Hi again! Here's another chapter for you. I wonder how many of you are still reading it. I hope it's still interesting for you. Now have a nice reading and come back to read what happens next.

Chapter 25

Gordon Katsumoto sighed, deeply frustrated. Two hours had passed and he was still nowhere near finding out the whereabouts of Thomas and Juliet. Back at the warehouse when the EMTs checked on Harold Jones' injuries, they insisted at once that he should be taken to the hospital and treated by a doctor. Gordon saw the man's wound and in his opinion it wasn't anything grave, he himself had worse but he knew that even as a criminal, Jones had his rights and if the police didn't respect them, there would be some serious consequences.

So very unwillingly he had to let EMTs take him with them and here he was – sitting in the hospital's waiting room on a highly uncomfortable plastic chair, trying to be patient although it seemed almost impossible at that moment. He was so angry at the fact that his friends were out there, counting on his help and all he could do was to sit and wait. It was extremely frustrating.

Since Gordon didn't have much to do, he started to observe the people that were present in the room. There was an old couple – a woman and a man, sitting opposite him, both probably in their 70s. They weren't saying anything but their hands were joined the whole time since he had come here. The woman's eyes were closed and her lips were moving, probably in silent prayer.

Then there was a young blonde woman who was focused on the world outside the window and not paying attention to what was happening in this place. One close look at her face and Gordon knew that she had been crying recently. Her eyes were red and puffy, and she sniffled from time to time. He wondered who she was so worried about. Was it her husband or her child? Anyway, it must have been someone she deeply cared about.

He didn't want to pry so he shifted his gaze away from her. There were other people too and all of them seemed the same – they were worried about their loved ones. Well, Gordon's situation was completely different, the man he was waiting for and who was in the surgery, wasn't a member of his family. On the contrary, there was a high probability that this man was behind kidnapping his friends, maybe even hurting them.

Gordon felt how anger was rising in him, filling his body, making his common sense go away. At some point he realized with horror that he didn't care for this criminal's life, all he cared about was the information he could get out of the man about the place where Magnum and Higgins were being held. And that scared him a lot. He shook his head. He shouldn't act like this, he was a police officer, law enforcement after all. On the other hand, however, those were his friends, they were like a family to him and he felt he needed to do whatever it takes to bring them back. He sighed deeply, it was so hard and complicated but life was this way, no one said it would be easy. Twenty minutes later a doctor came to him, saying that the injury turned out to be just a scratch, the bullet grazed Jones' leg and they had to put a few stitches but apart from that, the man was okay and didn't require further hospitalization.

"Good." Gordon said and thanked the doctor for his help.

He smiled inwardly, now things were finally working out and all he had to do was to make Harold Jones talk which would probably be easier said than done but he had to try. Katsumoto moved in the direction of the room where the prisoner was and stopped there.

"Hey, guys. We're taking him with us." He spoke to the two police officers, standing outside the room, making sure the man wouldn't try to escape.

"Okay." They replied and went inside. "Come on. Let's go." They addressed Jones and escorted him out.

When he was passing by Gordon, he sent him a mocking smile. Yes, Gordon had a feeling it wouldn't be as easy as it seemed. He let Jones and the officers go first, then he followed them to the car.

All the way to the HPD, Katsumoto was driving behind them, looking carefully around in case someone wanted to try to bust the prisoner out. Since obviously the escape was planned and Jones had some people helping him, it could be possible that there was somebody else out there who would be used as a back-up in case something went wrong.

Luckily, nothing happened and they got to their destination in one piece. Jones was brought out of the car and led to the building. He was walking very slowly, limping badly. Too badly for Gordon. He suspected that the man was already planning to use the fact that he had been injured in the court in order to get a shorter sentence.

That's definitely not going to happen. Gordon swore to himself. I won't let something like that affect the length of his sentence.

"Take him to the interrogation room." The detective told the officers and he could swear that the moment he said those words, there was a glimpse of surprise on Jones' face.

The men did as they were told, they put the prisoner inside and locked the door behind them. Gordon was next door, standing opposite the mirror, observing the man, trying to read his body language and facial expression. He knew he had to remain calm and not let his feelings take over his actions. Only being detached would help him save his friends. He would only have to play it right. One unnecessary word could make all his efforts go to waste so he needed to be careful.

The first thing he noticed while observing Jones, was that despite his serious situation, he seemed quite self-confident and even cocky. Gordon still remembered that smile the man had given him in the hospital.

The detective let out a deep breath. He was aware of the fact that he had to act quickly because he didn't have much time before the feds would come and take him off this case. He knew that he was risking a lot and it may affect his career but he was loyal to his friends and their fate was more important to him than his job.

He sighed and with one last look at Jones through the one-way mirror, he went to the interrogation room, determined to get all the information he so desperately needed.

Meanwhile in La Mariana, Kumu and TC were sitting at the bar, waiting for Rick to come with the food.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I've got a very exquisite meal for you, which I'm sure will be the best meal you've ever eaten. The one and only – chicken wings." Rick said, emerging from the kitchen, holding two plates. "Here you are. Enjoy."

Kumu chuckled. "As far as I remember, we've already tried that, you know?"

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure Kumu's right, man." TC joined her with a smile.

"Maybe but this time I used some different spices. Give it a try. I guarantee you that you'll like it." Rick replied, he was so sure about his meal.

"Okay, I'll hold you to that." TC told him, grabbed one of the chicken wings and sank his teeth in it.

Both Rick and Kumu observed him chewing it and tried to read his face but evidently he made everything to keep it blank.

Rick couldn't wait any longer and asked, "So?"

"So what?" TC was obviously stalling.

