Chapter 8 -

A/N: I know most of you guys are wondering why Steve and Elisabeth didn't arrest Wofat. They probably should have, but they were in a different state. Different state, different rules! So they didn't have cross-jurisdiction. It just means that technically they don't have the power to arrest anyone even though they are police. They'd have to go through certain steps, but I'm sure there are occasions where an arrest has happened where an out of state cop has made the arrest. For this story, they will not be able to arrest anyone outside of Hawaii. Besides, you know how sneaky Wofat is. Steve had plenty of evidence and it some how disappeared. Steve could have always gone by the book and called the local police, but he didn't. He was thinking about saving Elisabeth, much like how he saved Joe. So it is very much in line with the character to go in and save someone without having back up. Even if they had arrested Wofat, the evidence wouldn't stuck, and probably would end up disappearing anyway! He'd make sure of it. Everything would be their word against his. It wouldn't have been worth arresting him at that time.

Don't worry, I have a plan to make sure that Wofat gets arrested, whether it will stick or not, will remain a mystery! LOL!

**
The couple stumbled into The Cullen House Bed and Breakfast startling the owners and suddenly they became a little subconscious over their wounds. The blood was already drying on the wounds, the bruises were a deeper shade of purple, the bumps started to really take form, their blood dried to their hair, and barely hold each other up. They were a sight.

Bill and Susan stood up from their chairs, dropped their books to the floor with shocked looks on their faces. Never in all their years living in Forks had they ever seen anything like that and rushed over to Steve and Elisabeth.

"Oh my gosh," Bill had glanced at both of them. "How did this happen? Are you ok?" He noticed the bullet wound in his leg. "Let us call the doctor."

On Susan's rush to grab the phone, Steve raised his arm to wave her off. He knew there'd be a lot of questions and the doctor would have to call the police and the police would have to make a report of it. And the governor of Hawaii would have to hear about it and then there'd be more questions and Steve definitely wasn't looking forward to that. "No, no, we'll be okay. Thank you, though."

The look on the owner faces made Elisabeth feel bad for them. They were only trying to help, they at least owed the truth, but there was to much to tell, it was to complicated to get into. Elisabeth glanced up at Steve and then at the owners, feeling guilty. "You've been so nice to us and we don't want to involve you in any of this."

"If you call the doctor, the doctor will have notify the police, and the police will have to write up a report that will involve you." Steve glanced at them.

"We can't ask you to that," Elisabeth smiled. "It wouldn't be right!"

The owners looked confused but they could tell that Elisabeth and Steve were good people. They didn't feel a threat from them. "I don't understand," Susan finally said. "You two were hurt; don't you want the person caught that did this to you?"

"Of course, but it's a lot more complicated than it is." Elisabeth had to adjust; pain coursed through her side. "The man that did this to us is a very powerful man, with connections. It would be very hard for us to arrest him."

"Wait a minute, you're police?" Bill had asked. "And you let this man do this to you?"

There was no better answer to give than yes. They let it happened and they knew they Wofat get away, but what choice did they have? They weren't even supposed to be here to begin with and they wouldn't have been able to arrest Wofat to begin with, no jurisdiction, and he'd get out on a technicality. Steve vowed to himself that they'd get Wofat some how!

Suddenly, Susan was feeling guilty for the questions, when the couple was so obviously in pain. They needed to be up in their rooms resting. "I am so sorry for grilling you like this. We've never seen this kind of thing in Forks. It's just a quiet little town. If it wasn't for Twilight, no one would even have known we were here. Why don't you go upstairs and rest, we'll bring you up the first aide kit and some food."

"Thank you, we really appreciate this. And in the morning, we'll be gone!" Steve nodded his thanks and he and Elisabeth slowly made their way up the stairs, step by step, inch by inch, until they made it to the room. Steve pulled the key out and slid into the door to unlock it, and opened the door. They gingerly made it into the room. With his good leg, he kicked the door closed, and they hobbled over to the bed and sat down.

Easy, they eased back together and Elisabeth hissed through pain. She closed her eyes, hoping the pain would subside.

"I'm sorry!" Steve leaned over to check her, laying his hand on her hip.

"No, it's ok!" Elisabeth said through her teeth.

It was not ok. Elisabeth didn't deserve any of this. He glanced down her.

