Chapter 11

Monday morning

Steve felt a bit conspicuous walking through the streets of Port of Spain in camo, but that was all he had. At least the dirt was off his arms and face and he was wearing a new black tee. Two hand weapons were on his person, and while he wished for his carbine, he doubted he would make it the half block to the embassy unnoticed while carrying that weapon.

He walked into the front door and quickly gained everyone's attention…whether he wanted it or not.

The embassy workers were still cleaning up from an exhausting, almost 24-hour hostage situation, and the sight of this camo-clad, no-nonsense fighter barreling to the first person he saw caused everyone's breath to hitch up a notch.

He was immediately met with resistance by two Navy ensigns, carbines just waiting to be aimed at him.

Steve wasted no time, speaking to them calmly and with authority. "I'm Lieutenant Commander Steve McGarrett and I need to speak with Admiral Farris. But I would like to do so discreetly."

"The Admiral is in a meeting, Sir," the officer began.

"And I am sure he will want to speak with me." Steve glanced around the first floor of the embassy, seeing no one who looked like they didn't belong. "Other than our own people, who is still here on site?"

"Sir, I am not at liberty—"

"And Ensign, I will not take 'no' for an answer."

A third officer stepped into the room and immediately heard the confrontation, coming quickly toward them. "Stand down, Men." He seemed to breathe a sigh of relief. "McGarrett, it is good to see you. After we lost contact, we feared the worst."

Steve nodded, recognizing Captain Anderson as one who had been in the briefing with the admiral on Saturday afternoon. "I need to speak with you…all of you," he included the first two ensigns. "The problems here are not over."

The captain motioned for them to move to a desk in the far corner, and grabbed a chair for McGarrett. The two ensigns remained on guard, with their eyes on the door, but listening to the conversation.

"You were correct about the problems here," Anderson began. "President and Mrs. Sanchez have been taken. Right out of the garden. Their guard was attacked and they are gone without a trace."

"That's not the problem," Steve began, waving his hand. "We've got them. They're safe. Your problem is Alan Chavez. He's working for Ochoa."

"Are you sure?" The captain questioned. "He came here with the Sanchez's."

"Yes," McGarrett nodded. "For the sole purpose of keeping them out of Guyana and away from the public eye while Ochoa reinserts himself back into the position of president. Chavez is the one who had the first team attacked and had the same plans for me and my team. Is he still with the admiral?"

The captain nodded. "But he's getting ready to leave. Rumor has it that Ochoa left for a meeting at his family compound and hasn't been seen in over 24 hours. Chavez plans to go back to Georgetown this morning."

"Not if I have anything to do with it," McGarrett vowed. "How many men did he bring with him? I know Raoul is one of them."

"Other than Raoul, there are five guards and Chavez. When I left upstairs, two were securing the complex behind the embassy and the others were in the conference room and hallway."

"I'm going in to see the admiral. Captain, can you come with?" He turned to the ensigns. "You two remain on the stairway out of sight, and be our back up. Hopefully the guards will follow us into the conference room and we can take down everyone, but if that doesn't happen, I want them neutralized. I have an idea Chavez will be very surprised to see me… and we may cause a commotion. Any questions?"

A round of 'no-sir's' ensued and Steve nodded. "I have a team entering the back of the other building as we speak. They can easily deal with the guards over there. Danny, Kono, did you copy?"

"Loud and clear," was Danny's message in his ear.

