Hawaii Five-0
Caught In The Crossfire
Chapter 23
After another half an hour worth of driving, Steve, Chin and Kono finally arrived at the address in Makaha Valley that Matthew had given them. They had also reluctantly passed the information onto the FBI; who had managed to somehow get there just before them. They had agreed to meet about thirty feet away from the property so that they wouldn't alert the cartel to their presence and risk losing their suspects. Five-0 pulled up behind where FBI had parked their vehicles and emerged from theirs to figure out how they were going to take them down.
As they got their tac gear out of their cars, Steve stopped when he spotted two people he'd rather not have to deal with, considering the nature of this case; that being that this case surrounds Danny and his family.
"You've got to be kidding me" said Steve.
"What's wrong Steve?" Kono asked.
"You see those two Feds there?" Steve said, pointing them out.
"Yeah, what about them?" Chin asked. "You know them?"
"Yeah, Agent Edward Kipton and Agent Adam Markowitz" Steve replied.
"They were the two agents that were after when Matt showed up in Hawaii eighteen months ago" he explained.
"And let me guess they weren't too happy when Matthew got away" said Chin.
"You got it" said Steve. "Ready to go?"
"Yeah" Kono nodded.
"Alright, let's go" said Steve as they made their way over to join the FBI agents.
As the team approached the FBI agents that they dreaded to work with considering the circumstances, Agent Kipton was the first to speak.
"Lieutenant Commander McGarrett" said Agent Kipton as he held out his hand.
"It's a pleasure to see you again"
"Yeah, I wish it was under better circumstances" Steve said as he reluctantly shook the agent's hand.
"Ah, this is Lieutenant Chin Ho Kelly and Officer Kono Kalakaua; the rest of Five-0"
"Good to meet you" said Agent Markowitz as he and Agent Kipton shook their hands too.
"Likewise" said Chin and Kono in unison.
"Guys, could you give us a minute?" Steve asked.
"Sure, we'll go see where the other two agents are at" Kono stated.
"Okay good" said Steve as Kono and Chin left to talk to the other FBI agents.
"So, what are you two doing here Kipton, I thought you already got your man"
"Yeah we got our man" Agent Kipton replied.
"But this cartel is also a part of our investigation into Matthew Williams" he added.
"Right, right" said Steve, playing dumb with the agents.
"Thanks for getting the location of the cartel's stash pad out of Matthew" said Agent Markowitz.
"How did you manage that by the way?" Agent Kipton asked.
"He was a brick wall when asked him" he stated.
"We made a deal with him; said we would tell him how his family was if he gave up the location of the cartel's stash pad" Steve replied.
"We played the same card but it didn't work" Agent Markowitz stated.
"Did you tell him how his family was?" Agent Kipton asked.
"What are you talking about? Of course I did and then he gave us the information" Steve replied before coming to a realisation.
"Wait a minute…you were never going to tell him were you?" he asked.
"Of course we weren't, we didn't know" Agent Kipton replied.
"We were just using the means we had to get a location on the cartel"
"You two are unbelievable you know that" said Steve.
"That's why Matthew didn't tell you anything, because he knew you didn't know"
"Hey Boss! We're good to go!" Kono yelled.
"Okay, we'll there in a sec!" Steve yelled back.
"After we're done here, we'll going after Nathan Anderson on our own"
"Wouldn't have it any other way Commander" Agent Kipton agreed.
"But we will need to question Nathan over his involvement with the cartel though" he told him.
"Good, let's go" said Steve as they headed over to where everybody else was getting ready to take the stash pad.
After they all went over the plan one more time, they geared up and made their move up the street towards the stash pad. No one would ever guess that a drug cartel would be running their business through house in Makaha Valley; it was always the last place you thought, after all looks can be deceptive. Once they reached the property, they split up into their teams to take the house; six of them would take the house while one of them would keep the perimeter secure. One of the other FBI agents, Agent Nancy Carter, a tall blonde would secure the perimeter while Agents' Kipton, Markowitz and Andrea Brooks, a shorter brunette took the back of the house, leaving Steve, Chin and Kono to take the front. Once they were in position to breach the house, Steve radioed the agents to see if they were ready.
"Are you ready Kipton?" Steve whispered into his mic being careful not to alert the cartel members of the impending raid.
"Ready when you are" Agent Kipton replied.
"Okay, on my count" Steve told them. "1…2…3" he counted before he and Agent Kipton busted through the front and back doors.
As they busted down the doors, almost immediately, shots were fired on both ends of the house forcing both teams to duck and take cover from the flying bullets.
"Everybody good?!" Steve yelled before being met with positive responses that everyone was okay.
"Yeah we're good!" Kipton yelled. "We're going in!" he stated as he and his team entered the house with their guns raised and ready.
"Alright, let's go" Steve said to Chin and Kono before they too entered the house.
Steve went to check the first bedroom on the right, while Chin and Kono headed down the hall before Chin checked the next bedroom, also on the right with Kono standing guard in the hall.
"Clear!" Steve yelled.
"Clear!" Chin also yelled after also clearing his room.
"Where the hell are they?" Kono asked before the team of three heard gunshots and then yelling coming from the back of the house.
"Come on!" said Steve as they rushed to where all the noise was coming from.
As they got closer to the room where all the noise was coming from, they heard people groaning in pain, possibly after being shot, and the agents shouting "put the gun down now!" Entering the room, they were confronted with one of cartel members, Enrique lying on the floor, with gunshots to his chest, dead in a pool of blood under him and Agent Andrea Brooks up against the wall with her hand over a gunshot wound to her shoulder. Agents' Kipton and Markowitz were in a standoff with Raphael as he refused to put the gun down. While Kono went to Andrea's aid, Steve and Chin kept their guns raised as they joined Kipton and Markowitz in the continuing standoff.
