Two Sides of a Coin:
The Toss
By
With
Editing By GM
“Whether you believe you can do a
thing or not, you are right.”
Henry Ford
Early August 1967
“Fresh
coffee, Boss?” May asked
cheerfully as she proffered a cup of the steaming beverage to the man whose
attention she clearly did not have.
Steve McGarrett was staring
out the French doors of his lanai, and did not hear the woman – his focus was
on the scene playing out in the street below.
Dan Williams was leaning on
the driver’s side door of a fire-engine red Mercedes convertible. A clear view
of the driver was not possible because the detective was obviously taking his
time with what McGarrett presumed to be a goodbye kiss. The head of Five-0 shot
an annoyed glance at his watch as May stepped closer to the window to see what
had captured his attention. Dan finally stopped lingering with what turned out
to be a very attractive woman, her long, dark h
“He’s not late,” May
defended. “It’s seven fifty five!”
McGarrett gave a small
grunt and frowned as he took the cup that she pressed into his hand. He called
for an eight o’clock staff meeting, and expected that, as a matter of course,
all of his detectives would arrive early enough that they would have an
opportunity to organize whatever facts they needed to present to him.
An admitted
trust-nobody-to-do-the-job-if-you-can-do-it-yourself kind of man, he wanted to
be involved in – or at least be aware of – as many aspects of every Five-0 case
that he could. With the ever-increasing caseload, the best that he could do was
to command complete obedience and good reporting from his men. As a Naval
Intelligence officer before he accepted the appointment as the head of
“He’s not even dressed,”
McGarrett grumbled more to himself than to the perky little brunette.
May had been his secretary
for the past five years and knew full well her boss was a stickler about
punctuality. She joked with the other Five-0 detectives that his military
background could color a thirty-second tardy into a court-martialing
offense.
“Maybe you should start
calling it the seven fifty five meeting,” she groused right back as she headed
toward the door.
Her hand did not touch the
knob before the other Five-0 detectives, Kono Kalakaua and Chin Ho Kelly,
strolled into the large office. Both men
greeted May with grins, and she returned their smiles as she rolled her eyes.
The detectives noticed her slightly exasperated expression, and knew their boss
must be irritated about something.
McGarrett ignored May’s
gibe, but admitted to himself that he had wanted Williams here early, and yes,
the thought that he might be less than prepared for the staff meeting
prematurely raised his ire. But he’d also hoped to have a brief discussion with
him before the others arrived. He had assigned Dan the task of completing a
newly-devised survey from the state’s Department of Budget and Finance.
According to the statute,
the documents had to be filled out and returned to the comptroller within ten
business days after receipt of the forms. The exercise was to McGarrett’s way
of thinking just one more way for bureaucrats to clog the wheels of justice.
But while the head of Five-0 would have preferred to have the detective occupy
his time with more productive activities, he knew that the tedious project
would never be completed unless someone’s attention were devoted to it (and
better Danno’s attention than his!). The due date was fast approaching, and he
hadn’t heard a squeak of a complaint about it from Williams since he’d scraped
it off – no – since he’d delegated it to the detective, and he wanted to make
sure he was on track to complete the time-consuming nuisance project. If the
young man needed help with the effort, he didn’t want that fact to be sprung
upon him in the eleventh hour.
McGarrett knew he had no one
to blame but himself because Danno had not arrived earlier. He’d known that the
detective had a date which he’d eagerly anticipated for days, so the fact that
he did not show up early should have been no surprise. He berated himself for
not giving Williams explicit instructions before he’d departed the previous
evening. So he was annoyed with himself – a fact which always left him more
irritable than if he were angry with somebody else.
There were so many
non-investigation-related paperwork duties that were piling up of late that
he’d found himself doing almost nothing else. The
previous month had definitely been better. Still not cleared for field duty
after a near-fatal burst appendix and subsequent peritonitis, Dan had been
tasked by McGarrett with some of the more tedious administrative duties. It freed up the head of the unit to
participate more actively in what he had to acknowledge was his passion –
criminal investigations. Once Dan got the okay from Doctor Bergman, he promptly
returned to his regular duties within Steve’s fold of detectives, drawing
assignments just like Chin and Kono. Of course, the mundane paperwork began
flowing back into McGarrett’s IN box.
May, determined to do her
part to make sure the meeting started on time, collected Williams’ coffee cup
from his desk and filled it for him. The detective was only a little surprised
when he opened the suite door and found the secretary waiting with hot coffee.
He was still straightening his tie, so she walked with him to his office, where
he grabbed his notebook. He gave the woman a quick peck on the cheek and
slipped into his boss’s office.
Dan greeted his colleagues
with a relaxed and cheerful smile. “Good morning!”
“Hi,
Danny!”
“Aloha,
Bruddah!”
The other two detectives
nodded their salutations simultaneously with glances in his direction.
“Good morning, Danno – nice
of you to join us.” McGarrett looked up at the detective with a faint smile and
steely-eyed expression.
Williams instantly sensed
the tense mood of his boss, and quickly shot a look at his watch. No – seven fifty eight – he wasn’t late. Chin and Kono were
settled into the high-backed, white leather
ch
After spending a good
minute frowning at the papers he was shuffling on his desk, the lead detective
rose and began to pace behind his desk – several slow steps one direction, and
then he would turn and take several back from whence he’d come. It was obvious
to the men observing him that his train of thought was taking him away from the
present moment. He rubbed his hands together and frowned in concentration as he
moved back and forth.
Kono would look at Chin,
who would glance back and then look at Dan, who would in turn shoot a glance at
Chin and then Kono. Then together their eyes would track with their boss. They
sat there watching silently, each wondering what was
going on in the man’s head. It seemed that he’d forgotten his detectives were
sitting there. Dan peeked at his watch – eight-oh-two…
As Steve McGarrett greeted
his ne
He never dreamed that he
would miss Sam Nohea, his recently-retired-second-in-command. Until Danno’s
efforts the previous month lifted the load a bit, he had not realized how
buried he was without a second-in-command to help carry the burden. There was
no doubt that, as much as he disliked working with Sam Nohea, the man did
shoulder his share of the paperwork that kept the wheels of the unit running.
When Ray retired earlier that year, McGarrett, giving little thought to the
need for an experienced bureaucrat, filled the slot with the bright and eager
Williams. He learned over the course of the past couple of months, that as much
as he did not want to admit it, he needed help on the paper front.
Steve stopped pacing for
several moments and turned to eye the three detectives lined up before him.
Each man shifted uncomfortably as their turn to be scrutinized came.
Chin Ho Kelly… A good man with more years of
on-the-job experience than McGarrett himself…stable…reliable…untiring in his
ability to maintain a steady pace throughout even the most arduous
investigations…a dedicated father of eight with frequent family commitments
that leave his heart and mind somewhere else besides work.
Kono Kalakaua…Another excellent meat-and-potatoes
investigator…even tempered…persistent…dedicated…not married YET but his
childhood sweetheart seems to be coming up more and more frequently in
conversations… not uncommon laid-back native Hawaiian personality with a
different definition of hurry than most haoles.
Danny Williams…Young…less experience than anyone else
on the team, but a brilliant investigator and the best technical sharp shooter
on the islands… energetic… devoted to
Five-0…no-doubt-about-it-single-and-enjoying-it.
McGarrett grimaced at the
hapless detective who held his eye now, causing the young man to furl his brow
slightly and swallow. The head of Five-0 ignored the reactions he was causing –
he was too caught up in the naissance of his idea.
Occasionally rash and impulsive but never unfaithful…
often stubborn... detail-oriented and a desire to please the boss…
McGarrett finally turned
away from his detectives, who each let out a slow breath of relief as if some
undefined disaster had been averted. In unison, they all three looked down at
their watches… eight-oh-six…
It had been a pleasant –
even enjoyable – few weeks when Williams had been confined to desk duty,
McGarrett considered, as he began his pacing routine again. He’d dedicated a f
In the months since
Williams had come on board – and for many months previous to that – he had
certainly shown his dedication to Five-0 and to Steve, as a leader, several
times over. He seemed satisfied with little more than an occasional pat on the
back from the boss. Could Steve McGarrett expect more than that from – from –
well, yes, a kid? Williams was months
away from his 29th birthday. Though he would NEVER say the words
aloud, youth and the natural accompanying immaturity did have its drawbacks in
a profession where the stakes could be as high as life or death. And McGarrett
still worried – perhaps a bit too much – over his judgment. It was clear to Steve that Dan’s frequent
self-deprecations and modesty – certainly part of his charm – could manifest
itself in a less desirable form – namely occasional faltering self-confidence.
Steve now stared at some
distant point outside his lanai as he recalled his decision to offer Williams
the vacant slot on his team. The realization that he had so much in common with
the young detective who was simultaneously so different from him in almost
every respect brought to mind his Yin Yang comparison. Until Danno had stepped
onto the scene, the very idea that he – Steve McGarrett – could have this kind
of simpatico relationship with a subordinate was not only something he had not
considered, his military background made it seem almost inappropriate. He’d
shared personal information on more than one occasion with Williams – something
he had not done with anyone who reported to him – ever – before, during, or after his
Naval career. Somehow, Dan routinely managed to get around his defenses. In
retrospect, each time, Steve had to admit that he’d felt safe in the revelation
– a fact which possibly explained why he’d done it repeatedly, and not
regretted it.
McGarrett slowly moved his
hands to his hips but his gaze did not waver. There was, however, a subtle
discomfort that the very private lead detective had been feeling about the
situation. Williams was the junior member of the team, and as such, should not
be privy to any more information than he needed to effectively accomplish his
job. Sharing a confidence with a senior team member would be different. It
would be only right that a person in line to assume command in the event of the
leader’s incapacitation or absence would have better access in all regards to
the boss. The thought suddenly crossed his mind like a ricocheting bullet that
appointing Danno his second-in-command would, in many ways, legitimize the
friendship he felt for the young man.
McGarrett spun suddenly to
scrutinize Williams, who felt the room growing uncomfortably warm. Of course,
there was far more to the job of second-in-command than just being an adequate
paper pusher – and to hand out his SIC appointment just to feel better about
socializing with the detective was just not justified. The right individual
would have the ability to lead and make often-tough decisions in the absence of
the chief. He would have to exude confidence in the public eye, whether he felt
it or not. And he would have to bleed a little less… Steve wasn’t honestly
certain he’d seen all of that in his friend yet, but something in his gut told
him that all of that and more were buried somewhere in Detective Danny
Williams.
Are you up to the job, my friend? He didn’t ask
the questions aloud, and so jumped slightly when Dan did speak as if in
response to the unspoken question.
“Sure,
Steve!” The uncomfortable silence
shattered.
Not superstitious by
nature, Steve McGarrett chose to take the young man’s words as an omen, and he
smiled. “Sure what,
Danno?”
“I had the feeling you were
asking a question, and I’m pretty sure the answer has to be yes.” Dan gave an
uncertain crooked smile. He was relieved that his boss had “returned” to his
office, and seemed to be suddenly much more relaxed.
McGarrett glanced at the
clock on his desk – eight-ten. Where had the time gone? “We’d better get
started!” He settled back into his ch
Kono groaned, grimaced and
rubbed his stomach, causing everyone in the room to turn. He glanced around and
realized he was the focus of the other eyes.
“Are you okay?” McGarrett’s
eyebrows were arched and remained that way as he awaited the Hawaiian detective’s
response.
“Little stomach ache -- nothin’ serious, I’m sure, Boss.” Kono gave a slightly
embarrassed smile.
“Maybe you shouldn’t have
eaten the box along with all of the dough-nuts, bruddah.” Chin patted Kono on
the shoulder.
“I didn’t eat the box – I
tore off a piece that had frosting on it.”
Chin shook his head and
snickered. “I don’t know, bruddah – it looked like teeth marks to me!”
“As long
as it’s not your appendix.” The
boss shot an accusatory glance at Williams, whose face colored slightly at the
reminder. “I just want to make this
clear to each one of you.” The chief of Five-0 was now addressing all three of
his detectives despite the fact that his piercing gaze did not waver from
Williams. “If any of you – at anytime – believes that one or more of your vital
organs is getting ready to burst or otherwise
incapacitate you in some way, I want to know about it! Is that clear?”
Dan looked a little
sheepish. He realized that his boss was still not over the fact that he had not
been very adamant that he was ill when his appendix burst six weeks earlier. Williams knew he’d made a mistake, but
the timing was so bad. Right in the middle of a high-profile kidnapping case,
Williams could see that McGarrett needed his help, and when he did finally try
to bring up the subject, his focused boss had put off the discussion until it
was too late.
Kono and Chin snickered,
knowing the jab was directed at their young colleague, and mumbled their
affirmations.
“Crystal clear,” Dan
admitted, chagrin obvious.
“Good,” snapped McGarrett.
“Let’s get started. Kono – the Waikiki burglaries?”
“I’m still turnin’ over rocks, boss,” came
the response from the Hawaiian detective.
“Somebody knows something.
See if you can’t crank up the heat on that slug – what’s his
name – Olina.” McGarrett knew his reply was
not really necessary as Kono was very experienced in tracking down the
less-than-upstanding members of the community.
“Right, boss.”
“Chin, I presume you’ve got
a plane to catch?”
“Yeah, boss. I’m supposed
to meet with Carl Pono and his men at noon in Lihue.”
“Hmmm,” McGarrett said,
jotting a note down on the tablet on his desk. “Good. And Danno, I’m presuming
that you need no assistance on the Budgetary Finance form?”
The young man replied,
“Steve, I finished that a couple days ago. I’ve been working on the arson angle
on my insurance fraud case.”
The head of Five-0 looked
up suddenly, “You FINISHED? How could you POSSIBLY have finished with that
ridiculous form?”
“Well, as you know, those
forms fall under the category of an inter-agency request for information, which
is governed by sections 26-5 through 26-12 of the Hawai’i Revised Statutes.”
Dan explained as he rose
and stepped over to the IN box on the corner of Steve’s desk and pulled some
pages from the center of the pile. He handed them to his boss, who looked down
at them, frowning in concentration as he perused the content and listened to
his officer continue.
“According to the statutes,
the agency upon which the request for information – or RFI, as they say – is
levied has the right to request additional information from the originating
requesting agency – or ORA, as they say. Now the request for additional
information – or RFAI, as they say – must be levied from the requested agency –
or RA, as they say, within five business days of receipt of the RFI. The RA
must submit the RFAI in accordance with the guidelines, which are laid out in
paragraphs twelve and thirteen of subsection E of statute 26-10, I believe. In
turn, the ORA, upon receipt of the RFAI, has two
options. It must respond to the RFAI in accordance with the guidelines laid out
in paragraphs fourteen and fifteen of subsection E of that same statute, AND
the ORA must do so within five business days of receipt of the RFAI.
Alternatively – here’s the good part.” Williams smiled as if whatever
information he was about to share was truly interesting and even amusing. “The
ORA has the much more expedient option to respond to the RFAI with a CRFI – a
cancellation of request for information.” Dan, who’d been speaking quickly,
stopped suddenly and eyed his boss.
A smile slowly spread
across the lead detective’s face, “As they say. So, this is —“
McGarrett hesitated and Dan finished the sentence.
“Our RFAI in response to
their RFI, which I submit will cause them to respond with a CRFI, because there
is no way they’ll be able to get this information back to us within five
business days.” Dan looked satisfied with his solution.
“So, you didn’t actually
complete the forms. Instead, you’ve levied twenty questions right back at them,
which they are obligated to answer or we don’t have to respond further.”
McGarrett slapped the papers down on his desk and laughed, along with his other
detectives, for a full minute before he responded, “Danno, I didn’t think you
had a devious bone in your body! I’m impressed.”
Williams was relieved that
Steve was pleased with his solution. He had not been too thrilled to receive
the assignment, but he took the forms from his boss and retreated to his desk
to study them. He’d sat there, slouched down in his seat toying with a pencil
as he pondered the questions, which were going to take a f
After a few minutes spent
vacillating between contemplating his boredom and how to best manage the task
at hand, he sat up a little straighter in his ch
Armed with that knowledge,
Dan decided to get educated – really educated – on the regulations governing
inter-agency requests for information. The office staff noticed that their ne
Dan proceeded to quickly
outline his progress on the fraud investigation which was occupying most of his
time.
McGarrett nodded at
Williams as he closed his notebook. “You pulled that report together pretty
quickly this morning.”
Dan smiled and thanked his
lucky stars that he’d been prepared. “I came back last night for awhile – I
thought you’d be ticked if I wasn’t ready for the meeting this morning.” If
there was one thing Williams decided he hated, it was when Steve was angry with
him.
His erroneous irritation at
his detective long melted into the woodwork, Steve smiled and felt his optimism
renewed at the prospect that this young man could be the solution to his
problems. Of course, now the trial must
begin.
“And you were right,
Danno.” McGarrett paused for a breath and plunged ahead, his abundant
confidence filling the room. The only way he would ever know whether Williams
could take the heat that came with the second-in-command spot was to crank up
the temperature. “And that reminds me, moving forward, Danno, you will be
permanently responsible for the on-call roster, the collection, review, and submission
of all expense reports, and the monthly budget overage report. These are the
same ones you learned how to do last month. Any questions?”
Dan’s mouth hung open
slightly for a brief moment, but he recovered quickly. “Uh, no, I guess not.”
Steve did not seem angry,
but he’d been acting strangely this morning. Punishment Williams could take –
but to not know the offense was disturbing. Afraid to bring up the subject on
the spot for fear of additional duty being meted out, he flashed an uncertain
glance in the direction of Chin and Kono, but remained silent.
The meeting ended on an
upbeat note as McGarrett announced the capture of Ted Cole in
The detectives filed out
and Dan closed the office door behind him, almost bumping into Kono as the big
Hawaiian had stopped abruptly in front of May’s desk. Kono turned and gently
pushed Williams in the chest with his finger.
“You did something that
almost got all of us in trouble!” Kono accused.
Chin wore his usual
inscrutable expression, but did turn to hear what their ne
Already in defensive mode,
Dan came back quickly. “He gave you the eye too!”
“But he ended up dumping on
you, didn’t he, kaikaina?” Kono stood his ground.
Dan had to break eye
contact as he bit his lower lip. His colleague was right – in the end, the boss
had ultimately decided that he was guilty – but OF WHAT?
“Okay,” Dan admitted.
“You’re right, but I don’t know what I did.”
May, recollecting her boss’s
grumbling earlier, inquired neutrally. “Did the meeting start on time?”
Chin responded as he and
Kono turned to get on with their day. “We’re not sure.”
The secretary, now
completely perplexed, started to ask for clarification from the only detective
left standing at her desk, but he turned the other way and tapped on the very
imposing closed door before he re-entered the lion’s den. Williams decided he
could not let it ride even at the risk of irking his boss.
McGarrett half-expected to
see Williams return after the others had left. It had seemed to Steve that the
young man had a question poised to ask earlier, but thought better of it for
some reason. Now, the detective smiled uncertainly as he re-approached the
desk, and he hesitated for only a moment, knowing that his boss would prefer
that he get to the point.
“Am I being punished?”
Dan’s gaze did not waver from his boss as he made the blunt inquiry.
“Punished?” McGarrett was
truly puzzled for only a few moments. “Punished for what?”
“I – I don’t know – for
being—not on time enough to the staff meeting? For not just
filling out the forms for the controller’s office? Whatever it is, tell
me, and I’ll never do it again.” Dan
could not honestly decide what to make of Steve’s odd behavior on this morning.
Usually, there was no doubt in Dan’s mind when and why Steve McGarrett was
upset with him.
Five-0’s ne
McGarrett quickly mentally
replayed the events of the meeting (and the little meeting he’d had with
himself and its resulting decision), and it hit him. It suddenly made sense
that Williams might be feeling – well, put upon at this moment. His chagrin
remained internal as he realized that he was the only one privy to his plan –
and it would remain that way until he could make sure his new detective was up
to the challenge. He knew he would have to ease the diffident Williams into the
idea in a gentle build-up operation, slowly proving to both men that Dan could
handle the S-I-C duties. The older detective privately gave himself a pat on
the back, and launched into a well-deserved explanation.
“Sit down, Danno.” McGarrett
motioned to one of the white ch
As Dan listened to his boss,
his expression slowly changed from one of concern to mild chagrin and
discomfiture. He ran a hand slowly over the tight, sandy curls that blanketed
his head. “I guess I wasn’t thinking about it that way.”
McGarrett saw in the young
man’s deflated expression an opportunity to drive his point home. “I’m
delegating to you some of the reports and administrative details – many of the
things that Ray as my second-in-command handled – in an effort to make my workload more
manageable. Do not think of this as punishment.”
Williams listened intently
as his boss leaned forward on his elbows and continued.
“These past few weeks have
highlighted to me that I need somebody I can count on to help me out with this
stuff. As mundane and un-necessary as the paperwork sometimes seems, it still
has to get done – accurately and efficiently.” The older detective’s blue eyes
focused on his detective with a clear intention. “You’ve been doing a good job
for me.” McGarrett felt a twinge of guilt as he architected his sentences. He
knew the young man well enough by now to recognize that Williams looked up to
him and wanted very much to please him. So in his turn of phrase, he made sure
that Dan knew what he proposed would make him happy.
By this point in the conversation,
Williams could see where McGarrett was going. He studied his boss. “Steve, if
it will make it easier for you, I can handle the duty roster, the monthlies,
and the overage reports, no problem.”
McGarrett had to smile. It was
just too painless with Danno. He did, in fact want to make the lead detective’s
life easier.
“That will help me
tremendously, Danno. Thank you.” McGarrett nodded, and stood.
Dan followed suit, and the
two men walked to the door. The image of his boss’s angry countenance before
the meeting pushed into his thoughts again. “And you’re not—mad about
anything?”
This time, Steve gave his
detective a perplexed smile as he opened the door and let his hand slide onto
Williams’ back. “About what?”
Dan briefly studied the
man’s intense expression.
McGarrett ended the audience
with a slap to Williams’ back, and retreated into his office with a chuckle. “Me too.”
September 1967 – Week One
Micro-droplets from the
warm, un-seasonal rain seemed to hover everywhere, making McGarrett’s thick
bouffant of h
Five-0 had been contacted by
HPD when the responding officers felt there might be a connection between this
call – the frantic report of a dead body – and another suspicious death of a
construction worker one month earlier. Stanley Davis, age twenty two, washed up
on a beach near Mokuleia. Initially, it appeared that
the young man had drowned. The autopsy revealed that the young man had been
drinking heavily, but there was no water in the lungs, which meant that he was
dead before he hit the water.
“And what time was the
cement poured, Mr. Larson?” Williams’ question was the first thing McGarrett
could make out as he took a short cut over a bundle of twelve-foot-long
two-by-fours, as the Chinese detective opted to slip around one end of the wood
beams.
“It was the last thing we
did before we shut down for the night.” The man in the hat explained and then
pointed to a second area that was cordoned off by rope obviously to discourage
people from walking across freshly poured cement. “We did that foundation and
this one yesterday about five o’clock.”
“And then you roped them off
and everybody left?” Kono picked up the thread of questioning as Dan stepped
away to study the new concrete in the neighboring plot.
The man nodded as both he
and the Hawaiian detective noticed McGarrett’s arrival. Kono nodded slightly in
greeting and introduced Moe Larson as a foreman of the A’ala
Housing Development Project for Welton Construction
Company. The four men moved ten feet and stepped onto the newly poured
foundation, where the reason for the questioning became apparent. At first, it
appeared to Steve to be a rough patch in the cement, but as he stepped around
Kono to view the area from the opposite side of their approach, recognition of the
object chilled him. Protruding no more than a few inches from the now-set slab
foundation of a future home were the knuckles of a hand. Coated in a thin film
of cement, the human appendage looked like it might be part of a statue instead
of the only visible evidence of a crime. Envisioning the body that was locked
under the solid surface, a brief wave of revulsion passed through McGarrett as
he squatted to get a closer look.
“It looks like the guy got
dumped here in the early evening – the cement would’ve been getting too hard to
hide anything in it after that.” Kono supplied as his boss studied the
knuckles. “The work crew was just coming on this morning when they noticed
this.”
The head of Five-0 glanced at
the abandoned paper cup a few feet away – it had no doubt contained coffee
intended for the hapless discoverer of the sight before the shock caused the
spill. “Did everyone show up for work?” He didn’t look up as he asked the
question.
Larson nodded. “Everybody
except Dennis Keali, but he’ll probably be rolling in here in the next few
minutes – that bum is late every time he ties one on.”
Chin addressed the foreman.
“Your crew is pretty shook up.”
“Yeah, well, some of them
knew
“Stanley Davis worked for
you?” McGarrett’s tone was unintentionally terse as he was completely focused
on taking in all of the elements of the scene and any scrap of data that he
could absorb.
“Uh, yes and no – he’d just
been hired and he didn’t show up for work his first day on the job.” Larson let
out a single un-humorous laugh and added, “It turned out that he had a pretty
good excuse.”
McGarrett stood,
the next steps instantly clear in his mind, and began snapping instructions to
his two detectives, who nodded in acknowledgement of each command.
“Chin, I want everybody who
was here last night questioned individually. Canvas the area for any witnesses
who may have seen something suspicious. Kono, notify the coroner’s office of
the situation so that they can be ready to deal with this special circumstance.
And we’re gonna need to get this poor guy out of there – it looks like a jack hammer might be
the optimum choice of tool.”
“I can bring a couple of
jack operators over.” Larson offered.
McGarrett focused on the
foreman momentarily. “Yes, thank you, that would speed
this process along.” His attention returned to Kono immediately. “Make sure we—
cut far enough around the body to get everything.”
He quickly scanned the area
and found Williams on one knee on the neighboring new foundation. The frown and
questions were visible on his face even from forty feet away. McGarrett, with
one last look at the victim, ducked under the rope and strode quickly to view the
focus of his other detective’s concern. The other three men followed suit.
The detective glanced toward
the approaching men, but his eyes quickly returned to a patch of cement – not
far from the edge of the slab – marred with a cinnamon-colored stain, dark
enough to be visible on the damp concrete. The area was no more than eight
inches across at its widest point and looked like it had been drizzled onto the
surface of the cement before it had dried, and so became part of the cement’s
permanent composition.
Dan looked up and met his
boss’s gaze as the three men joined him. An image of what could have happened
would not leave his head. He hoped in passing that what he was feeling was not
written on his face, but it seemed to him that Steve had an amazing ability to
read not only his expressions, but also sometimes his thoughts.
From the silent exclamation
emblazoned in his young detective’s expression, McGarrett could sense that he
had developed an opinion about what had happened. The head of Five-0 scrutinized
the stain, but it was the foreman who responded as he realized what had
captured Williams’ attention. .
“Hmmm,” Larson grimaced. “Rust – an unfortunate fact of life on an island.”
Williams pressed. “What would
make a rust spot on a brand new stretch of cement?” He reached down and placed
his hand flat on the damp concrete so that his hand rested on the large,
brownish blotch.
Larson reached under his
hard hat to scratch the side of his head. “Well… I would say that a piece of
equipment had been left here, but that’s not possible with this being new
cement and all.”
“It’s blood.” Dan asserted
softly.
“So the guy was bleeding
when whoever did this dumped him.” Kono offered an answer.
Anticipating the explanation,
Dan responded quickly. “This area was like a milkshake last night. Why would
someone trying to hide a body carry it over here long enough to dribble blood,
and then take it over there to bury?”
“Okay, bruddah – you tell ME
how it got here!” Kono folded his arms and took a skeptical stance.
“The blood didn’t drop – it
percolated.” Williams came to his feet.
“What is that supposed to
mean?” Larson jumped in, asking the very question that was about to come from
the Hawaiian detective.
“I think there’s another
body right here.” Dan said firmly, but he secretly felt a little less confident
now that at least two out of the four men standing there did not think his
conclusion was immediately obvious. He added, “Whoever is under here was either
not dead yet or not dead for very long –” Williams shrugged diffidently. “Blood
is lighter than cement. so maybe it oozed out and
surfaced.”
“Two
bodies in two separate foundations on the same night? That’s pupule!” Larson guffawed sarcastically.
The Hawaiian detective
turned a rare annoyed expression on the foreman, who stood there eyeing his
colleague. It was okay if he – Kono Kalakaua – poked fun at his friend’s absurd
idea, but to have a civilian do it was a different matter entirely.
“Excuse us for a few
moments!” McGarrett injected harshly, also irritated at the man’s out-of-place
and disruptive interruptions to his detectives’ productive debate. Larson gave
the head of Five-0 a miffed humph, and wandered over to stand with his men.
As soon as the foreman was
out of earshot, Chin joined in the argument. “Danny, that
this spot is blood is a pretty big leap. I could say the spot on Kono’s tie is
blood, but more than likely, a pomegranate seed did it.”
The Hawaiian detective
dropped his eyes to inspect his tie as he continued. “Yeah – a pomegranate seed
did do it, and I think something just as harmless made this mark on the
cement.”
Dan, the tight ringlets of
his damp h
McGarrett, having been
listening to the back-and-forth between his detectives, took one more hard look at the discolored area and then looked up to
study Williams, who rubbed the back of his neck uncomfortably. His ne
Before any more words could
be exchanged on the topic, a shout from behind them captured the detectives’
attention. “Hey, Mr. McGarrett! Can I get my men
started on a new foundation – I’ve got a schedule to keep!” It was Larson, now
standing, hands on his hips, with his men.
“Yeah, go ahead, but nobody
leaves this site until Detective Kelly has spoken with them.” McGarrett
responded quickly, and then turned back to his men. “Kono, Chin – get started.
Danno – you won’t be working this case. I have something else for you to do.”
The young man’s crestfallen,
but unsurprised, expression told the head of Five-0 that his detective had
taken the re-assignment as a signal that he – McGarrett – had agreed with Kono
and Chin. Steve placed his hand on Dan’s shoulder. “Come on.”
Dan followed his boss off
the concrete foundation somewhat sullenly. Halfway expecting to be chastised
for expressing such an outlandish theory, he braced himself, and so was
surprised when a total change of subject sprang from McGarrett’s lips. He began
with an explanation about some new federal legislation relating to criminal
convictions and prison terms.
