At headquarters, the entire team was now gathered, ready to do whatever it took to find Helen. But at the moment, they had no leads—no idea where Helen had gone after leaving the house. Steve was at his breaking point, unable to accept that there was no trace of his daughter. Frustrated, he shoved his laptop off his desk and buried his face in his hands.

Suddenly, his phone rang. He looked at the display—an unknown number. He immediately jumped up, rushed to the main area, placed his phone on the computer desk, started a trace, and put it on speaker. The others emerged from their offices, gathering around Steve and listening intently.

"Who are you?"

"Commander, it's a pleasure to finally speak with you."

Steve recognized it was a woman's voice, but he couldn't recall ever having heard it before.

"Where is she?"

"For now, all you need to know is that she's fine... for the moment."

"Listen, if you hurt her, I swear I'll kill you!"

"Keep talking like that, and your daughter will meet that fate."

"What do you want?"

"I'd prefer to discuss that in person."

"Where?"

"Come on, Commander. I know you've already traced my phone."

"But you're not getting anything until I speak with her!"

At that moment, the location popped up on the monitor—the signal was coming from Makiki Valley. There was a brief silence before Steve heard his daughter's voice.

"Dad?"

"Helen, I'm going to get you out of there, I promise."

"Dad, you can't trust her, she's—"

Her sentence was cut short by the sound of a brief cry of pain—someone had hit her. Rage surged through Steve, a fury he had never felt before.

"I'll kill you! I swear I'll kill you!"

"We'll meet soon, Commander," came the woman's calm response.

Without saying a word to the others, Steve sprinted outside, jumped into his truck, and sped off. He had memorized the location of the phone, and since he had hiked in that area before, he knew the fastest route. The rest of the team followed as quickly as they could.

Steve drove as fast as possible, arriving at the location in no time. It was deep in the woods, where there was a small house, almost a cabin. He got out, drew his gun, and cautiously approached the house when his phone rang. Steve pulled it from his pocket and answered.

"Glad you made it. Your daughter is inside the house in front of you. But before you go in, I want to tell you something. You should know why I'm doing this. We don't know each other, but you knew someone important to me. And you killed that person. Now, you will know what it feels like to suffer."

Just then, the rest of the team arrived, and Steve understood what the woman was planning. He hurled his phone away in fury and rushed toward the house, but it exploded.

The explosion was a force of unimaginable violence, as if hell itself had descended upon the earth. A blinding, searing light filled his vision, followed by a deafening roar. The shockwave slammed into his body, throwing him backward like a doll. He felt himself hit the ground, the breath knocked out of his lungs, and his head struck with a dull thud.

Pain shot through every fiber of his being, but that wasn't the worst of it. As he groggily and disorientedly looked up, he saw the once-peaceful house now engulfed in a sea of flames. The heat radiating from the inferno could be felt from a distance, and the sight was unbearable.

Steve struggled to his feet, his legs shaky, his eyes locked on the blazing hell in front of him. He couldn't comprehend what had just happened. His heart seemed to stop as he realized he was too late. But his love for his daughter drove him forward, despite the flames raging in front of him.

With desperation and determination, he tried to run toward the burning house, but Danny grabbed his arm.

"Danny, let me go! I have to get to her!" Steve screamed, the desperation in his voice unmistakable.

"Steve, look at me! You'll die if you go in there! The whole place is burning! No one can survive that!"

"No, she's not dead! She's alive!"

Steve tried again to move toward the house, but Danny held him back.

"Steve, it's over. She's gone."

Danny felt horrible as he spoke the painful words, watching the devastation on Steve's face. He expected Steve to resist, to keep fighting, but instead, Steve stood still, his eyes hollow, staring at the burning wreckage. Danny could feel the storm of emotions raging inside his friend.

Danny's words hit Steve like a punch to the gut, snapping him back to the harsh reality. It was as if an icy wave washed over him, and the brutal truth shattered the last strands of hope. His daughter, his little girl, was trapped in those flames, and there was no saving her.

The tears hadn't come yet, but inside, Steve was falling apart. He couldn't tear his eyes away from the inferno, the place that had swallowed his entire world in an instant.

Suddenly, memories flooded his mind like a rushing river. He saw Helen standing shyly in his office for the first time, her eyes filled with curiosity and hope. He remembered her reaction when she found out he was her father, the trips they took together, and the adventures they had shared. Her innocent joy filled his thoughts like a reel of memories.

