Sandy Wells was in her eight month of pregnancy when her husband, Darryl O’Briann, suddenly died of a massive stroke. Desperate times seemed to loom ahead for her if it hadn’t been for McGarrett’s generous support who later played an important role model for Steven as he grew up. In gratitude she named her son after the Five-0 chief.

Frequently Steven sought the advice of his mentor, which resulted in him pursuing an education in law. At the age of twenty-eight, he was elected District Attorney. During his three years as the DA his exemplary record in convictions earned him the respect of Five-0, HPD and the Governor.

Known as an aggressive pursuer of truth and justice it wasn’t unusual for him to get calls in the middle of the night from Five-0 or the Governor. So that night when a loud irritating persistent ringing disturbed his sleep he tried to ignore the noise by turning over but it continued. Finally he realized it was his phone and the person wasn’t going to hang up. He stretched a little before he reached over and picked up the receiver. "Yeah," he replied in a sleepy voice.

"Good morning Steven. This is Governor Hayward. Sorry to wake you up so early," he said apologetically. "I’m here in Mike’s office and we need you to get us a search warrant for all the TWIS warehouses. Five-0 believes they have a solid lead as to where Steve McGarrett is being held."

This startling bit of news woke Steven completely and he quickly threw the bed covers back. "They found something then?"

"They think they have. HPD thinks they found the car in the water right in front of one of their warehouses. This is also where a body was found floating yesterday morning," the Governor told him. "Steven, we might not have time to go the normal route of waiting until a judge gets in to sign it. Steve McGarrett’s life may depend on how fast we can search those warehouses."

"Yeah, I know. The longer it takes the less likely they’ll find him alive," Steven said as he picked up his watch from the nightstand. "Look it’s 1:30 right now. I’ll call Judge Cranston and tell him what I need. I’ll have it in his hands by…say 8 at the latest. I’ll even hand deliver it myself if I have to."

"Great. Then I’ll tell them to go ahead and start the search," the Governor said with a smile. "And Steven, sorry for the early call."

"No problem Governor. If this leads to the recovery of McGarrett, its will worth the early call. Besides, I had to get up in four hours anyway," he teased back. "And Governor, tell them the best of luck on their search."

"I will and mahalo," the Governor replied before he hung up. Satisfied with the call he leaned back into his chair as he waited for Mike to wrap up his call.

When Mike saw the Governor had concluded his call he stuck his index finger up to indicate he was nearly done with his. "Thanks Kimo, and they have positively identified the bodies? Excellent! Where did you say they found them?" he asked as he wrote the information down.

"Good! Who found the bodies? Great! You said he was shot in the chest. What about the other ones? What about the fourth man? Is he still alive?" he inquired as he mentally followed the course of action that had happened on the mountainside.

"So he’s still alive, good. What hospital? Okay good. Is he conscious?" he queried as he listened writing down more of the information. "He’s at Queens then. Okay I want two officers at his door. Fine. Kimo when he gets out of surgery I want to know and inform me when I can talk to him."

"Do they know the type of gun used?" He listened some more as he made notes on the information as he received it. "Mahalo Kimo. This case is really starting to come together for us now."

After Mike had concluded his conversation with Kimo he called Suzie Kelly at her home. He filled her in then instructed her to contact the rest of the team to be at the office within the hour. Excitedly she acknowledged his orders.

Smiling at the Governor Mike dialed the Queen’s Hospital morgue. He wasn’t surprised when Jasper answered the phone. "Jasper, I hear Deana has three new cases."

"Yeah, the ambulances just brought them in about ten minutes ago. Deana is working on them now," Jasper told him.

"There’s going to be a meeting at my office within the hour and I need you two there."

"Right Mike. We’ll be there as soon as Deana is done."

"HPD just informed me that they have found Kim Lu Yang who is alive but seriously injured. They have also found the body of Chi Ow Tong, the man who rented the car, along with the bodies of Quon Lee and Peter Winn. The tie ins are: the four men who ‘just happened’ to work for TWIS and the same caliber of gun was used in these murders," Mike informed the Governor.

"Now…what about that search warrant Governor?" Mike asked expectantly.

"I called Steven and he’ll call Judge Cranston for the search warrant. He says you’ll have it by eight at the latest and he’ll deliver it to you in person even if he has to meet you at the warehouses."

"Great! Now all we have to do is to connect one of the bodies with the car or the partial print on the hypo cap. I’ve had Suzie call everyone to come in for an early meeting this morning."

"Good Mike. Keep me informed," the Governor told him as he watched the young Five-0 chief hurry out of his office.

Mike was surprised to find Dan and his parents waiting for him outside his office. "You three sure made it here quick," he stated as he unlocked the doors to the office.

"None of us could sleep, so when Suzie called we hurriedly got in the car and got here as fast as we could," Duke inform his son as they tagged along behind him.

"The others should be here soon," Mike said just as Frankie and Jeremy walked into the office.

"What’s up Mike?" Frankie asked.

"Some developments have come up and we need to talk about our next move," Mike told her. "It looks like more then just Shoes have been found in the bay waters in front of TWIS."

"Oh?" Dan, Duke and Frankie said in unison.

"Yeah, they found the car and the Governor has promised us the search warrant so now we can enter those warehouses." There was a wicked smile on his face as he enlightened them.

"Fantastic!" Frankie exclaimed excitedly and gave Jeremy an ecstatic hug.

With everyone talking at the same time about this break in the case it took Mike several minutes to regain control of the small group and direct them over to the table to wait for the others to arrive. Twenty minutes later he had completely briefed everyone about the car, the three dead men and the wounded prisoner.

"Suzie call HPD. I want two squadrons of officers to assist us when we search those warehouses. Also have the crime lab and at least one ambulance ready to come in behind us. Hopefully we’ll find McGarrett somewhere within one of those buildings."

"I’m on it Mike," Suzie replied smiling at Dan as she got up to make the call. Like herself she could see how concerned he was.

Dan smiled back to her as she passed him before he turned his attention back to Mike. "What makes you think they’ve hidden him there?" In his highly charged emotional state he didn’t quite see the connection of the warehouses and his friend’s disappearance.

The connection between the five clues suddenly became crystal clear to Duke now. It was as if a light bulb had just gone off in his head but when he turned to his friend he could see the skepticism there. He could tell that Dan wasn’t thinking with his head yet, like the detective he use to be but with a worried heart for their missing friend.

"Think about it for a moment Danny," Duke tried to say in an up beat manner. "One…the car was rented by a so called former employee of the company. Two…HPD found the car in the bay in front of one of the four warehouses. Three…we found the body of Jeremy’s snitch, who just happened to have information on this case, floating under those same piers and four…now HPD has found the four former employees of this company. And lastly five…three of these men may have been killed by the same gun," he recounted as he placed the tip of his index finger of his right hand onto each fingertip of his left to add emphasis to each of the known facts.

Dan’s heavily furrowed brow showed the doubt he felt as he silently prayed they were right. This was the start of the fourth day since McGarrett’s abduction and they still didn’t know if he was alive or not. "I know that Duke. And I don’t want to sound like I’m not understanding what has been found. But we have no real evidence yet that ties the car, the hypo cap, the dead snitch, or the dead men in with the warehouses. From what I can see there is no real proof yet only an assumption that TWIS is somehow involved."

"You mean that because the company had said that Tong was a ‘former’ employee and that maybe he was doing this as a way to get back at his employer," Mike broke in realizing what Dan meant.

"Right! I mean…and I pray and hope I’m wrong…that all this does connect and that Steve ‘is’ in one of those warehouses. But Duke…we don’t know for sure if he’s there or if he’s been taken him off the Islands or dumped his body in the sea somewhere or somewhere else on the island or on another island," Dan reminded them. "I mean I’m all for tearing those warehouses apart. But I don’t want to waste time with such a big search there and not continue the search elsewhere."

"I see where you’re coming from Mr. Williams," Frankie interjected. "Other than the car that was found near of the warehouses and the four dead men and one possible living witness we have no real proof that they have kept McGarrett there."

"Yeah…that’s exactly what I mean," Dan replied almost shouting it back for emphasis.

"It does seem strange that they would dump the car there so close to the warehouses and to where they might be keeping their victim," Frankie added as she started to think along the same lines as Dan.

"Unless Steve’s already dead and the warehouse was used as a front," Jeremy said as he filled in the rest of the thought Frankie had started.

Dan’s eyes flashed in anger at the remark. "You don’t know if he’s dead or not," Dan yelled at Jeremy. "Obviously you don’t know Steve McGarrett very well to think that," he snapped back stubbornly refusing to think that his friend was already dead.

"No Dan I don’t know him," Jeremy said in a firm but softer tone. "But it ‘is’ a possibility." He paused before he continued. "You do have to admit it would be an excellent reason for dumping the car there. If they knew that Steve was dead or close to being dead then why would they need to stick around?"

Dan didn’t respond back as he attempted to control his emotions.

"You do have to admit Dan there ‘is’ a connection of sorts," Deloris added. She didn’t want to interrupt any of their thoughts but she felt like they were on the right track.

Duke gently picked up her left hand and held on to it. "Yes Honey he realizes that and he’s right…it ‘is’ a slim lead. But I have a feeling Mike’s not telling us something too," he said looking up at their son.

Mike had walked over to the lanai doors and watched as the morning sky begins to get lighter. Soon all of Honolulu would wake up to what would be another extremely hot and muggy day. He wished the trade winds would start to blow.

As Mike stood there he listened to what the others were saying. When he turned around he had a smile on his face as he walked back to the table. "Only that I’ve got a gut feeling we’ll find Steve somewhere within one of those buildings. I can’t really explain why."

"Our people have been all over these islands. And we haven’t found him yet," he continued with conviction. "We’ve already gone over the latest information from this morning. Unfortunately the injured man is able to tell us ‘anything’ right now. But again I repeat I have a very strong feeling we’ll find Steve ‘in that’ warehouse."

