Over the Edge Chapter 8
A/N: Guys, I got a beta reader! Maybe the story will get better as we go, I've been having trouble coming up with good variety words, and that's what my beta reader is going to do! I'm excited. Well, I have been very, very happy with all the reviews I have been getting. I am so excited when I get them, I just kind of smile like a dope and hug the computer. Keep 'em coming. Oh, just so you know, this is where some whump comes in. I guess I kept gradually adding it instead of all at once. I was planning on doing it all at once, but I guess that changed. Thanks for reading!
-H50-
"The blood, it was Steve's." Danny whispered to Chin and Kono. "Steve is hurt, we need to find them. There was a good amount of it, not life threatening, but definitely something to be concerned about. We have to find them. We have to find Grace." Danny said, his voice raising in urge.
"We got you, brah. We'll find them soon, it's okay." Kono did her best to comfort him, but she was still angry about the way Danny was acting. She just couldn't get over the fact that Danny didn't seem to care if Steve was okay or not. This was the first time that he showed any compassion where Steve was concerned. Maybe he did care a little. "We'll get a lead soon that will lead us right to where they are. We'll find them." Kono continued.
"I hope you're right, Kalakaua." Danny replied.
"Hey, guys, we got a phone call from a Grace Williams. We figured she wanted you, Detective." A cop rushed over to Danny and slid a phone into his hand.
"Gracie, oh my god, Gracie, where are you?" Danny asked frantically. "Are you okay, baby? Did you get hurt at all?" Danny sputtered his words out in fear.
"Danno… I'm fine, Danno. Steve distracted the men so I could get away and go ask someone for help! I did what he wanted me to, but he told me not to look back. I did, though, he was shot again. Danno, you need to help Uncle Steve!" Gracie cried hysterically.
"Oh, Gracie! We will find Uncle Steve, don't worry. Where are you, Monkey, we can come get you." Danny said as he silently mouthed 'trace the call' to Chin. "Are you sure you're okay, baby? You are sure that you're okay, nothing hurts at all?"
"No, Danno. I'm fine, really. We just need to get Uncle Steve." Grace blubbered. She only cared about Uncle Steve. She would let Danno come and take care of her, just as soon as they found her Uncle Steve.
"Oh, Gracie, we'll come get you. Stay where you are, okay Monkey?" Danny told her.
"Okay, Danno. Come quick." She whispered back.
"Guys, we need to go get Gracie. Did you track the call, Chin?" Danny asked the older man, hoping that he did.
"Yes, but it's far away. At least two hours, I think. She's all the way across the island." Chin answered. "We'd better get going."
-H50-
The doorbell rang.
"I'll get it, Grace. You just stay there and don't say a word. Hush, child." The woman that took Grace in said in a low whisper. She was nice, she let Grace come in and stay with her while she waited for her Danno.
"Hello, I'm here for my daughter, Grace Williams. Is this the right address? Is she here?" A older Hawaiian man questioned the woman as she opened the door.
"Oh, I don't know anyone by that name, sorry. Maybe a few houses down does, they're always taking in children, they're foster parents." The woman informed the man, taking a step back to close the door.
The man stepped into the house and drew a gun. "Are you sure that she's not here? This is where my men said she would be." He murmured, pushing the gun to the lady's back.
"Nope, no girl here."
"That was a mistake." He whispered into her ear. He aimed at the woman's heart and pulled the trigger. She dropped heavily on the floor like a sack of potatoes.
"Gracie, come out. I've got Uncle Steve. If you don't come out, I'm killing him." The mysterious man called out into the cool house.
Gracie thought about it for a moment. He just killed that nice woman that had helped her, she couldn't just walk out and give herself up. Then again, she would kill Uncle Steve if she didn't, so she had to.
"I'm right here." Grace said in a composed tone. "You can't hurt Uncle Steve now."
"On the contrary, that's what I have him here for. I'm going to hurt him so badly that you won't even recognize him, he's done some terrible things, little girl. Now, come here or I shoot you and Steve." The man demanded in a growl, motioning for Grace to come closer to him.
Grace stepped up to the man and let him drag her out to the all-too-familiar van. So much for back-up, she thought.
-H50-
Grace suspected that Steve was waking up when she heard him groan in pain.
"Uncle Steve, are you okay? Wake up!" Grace coaxed, shaking his uninjured shoulder.
"Gracie?" She mumbled through his parched throat.
