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Chapter 2

The ocean has always been my favorite part of Hawaii. For as long as I can remember, I'd wake up early to go swimming, surfing, or any other things I desired to do. And once a week, my father would go with me too.
After taking a long swim, I get out of the water and grab my towel, drying myself off. I walk inside to see Danny sitting on my couch, drinking a cup of coffee. He's been coming over pretty much every weekday morning after he drops off Grace.
"Get ready, we're going to McGarrett's after this." He tells me.
"Sounds good."
I go into my bathroom, taking a quick shower, before drying off. I get dressed quickly before going into the bathroom, curling my hair, and applying makeup.
I walk out, going into the kitchen. I grab a smoothie out of my fridge, before heading into the living room where Danny is.
When he sees me, he rolls his eyes. "Took you long enough."
"Shut up," I tell him as we walk out of my front door.
We head to Steve's, Danny stopping for donuts on the way. When we arrive, we left ourselves in, as if we've known him for years.
We walk in, seeing him sitting at a table with the box of his father's stuff.
"What is it with you two and walking into people's houses," Steve asks.
"I knocked," Danny lies.
"I didn't hear you knock," Steve argued.
"Well, I did. I knocked, and then I saw through the window and I thought you nodded,"Danny explains, continuing to lie.
"Didn't nod."
I roll my eyes, "Would you like us to leave?"
His eyes widen slightly, "No!" He clears his throat," Depends, what's in the bag, Danny?"
"Oh, those, uh, doughnut-looking things they sell around the block," Danny explains.
"Malasadas?"
"Yeah, whatever they are. Yeah, they're fried and they taste good, you want one?" Danny offers, which is not something he usually does, sharing their food, that is.
"No. Not without bypass surgery. And you two can stay. Just don't eat near my stuff," Steve replies, motioning to some documents, and eyeing Danny with his Malasada carefully.
"Can I have a napkin?" Danny asks, mouth filled with sugary goodness.
Steve gives him a look, then turning away, a small smile on his adorable face, "Yeah."
Danny glares at him, "What was that look? What, they teach you how not to spill in the Army?"
"It's the Navy, okay? The Navy. It's not the spill. It's the tie. No one in Hawaii wears a tie." Steve tells him while handing him a napkin.
I let out a small groan, "Here we go, again."
"Oh, I'm sorry, I like to look like a professional." Danny starts.
"Professional what?" Steve asks.
"Okay, this is my favorite tie. Grace gave me this tie for Father's Day. Oh, and also, so you know, back in Jersey and every normal city in this country, this is what a detective looks like." Danny explains.
"Really?"
"Yeah, really."
Steve smirks at him, "Yeah, shirt, tie, doughnut crumbs... you missed a spot... Look, you're never gonna fit in here looking like you're from the mainland."
"Who says I want to fit in? I don't want to fit in, I want to look like I'm from the mainland, okay? I got 87 homicide cases under my belt looking like this." Danny tells him.
"Not in 110-degree weather, you don't. I'm just saying." Steve argues.
I pat his shoulder, "Nice try, but I don't think anything will change his ways. I have been nagging him for months."
"She's right. I'm not taking off the tie, so leave it alone." Danny tells him.
"Okay."
"You want to discuss my shoes?" Danny asks.
"Well now that you mention it, patent leather loafers, really?" I ask.
He glares at me, "Can't be any worse than those death traps." He tells me, pointing to my ankle boots.
I look over and watch as Steve closes the dirty red box, closing its latches.
"That your dad's stuff?" I ask, sitting down, between the two.
"Yeah."
"You get anything from it?" Danny asks.
"More questions than answers. Talk to the Coast Guard?" Steve asks.
I nod, letting out a sigh, "Yeah. Uh, they didn't find Victor Hesse's body yet. That does not mean that they won't."
Steve lets out a sigh of his own, running his hands over his face, "What if he's alive?"
"You emptied a mag on the guy. He's fish food." Danny starts.