"Tell me what you think about it."

"Well… It's okay."

"What? Only okay?"

"Or… maybe it's… good." TC continued.

"Oh." Rick murmured with disappointment.

TC waited for a moment before he finally stated. "Or… maybe it's so delicious that I can't stop eating."

Rick let out a long breath of relief and all three of them laughed.

They had to admit that it was so good to laugh so freely. The last couple of days were so stressful, making them so tense, fearing for their friends' fate. For the next couple of minutes they sat there in comfortable silence and ate the chicken wings, greatly enjoying their delicious taste. Just as they almost finished the food, Rick's phone started to buzz. He took it out of his pocket immediately.

"Is it Gordie?" TC asked and Rick confirmed it by nodding his head.

"Hey, Gordie. What's up?" Rick said and put the call on speaker so that Kumu and TC could hear it too.

What they heard next, came to them as a complete shock.

"It's not him."

All three of them looked at each other with disbelief.

"What?" TC asked.

"What do you mean by 'it's not him'? That's not possible. He was a perfect match. You told us Harold Jones had gone to prison because of TM and Higgy, and after escaping he came here to get his revenge on them. Is that right?" Rick spoke.

"Yeah but… I was wrong." They heard Gordon's apologetic tone of voice.

"How so?" Rick inquired. "Did you even interrogate him?"

Kumu sent Rick a condescending look. He was obviously making their friend even more down.

"Of course, I interrogated him before the feds would come. At first he didn't want to talk at all and I was afraid he would lawyer up. That would be the end of it but surprisingly he didn't do that. I tried many different things in order for him to reveal the information but unfortunately I couldn't get it. When he finally realized that beside escaping prison he would be charged with kidnapping or even worse and may be facing life imprisonment, he changed his mind and started talking."

"So what did he say? Would you share that with us or is it under federal investigation?" Rick stated with a hint of sarcasm.

"Rick!" Kumu hissed. She had no idea what has suddenly got into the man. He wasn't usually that snappy.

Although it was painful, Gordon decided to ignore Rick's words and continued. "When Jones managed to escape, he wanted to go to a safe house in California to stay under the radar for a while and then try to go to one of those non-extradition countries. It turned out though that the feds were closing in on him so he changed his plans, got a fake ID and came to Oahu because he thought they wouldn't look for him here. There was another reason why he had chosen the islands."

"He could get his revenge on Magnum and Higgins." TC said.

"Exactly." The detective replied but didn't get the chance to say anything else because Rick interrupted him.

"See? Everything matches. You got our hopes up and now you're saying it's all for nothing?" Rick continued his rant.

"I'll explain it to you." Gordon informed him, trying to remain calm. "As I said, he thought about getting even but he had problems with leaving the mainland so it took him quite a lot of time before he finally landed on Oahu and when he started to implement his plan, he found out that Magnum and Higgins had already been taken. He was angry he didn't make it in time for kidnapping them himself."

"That's it? That's the whole story? And you believed him just like that?" Rick snorted.

"Actually, yes. When I talked to Jones, the way he said it and his body language told me he was telling the truth." Katsumoto replied.

TC noticed that Rick was definitely not satisfied with their friend's answer and in order to prevent him from snapping at the detective even more, he spoke at once.

"Okay, Gordie, so what now? Any other leads?"

"No, sorry. We don't have anything else yet." They heard him say. "But we'll keep looking."

Suddenly, Kumu felt that she needed to tell their friend about the information they got from Jin. Now that Jones was off the suspects' list, it could be their only option.

"Er, Gordon, we may have something…"

"Sorry but I need to go now. The feds are finally here and they'll want to know why I interrogated Jones. Talk to you soon. Bye." Katsumoto hung up with that.

For a moment there, they sat in silence, still surprised to say anything. Finally, Rick spoke. "Do you think I was too harsh to him?" He asked, already feeling deep remorse.

TC nodded his head while his face was telling Rick 'Yeah, you really messed up this time, man.'

Kumu didn't hesitate and answered straight. "Rick, I know this whole situation is nerve-wrecking to all of us but I think you shouldn't have acted like this. Gordon is our friend, he's a part of our Ohana."

Rick lowered his head and stated quietly. "You're right, Kumu. I overdid it by letting those stupid feelings control me again."

Kumu approached him and gently put her hand on his arm. "My dear, your feelings are in no way stupid. You acted this way because you care about Thomas and Juliet."

"Maybe you're right but I should really apologize to Gordie. No matter what the situation is, he doesn't deserve to be treated like that. He's doing everything he can to find them." Rick murmured.

"Okay but don't call him right now." TC warned him. "I'm afraid he may have some trouble and he'll have to face the consequences of what he did."

"Okay, guys. What's our next move?" Kumu asked them.

TC and Rick exchanged a look and nodded their heads.

"It's easy. We'll start where we left off." Rick said.

Noticing Kumu's quizzical face, TC explained at once. "We're going to talk to the girl Jin had told us about. We'll see ourselves if she remembers anything else. Maybe she'll give us more details that will share some light on that man's whereabouts."

"What if he's another dead end, just like Jones?" The woman asked, her question followed by a moment's silence.

"Then we'll just keep on trying until we'll find our friends." TC replied with such strong determination in his voice that it made Kumu feel much better and give him a smile.

With that being said, not to lose the precious time, they quickly left the bar, got in TC's car and drove away.

Now that we've just found out that Jones isn't the person behind Magnum and Higgins' kidnapping, what do you think will happen next? Will Kumu, Rick and TC find any new leads? Will there finally be a ray of hope for our favorite PIs? Don't hesitate to share your ideas with me. Bye.