"I'm ok." Elisabeth opened her eyes.

Their eyes met; the electricity between them pulling them closer. Elisabeth slid her arm around his neck, pulling him closer to him. He hand moved up her side, but he instantly pulled away. He did not want to hurt her in anyway.

"We can't do this!" Steve sat back on the bed, groaned inwardly.

No matter how much they both wanted each other, it wasn't the right time. It had to be special; a candle light dinner, walk on the beach, the whole works.

"Let's do this right, let's go on a date first when we get back, and then we can see how things go" Steve rolled over on his side and propped his head up with his hand.

Elisabeth looked over, longing to run her hands through his dark hair but held her hands at her side, and smiled at him. "I'd like that." She nodded. It would definitely be something to remember. She knew under all that bravado, there was a heart to romantic. He saved her after all. She was like Sleepy Beauty and he was her prince. A prince that definitely had her back no matter what happened. No matter if they were just friends or a couple. That meant something to her.

Reluctantly, Steve sat up just as there was a knock at the door. He stood up slowly, making his way to the door, and opened it. It was Susan with a tray full of food and a first aide kit. The food was definitely much needed, he realized, when his stomach growled. When was the last time he'd had a meal? He placed his hand on his stomach, embarrassed.

The owner smiled. "Here you go." Susan handed the tray over to Steve. "If you need anything at all, don't hesitate to let either of us know."

The lieutenant nodded his thanks. "Thank you! We certainly appreciate your hospitality."

Smiling once more, Susan turned, and headed down the hallway, disappearing. Steve turned to face Elisabeth, kicked the door with his good foot, and set the tray down on the dresser.

"I'm not really hungry." Elisabeth sat up slowly. "I think I need a shower more than anything."

"Before you go take your slower, let me take care of that!" Steve picked up the first aide kit and hobbled over to the bad, sat next to Elisabeth, and placed the kit in his lap. "This is going to hurt like hell!" He gave her a sidelong glance.

"I've been through much worse than this – I can take it!"

That was certainly true. Wofat put her through hell many times. Steve sighed and removed the alcohol towelette from the packet and proceeded to carefully clean the wound, though she hissed once or twice through the pain. He slowly sewed up her laceration and after a few minutes, he was done. He cleaned up the blood. It was larger than he originally thought.

"There..."

"Thank you!" Elisabeth smiled at him. "Thank you for saving me."

Leaning in, Steve kissed her softly, slowly; the electricity was building within them, but he pulled away. She glanced at him with a smile, wishing now that he would let there be more. It totally sucked now that the roles were reversed.

"I'm gonna go take my shower." Elisabeth stood up, held her side, and headed into the bathroom, and closed the door behind her.

Steve stared at the door for a moment, shaking his head. He then glanced down the whole in his pants. He could tell that the wound was not looking good; it'd been awhile since he'd been shot. Steve reached around, grabbed a few alcohol towelette and set them on the other leg. With both hands, he made the whole larger.

The bullet didn't go through, but it was angry red around it. As Steve was about to fish the the bullet out, the phone rang. He reached for the phone in the back pocket, and looked at the display. It was Chin. Steve pushed the speakerphone.

"Chin!"

"I was getting worried. I tried calling several times but got your voice mail. Is everything okay? Is Elisabeth with you?"

Was everything okay? On the surface, Elisabeth seemed ok, but Steve didn't know how she really was. He hadn't thought to ask her. Should he ask her? Should he just wait? He didn't know how to approach the subject with her. He wasn't even sure she would tell him anything but he would be there for her.

"Everything is fine. Elisabeth is in taking a shower."

"I'm glad to hear that!" Chin was relieved. "If I hadn't gotten a hold of you, Kono and I were going to get on the next plane. Danny would have had to stay here though."

Steve was glad that he had good friends that would do anything for him. They proved that many times over.

"The baby is not doing to well," commented Chin after short silence.

"Let Danny know we're thinking about him and we'll be home tomorrow morning."

"We'll be waiting!"

"Thanks!" Steve shot the phone off and tossed it on the bed. He returned to the wound and with his finger, fished the bullet. The blood had begun to seep out and he quickly reached for a towel Susan had brought, and placed it over the wound, until it stopped. He quickly sewed it up. The pain was definitely on the high factor but he ignored it. Once he was finished, he removed the belt around his leg.

