I do not own Hawaii Five-0 or any characters. No copyright infringement intended. The same goes for the fantastic show and wonderful characters portrayed in Flashpoint.
Notes: Lesson of the day - when one capsizes a kayak in 52 degree lake water - it's DAMN cold! LOL! ;-)
Chapter 10
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Steve and the team were arriving at the locked gates to the old factory just as Robbie was setting the timer to the car battery on the top floor. He knew just enough about the mechanical process to create the one dangerous spark needed for a flash fire. Slamming the door shut, Robbie completed his work by battering the door handle with an old pipe until it twisted and broke off so that no one could get in or out where Danny lay trapped.
But another quarrel started between him and Paul as they fled the upper levels and Paul simply left them behind when Robbie aimed the gun at him. In his haste to flee, he was pushing Ana forcibly forward and she fell to her knees. "Come on! Let's get out of here!"
Her startled and pained cry sent Robbie into a fury. The argument started immediately when Paul found himself physically rattled into a wall and his unstable friend pushed the muzzle of the weapon literally into his ear. "Watch what you're doing, Paulie. Don't ever hurt her .. don't you ever, ever touch her .. you got me?"
That was all it took to finish the boy's last threads of remaining bravery or desire to stay with Robbie Clancey. With a quick look at the fallen girl, he decided to flee the building and do what the injured Detective had suggested so many hours ago. "You are crazy. Deal with all of this yourself!" Taking off at a run, Paul was down the stairs before he could see Robbie trying to help Ana to her feet.
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Down below, the teams that were arriving were ready for more than they had originally anticipated. Three additional HPD cruisers were with Five-0 and armed to the hilt. The additional manpower was related to new babblings from Joe Clancey. Because the closer the police got to the building, the more Joe had found his tongue. There were too many cops assembling and he'd be responsible for killing each and every one if they tried to enter the building. He was already directly associated to the kidnapping of one and his ignorance meant absolutely nothing; if Robbie killed the one cop, it was over for the both of them. And if he kept his mouth closed now, it would become a slaughter.
"Damn." The whine had started as quiet murmur which eventually drew the attention of the two HPD officers in the front seat of the cruiser. "Oh, damn. Shit. Damn. Damn. Damn."
He fidgeted, gave out with a loud frightened groan and then panicked in the back seat of the patrol car as they got closer to the old factory. The HPD officer driving had been watching his antics in the rear view mirror and he motioned to his partner. "What's wrong with this guy? Withdrawal? Maybe you should check him out."
Sweat had beaded on Clancey's upper lip and he was squirming in his cuffs. His eyes flitted about from the car to the passing scenery outside and he moaned again in frustration. His whisper grew to a frenetic worried crescendo. "Damn, damn, damn. Shit! Stop the car!"
"Yeah, that's totally not going to happen." The second officer had turned to fully face the disturbed junkie and he eyed him closely. "What's wrong with you? Are you sick?"
"You can't go in! I've only been there once .. maybe twice. It's rigged - every window and door. It's all rigged!" Clancey had jiggled nervously in the backseat before leaning his sweaty forehead on the window. "It's a damned fortress. Every window and door is set up as a trap. Wires, explosives and even military issued grenades. You can't get in and you can't get out without the right set of keys and only Robbie has those."
With this latest revelation now shared with Steve and the rest of the team, added HPD support plus the bomb squad had been called into action and were en route. The word 'keys' was a loose term and only relevant to certain windows and doors. The main door absolutely had one particular key which Robbie kept around his neck; however, its special jury-rigged incendiary could be manually disabled from the inside. Which was done religiously on 'work' days; those days when too many people needed to go in and out to load (or unload) meth supplies.
But based on Robbie Clancey's brazen exploits, they had very little time to act and Steve wasn't overly interested in waiting the extra minutes for the bomb squad. Governor Denning had also come through and he had pulled strings to reveal the contents of the sealed files and what they revealed about Jana Madison was short of astonishing. The team understood now why Danny had them officially closed but that knowledge didn't entirely fit why Robbie might have abducted him or Ana.
The chain link gates to the old factory were closed and padlocked, but they hadn't stood a chance against Steve's Silverado and he had easily broken them down with the small convoy in his wake. Sirens and lights were off but anyone peering out a window would see the small army convening in the old parking lot. The issue for the people inside the building was that no one had bothered to look. Had they, the large assembly would have been staggering.
"There's the Honda ... and the black van." Chin pointed to the black van that was parked off to the side as they pulled in. The team was immediately more alert and on edge as they arrived at the old factory and took notice of each vehicle. "Score another one for our bag lady."
