Chapter 18

When Steve awoke from the anesthesia, Helen and Catherine were sitting at his bedside. Tired, he tried to smile, only half succeeding. "Hey, you two."

His voice was soft and talking seemed to cause him pain. Catherine squeezed his hand. "Hey sailor, Danny want me to tell you, that you should listen to what the doctor tells you and stay in the hospital."

Steve rolled his eyes. "Where is Danny anyway?"

"Oh, you don't know yet. The lab in Coronado called Danny. They were able to match the paint marks to a model. They belong to a Lincoln Zephyr."

Steve frowned. "Moore drives a GMC Yukon, so he lied to us. He didn't run Liana off the road."

"Right, Danny and the others are on a plane to Coronado right now to get a read on Moore."

There was a knock at the door and it opened at the same moment.

"Ah, you're awake, Commander. That's good. Pain?"

Steve nodded. "A little."

The doctor nodded and made a note. "Okay, we'll adjust the dosage a little. I'll check back in the morning and if the wound looks good and you're okay, you can go home."

Relieved, Steve nodded; all he really wanted to do was go home. The doctor wished him a good day and Steve's eyes closed again.

When Danny and the others landed in Coronado, Ben was already waiting with his car.

"Hey Ben, good to see you."

"You too."

They shook hands as Danny introduced him to the team.

"Nice to meet you all. Where's Steve anyway?"

Danny briefly gave him an update on what had happened in Maui.

"I just got a text from Catherine, he's doing well so far, still a little tired from the surgery. I think he'll be able to go home tomorrow."

After everyone got in, Ben started the engine and drove to the prison.

"I've already announced us."

"Good, thank you."

Arriving at the jail, they were ushered into one of the interrogation rooms and soon after Moore was brought in. Sullenly he looked at Danny.

"What do you want?"

"We want the truth, since we know by now that you didn't run Liana off the road."

"And what do I get out of it?"

"Well, at least you don't have a murder charge on your hands. Who are you covering for?"

Moore looked at him thoughtfully, then took a deep breath. "Okay, but only on the condition that you protect me from this guy. He's got people everywhere. Especially at CPD."

Ben nodded. "You have my word."

"The guy's name is Robert Alvarez. Anything to do with cybercrime around here, he's got his fingers in. Liana was on to him. My job was to make eyes at her to get the data she had gathered on Alvarez in the meantime. When that didn't work, Alvarez ran Liana off the road, and then tried to get the access data through Helen. But he couldn't get her here because her commander interfered. So I was supposed to get him out of the investigation by confessing to Liana's murder. Then he tried to get me out of jail. As you can see, it didn't work."

"Do you know who's involved with the CPD?"

Moore shook his head. "Unfortunately, no, he never gave me the names. He ordered that Liana's death not be investigated and ruled it an accident. I suspect there's a higher animal involved."

"Where do we find Alvarez?"

"I'm afraid I can't tell you that, he always found me."

"Okay, Mr. Moore. Thank you, that helps us."

They said goodbye and left the jail.

"Okay, now how do we get to Alvarez?"

Danny's cell phone rang and Danny raised his hand apologetically to answer the call.

"Hey Danny."

"Steve?"

A few minutes before:

The next time Steve woke up, he felt a little better. His cheek still hurt, but as far as he understood the doctor, that would last for a while. Being alone in his room, Steve immediately began to think. Why did these guys want Liana's password so badly? She was onto something or someone.

Okay, he needed a computer. With a flourish, he swept the blanket off his legs and stomped out of the room. In the hallway, he looked around, then spotted the doctor's office down the hall. Without thinking, he ran down the hall, knocked on the door, and opened it, though he got no answer. He sat down behind the desk and tried to unlock the computer. Password protected, of course. Steve looked around, turned everything upside down, and then found what he was looking for under the mouse pad. He should point out to the good Doc that this was not a good place for a password. He opened the browser, called up the NSA's online program and entered Liana's data. Then he started reading. Liana had tracked down a Robert Alvarez and gathered facts about him. Where he had his fingers in, which CPD officers were working with him, and more. According to the documents, she had already gotten pretty close to him. As he opened one of the pictures, it showed a middle-aged man standing in front of a red Zephyr. Steve closed his eyes for a moment. Alvarez had Liana on his mind. He picked up the new cell phone Catherine had given him and dialed Danny's number.

"Danny, have you been to Moore's yet?"

"Yeah, a guy named Robert Alvarez is behind it. Unfortunately, Moore couldn't tell us where to find the guy."

"Maybe I can help with that. I've been looking at the data that Liana compiled ..."

Danny interrupted. "You what? I thought you're in the hospital."

"Danny, listen to me. Alvarez has his people everywhere. In the CPD and even the NSA. High-ranking animals. You need to be careful who you trust. I'm sending you a list of people and Alvarez's safe house. Be careful."

Danny heard a voice in the background: "Commander, what are you doing with my laptop?

"Hey Doc, you better hide your password." ... "Danny, I have to go."

