Hi! I'm back. Those were quite intense two weeks of my holidays. There were so many things to do and see that unfortunately I didn't have any time or strength to write anything. But don't worry, a couple of chapters have been already written and are waiting for being typed and checked so it doesn't look so bad. All in all, I'm so glad to be home and here with you again. So here the story continues.

Chapter 13

Minute after minute, hour after hour, the plan has finally been formed. Beside that Kumu, TC and Rick discussed what they should focus on, they went through that security footage once again. Well, actually a couple of times or even more as they lost a track of the number of times they watched it.

Before they knew it, it was already dawn. The stars were fading and the sun was slowly rising, making the sky turn all bluish-pink. Kumu decided to move to the kitchen to prepare something to eat while Rick and TC were staying on the sofa in the living room. After being up for so many hours, they could barely keep their eyes open. About thirty minutes later, Kumu took the plates and brought them to the living room. One glance at her friends and she realized they were both napping but as soon as she placed the food on the table in front of them, she noticed, and it wasn't much of a surprise to her, that when the mouth-watering savory aroma of the meal wafted through the air, both men came back to life immediately – their eyes flew open and their heads snapped up. They sat up straight and sniffed, their eyes darting around the room.

Kumu chuckled as they finally spotted the plates full of superb food.

"Wow, I must be still dreaming." Rick said under his breath and then he hissed in pain.
"Ouch! What was that for, brother?"

"Nothing." TC replied with an innocent look on his face. "I've just pinched you to help you realize that actually you're not dreaming."

"Geez, thanks for taking such a great care of me." Rick told him sarcastically.

TC easily recognized the man's emotions and replied. "Oh, you're welcome, my friend."

Kumu shook her head at the interaction between them.

"Okay you two. Enough with talking, let's eat now. That food shouldn't be left cold." She stated.

Of course, it didn't take much time for the men to listen to her suggestion and soon they grabbed their knives and forks, and dug into that tasty breakfast.

Ten minutes later, when they satisfied their hunger, Rick and TC finally spoke up.

"Wow, Kumu, your loco moco was delicious." TC told her.

"Definitely." Rick agreed. "It's way better than the ones you can get at those food trucks downtown."

"Thanks, boys." The woman smiled gratefully. "We'll all need a lot of energy today."

They didn't get to reply to that as suddenly they heard a loud buzz. Kumu checked that immediately and then glanced at her friends. "It's Gordon. I'll let him in." She stated and pushed the button to open the gate for the detective.

"He's quite early." TC said.

"I hope he's coming with good news." Rick told him. "Maybe they've got a lead or they've already found them."

TC just nodded his head, he hoped that too however after seeing the footage of the kidnappers, he realized how it may be extremely difficult to get their friends home.

Two minutes later, they heard a knock at the door and Kumu went to open it.

"Hi, Kumu." Gordon spoke, standing outside.

"Aloha. Come in. We've just had some breakfast, would you like something to eat?" She asked, stepping aside and passing him through.

"No, thank you. I've already eaten. I grabbed a sandwich on the way here." He replied politely and entered the living room.

Hearing that, Rick and TC instantly exchanged looks.

"Hey, guys."

"Hi, Gordie. How are things? Have you got any leads?" Rick spoke impatiently although he knew he should probably wait for the detective to share it with them.

Rick's, TC's and Kumu's eyes were fixed on Gordon's face and before he even started speaking, they knew he didn't have the good news they expected.

"I'm sorry," he began and cast a glance at them, "we have nothing new."

"What? How is that possible? You said that the best people were working on it." Rick exclaimed, his worry for their friends, together with his impatience, finally making it to the surface.

"Rick…" Kumu said.

"Calm down, brother." TC told him gently.

"No, it's okay. You have every right to feel angry. We searched through the main house and even the guest house but obviously the kidnappers were wearing not only masks but also gloves so try as we might, we couldn't find any fingerprints on doorknobs or any other surfaces.

"So we've still got nothing." Rick murmured and hung his head sadly.

"That's not entirely true." Katsumoto said, pouring a bit of hope into his friends' hearts. At once all their eyes were fixed on him. "CSU found a couple of shoe marks and they're examining the residue particles in the mass spectrometer so we should soon see where it will lead us. What is more, Juliet's and Magnum's phones were found while sweeping the area." The detective informed them.

"Oh, where were they?" Kumu asked.

"Outside the house in the bushes. They were both switched off."

"That's why we couldn't reach them." TC spoke.

Katsumoto nodded his head and added. "Technicians are still working on them but I doubt there will be some useful information on them."

"How do you know that?" Kumu asked.

It was TC who answered her question. "Because if there was anything that could threaten to reveal the kidnappers, they wouldn't leave them here just like that. Am I right, Gordie?"

Gordon let out a deep breath. "Yes, you are."

