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

* H50 * H50 * H50 * H50 * H50 *

Chapter 8

Butch Curtis' cousin had flown to Honolulu on his private jet two weeks earlier and well in advance of the serious storm. Frank Curtis came prepared with six of his best men and with only two clear-cut goals in mind. Though now as certain things coalesced, a new third and fourth were percolating and coming slowly to fruition in his greedy mind.

His first two priorities were obvious. Retrieve what was rightfully his and kill Joanna Pearce. An eye for an eye .. and then some.

The next two that he contrived proved his flexibility and penchant to adapt. Except for the current tropical storm situation, Hawaii was a beautiful location to setup a circumspect high-stakes game or two, and invitations had gone out. The location was enticing and he was pleased that a few key players had arrived prior to the storm and based on the weather reports, the storm would die down and be gone by the evening of his latest special event. It gave the opportunity for the stragglers to arrive.

The final site for his guests was a bit more difficult to coordinate, however his broker was scouting for just the right place with the help of an intrigued and well-informed local. That local also promised hourly, close-mouthed professional help: bartender, beautiful waitresses and imposing Hawaiian guards. Frank usually coordinated his own staff and he had a stable of ready assistance. However, every so often such as now, he required outside support. His contacts along with his broker were confident with their Hawaiian connection. Frank had spontaneously smiled as he listened over his broker's shoulder to the friendly and easy-going "Sure, brah! We can do that .. no worries!"

He expected to confirm the elaborate bowels of a currently unused, docked freighter which exceeded Frank Curtis's active imagination. The idea of a using a ship further enticed his clientele since it added to the mystique and aura of the tropical event. It had a particular clandestine flavor, style and spoke of prestige; and Frank strove to be different.

But his fourth venture was darker and lascivious based solely upon Joanna Pearce's death and his personal losses. Once he had little Kasey Pearce, the perfect coups would spell the child's fate and he already had at least two interested buyers lined up. Things were lining up perfectly in that regard because his favored client had also accepted his invitation to the pending covert high-stakes gambling event.

He had contacts in the highest and the lowest of places. So finding the woman wasn't all that difficult, especially with a kid in tow. Plus she hadn't gotten much too comfortable and confident over the prior months. He had intentionally booked a room at the hotel where it was reported that she worked. They had found her amazingly quickly though something had spooked her one morning and he'd had to adapt quickly as she tried to run. Exercising caution, one of his men had followed her from a discreet distance and they had abducted her just as she arrived at the Honolulu airport. Joanna Pearce had stepped out of a yellow taxi and then directly into a large black sedan under gunpoint.

Frank had kept her alive for a few of days because it intrigued him to terrorize her. Having tracked her down after so many months, he was no longer in a rush and wanted to enjoy himself.

She had been carrying a great deal of cash which she reluctantly admitted came from pawning one of his stolen diamond chips. He then viciously toyed with her until she admitted to killing Butch. Frank didn't buy her lame excuses for why she had even been there that night with Butch during his "meet". These things were always done secretly .. quite privately .. and Butch would never have been so sloppy as to bring along a woman. Her sobs about the shooting being in self defense meant nothing to him because eventually she agreed that she'd done it just to steal the small stash of jewels. It was the truth he expected to hear and it satisfied his malicious sense of justice.

Oddly, it took much longer for her to confess to having the thumb drive. She had died after trying to convince Frank that Butch had made her steal it because he wanted to undermine his cousin. She seemed to dig in for a time and evade his pointed questions about its hiding place. He picked and chose what he wanted to hear and believe from her dying lips. Butch, a traitor? No, that thought had made him laugh out loud in her face as she coughed and cried in pain. But having hidden the precious thumb drive in the apartment or bank deposit box, or even in the hands of her kid? Those things he could believe .. along with whatever was left of the diamonds.

Now, Frank Curtis stood in his posh hotel suite at the height of the storm cursing everyone and everything around him. He had sent his men to Joanna's small hovel of an apartment and his fury only grew with each passing moment.

Three were now in custody and the fourth was dead. And Frank Curtis still had nothing .. yet. The authorities had shown up at the worst most possible moment before they had found the remaining diamonds or the thumb drive. While the lockdown on the apartment frustrated his plans and confirmed eventual disaster for retrieval of his belongings, Frank wasn't worried about himself.

