Hi all. First of all, I'd like to thank you for sticking to my story. Today this chapter is shorter but I assure you next time you'll have much more to read. Enjoy!

Chapter 17

"Crap!" Gordon Katsumoto slammed his fist on the desk and cursed under his breath.

It was very unusual for him to act this way since generally he retained a stoic calm while working a case but this time it wasn't just any case – his friends had been kidnapped so that made it personal and that meant Gordon's even greater commitment than he usually gave to his job.

His sudden outburst drew attention of his co-workers at once but to say the truth, he didn't really care about that. Thomas and Juliet were out there somewhere and in unknown condition with every likelihood that they needed medical attention and here he was – sitting in a safe and warm precinct on his comfortable chair and by his desk while they may have been fighting for their lives who knows where.

Gordon let out a deep breath, trying to calm himself down. It's been two days since they were taken and the police had nothing. He had nothing. The security footage from Robin's Nest didn't give them much information and the files from Juliet's computer that Kumu gave him, didn't help much either. A couple of officers were on them, Gordon himself read through them more than once but neither his colleagues nor him found anything that could lead to immediate identification of the people who took the PIs.

Of course, the numerous case files contained plenty of names which could be considered potential suspects but no one seemed to stand out of that crowd as the main suspect. As for the footprint they had found, the CSU collected the particulates and took them back to the police laboratory to run the mass spec. Although there was small chance that it would help them identify the place where the kidnappers came from, Gordon still hoped for the success.

The results came up quite fast as the case was marked top priority, however they weren't very clear. The particulates turned out to be part of soil which could be found in thick tropical rainforests and those covered quite a big area on Oahu. And it simply meant that they could be anywhere so that brought Gordon back to square one.

There was one more thing – that dark van that drove away with his unconscious friends but they've been already working on it and there were people looking for that vehicle, running a background check on it in all police databases available. So far they haven't found it yet.

Katsumoto sighed heavily. He was feeling horrible, like he failed Magnum and Higgins. Although he did everything he could in the last twenty-four hours, despite the fact that he spent a lot of time on this case, barely eating or sleeping, he felt it was still not enough to find his friends.

He wouldn't admit that to anyone but last night, which he spent at the precinct, he was so exhausted that try as he might, his eyes eventually closed and he fell asleep with his heavy head landing on his desk. Normally, he never remembered his dreams and he didn't much care about them but this time it was different. This time he remembered everything, every single painful detail.

It was late afternoon, the sun was slowly lowering itself, finally offering a much needed break from the steamy heat of the day. A light breeze appeared coming from the ocean. Gordon was at Robin's Nest, standing behind the main house in the garden. He looked around and noticed that he wasn't the only one there – his friends were there too: Kumu, Rick, TC, Shammy, even Jin. They were sitting by the long table filled with different kind of food and drinks.

When they saw Gordon, TC waved at him happily and sent him a friendly smile. "Hey, Gordie. It's so great you came. Come and join us! We're celebrating Christmas."

For a moment there, Katsumoto felt weird. A quiet voice within him told him something wasn't right but when he didn't notice anything odd, he decided to ignore it and after a brief hesitation, he smiled back and went to his friends. He joined them at the table and they started eating. They were having so much fun, talking and laughing happily, he felt he really belonged there, he was a part of this Ohana and he was so glad because of that.

He was just in the middle of a conversation with Kumu when suddenly she turned white and her face showed utter shock. Gordon turned, following her gaze. He froze instantly at the sight that greeted him. He definitely didn't expect something like that.

Magnum was standing there but Gordon could see that something wasn't right, that it wasn't the same cheerful man he used to be. Katsumoto stood up at once and approached his friend. Then suddenly, with horror, he noticed the state the PI was in. His clothes were all dirty and full of odd looking stains. To Gordon, those stains seemed familiar somehow, yet he just couldn't remember where he had seen them. At that moment, it surprised him that thinking became extremely difficult, he felt as if he was under the water and the pressure was crushing him. All of a sudden, it dawned on him – those were blood stains. He was so glad he recognized that but when his eyes fell on Magnum's slightly shaking hands, he realized that they were covered in blood too. Something really bad must have happened.

Then suddenly Thomas spoke and he sounded broken. "She's gone."

"What? What's wrong, Magnum? What happened?" Gordon asked, desperately trying to come up with the reason why his friend was in such dreadful state.

Magnum surprised him completely when he sneered at his questions.

"You want to know what's wrong? I'll gladly tell you what's wrong." Thomas replied and his voice started to raise with each word he uttered. "It's all your fault!"

The detective looked completely puzzled. "What do you mean it's my fault? What did I do?"

Magnum continued. "We were being held captive, waiting for the rescue team to come but you didn't find us. We tried to escape on our own. We almost made it but then those men captured Higgy…" The man paused, it was evident he was shaken to the core. "She tried to fight them but they… shot her."

Now his voice became barely a whisper. "I couldn't do anything to prevent it. Now, she's gone." Magnum hung his head.

Gordon moved closer to his friend and gently touched his arm. "Magnum…"

At the same moment, the PI unexpectedly shook off his hand and slowly raised his head to meet the detective's eyes. What Katsumoto saw in them really scared him like nothing else before and he had seen lots of unpleasant things during his long career in law enforcement. Those were the eyes of someone who went through a lot and experienced intense suffering, whose heart was broken because he lost someone he truly cared about. And then the same eyes turned hostile and full of deep hatred.