A quick glance at his
detective’s attentive, but brooding expression told McGarrett that the young
man was not happy with the sudden change of assignment. Not generally inclined
to empathize, the head of Five-0 decided that being yanked from an intriguing
mystery would probably aggravate him as well. There was a time in the
not-too-distant past when McGarrett might have noticed a subordinate’s
displeasure, but not felt the need to respond to it with an explanation. It was
different with Danno though – he needed – wanted the detective to understand.
“Don’t give me that look --
we have more than one priority case on the books.” Steve reassured Williams in
a tone that was all business.
Dan gave himself a quick
mental kick for being so transparent, and forced himself to shake off the
feeling that he was being wronged. Steve was, after all, the one who knew the
big picture, and where resources needed to be allocated. The junior member of
the team acknowledged his boss’s admonition with a serious nod. “You’re right,
Steve. Sorry.”
Pleased with Williams’ quick
mental about-face, McGarrett continued. The complex bill,
which had numerous intricacies and un-related riders, was getting ready to go
to committee in D.C. to have the final details hammered out. One of the
bill’s champions was
“So, Danno, you can see that
Five-0’s contribution to this effort is very important.” McGarrett sum
Williams’ jaw dropped and
his eyebrows leaped away from his eyes. “You want ME to work on a bill that
could affect how cops everywhere have to do their jobs?”
“Yes,” McGarrett responded
and quickly continued. “The first draft of the bill is already sitting on my
desk. I want you to contact Harkens’ office and let his assistant know that
you’re the point man on this.”
“Should we go over this
together first so that I know—” Dan stopped talking as his boss held up his
hand in a clear stop talking signal.
“No, there’s no need. I want
you to take a look at the bill in its existing state, make notes, cut or change
anything that’s not reasonable or is – obviously – a bad idea. Explain your
rationale to Harken because he’s gonna be the guy that has to argue the
position with the politicians in D.C.”
The younger detective looked
uncertain and a little concerned. “But don’t you want to see what I—”
“Danno, you and I have had a
philosophical discussion or two on the topic – you’ll know what I would change,
so just do it. I have complete confidence that you can handle this.”
McGarrett’s blue eyes pierced the blue eyes that couldn’t look away from him.
His tone was characteristically terse and self-assured. Dan’s own confidence
was bolstered, but he had a passing pang of envy at how easy it was for Steve
McGarrett to be so certain of everything.
He nodded solemnly. “I’ll do
my best, Steve.”
“And that will be good
enough! I’ll be in a meeting with the attorney general for the next hour or
so.” McGarrett shot back as he turned to head off to his car. Dan hadn’t taken
more than a few steps in the other direction towards his own vehicle when his
boss turned suddenly again and shouted loudly. “Oh, Kono!”
Chin and Kono, who were now
standing beside the encased victim on the first foundation, snapped their heads
up to look at their boss as he issued the command in no uncertain terms.
“Dig up that second
foundation – I think we may have a second victim!” With that, the lead
detective spun and, without a backward glance, trotted to his car.
The big Hawaiian detective
opened his mouth in surprise just briefly and shared a pained, but quick “I-should-have-expected-this”
look with the almost amused Chinese detective. They both knew McGarrett well
enough to know that the man had, for whatever reason,
evaluated the evidence and made a decision that was final. Further arguments
would not be considered and would most certainly invoke an eruption of wrath
that Pele herself would envy.
“Uh, right, boss!” Kono
called back his acknowledgement of the order.
The satisfaction and pride
from that loud vote of confidence in front of his colleagues was nothing short
of a defining moment for Detective Danny Williams. Steve McGarrett had just
made it clear that he had faith in him – in his investigative instincts and in
his decision-making skills. He’d been entrusted with a task of near-monumental
proportion and he resolved that he would not fail. He didn’t gloat too much
over Steve’s decision to search for a second body – it was distinctly possible
that nothing but an innocent bucket of brown paint would be found – but he
couldn’t help but indulge in a quick, satisfied smile of vindication at his
co-workers. They grinned back at him, knowing that their friend truly seemed to
have a gift for bending the ear of their boss. And besides – they would prove him wrong in short
order anyway.
He would never admit it to a
soul, but McGarrett was not comfortable completely relinquishing control over
important matters (and even many of the lesser issues) in his domain, but he
could see no other way to prove to Williams that he could successfully carry
the mantle of responsibility for any task. As he maneuvered his LTD into the
flow of traffic, he hoped that Williams had not detected any hesitance on his
part when he delegated the important duty with Congressman Harkin to him. The
young man, it was turning out, had an almost annoying ability to see through
the neutral-but-leaning-toward-cool façade he tried to put forth. He mused on
his reluctance to let go of the workload. Did he trust Danno? Had his new
detective lived up to and exceeded his expectations at every turn? The answer
he decided was a resounding yes.
The problem was his own –
he’d taken on the responsibility for the well-being of his mother and baby
sister at an age when most boys were still playing marbles and trading baseball
cards. He internalized the idea that it was up to him to get things done – and
frequently it was (a fact which further validated his belief system). The few
times he had thought to allow himself the luxury of assistance, he’d been let
down. Somehow, over the years, he decided that it hurt less to not risk the let
down. It meant many late nights and missed social opportunities, but eventually
he could see no other way to make his world keep turning.
Steve was asking a lot of
himself, but then – he always had. It was an enormous change in how he ran his
life and conducted business, but he was determined that it would happen – that
he would not spend the rest of his career – and perhaps his life – shouldering
the burdens of mankind alone – ultimately burying himself so deep that he would
never recover. And yes, Danno would bear watching, and he would need firm
guidance as he learned the ropes, but the end result – McGarrett predicted –
would be not only a more productive work unit, but also a more satisfying
existence for himself.
September 1967 – Week Two
“Danno, make sure you’re
here by seven o’clock tomorrow – I want to go over a few things with you before
the 8:00 staff meeting.”
“Right, Steve,” came the acknowledgement from the un-phased Williams. His
boss had been making so many extra demands lately that he was beginning to
expect it. Dan didn’t mind though – Steve had let him know that the extra
effort he was putting in was smoothing the kinks out of the Five-0 operation.
The very fact that Five-0 might have kinks was something that Williams had not
considered before he joined the team. Now, that he was on the inside, he could
see that there were imperfections, but most of them seemed to be related to
insufficient resources. McGarrett was being forced to find new ways to
accomplish things now that Sam Nohea was gone, and if Dan could help, then he
was more than happy to do it. The praise wasn’t verbalized much, but it was
clear to Dan that his boss was satisfied with his work.
*****
“Morning, Steve!” Dan pushed
his boss’s door closed with his foot as his hands were full of two coffee cups,
his notebook, and a few file folders. The young detective had a sense that
Steve was well pleased that it was six forty five – a full fifteen minutes
before his presence was mandated.
“Good morning, Danno! Is
that coffee from last night or did you actually make a fresh pot?” McGarrett
grinned. It wasn’t that the head of Five-0 felt himself above making coffee –
he was frequently the first one in the office, but was usually distracted by
work-related tasks before he gave his first “working” cup of coffee a thought
(and by that time, somebody else would’ve set the coffee pot to brewing).
“It’s fresh – we would’ve had to chew it
otherwise!” Dan carefully set the cups down on the desk.
“I’m glad you’re here early
– we’ve got a lot of ground to cover before staff meeting.” Steve leaned over
and pulled the cup of steaming beverage towards him.
Dan couldn’t help but notice
the old photograph, perhaps eight by ten inches, lying on the desk. He could make out a
sailboat, at least twenty five, perhaps thirty feet long, sitting in a slip. A
paper clip loosely secured a typed page to the upper left hand corner of the
photo, but the paper was folded behind so as to less obscure the image. He
tilted his head slightly, but still could not make out the name of the vessel.
Steve glanced down and realized what had caught his detective’s attention.
“It’s mine – I guess,” Steve
offered with a slight shrug.
“You’re not sure?” Dan
furled his brow and offered a crooked smile as McGarrett turned the photo
around for him to view right-side-up.
He studied the photo as he
explained. “An acquaintance – my landlord when I first came to
“You must have made quite an
impression on him, Steve!” Dan replied enthusiastically.
McGarrett pulled the photo
and its attachment back and slipped it into the envelope in which it had
obviously arrived. “I’d just like to understand the motive.”
“How ‘bout the you-can’t-take-it-with-you motive! Never look a gift
boat in the mouth, Steve!” Dan quipped. “When can we go see it?”
Steve couldn’t stifle a brief
chuckle. His detective was more excited than he himself was about the distinct
possibility that he was now the owner of a sailboat. “Well, I want to be sure
this is not some sort of mistake before we go hoisting our sails. I’ll look
into it soon.”
The young man’s enthusiasm
fueled his own interest. It WOULD be nice to be able to get away from his
hectic, and frequently tense, routine every now and again – to glide along, a
view of the tropical shore in the distance, the sound of the bow crushing the
waves, cool spray dusting his face. Suddenly reminded that he’d left nobody in
charge at the office, the fantasy popped like a bubble, and he reminded himself
that the solution to his nobody’s-minding-the-store dilemma was standing here
before him, as far as Steve could tell, completely oblivious to the clandestine
grooming operation.
Dan shook his head at his
boss’s conservative response to such a thrilling piece of news, and started to
make a comment about thinking positively, but he was stopped in his figurative
tracks. Steve, who’d been looking down
at the envelope, slowly looked up at him – his expression harkened Williams
back to the staff meeting a month earlier – the tortuous ten-minute silence
they’d all endured.
He’d met Steve McGarrett in
1964 while he was an undercover officer for HPD, and not long after that, he
started pulling temporary assignments with the unit. In all that time, he’d
never witnessed these episodes of brief, but very distant demeanor that had
been coming over the man lately. He wished he knew what his boss was thinking,
and wondered whether he could do anything to help. Dan had the inclination to
not move, but decided that the approach had not worked before. So, he slipped a
folder into his boss’s IN box and changed the subject.
“These are the monthly
expense reports – all they need is your signature.”
Tuned back in, Steve found
himself caught – if he was reading Danno’s face correctly – in the daydream. He broke eye contact
quickly and opened and reached into his top desk drawer.
“Why didn’t you just sign
them?” McGarrett did not look at his detective as he was preoccupied with the
search.
“Against regulations, Steve
– I don’t have signature authority.” Dan’s response was delivered in the most
matter-of-fact tone he could muster.
He was learning quickly that
his by-the-book boss would suggest the most outlandish things in the interest
of practical expediency. The man had to know that his signature was required
before reimbursement checks would be cut. He wondered in passing whether Steve
was testing him.
Having found what he was
looking for, McGarrett reinvested his full attention in Williams. “For a guy
that grumbles about bureaucratic process, you sure don’t miss a beat in the
quoting-regulations department.” Despite his amused tease, the head of Five-0
was glad that his new detective seemed to have a knack for remembering mundane
details and a penchant for following the rules – more great qualities in a
second-in-command.
“I can quote with the best
of them, and I know you haven’t heard me complain – at least not too loudly!”
Dan grinned.
“You’re right, Danno – you
weren’t very loud about it!” He paused to take a quick sip of his coffee before
he continued onto a different subject. “Have you ever seen how my notebook is
organized?” McGarrett laid the small, black bound notebook on his desk and
looked up at Williams standing before him.
“Only in the occasional
passing glance,” Dan responded as he sat down on one of the front corners of
the desk and leaned in to get a closer look. He couldn’t help but have the
sense that the holy grail was about to be revealed to
him.
Steve smiled. “It appears
cryptic, but in my defense, it’s consistent.”
Dan’s lip twitched into a grin
and he nodded as his boss proceeded to outline the indeed organized, but very abbreviated dates, names, and notes. There was no
attempt to encode – ellipses were consistent and dates were represented in
their numeric short-hand – efficiency was the name of the game for the owner of
this notebook.
Dan pointed to a line.
4-10-67 – Int
w/ Luther Boggs – ico KK - nf
“So on April 10th,
you interviewed Luther Boggs -- ICO – in the company of KK – Kono Kalakaua. NF –
NF… hmm – Not fun?” Williams proffered a guess at abbreviation.
“That too,” McGarrett
nodded. “But it also stands for no fruit – in other words, unproductive.”
“Okay, I get it, but – but
why am I getting it, if you don’t mind my asking? I mean is there some reason
you want me to know how to read your notes?” Dan’s eyes left the pages he’d
been studying to make eye contact with his boss.
One of the things Steve had
first appreciated about Williams was his candid and un-tentative approach to
things he did not understand. He was reminded of this as he looked back at the
young man who sat there, comfortably on the corner of his desk – normally a
place too intimate for McGarrett to find his subordinates, but oddly almost
reassuring at this moment. The young detective was fully expecting – and
deserving, McGarrett decided – a good explanation from his boss.
“Danno, I’ve been thinking,
and from now on, I want to make sure that you’re aware of all of my
agendas. Not just my official schedule –
May tracks that – but informal plans, what I’m trying to accomplish and the
status of each item. If something were to happen to me
or I was unreachable for a period of time, somebody in this office needs to
know what’s going on.”
Williams listened intently
with a slight frown of concentration. He nodded. “Umm, okay,
Steve.” Dan silently wondered why his boss was not tapping his senior
detective for this. Perhaps Chin had not wanted to do it? He didn’t ask that question though. “How do
we do that?”
“Simple. I will keep you
informed.” McGarrett slid a key he’d been holding in the palm of his hand
across the desk toward Williams. “This unlocks my desk. I keep my notes on
active issues in the file drawer right here.” He tapped the desk lightly as he
continued. “If something unexpected comes up, and I’m not able to fill you in
for some reason, you have my permission to retrieve whatever you need from here
to move forward. I don’t need to tell
you that there are a few items in here that are personal and confidential.”
Dan felt the need to jump in
at that moment. “Steve, I would never get into any of your personal stuff—“
His boss held up his hand.
“On the contrary, my friend, never say never. An occasion may arise where you
need to know information about me which I consider private. I’m telling you now
that I trust you to do what you need to do.”
McGarrett could see from the young man’s expression that he was taking
the duty very seriously.
An a
The banter died down quickly
as Kono and Chin settled into the ch
They each did their best to
not react outwardly as they could see that McGarrett himself seemed un-phased
by the incursion into his personal space. As a matter of fact, Kono thought the
man seemed almost cheerful – a little disconcerting the Hawaiian detective
decided silently, and jumped slightly when his boss suddenly plunged into to
the business at hand.
“Where are we, gentlemen,
with our construction worker murders?”
Progress on the case had
been at a near stand-still because the victim identification process had been
slow and arduous. It had been a challenge for the medical examiner and his team
just to extricate the victims from the concrete encasements, which Kono had
delivered to them.
The Hawaiian detective, with
the help of one of the Welton jack hammer operators
and two uniformed HPD officers, managed to carefully carve the first victim out
of his resting place. It took a few hours of chipping and prying before the
heavy form could be lifted out and into the back of the ME’s station wagon.
Less than enthusiastic – and not expecting to find any overt evidence of a
crime – Kono and his team moved over to the second foundation to realistically
evaluate the best approach to a search of the cement surrounding the brown
patch. The men walked around the patch for a couple of minutes before Kono took
one of the pick axes and, with all of the force he could summon from a full-arm
swing, drove the pick end of the tool several inches into the new concrete. The
surprising part for the detective was how far he’d plunged the pick in a single
swing, but before he could muse on that further, a pool of deep burgundy seeped
into the narrow hole around the pick. Revulsion filled Kono and the two HPD men
as they recognized the liquid for what it was. The jack hammer operator let out
an involuntary cry before he rushed to the edge of the foundation to throw up.
It took another thirty minute, tense-and-tentative
hit-and-miss operation to identify the position of the body, so that cutting
could begin. The poor victim was struck three more times with the pick before
the men were certain where the jack hammering should occur.
Two hours later, after
victim number two was on his way to the medical examiner’s, Kono radioed Dan to
let him know – if he hadn’t already heard – that he’d been right about the
brown stain. Rather than gloating, Williams apologized for the extra effort
he’d put his colleague through, and waved off his friend’s attempt at an apology,
expressing regret that he’d been right about such a horrible thing.
Confirming their identifies turned out to be difficult as well since
the outer layers of skin and tissue did not remain with the muscle and bone. So
the problem became one of reconstituting the bodies.
Chin spoke up and sum
“The first guy is the
missing Welton Construction employee – Dennis Keali.
They still don’t have a positive ID on the other guy – his fingerprints were
kind of messed up. But a missing persons report was filed yesterday on a—” Chin
hesitated as he flipped the page of his notebook to find the name. “Mark Gordon
– the thing that caught my eye is that he’s in the construction business.”
McGarrett nodded. “And does
he work for Welton?”
“No – he works for Nichols
Construction. His dental records may be our only shot at confirming that it’s
him.”
Steve slowly rose and began
to pace behind his desk, but before he could speak, Chin chimed in again. “Oh,
one more thing – Stanley Davis – he also used to work for Nichols
Construction.”
With that news, McGarrett
frowned and moved to his chalkboard. He scribbled notes as he spoke. “So we
have three men – Davis, Keali, and Gordon. Davis and Gordon both worked for
Nichols – what about Keali?” He turned to look at Chin.
“Not so far as we can tell.”
McGarrett turned back to the
board and continued writing. “Keali and Davis worked for Welton.”
Kono looked up from his
notebook. “
“Hmm,
yeah.” The lead detective turned
from the board again, rubbing his chin as he considered.
“Maybe construction workers
are a lot like surfers, Steve.” Dan offered.
“Yeah,
Danno? How’s
that?” McGarrett aborted the pacing operation he was about to begin and
turned to look at the detective.
“They may hit different
beaches at different times, but they all end up at the same hangouts in the
evenings.” Williams shrugged. “They probably all know each other.”
Steve began nodding before
Dan was finished speaking, and picked up with the pacing again as Kono added,
“Yeah, my cousin used to work for Island Builders, and he told me that he knew
McGarrett looked in the
direction of the Hawaiian detective, but did not stop moving. “Hit your cousin
up for any more information he may have – anyplace he can think of where guys
like our vics might hang out, and go talk to whomever you can find about what
these guys might have been doing in their final hours.”
“Right,
boss,” Kono acknowledged.
“Chin, make
sure we get anything else from Doc Bergman as soon as he has it, and check out
these guys’ employment records – see if anything jumps out at you. So far, the
only thing that links all three men is their profession, and that’s not good
enough. I want a connection!”
The Oriental detective
nodded. “Right.”
The proper edicts issued on
the murders, McGarrett stopped by his desk and tapped his finger on the next
item of business on his agenda before he looked at Williams. “So, I hear from
Congressman Harken that progress with his bill is going very well in no small
part due to your input, Danno.”
“I don’t see why he still
needs my help at this point – all that’s left to do is to sift through a lot of
barely comprehensible English legalese for loopholes.” Williams acknowledged
the compliment with a slight nod of his head even as he grumbled.
“A loophole search, eh,
Danno?” McGarrett smiled thinly. “You’re
the inventor of the great you-know-what-you-can-do-with-your-request-for-information
document, so this should be child’s play for you!”
Chin and Kono muffled their
snickers at the gentle barb. The rare smirk on his boss’s face was enough to
elicit a faint smile from Williams, but the tease did nothing to make the task
more palatable. “I knew that would come back to haunt me.”
*****
Normally not one to dally at
his car, McGarrett stopped and leaned against the door after he closed it. He
looked up at the stone façade of the
Target! That was it! In a
flash, the head of Five-0 knew what he would do. He tossed his keys a short
distance in the
*****
“Danno!”
All heads in the Five-0
front office snapped in the direction of their boss’s voice as he swept into
the office in typical McGarrett fashion. Williams and May were standing at her
desk had been eyeing the details of some document, and the other two detectives
had been at their own desks.
“Is your rifle here?” The
head of Five-0 approached his office door and slapped Dan on the shoulder as he
passed by.
Williams was perplexed, but
didn’t hesitate in responding. “Uh, yeah – it’s in my office.”
“Grab it and come in here!”
McGarrett called over his shoulder as his office door closed behind him.
With no more than a
half-second, confused look exchanged between May and the detective, Dan wasted
no time in turning over the papers in his hand to her before he trotted into
his office, grabbed his rifle case, and disappeared behind the big Koa wood
door.
Chin and Kono leaned out of
their respective offices each to catch the other’s eye. The unspoken question
was written on both their faces. What is
going on with the boss?
They’d cornered Danny not
long after the bizarre, silent status meeting incident, and he’d sworn that
Steve was not punishing him. Each man felt bad for the extra work that was
being heaped on their new colleague, but, while he was most definitely busy in
the extreme, he did not seem to mind – neither man had heard him object to a single
assignment.
McGarrett was standing, his
back to the door gazing at the view outside his lanai, when Dan entered. Before
the young detective could say anything, his boss spoke without turning around.
“Pull it out.”
Williams set the case down
across the arms of one of the white leather ch
“Confident about your ability
to use this weapon, are you?” The question sounded a little ominous to
Williams, but he knew the answer immediately.
“Yeah,
Steve.” He let a grin brush
across his face. “What do you want me to shoot?”
McGarrett moved back to the
French doors and flung them open. “How far would you say it is to that white
Rambler parked out there?”
Dan stepped up to get a look
a what his boss was viewing. He frowned for only a
moment. “Hmm, maybe three hundred and fifty—sixty yards.”
“And could you put a round through
the dash ornament?” Until then, McGarrett had been staring out at the vehicle
in the distance, but he turned suddenly to study his detective.
Dan, mouth a little agape,
slowly looked to make out the fuzzy toy which rested several inches under the rear
view mirror. He looked back at his boss nonplussed, completely at a loss as to
where the conversation was going. Was Steve going to ask him to shoot the
bouncing head off a cheesy little plastic dog?
Whatever the reason for the
man’s inquiry, Dan knew the unequivocal answer. “Absolutely.”
“You sound pretty sure of
yourself.” McGarrett observed with a grin.
“I am.” Williams responded,
no hint of defensiveness – just faith in his expertise.
“What if I said I didn’t
think you could hit it?” The head of Five-0 challenged, his steel blue eyes
never wavering from his detective.
Williams didn’t flinch or
blink as he rose to the challenge with a thin smile. “With all due respect,
Steve, you’d be wrong.”
McGarrett’s lip twitched in
amusement for a moment before he released a smile. “But you can’t prove it to
me right now, given the current conditions. Are you still certain you could hit
your target?”
“The fact that I can’t lock,
load, sight, and shoot right now doesn’t make me less certain that I’m right.”
By now, Dan realized that Steve was trying to make a point that did not
actually involve his renowned sharp shooting skills. The lesson was still lost
on him, but he was now actively searching for it.
“And you’re basing your
conclusion upon what?”
“Past experience… knowledge
of my current marksmanship scores…”
“So more
years on the job do not negate special insight.”
“No,” Dan confirmed. “More
years on the job do not negate special insight.” He spent several seconds digesting
the conversation before he, with a glance down at his
rifle, spoke again. “Can I put my weapon away?”
“Your weapon is your mind,
Danno, more powerful than your Browning. You have a gift and don’t let anyone
tell you to set it aside.” Steve McGarrett’s words were delivered with an intensity typical to his personality. He sat down at his
desk and leaned forward on his elbows to await his protégé’s reaction.
The enormous compliment was
not lost on Williams, and he felt his face flush with warmth for a few moments.
He took in a breath slowly and nodded as he placed the rifle back in its case.
Praise aside, he considered that his boss had just delivered a dose of
uncharacteristically gentle chastisement in the form of a metaphorical lesson.
Dan knew the real-life parallel was probably up for discussion next, and not
wanting to wait until the other shoe dropped, with his back to his boss, he had
to ask.
“So, what did I do?”
Smart… Steve was pleased that his protégé caught the
point. “Mark Gordon – we just got a positive ID from Bergman’s office on the
second victim.”
Dan turned around at the
news. “The guy that works— or worked for Nichols
Construction.”
“Yeah. You correctly assessed the second foundation as a
potential crime scene, but what would’ve happened if I hadn’t been there?”
McGarrett’s eyes were locked
on Williams and had a graveness in them that chilled
Dan, who slowly looked to the floor as he took a seat before his boss’s desk.
He thought through his
answer carefully before he admitted what he believed. “A house would’ve been
framed out and built on top of Gordon, and his murder would’ve never been
uncovered.” Only after he spoke did he momentarily glance up at McGarrett, who
nodded slowly.
“And THAT, my friend,
would’ve been a tragedy indeed.”
Dan could only nod slightly
in agreement as he exuded remorse. Glad that his detective was taking it so
hard, McGarrett now moved to use that regret to prevent future similar
occurrences. His voice grew sharp and intense. “Trust your instincts and don’t
back off for anybody even if the evidence speaks only to you and nobody else!”
“Stick to my guns…” Dan’s
blue eyes locked on his boss’s.
Steve nodded and allowed
himself an encouraging smile. “You’ve just proven to me that you’ve got it in
you.”
Dan remained stoic for a few
seconds as he let Steve’s vote of confidence in him sink in. Finally, he ran
his hand over his mouth before his lip twitched into a reluctant smile. “I get
it, Steve.”
September 1967 – Week
Three
“Steve, a Mrs. Leilani
Espinoza here to see you.” May stepped all the way inside her boss’s office to
announce the visitor. “She says she’s Dennis Keali’s sister.”
That news elicited a
reaction from the man behind the desk. He joined his secretary at the door and
opened it wider to greet the woman. An attractive Polynesian, the petite woman
looked to be in her early twenties. She looked anxious as her eyes met those of
the imposing figure in the doorway.
“Mrs. Espinoza, I’m Steve
McGarrett.” He moved forward and extended his hand. She timidly accepted the
handshake, but withdrew f
As the young woman, attired
in a short, green and pink floral muu muu, seated herself in one of McGarrett’s guest ch
“Thank you, Mr. McGarrett.
He was my only brother, and while he was a little wild at times, he did not
deserve to be murdered.”
“Do you have any information
that could shed some light on this horrible crime?”
She’d been looking down at
the worried tissue in her hands until that moment when she looked up, anger
flashing in her dark eyes. “I’m here to tell you who killed him.”
McGarrett’s eyebrows arched.
“Pray tell, please do.” He said no more so as not to lead her down any
particular path.
“Mr. Nichols killed my
brother.” She stopped speaking as if that alone should be sufficient cause to
make an arrest.
The detective frowned
slightly in confusion. “You mean Trent Nichols, the owner of Nichols
Construction Company?” When she nodded slightly, McGarrett questioned. “Did you
see Trent Nichols kill your brother?”
“No, but I saw enough to
know that he did it. My brother was well liked. He just didn’t have any other
enemies.”
“Trent Nichols, as I
understand it, is a very wealthy man, and very highly thought of in the
community. Why would he want to kill your brother?” McGarrett was beginning to
think that the grieving sister had no basis for her accusation.
“I worked in the front
office of Nichols Construction – I was a receptionist until last week – I just
started a new job as a secretary for the Port Authority. My brother had been
dropping me off at work everyday on his way to his job at Welton
Construction. In the evenings, he would sometimes have to hang around and wait
for me to finish up. That’s where he met her.”
“Her?” McGarrett cocked his
head. There were already elements in the woman’s story that filled in parts of
the puzzle. Now all of the dead men had a connection to Nichols.
“Janice Nichols, Mr.
Nichols’ wife.” She looked down for a moment and worried the tissue a bit more
before she looked back up into the eyes of the man whose attention she now
raptly held. “I warned him that she was trouble. Women know these things about
other women. I watched her, how she walked, looked at the guys – and how they
looked at her. You know the kind --- drop dead gorgeous and knows it.”
The detective didn’t
outwardly acknowledge his agreement, but he did know the type of woman she
described. That type was always hard to ignore. “You think your brother took up
with Mrs. Nichols and Mr. Nichols found out about it?”
“I don’t know how he found
out, but two evenings before my brother was killed, he came to pick me up. I
saw Mr. Nichols run out to the parking lot and say something to Dennis – I
don’t know what they said to each other, but Mr. Nichols shoved Dennis, and
said something else – Dennis looked afraid. He got back in the car and waited
for me there. When I asked him what Mr. Nichols said, he told me not to worry
about it – that it was over and done with.”
McGarrett had to agree that
this was cause for further investigation, but another question came to mind.
“Did you know Mark Gordon?”
“Yes – he was one of Mr.
Nichols’ foremen.”
“Did you ever see him with
Mrs. Nichols or have any reason to believe that he was involved with her in any
way?”
The young woman shook her
head. “It’s possible, but I never saw them in the office at the same time. She
wasn’t there all that often. And the foremen, like Mr. Gordon is – was, I mean
– most of them did not deal directly with Mr. Nichols. The foreman boss is Joe
Sandusky – he’s the one who assigns the jobs and keeps Mr. Nichols informed.”
The grief-stricken sister’s
plea for justice had become a truly significant lead! He thanked Leilani
Espinoza and assured her that he or one of his men would be in touch soon.
*****
Indecision momentarily
halted McGarrett’s progress as he stopped just inside his office. Hand resting
on the knob in preparation for his standard energetic tug, he hesitated. The
upcoming budget meetings were an annual ordeal that all state-sponsored
organizations had to endure. The first couple of meetings provided a venue for
the ch
Worth the risk… not worth the risk…
Steve’s internal vacillation
was interrupted by the sound of voices just outside his door.
“Because it will save Steve time
– it’s called an executive summary. It’ll only take each of us an extra minute
or two! How ‘bout it?” It was Williams’ voice,
initially authoritative, but sliding into a cajoling tone as he worked to
persuade his colleagues to see things his way.
Worth the risk! McGarrett decided emphatically,
pleased – and touched – that his youngest detective was taking such initiative
on his behalf. It wasn’t that the head of Five-0 suddenly became completely
confident that Dan would behave and react perfectly with the budget politicos –
rather it hit him that he didn’t care. As he stood there, the doorknob now warm
under his grip, he could visualize a day in the future when the people who
would be naysayers in the near-term would forget that Detective Danny Williams
was not the obvious choice for second-in-command of
Suddenly re-energized and
comfortable with his decision once again, McGarrett pulled the door open. The
eyes of all three detectives turned to look in his direction.
