Troubled Waters XII
Disclaimer: I do not own Hawaii 5-0 and I never will. But I will continue to play with the characters.
I am sorry that I am slow posting. There are things in my real life that are making it difficult to get my head in the game. I will not abandon the story but I may be slower to post.
Chapter 12
"You've got balls McGarrett," Tambor chuckled as he loomed over McGarrett. "You hang on to your dreams of rescue, it's all you've got."
"I know my team," Steve responded. He remained stoic, unwilling to give in to Tambor's taunts. Remaining calm and collected was the key to staying alive with this man. Since Tambor intended to use him as a hostage, Steve figured resting up was as good a plan as any in case he needed to act when things became dicey. He would need all his remaining strength in that situation.
"Hang on to that hope McGarrett. You will be lucky if you live long enough to see them if they do show up," Tambor laughed and moved away, leaving Steve under the watchful eye of Jack.
*H 5-0*
As they approached Poamoho, Danny shut down the siren and flashing lights, slowing the car to the speed limit. He let Chin pass and lead the way since Kelly was more familiar with the area and this town. The Mustang entered the city limits and Chin parked one block over from the large building they were seeking. Danny brought the Camaro to a stop right behind the other car and bolted out of the vehicle quickly.
"So how do we play this? We need to scout out the property, check out all the entrances," Danny demanded, itching to get moving.
"Can we find a floor plan of the building?" Lou asked as he joined them.
Kono already had her tablet out, happy to have a strong internet connection.
"Working on it," she said as she typed. "Good news, there are no windows on the main level, just in a small second floor office so they won't see us coming. There is a large door on the street, they had an open area to display the surfboards they made in the rear of the building. There is room to park vehicles inside, out of sight," she announced.
"Is that large door the only way in?" Danny asked as he leaned over the hood of the car to study the floor plan.
"There's a smaller door on the opposite side, by a small parking lot. I believe it was the employee's entrance," Kono replied.
"It would help to know where everyone is in that big building," Lou stated.
"We can learn that," Chin said going to his car trunk and opening it.
"Are you turning into McGarrett?" Danny questioned. "How many handy gadgets do you have in there?"
"Just being prepared. I happen to have a thermal imaging gun," Chin answered as he withdrew the device. "The Governor decided the team should have one for just this type of situation."
"How did Steve miss out on hiding it in my trunk?" Danny asked in surprise. "I can't imagine him missing out on that toy."
"He told me to keep it with me. He said he needed room for more ammo and a box of grenades."
"Of course he did," Danny groaned. "And of course you know exactly how to make that thing work."
"I do," Chin nodded. "And so does Kono." He headed down the block towards the building they knew that the killers had occupied. Lou followed after grabbing an automatic rifle from the Camaro's trunk.
Kono gave Danny a bright smile and followed the two men with the tablet still displaying the floor plan to the building. Danny quickly grabbed a rifle from the trunk and trotted to catch up with the others.
Chin had positioned himself across the street from the former Surf Rider's building and aimed the device at the large door. Activating it, he watched the screen carefully as he moved from the near corner towards the center of the building. It was easier to read the screen as the sun dipped nearer the horizon's edge, bringing on dusk.
"How many heat signatures are you picking up?" Lou enquired.
"I see two…..three there….," Chin murmured. "There's one alone over by the door. I see six separate signatures in all."
"Any idea which one might be Steve?" Danny asked.
"Not by the indicators I have," Chin answered. "The one by the door is moving back and forth. The three that are clustered together are shifting around, not standing still." He glanced at Kono's tablet. "The other two are stationary and seem to be by the wall dividing the interior. Below the second floor office."
"Given Steve's condition I would guess he's not moving around too much," Danny suggested. "Concentrate on the two not moving, I am willing to bet that is Steve and someone guarding him."
"I'll do that," Chin said, shifting to aim the gun at the area where he had found the first two figures. Lou stood behind him, glancing from the imaging screen to Kono's tablet as she stood next to Chin.
"You're right…..they're by that interior wall," the big man said. "Am I seeing this right? Does the one figure appear to be sitting?"
"You are right," Chin confirmed.
"I'm betting that is Steve," Danny asserted. "If he lost as much blood as Kono and Chin said, he's bound to be weak and not standing around."
Just then three police cruisers rolled by their location, acknowledging the team with a wave and proceeding further on to park out of sight. The officers joined the team to get instructions.
"We have six heat signatures inside, five we believe are our perps and one is Steve McGarrett. We know that McGarrett is wounded and will likely be use as hostage once they know we're here," Chin explained to the newcomers. "We are assuming he is seated near this wall," he added pointing out the area on Kono's tablet.
