I do not own Hawaii Five-0 or any characters. No copyright infringement intended.

Notes: superb family gathering yesterday! AAANNND ... I think this chapter picks up some steam.

H5O* H5O* H5O* H5O* H5O*

CHAPTER FIVE

Steve stood outside the Camaro holding the tray of coffee. Partially bent at the waist, he was peering quizzically through the open driver's side window. The early morning breeze was coming in off the ocean and Danny's hair was gently moving every so often where he sat huddled in the passenger seat. Steve would have had something brightly smart to say if his partner hadn't been sound asleep.

Leaning against the door, Danny was slumped to the right. His right elbow was cocked on the door's trim and his face buried in that same hand. They'd just come off a useless all night stakeout down at the docks. Even after vetting the lead, their time and effort had been for nothing. His partner had been in a mellow mood at the very top of the operation. Steve hadn't realized how much that quiet, pensive attitude translated to fatigue until each boring minute ticked by to yield nothing of value.

They called it quits near dawn; each Five-0 member departing after a short dissatisfying conference about what could have gone wrong and why. Bouncing back quickly, Kono was off for an early dawn set of waves. Chin thought the golden-hued morning a peaceful opportunity to take a ride on his motorcycle up the highway. But Danny had only wanted a hot cup of coffee and a chance to regain lost sleep.

Silently, Steve slid into the Camaro and waited for the scent of steaming coffee to tease Danny awake. He was only mildly amused when nothing happened because his partner suddenly jolted where he sat. Eyes still closed and still deeply asleep, Steve watched the nightmare unfold as tiny beads of sweat began to trace across Danny's brow and lax hands became fists.

Danny's breath altered in his chest as the horses suddenly spooked in their stalls. With nowhere to go, the gray reared high on its hind legs while whinnying loudly in fright.

Again something had changed to disturb their quietude, but this time Danny knew what was going to happen as a shimmering stable became the well-appointed bedroom. The knowledge didn't make it better because the transition was just as deathly sharp. The peace was an illusion and it shattered an instant later.

Then .. it ... was with him and he could feel it resting heavily on his chest. Coiled. Hissing. Waiting for him to open his eyes.

A moan in his sleep became a very real one as Steve's mouth dropped open in surprise. "Whoa. Hey." Balancing the tray of coffee so it wouldn't fall, he tried to wake Danny as quietly as possible. "Hey, Danny. You're having a dream, buddy."

Even-toned and steady, Steve tried but got nowhere as Danny's body stiffened and fists tightened more. His legs flattened straight under the dashboard while his eyes moved wildly behind closed lids. In the throes of the nightmare, he didn't know where he was or that he was truly safe. None of it mattered because he believed that he was as far from safe as he'd ever been.

She was screaming that high-pitched cry until it was suddenly cut off as if the volume had been muted on a television. Danny's chest heaved as he lay in the bed, once more unable to move. He tried to keep his eyes closed and failed as the snake's head wavered off his chest and into view. His moan was more fearful as he lay stranded on his back, unable to move as Max's brightly colored snake met his gaze.

Eye to eye they stared at each other ... then .. it lunged viciously towards his face. For the first time there was pain .. so much pain, he literally stopped breathing.

"Geez! Danny!" Steve nearly lost the tray of coffee as Danny's back suddenly arched off the passenger seat. Some did spill as he literally dumped the tray on the rear floorboards to close this distance between them. "Danny! What the hell .. Danny! Wake up!"

Beads of sweat had now become a fine glistening sheen sending rivulets of heat to streak his face, neck and chest to soak his shirt. He moaned again under Steve's hands as his breathing completely altered.

It hurt .. there was so much mind-blowing pain .. it hurt .. and suddenly his haunted eyes sprung open in shock. Danny's nearly inaudible whisper of help faded as he sucked in a terrified thin shred of air.