"You didn't help us when we needed it. I thought you were our friend." Thomas stated, giving him a reproachful look.

"Magnum, I am your friend." Gordon told him but was instantly interrupted.

"You'd better cut the crap, Gordie." Thomas hissed through gritted teeth. "If you were our friend, you would be out there, looking for us and not here, celebrating like nothing wrong happened."

Gordon stood there, so overwhelmed by everything he was witnessing.

"Magnum, I… I'm sorry." He stuttered quietly as he didn't know what else to say to his friend, he was still in deep shock.

"You should have tried better. Juliet was the most important here." Magnum said and then to Gordon's horror, he took out his gun and slowly pointed it at the detective.

"Magnum, what are you doing?"

"They took her life and now I'll take yours."

Katsumoto went speechless. This whole situation was still hard to believe. First, Juliet's death and now this. How could this happen? Now all those memories came back – his friends' kidnapping and how hard he tried to find them and bring them home. Evidently, he failed and Higgins lost her life. He didn't really blame Thomas for his reaction. The man was deeply hurt, his pain was undoubtedly real and acting like this was a specific way of coping with his tremendous loss. But that of course didn't mean that he should let him be so he decided to act at once.

"Magnum, you don't want to do this." He said, not taking his eyes off his friend.

Despite Katsumoto's efforts, Thomas seemed to be adamant.

"Yes, I do." He stated, his voice full of confidence.

"No, you don't." Gordon didn't give up. "I know you, Magnum. It isn't something you could do. You're not a killer like them." He added quietly and noticed with relief that his words may have been working because the man started to hesitate. His hand started to drop. He was back his old self, the detective saw it in his eyes but only for a few seconds, then that hatred and a desire for revenge returned.

Suddenly, Magnum's hand went up and once again Gordon was facing the barrel of the gun. He didn't even have time to react. He just shouted 'No!' the same moment he heard it being fired. He didn't quite register the next seconds, everything happened in a flash. All he knew was that one moment he was standing in front of Magnum, trying to convince him to put down his gun and the next he was feeling excruciating pain in his chest. He instantly put his hand where this unbearable feeling was coming from and he felt something sticky. When he looked down at his hand, he froze. It was covered in blood.

He lifted his head and met Magnum's cold eyes. The man spoke, his voice sounded so vengeful, so unlike Thomas. "I told you. You should have tried harder. Now it's over."

Gordon gasped, he was having difficulty breathing, the pain was getting worse, he was getting weaker by the second. He dropped to the ground, hearing loud pounding in his ears. He laid there, feeling how life was quickly draining out of him. Then a specific taste appeared in his mouth and he recognized it instantly – it was blood and soon he started choking on it.

At that moment, Rick, TC and the rest of his friends rushed to his side, hovering over him. They were saying something but Katsumoto couldn't hear them. At that time he barely registered their horrified faces. They wanted to help him but it was evident that no matter how hard they tried, it was a lost cause.

Gordon's eyes slowly closed and he had a feeling he was being pulled into the darkness. He was really terrified and just as he was sure it was over and he would die there, his whole body shook and he woke up. When he slowly opened his eyes, he let out a deep breath of relief. Then he turned his head and was met with a pair of worried eyes. It was Jack, a man who cleaned the place at the late hours when no one or a small number of police officers were present there. Katsumoto knew the man well, as he worked many years on this post but soon was intending to finally retire.

"Are you all right, detective Katsumoto?" Jack asked, expressing deep concern.

For a long moment, Gordon was just looking at him, not really knowing what was happening to him. When he looked around, he instantly recognized the place and he finally knew he was back at the precinct. He sighed and checked his chest.

"It was just a dream." He murmured with enormous relief.

The old man looked puzzled by the detective's odd behavior but waited patiently for his answer.

"Yes, I'm fine. Thank you. I must have fallen asleep." Gordon replied politely.

"You know what I think, detective? You should go home and have some rest." Jack said and when Katsumoto shook his head and tried to protest, he stated. "I heard about the case you're working on right now and I know those PIs that had been kidnapped are your friends…"

The detective nodded his head.

"But you do realize that if you're so tired that you fall asleep just like that, you won't help them at all and who knows, such state may be even dangerous to you."

"How so?" Gordon asked.

"When the time comes and you'll finally find out where your friends are being held, you'll need to stay sharp and focused in order to free them."

Katsumoto didn't say anything, he was still processing what the old man was telling him.

"Just think about it." Jack said.

"I will, thanks." The detective replied quietly and then the man patted him on the shoulder, giving him a friendly smile, turned away and disappeared behind the door.

It took Katsumoto a few minutes to think things through. For a moment there, he considered staying at the precinct and once again analyzing everything they had gathered on this case so far but then he heard Jack's voice warning him in his head and finally gave in. He sighed deeply, he was doing it with a heavy heart but he knew the old man was right – he couldn't help Thomas and Juliet if he was lacking energy to keep awake. Having his mind set on getting a couple of hours of sleep, he turned off the computer, stood up heavily and slowly left the place, promising himself to start again in the early morning and hoping that tomorrow would be their lucky day and they would find some clue leading them to Magnum and Higgins' whereabouts and then they'd bring them home safely.

Thanks for reading. See you next time!