Once the pain subsided for the moment, Steve stood up, took his shirt off and tossed it on the daybed. He reached into the bag to retrieve clean night clothes, just as Elisabeth came out of the bathroom. The temperature just rose a notch for both.

Oh my...

Elisabeth stopped just outside the door, biting her lip. She'd never seen Steve without his shirt and she definitely liked what she saw. Her eyes followed ever inch his muscled arms and body.

Oh my, is it getting hot in here? Why did I ever fight my feelings? I want him so much. How do I contain myself.

Steve stood there, frozen, watching Elisabeth watch him. He couldn't believe how beautiful she was at that very moment. There was no make up on her face, her hair dripping wet, and she was wearing a robe. She was just natural looking, despite the bruises on he face.

She so beautiful. Why does this have to be so damn hard? Why can't I just let things happen? She wants it just as much as I do?

Averting his eyes back to the duffel back, Steve said, "Chin called."

"Oh?" It took a few moments for Elisabeth's body to move towards the bed, but she willed it too, and she made it to the bed and sat down. She didn't move or say anything right away until she was calm. "What did he say?" She ran a hand through her hair.

It was very hard for them to not run into each others arms.

"Chin and Kono were just worried is all."

"I'm just glad that things are over..."

"For now anyway!" Steve glanced at her before heading into the bathroom, he closed the door behind him.

Staring at the door for several long moments, Elisabeth knew he was right. This thing with Wofat wouldn't really be over till he was behind bars, and even then, it wouldn't be over, since he and Steve were brothers.

Elisabeth shut her eyes, images of what Wofat had done to her replayed over in her mind; the past was repeating itself and that scared her even more. An idea came to mind, but it was going to hurt a lot of people but it was the only way to make sure that Wofat got what was coming to him.

"Wofat isn't getting off that easy!" Elisabeth vowed in a whisper as she spotted Steve's cell. She reached for it, looked for a number, and dialed, waiting for someone to answer. "This is Elisabeth, I need your help with something." A tear rolled down her face as she glanced at the door. Her heart was breaking into a million pieces.

"What is it?" A male voice asked.

"I have a plan to get Wofat and it doesn't involve Steve or anyone else. Just you and I."

"Go on, I'm listening..." A male voice said.

"Not over the phone. I'll met you some place."

"I know a place. Meet me at 2654 Loke Ave at after work tomorrow."

"I'll be there!" Elisabeth ended the call and quickly removed the call from the last call list, and tossed it on the bed. She quickly dressed in her pajamas and pulled the bed back and slide in. She laid back, pulling the covers to her. As soon as her head hit the pulled, she was out. It was a very long day for both of them.

A few moments later, Steve came out of the bathroom. He saw that she was out and went to the bed, sitting next to her as she slept. Gently, Steve caressed her face, watching her sleep. His stomached growled and with reluctance, he kissed her softly on the lips, stood up, and went over to the dresser, grabbed the sandwiches, and headed back to the daybed, sitting down to eat. Quickly, he scarved down the food and laid back down. He was asleep in no time.

The next morning, Steve and Elisabeth packed up, and headed out for the airport. Once there, they park the truck in the rental parking lot, and headed for the check out and searches area, and before long, they were on the plane, heading home.

A hour or so later, they landed, and were picking up their bags from the baggage area, and met Chin and Kono waiting at the curb. Every so often, Steve and Elisabeth glanced at each other, but remained quiet in the backseat. Kono and Chin knew something had happened and they were hoping that one of them would tell them, they were definitely anxious to hear the news. Had they slept together? What happened with Wofat? So many questions.

Just as the four had pulled up in the parking lot at headquarters, Chin's phone rang. It was Danny.

"Where are you at?" Danny blurted.

"In the parking lot, why?"

"Got a murder on Queen St. I'll text you the address. I'm on my way. See you in a few." Danny disconnected the call and a moment later, the text came.

"What's going on, cuz?"

"A murder on Queens St." Chin started the car, put it in park, and back out of the parking spot, and headed off toward Queen St.

A few minutes, they were downtown on Queen Street. They had to park a few blocks away, HPD had it blocked off. The four got out of Chin's ford, and headed toward the crime scene. They noticed that all the cops cars were right in front of the Queen St. Cafe. They each glanced up at the second floor before going in.

