**** WARNING – This chapter covers the sensitive topic of drug abuse and the overdose of children ****

***** THANKS for all the initial reviews - I hope your interest is peaked, and you enjoy the ride! *****

Danny and Chin arrived at headquarters a little after ten o'clock Saturday morning armed with coffees and cocoa puffs for everyone. Kono and Steve looked up from their files to see Danny grinning broadly.
Steve smiled back, "Hey buddy! Did you get any sleep at all last night?"
Danny chuckled, "We left the bar at about twelve thirty"
"Yes…and did you get any sleep at all?"
Kono chuckled as Danny blushed and said, "Drop it Steven…"

They all smiled and after eating, Steve filled them in on their new case.
There had been a rash of drug overdoses at a local middle school and Governor Denning wanted 5-0 to go undercover.
Danny instantly became very serious, "These kids are all younger than Hailey Morrison, Steve"
"I know…..all the victims have been between eleven and thirteen"
Danny brought his hands to his face and sighing deeply he turned away from the others.

After several seconds, Steve continued "Chin and Kono, I'm going to have you two go undercover at the school as teachers. Chin, you're going to work as a science teacher and Kono, you're going to work in the schools computer lab"

Danny turned back to Steve, "What am I going to be doing?"
Steve was silent for a moment, "First I need to know if you can handle this…."
"I can handle it Steve"
Steve shook his head, "Okay….I'm going to have you work as an assistant coach on the football team. There have been six overdoses in the past ten days, with only one survivor"

Danny asked, "What are the drugs being abused?"
"Vicodin, OxyContin, tranquilizers and sedatives"
"Prescription drugs"
"Yes….."
Chin then asked, "So what are you thinking Steve?"
"Four of the six OD's have been football players. I think someone on the team is dealing. We've got to figure out who's doing this before any more lives are wasted"

Kono then asked, "So are we starting on Monday?"
"Yes. The school's principal, guidance counselor and football coach are meeting us here at eleven o'clock. Hopefully they'll be able to give us some leads"

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When the school officials arrived, they brought files with them of three students they felt may be involved in supplying the drugs to the student population. Sitting around a table in the conference room, Chin poured coffee for their guests as Steve opened the files.

As he thumbed through them and then slid them to his teammates he asked "So tell us, who are these three?"
The guidance counselor, Carol Giles spoke first. Pointing to the folder Danny was holding she said, "That young man is thirteen year old Jason Miller. He's a wide receiver on the football team. He's always been a wonderful student until about a month ago. He's become distracted in class and uncharacteristically disrespectful to both his teachers and his coaches. In his three years at our school he was a perfect student, never causing any trouble….until now"

Steve asked, "What do his parents say?"
"They saw a change in him as well, but they were at a loss as to what to do. Please remember Commander, we only started seeing these changes three to four weeks ago. They were watching him closely, as were we"

Coach Edwin Palacio added, "Three days before the first student overdosed, I suspended Jason from the team"
Danny asked, "What was his reaction to that?"
"He was very upset. He missed school for the next two days"
Steve then asked, "So he was back one day before the death? Did he know the first victim?"
Coach Palacio answered "Yes, the first boy to die was thirteen year old Kipp Halverson. He was an offensive lineman on our team and he died on the field during practice. He was a big boy Commander, weighing 270 lbs, and initially we thought he died of a heart condition"

The principal, Makani Kalama then spoke, "The student body was rocked by Kipp's death and two days later things became so much worse" Kalama sighed deeply and continued, "It was last Saturday night when I got the call from HPD. At about six in the evening they found two of our students dead in a tree fort behind the school. The boys were both eleven years old and they were found with a ziplock bag near their bodies, filled with a mixture of OxyContin and tranquilizers. It was obvious that they had overdosed but at that moment we still didn't connect their deaths with Kipp's. The next morning that all changed though when I got another call. Thirteen year old Elisse Zavala was found dead in her bed by her parents. She had gone up to bed at about ten o'clock Saturday night and they never saw her alive again. She had taken an overdose of Vicodin and again they found additional pills in a ziplock bag on her nightstand"

Carol Giles then added, "Elisse and Kipp had been dating for several months"
Danny stated softly, "Thirteen years old and she felt she had no reason to live, my God…"

Kalama then told the team about the final two victims, both football players "Early Tuesday afternoon, twelve year old Jakob Saito was found unconscious in his families living room when his Mother returned home from work. Jakob survived and he's at King's Hospital"