"Danny!" Despite the awkward position, Steve had a hand on each of Danny's shoulders. His eyes raked over him up and down, stunned by the adrenalin-ridden trembling. Danny's pain had sounded so physically real that Steve was sure something more than a bad dream was terribly wrong.

"Are you okay? Danny .. what just happened?"

"Whu .. what?" Forcing his clenched fists to open, Danny was confused by the Camaro's dashboard and shadowed windshield as the sun began to rise. Only then did he realize Steve was practically on top of him to hold him in place. Danny blinked before shakily wiping some of the sweat off his face with the back of his hand.

"Yeah, I'm fine. It's okay." Badly strained, his voice sounded pathetically weak and to cover for it, he swiped his hand across his face for a second time. But it was a mistake since the move only showcased the ongoing vibration. He tried to look away but Steve wasn't having any of it because he was as shaken as his partner. Fingers stayed tightly wedged to each of his shoulders as Danny slowly got his breathing back under control. But he was suddenly cold as he tried to sit straighter while shaking out the tightness in his fingers. The dream was far too fresh as it lingered and he glanced down at his legs to be sure.

"What the hell was that?" Steve carefully released him, one hand close on his shoulder as Danny wiped his face and came back to center.

"Bad dream." Refusing to meet Steve's eyes, Danny would have gotten out of the car if his still working legs would have gracefully held him up. He wanted to move and needed to, but he'd never had such a vivid experience. Holding his hands in front of him, fingers splayed wide, he chuffed a disgusted sound as they shook openly in the air.

"You okay?" Steve's jaw moved tightly from left to right, unsettled by what he'd just seen. Bad dream or not, it was downright frightening. "What was that about, Danno? And don't you dare tell me nothing."

Danny hadn't told Steve of his latest few nightmares which were steadily increasing in intensity. The first from five months earlier had been his only confession; it had happened and then it simply was gone. So to be fair, nothing had really happened until much more recently. Wanting at first to move, now he was mildly amused with himself for his overwhelming desire to curl up into a ball.

"Danny?" Steve pushed, and he nodded before struggling to heave in a calmer breath of the crisp morning air while wondering where to start.

"Coffee?" Danny's mouth was bone dry and he waited as Steve salvaged the best cup for him.

He sipped, swallowed hard and closed his eyes against the memory because it was refusing to dissipate.

There was pain .. so much pain...

He could see each piece of the dream as if it were happening all over again. "Damned snakes." His whisper started there then, quietly and completely serious; once more thankful that Steve simply absorbed what he purged.

H5O* H5O* H5O* H5O* H5O*

The day would be a beautiful adventure from start to finish and Ray was up well before dawn to enjoy it fully by himself. Any special errands he needed to do were completed long before breakfast, leaving more time for a casual visit to the lower levels of the mansion to toy with his pets. To see and ensure that each was content and healthy in the perfection of their care.

Refusing Riku's assumption that he would need a chauffeur to the clinic, Ray drove himself in his smaller Range Rover enjoying the beauty of the day. He was in a good mood and looking forward to the tour, though another side of his brain still lived back at his house, with his children. It was also spending time revisiting his overnight experiment concealed in the privacy of the upper apartments in the stable.

But his utmost thrill was learning about Doctor Alphonse Ramirez's past. He knew something more had happened and he'd searched the internet, stunned by his findings.

His new friend had killed. He had taken a life in what some termed cold blood and had lost his position at Tripler. He had nearly lost his medical license, was fined, and had been relegated to a term of civil duty as penance. That duty being the clinic, itself. Ray whistled pleasantly under his breath as he drove along the road, smiling to himself about Ponch's very own murder. The reason didn't matter. The fact that it had been under duress or to save the sanctity of his family bore little interest to Franklin Ray. It only mattered that it had been done.

