March 8, 2018
Steve sucked in a deep, satisfied breath. This was a beautiful morning. Steve loved being out in Hawaii's wilderness, enjoying the perfect weather and the incomparable view. It was good to have some time off work. Time to recover.
He glanced over at Danny, who was pulling out his phone. Steve was glad he'd convinced Danny to give camping another try. Ever since the Aloha Girls fiasco, he'd been dead set against it. Of course, the main reason he'd come was that he didn't want Steve camping alone with a concussion.
"Let's get a selfie." Danny beckoned Steve over to stand next to him.
Steve rolled his eyes. His head hurt. He didn't feel like posing. "No, Danno." He waved a hand. "Look at that scenery. It's gorgeous! Get a picture of that instead." He fished in his pack for some acetaminophen.
"Get over here, ya big dummy!" Danny took a step towards Steve. In that instant, Steve heard the roar of an explosion. The blast threw him halfway across the clearing.
Next thing he knew, he was waking up with a splitting headache. His vision was doubled, and his left leg was broken. It was an open fracture, judging by the blood soaking through his jeans.
It took him a minute to remember that he hadn't come up here alone. "Danny. Where's Danny?" Steve looked around and saw his friend lying on his back close to the trail. "Dammit," he muttered. He crawled to Danny's side. A puddle of blood was growing under Danny's head. His phone lay in pieces around him.
Steve laid two fingers alongside Danny's neck. His pulse was too fast. "C'mon, Danno!" He knew better than to move his friend. Paramedics would have to do that. Steve reached for his own cell phone. A piece of glass jabbed into his thumb. The screen was shattered. The phone was useless. Steve threw the device down. His truck was five miles away, back at the trailhead, so the radio wasn't an option.
Steve felt nauseous. Lunch sat way too heavy in his stomach. He doubled over in the grass and threw up. When he was done, he took a drink of water from his canteen. He pulled his backpack close and rifled around inside for something he could use as a bandage on Danny's head. He needed to splint his own leg, but Danny was his priority. He grabbed a clean shirt and tore it into strips. He was nervous about moving Danny enough to tie the bandage around his head, in case he had spinal injuries, but he couldn't let his friend bleed out. Once the bandage was in place, he prodded Danny's shoulder. "Hey, Danno. Wake up!"
"Don't do that." Blue eyes struggled open. They were unfocused but open.
Steve sighed in relief. "Hey, pal. You had me worried." He was still worried, but he was glad Danny had felt his prodding. "Listen, can you move your hands and your feet?"
Danny did so. "About as good as you move your mouth. What happened?"
Steve rolled his eyes. "Shut up, Danno." He had to get them out of here. "There was an explosion. I'm gonna make a travois for you." He would crawl out dragging Danny if he had to. At least back to the main trail where they might encounter someone who could help them.
"Look, I can walk. I just got a busted head. You, on the other hand, don't look so hot."
Steve was quiet for a long moment. "I can't walk," he finally admitted. He didn't mention his headache or the fact that his vision was starting to grey around the edges.
Danny sat up and tightened the makeshift bandage on his head. "Looks like it's my turn to take care of you, SuperSEAL."
"Great. I'm doomed." Steve lay back and closed his eyes. The double vision was driving him nuts.
"Shut up, Muscles. I got this." Danny checked Steve's leg and then borrowed his knife to cut and trim a couple of suitable branches to make a splint. He used one of his own shirts, torn into strips to secure it, and he tied a strip of cloth around the wound as a bandage. "How does that feel?"
"Awful."
Danny grimaced. He hated to see his friend in pain, even if he did enjoy teasing him.
Steve blinked open his eyes. "I see two of you. An' you both need a new bandage. Pro'ly need stitches." His speech was starting to slur. His right arm felt stiff. He couldn't use it. What had happened? He thought back, but couldn't remember. This whole situation had him really confused.
Danny was quiet for a long moment before asking, "Hey, Steve, did you pack any duct tape?"
"Donno. Lemme stitch it. Firs' aid kit. Backpack." Steve kept a suture kit in there.
"Stitch it when you're seeing double? I don't think so!" Danny was serious.
