Burn
By
Landon Richardson
Official Disclaimer
The characters of Lieutenant Commander Steven 'Steve' McGarrett, Chin Ho Kelly, Kono Kalakaua, Adam 'Toast' Charles, Governor Patricia Jameson and Detective Meka Hanamoa, do not belong to me in any shape or form. I am merely using them for my own entertainment purposes.
The character of Detective Sergeant Danielle 'Danni' Williams probably can be considered to be mine by now. Although she was originally based on male Danny, she soon evolved becoming her own person. She has her own background, her own family, her own history and her own distinct personality. This isn't to say that the Danny Williams we all know and love is completely gone, he still emerges through her at times. I like to think of female Danni as what Danny could have been if everything in his life had gone his way. As in full custody of Grace and a decent relationship with his ex.
The character of Grace has also changed slightly due to the change in Danni. Her surname is Taylor as this is her father's surname and was Danni's married name (Danni reverted back to her maiden name when she was divorced). Her parents also are amicable which has also impacted Grace but never fear, she's still the sweetheart we know and love, if anything she's more a sweetheart now.
The character of Supervisory Special Agent Jack O'Connor, Detective Abraham Lee. Doctor Rosie Lange, Kent Deacon, Ross Hall, Sasha Hall, Nicole Hall, Brent Cox and Special Agent Walker Humphries however do belong to me as does any other character who you do not recognise from the show. Please do not use them, or my version of Danni and Grace without first asking for my permission to do so.
Author Note
Welcome to what is technically the fourteen chapter of Burn once you've factored in all the interludes and the prologue!
Please enjoy!
Overall Summary
Fire, fire burning bright, which member of Five-O will you try to claim tonight… When Five-O are tasked with hunting down an arsonist who has graduated to murder, they didn't expect themselves to become potential targets. Now it's a race against time to find the murdered before it's too late.
Chapter Summary
Danni's hand tightened on the steering wheel, her eyes narrowing in thought as her mind raced through everything which they already had learnt about the case and tried to slot in as many of the pieces that she could so that it resembled some kind of order.
Overall Romance
Hints of Steve McGarrett / Danni Williams (McDanni)
Mentions of past Duncan Taylor / Danni Williams (Dunni)
Hints of Ryan Moore / Danni Williams (Rynni)
Meka Hanamoa / Amy Hanamoa (Mekmy)
Chapter Romance
Hints of Steve McGarrett / Danni Williams (McDanni)
Warning
This story features a female Danni Williams in place of a male Danny Williams. Although in some stories I write, Danny does exist, he does not exist in this one.
If this is not your cup of tea then please hit the back button.
Another note
I do not have a Beta so please forgive any mistakes which may creep in, I always do my best to edit the story and check it but sometimes mistakes do creep in.
The places I've mentioned in Hawaii are ones which come from google, including the addresses. I've never been to Hawaii myself in person so I apologise for any mistakes which I may make, these are not intentional.
Chapter Fourteen
Closing in
Tuesday 5th October 2010
On route to Head Quarters
Honolulu
Oahu
Hawaii
Danni William's point of view
Danni's hand tightened on the steering wheel, her eyes narrowing in thought as her mind raced through everything which they already had learnt about the case and tried to slot in as many of the pieces that she could so that it resembled some kind of order.
If Terry Barclay was even half as intelligent as she believed him to be then he would already have an escape plan in place which was ready to be executed at a moment's notice, placing them on the back foot yet again.
For all they knew, his plan could already be in motion.
Barclay must have been aware that they were onto him though it was likely that didn't know just how close they were to having enough to place him behind bars, exactly where he belonged. He was clearly the sort of man who didn't like leaving any sort of loose ends behind him which probably meant that he was in the process of obtaining his newest victim, sacrificing his usual routine in an effort to get the final job completed before he ran.
Whether that job was merely to set fire or the kill the individual he was targeting Danni didn't know. What she did know however was that they needed to find out who exactly the victim was and stop him before he could do anything to them.
Danni pulled the car to a half at a red light and turned to look at Steve, surprised to see her partner was turned towards her in his seat, watching her quietly as though he was waiting for her to start speaking and to fill him in on her thought process, something made clear by the sudden questioning look which came to his gaze as their eyes met.
