Steve walked into another sitting area in the spa to find Amber Restelli on a chair looking visibly nervous. He hated to play bad cop, but time was wasting. If Connor had Shauni, they had to find her ASAP.
So "bad cop" it was.
"Ms. Restelli, I'm Commander McGarrett. If you saw Shauni leave…..or know how she left….you need to tell me. Now."
Amber was looking down at her hands folded in her lap.
"Look at me." Steve demanded.
She had no choice but to comply since the tone of his voice left no room for argument. She looked up to where he was standing in front of her. He was tall. And intimidating. And at the moment, he was scaring the crap out of her with his intense gaze. Amber had never been in trouble. She'd never had so much as a speeding ticket, so how in the hell had she ended up in the middle of this mess, she thought to herself?
"Did you see her leave?" Steve asked again clearly growing more impatient. "Did she leave with anyone?"
At that question, Amber looked away and back down to her hands; A clear indication she knew more than she was telling. Steve pulled a chair up so he could sit in front of her. "Let me make myself perfectly clear. We will find Shauni. If you know what happened and don't tell me…..right now…I will have you charged as an accomplice in anything that happens to her. Do you understand me?"
Steve's voice had risen to an angry level forcing tears to spring to Amber's eyes.
"I didn't know. I swear, I didn't know."
"You didn't know what?" Steve barked.
"There was a knock on the back door. I opened it thinking it might be someone with a delivery and found Connor Michaelson standing there. I mean….Connor…. MICHAELSON! I couldn't believe it!" She exclaimed as Steve fought the urge to roll his eyes.
"And what did he want?" Steve asked ignoring her obvious infatuation at having found herself face to face with "the great Connor Michaelson". The same Connor Michaelson he couldn't wait to get his hands on.
"He said he wanted to surprise Shauni. He said they were trying to work things out and had planned to meet here in Orlando, but that he decided to come early so he could really surprise her. He asked me to let him into her room since she was finished and getting dressed. He offered me…" She stopped and actually looked ashamed of herself because Steve saw her cheeks flush.
"I'm so sorry, Commander." She sniffed again.
Knowing that he had successfully broken her down, Steve's voice softened, "So finish the sentence. He offered you what, Amber?"
She wiped her eyes before looking back at him. Her eyes were full of regret so he had no doubt she was telling him the truth.
"He gave me $1,000 and said he would get me tickets to tonight's show if I would let him in to 'surprise his girlfriend'. He was just so charming….and handsome…..and it was Connor MICHAELSON."
This time Steve couldn't resist the eye roll as he held up a hand to stop her. "I get it. So…..how did they leave?"
"Through the back door. I let him in to her room, but as soon as I saw them leaving together, I knew something was wrong. The expression on her face…I knew it. I'm so sorry." She began to sob.
"Amber, listen. I need one more question answered: Do you think they were staying in the hotel? Are they still here?" Steve asked.
"I think so…..Maybe…..He had a key card in his hand when he walked out with her but I have no idea what room he would be in. I hope you find her. I didn't mean to cause any trouble, I swear."
"We'll figure it out." Steve said. "It'll be okay."
At this point, Erica was there with them so Steve stood up to talk to her. "I'll let you take care of her. We need to get out of here and find Shauni. I'll be back later."
"Thank you, Commander. And again, please accept my apologies. We've never had a breach of security like this, but you can believe I will deal with it."
Steve moved out of the room to get back to Jake, Tommy, and Mary.
"Mar, go back up to the room with Stacy and let her know what's going on."
Mary started to protest, of course, but Steve held up a hand to stop her, "I don't have time for this, MaryAnn. No arguments." He pointed a finger towards the door, "Get your butt back upstairs. I need to know that you and Joanie are safe, understand? I'll let you know when we find her."
After she reluctantly left, Steve, Tommy, and Jake started figuring out how to find Shauni. While they were discussing, Mary called Steve's cell.
"What is it Mary?" Steve asked more than a little impatiently.
"What about Shauni's cell phone?"
"What about it?" Steve asked. "She left it here so it's not going to help us find her."
"Noooooo….BUT, it DOES have Connor's number on it since he's been texting her non-stop. If he still has HIS phone on him, could you trace it?"
Steve couldn't believe it. Once again his sister had out-witted him. He blamed it on the fact that he was worried out of his mind for Shauni and just wasn't thinking clearly.
"You're a genius, sis! We'll get on it right now!"
"I'm going to remind you that you said that." Mary said.
"What?"
"That I'm a genius. I will remind you."
Steve couldn't help but grin, "Whatever, sis."
Then he ended the call and got busy finding his girl.
Jake had always been the tech expert on their SEAL missions, but Steve had no idea the extent of his talents. He was able to trace Connor's number within minutes and Steve thanked his lucky stars that Connor was too stupid to realize he needed to turn the phone off.
"Staying at the scene of the crime? I can't decide whether that's stupid or incredibly smart." Jake said as he found the trace showing they were still at the hotel.
"Hang on." Steve cautioned. "We don't know if it's just his phone…or if its them. Let's hope for the latter. And if he did keep her here, it's pretty smart. No one would have seen them leaving together and alerted the media."
Tommy pointed to a layout they had of the hotel indicating the floor they were most likely on.
"We need to get a list of everyone staying on that floor. Then, we have to assume he's here using an alias. We'll knock on every damn door until we find her."
"I'm on it." Tommy confirmed as he made his way to the hotel manager.
Within minutes, they were on the floor, guns drawn. The decision had been made not to involve the local police department yet because it would stir up too much attention. Steve had reviewed the room list briefly and immediately zoned in on one name: Michael Connors.