Steve closed his eyes and wrinkled his forehead. "Duck tape—fron' pocket."
Danny pulled the tape out of Steve's backpack. He tore off a good-sized piece and handed it to Steve. "This I'll let you use. And listen to me. I am never, and I mean never, going camping with you again."
Steve felt for the wound. He wasn't sure whether the one on the right or the left was the real one. Turned out it was somewhere in between. He pressed the duct tape over it. "Gonna hur' comin' off."
"Yeah, I know, but at least I'll be around to feel it." Danny bent over the backpack to put the roll of duct tape away.
Steve opened his mouth to respond, but his voice was gone. He nudged Danny, who was still looking away. Steve was pretty sure he had a nasty head injury himself. He must have hit it on something. He didn't remember being unconscious, but maybe he had been. When Danny didn't respond quickly enough, Steve yanked at his arm.
"What the hell, Steve?"
Steve pointed at his mouth and then at his head. He finger-spelled the words, "Can't talk."
Danny touched his friend's arm. "Damn, pal. Look, I'll find a way to get us out of here. You lie back and rest. Stay awake, but rest."
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Orville Jennings had heard the explosion. Someone had hit the tripwire. It could have been an animal, but it could have been a human. Sometimes police came looking for him and Frankie. He didn't want them to discover the cabin and their stash of illegal drugs. "Hey, Frankie," he said. "We gotta go check it out." He grabbed his rifle from over the door.
Frankie groaned. He was comfortable where he was and not keen on a hike just then. "Oh hell, bro. You worry too much."
Orville raised the rifle and aimed it at his brother. "We gotta check it out. Now git!"
Frankie glared at Orville but stood up and grabbed his own rifle. "You take bein' ten minutes older too damn serious. I'm comin'."
"Good." Orville lowered the rifle. He followed Frankie out the door. It was a steep climb down to where he'd set the tripwire. "Listen, you hear voices?"
Frankie didn't respond.
Orville nudged him with the barrel of his rifle. "I heard a voice. Did you?" He moved closer and noticed earbuds in Frankie's ears. He yanked them out and shoved them in his shirt pocket. "C'mon, bro. Take this serious! Our money's at stake!"
"Yeah, okay. Gimme back my earbuds."
"When this is done. Now, listen. Do you hear someone talking?"
Frankie listened. "No. Do you?"
"I did. Come on. There's someone down there, and we've gotta deal with 'em."
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Down below, Steve put a hand on Danny's arm. Again, he finger spelled. "Voices. Hide. Quiet."
Danny nodded. He pointed to the bushes on the left. Then he realized Steve couldn't hide so he did the only thing he could do. He picked Steve up and placed him under the thick bushes to the left of the path. He crawled under the bushes on the right. Fortunately, he had his gun with him, so he was not totally helpless. He watched as two big men came into view. They looked exactly alike.
"Musta got away," one man said as he looked over the area. "Or hidin'." He aimed his rifle at the bushes that covered Steve. "Come out now if you don't wanna get hurt."
Danny was not about to go down without a fight. He couldn't let them get to Steve either. He aimed his pistol at the one who was doing all the talking. He seemed to be the leader. Time to bluff. If that didn't work, he'd shoot him. "Put the rifles down, boys. We've got you surrounded."
The man chuckled as he spun around and pointed his weapon right at Danny's hiding place. "Oh, you'd a took us already if that was true. Now, come out."
"OK." Danny shot the man in the chest. A split second later, he heard a shot coming out of the bushes where Steve was hiding. Unfortunately, Steve's aim was off. His shot hit the other man's rifle, which went flying.
Steve sat up with leaves in his hair. He looked around, clearly confused. He waved a hand at Danny.
Danny grabbed the dead man's rifle to keep it away from his brother. Really, he was surprised the guy hadn't run when he had the chance.
Instead, he bent over his dead twin. "That'll teach you, ya dummy!" He reached into the ruined pocket of his brother's shirt and pulled out a set of mangled earbuds. He dropped them with a snort of disgust. Only then did it seem to occur to him that he should try to escape. He took a few steps towards the trail.