He also felt strongly that the police would never know enough to find Joanna's body. These Hawaiians were too laid back and easy-going. The islands themselves and surrounding ocean held too much opportunity for disposal options. He both appreciated and disliked the place. The size and strength of the tropical storm was an example of something that aggravated him no end; it made him feel trapped and reminded him exactly of where he was - surrounded by water on an island. He missed his city with its traffic, impossible amount of lights and imposing over-the-top casinos and tall, beautiful buildings. If he needed an out on the mainland, he simply hopped in a car, limo or his small jet and he could be in any other number of places within an hour. Here was an entirely different story especially wth airports closed and planes grounded. Hell, even boats were an impossibility as the storm raged on.

However he had the utmost faith in the loyalty of his team. He could trust all of his men to remain obstinately quiet and not include him in any of their interrogations. His cache of paid lawyers would be employed to represent and bail each one out of trouble.

It was true that he wanted the remaining diamonds but he absolutely needed to retrieve the very important thumb drive. Things would go bad very quickly if that one piece of proprietary plastic wound up in the wrong hands. Frank soothed his thoughts with the pending game .. and sale. A ten-year old female evidently was extremely valuable on the black market. Being thwarted by the police irritated him, Joanna had mumbled something about a suitcase and then the damaged air conditioning in the building. He wasn't entirely sure what that meant except that it indicated his property was hidden in the apartment. His next assumption was that Joanna's kid at least knew where her mother had stashed them.

Through his network of connections, he now knew where the brat had been .. and he believed that he could find out where she was now or simply wait out the system to have her presented to him on a platter. CPS had picked her up and she'd promptly run away from her very first foster home. Like mother .. like daughter. With the apartment now a hot spot of activity, Frank would pick up the homeless, unwanted orphan and do what he wanted with her. He'd get the intrinsic value of his property one way or another by implementing his other long-term plans for the ten-year old.

Frank was more than willing to try his hand at trafficking. After all, it was just another form of gambling and he smiled at his bold plans as he considered blind bidding instead of an outright sale. He clapped his hands in glee though when he thought of another option: why not offer a lucrative jackpot that rivaled no other? It would alter the final demographic of his invited clientele, but he was willing to once again adjust. The unique qualities of his event began to gel more solidly in his head and Frank sent a text message to his planner. He wanted to see him immediately to finalize the details. What better way to simultaneously get back at Joanna Pearce and increase his investments at the same time?

He didn't doubt that little Kasey Pearce had the remaining gems and could even be anxiously awaiting the return of her beloved mother. In fact throughout the long ordeal, Joanna had pleaded with him to leave her child alone. Frank remembered teasing Joanna before killing her. How he had so honestly vowed to not touch a hair on that precious child's head.

Bleeding and beaten, Joanna had sobbed and then thanked him profusely. He had watched her struggling for air through a punctured lung and then had laughed before gently tilting her chin up to say just a few final words. He had done that just before shooting her himself. If you want something done right, do it yourself - the first time.

"Fair game, Jo. For Butch. But you seem to need another reminder. Because ... nobody .. nobody takes what's mine."

Her face had completely crumpled before her broken screaming started and blood began to drip from her lips. She had died immediately after that knowing that Frank wouldn't stop, Kasey would be next and it was entirely her own fault. For Frank, all of this would be the icing on the cake. No one would miss the brat. He looked up when one of his men strode excitedly into the elaborate hotel suite and he began to chuckle happily. He was about to hear good news.

"The local FBI office is definitely looking at our boys. There's no obvious link to you yet." Frank nodded and motioned for the man to continue. He knew there was some good news to be heard. "There's still no sign of the diamonds or the data, but HPD found the kid. They canceled all the alerts."

The fact that the FBI was involved wasn't alarming. He knew each of his men's illustrious backgrounds and of the supposedly circumspect investigation into his underground gambling den back in Vegas. They would try to find connections and make relationships. It was all normal and to be expected. His issue was the thumb drive since the data it held would be the lynch pin with or without three of his men in custody. His name and the identities of his best clients with their sometimes staggering earnings and losses were listed in startling detail on the treacherous device. But whatever had been found and bagged or tagged as evidence in Joanna Pearce's apartment was more difficult to determine. Frank had yet to be able to find out if the Crime Scene Unit discovered anything truly of interest. It bothered him no end and could easily upset all of his plans.

Learning about Kasey though was rather easy as alerts were canceled and news circulated widely around the community that the child had been found. His assumption was that she would be taken immediately to a hospital for observation of some type and so dispatched the same man to that task.