Steve's body trembled as the reality of the tragedy before him crashed down like a tidal wave. It felt as if his heart had been ripped from his chest and thrown into the flames. The emptiness inside him was suffocating, an all-consuming darkness.

He closed his eyes, trying to hold back the overwhelming pain. In that moment, Steve was no longer the hardened Navy SEAL fighting to save his daughter. He was a broken father standing in the wreckage of his life, crushed by grief and despair. And though the tears hadn't fallen yet, he knew they would come. The unstoppable tears of a father who had just lost his child.

Danny, who was still standing beside Steve, could feel his friend's immense pain. He knew they couldn't stay here any longer—not in this nightmare of smoke and fire. With gentle resolve, he placed an arm around Steve's shoulder and slowly pulled him away from the house.

"Come on, Steve," Danny whispered, his own sorrow overshadowed by the weight of Steve's grief. "We have to go. It's too dangerous here."

Steve didn't resist, moving as though he were walking in a distant world plunged into darkness. His gaze remained fixed on the burning house, as if searching for a glimmer of hope within the flames.

Danny guided Steve to a safe distance, just far enough that the house was still visible. Chin, Lou, and Kono soon joined them, with Kono comforting Catherine, who couldn't hold back her tears any longer. The somber mood was palpable; no one dared to speak. Lou stepped away to call the Honolulu Fire Department to extinguish the fire and reluctantly dialed Max, who promised to come immediately.

As the flames continued to rage, Steve stared at the house for a few more moments. Then the sorrow gave way to fury, and he turned to his team.

"Listen to me. We can't let this woman get away! No matter how long it takes or what we have to do, we won't stop until she's dead or behind bars! Get back to HQ and gather everything we know!"

Kono, Chin, and Lou quickly got into their cars and sped off. Danny, however, took a moment to walk over to Steve and embrace him tightly.

"I'm so sorry, buddy. If there's anything I can do, just say the word, okay?"

"I will. Thanks, Danny."

Danny then went to Catherine, hugging her as well before getting into his Camaro and driving off. Not long after, the firefighters arrived and began battling the flames. Steve stood silently, holding Catherine close, trying to suppress his grief. But he knew it wouldn't be long before his emotional walls crumbled and the sorrow consumed him. Only his SEAL training kept him from losing control and breaking down completely.

The house was small, so it took the fire department only about fifteen minutes to put out the blaze. Hank, the fire chief, emerged from the remains of the house and walked over to Steve and Catherine. They knew Hank well from previous cases, which made what he had to say all the harder.

"In the house, we found a severely burned body. We're waiting for the medical examiner to recover the remains, but based on the size, it's likely a younger person. I'm so sorry."

With that, Hank turned and rejoined his team. Steve and Catherine stood in stunned silence, their grief deepening. Steve was not only consumed by sadness but also by guilt. If he hadn't let the phone call stop him, if he had charged into the house right away, maybe he could have saved his daughter.

Now, with almost certain confirmation that Helen was dead, there was nothing left to keep them there. Together, they climbed into the Silverado and drove to HQ. Neither spoke during the ride, both lost in their thoughts, the weight of the situation pressing heavily on them.

At HQ, they entered the office where the team had gathered all the available information on the case, but nothing seemed to provide any clear leads. That didn't change throughout the day.

By 10 p.m., Steve told his team to go home. He was determined to keep searching for the woman, but right now, she seemed to have vanished off the face of the earth. Steve and Catherine were the only ones left in the office, and Catherine was trying to convince him to go home when his phone rang. Without checking the display, Steve answered.

"McGarrett... Yeah?... Okay, thanks... Of course, see you soon."

"Who was that?" Catherine asked, her curiosity piqued.

"That was Charlie. They identified the body from the house through DNA, and he just got the result… It's Helen."

This was the moment Steve could no longer hold back his tears. His voice cracked, and he wept uncontrollably. Catherine stood up and wrapped her arms around Steve, just as he had comforted her a few hours earlier when she cried. Now, she fought to hold back her own tears, needing to be strong for Steve, to console him in his darkest moment. But she knew, as they stood there, that the road ahead would be unimaginably painful and difficult for both of them.

But before you hate me for this chapter, I recommend you to read the following ones ;)

And I have good news for you. I worked the last days on translating all the chapters, so I promise I will upload all of them within the next week. After that it's over. I can tell you, I will miss this :(