I do not own Hawaii Five-0 or any characters. No copyright infringement intended.
Notes: thank you for the continued very fantastic reviews!
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Chapter Seventeen
Hidden in the trees near the short path to the parking area off the highway, Eric Jameson and his well-armed men were watching the fiasco. At least his men were as they waited for their boss to decide on their next steps. He had smiled gleefully after seeing the dark-haired officer virtually stumble out the rear of the building and then around to the apartment's thick glass window. Jameson's entire demeanor and rapt expression were entirely unrecognizable as compared to the hateful man Steve and Danny had so recently questioned.
He had especially appreciated the physical strength used against the window. The loud sound of breaking glass was satisfying and he was completely impressed by the man's sheer lack of fear as he lunged through the thick smoke that suddenly billowed out the new opening to reach high into the sky. The sight was utterly spectacular.
And now, Jameson was in love with the flames as they began to make it out to the external structure, too. They had reached the second floor and were licking the shingles and roof from both inside and outside. He stood riveted and only barely out of sight as the shadows flickered and glowed over his face and with gratification, he breathed in the thick stench of burning wood. He and his men had not seen the Five-0 cops for many long minutes, but he still waited patiently.
"We should leave now." The fake foreman's name was Al Harris and he stood calmly while holding his fully loaded AK-47. "They're not coming out."
"It's a beautiful thing." Eyes brightly twinkling, Eric Jameson held up his hand as way of disagreeing. "Isn't it just a very, very beautiful thing?" He was muttering to himself with a happy sense of personal pride at his accomplishment.
"Sure, it's a good one." Harris confirmed with an obligatory nod. He gazed at the height of the flames and thick smoke before realizing that this time, he was indeed very impressed. Harris was watching the time though and gauging when help would likely arrive. Based on the odd sounds of traffic on the highway, gawkers had already begun to see the smoke, slow down and perhaps were adding their own 911 calls to the system.
"E.J" He used the elderly man's nickname to get his attention, however succeeded only partially in bringing him back down to earth. "Boss ... E.J. ... we really need to get going before more cops arrive. This is going to draw a lot of attention."
"But .. yes, we will leave .. let's be certain first though. Just a few more minutes." Harris rolled his eyes mockingly. Jameson didn't want to be certain, he only wanted to watch his blazing inferno. He grinned sardonically at his second and then rolled his eyes again. His second, laughed out right. They had all witnessed their boss's crazed obsession many times in the past.
As soon as he finished speaking, the rear door opened again and he grinned when he saw the two Five-0 men. They were obviously in distress and in a great deal of trouble. But that grin faded when he saw that they had in fact, rescued his son. His posture immediately returned to that of his prior ill-will and he spat out his next orders in unconcealed rage.
"I want them dead. I want them all dead now."
His orders were acted upon immediately as Al Harris gestured to each of this underlings to take up particular positions. "Keep them in the building or kill them."
After that, the spatter of gunfire began.
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The old emergency door was closest and Steve used his body to prop it open where they could feel the tease of cooler, fresher air on their backs. The bullet pinged the door frame nearest Steve's vested back just as he stood a bit straighter. Shocked by the unexpected attack, he still reacted immediately by crouching back down with his gun drawn.
"What the hell! Sniper!" His voice was garbled as he choked around the words. Caught up in the rescue, Danny was still resolutely pulling and tugging Michael Jameson's bound body backwards as he also heaved in much too little oxygen through the ever-thickening smoke. He heard the second dangerous ping though, and then three more. Danny also heard raspy Steve's curse and nearly fell when he briefly abandoned their victim, and turned to sight their attacker or attackers.
Steve couldn't see anyone but knew that Jameson and his hired guns were lurking and watching from the confines of the treed area. He was stunned as he sank lower to try and see with heat and smoke-fatigued eyes. With nowhere to go, it was clear that Jameson intended to keep them exactly where they were or drive them back into the burning building. No matter where they went, he and Danny would be sitting ducks.
He forced his eyes to work as more shots pelted the scrubby grass at the landing to the lawn and then even more around the exit doorway. But he was woozy and unbalanced as the sharpness settled more dangerously in his chest. Steve felt his lungs beginning to object to each and every minor breath he attempted to draw in. Doctor Ramirez was going to kill him if Danny didn't first .. or maybe Jameson this time. After Danny's last issue with him, maybe he should let Jameson kill him. Steve huffed at the idea and then coughed as he pushed that arbitrary thought into the back seat as adrenalin and training moved him forward despite his physical condition. Even light-headed, Steve was persistent in his objective.
"Danny ..trees.. stay down!" They were just on the lintel now between fire and daylight when Steve cursed again and then reared to his feet with one hand anchored to Danny's arm. Using all his strength, he heaved Danny who was still doggedly attached to their victim, over the door frame and towards the grassy landing. Though still too close, his tenacity won out as they all cleared the last few feet of the building and Steve crumpled to his knees.
