I do not own Hawaii Five-0 or any characters. No copyright infringement intended.
Notes: the concept of this chapter is that Ellen got her hands on Mike's phone while the bad guys were still traveling to the hideout. So roughly, Steve and team are gathering and making plans just around the time the van arrives and Danny and Becca are separated. The end of this chapter has everyone now operating at the same time.
CODIS = (Wikipedia definition) Organized by the FBI, the United States maintains the largest DNA database in the world, with the Combined DNA Index System (CODIS) holding over 9 million records as of 2011.
As an aside, my business trip was canceled but news is still not good. So fodder continues for my story! 35 people were laid off yesterday and it is so very sad since more is coming ... but the saber toothed bunny is quite well fed.
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Chapter 7
Steve had the parental watchdog application and all the information about Mike and Becca's smart phones from Ellen in hand seconds after their call ended; all the data was forwarded to both Chin and Kono automatically from there. With Chin driving, Kono was all over the watchdog application as well as double-checking Rebecca's cell phone for GPS functionality. She found both as she intently forgot where she was and the fact that her cousin was speeding back to the Five-0 offices. A sharp turn off the freeway to a secondary road, rocked her hard against the passenger door and still, Kono's nose was an inch above her tablet with fingers flying as she got lost in her deep concentration.
Her soft mutters and pleased but very distracted sounding self-conversation reached Chin's ears even under the blare of the car's sirens and while not exactly relaxing, he was undeniably relieved. Knowing better than to interrupt, Chin glanced only once or twice in her direction before focusing on the roads and the haste needed to get the mission defined with HPD SWAT. What he did notice was her pleased gentle smile and the fact that she was still actively working. Both were clear signs of success and for the first time in hours, Chin felt more hopeful. By the time he parked next to Steve who was already bounding across the sidewalk and up the stairs, he saw that Kono had a softly glowing red dot on her screen and a distinctly satisfied smile on her face.
"The app works and I am running a program to gather and download data on every cell site it pinged from the time Becca left the house. So far, everything corresponds." The data formed a trail and it would show the known beginning and the soon to be identified end; Chin just prayed it was the true landing spot and not some decoy or irrelevant place where they'd stopped and had already moved on. Or worse.
Taking the steps two and three at a time, they met Steve at the smart table where he was working on gaining additional resources. While he made a series of requests to HPD and to HPD SWAT command, Kono threw everything she'd been working on up on the big screens and began talking as soon as he indicated he was ready. "We're battling weather and the fact that Becca's cell phone could discharge its battery at any time." The afternoon was fast becoming evening and the weather reports were declaring a strong night-time rain-storm which would directly impact satellite service for the GPS data.
"I downloaded the parental watchdog app to each of our devices so we can share it against Becca's. If we go right out to this location, the optimal meet-up is here. The phone is transmitting in the Kualoa Valley area .. just at the southwestern lip of getting any service at all." Kono tapped the table and a small shopping center came up on the screen.
"The map is showing a few houses. Mostly vacation homes but there are one or two older established compounds but the GPS satellite images are coming back for this particular address just near the park. This rendezvous point is central, we can come in on foot and be closer than if we tried to go off-road and risk an accident. It's central and yet barely an odd mile from the site where the phone is still generating a signal."
None of them stated the potential for the phone to have been abandoned, stolen or tossed from a traveling car window. They refused to even consider that it could be a dead end or that either Becca or Danny might not be anywhere near the device. The fact that the signal was static gave them hope that the kidnappers had reached a final destination. Riveted by the transmission, all three absorbed every aspect of the coordinates.
"It's fairly remote but we can go cross country on foot to save time and come in unannounced. But this area is very hilly and just borders the jungle. The road disintegrates into a cow path and who knows if they are really even there." Steve closed his eyes briefly as he imagined Danny complaining about the same thing. "Damned cow path and by the time we get there it's going to be dark; it won't be an easy walk especially if the weather takes a turn … but we go on foot."
His worry clearly stretched across his entire face, Steve was crunching hourly numbers in his head while planning the most expedient rescue mission under the ever-changing conditions. Kono couldn't help heaving a very worried sigh as they each stared at each other. Her nervous rapping of the smart table annoyed Chin and he turned to walk to the other side of the large room. Upset and equally concerned, he was handling it much differently from his two more vocal teammates.
