Troubled Waters VIII

Disclaimer: I do not own Hawaii 5-0. I really hope they don't mind that I play with the characters, I always return them mostly as I have found them.

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Chapter 8

Steve tried to kick out at the young man as he was shoved into the backseat of the car. He landed one kick before he felt a gun pressed into his back.

"Go ahead McGarrett, Mr. Tambor didn't say if he wanted you alive or not. If you fight you could die sooner rather than later," the kid warned. His mild manner had vanished and the pressure of the weapon remained Steve's spine. "Or maybe you just will never walk again."

"Come on Lyle," the man behind the wheel spoke up. "Let's move. 5-0 could roll down the road at any moment. Tambor is waiting on us. He wants to get packed up and move."

"Move over," Lyle ordered as he jabbed the gun into Steve's back. McGarrett pulled himself over and sat up as the redhead slid in next to him. Lyle kept his gun trained on Steve but not close enough to have the weapon taken away.

Holding his side and leaning against the car door, Steve felt totally exhausted. He had been running on adrenalin ever since he had run into the jungle and now there wasn't much left to draw on. The young man next to him appeared far more competent than the blonde he had choked in the jungle and very capable of carrying out his threats. It sounded like the boss was getting ready to move his operation and Steve could be the only link to where they went next. He had to play things smart and learn more.

"Okay Jack, let's go," Lyle said as he now had the gun aimed at McGarrett's head.

Jack gunned the engine and headed forward taking Steve back to where he had struggled so hard to escape from.

McGarrett rested his head against the car window and assessed his condition which wasn't good. It went against every grain of his being to just meekly comply with his captors but to fight back now would only result in a quick death. He had to learn all he could about this group and find a way to contact his team. He hugged his arm tightly over his wound and tried to rest.

*H 5-0*

Lou glanced sideways and saw the angry set of Danny Williams' jaw as they kept coming up empty on their search down the road. He knew there was a rant simmering just under the surface and recognized why McGarrett often poked at his partner to let it loose. That much anger was not going to help Danny concentrate on the problem at hand. Since he felt the same frustration as Danny he knew just how useless it felt to find no sign of the Taurus or Steve McGarrett. If Danny didn't let off steam soon he was going to lose all focus and only see the negative and that would be no help at all.

"Should I check in with Kono and Chin and see how they are doing? Maybe Duke has called with more information," Grover suggested.

"They said they would call if they knew anything. It doesn't matter anyway…..we are looking for a needle in a haystack. We are in the middle of nowhere and could have driven right past him. There isn't even anyone we can stop and question in this god-forsaken wilderness," Danny grumbled.

Lou glanced down at the paper road map he had dug out of the Camaro's glove compartment.

"Maybe we're approaching this the wrong way. These maps only have main roads and roads the state maintains and we know there are private roads all over the place. But those roads do eventually come out to main roads so there has to be some record of them. This criminal group that has Steve are likely to be off one of these private roads, they won't want nosey neighbors," Lou said thoughtfully. "We need to find the most isolated dwellings in the area of where his GPS signal was last pinged."

"What we need are aerial photos of this jungle," Danny said quickly catching on to Lou's point. "To run any operation they would have to have a clear space in this wilderness. It should be visible from the air. We do need to talk to Duke." He pulled the car over to the side of the road. "We are making no progress this way."

"I'll call Chin and Kono first. Does Duke know how to run our fancy table at HQ?" Lou asked curiously.

"If he doesn't, he'll find someone who does. I'm tired of wandering around with no chance of success," Danny said in frustration.

Lou found the number of Chin's phone on a card in the glove box, matched the code to the number and dialed.

"Hey Kono, any news? Has Duke called?" Lou asked immediately after she answered.

"Yes, he has headed back to town. The fisherman's widow didn't have many answers. She didn't know who her son was hanging out with. Are you having any luck?"

"Nope," Lou said and Danny grabbed the phone from him.

"We've got zip and it's getting us nowhere fast," he growled into the phone. "We need aerial photos of this area. These scumbags are holed up in the jungle, doing something illegal so that Taurus is not going to be parked by the curb waiting for us to stumble across it. We need to focus on out of the way dwellings. That takes computer access that we don't have here in the hinterlands."

"That makes sense," Kono agreed. "I'll call Duke, see what he can dig up." She paused for a moment. "Chin just suggested we should go back toward Wal'anae to get better reception for the tablet."

"Copy that," Danny said, disconnecting and handing the phone to Lou. "We go back to where we split up, Kono is calling Duke."

"Sounds like a plan," Lou agreed.

*H 5-0*

Jack pulled up the drive to the clearing and stopped in front of the garage, alongside the panel van that was backed up to the open door. The green Taurus was now parked off to the side of the garage and Ed Tambor was supervising as a heavy set Hawaiian was carrying a box to the van.

