I Want To Be a Part
of It
(Another explanation for what happened to Danny Williams)
By Sylvia
(Note: This is Part 1
of my series of what happened to our Five-O heroes, beginning just before the
12th season and continuing through the late 1990s. This series will
introduce some new characters, bring back some old ones and generate
life-altering changes for both Steve and Danny.)
April, 1979
Steve McGarrett placed his briefcase on the floor. After a
good night’s rest following his and Danny Williams’ return from
“Anything pressing?” he asked.
“Gerry Meyers of the New York Police Department has been trying to reach you for the last few days,” she said. “He’s in town.”
“Oh?” Steve said, taking the message. “Thanks. I’ll call him.”
Gerry Meyers was one of the few people who had the honor of
calling Steve McGarrett “lifelong friend.” They’d grown up together, gone to
school together, served together during the Korean War, and each had saved the
other’s neck more than a few times. After
Steve dialed. Gerry picked up on the first ring. “Hello?”
“Gerry-“ Steve started.
“Steve! You old dog, you!” Gerry responded.
“Well, I feel old,” Steve said. “How are you doing? How are Peggy and the kids? And what are you doing in town?”
“I’m doing fine, they’re fine and there’s something I want to discuss with you,” Gerry said, chuckling. “Can we meet for lunch?”
“Yeah……There’s a good Chinese place,” Steve began.
“Steve, I got out of
“You came to the wrong place, my friend. How about Italian?” Steve asked. “There’s a place called Vittorio’s that’s good.”
“OK,” Gerry said. “Meet you there?”
“No, why don’t you come here, I’ll give you a tour,” Steve said.
“I love it….Hawaii’s top cop has his office in a palace. One
of
“I told you to get out of that city when you had the chance,” Steve joked back. “See you at 11?” Gerry agreed. They said goodbye.
Danny and Duke walked into the office and sat down.
“There’s a visitor coming in today,” Steve said. “He’s one of NYPD’s finest, Gerry Meyers.”
“Oh, sure, your lifelong buddy. I met him at that convention
I attended in
“What’s he doing in
“Good question. I think the last thing he’d want to do is come here simply to pay me a social call, especially since his family isn’t with him,” Steve said. “Maybe a case he wants our help with.”
“Maybe,” Danny agreed. Or maybe not, he thought to himself.
Gerry arrived at 11 on the dot. Steve welcomed him warmly and introduced him to Luana and Duke.
“Shall we start the tour?” Steve asked.
“Sure thing,” Gerry said. “By the way, where’s Detective Williams?”
“Detective Williams went to pick up a file in the district attorney’s office,” Steve said. “He’ll be back soon. Maybe we’ll meet him on the way.”
“Fair enough,” Gerry said. There was something in his voice that made Steve look up.
The two men walked around the building, with Steve pointing out the different locales and introducing him to various people. They met Danny coming up the stairs.
“How are you, Gerry?” Danny asked.
“Good to see you, Danny,” Gerry said, shaking hands.
My, they were certainly chummy, Steve thought.
“Say, why doesn’t Danny join us for lunch?” Gerry asked.
Danny looked at Steve. “There’s a lot to do,” he said.
“Not that much, Danno. Please join us,” Steve said.
“OK,” Danny said, still hesitating. Steve caught his manner.
“Hey, Gerry, walk into my office a moment,” Steve said, when they had returned to the Five-O offices. Gerry followed him in, and Steve shut the door and motioned for Gerry to sit down.
Steve circled him, as he often did when he grilled suspects
in this office. “OK, my friend,” he said. “I think I know the reason, but you
tell me why you’re in
“You are a great cop, Steve,” Gerry said. He sighed. “All right. It’s your second-in-command.”
“You want to hire him,” Steve said, perching on his desk.
“We’re setting up a new squad to deal with the drug trade in
“We’ve been starting to deal with it here in
“Yeah, but in the city, you’ve got centers. This isn’t just the drug of poor folks, Steve. We’ve got a lot of celebrities, millionaires, using the stuff. There are hotbeds of it,” Gerry said. “The problem is, they influence not-so-rich young people who want to be among the beautiful people.
“We found one such person, an 18-year-old girl, dead in her
apartment just before I flew out here. Overdose. She’d come out from the
Steve shook his head in disgust.
“That’s why we think Danny can help us. We know you guys have experience working the drug trade in many ways. And he’s worked for you how long?” Gerry asked.
“Fourteen years,” Steve said.
“Fourteen years, learning from the best,” Gerry said. “And becoming the best.”
“Flattery will get you nowhere, my friend,” Steve said, smiling.
“Well, not flattery, but facts?” Gerry asked.
“I take it you’ve already asked him? And I take it he’s refused,” Steve said.
Gerry nodded. “Has he told you?” he asked.
Steve shook his head. “Detective Williams is a modest man. I know him well enough to know he’s going to be reluctant to tell me if he’s had an offer – and turned it down.”
“Would you talk to him about it?” Gerry asked.
“Gerry, do you expect me to cut my own throat?” Steve asked.
“Yes,” Gerry said, smiling. Both men chuckled.
“Steve, we need him in
“We need him in
“Look, Steve,” Gerry started.
