her they decided to send a message". Just the thought of it brought chills to Steve and he had to really control his rage and think rationally. His first instinct was to find the son of a bitch who did this and put a bullet in his head, but he knew that wouldn't solve anything.
The ME as well came and declared Jack's death. He had not only been beaten severely, which most probably killed him, they shot him just to make sure. Starting this day, he had never thought it would end this way. The only thought in his head at this moment was, how was he supposed to protect Sarah from all this?
-X-
Sarah was waiting for this nightmare to end. Her arms were bruised because she was pinching herself, trying to wake herself up. Jack was dead, Alisha was in the hospital, and it was all her fault. She should not have agreed to testify, but she had never thought any of this would happen. And the worst thing was that, if she had been home, she would have also been dead.
The doctor had informed her that Alisha had been raped as well as been beaten. It was all probably to torture them both to give up information about Sarah. Like where she was and who she was with. She had no idea whether Jack or Alisha had divulged any information, but at this point that was not her concern. Her main concern was to help her friend cope with the horrendous loss of her fiancé. She wasn't sure if Alisha knew yet, but when she would find out it would be really bad.
Her first thought was to call Alisha's parents. She pulled out her cell phone and dialed their home phone number. She started the call calmly, but started to cry as she talked to her parents. She could hear Alisha's mother crying in the back as she spoke to her father. Then she informed Jack's parents in L.A, which was even worse. They said they would fly out as soon as they could get flights out.
That done she tried to sit in one spot, but her brain was whirling. The nurse came in and told her she could go and see Alisha, but she wasn't ready to face her yet. So she went down to the cafeteria and got a coffee then stood outside with the smokers, bummed a smoke off a guy and had her first smoke since high school. She felt marginally calmer after that.
Her phone rang in her hand; it was Steve, "Hi. Did you find out anything?"
"Yeah, it was definitely Koloi's gang who did this. They were trying to get information on you. If you had been there…" he trailed off and she heard his breathing become unsteady.
"Why did they have to kill Jack?" She asked.
"That was mostly to send a message. These guys are deadly. The problem is it isn't just about the shooting. Your testimony puts Koloi in the position to rat out their other operations in exchange for a deal, which is what they are most nervous about" he paused before continuing, "How is Alisha? Does she know about Jack yet?"
"Steve I cant bring myself to go see her. She was raped" she let out a sob, "and I can't stop thinking, what if it was me?"
"Baby, I'm coming now. What hospital are you at?" she told him and then manned up and went to see Alisha.
She had just woken up and looking around, "Sarah? What's going on? Where am I?"
"Sweetie you're in the hospital. Don't you remember anything?" then memory donned on Alisha.
Her face crumpled, "They killed Jack. Right in front of me, and I couldn't do anything to stop it" Alisha sobbed and Sarah kissed her forehead and held her hand. Probably the healthiest thing to do was to cry, to let all her feelings out. Alisha cried herself into a fitful sleep, so Sarah settled down closer to her, she cradled her head on her shoulder and hugged her closer.
That's how Steve found her. She felt his hand on her shoulder and when she looked up he smiled slightly.
"How is she doing?" he asked as he looked at Alisha's bruised and tearstained face. "Did you tell her about Jack?"
"She already knew. She remembers everything. She cried herself to sleep and when I tried to leave her she tightened her hand on mine" her eyes stung with unshed tears, "How did this nightmare start?"
Steve sat on the chair beside the bed and held her free hand, "You have me here, and you have to be strong for Alisha till her parents come. And you have to believe that I will take care of this".
For the sake of her sanity she had to believe it. She did have complete faith in Steve and she also knew that she could depend on him for any support. She also had the option of calling her parents, but she did not want to worry them.
As if reading her mind Steve said, "I took a chance at pissing you off and called your parents and brother" he didn't look guilty at all. "They are on their way as well as soon as they can get a flight".
She didn't have the strength to be pissed off, "I can get angry at you later, for now you saved me from a massive lecture on why I didn't call them when I got shot".
He smiled at her and kissed her hand, "Come on I'll take you home".
