Steve was still sleeping when the knock came. The detectives drew their weapons and Chin approached the door. Danny peered through the drapes and holstering his gun, he said "It's okay Chin, it's Jessup"

Bruce Jessup entered the room and Danny introduced him to the others. The Chief motioned to the sleeping SEAL, "Is he alright?"
Danny responded, "He will be. He's had a couple of seizures since the car crash. Doctor Ramerez confirmed that he has a concussion. He just needs rest"
"I have some answers for you"
Catherine stayed by Steve as the others all sat at the small table.

Chief Jessup began, "We pulled phone records on Michael Dern. In the last six weeks there was an unusually large amount of inbound and outbound calls between him and one of his men, Luke Riley. This included numerous late night calls. Riley is the newest member of the drug unit and he's only been a cop for four years. I sent Dern and his team out on a call. Riley had the day off today and I paid him a little visit. I'm not one to play games Detective so I went and interrogated Riley at his home. I told him that we had 'concerns' about the death of their informant, Gabriel Paranda. I told him we had information pointing to he and Dern being involved in 'illegal activities' with Paranda which led to his death. I told him I would give him a one-time offer to tell me everything he knew in exchange for a plea bargain in return. My instincts were correct and he sang like a bird. Six weeks ago Dern approached him with an offer. Paranda had told him that his new roommate, Eddie Cox had recently been released from prison and Cox had told him of a conversation he had overheard in the prison courtyard just before his release. He heard three known Ocinco/Cordoba cartel members talking about a plan to avenge the capture of Felipe Ocinco and the deaths of his nephew, Freddy and his cousin, David Rojas. They said that the cartel had discovered Matthew's new identity. They talked about the cartel's plan to kidnap Matthew, knowing that you and McGarrett would come to his rescue. They talked of getting back their 500K and killing the three of you"

Danny looked at the Chief, his facial expression stern "So you're telling me Dern KNEW that Matt was going to be kidnapped and he did nothing to stop it?"
Jessup nodded, "Yes, it appears so. According to Riley, Dern knew when the kidnapping was going to happen and where Matt and Steve were going to be held"
Danny was irate as he stated very loudly, "Being held, and being TORTURED!" Danny pointed to Steve, "That man had the hell beaten out of him and he was pumped full of fucking meth!"

Chin grabbed Danny's arm, "Danny, calm down brother. You're angry at the wrong man"
Danny ran a hand through his hair, "I'm sorry Chief. I'm not angry with you, I'm angry about what happened. Please…..go on"
"It's alright, I understand…..believe me, I'm angry as well. Dern was the mastermind. He met with Riley, Paranda and Cox . He offered Paranda and Cox each 20,000 for each man they killed along with an additional 20,000 bonus once you were all dead. He offered Riley a flat 150.000"

Chin looked at him puzzled, "That's 310,000, that didn't leave much for himself"
"I'm not done…..between the four men, they had the crime scene under surveillance the entire time Steve and Matt were being held. Their plan was to follow the cartel members when they all left together. They planned on ambushing and killing them, then taking the money and all the drugs they had on them. McGarrett foiled their plans though by escaping. Unfortunately for the men, Eddie Cox was on guard when McGarrett killed his captors. Although he spent time in prison for robbery, he was actually only the driver of the get-a-way car. He heard gunfire from the bunker and he watched Steve bring Matt up. He was totally a follower though and as he watched Steve, he didn't know what to do. He tried to call Dern but he had no cell service. He panicked and left his post to get service. Riley was with Dern when he got the call from Cox. Dern was irate and he instructed Cox to get back to the scene and to follow McGarret. By the time he got back though Corboda and his men had returned, McGarrett had killed them, and he and Matt were gone. When Dern and Riley arrived on the scene they took the money and the remaining drugs that McGarrett had left before any other officers were even aware of what had happened. According to Riley they raced to the airport trying to find Steve but they missed him. He was unaware that Steve was a pilot and had access to Governor Denning's private plane. After McGarrett had notified Governor Denning and Sam called us, we processed the scene. We found no money or drugs but at the time we assumed there may have been other cartel members that had escaped with it"