"Put your weapon down right now!" Steve demanded, but Raphael still refused to comply.
"No way!" Raphael yelled. "They killed my friend! Why should I listen to you!?" he asked.
"Because we don't want to have to shoot you too" Steve replied.
"Just put it down Raphael" Kipton requested calmly.
"Nobody else has to get hurt; nobody else has to die"
"What's the point?" Raphael asked. "I'm probably going to go to jail for the rest of my life anyway" he stated.
"Yeah you probably are" Chin agreed. "You got family?" he asked.
"Yeah, yeah I got family…back in Columbia" Raphael replied.
"Well we may be able to work something out so you have a chance to see them again" Chin told him.
"What kind of something?" Raphael asked.
"You give us information on the cartel's next drug shipment and we might be able to do something for you" Chin offered.
"And we can make sure the cartel doesn't find out; we'll say it was anonymous tip" Steve assured him.
"Come on Raphael" Agent Markowitz urged him. "It's a good deal, just put the gun down"
"Okay, okay" said Raphael. "I'll put the gun down"
"Okay good, nice and slow now" said Agent Kipton as Raphael slowly lowered his gun and placed it on the floor before Kipton lowered his weapon, pulling out his handcuffs and arresting him.
"We're all good Carter, we got them" Agent Markowitz said to Nancy over the mic.
"Can you get an ambulance out here…Andrea's been shot in the shoulder" he requested.
While watching the paramedics load Agent Andrea Brooks into the ambulance, Steve dialled Danny's number to inform him that Raphael and Enrique were no longer a threat. Danny's phone only rang twice before he answered the call.
"Hey Steve" Danny answered. "Did you get them?" he asked.
"How did you know I was calling about that?" Steve asked.
"We've been partners for three years…that and the fact you said you would call when you got them" Danny explained.
"Right" said Steve.
"So...?" Danny asked.
"So what?" Steve asked back.
"So did you get them?" Danny asked in frustration.
"Yeah we got them" Steve replied. "One alive, one dead"
"Well I was going to ask if it was an easy takedown, but you've already answered that" Danny stated.
"You're right it wasn't" Steve agreed. "One of the agents got shot in process" he explained.
"Are they going to be alright?" Danny asked.
"Yeah, it was a shoulder wound; she'll live" Steve replied.
"Alright good" said Danny.
"So how's everything going over there?" Steve asked. "April awake yet?"
"Yeah April's awake, she woke up about half an hour ago" Danny explained.
"How is she?" Steve asked.
"Ah, she's alright" Danny replied.
"She just really wants to see her baby girl; we're waiting on that right now"
"Yeah, I can imagine" said Steve.
"How did April take it?" he asked, worried how April would've processed the news.
"Ah well, she froze" Danny replied as he peeked into April's room to see how she was doing and was met with a weak smile, though he could see she had been crying because of her red puffy eyes.
"I don't even know where to begin on how April is processing this"
"Well it will take time, but she'll get there" Steve explained.
"Yeah, I know" Danny agreed.
"I think April having the baby in her arms will definitely be a good start"
"April give you a name yet?" Steve asked, curious to know if the beautiful baby had been given a name.
"No not yet, but I'll let you know when I know" Danny replied as a nurse pushing along a plastic baby crib came towards him.
"Hey listen, I've got to go, I call you later"
"Alright" said Steve. "Once we're done here, we'll head over to the airport to pick up Michael"
"Okay, but just make sure you tell him everything is okay; I don't exactly want a panicked phone call from him" Danny explained.
"I assure you Danny, that'll be the first thing I tell him okay" said Steve before disconnecting the call.
"Is April ready?" the nurse asked.
"She's more than ready" Danny replied as he walked into April's room with the nurse following closely behind with the little bundle of joy.
As Danny and the nurse entered the room with her baby, April tried to prop herself up on her elbows to try and sit up before the nurse put a stop to it.
"No, no April, don't strain yourself" the nurse said. "I'll bring the bed up for you" she insisted.
"Thanks" said April as the head of the bed moved up.
"Okay, there we go, are you comfortable?" the nurse asked before April answered with a nod.
"Good, now…are you ready to meet your baby girl?" she asked.
"You have no idea" April replied as the nurse walked over to the crib and gently lifted out the baby, wrapped in fluffy pink blanket.
"Here you go" said the nurse as she placed the baby in April's arms.
"You got her?" she asked before releasing her grip on the baby.
"Yeah I got her" April replied, smiling as cradled the baby girl in her arms. "Thank you"
"Alright, I'll leave you to it" said the nurse. "Just buzz if you need anything"
"Hi sweetheart" said April, speaking in a soft tone. "I'm your mommy" she stated before the baby yawned.
"How are you feeling? Are you alright?" Danny asked, smiling along with his sister as he sat down beside the bed.
"Yeah, I'm alright; I'm feeling pretty good" April replied. "I'm finally a mom"
"Good" Danny stated.
"So, a couple of people have been asking about what you and Michael are naming the baby… have you two decided on a name yet?" he asked.
"Yeah we have" April replied.
"As soon as we found out we were having a girl, we knew exactly what her name was going to be" she explained.
"So what did you and Michael decide?" Danny asked.
"Jessica" April stated as she smiled down at the baby.
"That's sounds perfect" Danny smiled. "It definitely suits her"