Steve skidded to a stop and instantly was out of the truck to give orders as he assessed the property with an educated eye. "Okay, I need a way in, people. Break into teams of three and scour each side of this place and every window. Get me in there."
His team took the rear as three other HPD teams gathered and then took the remaining sides but it took only seconds to realize it was the fortress Joe Clancey had described. Wide-eyed and still panicking, the two officers stayed with him while the first few teams surveyed the property. They listened amongst themselves as they shared frustrated whispered updates which came almost immediately from every corner.
"There's no way .. everything is wrapped or strung."
"We can't risk fire; any spark is going to make this more of a hellhole."
"Nothing. Windows are rigged here."
Identical warnings came from each team and Steve was about to do something drastic when there was a loud clanging and rustling on the opposite side of the door nearest where the Five-0 team was standing. Another delay of silence and something pinged before Steve watched the door's latch slowly turn to open.
"Everyone hold. We have movement." He hissed to his team and then over the comm links. "Someone's coming out on this side. Be ready."
One second after the latch turned, the door opened and Chin grabbed Paul just one step from the door frame and slammed him hard up against the unyielding brick wall. With his forearm rocked into the boy's neck, Chin's gun was held threateningly to his head. And having that done to him twice in less than five minutes time completely sapped his resolve as he gaped at the assembled officers.
"I suggest you start talking now. How many are inside?" Steve and Kono had already replaced Paul in the doorway to keep the door from closing. Steve took a moment to examine the canister and odd wires connecting it to the inside hinges. But further down near the floor, Paul had disconnected the red and white wires from a plastique tube. The front door was open to them.
"How many?" Chin tried again. But when Paul didn't immediately speak, Chin lifted him off his feet to rock him once again into the bricks with Steve looming dangerously now beside him.
Dangerously dark, Steve reiterated the question. "Answer the man. How many are inside?"
Paul's eyes were huge in his face and he had to cough and gag his answer out around Chin's arm that was viciously anchored to his throat. "Two. Two, plus the cop. But it's not my fault; I didn't want to do it! He made me!"
"Plus the cop." Steve growled out a repeat of those words in a barely checked rage. He looked up sharply as the first HPD team came running from the far side of the building.
"Get him out of here and hold him."
"But it's going to blow!" Paul was anxious and frightened as he began to fight Chin's hold with the intent to duck past the new officers. "He's got the cop upstairs and he rigged the room to blow. It'll take the whole place down. There's no time! Less than ten minutes!"
"You better hope there's time." Chin threatened in a low voice as Paul was handed off to the HPD team and just as a second group of three officers arrived to follow the Five-0 team into the dark recesses of the first floor.
"Let's assume we're down to five minutes." Steve advised the two groups. "Spread out and do a complete search. Do not touch anything that looks suspicious." Steve pointed to the upper floors and the HPD men took off at a fast jog to clear each of the dangerous rooms. They had all been prepped and were using rubber bullets and extremely cautionary methods to avoid setting off a spark that could cause a fire or explosion. But none of it would matter if Paul was telling the truth about Robbie's rigged timer.
Barely making their way into the main foyer, Kono saw the two figures first.
"Halt!" Kono hollered out the command and leveled her gun directly at Ana and Robbie as they ran towards the front door. Chin and Steve took cover behind two different pillars and immediately began edging forward.
"Stop right there and drop your weapon!"
"Let me go. We have to go back!" Ana was screaming over them and Robbie's automatic stunned response was to haul her in front of his body as a human shield. She had no time to do anything as his gun went to her temple.
"Back off, or she's dead!" His mouth fell open at the alarming number of police in the main area of the warehouse. For the first time, Robbie felt a flicker of fear but he set his jaw to funnel it back into a rage. However with no way out, he was forced to back up to take cover as best as possible near another central pillar in the room.
"Nice boyfriend." Kono muttered to herself as she tried to find a clear shot, but Ana was directly in her line of fire.
"I don't have a target." She whispered into her comm link. Time was ticking and Robbie was dangerous in his desperation.
Staying low, Steve carefully skirted the right side and rounded the backside of tables, stacked boxes and pillars to be almost behind the struggling couple while Chin moved similarly to the left. Robbie was focused on Kono and oblivious to what both Chin and Steve were doing.
"I swear, I will kill her!"
"That's not going to happen. Where's my Detective." Steve's voice unexpectedly coming from behind him, made Robbie whirl around to realize he was surrounded. And while he couldn't exactly see who had spoken the words, the tone was threatening and implied no negotiation.