"Look, Admiral Shepard knows that this is the guy that killed your father. He's got crews on it 24/7. They will find Hesse's body." I reassure him, as his phone begins to ring. He gives me a nod of appreciation, before pulling out his phone, ready to answer.
"Yes, Governor."
Off we go to another case. Adult kidnapping, taken from a car, that looks to have been a pretty well-constructed plan.
"Kidnapping victim's name is Roland Lowry. His car was T-boned an hour ago. Gunshots were exchanged, passengers were killed. This all happened in broad daylight." Steve explains as he drives Danny's car.
"Well, that seems like a pretty messy grab just to yank an ordinary guy off the streets," Danny stated.
"This guy's not ordinary. Lowry's ex NSA. He used to have top-secret security clearance. Which means his abduction could be a serious national security threat." Steve explains as he speeds down the road.
"Right, what else did the governor say?" I ask.
"She said to find him."
We soon arrive, seeing a black SUV flipped over on its back, and a few dead bodies lying around the car, glass all over the place.
Chin and Kono walk up, "Hey, got your message."
"Good. Come on, let's start processing." Steve tells us, before leading us onto the other side of the yellow police tape. A man walks up to him to stop him, but he says, "Governor's task force. We'll take it from here." He then turns back to us, "Chin, Kono, stay on the SUV. Danny, Quinn, and I are on the van."
We head to the van and begin looking through the wreckage.
"SS-190 armor-piercing rounds. These guys were definitely well-backed," Steve called out, causing Danny and me to walk over.
"This definitely wasn't a local job," I tell them as I sit down in the passenger seat, where I came from seconds ago.
"What do you got?" Steve asks.
"This van was reported stolen two days ago. Two guys dead in the SUV. Hired muscle from Bruddah's private security firm." I tell them.
"That's interesting." Steve states.
"Why is it interesting?" Danny asks.
Steve bends down, pointing to the car window, "This is a density-layer ballistic glass, laminated onto a shield of resilient polycarbonate."
"Why can't you just say bulletproof? I mean, how hard is that?" Danny asks, chuckling.
"Get Chin to call the security company, find out where they were going," Steve tells him.
"Guys, Roland's last call was at 6:15 a.m." Kono says as she walks over to us.
"Same time as when he was abducted. Who did he call?" I ask.
"His son, Evan," Kono tells us.
"We got a witness."
Back at the HeadQuarters, Steve, Danny, and, I interview Evan.
"Evan, do you know where your dad was going this morning?" Steve asks.
"No. I mean, he probably told me, but I was only half listening. It was some big meeting." Evan explains, a permanent sad look on his face.
"Do you know what it was about?" Danny asks him.
"Look, we don't really talk about his work," he replies.
"Did your dad ever have any disagreements with anyone? Is there anybody you can think of that'd want to hurt your dad?" I ask him softly.
"No. I'm telling you, he's the most boring person you'll ever meet," Evan replies.
"What about your mom? Where's she?" Danny asks.
"She died when I was seven," Evan says sadly.
"Alright, buddy, look. There were two other men with your dad this morning. They were bodyguards. Do you have any idea why he would hire bodyguards?" Steve asks.
"Seriously?"
"Yeah."
"Bodyguards? N-No, I have no clue. I can't believe it. That could've been the last time I ever talk to my dad. And I called him a dictator." He tells us angrily, the anger directed towards himself.
"Evan? You alright?" A blonde-haired woman asks as she walks in, pulling Evan into a hug. "I'm so sorry. Are you okay? God, you must've been so scared. I can't even imagine it. You know, you're gonna come stay with me until they find him, yeah?"
We leave them alone and follow Kono into another room.
"Who's that?" Steve asks.
"Name's Natalie Reed. She's Roland's girlfriend." Kono explains.
"Did she
have any idea why someone would want to grab her boyfriend?" I ask.
"No idea."
"Quinn. You and Kono stay close. If this is a kidnap and ransom, then the abductors might try to make contact, and if they do, I want someone helping the family and someone who can run the trace." Steve tells us.
"Okay."
