Recap:
"You think that I do? No. Steven you know me, I will not put myself in a position like that unless I am sure I will not be hurt. Is that what this is about? If we date?" He nods.
"Yeah, I saw you guys on the couch and I didn't want you to get hurt here again. You would leave, I know you would."
"I am not going to go out with him, okay? I'll let you know if anything changes, but nothing ever will. So, for the meantime, there is no need to be pissed." He nods and throws his shoes on and walks out the door.
I decide to make some food for when he get back. Pulling out things to make steak and roasted potatoes, I get to work.
Emily McGarrett's POV
Around 45 minutes later, Steve comes through the front door. When he spots me grilling, he makes his way to the back door. I could feel him beginning to scrutinise my work,"It went well, we're all good." I smiled and was about to speak, but he had more to say, "What spices did you use for this?" I laugh.
"The stuff in the drawer, I'm not sure what it is, but it smells delicious." He nods in approval, letting out a hum.
"Hey, is that your car in the driveway?" I nodded in response. "It's nice." I chuckled and continued to cook.
We eat and then decide to watch a movie. When it was over, he suggested going to bed but I stopped him,"Steve?"
"Yeah."
"Are you okay?" He gave me a confused look but nodded.
"Danny told me about Catherine coming here." He chuckled dryly.
"I knew I recognised those clothes."
"They've been on your bedroom floor, haven't they?"
He chuckled, "I'm sure at some point they were." I gagged but he laughed again.
"Really. How are you?"
"I miss her, I always do when she leaves. But she'll be back." I see it, Danny had mentioned it earlier. The look in his eyes when he talks about her, it changes to love. Whether he will admit it or not, he's in love with her. But she won't stay long enough to get that part of him to admit it to himself.
I wrapped my arms around him and pulled him into a hug, and we probably stood there for five minutes.
"I've missed you, Em. I'm so glad you came back." I chuckled at our sappy conversation.
"I missed you too Steven. It was hard to come back, but I'm glad that I did." I thought about Josh, he had told me so many times that I have to go back home.
'Because it's home Emily, and it would kill Steve if you never went back.'
"Did you bring my stuff back?" He gives me with a guilty look. I laugh,"It's okay, give me one of your shirts to sleep in and we can go get it in the morning." He nods and walks to his room, grabs a shirt, gives it to me, and I was out.
--------------------------------------------------
Emily McGarrett's POV
Tuesday.
"Tyler! Tyler!"
"Emily, Emily wake up!" I gasped loudly, sitting up and hugging Steve. He was sitting next to me, trying to shake me awake. Crying on his shoulder, he rubbed my back. "Hey, you're okay, it's okay Em."
I pulled away from the hug, and after regaining my breath, "Thank you." I gave him a teary, half-hearted smile.
"Anytime, do you want to talk about it?" I shook my head and he nodded,"Only if you're sure." I nodded again and he sighed.
"I'm sorry I woke you." He shook his head.
"It is not a problem, Em. I would do it again." I gave him another brief hug.
"Mahalo." He kissed my forehead and left the room. But a few seconds later, he ducked his head back in. I got up and stretched, waiting for him to tell me why he was still here.
"I have a meeting with the Governor today, so I won't be able to take you to the palace." I nodded and he left.
I looked over at the old alarm clock on the bedside table. It blared 6:09. I sighed once again.
I know Steve is probably getting ready for his meeting. So instead of bugging him, I kept on the shirt he gave me last night, threw on the same jean shorts, and grabbed some of Catherine's old converse that were sitting in front of the door.
I decided to make breakfast before Danny got here, so I walked into the kitchen, grabbing things out of the fridge.
After I was finished, I sat down to eat, but Steve came down, wearing a suit, without a tie, obviously. I whistled and pointed to the stove.
"Is it safe?" He ignored my whistle and gestures to the food on the stove. I chuckled.
"I'm still breathing, aren't I?"
He laughed,"Point taken."
"You look fancy today. Why are you trying to impress this guy?"
"My appearance matters sometimes, Emily." I snickered and he left.
Realizing Danny wasn't going to show, I
grabbed my keys from the counter and ran back upstairs to get my wallet and phone.
I reached the palace soon, and walked in, went through the security, but the guard remembered me from yesterday, so he let me go on up. I thanked him and went up. Pushing open the glass doors, I walked into the office that looked like Steve's. I was correct, seeing as there were multiple Navy awards and little ships, which I thought were adorable.
My duffle bags were placed next to his desk. I huff. He would have had to completely step over my bags in order to leave. Men. I grab my bags and walk out of his office. As the door closes, Danny walks in from the front doors.
"Hey, I thought we were surfing this morning?"
