Ummmmm…..Boo

by

AS

Sitting at his desk in the early morning with a cup of coffee and the Honolulu News early edition was about as relaxed as Steve McGarrett got during a normal day. He kept promising himself that someday he would utilize some of the hours of vacation time he carried instead of sacrificing dozens at the end of each year to the state bean counters who had decreed that there was maximum amount each employee could carry from year to year. He knew he had a report about the hours accrual somewhere on his desk but it wasn’t a priority. Never would be as long as the riff raff and other low-life scum threatened the decent citizens who inhabited and visited his islands. As he lifted the mug to sip at the dark, strong brew, his eyes scanned the smaller articles inside the local news section. He wanted to get as much of the paper read before his second in command arrived and stole it from him. So he had taken to scanning this particular section that way he could spend more time on the national and political news that wasn’t always covered completely on the radio station that he listened to on the drive in to the office each morning.

Slowly he uncrossed his legs and placed the mug on his desk, sitting up straighter as the headline of an article caught his eyes. ‘This Dracula Doesn’t Just Want to Drink Your Blood’ Sure hadn’t taken the islands long to catch up with the mainland appreciation of spooky things during October. Briefly he thought back to his last conversation with his sister, Mary Anne. She had gone on nearly incessantly about how so many other houses in her neighborhood were decorated with spiders and fake webs instead of the pumpkins and jack-o-lanterns that had peppered their own neighborhood on the East Coast when they had been growing up. She had insisted with great dismay that their fun time of pumpkins, costumes and candy was taking on a much more sinister nature and worried as to what the children were missing out on. He made a mental note to tell her about the headline when they spoke again. Then he carefully folded the section and placed it to the side before rifling through the rest of the paper, looking for the other section that he knew Dan would swipe from him.

He was still perusing the section, having found a particularly interesting article on an art exhibit that was rumored to be coming to islands just after the New Year, when there was a light tap on his door. He didn’t bother to look up or answer until he heard the door open and then click shut.

“Morning, Danno.”

“Hi, Steve. Did you hear about what happened last night? Talk about spooky! Oh and I made some more coffee. Should be almost ready. You want a fresh cup?”

Since the younger man was already reaching for the mug on his desk, Steve opted not to answer but took a moment instead to carefully fold and organize the paper, fully knowing it was the last time he’d see it in such a neat pile. As his cohort moved towards the office door to get their morning beverage, he queried.

“Lots of things happening at night, Danno. Luaus…dancing…people enjoying the

nightlife. What are you talking about?”

Danny paused in the doorway, glancing sideways back at McGarrett, before nudging the door open further with his foot so he could continue the conversation. The boss appeared to be in an unusually good mood. He hated to think that he might be the one to ruin the mood but….

“You probably heard about on the radio already. You know…”

He reached over to grab his empty mug as he refilled Steve’s. Then once both cups were full, he headed back into the boss’ office. As he approached the desk, he adopted a deeper, gravely voice. “I vant to drink your blood.”

The exaggerated tone and pronunciation made McGarrett smile as he nudged the neatly stacked newspaper towards the edge of his desk and reached for his now full coffee cup before settling back in his chair. He watched as Williams took up residence in the chair in front of his desk as he reached out a hand to snag the paper from him. Both men winced as the paper slid to floor in a messy pile. Danny hurriedly put his cup down on Steve’s desk before reaching down to scoop the newspaper into a haphazard mix of sections and tossing it into the chair next to him.

Steve rolled his eyes, allowing a small smirk to light his features. “Yeah, Danno, saw the same headline in the paper this morning.” He nodded his head towards the mess in the chair.

Chagrined enough to be embarrassed, Danny nevertheless took a moment to take a long drink of coffee before putting the cup down again to straighten out the pile. He spoke without looking up. “So come on, Steve, no comments or opinions on the story?”

Steve shook his head, intrigued by why his friend seemed to be pushing the topic but not quite willing to admit that he had not read the article. He wasn’t sure why he was suddenly unwilling to reveal his momentary indulgence in a childhood memory. Fortunately Williams didn’t appear to want to push him.

“Just thought it was odd. You know, considering the time of year and all. I mean, imagine having a black cape around you and someone saying they’re going to drink your blood. Then pretending to bite your neck but at the same time, you’re being robbed. Pretty ingenious in a way.”

****

Two days later, ingenious would have been the last description on either man’s mind for the seemingly cunning criminal. Four more unsuspecting victims had fallen into his trap and the thief was working his way towards the known tourist hotspots. McGarrett was determined to nab him.

McGarrett and Williams were in the office early – or very late depending on one’s point of view. The two men were sitting across from each other at McGarrett’s paper laden desk as they poured over the still hot off the presses report of the overnight police calls from HPD. Suddenly Williams sat up straight on the edge of his chair, his tired body responding to the signal of interest from his brain.

“Steve….”

McGarrett knew that tone only too well. “What did you find, Danno?”

“Something….odd.”

“Danno, nothing we’ve seen over the last few days has been anything but odd.”

“True…but, Steve, zombies?”

McGarrett looked up, eyebrow arched.

“I swear, Steve, it’s right here. Unit 215 responded last night to a man claiming he’d just been attacked by zombies.”

Several minutes and a few phone calls later netted the two men details gleaned from the officers’ report.

“Copycats? They heard in the news that it worked for our count so they decided to try it as well.”

“Maybe, Danno. Or maybe they are all part of a gang or group?”

“And this is what? Some kind of bizarre initiation ritual?” Williams got up and headed for the koa wood door. “I’m going to make more coffee, Steve. It’s been a long enough night as it is & if this is true, it’s going to be an even longer day.”