"Hey Kono, listen. Give us a couple of hours, we'll run down some leads. We will relive you. I promise you, you won't miss your graduation." Danny tells her.
"It's cool, brah." She tells him.
"Grabbed the video footage from a traffic cam near the crime scene. I'll mine it, see if there's anything on there that can help us identify the shooters." Chin says as he walks up.
"Did you get in touch with the security company that Roland hired today?" Steve asks.
"Yeah, I spoke to the owner. Turns out, Roland hired the bodyguards for an appointment this morning." Chin explains.
"Where were they going?" I ask.
"Hickam Air Force Base," Chin replies.
"Know anyone at Hickam?" Danny asks Steve. Steve just simply walks off. "A stupid question. Of course, you do." Danny calls out, following after him.
After that, Kono and I head out, following Natalie to her house. Something about her was off, I just didn't know what yet.
After waiting for a while, I exited when the room where the rest of them were seated, to stand in the kitchen. A few minutes later, my phone rang I pulled it out and saw Steve's contact flash up on my screen. I click the answer button, pressing the phone to my ear.
"Steve, tell me you've got something. I haven't been this bored since high school, and that Natalie girl keeps giving me weird looks."
He lets out a chuckle, "Yeah, we figured out he used to work for the US and had some high-level security clearance, he told the people at Hickam that he had something important to show them."
"That must be why he was taken."
"Yeah, and Chin checked the security camera footage and found one of the men got hit and found his way to the top of a hotel building. And I interrogated him, in a way Danny wasn't happy with me."
I let out a laugh, "What did you do?"
"I hung him off a building."
I shrugged lightly, "Well, he deserved it."
"That's what I was trying to tell him," Steve exclaims.
"He would only talk out of fear of death," I add.
He chuckles, "That's exactly what I told him."
"What did you do after that?"
"Oh, yeah, well, we went to Roland's house and found a secret room. In there was this computer software, none of it making any sense to us. Danny said he knew a guy-"
"Toast?" I ask interrupting him.
He lets out a chuckle, "Yeah. Seriously, I'm beginning to think that you know everyone on this island."
"I probably do," I tell him, humor filling my voice.
"Anyway, we're on our way to bringing him to Roland's house-"
"Is that Quinn? Tell her I say aloha!" I hear Toast yell in the background.
"Well as you can see, we're onto something here. If you want, you guys can go." Steve tells me.
I shake my head, and lower my voice, "Something's not right about this Natalie chick. I can feel it. I'm gonna stay here and keep an eye on here."
"Ok, just be careful." He tells me, concern filling his voice, something that surprises me coming from a tough navy seal guy.
"Don't worry about me, I'll be fine."
I see Natalie walk into the kitchen, "I have to go, bye."
I hang up the phone, shoving it into my pocket. I am going to get something out of her while I'm here. Out of the corner of my eye, I see her glance at me several times, in a nervous manner, she had to have heard what I said about her.
"How's he doing in there?" I ask.
She turns to me at smiles, "He's doing better, your partner is in there teaching him origami."
"That's good," I reply shortly.
"I just put some water on for some tea, do you want some?" She asks me.
"Sure, thank you," I reply.
"So, I saw you talking on the phone earlier, did they find anything gets?" She asks me.
I glare at her, "You can cut the act, I know you heard what I said about you."
His expression is surprised for a moment, but it quickly changes into a hard glare as she reaches over and grabs a knife.
Steve's POV
I lean over our surface desktop and watch as Chin pulls the man that we arrested earlier's report on the screen as Danny and I gather around the screen.
"Sergei flew in from Serbia two months ago," Chin explains.
"Alone?" I ask.
Chin pulls up a different man's report, "No. He came in with Drago Zankovic. He's the boss as far as I can tell. He, uh, paid for the tickets. They both traveled on doctored passports." Chin tells us.
"There were three guys on the traffic cam," Danny says.
"Let's go a little further back. Show me all Serbian passports in Hawaii in the last six months." I suggest.
Chin nods, "Yeah, one sec."
He types a few things in, before two rows of pictures pop up on the screen. I scan them quickly, my eyes widening when I get to the bottom row.