“Everything
okay, gentlemen?” McGarrett
inquired innocently as he stopped at Williams’ side.
“Yeah,
Steve.” Chin responded, humor readable in his eyes, as the other two men nodded
their agreement. “Danny’s just throwing
a couple of ideas at us.”
“Good ones, I hope?”
Chin and Kono shot glances
at each other before both detectives nodded and the Chinese detective
verbalized their agreement. “They’re good, Steve.”
A smile flickered across
Dan’s face as he gave a slight nod of appreciation in the direction of his
colleagues.
That settled, McGarrett directed his attention at Williams as he handed
him a thick, manila file.
“Danno, I’ll need you to sit
in on the first round of annual budget meetings for me next week. This
information should help you get up to speed.” McGarrett explained. The young
detective’s mouth dropped open just briefly before he frowned and cracked open
the file. Before the young detective could voice the concern that appeared on
his face, his boss reassured him. “Relax, Danno, all you’ll need to do is take
some notes and look nonchalant about it. I’ll be in court for at least part of
both of these days.”
Williams’ expression relaxed
a little. “Okay, Steve, as long as you’re sure I won’t be able to get us into a
jam.”
McGarrett gave the detective
a gentle pat on the back before he withdrew to his office. “I’m confident that
won’t happen.”
After the door closed behind
their boss, Kono
breathed. “Ouch, bruddah, budget stuff.”
Dan peeked into the file
again with a slight grimace. “Yeah, well, I hope Steve’s right.”
“You wanna pick up some
lunch with us?” The Hawaiian offered the balm of food and camaraderie.
Dan looked up from the file
and smiled. “Thanks, but I’d better stay -- I’ve got a lot to do – and I’ll be in
court all day tomorrow at Pete Beauprez’ hearing.”
Chin gave Dan a shake of his
shoulder as he and Kono turned to leave. “We’ll bring you back something!”
The two detectives strolled
to the car without speaking, years of teamwork making their silence
comfortable. But as they separated, each to reach the appropriate car door,
Kono frowned and sighed. “Man, the boss is really dogging Danny. I’m start to feel bad for da kaikaina.” He shook as head as
unlocked the car door.
Chin took a moment to light
his pipe, but looked up at the Hawaiian detective from across the roof of the
vehicle as he waited for the match to fully involve the tobacco. His expression
was – as usual – hard to decipher, but Kono had worked with the man for a long
time, and could detect a suspicious nuance in the Chinese detective’s face.
“Okay, what?” He leaned on
the roof of the car and waited.
Chin shook his head. “You
gonna think I’m pupule.”
“I already think that, so
give!”
Chin watched the smoke drift
upward for a moment before he looked back at his colleague. “Look at the
evidence, bruddah. What’s Steve got Danny doing?”
Kono frowned and shrugged.
“Reports, schedule stuff, filling in for him at meetings, stuff that Ray, uh…
stuff that Ray…” His voice trailed off as he considered the rest of the answer
silently. The longer he stood there, mulling over the facts of the past weeks,
the bigger his eyes got.
Finally, when the Hawaiian
looked back across at his friend, Chin grinned and answered his own question.
“He’s got Danny doing everything that a second-in-command would do.”
Kono stood there looking nonplussed . “Auwe! Danny as
second-in-command! What do you think?”
“I think da boss know what
he’s doing.”
“Why didn’t Danny say
something to us?” Kono wondered.
“He don’t
know, bruddah!” Chin shot back emphatically. “He’s smart – and he’s on Steve’s
frequency for sure – but he’s pretty dense sometimes too. Besides, Steve’s got
him so busy, he don’t have time to look up and see
where he’s headed!”
Kono agreed. “Yeah. I know I wouldn’t wanna trade places with him these
days.” The two men finally settled into the car, but the driver pulled his hand
away from the ignition before he fired up the engine and looked at his
passenger. “That means that we’ll be reporting to Danny before too long.”
Chin shrugged. “Can you
think of anybody who’s gonna be easier to get along with?”
Grinning, the Hawaiian
started the car as he answered. “No, I guess not.” Then, he had to laugh. “Steve would’ve never
let Ray sit on his desk!”
Chin chuckled at the very
image. “Ray would have never tried!”
*****
Dragging the door to the
Five-0 office space open with his foot as he straightened his tie, Dan almost
collided with Chin and Kono as they were leaving. “Aloha, guys.” The young
detective’s greeting was unenthusiastic, and he looked a little drained.
“How was the hearing?” Chin
slapped Dan on the shoulder.
“Hard,” Dan sighed. “Usually
I have an idea ahead of time of the kinds of questions I’ll be asked, but this
time, it was like a shot gun blast. The Attorney General covered a lot of cases
that happened over the entire time I reported to Beauprez.” Now among friends,
Dan confessed. “Stuart talked to me like I was a witness for the defense
instead of his witness.”
Williams had the sneaking
suspicion that Walter Stuart, the attorney general, had not yet gotten over the
fact that McGarrett had selected Dan for the vacant Five-0 slot – over Stuart’s
strenuous objections. Too young… too
inexperienced…Well, the detective admitted that he
was young, but perhaps not quite as inexperienced as Stuart would paint him.
McGarrett’s steadfast support and dogged refusal to consider anyone else for
the position won out in the end.
Naively, because Dan was
completely ready to forgive the unflattering innuendo hurled at him by the AG,
he assumed that Stuart would be a good sport and give him a chance to prove
himself. That, Williams realized dejectedly, was turning out to not be the
case. Stuart subtly challenged or belittled Dan at every opportunity. Not
certain what else he should do, Dan did his best to ignore the high ranking
official’s adversarial tone, but it was getting tougher with each encounter.
McGarrett, if he was aware of it, either did not think the issue was worthy of
his intervention OR thought that Williams could handle it himself. Either way,
Dan decided that his boss would not want to talk about it.
“I wouldn’t worry about
Stuart, Danny – he’ll get over it someday!” Chin smiled.
Williams shrugged. “Well, at
least I don’t have to deal with him very often.”
The two more senior
detectives had brushing eye contact, but did not react otherwise to their
friend’s comment. They both knew that one of the duties of the
second-in-command was to serve as the liaison to the Attorney General’s office.
It was generally a very mundane, but important duty – seeing that both offices
were in sync with upcoming cases, evidence and witness-related issues. Well,
Danny would just have to cross that bridge when he came to it.
“What do ya
think’s gonna happen with
Beauprez?” Kono asked.
Pete Beauprez had been HPD’s Chief of Detectives – and Dan’s direct supervisor –
until he’d attempted to murder Dan to prevent him from accepting the vacant
Five-0 slot. The crooked cop was on the payroll of an island gangster by the
name of Melia, who wanted an inside man on
McGarrett’s payroll. The failed attempt landed Beauprez in jail while his
attorneys were attempting to negotiate a plea bargain for their client, who
wanted to turn states evidence on other crimes of which he had knowledge. In
addition to a reduced sentence, which McGarrett fought against violently, he
wanted to serve his time on the mainland – away from other criminals that he
himself had put behind bars AND out of the eye shot of the law enforcement
personnel that he’d betrayed. Dan, having carried out numerous orders from
Beauprez, had corroborative information about his former boss’s activities.
“I imagine that Pete will
get a room with a view somewhere on the mainland.” Dan shrugged, and then
grinned. “I’m not sure whether he’ll get any time shaved off his sentence –
Steve’s really putting up a fight.”
Just then, McGarrett’s
office door flung open. With just a couple strides, the lead detective covered
the distance to his secretary’s IN box and dropped a document into it. With
only a glance toward his detectives, he spun and retreated calling over his
shoulder, “Danno, come in here!”
Kono patted Dan’s back as
the young detective nodded – the terse bark of his boss was now part of his routine
and nothing to cause him concern as it had when he’d first come onboard a few
months earlier. Heeding the summons, he walked backwards and addressed his
co-workers who were obviously heading out the door.
“Where’re ya goin’?”
“We gotta couple a construction
worker leads we gonna follow up on!” Chin waved with the pipe he’d just pulled
out of his suit pocket, and with that the outer door wafted shut.
*****
“Danny, Steve’s not back
from whatever he was doing in
Williams frowned slightly,
suspicion clouding his train of thought as his two colleagues stood there
before him. “Since when is it my decision whether you guys do what Steve told you
to do?”
Chin and Kono exchanged a
quick look, and silently agreed. The Chinese detective shrugged. “Well,
bruddah, it seems like you got a pretty good bead on what’s goin’
on with the boss these days. We just figured it might be a good idea to run
this by you before we decide.” Kono nodded in agreement.
Dan continued studying the p
“So you think it would be
okay if we left for the day?” Kono pressed.
“Well, uh.
. . why don’t we just go into Steve’s office for a few minutes and you can fill
me in. Then I’ll hang around and wait for him.” Dan offered.
The young detective caught
sight of the uncertain visual exchange between the two more senior detectives
before Chin responded. “I feel kinda bad leavin’ you here.”
Williams shrugged and
reassured them with a grin. “I don’t have anybody waiting on me for dinner –
and besides, I might actually get next month’s on-call roster done.”
“Okay, bruddah, mahalo! Let
me grab my notebook!” Chin grinned and slipped into his office.
“Me too – we’ll be right
there!” Kono spoke up and moved to his desk quickly as well.
Dan turned and disappeared
into Steve’s office with a quick squeeze of May’s arm as he passed.
May watched the scene play
out only a few feet from her desk as she herself prepared to leave for the day.
She quickly moved to corner the two remaining detectives before they joined
their colleague in the big office. “Okay, let me in on it! What was that all
about?”
The two men looked at each
other for a moment. Acknowledgement of a shared secret and their unspoken pact
to help their boss’s master plan unfold smoothly passed between them. In the
single visual exchange, they agreed that May should know about the conspiracies
– Steve McGarrett’s AND theirs. Chin nodded for her to follow them several
paces away further from the door, and then he quietly outlined what they knew
and their hypothesis. The secretary nodded and listened intently, but was not
nearly as surprised at the revelation as Kono had been. After all, she was in
the office all the time, and so was routinely witness to even more evidence to
support the conclusion. The explicit thought that Steve might be preparing
Danny for an official promotion had not entered her head, but after Chin
verbalized the thought, the idea did not seem far fetched.
McGarrett was tasking
Williams with more responsibility almost daily, forcing the young detective to
become more organized in the process. She’d noticed that Steve was leaving many
more decisions to him as well. At one point, he stepped out of his office and
asked his secretary what his detective had decided to do with regard to the
latest round of changes for the chain-of-evidence bill. She’d handed him the
document that Williams had given to her – he stood by her desk, perused it for
a few minutes, but changed nothing before he handed it back to her.
May agreed to do her part to
help, realizing better than either of the two detectives how much her boss
needed the dedicated and unwavering support of someone. McGarrett was truly the
epitome of the lone man at the top, but she knew his life would be orders of
magnitude better if he didn’t try to shoulder all of his burdens alone. Plus,
she astutely observed that, despite their dramatic differences in personality,
McGarrett and Williams truly seemed to like each other – this was something
that had been missing from Steve’s relationship with Sam Nohea.
The detectives disappeared
behind the big office door and May had just collected her purse when the phone
rang. She hesitated – answering the phone after official quitting time
frequently led to a delayed departure. But since her guys were still here, the
thought crossed her mind that it might be a family member wondering whether
they were ever coming home. She sighed and picked up the receiver, not
bothering to set her purse down. “Five-0!” Her voice
was as perky and crisp as if it were the first call of the new day instead of
one that would hopefully be her last.
“May, I thought you’d be
gone by now!”
“Steve, I’m just heading
out. The boys were wondering where you were! Danny’s going ahead with the
status meeting so that Chin and Kono can go home – Danny said he’d wait here
for you. Do you want me to tell them to wait til you
get here?”
“No! No, on the contrary –
that’s perfect! Just leave a note for Danno that I’ll be there shortly!”
“Right! Oh, one more thing…” May wanted to do her part to
encourage her boss with his plan. “Danny certainly is doing a wonderful job!”
A few moments of silence
ensued before McGarrett’s voice crackled a response. “Yes, May, he is.”
*****
McGarrett left the window
down on the drive back from
He was returning to the
Palace from his visit with the attorney who was the executor of Edmond Brooks
will. It turned out that Brooks, Steve’s
landlord for the first six months he was in
He couldn’t help but grin at
the memory when he left the office earlier that day. He’d casually told Danno
to hold down the fort because he was going to go see a man about a boat.
Williams seemed to have no problem with the command and was clearly glad to
hear that his boss was heading out on the personal mission.
Now that he viewed Williams’
appointment as his second-in-command as inevitable, he was anxious to make it
official. Never known for his patience, as soon as McGarrett could see the way
on his path, he wanted to proceed. That
his future second-in-command was taking care of business, and was taking the
initiative to have the meeting and release his men for the evening, at this
very moment only fueled the fire of McGarrett intention.
*****
When he arrived at the
parking lot of the Palace, he could see that only Williams’ car remained. As
his own stomach growled, he had a thought that perhaps Danno should bring him
up to speed over dinner. Abandoning the big black Ford in the fire lane in
front of the Palace – probably the only man in the South Pacific who would do
this without the thought of a parking ticket crossing his mind, he went into
the office to collect Dan.
The sound of an electric
typewriter was audible to McGarrett as he opened the outer door to the Five-0
office space. Only one of the overhead lights remained on, giving the office an
after-hours aura. His long strides put him in front of Dan’s small office in
just a few seconds. Williams had just stopped typing and leaned forward to
inspect the text on the page when his boss knocked on the frame of the
door-less space.
“Danno! How ‘bout we grab
some dinner!” Steve smiled. It felt good to return to the office and find his
detective concentrating on some task which only weeks before he himself would
have been on the hook to complete.
Not startled at the sudden
presence of McGarrett, Dan looked up with a grin. “Steve! How’d it go with the
attorney?”
“It looks like I’m the owner
of 1941 25-foot sloop.” He folded his
arms and shrugged. “It seems that it’s been dry docked for awhile – not sure
how long though.”
“It’s sitting in Pearl City
now?” Williams did not try to mask his enthusiasm as he pushed away from the
typewriter and rose from his ch
“To the best of my
knowledge, it’s sitting in a storage lot right off the
“Well, let’s go see the boat
first! We can eat in the dark!” Dan grabbed his suit jacket from the nearby ch
The detective’s zeal was
infectious, and Steve found himself wanting to get a look at his new craft as
well. He agreed to the plan with a little less outward enthusiasm than his
young colleague.
*****
The lot was surrounded by a
six-foot high chain link fence, but the only gate was pinned open, and looked
as if it had been for some time, by a rusted-out wash tub and two bald, old car
tires. McGarrett cautiously maneuvered his vehicle around several large
potholes in the dirt road that transected the five-acre field that was littered
with all manner of recreation equipment and cars, not to mention various and
sundry parts of old appliances, large and small. Large tarps covered and were
secured to many of the items with varying degrees of effectiveness. The two men
were silent as they took in the sights around them. After a long one-minute
drive, McGarrett pulled over and stared at the marker on the three-foot metal
post -- #135. His eyes rose from the “address” to the obviously old vessel
sitting there unprotected from the elements.
It rested, stern to the
road, about four feet off the ground on a braced wooden scaffold. Most of the
painted letters of the christened name had been worn away by the elements,
leaving only four peeling, slate-colored letters:
PU` N A
The dirt which had been
kicked up by the car tires faded and vanished before the two men moved to make
their exodus from the vehicle. They slowly walked around the boat once before
Dan, in a quick, fluid movement, climbed up onto the scaffolding and lifted
himself onto the deck. Steve circled one more time slowly, absorbing the
generally poor condition of his suddenly prized possession. Jolted from his
reverie by a loud, crackling crash above him, he took a couple of steps back,
momentarily wondering whether he was about to be crushed.
“Danno!” He called, remembering that his friend was in the
boat. Silence ensued for a few moments before Williams’ head appeared.
“Sorry,” He responded
sheepishly.
McGarrett didn’t ask what
had happened – he suspected that years of neglect had made the craft an unsafe
place in which to wander. As if reading his boss’s mind, Dan cautiously climbed
over the mangled grabrail and jumped to the ground.
He dusted himself off with a grimace.
“It does need some work,”
McGarrett mused out loud as his attention returned to the peeling white paint
on the hull.
“Yeah,” Dan agreed as he
bent over for just a moment to make a quick examination of the area hidden by
the scaffolding. Obviously disheartened. he added when
he stood, “All she needs is a new deck, a new center board, a new rudder, a new
transom, a new hatch, a new mast, a mainsail, a jib, a new wheel, new fixtures,
sanding, sealing, and a little paint – say twenty gallons – and she’ll be good
as new.”
McGarrett let Williams
finish his severe – and unfortunately not incorrect – assessment of the vessel
before he sighed. Determined to counter the pessimistic evaluation, he had to
think for a moment before he responded. “Well, the hull still looks to be
solid.”
“It should be checked for
rot.” Dan shook his head and put his hands in his pants pockets.
Steve found himself secretly
a little chagrinned as he realized that what they found made much more sense
than an impeccably-maintained, instantly seaworthy vessel. He had mentally
leapt over the elbow-grease phase of boat ownership straight to the reward. As he
inspected the boat, it occurred to him that it was almost better this way. The
act of restoring the craft was somehow appealing to him. After all, how many
worthwhile things in his life had been just handed to him with no effort
required on his part? He knew the answer was none.
Satisfaction retook his
mood, and with a smile, he cocked his head and folded his arms to look at his
still-dismayed colleague. “Okay, my friend, so there’s a little work to be
done. I think I’m up to the effort.”
Dan looked up to meet his
boss’s gaze. It was apparent to Williams that the tour had not daunted
McGarrett – as a matter of fact, he now seemed more pleased and enthusiastic
than he had been earlier. His mentor’s voiced optimism, whether real or put-on, impressed him – the man certainly had an eye for the
long view. With a shrug, Dan had to grin.
“Well, it’s a project – that’s for sure. Whether it’ll ever float again
remains to be seen.”
McGarrett slapped Williams’
back. “Oh, it’ll float again, Danno! Let’s go eat!”
*****
Steve paid for dinner at an
elegant little restaurant in Waikiki, Horatio’s, which was outside Williams’
regular budget.
During the first part of the
meal, Dan laid out some key items of progress on the Keali-Gordon case. First,
Kono’s cousin had seen Stanley Davis, the August victim, at the Kava Club not
long before he washed ashore – he wasn’t sure exactly how long before – with a
striking blonde that many there recognized as Janice Nichols. That meant that
two out of the three dead men had been having a relationship of some sort with
Trent Nichols’ wife. That fact certainly made him the prime suspect in their
murders. There seemed to be no connection to Janice Nichols and the third
victim, Mark Gordon, nor did the man frequent the Kava Club. So that piece of
the puzzle was yet to be revealed.
Steve explained to Dan that
he would have to speak with Walter Stuart personally about getting a search
warrant for Nichol’s office, house, and vehicles – the man was well-connected
politically, and to put him through such a humiliating experience without
complete certainty that something incriminating would be turned up, would go
bad for Five-0. He decided to take care of that first thing in the morning.
That way, they would have the warrants in hand the very second they were
prepared to make the searches.
As the business topics of
the day closed, they left an opening for Williams to ask McGarrett about the
mysterious landlord who left him the sailboat. The head of Five-0 explained
that to the best of his recollection, he’d had no more than three or four
conversations with the man, and none of them were more personal than an
exchange of professional credentials. Somehow – in retrospect, McGarrett wasn’t
quite certain how – with the subject of landlords on the table, the detectives
spent the remainder of the meal exchanging personal anecdotes about old
roommates and neighbors. Steve could not honestly remember ever revealing so
much personal information to anyone socially in the space of just a few hours. But
his young colleague made it easy. Both men had tales that had the other
snickering and sometimes outright laughing.
Danno was so different from
him in so many ways, and yet, there was a basic foundation of agreement on so
many fundamental issues – morality, ethics, integrity, justice. They hadn’t
explicitly discussed all of these subjects, but the proof of their harmony was
in their actions. This was how it was supposed to be – the chief and his second
wrapping up business over a meal, discussing whatever was on their minds.
The conversation had been
comfortable and yet stimulating. A breeze from the water cooled the
“Danno…” McGarrett paused,
considering the best turn of phrase, and rubbed his chin.
Williams leaned back in his
ch
The
startling pop and momentarily blinding light from a flash bulb caused both men
to begin to reach for the revolvers before the voice of one of the more
annoying reporters on the Islands interrupted. “So,
McGarrett, you playin’ favorites tonight?”
Craig Willis, a freelance
journalist and perennial seeker of dirt on well-known faces, had noticed
McGarrett’s car outside. With the possibility that he might actually catch the
very private head of
The head
of Five-0 revealed the expression Willis was accustomed to seeing as he
responded with unusual iciness. “I bet you already know what I’m gonna say, so
let’s just pretend I said it, and you can go away.”
“Oh,
c’mon, McGarrett, throw me a bone – you two look like you’re ready to pick out
your China pattern! What’s up?”
Dan was
careful to maintain his neutral façade as his boss, now completely annoyed with
the reporter, called for the check. Before any bone could be thrown, a large
Oriental man in a red luau shirt appeared behind the reporter.
“Is he botherin’ you, Mr. McGarrett?”
“Yeah, Moku, he is.” Steve’s jaw relaxed a little at the prospect
of having the reporter tossed out of the restaurant.
“I’m goin’ – no need to get physical,” Willis grumbled as the
bouncer escorted him away.
Dan let
his mask slip as he frowned slightly. “China pattern?
What’s that supposed to mean?”
McGarrett
understood the reference – Willis had obviously been spying on them long enough
to realize that he’d befriended his new subordinate – certainly not a crime,
but the head of Five-0 had trouble shaking the military taboo feeling that
welled up in him. No matter – this
problem will go away soon enough… Steve stopped staring in the direction of
the retreating bouncer, and turned to look at Williams. Clueless… McGarrett managed a
grin. “I’ll tell you when you’re older. Let’s get outta here.”
The trip
back to the Palace to Dan’s car was silent as the two men listened to the
police radio banter about an armed robbery that had just been reported. Nobody
had been injured, but police were now combing the area for two suspects, who’d
fled on foot. It was nearly eleven o’clock when the detectives parted company,
and Steve decided that he would wait until a more auspicious moment to announce
his decision about the second-in-command slot to his new second-in-command. Dan
flashed a warm smile in his direction as he slipped into his car, and McGarrett
acknowledged with a quick toss of his head as he sped out of the parking lot. He’s going to make a great second!
*****
“No!” he said simply. Dan
blinked and looked at him for a moment as if his boss had just levitated.
“What?” The head of Five-0
knew he could not have heard his detective correctly.
Dan responded again, “Steve,
I can’t accept your second-in-command position.” He moved to stand behind the ch
“What do you mean you’re not
qualified?” It was now McGarrett’s turn to be astounded. “You’ve been
performing the duties of the job for the past few months. The title merely
let’s the world know – makes it official.”
Still aghast at the thought,
Williams spoke quickly. “Steve, I might be doing an okay job at some of the
routine stuff, but -- second-in-command – that’s one of those jobs that anybody
can do until the you-know-what hits the fan! And then
– and THEN – the person wearing that hat had better have it all together. And I
DON’T have it all together.” He paused only to take a breath and look down at
his hands for a moment before he regained eye contact with McGarrett and
admitted, “I’m afraid I would end up letting you down.” The thought of failing
his boss and mentor was almost unbearable to Dan for reasons that were unclear
even to him.
McGarrett could feel the
anger and frustration bubbling inside. He had to stand before he melted through
his seat. “You’re letting me down NOW!” he lashed out. “How can you stand here
in this office – before me – having the audacity to show so little faith in
yourself?” When I have so much faith,
the outraged figure didn’t finish his thought out loud.
Dan flinched as he stood
there, clenching the back of the ch
“I’ve got to get over to
records before they close for the day. You’ll be wanting
the Matsu case files before they re-open.” His tone was cool and professional
as he backed away for a few steps before turning to leave. He had the urge to
run from the room, but stifled the impulse as he left, closing the door behind
him.
May heard the door opening
and picked up a message she’d taken for Dan. She held out the note for him to
grab as he passed by, but the detective didn’t look in her direction. As he
leaned into his office to grab the notebook he’d tossed on his desk on his way
into the boss’s office, she could sense by his demeanor that he was upset. The
woman could hear McGarrett’s muffled shouts, but the thick wood door prevented
a clear definition of words, so the subject of the young man’s chastisement
remained a mystery to her. The secretary took in a breath to say something
encouraging, but the detective, his face unreadable, did not make eye contact
with her. Instead he intoned a soft thank you as he collected the paper from
her outstretched hand, and walked down the aisle to leave. Without so much as a
word or a look, he passed Kono and Chin as they entered the office space. Both
detectives stopped in their tracks to look out the door after the youngest
member of the team. They glanced at each other and then looked to May for an
explanation as they moved towards her desk.
The pretty brunette’s
expression was pained. “The boss just took his pound of flesh – hopefully for
the day.” Chin shook his head and Kono grimaced. The Chinese detective had to
ask, “About a case?”
May shrugged, “Don’t know,
but he was loud about it. Why do I always feel like crying when he does this?”
Powerless to stop their boss
from being overly-harsh on occasion, it stung them all knowing the impact that
a single statement of praise or criticism from McGarrett could have on the ne
Kono grabbed her shoulder
gently and shook it, “Danny’s tougher than he looks. He can handle it.”
They each silently wished it
to be true anyway.
*****
WHAM! The pain in his hand from
slamming his fist against his desk was helpful insofar as it forced him to stop
for a moment and take physical stock of himself. The door had just closed
behind Williams as he slipped from McGarrett’s presence. That Danno could
decline the prestigious offer – it was an affront to McGarrett. Steve found
himself hurt that the young man would not jump at the chance to follow in his
footsteps. That he did not have the faith in McGarrett to help him along the
path fueled his anger.
Trying to regain a measure
of control over his emotions, he worked consciously to slow his breathing. He
thought back to the young man’s expression as he’d extended the offer – or
announced his decision rather – Williams was genuinely surprised. And from the
opposite side of the desk, McGarrett too was very surprised at the detective’s
refusal – as a matter of fact, he had not been this shocked in many years.
There were many detectives – not just on the islands – that would give their
eye teeth to fill the coveted position at which Williams had just balked. He
received hundreds of resumes from very qualified law enforcement professionals
all over the mainland when word got out of Sam Nohea’s
retirement. There had been an article about Nohea’s
distinguished career in Law Enforcement Today, a national publication with wide
circulation amongst local, state, and federal personnel in the justice system.
McGarrett, when asked for a quote for the article about his second-in-command,
managed to pull together a positive-sounding statement.
“Sam Nohea has served the people of
Up until this moment, he was
extremely pleased with his decision to bring young HPD detective Danny Williams
into the fold. Brilliant – but not over-bearing about it,
hard-working, easy to get along with, detail-oriented, and eager to please the
boss. He had all the makings of a great right-hand man – IF ONLY HE
WOULD REALIZE IT! The possibility that Williams would not accept the position –
after perhaps a little reassurance – had honestly not crossed his mind.
McGarrett sighed and rubbed
the back of his neck as he plopped unceremoniously into his ch
What did I say? You’re letting me down!
His anger now directed
inward, he shook his head and spoke out to the empty office. “Good move,
McGarrett.”
*****
You are letting me down NOW! You are letting me down
NOW!
The devastating words almost
made him dizzy as trotted to his car. How had this happened?
Dan saw the heavy load his
boss carried on a daily basis, and more horrifyingly through times of crisis.
In the absence of the chief, it would fall upon the second-in-command to keep a
level head and manage situations on multiple fronts simultaneously. There were
political issues – there were policy issues – there were budget issues – there
were personnel issues (being in charge of the ON-CALL list was the tip of the
iceberg, Dan knew very well.). And oh yeah, there were numerous investigations
running concurrently that Steve kept an eye on. How could Steve expect him to
just step into that role, knowing nothing?
Vacillating between hurt and
anger, the detective managed to navigate to HPD without incident despite the
fact that he was so distracted that he could not recall the drive. Now what?
He’d just declined a major promotion, and Steve was obviously furious. Two
uniformed HPD officers greeted him and said something – he didn’t focus on them
long enough to give their words any thought. He nodded distractedly and quickly
moved to request the files that his boss – future former boss? – wanted on his
desk before tomorrow. After managing to make small talk with the clerk in the
records department while the other clerk on duty retrieved the case files, he
slipped out the side door to avoid bumping into anyone else.
How could Steve expect him to step in front of Chin and Kono in the chain of command? What would they think if they knew? I’m only twenty eight... I’ve worked for Five-0 only a few months… The responsibility… The memory of his meeting with Walter Stuart and Governor Jameson right after Steve offered him the job leapt to the forefront of his thoughts. Stuart made it clear that he thought Dan was not the right choice for the sought-after Five-0 position. Too young… not enough experience… He let out a short sarcastic laugh at the irony of it all as he could hear himself defiantly – and nonchalantly – informing the attorney general that he was almost twenty nine. Now, here he was on the other side of the fence, indeed feeling not old enough and too green to be in the predicament in which he now found himself.
As with the drive to HPD, he
returned to the parking lot at the Palace unaware of how he’d made it back. Not
surprised, but dismayed nonetheless, he noticed McGarrett’s vehicle still in
its spot. Not wanting to dwell too long on the unavoidable, he plunged ahead
and rushed back to the office.
To watch the young detective
from a distance, it would not have been apparent, even to those who knew him well,
that he had a care in the world. His step was brisk and he looked relaxed and
unconcerned as he moved purposefully towards his destination. The view from
inside Danny Williams was a different story altogether. Relieved that the door
to the big office was closed, he felt the eyes of his co-workers on him as he
made a beeline for Steve’s IN box, which sat on the corner of May’s desk.
Determined to be unreadable – a skill which McGarrett himself had been working
diligently to instill in his ne
“I’m heading to Ewa and then
Makakilo – I want to try to get through the witness
list on the Matsu case before I knock off.”
May offered a sympathetic
smile – at least Dan thought it looked that way – as she acknowledged the
information. “I’ll leave a note to that effect for Steve – I’m getting ready to
leave.”