"Let's go."

~~~H50~~~

In Danny Williams' "Rule Book for Takedowns," things can go from Number One: "Easy Peasy" all the way to Number Ten: "Royal Screw Up". This one waffled between a four to a five; four being "You Really Are Morons," to five, which was "You Don't Want to Piss Off an Already-Pissed-Off SEAL."

Danny and Kono had entered the back of the complex and used Sanchez's map to reach the third floor. They crept across the stone floors looking and listening for the patrolling guards. When they found them, the words 'take down' didn't even apply. The two men were seated on the main staircase, leaning against the wall having a smoke and sharing a flask. Their weapons and radios were by their sides. Hence, the "You Really Are Morons". Kono took great pleasure in using duct tape to silence their protests and they were quickly zip tied, both hand and foot, to the banister.

"Two down," Danny whispered into his mic. "We're heading to your position."

Captain Anderson nodded to the two soldiers standing in the hallway next to the conference room, rapped a brisk two knocks on the door before opening it and stood aside for McGarrett to enter.

The admiral was on the telephone, but quickly waved them into the room, a look of surprise on his face at seeing the commander. He hastened to end his conversation while McGarrett surveyed the room.

Raoul was seated at the conference table, a bag of ice held to the side of his head. The last guard was stationed behind Chavez and the admiral, hand on the weapon in his holster. Chavez had been putting papers into his briefcase, but became totally still upon seeing McGarrett enter the room. The look of surprise was quickly masked. There was an element of shock, but if Steve tried to categorize the face, he would label it blatant 'contempt'.

The admiral ended his call and turned to McGarrett, who saluted his superior.

Farris waved off the salute and shook the commander's hand. "I have to tell you, I was getting worried about you," the older man admitted, slapping Steve on the arm.

"We all made it out, Sir. The two injured SEALs are at the hospital here in Trinidad. One of my men was injured in a firefight early this morning, and he is there as well, but they all will be fine." He took a folded paper from his pocket and handed it to the admiral, telling him, "This is the location of the other two SEALs. They are buried near the beach where they fell."

Admiral Farris nodded, glancing down at the paper. "Thank you. I'll make the arrangements and get them home. They were good men."

"Boomer and Buck said the same," McGarrett replied. He glanced around the room once again, saying, "I heard you had some excitement around here."

"Commander, things have gone to hell in a hand basket today. First, we had the coup and once we thought that was resolved, President Sanchez and his wife were taken at gunpoint. They were in the garden this morning and their aide was attacked." He pointed to Raoul, offering a look of sympathy for the man's headache. "When he came to, they were gone. We have the police working on the abduction, but so far, there has been no word and no ransom note. And we haven't heard any chatter from any of our sources."

"The rumor I heard is that Ochoa is also missing," McGarrett replied. "What do you know about that?"

The admiral shook his head and turned toward Chavez. "Alan received confirmation of that fact about an hour ago. He is heading back to his country to see what he can do." The older man shook his head. "It blows my mind that in a few days time, a small country such as Guyana has become such a major hot spot. Two presidents going missing in the same day is unheard of."

McGarrett casually walked around the table to stand between the admiral and the guard behind him.

"Mr. Chavez, how do you lose two presidents in one day? I guess that put a kink in the plan, didn't it?"

The man looked from the admiral to McGarrett, drawing himself up to full height. "I don't have a clue what you're talking about." He picked up another sheaf of papers and placed them into his briefcase.

"Sure you do," Steve continued. "And I'm guessing that right about now, you are surprised to see me. I mean the attack on the beach didn't work, so you went to Plan B at the compound, tracking us into the jungle and then utilizing the chopper to hunt us down. Or was that Plan C? It's hard to keep track."

Chavez reached into the briefcase once again and McGarrett reached for his weapon, at the same moment using his left elbow to take down the guard. Chavez and McGarrett's weapons made appearances at the same moment.

Captain Anderson drew his weapon to cover Raoul, but the injured guard was faster. His jagged edge knife embedded into the captain's thigh and Raoul knocked the gun from his slack hand as the sailor fell to the floor. Raoul picked up the gun, grabbing Anderson by the back of his shirt, the weapon against his skull.

At one end of the table, McGarrett had his MK23 aimed at Chavez. Chavez's weapon was pointed at the admiral. On the opposite end were Raoul and Anderson. The embassy liaison shook his head and ordered, "Drop your weapon. Now."

"Not going to happen," McGarrett warned him. "Pull the trigger and you're dead before the smoke clears. I will not miss and I will shoot to kill."

"I don't think so. I am leaving now and if you try to stop me, I will put a bullet in your admiral because he is coming with me. I have guards outside the door, so don't try to follow."

Admiral Farris replied with a sigh, "Alan, I had hoped I was wrong about you, but I knew many things weren't adding up. Why the hell did you have that little girl killed?"

Chavez laughed maniacally. "We didn't kill her. You did."

Farris looked disgusted. "The photo came to you before the U.S. had anyone in the area. So you aren't laying the blame for this at my feet."

