Chapter 2

Steve woke up when he heard a noise nearby. Alert, he peered through the bushes into the darkness. In the distance, he saw flashlights and other lights shining, and it seemed like the gangsters were relocating their camp. Right near their waterfall. Quietly, Steve woke Catherine.

"We need to get out of here. The guys are moving their base here. They're probably afraid we'll discover them."

"Okay, let's sneak away quietly."

They crawled out from behind the bush and headed in the direction away from the lights. It was difficult to move in the darkness, but they didn't dare to use the flashlights on their phones to avoid drawing attention to themselves. Step by step, they made their way through the thickets. Suddenly, a flashlight flared up right in front of them, shining in their faces. Steve instinctively threw himself onto the man, burying him underneath before he could alert the others.

"Cath, run!"

After hesitating for a moment, Catherine ran on. Steve struggled to keep the man on the ground, as he was strong and apparently well-trained. Gasping for breath, the two men wrestled on the ground. Finally, it seemed like Steve was gaining the upper hand, but suddenly the ground disappeared beneath them, and the two men tumbled down a steep slope. Steve lost sight of the man and only heard him gasping heavily after some time. Desperately, Steve tried to grab onto something, but there was no opportunity. He tumbled over and over again, and just as he felt like he hit the bottom and dug his hands into the earth, suddenly his legs were dangling in the air. His body weight pulled him further over the cliff edge, and his hands lost their grip...


Catherine ran as fast as she could in the darkness. She didn't want to leave Steve alone, but then she thought that she could only help him if she was free. For a while, she could still hear the men fighting, then it became quiet again. Occasionally, she dared to turn on the flashlight on her phone briefly and soon found herself back near the beach where their burnt-out boat lay. She quickly found the second backpack and ran along the beach in another direction, searching for a new hiding spot. Finally, she found a few rocks at the edge of the beach, nestled together in a way that provided good cover. Catherine squeezed back between the rocks as far as possible. Her thoughts were with Steve, hoping he was okay.


Vigilantly, she stared at the entrance of the rocks, but eventually, she must have nodded off because she startled awake when the sun had already risen. She grabbed the backpack and slowly made her way back in the direction of the waterfall. She needed to know if Steve was okay.

When she heard voices, she slowed down again. But the men were still busy setting up their new camp. Steve couldn't be seen anywhere. But he might be in one of the tents the guys had set up. Catherine looked at her phone. Five hours until noon, and only then would Helen notice they were missing. Who knew what they would do to Steve in the meantime. Restlessly, Cath looked at the camp. Alone, she wouldn't be able to do anything there; there were just too many. Then she saw a man leaving the camp in the opposite direction. He had a satellite phone to his ear.

Catherine cautiously circled the camp and approached the other end. The man had already moved quite far away. Catherine picked up a thick branch, sneaked up, and brought it down on the guy's head. Apparently, she hit him well, as the man went down without a sound. Quickly, Catherine grabbed the phone from him, but in that moment, she felt someone pressing a gun against her back.

"Ah, there you are. Don't try anything stupid, or you'll have a bullet in your head."

Catherine cursed inwardly; she should have stayed on the beach. Now, she was no help to Steve. The man took her backpack and tied her hands behind her back.

"Where's your friend?"

Surprised, Catherine remained silent. They didn't have Steve, so he must have sought shelter somewhere on the island.

"Doesn't matter; we'll find him anyway."

Catherine grinned to herself; they might be mistaken about that.


Restlessly, Helen paced around Danny's house. It was completely unlike Steve and Catherine to be late. Grace tried to reassure her.

"Maybe they were having such a good time that they lost track of time."

Helen vehemently shook her head. If there was one thing she knew about Catherine and Steve, it was that they stuck to agreements and, otherwise, if something didn't go according to plan, they'd call. And Helen had already tried calling her Dad and Catherine multiple times on their cell phones and the satellite phone. Nobody answered, and it went straight to voicemail. Then Helen heard the key in the lock, and Danny entered the living room. Surprised, he looked at Helen.

"Hi, you're still here." He grinned. "Can't you two ever be apart?"

Then he saw Helen's expression and became serious again.

"Okay, what's wrong?"

"Steve and Catherine haven't come to pick up Helen yet, and she can't reach them," Grace blurted out before Helen could even start. Danny frowned. That was unusual. Was Steve, the trouble magnet, in trouble again?