Seriously? Reversing his name from Connor Michaelson to 'Michael Connors'. How obvious! It had to be him.
Room #1203 was where they were headed first. They all stood in the hall as Steve put an ear closer to the door to listen. He didn't hear anything so he motioned for Tommy to knock on the door. The only other person with them was one of the hotels female security personnel who was dressed as room service staff.
"Room Service." She called out.
Connor's voice came through the door, "We didn't order any room service. You must be mistaken."
"I'm sorry, Mr. Connors, but your name is on the order. Ms Amber Restelli sent up something special for you and your guest. The bill has already been paid."
Steve closed his eyes and said a prayer Connor would fall for this. A few tense minutes passed before Steve's worst nightmare came to fruition. He heard Shauni's panicked voice behind the door.
"I didn't tell anyone, Connor. I swear. I don't even have my phone!"
That was followed by a loud smack and a muffled cry from Shauni. Steve had heard all he could stand. He motioned to Jake and Tommy to back him up.
"When we get in there, that son of a bitch is mine. Do you understand? He's mine!"
The security woman quickly passed him a room key which he used to unlock the door. Connor was smart enough to have the chain lock over the door, as well, so Steve took pleasure in kicking the door open and barreling inside.
As soon as they saw Steve, relief filled Shauni's face as panic crossed Connor's. His hands were gripping her arms so tight she was wincing in pain, "You, bitch! I KNEW you told him!"
That was all he got out before Steve pulled him off of Shauni with so much strength he stumbled backwards. Steve landed a right hook to Connor's face before focusing on his midsection and pummeling him with some well-placed punches to his stomach and ribs. Connor finally collapsed to the floor unable to do anything to stop the assault. He could barely breathe at this point, but Steve didn't care. Steve turned him roughly onto his stomach and pulled both of his arms behind his back. His legs straddled Connor's back making it impossible for him to move.
Connor felt Steve lean down until he was right against his ear.
"Tell me one reason I shouldn't kill you." Steve growled.
"Dude….I think you broke my ribs. AND my nose! GET OFF ME!" Connor started making feeble attempt to escape but it was no use. Steve was much too powerful and too experienced at hand-to-hand combat for him to stand a chance at getting away.
"I'll get off of you once the police are here to arrest you."
"Arrest me for what? You say I assaulted her…..but you assaulted me! I'll file charges against YOU."
Steve pulled one of Connor's arms up a bit higher on his back until he screamed in pain, "Keep it up and your arm will be broken too. In fact, I'm begging you…..just give me a reason to do it."
Connor had the common sense to be quiet so Steve continued.
"Sure, you can file charges against me. But there are four witnesses here besides myself who heard and saw you assaulting Shauni. Not to mention the ones at the spa who will witness that you snuck in and forced her out against her will. Soooooo…good luck with that."
As Connor lay painfully on the floor with Steve pinning him down, he started thinking for the first time about the crap load of trouble he might be in. What had he been thinking?
Steve suddenly needed to be with Shauni.
He needed it more than he needed his next breath.
Jake seemed to read him before he'd even said anything, so he moved by Steve's side and put a hand on his shoulder.
"I've got him, buddy. You go to her."
Steve didn't need any further encouragement. He quickly moved off of Connor letting Jake take over so he could go to Shauni. She stood in a corner of the room with her arms wrapped across her chest and a look of shock on her face. Steve had no doubt that she probably was in shock after what she had been through, so he quietly asked the hotel security officer to get a doctor or paramedics up as quickly as possible to check her out.
Then he moved towards her and pulled her to him. "Come here, baby."
As Steve pulled her to him, Shauni looked up at him, disbelief filling her eyes. As soon as her eyes met Steve's, tears filled them and she started shaking. He pulled her closer and held her so tightly it was a miracle their bodies didn't just melt into each other. Steve wanted so badly to take the pain….the fear…..and the shock away from her in this moment.
"It's okay, honey. I'm here….I'm right here."
He continued to hold her as one of the local police detectives made their way into the room. Connor was on the floor with Jake, Steve was holding Shauni with no intentions of letting go for a very long time, and Tommy was at the door. As such, Tommy was the one who greeted the detective and briefed him on the situation. Once that was done, they walked over to Steve and Shauni.
"Are you okay, Miss Steele?"
It was a routine question, but sort of ridiculous given the circumstances. Of course she wasn't okay. But she nodded her head anyway.
Then Steve spoke up, "It it's okay with you, I'd like to get her back up to her room."
The detective put out his hand to shake Steve's, "I understand, Commander McGarrett. But I will need to get statements from both of you as well as any other witnesses involved."
Steve shook his head in understanding, "I understand. You can meet us up there and I will give you whatever you need."
With that, Steve led Shauni out of the room with the hotel security guard following.
"Is there any way we can get up to her room without being noticed?" Steve asked. He was obviously concerned about running into anyone else who might recognize her and wonder what was going on.
"Yes. We can either take the stairs up to her floor. OR, there is a service elevator. I would be happy to take you up on that elevator so no one else will see us."
Steve gave her a grateful smile, "That would be great. Thanks"
After getting on the elevator, Shauni's knees began to get weak as the shock started to take over her body. Steve leaned down and easily lifted her into his arms. She started to protest, but he silenced her with a quick kiss.
"Shhhhh…I've got you. Now let me take care of you."
Watching the two of them, the security guard couldn't help but smile to herself. What a great couple, she thought as she led them off the elevator and towards Shauni's suite.