"They have to be there." Kono said while checking the reports and signals again. Trying to feel more confident than part of her might actually be, she completed her tracking and then made certain the application was indeed working properly. "They're going to be there .. and we'll find them."
"Night's falling. We have to give this a go .. we have nothing else at this point." They still didn't know who they were dealing with and only had a traumatized child's trembling four fingers guaranteeing the low count of the possible number of perpetrators. That same child voiced a bravely wise demand to "Go find Danno" and Steve was determined to do just that. But they had no choice in going in relatively blind. So Steve griped even more while he looked out the windows at the growing darkness as the sun set and gauged the not so distant dark clouds. "We're going to lose close to two hours by the time we get ready, scramble and get our butts out there."
"Let's get on the road. We take everything including the kitchen sink." Selecting a favorite back-up shotgun, Chin already had opened the gun lockers as he began to gathering equipment which included expensive night vision goggles. The three worked silently, knowing that HPD SWAT mimicked their moves at their own offices in order to meet them. They quickly packed and settled in Steve's Silverado, all the time Kono was checking and rechecking the transmissions.
"No, no! Don't do that!" As if they were cognizant entities, she was talking to her tablet and smart phone at the same time. Her outburst startled Steve and Chin as she began to fret when the GPS signal faded for a moment as a result of a change in the weather patterns. They all knew that a bad storm would impact the GPS signal in the already remote location; plus as she had pointed out, the battery on Becca's phone would not last forever.
"It's getting dark earlier because of the clouds too and this weather change." She noted as the sun began to set in earnest. Nearing seven-thirty in the evening, each of them were also wondering why the kidnappers had yet to lodge their demands after nearly five hours of complete off the grid silence. It was almost becoming strange and Steve had begun to constantly check the time as a new worry began to eat away at him.
"Too long. It's been too long." Steve finally voiced the complaint as they entered the shopping center parking lot and parked in a far, remote side which was out of the way of the main flow of traffic and prying eyes. Nearly on their heels, the HPD SWAT van arrived with no less than four additional HPD cruisers as an escort. The show of power drew attention from the local shoppers who lingered to watch the assembly.
Distractedly, Chin watched Sergeant Duke Lukela and another HPD officer approach the overly interested public to dissuade the arbitrary video or photo taking. There was so much excitement, a few other officers had to be called in to keep people at a respectable distance. Cars were moved, cruisers were used to bodily create a fortress, and Lukela wound up being forced to assign a type of crowd control to their rally point.
"Kelly." Without looking, Chin quickly answered his phone as he sat on the lip of the truck's passenger seat. The call from the crime unit was unexpected even though he had put a rush on the results from the blood samples gathered at the Ramirez's home. Caught up in the preliminary information he was being presented with, Chin didn't hear Steve calling to him curiously.
"Hey, Chin? What do you have? Who's that?" Steve's voice was at a respectable low volume while the man talked. But on edge as they began to get ready, Steve was keen to know what had Chin's rapt attention. His friend hadn't responded to him yet, seemingly absorbed in the one-sided discussion as he remained in the truck speaking quietly to whomever was on the other end. After finishing the conversation and sliding out to join them, his face was still thoughtfully remote by whatever he'd been told.
Repeating himself, Steve paused while readying his second spare weapon. "So? What was that about?"
"The initial blood results are back from what we found on the hinges. CSU ran it through CODIS and got a hit." Chin was obviously puzzled by the results. "Do you remember Butch Curtis?"
He asked slowly, almost warily, and then flinched when Steve froze in place only to stare at him in utter disbelief. "Frank Curtis's cousin? The one that Amy Ramirez killed?"
"Yeah, the same." Affirming the stunned question about Rebecca's mother, Chin's own stomach was churning at the thoughts now running through his head because there would be only one reason for a Curtis plebe to be on the Island. "The DNA matches that of Warren Hicks, one of the men on the FBI watch list who had very close ties with Butch Curtis back in Las Vegas."