"Yeah, it's me. Wake up, you have to wake up." Grace shook him once again.
"You hafta…. You hafta leave." He murmured.
"No, I can't leave you. We have to go, Danno's on his way. He won't find us if we leave where I called him from." Grace whispered into Steve's ear.
"Just get… the doors… open. Best bet… that way. I can't move, Gracie. Jusss… juss try the doors." Steve slurred, almost letting the blackness engulf him again.
Grace scooted over to the doors of the van and tried the handles. They were locked, of course. There was no way that they would escape without the doors opening from the outside.
"They're locked. We'll just wait for Danno, that's all we can do." Grace told Steve. She was right, there really was nothing they could do.
-H50-
"This is it, they should be here." Chin said as he stood up from the car.
"Okay, let's go get Gracie." Danny smiled. He missed his little girl and was afraid that something bad had happened to her.
The three people walked up the pathway that lead up to a small house on the outskirts of the little neighborhood. Danny knocked firmly on the red door. When no one answered, he yelled in saying "We're 5-0 here to pick up Grace Williams. It's safe!" He lifted his badge up and pressed it to the window, proving his identity. Still no answer.
"I think we've got to force our way in if they aren't going to answer." He suggested. "I want my Gracie back." Danny informed his team, turning back his back to the door to talk to them briefly. The turned back to the door and did a McGarrett kick, pushing the door off its hinges. The first thing that the team saw was an old lady lying dead on the ground in a pool of blood. Dead.
"Damn it! They were here! They found her! Damn you, McGarrett!" Danny seethed hysterically and ran back to the car like a little kid having a tantrum. He was followed closely by Chin and Kono.
"Look, you being upset and cursing McGarrett isn't going to get us anywhere. I understand that you're upset that Grace was taken back, but you need to get your head in the game. Danny, you know that this isn't Steve's fault, you heard Gracie. He was doing everything he could to save her. He might be dead because he tried to protect her, so just shut up and pull yourself together. Stop blaming Steve and get yourself together!" Kono fumed, she wasn't ever this mad in her life.
"He's trying." Danny muttered. "Trying isn't enough, he didn't try hard enough!" His voice gradually raised until he was screaming. "If it was me there with Grace, none of this would have happened! It's his fault!" He gesticulated wildly, his voice raising to a fevered pitch.
"It's not. Just get in the car." Kono sternly said, Danny obliged. A mad Kono was a scary Kono.
-H50-
Steve awoke, shaking. He was freezing cold, never had he been that cold in his life. The shivering was so intense that it seemed as though he was having a seizure, but thankfully he wasn't. The uncontrollable shuddering was causing him blinding pain, but he was too exhausted to cry out.
"So you're awake, McGarrett? Good, it took long enough. I wanted my men to bring you in one piece, but that didn't happen of course. I wanted you to be coherent for this, but I guess it doesn't seem as if that's going to happen." Wo Fat cooed. "Now, get up. It's time for your hourly beating, and since you're awake, we can start. Tie him up, Menendez." Wo Fat bitterly said.
Steve felt a warm hand pull him up on his injured shoulder. Despite his exhaustion, Steve whimpered in pain. The bullet wound and his dislocated shoulder together already hurt considerably, but the rough manhandling just sent him over the edge. He flung his left arm and felt his hand come in contact with an unsuspecting eye. The man howled and released Steve, dropping him back to the unforgiving floor. He dropped with a grunt.
"Damn, Steven. I want you in shape so I can beat the crap out of you. Get up!" Wo Fat then pulled Steve up by his left shoulder and pushed him onto a hard metal chair. Steve's head spun with dizziness, but Fat's sturdy hands kept Steve sitting up on the chair. Wo Fat grabbed a tan rope and tied Steve's legs and hands together and knotted his torso up to the back of the chair. Once his head cleared, Steve noticed that he was in a dreary gray cement box, just big enough to fit five men. It had a door, but no windows.
"You have become a threat towards me. I think killing you may be the best idea. I don't want to do this without letting you feel every bone in your body break. You have been a fine opponent, McGarrett, but this has gone too far for my liking." Wo Fat began his torture. He sent a few solid punches to Steve's gut, but he refused to release the bile that was making its journey up his throat.
"Maybe beating that little girl that you had with you would make you a little more upset." Wo Fat smiled a toothy grin. "Menendez, get up off your ass and get that girl."
Menendez stood, hand still to his eye. "Yes, sir." He left the small room and went to go get Gracie.