"The plan was simple," Chavez spat out. "Ochoa planned to keep her on ice for a few days and then 'find' her and return her to her parents. Our people would be so appreciative of Ochoa, they would return him to power. The story that she had been killed was simply a ruse to try and call off your men. But no, the U.S. just had to retaliate and blow the entire estate. So, you see, your Wonder Boy here and his team killed the kid. Not Ochoa."

The admiral rubbed his hand over his face, muttering, "Dear God," while cutting a concerned glance toward McGarrett.

"So, how does that make you feel, Admiral?" Chavez sneered. "You ordered your SEAL team to go in and blow the compound where she was being kept. I can't wait to see that headline and see how your country puts its 'goody-two-shoes' spin on it."

"There won't be a need for any kind of 'spin'," Steve calmly assured him, his MK23 still trained, point blank, on Chavez's chest. "Because we have the girl. She's safe. And, by the way, we also have her parents."

Chavez's face lost its composed mask, then he barked out, "Guards!" He heard the doors on both ends of the room open and he pointed to McGarrett and yelled, "Seize him! He is responsible for the kidnapping of President Sanchez."

McGarrett glanced toward the door behind Chavez and the guard he had disarmed kicked out, his boot hitting the commander hard behind his left knee. The guard began to rise as McGarrett went down.

Steve's knee twisted beneath him, but he managed to turn around and fire, hitting the guard in the chest. The man hit the wall, and then slid to the floor, dead before his journey was completed.

The double doors behind Chavez had opened to reveal Danny and Kono, while the sailors carrying carbines entered the doors behind Raoul. Raoul kept a grip on Anderson's collar and jerked around to find the Navy ensigns, surprised to be staring into the barrels of two weapons. He was immediately disarmed and shoved, face down, on the floor.

Chavez stood in the room, out-manned, out-gunned and out-smarted.

But positive he could salvage something. His weapon never faltered, aimed at the admiral. "Farris, get up. You're coming with me. McGarrett, call off your people. NOW!"

"I really don't think so," the Farris replied.

"Neither do I," McGarrett agreed, his MK23 once again focused on Chavez. "Did I mention that we also have Ochoa in custody?"

Chavez whipped around to stare at the commander, fury on his face. "Lies!"

His hand holding the weapon jerked toward McGarrett and when the gun moved, it was shot from Chavez's hand. Danny had been waiting for the opportunity to get a bead on the gun and readily took it when he saw the chance.

McGarrett quickly sprung up from his knees and tackled Chavez to the floor, the barrel of his MK23 beneath the man's chin. "Give me one reason to shoot," Steve ground out as he stared Chavez in the face.

"Commander." The admiral's voice was quiet, but the word was spoken with authority.

McGarrett took a deep breath and eased off, allowing Danny and Kono to guard the man while he stood. With Williams' help, they pulled Chavez up and he was face down on the conference table, one arm jerked behind his back before he knew what hit him.

"My arm," the man strangled out.

McGarrett pulled back on the man's collar, before slamming his head into the table once again, twisting his arm higher. "You're lucky I don't break it," he hissed, "after seeing how that little girl was being treated." He glanced up and growled, "Someone throw me some ties."

Danny eased closer to Kono and muttered into her ear, "You really don't want to piss off a pissed off SEAL. I'm just sayin'."

Kono grinned at him and pulled some ties from her pocket and held them out toward McGarrett.

Admiral Farris reached out and took them from her. "Allow me. Nothing would give me more pleasure right now."

McGarrett held Chavez's hands while the admiral tightened the plastic around them, then they manhandled their prisoner into the chair.

Admiral Farris looked at McGarrett. "Was that a really good bluff, or do you actually have Ochoa?"

Steve grinned, flexing his knee. "We have Ochoa. The rest of my team has him on ice at the airport."

"And President and Mrs. Sanchez are all right?"

"We have them, too. Along with Ali. Boomer and Buck told me she was still alive before we blew the place."

"Good work, McGarrett. I guess our next move is to get President Sanchez back to Guyana so that he can resume power."

Chavez started to stand, shouting, "The people don't want Sanchez. The leader of Guyana is President Ochoa!"

The admiral promptly shoved him back into the chair. "Oh, shut up. There was an election that stated otherwise. I guess your vote just didn't count enough. But don't worry, you and Ochoa will get to go back to your country, too. Only as criminals."

Farris surveyed the room, seeing Anderson seated at the table, one of the ensigns controlling the bleeding in his leg. "Captain, we'll have medics in here soon." He turned to McGarrett and told him, "We need to arrange transport for everyone to head back to Guyana. I'm sure Sanchez is anxious to resume his presidency."

"Actually," McGarrett began, rubbing the back of his neck, "there's a Blackhawk on the tarmac waiting for instructions. We can use that to secure the prisoners and get them back to Guyana if you want to arrange escort for the president and his family."

"Do I want to know where you got a Blackhawk?"

"Probably not," McGarrett admitted, a sheepish grin on his face.

The admiral glanced back around and pointed to Danny and Kono, who were standing along the wall, still holding their weapons. "And who are these people? You pick them up off the street?"

Steve grinned. "Not really, Sir. But they are the best back up any SEAL could ask for."

~~~H50~~~