"Oh, no you don't!" Danny reached for the man, who suddenly turned and slugged Danny hard in the face. He turned and ran away down the trail. Danny collapsed bonelessly in a heap.
Steve crawled to his friend, dragging his busted leg behind him. He shook Danny. He wished he could talk, but he felt like he had a wad of cotton in his mouth.
Danny was bleeding from a broken nose and was out like a light. It looked like they were in real trouble now.
Steve crawled to the man Danny had shot. He felt in his pockets, hoping to find a phone. He finally found one shoved into the man's boot. It worked. He used the guy's face to unlock the phone.
He crawled back to Danny. He had to wake him up somehow. He rubbed Danny's chest hard.
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Something was pressing on Danny's chest, pulling him out of the grey oblivion he had been floating in. His face hurt like hell. He opened his eyes to see Steve huddled over him with a cellphone in his hand. "Go 'way," Danny said.
Steve shook his head. He thrust the phone in Danny's face and used his fingers to spell out the name Tani.
Danny didn't remember what had happened, but he did know Tani's cell phone number. The signal wasn't great, but it was worth a try. He dialed the call. Nothing. The single bar of signal had disappeared.
"Sorry, Steve. It's no good." He set the phone down, opened his canteen, and took a swig of water.
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Tani was relaxing on the beach with Joons. They'd spent some time swimming, and now they were just enjoying a little peace and quiet. Joons was taking a nap. Tani kept glancing his way. He was sweet and handsome. He was also a good man.
This mini-vacation was just what they needed, and Tani was not about to let anything spoil it. Tonight they were going to dinner and a movie, and tomorrow they were going to spend the whole day together. Miniature golf was a possibility. They might even go whale watching.
When her phone rang and she saw it was Lou Grover calling, she almost didn't answer. If the captain was calling, that meant there was a case and vacation was over and done. Joons opened his eyes. "Who's that?"
"Lou." Tani reluctantly pressed the button to answer the call. "Hi, Cap. What's up?"
"Hi, Tani. Listen, I'm sorry to cut your vacation short, but we've got a case. Can you come to the Palace?"
Tani sighed. "Sure, Cap. I'll be there as soon as I can."
"Bring Junior with you. I'm guessing you two lovebirds are spending the day together."
"All right." Tani frowned. "So much for dinner and a movie," she said to Junior. "We've got a case."
She pulled jeans and a t-shirt over her swimsuit. Joons put on a t-shirt and gathered their things. They took everything to Joons's car and made their way to the Palace. Lou and Jerry were already there.
They gathered around the computer table, where Lou pulled up a map. He pointed things out as he talked. "Some campers reported an explosion a little south of Pu'ulanipo, followed not long after by gunshots. We're pretty sure it happened in a small clearing about here. 5-0 has been asked to investigate. There are a couple of drug dealers based in the mountains around there: Orville and Frankie Jennings—they're identical twins."
He brought up a photo of the two men. "That's Orville on the right. He's the leader. Frankie is on the left. He was a sniper in the US Army, but he snapped. He tried to strangle a superior officer who wanted to disarm him. He was court martialed. He spent some time in jail and in a mental hospital before being released into his brother's custody. They got into dealing drugs over the last few years. Both men are violent. Frankie is the worst of them—little things set him off."
He cleared his throat before continuing. "After Frankie was released from the hospital, the pair retreated into the wilderness. They emerge every so often to deal drugs, then go back into hiding. HPD has made several searches for their base, but none have been successful. A couple of police officers have gone missing on those searches. We suspect they were killed by the Jennings brothers." He frowned. "Complicating the matter, I haven't been able to reach either Steve or Danny about this. I've called them and it just goes straight to voicemail."
"Do you know where they were going to camp?" Tani asked.
Lou shook his head. "No. And I'm guessing they turned off their phones. It's not like them, but the Brisco case was pretty hard on Steve. He needs a break to recover from that concussion. He should still be in the hospital, but you know Steve." Lou looked at them all. "We'll have a chopper meeting us at the trailhead with HPD backup and paramedics. Let's go."