“Thanks,” Williams nodded
and made it to the door before he heard Kono’s voice calling to him. “You got
the duty tonight, bruddah?”
Dan didn’t turn around and continued
out the door as he responded over his shoulder. “Yeah, I’m on call.”
Had Chin and Kono been in
the office earlier? He was so rattled when he left, he honestly wasn’t certain.
He was glad to have an excuse to get out of the office before another
confrontation could erupt with his boss. Maybe Steve would see things
differently in the morning. Maybe he would realize that he’d been wrong… The
former future second-in-command tried to think positively for a few seconds
before a wave of pessimism swept over him.
“Yeah, right,” Dan muttered
sarcastically.
*****
Even though Dan made it
through his list of witnesses by eight o’clock, he bowed out of a cookout
invitation from one of his surfing buddies. Not in the mood to socialize, he
sat on his lanai for the better part of the evening. Thoughts of dinner never
entered his mind as he took in the fragrant, evening
He was heading out the door to HPD records
when McGarrett’s voice crackled through the secretary’s intercom. “May, catch
Danno before he leaves and send him in.”
“Right, boss,” she responded as she made eye
contact with Williams, who let the partially open outer door close on its own
as he turned and re-traced his path back to his office. He dropped his notebook
on the desk and quickly slipped into McGarrett’s office without knocking.
Not looking up from the document he was
reviewing, McGarrett spoke. “Danno, I’ve given this a lot of thought, and I’ve
decided to make it official.” With that pronouncement, he looked up to meet
Dan’s expectant gaze.
Williams stepped forward to stand in front
of the desk. The news was obviously good – Steve’s expression was – did he read
excitement in his boss’s face? What was he expecting McGarrett to say? Almost anything but what came out of the man’s mouth.
“I’ve completed the paperwork – all that
it’s missing is your signature.”
Now completely baffled, Dan frowned
slightly. “My signature?”
McGarrett slid the document across his
desk. “I’m promoting you to second-in-command of Five-0.”
He didn’t think he’d heard the words right
as his eye brows jumped toward his scalp. “Your—I’m sorry—what did you say?”
Dan didn’t look down at the paper that rested on the desk before him – he
couldn’t take his eyes from his boss.
Steve smiled. “You’re a perfect fit for the
job, Danno. I want you as my second.”
The terror and doubt that flooded his being
at that moment left him unable to decline delicately. Instead, all that he
could blurt out was an emphatic rejection.
Williams shook his head, disgusted with the way he’d handled what was clearly a
situation that required a degree of diplomacy. The surprise and momentary hurt
– which was quickly replaced by volcanic outrage – that appeared on Steve’s
face when he’d said no – he couldn’t shake the image from his head.
As he sat there, and mulled
over the past couple of months, things began to fall into place. The
information that Steve was sharing with him… the increased responsibility.. lectures on leadership… the
administrative duties that were formerly Sam Nohea’s
now assigned to him… In retrospect, it
all seemed so obvious. He wondered whether he was the only one to not figure it
out. That train of thought spawned a new concern. What were his colleagues
thinking? Steve was not one to conspire behind his back – of that he was
certain, but Chin and Kono had worked with Steve for a long time – and they
were good detectives. Were they watching the situation, wondering whether their
boss would regain his senses before he tried to install the least experienced
member of the team into a position of such authority? Should he reassure them
that they need not worry? On the other hand, maybe concern about his co-workers
would become academic.
Steve really does need a second-in-command – and I’m
the guy that took the slot. If neither Chin nor Kono can do the job for
whatever reason, he’ll eventually have to free up some real estate in the
office. Dan’s head began to throb.
If he fires me, do I go back to HPD? Will Chief Dann even want me after I don’t measure up to Five-0 standards?
How can I go back anyway? Is this the end of the line in my law enforcement
career? How did I get myself into this jam? Pop must be turning in his grave…
He evaluated his options. He
could accept a position for which he was not qualified, and probably in f
*****
Kono let out a slow breath
of relief as McGarrett got out of the car and slammed the door. The Hawaiian
detective did likewise with a slightly gentler nudge to close the passenger
door before he picked up his pace to catch up with his boss.
He’d actually beat Steve to
the Palace, where they were to meet and make the trip to interview Trent
Nichols at the Nichols Construction office. The silence on the drive was broken
only by the sound of police radio chatter. The head of Five-0 had something on
his mind that was causing him huge distraction. Kono had a gut feeling that it
had something to do with the newest member of the team. Only minutes after the
visibly upset Williams left the office the previous day, McGarrett stepped out
of his office and, after a quick, angry visual pan of the area – looking for
something or someone – he scooped up the contents of his IN box and vanished
into his office with a perfunctory slam of his door. The Hawaiian detective’s
suspicion was given further credence by the brief flash of a troubled
expression he’d received when he mentioned that Dan had been summoned to the
morgue to identify the body of an informant.
Kono thought better of
making conversation as he surreptitiously observed the driver, who usually
maintained a fairly stoic countenance in public. On this morning, Steve seemed
to be mentally running a gambit of thinly veiled emotions. One minute he would
seem sullen, and then moments later, the tendons in his neck would grow taut
and his lips would press tightly together. Anger… frustration… The Hawaiian
detective wasn’t certain what he was witnessing, but he didn’t want to do
anything to exacerbate the situation.
Despite the somewhat
uncomfortable drive, Kono was glad to have Steve along. He knew the situation
with the owner of Nichols Construction was politically delicate, and he’d
definitely rather not be the one that had to “dance” around the issues. Any
vestiges of inner turmoil McGarrett might have been harboring evaporated as the
pair entered the building. They were immediately escorted into Trent Nichols’
office.
The most defining thing
about the large space were the numerous photos and
plaques on the walls. There was an entire wall dedicated to Nichols shaking
hands with well-known figures – Politicians, actors, and sports celebrities –
they were all there. Interestingly, many of the photos on the other walls were
photos of him with a beautiful blonde woman, whom McGarrett presumed was his
wife, Janice. She appeared to be at least a decade younger than Nichols, but
the images painted a happy couple – whether reality matched the shadows on the
walls the head of Five-0 would find out.
The owner himself was a fit
man about McGarrett’s height, with a fairly muscular build. Wearing khaki pants
and a light blue sport jacket over a white golf shirt, he looked to be in his
late forties, dark hair brushed with gray. His eyes were gray and pierced the
two detectives with an ask-what-you-must-and-get-out impression. Nichols
returned to his desk and invited the detectives to take the two seats in front
of him. With introductions out of the way, the head of Five-0 was only to happy to proceed quickly with his questions. He made no
mention of the fact that Nichols was now a suspect in the three murders, nor
that he had in his pocket a warrant to search the man’s offices, residence, and
vehicles. The man’s demeanor hinted that he considered himself above suspicion
– always a good thing for a suspect to think, McGarrett knew.
“Mr. Nichols, you knew all
three victims?”
“Two of the men, Davis and
Gordon both worked for me, although I’m told that
“Dennis Keali,” Kono offered
politely.
The mention of the man’s
name caused a flash of annoyance on Nichols’ face. “Yes, Keali – his sister was
a receptionist here until recently.”
When the man offered no
further explanation, McGarrett pressed him. “So Dennis Keali’s sister worked
here, but not Dennis Keali himself. How did you come to know him?”
“He backed into one of my
cars in the parking lot and drove off. I heard the crunch and looked out my
window just in time to see his beat-up pick-up truck throwing gravel all the
way out of the parking lot.” He motioned to the large window, which, with the
blinds open, offered a good view of the vehicles parked on the side of the
one-story building. “A couple of days later, I noticed him leaning against the
pick-up in the parking lot. I rushed out and confronted him, but he denied
backing into my convertible.”
“Did you file a police
report?” The Hawaiian detective inquired neutrally.
Nichols addressed his
response to McGarrett without so much as a glance in Kono’s
direction. “I saw no point – the man was clearly a cretin – it would’ve been a
miracle if he’d been insured. I didn’t realize he was one of the murder victims
until I heard that Leilani’s brother had been
killed.”
“Can you think of any reason
that anybody would want any or all of these men dead?” McGarrett studied the
man closely, watching for any signal that he might be lying.
Nichols’ tone managed to
sound long-suffering as he sighed. “I had no relationship with any of these men
outside what I’ve describe to you. I didn’t socialize with any of these people.
Most of them are unreliable riff-raff.” He looked at the clock on his desk and
stood suddenly. “Now, if there’s nothing else, I’ve got a golf date in thirty
minutes.”
The two detectives rose as
their host did. The head of Five-0 was patronizingly courteous as he responded.
“We certainly wouldn’t want you to miss your tee time, but I do have one more
question. You’re married?”
Nichols came around from
behind his desk and moved toward the door in a not-too-subtle hint as he
responded. “Yes – I’ve been married to Janice for four years. Why is that
relevant?” The man’s body language suddenly spoke of tension.
McGarrett decided to spend a
little more time looking at the wife issue before further broaching a
potentially sensitive subject with Nichols, so he shrugged and offered a faint
smile. “Just a routine question that’s on our list to ask,
Mr. Nichols. Thanks for your time.”
The detectives stepped out
of the office, and the door was closed behind them without the customary,
few-second delay.
“Not a very nice suspect,”
Kono mused after the car doors shut.
McGarrett agreed as he
slipped the key into the ignition. “No, he’s not – and he’s a little touchy
about his wife. I want you and Chin to get with some of the victims’ friends
and see if anybody can shed any more light on the Janice Nichols angle.”
The conversation about the
case died down quickly as McGarrett retreated to his earlier, introspective
mode. Interviewing a suspect – even one as unpleasant and disdainful as Trent
Nichols – had been a welcome distraction from the bouts of mental wrestling
he’d been having about the situation with Williams.
Sleep had not come easily
the previous night, and when it finally did, the rest had been too brief.
Usually up before his alarm clock went off, it was actually the slowing of the
metered ring that carried him from his temporary respite. He took a long run,
showered, and prepared himself a Brie and mushroom omelette – another rare
luxury he extended to himself this morning – as he mused on the best course of
action. He knew that only a cooler head would prevail today. The fact that
Danno had not reacted as he anticipated did not make the young man the wrong
choice, Steve reasoned – it just meant that a different approach was needed.
While he tried to figure out what that approach should be, he would continue to
keep Williams busy. He briefly considered the possibility that his detective
would start balking at S-I-C duties now that he was aware of the plan, but
Steve had been witness to too many occasions where Danno would jump through a
hoop of fire to please him. He believed that had not changed. At least this was
the train of thought that allowed McGarrett, the bull dog, to keep his teeth
sunk tenaciously into his master plan for Five-0.
*****
As Kono and Steve stepped
into the Five-0 outer office, it was apparent there was a disturbance around
May’s desk. McGarrett felt his gut tighten as he sensed the tension in the room.
The secretary was sitting at her desk, but had pushed her chair back a couple
of feet. With one hand in her lap and the other resting on her chest, her face
bore a mixture of distaste and concern as she observed the conversation taking
place nearly on top of her. Dan stood no more than two feet away and Chin stood
next to him. The attention of both men was directed at the irate visitor, whose
back was to the returning detectives.
“Danny, you know you’re the
odd-man-out on this one!” Walter Stuart firmly wagged his finger at the
youngest detective whose expression was deadly serious with tightly controlled
indignation. His suit jacket abandoned and fists clinched, there was no doubt
in Steve’s mind that the young man was on the verge of an angry outburst. Even
the normally implacable Chinese detective looked ready to pounce on the
Attorney General, who seemed oblivious to the reactions he was generating.
Stuart’s aggressive posture
on Five-0 turf raised McGarrett’s ire immediately, and he, with Kono in tow,
quickly joined Kelly and Williams. Both men acknowledged the presence of their
colleagues with brief eye contact only before they re-focused on the agitated
prosecutor.
“Walter, what is the meaning
of this?” The lead detective demanded.
“Steve, it seems we have a
little situation here,” Stuart snapped, his face scrunched in a bitter
expression.
“Do tell -- and this had
better be good.” The edge in McGarrett’s voice was ominous to his staff as he
casually rested his hand on Williams’ back in subtle support, but did not
remove his penetrating gaze from the Stuart, who was now surrounded by
detectives.
The prosecutor went on to
explain that Pete Beauprez claimed that his intermediary to crime boss Melia was an informant known to HPD only as Henny Penny. The confined ex-cop assured the prosecution
team that the man could verify many aspects of the testimony which he was
providing as part of his campaign to get a reduced sentence. Lieutenant
Terrance Slate and Detective Danny Williams were the only two officers who’d
met Penny. Both men reported to Beauprez at the time and were occasionally told
by their boss to pick up a package or message from the skinny, little man. So
nervous was Penny about his identity that he wore an old Mardi Gras mask, which made the upper half of his face look like a
bird, each time he met with anyone from HPD.
Of course, the problem
became how to locate a man whose real name and an accurate description were
unknown. Beauprez offered a description and some places he knew the man would
show up sooner or later. Before any systematic stake out could be organized,
the body of a man with the bizarre bird mask folded in his shirt pocket was
found floating under a dock. At least twenty four hours of water and wave
action precluded an easy visual identification, but Officer Slate and Pete
Beauprez both managed to positively identify the body as that of the informant,
Henny Penny. Stuart had called Williams in on this
morning pri
“If you’re grandstanding—”
Stuart turned his anger back on Williams, who’d remained silent through the
explanation.
“Wait just a minute, Walter!
You are out of line!” McGarrett’s tone was instantly savage. “If Danno says
it’s not Henny Penny, then it’s not! End of
discussion!”
Stuart flinched at the loud
tone, but the issue was important enough to him that he did not back down. He
looked back at Dan. “But why? I’m willing to discount
Beauprez’ identification, but Terry Slate’s a different story. I admit it –
he’s not one hundred percent certain – the guy’s face is pretty mangled – but
he says the body type is the same and the teeth and mouth look right! And let’s
not forget the bird mask we found on his person! I’m sorry, Danny, but there’s
no way you can be as certain as you’re acting!”
At last afforded an entrance
into the previously one-sided conversation, Dan fired back confidently. “The
man I met had scars on both of his wrists! I’ll grant you that you’ve got a
dead guy in the morgue that has the same build, but it’s NOT Penny, and you
can’t turn him into Penny just by telling me to change my mind!”
Stuart hesitated in the face
of the young man’s unwavering and very certain tone, but his eyes narrowed and
he countered sharply. “Your basing your conclusion on a couple of scars that
you think you saw two years ago? Unbelievable!”
“I only caught a glimpse of
your mismatched socks once the other day, but that doesn’t mean they really
matched! And just because you think the stains from your hair dye are invisible
on your white scalp doesn’t make it so!” Dan kept his deep blue eyes leveled in
an angry gaze at the now-disconcerted target of his wrath as he stepped closer
into Stuart’s personal space.
McGarrett, angry at Stuart
for his verbal assault on his detective and simultaneously bent on keeping Williams
from doing anything too rash or impulsive, stepped in and moved his hand from
Dan’s back to his chest. “Danno’s right! You need to back off, Walter!”
The man self-consciously ran
his hand quickly over the dark hair that populated his receding hairline. His
face was flushed red, now embarrassed as well as angry at the pointed personal
attack that had been unleashed on him. He hesitated for a moment and took in a
breath to throw back what the head of Five-0 sensed
was going to be something overly venomous.
“Walter – I’m warning you –
if you don’t get reasonable fast, I’m gonna have to turn Danno loose on you
again!” Steve warned with a sharp gaze and a cock of his head.
Stuart broke eye contact
with the young detective who was now no more than six inches from his face and
looked at McGarrett. Clearly not happy with the ultimatum, but taking the lead
detective at his word, the man let out a long exasperated sigh and took a
couple of steps back, bumping into the immovable Hawaiian detective, who narrowed
his eyes to show his best unfriendly warrior expression. It was clear that the
entire Five-0 ohana had gathered around to defend Williams, if only with their
imposing physical presence. The head of the operation did nothing to stop
Stuart’s intimidation – as a matter of fact, he seemed to be participating. The
man stepped awkwardly around Kono and stopped on the other side of May’s desk.
“You realize that with no
way to verify Beauprez’ testimony, it will likely be ruled inadmissible should we decide to
prosecute for some of the other crimes that have been uncovered.” Leveling his
gaze back at Dan, Stuart spoke more softly now, knowing he was outnumbered and
– not that he would ever admit it – wrong.
Dan, anger slowly subsiding,
responded more softly. “Mr. Stuart, I would think that it would be better if we
can find the real Henny Penny instead of letting Pete
Beauprez drive us to the wrong conclusion – namely that we can’t disprove what
he’s saying.”
The logic in Williams’ words
caused the prosecutor’s eyes to register some realization that had not occurred
to him before. “Yes, well that might be easier said than done. We don’t
actually know what the man looks like.” It was clear from his less belligerent
posture that the man did not disagree with the detective in principle.
“I have a couple of thoughts
on how we might be able to track the little bird man down.” Dan replied. “I’ll
let you know what I find out.”
The rational part of
Stuart’s mind forced him to respond more reasonably despite the fact that he
was still miffed about Williams’ earlier comments. “Okay, well – I guess I have
to instruct the morgue to change the toe tag on our victim.”
He straightened his tie and,
with only a brief glance at the stone expressions of the detectives – and even
the secretary -- he left the office with no further comment.
As the outer door to the
office drifted shut, Williams began to breathe easier. The eyes of his
colleagues turned to look him over, and McGarrett, realizing that his hand was
still on the detective’s chest, quickly pulled it away.
The boss’s eye brows arched
as he snapped. “Danno!”
The detective spoke before
his boss could finish berating him. “Steve, I’m sorry, but I’ve taken about all
I’m gonna take from that guy.”
McGarrett frowned. “Danno, I
support your position, BUT we never mention Walter’s hair to him!” He gave his
detective the slightest wink as he stepped away and turned toward his office,
accepting the messages from May’s outstretched hand.
“NOW you tell me,” Dan’s lip
twitched as he suppressed a grin. Relieved that Steve wasn’t volcanically angry
at him for erupting on the Attorney General, he looked over at Chin, who
grinned broadly at him. Grateful to the man for his immediate presence at his
side when the angry visitor began his attack, Dan returned the Chinese
detective’s smile. Although it had been an unpleasant start to the morning, the
incident had at least allowed for a not-completely-clumsy first post-explosion
meeting between him and his boss. Now he could get on with the rest of his day.
“Oh, one more thing,” Steve
turned to face Williams from his doorway. “You’re going to have to repair your
relationship with Walter – you’re the new liaison to the Attorney General’s
office.”
The thin smile was the last thing
Dan saw as McGarrett’s face vanished behind the closing door. The detective’s
jaw dropped open and his eyes grew large for a moment at the implication – the
liaison job was yet another second-in-command duty! His eyes narrowed as he
looked in the direction of the other officers, who turned away too quickly.
Kono beckoned Chin to come with him so that he could fill him in on the
interview with Nichols, and the two men disappeared into the Hawaiian’s office.
Dan sighed and looked over at May as she answered her phone. She flashed a
smile in his direction even as her attention returned to her job.
Dan groaned as he slipped
into his office. So this is how it’s
going to be… right down my throat… He shook his head and let out a single
sarcastic laugh.
All of the responsibility whether I have the
authority or not!
*****
“Some luck and no luck,
Steve.” Chin’s voice was fuzzy as wind was included in his transmission to his
boss. “First, the car that Nichols says
Dennis Keali bashed – I found another witness.”
“Somebody else saw Keali
back into Trent Nichols’ car?” McGarrett was a little surprised. That would
lend credence to Nichols’ story, and therefore provide him with a viable and
understandable justification for the altercation with Keali in the parking lot.
“Yeah – a Mr. Won Cho, the
building maintenance man at Nichols Construction, saw a man in a brown pick up
truck drive into Nichols’ little yellow convertible sports car – he wasn’t sure
of the model, but it was pretty new – I’ll check it out. Anyway, he says it
looked to him like it wasn’t an accident – slammed right into the back of it,
and then drove off.”
“Did Mr. Cho report this to
Nichols?”
“No, Steve – I guess Mr.
Nichols hasn’t treated Mr. Cho with too much respect, so Mr. Cho didn’t feel
like he wanted to get involved.”
The head of Five-0
understood the witness’s attitude about the snobbish suspect, and moved onto
the next topic. “You said some luck and no luck – I presume you just told me
the some-luck.”
“Yeah – it’s been tough going
trying to get information about Janice Nichols on the sly. But so far, I
haven’t found a single acquaintance of Janice Nichols that will say she was
having aff
“Interesting, Chin – Kono’s
fresh back from a visit to the Kava Club – he’s got a half dozen people who saw
Janice Nichols dancing with Stanley Davis a few nights before he washed up on
the beach. And we already know she met Dennis Keali through his sister.”
“Still got
no link between Mrs. Nichols and Mark Gordon though.”
“Yeah, we could use that
connection. Chin, you catch up with the head foreman out there – Gordon’s boss
– his name is….” McGarrett paused to pull back the page in his notebook. “Joe
Sandusky. I’m gonna have Kono talk to Keali’s sister – maybe she can shed some
light on her brother’s beef with Nichols.”
Breaking the connection with
Kelly, Steve stepped out onto the lanai. The focal point of the investigation
up until now had been the prime suspect – Trent Nichols, the done-to husband.
Wealthy… well-regarded for his high dollar contributions to community causes
and political campaigns… very much into proper appearances… not exactly beloved
by his employees…
Perhaps it was time to shift
the spotlight onto the probable motive – Janice Nichols. Steve wondered why the
woman had not come forward with some information. At least two men with whom
she’d had trysts were dead – the men’s names had been widely reported in the
news – it would be hard to believe she did not know. Did she not suspect her
husband? Was she afraid he would find out about her infidelity? On the other
hand, did she suspect him and fear that he would retaliate against her if she
went to the authorities?
McGarrett hated to have
political issues clog the wheels of an investigation, but he was not so naďve
that he didn’t know that it was budget season – not a good time to make any
high-profile mistakes – like executing a search warrant on a wealthy, respected
member of the community – and turning up nothing incriminating. He rubbed his
eyes as he thought of the vulture-like press searching for chinks in the armor
of the various tax-funded organizations as the annual budget meetings got
underway. There was never a good time to point a finger at a suspect without
solid evidence to back it up, but to botch a case involving a well-connected
man like Trent Nichols would be a particular bad move right now. Besides, he
knew the press was going to have a different Five-0 story they would soon
sensationalize.
In the back of his mind, he
was already preparing to deal with the fallout from Danno’s appointment as his
second-in-command. He recalled the weeks of press coverage the entire office –
he and Danno in particular – had endured when the announcement came that he’d
hired away the young detective from HPD. But he was braced for the onslaught of
attention, and no amount of pressure or negative commentary from the media OR
his boss would make him change his mind.
His thoughts turned back to
the three dead men – Davis, Keali, and Gordon. To not act on behalf on the
victims in the interest of political expediency was just not something
McGarrett could do. His instincts told him that Mrs. Trent Nichols had
information that would break this case open.
He decided that Five-0
alone, with no HPD backup, would execute the search warrant on the Nichols
residence on the
He looked at the clock on
his desk… nine thirty. With any luck, they would be on the
*****
McGarrett fluttered a pencil
in his fingers mindlessly as he stared at the document lying on his blotter.
The only thing still missing was Williams’ signature. The head of Five-0 had
taken every opportunity over the past couple of days to gauge his youngest
detective’s mood. Still baffled over a completely new approach to the
second-in-command dilemma, he considered making another direct attempt --
discussing the offer with his new, recalcitrant second-in-command in a less
explosive fashion. Perhaps he’d chosen the wrong moment before.
Since his eruption on Walter
Stuart two days earlier, Danno had seemed focused and even-tempered. He was
obviously concentrating on better organizing himself and incorporating new
duties into his day. Steve took great pleasure in the fact that he had not
heard a peep from the detective about the liaison duty. The head of Five-0 was
acutely aware of the Attorney General’s lingering bad attitude – and related
bad behavior – toward Williams. It was to the young detective’s great credit
that he had not reciprocated the older man’s attitude. McGarrett had considered
intervening, but decided it was in the new detective’s long-term best interest
to work it out on his own, and the more he got to know Danno, the more
confident he became that his man would – in the end – find a way to overcome
Stuart’s sour grapes.
The head of Five-0 suddenly
found himself chuckling at the memory of the h
Steve had to hand it to
Williams – he could be quick to burn and, as a result, impulsive, but he certainly
recovered quickly. A thought in the back of his head would not completely rise
to the surface, but it persisted as a feeling. Perhaps there was a lesson for
Steve McGarrett in there somewhere…
He re-focused on the paper
before him. His decision was made. I can be reasonable about this…no need to
explode on the kid…
He pushed the button on his
intercom.
“May, are Chin and Kono
back?”
“They just walked in.”
“Tell ‘em
to get ready for a field trip to the
“I’m back, Steve.” Williams
was obviously standing with the secretary at her desk.
“Come on in.”
A pause ensued before the
response came. “I’ll – I’ll be right in.” The detective’s wariness came right
through the speaker at his boss.
Easy, McGarrett…. Easy…
Within ten seconds, Dan
entered, and from his expression, McGarrett could see that he was tentative
about the reason for the summons. With a faint smile, the older detective
started on a different subject.
“Danno, I’m gonna need you
to roll with us on the search of the Nichols’ residence. We need to keep this
one in the family, so to speak.”
The young detective’s
posture relaxed immediately, and he smiled. “Sure, Steve! No problem. They live up on the leeward side
of the Koolau, right?”
“Yeah – all the way up
Dan injected
enthusiastically. “Like the back of my hand!”
“We’ll take one car the rest
of the way to further lower our profile. Can you think of a place we can park
one of the cars for a couple hours?” McGarrett stood and pulled his suit jacket
from the nearby rack.
Dan frowned in concentration
for just a moment before the answer came to him. “Uh, yeah – there’s the Waimea
Market on
“The Waimea Market – yeah,
that sounds good.” McGarrett could suddenly visualize the place – he recalled
passing it on numerous occasions.
With that decided, and a
less cautious detective standing before him, McGarrett looked back down at the
paper on his desk and slid it off the blotter towards Williams, who took a step
closer to properly focus on the page. It didn’t take the detective long to
react – almost like he almost stepped on a mouse trap.
He gave his head a single,
emphatic shake. “Steve, you can yell at me if you want, but I’m not willing to
discuss this!” Williams braced himself for a fresh onslaught of anger as he
slowly took a couple of steps backward, almost as if he were getting prepared
to physically defend himself.
The urge to react was there,
but the older detective was determined to not have a repeat of the horrible
scene from earlier in the week. He couldn’t help but grit his teeth as he
responded tersely and moved toward the door. “Fine.”
Still leery, Dan joined him
in his egress. McGarrett flung the door open and could see Chin and Kono
waiting for them by the front door.
As they swiftly passed May’s
desk, frustration got the better of him, and Steve snapped an angry glance at
the young man walking almost in lock step with him.
“Why are you so damn
stubborn?”
For an instant Williams was
inclined to take offense, but thought better of it as he snapped back
defiantly. “I’m learning from the best!”
Surprise was quickly
replaced by the angry, stone mask again, but the head of Five-0 did not respond
further as they approached their colleagues, both of whom flinched internally
at the exchange they’d just witnessed. Hopefully, it wasn’t going to be an
unpleasant drive.
As the office door drifted
shut in the wake of the Five-0 men, May shook her head and spoke out loud to
the empty room. “Stubborn? Hmmph! That’s the pot
calling the kettle black!”
*****
It was early afternoon when
the two black Fords pulled into side-by-side parking spaces at the Waimea
Market. Chin and Dan got out of one vehicle and joined Steve and Kono in the
other. Before leaving the parking lot, Chin and Kono shared the results of their
respective efforts of the morning. Chin’s discussion with Joe Sandusky had not
yielded anything substantive.
McGarrett had no sooner
shifted his car into gear when the radio crackled with a patch from the medical
examiner. The detective placed the car back into park as he addressed Doc
Bergman.
“Doc, what’ve ya got?”
“Steve, I’ve got some
definitive information for you.”
“Yeah, it’s about time!”
McGarrett snapped, only half in jest.
The physician did not take
flippant remark in the spirit in which it was intended. “Do you know the
conditions under which my team and I have been laboring? We’ve been working in
a refrigerator carefully cleaning the cement off of decomposing bodies!”
“Yeah, Doc, I heard – and I
appreciate it!” The detective hoped he sounded properly contrite, but he didn’t
dwell on it long. “So what fruits have your labors borne?”
“I know who killed Mark
Gordon!”
The detectives exchanged
looks of surprise at the good news, and McGarrett responded quickly. “Now THAT’S fruit! Go on!”
“Dennis Keali – the vic from the first foundation – killed Mark Gordon – the vic from the second foundation!”
The detectives listened
intently as the medical examiner continued. “There was obviously a struggle –
you’ll have to figure out who initiated it – each of the men had some of the
other’s h
“Good job, Doc! You couldn’t
have timed it better – unless of course you could’ve figured it out a little
sooner!”
This time the doc knew the
head of Five-0 was not serious, but typical to his personality, Bergman
retorted. “Next time, if you want me to walk on water, then
don’t give me cement!”
The connection was broken from
the other end, and McGarrett grinned only briefly before he began to ponder the
significance of the revelation. “Okay, so Trent Nichols did not kill Mark
Gordon – of course, that doesn’t mean that he didn’t kill Dennis Keali.”
“Maybe Nichols hired Mark
Gordon to kill Keali, but Gordon lost the struggle, and Nichols had to step in
and finish the job.” Dan offered a possibility.
“Or maybe Gordon and Keali
were fighting over Mrs. Nichols.” Kono added.
The head of Five-0 sighed
and folded his hands over the steering wheel. “Maybe… It seems like every piece
of additional information in this case only serves to add another possibility.”
“Steve!” It was rare to
detect excitement in the Chinese detective’s voice, but it was apparent at that
moment. The other men snapped their heads in his direction, and then turned to
look outside the car to see what had captured his attention.
A pale yellow Corvette
convertible had whipped into the parking space directly across from where the
detectives were parked. With the top down, it was easy to see the occupant take
a brief look in her rear view mirror to freshen her lipstick. The striking,
slender woman then stepped out of the car and strolled toward the market
entrance. Her blonde h
“Wow!” Williams exclaimed.