"Yeah, but we got a case. I had to come here to get something I left here yesterday. Your brother had a meeting this morning?" I laughed.
"Yeah, he told me it was with the Governor. He didn't get himself into trouble, did he?" Danny laughs as well.
"I have no idea, we'll find out soon. Give me a second, I'll give you a ride to the scene."
I nodded and he ran to his office. We met back at the glass doors and headed down to his car. I place my bags into my car on the way to his.
While getting in, he turned and looked at me. "Who's shirt do you have on?" He looked a little irritated, so I smirked.
"Jealous, Mr. Williams?"
"Curious, Ms. McGarrett." I chuckle at his retaliation.
"It belongs to Steven. He gave it to me to sleep in last night, he left my stuff at the palace, which is why I'm here." He nodded, seemingly satisfied with my answer.
"Oh?"
"Yeah, I would hope you would know what a doof my brother is, considering you have worked with him for 3 years." He laughed.
"Longest years of my life." I chuckled and he glanced over at me, smiling and then returning his gaze to the road.
We arrive at the scene, there were police cars and tape around the perimeter of an area of sand? We get out to start walking to the scene, when Steve joins us.
"Wow. Look at you. You clean up nice, babe. Win you any points?" I laughed at Danny and he smirked.
"Maybe." I laughed again as we made our way to the scene.
"Okay. Anyway, this is Duke Lukela, Sargent of HPD." I reach my hand out and we say hellos.
"Hi, I'm Emily McGarrett."
"Yes, I remember. Your father spoke fondly of you. It's good to see you." I smile and nod.
"So, Duke, tell us about the case."
"The Vic's name is Jen Hassley. 15 years old. Abductor drove off in a red sedan. Her mother got a partial plate." We nodded.
"We got a MAILE Alert out?" Steve looked down at the partial plate as he spoke.
Duke replied,"Just hit the wire a few minutes ago."
"Run that one." Steve handed someone the piece of paper while I gave more information.
"Teenage girls are usually kidnapped for one of two reasons: ransom or a sex crime." Steve looks back to Duke.
"Where are the parents?"
"Over there." He nodded his head in the direction of a distraught looking couple with matching t-shirts on that were supporting their daughter.
Steve, Danny, and I walk over to the parents. After introducing ourselves, we went right into questioning.
"Any strange phone calls? Anything at all out of the ordinary last couple weeks?" Danny tried to sound softer when he spoke, which I thought was a good trait for him.
Mr. Hassley shook his head,"No."
"In over half of all kidnapping cases, the abductor is usually a relative or an acquaintance of the victim."
Steve gave me an odd look, but he kept his gaze focused on the parents,"Is there anybody you can think of that would have reason to want to take Jen?"
Once again, the parents shook their heads and this time, Mrs. Hassley said,"No."
Steve nodded,"All right. I'm going to send some of our people to your house-- they're going to set up phone taps in preparation for a ransom call." Both parents nodded, so Steve continued, "Officer Kalakaua will accompany you home. She's going to supervise the whole thing, all right?" They each nodded again.
Chin suddenly appeared, "Got something."
And it really was something, as soon as Chin showed it to the parents, Mrs. Hassley gasped, "Oh, My God."
Chin continued,"I found this outside the changing tent. Does it belong to Jen?" Mrs. Hassley nodded and Mr. Hassley dragged his hand down his face.
"Jen was born with a heart condition. She has to take this medicine twice a day. If she doesn't get this within 24 hours, she could..." Mrs. Hassley started shaking and couldn't continue, so Mr. Hassley pulled her into his arms and continued to speak to us.
"She could die."
--------------------------------------------------
We searched the crime scene before leaving the rest for the crime lab. Then, we all left for the palace. I got in the car with Danny.
"How do you know so much about kidnappings?" I chucked.
"I like to research statistics and the possibilities in my free time." He laughed.
"Seriously?"
"We all have our hobbies." He laughed loudly at this, earning a grin from me.
"So, rain-check for surfing?" I nodded, but realized he wasn't facing me.
"Sounds good, how about the day we close this case? Whether it's at two in the morning or two in the afternoon." He chuckled but nods anyway.
"Sounds good."
We arrive and make our way upstairs. I start looking up our Vic, finding a lot of information. After deciding he could do nothing while I was researching, Danny went to the crime lab to see if they had gotten anywhere.
30 minutes later, Steve and Danny walk through the glass doors. "What do you got?" My brother has never heard of a hello, I swear.
"HPD reports all registered sex offenders within five miles of the abduction site have been accounted for. They're expanding the search now."
Danny, joins in on the conversation, "Okay... Uh, what about Jen's personal life? Anything?"