She looked away quickly, making sure the lights they were stopped at were still red before she spoke, breaking the silence in the car.
"We have to get over to Terry Barclay's house right now Steve." She stated, watching the way his eyebrow furrowed at her comment before she moved the Camaro away from the lights.
"Why right now?" He questioned.
Danni bit down on her lower lip, nibbling at it for a moment before she flicked on the right indicator and pulled the car to a stop in a spare parking space in front of a random shop. She killed the engine, twisting around in her own seat so she was facing him and could give him her undivided attention without the distraction of having to drive at the same time.
"Because Barclay knows we're closing in on him which means that he's already going to be in the process of getting himself the hell off of this island. If he was sensible then he would already be on a plane departing from Hawaii and disappearing from sight before we can bring him in, then he'll probably change his name and start the process all over again but I don't believe that's what he's done. Not yet, not while his final hunt is still outstanding. I doubt he can bring himself to leave until he's finished what he had already started and cleared up all the loose ends which tie him to Hawaii which means that right now, he's probably out there, hunting his final victim, the same one he's no doubt been stalking since before we were handed the case. His home will hold clues as to who the person is, if we don't get over there now then we may lose the opportunity of finding out who this is since he's more likely to burn his house down then let us get in there. He'll dispose of the evidence, kill the victim all with the plan of being gone before we can react." Danni explained, her words coming out quickly as she reached up and gripped the back of her neck, squeezing down on the muscle,
Steve remained quiet for a moment, his mind clearly running through her argument before he nodded at her, his eyes never leaving hers.
"So, you think that he's going to set fire to his own house and go after his last victim while we're distracted by it." Steve summarised, running a hand through his hair when she nodded at him.
"It's the most logical thing to do in his current situation. He knows that the minute we hear about a fire that we'll be heading over there. It will give him the window of opportunity which he needs to get things done." She confirmed. "It won't even cross his mind that we would realise that was his plan, people like this are determined to believe they are smarter than everyone else and in some ways he is but not this time." She stated firmly.
Danni watched as Steve reached into the picket of his cargo pants and pulled out his cell phone. He pressed on one of the buttons and pressed connect, tapping another button the put the call on loudspeaker before holding the handset between the two of them.
The phone rang twice before it was answered by a familiar, his distracted sounding voice.
"SSA O'Connor."
"O'Connor? It's McGarrett, I've got Danni with me and you're on loudspeaker." Steve told the other man before he continued to speak, his voice slipping into the professional tone which Danni was used to hearing him use when he was speaking to the other. "Have you managed to locate where Barclay is currently living yet?" He demanded.
"Yes and no" Came Jack's simple reply.
"Yes and no?" Steve repeated, sharing a quick glance with Danni who responded by biting down on her lower lip again, a feeling of concern flooding her.
"Yes, I've found the records for Barclay's address or should I say addresses because according to what I've found out, he currently owns four houses here on the island, one under the name we know and the others listed under three different aliases, luckily the estate agents have his picture on file so we were able to use that to link him to the properties." Jack explained.
"Are they the only aliases which belong to him?" Steve questioned, his hand tightening tightly on the hand set.
"I looked him up on the database and found five in total linked to him. You both were right by the way; he did start somewhere else. The guy was raised in Philadelphia and he remained there until three years ago when he suddenly packed up all his belongings and moved out here to Hawaii instead where it seems he has stayed since." Jack told them.
"Does his record say what he does currently for a living?" Danni asked, ignoring the quick look which her partner shot her.
"On all of the forms he's put his occupation down as a construction manager." Jack answered after a moment.
"A construction manager?" Danni repeated, picking up on the tone of surprise which came to her voice, she tilted her head to the side and focused back on Steve. "I guess it actually makes sense that he would be something like that, a job in construction would make it easy for him to pack up and leave and to find work at his new locations. There are always constructions jobs around and workers needed for them."
"That's true" Steve agreed thoughtfully with a nod.
"The only strange thing about it is that it wouldn't put him in close contact with any fires." Danni remarked with a frown. "You would have thought that someone who is so clearly obsessed with fire would try and get himself a job where he could be around it on a daily basis."
