Chapter 4
Steve, Catherine, Danny and Rachel had left Helen and Grace at home for a few days after the discovery at school. Such an event left no one unaffected, especially when it involved a close friend. After Helen had recovered from the shock, Steve dropped her off at school as usual today. She immediately ran to a small group of students and was warmly greeted there. Steve's gaze lingered on a boy who, in his opinion, held his daughter in his arms for a bit too long during the greeting. He looked at the boy critically, who was easily three years older than Helen. Then the school bell rang, and the boys and girls disappeared into the building.
With a sinking feeling in his stomach, Steve also left the premises and headed to the headquarters. They had received the results of Aliya's autopsy by now. The girl had died from respiratory paralysis due to an overdose of Valoron. Steve and Danny were not comfortable with the fact that there had been a drug-related death at their daughters' school. What bothered Steve even more was Helen's close contact with the older boy. Yesterday, Danny and he had visited Aliya's mother, but she couldn't provide any information about her daughter's contacts. Therefore, Danny and Steve had taken the girl's phone and laptop, and Kono had been trying to access the computer since yesterday, but it was password-protected. They had identified some contacts on her phone, including Grace and Helen, but everything seemed normal, and there was no hint of the dealer. Danny and he had already visited a few of the classmates yesterday and planned to visit a few more contacts this afternoon to question them. They also intended to discuss the issue with their daughters and raise their awareness.
Helen quickly entered the building when the school bell rang, giving Raúl a quick kiss before disappearing into her classroom. The first few hours were biology, and she sat next to one of the girls from the group, to which Raúl also belonged. Summer addressed her as soon as she sat down beside her.
"Hey, are you feeling better now?"
Helen nodded. "Yes, I'm good."
Summer looked up as a teacher entered the classroom.
"Oh no, not Mr. Jeffrey, I'm not in the mood for him right now. Are you coming with me?"
Helen nodded, and the two girls left the classroom before the teacher could check attendance. Chuckling, they ended up in one of the girls' restrooms. They sat down in a corner on the floor, and talked for a while. Then Summer pulled out a packet of pills with a smiling unicorn depicted on it.
"Want one too?"
"What's that?" Helen eyed the packet critically.
"They improve your mood, take one or not. I need them now. The cops were already at my place yesterday, asking me about Aliya. But I'd be stupid to give away my source." Uncertain, she looked at Helen.
"You won't say anything to your dad, right? I don't trust cops, especially not Five-0. It's none of anyone's business."
Helen nodded somewhat uncertainly. Since Summer had taken out the pills, she no longer felt comfortable in her presence.
"I'll go ahead; I can start working on the physics homework. I still need to do that." Summer just nodded. She grinned but seemed to not really notice Helen anymore.
Helen grabbed her backpack, went to the common room, and tried to do the homework. But her thoughts were with Aliya and those pills from Summer.
When Steve came home in the evening, Helen sat on one of the chairs by the water. He had brought her favorite Thai food, and a hint of satay sauce lingered in the air.
"Helen? Are you coming to eat?" When he received no response, he spoke to her again and gently laid his hand on her shoulder. He felt her flinch under his touch and went around her to look at her properly.
"Helen, what's wrong? Is it about Aliya?" Steve knelt down in the sand in front of her and brushed her hair away from her face.
She shook her head.
"No..."
"Helen, you know you can tell me anything."
"I promised her not to say anything, but it doesn't seem right to me."
Steve looked at her expectantly; it wouldn't help to push her now. Helen took a deep breath and exhaled.
"A girl offered me some pills at school today; I didn't take any because it seemed strange to me. I have no idea what they were. But she hinted that Aliya had also taken them." Her gaze shifted from the ground to her father's face.
"Dad, did Aliya die from those pills? Is that what happened?"
Steve looked at her seriously.
"If it was the same substance as the one the girl had today, then yes. Drugs usually come with side effects, and Valoron, that's what it's called, can cause respiratory failure. And if you're alone like Aliya was…"
With wide eyes, Helen looked at him, then they filled with tears.
"That means we could have saved her… We were too late."
Steve nodded and pulled his daughter into his arms. After she had calmed down a bit, he wondered if he should talk to her about the boy. He decided against it; the day had been tumultuous enough.
The next morning, Catherine took Helen to school since Steve had left the house early again due to another drug-related victim found by a jogger on the beach, a girl of Helen's age. The CSU found traces of at least four other individuals at the scene, but they couldn't be identified. In the girl's pocket, Danny found a packet of pills, which also turned out to be Valoron.
By noon, the lab delivered a shocking report after examining the remaining pills. The substance itself wasn't the issue; someone apparently tampered with the dosage of the active ingredient. Taking the pills was like playing Russian roulette; depending on which one you got, it could end deadly.
Meanwhile, Danny and Steve had questioned all of Aliya's contacts and those of the girl from the beach. Among them was the young man who had caught Steve's attention yesterday outside the school. Something about the boy bothered Steve, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it. Frustrated that they hadn't made any progress, he didn't return home until around 10 p.m.
Despite being exhausted and irritable, he still went to see his daughter. He wanted to know what she had to do with the young man. When he opened the door after knocking, Helen was already in her pajamas, lying on her bed and reading a book. He sat on the edge of her bed.
"Can I talk to you for a moment?"
Helen placed her bookmark between the pages, closed the book, and looked at her father.
"Sure."
"What can you tell me about Raúl Benitot?"