Mike then directed his attention to Dan for a moment as he gathered his wording to explain just how he felt. "Look Danny I don’t want to waste our time either but right now we don’t have any other evidence that tells us he could be anywhere else."

"HPD is still continuing to look elsewhere too Mr. Williams," Jasper added as a reminder.

"Plus both the Coast Guard and Navy are assisting us now. They’re going to check out the smaller coves and bays on Oahu and the smaller islands around, like Rabbit Island," Mike added.

Dan nodded his head as he gave Jasper a worried look before he turning to the other members of the Five-0 team. He gaze finally came to rest on Duke and Deloris. He hoped that they were right for if they weren’t he was afraid that tomorrow could be too late.

It was already hot and sticky inside the warehouse when Song Tai Wo instructed her men to close all the doors before she left. She had made sure that her instructions had been clearly understood. ‘Absolutely no one was to enter that section of the warehouse under any circumstances.’ To fail in this order would mean their deaths and they knew better then to disobey their Mistress’s instructions.

The filth on the bottom of the crate no longer bothered McGarrett. Too weak to fight or care he could only listen half heartedly to the buzzing of the flies inside his prison. He knew he was in serious condition and when he heard the doors open again he tried call out again but his voice refused to work. Frustrated he tried to wet his dry cracked lips but his dry tongue lacked the desperately needed moisture.

His mind drifted back to the painfully vivid memories of when Wo Fat, his most hated enemy, held him prisoner. While he lay there he thought of Danno, his second-in-command, and of the punishments they both experienced at the hands of this man.

Finally his mind started to shut down the here and now as he began to slip in and out of unconsciousness. His thoughts drifted to one of many episodes of his life where he had met death head on or had to watch others as they witnessed or experienced it themselves.

He was sure he heard the ocean and could feel the movement of the boat as the waves gently rocked it back and forth. The summer sun felt good to his tired body as he lay on the deck. It had been several years since his last vacation and his present girlfriend, Cathi, had agreed to go on this small cruise with him.

"Steve," Cathi called out as she bent low to avoid the top of the cabin’s doorframe. A soft breeze played with her hair causing a few strands to fall into her face. "Steve!"

"Yes, Cathi," he called back to her turning over to his side so he could watch her walk towards him. The solid blue bikini looked great on her deeply tanned body and he smiled approvingly as she walked over to him. His mind quickly flashed back to the night before when they had made love together and of how she sought to please him and how he strove to return those feelings. He hadn’t felt this way about a woman in a long time and wished with all his soul that the feeling would last forever.

"Steve…I was wondering if you wanted to have that fish you caught today?" she asked as she finished tying her hair back with the oyster shell and coral clasp that he had given to her.

His smile widened as he sat up and offered his hand up to her to invite her to sit next to him. "What is this? All of a sudden you can cook?" he teasingly asked her.

"Silly man, no. I was just wondering if you wanted that or if we might go ashore for dinner tonight," she chided him as she faked feeling hurt that he should doubt her abilities. Sitting down next to him she allowed him to hold her close.

"Oh I see. You want a fancy dinner. Maybe we could go over to the Golden Dragon? Then some dancing ending with a walk along the beach in the moon light?" He thought that it might end in a repeat performance later that night once they got back to the boat.

She nestled even closer to him and nodded her head. "Yeah that sounds good to me."

"Okay pretty lady. Your wish is my command." Getting up he offered her his hand. Together they walked back into the cabin and changed into outfits more appropriate for a night of fun and leisure.

The night went beautiful for them but in the morning things had changed drastically. When he woke up he found himself on the floor of Cathi’s home. Her pet macaw was squawking loudly in the background. He didn’t know why but his head was killing him for some reason. Putting his hand on the sore spot he felt a sticky moistness. There was blood covering his fingers when he withdrew it.

Slowly pushing himself to his knees he looked around the room. It was Cathi’s bedroom realized as he stood up. That’s when he saw Cathi. She was on her back with a large gaping wound in the middle of her chest. Instantly he knew she was dead but he had no idea of how it happened.

"Cathi! Cathi!" he said as he stumbled to where she lay. "Oh no. Oh my God no," he cried out. He kept crying the same words out until he awoke with a jerk.

Shaken McGarrett realized it had been only a dream. "Cathi. My Cathi," he said sadly to himself as he lay there. He tried to push that memory out of his mind. He was to dehydrated to shed any tears of grief but his lower lip quivered uncontrollably from the painful memory. He knew he had lost the one woman he had given his heart and soul to. She had been someone whom he had almost thought of quitting the force so that he could spend the rest of his life with.

Slowly he regained control of his feelings and tried to think of other things. Sleep once again over took his weakened body as he slipped into yet another dream. Violent, tearful, emotional dreams of those people he had lost during his lifetime. Of how he felt when Chin Ho Kelly was murdered and of how he felt betrayed by Kono’s sudden departure.

As if these events were not enough he felt as if his heart and soul were being painfully torn apart when his closest friend, Dan Williams, had suddenly and as of yet, unexplained departure from Five-0. Dan had always been more than just a friend to him. He had always considered him to be the brother he never had.

McGarrett remembered how elated he felt to finally capture his greatest nemesis, Wo Fat. But with this thought the voice of Song Tai Wo came crashing back to him. This filled him with anger but it also for the first time ever scared him out of his wits. Never before had someone managed to totally take control of him to defeat him so thoroughly leaving him with no way out.

Gravely weakened he knew his death was very close at hand now. The peaceful thoughts of no more suffering started to become desirous to him. Finally even his memories started to fade away and it felt like he was floating upward away from the confinements of his prison. Away from the pain and sorrow he felt.

*****

Corky Owens was the night security officer for the Bentel Corporation warehouses on Pier 216. The company had given him an office that faced the bay water between the two piers. Very seldom did he walk outside but preferred to check the exterior areas from the various windows located on the building.

He had just finished another walk through when he heard the sounds of tires. Stepping over to the window he looked out and saw a blue Monte Carlo and a long white limousine pull up in front of the TWIS warehouses. He continued to watch the activities as it was unusual for that particular company to have any activity so early in the morning. He wasn’t too concern about the activity though until he saw the Monte Carlo go over the edge of the pier. When he saw this he decided he needed to call HPD with what he’d just seen and pulled his cellular phone from its clip on his belt.

"Hello HDP. This is Corky Owens. I’m the night security guard for the Bentel Corporation and I’m calling to report that someone over at the TWIS Corporation has just dumped a blue Monte Carlo into the bay at the end of Pier 217," he reported as he continued to watch the activities across the way. He then relayed the rest of what he was observing.

"We’ll have a unit check it out," the operator told him after getting his phone number. "Thank you for calling it in."

He continued to watch the other warehouse after he had finished with his call. Twenty minutes later he saw a single HPD unit arrive but the activity around the warehouse had already stopped. He watched as the HPD officer looked around the pier and then go back to his car.

Corky wasn’t surprised when his cellular phone rang. "Hello. This is Corky Owens."

"This is HPD Central Dispatch. We have Officer Julio Lopez on the other end who needs to talk to you," the dispatch operator told him. "Please hold so we can make the connection. Go ahead Officer Lopez, Mr. Owens is on the line."

"Mr. Owens. I’m at the end of Pier 217 and I don’t see anything. I need you to come and show me where you saw the incident happen," Officer Lopez told him.

"Not a problem. Let me double check all the locks here and I’ll be over there in about five to ten minutes," Corky told him as he started to lock up the warehouse.

Within ten minutes Corky had driven his car to the end of Pier 217. "Hi I’m Corky Owens," he told the officer who met him as he got out.

"Good morning," Officer Lopez said shaking hands with him. "I need you to show me exactly where you saw the car go off the pier," he said as they walked over to the corner of the pier.

"Right here," Corky said pointing to the rim of the pier. "Look you can see where the bottom of the car scraped the edging as it went over." They both looked over the edge and could see a faint film of oil as it escaped from the car.

Satisfied the informant had given him a viable tip, Officer Lopez unhooked the mic of his portable radio and called Central Dispatch. "Central this if Officer Lopez. I need a wrecker at the end of Pier 217." Smiling he gave Corky the thumbs up sign in gratitude.

Within an hour the end of Pier 217 was a scene of a lot of activity. Soon Senior Officer Tomas Olin and two other HPD units arrived. Officer Lopez briefed him in what Owens had told him. Then Senior Officer questioned Owens further writing down the information about the time and details on what he had seen happening on the pier. Satisfied that the information was complete he stepped away from the group and unhooked his mike of his radio. "Central this is Officer Olin. Notify Five-0, I think we’ve found the missing car they are looking for."

"Ten-four Officer Olin."

While they waited for the wrecker to arrive Officer Olin walked over to one of the TWIS’s doors and knocked on it but got no reply. Shaking his head negatively he walked back over Corky and the other officers who had moved around to the end of the pier. "Are you sure you didn’t see anyone else leave?" he asked the security officer.

"I saw two cars leave with one person in each of them. Grant it they may have left from the other side and if they did I wouldn’t have seen them leave," Corky told him as he led the way to the other side of the long building. After a brief inspection of the doors located there it was determined that they hadn’t been opened in a while because of the trash found at the base of the doors and spider webs that had accumulated over time.

"It appears that the other men you saw must still be inside," Officer Lopez theorized as they walked back to the other side of the pier again.

"Looks like it."

It had taken a good part of an hour before the wrecker finally arrived. "Hi Julio. Where’s the vehicle you want towed?" the driver asked.

"Hi Bill. It’s over the side at the end of the pier."

The four of them walked over to the edge of the pier and looked at where Corky indicated. A slight scowl appeared on the tow truck driver’s face when he realized its location.

"How big of a vehicle is it?" he asked shaking his head as he walked back to his truck.