"Blow that one up," Danny tells him, pointing to the blonde-haired woman who caused my reaction.
"Nadia Lukavic, "Chin states, making the picture bigger.
"AKA Natalie," Danny states, causing nerves to rise in my chest.
"Dammit, she was right," I mutter.
"Who was right?" Danny asks.
"Quinn," I say as I pull out my phone, dialing her number. It rings several times, before going to her voicemail. My heart begins to pound as we run out of the headquarters and to Danny's car. I've done several rescues of people I've been working with, but I've never felt like this before, the fact Quinn is in a house with one of the kidnappers, just makes me feel this way. What makes me even more nervous, is I don't know why I feel like this, when I barely know her.
Quinn's POV
Natalie comes running towards me with a knife, I duck from several of her swings, but she sends a kick to my stomach, sending me falling backward. She shoves my back against the counter, trying to bring the knife down to me. I look over to just see Evan on the couch, Kono must outside or something, maybe talking to Chin or something. But I don't yell for her, out of fear Evan will hear and come in here.
She turns the knife, cutting my arm deeply.
I shove her off of me and hit her arm against the wall I an attempt to get the knife out of her hands. It clatters to the grounds, and I push her against a cupboard, causing the glass to shatter. She pushes me back against a wall, then punching me in the jaw, sending me falling back into another hallway. I roll over and get up, but she grabs my hair and shoves me into a bookshelf, sending pain running down my spine. I grab her hair, pushing her outside, falling through her bamboo fence, to the pool area. I get on top of her, wrapping my hands around her neck. She quickly shoves me off of her, and I stand up as fast as I can. She catches me by surprise when she hits me with a bamboo stick causing me to go flying into the cold pool. At this point, my body is exhausted, and I want to give up so badly, but I know I need to fight for Evan. I try to come up to the surface, but Natalie jumps onto me, keeping me underwater. I fight as my lungs burn in desperate need of air. Suddenly she lets go and comes up gasping, seeing Kono standing there with her gun pointed at Natalie. My relief is short-lived when I see a man walk up behind Kono, hitting her with the gun, sending her unconscious before I could even warn her.
He then grabs Evan, who was standing a few feet away, pointing the gun at his head, my eyes widen as I see fear fill his eyes.
"Get out of the pool, and come with me." He tells me.
I quickly get out and follow him, as Natalie grabs Kono.
"We're all going to take a ride together."
He forces me to get in the driver's side of Kono's car, and pull out of the driveway, telling me when to turn. They talk in Serbian as I keep looking back at Evan and Kono, checking if they are ok.
"Turn left ahead," Natalie tells me, keeping my gun that she took from me, pointed at me. I glare at her but do it.
She looks back at her partner, "You shouldn't have involved the boy."
I see him glare at her from the rearview mirror, as he keeps his gun pointed at Evan, "Well, you should have done a better job. You could have convinced him to sell it on the open market."
She replies by speaking in Serbian again.
"More time? It's been months. He was about to hand it over to the US military." He tells her.
"Y-You've been watching my dad for months?" Evan asks, his voice filled with fear.
Then my phone goes off from my pocket, Natalie pulls it out and looks at it. I look over and see who it is, it's Steve again.
"It's our boss. If I don't answer he'll know something's wrong." I tell them.
"Tell him everything is fine, or the boy won't get to see his next birthday." The man says from behind me.
Natalie answers it, pressing the phone to my ear. "Steve," I say casually.
"Quinn, am I on speaker?" He asks me.
"No," I reply casually.
"You were right. Natalie's working with the Serbs. We're on the way to her house. Where are you guys?" He asks.
"Yeah, everything's great," I say in a happy tone.
"Copy that. Just stay on the line as long as you can. We're running a trace." He tells me.
I hear Chin speaking on the phone in the background as Steve asks, "Quinn, can you tell me where you guys are?"
I look beside me casually, figuring out exactly where I'm at. "Yeah, I may even take Evan out to Mokuleia Beach for a swim," I reply calmly.