"I knew I liked you for a reason." Ray muttered under his breath. Obsessed with so many pleasurable thoughts, he smiled to himself and hummed a nameless tune while driving steadily north and eventually through unfamiliar back streets. After finding the information on the internet, his decision to drive himself as he had to the family dinner was entirely selfish as well. He was in a splendid mood and didn't wish to be judged.

He would sense Riku's ongoing predilection to worry too much about saying the wrong words. So concerned of his Indian employee's potential wrath, especially for what had transpired just a few hours earlier, Ray drove himself to avoid the added distraction of an unwanted tolerant attitude. In short, Riku would ruin his state of very good humor.

Arriving precisely on time, he hesitated though for the unexpected army of authorities on the clinic's rambling porch. In his rearview mirror, he was startled by the dual sets of HPD lights on his heels causing him to nervously park his truck in the first available spot.

Preparing for the worst, he squeezed the steering wheel until his fingers went white as the two HPD cruisers parked next to him. With barely a glance at him though, the uniformed officers joined the two men on the porch. It was then that Ray saw young Jasper Mitchell.

He wracked his brain in an attempt to remember if he'd said anything untoward the previous evening. If he'd made a critical mistake and unwittingly set a trap for himself. Made worse was the thought his early morning escapade had already been discovered. Though it made little sense the police would be lying in wait for him at the clinic, Ray lingered in the car, sweating profusely as the afternoon sun poured relentlessly in through the Rover's large windshield. He sat there for minutes just staring at the small group wondering what to do.

"I was careful." Confused, he muttered guiltily under his breath about his early morning, pre-dawn personal errand and paled considerably as he replayed his steps. He'd been so careful and yet, he could have made a drastic error.

"No, no. They couldn't know." His whispers were uttered into his hand, stifled behind a cough when his throat closed up in a panic. He focused on Jazz in an attempt to read what he was seeing despite his rising sense of alarm. But by the very expression on his face, the young doctor was distressed and very upset. Then glancing up, he gave a dismal yet friendly wave to Franklin Ray and it was enough to release him from his pending sense of doom.

"I see. I see." He whispered again, as his eyes darted about. No one was paying him any heed at all. Something had happened at the clinic and was wholly unrelated to his horrific compulsions.

Still though, Ray sat in his truck for a few more minutes. Uncertain about what to do until he saw Ramirez's silhouette through the windows in the middle of what would be the clinic's main waiting room. Only then did he vacate his vehicle to find out what was happening. He simply needed to know.

"Doctor Ray." Jasper's worried eyes skirted over the man as he avoided the group, apologetic for what he was witnessing.

"Feel free to wait in our offices. I'll be there once I'm done here; we've had a bit of an issue."

"Can I help in any way?" Ray asked with a genteel air and a welcoming yet baffled nod to acknowledge the array of HPD officers. "I don't know what's happened, but if I can be of any help?"

"No, no. Ponch is inside." Waving him on through the door, Jazz went back to speaking to the officers. The babble of conversation was fast, frenetic and more than midway through whatever had occurred, so Ray missed the entire point of the man's feverish worry.

"Ponch?" Ray sauntered across the clinic's main waiting room to join the older ex-TAMC physician. "What's happened here? It seems rather urgent .. I'd be more than happy to reschedule if there's been an emergency."

"Frank. I'm sorry for the fanfare." Interrupting a conversation with a casually attired but well-armed dark-haired man, Ponch clasped Ray's hands in greeting. Behind them, a blonde-haired officer wandered the clinic's rear hallway to peer into examination rooms and offices. Highly strung, he was tight with concern and telegraphing a strong sense of seriousness.

For a moment, Frank was inexplicably pulled to the blonde detective for his overwhelming jumble of raw nervous energy. Unable to stop pacing, he was distinctly more on edge than the dark-haired man who glanced just once to give him a conciliatory look. He murmured something which only caused the blonde to toss his hands in the air. Moments later though, he'd ceased his walking to lean almost resentfully against a wall.