Butch Curtis and Becca's mother, Amy Wilkerson-Ramirez had become a close couple, even considering marriage. At the time, Amy was so delusional she had entirely assumed her adopted identity of Joanna Pearce. Accepting her company and falling for the woman, Butch had been entirely clueless about Amy's troubled mental past or of her real identity. But after witnessing Butch commit a violent act, Amy had unraveled so badly, the two had come to blows. In a panicked fit, she had actually murdered her one-time fiancé and the second in command to the illegal conglomerate. It had all occurred back in Vegas and Amy had fled that very night with her daughter first to Los Angeles and then on to Hawaii. The unlucky and terrible event had brought down the wrath of his beloved cousin, Frank Curtis, upon their very heads. It certainly had not helped that Amy had also stolen the thumb drive listing Curtis's high-stakes clients plus the black bag of diamonds along the way. All of these things tallied up to the primary reasons as to why Frank Curtis had so incessantly been driven to find both Joanna Pearce and her small daughter, Kasey. Not only had they killed his close cousin and betrayed his trust, they had seen too much, known too much and stolen very valuable collateral.
"Frank Curtis is in jail. Is this group taking orders from him .. or is it some other faction … or maybe, Hicks is in charge?" Steve wasn't getting the entire connection and this voice was roughened by frustration and the odd turn of events.
"Kono. What was the name of that FBI agent from the Amy Ramirez-Joanna Pearce case with Curtis?"
"Nice guy. Great to work with." Kono thought for a moment and then came up with the right answers. Her mind was a steel trap as she easily provided the name. "Older man, heavy-set. His name is Special Agent Jim Marcus and he's local."
"Get him on the line for me or get him here. We need his help with this Hicks character and I want to know what else he may have knowledge of." Kono did as demanded with much trial and error. It was after hours and Jim Marcus was on vacation. When she finally reached the agent, there was a great deal of party-like noise in the background and the two were practically shouting to hear the other.
"He's what!" Kono's harsh exclamation was cut short by Marcus's confirming words.
"He's dead. The man was killed in jail about a month ago. He was beaten and nearly unrecognizable … shanked in the chest and the blade penetrated his heart. He died in the hospital."
"Why didn't we know about this?" Kono demanded in as she called Steve back to her side. She was angry as Jim Marcus gave her a fast, abridged story of what he knew.
"It all went down while I was involved on an important case. Besides the fact that it wasn't exactly bad news, it honestly slipped my mind and I just got some time off to be with my kids." Marcus was apologetic and confused by the tone he was receiving. "Why? What happened?"
Kono was about to explain more when she saw the black look on Steve's face. He was suddenly studying an image on his cell phone and had become extremely moody and escalating to an irate but focused crescendo of motion. Chin was looking over Steve's shoulder and his eyes nervously danced from whatever they were looking at over to Kono.
"I have to go." She murmured distractedly to Jim Marcus. Whatever Steve had been sent trumped any possible knowledge that Marcus might have, and by his first reaction, he wouldn't have much for them. Interrupting him, Kono was already edging towards Steve and Chin. "Jim, something's up and I have to go."
"We have to go, cuz." Chin's soft warning reiterated the fact and was on the verge of Steve swallowing hard and jogging immediately over to meet with the SWAT Commander to set into motion the mission plans. The image had clearly set Steve off and even Chin was greatly disturbed by what he'd seen.
"Get what we need from this guy and let's go." Chin was ordering her now as he gathered their gear plus the night vision equipment.
Worriedly, Kono rushed her call now with Jim Marcus. "Can you get us information on Warren Hicks, one of Butch Curtis's original men? I know he's on your watch list .. we need to get an idea as to why he's here and who he might be working for now. Danny's been abducted along with Rebecca Ramirez and Hicks' DNA turned up at the crime scene."
Trying to hurry, Kono was now delayed by Marcus as he showed a renewed interest in what they were doing and why. Quickly recapping their mission plans for his benefit, Marcus insisted on getting his own men to at least the rendezvous point, though he understood that neither SWAT nor Five-0 had any inclination to wait for the FBI. By the time she finished and began readying her own equipment, Steve and SWAT had full command of their joint steps as they efficiently finalized their plan of attack.
"We double-time on foot based on the coordinates you recommended." He was once more too quiet as he shoved his cell phone under her nose while brusquely bringing her up to speed. They were all moving and fanning out in a near silent orderly fashion, but Kono hadn't budged when she saw the image. It was a similar reaction to Steve's own and he saw it all through his peripheral vision as he slammed his fingers into his black gloves and fastened the velcro tightly around his wrists.