"Did you manage to get anything out of that security footage?" TC inquired.

"Not much."

"Same here. We only noticed that one of those men was limping but that may have been due to the confrontation with Higgy or TM." Rick blurted out without a second thought and he was instantly met with terrified looks from Kumu and TC.

When he saw them, he realized that he had just said a bit too much and might have blown away their much discussed meticulous plan. All three of them held their breaths and waited for Katsumoto's reaction. They were more than sure that having heard that, he would reproach them for not listening to him but to their great surprise nothing like that happened.

He just sighed and whispered sadly, "Yeah, I noticed that too."

A heavy silence fell over the room. Kumu, Rick and TC remained quiet because it was still hard to believe that they may have actually got away with their disregard of their friend's advice.

After a long moment, something came to Rick's mind and he spoke, startling the rest of them a bit.

"The traffic cameras!" He exclaimed and clicked his fingers.

"What?" Kumu asked.

"We've already checked them." Gordon replied and met Rick's gaze. "It turned out those men must have chosen some side roads instead of the main ones where they could easily be spotted."

"Gordie, what about…?" TC started saying, pointing to Juliet's computer.

"We went through the files…, I went through most of them and what I found there doesn't look good."

Rick nodded in agreement. "Yeah, lots of suspects."

TC couldn't take it anymore and nudged his talkative friend in the ribs, earning a quiet hiss from him. However, Katsumoto seemed not to notice that.

"Well, although Magnum and Higgins worked on quite a lot of cases, I don't really believe that a cheating husband or someone's dishonest business partner would take such extreme measures to get even." The detective told them, not even knowing that he used almost the same words as Juliet had said to Magnum.

"Of course, in some of their cases there were also serious criminals involved but those were justifiably punished, serving their time in prison. However, right now they are being thoroughly checked by highly skilled officers."

"Although you don't think it's one of them." TC stated.

Gordon didn't say anything, just nodded his head.

"Are you thinking about any other suspects?" TC continued.

"Yes. We're also taking Juliet's and Thomas' past into consideration." The detective replied.

"I guess that as a former MI6 operative, Juliet might have made plenty of enemies out there." Kumu spoke.

"We don't actually know much about that part of her life and unfortunately, the case files are classified. I don't know anyone who could help me in this matter…" Gordon said quietly, "…but I'll do everything I can to get to them." He paused for a moment and then went on. "When it comes to Magnum, I wanted to ask you guys if you know someone from his past that would like to hurt him. Perhaps from your time in the army?" The man asked looking directly at Rick and TC.

They looked at each other before replying truthfully.

"Gordie, we would really like to help here but…" Rick said and TC finished for him, "We really have no idea who could that be. I have to admit that what we did when we served in Afghanistan wasn't much pleasant to some people there – namely our enemies but it's a part of serving your country, I guess."

"Besides, I really doubt that anyone from there would go to such great measures." Rick cut in.

"Well, speaking from my experience in this job, the one thing it surely teaches you is to never say never." Gordon told them.

Both Rick and TC nodded their heads and exchanged knowing looks. At the exact moment they decided that every, even the smallest idea counted and could bring them closer to the success in finding their kidnapped friends. It was definitely worth trying.

"All right. We'll give some names that you can check out." TC spoke.

"Thanks." Katsumoto said weakly. He didn't look good, he was quite pale and there were dark circles under his eyes which could be easily noticed. He seemed down and exhausted.

"Gordon, are you all right? How do you feel?" It was Kumu who finally was brave enough to ask the question all three of them wanted to ask since he came there.

The detective turned to look at her, showing her his serious face. "Kumu, I'm really fine." He replied.

However, the woman didn't seem to be satisfied with his answer. Seeing that he quickly added, "I'm okay. Besides, the way I feel doesn't matter here. We shouldn't focus on me but on Thomas and Juliet."

"What you're saying here isn't true." Kumu told him and then slowly approached him, gently touching his arm. "You truly matter, my dear. You're a part of our Ohana. Always remember that." She stated softly, putting all her heart in her words, her eyes never leaving his.

At that moment, his face which usually seemed so impassive and serious visibly softened and sudden tears brimmed in his eyes.

"Thank you." It was all he managed to say with a slightly trembling voice and constricted throat.

Kumu sent him a friendly smile and gave him a warm hug. "Now, you can finally tell us how you are really feeling." The woman stated, stepping away from him and giving him a 'don't-even-try-to lie-again' look.

Seeing that, Gordon chuckled softly. "All right, I'll tell you although I'm not that open and I'm not used to share my feelings with somebody." He spoke and looked at his friends who were just nodding their heads in understatement and waiting patiently for him to continue.

"Despite the fact that I'm quite an experienced detective and I always try to deal with all the cases in a highly professional way, this time it seems different..." His voice trailed off.