"It’s a Monte Carlo," Officer Lopez told him.

"Humm to big of a car. Sorry but my unit can’t pull it up. How about that crane over there?" Bill suggested as he pointed to the big boom crane parked at the end of the pier half way between either side of the building.

Lopez looked over at the crane, which looked like a giant erector set toy almost. "Let me go check," the officer replied and walked over to his senior officer. "Tomas we’ve got a slight problem. Bill’s rig can’t pull the car out of the water. He says the car is too big and too far down in the water. He’s suggesting we use the crane instead."

Momentarily lost in thought, Officer Olin took a moment before he walked back over to the tow-truck. "You can’t pull this up?" he asked in a bewildered tone.

"Nope not a car of that size and not from that depth. It’s deep here and my cables won’t go that far," Bill informed him.

Exasperated Senior Officer Olin looked over at the boom crane then back to the tow-truck and then to Bill. "Okay do we have anyone here who knows how to operate it?"

"If the key is in it I can," Corky offered. "I use to do crane work before I got hurt and had to quit running heavy equipment," he explained as he walked over to the boom crane.

When they reached the equipment Corky climbed up the short ladder to the control unit and tried the door. Finding it unlocked he stepped into the unit and sat down at the controls.

"Is the key there?" Officer Lopez asked having followed him up to the control unit. He had never been inside one before and was amazed at all of the different types of switches, levers and gear knobs.

Corky didn’t answer right away as he was re-familiarizing himself with the machine. Looking around one of the panels he saw where a key should have been but wasn’t. "Drat no key," he replied mostly to himself as he continued to look. ‘Where would they stash it?’ he thought to himself as he reached over the panel with the dials. He couldn’t feel anything there so he bent down and felt under the panel. "Sometimes they hide the keys in the cab," he told Lopez. "GOT IT!"

The key had been in the corner of a panel bend. Quickly he took it from its hiding place and inserted it into the ignition switch. Once the key was turned he depressed the green ‘START’ button and the big diesel engine roared to life.

Officer Lopez leaned back through the door and yelled to his superior. "I’m going with him. We’ll meet you at the end."

Slowly and carefully Corky guided the big crane down its tracks toward the end of the pier. When he got within ten feet of where it ended he stopped, reached over and flipped a switch, which started one of the big drums moving slowly as it lowered the giant sized hook down to the road.

During the time they were moving the boom crane a recovery diver had arrived. He was waiting for them before he got into the water. The tow-truck driver had a length of cable in his hands, which the diver would connect to the car and then to the big hook. Several minutes later Corky got the signal to begin to lift the car from the murky depths.

The nose of the Monte Carlo had barely touched the docks when several more cars arrived with a large black Mercury in the lead. Mike Lukela barely allowed his car come to a full stop before he got out of it and ran over to where the crane had just deposited the car. A quick check of the license plates confirmed that this had been the car used to kidnap McGarrett.

Carefully Corky lowered the car onto the dock. When the car and the big hook were totally down Bill gave him the signal to stop.

As Bill began to remove the chains Mike went over to the car and jerked the driver’s door opened to look inside. Frustrated he slammed the door shut realizing there wasn’t anything inside that could help the case. "Bill tow this heap back to the lab for me. I want them to go over this completely, bumper to bumper."

"Sure thing Mike," Bill replied as he prepared to tow the car away.

Mike then turned and walked over to where the others stood. "Morning Julio. Who called this in?"

"I did Mr. Lukela," Corky said as he offered his hand. He had heard a lot about the current head of Five-0 and had a great admiration for him. "I had just finished one of my rounds in the warehouse that I take care of," he said as he pointed to the Bentel’s building across the way, "when I heard the screech of tires. This early in the morning everything is usually real quiet here. You’d be surprised at how well noise travels that early. Anyway I walked over to the window just in time to see the two cars pull up. I continued to watch and when I saw this big guy take a seat on the forklift and used it to push that car off the pier. That’s when I called it in."

"What happened to the second car?" Dan asked.

Corky turned to face the man who had just asked him the question and smiled when he recognized whom that person was. "They drove that one into the second warehouse here Mr. Williams," he said as he pointed to the second big metal door from the end of the building. "That big guy drove off in the white limo shortly afterwards and about five minutes before Officer Lopez arrived, I saw a very beautiful Chinese woman get into another white car, a newer model Mercedes I think it was that someone drove out of the warehouse and she drove it away."

Mike looked over at the other warehouse as he tried to gauge the distance. "From your position would you be able to recognize her again if you saw her?" Mike asked.

"Well I didn’t see her up close but I’m sure I would recognize her again. You just don’t see many oriental women of that type around. She was an eye knocker if you know what I mean," Corky replied. Everyone smiled at Corky’s choice of words to describe the woman.

"The man who pushed the other car off the end of the pier did he have any help or did he do it alone?" Jasper asked.

"Yeah I saw five other men come from inside the warehouse. They helped that one guy take care of the Monte Carlo. Then they rejoined the others at the door. The woman was apparently talking to them. After she left they closed the doors and I guess they are still inside. Anyway I haven’t seen them leave or anything," Corky told him.

Jasper and Frankie had walked over to the second warehouse to test the smaller door. As they expected, they found it locked. As they walked back Jasper reached down to see if he could pull open the big door. Just as he did a bullet smashed through the aluminum and zinged past his head.

Everyone scrambled to get under cover when they heard the shot. Jasper and Frankie plastered themselves against the wall of the warehouse. Mike peered above the hood of the car to see if they were okay. When he saw that they were he held up his hand to indicate to them to stay where they were. Carefully he made his way back to his car and opened the trunk. There he grabbed his bullhorn and a rifle. After he made his way back to the others he handed the rifle to Jeremy, the department’s sharp shooter.

"Mr. Owens how well can you see inside this warehouse from over at yours?" he asked the Bentel’s security guard.

"Not at all only when they have the big doors open could I see inside," Corky told the Five-0 chief.

Pressing his lips together as he thought, Mike looked first at the other warehouse and then back to the TWIS building. "Jeremy I need you to find a spot. One that will give you an advantage point."

Jeremy looked around, but couldn’t see much that would help them and provide the needed cover for him. That’s when he saw the fishing boat, Emerald Cove, starting to pull along side the pier on the other side of the wharf. "Hold on Mike. I think I’ve got an idea," he said as he made his way around the cars towards the end of the building. Once he was clear he broke into a run and went over to the fishing boat just as she was about to dock.

"Hey is that cranky old Italian Captain De Gaton still on board, or did you finally use him for bait this time?" Jeremy yelled out to one of the crew.

"Yeah what’s it to ya, you land lubber," came the booming voice from the helm of the boat.

Jeremy smiled when he saw his friend. He had known Dave De Gaton ever since school. "Hi Dave," he called out. "Look I need your help and it could get a bit dangerous."

"Yeah like how dangerous?" Dave asked his right eyebrow raised at the suggestion of doing something dangerous.

"I can’t go into it completely but I need to borrow your boat for a little bit. I need to find a place where I can take a shot at someone if I need to," Jeremy explained.

"You’re not asking for much are you? You’d probably get my boat all shot up too," Dave told him as he indicated for the others of his crew to get on with their business.

"Yeah it could get shot at but then it might not. We think we’ve found the location of where they’re hiding Steve McGarrett. They’ve already taken shot at us. So we need a spot where I can cover the others as they go in," Jeremy told him. He hoped his friend would help but would understand if he didn’t want to put himself or his ship in danger.

Dave had heard of the kidnapping of McGarrett when it first happened. The news and newspapers had plastered the headlines with it ever since. He didn’t hesitate to answer. "Sure if it will help find McGarrett. Tom cast off those lines. We’ve got to move this barge for Jeremy," he yelled out to the crew on the pier. "Better get on board Jeremy. You can show me where you want my boat."

Jeremy quickly got on board and radioed Mike. "Mike. I’ve got my advantage point coming up," he told his boss.

Mike looked around and didn’t see his detective right away but then he located him as the Emerald Cove came around the end of the pier. When Captain De Gaton had his boat where Jeremy wanted it he instructed his crew to drop anchor and take cover. The bridge of the ship allowed him to be almost even with the top of the big metal doors, which gave him an excellent vantage point.

"I’m ready Mike," Jeremy radioed back.

"Good Jeremy," Mike called back as he turned to the others. "Julio take six men with you and drive back around the warehouse and come in from the other side. Leave two men on the other side to block any escape there," he told the HPD officer.

Officer Lopez indicated to six officers to follow him as they got into the cars and drove off. After he had left two of the officers on the other side the rest of them continued on down the pier and drove back up on the other side where they took up their positions. When they reached their destination he waved to Mike to indicate that they were ready.

Mike waved back and then turned to Officer Larry La Fonda. "Larry, position your men as best as you can. Try and see if you can get someone along the walls there," he said as he pointed to the walls of the end warehouse.

"Right Mike. Rudy, Kevin, Eric come with me," La Fonda said as he worked himself and his men through the maze of cars to take up their positions along the wall.

When everyone was in place and ready Mike raised the bullhorn to his mouth. "This is Michael Lukela, of Hawaii Five-0. Put down your weapons and open the door. If you come out with your hands above your heads I’ll guarantee that you won’t be hurt," he told the occupants inside.

Shots rang out in response to his call. Everyone ducked until the shooting had stopped. Mike eased back to Suzie, Duke and Dan’s positions.

"Suzie do you think you can get a shot in there with the tear gas?" Mike asked her as he nodded his head at the two windows.

"Sure Mike. You want one or two lobbed in there?" Suzie said as she went to her car and got out the tear gas gun from her trunk.

"Two, one in the window above the small door and the other in the window above Larry and his men," Mike told her, then radioed Larry about what they were going to do.

Suzie made her way around the cars to get a better shot and when she was ready she fired the tear gas canisters into each window. Now all they had to do was wait for the chemicals to take affect. It only took a few minutes before they heard some coughing coming from inside the building.