"Find out what hospital she's in. It will be standard practice for them to have her checked out before handing her back over to CPS." The man nodded to accept the orders from his boss before leaving. "Keep an eye on the FBI and any intelligence coming from that damned apartment investigation."

"The storm is bad and may slow down some of this. Plus we have contacts, but not that deeply into the police department around here." Frank made a face and then shrugged offhandedly. No one was going anywhere. After all, they were on the same damned island.

"Understood." He was almost content as he waved the man out of the hotel suite.

"Get what you can. At least find out where the kid is and where they plan to place her next. I want her here as quickly as possible."

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Upstairs in the main bathroom, Danny was becoming steadily more upset by every passing second. He had almost forgotten his discomfort as he sat perched on the lid to the toilet bowl because each layer of removed dirt revealed another bruise or scar. Some were much older than others. The newest bruises were a yellowing-greenish color on her back and a finger shaped one lay across the back of one thigh.

He didn't dare say a word after Kasey mumbled something about falling in the playground to the already frightened and very sick little girl. Any type of judgement would send her into a meltdown and she had finally calmed to an occasional upset hiccup that ended in a chesty cough.

Other than that, Kasey was silent as he gently used a warm washcloth to discreetly clean her up. He had helped to wash her hair, too; smiling because she had sighed happily to get the stinky mess tangle free and smelling like strawberries. After he combed it out, it hung glossy and long to almost touch her skinny hips. And Grace was in the spare bedroom rifling through her clothing to find her warmest pajamas for the new guest.

When she brought the bundle in, Danny sent her back for a bow so he could braid Kasey's hair. The entire process was conducted in absolute silence until she asked about his and Steve's injuries.

"You both got shot?" Her eyes were huge with worry as Danny nodded. There was no need to tell her where or why so he completely glossed over it as he tied the bow.

"We both did but it's part of our job, Kasey. We only had to stay in the hospital for a little while and the bad guys are in jail." He smiled at her before pulling himself to his feet. "Let's go check on Steve. You need to eat something and have some medicine. Then we are all going to sleep."

He ushered both girls out of the bathroom and back towards the living room. Secretly, Danny was upset by what he saw and Grace was overwhelmed by her father's gentle seriousness. Steve was just leaving the laundry room as Lord Ted was tossed without his precious cargo into the dryer and he made an uncertain face at the silent trio. However, other than her shiny eyes and pinked cheeks, she looked much better and Steve smiled fondly at her. He was studying her closely too but in the weary little girl, he saw none of the familiar traits he now hoped to see.

Steve didn't dare mention anything about the teddy bear because she had struggled so to keep it by her side. Obviously both the photograph and the diamonds were precious to her however, for the moment, they were all forgotten. Sitting on Danny's lap at the kitchen table, she had her head resting on his shoulder. He was insisting that she try some soup before taking medicine on an empty stomach and she made a face but used both hands to accept the mug. Grace was dutifully carrying blankets and a pillow as she aimed directly for the sofa.

Now clean, Kasey's hair was black and lush, pulled back into a perfect thick braid with a pink bow compliments again from Grace. Steve was startled to note that in Grace's clothes, the resemblance between the two girls was fairly strong. Grace though was definitely a bit bigger and sturdier looking as compared to Kasey's smaller frame, which was likely the result of her years of poor diet and neglect.

Danny couldn't hide his pained groan when he set her on her feet. He hadn't looked at Steve yet. In fact, he hadn't said a single word - none of them had. Something was bothering Danny and rubbing off on the girls; Steve cocked his head to watch his partner. He was obviously in pain and uncomfortable; that was for certain. He was holding his upper body stiffly and sweat had beaded on his forehead. But Danny's face held a certain severity and yet, he was being exceedingly careful with Kasey. As Steve watched, his hand strayed to his chest where the bruising would be brightly colored for days to come. Still not speaking, he straightened and went to the table where he had his small bag and slowly rummaged through the medicines he'd brought along.

"Grape or cherry?" Danny was asking Kasey as he held up two different bottles of medicine. Pointing to the one in his left hand, he smiled and tossed the other back into the bag.

"Grape it is."

Steve watched dumbfounded as Danny carefully eased himself back down next to her, took her temperature and then measured a child's oral pain and fever medication into its small plastic cup. Kasey completely cooperated and before long, she had fallen into a deep sleep.