Helen blushed.
"Raúl? Um, nothing. We're in a group of friends together, Summer and a few others are also part of it."
But Steve didn't miss her reaction. A crease formed on his forehead.
"Do you love him?"
"And if I do? After all, I'm sixteen. Others had their first boyfriend at fifteen."
"So, he's your boyfriend? Does he know how old you are? He's already eighteen."
"Are you already starting to check my friends, Steve? You're crazy, he's just a normal student, and we're together. You need to accept it."
Steve hadn't missed that his daughter had just called him by his first name again; she must be really angry.
"Not in that tone. The boy has something to do with the drugs and I want you to stay away from him, okay?"
Helen looked at him angrily.
"You can't keep us apart!"
"Yes, I can, and I will. There's something wrong with that boy, and I'll prove it to you."
Steve stood up and went to the door.
"You're a horrible father! Mom would never have done something like that"
Angry, Helen threw a pillow at him. Unimpressed, Steve left her room. When he reached the living room, Catherine looked at him in surprise.
"What happened? I've never heard you two like that before."
Steve briefly told her what had happened.
"Oh, Steve, was that really necessary?"
"The guy is up to something, Cath, I can feel it."
"Well, that may be true, but there surely could have been another way to tell her."
Steve rubbed his face.
"Yeah, maybe you're right. I'll talk to her again."
But Catherine shook her head.
"She won't listen to you now. Talk to her tomorrow; maybe by then, you'll also have something against the boy and can prove it to her. And if not, you'll have to apologize."
On the way to school, Helen remained stubbornly silent. Steve tried to talk to her a few times, but she only responded when necessary. Sighing, Steve dropped her off at school and then continued to the HQ. Around noon, Steve received a message from Helen, telling him that he didn't need to pick her up from school; she would go with Grace to study for physics. Glad that Helen was speaking to him again, he replied briefly and added an 'I love you'. Shortly after, he received an 'I love you too' in return.
Helen felt a bit uncomfortable as she sent the text message to her father. But Raúl had finally invited her over, something she had been waiting for so long. Arm in arm, they walked to his house. It wasn't far from the school, and his parents were apparently on a business trip.
Raúl pulled her into the house and then into the living room. He kissed her, but Helen started to feel unsure. Steve's words were still on her mind. Raúl got up to get her something to drink when Helen called after him.
"Do you know what kind of pills Aliya took?"
"Why are you asking about Aliya now?"
"Well, you've been friends forever, at least that's what she said."
A sharper tone came from the kitchen. "What did she say?"
"Well, that you've known each other forever and stuff."
Raúl placed a cola in front of her.
"Thanks." Helen drank it in one go; she was terribly thirsty due to her excitement. Only when the glass was empty did she notice a strange aftertaste.
"Weren't you two together at some point?"
Raúl watched her very intensively, then pulled out a packet of pills and swallowed one himself.
"You too?" Now she knew, that Steve was right. He had only wanted to protect her.
Raúl held out the packet to her.
Horrified, Helen shook her head."No, and I want to leave now."
But Raúl blocked her way. "Come on, they were good for Aliya too, she was always so wonderfully relaxed."
"I want to go now!"
Helen tried to push past Raúl, but then she felt her body no longer obeying her. She collapsed back onto the couch, heavy fatigue overtaking her and she could still feel her heart slowing down. Then suddenly it was dark around her.
Reassured, Steve returned to the case. Kono had been able to restore a chat history between Aliya and Raúl on Aliya's computer, but the two had been very careful and kept their messages quite cryptic. Similar chat processes were also found on the girl from the beach's computer. And as if that wasn't enough fuel for the fire, the laboratory reported a partial fingerprint on the pill bag that showed a 70% match to Raúl Benitot. Steve didn't hesitate and set off with Danny, Chin and Kono.
Once there, they surrounded the house and when Raúl tried to escape through the back door, Kono and Chin arrested him.
"STEVE!"
Danny's panicked voice made Steve's blood run cold. He hurried over to his friend, who was kneeling next to the couch in the living room. Steve felt like his heart stopped for a second.
Helen was lying on the couch, pale and unconscious. He took a few steps to her, felt her pulse and checked her breathing, then pulled her off the couch and began resuscitation.
"Danny, call an ambulance!" Steve's voice cracked. No no no, that couldn't be true. Why was she here and not with Grace? "Come on, Helen, breathe! Come on, I know you hear me! Fight! Please...please don't give up. Hold on!"
Steve was very close to a nervous breakdown. He was so stressed and incredibly scared. He had recently met his daughter and he definitely didn't want to lose her again. He blocked out everything around him and focused solely on resuscitation. Inwardly, he kept praying for Helen to start breathing and for her heart to beat again. As long as her heart stopped, he had the feeling that his heart would also stop beating. Danny could only stand by and hope that the paramedics arrived soon. It bothered him almost as much as Steve did because he didn't know how he would react if it was Grace.
After what felt like an eternity, Steve finally heard the ambulance siren approaching. The paramedics took over from Helen and Steve jumped into the ambulance with them, holding his daughter's hand. "Do you know what she took?"
Steve shook his head, he hadn't thought to ask, but the paramedics were already injecting Helen something. Finally something was visible on the heart monitor and Steve closed his eyes, sending a silent prayer to heaven.
Sorry about the cliffhanger, I will upload the next chapter in the next 3/4 days. Let me know what you are thinking about the story :)
