Sammy's Notes:So, so, so many people to thank. First and foremost to Mari and ilna, who have done far more than their share of writing and posting while I attempted to wrestle this fic into shape. I'm certainly not complaining because I adore reading their stories, still I appreciate them taking up my slack. You girls are the absolute BEST! I certainly couldn't have completed this fic without your help, support, patience and encouragement. There are no two people I'd rather be taking this journey with and I hope I've managed to make it clear to each of you how truly special you are and how much I value your friendship.

Thanks to Sandy for more reasons than I could possibly list. And for always knowing the perfect advice to give to make every story better.

My goal when I started this fic was to write a 100 page story to celebrate 100 people signing up for The REAL World mailing list. But along the way it became much more than that. It became a way to say THANK YOU for all of your kind words, your reviews, your DMs, your twitter comments and your emails. A way to hopefully let you know how very much I appreciate your support and encouragement as well as the way you have embraced The Real World with your whole hearts and your infectious enthusiasm. As things went on my goal became to write a story worthy of you—The Real Worlders. I hope I've managed to do that. I can assure I've never worked harder on a fic.

To all of my Guest reviewers—please know that every comment is read and appreciated.

The final length on this one looks to be about 148 pages. So you're going to get an extra-long chapter every day this week with the final one posted on Friday.

Double Cross-Chapter 1

Warehouse District

Honolulu

Friday 5:30 A.M.

Steve and Danny stood quietly in the far corner of a dark, now empty warehouse that just hours earlier was the scene of a loud and vibrant underground party attended mostly by people under the age of twenty-one. Directly to their left, on a platform raised some six feet in the air, was a mangled DJ set-up which had been abandoned in the chaos when everything started to go wrong. The multiple turntables, along with several large speakers and a number of tall light towers, were knocked over and trampled during the panic and confusion as a mass of frightened partygoers attempted to get to the nearest exit.

The stained concrete floor was littered with beer bottles and plastic cups as well as purses, lighters, glostix, and even shoes that were left behind without a second thought as the estimated thousand or so people attending the party searched frantically for an exit with only one thought in mind—get away.

Small blood stains dotted the floor, the remnants of injuries suffered in the crush. There were squares of bloody gauze tossed haphazardly beside torn bandage wrappers. They were left by paramedics working as quickly as possible to stabilize victims and get them on their way to a local hospital for treatment. As soon as one young victim was dispatched the over-worked emergency personnel moved on to the next.

Initial estimates were that over one hundred young people had been transported for treatment.

At the opposite end of the room lay two bodies covered by gray tarps. The victims were pronounced dead at the scene by a local ER doctor who rushed to the warehouse to help as reports rolled in that the situation was worsening. Max was currently conducting his preliminary investigation, aided by several large flood lamps brought in by HPD to help illuminate the cavernous space.

The stench of stale beer, vomit, perspiration and death was almost unbearable.

As far as the team could gather from talking to officers on the scene when they first arrived, the police and paramedics were summoned to the warehouse sometime right before 1:00 A.M. Initial calls for help were vague. The last thing any of the partygoers, most of them under the legal drinking age, wanted was to draw police attention. But when it became clear what was going on was something far more serious than just an isolated overdose, the calls began to flow in.

Initially the 911 operators fielded reports that multiple partygoers were having unexplained seizures. Under further questioning, several of the panicked callers admitted there was heavy drug use going on and that the party was being held at an unlicensed venue. By the time local law enforcement arrived the number of people in distress was well over fifty and more were falling ill with each passing minute. They called in every available paramedic, put all the hospitals on the island on alert, and began stabilizing and transporting victims as quickly as they could.

When word filtered back from the hospitals that at least three other young people had died, in addition to those dead at the scene, and that the casualty count was very likely to grow, the local police notified Five-0. The team arrived at the warehouse around 3:30 A.M. and found that most of the frightened partygoers had cleared out and those who remained were, for the most part, too overwrought to be of much help.

Steve and Danny talked to the first officers on the scene, attempting to get a handle on the timeline of events while Chin and Kono did preliminary interviews with some of more coherent witnesses still present in an effort to compile a list of everyone who was in the warehouse when the party began to spiral out of control. The one piece of information they wanted most of all was the name of the person responsible for organizing the party. Determining who was in charge would give them their best chance of finding out who provided the drugs.

Catherine was dispatched to check out the multiple hospitals that had received casualties and gather any information she could on the number and identity of the victims. She also wanted to find out if any of the less injured had information about exactly what happened in the moments before the panic erupted or if they knew anything that might help determine who was in charge of the event.

Steve and Danny observed that the bodies of the two young people who died at the scene were now being loaded onto gurneys for transport and figured Max must be wrapping up his preliminary examinations. They needed his initial report to help point the investigation in the right direction. They assumed the deaths were somehow drug related but they wanted the Medical Examiner to confirm that, if possible, as well as to provide an assessment of whether the deaths were a result of accidental overdose or something more serious.

While the team waited to hear what Max had to say, and they had learned over time there was no use in trying to rush his findings, Chin and Kono finished their preliminary interviews with the remaining partygoers. The young people huddled together in the parking lot as dawn broke, most of them exhausted and frightened, crying and shaking, and wanting nothing more than to go home.

Unfortunately that wasn't going to be possible until they made a stop at HPD to give their statements.

Experience had taught the law enforcement officers involved that no matter how sympathetic they felt toward the emotionally overwhelmed witnesses, they simply could not allow them go home, talk to their friends, talk to their families, watch news reports and then come to the station in the morning to make their statements. At that point their recollections would not only be far less reliable but there was a much greater chance they would be influenced by the thoughts and opinions of people who weren't even present at the party. As painful as it was, and as cruel as it felt to put them through it so soon after everything they had witnessed, it needed to be done.

"The best estimate is that there were 800-1000 people here when the trouble started," Chin reported as he and Kono made their way across the warehouse to where Steve and Danny were standing. "Most of them under twenty-one years old. A disturbing number of them under eighteen. They all claim not to know who was actually throwing the party. Word spread via text and social media over the last couple of days. The actual location wasn't revealed until about 7 P.M. last night. Each partygoer paid a $25 cover charge."

"Do we have a guest list?" Danny asked.

"Not a complete one," Kono said, "but we're working on it. Duke says they've already transported a hundred and seven people to the police station to make statements. There are thirty-five more outside waiting their turn. We're hoping to get more names from them once we get a chance to question them more thoroughly."

"If this whole thing was organized on social media can't we get the names of the people in charge there," Danny asked.

"It's not quite that easy." Chin shook his head. "The people who organize these things don't want their names to be common knowledge for obvious reasons. Unlicensed venue, underage drinking, rampant drug use. They don't really need to advertise though. They count on the potential partygoers to spread the word and help build buzz. In lots of cases they only show up long enough to pick up the cash and then they disappear till the next party."

