Chapter 10 -
It was the evening of their date night and Elisabeth was so nervous. She gone out and bought a nice dress and a pair of shoes. The dress was laid out on the bed. It was a purple scoop neck dress. She held it up to her, admiring it. She had simple black shoes to match.
As Elisabeth glanced at the clock, she realized that she needed to get into the shower, and she laid the dress back on the bed. The phone rang. She glanced at over at her dresser. It was the phone that Joe had left her. It was time. It was going to change soon.
The blonde reached for the phone and opened flipped it open. "Hello!"
"It's gonna go down after your dinner date."
What? Elisabeth nearly dropped the phone. Why did it have to be on this night? It didn't seem right that Joe would be so cruel to do it this way.
"After dinner?" Elisabeth thought that they'd have that dream that Steve had described to her.
"We can always stop this!"
"No!" Elisabeth said forcibly. "It's fine."
"Steve's gonna pick you up in his dad's old car. You get in first. The car will start smoking. It'll give you only seconds to get to the trunk. You'll be safe there. Steve's dad had that thing reinforced. The fire will begin and it will be so bad that even Steve won't be able to get to you. A bystander will be nearby pull him away. The fire department will be delayed of course."
"And will there be a body?"
"There will be a body in the seat next to you. She has the same bone structure, same hair, same dress, shoes, the whole works. Even Max will be fooled into thinking it was you."
That simple, huh? And where did Joe find this body?
Joe sensed the pause that Elisabeth was giving. "Are you worried about the girl? Where I got the body?"
"A little."
"The girl was already dead and she didn't have any family members. Really don't worry about that."
Okay! But Elisabeth did worry about the girl. She took a deep breath and pushed the feeling away. There wasn't a lot of time to think about it.
"What about Wofat?"
"Wofat isn't stupid, so there will only be a partial print linking him to the explosion, and when the police arrest him, they'll find everything that he would need for an explosion like that."
"And what about an alibi?"
"I checked his schedule, he doesn't have anything going on, and he's by himself."
Convenient! Perfect! Solid! It definitely was the perfect crime! There was a nagging feeling in the back of Elisabeth's mind that something was going to go wrong. If it did, she'd lose everything important to her.
"I've taken care of everything. Go get ready and enjoy your dinner with Steve. I'm sorry it couldn't be more, but this is what you want and this has to be the way. Leave him with a good memory of your time together!"
Great! Joe had reminded her that it was her idea and that it had to be this way, but why did he have to make it on their first date night? Elisabeth could picture the look on Steve's face when it all went down. She closed her eyes, it was breaking her heart. Tears begin to spill over. Why was she breaking his heart over someone like his brother? A brother that he hated. A brother he never wanted anything to do with.
Elisabeth opened her eyes and reminded herself that it had to be this way. There was no other option. They tried going by the book and Wofat slipped through their fingers time and time again. It was time to sink to his level to get things done. There was a chance it wasn't going to work. Maybe Wofat would break out of jail, then again, it could work perfectly, and he'd stay in jail for along time, and she could come back to be with Steve. What if he'd moved on to someone else or his ex? Elisabeth wasn't sure that she wanted an answer for that question. There were to many hurtful answers to that. She had to be strong, had to fight for what right! She swallowed hard, steeling herself.
"Are you ready?" Joe asked a few moments later.
"Ready!"
"Ok see you later!"
More scary thoughts plagued Elisabeth's mind. What if they got caught? What if Wofat had an alibi? What if his handler got him off?
Taking a few deep breathes, Elisabeth turned and headed for the bathroom, ignoring those thoughts. A half hour later, she was finished and ready to go. The purple dress looked as though it was made for her. The black pumps perfect with the dress. Her hair perfectly styled. Her make up flawless. She was definitely ready to go! It was going to be a night to remember, the best and the worst.
And the doorbell rang. Elisabeth carefully headed for the door, and opened it. Steve was standing there in the hallway wearing a black suit with a silver tie. He looked good! Elisabeth wanted to cry because this was the last night she'd see him. Ever! Suddenly, she wanted away somewhere with him so it was just the two of them. A deserted island somewhere far away from Hawaii and the two of them would live off the island. No one would ever bother them again.
"You look..." Steve said softly, bring Elisabeth out of her dream. "You look amazing!"
"Thank you!" Elisabeth smiled a genuine smile. "You don't look so bad yourself!
"Thanks! Shall we..." Steve held out his hand to her.
"Let me just grab my clutch." Elisabeth reached for it off the cabinet near her and then slide her hand into his.
They pulled in front of a restaurant down town in Steve's dad's old car and Elisabeth was nervous as hell, though Steve had not noticed. The valet's opened the door and the couple excited the car. She watched at the car drove away. He walked up to her and put his arm around as they entered the nice restaurant.
As the couple walked in, Elisabeth realized that it must have been an old theater. Across from them was an old counter and it looked as though it had one of those old soda dispensers, and the floor was black and white tile. To their right was dinning area and ahead of them another dinning area There was so much intricate dark wood running through the whole restaurant. It was so beautiful, old world.
A maitre'd walked over to them and smile. "Lieutenant Commander McGarrett. Welcome. Follow me." He took off down the hallway to the right side of the dinning room and stopped at two double doorways, opened the door, and they followed. It was more of the same intricate wood carvings along the way and a mirror along the left and back walls.