"There is a second entrance in the back of this building," she added.
"You cover the front, while we go in the back. We will try and secure McGarrett's safety before we give you the green light to move in. Anyone who comes out this door is to be taken alive if possible," Danny instructed. "It would be a good idea to have an ambulance on standby, McGarrett will need one."
The officers nodded and Chin supplied them with their radio signal settings before the four 5-0 members went back to their vehicles to suit up. Grabbing vests, weapons and radio ear pieces, they did a radio check and headed for the rear entrance to the building. In the small parking lot they did a final review of how they wanted to handle the takedown and then Chin led the way to the back door. He found it locked which didn't surprise him.
"Do we kick it in?" Kono asked since the door did not seem to be very sturdy.
"That would blow the surprise element, they would likely hear it even with the wall to muffle the sound," Lou said. "Anyone know how to pick a lock?"
"As a matter of fact….," Chin said pulling a small case from his pocket. "I happened to pick up that skill early in my career. Aunt Napua had a habit of locking herself out of her house and she always called me. She refused to have a duplicate made to hide outside or for me to have because she said it wasn't safe," he chuckled as he withdrew a pick and went to work in the dim light. After a couple of minutes he smiled as a click could be heard.
"Well thank you Aunt Napua," Grover grinned as he gripped his weapon. "Let's go get Steve out of this mess."
Chin opened the door and Danny led the way inside with Lou right behind him. Chin and Kono followed, moving into the interior that was very dim except for the light filtering down from the glass windows in the office to the right. Lights from the front portion of the building shone through the windows that lined the upper portion of the office walls. Fading daylight still shone through the open back door and provided some light to the large room. The equipment had been removed from the large space when the business moved to the North Shore, leaving the room musty and silent as the four separated into pairs and headed for the dividing wall.
Kono went directly to the staircase that led up to the office as Chin followed and paused at a door that led to the front situated at the base of the staircase. Quickly heading up the stairs, Kono stopped just outside the door to the office. Large glass windows were located almost waist high around the space, giving the office a view into both the former sales floor and the manufacturing area.
Danny and Lou had headed to a second access to the front portion of the building that was further to the left part of the structure. This door was hanging open partly, only the upper hinges still intact. Lou eased it open a bit more with his gun muzzle and peeked into the other room, finding the front grill of a panel van a few feet away. The sound of voices could be heard from the end of the room near where Kono and Chin were located. He drew back several steps with Danny retreating beside him.
"Kono, Chin….they all seem to be gathered down near you," he said in a low voice.
Kono tried the office door and was happy to discover it wasn't locked. She waved back at Danny and Lou as she eased it open.
"I can get a look from up here," she whispered.
"Get us eyes on them but be careful you're not spotted," Chin told her.
She entered the space that had been large enough to hold two desks and a couple of filing cabinets at one time. She stayed low as she approached the windows that looked down on the former sales floor. Rising up slowly, Kono took a look around.
To her left was a panel van and then closer to her a dark pickup. Parked closest to her was a rusty, brown sedan. It was easy to recognize the van and pickup as the vehicles that they had passed as they had headed to the clearing where Steve had been first taken. A heavy set Hawaiian and a big black man were now near the large door in the front wall while two others…..a skinny redhead and a blonde were closer to the car, smoking and throwing looks towards a space below her. All four men were armed with handguns from what she could see. Risking exposure, she rose higher, trying to see who was directly below her. None of the four appeared interested in the office above them.
She could make out the balding head of a man standing just to her right and seated on a bench almost directly below her spot was a dark head and bare shoulders that she instantly recognized as Steve. Quietly and carefully she moved to her right to improve the angle and saw Steve's arms were secured behind his back. He was lumped forward, sitting very still.
Easing back, Kono retreated to the glass at her back and looked for her team in the gloom below. Grateful that the glass insulated her voice from the men in front, she reported what she had observed, keeping her voice low.
"At least Steve is still breathing," Danny's voice said in her ear. She could hear the relief in his voice.
"How heavily are they armed?" Lou asked, his SWAT training showing.
"Only handguns that I can see. I have no idea what's in any of the vehicles," she reported.
"Okay…five of them, four of us. Odds are in our favor. Let's move and move fast. Once Lou and I are in the room and closer to the perps, we'll let you know and you can cover us from above. Chin, see if you can get to Steve and protect him, you are the closest to him from what Kono says," Danny instructed.
"Sounds good," Chin answered. "Cuz, be ready to give me cover fire."
"You got it," Kono replied moving closer to the front glass.
Everyone prepared for the move against the enemy.
End chapter.
Thank you for reading and for your patience. I will do my best to keep from getting too slow with future posts.