It was, for a change, a quiet weekday morning. Steve paused in the middle of a requisition form to glance out of his office, a soft smile of contentment spreading over his face.
Kono and Chin were busy at the central computer, looking over data from a recent burglary at one of the island's most exclusive estates. They'd solved it quickly, with the help of HPD, but at Chin's suggestion they were logging the details into a databased he'd created, in the event that what appeared to be an isolated incident was in fact a series, or a ring.
He could see into the office shared by Grover and Jax; Grover's huge frame bent over the desk as he helped Jax navigate the computer software to complete her report. Steve chuckled as Jax waved her hands in obvious frustration, prompting Grover to take a step back from the desk. The temper matched her red hair, and the hand waving . . . well, she might have picked that up from Danny.
Steve frowned, glancing at his watch. Where was Danny? He'd mentioned needing to drop Grace at school that morning, but he was usually at work by this time, even on drop-off days. Steve grabbed his phone and hit the button to dial Danny's number.
After several rings, the call went to voice mail.
"Danny," Steve said, "I'm guessing you spent a little extra time taking Gracie to school, or maybe you had another errand . . . just give us a call when you have a minute. Thanks, partner."
He put his phone back on his desk and tried to ignore a growing sense of concern. Glancing back toward Jax's office, he wasn't surprised to see her watching him. He was probably radiating worry by this point.
"Hey, partner, our boss looks stressed," Jax murmured. "You mind?"
Grover started to grumble about lame excuses for not finishing reports, until he caught sight of Steve's anxious expression. "Go, Nolan; I'll finish up the final screen. See what's up."
Jax gave Grover an appreciative squeeze on the shoulder as he took over the seat at her desk. She walked toward Steve's office, returning his tense smile.
"Hey," she said quietly, slipping inside the glass door. "What's wrong?"
"Have you heard from Danny this morning?" he asked abruptly.
"I don't think so," Jax said, checking her phone. "No, I haven't. Didn't he mention drop-off this morning?"
"Yeah, but he's usually here well before this time, even on Gracie mornings," Steve said. "Maybe she had a delayed start . . . I'm going to try him again."
Jax waited silently as Steve dialed Danny on speakerphone, ending the call when it went directly to voicemail. Within seconds, Steve's phone rang, and he grinned in relief.
"We must have been calling at the same time," he said, hitting the green button. "Danny, we were starting to-"
Steve broke off, alarmed, at the sound of Danny gasping incoherently. Jax looked up at him, her green eyes wide with dismay and fear.
"Danny, what's wrong?" she asked, following Steve as he grabbed the phone, still on speaker, and hurried to the central computer table.
Chin and Kono quickly cleared the other screens as Steve placed his phone on the table. A small blinking red light indicated the location of Danny's phone, midway between Gracie's school and the palace.
Danny was in obvious distress; his breath coming in sharp gasps. "There was - a wreck, I think - oh God, I think she's dead, I think I killed her -"
"Who, Danny?" Steve demanded. "Gracie? Is Gracie okay?"
"Gracie's at school," Danny managed to get out, and the five team members sighed in relief. "There was - in the road - there was a little girl. I can't see her now . . . I don't . . . what if she's under the car?" His voice broke off in a sob. They could hear a grinding sound, as Danny tried to open an apparently damaged car door.
"Danny, you need to slow your breathing," Jax said, her medic training taking over as she picked up the phone. Chin, Kono, and Grover started grabbing gear for everyone, and they moved as a unit to the elevators. "Did you lose consciousness?"
"I don't think so," Danny said. "I don't know."
"Are you bleeding?" Jax was demanding. They could hear movement, and Danny's harsh breathing.
"I don't think so," Danny said breathless. "I don't care. I'm trying to find - I don't see her. I don't see the little girl."
Steve took the phone from Jax's hand as they exited the building. "Danny, we're on the way. Hold on."
"I rode the bike in this morning," Chin said, "I'm with Steve."
"I'm driving," Jax demanded, holding out her hand to Grover. "It's Danny."