Suddenly the small door opened up and a man, standing in the doorway, started to shoot at the officers. A single rifle shot rang out from the boat hitting the man in the chest killing his instantly and when his body fell it effectively blocked the door so that those inside couldn’t close it.

Mike and the others waited a bit more trying to give the other men inside a chance to surrender. From the amount of coughing he heard he knew they were adversely affected by the tear gas.

Both Jasper and Frankie decided to use this distraction to move into the warehouse. Cautiously they edged along the piles of containers inside the warehouse. The tear gas stung their eyes a bit and they wanted to cough but were able to suppress the urge because the gas had already begun to dissipate.

Larry waved his hand for the other officers to follow him as they too entered the warehouse right behind the two Five-0 officers. Once inside they worked themselves over to the large metal doors. As the other officers stood guard he pushed the button to open them up.

When the workers heard the door open they fired at the officers. The officers quickly ducked behind some containers near the door and returned fire.

Jasper and Frankie worked their way around the workers. When they heard the shots they also returned fire. One of Jasper’s shot hit a worker in the chest who dropped like a dead weight. His next shot hit another man in the shoulder. The man cried out as the force of the impact spun him around causing him to fall between two small containers.

Frankie managed to hit one of the shooters in the upper right arm causing him to drop his weapon and take off towards the open big doors. The man was holding his injured arm as he exited the building but he didn’t get very far before Suzie was able to tackle him bringing him down with a hard thud. Once she had him handcuffed she dragged her prisoner over to one of the patrol cars where she instructed an officer to watch him.

Silently Mike and Suzie entered the warehouse and began to worked their way long the walls around the piles of containers. Suzie had decided that some height might aid their search so she climbed on top of the containers leaping from one set of containers to the next.

She had just jumped to her fifth set of boxes when she had to duck quickly. A ways up the aisle from where she was were two more men. Grabbing her cellular phone she radioed Mike. "Mike they’re two rows away from you. I can’t see Jasper or Frankie yet though," she whispered to her boss.

"We’re just to the right of you Suzie," Frankie whispered into her cellular phone carefully waving a hand above one of the boxes. "Larry is just behind us."

Mike gave Suzie a thumbs up as he eased his way over to another box. "This is Michael Lukela from Five-0. Give yourselves up. Your other companions can no longer help you. We don’t want to hurt you if we don’t have to. This is your last chance," he yelled out.

Several slugs whizzed past his head thudding into the box behind him. Seeing her chance Suzie shot both men killing them both instantly. "I got them Mike," she hollered out to her boss then closed her eyes in sorrow. The two men hadn’t given her any choice; she had to kill them in order to protect another officer. Even though it was part of her job but she still didn’t like the feeling when it happened.

Mike had gone over to the last container and offered his hand to Suzie as she reached the floor. Both of them walked over to the fallen men.

Mike saw how it bothered her and walked with her out of the building to get some fresh air. "They didn’t give you or us any choice Suzie. You only did what you had to," he told her as he watched her try to regain her composure.

"I know Mike but it’s still such a waste," Suzie told him as she left to try to walk off the feeling.

Mike watched her walk away fully knowing how she felt. He didn’t like to kill either but sometimes they had no other choice in their job. He then had to turn back to the main reason they were there to find Steve McGarrett.

*****

From the loud noises in the warehouse McGarrett knew something was happening. "Help!" he tried to yell out when he heard what sounded like shots but his voice was so weak it only came out in an inaudible whisper. But he found some solace in the fact that help was now at hand.

But that feeling didn’t last very long. Soon his eyes began to sting and he was racked with energy draining coughing fits as the chemicals filtered into the container. "I can’t breath," he gasped between coughs. He tried to cover his face with his hands but didn’t have the energy to keep them there for very long. The combination of the side effects from the gas and his poor condition began to bother his breathing and caused his heart to start race. ‘It feels like it’s trying to jump out of my chest," he mentally told himself. He knew he was in bad condition and that he was about to die but something in the back of his mind made him try to hang on a bit longer.

"Danno, Danno, help me," he said to himself just before total blackness enveloped his mind and he lost consciousness.

*****

"Ambulances are on their way Mike," Jasper told him as he walked up to him. "We’ve also got some information from that one worker who Suzie tackled. He says he knows exactly where Steve is being held but he wants Five-0 protection in exchange for it."

Mike looked towards Jasper briefly before quickly walking over to their wounded captive. "What’s your name mister?" he demanded as he towered over the belligerent man.

"I’m John Lee Towe and I demand protection," Towe told the Five-0 chief defiantly. He knew that without the protection Chang Lee would kill him as soon as Song had found out that he had divulged the whereabouts of her captive.

"Look Mister you’ve told my man here you know exactly where Steve McGarrett is. You had best tell me right now. After we find him and he better be alive, we’ll talk about ‘protection’. Do you understand?" Mike responded back with a harsh authoritative voice.

Dan and Duke had followed Mike over to the prisoner and heard what the man said. When Dan realized that this man knew where his friend was, he lost his temper and tried to shove Mike out of the way. He wanted nothing more then to grab the man by the throat. Both Mike and Duke reacted at the same time by taking hold of one of Dan’s arms to pull him away from the terrified man. "You better tell us what you know, or so help you God I’ll kill you myself with my own hands," he shouted at him at the top of his voice, his face contorted with rage.

"Dan! Dan! Get a grip on yourself man," Duke told his friend as both he and Mike kept a firm hold on Dan’s arms. When Dan quit struggling they released him but didn’t leave his side in case he made another move to attack the prisoner.

As Dan straightened his shirt he stepped back away from the now cowering prisoner. "You had best tell him what you know," he said with a threatening hiss as he jerked his thumb towards Mike.

"Okay! Okay! I’ll tell you! Just keep him away from me," Towe cried out as he tried to scoot along on his butt trying to get away from the enraged man.

Mike nodded his head at his father to indicate to him to get Dan back away from the man so he could get the needed information. The last thing he needed in this increasing heat was to have to deal with another hot head.

"Come on Dan, let Mike do his job," Duke told his friend as he took a firm grip on Dan’s arm to guide him away from the crowd. He half expected Dan to do something like this but was unprepared when Dan moved so quickly. Now he needed to get him to calm down. There was still a lot of work to do and he was afraid that McGarrett might already be dead.

Duke kept his grip on Dan’s arm as they walk out of the warehouse. The interior of the building was like an oven and both men could only half imagine what it was like for their friend, if he was indeed somewhere within the building. They knew that Towe had said he knew were McGarrett was but he hadn’t said yet if it was in the building or somewhere else.

"I meant what I said Duke. I’ll kill that guy myself if he doesn’t tell them where Steve’s at," Dan said, the fury in his voice still flowed hot like lava but his body language was already saying that his temper had started to cool some.

Always protective of his friends Duke deliberately positioned himself between Dan and the warehouse. Until Dan showed him that he had control of his temper he wouldn’t allow his young friend to help out in the search. "Mike will get him to talk. But you need to calm down. Getting hot like that won’t help find Steve, Danny," he told him, the tone of his voice was level and soft. Again he thought on how much alike both McGarrett and Dan were. Both had hot tempers and were quick to act and all through his career with Five-0, he did what he could to protect them.

Dan didn’t say anything as he looked into the eyes of his friend. He could see that Duke was just as worried as he was. "Okay Duke," he said as he walked over to the edge of the pier.

Duke silently watched him and then looked over to the big warehouse door where he could see that Towe, now standing up, was talking with Mike and the other officers. Occasionally he could hear excited tones as Frankie or Jeremy raised their voices as they asked Towe a question and not getting the answers they wanted.

"Okay Towe start talking. Where is Steve McGarrett?" Mike demanded as he roughly jerked the man to his feet.

"Song had us make a special wooden container. We put him in it and then buried the container in one of the piles next to the wall over there," Towe said as he nodded his head at the wall to the left of the big warehouse door.

"What in the Sam hell did she do that for?" screamed Frankie, aghast at hearing what had happened. She couldn’t fathom the reasoning behind such cruel treatment that one person could do to another.

"Steve McGarrett better be alive you bastard," Jeremy added, his own voice rising several decibels above normal.

Towe coward at their verbal attack and started to take a step back but was stopped when Mike grabbed his arm.

"Just hold on Towe you’re not going any where," he said as he yanked him back. "Now I want to know exactly which ‘wooden’ container he’s in and I want to know ‘why’ she did this to him," he demanded as he dragged his unwilling prisoner towards the warehouse door.

Dan had seen Towe being brought over to the door and had started to walk over to the men.

"Duke!" Dan said as he walked over to Duke’s side. "They’ve learned something. Let’s go see what’s up," he said as he started to walk pass the older man but was stopped by a firm grip on his arm.

"Hold on Dan. Give them a chance to find out where Steve is," Duke said after he saw a quick shake of his son’s head bidding him to keep Dan away for a bit longer.

"She didn’t tell us why. She only ordered us to do this to him. We buried the container here in this pile," Towe stated in a whinny voice as he kicked the box at the bottom of the pile.

"Julio get this scum out of here. Take him first to Queen’s to have that arm looked at then taken him downtown and book him for kidnapping, firing upon an officer, attempted murder of an officer and having an illegal weapon in his possession, just to start with. I’ll add some more after we get back," Mike instructed the HPD officer as he stepped up to take possession of his prisoner.

"Get going Towe," Officer Lopez said shoving him towards the open door none to gently.

"Oh and Towe…" Mike said interrupting their exit briefly. "Steve McGarrett had better be alive or I’ll add a Murder One charge to all of those," he finished adding with emphasis on the last charge.

Towe’s eyes bugged out at this bit of information. His entire body now sagged into total submission. Office Lopez didn’t have any further trouble as he led his prisoner away to the patrol cruiser.

