Chapter 7
By now it was the middle of the night. Restlessly, Steve paced back and forth in the HQ. They had two bodies and the attack on the coroner, but nothing else. The tracks found on the back seats of the cars revealed that it was a man. But nothing more. DNA was not in the database and fingerprints they had not found, presumably he had been wearing gloves. He still hadn't heard from Mel. Somehow he had hoped that she would get in touch.
All of a sudden Danny was standing next to him.
"Come on, let's close our eyes for a bit. How's Mel?"
"I don't know, she hasn't contacted me."
"Why aren't you at the hospital with her, taking care of her? After all, she's part of the team, too."
"Danny, I wanted to go, but the look on her face was like she would kill me if I even thought of it."
"That doesn't usually stop you, does it?" Steve nodded in embarrassment.
"I know, but we didn't get off to a good start anyway, and every time I try to make it up to them, it gets worse."
"Sometimes things have to get worse to get better."
"Great."
"Come on home with you."
Shortly thereafter, the two left the building and drove home. In bed, Steve wondered if he should at least write her a note. Then he rejected the idea.
Steve had just returned from his morning rounds when his cell phone rang in the kitchen. By the time he got there, however, the phone had stopped ringing again.
Two calls in Danny's absence. He dialed his number.
"Good morning, where have you been?"
"Swimming, somehow I had to wake up."
"Mel sent us a video from the coroner's office around six this morning. It shows the assault on her. And, we got a face. Greg Laarsen, 38, a resident of Kailua. Lou and Adam are on their way there."
Somewhat confused, Steve scratches his head.
"Did you know there are cameras in forensics?"
"No, I asked Mel too and got no answer. She's at home, by the way. Tani must have picked her up at the hospital yesterday after Mel discharged herself. You two are more alike than you think."
Steve mumbled something, then agreed to be at the Palace in an hour when they could hopefully interrogate Greg Laarsen. After Steve hung up, he stared at his cell phone. Quickly, he typed a message.
"Would love to talk to you, 20 minutes at Makapu'u Lookout?"
He stared spellbound at his cell phone. After a few seconds, the answer came.
"Okay will be there."
Quickly, Steve jumped into the shower and headed out. When he arrived at the lookout, there was still no sign of Mel. He stayed in the car and looked out at the sea.
Somehow she was happy about the news. On the one hand, she couldn't stand Steve's manner, he seemed arrogant to her. On the other hand, he cared about his people and it had touched her when he wanted to go to the hospital with her. She didn't know herself why she had turned him down. Probably because she had experienced a lot of pity and caring and help during the last months, that she just wanted to make it on her own. Contrary to her usual habit of hiding her prosthesis under a pair of jeans, today she put on an airy summer dress. She pinned her hair loosely together so that the wound at the back of her head was also hidden. She left one curl, as always on her face, to cover the long scar. When she looked at herself in the mirror, she had to smile slightly. The island did her good. Mel grabbed her car keys, backpack and doctor's bag and headed out. She was a little late, but her prosthesis hadn't done as much good from the swim in the ocean, and it needed some care first. She quickly wrote herself a reminder to stop by the prosthetist later.
When Mel arrived at the lookout, Steve's Silverado was already there. On foot, she just saw someone else hurrying away? Very strange. But then she didn't waste another thought on it. She stepped up to Steve's car and was startled.
Steve was terribly pale, his lips were blue and his pupils dilated. A drop of blood was visible on the side of his neck. Without thinking any further, Mel ran as fast as she could back to her car and got her doctor's bag.
She only hoped she was correct in her assumption of BTX poisoning, quickly drew up tetrodotoxin into a syringe and administered it to the commander, who by now had fallen unconscious. Then she pulled Steve out of the car, laid him on the ground and began resuscitation. She had put her cell phone on speaker and used the voice prompt to call Danny.
"Mel, beautiful ..."
"Danny, we really need an ambulance at Makapu'u Lookout. Steve's been hit. Hurry! And the guy is still around here somewhere."
Danny, Tani and Junior arrived at the same time as the ambulance. Mel handed Steve over to the paramedics and described the man to Danny and in which direction he had run away. Then, without being asked, she got into the ambulance, which drove off shortly after, siren blaring and lights flashing.
Danny watched the ambulance anxiously, not wanting to imagine what would have happened if Mel hadn't come. Still, it was not good for his best friend right now, because the last glimpse he could catch before the door closed was when Mel put the defibrillator pads on Steve. Tani and Junior were no different. Junior had that look like he was just doing everything he could to be in that ambulance in Steve's place. Danny broke away and then walked with the two of them in the direction Mel had pointed them. He didn't think the man was still there, but to be on the safe side they had drawn their weapons anyway. Behind some trees they soon found a small place just big enough for a motorcycle. Fresh tire tracks told them that someone had been here recently.
"Danny!"
Tani pointed to the tall grass. There lay a syringe and a pair of disposable gloves. Carefully they bagged everything and took a picture of the tire print. After finding nothing else, they went back to the cars and split up. Junior took Steve's Silverado and Tani took the Camaro, while Danny drove Mel's Mustang to the hospital. On the way to the hospital, Lou checked in with Danny. They had encountered Greg Laarsen at home and it had turned out that he was the store owner's business partner and had only robbed Mel to secure some of the bugs for further breeding. Lou had arrested him for assault.