CHAPTER TWO

McGarrett became conscious shortly after they lifted him into the ambulance and drove off. His mind was clearing faster than his eyesight and he struggled to sit up only to find a restraining hand on his arm.

"Don't sit up sir, just relax and we'll have you in the hospital in no time."

He blinked and saw the cherubic face of a young ambulance man sitting next to him. The man was checking his pulse and Steve frowned.

"I don't have time for this." He said almost to himself as his head dropped back onto the stretcher. "I have to find Danno."

'Sorry but you're not going anywhere, we need to get you checked out. Looks like you might have a concussion." The angel-faced man said having finished his glib diagnosis.

"I'm fine!" The Five 0 chief lied.

"Well let's just wait for the doctor to make that pronouncement shall we sir? Not long now."

The rest of the journey Steve was quiet, his mind going over the events leading up to the explosion.

He and Danny had been reviewing statements from a recent murder case when the call came in. It was an old snitch of McGarrett's, someone he hadn't heard from in a very long time and although he was surprised to hear from Honu, he trusted the man having had a long and mutually fruitful relationship with him over the years.

Honu told Steve that a large shipment of heroin was destined for Honolulu and he had wind that a buyer was meeting the seller in a downtown location to show him samples. Honu would say no more about his source or the location over the phone but suggested meeting him. He begged Steve to go alone, his distrust of other cops well documented. McGarrett agreed and arranged to meet within the hour.

Steve closed his eyes as he recalled the conversation with Danny afterwards. Williams was instantly suspicious, sighting the long absence of Honu as one of many good reasons not to go alone. Knowing his Second-in-Command to be right, Steve agreed to take Danno along. Now he bitterly regretted his decision although in hindsight, had it not been for Dan, Steve wouldn't be alive to regret anything.

It was obvious to him that it had been a set up, but why kidnap Danny and why not finish him off when they could?

He was tired; his ribs and head throbbed unmercifully and he was becoming confused. If he could just close his eyes for a few moments….Steve fell asleep.

"What is that?" Brett enquired as he plonked Dan Williams down onto a bare mattress.

They had taken the injured detective upstairs to an attic room, complete with hot and cold running cobwebs and a dusty lightbulb that flickered on the brink of self-destruction. The mattress had been left there for many years and was damp to the touch but it served its purpose.

"I dunno, looks like metal to me, should we touch it?" Noah said and stared at the bloody shard sticking out of Danny's right thigh.

"How the hell should I know, I'm not a doctor?! Best leave it – might bleed more if you pull it out."

"That must hurt." Noah offered sympathetically as he took a pair of handcuffs and hooked them around a pipe then clipped Danny's wrists together, restraining him.

"Yeah well that's not our problem. The boss says give him first aid. I don't know the first thing about stuff like this, I'm not a nursemaid!"

"You think he'll die Brett?"

"Quit asking me questions will ya! Yes maybe, then again maybe not! Seems to me he's in pretty bad shape but then you look like that after a night in the Phantom so who's to know."

"Water."

"What?"

"My mum always got hot water when I cut myself. Oh yeah and towels. Hot water and towels." Noah said ticking the items off his fingers.

"He's not pregnant for goodness sake!"

"No but it's a start. We need bandages too."

Brett shook his head, seeing another side to his big oaf of a friend. For a man who ordinarily killed without compunction, this was a new facet to Noah's personality and one that Brett was somewhat distressed to witness.

"Well go and get 'em them Florence Nightingale."

"Huh?"

"Oh never mind. Just get what you think you need and we'll patch him up as best we can. Oh and better get something to blindfold him with. Don't want him coming to and seeing us."

"Do we need to gag him? He might be sick and choke." Noah said, showing a deeper knowledge of first aid than was good for a man in his profession.

Brett just stared at him in surprise and blinked.

"Uh, no, I don't think that's necessary. This place is pretty sound proof and let's face it people scream here most nights!"

"Yuh but this is daytime Brett." Noah replied, obviously concerned his friend had got the time wrong.

"Just go and get those things will ya. You're beginning to worry me."

"Okay. You better press something on that wound until I get back. He might bleed to death." Noah said as he was half way out of the door.

"You know you are in the wrong profession Noah my old buddy. You should have been a nurse dressed up in one of them pretty little outfits!"

"Ya think?"

"NO! Now get a move!"

Noah hesitated and Brett twitched.

"Hang on. I'm coming with you. I don't trust you!"

"Steve? You okay Steve?"

Chin Ho Kelly's loud voice roused him. He was lying in a hospital bed, feeling very sleepy indeed and as a consequence was almost angry that he had been awakened.