McGarrett knew that Chin was excited about something entirely different than
was his younger detective even as the Chinese detective in the back seat
supplied the answer.
“That’s Mrs. Nichols – and
look what she’s driving!” Chin was staring at the car. He’d never met the
woman, but he’d seen the large photo of her and her husband in the reception
area of the Nichols Construction office.
“The
little yellow sports car.”
McGarrett supplied softly. “It doesn’t look damaged at all, but there’s been
enough time for them to have had it rep
“Actually, Steve, Corvettes
have fiber glass bodies, so any rep
With a slow nod, McGarrett
reacted to the education. “In that case, I’d love to get a look inside the
trunk. If there’s damage, that’s one more thing that would take the wind out of
the justification for our search warrant.”
“Hmm, WHAT IF she lets us
look in the trunk WITHOUT a search warrant?” Dan posed, now looking the
direction of the store front.
Kono replied, “What? We just
walk up to her and say, hey, can we search your car?”
Dan cocked his head, and let
out a laugh, “Not exactly – Hey! Is that her in the checkout lane?” The other
two officers followed Dan’s finger to the far right side of the store, where
they could see that Janice Nichols was standing in front of one of the cashiers
as her groceries were being rung up.
Suddenly, Dan opened his car
door and slipped off his suit jacket. As he unclipped his gun holster from his
belt and removed his tie, he said quickly, “I need ten bucks!”
“What do you intend to do? Buy
groceries?” Steve was intrigued, and reached into his jacket to get out his
wallet. Dan ran both his hands through his h
“I’m gonna get her to open
the trunk for me!” He smiled and said, “I’ll be right back!”
He trotted to the front of
the store and approached a grocery store employee, a young man, in his early
twenties, in charge of assisting the customers with their groceries. The two
detectives waiting in the car couldn’t hear the conversation, but it was clear
that a deal was being made. After a thirty-second conversation, the young man
took off the apron he was wearing and handed it to Dan, who in turn gave him
the ten dollar bill. Dan quickly put on the apron, and just as he turned to
enter the store, the very attractive Mrs. Janice Nichols sauntered out pushing
her shopping cart. Dan was struck by her beauty, but did not delay in
approaching her with the most winning smile he could muster.
“Can I give you a hand to your
car?” Dan asked.
The woman, obviously used to
male attention, stopped and regarded him for a moment before replying, “Ma’am?”
was her response.
Confused, Dan, still
smiling, wrinkled his nose, “I beg your pardon?”
“I was waiting for you to
call me ma’am,” she responded with a smile.
Now clear on her meaning,
Dan replied, “I have the feeling that a woman like you doesn’t like to be
called ma’am.”
She let out a laugh, and
nodded, “You are absolutely correct! I hate it! And yes, you may help me to my
car.”
At that point, Dan took
control of the shopping cart, and the woman fell in lock step right next to
him, pointing at the convertible that Dan already knew she was driving. The
other Five-0 detectives exchanged intrigued glances as the woman dropped a few
paces behind and looked Dan up and down as he progressed toward her car. Dan
stopped the cart by the trunk of the car, and trotted around to the driver’s
side door and dramatically opened the door for her. She made a point of
brushing against him as slid into the car.
“May I have the keys to your
trunk?” Dan held out his hand.
Instead of just handing them
over, Janice slid them into the ignition, and then replied, “Why don’t you just
lean over and take them?”
The innuendo was not lost on
the detective, and he smiled and leaned into the driver’s area. His face was no
more than four inches from hers as he snatched the keys. He lingered for a
moment as she licked her lips. With a very deliberate sigh, he backed away
slowly, pausing only briefly before moving to the trunk of the car. He shot his
colleagues a large-eyed glance as he moved to open the trunk. He did a quick
visual inspection of the inside of the trunk door as he slowly put the
groceries into the car. Unable to spend anymore time on the effort, he closed
the trunk and walked around to the driver’s side of the car to hand the woman
her keys.
She grabbed his hand along
with the keys and did not let go, so he leaned his elbows on the door. She
said, “So, what time to you get off?”
“In a few hours,” was Dan’s
casual reply as he watched her studying him. She
nodded and tilted her head. As she spoke, her hand reached up and, with her
index finger, she lightly traced the outline of his lips. He felt a little
embarrassed and annoyed with himself that, despite the deception he was
perpetrating and the knowledge that she was a married woman,
an attraction came easily to him.
“My husband won’t be home
this evening, and I’d like to have some help – uhh,
cleaning my swimming pool, if you’re interested.”
Dan swallowed, and asked,
“What time and where do you live?”
“Six o’clock – I’ll just
pick you up here. Bring your swim trunks – or not,” she said seductively.
He smiled back, “I’ll be
waiting. Oh – what’s your name?”
She responded without
hesitation. “Call me Mary, and I’ll call you Tom.”
When she relinquished the
hold on his hand, he saw that he was holding a twenty dollar bill. He stepped
back, and she pulled through the empty parking spot in front of her and sped
off. Dan walked slowly to the front of the store. Once inside, he removed the
apron and, since the bag boy was nowhere to be seen, he left the apron at the
first checkout lane.
When he came out of the
grocery store, he found that Steve had pulled up to the front of the store. He
glanced around before sliding into the back seat that he’d vacated a few
minutes before. The three detectives stared with surprised, open-mouthed smiles
at Dan, who said nothing as he handed Steve the twenty dollar bill.
When no explanation was immediately
forthcoming, McGarrett snapped, “Well?”
“I think the bag boys here
make more money than I do,” Dan grinned, his mood improved from his stroke of
good luck with Janice Nichols.
McGarrett rose to the bait
and let the impulsive query fly, but regretted the words almost before he was
finished saying them. “Maybe you’re looking for a career change?”
Dan hesitated. He knew
immediately that the words were meant in jest without the weight the same
question made in earnest would have, but he couldn’t help but feel that his
boss might be wondering that very thing. With a hesitant laugh, he looked down
and admitted deliberately. “No, I… uh, I like my job.”
When McGarrett did not
respond immediately, Williams looked up to meet the man’s gaze. Steve was grateful
that Dan had managed to recover gracefully from the inadvertent loaded question
he’d posed. The brief meaningful visual exchange somehow made both men feel a
little better.
“Well then give!” Steve
snapped at last, anxious to get past the awkward moment and learn what
transpired.
“Okay, okay. First, there’s
no way that car has ever been in an accident. I can’t see signs of stress
anywhere.” Dan confirmed.
McGarrett frowned as he
digested the information, but said nothing.
Kono verbalized his own
questions with a confused grimace. “So what does that mean? That Keali did not
hit the car? Was Trent Nichols lying? Maybe Mr. Cho lied to back up his boss’s
story?”
A answer that fit the facts suddenly struck Steve. The
expression of concentration was replaced with a satisfied grin. “No! Nobody
lied – about the car anyway! Keali told his sister that it was over –
presumably he meant the fling with Janice Nichols. What if she ended it because
– for whatever reason – she has a propensity for one-night stands? That
might’ve been enough to anger Keali into smacking into her car!”
“But that car wasn’t
damaged, Steve,” Dan reiterated, confusion at the explanation apparent on his
face.
“But maybe ANOTHER car was!”
Steve fired back quickly.
”Well, how
many little yellow sports cars has the guy got?” Williams pushed back again.
“Steve’s right!” The Chinese
detective joined in the debate, as he quickly leafed through several pages of
his notebook. The information he found confirmed his statement, and he looked
his boss, who was now craning his neck to see what was going on directly behind
him. “That’s not the same car! I checked out the registration information on
the car in question right after I talked to you this morning. Trent Nichols has
a brand-new 1967 yellow Corvette. The license plate is NC-1 – pretty easy to a remember.”
McGarrett had to grin. “Now,
that was not the license plate number that was on the car that just pulled out
of here.”
“And that car was NOT a 1967
Corvette – it’s a 1964!” Dan nodded at his boss.
“We’ll check it out, but I
suspect this one must be registered under Mrs. Nichols’ name.” McGarrett could
feel they were on the verge of the breakthrough they’d need for this case. “So
we have two yellow Corvettes – different model years – yes, but only a trained
eye would know the difference.”
Dan accepted the compliment
with the slightest grin, but did not want to interrupt his boss’s train of
thought.
McGarrett continued. “Keali
pulls into the Nichols parking lot to collect his sister one day shortly after
Janice has kicked him to the curb. He spots what he thinks is her Corvette, and
lashes out angrily without a thought of who might be watching. That might even
be how Trent Nichols found out about his wife’s relationship with Keali.”
“So where does this leave
us, boss?” Chin scratched his head and put his notebook away.
“This leaves us still
needing to get inside Janice Nichols’ head.” McGarrett responded as he recalled
that he was not finished questioning Williams about his experience with the
woman.
He turned to address the
detective, but Kono remembered the subject at the same time. He twisted as far
as he could in the seat to address Williams, directly behind him. “So what
happened with the wahine?”
Dan glanced at the Hawaiian
detective, but directed his answer to Steve. “I have a date.”
Pleasantly surprised at the
serendipitous turn of events, Steve wanted clarification. “She invited you into
her home?”
Dan shrugged, “She wants me
to help her clean her pool. I’m supposed to call her Mary, and she’ll call me
Tom.”
“Well, that really drives
home her interest in short-term relationships! A discrete,
pool-cleaning service. Of course, you’re going to request a tour of the
house, and maybe have a little chat over a drink before you clean anything!”
McGarrett returned.
“Of course,” Dan agreed.
Before the Williams could
say another word, concerns about the evening entered his boss’s head. “Chin,
find out where Nichols is going to be this evening – we don’t want Danno to end
up in cement overshoes!”
The three detectives laughed
and agreed, but the unspoken realization hung in the
“So, Danno, if you can give
the house and grounds the once-over, and then get the heck out of there –
without committing adultery – we’ll be ahead of the game.”
McGarrett’s admonishment was
taken in stride by Williams with a confident grin. “Give the house the
once-over – check. No adultery – check.”
*****
Janice Nichols pulled up to
the side of the market at six ten in the same Corvette in which she’d done her
shopping earlier. Dan, dressed in cobalt blue swim trunks, a blue and green
luau shirt and thongs, was compelled to give the muscle car an envious
once-over before he spoke to the driver.
“This is some cherry ride –
a 1964! Does it have the three seventy five horsepower engine?”
Her inviting smile made her
all the more beautiful as she gave an exaggerated sigh. “I push on the thin peddle
on the right to make it go, and the thick peddle on the left to make it stop.
That’s about all I can tell you.” She suddenly climbed over the stick shift and
plopped into the passenger seat. “Would you like to make it go?”
Dan’s eyes lit up and he slipped
around the back of the vehicle and hopped into the driver’s seat without
bothering to open the door. He shifted the car into gear and gunned it out of
the parking lot, with only the most passing glance at Kono, who was slouched
down in his black LTD.
McGarrett had given each
detective explicit instructions. The Hawaiian
detective was to remain in the area until Williams contacted him. Chin was to
ascertain Trent Nichols’ plans for the evening to insure that the suspect did
not return home to find Dan with his wife. The Chinese detective verified
through his office that Nichols was en route to an amateur golfer’s award
dinner at the Royal Hawaiian Hotel in Waikiki. To insure that he showed up,
Chin was already at the Royal Hawaiian awaiting the arrival of the suspect.
Lastly, Dan was to call him as soon as he rendezvoused with Kono. Ultimately,
they all knew that the search warrant would have to be used, but if Dan could
come up with something solid that pointed to Trent Nichols’ guilt – whether or not
it would be admissible in court -- they would, because of the greater
likelihood of finding incriminating evidence, execute the search warrant with a
more intense – and intrusive – effort.
As they drove up
As they pulled into the
large, circular driveway, Dan immediately hopped out of the car and whistled.
“Wow, what a place! How ‘bout a tour?” He nestled the
most winning smile he could muster in an innocent expression, hoping she
wouldn’t be suspicious of the request. His concern was unfounded, and she
agreed without any sign of hesitance.
Do all of your boyfriends ask for a tour, lady?
*****
“Okay, you’ve had the grand
tour WITH the special closet peek detours! Now it’s my turn to take a tour.” As
Jan spoke, her hand traveled lightly up Dan’s chest and neck, and she ran her
finger around his ear, and then into his h
He cocked his head to
listen, and motioned for the surprised – and close-to-offended – Jan to be
quiet. She complied, but her expression told Williams that she was not willing
to stay silent for very long as he strained to hear the noise again. The sound
that had caught his attention was a muffled thud – the first thing that came to
mind was a car door closing. Only the sound of a massive
grandfather clock in the foyer greeting their ears now. Whether the
earlier noise was relevant or not, it gave him a tactic to minimize any more
intimate contact with Mrs. Nichols.
“Did you hear something?”
“No, I – I didn’t hear
anything.” She frowned.
“Where exactly is your
husband?” His wariness was not entirely an act – after all, at least two of
this woman’s lovers were dead.
She relaxed again as she
realized that the young man with her was only concerned about someone walking
in on them. “Who knows… but it doesn’t matter. He doesn’t care.” She smiled
again.
Surprised at the statement,
Dan couldn’t hide his skepticism. “He doesn’t care? You know, Mary, I find it
very hard to believe that any husband with a wife like you would not care what
she was doing with another man in their bedroom.”
The apparently candid
opinion of her would-be lover somehow broke the mood for her, and the smile
slowly disappeared from her face and she looked away. “He cheats on me all the
time – he actually has a girlfriend that he treats more like a wife than he
treats me.”
This unexpected admission
brought a genuine look of pity onto Dan’s face. He now partially understood the
woman’s motivation for cheating, but it seemed to him there were better, more
respectable ways of dealing with her husband’s infidelity.
“Well, why don’t you just
leave him?”
“I can’t. The only thing in
my life over which I have any control is my body – and I don’t always have
that.” Her expression turned a little bitter. He wasn’t sure what to say, but
didn’t have time to muse on it as she grabbed his hand. “Let’s go out to the
pool.”
The detective had a sense
that she was telling him the unvarnished truth – he was, after all, in her mind
a non-threatening one-night stand who would leave her life in short order, any
secrets that she revealed still safe.
Relieved at Jan’s change in
disposition, however temporary, he was also glad to have the opportunity to
take a look around the back of the house. Williams’ eyes were drawn to the
disarray on the left as the p
Seeing no avenue of escape,
he decided the best approach was to simply tell her a half-truth – that he didn’t feel right about committing adultery. “Uh,
look, Mary-”
“Janice!” A shout from
inside the house made both of the people on the patio almost jump out of their
skin. “Where are you?”
“Your
husband?” Dan whispered – he was
horror-stricken at the thought of being caught with another man’s wife –
especially that of a suspect in an active murder investigation.
The gruff masculine voice
called again. “Janice!”
She’d turned her head in the
direction of the house, but when she looked back at Williams, the fear was
evident in her eyes. “Uh, yes, yes – it’s my husband.”
With no time to come up with
a more palatable plan, Dan quickly climbed the fence and jumped to hide below
the patio level. He cursed to himself as both of his thongs were flung from his
feet by the energetic leap and subsequent athletic grab at the bottom of the
fence, which prevented him from tumbling head-over-heels down the steep
hillside after his foot wear.
“Out here!” The feminine
voice called.
Within seconds, the man’s
voice spoke again, this time from somewhere on the patio. “There you are,
darling. I got worried when you didn’t show up at the club.”
“I thought you didn’t like
me going to the Kava Club.” Her voice sounded a little nervous to Dan – he
fervently hoped that Trent Nichols would not notice.
Williams could hear movement
no more than ten feet from his precarious position. The pain in his hands and
feet began to intensify as the sharp igneous rock began to dig into his
flesh.
There was a break in the
conversation and Dan could tell that at least one of the people had moved to
stand directly above him. He took in a breath slowly and let it out as silently
as he could.
“What is that smell? It
reminds me of—aftershave.”
Dan didn’t think the tension
in his muscles could get any tighter until he heard Trent Nichols possibly
growing suspicious of his wife’s activities – the man was so close to his
position that Williams could smell HIS aftershave.
“Aftershave? I think your sniffer is out of whack. You must be smelling some of the new plant cuttings over here.” It
was a fair lie – not a great one, but it beat the heck out of
okay-you-caught-us, the detective decided.
Dan sensed that the man was
evaluating the explanation as he stood apparently immobile for several seconds.
The silence became almost painful before the rustling of pants gave an
indication that Nichols was moving away from his position along the fence.
Jan’s voice trailed off
slightly, which put her in motion toward the garden area as she continued with
a segway to a different subject. “And that reminds me – is that horrible man
Gordon ever going to come back and finish the soil conditioning?”
The mention of the third
victim almost made the detective loose his footing on the thin ledge. His bare
shins scraped along the rock for several inches before he was able to get a
decent toe hold. Fiery pain shot up his legs as the
Williams was in for a yet
another shock that nearly dislodged him from the cliff-face again.
Jan cried out. “You’re
hurting me! Please… don’t!”
Not willing to let the brute
batter his wife, Dan realized the jig was up. He quickly pulled himself higher
on the rocks until he could grab the bottom of the fence. There he hesitated as
he now had an clear view of the couple about twenty
five feet away. Trent Nichols, with his back to Williams, had Jan’s wrist in a
vice-like grip, and had twisted it towards him so that she was pulled only
inches from his face. Tears streamed down her face as he held her in that
position and studied her face.
“You haven’t had company
here this evening, have you, darling?” His tone was vicious and Dan braced
himself in preparation for scaling the fence back onto the patio.
“No, no,” she whimpered. “I
was just thinking about making some dinner – I went to the market today…” He
voice trailed off and she closed her eyes.
Trent Nichols’s third-degree
style stare didn’t waver from the shaking, tearful woman for several moments. Finally,
he let out a slow breath and began a visual survey of the patio. Dan let go of
the fence and dipped below ground level to hide again. Another painful, silent
wait lasted about thirty seconds. Williams was relieved, but a little surprised
at the change in the man’s tone when next he spoke.
“Well then, darling, dinner
sounds marvelous. Why don’t you bring me a drink before you get started?”
“Your
usual?” Came the timid response.
“Oh let’s throw caution to
the wind and be different tonight – I’ll have a vodka gimlet.”
Dan carefully repositioned
himself to give his tiring muscles a break and waited four or five minutes. All
the while, thoughts of the wife-beating, low-life persona that Trent Nichols
obviously kept hidden from the world roiled in his mind. Dan was not up on all
of the details of the Davis-Keali-Gordon case, but he did recall that there had
been no visible connection between Janice Nichols and Mark Gordon. Until now!
He heard the hi-fi come on
somewhere in the house, and ice being rattled in a glass not too far away.
Finally, he pulled himself up enough to get a view of the scene on the patio.
Trent Nichols was relaxing on the chaise lounge near the house. Drink in one
hand, his attention was focused on a newspaper folded to an article.
Dan lowered himself
cautiously, and decided that Janice Nichols was no longer in immediate danger.
He looked back over his shoulder, and knew that the only way he was going to
leave his cliff-side hiding place was to go downward, and further that it was
best to do it while it was still light. Carefully, choosing his steps to
minimize injury to his bare feet, he had to use his hands to make it down the
steepest part of the rocky – and thorny – hillside.
One minute into the
treacherous descent, as Dan tried to find a solid place to set his foot, a
chunk of rock broke away under his weight, leaving nothing between the
detective and a twenty-foot tumble to the nearest ledge, into which his body
smacked with shocking brutality. It took him several minutes to mentally
reacquire his circumstance and take physical stock of himself. He didn’t think
he’d blacked out -- the sun seemed to be pretty close to the same place it had
been when last he noticed it. His hand momentarily rested on a damp knot the
diameter of a golf ball on the side of his head. The wound seemed to be a
scrape and not causing profuse blood-loss though. Thankful all the fall added
was a few more scrapes and bruises, he continued his trek with even greater
caution.
Fifteen minutes later, he made
it to
*****
Initially uneasy because he
didn’t see anybody when he pulled up and parked at the pay phone where Dan had
indicated he would be waiting, Kono got out of his car to find Dan slouched on
the floor of the booth. Williams insisted that his injuries were not serious,
but the big Hawaiian was not about to risk bringing McGarrett’s wrath down on
him for not taking proper precautions with his future (or current – Kono wasn’t
certain) second-in-command. So the Hawaiian detective, over Dan’s objections,
contacted the head of Five-0, still at the office, and neutrally reported his
colleague’s cut, scraped, and beleaguered condition.
“You heard me, Kono! Get him
to the emergency room – I’ll have Bergman meet us there! McGarrett
out!” The head of Five-0 had repeated his command so that there was no
doubt in the mind of his subordinate that he was not to let Williams talk him
out of the trip to the hospital.
Dan frowned. “Like I need to
have Bergman start in on me tonight!”
“I’m not gonna argue with
the boss about it, Danny,” Kono responded with conviction. As he pulled back onto
the road, he glanced over at his drained passenger, who leaned his head onto
the door frame of the vehicle and closed his eyes.
Dan just didn’t feel up to a
big argument, but he groused one last time despite the futility of it. “I don’t
need a doctor – just a few band aides, aspirin, and some rest.”
“Doc’ll
take care of ya, bruddah.”
The driver’s resolve remained firm.
*****
As promised, both McGarrett
and Bergman were waiting at the emergency room receiving bay for Kono to
arrive. Only Steve McGarrett, the driver mused, could wear an expression of
intense concern and simultaneously look furious. The head of Five-0 ripped
around the front of the LTD almost before Kono stopped, and yanked the
passenger door open. Dan did his best to not look as completely miserable as he
felt. He thought he must’ve taken surfing spills that left him worse off, but
he couldn’t actually remember being quite so scraped up.
“Danno!”
“I’m all right, Steve – just
a few scratches.” Williams knew his boss wasn’t convinced and in fact the man
did not appear to be listening to him at all. Instead, he was taking his own
physical survey of the damage as he helped Dan out of the car.
The next unwelcome comment
came from Doctor Bergman as McGarrett moved to one side to give the physician
an unobstructed view of his patient.
“Danny, look at you! What a
mess!” Bergman glanced back sourly at two attendants who appeared, as if on
queue, from the ER doorway with a gurney. They started to approach, but Dan
held up his hand. He already felt like a kid who’d messed up his Sunday clothes
playing in the mud.
“I can walk!” He tried not
to snap, but had the feeling he might not have succeeded. With McGarrett and
Bergman hovering nearby, he managed to make it to a bed inside, where he gingerly
lay himself down.
His tense expression told
the tale better than his words both the older detective and the doctor knew. He
insisted that he looked worse off than he was – that he was merely scraped up,
but Bergman was displeased about the knot on the young man’s head.
As the doctor evaluated his
patient and began rinsing wounds, horizontal on his back except for two pillows
under his head, Dan, with no prompting, immediately began giving his report of
the incident to Steve and Kono. His voice harbored no signs of stress, and only
the indication of pain was the occasional gasp or grimace as the physician
worked. He would pause momentarily here and there to take a sip of juice which
Kono accepted from a nurse at the door. The only medical person that McGarrett
allowed to remain in the room during Williams’ report was Doctor Bergman –
there would be no leaks to the press from Five-0.
Dan did his level best to
accurately report all of the relevant facts he could remember – until he came
to the part of his story that found him clinging to the cliff-face and his
subsequent tumble. He offered no more than three sentences about it before he
decided he’d said enough. He could see that his boss was eyeing him
skeptically, but offered no additional information.
“Boy, that Trent Nichols
sure is a jerk.” The sound of the man’s voice as he took pleasure in the pain
he was inflicting on the much-smaller, terrified woman in his grip still rang
in Dan’s head.
“And that’s the good part
about him,” Kono agreed.
“From what you witnessed,
Danno, does your gut tell you that he would be willing to kill someone in
jealousy?”
McGarrett almost hated to
ask any more questions of the detective until he’d gotten some rest, but he
wanted to have the benefit of more than the fact of what his detective had seen
and heard. He wanted spontaneous impressions – things that could not be used in
a court of law, but could indicate whether they were on the right track.
Williams did not let him down.
“Oh, yeah, Steve – the guy I
saw would have no problem murdering somebody for their parking spot – and his
wife knows it too. I think that’s why she’s so afraid
to leave him. One thing’s for sure – she didn’t expect him – and neither did
I.” He grimaced as the physician hit a particularly tender area before he
finished thought. “What happened anyway?”
“Chin says that Nichols’ car
is still at this minute parked in the garage at the hotel, so for whatever
reason, he found another way home.”
McGarrett’s explanation came
through grit teeth as he watched Bergman scrubbing one a gash on Dan’s hand
with Betadine antiseptic soap. Steve felt more than a little angry at himself.
The suspect’s surprise early departure from the hotel and subsequent temporary
abandonment of his vehicle could have gotten his ne
Even exhausted and hurting
in places he didn’t know could hurt, Williams could tell that his mentor was
disturbed about the unexpected twist, and he suspected it was because of the
danger into which he had been unwittingly thrust. Dan opened his eyes and met
with a pained and pensive expression from his boss.
“It’s
okay, Steve – we learned a lot from this.” Dan reassured the man as best he
could.
McGarrett stepped closer to
the head of the gurney, not surprised, he decided, at his protégé’s acceptance
of what had transpired – there was no hint of recrimination in his voice – only
a curiosity to know what had gone wrong.
Danno was right, Steve mused
– it had been a traumatic, painful, and far more dangerous experience for the
detective than they anticipated, but it had yielded a wealth of information
without putting Five-0 in a delicate position. Jan Nichols’ reasons for
cheating – a way of lashing out at her philandering, abusive spouse… Trent
Nichols’ display of violent jealousy and his obvious knowledge of his wife’s
indiscretions… Jan Nichols’ mention of Mark Gordon and her dislike for him – a
fact that certainly lent credence to Dan’s theory that Mark Gordon had been
hired to take care of Jan’s lovers. McGarrett had taken his time, but at last
nodded in recognition of and agreement with the point of Dan’s remark. Suddenly
feeling an order of magnitude better, he turned and told Kono to go home –
there was nothing left to be done tonight.
The next few minutes were
spent in silence as Bergman finished dressing the wounds. Dan seemed to be
asleep, and McGarrett leaned on the wall nearby and pondered his next steps.
Danno’s sojourn further
incriminated Trent Nichols, but if he’d hired Mark Gordon to do his dirty work,
it was likely that they would be better served by taking a harder look at
Gordon. They would review the records from the search of Gordon’s apartment –
unfortunately, the man’s landlord cleaned and rented out the apartment in short
order after the initial search without the consent of the police. Gordon drove
a Nichols company pick-up truck, so he wasn’t hopeful about finding any
evidence in it, but he made a mental note to have Chin check into it. The
bottom line so far was that he still didn’t have any definitive evidence
against Trent Nichols.
“Danny,
you still with me?” Bergman
looked up at his patient, shirt gone but still in his swim trunks, as he
secured the final dressing to a scrape on Dan’s foot..
Slightly startled that the
silence at been broken, Dan opened his eyes. “Hmm, yeah, I’m okay. “When can I
go home?”
“I’d rather keep you
overnight for observation.” Bergman braced himself for the inevitable
objection.
“Doc, that’s just NOT gonna happen.”
The detective wasn’t loud about it, but he was firm.
Bergman frowned but did not
look up as he wrapped the white medical tape all the way around the detective’s
foot. “Why do you have to be so stubborn?”
Dan had to grin at the
rhetorical question, and McGarrett moved from his vantage point on the wall to
the head of the gurney. The two detectives looked at each other, recalling
their terse exchange earlier in the day.
McGarrett’s eyes did not
leave the prone detective and his lip twitched to avoid an outright grin. “He’s
got a good teacher.”
Dan decided that it was
funny how an insult could turn into a compliment in the space of twelve hours.
“Give the pupil some credit please.”
The physician realized he
was missing something that made him fail to appreciate the conversation, but he
had the definite sense that McGarrett was going to take Williams’ side. Bergman
picked his battles carefully with the Five-0 detectives. An overnight stay
would be a good precaution, but his patient showed no signs of a concussion,
and it was clear that the young man’s faculties were intact. He sighed and
shrugged.
“Fine – take him home! Any
blurred vision or dizziness, bring him back! And no more cliff diving!”
*****
“What’s the next step?” Dan
asked. “A talk with Janice?”
“Yeah.” The driver glanced in the direction of his
passenger. It had been on McGarrett’s mind as well as he made his way from the
hospital. “I’m afraid the eggshell approach just hasn’t been very effective –
and now we’re gonna have to wait until at least Tuesday.”
Dan snapped his head in
Steve’s direction and instantly regretted it as a wave of vertigo overtook him.
He didn’t let that stop the question from flying. “Why can’t we go there
tomorrow?”
Steve grinned as he pulled
up in front of Dan’s building. “You’re not doing anything tomorrow – you going
to convalesce. As for Mr. and Mrs. Trent Nichols – they will be out at sea
tomorrow and Monday as sponsors for the Molokai Sailing Regatta. It was in the
newspaper today.”
Briefly disappointed, Dan
tried to find a bright spot. “Well, I guess they’ll be able to keep an eye on
each other. I only hope Janice will be safe in the meantime.”
“He’s very into appearances,
so I doubt he’d risk damage to his very beautiful young wife – especially with
all of the cameras that will be around.”
McGarrett turned off the
ignition, and Williams opened the car door to get out.
“Uh,
Danno!” The head of Five-0
briefly grabbed the sleeve of the hospital scrub top in which Dan had been sent
home, and Williams turned slowly – the lesson from a few moments earlier
learned – and focused on his boss, who looked away before he spoke.
“Danno… I said something the
other day that… that I, uh…”
Dan knew instantly to what
McGarrett referred -- the painful you’re-letting-me-down epithet rang in his
head for hours. He’d known – probably all along – that Steve didn’t mean it –
that its basis was anger and his own pain. He looked back at the door handle,
where his hand rested.
“Uh, yeah, I know you didn’t,
uh…”
“No, no, I didn’t…too the
contrary…”
“Uh, yeah, I know… it’s okay, really.”
“Okay, good then.”
