Chapter Fourteen "Waiting for the End to Come"

Yet another chapter named after a song. This time, it comes from Linkin Park. So, we're nearing the end! If you want to give input for the end of this story or stories to come, check out my forum and leave a comment. Once again, thank you all for reading and the great reviews. I know I didn't always do everything right, but I'm getting there ;-)

The salt sting was worth the view. McKenzie gazed upward at the sunlight filtering through the water. For a second, the whole world was silent and peaceful. When she surfaced, Steve was a few feet away from her, smiling as if he knew something she didn't.

"What?" she asked.

"I was just thinking we'll have to go snorkeling when we get back."

McKenzie smiled. "That would be awesome."

"Have you ever been surfing?"

"A couple times. I got to go at Cannon Beach once. The water is a lot colder there."

"So you admit it's warm?"

"No. Not as cold."

"We should probably get back to the house. Eisner's coming back today."

"Oh, you just have to ruin all my fun."

"I thought you liked him."

"He's fine. This... is better."

Steve smiled. He had a feeling McKenzie was going to be fine. They got out of the water and dried off. The hike back up to the house wasn't as fun as the hike down, but they both figured they could go back the next day.

Once back at the house, they cleaned up and changed. McKenzie was getting used to wearing the gun on her belt, though she would be happy when she didn't have to. It was heavy and awkward; otherwise, she didn't mind. She thought about asking her dad if he had a smaller one she could have when she saw him again.

When she came out of the bathroom, McKenzie saw Steve sitting on the couch, reading. She noted with surprise that he was wearing jeans and no shoes for the first time since she'd met him.

"Wow," she said putting her hands on her hips, "I didn't know Steve McGarrett had toes."

Steve looked up at her and smirked. "And toenails too." He set the book down on the makeshift coffee table and held out his arm. McKenzie came over and settled under it. Steve kissed the top of her head and she felt warmth creep across her scalp.

"We're going to be okay, aren't we?" he said. He said it almost as if he were telling her.

"Yeah," McKenzie agreed, smiling.

Then they heard the sound of a car horn. McKenzie half stood before Steve pulled her back down and bullets came ripping through the side of the house. Steve pushed McKenzie to the floor.

"Stay down," he said. Then he picked up his gun from the end table and crept over to the security video monitors. He saw an unfamiliar car in the driveway, Eisner in the front seat with a considerable head wound. And standing in the yard, brazen as the sun, was a man Steve would recognize anywhere though he'd never seen him.

H-5-O

Danny sat back in his office chair wishing he had a tennis ball. Or a baseball. The afternoon was wearing on and so far they had no leads on Hadley. When Chin came into his office, Danny would have settled for bad news.

"We got a call from a Mrs. Eisner who says a man fitting our guy's description abducted her husband this morning."

Danny sat up and stared at Chin for a second. His confusion was quickly replaced with dread. He stood up and grabbed his keys.

"What's going on?" Chin asked.

"Eisner is the psychologist. He's trying to find McKenzie Carpenter."

They were now out in the main room and Kono overheard. "What happened?"

"Hadley kidnapped Dr. Harrison Eisner," Chin said. "Apparently he knows where Steve and McKenzie are."

"But we don't even know where they are," Kono said.

"I'm going to find out," Danny said, pulling out his phone. Unfortunately, the governor was "unavailable" and neither Steve nor McKenzie were answering their phones.

"What do we do now?" Kono asked.

"We go to Eisner's house and see if his wife knows anything. Maybe his car has a GPS."

"I think Hadley would be smarter than that," Chin said.

"Do you have a better idea?" Danny's voice rose slightly.

"Do we know who the doctor's driver was?"

"The governor wouldn't tell us," Kono said. "Danny's right. Let's go."

H-5-O

McKenzie still hadn't quite registered the fact that someone was trying to kill her. So she wasn't exactly paying attention when Steve was trying to talk to her.

"McKenzie!" His voice was somewhere between a whisper and a yell.

"Huh?" McKenzie peeked over the arm of the couch.

Steve pointed. "Get over behind the counter when I say 'go'."

She nodded and watched as Steve inched toward the front widow. He had his back against the wall as he looked out. Hadley was coming up the path. Steve didn't have a clear shot; the angle was wrong. He covered his face and shot through the glass anyway. It was a distraction at least.

Then he shouted, "Go!"