"Keep him covered .. I got them!" Steve ground out through a tight cough and then he was gone at a lurching half-run before Danny could object. With a fierce determination, Steve dove towards the old picnic table and capsized it on end to offer protection as he returned fire into the tree-line. His first true volley of return fire was amazingly rapid and aggressive as he peppered the bushes, trees and the breadth of the open mouth to the short trail. There was a shout of pain and then another. He'd hit at least one mark once or maybe even twice and Steve managed to feel a small amount of satisfaction. He then used that element of surprise to hunker down below the table with his eyes closed to wheeze in strangled bits of air and still his heart.
Behind him, Danny remained with Michael Jameson and on his own shaky knees while trying to also achieve a line of sight.
"Wait! Steve. Damn it .. Steve!" His voice was damaged and too raspy to rise more than a whisper above the burning building. What he tried to say never reached Steve's ears. Despite a rain of bullets that missed him by a hairs-breadth, Danny was forced to focus on getting their victim further away the building. As Danny registered the increasing exchange, it was more apparent that Steve was drawing Jameson's gunfire directly to his small hiding place and Danny began to groan in frustration and worry. Regardless, he knew that he needed to take advantage of the time.
"Come .. on!" He coached himself but couldn't go any faster as he painfully heaved Michael another good two-feet away from the rear emergency door before he heard it. There was a subtle click, snap and then a deepening yaw from the old building followed by a loud whoosh as air sucked past them back into the cavernous center that had opened up. The building sounded angry and resentful as it felt the impending explosion and knew it would soon collapse on itself.
"Shit." Danny froze for a shocked moment to glance once down to the unconscious Michael Jameson as the air whistled past and then stilled ominously. Thanks to his father and summers of volunteer work at the fire department, Danny knew what was happening almost instinctively. He was in a bad position and had zero choices to make with virtually no time left.
"Back draft. Move, Williams! Move!" Danny coached himself as he gagged and chanted while giving one more valiant effort in hauling Michael Jamesons' limp body physically backwards and towards the middle of the grassy area. He was too far from the over-turned picnic table and what little distance he achieved wasn't entirely enough to escape the building. He never made it to his next goal of throwing himself protectively over Jameson's upper body. What Danny had failed to achieve in gaining ground, the nature of combustion finished as the resulting fiery explosion of heat and air blew him back the rest of the way across the yard along with chunks of flaming wood and debris.
The flash over settled him like a rag doll closer to Steve than he would have guessed possible. The explosion left him lying on his back, spread-eagled, utterly spent and bewildered by what had just occurred. His brain refused to work as he stared blankly at the oddly colored sky and inhaled only soot and the thick odor of black smoke. He turned his head slowly to the left and winced as pain spiked into his head and neck. Blearily and confused, he studied the badly injured man lying many feet away from him.
At first he was sure it was Steve and couldn't take his eyes off the trussed up and injured man. Big, young and a face he eventually recognized, but from his case files. That realization led his feeble memory to produce the first name of 'Michael'. He sighed in relief around the scratchy pain in his throat as the pain in his head intensified and he allowed his eyes to close on their own.
Steve was returning his own salvo at will when the explosion occurred. The loud boom from behind his back had him reflexively ducking down and sighting for trouble from an entirely different direction. Stunned, he caught the tail-end of Danny being blown backwards along with flaming pieces of wood that flew through the air and littered the ground like shrapnel. His rifle had been torn from his grip to lay uselessly in the grass many feet away. He was well separated from their victim who was absolutely unmoving as grass and debris smoldered around him. The new silence was deafening and it took him a good many seconds to find his voice.
"Danny! Danny .. answer me!" The raw voice and lack of a decent lungful of air prevented Steve from truly calling out. Danny was lying just a few feet now off to Steve's right and completely out in the open. Motionless and on his back, his head was turned at an angle where Steve couldn't see his face and his shouts went unanswered.
The explosion had been so shocking, even the criminals had momentarily ceased fire from their location in the short stand of trees. It's terrible, unexpected beauty had pulled Eric Jameson from his hiding place in an awed thrall.
"Did you see that?" He murmured while gesturing grandly to his destruction. "Did you actually .. see that .. grand fireball! Did you hear its voice?"
"Boss! E.J.!" Harris hissed as he quickly moved forward to yank him back under cover. He had a badly wounded man and not enough time. His boss's obsession was going to be the end of all of them at this rate. "Don't be so stupid!"
Motioning to the men, he divided the remaining two. He had one begin to drag the injured man to the waiting van. He and the last would take advantage of the natural catastrophic distraction. They didn't have long now and he felt the time crunch in his chest as he began to hear the distant wail of sirens. Keeping Eric Jameson to his rear, Harris primed his assault rifle and nodded his readiness to his remaining man.
"We have sixty seconds to finish the job .. finish it now. Then we go!"
~ to be continued ~