"I am sorry." Drawn back to Ponch, Ray focused on what the bigger doctor was saying. Ponch was upset and evidently very worried, but what he had to say was a complete shock to Ray.

"One of our employee's is missing. She didn't show up yesterday to work, nor this morning and no one has heard from her at all. We gave her a chance to resume today. But again, she didn't show or call .. so we've decided to file a missing persons report."

"Ah. Oh?" Confused, Ray furrowed his brow at the strange explanation. "I don't quite understand. Wouldn't family do that sort of thing?"

"Yes, usually." Ponch scowled at the photograph he was holding before showing it to Frank. The clinic operated as if it were entirely made up of an extended family of sorts. Everyone knew everyone else. Almost embarrassingly so.

Community relations had only expanded over the last several months as Jasper and Ponch teamed with local shelters to provide short term work opportunities to a few of the down and out.

"Gail is in a work-life program and we've hired her as our part-time receptionist and clerk to help her get back on her feet. She's been living hand to mouth for years. Through a lot of very hard work and dedication, she has been sober for more than ten months. She was just accepted into the program and made eligible for work, housing and job training. She was excited and very optimistic. It's one of the programs that our clinic actively supports with the County."

The uncomfortable rankling feeling began down near Ray's feet as he listened to Ponch's explanation. "It's not uncommon for program participants to miss a day or two. But Gail is different and hardworking. We allowed for the day in case something did come up and to be honest, in case she had a bit of relapse."

"I see." Frank calmly forced through his teeth. The two plainclothes officers were studying him closely and it was all he could do to not inadvertently twitch. The blonde one was back to his pacing as he obviously listened to their short exchange. Even for that, there was no way for anyone to suspect Doctor Franklin Ray and little reason to if the woman was still missing.

"That's a respectable program. Perhaps she did have a bit of an … issue?"

"No. This was no relapse. Something's happened to Gail." Ponch heaved in a long suffering breath. He knew that she was on the straight and narrow. After being denied twice to participate in the program, she was very determined and not likely to fall off the wagon or ruin the chance given her.

"Two days is unlike her and she'd have called. We can't reach her and I visited where she's been staying personally this morning. The landlord said she didn't come home in nearly three days."

"Three? Could she be visiting family then?" Schooling his features, Ray nodded now in complete understanding because he absolutely knew where the story was going. Perhaps not quite how it would end once the body he had hidden that morning was discovered. If it were found.

Kali help him, if it were discovered; no, Franklin Ray could not foresee that. Not quite yet. He had hope especially since Riku had done such a splendid job with the second woman so many weeks ago, whom still had not been found. If not for Riku, Franklin Ray would already be fleeing yet another home because he was definitely the wolf in sheep's clothing. But then again only because of Riku, had he changed once more to take on new habits because his employee would not help.

He needed Riku and could not risk the man walking out on him. So, Ray had altered inside to try something new and now, he had to stifle an ominous shiver.

"No, she has no family here per se. She was trying to get back on her feet." By Ponch's tone, Ray heard the angry frustration and the mounting concern.

"I'm sorry, Ponch. I hope you can find her soon. I hope she's fine." Lying through his teeth, Ray fought to stay calm. He dared to glance at the two officers who seemed to be drilling holes clear through to his destroyed soul. He knew everything about the woman without needing to look at the photograph which Ponch was shoving under his nose.

What he hadn't quite realized was the woman's connection to his newfound friend or that he might come face to face with a police investigation. Out of courtesy, he took the photograph shared amongst the officers now ranging about the clinic. The warning trill in his feet festered and traveled like a sickening heat to settle in the pit of his stomach for he was indeed gazing at the smiling face of his third victim.

Not even Riku knew of this one; once more blonde, Ray had met her two days earlier at a benign local coffee-house. It had begun to rain, she had fretted about her new shoes, and so, he'd offered her a ride home. Once she was in his Land Rover though, he'd been entirely unable to help himself.