"'s okay Chin I can hear you, there's no need to shout."

Doc Bergman warned the detective that McGarrett's hearing might be off for a while so he was talking more loudly than normal. He toned his voice down.

"Good, we got worried about you there for a while. Sorry I woke you up but we need to talk. How are you feeling?"

"Sore, tired. I'm okay. What happened?"

"Doc says you'll be fine with a few days' rest. Mild concussion, some cuts and bruises and two cracked ribs. You were out for a while so they did the X-rays then brought you back up here. Having seen the damage that bomb caused I would say you were very lucky boss!"

"Thanks to Danno." McGarrett said wistfully and cautiously felt his cheek, fingering the plaster covering his wound.

"Danno?"

"If he hadn't warned me and pushed me out of the way I would be lying on a slab in the morgue about now."

"Can you tell me what happened and where Danny is, there was no sign of him at the scene? Although there was a body in the wreckage of the car…unless…" China found he couldn't bring himself to say the words.

McGarrett licked his dry lips and Chin automatically handed him a cup of water which he sipped gratefully through a straw. He sighed and shook his head gently. "Not Danno, that was Honu, an old grass of mine, he was dead when we got there. I don't know what happened Chin other than recalling Danny shouting and then the explosion. Didn't you or Kono find out any more from the witness at the scene?"

"We interviewed everyone there but no one said they saw anything!"

"That's not correct. There was a man, a store owner, he saw two men draw up in a car after the explosion and they took Danno. They took him away and I'm pretty sure he's injured!!" McGarrett said and anxious to find his friend, lifted the sheet off his legs and started to get out of bed.

"Hey whoa, not so fast! Doc say's you're not going anywhere at least for tonight."

"But we have to find him - I have to find him!"

"The state you're in Steve you wouldn't be able to find the men's room. Let the department handle this until you're back on your feet."

McGarrett gasped in pain and held his ribs as he swung his long legs off the bed -determined to find Danny on his own, regardless of his detective's suggestion.

"I don't have time for this." Steve fought nausea as the room spun around him and perspiration dripped from his forehead. He gripped the side of bed with one hand and swayed.

"Well I do!" Another voice announced and McGarrett looked up to see the department's Medical Examiner, Doc Bergman standing in the doorway looking his usual gruff self.

"You should listen to Chin Ho. He's right, you're not going anywhere tonight Steve, you'll collapse!"

"Aren't you listening to me?" McGarrett replied angrily, "Danny Williams has been kidnapped and most probably injured so I haven't got time to waste hanging around hospitals when I need to be out there looking for him!"

"And what good will it do Danny if you have some kind of seizure and end up back here again?"

"That's ridiculous Doc, I'm fine. I can just as easily rest in my office!"

"Well we'll see about that." Bergman said cryptically and turning his back on both men for a second filled a hypodermic syringe with the sedative he had brought along in case the Five-O Chief had one of his infamous tantrums.

With record speed he swabbed McGarrett's arm and injected him before Steve had time to object.

The dark haired man's face was a mask of betrayal as he grabbed the doctor's arm and said sleepily, "Someone has to find him doc! Find Danno…he's hurt.."

"We'll find him, now rest." He said with false reassurance as he lifted the drowsy man's legs back onto the bed and covered him with the sheet before turning to Chin. Both of the oriental detective's eyebrows were raised in surprise. "I wasn't about to argue with him but I am concerned about Danny. If he was as close, or closer to the bomb than McGarrett was then he could be badly injured."

"Don't worry doc, we'll find him." Chin said and wished that he felt as confident as he sounded. His first job was to locate the shopkeeper Steve had said witnessed Danny's kidnapping.

Chin looked at the now sleeping man in the bed, then back at the doctor.

"Oh don't worry, he'll be fine. When he wakes up he'll be mad at me but I'm used to that. Now go find Danny."

"Call me when that happens will you doc?"

"Yes, yes now shoo!"

Chin went, his brow furrowed with concern for both his boss and Williams, but especially for Danny.

If they young detective had been taken by someone then Kelly hadn't a clue where to start looking for him.

Danny was shivering, his system reacting automatically to his injuries. As the pain became too sharp he gradually returned to consciousness, surfacing through the layers of darkness until he managed to open his sticky eyelids.

For a few frightening seconds he didn't know what had happened to him but then his memory came flooding back in glorious technicolour. His eyesight though was not as clear as his recollection of what had happened and he blinked furiously, trying to make his eyes focus properly but they couldn't. He was able to make out shapes but everything was blurry and he had a ringing in his ears like Sunday school bells. Someone was also drilling inside his skull.