In the center of the room, there was one lone candlelit table, and the maitre'd pulled out the chair for Elisabeth and she sat down, he pushed her up to the table, and did the same with Steve.
"Hope you will enjoy your dinner. Roland will be your bartender." The mat-re-d pointed to the little corner by the door. There was a small bar there and Roland, a young, handsome, black man, stood behind it and he nodded.
"Here are your menus. Your waiter will be in momentarily to get your order." The mat-re-d smiled and left the room.
Elisabeth looked around the room. Where there weren't mirrors, were pictures of a time before. It looked as though they were actors.
"Was this an old theater?"
"Many years ago it was. After the great depression, they turned into a restaurant and it's been here ever since. I love it here. My mother used to take us as kids."
"This is beautiful. Thank you!
The lieutenant glanced over at her and the candle light made Elisabeth glow. She was even more beautiful than he thought she could be. For the moment, she forget what their evening was going to be like.
The bartender brought two flutes filled with champagne and set them on the table in front of them couple and he went back to his position at the bar. The waiter came in through the double doors and over to them. She quickly took their order and left the room.
Steve picked up his glass. "To this night, let's make it memorable."
Why did Steve have to say that? It made Elisabeth remember what would be happening right after dinner. She smiled and lift her glass and clinked it with us, clicking it. "To this night!" She repeated and then added, Remember this time time, our first day. Remember the way it made you feel. I feel so happy that we're finally taking it to another level, but sad that it's all going to end in a blink of an eye. And it's going to be my fault. I am so sorry! Please forgive me for what I'm about to do. She looked away nervously as a tear rolled down her eye and Steve picked up on that right away.
"Are you okay?"
"I'm fine. I'm just...so happy!" Elisabeth picked up her napkin and dabbed at her eyes. She glanced back at him and smiled.
"Good! There's still more to come!" Steve flashed a brilliant smile and Elisabeth couldn't help but smile back. If for only a moment, she let herself enjoy the date.
A little while later, their waiter brought in their dinner. They talked about everything that they expect from a relationship to his mom. They were perfectly content just stay in this room and enjoy each others company. It was perfect. Nothing else mattered, it was just the two of them.
Their dinner was finished and Steve was ready for the next phase of their date. The waiter came into the room with the bill. He handed it off to Steve and he quickly signed it and left a huge tip.
"Where are we going next?"
"Top secret!"
The lieutenant pushed his chair up and stood up, and he went over to Elisabeth, and like a gentleman, he helped her to her feet.
As they headed out to the front of the restaurant, it suddenly felt like time was moving slowly for Elisabeth. She watched as the car pulled up and the man who'd brought the car up to the curb was Joe, or at least thought it was him.
It seemed so surreal.
Steve opened the door and Elisabeth slide in. There were was a body was next to her. It really did look like her twin. Suddenly the doors jammed locked and smoke filled the car. She glanced over at Steve, placing her hands on the windows, the fear suddenly filled her. The look in his eyes as he tried to pull the door open.
Elisabeth no longer wanted to fight like this, she wanted to be with Steve, and to be with their friends. She started banging on the window and trying to pry the door open to no avail.
"Move away from the window...!" He worked to open the door and nothing happened.
As Elisabeth leaned back away from the window, she felt the body pressing up against her back, and everything came came crashing back to her. She glanced at the girl, realizing what the original mission was and why she had to do it.
"Elisabeth!" Steve called. He was still pulling at the door and kicking at the windows to save her.
The last thing that Elisabeth heard.
"I love you!" Elisabeth whispered to him though she he couldn't hear her.
The car had filled up with smoke and she scrambled to the back seat, pulled it open, and slipped into the trunk. She saw the flames rising within the car. If she'd only waited a few seconds longer, she'd be dead. Quickly, she closed the seat tightly, feeling the car rock back and forth from Steve. Suddenly hated herself for this whole mess, but there was no way out of it now, and no way to get Wofat without doing it this way. Now she waited for her new life to begin!
While Steve was still fighting with the car, a man came out of no where, knocking Steve to the ground, and then the car exploded! He shielded it his eyes to avoid the flames that were rushing at him. The man held him like a vice grip, but Steve fought anyway.
"I got to get to her! I can't let her die!"
There was nothing that anyone could do. The car was was in flames. It exploded again. Someone called out to call 911.
When Steve finally wrenched away, he stood up and watch the fire. There was nothing more than he could do. He'd lost someone else that he cared about. Why did it always seem to happen to him. First it was his mother, then his father, Catherine, Lori, and now Elisabeth! When was it going to stop! Steve had to find out who was behind this and why? The cop in him started rolling with the questions in his mind, but his heart was aching. Why couldn't he save her? Then it hit him, the firetrucks had been delayed. Why?
It took Steve a moment to collect himself and he pulled his cell from his pocket, and began texting each of his team members. It seemed like forever when everyone arrived, when it was only mere minutes. It was such a somber moment as each one came up to Steve. They had no idea what to stay, but stay near him, letting him know they were there for him.
A few moments later, the firetruck arrived. The fireman rushed off the truck, grabbed the fire hoses and began to put out the fire, though it was slowly going out on its own.
Steve turned to face his friends. "Find out who did this!"
They nodded mutely and turned to glance at the car. What more could they say? There wasn't but what they could do was find the person who did it and arrest them. That much they could for their friend.
TBC