"I scanned Jen's cell records and social network profile. Everything's clean-- no suspicious messages, no strange calls, nothing to indicate a potential threat."
Danny continues,"Okay, this is strange. She's got nothing personal on her home page, right? It's all generic publicity stuff. Kids use these sites to share secrets, vent, or talk trash to each other."
"It's like Jen doesn't want anyone to know who she really is." I look down at her social media page, her standing with a surfboard, smiling happily.
"Okay, well maybe she had a second profile, maybe a secret one? Keep looking." Danny looked down at the smiling girl.
Steve suddenly jumped in the conversation again,"Her laptop is the the lab, will you go see what they've found? Let them know to be looking for another account."
I nodded and left shortly after.
--------------------------------------------------
Danny Williams's POV
As soon as Emily leaves, Chin walks in, "Hey, I just got off the phone with HPD. The MALIE Alert lines are ringing off the hook. I'm going to have to head back to the station to coordinate a grid search." We nodded, but Chin turned back around. "How is Emily's first official day?"
"I wouldn't know, you will have to ask lover-boy over here." Chin chuckled and turned to me as I scoffed.
"She's doing fine. We had plans this morning, but it was delayed when we got the case." Chin nods. I glare at Steven before he could say another word.
"How do you think it's going?" Chin looked back over to Steve.
"Yeah, she will stay on the island as long as nothing terrible happens, then, I'm not so sure." He have me a look.
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"Just don't do anything to drive my little sister away. You have a way with doing that." I scoffed and Chin laughs, but leaves after.
Emily McGarrett's POV
As soon as I get back from the crime lab, I walk in to Steve's office. "Danny was right, Jen was hiding something. She has a second social network profile. Crime lab also managed to recover all of the deleted e-mails and private chats, where I found a bunch of exchanges with a guy named Brant Cunningham."
Steve nodded, "What do we know about him?"
"Not much, but everything I've found screams predator. The account used was brand-new, the only emails he sent were to Jen, and the profile picture is a male model who Charlie found through facial recognition."
"Okay, when was the last time they exchanged e-mails?"
"Last week. He asked for her address. Said he wanted to send her something." He nodded and we walked out to the table, calling Kono.
"Hey, find anything yet?"
"Yeah, we think we have a lead. Will you go through the mail? See if there is anything from a Brant Cunningham."
"No problem, give me a second." Three minutes later, she replied,"Guys, I'm not seeing anything from a Brant Cunningham here, and the parents don't remember Jen getting anything from that name, either."
Steve was growing irritated, "Okay, its got to be there."
"It's not in the her fan mail," she stopped, but continued,"which means she's hiding it... Wait." I look at Danny and Steve, Kono continues,"this is a girl who is deleting her private e-mails from this guy, right?"
"Yeah, what's your point?" I had no idea where she was going with this.
"Which means she didn't want her parents to find it, so that rules out the sock drawer and under the mattress."
"Check for loose floorboards." Danny looks towards me.
"No, the room's carpeted." Kono interjected. "This is a good kid, according to her mom, she's perfect. She does what she's told, keeps her room clean. She's about to go on a 32-mile race, and she still remembers to make her bed."
"Which means appearances are important to her." Steve inquires.
"Along with her accomplishments. Kono, does she have a trophy case?" I had a hunch, and I wanted to test it.
"Yeah. I see where you're going with this." She hums in acknowledgment.
"I found something."
Steve speaks before either of us could. "What do you got?"
"Guys, the Hassley's are not Jen's parents."
"It's on the note?"
"Yeah, I'll go ask the Hassley's about it. I'll call you back with any other news."
We began researching for Jen's real parents, but Kono called back soon after.
"So my guess is, from what Jen's parents told me, is that Jen's abductor found out she was adopted, fabricated information about her birth mother, and used that into luring her to meet up with him."
"Okay, well that had to be someone who knew she was adopted." Danny sighed.
"Well, not necessarily," I pulled up the article I caught a few minutes ago, "Jen talked about it in her interview for Aloha Life magazine."
Kono agreed,"There would be a lot of people that could get their hands on it if they wanted too. I'm going to take this letter to the crime lab, see if I can get a print off of it."
"All right, hurry back to the family. They don't have a lot of money, but they could be in danger, okay?" I don't know why he was doing that, but he was the boss.
"Okay." You could hear disappointment in her voice.
"And, Kono."
"Yeah?"
"Nice work."
"Thanks." We hung up the phone after Chin walked back in.
"Looks like the MAILE Alert paid off. Found our abductors car. Kam Highway, southern edge of Wheeler." We nodded and walked out. Deciding I'd go too, I walked down with Danny and Steve to Danny's car.