The memory was painful to
both men, for one because it hurt and for the other because he knew it hurt the
other. Neither detective managed a glance at the other, but both felt satisfied
that the subject had been dealt with and put to bed.
*****
“I AM convalescing – at my
desk! The first budget meeting is tomorrow morning and I don’t wanna go into
without at least reading the file you gave me!”
McGarrett eyed the
detective, who was dressed casually in tan slacks and a short-sleeve, two-tone
cream shirt. The only visible signs of his trauma the previous day were the
bandages on his hands and one larger patch bandage on the inside of his right
arm. Ever astute, the lead detective turned his focus to a paper positioned in
the typewriter on the stand by Williams’ arm.
Dan followed his boss’s eye
and slowly looked back up at the man standing in his doorway. He cursed
silently – working for a detective had it’s
drawbacks. “I didn’t finish the
monthlies yesterday, like I’d planned.” The trip to the
“Just don’t convalesce too
late,” McGarrett growled and turned to head into his office. Out of sight of
his officer, he let a grin slip onto his face. Dedicated…
*****
Three forty five… McGarrett
threw the sheet off of himself and climbed out of bed,
disgusted. He’d looked at the alarm clock for the last time today. If he
couldn’t sleep, then an early run would take its place. An early court date on
a Monday morning didn’t bode well for a timely start to the proceedings, but he
would still be there at eight thirty, vowing never to be the cause of a delay.
As he dressed for his run,
his thoughts drifted back to the second-in-command issue. He’d been racking his
brains to come up with another angle from which to approach the stubborn
Williams. The memory of the previous evening in the ER intruded momentarily and
made McGarrett smile as he tied his shoes.
He moved out onto his lanai
and put his leg up on the rail to stretch his hamstring as he continued musing.
It was going to take more than stating the obvious to Williams and then issuing
an edict. Why the answer came to him then, he wasn’t certain – that it did, he
was grateful. As the path became clear to him, relief filled him – relief for
the respite from the intolerable befuddlement about the magic action he should
take to solve the problem. He had not told Danno why he was the best choice for
the job. He’d recited the detective’s abilities and capabilities, but Steve had
not mentioned reasons – real reasons that the detective was imminently more
qualified than perhaps anyone else on the planet to be his second-in-command.
He was going to have to make
some personal admissions. Well, if there was ever anybody on the planet that
Steve McGarrett felt he could share his feelings, it was Danno, whom he dubbed
thus because of his affection for the young man and how he reminded him of a
close childhood friend. After all, wasn’t his inclination to trust the
detective how this whole thing started?
It hit him – Danno had a
self-confidence problem, but that was not the thing that had prevented his plan
from happening as he had laid it out – he had failed to trust. Now energized
with a definitive course of action, he grabbed his keys and wallet and headed
out the door.
*****
Typing… an electric
typewriter ticked to the command of swift fingers despite the fact that there
was no paper on which words were falling. Dan had a panicky sense that he was
trying to complete a report, but was unable to make progress no matter how fast
he typed. Suddenly, his hands knocked over a nearby coffee cup. It landed on
the floor with – not a crash, but a knock – it bounced instead of breaking,
knocking each time it hit the floor. Knocking…knocking… Dan inhaled slowly and began to sense that he
was horizontal… in his bed.
He opened his eyes and held
still for a few moments in the darkness, acknowledging the dryness in his mouth
and the muscles in his back that were crying out for a change in position. His
stomach growled as he pondered the bizarre and nonsequiter dream, but his
meditation was to last only a few seconds as the loud rap of knuckles on his
front door – the same sound the coffee cup had made a few moments before –
interrupted. His heart rate picked up as he looked at the alarm clock – Four
fifteen. Not unaccustomed to being awakened by a phone call in the wee hours to
respond to police emergency, a visitor at his doorstep was still disconcerting.
“Oww!” His
sore muscles objected to the sudden rise from his bed, and he could feel a scab
or two crack as he moved to stand. The time and the nature
of his profession made him slip his 0.38 from its sheath as he passed by the
dresser. Revolver casually in hand, he tightened the draw string on the pale
blue, pin-striped, cotton pajama bottoms he wore as he plodded to the door,
being careful to not land too harshly on the mending foot. Had complete, alert
clarity of thought been present, he might have inquired through the door before
he opened it as to who had the temerity to be paying a visit at such an
anti-social hour. As it was, a touch of annoyance drove him to unlock the door
and pull it open.
Mildly surprised – and yet
not surprised – Williams found himself looking at his boss, who was attired in
a Navy blue sweat suit and tennis shoes, a sweat band perched on his h
“Steve! What’s – what’s up?
Come in,” Dan invited before any reply was offered. “Is anything wrong?”
Clearly, that had to be
something wrong. It was rare to see hesitation in McGarrett, but there it was.
He entered and did his typical suspicious survey of the room – Dan did not take
offense at the action – he knew without thinking about it that it was second
nature to the detective.
“Do I need to get dressed?”
Still thinking that he was probably about to learn of an official duty that
required his presence somewhere besides the comfort of his bed, he was anxious
to hear what was going on.
“I woke you.” Steve finally spoke as he turned to give a
Williams a perfunctory inspection. The statement, Dan noted, was not so much an
apology as an observation.
Dan couldn’t help but grin
at the silly statement. “No, Steve, I’ve been lying awake in bed all night,
waiting for somebody to knock on my door – I’m glad it finally happened – I’m
exhausted.”
He slid around the bar in
his kitchen, pulled the coffee pot to the faucet and began to fill it with
water. The detective had a sarcastic wit that he rarely used out loud, and even
more rarely in response to a comment from his boss. But the odd circumstance
and the fact that he’d been able to sleep for a grand total of four hours (and
it wasn’t looking too good for any more on this night) made him feel a little more free to say what he was thinking.
“Okay,
stupid comment.” McGarrett
admitted as he gravitated toward the lanai.
No more words were exchanged
as Dan set the percolator to work before he slipped into his bedroom. His boss
had something on his mind – a sick feeling in the pit of his stomach told him
what it was – that would not wait until a respectable hour. But it would have
to keep at least until he brushed his teeth and threw on some clothes. He
returned a few minutes later wearing a tan t-shirt and grey sweat pants. He’d
slipped on a pair of shorts, but changed his mind as he caught sight of the
bruises surrounding the bandages on his shins – his boss did not need to be
reminded of his injuries. Pulling two coffee cups from the dish rack, Williams
filled them with the fresh, black brew. Just the drifting aroma of the coffee
made him feel more alert – like he might be able to navigate his way through an
early morning conversation with Steve. Carrying the cups and setting one for
his guest on the coffee table, he moved to the sofa, and settled on the end
farthest from the matching stuffed chair.
Sipping the hot beverage, he
turned and rested his arm on the back of the couch to study his mentor, who
leaned on the railing and looked off into the darkness as if he were searching
for something on the horizon. Here, Dan realized, was a man who had such
strength of conviction and incredible faith in himself that he just could not
conceive of someone who did not. In the pit of his stomach, the young detective
could feel it coming – another onslaught of you-can-do-this arguments from his
tenacious, NOT-WRONG, thy-will-be-done boss. There was just no swaying the man
with a reason that had anything to do with no experience. Williams had
stubbornly – and when cornered, even angrily – rejected Steve’s case. But his
resistance had not convinced McGarrett that he was wrong.
Here in the peaceful,
too-quiet predawn hours, it occurred to Dan that butting heads with someone who
would break before he would bend would be futile. He suddenly felt a little
better as a way to manage the situation came to him. Agree or disagree, he
wouldn’t fight back. If I bend, maybe I
won’t have to break…
“Whatcha lookin’ for,
Steve?” Dan called from his seated vantage point.
McGarrett heard the question
and paused deliberately before he slowly turned to look at his detective. “I’m
not looking, Danno – I’ve found it.” His voice was soft and the accompanying
smile was atypically warm. He stepped back indoors from his reverie on the
lanai and joined Williams on the sofa. He collected the coffee mug from the
table and, in its stead, he propped his feet. He took a sip from the cup and
then leaned his head back on the sofa, not looking over at Dan. “I’ve been
going through it over and over in my mind. I’ve stepped through the facts… I’ve
examined what my intuition is telling me…And I’ve asked myself more than once –
could I be, for the first time in my life, putting the evidence together to
form an incorrect conclusion? And each time, I decide all over again that the
answer is no – I am not drawing a bad conclusion.”
He paused to take another drink,
and then turned his head to look at Dan, who listened warily. The image of a
rabbit leaning cautiously into a snare to reach the dangling carrot humorlessly
popped into his head as his boss continued. “You – whether
you believe it or not – are the perfect man to fill my second-in-command slot.
I’m not gonna re-visit the cold, hard data on this situation. You’ve already
stipulated that this information is true. But I want you to consider something
before you tell me no again.”
McGarrett, relieved that
Danno was listening instead of immediately objecting to the subject, pulled his
feet off the table and leaned forward to rest his elbows on his knees. He spoke
to the cup which he held in both hands. “Working for me is not always an easy
job – I know that – and even more to the point, working closely with me, as a
good second must, might be positively painful for— for many people. Not for you
though – I think I see in you an incredible tolerance that will carry you –” He sighed and quickly finished the sentence,
“— through my more difficult moments.”
Dan was stunned at the man’s
admission, and he studied him carefully. It was clear that Steve had not spoken
the words lightly, nor had he said anything just to flatter. Williams was
convinced that he was hearing un-censored thoughts.
“Was Ray a good second?” The
question just popped into Williams’ head.
McGarrett’s dislike for the
man immediately colored the response that he wanted to share. Instead, he
looked at the weeks immediately following Nohea’s
retirement, and he had to make a confession.
“Ray and I did not get along
very well. That fact was as much my fault as it was his – probably more. We had
different philosophies – different ideas about how Five-0 should be run, The friction was there on a daily basis, and it had a
detrimental effect on everyone in the office. That said, I can tell you that
Ray did know how push the papers – you know – make sure we dotted our I’s
and crossed our T’s.”
A smile flickered across
Dan’s face as his typing dream pushed the rabbit into the background of his
thoughts.
“I need someone in that slot
whom I like and respect, and who reciprocates, so that when we disagree, we can
work through it quietly and civilly without demoralizing the rest of the crew.
I need someone whom I can trust completely and utterly. The line
between professional and personal confidences are sometimes not clearly
defined in this business. I’ll be with you every step of the way to support you
however you require it.”
“You’ll be there every step
of the way – until you’re not able to be there – and then I’m on my own.” The
counterpoint slipped from Williams’ lips before he cold stop it.
“The day you’re truly on
your own, you’ll be ready – trust me. All that stands between Danny Williams
and one of the most coveted law enforcement positions in the South Pacific is
the mere acceptance of the job. What do you say, Danno?”
There it was – the carrot
again… He was tempted, but he was determined to not leap rashly into a decision
that he would regret after he had another hour or two of sleep and some
breakfast. He pursed his lips, briefly considering how to phrase his response,
before he took a quick gulp of coffee and made eye contact with his boss.
“You’re pretty compelling, Steve, I have to say – enough that I’d like to think
about it.”
Progress!
McGarrett cracked a thin smile. “What’s to think about? The
crummy hours? The additional responsibility?”
“I seem to recall getting a
lecture in the recent past on the dangers of impulsive decisions.” Dan cocked
his head, vividly recalling the tongue lashing McGarrett had meted out to him a
few months previous for totaling his company car, and very nearly getting
himself crushed in the process.
“Okay,” Steve held up his
hand in concession. “Throw my own words back at me. Let’s talk tomorrow
afternoon. You’re gonna be at the budget meeting today and tomorrow, and I’ve
got a court date that might take all of both days. Let’s meet at the office
around five o’clock.” Patience was not his strong suit, but it was clear to
McGarrett that pushing any harder at this very moment would not serve him well.
It was a rare sight to see
Steve McGarrett in such a calm and apparently-flexible temper and Williams
paused just to take in the scene. The usual undercurrent of high-strung
impatience seemed to be buried for the moment.
The older detective took the
silence as hesitance to accept the invitation, so he added. “We’ll grab some dinner
and talk it through. You can toss me a problem, and I’ll toss you the solution
right back.”
Dan was struck at that
moment by the depth of Steve’s belief that he – Dan Williams – was the best
choice for the second slot.
The young detective slowly
nodded, only a little fear creeping into his gut at the implication. “Yeah,
okay, Steve, I’m willing to talk with you.”
McGarrett rose from the
sofa, moved to the kitchen and set his coffee cup in the sink. Dan followed him
to the door, where Steve paused as he struggled to think of any parting words
of wisdom that would further sway the detective in his favor, but he could
think of none that he hadn’t already said. With a light tap on Williams’
shoulder, the head of Five-0 slipped out the door. “See ya
later.”
As he made his way to his
car, Steve replayed his arguments and the young detective’s expressions as he
spoke. He’d seemed receptive – McGarrett hoped that it wasn’t just sleep
deprivation that had made him more agreeable. That Williams accept the position
was important to him on levels he couldn’t quite quantify. And the fact that
there seemed to be little else he could do between now and their next meeting
to make that happen was frustrating. The rare feeling of helplessness made the
head of Five-0 feel cornered. Trying to rid himself of the mental shackle, he
told himself that he would play his hand out, and in the end, it wouldn’t
matter how much faith he had in Williams. It would all boil down to Danno’s own
confidence in himself. That train of thought brought the acid in his stomach
farther up into his esophagus. He decided he’d better make it a long run today.
*****
Dan quietly closed the door
and re-locked it after his boss left. He slid down its smooth, wood surface to
sit on the floor. Dan had not expected to be swayed one iota from his intention
to decline the offer, but the head of Five-0 had approached the subject from a
different perspective this time. He argued his case from a personal
point-of-view, admitting that his own weaknesses required an individual with
complimentary strengths in the second spot. It was not a viewpoint that Dan had
considered before that moment. The young detective was not so blinded by the
man’s halo that he couldn’t see that Steve did have a personal shortcoming or
two, but to Dan’s way of thinking they were f
Dan ran his hand over his
curls and cringed slightly as he inadvertently pushed a little too hard on the
rapidly-shrinking lump on his scalp. Steve had given him a lot to think about,
but the budget meeting was just a few hours away now. He would have to stay
completely focused on that to avoid committing some faux paux
that would no doubt be blast into the public eye and reflect badly on Five-0.
The thought made his stomach boil, but he was resolute – he would not let Steve
down.
*****
Dan leaned closer to the
mirror over his bathroom sink as he touched a spot on his chin. He was alone,
but voiced his question loudly. “Is that a pimple?”
He slapped his head
dramatically. “No! Oh that’s real mature, Williams!” It would be better if he
had to walk into the budget meeting with a shaving cut than a sign that puberty
might not be over for him.
Okay, well, there was
nothing to be done about that. He moved to the closet and pulled out his
freshly pressed black suit. It looked the most serious of his suits – and
because he wore it the least often, it was in the best shape. He dressed
quickly and decided against finishing off the coffee in the bottom of his cup as
he headed out the door – one drip and he’d have to change his shirt.
He went
to the Palace long enough to grab the notebook he’d left behind the day before,
and to check his messages. With a quick greeting to May, he stepped into his office
to see a gift-wrapped box. The package was flat and only a little longer than
the tray in which it rested. He didn’t see a card as he slipped the black and
gold striped paper off, and removed the lid. Laid out neatly between silver
tissue paper were two silk ties – one burgundy with small gold diamonds on it,
and the other grey with thin, ornate, silver stripes running diagonal to the
weave. It was obvious the ties had cost as much as one of his shirts.
“It’s
from Steve.” May offered as she stepped into his doorway. He turned and with a
smile held up the two ties against his chest. She frowned in mock concentration
for a couple of moments before she firmly pointed to the burgundy cravat.
“I can
take a hint,” Williams was pleased and touched that the very busy head of the
operation had gone to such trouble. He quickly loosened and removed the blue
and grey tie he’d spent ten minutes selecting, and slipped on May’s choice for
the day. The secretary adjusted the Windsor knot it for him and gave him a quick
peck on the cheek. As he headed out the door, he felt well-dressed and
confident.
*****
The
meetings were to be held in the largest of the three conference halls of the
old ancillary state building, which was scheduled for a major overall within
the next twenty four months. The structure had been built in early 1941.
Subsequent damage during the attack on Pearl Harbor, sub-standard repair jobs,
and numerous interior wall removals and additions had made the building a
maintenance nightmare. Building code violations had piled up to the point where
a judge finally ordered renovation or condemnation.
Seeing
several members of the press on the front steps with microphones and cameras in
the faces of three people who were no doubt budget meeting attendees, Williams
gave little consideration to the state of the facility’s wiring as drove on by
and parked one block away. Determined to maintain the lowest possible profile,
he slipped into a side door of building, down a long hallway, and into the space
of the state’s Office of Budget and Finance to sign the attendance roster. A
cute, freckle-nosed young woman, bobbed red hair carefully coiffed, sat at the
receptionist desk and offered him an inviting smile as he wrote his name and
organization. On any other day, he might have stopped for a moment to chat, but
today, the woman looked too young. Further intensifying the need for
appropriate behavior was the signature of Walter Stuart three lines above his.
He kicked himself internally for the hair dye comment, and accepted an agenda
from the cheerful red head, who pointed him in the right direction.
He
walked slowly to the large room under the guise of perusing the agenda – in reality, the wound on the side of his foot was still feeling
pretty delicate. The sound of voices bantering and a little laughter here and
there greeted his ears. The acoustics of the room were not the best, Williams
could tell, as it sounded not unlike a gymnasium during a basketball game. A crowd… good… maybe nobody will even notice
me…
He
slipped through the propped-open side of the French doors and took in the
layout of the room. At least fifty chairs were positioned before an elevated
podium, and a six-foot work table to the right. The table with four glasses of
ice water and a full pitcher atop had three chairs behind it ready to
accommodate somebody. The windows along the far wall were too high to see out
without something to stand on, so all they offered was ambient light.
Dan
estimated that there were at least fifty people in the room at that very
moment. They were milling around and congregating usually in groups of four or
five, but there were sporadic p
Not even a punch bowl where a guy can hover… Dan thought, beginning to feel like a guy who’d come
to a dance without a date. Fine – he sighed and decided to read the agenda in
earnest. It wasn’t more than thirty seconds into his study of the paper, when
it registered that the noise level in the room had dropped a bit. His eyes
lifted from the document and he casually panned around the room. Was it his
imagination that people were looking in his direction? That group there… two
men making eye contact with him before they looked away… A woman with her back
to him looked over her shoulder and then quickly turned her head when she saw
that he saw... And across the room – there was Walter Stuart, who caught sight
of Dan at the same time the detective saw him – the Attorney General looked
surprised only momentarily before an annoyed expression took over. Dan wasn’t
certain, but he thought he rolled his eyes. If he didn’t feel awkward before –
and he did – he most certainly did now. He gazed at the faces – everyone was
so—so old. Grey hair was plentiful here – except
for Walter, Dan mused humorlessly.
Fortunately, the speaker –
an older woman, of course – with a conservative GREY suit stepped up, turned on
the microphone, and announced that the meeting would begin. Relieved, Dan took
a seat on the outer edge toward the back, the kind of place a church irregular
would pick. Definitely feeling among the unfaithful, Dan concentrated on the
words of the speaker. He took profuse notes as it gave him something to do with
his hands and he wasn’t certain what Steve would find useful.
The morning session went
fairly quickly. Lunch was catered, and Dan picked at a sandwich, but didn’t eat
much. He spent some of his time observing the interaction of the various
participants, and actually became engrossed in imagining what one particularly
secretive group was could be plotting.
“So— ”
The voice of Walter Stuart startled him, and he turned.
Hoping his reaction was not
outwardly obvious, Dan recovered quickly with a neutral nod. “Mr. Stuart.” The
detective wondered whether he should apologize for his less-than-professional
comments to the AG.
“Your presence here reminds
me that Steve is at the preliminary hearing for the Montoya case.” The man folded his arms and continued as Dan nodded.
“But I’m curious – why did he send you instead of Kelly or Kalakaua?”
Okay, no apology…
“I know why Mr. McGarrett
sent Detective Williams, Walter.” Approaching was the morning’s speaker, the ch
“Margaret Tewksbury.” She
snapped crisply.
“Dan Williams.” Dan held out
his hand – she looked with a cool smile, but did not extend her hand. He slowly
pulled his hand back as her disposition registered with him.
“Detective Williams is an
expert on the Hawai’i Revised Statutes.” Her dark eyes glanced at Stuart, but
returned to pierce the detective with only thinly-veiled accusation.
A sinking feeling struck the
detective as he realized that it was his accuser’s office to which Dan had
responded with the RFAI salvo, which he’d signed and sent off so smugly. The you-know-what-you-can-do-with-your-request-for-information
document… Can the day get any worse? Before
he could organize an appropriate response, she spoke again.
“Am I to assume from your
presence here that you’re now in charge of all issues pertaining to the Five-0
budget?”
“Oh, no,
ma’am!” Dan eyes grew large and
he jumped quickly to respond.
“Hmmm, I see.” The
chairwoman’s knife-like gaze remained fixed on him for another few seconds.
“Well, it’s time to get back to work.”
She spun quickly and started back toward the front of the room. Just as
Dan began to let out the tense breath he’d been holding, she turned around
again, now several feet from where he stood.
“Oh,
Detective!” It was clear that he
was being summoned, and he moved to join her, his brow slightly furled in
question.
This time, Margaret
Tewksbury extended her hand to Dan, who was taken off guard, but recovered
quickly and grasped her hand. Only slightly shorter than Dan, she moved close
enough to him to speak in a conspiratorially quiet tone.
“Don’t ma’am me!” Her eyes
locked on his and she offered him another cool, thin smile.
Dan blinked. “Oh.. no—” He almost said “ma’am.” He
shook his head, and then decided that perhaps a nod was more in order. “Okay.”
She nodded slightly,
released the tight grip on his hand and, after the briefest emphatic visual
threat, and left to return to the podium. Dan swallowed and glanced back to see
the attorney general taking evil delight in his exchange with the chairwoman.
As he returned to his seat
he couldn’t help but grin. If Walter Stuart only knew what he and Steve would
be discussing the next day, Dan thought the man’s head might pop off. One more reason to listen to what Steve has
to say…
*****
Dan was not accustomed to
the clock-watching world of many of his government colleagues, and so was a
little surprised when the first day of meetings ended at abruptly at four
thirty, with a reminder that the Tuesday morning session would begin at nine
o’clock promptly. Regretting he could not head to the beach for a nice, long
swim – his rapidly mending wounds were not quite ready to be exposed to
excessive moisture – he considered that he should probably return to the Palace
for awhile. He passed through the French doors of the hall and found himself in
the midst of a group of reporters, who were throwing questions at select
meeting attendees as they made their egress from the room.
“Hey,
Danny! So, are
you McGarrett’s new front man?”
Williams thought he
recognized the very loud voice before he turned to see the cocky, grinning face
of Craig Willis. The loaded question and its aggressive delivery made every
other reporter and attendee in the vestibule turn their eyes on the detective,
who allowed his McGarrett-issued press mask to slip only slightly in annoyance.
“Craig, what are you doing
here with all of the reputable journalists?” Williams stressed the word,
“reputable.”
The dig at the reporter, who
was in fact recognized by most of the media people present as a lower-rent
member of their profession,
caused a flurry of chuckles. Willis, completely accustomed to
verbal slurs, remained unflustered.
“You didn’t answer my
question!”
Another reporter didn’t wait
for a response. The woman asked a question in the same vein.
“Where is Mr. McGarrett?”
Dan looked at her, and
responded politely. “He had a court hearing today.”
A flash bulb or two went
off, but Williams was steeled for that, and so barely blinked.
“Do you foresee any issues
in the proposed Five-0 budget that might cause a problem?” That seemed to be
the stock question of the day – Dan was certain that the same question that was
being asked of somebody else when he’d stepped out of the hall.
“The answer is obviously
no.” He smiled briefly and slipped between two reporters and vanished around
the corner. He’d been truthful enough. He didn’t see any issues in the Five-0 budget
because he had not seen Steve’s new budget. He heard a couple more reporters
shout questions in his direction, but he didn’t turn around.
*****
May was leaving just as Dan
entered the office – she let him know that Steve left a message that he was
crashing the post-regatta party at the
Knowing that he would be
gone most of the next day again, Dan remained at the Palace until nearly ten
o’clock trying to get caught up – he made a good dent in the paperwork in the
quiet office, but a headache and hunger got the best of him. A quick stop at
the corner market before he went home yielded him the makings of turkey
sandwiches.
He made and ate a sandwich
without a memory of doing it, and then plopped into the easy chair in his
living room with a pencil and his notebook. Before he could crack the notebook,
the phone rang. Eleven o’clock – the call was in all likelihood official police
business. He leaned over and collected the handset.
“Williams.”
“Danno!” Piano music in the background told the detective
that his boss was not at home.
“Steve –
still at the shindig?”
“I’m getting ready to leave.
It was worth the trip though – I finally met Janice Nichols – Trent Nichols
himself introduced us.”
Dan sat up a little
straighter and his voice became a little more energized. “Did you have an
opportunity to talk with her alone?”
“No, and I’m telling you,
Danno, she spent the entire evening within arm’s reach of him – I didn’t even
see her excuse herself to go to the ladies’ room. We’re gonna have to corner
her when he’s not around. But I did talk to Mark Gordon’s boss – Joe Sandusky.
He confirmed that Gordon wasn’t the type to win a popularity contest.”
“Did he know about the work
Gordon was doing at the Nichols’ residence?”
“He said he had no knowledge
of Gordon ever doing any work directly for Trent Nichols, and if he had, it was
done off the books.”
“It’s really piling up
against Nichols, but it’s all circumstantial.”
“Yeah, Danno, but my gut tells
me that a single conversation with Mrs. Nichols is going to be the break we
need. By the way – the meeting – how was it?”
“Well, I looked great
anyway.” Dan thought of his new ties as he tried to think of something positive
to say about his day, but had to share his honest feeling about what he’d
endured.
“Did you ever have one of
those dreams where you have to stand up in front of a crowd and give a speech,
but you realize that you forgot to get dressed? It was kind of like that.”
The head of Five-0 was not
surprised that Danno had felt self-conscious and a little un-nerved – it was
his first exposure to the environment that McGarrett himself found petty,
click-ish, and vacuous. Despite his opinion about the
inane process and the public Petri dish in which it took place, the head of
Five-0 knew it was a necessary evil.
“Danno, you’re the new guy –
you have to make friends.”
“Oh yeah, Mrs. Tewksbury is
one of my new best friends.”
“Oh – Margaret! I’d forgotten about that!
She wasn’t too rough on you, was she?”
Dan could almost hear
McGarrett grinning at the thought.
“She almost broke my hand,
but I think I got off pretty light, all told.”
McGarrett couldn’t help but
chuckle at the image of the rigid, imposing chairwoman coming face-to-face with
the impudent, but not-very-threatening Williams. “This is not a
fish-out-of-water situation, Danno – you can do this.”
Even over the phone
connection, McGarrett could hear the skeptical sigh that came in the place of
words.
“Relax, Danno – you’re doing
fine.”
“I think you’ve been telling
me to relax entirely too much lately. Didn’t Shakespeare say something about
this?” Dan did feel better with Steve’s confidence backing him.
“About relaxing?”
“About doing something too
much?”
”Yes, he did, but I’m not protesting.”
“You could’ve fooled me.”
“Get some rest – I’ll see
you tomorrow afternoon around five.” McGarrett reminded Williams.
“Right. G’night, Steve.”
Williams heard the
connection break and slowly moved to hang up on his end. It was not his plan to
go to bed. He was going to sit right there and prepare for his discussion with
Steve the following evening. Notebook in hand, he started making a list of all
the problems with installing him in the second slot. Less
than a minute later though, Dan closed his eyes for a moment to think, and
drifted off, not to return until the early morning.
*****
The day didn’t start out
quite as awkwardly as the previous one had for Williams. In his dark grey suit
and new grey tie, he arrived ten minutes early. A couple people even nodded to
him when he entered, and, while there was the occasional suggestion that he
might be the topic of conversation for a moment or two, he didn’t feel like he
had two heads on this day.
“Danny!”
The detective turned and was
delighted to see Congressman Roger Harken approaching him. The detective had
spent numerous hours with Harken and his staff assisting in the preparation of
the new bill. Originally displeased that Steve had yanked him from an active murder
investigation, he did admit to himself at least that he’d learned quite a bit
from the activity.
“Congressman Harken!” It
came out more enthusiastic than Dan intended, but he was truly pleased – and a
little relieved – to see a friendly face. “I saw your name on the agenda for
this morning.” The man nodded and smiled broadly.
“I’ll be here long enough to
speak to the group about the various efforts that are underway within my office
to bring more federal funding into the state. I’ll also speak for a few minutes
about the progress of some federal-level legislative issues, such as the
chain-of-evidence bill.”
In his late fifties, the man
was a couple inches taller than Dan and much stockier. Dressed in a dark,
pin-striped suit, Harken gently pulled the detective aside. Dan suddenly
realized, with amusement, that he was now about to be a participant in a secret
conversation of the kind that made him so uncomfortable the day before.
As soon as Harken judged that
they were a proper distance from other ears, he began to speak softly.
“Your picture on page three
of my morning paper caught me by surprise – I didn’t realize what a valuable
resource you are to McGarrett.” The congressman sounded impressed, and until
that moment, Dan did not realize the level of trust his boss had to have to let
him represent Five-0 in this media fish bowl. The detective deflected the
praise quickly though.
“Steve’s an amazing man, but
he still hasn’t figured out a way to be in two places at the same time.”
“You’re right – he is
amazing, but I have a confession. I requested an expert in law enforcement
through the governor’s office, and when I learned that McGarrett was sending me
the new—” The older man hesitated. The how-to-say-it-politely question was
written all over his face.
“Kid?” Dan supplied, with a slight, matter-of-fact nod, to
help the congressman over the slightly awkward-possibly-offensive word.
The older man flashed a
quick smile of appreciation and continued. “Uh, yeah – I thought he was giving
me his second string. Of course, you did a wonderful job, and it worked out
great, but it’s completely obvious to me now that he made a sacrifice. I
apologize and only hope that neither of you will object if I have to request
your assistance again as this bill works its way through the legislative
process.”
