Chapter Text
A cool breeze bristled through the trees outside the Iolani Palace. The sound of a motor vehicle approaching the historic building disturbed the serenity.
The black Ford LTD pulled into the empty parking bay. As the driver side door opened, a young man with short, curly blonde hair, dressed in a pale blue Aloha shirt and beige pants stepped out. He leaned in over his seat and spoke to his passenger, "Second drawer on the right. It's the first manila folder, right?"
"Yes, that's right. Thanks, Danny. Are you sure you don't want me to come in with you?" came the reply from the auburn haired woman sitting in the passenger seat of Dan Williams’ newly acquired second hand car. Elegantly dressed for an evening out to celebrate Dan’s birthday, Five-O's secretary smiled at her boss's second in command.
"No need. And besides, it's my pleasure, Jenny." Dan returned the smile with a lopsided grin before he withdrew himself from the doorframe and shut the door with one hand.
Jenny sighed and sat back in her seat as she watched Dan walk briskly up the stairs to the double front doors of the entrance which led to the foyer of the Iolani Palace.
Dan pulled out his keys from his pants pocket and unlocked one of the doors. Once inside he flicked on the lights and quickly made his way up to Five-O headquarters. He whistled a tune as he walked down the corridor and unlocked the door to the main office. Just as he hit the light switches, something smashed him in the jaw. Caught off guard and stunned from the impact, he fell back against the door behind him, closing it in the process. A pair of hands grabbed the front of his shirt and pulled him forward sending him crashing into a desk.
Before Dan could regain his senses, he felt the barrel of a .38 pistol pressed threateningly against his temple as he was shoved face down across the desk, his arms painfully pinned back behind him.
"Shut up or I'll blow your brains out cop!" the man who held the gun snarled.
"Get me something to tie his hands!" Dan heard the man order his accomplices. He listened to their voices and their footsteps, as he tried to establish how many he was dealing with. He felt two pairs of hands holding him down and he could hear someone rummaging through papers, and overturning furniture.
"Tie him good!" came the command from the gunman as Dan felt his wrists being bound by what felt like a piece of cord. Telephone line?
"Over there!" barked the gunman.
Dan looked around him as the two men who held him yanked him roughly off the desk and pushed him into the corner of the room. He hit the wall hard, lost his footing and fell to the floor. He could now see that there were four men, dressed in black with matching balaclavas. Only one of the intruders appeared to be armed.
"Hurry up!" the gunman commanded impatiently to his accomplices who were frantically searching for something of great importance to them. Two of the men ransacked the cubicles that Dan, Kono and Chin were usually stationed, while the third man burst into McGarrett's office door after jimmying the lock. Dan could hear the familiar sounds of drawers being pulled out onto the floor and heavy volumes from the book shelves tossed around. Stealing a glance at the clock on the wall, Dan noted several minutes had passed since he burst in on their desperate search. The intruder in McGarrett's office dashed out finally and shook his head in the negative. Two of the men in the main office peered out of the detectives’ cubicles and threw their arms up into the air emphasizing they also found nothing of value to them. The gunman cursed loudly.
"Hey, ask him. Maybe he knows!" the smaller looking of the group pointed at Dan.
The gunman turned back to his captive and snapped, "How about it, pig? We want the file on the Bertolli case. We know it's here somewhere so you better tell us exactly where it is!"
"I don't know what you're talking about,” Dan replied in a voice that belied the lack of confidence he was feeling. “I’ve never even heard of the name!" Although Dan had a vague idea what the men were talking about, he didn’t know where Steve kept the files relating to the case they were referring to. With the recent rise in organized crime plaguing the State, Governor Jameson enlisted Hawaii’s elite forces to help Honolulu’s finest solve the toughest of cases. This meant that Five-O were stretched to their limits with each man assigned separate cases to work on with HPD.
The gunman scoffed and took long purposeful strides toward Dan who braced himself.
"I'll ask you one more time. Where is the file?" the gunman demanded through gritted teeth. He held his gun out in front of him at arm's length and pointed it mere inches away from Dan's face.
"Look, I'm telling you, I don't know! I never laid eyes on it!” Dan insisted. His heart hammered in his chest. He looked the armed man in the eye willing him to believe every word he said.
Suddenly before the gunman could respond to Dan's reply, footsteps could be heard in the hallway heading straight toward them. Silence fell as the footsteps grew louder. Dan's heart sank as he recognized they belonged to Five-O’s petite secretary, Jenny Sherman. Inwardly cursing he figured she must’ve wondered what was taking him so long to grab a manila folder from her drawer.
"Hit the lights!" hissed the gunman to one of his accomplices who was positioned closest to the wall. The man hit the switches, engulfing the room in darkness.
"No funny business or I will shoot whoever walks through that door," The gunman threatened his hostage in a low menacing voice.
Dan prayed silently that no harm would come to Jenny, who was not just a colleague but a friend to him.
Knowing the risks involved for both his and Jenny’s lives, Dan knew he had to do something. If the men found the file, they would be of no further use to them and there was every possibility their usefulness would end with their lives. The other possibility that ran through Dan’s mind was, how far would the men go to retrieve what they broke in for? Through the crack beneath the door, the detective could see the silhouette of a pair of small feet standing right outside. As soon as the door knob turned, Jenny's voice called out, "Danny?"
Dan knew now was his chance to act before she made it inside.