"Kono," Steve said, "why don't you and Chin head down to HPD and help with the interviews. Maybe some of these people will give you access to their phones. If you can trace the party related activity back to the source maybe we can get a lead on who organized this thing."

"Will do," she said as she stifled a yawn. "We'll let you know if we find anything."

Kono and Chin turned and made their way towards the exit. Halfway there they passed a grim-faced Max on his way to give Steve and Danny his initial assessment of cause of death. He never looked up or even acknowledged their presence even as they passed within inches of each other.

"What have you got for us?" Steve asked as Max got closer.

The medical examiner was staring so intently at the clipboard in his hands he almost walked straight into Danny.

"Whoa there," Danny said as he put his hands up in front of him.

Finally Max looked up, almost as if he was noticing the men for the first time.

"We have a most disturbing situation here, Commander," he said, his lips in a tight scowl, his attention returning to the notes scribbled on his clipboard.

After a few beats of silence Danny asked, "Care to elaborate a little on that?"

"Oh, of course, Detective Williams. The two bodies I examined definitely appear to have succumbed to poisoning."

"Poisoning? Not an overdose?" Danny asked, confused.

"Most definitely poisoning. More specifically, both victims showed signs of cyanide poisoning. Cherry red skin coloration on the hands and face as well as changes in the fingernails and toenails. Both victims also had the unmistakable smell of almonds in their mouths. Which as you know is the most identifiable sign of cyanide poisoning."

"So are you saying someone poisoned all these people with cyanide," Steve asked.

"Not exactly," Max answered matter-of-factly. "We also found heavy traces of cocaine in the secretions on and around the bodies. It appears the cocaine they ingested had been tampered with."

"So there was cyanide mixed with their cocaine?"

"It appears that way," Max said, dropping his hands to his sides and finally focusing his full attention on Steve and Danny.

"Have you ever heard of that before?" Danny asked as he looked first at Max then Steve. "I mean I've heard of a lot of things being mixed with cocaine to stretch it out and make more money for the scumbag dealers, but cyanide? That's a new one on me."

"This is a unique case for me as well," Max nodded. "Cyanide itself is both unstable and expensive. It makes very little sense to use it as a filler to stretch cocaine."

"Do you think there's a chance whoever tampered with the drugs didn't know what they were using as filler?" Steve asked.

Max shook his head. "Unlikely. My initial assessment indicates death came very quickly. I'm guessing the mixture was at least fifty percent cyanide. Anyone using that particular poison in that quantity would know exactly what they were doing."

"Ok," Steve exhaled heavily, "get me a preliminary report as soon as you can please."

"Of course, Commander." Max said and with a cursory goodbye nod he turned and followed the gurneys being pushed by technicians out the door and towards the waiting ME's van.

"Not much else we can do here," Danny sighed as he watched the retreating forms of Max and his team. "We might as well head back to the office. By the time we get there maybe we'll have the names of the victims and some more information from the guest list. At least it'll be a place to start."

"Sounds good," Steve said as he pulled his phone from his pocket. "Let's stop and grab some breakfast on the way. I'll call Catherine and tell her to meet us at the office as soon as she's done at the hospital."

"Works for me." Danny sighed as he rubbed his palms over his tired eyes and decided a strong cup of coffee would certainly do him a world of good.

Steve pressed number one on his speed dial and as he waited for Catherine to pick up he and Danny made their way across the warehouse, careful not to disturb any of the hundreds of evidence markers dotting the floor, and stepped outside into the early morning light. Each automatically took a deep breath of the fresh Hawaiian air.

"Hey," Catherine answered sedately.

"Hey." Steve could tell immediately by the sound of her voice the news from the hospital wasn't good. "How are things going there?"

"Pretty bad." She took a deep breath. "There've been more deaths. We're up to nine now. And there are a couple more people in extremely critical condition so there's a good chance that number will go even higher."

"Do you have the names of the victims? Chin says the party was organized mostly through social media so if we get the names we might be able to trace their account activity."

"Yeah, I'll text them over to you."

"Thanks. We'll make sure HPD notifies the families." Steve reached in his pocket and pulled out the keys to Danny's car.

"Some of the parents and family members are starting to show up here," Catherine said as Steve heard a definite flurry of activity in the background. "They're getting frantic calls from friends of the people who were at the party telling them about what happened. It's absolute chaos here."

"Do you need more bodies to help with crowd control?" Steve asked, concerned events might quickly get out of hand.

"Thanks. That would be a help." Catherine stepped around the corner to a quieter location. "No one appears to be dangerous or threatening they're just … desperate you know? They're scared and they want answers. So far hospital security is doing okay but I'm not sure they can handle much more of a crowd."

"We'll call Duke and have him send some officers down." Steve motioned across the top of the car to Danny who had overheard his side of the conversation and immediately dialed Duke to ask him to send some extra manpower to the hospitals currently treating victims.

"Tell them to come in … well just … ask them to be as non-confrontational as possible. These people are panicked. They're looking for information on their loved ones. They aren't even sure they're at the right hospital. Just … ask Duke to ask them to keep that in mind."

"We will," Steve promised her as he mouthed 'no lights or sirens' to Danny.

"Any word on who the organizers are?" Catherine asked hopefully. She knew getting the names of the people in charge would be vital to finding out who was responsible for the carnage at the warehouse and the human misery playing out in front of her.

"Not yet," Steve said. "But we're working on it."

"OK. I'll see if I can get anything from anyone here but I have a feeling they're all too raw right now. I'm not sure they'd even realize it if they did know something."

"I understand. It's just … I hate to ask you to even question them, Cath … but you know how these things go. These guys are probably packing up and getting ready to head out of town as we speak. We don't have much time to identify them."

"I'll do my best," Catherine said with her typical determination. "As soon as I'm done here I'll head over to Haleiwa and Straub. They both received victims as well."

"Thanks, Cath."

"Don't thank me till you see if I actually come back with any useful information."

"Hey, you ok?" Steve asked, worry evident in his voice. He knew Catherine was strong but cases involving young victims were always hard. And she was getting a more up close view of the misery this time than any of the rest of the team.

"I'm fine. I'm just … this sucks you know?"

"I know," he said softly.

"The last two victims were only seventeen and nineteen. Brothers. I was standing across the room when the doctors told their parents. It was … I mean I can't even imagine …" Cath's voice trailed off and Steve could tell she was having trouble keeping her emotions in check.

"We're gonna catch who did this," he said with resolve.

"I know," Catherine said with a matching tone. "I'll meet you back at headquarters later."

"Ok, call if you need anything. I mean anything," Steve said softly.

"Thanks. You too."

Steve disconnected the call and dropped his phone into his pocket with a sigh.

"Everything ok," Danny asked as he opened the passenger's door and got into the car.

