CHAPTER EIGHT

HANGAR NUMBER EIGHT

THE NEXT DAY - SUNDAY - JOINT BASE PEARL HARBOR-HICKAM - O'AHU

Sunday at ten minutes past five in the afternoon, the U.S. Air Force, C-17A Globemaster III, was set to land on O'ahu. After hours of flying high above the clouds, the airplane's wheels hit the ground with a bounce and a loud yelp of rubber before it rolled steadily over the airstrip. Steve and Junior were back safe and sound on home soil. It had been an adventurous mission. Steve had taken a close shot to the chest, but his tactical gear had protected him, and the bullet hadn't gone through. The entire team had almost been blown up by an air missile. They made it out off the compound in time before they'd vaporized in thin air. All that, and they still managed to free Joe White and bring him to safety. Mission completed.

The aircraft had taxied and turned and was parked as near as it could get to the hangar. Its engines were still spooling noisily when the rear cargo ramp latched wide open. Steve felt the Hawaiian heat coming his way, greeting them home. Together with Junior and his SEAL team Steve departed the C-17 Globemaster III. Even though he only had been gone for a little over 48 hours when his boots hit the concrete, Steve knew he missed out on something. Home felt different this time. Or maybe he was just a little sleep-deprived. He barely had closed his eyes these past two days. He had a jet-lag for sure, but it was nothing that a good night of sleep couldn't cure.

Ethan, one of the SEAL team guys, shouted. "McGarrett, you coming?" Steve was the only one on the team still standing at the bottom of the cargo ramp.

Steve grabbed his duffel bag and gear and headed toward the hangar in front of them. To be specific, Hickam Hangar number eight. Same as they had taken off on Friday night. Steve sidled up to the team from behind and joined them as they all went inside the hangar. To Steve, it always felt as if he stepped into another world, one of steel and grit. The iron hangar's giant size made him feel small— especially this time as there was nothing but space around him. The thing was completely empty except for a few benches and their personal belongings.

Tiredly Steve sat down on the bench closest. He zipped open his black nylon backpack and pulled out his cell phone. He pressed the side button to turn it on and put it aside from him as the device powered back to life. Steve unleashed his combat boots and changed them for his own boots. He couldn't wait to get back home and replace the boots with a pair of flip-flops. Kick back, drink a few cold beers, something like that. With that in mind, Steve picked up his phone and dialed his partner's cell phone number. If he was up to it, maybe Danny could come over later tonight. Have a couple of beers together. Catch up.

Steve listened to the phone ring. He waited. Danny didn't pick up. Instead, Steve listened to his partner's voice mail. A second before the beep, Steve disconnected the call and put his cell phone into the front pocket of his backpack. Steve guessed it wouldn't take more than a minute for Danny to call back, or maybe it would. Perhaps Danny was pissed at Steve for taking off that abrupt. Steve suddenly felt a little guilty for leaving his injured friend behind. Steve was the kind of guy that would split himself into two if he could. He couldn't. Joe needed Steve's support more than Danny at the moment. There might be an argument coming Steve's way, but Danny would understand eventually. Right?

SKATE HANGAR - O'AHU

Around the same time as the U.S. Air Force, C-17A Globemaster III was set to land on O'ahu, Danny woke up all over again. He didn't move, nor did he open his eyes immediately. He wanted time to stop and stay on the floor for a bit longer. If they realized he was awake, they would haul him up from the concrete, dump him back into the skatebowl and force him to do another fight. He couldn't do another fight. He was tired and hungry and very thirsty. Be that as it may, it was the least of his problems. For the moment, Danny only found peace in lying entirely still. His body hurt like hell. And it was getting worse after each fighting. Much much worse. Huge spikes of pain kind of worse. The spikes snapped through his chest with every breath he drew. His rib cage burned. His face felt numb from swelling. His head ached with a grinding pain that bore straight into his head. All that made him feel utterly miserable and in no shape to do yet another fight.

Throughout the night, Danny had fought against numerous guys. He had won some fights, but they mostly kicked his ass. At some point, Kim Leung's men had even unchained him. That was only after they were sure they'd beaten him so badly he wouldn't be able to get to his feet by himself. They had accomplished that. By now, the bright red bruisings on his chest had turned dark purple with black spots, which meant two things. One, they had punched him with fists like they were made out of iron. Two, some serious time had passed.