"Oh, Steve." She murmured as a dark, angry look settled across her face. Badly beaten, bloody and trapped, Danny was a near devastated mess and like Steve, Kono couldn't quite read what she saw in his eyes. He was defiant and very much Danny, but also very much afraid and Kono couldn't bring herself to verbalize the word. "He looks … he looks … Steve?"
"I know .. but he's also been shot. We need to find them now." Her eyes followed his to the same place in the image where she saw the large red stain across the left hand side of his shirt. Danny was slouched over heavily in the chair and it was apparent that he was in a bad way. It was their intent to prove that very fact to Steve. The very fact that whoever had Danny was in complete control. Steve felt the anger bubble again before coldly pushing it down to focus on how primed and ready he now was as he once again absorbed the abused state of his partner. The only thing the image did was coldly instill his resolve.
Glancing up, Steve saw that Chin was already waiting by the underbrush to begin their trek. Impatient and frowning, he was on the verge of calling to them again. "Move out, Kono."
Her hand shook involuntarily in surprise when Steve's phone hummed again without warning. In the middle of slamming extra clips home and striding away, he gestured for her to view the latest text message on his behalf and that's when she nearly dropped the device. Completely at a loss now, Chin was jogging back with a dark look on his face regarding their much too long delay.
"Steve. It's Ellen … it's the same message ... but it's Becca." Unable to help herself now, Kono's eyes filled with tears and her voice ended on a whisper. In the latest image, a rumpled and clearly terrified Rebecca sat cuffed to a bed in a nondescript room. Pretty pillows were stacked behind her back as she rocked on her knees with a terrified expression etched across her face. There was a bruise on her cheek and a surprising trace of real defiance in her eyes.
"She's so scared. Suppose they aren't in the same place?" A hard yank stubbed Kono's finger as Steve grabbed the phone back and cursed loudly. Chin echoed the same as he studied the latest image which had been sent to them. There was a good chance that the two had been separated and were being housed on completely different properties.
"We go .. we have no choice." Steve repeated and then began to urge them on. "We go .. and if they've already been separated, we pray that they are at least in the same vicinity."
An instant after, Steve glared at his device when an unknown number trilled through and he slammed the new call to his ear. The call would be the voice behind the sent images and in the back of his mind, he knew that Ellen Ramirez either was or would be getting a very similar phone call.
"Kono. Chin." He hissed while covering the microphone. Gesturing wildly he pantomimed that one of the cousins needed to contact the nurse immediately to recap how to handle herself.
"Who the hell are you, people?" Focusing on his own call, Steve's anger was undeniable. "And just what the hell do you want?"
They all knew the call would be made from a burner or cloned phone and there would be no use in attempting to triangulate the signal. Listening closely, Steve could make out the subtlety of chittering nocturnal insects and the few squawks of distant, nighttime island birds. For him, it solidified the truth of Hicks and the men that Curtis or he may have ordered near their mission objective. He briefly registered that Kono was dutifully explaining to Ellen that they were near Kualoa and acting on the GPS and parental application. She was then instructing the frightened nurse on what to say and do once she received her separate call. And then it must have happened because Kono was left staring at her device with a pensive expression.
But then the background noise suddenly ceased and his ear felt as if he'd entered a hollow vacuum. His contact still had yet to speak and Steve gritted his teeth in frustration as he repeated himself. "You heard me. What the hell do you want with Detective Williams and a little girl?"
The voice was intentionally mechanized by a device to make it sound tinny and robotic which only served to raise Steve's hackles as it spouted the verbal demand. Though it was devoid of emotion and a true identity, Steve appended the strength and aggression into each word.
"I expect that you just received my message; visuals are so much more impactful. Don't you think, Commander? Please take us very, very seriously. Starting now you have four hours. Midnight. You will be contacted again and we expect you to have in your possession a small silver key that once belonged to Mr. Frank Curtis. You will be instructed to text photographic proof to a particular number; it will be for a burner, so don't try and trace it. We have immediate plans for both Williams and the girl if you don't deliver what we want. Four hours. We will call you. New instructions will be given once we receive the photographic proof."