"Yeah," Steve said somewhat distractedly as he took his seat behind the wheel. "Things at the hospital are just … tough."

"I'll bet," Danny said sympathetically.

"There are nine dead now and Cath said the doctors think that number is likely to rise. She's gonna meet us back at the office after she hits all the hospitals that received victims."

"Well let's hope by the time she gets back we can tell her we have a lead on who's responsible."

Five-0 Headquarters

Friday 11:30 A.M.

Six hours later an exhausted Chin and Kono returned from HPD with a partial list of the partygoers and a few vague leads on who might have organized the event. They were amazed at the number of young people who would pay money, enter a party in an abandoned warehouse, and then drink the provided liquor and in some cases use the provided drugs, without even a question.

Frankly it seemed surprising this kind of nightmare didn't happen more often.

As they entered the bullpen carrying a drink tray filled with paper cups of strong take-out coffee the cousins saw Steve and Danny standing at the smart table, deep in conversation. As they got closer they realized the two men were reviewing all the available information on those already confirmed dead. The names arrived at HPD while they were in the middle of interviewing partygoers and Duke immediately dispatched officers to do family notifications.

The oldest of the victims at this point was twenty-one and the youngest was seventeen. Three females and six males. Two of them were brothers but from what Danny and Steve were able to find out so far, none of the rest of them had ever met before their fates collided last night in the warehouse.

Chin and Kono added their new information to the mix and the four team members began looking for that one piece of evidence that might lead them to the whereabouts of the party organizers and/or whoever provided the tainted drugs. According to Chin and Kono they interviewed several partygoers at HPD who were clearly high, and when pressured admitted they had ingested drugs at the party that they had also acquired there, and yet they showed no signs of poisoning.

"So … what we're thinking here is that … what … only some of the drugs were poisoned?" Danny asked.

"Apparently," Kono nodded.

"If it was intentional why only poison some of the drugs?" Steve asked as he stared at the names and faces on the overhead screens as though one of them might actually speak to him. He heard the door open behind him he turned just in time to see Catherine enter the bullpen.

She looked exhausted. Her hair was falling out of the ponytail she had hastily put it up in hours before when the call summoning them to the warehouse came in. Steve noticed, and he wasn't sure any of the others did, that there was a damp spot on the front of Catherine's tank top. He couldn't help but smile to himself as he realized at some point she put the cop in her to the side and comforted grieving parents.

The proof was in the tears they left on her shirt.

Her caring heart, and her willingness to share it with others, was one of the things Steve admired most about Catherine.

"Hey," he said, meeting her eyes as she approached the group and stood beside him. "You ok?" He reached out and touched her forearm lightly, letting his fingers linger there.

"I'm fine," she smiled wanly. "Long morning. Any luck identifying the party throwers?"

"We've narrowed it down to a couple dozen names," Chin said as he indicated the pictures on the overhead screens. "These are the people who seemed to generate the original social media traffic. We're thinking one of them, or a few of them, must be the organizers."

"I may be able to help narrow it down even further," Catherine said tiredly.

"How," Danny asked.

He was desperate for any lead that might point them in the right direction on this case.

Catherine reached in her pocket and removed a cell phone. "A woman named Caroline Hidalgo gave me this. It was in her son Sean's possessions when the paramedics turned them over to her. It's a second cell phone. She said she knows this isn't his primary phone and she never even remembers seeing it before a few days ago. He's 20 years old. She said she thinks he might be one of the organizers. Or at least he might know who they are."

"Is he … ?" Kono glanced at the names of the victims.

"He's in bad shape but he's still alive," Catherine answered, then cleared her throat against a wave of emotion.

As she fought to keep the tears at bay she felt Steve take a half a step towards her in an effort to provide both physical and emotional support. She leaned her hip slightly to the left, making contact with his, letting him know non-verbally how much she appreciated his actions.

"Does he have a record? "Chin asked as he began searching the HPD database.

"Nothing serious according to his mother," Catherine answered. "A few underage drinking arrests and one public drunkenness. She raised him by herself after his father went to prison for attempted murder and drug running. Money was always tight but he was a good student and he got a scholarship to HSU. She was hoping he was gonna break the cycle and make something of himself."

"I sense a but …" Danny said hesitantly.

"But," Catherine exhaled, "he dropped out of college after one year. He started spending time with her ex's family. Went to visit his dad in jail several times. She tried to talk to him about it but he shut down and accused her of trying to keep him away from his father."

"What happened after he dropped out?" Steve asked, even though he was pretty sure he knew the answer.

"She said he became extremely uncommunicative and she didn't know exactly what he was involved in but he always seemed to have lots of extra money. When she went to pay this month's rent the landlord told her Sean had already paid for six months in advance."

"Did she question him about where the money came from?" Kono asked.

"She hasn't had a chance yet. When she went back to the apartment after talking to the landlord he was on the phone. She said she could tell he was talking to his friends and it seemed like they were planning something. She tried to ask him about the rent and he said they'd talk later. The next time she saw him he was in the hospital with a tube down his throat."

Chin held out his hand and Catherine passed him the phone. "This is great, Cath. I can find out who he's been talking to and maybe get some good leads."

"As soon as the paramedics gave Caroline her son's possessions she came and found me and gave me the phone. She said she knows her son made some mistakes but he never would have been involved in poisoning anyone. I told her you were the best and if anyone could get information that might help solve this case from the phone you could."

"I'll do my best," Chin smiled softly before turning and heading for his office.

"She has two other younger sons," Catherine looked at the others. "They're both teenagers. She's terrified the same kind of thing is going to happen to them. She's just trying to protect her family."

Danny nodded. He could tell that Catherine was affected by her conversation with the boy's mother. "So if Sean Hidalgo was one of the organizers I think we can safely assume either he didn't provide the drugs, or he didn't know they were tainted."

"It would certainly appear that way," Steve agreed.

"So then who did provide them?" Kono asked.

"That's an interesting question. I think we may be able to help with that," said a voice from the other side of the room.

The team turned and saw two federal agents standing across the office, just inside the glass doors. One was a genial looking middle aged man, slightly balding with a bushy mustache. The other was a slightly younger woman, average build, with her blonde hair pulled back in a severe ponytail. Both were dressed in the typical ensemble of a federal field agent. Black shirt, black pants and a dark colored windbreaker style jacket emblazoned with the letters representing their particular organization, in this case DEA.

"Is that so?" Steve asked as he took two steps in their direction. "And you are?"

"Agent Jack Schmidt from the DEA," the man replied as he crossed the room to shake Steve's hand. "This is my partner Riley Winstead."

"Danny Williams, Kono Kalakaua, Catherine Rollins," Steve said, pointing to each team member in turn. "And I'm Steve McGarrett."

"Nice to meet you all," Schmidt said jovially. "Your reputation precedes you. Of course we've seen the show … "

"You said you have some information on this case," Danny cut the man off impatiently. The very last thing he wanted at this point was to waste time talking about that television show.