"Do you know where they were going?"

Helen nodded and told him the name of the island.

"Okay, I'll let the others know, then we'll go over."

Danny pulled out his phone and informed the team that Steve and Catherine hadn't returned from their short vacation and couldn't be reached. Then he left the house and went to his car. As he got in, the passenger door opened, and Helen slid onto the seat. Perplexed, Danny looked at her.

"They're my parents."

"Helen, Steve will tear my head off if I put you in danger."

"That may be true, but I'm coming anyway."

Danny sighed resignedly. She was simply her father's daughter. He started the car and drove to the Palace.

Chin had already informed HPD, and several helicopters were ready to take them to the island. The Five-0 colleagues looked at him questioningly as Danny approached with Helen in tow. But Danny didn't explain much; instead, he got into one of the helicopters without a word. They didn't take long to reach the island Helen had mentioned, and already during the approach, they could spot the burnt-out boat on the beach. Danny shook his head; you couldn't leave the two alone for five minutes. They rappelled down to the beach with the HPD colleagues and proceeded towards the center of the island. Danny had instructed Helen to stay on the beach and wait for the Coast Guard. Then shouts erupted, and the first shots were fired, but soon enough, the first crooks were already being led away in handcuffs. As they began searching the camp's tents, Helen suddenly appeared next to Danny again and then ran into the nearest tent. She emerged empty-handed a few minutes later, only to rush into the next tent immediately after. Danny followed her; he didn't want any unpleasant surprises, but before he could enter the tent, she was already coming out again. This time, he took her arm.

"Helen, please, let's go together. I'm already in hot water because I brought you here."

Reluctantly, Helen complied and entered the next tent only after Danny.

"Mom!"

Helen ran past Danny towards Catherine and hugged her tightly. Catherine looked at her with joyful surprise. Danny had also approached and freed Catherine from her bonds. Lovingly, her arms enveloped the girl.

"Where's Dad?"

"I don't know. Apparently, the guys don't have him. He probably hid somewhere to wait for backup."

Danny frowned; then why hadn't Steve joined them yet? That didn't make sense. Despite Catherine's assurance, they searched the entire camp, but Steve really wasn't there. By now, Catherine wasn't sure everything was okay either. Surely Steve would have noticed by now that Danny and the others were there, so why wasn't he showing himself?

Together with the HPD colleagues, they went in search. Bit by bit, they combed the island. But Steve remained missing.

Just as they were about to return to the beach empty-handed, they heard Helen call out.

"Dad!"

Before anyone could stop her, Helen began climbing down a slope.

"Helen, damn it, what are you doing? Come back! At least let us secure you."

But the girl continued climbing towards a figure stuck on a steep slope by a tree. Chin tied a rope to one of the trees and followed Helen. She had reached the man by now and found that it wasn't Steve. Chin had just reached them too and felt for his pulse, but could only confirm his death. The man had broken his neck.

Helen was about to climb back up to the others with Chin when she saw something glinting further down the slope in the sun. She continued down with Chin and realized it was a cellphone and that it led to an even steeper descent. She picked up the phone and tried to unlock it. On the lock screen, her little family smiled back at her.

"Dad?!"

Steve woke up again when the sun was already high in the sky. His head still throbbed, he felt dizzy and nauseous. A large gash adorned his forehead, which had thankfully stopped bleeding. He had tried in vain several times during the night to climb out of the gorge, but his broken arm, which he had makeshift splinted, and the dizziness foiled his attempts each time. Now he strained to listen and tried to discern something among the voices of the forest. It sounded like someone had called out 'Dad.' He heard the call again, this time closer. Helen? How did Helen get here?

"Helen?"

"Dad!"

Helen excitedly tugged at Chin's sleeve.

"Steve? Are you okay?"

"Chin. I broke my arm in the fall and can't climb the rock wall."

"Wait, I'll lower a rope and pull you up."

Chin threw the rest of his rope over the edge of the gorge, then felt it tighten.

"Let's go," Steve's voice sounded again. Helen and Chin slowly pulled the rope up. Soon, Steve's brown hair appeared over the cliff edge, and Helen embraced her Dad. Together, they overcame the slope, and when Steve reached the top, Catherine hugged him. Together, they made their way back to the beach, and Danny was relieved that Steve didn't comment on Helen's presence on the island.