McKenzie jumped up and ran for the end of the counter, sliding to the floor when she reached it. She looked back to see Steve ducking under the window as several shots came through it. Now they were on opposite sides of the door.

After some more back and forth, Steve made it over to the end of the counter. The front window was completely gone along with a lot of the wall. When Steve sat down next to McKenzie, he seemed to be searching for something in his pockets. When he came up empty he cursed under his breath.

"What is it?" McKenzie asked.

"Stay here." Steve went around the counter into the kitchen. He opened one of the cupboards they had never used. "Aha!" He seemed happy with what he found. As he came back to McKenzie, he was inserting a new clip into his gun.

"What was that all about?" McKenzie asked.

"I hid some extras up there," Steve replied. "I'd almost forgotten about it."

"Great, but how are you going to get him when he's outside?"

"I'm working on it."

They both forgot their conversation when they heard the front door. Steve pushed McKenzie back a little and looked around the corner of the counter, ready to shoot. But the person that staggered into the house was not Hadley; it was Eisner. Unfortunately, he collapsed before he reached safety. Steve assumed that was Hadley's plan.

"Okay," Steve said, "here's the plan: I'll hold him off while you drag Eisner into the kitchen."

McKenzie gave him a look of disbelief. "You want me to drag him?"

"He fell on the rug. Look we have to be fast. I'm going to jump out and start shooting and you stay behind me."

"That's the easy part."

"Come on."

McKenzie had no choice but to agree. For one thing, Steve wouldn't let her disagree and she didn't want Eisner to die because she couldn't help him. So, they carried out the plan, and it went well, except for the part where Steve got a bullet in his left arm.

"See if you can help him," Steve said when they reached the safety of the kitchen.

"But—" McKenzie started, gesturing at Steve's arm.

"I've been shot before. Just take care of him."

McKenzie nodded and tried to see what she could do for Eisner. From what she could tell, he had been knocked on the head by a blunt object and was drifting in and out of consciousness. She got a towel to stop the blood flow, but there was little else to do. By that time, Steve and Hadley had started shooting at one another again.

H-5-O

Mrs. Eisner closed the front door and met the detectives on the front walkway.

"Sorry about this," she said. "I don't want to worry the kids more." She wrapped her arms around herself and sighed. "What can I do?"

Danny spoke up. "Do you have any idea where they were going?"

She shook her head. "Harry kept it a secret. He wasn't even supposed to know, but... he couldn't help it. He memorized the roads."

"Does his car happen to have a GPS?" Chin asked.

"No. He barely has a cell phone."

"With him?" Kono asked.

"I... think so."

"What's the number?" Chin asked.

She gave him the number and they headed back to the car. All they knew was the direction Eisner had taken Hadley. Knowing the safe house was probably outside the city, Danny and Kono headed in that direction while Chin went back to HQ to see if he could track Eisner's phone. About fifteen minutes later, he called Kono to let them know the phone was off. They were on their own. Of course, they kept trying to reach the governor and the safe house, but got no answer.

Danny was driving too fast but had little idea where he was going. He hadn't been out of the city much and then it was always with someone else driving.

"Where is the most likely place to hide people around here?" he asked Kono.

"They don't hide people in 'most likely' places," she replied.

"That's not helpful."

"Sorry. I don't know. There are probably some vacation homes up here, but how would we know?"

"Did Chin try tracking McKenzie's phone?"

"Yeah. He said it was off too."

"Great."

"Let's think positive here. Maybe Eisner drove off a cliff and Steve and McKenzie are outside, or sleeping, or... I don't know."

"Yeah. But if not, why wouldn't they answer the house phone?"

"Maybe they don't want to talk to you."

"I'm going to forget you said that."

"Thank you."

H-5-O

Steve peeked around the corner of the counter. He had one more clip. The rest of his firepower was in his room, the furthest room from the kitchen. Hadley was holed up on the other side of the front door. Steve wasn't sure, but he didn't think he'd even injured the other man. Meanwhile the wound on his left arm was bleeding, making his fingers slippery. McKenzie came back, this time she had her own gun out.

"What exactly are you planning on doing?" Steve asked, raising his eyebrows.

"You know, just in case," she replied with a sheepish look.

Steve couldn't help smiling. "How's Eisner?"

"I'm not a doctor. I think he might be okay."

"Good enough... do you have your phone?"

"No, it's in my room. why?"