"We might," Schmidt refocused his attention. "I apologize for the dramatic entrance but we were in LA and as soon as we heard about this case we jumped on the first plane. We've been working on a string of cases with similar MOs all over the United States."

"You believe ours might be related?" Catherine asked.

"It certainly has all the hallmarks. But actually, Agent Winstead has been on this case since the beginning. I only joined six weeks ago. So I'll let her fill you in."

Riley Winstead turned to face the members of the Five-O team, none of whom looked especially enthusiastic about having their territory invaded by the feds. "The first incident we know of took place in NYC about four years ago. The story is always pretty much the same. Pop-up underground party in a non-licensed location, word spreads through social media, tainted drugs get introduced and death and pandemonium follow. There were four deaths in that first case. There have been a total of fifty-one others, not counting last night's incident."

Catherine's phone buzzed as Steve said, "We have nine dead here."

"Ten," she said softly. "Sean Hidalgo just died. I got a text from his mother."

"I'm sorry," Steve squeezed her hand then draped his arm around her shoulders, not caring that people were watching. They generally avoided PDAs, especially on duty, but the most important thing to him in that moment was being a comfort to Catherine.

"Thanks," she met his eyes and smiled softly.

Agents Schmidt and Winstead took note of the interesting dynamics at play between the two team members as well as the fact that their behavior seemed to be of no surprise at all to the others in the room.

"Sean Hidalgo?" Agent Schmidt asked, breaking the moment between Steve and Catherine and bringing everyone's attention back to the matter at hand.

"We think he may have been one of the organizers. He was 20 years old," Catherine said. "His mom said that recently he seemed to have a lot of extra money. She was worried he was into something illegal."

"Well," Riley Winstead chimed in, "he probably was."

"Agent Winstead …" Catherine began testily.

Steve took note at the way Catherine bristled at the words from the female agent.

"Call me Riley, please," the woman cut in. "And forgive me for being so blunt. Maybe this young man just got in over his head. I have no idea whether he was trouble or not. But I do know I've investigated eleven of these cases and they all follow a very similar pattern."

"Which is?" Catherine crossed her arms over her chest and scowled at Riley Winstead. She knew the agent was only trying to help, and that she hadn't spent time with Caroline Hidalgo and didn't have the same emotional attachment Catherine did, but still she couldn't help but be slightly irritated by the agent's tone.

"Our perps move into a new location and make contact with a small time local hood or drug dealer looking to move up in the world. They make all kinds of promises about unlimited wealth and pump the guy up till he's ready to do anything he's asked," Riley explained.

"But how does that end up in dead partygoers?" Kono asked.

"That's a good question," Riley nodded. "In ten of the previous cases the party organizers have been among the dead. We were never able to talk to anyone who could give us any kind of lead on where the tainted drugs may have come from. But two cases ago, in Dallas, we caught a break."

"How so?" Steve asked.

"One of the guys who organized the party, a man named Gus Whitcomb, lived forty-eight hours after being poisoned. He was in bad shape but he was willing to talk."

"And what did he tell you?" Danny asked, eager to push the conversation along and get to the point.

Agent Schmidt picked up the story. "Gus Whitcomb said he was approached by someone looking to move a large amount of drugs. Said the guy was foreign. Russian he thought. But the only name he ever got was Makarovich. The guy said he already had all the distribution channels in place. All he needed was a front man. Someone who could create the right atmosphere for him to move the drugs around unnoticed."

"Let me guess … underground parties," Danny said.

"Exactly," Schmidt pointed at Danny. "He said the first few parties went fine and after each one he was handed twenty thousand dollars in cash and told to wait for the next call. Which he did."

"So what went wrong," Catherine asked.

"At the last party, Makarovich showed up and said he wanted to reward Whitcomb for a job well done. He told him to take a little free product and pass it out to the crowd. But to make sure he tried it himself first."

"And it was tainted." Danny stated the obvious.

"Yes it was. But by the time Gus Whitcomb figured it out it was too late and a lot of people were dead," Schmidt said.

"Why would Makarovich do something like if he had a good thing going? Why poison his customers?" Kono questioned.

"Here's where the break comes in," Agent Winstead continued. "Once Gus started to get sick he had a feeling the drugs might have been laced with something. So he went looking for Makarovich. He found him in a back office but Gus was too weak to confront him and passed out in the hall. While he was laying there he heard Makarovich talking on the phone. He couldn't tell who was on the other end but Makarovich saying how he needed to make sure the local police were distracted so he could go ahead and make an even bigger score."

"A bigger score?" Steve asked. "What kind of bigger score?"

"Whitcomb was very clear about that specific detail so once we heard that," Riley said, "we went back and checked police reports in every city with previous partygoer deaths. In each case we found out there was a major shipment of cocaine moved through the city within a week of the event. Local cops were so busy trying to solve the first case the second one slipped through with no problem."

"Every single time," Schmidt said, pounding his fist in his hand, "Makarovich, and whoever he's working with, knew exactly when to move the shipment to make sure he wasn't caught. One time it was during the funeral for one of the victims who was a police officer's son. Another time it was during a press conference where the police commissioner announced a new drug crime initiative. In Dallas it was during a massive citywide canvas for information on the underground party scene. In every case the police were distracted elsewhere."

Steve took a deep breath. "So how long do we have? What's our window look like?"

"A couple of days to a week," Riley said. "Tops."

Chin re-entered the bullpen and made his way to the smart table. Steve introduced him to the DEA agents and Chin smiled politely then began to detail what he found on Sean Hidalgo's phone.

"I managed to get three numbers off the phone that Sean Hidalgo called frequently in the days before the party. When I say frequently I mean over twenty times each. One of them is his best friend, who is also among the casualties, but two of them are random burner phones."

"It figures," Agent Schmidt said. "In every case so far there's been heavy use of burner phones. They're of no help."

"That's not necessarily true," Catherine said. "Maybe we can use them to make contact. They may still be operational, especially if Makarovich doesn't know Sean Hidalgo is dead yet."

"It's a long shot," Steve said, turning towards Catherine and automatically picking up on exactly what she was thinking.

"But right now it's the only chance we have," she pointed out.

"So what would the best approach would be?" Steve slipped seamlessly into planning mode, letting Catherine take the lead.

"We call the guy. Convince him we were Sean Hidalgo's silent partners. Tell him we know everything," she said, formulating the plan in her head as she went.

"It could work." Steve looked at her intently and they seemed to be having an entire conversation without speaking a word.

"It's our best chance to stop these guys before they move on to another city and more people die," Catherine said determinedly, excited at the thought they may actually catch Makarovich and not only put an end to all the deaths but help bring some peace to Caroline Hidalgo and the other grieving parents.