"What?" He was embarrassed to find Danny finally looking at him half in amusement. His face must have spoken volumes about his concern for the sleeping child along with how impressed he was with the easy process. Steve couldn't think of a single kid that willingly ever took medicine. In fact, Grace was almost mimicking her father's very expression.

"Normal kid stuff, Steven. She has a sore throat and her temperature is 101.2 degrees so it's high, but not too bad. When she wakes up, more soup is on the agenda and she'll get her meds again in another four hours." Tired and speaking matter-of-factly, Danny rubbed his face and then casually put a hand over each of Grace's ears.

"She may need to go to the hospital. And regardless, you and I have to talk later." After that subtle announcement, Danny needed to use the arm of the sofa to get back to his feet and was once more, rubbing his chest and Steve looked at him quizzically.

"It's worse?"

"It's the bending." The simple explanation made sense but Danny wouldn't meet his eyes; he needed to get off his feet. However for the time being, Steve didn't challenge his reluctance to speak before waggling his finger warningly at him.

"You've done enough, Danno. Now you can tell me what to do ... while you sit and rest." With that the lights flickered dangerously once, twice and then a third time. They dimmed and then stubbornly came back on as the thunder boomed directly overhead and lightning flashed close and low to the house. The storm was escalating and Grace was still smiling at the turn of events for a new weekend adventure.

He raised his eyebrows at the not so subtly whispered complaint. "Damned island cannibal."

Steve watched Danny close his eyes in disgust as the thunder clapped directly overhead and something large like a tree branch hit the roof. It was sharp and loud but Kasey never moved as she slept on under the blankets on the sofa.

"You came over to help, not to do all the work. So it's my turn and I get to borrow Grace." Steve pointed meaningfully to the comfortable recliner where he needed him to relax and then took Grace's hand. Before he left the room, Danny was already sitting down with his feet up with nary a complaint which worried him but he had things to do.

"Candles, flashlights, bottled water. Then let's lay some snacks out on the table and get ready for own official and very much extended storm party!" Grace smiled happily as they began gathering batteries, lanterns and flashlights for a pending power outage.

"Danno had that done all ready." Grace bragged with a crooked wry smile for Steve's benefit. "And the tent was up in the living room, too. We had extra pillows, blankets and a ton of snacks. He was going to make us s'mores and we were going to watch movies on the laptop."

"S'mores? In the house?" Steve stopped in his tracks with his eyebrows raised in surprise. Grace shrugged happily and then giggled because after all, why not?

"But he did!"

"S'mores?" He sniffed in disbelief as he put both hands on his hips before giving in to a loud laugh. "I'm sure he did!"

* H50 * H50 * H50 * H50 * H50 *

It wasn't long after that the lights failed entirely throughout the neighborhood and Grace went to bed with her own trusty flashlight. Kasey woke briefly from her nap on the sofa and then insisted on remaining exactly where she was tucked in. Steve had wisely brought a squeaky clean Lord Ted back for her so the teddy was also in her arms. He had expected her to check out the zippered tummy and had a planned speech, but her exhaustion pulled her back to sleep again. It was obvious that she didn't want to be alone or far away in a separate room and that understandable fright was easy to rectify. Danny was resting across from her in the recliner with his feet up and Steve was nearby. Before going to bed, Grace had made sure her father had enough blankets plus an ice pack for his chest.

For safety's sake, Steve had left battery operated camping lanterns in the corner of every room, down the hallway and up the stairs through to the bedrooms. So while the storm carried on outside, the house was actually warm and peacefully cozy for the foursome. Danny was still absently massaging his clavicle and chest though as he watched Kasey sleep. He frowned whenever a chesty cough emanated out from under the blankets.

"It hurts that much?" Steve asked quietly and then scowled when Danny merely nodded distractedly. He went to the freezer and pulled out a second ice pack that he wrapped in a small kitchen towel to replace the first. Danny took the new one gratefully and sighed as it came in contact with his chest.

"What else is wrong, Danno? Something else is bothering you .. I can see it." He wanted to show him the diamonds and god help him, the photograph. But his partner's closed off face became enraged in moments as he pointed angrily towards the sleeping child. Steve raised his hand warningly for him to keep his voice low and under control.

"Easy, Danny. What happened?"

"What bothers me? What happened?" Danny's hissed voice was barely in control as he told Steve what he found under the layers of dirt and grime after cleaning up the sick little girl in the bathroom. "Besides everything else - the bruises on that child!"

"What bruises." The statement was low and dangerous as Steve's face changed entirely.