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Frankie was mad. His brother was dead, and his earbuds were toast. Somebody was gonna pay for that. If only that guy with the bandage on his head hadn't shot Orville in the chest, at least he'd have his earbuds. Them things was expensive! That guy was gonna pay for what he'd done. Oh yeah, and he wanted revenge for Orville too.
Frankie just had to figure out the best way to get hold of another weapon. That meant getting back to the cabin. He had another rifle there. He had been a sniper in the army, so he would hide in the woods and follow the two men. Those fellas wouldn't see him before he fired. They wasn't in uniform, but Frankie guessed they was cops. They looked like cops and they had guns. Frankie hated cops. The guy that destroyed his earbuds was gonna die. He crawled silently away, finally making it back to the cabin he used to share with his brother.
He couldn't find where Orville had hidden his ammunition. Frankie liked to sit outside and fire at anything he saw move. Orville always said he was gonna use up all the ammunition on birds and trees instead of people like it was meant for. So, he had one rifle and the one bullet that was already loaded in it, and that was it.
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Steve was spelling out words in sign language. It took Danny a minute to figure it out. He hurt too much for this. "We hide."
"Why?" Danny asked as he looked Steve over carefully. Steve's eyes were crinkling up like the light was bothering him, and his pupils were different sizes. Damn. He didn't need another concussion now.
"Hide!" Steve finger spelled again.
Danny had no memory of what had happened. No idea why he was hurting so bad. It would take a few minutes for the world to right itself. "I don't understand."
Steve's face crumpled, but then he narrowed his lips and spelled out, "Bad guy. Come bak." He tried spelling the last word again but couldn't get it right.
Danny rubbed the bandage on his head and yelped. "Ouch, that hurts!" Which of course, set off the pain in his nose. He huffed in frustration.
Steve put a finger to his lips.
About that time, Danny's memory started to function. His eyes grew large. He nodded in agreement with his partner and lay still. But only for a moment. "We need to hide," he intoned solemnly.
"No kiding," Steve spelled out, rolling his mismatched eyes.
This bit of snark from Steve, even misspelled, made Danny smile. Even injured, his partner was definitely still with him. "So, let's do it!"
Steve motioned Danny away. The fingers of his left hand kept spelling out words in sign language. "Leve me. He want you."
"No way." Danny was adamant about this. Steve wasn't thinking clearly. "He would take you and hurt you to get to me. We go together."
Steve raised his left hand in surrender. There was something wrong with his right arm. He wasn't using it at all. Danny wondered if it was broken like his leg.
Danny quickly found a stout branch which he cut for Steve to use as a walking stick. He wasn't as accomplished as his partner at hacking it into shape, but he did an acceptable job, and Steve was in no shape to complain.
With Danny's help, Steve pulled himself up to standing. Before they could go anywhere, he blinked his eyes several times and waved a hand in front of them. He felt around for Danny. "Blind," he spelled out.
Danny sighed in defeat. "Don't worry, Steve. I won't leave you alone. We'll get through this." He put an arm around Steve to guide him.
Steve leaned on the stick and kept his left foot off the ground. It was awkward, but Danny helped him to a new hiding spot off the path and covered by thick trees.
Danny paused for a moment, then checked their supplies in the backpack and their canteens. He handed Steve a piece of jerky and a granola bar. "Our canteens are about three quarters full. We should be okay if we're careful."
Steve pushed away the food. His face looked a little green. Danny guessed he must be nauseous. Head injuries could do that. He didn't press him again to eat.
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Frankie had no intention of exposing himself to the two men in hiding like Orville had. He knew about tracking, so when he came to the clearing and they were gone, he was able to follow their trail. He also knew how to move silently in the woods. He took careful aim at the blond guy lying on the ground, the one who had destroyed his earbuds. He breathed in and let it out gently and then squeezed off his shot.
The dark-haired guy who was leaning up against a tree must have heard something because shoved the blond guy out of the way just in time. The bullet struck the dark-haired guy's hand.
Frankie howled in frustration and crashed through the undergrowth as he ran away. He had missed his target, and he needed to figure out something else. He was out of ammunition. Somehow, though, he was going to kill them both.