Hidden from Riku, she had died in the stable ten hours after their disastrous serendipity. Just barely the night before, she had cooed and loved on the horses. Ray had patiently waited for her to finish in her tender ministrations listening to ridiculous comments about her youth. She had horses at one time or she simply loved them; it didn't matter, because he had barely been listening.

He wanted her upstairs in the renovated stable apartment. And eventually he got her there, on the pretense of showing her an apartment for rent. But here, her life would drastically change.

She had screamed .. so long and so very loud, that Ray was sure someone might hear. It had taken her longer to succumb to the poison and he had watched, intrigued through the cameras setup in the room above the stables. Refusing to intervene, Franklin Ray had remained rooted to his seat absorbing her reactions to his latest acquisition: the yellow-bellied sea snake.

It was fascinating and it hooked him deeply in a dark, satisfying way he never before thought possible. Afterwards though, his reality had settled squarely on his shoulders.

"No more." Riku's vow was definitive and Ray couldn't take the chance. "I'm leaving. I will leave. No more."

With Riku's threats of leaving him on his mind, for the first time Ray had tried to dispose of the body himself. He had literally just washed his hands of her during those pre-dawn hours. Even before Riku had awoken to do his job in caring for his beautiful collection.

Though she was missed, so far no one knew. The very fact that he was surrounded by HPD and plainclothes officers proved that to be a valid point. Pleased at this new level of awareness, Franklin Ray completely relaxed.

No one had found her or the second one which Riku had discreetly managed for him.

"We need to reschedule our day together." Conciliatory now, Ray significantly calmed before insisting on the change as he handed the photograph back to a visibly distressed Ramirez.

"I'm sorry, Frank." Ponch sagged unhappily.

"No, you have much more important things to care for; please call me this evening and keep me appraised. This is really no trouble at all. None whatsoever." He raised his hand to quiet Ramirez's stammered apology, but Ray did need to leave as two new Asian officers entered the front door of the clinic.

He wisely did not wish to over stay a welcome amongst an ever-growing crowd. Also plainsclothed, the two Asian officers greeted Ponch and their two counterparts with an intrigued look his way. The space was instantly too small and suddenly feeling desperately obvious in his guilt, Ray attempted to back up but Ramirez clasped a sturdy hand to his shoulder.

"Before you go, I"d like you to meet Commander McGarrett and the rest of his team." Snared by Ramirez's solicitous gesture, Ray was forced to meet the Five-0 Commander, his overly tense partner, and then the two newly arrived Asian officers.

Appraised by the detective, Ray returned the stern favor, noticing the slightly bloodshot eyes and general mien of fatigue. Something more seemed to be bothering the officer or he was simply over-worked. Regardless, Ray mentally shrugged because it really wasn't of his concern. At least, not yet.

Based upon what he was seeing, for the time being not a single soul suspected him of a wrongdoing. Though deep down he wished to leave the clinic as the situation smothered him, Doctor Ray Franklin, generous philanthropist, was thought to be merely visiting a friend.

"Governor's task force?" Momentarily distracted as Gail's screams came to mind, Ray blinked backed to the present before looking to Ponch in order to be sure he'd heard correctly. "A special task force?"

"Yes." The proffered reply from the team's Commander was a simple one word answer. Arms-folded comfortably across his chest, he was pleasant enough, yet also sizing him up.

"I didn't realize that the Governor had a task force. It's a pleasure to meet you. I do hope you find this young woman." With a circumspect glance of his own, Ray realized that Ramirez was friendly with the four-some on a personal level. Very friendly in fact. It was an interesting dynamic of sorts. He hummed softly under his breath while relying solely on his well-ingrained habitual upbringing.

Wishing to leave, Frankin Ray adroitly handled the introductions with a well perceived sincerity. When he was released to depart the clinic, only he knew what he had barely avoided as he kept his eyes trained forward to slowly drive away.

~ to be continued ~