Mike stood there just a second as he watched them leave then he looked over to his Dad and Dan. He gave them the thumbs up signal before turning around to start the tedious task of moving the mounds of crates. "Okay, lets get these containers moved gentlemen," he shouted at the others. "I need someone to work the forklift. Anyone know how to work one?"

Corky had walked into the warehouse after all the danger had past. He was amazed at the stacks upon stacks of wooden crates. All of them had the same printing on them. When he heard Mike’s question and didn’t hear an affirmative answer he spoke up. "I can Mr. Lukela." Without any hesitation he quickly ran over to the forklift and took a seat.

Luckily the key was still in the ignition and within a few seconds he had the engine going and carefully drove it over to the big pile. One by one, he slipped the forks under a box and moved it out of the way. Finally he reached a long narrow box that had air holes in it on each end. Very carefully he positioned the long steel forks under it, moved a lever and slowly raised it off the ground.

Guided by several officers he backed the forklift up and gently lowered the container down to the floor near the doors. During the move everyone in the surrounding area got a whiff of a very strong and foul odor. It was stronger then the tear gas and it had somewhat different and more dramatic affect on some of the people around it.

Several officers turn either a deathly pale color or a curious shade of green as they tried to control their urge to evacuate their stomachs. Jasper quickly located and crowbar to remove the lid. Once removed it only took a few seconds before the nauseous odor caused three officers to quickly leave the building to throw up.

Jasper was the first to look inside the smelly container. "Damn," he uttered at he struggled to control the gastric rumblings within his stomach at the horrific at the sight and smell he saw before him.

Holding his breath he reached in and felt along McGarrett’s neck. At first his fingers didn’t feel a pulse, but when he shifted his touch he felt a very weak heart beat. Elated he looked up at the others around him. "He’s alive but barely," he yelled out. "Get that ambulance over here quick," he said as he carefully reached back into the container.

Gently he took hold of McGarrett’s right arm. As Jasper started to lift the man up he was shocked to feel how lightweight McGarrett’s upper body felt. When he had McGarrett up high enough he shifted his hands and placed them under McGarrett’s armpits. The splintery wood had already jabbed him in several places as he tried to protect the back and shoulders of the unconscious man.

Recovered some from the horrendous smell Jeremy helped out by taking hold of McGarrett’s filth encrusted legs, unmindful of it smearing onto his own clothing and his hands. Very carefully the two men lifted McGarrett out of the container. "Someone get a blanket," he yelled out to anyone in the crowd.

One of the officers quickly ran out of the building and went over to his cruiser. Opening his trunk he grabbed an old green army blanket and ran back into the warehouse. After he had spread it out on the floor Jasper and Jeremy carried McGarrett over to it. Carefully and very gently they laid him down upon it. Everyone became speechless when they saw the horrible condition of the man. Two more officers had to quickly run out of the building when they finally lost their battle with their stomachs.

Both Dan and Duke shoved their way through the small crowd to reach their friend’s side. Tears flowed from Dan’s eyes as he knelt on the floor close to his friend. He shuddered when he saw the horrible condition that his friend was in. The site of the near skeleton of a man who lay before him was so ghastly he couldn’t’ get his mind to think of anything else.

Reverently Dan picked up McGarrett’s right hand. The withered flesh seemed almost cold to the touch, which made him worry that they may have been too late.

"Steve! It’s Dan. Hang in there. Helps on the way," Dan told his unconscious friend, his voice choked with emotion as he looked up at Duke with concerned eyes.

"Helps on the way Dan. The ambulance will be here soon," Duke told him as he knelt down beside him. Then he reached down to touch McGarrett along the neck. The heartbeat felt way to fast and his breathing was very labored, rapid and shallow, almost as if the next one would be his last.

Duke looked up at his son as his eyes flashed his hatred. "Did that scum say why they took him?" he asked his voice filled with anger. He knew what Dan had wanted to do to the man, but he had other thoughts, old Hawaiian thoughts, on how to kill the guy. Almost immediately he felt ashamed for these thoughts conflicted with his Christian upbringing.

Mike shook his head negatively. His own emotions were on edge and it took him a second before he could speak. "No. He only knew where they had put him. I promise you both we’ll get more information out of him later." He had always known that McGarrett and his father were close but never imagined the two men were this close to elicit such an emotional reaction from his father.

Jasper started to walk over to the big door to watch for the ambulances but when he heard their high-pitched screams he broke into a run. A sigh of relief escaped him when he saw the emergency vehicles racing down the pier roadway. "Mike! The ambulances are here," he called out loudly as he waited for the ambulances to stop. "In here guys," he told the paramedics as they got out and grabbed their equipment.

"Over here!" Mike yelled out as he ran to the door in the effort to clear a path for the emergency medical teams. "Get out of the way guys. Let them through," he instructed the officers who had remained in the area.

The first team of paramedics followed Jasper into the warehouse and over to the prone McGarrett. Jasper directed the second team to follow an HPD officer over to their prisoner who was sitting on the road next to an HPD cruiser.

*****

As the one team of paramedics prepared to care of McGarrett, Mike walked over to the cargo door. As he reached for his cellular phone on his belt, he took a quick look over at where the other wounded prisoner was. Satisfied that the paramedics would take care of that person he automatically dialed the very familiar phone number of Katie Williams. While he waited for her to answer he walked back over to where McGarrett lay.

Katie had been in her office early that morning. The piles of paperwork from previous and current cases sat in her basket. They were a constant reminder of how far behind she was. As she sat there mentally arranging her day the phone rang. "Dr. Williams."

"Katie! We’ve got Steve! The paramedics are working on him right now," Mike told her with a voice filled with relief but also filled with dread and worry.

"How bad is he?" Katie asked with the realization that he probably didn’t know yet.

"I don’t know yet," Mike’s expected reply came. "They’ve just started on him, but he looks bad. I just hope we got to him in time," he said as he watched the two paramedics get set up. "They should be transporting him soon though."

"Okay thanks for letting me know Mike. I’ll be waiting for him on the Emergency floor," Katie told him just before she hung up the receiver of her phone. She hesitated for a moment unsure whether or not to leave right now for the ER or to try to get to some of the work piled on her desk. "Oh to hell with it. Steve’s more important," she said as she left her office and headed for the elevators which would take her the quickest to the emergency room.

*****

Paramedics Ron Benson and Luis Aguliar quickly set down their various pieces of equipment near their patient. Knelling down Luis opened up the equipment box and withdrew a pair of scissors and the blood pressure cuff. With no wasted movements he wrapped it around McGarrett’s upper arm and began to pressurize the cuff. As he did that Ron picked up the small portable oxygen tank and put it next to the prone man. Quickly he placed an oxygen mask over McGarrett’s nose and mouth, adjusted the fittings and turned on the knob on the side of the gauge to start the vitally needed oxygen. With that done he opened up the portable monitor unit and began to set up the connection with Queens Hospital.

"Queens, this is Rescue 32," Ron said into the handset of the transmitter unit.

"This is Queens, go ahead 32," the responding nurse replied almost immediately.

"We’ve got an unconscious elderly dehydrated male approximately 70 years old. He’s skin is very warm, flushed, turgor severely decreased. His BP is 60/40, his heart rate is 160, and breathing is rapid and shallow. We’ve got him on 4 liters of O2 request permission to start a line," Ron requested sliding his supply box closer to him so he could get to the supplies needed. Opening the box he withdrew the scissors so he could cut the shirt away to expose McGarrett’s chest.

With the material out of the way he grabbed several lead tabs from the supply box and placed them in the proper places on his patient’s chest. As soon he had the leads attached the monitor started beeping at a very high rate of speed. His face clearly showed his concern when he noticed that the heart had started to beat at a very irregular rate. ‘Damn, I bet this guy’s going to flat line on me,’ he told himself as he mentally prepared for the next step he was sure to come after taking a second to watch the readings.

"Queens I’m sending you a strip new vitals to follow," Ron said into the handset as he quickly inflated the blood pressure cuff again. "His BP is still 60/40, heart rate is now 170 but has started to become irregular. His breathing has become shallower and more rapid then before," he informed the ER nurse.

"Hi Paula," Dr. Katie Williams said as she walked up to the ER station. "What’s been reported so far," she asked as she looked over the nurse’s shoulder at the form she had been filling out with the vital statistics just called in.

"It sounds like a bad one Deana," Paula Rosario, the ER nurse told her.

"It is. Mike Lukela called me telling me that they just found Steve McGarrett," Katie informed her as she watched the lead tape as it came out. She studied the strip for a second and grimaced when she realized how irregular the heartbeat had started to become. "Thirty-two go ahead on the line and start two litters of ringers," she told Ron. "Get him in here fast," she said with an urgent tone to her voice.

"Ten-four Queens," Ron acknowledged and started to reach for an IV needle but stopped when the beeping became one long beep indicating that McGarrett’s heart had stopped.

Without hesitation Luis reached for the defibrillator unit lying next to him and flipped the lid open. "Flat line!" Luis yelled out as he grabbed both of the paddles. Holding both paddles in one hand; he reached into the side section of the unit with his free hand for the tube of ointment. Quickly he opened the tube and squeezed some of the fluid onto each of the paddles. With a quick flick of his wrist he tossed the tube back into the unit’s box. Taking a paddle in each hand he pressed them together smearing the ointment over both surfaces before he positioned them on McGarrett’s chest. During this time Ron had stepped over McGarrett’s body to adjust the power so Luis could shock their patient.

"Oh my God! Steve!" Dan cried out when he realized what was happening. "Do something! Help him, don’t let him die!" he said, his voice so tense, it raised several octaves above normal as he started to take a step forward. But a pair of firm hands stopped his progress.

"Come one Danny. Let them do their work," Duke said as he and Frankie held onto his arms. Neither of them wanted to remove him from the area but they didn’t want him to interfere either.