He appeared to be in a darkened room although every now and then he saw a flicker of light as it hit his retina before fading again.

There had been a bomb.

Danny recalled seeing it lying on the front seat of the car next to the corpse of McGarrett's snitch. Honu's throat had been cut. The bomb was set to go off and all he remembered was shouting to Steve as he tried to get them both out of the way - then nothing but a bright light, searing heat and intense pain.

He coughed and as he did so a sharp pain stabbed in his right side making him cry out as a bolt of agony lanced through his leg and chest. He thought perhaps he was in hospital, but as he struggled to sit up he found his wrists were secured above his head by what felt like handcuffs and he realised that he was in deep trouble.

Danny tested his bonds but nothing gave.

Unable to fathom what was happening, he began to catalogue his injuries rather than give himself over to panic. What he felt and what was wrong with him were two different things but he registered a number of what he assumed to be injuries. His head ached and his face, chest and left shoulder stung from what felt like burns. He could hardly see or hear and he thought he may have broken at least one rib. What bothered him most though was the agony in his leg. His thigh felt like it was on fire and Danny knew from the wet tickling the back of his leg that he was bleeding.

He had no idea where he was or who held him captive.

He wondered if Steve was also there and as quietly as possible called out, "Steve? Steve, are you okay?" No answer. "Steve? It's Danny…answer me if you can?" Nothing. It was conceivable that McGarrett hadn't made it. Danny dreaded to think about that possibility but realised that the explosion could well have taken his friend's life.

Angry and upset, Danny tugged at his bonds again and tried kicking out with his good leg, all to no avail. He needed to know that Steve was okay.

Perhaps remaining quiet wasn't the best idea after all. With no gag in place there was a chance someone would hear him yelling and go for help, on the other hand, there was an equally good chance his captors would hear him and come running to shut him up. At least if that was the case Danny would have the opportunity to ask about McGarrett.

He decided to shout.

"What is that noise?" Noah asked as he walked back upstairs, arms full of equipment destined for their captive.

"Sounds like he's awake!" Brett offered, unconcerned, as he adjusted his own pile of bandages and other bits and pieces.

"Perhaps we do need to gag him after all, but at least he's alive. The boss would be mad at us if the cop died."

"Well we'd better see to it he doesn't!"

In the semi-darkness Danny barely heard the sound of muffled voices nearby and tensed. He wasn't sure what to expect so decided to keep quiet. He presumed his shouts had done the trick and brought someone to him, but whether it was rescue him or harm him, he had no idea.

The door opened.

"Well, well he's decided to join us!" A voice said and straining his eyes Danny managed to make out the shapes of two men but couldn't see them with any clarity. He just knew he didn't recognise the voice.

"Who are you?" He asked boldly, "And why am I tied up?"

"Psst Brett, he'll see us!" Noah said in a stage whisper.

"You stupid oaf, shut up! Back towards him with the blindfold and when you get there I'll switch the light off."

"And then what?"

"Where am I and why I'm here?" Dan said in frustration but was ignored as the private conversation continued.

"Then, you put the blindfold on him so he can't see!"

"Oh yuh. But I won't be able to see to put it on him."

"Oh you great ninny, give it to me, I'll do it." Brett snatched the blindfold off his colleague's arm and began backing towards the mattress. Every now and then he took a quick peak behind him to see if he was walking into anything, apparently oblivious to the fact that he was ruining his whole plan by doing so.

"Right, get the light."

"Okay."

The light went out and Danny felt hands fumbling over his face as someone tied a blindfold over his partially useless eyes. He didn't bother mentioning to his captors the fact that he didn't have full use of his senses, they didn't need to know that he was practically defenceless.

"Okay, turn it back on."

The light came back on but Dan didn't see it, just felt a slight shift in the spectrum. He was actually grateful for the blindfold as it eased his sore eyes, relieving them somewhat.

"He's a mess!" Brett commented absently as he bent down to examine Danny's injuries.

"Who are you?" Dan asked again, the man's voice penetrating through the bells.

"No one you need to care about."

"The other man who was with me where is he? Is he here? Please I need to know!" Dan asked somewhat desperately.

"No one else, just you – and us." Brett replied and taking out a pocket knife none-too-carefully slit the pants on Danny's right leg up above where the metal had gone into his flesh. Danny couldn't help it; as the man tore open the material he gasped with the pain and rattled his wrists against the pipe, rubbing the flesh sore.

"Hey Bre…er…I er mean …be careful, I think you hurt him!

Brett shot Noah a look like daggers at the near mention of his name a second time. "Well you take over then Florence – seeing as you're so keen to patch him up with your dainty fingers!"