Steve said softly, "I'll need to speak to him"
"He's still unconscious at this point, but I know his family will do everything they can to help you"
"Was he a troubled child?"
"No Commander, not at all"
"He could be the key to this. We need to figure out where they're getting these drugs"
Chin added, "This doesn't sound like dealers, it sounds like kids…"
Steve shook his head, "Yes, I think so"
Principal Kalama asked, "What do you mean?"
Steve replied, "These are all prescription drugs. When kids this age OD it's almost always with prescription drugs taken from their homes"
Chin jumped in, "Kids this age don't have the connections or the money to purchase illegal drugs"

Kalama nodded and continued, "Thursday afternoon, Simon Pritchard began to seize at his desk in his computer lab. He died before help could arrive. We cleared the other kids from the room and the teacher and school nurse did everything they could. They were able to revive him but unfortunately he died several hours later in the hospital. We had been working with HPD and they felt we needed to bring you in. Can you help us Commander?"

"We can, and we will" Steve told them of his plans to place his three teammates undercover in the school. "We'll connect with the HPD detectives and the lab later today. Now, what can you tell us about these other two boys?" Steve pointed to the folders.

Carol Giles stated, "These two are Nick Calderone and Jeremy Mahina. They're both troubled boys from broken homes and they have had problems with drugs"

Steve asked, "Can we keep these files?"
Giles nodded, "Yes, they're copies"
Steve looked at his team, "Do you guys have any questions for them?"
Responding no, and standing, they all shook hands with the school officials and they left with the understanding that Danny, Kono and Chin would meet Kalama at the school at six in the morning on Monday.

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The team had moved back into Steve's office and Kono asked, "So where are we going to start boss?"
"Kono, can you head up to the hospital and interview Jakob Saito's family. Chin, I'd like you to go check in with Duke to see what they've learned from the families of the deceased kids and Danny can you head over to the lab and check with Fong and see if they've found anything that can help us. I'll go talk to Calderone and Mahina"

Danny asked, "What about Miller?"
Steve replied, "I want to eliminate the other two first…then I'll interview Miller"
"We can make better time if we split these guys up between us"
"No, no we can't let these kids see you three or your cover's could be blown. I have to talk to these boys alone. Everyone just meet back here when you're done"

As Chin and Kono left headquarters, Danny drove Steve to his place to get his truck.
As they drove down the Pali Highway Steve asked, "So tell me about last night Danno"
"She's a great girl Steve"
"So you're going to see her again?"
Danny turned to his partner and smiled, "Yeah, I definitely am"
"Are you going to see her tonight?"
"Do you have to know everything Steve?"
Steve chuckled, "I'll take that as yes"
"You can take that however you want my friend"

Danny then asked, "So this case….do you think the key is Jason Miller?"
"Yeah, I do. His personality change and the fact that four of the six victims are tied directly to the football team…..yeah, I do. What do you think?"

"I agree with you. We've got to end this quickly Steve….."
"I know buddy. Are you going to be okay?"
Danny sighed, "Gracie is eight Steve. In three short years she'll be one of those middle school kids. My God, we've seen six kids…..six babies die and another one hospitalized due to this junk. We've got to end this"

"We will Danny" As they pulled in Steve's driveway he added, "Gracie will be fine buddy. You and Rachel have raised her right"
"I know we've tried Steve, but I'm sure the parents of those seven kids all tried too. Damn it's scary"
"I know…."
Danny said softly, "Call me after you interview the boys"
"I will"

Steve exited the car and as he moved to his Silverado he watched his partner back out of the driveway.
In this line of work they saw many horrible things, but nothing hurt worse than seeing children die. He had been Danny's partner for almost two years now and no one he had ever known, even his SEAL brothers was tougher than Danny Williams. But when children were involved, his Jersey-bred partner showed his soft and vulnerable side. Hell, these cases broke all their hearts but Danny saw Gracie in every young victim and that made these cases harder on all of them.

As he drove towards the Calderone home his mind drifted back to last night and he smiled.
A few months ago when he was in prison, charged with killing Governor Jameson he thought he was going to lose Danny. Rachel was pregnant and she had told him that he was the Father. He had made the decision to follow his heart and move back to New Jersey and they were going to give their relationship another try. As much as that had hurt him, he loved Danny enough to be happy for him. The divorce had crushed him and his love for Rachel had never dissipated. Then, out of the blue, Rachel changed everything by telling him she now believed that her unborn child was Stan's….not his. He had been there for his friend as Danny had once again struggled to heal his broken heart. And now, months later Danny had met someone he truly seemed to like and he couldn't be happier for him. No one deserved happiness more Danny…...

****** I hope you're enjoying…..next up, Danny's relationship with Tracy deepens ******