The confession and
overwhelming words of appreciation were welcome, and Dan smiled. “I’ll have no
objections, sir – thank you very much.”
The older man gave Williams a
wink as he punched on the arm and whispered, “Don’t let the old roosters and hens
here pick away at your flesh!”
The image brought a chuckle
from Dan. “I’ll try, sir.” The congressman walked off briskly, leaving the
detective feeling an order of magnitude more confident about his value outside
just meat-and-potatoes detective work.
Margaret Tewksbury began the
proceedings at exactly nine o’clock as she’d promised, but stayed only long
enough to introduce the congressman. He thanked the ch
The congressman spoke of
efforts to secure funding for parks, highway improvements, and new schools. He
finished the state-level discussion and spent a little more time covering his
federal agenda. Forty five minutes later, he folded the prepared part of his
speech and continued.
“I would like to take one
more minute of your time to publicly thank the office of Governor Jameson for
their support with the additional resources I required to educate my staff and
myself on the finer points of the law enforcement system. Specifically, I have
a special thanks to Steve McGarrett of
Dan could feel his face
growing warm as the speaker’s eyes directed everyone in the room to look in his
direction. He offered a slight nod of acknowledgement to the speaker and looked
back at his notebook for lack of a better thing to do. At least today, the eyes
on him were probably eyes of envy.
*****
The tropical sun struck
McGarrett’s face as he moved briskly to his car. Glad to be sprung from the
stifling
He pulled his sun glasses
from the glove box and slipped them on. This was going to be a good day indeed.
The Nichols case was going to come to a head, AND, by the end of the day, he
was going to have a new official second-in-command!
*****
The difference in Dan’s
experiences on the two different days was as dark to light. More than one
person addressed the group on different topics , so the day did not seem to
drag on as it had the day before, and people seemed a little more friendly
during the lunch break – there was no doubt in Williams’ mind that it was due
to Congressman Harken’s very gracious
acknowledgement.
When four thirty rolled
around, Dan slipped quickly out the emergency exit on the side of the hall – he
did not want to have any more encounters with the press, bad or good. Truly
feeling that he’d managed himself pretty well on both days, he walked
cheerfully back to his car, and pulled into the Palace parking lot by four
forty five. With the hurdle of the past two days behind him, he was feeling
more optimistic about the outcome of his dinner meeting with Steve. He noticed
as he got out of his car that McGarrett’s LTD was missing, so he presumed that
the hearing had not concluded – Good – it would give him an opportunity to jot
down a few of the notes that he’d meant to make the night before.
Chin, Kono, and May all
greeted the detective as he entered the office, and he enthusiastically
reciprocated. Dan collected the pile from his IN box addressed the secretary as
he flipped through the stack.
“I take it Steve’s still in
court?”
“Oh, no – he was back here
by three o’clock, but he didn’t spend more than a few minutes at his desk
before he left again. He said he’d be back in a bit.”
Dan stopped and looked at
her. “Did he say where he was going?”
“Nope – just that he’d be
back.”
There was no rational reason
for it at that moment – after all, Steve McGarrett was certainly a man who
could take care of himself – but something in the pit of Dan’s stomach told him
that something was amiss. He quickly shook off the feeling, deciding that he
was a little more nervous than he thought about the impending conversation with
his boss.
*****
Five fifteen… Dan stared at
his watch for a few moments before collected the phone, contacted the HPD
dispatcher and requested a patch to McGarrett. He doodled on the side of a
notebook page for more than a minute before the dispatcher informed him that
there was no response. A strange angst filled him as he rose from his desk to talk with the
other detectives.
“Did Steve say anything to
either of you guys about where he was going?”
Kono stepped out of his
office so that he could see Chin, who was still sitting at his desk.
“We weren’t here when he left,
bruddah.” Chin supplied the information and put his pencil down when he saw the
apprehensive expression on Williams’ face.
“I was expecting him back
from wherever he is before now.” Dan’s explained the reason for his concern.
“We were supposed to meet here.”
“Did you try him in his
car?” Kono slipped past the youngest detective and slid into the vacant ch
“Yeah – no
response.” Dan frowned. The
Hawaiian detective reached into an open packet of macadamia nuts sitting on the
desk and popped a few into his mouth before looked back up at Williams.
“What time were you supposed
to meet?”
“Five o’clock,” Dan
answered, a little defensiveness creeping into his tone in anticipation of his
colleagues’ reactions – seventeen minutes late did not constitute missing.
The two seated detectives
studied Williams closely for a few seconds before they simultaneously looked at
each other and burst into laughter. A little dejected at their understandable
reaction, Dan grimaced at the still-snickering p
Dan sat down in Steve’s ch
Steve would probably be
sweeping into the office any second, cursing his broken police radio… He
momentarily felt a little better and let his thoughts wander back to the next
big issue on his mind. He longed for a clear-cut right answer. Could he – Dan
Williams – too young, not-enough-experience, but willing to try his heart out –
could he cut it as second-in-command to Steve McGarrett?
“I need an omen!” He said
out loud, and then sighed. Perhaps one more round with the boss would be enough
to make him decide.
His focus shifted back to
the paperwork tucked in the lower right-hand corner of the blotter. He leaned
forward and retrieved the pages – it was the title to the rotting sloop still
sitting in Pearl City. Steve had made arrangements to have it moved to a place
not far from where he lived.
So, Steve really is gonna make a project out of this
thing…
Dan grinned at the memory of
their visit to the wretched craft—what was it’s name?
Dan looked down back down at the document he was holding, recalling that the
name had not been legible on the boat. He leaned back in the ch
“Pu`uhonua…Refuge,” Dan
mouthed the word and its translation. He mindlessly slid the document back into
its spot on the blotter and stood. He slowly looked around the big office as if
he’d never really absorbed how it mirrored its occupant. Steve McGarrett –
brilliant investigator and tactician… private in the extreme… perfectionist…
not very tolerant of weakness in others… impatient and hot-tempered… and yet he
routinely showed Danny Williams – Danno (The detective smiled.) the patience of
the ages, sharing the wisdom of his experience almost anytime Dan asked. Not
that McGarrett’s youngest detective was immune to the boss’s wrath – on the
contrary – he’d taken more than his share of eruptions. What had Steve said
early the other morning? He needed somebody who could tolerate him through his
more difficult moments…
It suddenly struck Dan that
Steve needed not just somebody who could tolerate him – he needed someone who
could serve as a buffer between him and the rest of the world.
He needs an advocate… somebody in his corner… no
matter what…somebody he can trust to give him some peace… a refuge… that’s what Steve McGarrett needs… Can that
be me?
“ Pu`uhonua,”
Dan said the word loudly. The sound of his own voice snapped him out of his
reflection.
His attention was captured
by the single ding of the small clock on the desk – Five thirty… He looked at
the locked desk drawer, and debated for only another moment before he turned
and trotted out the door to his own desk. Grabbing the key that Steve had given
him that day from beneath his desk calendar, he spun to make the return trip to
his boss’s desk, and nearly bumped into Kono and Chin, who were donning their
suit jackets apparently to leave. Dismayed that he was alone in his conviction
that McGarrett was in some kind of trouble, he stopped and put his hands on his
hips.
“Where do you guys think
you’re going?” The question came out more like an accusation, but Dan didn’t
care – there was no time to care --- of that he was certain.
The two men blinked,
surprised at the tone of the junior member of the team, and glanced at each
other before Kono responded.
“Time to go home, kaikaina –
Chin and I got an early day tomorrow.” Kono tried to use his best easy-does-it
voice as he could see that his friend seemed to be growing more agitated with
each passing minute.
Made bold by fear, Dan’s
expression grew cross and resolute.
“Nobody’s going anywhere
‘til we figure out what happened to Steve!”
The edict spawned another
silent visual exchange between Chin and Kono. Dan held his breath as they p
“You’re the boss, Danny.
What do ya wanna do?”
A relieved smile flickered
momentarily across Dan’s face as he slipped between the two and rushed into the
big office. May rose from her desk, and with the two detectives, traced
Williams’ path.
Mildly surprised that their
colleague not only had a key to the private drawer of their boss’s desk, but
that he’d used it and was now leafing through a black leather-bound notebook.
The three exchanged glances before they gathered around McGarrett’s desk to
view the contents of the page onto which Dan had settled.
Dan place
his finger below the last entries.
9-25-67 – Soc @ Poly CC. Trent
Nichols, Janice Nichols,
Joe Sandusky.
TN, JN – nf
JS – nk
Gordon work @ Nichols res
9-26-67 – Int
w/ JN @ res –
The others were still
staring at the notes when Dan looked up with a frown.
“He went to talk to Janice
Nichols at home!”
“Well, bruddah, that
explains why he’s not back yet – if he left after three—“
Kono attempted to calm the young detective’s rapidly escalating
agitation.
“He shouldn’t have gone
alone!” Dan interrupted, frustrated that his boss had been too impatient to
wait for one of his detectives to be free to accompany him.
“You right, Danny, but
that’s just how Steve is sometimes.” Chin offered patiently.
Williams ignored the very
viable explanation, choosing to pay attention to the sense of foreboding that
was consuming him at that moment.
“May, try to raise through the dispatcher again!”
He began to pace and snap
his fingers that reminded everyone of the owner of the office as he considered
the next best step. He glanced down at one of the end tables as he slowly moved
past it. The folded newspaper lying on it had registered earlier, but he had
not been close enough to see the article to which it was folded. The subject
was the Molokai Sailing Regatta and the amount of money that had been raised
for charity. It wasn’t the information that caught Williams’ eye – rather it
was the photo. He recognized the very beautiful smiling face of Janice Nichols,
attired in a white two-piece swim suit, standing next to her husband, Trent
Nichols, also smiling and sporting a tropical white suit and Captain’s hat.
His eyes grew large as he
quickly scanned the article. Chin and Kono appeared on either side of him – how
they’d gotten there, he wasn’t certain.
“What’s wrong, Danny?” Chin
accurately read horror in the young man’s expression.
Dan looked up and made eye
contact with the Chinese detective. “That’s not the man I saw with Janice
Nichols the other night.” Shock rattled the other two men as they tried to
absorb the implication. Dan went on, now thinking out loud.
“She said it was her
husband, but it wasn’t!” He mentally kicked himself for not bothering to get a
few more details on the case, like maybe becoming familiar with the key players
and what they looked like – being too busy just wasn’t a very good excuse right
at this moment.
“That explains why Trent
Nichols’ car never left the hotel!” Chin started trying to fill in the holes.
“Who was at the house with
Mrs. Nichols then?” Kono wondered.
“It doesn’t matter right now
– we’ve gotta get up there! Steve’s in trouble – I know it!” Dan was already
moving toward the door before he finished speaking. The other two detectives
followed closely behind him.
May looked up from her desk
as she set the phone handset down onto its cradle.
“No luck with the radio,
Danny. What do you want me to do now?” May was now very concerned as well, but
the ne
“Get back on the phone with
HPD – I want the nearest available unit to roll with lights to the Nichols’
The three Five-0 men picked
up their pace to a run as soon as they cleared the door of the office. Dan
continued issuing instructions as they made the way to their cars.
“We’ll take two cars – Kono
– you and Chin roll in yours – I’ll take mine! Chin – get on the radio and see
if you can find Trent Nichols! We’re through tip toeing!”
As the car doors slammed on
Kono’s company car, the two detectives watched as Williams screeched out of the
parking lot and rounded the corner. They heard his siren kick in immediately
just as they started to move.
“You think he’s right?” The
Hawaiian detective wondered out loud as he positioned the blue light on the
dash and turned on the siren.
“It’s bad either way,
bruddah. If he’s wrong, he just bought one big bunch a pilikia for Five-0, and
if he’s right, then something bad has happened to Steve.”
*****
Before heading toward the
Back on the road, his
thoughts started with his plan for the evening of negotiation with Danno. It
now seemed so obvious to him what it would take to close the deal. He initially
berated himself for not seeing it sooner, but after further consideration,
realized that his standard military-edict style approach – as some would
accusingly label it – he would not have called it thus – to making things
happen had not failed him before – at least not so dramatically as it had that
day with his young detective. He gave himself a mental pat on the back for
finding a way to adapt to this very unique situation – a way to make Danno
recognize his value to Five-0. Steve had a good feeling about how it went the
other morning when he’d awakened the detective – he wasn’t certain why he took delight
in doing that – but he did not analyze it too closely. He was just glad that
they would continue their discussion tonight, and he was optimistic that the
lights would come on in the head of Danny Williams!
The outcome of the evening
pre-determined, he moved on to the reason for his journey. He decided it would
be prudent to call Janice Nichols, and let her know he was on his way. A quick
phone call would serve two purposes. First, he wanted to insure that she was at
home, and further that Trent Nichols was not – he had a very strong sense that
she would be less-than-forthcoming in the presence of her husband.
It had bothered the
detective that Mrs. Nichols had not stepped forward and offered information to
the police when she heard that a second lover had been found dead – it would be
an unfortunate piece of synchronicity for one fling to be a murder victim, but
to have a second one turn up dead, made chance less likely.
He recalled at that moment
that she told Danno that she would call him Tom – perhaps the woman did not
know that her brief liaisons were dead because she did not know their names. In
that same vein, if the woman knew that a one-night stand with her could sign a
young man’s death warrant, then she would have to be a remarkably callous
individual indeed.
The second reason to call
the woman was to allow her a little time to realize that it would be in her
best interests to be frank with him away from the prying eyes and ears of
others. Discretion was in her best interest, there was no doubt in McGarrett’s
mind.
He requested a patch to the
Nichols residence. The phone rang a few times before the soft voice spoke a
greeting.
“Hel—
Hello?” The woman was crying and
scared, McGarrett was almost certain. Her tenor immediately made him leap to
the possibility that her husband was home and in an angry mood.
“Hello, am I speaking to
Janice Nichols?”
“Yes – who’s calling
please?”
“This is Steve McGarrett
from
When no response was
forthcoming after a few seconds, the detective’s concern heightened.
“Mrs. Nichols! Is your
husband at home?”
This time, the woman’s voice
had regained its composure.
“I’m sorry, Mr. McGarrett,
I’m fine. You’ll probably be able to reach him at his office – unless he’s
golfing.” Her answer made him breathe a little easier, but he would’ve felt
better if he knew what were upsetting her.
“Actually, Mrs. Nichols, I’m
anxious to a have a conversation with you concerning official police business,
and if you don’t mind, I’d like to stop by right away. I’m only thirty minutes from your home at
this very moment.”
“Well… Why do you want to
talk with ME?” Hesitation… concern. The woman on the other
end of the line was fearful of a conversation with the police – McGarrett could
feel it. He pushed the issue.
“Please, Mrs. Nichols – it’s
VERY important that you cooperate. I’m coming alone to have a private
conversation with you regarding the murders of Stanley Davis, Dennis Keali, and
Mark Gordon.” There was a gasp so loud on the on the other end of the line it
sounded like the woman was in agony. McGarrett gave her a few seconds to regain
a measure of control before spoke again.
“Mrs. Nichols, I’m on my way
and we have to talk!”
His words were not
acknowledged as she responded.
“Mark— Mark Gordon is dead?”
“You knew him.” McGarrett
knew she knew the victim from her own words.
“Yes, but then you know that
don’t you.” Janice Nichols’ question did not have the ring of a question
either.
The detective detected a
measure of resignation in her voice as he confirmed her fear. “Yes… yes, I do.
And the other two men – Stanley Davis and Dennis Keali – you knew them as
well.”
“What? No..
no.. I, uh.. no I don’t…” Still reeling from the news about Gordon, she
could barely think.
“Perhaps you knew them as
Tom? Or maybe you picked a different name for each of them?”
Silence ensued for a few
seconds as the implication of the detective’s words sank in. Then the sound of
heaving sobs grew to a crescendo. McGarrett listened to her reaction and knew
he’d been correct – she did not know her lovers were dead. After several seconds, she took in a few
slow, deep breaths.
Her voice still trembled.
“You won’t come with flashing lights or anything will
you?”
“No, no, of course, Mrs.
Nichols – I’m alone and I’ll be the picture of discretion. I’ll see you
shortly.” He broke the connection before she could change her mind. Yes! An
interview with the wife of murder suspect, Trent Nichols, was going to prove
very interesting indeed! Without realizing it, he applied a little more
pressure to the accelerator as focused on pulling all of the facts of the case
into his mind. With the tantalizing allusions that came from the Nichols woman,
McGarrett was as a bloodhound to fresh scent – on the trail with no thought of
anything else – or anyone that might me concerned about him.
*****
She held onto the phone
receiver, which was slippery with dampness, for several seconds after the
detective was no longer on the line. She’d felt almost faint with fear as she
spoke with the officer. Tears welled up, blurring her vision, but she could not
stop looking at the newspaper spread out on the patio table before her. On the
left-most page, was the picture she had started to cut out before the phone
rang – Trent Nichols, and her standing there beside him, a glass of champagne
in hand. On the kissing page, no more than ten inches
to the right, was the confident, pleasing image of a Five-0 detective. She
replayed the horrifying scene on the patio that evening – trying to draw the
topic away from aftershave, she’d spoke of Gordon and the landscaping project
he left unfinished.
Her world was rapidly
collapsing around her, and she was suddenly feeling cornered. Too rattled to
think for herself, she dialed the familiar number. She feared it, but needed
his strong presence – he would tell her what to do…
He always knows what to do…
“Yeah!” The voice was terse and clearly prepared to respond
to something business-related.
“It’s me!” She cried in a
hoarse whisper. Not waiting for him to respond, she hurriedly let the words
tumble from her mouth. “The Five-0 detective – McGarrett – he’s on his way to
speak to me!”
“What! Did he say why?” The
voice was definitely alarmed.
“It’s about the murders…”
Sobs overtook her for a few moments, and the man snapped impatiently.
“Janice! Get a hold of
yourself! It’ll be okay!”
“Did you kill those men? Did
you kill Gordon? Did you?” She screamed into the phone.
“Shut up and listen to me!
You’re as guilty as I am! You’re a tramp, and you’re lucky I didn’t show those
photos to
Her tone quieted with the
threat – all she could find in herself at that moment were more tears at her
helplessness. “Is he coming to arrest me?”
“No, you
little idiot! He’s on a fishing
expedition! He suspects
She looked woefully back over
at the face of Danny Williams – bag boy and cop – and hiccupped
a response.
“Oh, yes, I’m afraid he
does.”
“How could he?” A little
panic crept into his voice for a moment before it grew harsh again. “Never mind! Is he coming alone?”
“Uh, yes – What do I do?
What do I say?”
“When he gets there, tell
him whatever you wanna tell him – the truth or one of your big fat lies – I
don’t care! Just keep him there!”
For the second time in as
many minutes, the phone connection abruptly popped in her ear. She mindless set
the phone down and wandered into the house to wash her face and comb her h
*****
The detective leaned on his
car for several moments and quietly assessed the scene in the Nichols circular
driveway. He was looking for any sign that would alert him to a dangerous
situation inside, but nothing appeared out of place. It was no more than ten
long McGarrett-style strides to the front door on which he knocked. It took at
least half a minute before the sound of someone approaching the door could be
heard. Janice opened the door tentatively and greeted him with only a motion to
enter. Her eyes were puffy and her cheeks flushed red, but she seemed in
control of her emotions at the moment. He followed her through the expansive
home to the patio where they took seats at the table.
The newspaper, scissors
resting atop the partially clipped article about the regatta, still lay spread out. Before that moment, McGarrett had not seen
the photo of Danno taken after the budget meeting the previous day – May had
told him it was there and read the article to him over the phone just before he
was pulled into court for the morning – Williams’ handling of the situation and
quote had pleased him tremendously and set the tone for his entire day. There
on the page adjacent to the Nichols photo, the image of the young man she’d
propositioned must have given her a tremendous shock.
Seeing the detective’s eyes
on the paper, she broke the silence.
“I never open the newspaper
unless I know there’s something in it for my scrap book.” She smiled and looked
down at her lap, but her lip quivered slightly as if she might be ready to cry
again. “I guess I should cut out the picture of your detective as well.”
McGarrett leaned on the
table and spoke softly to her. He wanted to make sure that she did not feel
threatened as he asked her to tell what she knew.
“Mrs. Nichols, it’s very
clear to me that you have information that will help solve the three murders I
mentioned. You need to be completely honest with me, and I give you my word
that I will share only what I need to build my case.”
She glanced up at the
strong, certain man seated before her, but looked back down at her lap. Keep him here… tell him the truth or one of
your big fat lies…
As the woman absorbed what
he’d said, the head of Five-0 quickly let his eyes drop to his watch – it was
after four thirty – the afternoon had gotten away from him and he knew he was
going to be back to the office later than he anticipated, but to stop the woman
now – just as she was preparing to crack the case wide open – could totally
break the mood he’d cultivated. He’d just have to call as soon as he was done.
The truth required so much less
energy than a lie. She nodded slightly and started with an explanation about
her marriage. Trent and Janice Nichols were secretly separated. They tried for
a few years to make their marriage work, but the previous year, the couple’s
differences in personality and interests made the situation unpleasant for both
of them.
For her part of the bargain,
she could – as long as she kept her social commitments to him – do whatever she
wanted – with one exception. She was never to be unfaithful to him. News of an
unfaithful wife would not only wreck havoc with his political aspirations, it
would also –
Janice agreed, but found the
world in which she was now living a luxurious, but very lonely one. She’d
stopped by
Things changed though
earlier in the year. She’d gone out dancing one evening and had the misfortune
to have the event recorded by a reporter. The incident caused
“After the last incident a
few weeks ago, I decided to give up my little trysts, but then I bumped into
the – your detective – in the parking lot on Saturday. He looked so inviting
and friendly and enthusiastic, I thought just one more time…”
Janice Nichols’ tale lasted
more than an hour, and McGarrett found himself riveted to her words. In the
final few minutes of her story though, major pieces of the puzzle slipped into
place, and an awareness began to sink into the
detective that Trent Nichols was no longer the primary suspect. Joe Sandusky –
the violent, jealous, black-mailing lover – was probably the one who almost
caught Janice with Danno! It explained so much!
“So, Janice, you didn’t
learn your lesson.” Joe Sandusky’s voice intruded on the conversation with
striking volume. Steve started to reach under his jacket for his weapon, but
the man standing in the doorway, just inside the house
was prepared.
“Don’t try it, McGarrett –
I’ll put a bullet through your head in heartbeat, and I think you know I’ll do
it. Use two fingers and very slowly retrieve your gun and place it on the
ground.”
“Well, Joe, you’ve certainly
done your part to help incriminate your boss in the murders of Stanley Davis
and Dennis Keali.” McGarrett smiled as he gently pulled his weapon from its
holster and placed it below his ch
“And Gordon,” Janice added
as she slowly stood and side-stepped a few feet away from the table, as if she
were afraid to be in close proximity to the detective.
“I can only claim credit for
finishing the job with Keali, darling! I hired Gordon to do the dirty work. He
killed
“They were nice to me!” She
responded angrily, but backed off quickly as soon as he threw a threatening
glance at her. His attention turned back immediately to the more immediate
issue. He ordered McGarrett to stand and turn around.
Slowly complying with his
captor’s request, the detective’s mind raced as he tried to see a way out of
his deadly predicament. With his back to
“Joe, you gotta know that
police units are on their way here right now! You don’t think I’d come up here
without backup close behind, do you? Give it up now before you’re in any
deeper.”
Gordon believed him. “I
can’t get any deeper, McGarrett – but you can!” With that, he struck the
detective on the back of the head. Blackness came right on the heels of the momentary
burst of pain. McGarrett tumbled forward and fell still on the ground.
Janice gasped at the
shocking act, but took no action to help the downed officer, who gave a soft groan
and began to stir. Instead, she clutched her arms as if she were chilly,
wandered off toward the fence over which Dan had to catapult himself that
night. Ignoring her,
“Guess we won’t be needing any fertilizer for the trees for awhile,”
The jolt of landing in the
soft dirt accelerated McGarrett’s return to awareness. Face down, he slowly
rolled over and landed abruptly on his back. A noise – the sound of an engine
of some sort suddenly became unbearably loud to his throbbing head.
Recollection of the moments before he was struck poured into his head, and he
knew he was in mortal danger. He tried unsuccessfully to rise, but it seemed he
had not regained adequate control over his muscles. He was able to look up,
where he could see the big shovel on the backhoe rising above him, and knew he
was about to be buried alive. Steve found the internal wherewithal to roll onto
his side and turn his head downward. As the shovel tipped, damp loam dropped
onto him. He did his best to cover his face, but the dirt poured in too fast.
With the bucket empty,
“I hear a siren – I think
more police are coming!” The wail of a siren was definitely on the breeze
coming up
*****
Almost completely engulfed
by the damp soil, the detective knew he had only minutes of
*****
In his rearview mirror, Dan
could make out the flashing blue light on Kono’s dash – that sight helped him
keep his panic in check. Whether they believed him or not, they were willing to
follow. He considered for a few seconds the possibility that they were right –
that he was over-reacting to a slightly tardy boss. If that did turn out to be
the case, he was fully aware that what he was doing now was a huge blunder. He
replayed the facts as they unfolded in the office and could feel the fear for
Steve’s well being welling up inside of him – no – something was amiss, and he
would not back down! Having arrived at the same conclusion all over again, he
became determined not to second-guess himself again.
As they turned up
“Danny, Mr. McGarrett isn’t
here.”
Shocked and not actually
willing to believe what he was hearing yet, Dan wanted more information.
“You say he’s not there?
Tell me – who IS there?”
“Just Mrs. Nichols and an employee
of her husband’s company – one of the foremen.”
“What’s his name?” Dan was
certain – not because he had any proof – that whoever this guy was had
something to do with his missing boss.
“His name is Joe – Joe
Sandusky.”
Dan had heard the name before,
but it was Chin who chimed in from Kono’s car.
“Danny!
Williams tossed the radio
handset onto the dash, and gripped the steering wheel into twelve o’clock
performance position. It would’ve been nice to be driving a little yellow
Corvette up the road, but in pinch, the engine of his new Ford LTD would do the
trick.
*****
Kono and Chin pulled up
thirty seconds behind their younger colleague, who burst through the door of
the house without knocking. The two detectives ran to catch up and saw that Dan
had raced through the house to the back patio, where two HPD officers could be
seen.
Dan glanced at the officers,
but the face he was desperate to see was that of Joe Sandusky. It took only a
moment for his eyes to lock onto the features of the man sitting patiently at
the patio table. There was no doubt in Williams’ mind that this was the man who
had honey-I’m-homed Janice on Saturday night.
Dan had the urge to grab the
man by his throat, but he stopped to take in the scene. Janice was sitting in
the other ch
One of the HPD men offered
an answer to Williams’ as-yet-unspoken question.
“They say Mr. McGarrett was
here, but he left about thirty minutes ago.”
Dan snapped a glance at the
officer, but fixated on the seated man, whose expression seemed smug and
unconcerned.
Suddenly, Williams lunged at
“Where is he? Where is
McGarrett?” His voice was cold, as he leaned against his human restraints.
“Like I told your two
friends – he was here and he left!” Joe spoke with an
Vinegar’s not gonna work… maybe a little honey…
Dan moved to stand next to
Janice’s ch
“Jan, I know you’re scared,
and I know you’ve been a victim up to this point – I can testify to that. If
you don’t help us now, that changes everything.” Dan looked pleadingly at her.
He could tell that his words were having an effect on her.
She focused on Williams’
face, and pulled her right hand out of his to touch his cheek.
“Janice!”
Kono immediately whipped his
hand around the suspect’s head and covered his mouth. Nichols had started to
glance in
“He can’t hurt you any
more.” He rose enough to bring his face inches from
hers as he cupped her cheeks. “Please help me. Where is McGarrett? Tell me.”
A large, crocodile tear
started its way down Jan’s cheek and rolled until it hit the detective’s hand.
The woman took in his features sadly and Dan, growing more
tense and less hopeful with each passing second, felt his own lower jaw
shudder as he implored her one more time. “Where is McGarrett?”
She swallowed and looked
over his shoulder in the direction of the under-construction plant beds. Dan
followed her eyes without taking his hands off her face, and slowly stood –
amidst the unplanted and freshly churned dirt was the backhoe. It had been
moved since last he saw it.
“Oh God! Watch these two!” Dan commanded the men in blue as
he ran to the backhoe with Chin and Kono not far behind.
Dan stuck his hand into the
side window of the backhoe engine. He pulled his hand out quickly and shook it.
He’d burned his finger.
“The engine’s hot!” He shot
a hateful glance back at
With nothing else to go on,
Dan dove to the ground in the area where the backhoe had most recently
maneuvered and began clawing at the dirt. The fear that gripped him was
painful. Kono ran to the garden shack and grabbed a shovel, with which he began
to carefully scrape back layers of dirt.
Knowing the charade was up,
“Stop!” Dan directed Kono to step back with the shovel. He
sensed a difference in the resistance of the soil beneath his hands. He clawed
frantically, and, at last, he was rewarded with a different texture. It was
Steve’s h
“Steve! Steve!” At last they
had the unresponsive detective’s torso uncovered. Kono moved down and worked
with the shovel to quickly displace the remainder of the offending dirt.
Williams was bent over his boss, gently brushing the dirt off his face.
“He’s not breathing!” Dan’s
pulse quickened as he also acknowledged there was no pulse! The four men were
at last able to pull the limp figure from the hole.
“Call an ambulance!” The
Williams barked, and the uniformed officer rushed off to comply. Dan positioned
Steve’s form, and hyper-extended his neck to try to make a clear path for
Suddenly, the unconscious
man coughed – Dan let out a gasp as his heart leapt in joy.
Kono let out a deep breath
he’d been holding and sighed, “Auwe, Steve, breathe!”
As the seconds slipped by,
McGarrett coughed more and more violently to the tremendous relief of the other
detectives. Kono bent down to help Dan roll him over onto his side as he
expelled gobs of dirt that had been lodged in his throat and mouth.
