Ch. 9

With every bump of the road it sent me flying into the air. I was sure to have more bruises than I'd had in a long while. I groaned as I came into contact with the metal flooring of the semi. I slid myself into a corner and prayed that Steve would find me quickly. There wasn't much else to do, but pray.

The semi came to a screeching halt and it jolted me forward. I tumbled closer to the end of the trailer, waiting for what was to come next. The heavy door slid open and my eyes were accosted by the harsh sunlight.

"Get up!" A shadow shouted from the, now opened, door.

I stood up carefully and walked towards the edge. My eyes adjusted to the light and I found that I was at the airport. I tentatively stepped down from the trailer and came face to face with Susan Wright.

"Well, good morning, Jessa! Are you ready to get off this horrific island?" Her smile was sickening.

"If you think that you'll ever get away with this, you may want to think again. My dad will find me eventually. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but one day he'll find me and you will be sorry." My words came out through gritted teeth.

Susan raised her hand and slapped me hard across the cheek, "Move! And I don't want to hear another word out of you! We are boarding a plane and Steven McGarrett will never be able to get to you ever again. If you speak to me while we are in view of others, you will address me as your aunt. Understood?"

I bit my lip and nodded, following behind Susan. One of her little henchmen brought up the rear as I had two on either side of me. I frowned, knowing that I probably would be boarding a plane today.

"Do we have anything?" I grit out. My question was met by shifting eyes and I slammed my hand on the table, "Dang it. How long does it take to run a simple heat signature analysis?!"

Kono's small hand rested on my tensed forearm, "We're doing all we can, Boss."

I shook my head, "It's not good enough. We need to be doing more. This is my daughter we're searching for."

"We all care about Jessa." She whispered.

"No, no. This is MY daughter." I growled.

Kono retreated and Danny gave me one of his famous looks, "Steve, let's have a talk."

I straightened and rested my hands on the top of my utility belt, "A talk? Now?" He raised an eyebrow and I rolled my eyes, following him into my office. "What is so important that you needed to pull me away from searching for my daughter?"

"We get it. Jessa is your daughter, but don't you dare say we all don't have something to lose either. We're a family, as much as I hate to admit it. We all want to find her, but you need to stop. You have got to stop treating everyone like you're the only person in here with something to lose." I stepped forward to say something, but Danny held up his hand, "No, don't you dare pull the Grace card on me. You've used it already and it's not working this time. I know I'd be miserable if I were in your shoes. I know, but I also know that Grace means something to everyone in here. They'd work hard to find her safely, just like they are for Jessa. So stop being so bullheaded and let's find our girl."

I sighed and ran a shaky hand over my exhausted eyes. I took a minute to compose my breath before mumbling, "You're right."

He grinned easily, "Hm? I didn't quite catch that. Mind saying it a little louder?"

"You know exactly what I said." I narrowed my eyes at his laughing form.

"Steve, we've got something!" Chin nodded towards the screen. I moved quickly towards the center of the room just as Jerry was pulling things onto the middle screen.

Jerry smiled reassuringly at me and began, "So, what we have here is the semi that Jessa is in. You can see three in the front of the truck and one in the trailer. It looks like they are heading east. I followed them for awhile and they haven't changed directions, so whatever it is they're going to is east."

"East on Highway 85?" I racked my brain to figure out what was at the end of their journey.

"This is just hypothetical," Kono stated and all eyes shifted to her, "If we're going to the airport, don't we travel east on 85?"

It clicked, "They're going to get her on a plane. They're going to make a break for the mainland. We've got to go now! Jerry, call the governor and tell her that she needs to have TSA shut down all outgoing planes. I don't care what you say to her to get her to do it, we can't have Susan Wright boarding any plane. Let's go!"

I ran my hand over my hair, checking to make sure it wasn't a wild mess from the ride I had. Susan had cut it off to my shoulders when we were back at the warehouse. I looked around the bustling airport and hoped someone would notice that something was amiss here.

One of the henchmen shoved my back and I stumbled into Susan. "If you so much as glance the wrong way at anyone, we're going to end you." She grit out.