Brett relinquished his place to Noah who knelt down and examined the bloody wound. He tutted and scratched his head, as though making a genuine diagnosis in a hospital.

"Looks nasty!" He offered, "Gimme that bottle."

Brett passed him the bottle he was referring to and as he did so he saw the label on it. It was one of Barlow's best bourbons and he just knew their boss would be pissed if he saw them using it.

"What do you need that for?"

"Now who's the dummy? To clean the wound of course."

"And where did you get that idea – from an episode of Bonanza?"

Noah blushed as he grabbed the bottle and opened the lid, "Actually Wagon Train but it still works."

"What do you want with me?" Danny asked the two men. His face was pale and clammy and he had the beginnings of a fever. "Oh GOD!!" He yelled as liquid alcohol was poured into his open wound, he all but passed out.

The pain was unbelievable - Dan threshed about on the mattress and suddenly stopped moving as the dark lay claim to him again.

"Heck you idiot you've killed him!" Brett admonished.

Noah took a swig of the Bourbon and wiped a hand across his mouth. He saw the rise and fall of Williams's chest and seemed satisfied.

"Nope, he's not dead. Just passed out. Knew that would happen. Let's get a tight bandage on his leg. Need some gauze and wrappings to keep it in place. I dunno what the boss wants with him but he might have internal injuries and stuff, he's got some burns too. I don't fancy his chances much. This is like putting an inch of sticking plaster over a gunshot – it's not worth spit."

"Well what would you have us do Noah take him to hospital? Use your head, Barlow expects us to do as we're told! He is a cop after all."

"I know that. All I'm saying is that he's not going to last long. Still, that's not our problem."

"No, it isn't. When you've finished I'd better take that Bourbon back!"

A short while later Noah and Brett returned to Rent's office to report.

"How is our guest faring?" Rent asked.

"Noah's patched him up a bit but I don't think he's too happy. Er..he might die boss." Brett said, prepared to face his chief's wrath.

"Well that can't be helped, but if that's the case we need to act quickly or loose our opportunity."

"Opportunity?" Brett asked, curious as to what his boss had in mind.

"We need bait." Tommy Barlow spread some old newspapers out on his desk.

"We going fishing?" Noah asked expectantly.

"No you moron we are not going fishing. Well at least not for the kind of fish you're referring to! We want McGarrett is that correct?"

"Uh yuh." Noah agreed.

"And what does McGarrett want?" He asked, waving a hand over the papers.

Both men looked at each other blankly.

"Saint's preserve us from idiots!" Rent said exasperated, "Look at these papers – what do you see?"

They looked. "Uh…stories and pictures?"

Rent's eyebrows rose higher. "Yes and who are the photographs of?"

Another pair of blank stares.

"The captions! Read the captions! Oh never mind. It's McGarrett and have you noticed who is with him in every one of these photographs?"

They peered closer, Noah scratched his head.

"It's Williams! Can't you see?"

"Doesn't look like him boss." Brett offered helpfully.

"Well trust me, if you could actually read the caption says Danny Williams, it's McGarrett's Second-in-Command!"

"Still doesn't look like him."

"Well that's because he's injured dummy! Of course he doesn't look like that handsome chap, he's somewhat dishevelled!"

"So what's the big deal with the photographs?" Brett asked and crossed his meaty arms.

"The big deal, as you so eloquently put it, is using Williams as bait. McGarrett doesn't go anywhere without his baby-faced sidekick so I propose we do a swap!" Barlow finished with a flourish.

"This Williams guy for McGarrett?" Brett asked, the penny almost dropping.

"Brava my friend! That is it exactly. We will lure McGarrett out into the open by offering to return Officer Williams and then we will be able to complete our contract."

"So uh boss, what makes you think he'll fall for it?" Noah asked, still unsure of the plan.

"Because my dear Neanderthal, their friendship is legendary and if all I've heard is true then Steve McGarrett will think nothing of risking his life for his detective, especially when he knows Williams is wounded. We are in an excellent bargaining position. His life for the life of his friend."

"Well I wouldn't do it!" Noah said eyeing Brett up and down.

Rent ran a handkerchief across his perspiring brow in frustration, "Then let us all be grateful that you are not he!" He sat back in chair with a heavy sigh.

"How do we do this?" Brett enquired.

"I thought you'd never ask!" Barlow began. "Well first of all I want Williams brought down here and then we will make a telephone call to the famous McGarrett and after I've laid down the facts of life to the cop I will get Williams to talk to him. That should do the trick."

"How's he going to know he's injured?" Noah asked.

"Because we'll make him scream for his buddy." Rent replied and began to laugh.