Thank you so much for the reviews, alerts, and just plain reading last chapter. For those who are planning to stick to this until the end, you are truly amazing
So, please enjoy, I own nothing, and I hope to hear from you again.
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Steve…
The credits to Grace's movie were rolling, the viewer in question passed out on the couch, when Danny returned. I had been sitting on the floor, case files sprawled across my coffee table, steadily working since Gracie fell asleep thirty minutes ago.
When I heard Danny's footfalls approaching the living room, I looked up and said, "Where ya been?"
"Walking," he responded sounding tired. He crept past the couch, taking a seat behind me in my recliner.
I nodded, my eyes resting on the case file in my hand again. "Good, at least I didn't lie to Grace."
"You told her I was walking?" I heard more than saw him shake his head.
"It's better than what I thought you were doing," I said slowly making a note on my already full notebook page.
"I wasn't drinking if that's what you were implying," he hissed. I managed to keep my voice even as I replied, "I wasn't implying anything remotely close to that."
"Yeah, I bet," he grumbled and fell silent. My eyes rested on the special features screen from Grace's DVD for a second before I drew a breath and asked, "Are you going to tell me what's up with you?"
"You know, you're right, a drink does sound good right now," Danny responded pushing himself out of the recliner. He headed back into the kitchen, the sound of the fridge door opening drifted to my ears. I shook my head and went back to my paperwork.
He returned a few seconds later, setting a bottle of beer down in front of me before sinking back into the recliner. We were quiet for a few seconds, Danny sipping on his beer while I continued to take notes, and then he said, "I was offered a job yesterday."
I sniffed, putting my pen down. "Really? From who?"
"The Chief from East Orange PD in Jersey," Danny responded and I heard him nod.
"Are you going to take it?" I asked trying to sound casual, but knowing I didn't succeed.
Yes, Danny drove me completely crazy sometimes with his constant chit-chat and his infamous rants. And hearing everything I have done wrong since meeting him, listed in order, wasn't exactly a great way to spend a car chase. But I knew I would never trust a partner as explicitly as I trusted Danny. I knew from day one that this guy, this short, big mouthed, sarcastically snarky New Jersey native would have my back no matter what. Hell, he and Grace had become family in the short span of time I knew them. In all honesty, I couldn't lose either one of them just yet.
"Probably not," he replied quietly. I heard him take another drink of beer before he continued, "This place has been Gracie's home for over a year. She's got friends here and her school's here. I can't take her away…" there was more he wasn't saying, but I didn't push it. Instead, I asked, "What's up with you and her school?"
Danny was quiet for a second then said, "Don't worry about it." he drained the rest of his beer, set the bottle down, and got to his feet. "I'm going to take Grace upstairs." I watched him move toward the couch and gather his daughter in his arms before carrying her toward the stairs.
When they were gone I started collecting my case files, leaving them in a semi-neat pile in the middle of the coffee table. I sat my notebook on top, grabbing the remote to shut the DVD player and TV off. I was just getting to my feet, ready to work out the kinks in my back, when Danny returned.
It wasn't the first time I actually looked at him over the past two weeks, and what I saw I didn't like. Dark, purplish circles under his eyes, a slight pinched look about him, and a bone, deep look of weariness was enough to know something was definitely up. But, I knew if I tried pushing he'd just yell at me again.
"Don't stop working on my account," he said sitting down on the floor next to my feet. "In fact, maybe two sets of eyes will help." He grabbed my notebook off the top of the case files and started flipping through it.
"Didn't you do enough research last night?" I questioned trying to sound more curious than cautious.
"Well, my sister Delia always says 'too much research could never hurt.'" He muttered putting my notebook down and grabbing the top case file. He pushed the rest toward me and flipped it open.
"I didn't know you had a sister," I said quietly still not sitting down.
"I've got three," he responded with a noncommittal shrug. "Are you going to help me or what?"
"Yeah, just let me get another beer," I replied ignoring the one I hadn't opened. He just grunted and I wandered into the kitchen.