Dismayed, Danny looked down at his phone. The others looked at him questioningly, but Danny just shook his head. Meanwhile, his phone beeped a few times as the information from Steve came in. Ben whistled through his teeth when he saw who was working with Alvarez. This explained a lot. He informed the Governor and together with Five-0 they planned the operation to take down Alvarez and his henchmen. Danny and the team made it a point to show up at Alvarez's house themselves.

While the other teams returned successfully with arrests to show for it, Five-0 came back empty-handed. Alvarez had gone underground, pulling up stakes in Coronado.

Sullenly, the doctor led Steve back to his room, where Catherine and Helen were already pacing restlessly. Then he turned on his heel.

"Steve, where have you been? I thought something had happened."

"Sorry Cath, I had to follow up on a lead."

"What?"

Briefly, Steve told what he had learned about Liana's work.

"Cath, I need you to go to HQ and back up the data, please, so Ben and the others have something solid."

He cleared his throat. "And I'm going home with Helen."

"But I don't think you can leave until tomorrow?"

Steve blushed a little. "Right now the doc thinks it's better if I go now."

Catherine intensified her look. "Steve, what have you done?" Then her eyes got wide. "NO, you didn't take his computer ..."

Grinning wryly, Steve nodded. Stunned, Catherine could only shake her head.

"Steve, you have to fix this or he won't patch you up next time."

Remorsefully, Steve nodded again, "I'll figure something out."

They left the hospital a few minutes later. Catherine got into the Stingray and drove to headquarters, while Helen and Steve took a cab home.

"Helen, what's going on? You've been so quiet this whole time?"

"I think I made a fatal mistake."

Confused, Steve looked at her. "About our trip? I'm sorry, Helen, I'll make it up to you, okay? I promise!"

"No, it isn't. I told my godmother about Maui and she wants to come here and take me back to Coronado. I tried to explain to her that it wasn't your fault, but she wouldn't listen to me."

And more quietly, much more quietly, she added: "I had just decided to stay with you and Catherine."

Stunned, Steve looked at her, then his eyes began to shine and he briefly pulled her into his arms. "I'm glad, Helen. And we'll definitely get this thing sorted out with your aunt."

The taxi had now reached its destination. Steve paid and outside the taxi, Steve put his arm around his daughter again. They walked to the house together. They were just about to enter the house when Steve paused. Something was different. Then he saw it. The small door to the garage wasn't closed properly. "Helen, hide and don't come out until I tell you."

"I won't let you down again."

"Please Helen, I couldn't bear it if something happened to you, please do as I tell you."

His gaze was unusually soft and so full of love that Helen's heart warmed. She nodded and disappeared. Steve slowly approached his garage door and quietly entered the garage. The Mercury remained unchanged in its place. Steve felt the rear right wheel arch and shortly afterwards had a gun in his hand. He quickly checked whether it was ready for use and then carefully moved on. Then he saw him. He was standing in his study, opened his laptop and tried to log in. "Hands up, Alvarez!" shouted Steve, but he didn't think about it at all.

A shot shattered the silence and hit Steve in the right arm, forcing him to drop the gun. Cursing, he held his arm with his other hand. Robert Alvarez pointed the gun at Steve's heart. "There you go, buddy. Enough with the games. You're slowly coming over to me now. I want you to give me Liana's password. Right now."

He took a few steps back from the desk to make room for Steve. He did as he was told. Steve sat down in his desk chair. He quickly estimated the time it would take Catherine to get to HQ and hoped she was already backing up the data. Alvarez had moved closer again and the gun was embedded in his back. Typing with one hand, Steve brought up the NSA site, typing extra slowly to give Catherine even more time. His injured arm lay on his lap. Curious, Alvarez leaned further and further forward, Steve took the opportunity and his hand shot up under Alvarez's chin. His head snapped back, Alvarez dropped the weapon and staggered back. Steve jumped up to hit him again, but Alvarez was quicker and threw himself at Steve. He fell to the ground and was just able to avoid Alvarez's fist, which targeted his cheekbone. The two men rolled through the living room, wrestling. Alvarez was strong and as they approached the garage door again, Steve was suddenly under Robert again. He had his hands around Steve's neck and was squeezing hard. Gasping for air, Steve tried to free himself, but Alvarez's hands were around his neck like a vice. Steve fumbled around, trying to find something he could pull over Alvarez's skull. Then he suddenly had his weapon in his hand again. Without thinking twice, he aimed it and fired. Alvarez didn't move for a moment and Steve thought he had missed him when the grip around his neck loosened and Alvarez collapsed and fell to his side. Breathing heavily and still gasping for air, Steve lay there.

"Dad? Dad, are you okay?"

Croaking and still gasping for air, Steve replied, "Yeah, yeah, everything's fine."

I'm very, very sorry that there hasn't been an update for so long, but I've been very busy. But now there is good news: The original (German) version of this story has been completed
for a few days, so I can now translate the remaining chapters for you (there is still a lot to come). I will do my best and upload 2-3 chapters per week if possible.