Dan didn’t say or try to get out of their hold but just stood there as the three of them watched the desperate attempts of the paramedics to change the fortune of tides for their friend.

"Clear," Luis yelled when he heard the buzzer sound. When he was sure that everyone else was in the clear, he depresses the paddle’s buttons.

McGarrett’s body jumped as it received the charge.

"Come on, come on. Start will you," both paramedics muttered under their breaths as they closely watched the monitor to see if a rhythm would re-establish itself. Soon a spike appeared and after what seemed like several minutes another one appeared followed soon by a group of spikes as the heart rate slowly re-established itself.

As soon as the monitor began beeping again, everyone let out an audible sigh. While the rhythm wasn’t perfect it did mean McGarrett now had a fighting chance.

"Queens the patient flat lined and we’ve successfully converted him. He is now in a normal sinus rhythm with a rate of 60," Ron said, handing the headset to his partner so he could check for a useable vein. "Damn this guy is so dehydrated, I can’t find a vein," he said as he carefully checked the upper arms too.

"Luis tell Queens I am unable to get a good stick on either of the patient’s arms so I’m using his jugular," Ron said as he adjusted his position. With the IV secured he opened up the drug box and got out the pre-filled syringes of epinephrine and bicarb.

No one said a word as the paramedics worked on the emaciated of a man. Everyone was extremely worried that in spite of everything they had done to find their friend they were going to be too late.

Duke’s face was almost ashen with fear when Dan looked over to his old Hawaiian friend. Normally Duke could easily hide his emotions but not this time and he wondered how his own face looked. When his friend looked over at him he tried to give him a hopeful smile but failed miserably.

Jeremy stood silently near the gurney the paramedics brought with them. His belief in his Hawaiian heritage had him repeating silent prayers to all the gods asking them to spare this man’s life.

Jasper was next to him saying his own silent prayers as well but he was getting antsy. He wanted to be doing something not just standing around waiting for the world to fall. As he looked around he realized there was one thing he could do. Silently he stepped over to the gurney and released the clasps and placed the straps down the sides. By the time he had finished Jeremy was next to him where they both waited as the paramedics readied their patient for transport.

Having got a better grip on her emotions Suzie walked back into the warehouse. She noticed Frankie standing next to Dan and Duke and how pale their faces were. Her steps lightly echoed within the warehouse as she walked over to her associate and friends.

This was the first time she had seen just how bad McGarrett’s condition was and the sight tore at her heart. A horrible odor drifted hung in the air as she walked passed the open wooden container. It suddenly dawned on her what that foul odor was. It was human waste.

Frankie turned her head when she heard the steps coming up behind her. It was Susie and she noticed how puffy and red her eyes were and surmised that she had been crying. "You okay?" she silently mouthed to her when their eyes met. An affirmative nod told her that her associate was still sensitive to the earlier shootings but she had now dealt with that aspect of the job. She gave Suzie a half-hearted smile just before she turned her attention back to the paramedics and the over to Dan and Duke. Duke still had a firm hold of Dan’s right arm so she knew he would watch over him. When she turned back to Suzie she noticed the green tinge to her face then grimaced at the odor herself when she realized what it was.

Mike knew his duties well and while he wanted to stay near McGarrett, he knew he had something to take care of outside. Quickly he walked over to the other team of paramedics. Three HPD officers were watching over the wounded prisoner who was already strapped down and handcuffed to the metal railing of the gurney. When the paramedics were ready he followed along as they made their way between the maze of vehicles now parked all over the pier.

"Bill I want you to ride with them to the hospital," Mike instructed the officer who acknowledged the instructions. "Carl will follow you in his cruiser. Both of you will stand guard over him until I send replacements."

With the gurney secured the HPD officer stepped in and sat down on the bench next to the paramedic. Mike helped close the doors with a satisfied click then stepped back. With a nod to the Five-0 chief Carl quickly walked over to his cruiser to follow them to the hospital.

"Ken get these cars out of the way. That other ambulance is going to need a clear path to get out of here fast," Mike said as he barked out the tense orders as he watched as the two cars weaved their way through the growing crowd and parked traffic jam. Once they were in the clear both vehicles now sped off down the pier road at a high rate of speed with lights and sirens going.

With the mounting traffic problem handled Mike walked back to the warehouse. That was when he noticed the small crowd of reporters and a TV van parked near by. "Damn it! How in the hell did they find out?" he said bitterly to himself. "Well they’re here so we’ll just have to deal with them." Continuing on to the open cargo bay door he noticed that Frankie and Suzie had moved over to the side of the cargo bay walls. "Frankie!"

Frankie heard Mike call her and excused herself to walk over to him. "Yeah Mike." She noticed that the press had arrived and that a growing crowd was starting to build outside the warehouse. ‘Damn lookie-lou’s,’ she said to herself. She detested the press and the rubber-neckers who seem to come out of every tiny crack and hole around when something tragic happened.

"Get someone to move that crowd back and if anyone gets in the way arrest them for obstructing justice," Mike told her loud enough that those near by could hear his instructions. Almost immediately those in the front of the crowd began to move back.

"Right Mike," Frankie replied as she began to get other HPD officers to assist her in clearing a path for the ambulance. One particular woman though didn’t move back with the others. Instead she had somehow managed to make her way over to the cargo door and was about to enter when Frankie saw her. "Hey! You! Stop right there!" she yelled out at the woman as she ran over to her. "Get back with the others," she ordered in a very firm voice after she had positioned herself between the scene inside and the woman’s camera.

"Hey I have a right to find out what’s going on," Cindy Watanbe said in a testy tone. "You can’t tell me what to do."

Frankie was about six inches taller then the reporter and her physic made her appear very menacing to a lot of people. But apparently her presence didn’t intimidate her as she tried to push past the Five-0 officer.

"Look lady get back with the others or you’ll find yourself sitting in the back of a squad car and heading for downtown to be booked for obstruction of justice," Frankie told her as she grabbed her arm to forcibly escort her back to the crowd.

"You can’t do this to me," Cindy snappily said as she tried to free herself. Her short statue gave her some help as she successfully twisted out of Frankie’s grip. Once free she made a quick dash around the detective and ran towards the cargo door with the cheers of the crowd urging her on.

Irritated at the reporter’s belligerent attitude Frankie ran after her and caught her just inside the doors. "You’ve just got yourself some cell time lady," Frankie told her as she snapped the handcuffs onto Cindy’s wrist with a resounding click.

"You can’t do this to me," Cindy shouted in an indignant tone.

"Oh yes I can," Frankie said as she marched her prisoner off to one of the waiting cruisers. After she opened the door she forced the reluctant woman into the back and then closed the door with a satisfying slam. This action got her a mixture of catcalls, jeers, whistles and cheers from the observers standing behind the police line. Feeling satisfied with what she had done and the reaction of the crowd she bowed low to them with a slightly evil looking grin on her face then told one of the officers to take her downtown to be booked before she walked back into the building.

Mike had heard the altercation between his detective and the reporter and had turned around to watch the proceedings. He noticed it was the same reporter who had an attitude problem at the news release of McGarrett’s kidnapping. Satisfied Frankie had taken care of the problem he walked back into the warehouse.

The paramedics had just lifted McGarrett off the floor and placed him gently on the gurney, which Jasper had rolled in closer for them. A chill ran through his body when he saw the bluish-white tint to McGarrett’s skin. That same chill now turned to dread for it looked like they might have been too late and that McGarrett had already died.

With their patient secured, the paramedics quickly rolled the gurney over to the back of the waiting ambulance. Dan and Duke were silent as they followed behind them. There was a sense of relief mixed with a foreboding dread as they watched them place the gurney inside. With a resounding slam of urgency Ron closed the doors and quickly ran to the driver’s door to get in. Just as soon as the engine started he threw it into gear and drove off immediately with the lights flashing and sirens blaring.

Only two people didn’t stand around to watch the departing ambulance. As soon as they had McGarrett secured inside Dan and Duke raced for Duke’s car to follow it to the hospital. Thankfully the other vehicles hadn’t hemmed in Duke’s car. Dan barely had time to get in before Duke pushed the accelerator to the floor with neither of them giving another though to the warehouses or the people they had left behind.

Thankfully the morning traffic was light so it didn’t hinder Duke very much as he strove to keep within sight of the ambulance. Neither of them spoke as they followed and their fervent prayers were with their dying friend. Duke glanced over once to his friend and saw how pale his face was. He could only hope that his own face didn’t show the same expression but he was sure that it did.

*****

"Queen’s this is Rescue 32," Luis said as he remade contact with the hospital. He didn’t like how the man on the gurney looked. ‘If we don’t get there fast this guy won’t make it," he said to himself as he took another blood pressure reading. "Damn, its dropped some more."

"Go ahead 32," Katie replied.

"We’re in route. Should be there within five to six minutes," Luis told her as he checked McGarrett’s breathing and the readings from the portable EKG machine. "His BP is now 58/40, breathing is still very rapid and shallow," he informed Katie.

Katie had kept an eye on the EKG readings. She shook her head when she saw that McGarrett had begun to loose ground again. "Rescue 32 continue with the current treatment but watch him very closely. We’ll be ready for him when you get here," Katie instructed as she wrote down the newest readings.

"Get Room One ready. They’ll be here within the next few minutes," Katie said as she left the radio area and ran over to the room she had ordered to be prepared. "I want the new portable crash unit cart in here. I don’t want to take a chance on that old unit," she said excitedly. Taking only a second or two to make sure the room was ready she ran over to the emergency entrance to wait for the ambulance. She didn’t have long to wait when she saw the red and white vehicle pull into the long driveway.

Ignoring the "Ambulance Only" sign, Duke parked his car in the slot next to the ambulance as it backed up to the doors. The car had barely stopped before Dan jumped out to follow the paramedics through the emergency doors.