That was about all Danny had figured out for now. It wasn't a lot, but it was hard to focus while his head throbbed in time with his heartbeat. He assumed he had a severe concussion from the countless blows he suffered to his head. And somewhere last night, Danny was sure of that assumption when he started to lose consciousness once in a while and with no motive. He lost track of time because of it. However, he did see the sunrise again, so he did know it was Sunday. Meaning he had been here for more than twenty-four hours. Other than that, time was a total mystery to him. Each turn the light went out in his head, he would wake up sometime later and honestly, an hour could've passed, or three hours, or maybe half a day. He didn't know, and what did it matter. Nobody was searching for him. Otherwise, they would've found him already.

Lying still on the concrete, Danny concentrated on the vibrations coming up through the ground. He could feel the low rumbling through his entire body. When Danny had felt it for the first time, he didn't know what it was. Maybe an earthquake or maybe old pipes running beneath this place. He couldn't tell. Then it happened again and again. Nothing consistent, no pattern to discover. It just happened every now and then. Later he figured it was coming from something much heavier and more powerful than old pipes. It was coming from an aircraft. And as he was spending quite some time on the ground. Either after he got his ass kicked or when they gave him a break between fights. He had learned the difference in whether a plane was taking off or landing.

Right now, he could feel there was a plane landing. Or else the vibrations would've continued longer than they did. Coming to think of it felt ridiculous that he knew the difference, but it had given him something to focus on other than the situation he was in. Listening to the hum, the feeling of hope returned. The trembling somehow felt soothing, as if he wasn't completely alone. As if life continued. And as long life continued, hope wasn't lost on him. If life continued, people might be searching for him. Maybe they just had a hard time finding him. There were barely any clues. Danny knew because he had gone over it a thousand times in his head.

Despite the fact that there were hardly any clues, people must have seen him leave the soccer fields, right? They must have seen him walk away with another guy. Or maybe they didn't. Perhaps all the parents had been focused on the soccer game or their kid. Maybe they didn't see him leave because Danny wasn't standing with them. Like one minute he was there, the next he wasn't. If that was the case, there should still be plenty of witnesses. It was not every day you see six guys standing in a small parking lot, of whom five were dressed like they should be at an office and not at a soccer field parking. If that weren't suspicious enough, the fighting itself must have drawn some attention. Something like that didn't happen that often, plus it hadn't played out like most abductions. There had been an actual fight, not a quick grab and take.

However, it had been Saturday morning, early, lots of people still asleep after their Friday night adventures. The one thing that might tip anyone off was the parked Camaro. It was the only trace that would lead back to him. Well, that whole theory depended on whether Kim Leung had taken the car with him or if he had left it right there in the parking lot. Danny's pockets had been empty from the start. No phone. No car key. That probably threw the car theory out the window. Danny sighed and tried to get comfortable on the concrete. Nobody was coming for him.

MCGARRETT'S HOUSE - 5329 KALANIANAOLE HWY - O'AHU

Two hours after landing on O'ahu, Steve found himself right where he'd left off the other day— grilling in the backyard. Junior had fixed two new raw steaks to make up for their sudden departure, and it was highly appreciated by Steve as the previous steaks went to waste. He didn't want to be the one to ruin them this time, so Steve flipped the steaks. One, then the other. Eddie was sitting next to the grill, impatiently waiting for whatever was smelling so good. A whine from time to time made it obvious Eddie wanted in on their meal.

When Eddie let out a bark, Steve looked down at his four-legged friend. "Hey, stop with the begging. You're enormous. Did you put on nine pounds while I was away? How'd you even do that?" Steve grinned as Eddie slid his front paws forward and dropped disappointed on the grass.

Junior came back from the house and handed Steve a second bottle of Longboard beer. "I might know how that happened," Junior said and signaled at the phone up to his ear. He mouthed Tani's name. Junior had her on the other side of the line. He walked past behind Steve and focused back on the call with Tani.

"Hey, uh, when you said you gave Eddie a few treats, how many is a few?" he turned at Steve with a silly grin on his face. "Three or four? What like every hour?"

Steve's smile stretched from ear to ear. There was no doubt Tani had spoiled Eddie. However, he was thankful that she'd taken care of Eddie in his absence, so he would let it slide. Junior went on to the beach and sat down on the chair standing by the water. He probably wanted some privacy. Steve took the opportunity and pulled his own cell phone out of the back pocket of his jeans. He unlocked his phone and scrolled through his recent calls, curious if he missed something while he was away. His eye locked on the name at the top of the list. Danno. By now, Danny still hadn't called Steve back, which was a little out of character. Steve would try again in a minute.

Second on the list was a number Steve didn't recognize. Looking at the digits, it seemed to be a service number. He ignored it. If it had been urgent, they would've called him more than just once. Next, he checked his voice mail. There was only one, and that alone was already suspicious because he had been off the grid for almost forty-eight hours. Generally, if he would turn his phone back on after a mission, his phone would blow up with missed calls and voice mails. Apparently not today, and to be honest, it felt strange. Steve tried to ignore that feeling and listened to the day-old voicemail.