"Her back and lower legs ... " Danny stopped the wild whispers suddenly and in his typical fashion struggled out of the chair to leave the room in an emotional huff. Steve followed slowly to corner him in the kitchen.

"She said she fell. Which is the oldest lie in the book." The falsehood was much too obvious and it was already destroying Danny as he choked on his outrage. His left hand was anchored to his chest where the second bullet had come so close off his sternum. But his personal opinions about the mother or whatever low life associates she had brought home ran amok.

"It could have been anyone and not necessarily her mother. I understand that. Frankly, it only matters that someone did. And if her mother didn't .. then she knew .. she brought someone into that ... place!" Steve knew better than to try and interrupt him, but he insisted that Danny at least sit down in the dimly lit room. He was over-tired, uncomfortable and now stressed beyond words.

Danny groaned again because with so much going on, he'd forgotten to tell Steve about his call to Mrs. Watson and CPS. He held closed his eyes as he lowered his voice to almost a defeated monotone. "By the way and not that Kasey would ever willingly go back there, but that foster family was evacuated due to mud slides. Their home is badly damaged, so Mrs. Watson understands that Kasey will be here until the weather breaks."

Steve sighed in relief. His own emotions were on an all time high as he listened to Danny revert back to the original discussion regarding Kasey's worrisome bruising. On top of all of this and the state of the apartment, the photograph and the black velvet bag were burning holes in his own pocket. "She's so .. small .. what could she possibly do to get someone so mad?"

"It's not going to happen again." The finality to Steve's voice made him look up. "Ever. Both of us will see to that."

"You need to see a few things. It may make you feel better." Steve quietly pulled up another kitchen chair to sit next to him.

"I found something in the bear." Danny screwed up his face in confusion until he realized Steve meant the plush toy. With both girls now soundly asleep, he first shoved the photograph under Danny's nose.

"Who do you see?" He didn't offer any other explanation because Steve wanted Danny's first and most honest impression. "Who's the man?"

He waited while Danny narrowed his eyes while he studied the two people. The young Kasey was apparent but Steve wanted his opinion on the man and he smiled when Danny blurted the shocked correct answer.

"It's Ponch. That's Doc Ramirez. Isn't it? " He flipped the picture over again to read the back and made another soft, surprised sound.

"Becca? Your little Kasey is really Becca ... or Rebecca? Is this Ponch's granddaughter - it can't be a daughter, right? We would know." Like Steve, Danny knew their friend had a son but the age of the man in the photograph was just a bit too old.

"She's not mine, Danno. And it could just be a coincidence." Steve's mouth became a hard defensive line as he snatched the item back and stuck it in his shirt pocket. His galled response did get a small grin out of Danny.

"Touchy subject, Steven? She even likes your choice in attire .. maybe we can find her a tiny pair of cargos." There was a bit of jest, but Danny was losing steam from the long day. It was now past midnight and both men were decidedly not following doctor's orders to rest. But there was another thing to show Danny as critical findings arrived from the most unlikely of places.

So Steve chose to ignore him as he forged ahead on the subject of the father. "The resemblance is close enough for that man to be Doc's son; but the ages seem wrong for a son. This guy is just a bit too old. Maybe it's a cousin or .. a brother?"

"Whoever that man is; they are related. I'd bet my eye-teeth." Danny nodded in agreement because this person's overall physique and facial similarities were simply too strong. He closed his eyes and repositioned the ice pack over his chest. Seconds later, Steve handed him a glass of water and then rummaged through Danny's own bag for the right drugs. He spilled two out out of the prescription jar and thrust them at his partner.

"Kono's checking for missing children reports dating back five years specifically from Virginia. First name of Rebecca or Becca. Let's see what she finds before we jump to conclusions."

Danny grinned though as he leaned happily back into the kitchen chair. "I like it. Rebecca suits her much better." The smile from Steve said the same and they'd eventually have to teach themselves to call the little girl by her rightful name. "Rebecca Ramirez then? It has a natural ring to it."

"Let's make sure first." Steve admonished but he was in full agreement. There was no doubt to either of them that Kasey was the same Rebecca or Becca in the photograph. And her father simply had to be related in some way to their good friend, Doctor Alphonse Ramirez.

But there was more as Steve pulled out the small black velvet bag.

"Now check this out." Taking Danny's hand, Steve dumped the sparkling contents into his palm.

"Tell me ...what exactly do you have to say about these?"

~ to be continued ~