Before he could respond, Steve was cursing into dead air and knowing that Ellen Ramirez had received an identical demand from a second robotic voice. He watched Kono touch base with the woman one final time to confirm the verbiage as she wiped a stray tear from her eye. But they were ready and he already had half the large team disappearing stealthily up into the low scrub towards a particular, remote vacation residence that Kono strongly believe would be their primary target. Approaching on foot might appear to be tedious in bad weather and at night, however it was a faster diagonal route. The abysmal jungle path was in truth, a very long one way only dead-end of sorts. Narrow and rutted, it afforded them no protection or element of surprise when they needed it the most.
"Four hours." Checking his watch as the wind kicked up around them and the air became heavy with the scene of rain, Steve was surprised to see it already eight o'clock. They needed to move quickly up the slope and based on coordinates, the combined joint teams could literally have eyes on their target within forty-five minutes.
"Kono, call Jim Marcus back and explain the demand. Have him set FBI resources on what they have in their evidence stores. Besides intel on Hicks, see if they come up with this key or something that needs a key .. anything. In the meantime, let's put this to bed before time's up." Eyes dark with a moody but very focused expression, they all moved out at a fast jog with Chin sharing data with the HPD SWAT members.
Dark was falling and wind devils were being kicked up in the parking lot as the winds shifted southwesterly and intensified. The change brought a chill and he frowned unhappily. Under his breath, Steve was making a promise to the darkening sky and to Grace who was sleeping in a hospital bed under Ellen's watchful care. "Well before that time is up. We're bringing them home."
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Back at the hospital, Ellen had stepped away from where Grace lay sleeping. She had tears making thick tracks down her cheeks as she clutched her phone to her chest. Barely forewarned by Kono, the robotically voiced demands were identical to what Five-0 had received with only a few, minor differences. It was terrifying, intimidating and Ellen already knew that Becca had no such object in her possession. Petrified now, she was desperate for Ponch to finish with his brother. Unseeing in the corridor, Ellen twirled around in a panic and then suddenly, Ponch was there holding her quaking shoulders and peering into her blood-shot watery eyes.
"What? What's happened? Did they call?" Unable to find her voice at first, Ellen slowly handed him the cell phone and the image which was still taking up the screen. Ponch's face fell and then just as quickly hardened in a fury. He saw nothing but his niece's blatant fear, bruised face and cuffed hand.
"They mentioned Frank Curtis." Hollow voiced, Ellen could only whisper what she knew so far. The name and the information was a severe blow to Ponch and he nearly staggered into the wall as his eyes widened. He had once refused to treat the man's injuries at Tripler just before he'd been tried and incarcerated. Not knowing that both the FBI and Five-0 believed Curtis to be dead, all the doctor wanted to do now was kill the man.
"They will call back with instructions by midnight ... but they want a key .. they want us to have some sort of ridiculous silver key by that time. The voice said that Rebecca .. and Danny .. would face the consequences if we didn't get it for them."
"Where?" Not entirely thinking but knowing Steve would be doing something by this point in time, Ponch recovered and gave his wife a small shake. "Where and what are they planning to do?"
"Here." Unexpectedly for her husband, Ellen took Mike's phone from her pocket. Before the call from the kidnappers, she had been continually staring at the glowing red dot in order to will her niece and Danny home safely.
"They think that Danny and Becca are being held near Kualoa at some house near the lower park basin based on this signal from Mike's phone. The signal means that Becca has hers with her, and Steve thinks they can find them using the parental tracker application." It could mean other things too, but Ellen was choosing to believe it was a real beacon.
Without a word, Ponch was stunned into silence when he took his brother's smart phone and stared at the red dot and tiny map-like features. It took him a long minute to realize what he was seeing and then understand the why of it which prompted his face to change drastically yet again.
"Stay here, Ellen. Take care of Mikey for me." Like Steve, he had become moodily quiet and practically monotone. She certainly should have known when he kept Mike's smart phone for himself, but after seeing the photo of Becca and then hearing the mechanical demands, Ellen was excruciatingly slow to react.
She only closed her eyes when Ponch kissed her once on the forehead and then simply left her side.
By the time she realized what he was doing or what he might be planning, Ellen didn't have the nerve nor the inclination to stop him. After her last glimpse of his white lab coat disappearing out the side employee door and towards the parking lot, Ellen re-entered the emergency room area to sit by Grace .. and wait.
~ to be continued ~