When he stopped running, an idea came to him. He pulled his knife out of its sheath. He didn't need ammunition for it. This knife was special. It was a bayonet. He could fix it to a lug on his rifle. Them two guys didn't know he didn't have any more bullets. They would do whatever he said.
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Danny watched as blood dripped from Steve's hand. Even though he couldn't see, SuperSEAL had saved his life. Danny was grateful. He was also worried. Steve clearly had a head injury, and Danny had no idea how it had happened. Wait, hadn't he said there was an explosion? Danny had no memory of it.
Even though his hand was injured, Steve still reached with his left hand to pull his gun out of the holster on his right hip.
Danny shook his head, then remembered Steve couldn't see the gesture. "Give me that." He reached for Steve's gun. "If you can't see, you can't shoot, even if you are SuperSEAL." Steve gave up without a fight, which worried Danny more than anything else.
"Let me see your hand." Danny took hold of Steve's left wrist and held it up. The bullet had passed all the way through. Danny reached into the backpack and found the duct tape again. He also pulled out the first aid kit. He got a couple of sterile gauze pads and put them over the wounds, then duct taped over them. Before he was done, Steve passed out. Danny wasn't sure if it was because of his head injury or the pain from the gunshot wound. He carefully laid Steve on his left side with his injured hand elevated. Then he slid Steve's gun back into its holster.
Danny heard a helicopter flying above them. He decided to go back to the clearing and try to get the attention of whoever it was. He and Steve needed help to get out of this place.
Before he could get up, though, something sharp jabbed hard into his back. Danny raised his hands. He turned around and saw a man standing there with a rifle pointed at him. The rifle had a fixed bayonet. Danny considered tackling the guy. That's what Steve would do if he could. He could probably kill the guy with an angry glare. But the guy had a gun trained on him. Danny couldn't move faster than the bullet. If he lunged, he'd get shot or stabbed. Then where would Steve be?
"Throw your gun down," the guy barked. "Leave the backpack. Get on your feet! You ruined my earbuds! I'm gonna destroy you!"
Earbuds? This was about a lousy pair of earbuds? Danny tossed his gun away but reached for the backpack. "There's a pair of earbuds in here. You can have 'em." They were Steve's and brand new. Danny figured he would approve of the trade.
"They ain't my earbuds." The man picked up Danny's gun. He trained it on Danny. Then he kicked Steve in the stomach, rolling him onto his back. He whacked Steve's forehead hard with the butt of his rifle. "There. That oughta finish him off." He tied Danny's hands behind his back and put a rope around his neck. Then he punched Danny in the side with his bayonet. "Start marching, little doggy. You can't help him."
Danny's stomach sank. He needed to stay with Steve. He needed to help Steve. If he left, Steve would die. "Please let me stay with him." He looked for a way to disable his attacker.
"No!" The man raised Danny's gun and bashed it against his head. Danny sank to the ground, unconscious.
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Frankie was a big guy. He was strong. He shoved Danny's gun into his waistband, then picked up the cop who destroyed his earbuds and threw him over his shoulders. "You're comin' with me, little doggy."
He started the hike up to the cabin. It was tough going for a little bit. The climb was difficult, especially with a cop over his shoulders. But he made it. He climbed the steps, went in the door, and put the cop in the chair. It was a special chair Orville had made. It had cuffs on the legs and the armrests. They had put other cops in this chair before throwing them in the hole to rot. Frankie secured the cuffs around the cop's ankles and wrists, then waited for him to wake up.
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Danny blinked open his eyes to find himself secured in a chair that felt like a torture device. He couldn't get up. His memory was spotty, but he remembered that Steve was dying. Now he was going to die, too. "I'm so sorry, Steve."
His captor sneered at him. His eyes glittered with hate. "You're a cop, ain't you?"
"Yeah. And you know what they do to cop killers."
His captor laughed. "Only if they catch me. They ain't never done it yet. And you ain't a cop no more. You're just a little doggy." He pulled a bag over Danny's head and secured it around his neck. Then Danny heard his footsteps going around and around the chair. Suddenly, he punched Danny hard in the gut. Danny groaned. His captor laughed. The footsteps kept on walking around him. Another punch, this time right between his shoulder blades.