Danny was becoming obsessed with this case, something I was hoping I could avoid. It was like my dad all over again, like me all over again. I just hoped he didn't start putting work before Grace. Not that I thought he was capable of such actions, he wasn't so much like my father who put work before his family way before Mom died. But a part of me feared Danny would start. Or something worse would happen. My regret towards letting him continue this case was growing, and I had a feeling it wasn't going to stop anytime soon…
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Danny…
Again, I gave up on sleep at about five. Steve and I had attempted an all-nighter last night, but Super SEAL made it to about two before he passed out on the couch. I, on the other hand, had flipped through each case file several times, not finding anything I hadn't already found. Every so often I had gotten up to check on Grace, but she managed to sleep through the night. Lucky her.
I dragged myself to my feet, my knee giving me shit for sitting for so long, and headed outside. I pulled my phone from my pocket, scrolling through the contacts to call Matilda. It was around four in the afternoon right now where she lived, she had to be home. Or one of her maids-or whoever she had cleaning her house-had to answer.
The phone rang three times before her voice answered, "You have reached Matilda Parker. I am not home please leave a message with your name and number so I know who is calling. And talk slow I am a seventy-eight year old woman. I do not have time to try and decipher young people and their speed talking. And if this is that boy who mowed my lawn, I am not paying you until you do as I asked…" I'm sure she had more, but the answering machine cut her off.
"Matilda, this is Danny. I, uh, I need to talk to you. So, when you get this call me. You've got my number." I hung up looking down at my phone. I scrolled through my contacts again, almost unconsciously, and stopped on Rachel's number. I hit send and listened to the voicemail pick up after the first ring.
"This is Rachel Parker's cell. Leave a message. Oh, and if this is Daniel, I know Gracie left her math book at your apartment. We'll be over later to get it." the phone beeped and I hung up. I ran a hand down my face, chuckling humorlessly at the fact that she hadn't changed her message from a month ago. We had been in the middle of another 'phone tag' week when she made it. But, my stomach clenched at the realization, the week before she died we hadn't exactly talked at all…
"Danny?" I heard a voice call and turned to see Steve giving me a confused look, his dark hair sticking up all over his head. "You okay?"
"Yeah," I responded wishing everyone would stop asking me that. I was fine, I didn't need to be coddled. They should put their energy into Grace. She would benefit from their concern a lot more than me.
Steve gave me a skeptical look, but didn't push the point. He just shut the door behind him. I took a deep breath, trying to fight the new headache I was getting (hell, I wasn't even sure if it was a new headache. It could have just been the same one I have had since Rachel's death) and trekked back into the house…
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2005…
I had had a headache all day, but it had reached its peak when the lead I had been following turned out to be a dead end. To say I was frustrated was an understatement. So, when I got home, and Rachel started in on me about something stupid, I had to try and hold onto my last shred of patience.
"Look, Rach, I'm sorry I missed Lauren's dinner party," I said wearily counting to ten in my head.
"I was expecting you to be there. But, instead, you decided to stay late, again." She crossed her arms, pacing back and forth across the kitchen floor.
"It's my job, Rachel. I can't just drop everything when you need me someplace," I said slowly, counting past thirty. My patience was wearing thin, reminding me of a taut rubber band.
"You told me you were getting off early today. Since, you know, you've worked late the last four nights." Her voice was raising slightly, but she managed to keep it just low enough so as not to wake Grace.
"What do you want me to do? Quit my job just so I can be with you all day," I snapped, throwing my hands in the air, my mental rubber band snapping, my headache somehow managing to get worse.
"No, I would just like to see more of you," she hissed.
"You knew I was a cop. You knew what you were signing up for when you married…" she shook her head walking away from me. "That's right, walk away…"
"Either I walk away or I say something I will regret," she spat turning to face me. "Not everyone is as outspoken as you."
"Oh, right, because calling me a jackass in front of my mother was so polite of you," I retorted.
"No better than you screaming at me through the bathroom door so the entire building could hear you."
"That was three years ago, Rachel. When are you ever going to let that go?" she shook her head again and stormed toward our bedroom. I followed her, hissing, "You started this fucking fight. Just like every single one we've ever had. Why don't you ever finish one…?"