"What are you two … no … this is insane," Danny shook his head vigorously. "Did you not hear them say that every person who has done business with this guy is dead?"

"No," Catherine responded evenly, never breaking eye contact with Steve, "he said every one of the party organizers is dead. Not the people involved in the second deal."

"That's a pretty minor distinction," Danny huffed loudly.

"These people succeed because they manage to distract law enforcement and slip the second shipment through right under their noses. This time will be different. This time we'll be the ones in control," Catherine said.

"If you can convince them you're bigger players than Sean was, and that you can handle a much bigger shipment, you might flush the big bosses out and we can take the whole operation down in one fell swoop," Chin said, catching on to Catherine's growing enthusiasm.

"You're not helping," Danny glared at him.

"They're right, brah," Kono sided with the others. "Who knows when we'll ever get another chance like this? We can not only make someone pay for the deaths here on the island but prevent more deaths wherever they're planning to move on to next."

"We have a chance to end this here and now," Catherine said firmly.

"We?" Danny's voice got more heated. "The two of you." He pointed between Steve and Catherine. "I've heard hare-brained ideas before … though usually from Steve more often than from you …but this just may take the cake."

"We know what we're doing Danny," Steve said calmly. "Besides Cath and I may be the ones to make contact but when we say 'we' can take down this operation that means all of us. This is going to require teamwork."

"This is nuts. The two of you are nuts." Danny crossed his arms over his chest and refused to look at either of his friends.

"Listen, Danny," Catherine turned and placed a hand on her friend's forearm. She waited until he acquiesced and raised his eyes to hers before continuing. "I was with Caroline Hidalgo today when the doctors told her there wasn't much of a chance her son would survive. I saw the life go out of her. And I made her a promise. That I'd do everything I possibly could to find the people who did this to her son."

"Her son was a drug dealer," Danny argued.

"I know. But he was her son. And he wasn't always a drug dealer. And she loved him. And he didn't deserve to be killed just so that these monsters could distract the police and make a bigger score."

"Catherine … " Danny understood her position but still hated the thought of his friends embarking on such a dangerous mission.

"I'm not naïve, Danny. I've seen a lot of death. Both soldiers and civilians. But at those hospitals this morning, seeing and talking to those devastated parents and friends and loved ones … this was all so senseless. And now that I know it was all done just to cover up another crime?"

"There's no talking you out of this is there?" Danny was starting to give in.

"No. I'm gonna keep my promise to Caroline Hidalgo one way or the other. But I'll feel much better about everything if we have your help and support."

Danny looked in her eyes. "Ok, well then we better come up with a damn good plan because there's no way the two of you are going anywhere near this if we can't figure out a way to reduce the risk."

Five-0 Headquarters

Friday 1:45 P.M.

After an hour of tossing ideas back and forth about the best way to approach Makarovich, with agents Schmidt and Winstead adding suggestions based on their experience with previous cases, the Five-O team settled on the course of action they thought stood the best chance of success.

Catherine would use the burner phone to attempt to make contact with Makarovich. Once that happened, she would convince him that she and Steve, posing as drug dealers, were the best people on the island to help him make that big second score. They were going to use his own greed to trap him, the same way he trapped the people he recruited to act as party planners.

There were two unidentified numbers on Sean Hidalgo's phone that he called repeatedly in the days leading up to the party. One was called fifteen times, the other over thirty. Catherine decided to try the lesser called number on the theory that Hidalgo would probably not have bothered the big boss more often than necessary.

"How are you planning to get him to talk to you?" Schmidt asked. "These things can be tricky."

Catherine smiled patiently. She knew the agent was trying to be helpful but she didn't need Jack Schmidt to tell her how to handle the initial contact. "I think the direct approach is the best. I'll tell them Sean was working for us as well," she pointed between Steve and herself, "and that he told us everything he knew about Makarovich's operation. Specifically how they already have a distribution system in place. I'll explain that we believe our strong supply line combined with their on-the-ground contacts could make us all very rich."

"Be careful not to push too hard," Schmidt said.

"Don't worry about Catherine," Steve said, holding up his hand to forestall any more of Schmidt's helpful advice. "She's handled dozens of operations trickier than this. She's got this."

Catherine smiled at him.

"The only issue we might have is coming up with actual drugs to use," she said, turning back to Agent Schmidt.

"We can get you some cocaine you can use to establish your credibility but be careful not to offer a bigger delivery than necessary because there's only so much real stuff we'll be able to provide. The rest will be fake and if they find out not only is the whole operation sunk but your lives are in very real danger."

"And not only that, what are you going to do when someone recognizes you?" Danny said, pointing out a very valid concern. "Everyone on the island knows your faces."

"Everyone involved in the second deal, outside of the supplier of course, is usually an out-of-towner," Schmidt offered. "Makarovich only uses his own people for the second job. That way once he disappears the chance of him getting caught is zero because everyone who knew him from the first job is dead and the only people who know him from the second job have as much to lose as he does. So that's probably not major concern. The chance of getting recognized is slim."

"Slim, but not zero? That's comforting," Danny groused.

"We can handle this, Danny. We'll be careful," Catherine assured him again.

"If it makes you feel better," Agent Winstead offered, "I can run a background check on any names from your past cases or experiences that might have any connection to what we know of Makarovich's operation. That way we'll have advanced warning of anyone who might potentially recognize either of you."

"Thanks very much," Danny said to the agent. "That actually would make me feel better."

"So what happens once you make contact?" Chin asked. He wanted to guarantee this operation was planned down to the tiniest detail. He was determined to leave the smallest possible margin for error.

"We'll set up the deal. And you guys can take them down and make the arrests," Steve said.

"Well that sounds easy," Danny replied sarcastically. "But in the meantime, how are we gonna monitor the situation? These guys are too smart for wires or cameras. They'll have thought of all that ahead of time. Not to mention they're gonna want check the two of you out. Have you thought about how you'll get fake identities on such short notice?"

"I can help with that," Agent Schmidt said, pulling out his phone. "We have plenty of IDs that have been created and aged exactly for situations like this."

"Of course you do," Danny sighed.

"Catherine and I will take a room at the Hilton Hawaiian Village for the length of the operation. We'll set up a discreet command center and run information through there," Steve said. "It'll be the perfect cover. There are too many people coming and going from that place at all hours of the day and night for Makarovich to keep track of all of them. We'll set you guys up in a room close by and you'll be right there if something goes wrong."

"Well that's great for when you're in the hotel … but what about when you leave?" Danny pressed.

Steve's phone buzzed and he said "Excuse me," as he answered. He held up one finger indicating he would be just a minute and stepped into his office to take a call from Duke, who wanted to know if they had learned anything new about who might have organized the party.

Danny followed him quietly and waited patiently till Steve ended his call, then he said, "You realize this is insane right?"

"Danny …"

"No, I'm serious. This is insane. It's a suicide mission."