“Steve! It’s Danny – you’re
gonna be fine!” He whispered. With his free hand, and still coughing, Steve
grabbed Dan’s arm and squeezed, trying to give some small indication that he’d
heard his friend’s welcome words. At last free of the coughing spasm that had
been racking him, his forehead dropped to the ground. Dan gently alternated
between massaging and patting Steve’s back, partially to help with his
circulation, and partially because he needed the physical contact with his
friend and mentor.
Within ten minutes, an
ambulance could be heard screaming up the road. Steve had managed to stand, and
with Kono on one side and Dan on the other, he made it to the chaise lounge.
The memory of the man Williams thought was Trent Nichols reclining imperiously
there popped into Dan’s head for a moment, but vanished as Chin gently pressed
a glass of water into Steve’s hand and covered him with a blanket from the
house. He then joined Kono on a quick search of the house and grounds, the
result of which was the discovery of McGarrett’s vehicle in the bushes.
McGarrett felt dazed and
continued to cough intermittently, but gratefully was alive and still had his
faculties as he quietly observed the law enforcement personnel going about
their business. Not complaining, but completely perplexed as to how he’d managed
to escape permanent entombment in the Nichols’ garden, he pulled his hand from
under the blanket and tugged the pant leg of Williams, who was standing
protectively near his boss. Dan’s head snapped in McGarrett’s direction and he
squatted and gently clutched the prone man’s damp, muddy arm, concern
abundantly clear in his eyes.
“Steve – everything okay?”
Kono and Chin approached as
they noted Williams responding to some perceived need of the boss. McGarrett
hoped he’d offered a decent grin, but wasn’t certain from the persistent
apprehension on the younger detective’s face. His voice was raspy and thick –
there would be no shouting for a day or two – so he kept his words at a
premium.
“How did you find me?” He whispered,
but still had to release a muffled cough after he spoke.
The young detective stared
distantly into his boss’s face for several seconds in contemplation. It was a
long story, and Dan wasn’t entirely certain how to respond. There had been
clues – no thanks to the boss himself – but there had also been something less
rational, less concrete that had driven them to the house on the
“We’re pretty good
detectives.”
McGarrett knew there was
more to the story, but also suspected that it was going to take a
mini-investigation on his part to piece it all together – and he fully intended
to do it as soon as he could talk. His other two detectives nodded in agreement
with Williams’ response. Everyone looked in the direction of two ambulance
attendants as they rolled a gurney onto the patio.
Not surprisingly – and Dan
was almost happy to see it – McGarrett frowned at the sight and quietly
snapped.
“Don’t need an ambulance!”
Williams voice was gentle, but resolute, as he played down
how serious he felt about the situation.
“I want Doc Bergman to take
a quick look at you – make sure you didn’t inhale a worm or something.”
The head of Five-0 was
already intellectually resigned to the trip to the hospital, but he shot one
last, raspy argument at Williams.
“Danno – need to give you a
report!”
“I bet you do, Steve, but it
will have to wait until the doc looks at you. I’ll follow the ambulance in my
car, and as soon as you can talk without coughing hibiscus seeds in my face,
then I’ll take your report.” Dan grinned and squeezed McGarrett’s arm before he
stood. The head of Five-0 grimaced slightly, but said no more – his youngest
detective was obviously in charge at the moment.
As his boss was assisted
onto the gurney by the two attendants, Williams turned his attention back to
police business.
“Kono, would you please do
the honors with
“Sure
thing, bruddah!” Kono gave
Williams a pat on the back. Dan acknowledged with a quick crooked grin, and
then he turned to address the Chinese detective.
“And Chin – about Mrs. Nichols—”
Williams paused and all three detectives directed their gaze at the balled up
woman, still rocking in the ch
“She needs some help – let’s
get her to the hospital and put a psych hold on her.”
Chin nodded emphatically.
“Yeah, okay.”
With their orders issued,
the two detectives turned to go about their business. Dan took one more look at
his boss, now situated and propped up slightly on the gurney. McGarrett tiredly
looked up to meet his friend’s gaze, and Williams was filled with gratitude at
that moment. His head turned quickly and he called out.
“Kono! Chin!”
Both men stopped and looked
back at the detective. He couldn’t think of anything adequately elegant that
would let them know how grateful he was that they had supported him
unequivocally throughout the tense ordeal. The story would have ended much
differently had they not. He said the only thing he
could think of at that moment.
“Mahalo nui
loa, guys.”
The two men grinned
immediately – they knew. The p
“And mahalo nui loa back, kaikaina.”
*****
Doctor Bergman insisted on a
full set of head and chest x-rays. It was obvious to McGarrett that no amount
of argument was going to sway the physician, but he was still disagreeable, and
used his temporarily-limited capacity for speech to grouse that he needed a
shower and something to eat more than anything else.
Miraculously, the x-rays
showed no signs of permanent injury, and Bergman had the patient moved to a
room and allowed him to get cleaned up. A tray of almost palatable food was
brought to him as Bergman returned with Williams to confirm the results of his
examination, and that he would be detained overnight for observation.
“I don’t need to be
observed! I need to give a full report to Danno!” There was no doubt in the
minds of the two men standing there McGarrett’s bedside that the man’s voice
was rapidly returning to him. Bergman and Williams looked at each other –
neither man was willing to accede. Dan sighed and stepped closer to the man’s
head as he spoke in mock chastisement.
“Now, Steve, you know what
Shakespeare said!”
McGarrett blinked as he tried
to make the appropriate association. The point came to him within a few seconds
as the two men locked gazes. So much could be said between them with just a
look, Steve realized. The reminder of his admonition to Danno restored a
measure of good humor to the head of Five-0.
“About relaxing?”
“Yeah.” Dan grinned.
There was a brief tap on the
door and Chin poked his head in with business on his mind.
“Danny, what do you wanna do
about the television and newspaper people in the lobby?”
Williams frowned for a
fraction of a second before he responded. “We’ll handle them right now!”
The Chinese detective nodded
in acknowledgement and flashed big grin at McGarrett.
“Boss! Ya feelin’ better?”
Before the patient could
reply, Kono pushed the door open a little farther and grinned his get-well
greeting as well.
McGarrett flashed his men a
reassuring smile and wiggled his hand in a shaka sign. Dan turned back to his
boss.
“I’ve got to go out and make
a brief statement to the press – they’re hovering in the lobby right now like
vultures. When I’m done, I’ll come back and you can give your report, okay,
Steve?”
Satisfied that everything
was under control, the head of Five-0 nodded in agreement. With a quick pat on
the arm, Williams turned and left with his colleagues. As the door drifted
shut, a perplexed Bergman turned to his patient.
“Did I just hear Kelly report to Danny?”
Steve, couldn’t help but grin – both Chin and Kono were
good soldiers. He nodded as he looked at the doctor, but verbally responded
instead with a request.
“I need to get to a
television!” He wanted to watch the
press conference.
Recognizing the immediacy of
the need, Bergman winked and threw an answer over his shoulder as he rushed out
the door.
“I’ll wheel the one from the
nurse’s station in here to YOU – be right back!”
*****
“I’m Harry
James, reporting to you live from
The image of the thin,
serious man was lost in the shuffle as the camera re-focused on the lectern,
which had three or four microphones attached to it. Still camera flashes were
reminiscent of a popcorn popper when Dan, Chin, and Kono first appeared and
made their way to the podium, but occurred only sporadically after that. The
detectives were wearing ties with their dirt-streaked, white shirts but did not
bother to don their mud-caked suit jackets. Chin and Kono came to stand behind
Williams, one at each elbow, with stone expressions and arms crossed like Egyptian
guards. Dan paused for a few moments to study the audience and get mentally
centered before he addressed the crowd of fifteen members of the press and at
least twenty hospital employees. He did not read from a paper, and in fact
seemed to be speaking spontaneously.
“Today at approximately six
o’clock PM, a suspect was arrested and charged with the murders of Stanley
Davis and Dennis Keali. Joseph Wayne Sandusky, age thirty nine, works for
Nichols Construction Company, and is being held without bail. Steve McGarrett–
my boss—” Dan gave the slightest grin before he continued. “is
currently hospitalized for the evening as a result of minor injuries he
sustained during an altercation with the suspect, who has also been charged
with attempted murder. No other arrests were made this evening. Are there any
questions?”
A flurry of voices echoed in
the acoustically dismal lobby, and Dan pointed into the audience.
“Detective Williams, first,
can you confirm that the arrest occurred at the home of Trent Nichols, and
second, can you tell us whether Mr. Nichols or any of his family members were
at home at the time?
“The arrest did in fact
occur at the
“Danny, why was the suspect
at Nichols’ home? Is Mr. Nichols involved or under suspicion in this case?”
“As I mentioned earlier,
Joseph Sandusky is an employee of Mr. Nichols, as were murder victims Stanley
Davis and Mark Gordon, who evidence indicates was killed in self-defense by
Dennis Keali. Trent Nichols is not a suspect, nor do we have any reason to
believe that he was involved. More facts will be made available to the press at
such time as the investigation has been officially closed. Thank you – no more
questions.”
“Danny, wait! Why are you
guys so—not to be insulting – but all three of you look pretty awful!” The
observation caused a ripple of laughter and agreement.
All three detectives, for
the first time during the press conference, had to smile and take a quick look
at each other. Dan turned back to the podium and replied.
“Thanks for noticing,
Debbie! We’re working detectives, and sometimes we have to get dirty to get the
job done.” The response was received with more chuckles and nods of
appreciation. The detectives turned to leave again, but one last question was
fired too loudly through the crowd.
“Danny, you’ve been popping
up lately in place of McGarrett. Are you his new puppet?” Recognizing the
coarse voice of Craig Willis, Dan stopped, his back
already to the crowd. He considered not bothering to respond, but he noticed
that the room had grown quiet in anticipation of an answer. He sighed to
himself and turned back only long enough to give Willis a steely eye.
“You’ll have to ask the
puppet master.” More chuckles ensued, and with a slight nod Dan joined his two
colleagues and retreated back through the door through which they’d entered a
few minutes earlier.
Kono and Chin slapped,
pushed, and patted their associate in praise of his statement and fielding of
questions. Dan did not think he was nervous going in, but had to admit that he
was tremendously relieved now that it was over. The trio said good night, and,
as promised, Dan returned to McGarrett’s room to take whatever report his boss
felt up to giving.
Steve had taken a couple
bites of food and pushed the tray away. He looked up slowly when Dan tapped on
the door and entered, notebook and pencil in hand.
Williams did not bother pulling up a ch
“Excellent press conference,
Danno – even I learned something.” Steve issued the commendation – his voice
was hoarse and more quiet than usual, but the take-charge tone was back, a fact
which greatly relieved Williams.
Dan frowned slightly, but
the almost shy smile from the praise would not be vanquished from his face just
yet. “What did you learn?”
“You didn’t book Janice
Nichols.”
Williams’ expression
darkened. “By the time she’d coughed up the information about where you were…
God, buried, she was just a catatonic puddle.” He closed his eyes for a few
seconds and shuddered slightly as the what-if-she-hadn’t-talked scenario pushed
into his head. “She may end up with an accessory charge, but right now, she
needs psychiatric help.”
McGarrett saw a raw memory
in his detective’s eyes – Steve had not been the only one who’d survived an
ordeal. He wondered whether he had any words of wisdom that would help the
young man, but in order to know that, he had to understand what happened and
how it came to pass.
“Danno… you feel up to
telling me… what you didn’t tell me earlier when I asked?”
Williams knew when he’d
brushed off the question earlier with the we’re-good-detectives
line that his boss would not let that set for long. To relive the hour was not
something he wanted to do right then, but he could understand Steve’s desire to
know – if their positions were reversed, he would feel the same way. The young
detective was immediately disinclined to hide any aspect of the story no matter
how difficult it would be to relate – he realized that it would only be a
matter of time before his tenacious boss would piece together the unvarnished
truth – and woe be to the detective who omitted anything. Dan swallowed and
managed a crooked grin.
“You’re the one in the bed –
if YOU feel up to listening, I can get through the story – I just hope— well –
it all turned out okay.”
McGarrett agreed gently.
“Yeah, Danno, it did.”
Williams began his tale at
the point where he’d returned triumphantly from the budget meeting. He
described the thread of emotions -- how his anxiety turned to concern and
then to fear for what had happened to his boss. Appearing almost guilt-ridden,
he explained that his growing suspicion arose only partially from the solid
evidence the detectives were obliged to use. He confessed the doubt that had
cropped up when the facts did not quite get them to where they needed to be,
and he stood alone in his belief that McGarrett was in deadly peril. Dan could
not bring himself to look at Steve when he told of his horror at seeing the
photo of Trent Nichols and realizing that Jan had lied to him.
He admitted that he weighed
the implications of being right – and not acting – against being wrong – and
acting. There was no doubt in the young man’s mind – when he rolled the HPD
units with lights – that he was risking the reputation of Five-0 on a hunch.
Dan described his
gut-wrenching experience as he rushed into the Nichols’ residence, confronted
the uncooperative
“Steve, when I knew what
He shrugged and shook his
head, knowing he’d just opened himself up for the well-deserved
bad-assumptions-lead-to-bad-conclusions lecture, and perhaps the
toughen-up-Danno speech. The young detective was a little surprised when only
silence ensued. He let his field of vision slowly move up the bed sheets and to
the reclining patient’s face. The expected expression of long-suffering
consternation was not there – as a matter of fact, it was not angry at all. His
mentor instead was offering him a temperate smile.
McGarrett had listened to
the emotionally-loaded story, and saw how easily it could have had a different
ending had Danno not pushed through his fear and fought ferociously to follow
his instincts. The head of Five-0 already knew his young detective well enough
to know that Williams had to reach deep inside himself
to affect his rescue.
“Danno, you’ve just told me
what you did, why you did it, and how you felt while you were doing it. Do you
want me to tell you what I would’ve done if I’d been in your place?”
Williams shifted slightly on
the bed, and nodded. “Yeah, I think I do.”
“With the same information
at my fingertips, and operating under the same constraints, I would’ve done
EXACTLY what you did for the same reasons, and I think I would’ve felt the same
way.” McGarrett was pleased that his revelation had an immediate positive
effect on the young man.
Dan breathed a sigh of
relief even as he confirmed the answer. “You mean that, Steve?”
McGarrett nodded only
slightly as he maintained a steady gaze at his protégé. “I think you know me
better than that, Danno.”
Williams grinned. “I guess I
do.”
“Now, what do you think
about taking me home?”
Dan held up his hand and
shook his head. “Oh, no! I won’t be a party to a jail
break tonight! Bergman says you can leave at the crack of dawn if you’re so
inclined.”
“And I am so inclined,
Danno.” McGarrett, expecting Williams’ refusal, did not waste any more breath
arguing. .
“I’ll come get you.”
Thoughts of transportation sprang to mind. “I had your car taken to your place –
the keys are with your stuff here.”
“Thanks for taking care of
business, Danno.” The head of Five-0 looked at the young man. The reporter was
right – he was a mess. He’d been so relieved to see all of his men that he had
not noticed their disheveled condition.
The head of Five-0 looked washed-out, but insisted – as long as Dan was willing – on making a statement about the events that transpired that afternoon. There would have been no way that Williams would admit to his boss that he was hungry, tired, and emotionally wiped out. Instead, he pulled the hospital tray over and munched on the untouched celery and carrot sticks as he listened to McGarrett’s riveting tale of Janice Nichols and her missteps with Sandusky.
*****
Dan
snapped to alertness just as his head dropped far enough towards his chest to
put him off balance. He looked around and realized that he’d dozed off while
waiting for McGarrett to go to sleep. Still sitting on the end of the bed in
the now-dimly lit hospital room, he was relieved that he hadn’t awakened the
patient by falling onto him.
He
knew there was no logical reason he needed to remain after McGarrett finished
making his statement, but the patient closed his eyes within a minute
thereafter, and the room grew so quiet that Dan found it difficult to overcome
the inertia of comfortable immobility.
He
was spent from his own report to Steve, but enormously glad that he’d plunged
ahead with the whole story, as it had taken a huge weight from his shoulders –
and now, to know that McGarrett himself would have done the same thing was –
given his second-in-command quandary – life changing. It was all falling into
place in his mind. The events of the day – and of the previous weeks… Steve’s
confident assertions, some actually backed by facts. He’d passed a test of fire
or two in the leadership department – there would be more to come, but now he
realized that he had it in himself to overcome the doubt and take action.
A
big concern still hovered in Dan’s mind though. Even if their evening meeting
had gone off as planned, and he’d been able to explain what would have to
happen in order for them to move forward, Williams was coming to know his boss
well enough to see that Steve, while not deliberately dismissing the prophecy
out-of-hand, could only pay it lip service – until the point in time he
actually experienced it – felt it.
The
detective carefully slipped off the bed and stretched. He wished he could think
of a way to demonstrate to his mentor how it would be should he – Detective Dan
Williams – officially take on the responsibility of second-in-command of
Five-0. Grabbing his notebook, he paused for one final look at his
soundly-sleeping friend before deciding he could muse on this problem from the
comfort of his own bed.
*****
McGarrett flexed his
shoulder muscles slightly as he climbed the grand st
When Danno had collected him
from the hospital early that morning, he’d let the detective know that he
wanted to have a ten o’clock all-hands meeting to put a bow on the Davis-Keali
case. Williams, after a terse reassurance from McGarrett that he was feeling fine,
promised to pass it on as he dropped his boss off at home around seven o’clock.
It was nine forty five as he
pushed the door open with a little extra-hard shove, just in case anybody
inside the office might think him unfit for duty. May, Chin, and Kono all
greeted their boss, but it was May that mentioned that he should have stayed at
home for a day at least. He acknowledged her concern with a brief squeeze of
her shoulder, but dismissed the opinion without another thought as he looked
down at her desk to grab his phone messages.
He stopped short. Sitting on
top of the small stack of phone messages was a yellow-bow-adorned, small,
fuzzy, toy
400 Yards
“What on earth?” May
exclaimed. Steve began to grin as he understood the message. He quickly panned
around the office.
“Where’s Danno?”
May grabbed something from
the top of the stack of McGarrett’s messages and handed it to her boss. In an
exaggerated official tone, she told him.
“Danny instructed me to give
this to you when you inquired as to his whereabouts!” It was his own business
card – Steve McGarrett, Lead Detective, etc, etc.
Steve turned to look at Kono
and Chin, both of whom returned perplexed frowns.
“What does it mean?” May was
obviously in the dark as well.
The owner of the card
started to admit that he had no idea, but flipped the card over. Written there
in Williams’ bold print was a phrase, which Steve recognized immediately –
because Dan had used McGarrett’s own cryptic shorthand.
9-28-67 – 0950 Int w/ DW ico 0 on M501 --
“Apparently, I have a
private appointment with him. It makes sense – everything except the ‘ON’
part.” McGarrett glanced at his watch. – nine forty eight – as he mused out
loud.
“Let’s see, if I take his
meaning literally… that’s nuts…” He let
out a single short laugh and shook his head. “That would mean that…” Jolted
with the realization that his youngest detective was probably serious, he threw
an open-mouthed expression at the sane members of his perplexed staff before he
flung open his office door rushed out onto his lanai in just a few strides. As
he reached the railing, he looked out into the parking lot and saw what he was
afraid he’d see. Aggravation and confusion flooded him as he spun and trotted
out of the office to be on time for his nine fifty appointment with Danno.
The other detectives and the
secretary passed McGarrett as he rushed out of the office. The trio looked at
each other -- still completely in the dark – before they moved to the lanai
railing to see what their kaikaina had done to light such a fire under their
boss. It didn’t take long before May gasped.
“Oh, my!”
The two detectives voiced
their shock in unison.
“Auwe!”
Danny Williams was standing on
the roof of Steve McGarrett’s LTD. He looked perfectly normal in his suit as he
displayed his badge to two surprised passers by and apparently indicated that
they needed to move on.
In less than a minute, they
saw their boss taking the stone steps out of the building by twos and angle his
path directly toward his car.
Under her breath, May
whispered a prayer.
“Please don’t let the boss
kill him and please don’t let the phone ring…”
*****
As he approached his
vehicle, he slowed to a walk. There was no doubt that he felt outraged, but
mixed in with that was the fervent hope that his protégé had a reason – how it
could be a good one, he couldn’t fathom – for the bizarre and unacceptable act.
After all, it was clear that the young man was not standing by mistake in front
of the
Williams looked down at his
watch as he saw that McGarrett was no more than twenty feet from his car.
“Right on
time, Steve!”
It took an effort, but McGarrett
kept his voice on an even keel.
“WHAT are you doing?”
“I have something for you,
if you still want it.” Dan offered a slight grin as he pulled a folded paper
from his pocket and tossed it onto the hood of the LTD.
McGarrett gave the detective
a steely-eyed, suspicious glare as he collected the paper and unfolded it. He
scrutinized the document though there was no need – he’d spent countless hours
musing on it, pulled it out of his desk drawer at least a few times each day to
look at it – the only difference now was
that it contained both of the signatures that made Danny Williams his
second-in-command. It was the symbol of his all-important objective. For a few
moments, his delight – not reflected outwardly – made him forget that there was
a detective on his roof – and not just any detective. The hodge-podge of
conflicting emotions spinning inside of him made him uncertain as to how to
react – and this fact further frustrated him. He took in a slow breath and
released it, determined that he would not react in the extreme – yet.
He slowly pulled his eyes
from the paper and looked up at the very serious Williams. A faint smile
crossed McGarrett’s lips.
“Okay, I still want it.”
Dan let out a slight sigh,
perhaps of relief, and nodded at the man below.
“I’m very glad to hear you
say that, Steve. You’ve been telling me that I can do this, and now…” Dan
paused and looked up at the façade of the Palace for a few moments before he
reacquired eye contact with his boss. “Now I believe you. I know I have a lot
to learn, but you already know that. In the past few days, I’ve come to realize
what I need to do in order to be of value to you in the second slot – not that
I’ve totally figured out how to go about doing it, but it’s a start.”
McGarrett crossed his arms
and, after the slightest nod, cocked his head to one side. Everything Danno had
said was good news – better than good --- it was great news. But the young man
on his roof wasn’t finished.
“Now – we have a small team,
and we all have to work closely together, but I can see, just from my limited
experience over the past weeks, that the chief and his second have to be able
to work in pretty close quarters, so to speak. It’s more important that we
always try to find common ground.”
Dan squatted on his
haunches, leaned his elbows on his knees, and clasped his hands together – the
position looked painful to McGarrett, not one in the know about surfer
exercises – but
Williams looked comfortable as he continued.
“You and Ray had very
different perspectives on a lot of things – and maybe different ways of
handling things. It won’t be any different with me. You’re gonna find me in
places that you don’t want me to be – like NOW maybe. It will never be my goal
to disagree with you just to be different, but we WILL disagree at some point.
And you know what’s gonna have to happen then that NEVER did happen with you
and Ray? We’ll have to talk it through – and in the end, I’ll move to your
position OR maybe you’ll decide to move to mine. What do you think about that,
Steve?”
The detective’s inflection
and intense focus on his boss revealed to McGarrett the great importance
Williams attached to his answer. Steve’s eyes had been locked on the young man
as he spoke, but he looked away for a moment as he considered the best way to
respond.
Danno was letting him know
right from the start that – although he would eagerly accept the wisdom of the
chief’s experience – he intended to find his own way as well – certainly a
position to respect. McGarrett had not selected the detective as his second
because he expected him to be a puppet – on the contrary— the young man perched
above him came with his own unique approach to many things – including making a
point!
The head of Five-0 looked
back up at his new second-in-command, who did look entirely too young to have
the responsibility that he’d just accepted.
“Well, Danno…”
He started and then caught
the younger man off guard as he suddenly climbed onto the hood of his LTD and
then began to climb onto the roof. Knowing his boss still had to be sore from
his horrific experience the day before, a surprised Williams quickly stood and
reached out to grab his boss’s hand. The p
McGarrett pulled his wallet
out of his suit and casually displayed his badge.
“Official
police business, folks – nothing to see here. Move along!”
Dan grinned and looked with
admiration at the man next to him as Steve grasped his hand to shake it and finish
the thought.
“Maybe this time, Danno,
I’ll move to your position.”
*****
As the head of Five-0 and
his second-in-command strolled back into the office, they found their
colleagues concentrating unusually hard on their various work-related efforts.
Steve and Dan looked at each other as they noticed that nobody even looked up
from their work. Fully aware that the trio had witnessed at least part –
probably all – of the scene in the parking lot a few minutes ago, he gave
Williams a knowing look.
“Danno, this is a classic
example of the pretend-you-don’t-notice-the-elephant-in-the-office syndrome.”
Chin slowly turned in his
chair and Kono stepped out of his office to acknowledge their colleagues. May
reluctantly hung up the phone without so much as a goodbye to whomever might have been on the other end and proffered a
tentative smile to the returnees. A mix of guilt and uncertainty was present on
all of their faces – they’d been caught spying – spying on WHAT they weren’t
precisely sure. Amusement in his eyes, the head of Five-0 put them at ease with
a grin as he and Dan renewed his progress towards his office.
“It’s ten o’clock – don’t we
all have a meeting to attend?”
The three voyeurs jumped as
they saw that the morning seemed to be suddenly back
on schedule. May rushed to the coffee pot and poured a fresh cup for her boss
before she brought up the rear in the procession. Each of them quietly burned
with curiosity as they settled into their usual places around the big desk –
each of them noticed that, not only had McGarrett not
done bodily harm to their young colleague, but that he’d returned in
tremendously good humor.
Dan, settled into his spot
on the corner of the boss’s desk, and after cracking opening his notebook and
jotting something down, turned to look expectantly at McGarrett, who was
leaning his elbows on his desk to more closely study the little dog dash
ornament. His audience watched him silently for a good twenty seconds before he
chuckled and looked at Williams.
“And I thought I was the big
kahuna of the metaphorical lesson!”
Dan grinned and finally
snickered. “You are the big kahuna, Steve – that was YOUR lesson – not mine.”
McGarrett let the chuckle
die, but continued to smile at his detective. “I wasn’t talking about the dog,
Danno.”
Williams flushed at the
compliment. Utterly delighted with his boss’s agreement with his “conditions”
and physical demonstration to that effect, Dan sighed and nodded, expressing
his gratitude only visually.
“Okay, boss!” Chin exclaimed.
“I work for you eight years now – and I never see you have meeting on car
roof!” Glad to have the Chinese detective take the lead, Kono and May said
nothing, but nodded slightly in agreement.
Both Williams and McGarrett
looked at Kelly and then back at each other quickly before the head of Five-0
leaned back in his chair and grinned.
“All
right, point taken! For the first
and LAST time—” Steve shot a warning glance at the nodding Dan as he spoke.
“You witnessed me having a meeting on the roof on my car… with my
second-in-command.” He crossed his arms and looked at Williams.,
who could only make eye contact with him for a second before he was physically
accosted by his co-workers with shoves, pats, and hugs.
Dan was delighted with the
grins and warm expressions of congratulations. He’d suspected they would all be
supportive, especially after the events of the previous day, but to see the
approval in their eyes meant a lot to him.
McGarrett reveled silently
in the upbeat reception taking place in front of his desk. It was a great day
for Five-0 – and for him personally. Danno was right – they’d have their ups
and downs, but he felt optimistic that there would be more of the former – and
he – Steve McGarrett – would do his part to see that this was so. He reached
into his pocket and retrieved the assignment paper, which was getting more worn
with each folding maneuver it had to survive, and spread it out flat on his
desk – the signature had not vanished. He was returned to the present moment by
Williams’ voice.
“Mahalo, everybody – I’m
really gonna try to do a great job for you.”
“Bruddah, after yesterday,
there ain’t no doubt about it – you gonna do moh bettah than great!” Kono
loudly and dramatically dropped into Pigeon English.
May laughed and patted Kono
as she agreed. “Yeah, Danny – way moh
bettah!”
As much as the head of
Five-0 was enjoying the scene, he realized that Williams’ surprise this morning
and the resulting announcement to the team left him with a need to hustle.
Until McGarrett informed Governor Jameson of his decision – merely a courtesy,
not a contingency – they were all in an awkward position of secrecy.
“That reminds me – the three
of you are the first to know about this, so you’ll have to keep it on the QT
until I let the governor know and put out the press release. May, you need to
get me on the governor’s schedule – I need to see him this morning, if at all
possible.” The trio nodded and May slipped out to follow her boss’s
instructions.
*****
“Steve, you know that I
support your decision, but how on earth are you going to respond to the
naysayers when they say he’s too young?”
“Danny Williams is NOT too
young – he’s just NOT old! What does he bring to the table? Dedication… energy…
superb detective skills… high standards… a good attitude… a unique and fresh
perspective… a phenomenal attention to detail… I could throw out a dozen more
positive attributes that nobody in the law enforcement community who knows him
will dispute. I submit, sir, that there will come a day when anybody who
publicly decried this appointment will wish they’d kept their mouths shut!”
Governor Jameson, fully
aware that he himself had given Steve McGarrett complete autonomy with regard
to the selection of his staff, ran a hand over his entire face slowly and
leaned forward onto his desk to listen to the chief of the state police further
expound the virtues of the detective he’d just appointed his second-in-command.
There was nothing he could do about it – and exactly what he would have done if
he had any control over the decision, he wasn’t certain. McGarrett had just
made a compelling case that the very young – correction – NOT OLD Danny
Williams was the right choice for the job.
*****
“Steve, do you feel the
cauldron beginning to bubble?”
McGarrett turned to see his
second-in-command join him on the lanai. The press release would go out in the
morning, but the coconut wireless had already begun transmitting the news. The
governor had already let several senior-level government officials in on the
news and McGarrett himself had felt an obligation to call Chief Dann – that the word would spread
like wildfire now was a foregone conclusion.
The head of Five-0 chuckled
as the detective came to lean on the railing next to him.
“Oh, it’s bubbling
all right, Danno, but don’t let that scare you.”
Williams looked up at his
boss. “I feel like I’m on the edge of a cliff – one wrong move and---” The
detective whistled the sound of something falling a long way.
“Well, just remember –
you’re not there alone.” With a smile, McGarrett patted his second-in-command
on the back. More hurdles were on the horizon, but optimism filled both men as
each knew that the edge didn’t have to be lonely.