Chapter 13 — Trapped

Lori Weston was relieved to finally leave Five-0 Headquarters. Two of the governor's personal security staff were on guard, watching over a crew of repairmen. Putting Five-0's repairs near the top of the list was Governor Denning's way of apologizing for not requesting a complete inspection after the Laura Hills' bombing.

To be fair, he'd been overwhelmed, what with taking office unexpectedly after his boss was apparently murdered by the handpicked leader of her crime-fighting task force. At the time, Denning had never expected to recreate Five-0.

Lori met Chin and Kono outside Innis Construction. The place looked quiet, which might not be suspicious if Innis and his crew were out on another job. They definitely weren't at Honolulu General — Steve had double-checked before leaving the hospital. Innis, Dugan and their crew of four had been seen to leave soon after Five-0 finished talking to Innis.

Chin patiently watched the construction yard and office with binoculars, but saw no one. "The two trucks aren't in the yard," he reported.

Kono looked up from her tablet. "They don't have permits for any other jobs right now. Just Honolulu General."

"But they could be out, inspecting a site, giving an estimate," Lori suggested.

"All six of them?" Kono said skeptically.

Lori grabbed for the door handle as the earth shivered in another aftershock. The small car shook like a dog after a bath and then settled down again.

Chin had to take the binoculars away from his face during the shaking, but he could see a stack of clay pots topple and smash during the quake. And yet no one came out of the office to check on the noise.

"That's it. We're going in," the lieutenant said.

The three Five-0 officers were already suited up in their Kevlar vests. The women drew their guns and followed Chin to the office. He gestured Kono to go around back, then he gently checked the doorknob. It was locked.

He turned and kicked backwards, springing the lock. Lori shouted "Five-0! Hands up!" as she darted in to the left. Chin followed, going right. Kono appeared at the back door.

The three carefully checked every door, every nook and cranny in the building and then prowled through the open yard, but they were the only people on site.

And then Chin's satellite phone rang.

There was a hand-lettered "closed for inventory" sign on the hardware store door when Danny and Steve arrived. The main entrance was locked, but they found a side door unlocked. Stainten's green van was parked outside.

The Five-0 officers entered, calling for Stainten. When there was no response, Danny and Steve drew their weapons and began to prowl through the hardware aisles. They didn't find anyone or anything.

"Check the front door," Steve said softly, pointing. "I'm going to look for the office."

Danny checked, but the front door was chained shut. No one had left that way. He started toward the back.

A wall made of diamond-mesh grating separated the front of the store from the employee area. A door in the mesh opened onto a small office alcove with a desk and two filing cabinets. It was crammed into a corner with stacks of lumber and other oversized items beyond. Above the "office," lengths of pipe rested on supports protruding from the wall. The groups of pipe looked like shelves rising up the wall.

Steve cautiously stepped through the door in the grating.

"Mr. Stainten?" he called, just as another aftershock hit.

Danny felt the now familiar lightheadedness and saw the hanging fluorescent lights begin to sway. The motion didn't seem as violent as the original earthquake. It had more of a rolling motion, but Danny ducked under a workbench display just to be safe.

Steve felt like he was on a ship in high seas. He braced his legs against the familiar motion and backed into a corner where the wall and the grating barrier met. The pipes above him began to rattle and the metal door swung dangerously

Above him, Steve heard an ominous crack. The torque of the rolling ground caused a wooden brace to snap, releasing the stack of pipes it supported. The lengths of pipe slipped sideways and rained down on Steve like javelins. He covered his head, ducking and dodging, but he had nowhere to go because the first pipes blocked the door and trapped him in the corner. A jolt from the quake made Steve stagger. One falling pipe knocked Steve down and another fell across his bent left leg.

He lay, covering his head until the shaking stopped and the slithering clank of falling pipes ended. Carefully, keeping his arm above his head, Steve looked up. The pipes had all slipped off their support and were stacked around Steve like pickup sticks.

Steve's leg was pinned down and another pipe, along with his own body, blocked the metal door to the main area of the store.

The metal pipes were heavy enough that Steve was pinned down. His half-reclining position didn't give him the leverage he needed to shift the pipe and when he used both hands, the stack of pipes around him shivered.

Steve stopped still, trying to trace the tangle of jackstraws above his head. If he just lifted the pipe pinning down his leg, the rest would fall on him and he wouldn't be able to protect his head because he would need both hands to move the pipe. If he could move the pipe to his left and the one next to it, he could push away the one trapping his leg and ease his way out of the cage of pipes — but he couldn't reach the first pipe!

With a huff of annoyance, Steve leaned back on his elbows and waited for rescue.

From beneath the workbench display, Danny could see a row of wheeled trashcans swaying under the impetus of the earthquake. One seemed to rock more than the others, as if it was unbalanced. It tipped more and more, even as the quake began to die down.

Danny had a bad feeling about this.

He emerged from his hiding place, put on his latex gloves and gave the trashcan a tug with just one finger. It toppled over. The lid flipped open and a body flopped out. The storeowner had taken his evidence to the grave.

"Steve!" Danny called.

"Over here."

"I've got something you should see," Danny countered.

"Ditto."

The strain in his partner's voice made Danny trot in that direction. "Are you OK?"

"Mostly," Steve answered. "I'm just … stuck."

"Stainten's dead," Danny said, as he rounded the corner of the aisle and saw Steve surrounded by giant jackstraws.

"I can't say I'm surprised," Steve answered.

The detective jogged up to the metal fence.

"Are you hurt?" he demanded.

"Nothing to speak of," Steve said. He explained his problem, pointing out the key pipes.

Danny poked at the metal mesh fence. He could barely fit the tip of his little finger through the diamond-shaped holes. "I'll have to find a way around," he said. "Don't worry, I'll get you out of that trap."

Danny pulled out his cellphone but he couldn't get through. The towers were again overwhelmed by calls after the most recent aftershock. Danny decided to go out to the truck to get the sat phone. He turned toward the office to tell Steve where he was going.

Behind him he heard the chilling twin click of a double-barreled shotgun.

Maybe Steve wasn't the only one in a trap, he realized.

TBC

A/N: Big finale next time.