"That's right there is where things get interesting Danni." Jack piped up, attracting her attention back to the handset again. "I thought the same thing so I did some more digging on this guy and it turns out that he used to be a firefighter before being laid off. Guess when he happened to lose the job?"
"Three years ago?" Danni answered.
"Exactly right, award yourself with a gold star for that guess." Jack responded.
"It would make sense then that it was three years ago that the fire started happening, maybe he found himself able to control his impulses before because he was surrounding by what he desired on a constant basis. He could easily get the fix he needed without having to do anything himself to get it." Danni remarked with a thoughtful tilt of her head.
"Or maybe we're looking at this the wrong way and it was in fact Barclay who was the one who was starting the initial fires and then simply rolled in and saved the day. No one ever thinks that the first responders to a scene could be the ones who were responsible for it in the first place." Steve pointed out.
"That's true and he does seem like the type from what we already know." Danni agree with a nod before speaking again., "Jack, could you send us the addresses please?"
"Already done Danni." Jack responded. "Do you want one of us to call Judge Macmillan? He's on duty today and we're going to need some warrants if we legally want to enter any of those addresses."
"I'll call him, I've worked with him plenty of times over the past six months so he may be more willing to issue the warrants if I'm the one putting the case to him." Danni responded.
"What we need O'Connor if for you, Chin and Kono to be ready to move out to the other locations. Chin and Kono to one and you and Detective Lee to the other one." Steve added.
"I'll let the others know." Jack said before he hung up on them. Danni breathed out as Steve ended the call on their end and spoke.
"As much as I hate to say this and trust me when I say that I really do, I think we may need to swap positions now." Danni said on a sigh, looking up in time to see the way Steve's eyes lit up at her comment, his mouth curling up into a smile, a smile which made her stomach flip at the sight of it though she tried hard to ignore her reaction.
"Hearing you say those words to me is literally magic to my ears Danno." Steve told her before he turned and opened up the passenger side door and stepped outside. Danni closed her eyes for a second, already regretting the decision as she climbed over to the passenger seat, settling in the chair just as Steve climbed in and made a show of getting comfortable as he pushed the seat back to accommodate his longer legs. Danni rolled her eyes, as she fished out her own cell phone from her bag and went through the contact book, pressing down on the one which would connect her to the Judge. It rang three times before being picked up.
"Good morning, you're through to Judge MacMillan's office, how may I help you?"
"Hello Amanda, it's Detective Danielle Williams here, I was wondering whether I could speak to the Judge over an important matter of business, I won't take up much of his time." Danni said in a pleasant voice as Steve started the engine and re-joined the steady flow of traffic.
"Hello Detective Williams, it's been a while since we last heard from you. I heard about your new promotion to the Governor's taskforce. Congratulations, I'll just transfer you over to the judge now. Please hold a moment." Amanda stated, the cool professional tone she had been using warming.
"Thank you, Amanda." Danni replied, waiting for a moment before a second voice spoke, this time male and gruff sounding.
"Hello Detective Williams, what can I do for you today?"
"Good morning Judge Macmillan, I'm sorry to bother you but we need to get four warrants for four separate locations as a matter of urgency." Danni told him, tilting her head to the side as she reached out and touched Steve on the arm to attract his attention. "Your cell phone." She mouthed at him before turning her attention back to the call, her hand resting mid-air, palm up between them as she waited for his cell, as the Judge spoke.
"Come on Detective Williams, you and I have known each other for six months now. You know that I'm going to need a lot more information then just that to get the warrants signed.
"Our suspect has four different addresses on the island and he's currently in the wind, we think that the information we need to find out who his next victim is should be in one of those houses." She explained to him.
"And this victim you mentioned, do you think he or she are in immediate danger of coming to harm?" The Judge asked, a serious tone coming to his voice. Danni nodded forgetting for a split second that the older man on the phone wouldn't be able to see the action.
"We do, we believe that the suspect in question is in the process of trying to tie up any loose ends which connects him to the island including his victim, after he has killed them then he will most likely attempt to leave the island. The suspect in question already has five different identities that we know of and I would guess that it would be easy for him to create a new one and start up what he has been doing elsewhere on the mainland." She stated.