"Room One," Kathy said as she ran along side the gurney as it was wheeled to the waiting room.

"BP is still 58/40. Breathing is still very rapid and shallow. He’s on 8 liters of oxygen and one bag of ringers going wide open," Luis said as he updated Deana on McGarrett’s condition as they moved him from the gurney to the examining table.

Luis hung the bag of ringers on a overhead hook while Ron removed their monitoring equipment after one of the ER nurses had replaced those leads with the hospital’s unit. Immediately the overhead unit began its beep and alarms as they adjusted it.

"Get another IV on him," Katie ordered after she had pinched McGarrett’s skin and saw how it still tented.

Jim De Vallos, one of the second year interns, carefully checked over both arms as he tried to find a useable vein. "Katie he’s still to dry. I can’t get a good stick any where yet," he exasperatingly told her as he looked over the veins again.

Katie took a second to come over to check for herself. As she went over the inner area of McGarrett’s left upper arm near the armpit she saw a place that looked like a possible site. "Get me a fresh needle," she told him as she pressed her finger on the spot to see if it filled out any better. The vein very slowly filled up after she had removed the pressure. "I think I found one," she said as she tried to insert the needle. Several times it seemed like she had it but the needle tip merely rolled over it instead of going into it. She was about to quit trying and do a cut down when she finally felt the needle pierce the vein and slid in. After securely taping the needle down Katie had Jim hang the additional bag of ringers and told him to open the flow up all the way.

With the vital fluids now rehydrating their patient Katie began to quickly cut away the tattered remnants of McGarrett’s clothing. "Jim lift his shoulders up for a minute so I can remove the rest of the shirt," she told him. Carefully he lifted McGarrett’s upper body up. But as they started to remove the material if felt as if a portion of it was stuck on something.

"Hold on Jim. Lay him back down. We need to roll him over a little," Katie told the intern helping her. Ever so gently they rolled him over to his right side being careful of the IV in his other arm. "It looks like the material is stuck to his skin. Damn there’s a nasty looking wound back here," she said after she had bent down to look at her patient’s back. "Let’s just leave it for now," she told him as they eased him back onto his back then double checked both IV’s to make sure they both flowing properly.

"Lonnie get a catheter in him. I want to see if he’s putting out any urine or not," she said as she checked his pupils for any reaction. "His pupils are blown. They are equal, fixed and dilated," she called out.

"He’s got a fever of 101," Jim told her after he had taken a reading from the ear thermometer. He then removed the blood pressure cuff belonging to the ambulance and replaced it with the hospital one. The monitor immediately pressurized the cuff, showed McGarrett’s blood pressure had dropped a little more and that he was going into vtach again.

"How about his urine output Lonnie? Is he putting anything out?" Katie asked her with a quick glance over to the nurse.

"No nothing," Lonnie told her after she checked the bag for any content.

"Damn! It’s been long enough. He should be putting out something by now," Katie said after she looked at the bag herself. "Get some blood drawn. I want his BUN lytes and creatinine monitored hourly," Katie ordered as she reached up to the monitor to activate the blood pressure cuff to get another reading. "It’s too soon to know but I’m hoping he’s not starting to go into renal shutdown," she said as she watched the blood pressure numbers to appear. When they did she wasn’t pleased. "Damn he’s dropped some more," she said aloud but mostly to herself as she mentally plotted the next course of actions that might be needed.

Although Katie was extremely busy at the moment she was very aware of who was in the room. She knew that both her father-in-law and Duke were standing next the wall of the room doing their best to stay out of the way and she was about to say something to them when Deana walked into the room.

Deana had seen her father and Duke come through the emergency doors with the gurney. Their apprehensive expression clearly told her how worried they were. Quickly she walked over to them and firmly took each by an arm as she led them out into the hall. "Dad. Uncle Duke. We’re going to need you two to wait outside please," she told them as she gently but firmly pushed them out of the exam room. "I promise I’ll keep you both informed," she said as she closed the door behind them.

Disheartenly the two men walked over to the wall and looked through the observation window to watch what they could. Neither said a word as they observed the fast paced proceedings going on inside. Both men vividly remembered the times they had watched a friend or team member lay inside one of these rooms. Oblivious to anything else their complete attention was riveted on the activity in the emergency room.

Dan cringed when he saw how thin his former boss had become. "How can he still be alive?" he said in a quivering voice. He hadn’t realized that he had been chewing his lower lip until he felt a twinge of pain when he had spoken. "He’s so thin Duke," he said inconsolably.

Duke was so overcome with grief his mind couldn’t not form a reply. Tears rolled down his face as he watched the shell of a man he once knew to be so strong and full of life. Silently he prayed, begging God to spare his friend, asking for the Almighty to let him live. He didn’t notice that several times Dan had looked over at him. If he had he would have seen the same tears running down his friend’s cheeks.

Duke didn’t know how long they had been standing there and was startled when he felt something touch his arm. "Deloris!" he said surprised but grateful. "How did you get here?"

"Deana called me," Deloris told him as she stepped over to the window. Her eyes widened as she watched the activity going on in the emergency room. She couldn’t make out what they were saying, but she could hear the hum of voices coming through the glass.

Deloris stood between them as they watched the two doctors and various hospital personnel work on their friend. Her worry increased when she saw everyone stop and glance at the monitor. Suddenly the tempo inside the other room picked up even more. Silently she looked up at her husband and saw the tears of grief and hurt in his eyes. She didn’t know exactly when he had gently put his arm around her but when he looked down at her he gave her a gentle squeeze.

She was not ashamed when she looked over at Dan and noticed the same emotional face.

As Katie examined her patient she unconsciously kept track of the monitor over McGarrett’s head. It had been beeping at a steady but irregular rate. Suddenly the irregular beeps turned into one long ominous sounding one. One swift glance at the monitor confirmed her fears. "He’s flat lined on us," she said as she reached over to the crash cart for the paddles. Quickly she put some lubricating gel on each one and rubbed them together.

"Jim give me 400 to start," Katie told the intern as she placed the paddles almost on top of the red area of skin from the previous shock done on McGarrett’s chest and waited for the defibrillator to power up. "Clear," she yelled after the machine indicated it was ready and depressed the buttons.

McGarrett’s body jumped a little from the shock. A second past as Katie waited to see if the heart had converted. "Reset it to 400 again," she said when the flat line continued. Quickly she placed the paddles back onto her patient’s chest. "Clear," she yelled out again, when the machine indicated it was ready and depressed the buttons.

Once more McGarrett’s body jumped from the shock but the monitor now showed only a green unwavering line.

"No conversion. He’s still flat line," Deana said anxiously, as her frustration level raised. Years of experience made each of her movements fluid and sure as she used all of her skill to save McGarrett’s life. The fatigue of her already long shift vaporized as the rush of adrenaline coursed through her system to give her the needed energy for this emergency.

"Get me some Epinephrine and bicarb," Katie briskly ordered.

Deana had stationed herself next to the crash cart. Quickly she picked up the two preloaded syringes and inserted the needles into the IV portal. With the medicine injected she now took the tube of ointment from the cart and squeezed more onto the paddle’s contact surface for Katie.

After which Katie rubbed the paddles together again and put them on McGarrett’s chest once more. "Again," she said after waiting another second. When the hum of the machine indicated it was ready she depressed the buttons. Again McGarrett’s body jumped from the shock but this time the machine let out one beep as a spike appeared in the thin green line on the monitor’s screen. It seemed life an eternity to everyone before another spike appeared, which was followed by a group of spikes as the heart started to beat once more.

Everyone in the room gave a sigh of relief when they heard the monitor’s steady beep. Katie ordered the rest of the needed medicines and then went over to the phone to arrange the ICU room for her patient. After she hung up she stepped over to the sink to wash her hands and put on a pair of protective latex gloves before she returned to her patient. Lightly she placed her left hand on McGarrett’s chest as she watched the monitor to make sure things were within her acceptable limits. Satisfied that things were copacetic she released the breath she had been holding.

"Jim I want to get to that wound on his back right now. Let’s roll him over a little so I can see it better," Katie said as she got out of Jim’s way so he could gently roll McGarrett onto his side.

The dried blood had saturated the shirt material and was sticking to the wound. "Lonnie get me some sterile saline and some swabs. I need to dampen this material so I remove it," Katie said as she tenderly checked to see just how much it was stuck to the skin. When she pulled on it a little some green puss and blood started to drain from the sore. The smell of the bacterial infection almost gagged her. The surrounding skin from what she could see was badly inflamed indicating that the infection had started to spread.

Gently she dabbed the wound with the wet swab. After a few minutes she pulled a little on the material to see if it was loosened enough to remove. A small area had loosened and more puss and blood began to drain out of the wound. Finally the dried clot was soft enough which allowed her to remove the filth-crusted material.

Lonnie gasped when she saw the infected wound. She hadn’t seen anything like this before and from what she could see the wound appeared to be very deep.

Carefully Katie took a clean swab soaked in the saline and began to clean out the ragged wound. She was surprised at the size of the wound. It was about three inches long and almost a half an inch wide. As she rubbed around the site she noticed that when she put some light pressure on the skin near the top of the wound more puss would emerge. "Just how deep is this thing?" she asked herself gently inserted her index finger into the deeper area of the wound. Cautiously she felt around with her finger. Although she could insert her entire finger into the wound she discovered it only when horizontally through the tissue and not into McGarrett’s chest area of his body as she had feared.

As she extracted her finger she felt something catch hold of the glove. "There must be something in the wound," Katie commented examining her glove.

Deana decided examine the wound herself as Katie stepped over to the sink and replace her torn glove. That’s when she noticed a dark object embedded in the tissue. "I think I see something Katie," she said pointing to what she found.

While Katie reexamined the wound Deana reached over to the tray picking up one of the forceps. As she delicately explored the depth of the wound Katie swabbed away the seeping blood to keep it out of her associate’s field of vision.