He shook his head firmly. "No, you're not driving, precisely because it's Danny. Shotgun, Nolan."
Jax rolled her eyes and jumped in the passenger seat of Grover's SUV.
Lights flashing and sirens blaring, the team sped to the scene, Chin keeping an eye on his tablet to confirm Danny's location.
"Should be around this corner, Steve," Chin cautioned, as Steve was pushing the limits of speed and physics with his huge pickup.
They slowed marginally as they came around the curve, and Steve braked and pulled off at the sight of Danny's Camaro, Grover and Kono falling in behind him.
"Danny?" Steve called out, and a miserable blond head appeared over the hood of the car, which was crumpled against a low stone wall. Danny had practically crawled under the car, and he emerged, disheveled and bleeding.
Jax stepped quickly to Danny's side, grabbing a penlight and some gauze pads from her pockets. She took his elbow and gently but firmly guided him to sit down on the wall.
"Air bag?" she asked, with a tilt of her head toward the car, and Kono checked for her.
"Yeah, it deployed," Kono confirmed.
"Ow," Danny protested, as Jax flashed the penlight in his eyes. "I'm fine, we need to find the little girl."
"Danny, what happened?" Steve asked, keeping his voice calm, in an effort to offset Danny's obvious panic.
"I dropped Gracie off at school, grabbed a coffee, and headed toward work, just like any other Gracie day," Danny said. "As I came around the curve, I caught sight of what looked like a little girl, walking on this wall here - on top of it, which was crazy -" He broke off, and indicated the steep drop on the other side of the wall. "And then next thing I know -"
Jax had traced the source of the blood streaked randomly on Danny's clothes to a small, but deep, cut on his forearm. Danny hissed in pain as she applied firm pressure.
"What happened, Danny?" Steve prompted gently.
"I - I couldn't see the little girl, for a split second, I couldn't see where she'd gone, and then there was a thump and then . . . we have to find her, she has to be here. She's hurt, we have to find her," Danny insisted, his voice betraying his growing agitation. Chin, Grover, and Kono were searching the area, scanning over the area where Danny's frantic efforts had already trampled down foliage and disturbed rocks.
"There's no sign of a little girl, Danny," Chin said. "Was there another car? A van? Anything?"
"No, there was no other vehicle," Danny said.
Grover studied the road. "No other skids marks, not that I can tell."
"You have to find her. She has blond hair, in a ponytail; blue dress, red canvas sneakers," Danny said.
"Danny," Jax said, wrapping the gauze into place, "you're mildly concussed; do you think maybe you got confused? Disoriented? Maybe it was an animal, and you swerved, and then when you hit your head, you remembered it wrong. That's a lot of specific detail, don't you think?"
Jax looked at Danny expectantly, hoping that a mild head injury could explain away the situation.
Danny's eyes filled with tears. "It's a lot of detail, because I saw her. I lost sight of her, and then there was the God-awful thumping sound, and then I saw her as she went over the hood of my car. So yes, the detail is specific, God help me."
His head dropped into his hands, elbows on his knees. As Jax wrapped her arms around him, his shoulders began to shake in silent sobs.
Steve walked over to the wall and looked down the steep, overgrown embankment. Chin came and stood next to him, as Grover and Kono continued to search around and under the car.
"Steve," Grover said behind them, quiet, and solemn.
Steve turned, and followed the line of Grover's hand, pointing at the broken headlight on the Camaro, streaked with blood.
"Oh, shit," Steve breathed out quietly, glancing back at Danny. "Oh no."
"Wait, that could be where Danny cut his arm," Kono suggested, demonstrating how her forearm might rest against the jagged edge of the car as she got down on her knees to look under it."
"That's true," Chin said. "We can hope for that, cuz, but . . . "
"We're going to have to get a CSI team out here," Grover finished.
"Call in HPD?" Steve asked, looking sharply at Grover. "Danny is ours."
"Which is why we can't risk future accusations of mishandling evidence and conflicts of interest," Grover said, meeting Steve's glare with a mild expression.