"Hey Boss, we found something you were looking for," Jack announced as he exited the car. Lyle had Steve open the door and get out ahead of him, continuing to keep the gun centered on Steve's head. "McGarrett came right up to us on our way here."

"Excellent," Tambor responded with a smile. "Well McGarrett, what did you do to Terry? Did you kill my guy?"

"He's out cold in the jungle," Steve said sullenly.

"I knew he was out of his depth," Tambor said with a cruel chuckle. "Lyle, you and Jack make sure our guest doesn't do the same thing to you." He looked McGarrett over critically, noting the bloody shirt tied around his middle. "Take him to the house and clean that wound up. There's a first aid kit in the bathroom. We may need him for leverage so see if you can keep him from bleeding to death before we're out of here. And don't be stupid like Terry, tie him up once you're done playing doctor, he's slippery."

"Sure thing Boss," Jack said grabbing Steve's left arm and tugging him in the direction of the mobile home. Steve followed along, cooperating since he was not able to take on this many armed men alone. He knew he'd benefit from having his wound properly treated and he needed to gather more information on this operation.

As they headed toward the structure, they heard a shout and everyone turned back to see Terry Whitley emerge from the jungle edge. Whitley increased his speed as he focused on McGarrett standing between Jack and Lyle.

"I'm going to kill you McGarrett," Terry shouted. His rush to reach them was slowed as Tambor stepped in to intercept him. "He almost choked me to death…let me deal with him."

"Jack, Lyle, do as I instructed," Tambor said, motioning them to move on. He put an arm out to stop Terry who was determined to continue after them. Tambor glared at the blonde. "You…you are lucky I don't shoot you on the spot. I told you to bring McGarrett back and you let him get the jump on you. I want you to get busy and help Pono load the van. Thanks to you we have to move," Tambor growled.

"After I deal with McGarrett."

"Do as I say or I'll shoot you. If you have any brains left you will do as you're told. We're in a hurry," Tambor ordered and shoved him towards the garage.

Whitley took a deep breath and did as he was told. Now was not the time to test his boss. He could hope that once they were out of here and the urgency was over that he'd be the one to dispose of the task force leader. He just needed to bide his time.

Inside the mobile home, Jack had McGarrett sit in a kitchen chair and covered him with Lyle's gun while Lyle went to the bathroom to fetch the first aid kit. Bringing it back, he set it on the table and went to the sink to grab a couple towels. He wet one and then brought them back to the table. He then took the gun back and aimed it at Steve and Jack moved in to go to work.

"Do you have any medical training to deal with a gunshot wound?" Steve asked Jack skeptically.

"I know a little," Jack admitted. "The boss didn't tell us to remove the bullet so no real doctoring is required. I just need to clean you up and make sure you aren't bleeding to death until Mr. Tambor doesn't need you anymore."

"If you cooperate this can go easy. Make trouble and Jack can make this very painful. You're supposed to be a smart man McGarrett, let Jack do this and you won't end up with another bullet in you. I'm sure you can't afford more blood loss. Understand?" Lyle warned.

"I understand," Steve said through clenched teeth.

Jack reached in and untied the bloody shirt and began to pull it away from Steve's torso. Steve couldn't hide the grimace of pain as the dried blood kept parts of the shirt glued to his skin. A final tug freed the shirt and Jack dropped the dirty, ruined piece of clothing on the floor. Then he began to wipe Steve's side with the wet cloth, pressing the towel against the raw hole in Steve's left side, causing McGarrett to hiss in pain. Steve glared at Jack but made no move since Lyle was watching him like a hawk.

Not caring if he was inflicting pain on his patient, Jack quickly washed the wound, applied some antiseptic cream and placed a thick gauze pad over the hole and began to wrap gauze around Steve's middle. He secured the gauze with several strips of white tape and then had McGarrett stand and put his arms behind him. Wrapping the tape around Steve's wrists he bound them together using the entire roll of tape.

"Okay, that should do for now. Let's take him back to Tambor and see if he's ready to move. Keep a close watch on him, he's trained to get out of situations like this," Jack ordered.

"I will."

"Where is your boss going to run to?" Steve asked. "My team is looking for you."

"Let them look, the boss is smart," Lyle replied.

"What are you dealing in?" Steve tried again.

"Aren't you the nosey one?" Jack laughed. "Now move." He gave Steve a slight shove forward.

Stumbling…..Steve tried to kick his shirt under the chair, hoping it would remain and be a clue if his team found this place once everyone had vacated it. He needed to delay things to give the others time to find him but if that didn't work he knew that there would be prints in this place for the HPD to use.

Jack opened the door and had McGarrett led the way out of the home. They went back to the garage where Terry and Pono were still loading the almost full van.

"We have him ready Boss," Jack called out.

"Good, we're almost done here. The Poamoho location isn't as good as this one but it will do. Any sin of 5-0 and McGarrett is our ticket out of here."

End chapter.

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