"Commander McGarrett, this is Susan from King's Medical Center. Sir, you're listed as medical contact for Detective Williams. Let me inform you that he missed his appointment for the chest tube removal. I've contacted him, left a few voicemails, but he hasn't called back yet. Maybe you have a way to reach him. Please do make sure he calls back or gets here in the next twenty-four hours. Thank you."

With a deep frown, Steve clicked away the voicemail call. This was at least to say worrisome. It was fine that Danny hadn't answered his call earlier, but the fact that Danny hadn't shown up at the hospital yesterday was no longer acceptable. Steve tapped the screen against the name at the top of the recent call list and held the phone against his ear. He stayed calm through the first five rings, and then after the sixth, he got concerned. He kept the phone up a bit longer, then it connected, and Danny's voice popped up. "This is Detective Danny Williams. I'm not available. Please leave a message."

Steve waited for the beep and said. "Hey buddy, it's me. Call me back when you get this, okay?" He disconnected, and the pit in his stomach started to grow bigger. Steve turned at Junior, who was still sitting at the beach.

Steve walked over. "Yo, Junior, can I speak with Tani for a sec," Junior handed the phone over, no questions asked as Steve's tone probably matched his tensed facial expression. Steve put Junior's phone to his ear. "Hey, Tani, it's Steve."

"Boss, it's good to have you guys back home."

"Yeah, it is. Listen, did you speak with Danny today?" Steve asked direct.

"Danny? No, not today," Tani answered. "I did call him this morning, but he didn't answer. It was pretty early, so he was probably still asleep."

"How early?"

"I don't know, around eight, I think," Steve knew there was no way Danny was still asleep around eight in the morning. He wasn't an early bird, but eight was pretty late even for him. Tani continued as Steve didn't respond. "I planned on going by Danny after I'm done watering the plants here at Kono and Adam's place."

"All right, I'll meet you at his place," Steve ended the call and handed the phone back to Junior. "Buddy, do me a favor and put those aside," he pointed at the grill with the half-raw steaks sizzling on it. "I'm gonna check on Danny real quick."

Junior gave a firm nod. "Sure, is there something wrong?"

"I don't know, but I'm having a bad feeling about it."

SKATE HANGAR - O'AHU

Danny could pretend all he wanted by simulating he was out cold. It was useless. If, in Kim's opinion, it took too long for Danny to recover consciousness, Leung would shock him wide awake with the taser. That had happened three times now. And one of those times, Kim did it out of boredom. Danny was done. He couldn't take the torturous waves of electricity any longer, so he decided it might be time for a different approach and just do what the guy expected him to do. To fight and fight only. No more big talk or figuring out ways to escape.

Having accepted his forlorn faith, Danny balled his fist and threw a fast uppercut to the stomach. The guy fighting against him folded forward and down. Danny quickly wrapped his left arm around his throat and crunched him in the back of his neck with his own right forearm. Danny felt the vertebrae smash, and the guy's body went slack. Danny had been trapped inside the skatebowl for hours now. Fight after fight. They didn't even bother dragging him out of there anymore. Kim was escalating. Danny didn't know why, but he did know the time to catch a breath between the fights decreased fight after fight. And it would only be fair game if the pool of opponents decreased as well.

Danny let go, and the man dropped with a thud onto the wood. "Sorry— my bad," He mumbled out of breath.

"Get him up!" Kim bellowed, and his men dived into the bowl to help Danny's latest victim back up on his feet.

As they lifted the limp body off the surface, one of the men looked back up at Kim. "He's out."

This was the second guy Danny managed to take out, and if anything, it was not appreciated by Kim Leung. Kim came down into the bowl himself and walked straight up at Danny. Kim pulled out a Revolver from behind his back and pointed the gun directly at Danny's chest. The handgun was held high, lined up right on his old bullet wound scar. Kim stood four feet away. Danny didn't move, didn't blink. There was no need to panic, yet, as the safety mechanism was still secure.

Kim did a step forward. Clicked the safety catch off and placed his finger on the trigger. "Next time you plan on taking out one of my guys, I'll put a bullet in you," he said, more pissed off than Danny had ever hear him speak. Kim kept the gun leveled at the same height but slowly moved it to the left. He stopped and steadied his grip. "Maybe on your left side this time, to balance things out."

Now Danny did panic, but he doubted Kim would really pull the trigger. If Kim wanted to kill him, he would've done it right there in the parking lot at the soccer field, and therefore, Danny said.

"Maybe you should."

"Or I could cut your tongue right out of your mouth. To shut you up."