Steve sighed, and rubbed his hand over his face. "You're right," he said, deflating.
"I know," Grover said. "Doesn't mean I like it any more than you."
"Make the call, Grover," Steve instructed. "We'll coordinate and cooperate with HPD but I want you, Max, and Charlie out here with the CSI team." He paused, looking down the embankment again. "I have two sets of climbing gear in the truck. Chin, Kono?"
"I'll do it, boss," Kono offered quickly. "What are we looking for?"
Steve looked at the blood on the headlight, and back at Kono, his eyes filled with concern.
"We're looking for a body, Kono," he said gently. He studied her for a moment, while she processed what he was saying.
"Oh, God, boss, you think maybe . . ." she trailed off, her eyes filling with tears.
"I hope not, but we have to check," Steve said.
"You want me to go with Steve?" Chin offered.
Kono squared her shoulders. "No," she said firmly, "I can do it. It's been a while but I'm a good climber. Let's get the gear."
Chin and Grover stepped aside to make the quiet call to HPD, while Steve and Kono geared up.
"What are they doing?" Danny asked, watching them disappear over the side of the steep embankment. "Do they - oh, God, Jax is she down there?"
"They are just checking, Danny," Jax said. "Let me call a bus for you, Danny. We can get you away from here, get you checked out."
"No," Danny shook his head stubbornly. "I'm not leaving the scene."
Chin and Grover returned, standing over Danny awkwardly and solemnly.
"HPD is sending a CSI team," Grover said. "They'll want to take another statement, okay, Danny?"
Danny nodded miserably.
#*#*#*#*#
Steve and Kono finally reappeared, exhausted and sweating, as the CSI team finished swabbing and collecting evidence from the broken headlight of Danny's Camaro.
"Easy, boss," Kono murmured, as Steve tensed at the sight of the HPD team swarming around the car and hovering around Danny. "They're just doing their jobs."
"Anything?" Chin said, approaching them quietly.
"Nothing;" Steve said. "No indication whatsoever that anything, human or otherwise, went over that edge. What does CSI have so far?"
Chin sighed. "The blood appears to be human," he said.
"Shit, Chin," Steve swore quietly. "This is gonna kill Danny."
"Well, we don't know anything definitively," Chin said. "It will go to the lab, of course."
Duke approached them, accompanied by Grover. "Good morning - well, afternoon, now. I'm sorry about all of this. I took Danny's statement myself; he's distraught, to say the least. No charges are going to be filed; not right now. A reckless driving charge might be pending, but we'll wait until the investigation is completed."
"Thanks, Duke," Steve sighed. "Danny's not reckless. You know that."
"I know," Duke nodded. "But there's a broken headlight, smeared with what appears to be human blood, and Danny claiming that he hit a little girl. We have to find some sort of explanation, Steve."
Steve nodded, watching Danny, still hunched over on the stone wall. Jax had given up trying to comfort him or tend to his injuries, and was standing, talking quietly with Kono.
"It goes without saying that he doesn't leave the area," Duke instructed. "Not that we think he would."
Grover nodded. "Understood, Duke. Thanks."
#*#*#*#*#
The Camaro was towed back to HPD evidence. Chin hitched a ride with Kono, Grover felt sorry enough for Jax to let her drive, and that left a silent and shaken Danny to ride with Steve.
"Danny," Steve said quietly, his features etched with concern, "we're going to get to the bottom of this."
"I hit, and probably killed a little girl, Steve," Danny said, looking out the window. "What if she's hurt, all alone, lying on the side of the road?"
"We would have found something, Danny," Steve insisted. "We combed every inch of the area; all of us. So did HPD. There's nothing, Danny."
"Great," Danny huffed. "Then I'm losing my mind. Either way, it's safe to assume that my career is in jeopardy. I won't be a cop anymore. Rachel will be happy. Married to someone else, now, of course."
"Danny, stop," Steve said firmly. "You gotta have faith, man. We'll figure this out."