The punches kept flying. Danny lost all track of time. At last, his captor stopped the cruel game. "I'm hungry. I'm gonna eat somethin'. You ain't never gonna eat again, little doggy. I hope your last meal was somethin' good. Tomorrow you die."
Danny couldn't have eaten a thing if he'd tried. He was in too much pain. He was really thirsty, though. "Water, please."
"Nope. Nothin'."
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The chopper pilot landed in the clearing. Tani noticed the body first. She jumped down to the ground and headed in that direction. "It's one of the twins," she called back to Junior and Lou, who were behind her. "He was shot in the chest. He's gone." She noticed a ruined pair of earbuds on the ground next to him. Not far away was a shattered cell phone. She looked at it and her eyes got big. "That's Danny's phone!"
"How do you know that?"
"See that Paw Patrol sticker?" She picked up the shattered phone and showed it to Lou. "Danny told me Charlie put it there. He said that the police dog Chase would watch over his dad." She noticed another broken phone in the grass. "I'll bet that one is Steve's."
"Damn," Lou said. "No wonder I couldn't reach them. But where the hell are they?"
Junior was looking over the area very carefully. "There was a tripwire here. Steve or Danny must have set off the explosion by hitting it. Look—there's a trail." Tani couldn't see what Junior saw, but she took his word for it. He knew a lot about tracking. "One of them was using a walking stick." He led Lou and Tani into the woods. The trail took them off the path, behind some trees.
"There's Steve," Lou said. "He's in bad shape. But where's Danny?"
Steve was unconscious. His face was grey and his head was bleeding. A large bruise spread across his forehead. His left leg was bent wrong, and his left hand was covered in duct tape.
"This isn't good," Lou muttered. He pulled aside one of the paramedics. "He was recovering from a moderate concussion."
The paramedics knelt beside Steve and got to work. Roddy Stirling frowned as he took Steve's vitals. "We've gotta get him to Tripler ASAP." They put a c-collar around his neck. Then they started a couple of IVs and bandaged his hand properly. Finally, they got him on a backboard and into a Stokes. They took him back to the chopper. Lou sent Jerry with him.
Junior explored the area a bit more. "Look—there's a third set of footprints. I think someone grabbed Danny."
"The other twin?" said Tani.
"Most likely. They left a pretty clear trail. Let's follow it and see what we find."
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The helicopter flew over the cabin. Danny could hear panic in his captor's voice. "They're lookin' for me. Gonna take you away from me!" he growled. "But they ain't never gonna find you."
When the helicopter noise had faded, Danny felt his captor uncuffing his legs. He tried kicking, but the guy moved too fast for him and Danny couldn't see anything. His captor tied his hands behind him again. "C'mon." The next thing Danny knew, they were outside. Steve was dead and now Danny was going to die.
His captor dragged Danny along. Next thing Danny knew, he heard something breaking. The voice said, "Cops go in the hole! Bye bye!" Danny felt a hard shove. Then he was falling. He knew it would hurt when he landed. The space was too tight for him to twist into a protective position. Every so often, he scraped against the side.
He was going to land on his feet. As best he could figure, he'd been thrown down a well. He tried to pull his legs up, but the space was too narrow. His whole body shook with pain when he landed on dry ground. He could hear the bones in his legs crack. His back exploded in pain.
The well was too tight for him to sit or lie down, but his legs couldn't hold his weight. He ended up on his knees. He hurt like hell.
Something crunched underneath him. The place smelled like death. Danny felt behind him and found bones. As far as he could tell, human bones. His stomach twisted. Someone will find me. 5-0 will come looking. They had to come looking. But would Danny still be alive by then?
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Frankie grabbed some chips out of the pantry and a beer from the cooler. Then he took the cop's gun out to the front porch. If the people in the chopper saw his cabin, someone would be climbing up to look. Well, he would be ready. He threw back a swig of beer. Hell, he wanted the harder stuff. He went back into the cabin and found a bottle of vodka. That would take the edge off.