McGarrett rose and moved over to the lanai door, opening it to let the natural light and early morning air into the office. The other two members of his team would be in shortly along with Duke. McGarrett knew they’d have to push extra hard today to find the information from their street sources to break this odd group of thieves. But their window of opportunity was narrowing with each passing day and he wasn’t going to miss out on putting these vermin behind bars.

Over twelve hours later, dusk had fallen around the city as four cops in a trio of cars pulled up outside a dark, non-descript warehouse. They got out of their vehicles and moved towards the large door, separating and mixing in with a large group of both young & older people.

****

He crouched down as low as his tall, lanky frame would allow, contemplating drawing his gun yet again. His gut churned uneasily even though he knew that his second in command was a few feet in front of him leading the way. The building they’d entered was nearly pitch black. They had been told to just keep walking carefully and that the floor would tell them when they needed to turn and which way it would be. Sounded like a bunch of nonsense to McGarrett but he’d gone along with it at the time. Now….he wasn’t as sure. It smelled like a setup.

Shuffling along and making what seemed like no progress at all, the man in the lead rubbed at eyes that were gritty and burned. He knew what the problem was – bone tired from working nearly around the clock the last few days, his body was not responding to the boost the adrenaline normally gave him. He knew if he wasn’t careful that the ending would not bode well for himself or those behind him.

As he walked, he felt the floor curving under his feet as if they were going up a ramp or a hill. He wished he could see in front of him. Extending his arm, his fingertips connected with something cold, smooth and unidentifiable. He paused and just as he stopped he felt bony fingers close around his own. He jerked his hand away, taking a quick step as he felt weight hanging on to his back. Feeling a sudden cool breeze, Danny took a minute to get his racing heart back under control before continuing to shuffle forward. He knew that the ones behind him were counting on him.

Behind his officer, Steve had sensed that the younger man had come in contact with something. He’d heard a rustling, which had made the hair stand up on the back of his neck. Should he call out to his officer? Assuage his emotions with the guarantee that the younger man was alright? Before he could make a decision, he felt a slight tug on the hem of his shirt and knew that he could do neither. He felt a second tug and then a pull, the only indication he received that they were again moving, albeit still too slowly.

Just up ahead, Danny finally spotted what appeared to be a small white light. His vision and mind focused on that as he plunged ahead, knowing that they were just about to their goal. When the edge of his shoe came up against a ridge before connecting with something solid, Danny automatically reached out his hand, feeling solid steel in his way. He pushed against it and was relieved when what was a door opened to the outside. He stumbled through it, bringing those behind him along and reveled in the breezy evening air that wafted around him. He felt the others brush by him but realized that they were, in fact gathering around. Slowly he became aware enough to realize that they were also all talking.

“Oh my God! That was unreal!”

“Did you see….”

“Got goose bumps in there….”

A hand touched his shoulder and he jumped, causing those around him to laugh.

“You ok, Danno?”

“I don’t know, Mr. McGarrett! He looks a little pale.”

“I’m fine.”

A small cluster of people joined their little group and the noise level grew as the younger voices all tried to outdo the others to be heard. There was a low-pitched whistle and the voices quickly faded. Chin Ho stood nearby with a fond yet exasperated expression. He drew his wallet from his pants pocket and removed several bills.

“Who wants shaved ice?”

There was an immediate chorus of ‘yeses’ causing the Oriental man to whistle yet again. He handed the money off to one of the older girls and pointed to a portable stand no more than twenty feet away. The group shrunk in size as the younger ones, shrieking and laughing, raced off towards the stand.

“That poor guy! He isn’t going to know what hit him!” Duke laughed, shaking his head.

“Yes, but now we have peace.” Chin replied knowingly.

“Only briefly, I’m sure,” Doris Lukela cut in.

“Probably but it will be worth it.”

Two pairs of eyes focused on the suspiciously quiet members of their group. “You two sure you’re ok, Boss?”

McGarrett forced his attention back to the conversation. “Yeah, yeah, I’m fine. You, Danno?”

“Sure, Steve. Just tired.”

“Well, it’s not like it hasn’t been one of those weeks, Bruddah!”

“Almost thought we wouldn’t get free in time to bring everyone here.”

Danny shook his head. “No way! It’s on its way to becoming a Five0 tradition, Duke!”

“Ain’t that the truth! Practically ranks right up there with the boss’ birthdays!”

The small group of adults laughed as McGarrett groaned. “Can’t we just forget about that this year?”

Before anyone of them could answer, Doris steered them towards the younger members of the group. “Come on, guys. We should go rescue that poor guy.”

As Chin, Duke and Doris moved off, Steve and Danny hung back a bit, walking uncharacteristically slow. Both were lost in their own thoughts – which as normal mirrored each other. Yes, they were tired – exhausted even. They had all pushed extra hard the past several days to crack the spooky string of thefts that had brought such a dark cloud over their island. They’d arrested their trio of wanna-be legendary thieves earlier in the day and had even gotten a few grins out of their explanations that they never wanted to hurt anyone. That they were only trying for the ultimate Halloween trick. Anxious to wrap up the case, they’d hurried through the paperwork, barely making it in time to meet the Lukela and Ho families for their trek through the haunted house. Yet both Steve and Danny were appalled by how single-minded they’d each been. Their inability to forget, for even a brief time, that they were cops and to treat the excursion through the haunted house like a crime scene.

Unknown to the two men, two of Chin Ho’s younger children had managed to slip from the group and had circled around them. When McGarrett and Williams stopped a few feet from the ice vendor, the two younger ones nearly collided with them. Both men spun around and gradually looked down, spying the sticky hands and faces. Two sets of brown eyes beamed up at them.

“Boo, Mr. Steve! Boo, Mr. Danny!”

PAU