In his headset, Steve heard Kono's sarcastic 'that's better' and tried not to smirk. But Ana had started to scream again and fought harder as Robbie repositioned the gun in his hand. Steve recognized it as Danny's own weapon and he clenched his teeth angrily. But Ana's struggles spun them around and ruined what would have been a disabling shot even with a rubber bullet.
"He's dead!" Those two words practically sealed Robbie's fate as Steve edged closer; he clearly wasn't in the mood. However, Ana's sobs proved how wrong the statement was as time continued to evaporate by every passing second.
"No, he's not! You have to help him! He's upstairs .. he's hurt!" Robbie growled dangerously at her and pulled her even more tightly to his body while he used his one free hand to cover her mouth. "You need to be quiet, Ana. Let me handle this."
Changing gears completely, Steve tried a different tact as he sidled closer. Ana was struggling and trying to get away, but Robbie was intent on maintaining control of her. "Come on, Robbie. Tell us where Detective Williams is and we can work everything out afterwards."
"No!" Robbie was having none of it as he laughed harshly at the offer and subsequently penned his own rough ending to the standoff. "No way. No way does he get to be the big hero again! Not this time."
"Team two. Give me a report." Steve whispered quickly into his comm. The second HPD team had taken the stairs straight up and were searching room by room but coming up empty. Steve's query to their status was an unfortunate negative on finding his partner, so he turned his attention back to Robbie. He looked older than his almost twenty years with significant height and a very decent build. Steve physically sized him up and then quietly holstered his weapon.
And then he had to force himself to remain on an even keel as he checked the time. "Robbie, can you tell me what this is about?"
"Sure. Absolutely." Another menacing laugh and Steve glared as Robbie had the gall to casually check his own watch. "Sure, I can tell you. But in six minutes. I can tell you anything you want to know in six minutes."
Under his hand, Ana moaned in terror and then resumed her fight to break free but failed as he pushed the gun harder into the side of her head. Steve took a chance then based solely on the files that Denning had re-opened .. the same ones Danny had sealed for eternity by court order. He took a chance and prayed he was right.
"Robbie, is this about Ana's mother?" He heard the muffled curse immediately and a grim smile crossed his lips. He was right, though he wasn't quite sure yet where it would be leading. The files had still been sealed and as Danny had surmised, Steve also knew that Robbie Clancey had no rhyme or reason to know what really had been hidden inside for so many years. And now that they knew the absolute truth, the boy would be way off base with whatever he thought he was accurately sharing with the terrified girl.
"What did you tell Ana about her mother?" It was a pointed question and Steve already knew half the answer but he needed Robbie to say it again. Whatever he had told the girl was a lie. He only wondered if Danny had revealed any part of the real truth.
"I told her the truth!" Robbie's voice was louder and more desperate as he checked his watch. "I told her exactly what happened. That her precious Uncle Danny killed her mother .. and don't you dare try to cover for him! Everyone was downstairs that night and he was the only one upstairs .. in the bedroom chasing down Ana's mother. He killed her mother in cold blood!"
And then Steve prompted for more just to be sure. Stupid jealousy. Pure obsession and a stalker's rage seemed to be the key drivers but he had to be certain. With an intentional taunting tone, Steve forced a smile into his voice. He made Robbie sound dumb and childish as he mocked him in front of Ana.
"Is that it? Really? Is that the best you could do .. there wasn't anything else?" As he planned, Robbie became defensive and bristled right away at the challenge and Steve smirked again.
"What else could there be? He's only helping Ana because of his own guilt." Robbie laughed and took a minute to rub the sweat from his face with his sleeve. He was nervous now and becoming jittery. His timer was ticking second by agonizing second and he didn't want to be around for the resulting explosion. "That's all Ana needs to know. She needs to know that her wonderful Uncle Danny is a lying murderer. And now ...she does."
Steve could hear the girl's faint sobs under the boy's hand as he moved into a dark shadow to creep closer. And he became deathly quiet and when he spoke it was with a morbid honesty.
"So Danny didn't tell you, then?" The team had a special card to play and it wasn't going to be pretty. But Steve was determined now to clear the air as Robbie's temper re-escalated.
"He's a lousy coward!" Unnerved by what was happening, Robbie rapped his own head into the column he partially was hiding behind. He was anxious to leave, but unable to move a step in either direction based on the dark shapes surrounding him.
"Far from it. That makes two things you're wrong about." The sarcastic taunt was back in Steve's voice as he came out of the shadows only a few feet from the startled boy. At the same time, he took in Ana's torn business suit and blood stained hands. She was undeniably frightened but her eyes were sparkling with clarity as she watched his every move.
"Okay, if you want the truth so badly; I'll tell you both the truth."
~ to be continued ~