For a moment, the Judge was silent before he spoke.
"Send me through the correct paperwork and I'll sign it now and have my clerk fax it back to you straight away. You have my permission to enter the premises which belongs to the suspect under his own name or one of his aliases." He told her
"Thank you, Sir, the paperwork should already be with you, my colleague has faxed it over for your attention already."
"Nice to see you're still as efficient as ever even in your new role, I'll sign them and return them, now. Good hunting Detective." He said before he terminated the call.
Danni closed her eyes for a moment, breathing out a sign of relief before she focused back on Steve aware of him waiting beside her for an update.
"He's agreed to sign the warrants now and return them to us." She told him, watching as Steve's body tenses up at the words, his blue eyes hardening in a way which made it clear to her that her partner had just slipped back into SEAL mode.
"Call the others and let them know Danni, you and I will take on the main residence." He ordered. Danni nodded as she presses down on the number four button and brought the handset back to her ear, her gaze flickering between the road and her partner as he pressed his foot down on the accelerator pedal.
"I'll be calling for backup as well, we've got no idea what we may find at the houses Steve, it be stupid of us not to be prepared." She commented firmly, turning away as the call was picked up.
"Kelly."
"Chin, it's Danni, Judge Macmillan has agreed the warrants so we're good to go. Could you get Toast to call dispatch and asked them to send additional uniforms to each of the residences and make sure that they know not to have their lights or sirens on when they are on approach to the address. The last thing we want is to be caught unaware by this guy or to give him the heads up that we're coming for him. Steve and I are going to take the residence listed under Terry Barclay, you choose between the four of you who are taking the other houses and message us to let us know where you will be. Make sure that you all wear your vests and be careful out there. Let's try and make sure that none of us are injured enough to require a trip to the hospital or Doctors." She remarked on a sigh.
"I'm on it, Danni, Kono has just checked the fax machine and it looks like the warrants have been signed and returned. I don't know what you said to him to make him react so quickly but it was clearly enough to get the job done." Chin said, she could hear him moving on the other end of the line which probably meant that he was in the process of collecting his gun from his desk.
"Make sure you keep in contact Chin and the same goes for the others." She said, quickly adding a goodbye before she ended the call just as Steve hit the sirens and lights, no doubt in response to the heavy morning traffic on the road with them. "Do you know where we're heading"? She asked Steve, watching as he easily began moving the Camaro around the other vehicles. As much as she hated to admit it, Steve really was as good a driver as he had claimed to be.
"It should take us about ten minutes to get there at this rate." Steve told her. "When we're closer I'll turn the lights and sirens off, like you said to Chin, we don't want to give him any chance of knowing we're coming and giving him time to escape."
Danni nodded, leaning down and picking her bag up, she took out her gun, checking the clip out of habit and resembled it quickly, her mind skipping through everything which they might find once they arrived at their destination.
She glanced at her partner when he reached forward and pressed a button, killing the sirens and lights before pulling into a street, half way down it, he pulled the Camaro into a free space outside of a house and stopped the car. Danni stared up at the two storied building, her eyes narrowing slightly before she pushed open her door and climbed out, reaching up absently and pushing some stray hair which had escaped her hair style away from her eyes.
The place looked deserted at first glance with no sign of a car in the drive way but she knew from experience just how misleading that could be, just because there was no visible car, it didn't mean that the residence was empty.
She looked over the roof towards where Steve stood.
"So, how do you want to go about doing this then?" She asked him, raising an eyebrow when he looked back at her with a gleam in his eyes which immediately set her on edge. She had only seen that look once or twice since they had become partners and each time she had; something had occurred which she had disapproved of.
"First things first we need to make sure that he's not already in there Danni, which means looking now and not waiting for the backup you requested to arrive." Steve told her, nodding in the direction of the house.
"Somehow I thought you were going to say that Steve." Danni said with a sigh before she moved around the car, stopping at his side and tilted her head back so she could look up into his face, wishing not for the first time that the height difference between them wasn't quite so large. "Let's go."
Steve nodded, reaching out and touching her on her arm for a moment before he moved forward, up the driveway with Danni one step behind him covering his six. Her eyes moving swiftly around her looking for anything which looked even remotely unusual.