"Catherine and I can handle it." Steve understood Danny's concern was but he also knew how determined Catherine was to go ahead with this mission.

There would be no dissuading her.

And there was no question but that he would be by her side every step of the way.

"These people are ruthless, Steve. They kill total strangers … most of them barely more than kids … just as a distraction. What do you think they'll do to you two if they find out you're cops?"

"I … we … appreciate your concern, Danny," Steve said honestly, "but we can handle this."

"Why the two of you? Why can't Schmidt and Winstead do it?"

"Catherine and I are trained … "

"Not for this," Danny argued.

"We have to stop these guys Danny. You heard the agents. This is the eleventh time this has happened. At least. And we've got ten dead kids here on the island. Maybe more. If we let them get away they'll just go someplace new and this will all happen all over again. We can't let that happen."

"You know what I hate?" Danny huffed, rubbing his forehead.

"What?" Steve could tell Danny was caving.

"When you make a point I can't really argue with."

"You'd think you'd be used to it by now," Steve grinned.

"What about Cammie? Have you thought about her? Who's gonna take care of her while you two are off on this little mission?"

"I thought maybe she could come and stay with you and Grace for a few days."

"Isn't 'for a few days' how you got into trouble in the first place?" Danny smiled grudgingly

"Yes, but that won't happen to you. Because we'll be back for her."

"You promise?" Danny's tone was deadly serious.

"I promise," Steve replied solemnly.

"Good."

Catherine poked her head in the office. "Everything ok?"

"Danny's just worried about us." Steve smiled at her.

"That's very sweet," Catherine returned the smile. "But we can handle this."

"So the two of you say," Danny groused.

"He's agreed to dog sit Cammie while we're gone," Steve said cheerily.

"She'll love that," Catherine was genuinely pleased.

"Well as long as Cammie is happy that's all that matters," Danny teased.

"Exactly," Steve and Catherine said in unison. "Now let's do this."

Five-0 Headquarters

Friday 4:15 P.M.

Two hours later Agent Schmidt returned from a trip to the DEA office in downtown Honolulu where he secured information on two solidly established false identities for Steve and Catherine to use for the duration of the operation.

They would be posing as Mike Pratt and Nina Quinn, mid-level dealers from LA looking to carve out a piece of the Hawaii market for themselves and secure port access to move drugs back and forth to the mainland. The hook they would use to get Makarovich interested would be their unfettered access to Afghanistan and its plentiful cocaine production forged through Pratt's old military connections.

'Mike Pratt' was born and raised in Eastern Ohio. He went to college at Ohio State where he played a little football for a year but then blew out his knee and rode the bench for another year before dropping out. After drifting for a few months he joined the Navy and served three tours in the Persian Gulf. One in Iraq and two in Afghanistan. He returned stateside in 2010 and after looking unsuccessfully for work for a year took a job with his cousin, a small time dealer in Northern California. Within six months Pratt rose to the top of the organization, supplanted his cousin and set out to expand the business. Six months after that he hooked up with Nina Quinn.

'Nina Quinn' was a classic good girl gone bad. Born and raised in Southern California she was a straight A student and the Homecoming Queen till she fell in love with a small time hood named Frank Zimmer and her whole life derailed. Zimmer did a tour in Afghanistan with the Navy before being dishonorably discharged for drug use. When he came back to the states he was looking for some quick cash to feed his habit. Nina gave up everything and went into the drug business with him and it was all downhill from there. She did a couple of short stints for robbery and assault and was a legend on the barroom brawling circuit in and around San Diego. She hooked up with Pratt two years ago, after Zimmer's death, and together they set out to merge their businesses and rise to new heights.

Agent Schmidt provided Steve and Catherine with detailed dossiers of their back stories both individually and as business partners. The three of them moved to Steve's office, along with Danny, to review the information and practice working with their new identities.

Steve was sitting at his desk, Catherine and Danny were on the couch, and Agent Schmidt was leaning against the glass wall.

As they perused the bios Steve chuckled.

"What's so funny," Danny asked.

"Well apparently Nina and I have been business partners since I killed her last partner, who also happened to be her boyfriend, in a deal gone bad."

"Really?" Catherine asked. "I haven't gotten to that part yet. I'm still stuck on the part where I was Homecoming Queen."

"Well keep reading," Steve teased. "But by the way I can totally see you as Homecoming Queen."

Catherine rolled her eyes and skimmed a few pages ahead. "So what ... you killed my boyfriend and somehow gained possession of me? Like some kind of poker game?"

Steve waggled his eyebrows. "I'm sure you won me over quickly with your charms."

"Maybe we were in cahoots. We had a secret plan to off my boyfriend so we could be together," Catherine suggested.

"We're a modern-day Bonnie and Clyde," Steve agreed.

"Are you two having fun?" Danny asked with an exasperated sigh.

"Learning the little details is easier if you create a vivid back story," Steve maintained.

"I'd feel better if I thought the two of you were taking this more seriously," Danny grumbled.

"Danny … " Steve said in a warning tone.

"Ok. I'm sorry," Danny raised his hands in surrender. "I know you're taking it seriously. I know you always take mission planning seriously."

"Thank you," Steve said. "Just because I find it funny that I offed Catherine's previous beau for a chance to have her all to myself doesn't mean I'm not taking this seriously."

Danny shook his head.

"Just stick to the facts," Agent Winstead said. He was unfamiliar with the way the team communicated and wasn't sure if this was a genuine disagreement or not. "Make sure you commit these stories to memory so there are no slip-ups."

"We will," Catherine assured him.

"Play up your connections in Afghanistan," Schmidt reminded them. "We know Makarovich has a great infrastructure on the ground to handle delivery and distribution but the one thing he seems to be lacking is a reliable supply pipeline. If he thinks you have connections at the source he'll be more likely to do business with you."

"Got it," Steve and Catherine nodded.

"Anything else specific to know about him?" Catherine asked.

"Unfortunately, no," Winstead answered. "We're not even sure Makarovich is his real name. It may just be the name he gave Gus Whitcomb. We've checked all the international crime databases, Interpol, every resource we can think of but we've come up mostly empty."

"OK then," Steve took a deep breath and let it out, "then let's find this guy and get him off the streets."

Five-0 Headquarters

Friday 6:15 P.M.

Two hours later Steve and Catherine had studied the dossiers thoroughly and been quizzed repeatedly on the details by both Agent Schmidt and Danny.

They both passed with flying colors.

They were ready to make contact.

Catherine practiced her approach several times with Steve as a sounding board and felt ready to go ahead and try the call. The team hoped a female voice on the other end of the line might intrigue Makarovich and make him less likely to hang up without at least hearing Catherine out.

"Remember," Schmidt said, "Don't sound too eager. He needs you as much as you need him."

"Got it," Catherine nodded confidently.