"No… You can't… She's just a girl…" Steve heaved the words out of his mouth. He couldn't let Gracie get hurt.
"Ah, you would not like it if I harmed her. Just the more reason to." Wo Fat explained to him just as Gracie came into the room.
"Uncle Steve! Are you okay?"
"Fine, Gracie. Just… quiet down, okay?" He grunted through clenched teeth.
The little girl nodded, immediately closing her mouth.
"It would be such a shame if this pretty face got cut up." Wo Fat said, pulling out a rusty knife from his pocket.
"No! Stop!" Steve yelled, adrenaline rushing through his body. His pain slowly started to melt away into the background. He pulled against his restrains, ignoring his dislocated knee, broken wrist and ankle, and all the other problems that may have met his body. He just focused on getting Gracie out of there. "Isn't it me that you wanted, you coward? You are just a son of a bitch!" Steve called out, hoping to get Wo Fat's attention.
"You will regret that, McGarrett." Fat whispered in a low voice, making it sound menacing. He turned towards Gracie, who was now tied to a chair next to Steve. He wound his arm back, ready to throw the knife. He drew his arm forward and released it into the air. Steve thrust all his weight to the right to get in front of Gracie, and he did so successfully. The knife lodged itself into Steve's abdomen, right next to the debris from the bomb.
"Damn it, McGarrett! If you're going to do this, I won't be able to beat the shit out of you." Wo Fat said calmly.
"Let… us… go." Steve grunted through the waves of nausea and dizziness. He was ready to let go, he was slowly slipping.
"You know I can't do that. Just let me get this knife out of you." Wo Fat mumbled, pulling the rusty knife out of Steve. Steve shouted in pain, shouted so loud that he swore that the whole world should have been able to hear him.
"Shut up, we can't have you screaming bloody murder out here." Wo Fat snapped.
"Can't…. help…" Steve said, just before he slipped away.
-H50-
"Did you hear that?" Chin asked the team.
"Yeah, where was that coming from?" Kono responded.
"I think from that way, let's go. It sounded close." Chin pointed to the right and started walking.
The woman who had helped Grace, and who is now dead, was identified as Mona Kameona by her next door neighbor. Her neighbor said that a Hawaiian man had come out of the van and was dragging a screaming girl behind him, as 5-0 found out when they interviewed her. She found it suspicious, so she made sure she got the plates of the van. With a little help from traffic cameras, they found that the van had lead to the woods. It stopped right outside, so the team didn't know exactly where Steve and Grace were, but they knew that they were in there somewhere.
"What's that? Do you see that cabin, Chin? Am I just imagining this or is it real?" Kono asked.
"No, it's real. I see it, too. Let's go." The three travelled quietly through the dense foliage.
They came upon the building and Danny crept down on the porch, picking up a small pink clip.
"This is Gracie's. She's here. Let's go." Danny breathed. He stood up and they each took their positions at the door. They didn't care whether they were being reckless, Steve reckless in a matter of fact, but their ohana was in there, they needed to get to them as soon as possible. Chin kicked open the door and glanced around. There was no one in sight. They all split up, each taking a room.
"Guys, here, there's a cellar." Chin motioned for the others to follow him. Down below, there were five men, smoking, drinking, and doing pot. The team figured that they could take the men, they seemed to be engrossed in what they were doing. Five simple shots and they were all dead on the floor, staining the gray ground red. The team continued through the basement, hoping that their shots wouldn't bring anymore trouble towards them.
"This way, there's blood." Chin whispered, noticing the stale blood that was stained on the ground.
They followed the trail of blood that led to a small box of cement with a door carved out of it. It looked as if someone came in the basement and put a wall of cement up for fun. But this wasn't fun, Danny's child may have been in there, and for all he knew, she could have been dead. Danny, Chin, and Kono pushed open the heavy door leading to the room of cement.
A/N: I think I left you guys with a bit of a cliff hanger, but hey, it makes it more interesting. So, sorry that it took so long to get this back to you. My beta reader (Joyce C) and I had to get things all set up and organized. Anyway, I hope you guys are enjoying the story as much as I enjoy writing it. Thanks for reading! OH WAIT GUYS, you know how I said dislocated knee? I confused my beta with this too. Well, last chapter I said he fell and he heard a pop, I just decided it to be his knee. Hah, I feel like this guy is in pieces now, whoops. Maybe he'll recover, maybe not. Okay, thanks for reading.