They stopped at the front door, Steve nodding towards Danni who returned the gesture before she raised her hand and knocked on the wood, listening carefully for any indication of movement but there was nothing, not even a net curtain moving. She glanced towards Steve who reached out and tested the door handle which didn't move, before he dropped his hand and took a step away from the door, his body tensing giving Danni a mere second to realise what he was planning on doing."
"Steve, no." She hissed as she grabbed his arm quickly. "We don't want him to know we're here remember and if you kick down the door then he will definitely know. Can you not use a picklock on it or something?" She asked him, her eyes flickering down to the lock in question noting that it looked normal.
"I can but it will take me a few moments Danni." Steve responded, she looked back at him as she let go of his arm and shrugged at him.
"Then it takes us a few moments, do it" She told him, meeting his gaze for a moment making sure that she kept her expression fixed in a calm look. Whatever he saw seemed to relax him slightly as he nodded in response and took a step forward, stopping directly in front of the door. He reached down into one of his numerous cargo pants pockets and pulled out a small black case which was the size of one of the old-fashioned cigarette cases which she had seen countless of times in the old musicals which she liked watching. He opened it, revealing a small selection of silver tools and selected two of them.
"Keep a watch out while I do this Danno." He stated, tilting his head slightly so he could meet her eyes for a moment before he looked back down, focusing his full attention on the lock, quickly inserting one of the tools which he begun to move around. She watched him for a moment, making a mental note to ask him to teach her how to do it before her cell vibrated in her bag, attracting her focus, she quickly pulled it out, giving the empty street another quick scan before she read the message which had come in from Toast. "Was is it? Anything interesting?" Steve murmured from beside her.
"It's just Toast giving me a quick update. The others are on route to the other residences though there is still one house outstanding. He's spoken to Dispatch for us and they are arranging for back up to be sent out. He's faxed over a copy of the warrants so they'll bring the one for this address here with them." Danni said, keeping her voice low so not to attract unwanted attention.
"Good" Steve said, a click from the door attracting her attention as Steve straightened, reaching for the door handle and pressed down again, this time the door swung silently open revealing a simple hallway which had been painted a pale blue colour. "Let's go." He added as he slipped into the space first, his gun moving from side to side as he scanned it. Danni followed him in, closing the door quietly behind her, her eyes moving across everything as they silently moved through the lower rooms of the house, clearing every area before Steve pointed silently with his gun to the staircase which they climbed before proceeding to the same thing on the first floor.
There was no doubt about it, wherever Terry Barclay was, he wasn't in his home.
"Nothing here from the look of it." Danni said as they moved back down the stairs. Steve nodded, a distracted look on his face which she picked up on. "What is it? Did you see something Steve?" Danni asked him, tilting her head to the side as she waited for him to answer her.
"No, I didn't." He replied with a shake of his head before he looked back at her, his eyes narrowed slightly as he searched her eyes. Danni remained quiet, waiting for him to continue. "There is still one more house which needs searching and none of us are there." He said, an undercurrent of frustration to his voice.
"There are only so many places we can be Steve given the numbers we have" She pointed out to him, keeping her tone soft.
"Exactly, and Barclay no doubt already knows that, he's probably done research on us and knows exactly how many members we have." Steve replied, reaching up and running his hand through his dark hair leaving a few strands sticking up, leaving Danni with the sudden desire to reach up and smooth them back down again though she ignored it. She gave herself a mental shake and spoke in a steady voice.
"It's most likely giving how he works that he has done that." She agreed cautiously.
"Danni, I'm going to head to that forth house and check it out. This place is clear and back up is already on route. I want you to stay here and start looking around to see what you can find. Time is of the essence here and we don't have the time to search this place and then head over to the other residence. He may already be there with his victim." Steve said as he moved passed her towards the front door.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, just wait a minute Steven." Danni said as she followed him, slipping easily passed him and twisted around so she was facing him, placing her hand on his chest to stop him. "This man has killed several people already and he's clearly devolving. You can't head over there by yourself, what if he s there and something happens to you. We should wait for the backup to arrive here and then go together so I can be there to cover your back in case something happens to you. He's taken down men who have the same physique as you, what if he takes you down and decides that you make a better last victim." She demanded, a wave of nausea descending on her at the thought.