"Okay, you're headed north." He states.
"Exactly."
Natalie pulls the phone away from my head, "I know what you're doing."
She hands my phone to the man behind me, and he throws it out the window.
"What the hell man, that's gonna be a pain in the ass to replace." I snap.
"Shut up." He snaps as Kono wakes up, sitting up slowly. "Now take a hard left."
I pull up to an airfield building, and I'm immediately dragged inside, and tied up to a chair. I look over and see our kidnapping victim sitting in a chair in front of a computer, badly beaten. After me, they take in Kono and Evan inside, which causes Roland to stand up, when hearing his son's voice, only to be hit in the head with the butt of a gun.
The man ties up Evan to the chair beside me, and Kono on the other side of me.
"Natalie? What are you doing?" Roland asks, confused.
"She's with them, dad!" Evan shouts.
"No, no! No, that can't be!" He shouts.
"Oh shut up." A man yells, before turning to Evan. "You see, your father has not been very cooperative, but now, with you here, maybe you can talk some sense into him, huh?" He asks, running Evan's shoulders and patting his head. He grabs Evan's ear, causing him to wince in pain. "Tell him to do what we ask."
"Alright! Alright, Alright. You win. I'll do what you want. Just please don't hurt my son!" Roland shouts before being kicked.
"Dad!"
"Leave him alone!" Kono shouts.
"Shut up!" Natalie snaps punching Kono in the jaw.
The men grab Roland and shove him in front of the computer, "Now get to work."
He begins typing on the computer, as blood and sweat rolls down his face.
As I sit there, the full pain of getting my ass handed to me multiple times running through me. My body aches everywhere, and I'm still wet and cold from being in the water.
"Make sure the radar is down before they land, got it?" The man asks.
"What are they making him do?" Evan asks us. "As soon as he's done, do you think they'll let us go?"
"Hey, I told you to be quiet." The man in charge says as he walks over to Evan.
"Hey leave him alone," Kono says to him.
"Leave him alone, scumbag," she snaps causing him to hit her in the face, knocking her out of her chair.
Natalie asks the man something in Serbian, to which he replies, "No, not yet. They're good hostages, my hostages... Get her back in the chair.
Natalie grabs her and puts her back in the chair, grabbing her hair, "You two are dead. It's just a matter of time."
As she walks away, I look over at Kono, "Are you ok?" I whisper.
She nods and shows Evan and I the nail in her hands, and I breathe a sigh of relief, damn she's smart, I would have never thought of that.
A few minutes later, they put Roland in a chair next to Evan. I hear a plane land nearby, and these men in suits walk in. "Where is it," one of them asks, their accents stronger than the ones who took us.
"Let's see the money first."
I fight to break my duct tape, but it doesn't work, instead, making it hurt worse.
After looking at the money, the leader stands up. "You're gonna like this. He says as he brings the men in suits to the computer. "Here it is, as you requested," he tells them.
"Dad?" Evan asks.
"Yeah?"
"I'm sorry I called you a dictator." He relies with tears running down his face.
"It's okay," Roland replies in a reassuring voice.
"I look over near the doors and see Steve's head poke into view in the small window. He brings his gaze upstairs, then back to me, if asking if it was clear. I give him a nod, telling him it was, before looking away, so I didn't look suspicious. I let out a tiny sigh of relief, this is almost all over. The men begin packing up everything, as Natalie and her partner grab the money, bringing it by the door. I look upstairs and see Steve standing there, gun out, ready to shoot. He gives me a nod, before holding up three fingers, then two, then pointing towards the door. I nod back at him, letting him know I understand.
I look over to the other three, whispering, "Hey guys. Listen to me. Get ready to hit the ground."
"When?" Roland asks.
"You'll know when. Just do it." I reply, to which they nod in response.
I look over and see Natalie walking over to us, holding up her gun to my head. Then a man falls from the upstairs, and the gunshots begin. I bring my leg up and kick the gun out of her hands before Kono gets up and tackles her. Natalie's gun fired, hitting a tank of gas, starting it on fire. My eyes widen, knowing it was only a matter of time before this whole building goes up in flames.