"Because Thomas and Juliet are your friends and you care about them very much." Kumu expressed what he truly had in mind.

Katsumoto nodded his head and then a tiny smile appeared on his face as a sudden thought crossed his mind.

"You know, about two years ago I would consider the idea of being someone's friend, especially Magnum's, preposterous."

As soon as he had said those words, he realized it may not sound very polite particularly because it partly referred to TC, Rick and Kumu too so he added quickly, "But now I came a long way to this point, I met all of you, got to know you and I'm so glad that you took me in to become a part of your Ohana. I would always be more than grateful for that."

When he finished speaking, Rick, TC and Kumu were deeply touched and their eyes were shining.

It was Kumu who first spoke up. "We're also happy to have you." She said trying to hold back the tears that threatened to spill from her eyes any second now. She sniffled quietly, however despite the efforts a single tear rolled slowly down her cheek and she instantly wiped it away. "If I knew our conversation became so emotional, I would bring some tissues with me." She murmured making all the men laugh wholeheartedly.

"Here," Rick spoke, "I just happen to have one." He handed her a tissue which she gladly accepted and used at once.

A few seconds later, when she studied Gordon's face, she suddenly realized that something was still bothering him.

"Gordon, is there anything else you wanted to tell us?" She asked him gently.

He was surprised at how good her observing skills were. She would make a great detective, he chuckled to himself.

"You're right, Kumu. I feel so tired and helpless. I spent the whole night at the precinct analyzing that security footage time and time again and going through Magnum and Higgins' cases, looking for anything suspicious, any clue that would lead us to them but at this point we have nothing yet." He sighed heavily and then squinted his eyes at his friends. "My gut is telling me that you were doing the same thing at night, am I right?" He said and crossed his arms, a gesture he used when interrogating suspects.

The second Kumu, Rick and TC heard Katsumoto's words, their eyebrows rose in mock surprise. They were so sure they would have got away with it. They swallowed hard and searched for the right words while once more waiting for his reprimand which again wasn't coming. Kumu was the first one to gather her thoughts. With a perfectly innocent expression on her face, she told him, "I couldn't sleep so I decided to take a walk and I just happened to come here…" She trailed her voice.

"Really? You just happened to come here?" Gordon repeated her words like an echo.

Kumu only smiled sweetly and nodded her head in confirmation.

"Okay." Katsumoto murmured. "What about you?" He turned to TC. "Did you also go for a walk?" He asked with sarcasm.

"Yes… I mean… No." TC suddenly stuttered.

Kumu decided to help her friend. "He was watching over me, trying to protect me in case those bad men came back. So when I sneaked out, he went after me and followed here." The woman stated and sent TC a grateful smile.

"And when it was time for my shift, because I was watching over Kumu as well," Rick sent TC a meaningful look, "and I didn't find them there, I went to look for them and turned up here."

"Yeah and since we were all up and in this room, together we agreed that instead of wasting time, we could do something more useful." TC added and then the three of them turned their heads towards Juliet's computer.

For a long moment there was silence. Gordon just stood there, carefully watching how his friends were becoming more and more nervous with each passing second. His face was expressionless and they couldn't make out what he was actually thinking.

A few more seconds had passed until the detective finally spoke. "Relax, I knew you wouldn't listen to me anyway." He gave them a knowing grin.

Rick, TC and Kumu could finally breathe out in relief.

"Did you find anything?" Katsumoto asked and a tiny bit of hope could be heard in his voice.

A meaningful glance passed between those three.

"Not much." Rick replied. "We also went through Magnum and Higgins' case files, we left the ones like background checks or looking for missing objects and we chose more serious ones but it's still hard to decide who of all those people could be so determined as to go to such length to hurt them."

"Yeah, I have a feeling it's going to be a really tough job but we'll find them… We have to." Gordon told them with all his determination.

Rick, TC and Kumu nodded in agreement, hoping he was right. Then he said goodbye and went back to the precinct to continue the search.

When the door closed behind him, Rick sighed heavily and spoke, "I wish we had looped Gordie in on our plan."

"We discussed that and decided we would try to investigate on our own." TC told him.

"Don't worry, we'll turn to him in case we need help, right?" Kumu added.

"Right. Although there's not much information we have." Rick said quietly.

"Oh, we have some. We know one thing for sure – those men, they were pros, they knew what they were doing and there's a high probability that they didn't act on their own, someone must have hired them for this job and we have to find that person. And if we manage to do that, we'll get to TM and Higgy." TC stated.

"Okay, let's do it." Rick said and the three of them got down to execute their plan.

We're leaving the search party for a while and for the next three chapters we're going to stick to Thomas and Juliet and see how they're doing. Don't forget to review and let me know if you're still interested in the story. See you in two weeks.