"Danni, we don't have the time to do that. If what you believe is true then he has already grabbed his target from the street or their home. We need to find him or her before it's too late for them. The information we need might be in that other hand and as you said, we don't have the man power to cover four houses and there is no backup there. You do want to find Barclay, right?" He demanded, sounding briefly frustrated.
Danni met his eyes for a moment before she sighed, her hand falling from his chest.
"Fine, just… just be careful okay Steve?" She told him quietly, stepping to the side so she was out of his way.
"Hey, I'm always careful." Steve replied, flashing her a smile as he walked past her, his hand coming up and wrapped around the back of her neck. "You be careful as well Danno." He stated, his eyes meeting hers for a moment before he exited through the front door leaving Danni alone. She closed the door behind him, her eyes drifting shut for a brief moment before she breathed out and looked around her wondering where the best place to start would be.
Her eyes skipped to the staircase, focusing on them for a moment before she headed over towards them making her way back up to the first floor. It would make sense for Barclay to keep his hunts hidden from anyone who might have gone to the house to visit him which meant keeping it in a room which most people wouldn't go to or even see. A room which would be up the stairs. Barclay had a separate bathroom downstairs so there would be no reason for anyone to even look towards the stairs.
Danni frowned as she looked around her, opening the first door and glancing around at the neat bathroom before she pulled it closed and headed to the next one, a slight smile coming to her face when she found herself in what appeared to be a study. Danni moved towards the large desk, looking around the clear surface before she focused on the set of drawers beneath it. She leaned down slightly, muttering a curse when she found that both of them were locked. She searched the desk, lifting everything up but there was nothing which she could see which could be use to open them. Danni took a step back, glancing around her before her eyes dropped, a glint of silver attracting her attention. She knelt down, head tilted slightly to the side as she reached beneath the small gap and pulled out a key.
"Gotcha" She murmured to herself, putting the key into the lock and turning it, breathing out a sigh of relief when it turned easily in her hand. Danni pulled the drawers open and looked at the files which were labelled with names, at least four of the names she could see belonged to the previous victims. Her heart sank when she saw there was at least twenty files in there. Were they previous victims or were they ones which he had handpicked for the future?
Danni pulled out the file which had been filed behind the Hall file and glanced down at the name on the front of it.
Sally Clements.
Danni frowned as she flipped the file open and quickly scanned the information.
Sally Clements, thirty-five years old, married to Kennedy Clements who was thirty-eight with two children; Donovan who was seven years old and Melody who was three. There was nothing special about them as far as she could see so why exactly had Barclay chosen them as his next targets?
How exactly did he go about picking them? Was there something he saw in them that guided his choice or was there another factor? Was he the one picking them or had it been Rita Chen like Jack had indicated and if it was her then had Barclay given her a criteria to look at?
Danni breathed out, shaking her head before she suddenly froze as she heard the sound of the front door opening. She turned to the study door, listening for the familiar sound of HPD informing her that they had arrived but there was nothing meaning that they weren't the ones who had opened the door.
She slowly placed the file back onto the surface of the desk and silently made her way to the door, pushing it open slightly and peering out from within, her heart sinking when she heard a frightened female voice drift up the stairs.
"Why are you doing this to me? What have I done to you? Just let me go okay I… I won't tell anyone about this."
"Just shut up." A cold male voice responded followed by the sound of flesh on flesh and a sharp shriek of pain.
Danni reached into her bag and pulled out her cell phone, quickly bringing up and message and added the rest of her team to it, she wrote;
Suspect is in the main residence with me with a victim, potentially more. SOS. Send back up ASAP
Danni slipped the phone away, glancing over her shoulder at the files before she dropped taking her gun and dropping her bag on the chair, slipping silently out of the room and heading over to the bannister, looking over it. She frowned when she realised that she could see or hear anything from her angle.
There was only one thing she could do.
She needed to get closer.
Author Note
Thanks for taking the time to read. An especially big thank you if you have left me a review, favourite the story or decided to follow it.
I really appreciate it