"What ever it is it feels firm," she commented as she tried to get a hold of it. The irregular shape and the slippery blood made the object very difficult to clasp onto with the forceps.

Katie noticed the difficulty Deana was having so she placed two fingers near what seemed to be the other end of the object in the effort to raise the tip up.

The tactic worked. Ever so gently Deana began to pull the object out of the surrounding flesh. At first it seemed like it was solidly rooted but it started slide out of the wound. ‘Katie hold on to this for a minute. This section is real thin and I’m afraid it might break so I’m going to try to grab hold of a wider section."

"Sure thing," Katie replied taking hold of the instrument.

With the new forceps Deana pushed the tip of it a little further into the wound. Locking the forceps onto a firmer piece of the foreign body she slowly extracted it. "Damn will you look at the size of this?" she said after she placed the splinter in the metal dish Lonnie held.

"Wow that’s got to be at least two inches long." Lonnie said as he set the dish down.

"Yeah," Katie agreed after taking look. "This wound needs to be totally cleaned out. Lonnie get me a culture tray, some more saline and a sixty cc syringe. I want to know what types of bacteria we’re going to be fighting here and I want to flush out the interior of the wound. Start him on an ceftin drip," she told the intern as she stepped back from the table after she had taken a sample of the fluid and flushed out the wound some more. "Just pack the wound right now.

Gently, they lowered McGarrett onto his back. A quick glance at the monitor informed them that his heartbeat was still weak but his blood pressure had started to rise.

The phone on the wall of the ER room rang so Jim went over to answer it. "Thanks for telling us," he said as he hung up. "Katie they’ve got ICU ready for him."

"Good let’s get him ready to transfer him there," Katie said as she stepped back and took a little breather allowing her staff to get the patient ready for transport. When everything was ready they transferred McGarrett to another gurney to transport him to ICU.

Mike and the others wanted to follow the ambulance but they still had to finish up at the warehouse. The coroner would arrive shortly to take charge of the four dead Chinese workers.

"Jeremy take charge of our prisoner at the hospital. Jasper you check in on Towe," Mike instructed his two detectives as he walked over to them. "By now the hospital should have released him and Julio should have him in a cell. I want these two creeps kept in isolation and away from any other prisoners. Maybe this way we can keep that witch, Song Tai Wo, from finding out that two of her men have been captured." he said as the three of them walked over to Frankie and Suzie, who were talking with Corky and Senior Officer Tomas Olin.

"I want to thank you Mr. Owens. Your quick actions in reporting the incident and then operating both the crane and the forklift may have saved Steve McGarrett’s life," Mike said offering his hand in appreciation.

"Yes we ‘all’ want to thank you Mr. Owens," Jasper repeated. "You helped brake this case wide open."

"I’m just glad to have helped in any way I could," Corky replied happily. He hadn’t realized whom it was they had rescued until after they had removed McGarrett from his prison.

"I’m sure you have your own duties to get back to Mr. Owens so I’m going to ask that you give Officer Olin your statement now, if you don’t mind."

"No problem Sir," Corky agreeably said as he followed the Senior Officer out of the building and over to his car.

‘Too bad more citizens can’t be like that,’ Mike thought to himself as he watched them leave. Wearily he looked down at the ground pondering the events of the morning. The high adrenalin rush he always got in these situations had fueled the morning’s dramatic actions. Now that the danger was over he was starting to feel the let down. With a deep sigh of relief he gathered his remaining energy as he turned around to talk to the rest of his team.

"Frankie I want the crime lab to tear this place apart. Get any and all information on this company and its owner or owners," Mike instructed her as he walked over to his car. "Put an APB out on the white limousine, the Mercedes and their drivers especially on Song Tai Wo. I want her found and brought in," he told her with a tone that indicated that he wouldn’t tolerate anything less.

"Well do Mike," Frankie replied pulling out her cellular phone to called Central Dispatch as she walked back to the warehouse.

"Suzie," Mike called out loudly before he got into his car. "Meet me at the hospital."

Suzie looked up at her boss and indicated she had heard him before she ran over to her car. Having arrived a few minutes after Mike she ran to catch up with him. Their footsteps echoed in the empty halls as they walked in together and went over to the emergency desk.

Dan, Duke and Deloris were standing next to the ER doors as they opened. Katie gave them a quick smile as she followed the gurney out of the room and down the hall to the waiting elevator. Deana was right behind them but didn’t follow them; instead she went over to the three anxiously waiting people.

"It was close but we’ve got him somewhat stabilized now," Deana told them as she led them to one of the other elevators and pushed the button. "Steve’s heart had stopped but thankfully we were able to get it going again. Now it’s just a matter of time to see if he makes it," she told them.

"So you’re not sure if he’ll live?" Dan asked his daughter, the worry and fear etched deeply into his face at hearing this news.

"I’m not sure Dad. Fortunately Steve kept himself in good physical shape before all of this happened. Now we can only wait and see if he’s strong enough to pull out of this." By now the elevator doors had opened and the four of them stepped inside for the ride up to ICU. When they reached the ICU floor they followed Deana down the hall to the room.

With each step Dan’s expression became more haggard. Worry filled his heart that his friend, his former boss, might not live to see another day. With sagging shoulders he followed his daughter to McGarrett’s room. When they reached the door he felt as if he had aged fifty years. "Can we see him?" he asked hopefully.

"Let me go in first Dad and see if they are ready for you. They might still be getting him settled but let me check," Deana said as she opened the door and walked in.

Keeping the door open a little Dan watched silently they adjusted the various monitors. A few minutes later Deana walked back to him.

"They said you can go in Dad but only you at the moment," Deana said looking at both of the Lukela’s who nodded their heads in acknowledgment.

"Come on Deloris. We’ll wait for the others over in the waiting room," Duke said as he gave Dan a comforting pat on the shoulder.

The Lukela’s walked down the hall as Dan followed his daughter over to McGarrett’s bed. Deana watched her father carefully, not sure on how he would take seeing his friend so close to death.

McGarrett’s death like pallor caught Dan totally unprepared. Every fiber of his soul ached for his friend as he silently pulled a chair up next to the bed and sat down. Mindful of all the tubes and lines he gently placed his hand onto McGarrett’s. Concerned that the skin felt cold he looked over at Katie and Deana who could only give him a weak smile.

Unsure of what he should do he turned back to his friend. "Steve! It’s Danno. I’m here for you. You’re other friends are either waiting for you or are on their way here," he told him, his voice almost cracking under the strain. Unashamedly tears trickled down his cheeks as he remembered how strong this shell of a man use to be.

Deana and Katie didn’t say anything. For the next ten minutes they stood there listening to Dan speak to his friend, beseeching him to live, pleading with him to use that hot Irish blood and temper of his to get him through this ordeal.

The hallway echoes from the quick strides of the of top two officers of Five-0 as they made their way to the ER’s nurses’ station. "I’m Mike Lukela, Five-0. I’m here to check up on Steve McGarrett’s condition," he briskly told the nurse.

"He’s in ICU Mr. Lukela."

"What about two prisoners our department brought in?" Suzie asked as she watched her boss head for the elevators.

"The first one still in surgery. He should be out in about an hour or two.

"Detective Loi and the other officer have already left with the other patient after he was treated and released.

"Detective Kalakaua and two HPD officers are currently waiting outside the operating room. From what I saw neither man’s injuries were very bad," the nurse told her.

"Mahalo," Suzie said running to join her boss just as the elevator doors opened. As they ascended to the 3^rd floor, she briefed Mike about their prisoners.

As Duke looked out the window he reminisced about other times when friends and allies could only wait like he was doing now. A religious man in many ways he silently prayed for his old friend’s recovery. But he wasn’t satisfied with just praying to his Christian god, he even said a prayer to the old Hawaiian gods asking them to intercede.

So deep into his thoughts he didn’t hear the familiar echo of steps coming towards him. It was only when he heard his name being called that he came out of his trance like state.

"Dad!"

A momentary smile of relief broke through the dour and brooding face Duke had as he met his son and Suzie half way down the hall.

"How is he?" Mike asked him as they walked to the waiting room, deeply concerned they had been too late to save McGarrett’s life.

"He’s in extremely bad shape Son. If we had taken any longer they said he would have died for sure," Duke told his son and Suzie. "As it is he still might not make it."

"He’s that bad?" Suzie gasped.

"Yeah it looks like it," Duke said with a heavy sigh. "His heart stopped entirely once so they’ve put him on life support immediately. Dan’s in with him right now," he told them as he looked towards the door.

"How come you’re out here Dad?"

"The doctors only want one person at a time in there with him," Duke told him. "And you know Dan they would have to knock him out too to keep him from Steve’s side right now."

"I don’t think even that would stop him Duke," Suzie told him for she knew that nothing short of Dan’s own death would keep him from his friend’s side right now.

"I totally agree with you Suzie. I’d hate to be the person who tried to make him leave," Deloris commented after she had walked over to her husband’s side.

"Mom!" Mike said when he saw her and gave her a hug. "What time did you get here?"

"About a half an hour ago. Deana gave me a call shortly after they brought Steve into the hospital," Deloris informed her son. Her puffy eyes were testament of the crying she had done since her husband called her with the information. "Hi Suzie. How you doing?" she inquired with a halfhearted smile.

"I’m doing okay Mrs. Lukela," Suzie replied as she walked over to the door to the ICU room. She was almost there when she had to take a quick step backwards to avoid it as Deana and Katie walked out.

"Katie how is he?" Duke asked as the others gathered around him.

"Steve was unconscious when he arrived and remains so. He’s in extremely bad shape so I won’t try to sugar coat his condition. To start with severe dehydration. The worse I’ve seen in a long time. There are also numerous minor but very infected skin wounds to his back, arms and legs. The worst wound is on his back. It’s extremely infected almost septic.