Part of him wanted to go out to the well and shoot into it, make sure the dumb cop was good and dead. But he had to stay here. He had to be ready. He downed a swallow of vodka straight from the bottle and then patted on his new gun. It would take good care of him.
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Lou huffed and puffed his way up the trail, following Junior and Tani. Lou was getting too old for this. He was tempted to go back and deal with the dead guy they'd found in the clearing. But he wanted to stick close to Tani and Junior. They were both so young. Junior, of course, was a Navy man with the same training Steve had, and Tani had proven herself over and over again. Still, they might not realize what they were walking into.
Lou wondered which of the twins they were about to face. Orville wouldn't hesitate to kill. Frankie was a crazy man who reacted violently to the smallest things. They needed to get the dead twin's fingerprints and find out which one he was.
The path was rough and Lou was breathing heavily. He kept a hand on his holster, ready to draw and shoot if he had to.
As they neared the top of the steep trail, they heard a man singing off-key at the top of his lungs. "We all live in a yellow submarine, a yellow submarine, a yellow submarine!" His words were slurring together.
Lou stopped to catch his breath. "That's him, and he sounds drunk." He kept his voice low, unwilling to let their quarry hear him. "Have your weapons in hand. Whichever twin this is, he's willing to kill."
"Huh," said Junior. "If he's drunk, his aim will be off."
"Don't count on it," Lou said. "If it's Frankie up there, his aim is good no matter how drunk he is. If it's Orville, well, he doesn't get drunk but he might try to make us think he is, just to throw us off."
As they drew closer, they moved from behind one tree to the cover of another tree, always careful not to expose themselves. Lou peered around the tree where he was hiding to see a ramshackle old cabin. One of the twins was sitting on the front porch with a rifle. He was drinking from what looked like a bottle of vodka. That meant it was Frankie. Orville never touched the hard stuff.
The singing stopped. Frankie stood up and peered toward the woods. "I smell you!" he shouted. "I bet you're lookin' for the dumb cop who messed up my earbuds! But he's dead!" He sniffed the air. "Gotta be a lady there 'cause I smell flower soap." He chuckled. "I could have me lots o' fun with a pretty lady."
"This lady will scratch your eyes out," Tani muttered.
Junior elbowed Tani in the ribs and threw her a dirty look. "Shush. You don't need to antagonize the man!" he whispered.
"He couldn't hear me!" Tani rolled her eyes. "I was quiet!"
"Both of you shush," Lou growled, keeping his voice low.
Frankie fired a shot into the woods. The bullet whizzed in between Junior and Tani and buried itself in a tree.
The two young officers dove for the ground. They both came up fuming.
"Next one hits somebody!" Frankie yelled. "Who's it gonna be?" He aimed his rifle again. "I heard where you are!"
Lou had just about had enough out of Frankie. He lifted his pistol and aimed. He got Frankie's head in his crosshairs. And he fired. That was the end of Frankie Jennings.
Tani and Junior got to their feet. "Let's find Danny." Lou followed. He crossed himself as he stepped around the man he had just killed. A life gone to waste always troubled him. Then he bent to pick up the gun. He recognized it as Danny's. They scoured the inside of the cabin but couldn't find Danny anywhere inside.
"Let's look out back," Junior said. They went out the back door and Junior found a trail that led them to an old well with a broken wooden cover. He and Tani pulled the cover away. "Danny? You in there?"
A moan floated up out of the well.
Junior turned on his phone flashlight and shone it downwards. Lou looked in. A man was at the bottom of the well. He was the right size for Danny, but he had a bag over his head.
Lou frowned. "We could hurt him more if we pull him out without knowing his injuries." He took his cell phone from his pocket. Thankfully, he had a signal. He called for help. Then he yelled into the well. "We've got rescue workers on the way. We're gonna get you out."
It took a good thirty minutes before they heard the chopper. It had to land in the clearing. Tani and Junior hiked down to guide the rescue crew up to the cabin.