I nodded my head and continued on. We came up to the TSA agent and Susan had me go first. I handed him my identification and ticket, waiting for him to give me the okay to go to the metal detectors. I smiled at him, made polite conversation, and hoped that it looked normal.

"Hm, that's interesting." He quirked a brow at the screen of his scanner.

I bit my lip and shifted nervously. "Is there a problem, sir?" My voice was a barely audible whisper.

He gave me a reassuring smile, "Oh, no. It seems there's a glitch with my scanner. It happens quite often. Let me grab my captain and we'll get you to your destination."

He stepped away and left me at the mercy of Susan. "What did you do?"

"Nothing, I swear!" I cried softly.

"You better not have, otherwise we'll kill your precious father." She squeezed my arm as much as she could.

I roughly pulled it away, "I said, I didn't do anything."

Susan went to say something, but before she could the agent and his captain were at the desk again. "I am terribly sorry for the inconvenience, Miss McGarrett. Are you traveling with anyone?" The captain asked.

"Yes," I smiled stiffly, "I'm traveling with my aunt."

He nodded his head, "I see, if you wouldn't mind, I'm going to need you to come over to the TSA office with me."

I felt Susan push her way towards me, "No one is going anywhere other than to the plane we have tickets for."

Guns were drawn from the henchmen and the TSA agents drew their's as well. I felt the tip of a gun in my back and my breath caught in my chest.

"Easy, ma'am, no need to become hostile." The captain spoke.

"Please, sir, just let us go." I whispered, my eyes pleading with him to follow.

He shook his head, "I'm sorry, I have strict instructions to not allow you through. Now you can come willingly or forcibly. You decide."

"Jefferson." Susan stated and one of the men from behind me shot the captain dead. I jumped at the sound of the gunshot and chaos erupted. People were being ushered out by police officers as I stayed completely still, the gun's barrel still pressed to my back.

"Drop the gun, Susan." Came a familiar deep voice from behind us.

Susan whipped us around and kept the gun to me, "Nice of you to join us, McGarrett."

My dad's eyes searched mine and I gave him a reassuring smile. "Drop the gun, Susan, I won't ask again."

"Don't you know how these things work, Commander? If you let Jessa and me leave on the plane, no harm will come to her. If you keep making this harder for me, I'm going to have to do something we both might regret." She shoved the gun into me and I tumbled forward.

My eyes met Dad's once again and I shook my head, "It's okay, I'll be okay. Just take her down, Dad."

"Shut up!" Susan shouted, "Look at that, Jessa playing the role of the sacrifice. What is it going to be, McGarrett? Allow your daughter to live or let me shoot her?"

The gun pressed further into my skin. I looked at my father and let him know that I was okay. He searched my eyes still, but I knew what he found. There was no hurt, no pain, no animosity. All he would find in them was the love a girl would have for her father.

The next moments were crucial. The noises surrounding our battle seemed to dull into a muffled roar as I watched my dad, in slow motion, fire off his gun. I felt the impact from something behind me rather than heard it. I fell to the ground in a crumpled mess and watched through blurred vision as my dad rushed to my side.

"Stay with me, Jes. Come on, sweetheart, stay with me. We've got a lot of living left to do, you and I." I saw the tears in his eyes and I knew.

"I love you, Dad." I choked out.

His tears dropped onto my face and he shook his head, "No, Jessa, no. You're going to be fine. Stay with me."

I smiled at him and felt my eyes grow heavy. A sense of peace washed over me and I slipped into the awaiting darkness.

*The End*

The last chapter of this story! It's been a long time coming and I know some of my faithful readers were beginning to grow frustrated. Let me address some of your comments. I had not planned on taking a leave absence and I actually had this started a while back. Life gets busy and things happen. I am only human and I have had to deal with some pretty heavy stuff as of late. I am sorry for neglecting my stories, but something had to give. I appreciate the sentiments you sent, but I hope you will be understanding of my absence.

Now onto the real reason why we're all here! If you made it through this last chapter let me know your thoughts! :) Does Jessa's story feel finalized?

Until we meet again,

Theatrefreak10