While Steve and Elisabeth went into the apartment, Chin and Kono headed off to speak with the other tenets of the apartment building.

As soon as they couple walked into the apartment, they realized just how cramped it had been, and there were only three other officers and Danny in the room. There weren't many pictures on the wall nor was there many pieces of furniture. It looked as though the tenet only just moved in.

"'Bout time you two get back here!" Danny said as a way of saying welcome back.

Steve smiled and nodded. It had been good to see his best friend. "Good to see you too, Danno!"

"What's up?" Elisabeth had asked.

"The cousin of the victim, Ginny Gorham, came back to check on her, and found her dead a few hours ago. Max said the vic had been dead for several hours." Danny looked at his pad, reading over the tidbits he'd been told when he had arrived. "She'd only been here for a few days, but a neighbor across the way said that she'd see a young man in his twenties over several times. He was even here the night before and seemed to have left in a hurry."

Kneeling next to the body, Steve examined the body closely. It looked at though the girl had been knocked around judging by the bruises on her face and her arms, and he glanced toward her neck, he noticed the red mark around her neck. She'd be strangled. He shook his head as he stood.

Elisabeth walked around the room studying the crime scene. It didn't look like anything had been taken. The room didn't appear to be out of order. Elisabeth imagined the man coming over to see the girl, there's an argument, and he lases out and beats her up and then strangles her. Once he realized what he'd done, he took off.

Danny glanced over at Elisabeth, wondering what she was thinking. "What's on your mind?"

"TV, DVD, computer are still here, so this wasn't a robbery gone wrong. The couple must have had some kind of argument that resulted in her murder. Anyone hear an argument of any kind?" Elisabeth turned to ask Danny.

"These walls are pretty solid. No one heard anything."

That put a damper in that scenario, but Elisabeth's gut told her that that was exactly what happened. They just need to locate the young man. A few moments later, Kono entered the apartment with her Ipad. It looked as though she had something to show them.

"I was able to check the cameras in the area." Kono held up the Ipad for them to see. The time stamp had said 6:30 am and it was about 10:30 now. The guy had plenty of time to get off the island hide. In the video, the young man, good looking, ran out of the building in a hurry. "I found him in the database. Chin sent HPD after the man. His name was Charles Simpson. He works at the cafe, that's how the couple came into contact. The owner said that things seemed normal between them, but in the last few days, it was getting tense between them. He thinks maybe the vic had decided to call it off because the perp was getting a little to clingy."

It was an open and shut case. Easy for Elisabeth and Steve's return. The corner's crew came in for the body, and a moment later, they wheeled the body out of the apartment.

"All right, let's head back to HQ and see if we can find out anymore about the vic and maybe follow up on the new guy."

They each nodded and headed out of the apartment. As they were talking down the stairs, Danny's phone had rang. It was the hospital and Danny suddenly was worried.

"I'll meet you later. I gotta take this." Danny hurried down the stairs and out the door and down the block to his car. He opened the door and slid in and answered it. "Hello! Is the baby ok?"

"The baby is still pretty much the same." The nurse had said. "Normally, we wouldn't test the blood type with the father or the donor, but in this case, we did."

All this time, Danny knew the baby was his, but to hear the nurse question it, made it even more real. He was a bundle of nerves not to mention, he was happy. The baby was his. He just wished that his ex would have told him the truth instead of lie to him about it. It hurt him more than he realized.

"Detective?" The nurse said. He hadn't realized how quiet he'd been.

"Oh sorry. What is it?"

"The baby is yours. He matches your DNA 99.5 percent. We're so sorry that we did something like this behind your back but he thought it was in the best interest of the baby's to find out, since your blood type matched his perfectly."

"I'm not upset. Thank you for telling me. I appreciate it. Please don't say anything to his mother. I want to be able to bring this up to her, myself."

"I won't."

"Thank you!" Danny ended the call, threw the phone next to him in the seat, and started the car. For the moment, he debated whether or not he should go back to work or head off to Rachel's and discuss this with her. "She's not going to get away with this!" He headed off towards Rachel's. He didn't know if she was home or the hospital but come hell or high water, he was going to find her and confront her of this. She was deliberately trying keep his son from him. That was not good in his book!

TBC