"No I'll stay here till her parents come. She needs someone, she's too traumatized".
"Okay, then I'll stay with you. Do you want a coffee?"
"Thanks for staying. I just had a coffee and a smoke".
"A smoke? I didn't know you smoked".
"Well I don't, but I needed one today".
"Okay, I'll be back in five minutes, there is an HPD cop posted at the door" he kissed her lips and left.
The entire night went by relatively peacefully, Sarah dosed holding Alisha with one arm, while Steve dosed on the chair holding her other hand. A nurse, who said that Alisha's parents were waiting outside to see her, woke them up.
Both Sarah and Steve went and met them, tried to calm them down as much as they could, then let them see their daughter who was still sleeping because of her medication.
Steve then drove her to her place, "Pack up the things you need immediately, you can stay with me" Steve said in a voice that brooked no arguments.
"My parents called and they will be here in a few hours so I can go and stay at the hotel with them".
"Actually its safer for you to stay with me. You need someone with you constantly, besides you don't want to risk others around you" he parked in front of the house. "In fact after you meet your parents, you should advise them to leave. You don't want to draw too much attention".
"Fine. But this is only temporary and we are not telling my parents. My mother will completely freak out if she knew I was living with a man", he actually had the audacity to laugh, so she punched him in the arm.
"Aww"
"As if that hurt your steel arm"
They both laughed, but then her laugh turned into a sob. She couldn't stop thinking that Alisha would never have this with Jack anymore. Steve didn't say anything just held her hand as they walked into the ruined house. It had been processed and had a police tape in the front and back. Sarah gathered as much of her stuff as she could, luckily a lot of her things were still packed, she had just been too lazy and had been living out of a few of her suitcases.
It was nine thirty in the morning when they reached Steve's place. He led her to a room he said was Mary's. Then she unpacked her nightclothes and headed for the shower while Steve said he'd make some coffee.
-X-
Steve was in the kitchen making eggs when Sarah walked in wearing grey sweats and a black NYU T – shirt, her hair was wet and she was barefoot. She looked incredibly sad but adorable. He could see her eyes were red rimmed from a fresh crying jag in the shower.
"Come here" he wanted her next to him, not just to comfort her but to comfort himself as well. When she had told him that Alisha had been raped, his heart had sunk. These guys were hardcore, even though they may be a small gang.
She cuddled into his chest; she fit like she was meant for just this. And when she was there he felt calmer. Till now he had been functioning purely on adrenalin, things needed to be done, people had to be contacted. Now that all the chaos was over, the nightmare was setting in.
"I just want to wake up from this nightmare. In the shower it crossed my mind that maybe coming here was a mistake" she looked up and smiled, touched his face, "But then I wouldn't have met you". They met half way and kissed.
"You need to get some food in you, woman".
"I am surprisingly hungry" so they both tucked into their scrambled eggs and toast. "I'm so sleepy" she yawned.
"Come on, we can both do with some decent sleep", without thinking he led her to his room and they settled onto his bed. He pulled her into his arms as she rested her head on his shoulder.
"Please just hold me Steve" her voice quivered, "I'm afraid".
He stroked her hair and her back soothingly, "Its alright to be afraid. All you have to remember is that I am here for you. I will protect you to the best of my ability and I will not let anything happen to you".
Tears flowed from her eyes as he kissed them away, "I think I'm falling in love with you" she whispered so softly that he could hardly believe he heard her. "I never felt like this before and its too soon. But after what happened today and realizing that it could easily have been me, I had to tell you. And its fine if you don't feel the same way. I don't expect it".
Steve's breath hitched. He had never told a woman that he loved her before, "I think I'm falling in love with you too" he kissed her eyes and then her lips, "And I have never felt this way either. All I know is that the thought of something happening to you tears me up inside like never before".
"Oh Steve" she buried her face in his neck and kissed the side of it. He pulled her closer and soothed her.
"Sleep for a while baby. We have a lot to get through soon" Steve held her as she slept. He reached one of his hands under his pillow and felt his gun there.
God help the guy who came to harm her, given the chance Steve would kill him. No regrets.