"And if at any time you feel like things are going bad … " Danny added.

"I'll end the call," Catherine assured him.

"Everyone ready?" Steve asked.

He was met with a chorus of "Yes."

"Equipment ready, Chin?" he asked.

Chin had routed the audio from Sean Hidalgo's burner phone, now being used by Catherine, to all their phones so they could hear what was being said. He also set up the call to tape so they could run voice recognition later if necessary.

"Ok then, everyone quiet," Steve said.

The room fell silent.

Catherine took a deep breath and dialed the number to the burner phone Sean Hidalgo called fifteen times in the two days before he died.

She waited as the phone rang four, then five, then six times.

Finally the line picked up.

"Who is this?"

Steve and Catherine smiled at each other triumphantly. The heavily accented voice on the other end of the phone told them they had reached Makarovich.

"I'm an associate of Sean Hidalgo," Catherine answered.

"Sean Hidalgo is dead."

"I know. And that's a shame," Catherine said coolly," but it doesn't mean you and I can't still do business together."

"And what kind of business would that be?" the heavily accented voice asked.

Catherine decided to take a chance.

"Let's not be coy with each other, Mr. Makarovich. Sean Hidalgo told me everything about your operation. Now clearly something went wrong the other night at his party but frankly that's not my concern."

"Nor mine. So I repeat—what kind of business?"

Steve smiled proudly. He knew Catherine had managed to catch Makarovich's interest.

Her plan was working perfectly.

"My partner and I have a large supply of high quality cocaine that needs to find its way to various locations on the mainland. We would like to move it through Hawaii. It's easier to stay under the radar of federal agents that way. We have as much supply as we could possibly want but lack an effective distribution system. We need someone to help with that."

"What makes you think that someone is me?" Makarovich asked.

"Sean Hidalgo seemed to think you have everything in place. If I was misinformed I apologize. I'll just hang up and we'll pretend this call never happened." Catherine knew she needed to appear ready to walk away or Makarovich might think she was too eager and refuse to work with them.

"Now, now … let's not be hasty. It might be worth a meeting. But how do I know I can trust you? I don't even know your name."

"My name is Nina Quinn and my partner's name is Mike Pratt. We're staying at the Hilton Hawaiian Village. You can reach me at the number I'm calling from for the next 24 hours. After that I'll throw the phone away and go looking elsewhere. I don't have time to waste."

Catherine looked at Steve who was nodding his approval. She was handling the call perfectly, just as he knew she would.

"Very well. Give me a little time to talk to my associates and I may get back to you."

"Fine. But don't wait too long."

Catherine hung up and looked at the others.

"He'll call back," she said confidently.

She could tell he was interested.

"Well I guess all we can do now is wait," Agent Schmidt said. "You two should go home and grab a few things then get to the hotel." He indicated Steve and Catherine. "We've already arranged your room. Your keys are waiting at the front desk.

"Sounds good," they nodded.

"The rest of us should head over to the Hilton and get organized so we're ready when things start happening. Once Makarovich calls back and sets up an initial meeting we'll lock in surveillance and such."

"I'll grab my equipment," Chin said.

"Me too." Kono echoed

"I'm gonna make a few calls and see if there's anything new on the LA investigation," Agent Winstead said. "I'll meet you at the Hilton as soon as I'm through. I'll even pick up something for dinner. Pizza ok?"

"Fine," Chin and Kono nodded.

"We'll run home, grab our things and say goodbye to Cammie. Then can you pick her up later and take her to your place or should we have the dog sitter drop her off?" Steve asked his partner.

"I can pick her up," Danny said.

"This is gonna be her first sleepover since she came to live with us. She's gonna be so excited," Catherine said happily.

Danny could help but smile at her enthusiasm. "Grace will be thrilled too."

Five-0 Headquarters

Parking lot

Friday 6:30 P.M.

Agent Riley Shields, a twelve-year veteran of the DEA, made her way quickly to the far end of the unfamiliar parking lot outside Iolani Palace, looked around to make sure she was alone, and then pulled out her cell phone. She leaned against a tree where she could clearly see anyone approaching unexpectedly from the building. Her partner, Agent Schmidt, along with all the members of the Five-O team, were already on their way the Hilton Hawaiian Village but she knew from experience you could never be too careful.

She lit a cigarette and dialed a familiar number.

"Yeah, it's me," she said softly when someone finally answered. "We have a problem."

"What kind of problem," the heavily accented voice on the other end of the phone asked, immediately on alert.

"That woman you just talked to, the one who claimed to know Sean Hidalgo, she's a cop."

"What?" the man on the other end accused angrily. "How could you let that happen?"

"I had no choice …"

"You're supposed to have my back. How could you let me talk to a cop?" He spat out.

"Calm down. I've got everything under control," Riley assured him, trying to keep her voice down as much as possible. The last thing they needed at this point was to attract unwanted attention.

"Just remember … if I go down you go down with me," Makarovich warned.

"Baby, you know I would never let anything bad happen to you."

"That's what you say but do you remember Dallas? We came very close to getting caught in Dallas," Makarovich accused.

"We came very close," Riley said calmly. "But we didn't. And do you remember why? Because I took care of Gus Whitcomb."

A mixture of anger and anxiety emanated so strongly from the man on the other end of the line Riley Shields could feel it all the way across the island. It was imperative she keep Makarovich calm in order to ensure the entire operation didn't blow up in her face. She'd worked too hard to let that happen.

And truth be told, she could understand how unnerved he was by finding out he'd been talking to a cop.

"You know I have your back," she said gently.

"I'm going to leave town tonight … " Makarovich began.

"No, you're not," she cut him off. "Now calm down and listen to me. I don't have much time. Like I said, the woman who called you is a cop and so is her partner. They work for Five-O."

"And like I said I'm shutting down the whole operation and getting out of town. I'll let you know where I end up."

"No, no listen to me. You're not going anywhere. We can make this work for us. This can be exactly the break we've been hoping for."

"What are you talking about? How can getting involved with the cops work for us," Makarovich asked incredulously.

"These two cops aren't just any cops. They're both ex-military. Navy Intel. Plenty of Black Ops experience. And most importantly lots of connections in the Afghan region. "

"So?"

"So they're the answer to our prayers," Riley said happily. "They'll make the perfect fall guys."

"How do you figure?"

Makarovich's anger was not abating.

"We proceed as planned. Make one last big score in Hawaii. In fact, double the size of it," Riley said excitedly. "Set it up with Rodriquez just like we originally planned."

"Are you crazy?"

"No, listen to me. We don't let on that you're on to them. We let them think they're going to part of the big score. They'll be salivating at the chance to make a bust like that."

"And then what?"

Makarovich was still unsure, but he had to admit Riley's planning had never let him down in the past so he was willing to trust her if she said this could work. What happened in Dallas wasn't really her fault and she had taken immediate steps to solve the problem.