"He cut the phone line."

"How do you know?"

"Because I tried to use the phone."

"Oh..."

"There's a disposable cell phone in the car. It's been off of course. You should have a clear shot to the car from the side door." Steve nodded in that direction.

"Then what?"

"You get in the car and drive towards town, calling Danny, HPD, and anyone else you can think of on the way." He looked back around the counter.

"Wait a second, you want me to leave?"

Steve met her eyes. "Honestly? No. But this is our best option right now."

"I don't think I can."

Steve had to remember that this wasn't normal for her. She needed a little more encouragement. So, he took her face in his bloody left hand and kissed her. He didn't have time to make it anything special, but it wasn't entirely forgettable either. Then he pulled away, still holding her chin.

"You have to do this," he said. "Don't look back."

McKenzie nodded, unable to say anything. She slowly crept to the side door. She couldn't help taking one last look as Steve check around the corner again. Then she ran for the car. She didn't bother to think as she gunned it out of the carport and down the road. Behind her, she heard gunshots and prayed as she never had before that Steve was all right.

After a minute she opened the glove box and found the phone. Danny's number was programed in. She hit send and waited anxiously for it to ring.

H-5-O

Danny answered his phone the second it started ringing.

"Steve?" he said.

"Sorry to disappoint you," McKenzie replied.

"What's going on."

"Um... I'm driving down the road."

"Where is Steve?"

"He's at the house. Um, Hadley found us and he and Steve have been shooting at each other for... about fifteen minutes."

"How did you get out?"

"Side door. Steve told me to call you, but I'm not sure what I'm supposed to do now."

"Do you have a GPS?"

"Yeah."

"Turn it on."

There was a second's silence. "Oh. I see. I have coordinates here if that helps."

"We're in the car now. Give them to me."

McKenzie recited the numbers on the screen and Kono put them in the GPS.

"We're only a few minutes away," she said.

"Okay, McKenzie," Danny said. "We'll meet you in about two minutes. We're in a silver Camaro."

"Got it," McKenzie replied.

Danny hung up. He realized he had unconsciously increased his speed and they met McKenzie sooner than anticipated. She pulled over to the side of the road and jumped out of the car. Kono opened the door for her and climbed into the backseat.

"Hi," McKenzie said, as she practically fell into the seat.

"Hi," Danny replied, slamming down the gas peddle again. "Where are we going?"

"It's a few miles up this road. Just keep going straight."

"Why didn't anyone answer when I called?"

"Um, my phone was in my room and Hadley cut the phone line I guess."

"Jerk thought of everything," Kono muttered.

"So where's the doctor?" Danny asked.

"In the kitchen," McKenzie said. "Hadley sent him in to distract us or something. I really don't know anything about head wounds, but I'm pretty sure we'll need an ambulance... and there's Steve's arm."

"We called for backup," Kono said. "Is Hadley alone?"

"Yeah. I don't know what kind of weapon, or weapons, he has, but I'm sure it's something huge and illegal."

"Sounds the kind we usually deal with." Kono rolled her eyes.

Danny had been silent for a disproportionate amount of time and from all the stories she'd heard, even McKenzie knew that was bad.

H-5-O

Steve was out of ammo. He wouldn't make it to his room alive so he waited. He heard Hadley's footsteps coming up the steps and through the door. He didn't think about his father or how he'd never solved his mother's murder. He thought of McKenzie and how everything would end before it began. He thought of Danny and his daughter. He thought of Kono, just out of the academy. He thought of Chin, who would probably go back to security. These were his only regrets. He had started something good, but it was all going to end with one obsessive murderer.

"Get up." The strange voice brought Steve out of his thoughts. Hadley stood next to him, looking very much as if he would like to kill Steve.

"Where is she?" Hadley demanded once Steve reached his feet.

Steve did his best to appear unconcerned. "I don't know. Probably meeting up with HPD on their way here."

"You think you can scare me away?"

"No. Not really."

"They may have her, but she can't hide forever... and you won't be able to protect her anymore." Hadley lifted his gun, but then seemed to reconsider. Steve saw it coming, but didn't have time to react as the butt of the gun collided with his jaw, and then his stomach. Hadley hit Steve several more times before his knees finally thudded to the floor. There was one upside to this, Steve thought: Hadley might stay long enough for backup to arrive and take him out. He didn't have long to think about that, because his focus turned toward staying conscious.