Steve slides down a chain, shooting a man. He looks over at the tanks of gas before yelling, "Everyone out! Now, now!"
Kono helps Evan and Roland, and Steve helps me up, pulling me with him. We run out of the building, getting sent flying to the ground from the blast.
A pair of warm hands pull me up gently, so I'm sitting. I look up and see Steve standing above me. He goes behind me, and rips the duct tape, pulling it off of my wrists gently.
He helps me to my feet, putting his hands on either side of me, "You had me worried there, are you alright?"
I shrug, smiling weakly, "I'm fine, we had it all under control."
He lets out a chuckle, letting his hands fall slowly down my arms, sending a wave of chills, surprising me. "I'm sure you did." He replies smiling.
We walk over to Danny who is getting ready to handcuff Natalie's partner.
"Book him Danno," Steve tells him.
Danny cuffs the man, before looking up, "Really? I mean, is that gonna be a thing now?"
"You don't like it?" Steve asks.
"Don't like it."
"I kinda like it. It's catchy." I tell them, causing Danny to glare at me, and Steve to shoot me a smile.
Danny turns to me, pulling me into a hug, "I'm glad you're ok, kid."
I pull away from him glaring, "You can't call me kid, you're only like three years older than me.
Danny shrugs, "It's catchy."
I glare at him once again, and shove him lightly, causing him to laugh.
After that, I'm forced to go to the hospital, for the second time in two weeks, which is highly annoying, seeing as I hate the hospital.
It turns out that I have a slight concussion, a couple of broken ribs, and I needed stitches on my arm. The doctor wanted me to stay overnight for observation, but I don't want to, and I'm currently arguing with the nurse.
"Man, please we'd like you to stay here. Please sit down."
I shake my head, "With all due respect, I just want to go home. Please just give me the release forms to sign."
"What's going on here?" I hear a low voice ask from the doorway. I turn around and see Steve standing there in the doorway, leaning against the doorframe.
The woman lets out a sigh of relief, "Thank goodness, maybe can talk some sense into your girlfriend."
"Oh, we're not dating." Steve and I say in sinc.
She nods, "Oh, sorry, I'll let you two talk."
Steve turns to me, "What was that about?"
I shrug," She wants me to stay overnight for observation, but I just want to go home."
"Maybe you should stay here, I mean, how are you doing?" He asks as his concerned eyes rake over my injuries.
"I'll survive, I just want to go home and sleep it off," I tell him, lying a little. Of course, I was in a lot of pain, but if I told him that, I definitely wouldn't be going home tonight.
He lets out a sigh, "There's no way I'm going to convince you to stay, is there?" I shake my head with a slight smile of victory. "Alright, let's go."
We go and I sign the discharge papers, despite the reluctant nurse, and Steve takes me outside to where he's parked. He walks over to a dark blue pickup, unlocking it.
I raise my eyebrows, getting into the truck, Steve soon after me. "You have suck a nice truck, why do we always have to ride in Danny's car?"
He shrugs, smiling, "I just like to piss Danny off, and it's a lot less gas I have to pay for."
I let out a small laugh, "True."
I direct him to my house and soon, he pulls into the driveway. He puts his truck in park and turns to me. "Are you sure you're going to be ok, Quinn?"
I smile weakly ignoring the aching pain in my body, "I'll be fine Steve."
"Okay, well, I'll call you tomorrow to see how you're doing." He tells me, hesitantly.
"Sounds good. Night Steve." I tell him, opening the door.
"Night Quinn."
I nod at him and get out of his car, stopping before I close the door, turning back to him.
"I actually don't have my phone. It got thrown out the window of a car." I say, letting out a laugh.
He chuckles too, "Ok well I'll just stop by then."
After that, I went inside, took a shower, and headed to bed, falling asleep right away.

Hey guys! Thanks for reading! I have so much fun writing a more action-packed book, and I hope you like it. Please show your support by voting, and commenting, it really does mean a lot. Thank you!
-S