The crew surveyed the situation. Dennis Garvey, the leader of the team, shook his head. "It's too narrow," he said to Lou. "We can't get someone down there to get him up in a Stokes. We'll have to dig a hole alongside and then tunnel to him. Problem is, getting digging equipment up here. Also, there's a danger that the well will collapse on him. It isn't shored up properly."
"There has to be a way to do it." Lou's forehead wrinkled up as he thought about it.
Garvey sighed. "Well, there's one possibility. But it will be pretty costly. I don't know that I can get the department to sign off on it."
Lou rubbed his neck. "Tell me more."
"I was thinking, we could have the digging equipment flown up here." He put his hands in his pockets. "I just don't know that the department will sign off on it."
"Wait just a minute." Grover pulled out his phone and dialed a number. In a minute, he was saying, "Hello. This is Captain Lou Grover of Hawaii 5-0. I need to speak with the governor. It's a matter of life or death." Once the governor was on the line, Lou explained the problem.
Within two minutes he was looking Garvey in the eyes. "You've got approval. Do you need to hear it for yourself?"
"No sir, Captain. I'll make the arrangements now." Garvey was as good as his word and within the hour, digging equipment was being lowered onto the site by a chopper.
They also lowered a man to operate said equipment. He grinned. "Best entrance I ever made!" Garvey talked with him for several minutes and they made some plans.
At last, the work began in earnest. They started digging a wider hole down to the level where Danny was. Then they would have to tunnel across to get to him. Meanwhile, Tani, Junior, and Grover stood at the top of the well, calling down encouragement.
Digging took several hours. The sun set and they had to set up lights around the shaft. About halfway through, Lou called Jerry to find out how Steve was doing. "He's in surgery for a subdural hematoma," he told Tani and Junior after the call ended. "They say the hematoma was from his initial injury. He also received a second head injury, on his forehead. At this point, it's too soon for any prognosis. What with the concussion he already had, it's probably bad."
"Nothing keeps Steve down," Junior said. "He'll be all right." Still, the young man's tone was somber. He put an arm around Tani, who was fighting back tears.
At last, the digging was done. Well, the digging downward. Now they needed to dig across, and for that they would have to work by hand. The new shaft was wide enough for a Stokes stretcher. Digging across would take more hours than Grover thought Danny might have left in him. He and Junior both insisted on going down to help. Tani, meanwhile, stayed at the edge of the well and talked to Danny. Lou made her promise to get the hell out of there if the well started to collapse.
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At the bottom of the well, Danny could hear machinery. Sometimes he could hear Tani, Junior, and Lou, but mostly he heard the endless grinding noise of a motor. It made his head ache. Everything around him was vibrating. He was struggling to breathe. His captor had never taken the bag off his head. Meanwhile, his entire body ached.
At some point, he discovered a sharp edge behind him. He wasn't sure what it was, but he rubbed the rope that bound his wrists against it. It was a difficult maneuver because every movement hurt. But finally, he achieved his goal. The rope snapped. He was able to move his arms in front of him. His fingers felt thick and clumsy, but he managed to pull the bag off of his head. He sucked in a deep breath. The oxygen helped wake him up some. The big problem was, he could see how narrow the well was. He felt closed in, like the walls were going to squash him. He looked up to see that the sky outside was dark. He could see stars. They were the most beautiful sight he'd ever seen. If he focused on them, he could almost forget that he was going to die.
Soon, a flashlight blocked out the stars. Someone was looking down at him. Probably someone from 5-0. He held up a hand and waved, then covered his eyes. The light was harsh, it hurt his head. He just wanted the gentler stars. At last, the bright glow from the flashlight dimmed. Danny uncovered his eyes and gazed up at the sky. He was exhausted, but afraid to sleep. Every so often, bits of dirt fell in his face. What if the well collapsed on him? He would die here, buried among the old bones he'd landed on when he fell.
He was pretty sure he had a concussion. His stomach and back hurt where he'd been punched. Pain was moving from his belly upward to his shoulder. Probably internal injuries. He thought he had broken both legs when he landed, and the landing had really jarred his spine. He just wanted out of this hole now. "Hurry, please." His voice came out in a croak. Before they could get to him, he passed out from the pain.