"Once they're all in place, waiting for the bust, we'll do the deal with Rodriquez just like we planned and leave them empty handed."

"But they'll have met us. They'll have seen our faces."

Makarovich still wasn't seeing how this plan of Riley's could solve all their problems.

"But it won't matter," she explained, "because we're gonna leave them holding the bag."

"And how are we going to do that?"

"I told you, these two aren't just any cops. They have the kind of backgrounds I can easily use to pin this whole operation on them. Not just the Hawaii job. All the jobs. I just need a little time to set it up."

"Setting them up to take the fall sounds like something that might take more time than we have," Makarovich pointed out.

"It won't. Trust me. You just need to string them along a little. I don't know … just a day … maybe do a test run. Tell them you need a small delivery to check the quality and make sure they're reliable."

"Then what?"

"That'll give me time to plant some evidence in the old files, create a trail and make it look like they've been involved all along. It'll look like they got greedy, tried an operation too close to home and got caught. They'll go to jail forever, you can disappear back to Russia and once I'm sure the investigation is closed and will never be reopened I'll join you there, just like we always planned."

"I don't know. I don't like this," Makarovich said uncertainly.

I haven't lead you wrong in four years have I, baby?" Riley purred.

"No. I guess not," he conceded.

"And it won't happen here. I promise you. This could not have fallen into our laps more perfectly. This Rollins woman was so eager to get involved in this case and everyone saw it. She wasn't going to let anyone talk her out of it. I can use that. Make it look like she was covering her own tracks."

"So what do you want me to do?"

"Treat them with kid gloves…but without giving away that we're on to them. Defer to their ideas. Let them set the agenda. Then later on it will look like you were just going along with them because they were the bosses. I'll take care of things on my end, you just take of things on yours and everything will be fine."

"You better be right about this."

"I am. Just give me a few days to create an evidence trail. If we play this right we can make it look like Dmitri Makarovich never existed. That he was created by McGarrett and Rollins to cover their 'll be free. We won't have to spend a second looking over our shoulders."

"I like the sound of that," Makarovich said.

"I thought you would."

When are you gonna call back?" he asked, his anger now a thing of the past.

"I'll call later and we can over the specific details. I promise. I love you," Riley purred.

"Love you too," Makarovich said sincerely before disconnecting the call.

Agent Shields hung up the phone with a satisfied grin and crossed the parking lot towards her rental vehicle. When she was almost to it she approached a uniformed HPD officer exiting the palace. "Excuse me, could you tell me the best place to get pizza around here?"

McGarrett/Rollins Residence

Friday 7:00 P.M.

Catherine threw her makeup bag as well as a small zippered pouch containing travel sizes of all her favorite toiletries into her duffel bag on top of her clothes and looked at Cammie who was lying on her dog bed, watching the situation unfold as if she knew something was happening and her parents were going away.

"It's only for a few days, Cammie," Catherine assured her. "We'll be back before you know it."

The furry pup continued to look up at Catherine with her head resting on her front paws.

"I'm really sorry to be leaving you so soon." Catherine abandoned her packing and knelt in front of Cammie. "We wouldn't be doing it if this wasn't very important. But we're gonna wrap this case up as fast as possible and get right back here."

Cammie continued to stare at Catherine with wide chocolate colored eyes as Steve stood in the bathroom doorway and watched the conversation unfold.

"You love Grace and Scout and Uncle Danny. You'll have fun staying with them for a few days. And there are even going to be some other people there that you've never met but I know you're gonna love."

Cammie rolled over on her side and offered her belly to Catherine who obliged with a scratch before leaning over and kissing the dog on the head.

"I promise as soon as we get back I'll take you out on the beach and we'll play fetch all day if you want. Does that sound good?"

Steve emerged from the bathroom and smiled. "They say it's hard the first time you leave the kids overnight with someone else."

"Oh stop it," Catherine smiled as she turned to face him. "You feel the same way I do."

"Did you write down instructions for Danny?" he teased.

"Maybe," Catherine admitted as she walked to the dresser and picked up a yellow legal pad.

"How many pages?"

"Three. But I wrote big," Catherine defended.

"Uh-huh."

"Are you making fun of me?"

"Actually I was just double checking," Steve smiled as he crossed the room and took her in his arms. "I spent fifteen minutes earlier giving him all the instructions but I'm not sure he'll remember everything."

"Softie." Catherine kissed him on the lips then looked over his shoulder at Cammie who was watching their every move.

"Are you ready for this," Steve asked as he picked his duffel bag up off the floor and deposited it on the bed next to Catherine's.

"Yeah. We need to get these guys off the streets. I mean the amount of drugs they're supplying is reason enough, obviously, but to intentionally poison people just to create a distraction … "

Steve sat down on the edge of the bed and pulled Catherine down beside him.

"It's an extreme level of disregard for human life for sure." He draped an arm around her and she laid her head on his shoulder.

"I just … I don't wanna see any more parents have to suffer like the ones I saw this morning."

"I know."

"I mean … I get it … they chose to go to an underground party. And they chose to use cocaine once they got there. But they were just kids. We all did stupid things when we were young and believed we were invincible."

Steve cocked his head to the side and eyed her teasingly. She looked up at him and said, "Borneo. The rain forest and that orangutan?"

"Ah, yes," he barked out a laugh. "That could have ended very badly."

"Exactly. These young people, they made a bad choice, or in the case of Sean Hidalgo maybe a few bad choices, but they didn't deserve to die for them."

"I agree," Steve kissed her softly then stood up. "So let's go do our part to get these guys behind bars where they belong."

"And Cammie will be fine with Danny, right?"

"Yes," Steve assured her as he stepped over next to Cammie and knelt down to pet her. "Cammie will be fine with Danny. I told him we'd leave her instruction list on the counter in the kitchen along with the vet's number."

"Ok, but I'm gonna text him just to make sure he doesn't forget."

Steve shook his head. "We're gonna see him later at the hotel. You can remind him then."

"I think he's picking up Cammie before that," Catherine said. "At least that's what Grace said when she texted me earlier. I kinda hated asking him to dog sit knowing he's gonna be as busy on this case as we are but Grace told me Linda is sleeping over for the weekend and Grandma Josie said she's free to stay with them if Danny has to work late. Grace told her about Cammie coming over and she said she loves dogs and the more the merrier."

"Perfect," Steve chuckled. "Except Cammie will probably put on a pound a day eating Josie's cooking."

Catherine shook her head. "She'll be so busy running around with Scout and playing with the girls she'll work off all the pasta Josie slips her."

"I'm sure she'll have a ball." Steve picked up both duffel bags. "I think we've got everything."

"Me too," Catherine said as she took one last quick look around. "You ready Pratt?"

"Yep. You ready Quinn?"

"I am. Let's do this."

End Chapter 1

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