"Get out!" she screamed before slamming the door in my face.
"My pleasure, Princess," I screamed back and headed toward the front door. I threw it open, stepped outside, and slammed it behind me so hard one of the little glass things fell out and shattered against the stoop. Too pissed to care, I stormed toward my car, got behind the wheel, and turned the engine over. I squealed out of the driveway, accidentally took out the neighbor's mailbox, and headed down the road…
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Jameson showed up around eleven and shut herself and Steve in his office. Kono, Chin, and I watched from my office, neither of us speaking, wondering what was being said. They talked for almost as long as they did yesterday, and I was so close to just ripping the door open and seeing what was going on, when they finally wrapped up their meeting.
Steve opened the door, motioned for us to come into his office, then headed back to his desk. I opened my door and headed across the tiny space, Kono and Chin behind me. We stopped in the doorway.
"Well?" I asked opting for casual and failing terribly.
"Detective Williams," Jameson started getting to her feet, "Malloy will be released into HPD's custody for twenty-four hours starting tomorrow. Get all the information from him as you can and then he will be transferred back to California. That's all I could get."
"It'll have to do," I said nodding. It was better than nothing and I knew not to look a gift horse in the mouth. She could have easily turned my suggestion down.
"Now, can I please talk to Detective Williams alone?" she asked turning to Steve. This couldn't be good.
"Of course," he said and ushered Kono and Chin out of his office. I stepped inside, letting them pass, and closed the door behind me.
"What's wrong, Governor?" I asked furrowing my eyebrows.
"First, I would like to offer my condolences," she said slowly. "It's hard, losing someone close to you, but worse when they haven't been a key part in your life." I nodded once, looking down at my shoes. "Second, as Commander McGarrett told you, I advised him to be careful if he was going to allow you to continue working this case."
"Yeah," I said meeting her eyes.
"And I mean that. I can't have the second-in-command of my task force doing something…" she trailed off, trying to find the correct term.
"Steve-ish," I supplied for her.
"Yeah," she replied fighting a smile. "It's bad enough Five-0 ends up in the hospital more times than I'd like to admit. I don't need…" she took a breath. "Just be careful and know your limitations. Don't do anything 'Steve-ish.'"
"Yes, ma'am," I said nodding. "But I can assure you, I will never be anything like Steve. I think one lunatic on the team is enough." I regretted the last words the moment I said them. I was pretty sure Jameson would frown upon me bad mouthing the leader of her task force.
"And third," she continued opting to ignore what I said. I silently thanked her. "Whatever you have planned for Malloy, please refrain from killing, maiming, or hurting him in any way. I promised I'd get him back to prison in one piece."
"You should be telling Steve that," I muttered.
"Good-bye, Detective Williams," she said shaking her head. She headed toward the door but froze before opening it. "Get something to eat and some sleep, Williams. You don't look well." if I didn't know any better, I'd say she was worried about me.
She then opened the door and left. I watched her leave for a second before sighing and joining Steve, Kono, and Chin in the 'war' room. Only, before I could say anything, my eyes landed on what they were watching. It was the traffic footage from when T'ak was taken. I didn't know if Steve had seen it already or not, but I knew I couldn't watch it again. Especially when they had keyed it up to Rachel's accident.
I turned as a wave of nausea rolled through me, and rushed into my office. I close the door behind me, the image already replaying in my head. She had been dead, dead on impact. D-E-A-D dead. And I bet T'ak didn't care. Mason probably didn't either. I mean, what's a couple dead bodies if it can get him the man he wanted? What's a couple little girls losing their mothers? That wasn't his problem.
I sank into my chair, my hands shaking, and glared at the floor. I wanted Mason and T'ak dead. End of story. I just had to find them first. God, I hoped we could flip Malloy. And regardless of what I told Jameson, I would do whatever it took to get him talking. Even if it meant going against her wishes…
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For those of you who dislike psycho, obsessed Danny, he will be gone soon. It's just, this case is too close to home for him... I mean really close. And he's under a lot of stress. So, just bear with me for a couple more chapters then he'll be gone :)
Anyway, thanks again.
Bye...