Danny inquired, "So Dern figured he'd cash in on the drugs"
"Yes. He knew Cordoba always traveled with drugs. Riley figures they had at least a quarter of a million in Meth"
"So who was the third man that ambushed and killed Matt?"
"Cox's younger brother Aaron. We're following leads on his whereabouts now. He was shot in the leg during the ambush. We don't look at him as a threat at this point. He's in hiding"

"So you don't believe there are any other cops involved?"
"No, Riley knows if he holds anything back, I won't deal with him"
Chin then asked, "What about Dern?"
"I figured you may want to join me at headquarters. I doubt he suspects anything and once we're there, I'll call his team in and we'll arrest him"

Danny nodded, "Absolutely, we want to be there"
Kono asked, "Should we wake Steve?"
They all turned and looked at the man who hadn't moved a muscle. Danny replied, "No…let him sleep. Cath will you stay here?"
"Of course"

Moments later Danny was in the front seat of Chief Jessup's car on their way to Police Headquarters with Chin and Kono following behind.

50505050500000505050505050505050

They had been on the road about fifteen minutes when the Chief's radio crackled, "Chief Jessup, come in please"
Picking up the mike he responded, "Jessup here"
"Chief, this is Winters"
"Yes Captain?"
"Chief, it's just been brought to my attention that Dern called in requesting to talk to you just as you were walking into the station with Riley in handcuffs. The receptionist unwittingly gave Dern this information"

"So he may be aware we're on to him?"
"I believe so Sir. He's not answering my calls and we've tracked his squad car to his home"
"The Hawaii team is with me. I'm about ten minutes from his place. I want you to send all available squads and make sure they consider know him dangerous. I want to take him down without incident"
"Yes Sir, over"

Jessup turned to Danny, "You might want to give your friends a heads up"
Danny nodded and taking out his cell, he phoned Kono.

A short time later they pulled in front of the small rambler style home with a basketball hoop in the drive way and a swing-set and tree fort visible in the backyard.
As soon as they exited their vehicles a shot rang out from the bedroom window and Danny turned back to see Kono's body being catapulted back against the SUV. He screamed, "KONO" and raced towards her as shots rang out.

Chin and Chief Jessup provided cover fire as Danny raced to her side. She was leaning up against the SUV, her eyes open wide, the fear evident on her face. She mouthed "Danny" but no sound came. Without hesitating he grabbed her and scooping her into his arms and keeping low to avoid being hit in the cross-fire of bullets, he scurried between the two vehicles to safety.

The sound of sirens filled the air as numerous squad cars were arriving on the scene. Chief Jessup hollered to Danny and Chin, "Get her to the hospital! Five miles, straight West! GO GO!"

Chin slid into the back seat and Danny handed Kono up to him. He then jumped into the driver's seat and pealed out of the driveway, racing from the scene.
Danny continually glanced in the rear-view mirror. Kono was lying in her cousins lap and he now saw blood dripping from the corner of her mouth. Chin's hands were covered in blood as he pressed firmly against her side. The despair in his voice terrified Danny, "Come on Kono, you stay with me baby….stay with me" He had just lost Malia. Danny didn't think he could survive if he lost Kono too.

A couple minutes later Chin was calling to him, "DANNY HURRY, GOD HURRY!" Danny could hear why Chin was so panicked, as gurgling sounds emitted from Kono's throat.
Danny called back to him, "Turn her on her side Chin!" Looking back he watched as Chin turned her towards him which also gave him easier access to the wound. Kono's yellow, flowered blouse was now a bright crimson red.

Danny felt like he needed to vomit as Steve's words from the other day filled his mind.
'I wasn't able to save Chad…...he took two rounds to his side, under the armpit. A couple of the guys ran to get our truck but he bled to death in my arms in moments. As I held him in my lap, Joe did everything he could to stop the bleeding but one of rounds had pierced his lung. He knew he was dying... He struggled to talk, making me promise I would take care of Christina and the baby. I loved him so much Danny…he was my brother and a part of me died with him'

Seeing the entry wound and hearing Kono struggle to breathe, he knew in his gut that her lung had been pierced and was filling with blood.

His foot pressed even harder onto the accelerator as he called out to Chin, "Two minutes brother, two minutes" Danny then softly prayed that two minutes would not be too late.

******* MORE TO COME – are you still enjoying? I'd love to know! *******