"Maybe you should." Danny said again.

Danny's gaze was fixed on Kim's blazing eyes and, therefore, never saw the blow coming. One other fighter hit Danny in de stomach with a big hard fist. Danny doubled over, and the dude smashed a foot into Danny's back. By force, he arched his spine, and before he could react, the guy caught Danny with a blow on the side of his head. He collapsed and sprawled on the ground at the other guy's feet. Danny was out cold again.

WILLIAMS' RESIDENCE - KĀHALA - O'AHU

The sun had gone down for the day when Steve parked his truck on the side of the curb in front of Danny's house. The house looked quiet and undisturbed and empty. Nothing out of the ordinary, except that the lights were out and the Camaro was not on the driveway. Meaning Danny probably wasn't at home. Meaning Steve wasn't getting any answers. Meaning his concern and worry could only grow stronger. Steve climbed out of his car and jogged to the front door. He tried the knob. The door was closed. He pressed the doorbell once, then he knocked. No response. He knocked again, long and loud. No response.

"Steve!" Tani called out as she came up behind him. "He's not home, is he?"

With an aneurysm face, Steve faced the younger team member. "How'd you know?"

"The empty driveway kind of gives it away," Tani pointed at the spot where Danny usually parked the Camaro. "What's going on?" She asked.

"Danny's not picking up his phone."

"Okay, so he's making a habit out of it, but it's not the biggest crime in history, is it?"

"No, it's not, but the hospital left me a voicemail saying he didn't show for his appointment. The voicemail's from yesterday, and now I can't reach him." Steve shared. Tani glanced at him, her eyes tight and worried. Now visibly concerned too, Tani rang the doorbell. Once, twice, three times and waited, but just like when Steve had tried, nobody opened the door.

Tani turned to Steve. "Do you have a key?"

"I don't," Steve kneeled down to a couple of piled-up rocks. "But I know where he keeps one." He turned a few until he found what he was looking for. Steve showed Tani his catch.

"Underneath a rock? Really?" Tani stared dumbfound at the key and then at Steve. "He's been a cop for most of his life, right?"

Steve put the key in its lock, turned it, and opened the door. With professional caution, Steve rested his hand on his holstered gun and stepped into the dark house. "Danny?" He called out and flicked the switch closest to the door. Lights illuminated the living. The room was deserted. Tani followed Steve inside and closed the door behind her. Steve signaled she should take the kitchen while he explored the rest of the place.

"Danny, you here?" Steve asked as he checked the dining before he went into the hallway leading to the bedrooms. The dining was undisturbed, so Steve moved on to the bedrooms. All doors were open, but Steve checked the rooms anyway. It all seemed normal. No Danny, though.

Tani's voice sounded hard through the vacant house when she said. "Kitchen's clear."

"The bedrooms too," Steve confirmed, standing in Danny's abandoned bedroom.

The bed was neatly made— no signs of distress. Everything was in place, as far as Steve could tell. He opened the door of the built-in wardrobe as there was one thing left to check. On the lowest shelf, he found what he was looking for; Danny's safe. Steve squatted down and punched in the code on the three-by-three-plus-zero matrix keypad. There was a second's wait and then it beeped and the locked door clicked open. He peered inside. Danny's gun and badge were in there, lying on top of a medium thick blue folder along with a few other valuables such as his passport and a safety deposit box key.

"Steve?" Tani shouted, sounding urgent.

Steve locked the safe again, closed the wardrobe, and jogged over to the kitchen. "What is it?" He inquired as he entered.

Tani had opened the second kitchen cabinet hanging on the wall. "I wasn't trying to invade his privacy or anything, but," she pointed at the orange pill bottles standing on the bottom shelf. "It's like a pharmacy in here," she rotated a couple and read the labels. "All prescribed, though."

"Yeah, well, that bullet did more damage than he let on," Steve picked up a bottle himself and looked at the label. "These are old," he searched the bottles for the most recent one. The one Dr. Keller had prescribed when they left the hospital on Thursday night. Steve found it and sighed. Almost all pills were accountable for. "He barely took any."

"That's not good," Tani leaned with both hands on the counter. "It can still be nothing, right? Maybe he's picking up his kids?"

"No, they're with Rachel. Danny had 'em last week." Steve remembered.

Tani turned her head. Looked straight at Steve with questions in her eyes. "So where's he?"

Steve flicked a despairing glance back at Tani. "I don't know,"

— TBC / HAWAIIFIVE0 —

A/N: As always my sincerest THANK YOU for reading this story and sticking with me as this story continues.

Also thank you for reviewing and therefore for your lovely words

Always love to hear your thoughts...

Mahalo!