“And what’s the problem? 3,000 cops in
“Politics,” Gerry said, his voice level.
“Oh, come on,” Steve said, picking up a paperweight on his desk and putting it down, hard. “Politics? You’ve never worried about politics before, Gerry.”
“I never worked for a city emerging from bankruptcy before, Steve,” Gerry said. “Remember where we were a few years ago? Remember?”
“What does that have to do with this?” Steve asked, more gently.
“The mayor wants one thing. The city council wants another,” Gerry said. “And the cops want a third. They’re all fighting over territory. I need someone who’s not going to fight over territory. That’s why I’m looking outside the city.”
“What about elsewhere on the mainland?” Steve asked.
“Come on, Steve, you know Danny qualifies,” Gerry said.
Steve, who had been pacing, sat down in his chair in resignation. “Yeah,” he said. “It’s gratifying to know – and also terrifying to know, because I’m going to lose a great cop. The very best.”
“It’s your fault, you know. You’ve been preparing him for something like this ever since you put him on Five-O,” Gerry said. “Look, he can’t go anywhere without your OK, anyway, so just think about it a bit. Meanwhile, where’s that place you were talking about? I’m starved.”
As the three men ate, Danny wheedled Gerry, much to Steve’s discontent, into telling stories about the head of Five-O as a young man.
“This no-drinking thing,” Danny said, glancing at an annoyed Steve with glee. “You’re going to tell me he drank everyone under the table when he was young, right?”
“No, I’m not,” Gerry said. “Honest. This guy has stayed away from the alcohol all his life.”
“OK, I think that’s enough about me,” Steve said. “Now, Danno, I can tell you a few stories about Meyers here – “
“Oh, Steve, they’re not gonna mean that much to him. After all, he hasn’t worked for me for 14 years,” Gerry said.
“True,” Danny said. “There’s a bounty on finding out information about Steve McGarrett – and that’s just among the Five-O staff and HPD.”
Steve was about to issue a retort when he saw a commotion outside the restaurant windows. He motioned both men to look. He noticed a number of people running from a small bank across the street.
“Come on,” Steve said to Danny and Gerry.
They walked outside the restaurant, heard the alarm from the bank and saw the first HPD car pull up. Out came two young patrol officers, Terri Chiang and Todd Haynes. “What’ve we got?” Steve asked them.
“Holdup,” Chiang said. “A gunman; he’s got hostages. We’re still trying to find out how many.”
“Who’s in charge of the HPD response?” Steve asked.
“Officer Wilson,” Haynes said.
That was Kevin Wilson, who had just pulled up beside Chiang and Haynes. He emerged from his car and greeted Steve and Danny.
“We got a call from someone who managed to escape the bank
and go down the street to a phone booth,”
“Where was the security guard?” Steve asked.
“In front, but unarmed, from what the witness said,”
“One of those people they just give a badge and stick,” Danny said. “When are these companies going to learn how to train security guards?”
“Danno, coordinate with Wilson and these two,” Steve said, motioning to the younger officers. “I’m going to call Duke.” He went back to the Mercury and did just that.
Another car pulled up with Patrol Officers Moe “Truck” Kealoha and Sandi Welles. They went to join Wilson and Danny.
When Steve was done on his call, Gerry asked, “Anything I can do?”
“You have your gun and your badge?” Steve asked.
“Badge yes, gun no,” Gerry said.
“OK, go with Officer Welles and
let the neighboring businesses know what’s going on.” He turned to Welles. “Sandi, if you can evacuate them safely, do so;
otherwise, make sure they take cover in a good place. This is Deputy Police
Commissioner Gerry Meyers of
Steve came back to talk to Danny. “Got the setup?”
“We do, but the bank president and administrators are in there with them,” Danny said. “They were having a lunch meeting at the time. Chiang and Haynes just spoke to some people who managed to escape from the bank in the first stages. The gunman is apparently alone, and he came in waving two pistols. Haynes and Kealoha are going to make sure there’s no getaway driver anywhere in the vicinity, though, just in case.”
“Good,” Steve said. “Any effort yet to communicate?”
“No,” Danny said. To
“Here you go,”
Just then, Duke pulled up. Steve waved him over, along with Chiang. Meanwhile, Haynes and Kealoha came back.
“Nothing,” Haynes said. “At least not at the moment.”
“OK, both of you go with Detective Williams and Officer Wilson,” he said. “Williams will let you know what to do.”
Then he turned to Chiang. “Stick with Detective Lukela and me for the time being,” he said.
“Okay,” she said. They all crouched behind police cars in order to avoid any bullets. While the gunman had two pistols, there might also be hidden weapons that hadn’t been seen.
Steve picked up the megaphone and pressed the button. “This is McGarrett, Five-O,” he said. “Come out with your hands up.”
The only response was a gunshot that ricocheted off a police car. The Five-O detectives and HPD officers all ducked.
Danny, Wilson, Kealoha and Haynes took their positions.
Steve tried again, repeating himself.
“I ain’t comin’
out!” yelled a voice from inside the bank. “Why should I? You’ll only arrest
me!”
Terri Chiang wrinkled her brow in thought. She knew that voice from somewhere.
“If you come out now without hurting anyone, you can help yourself get out of jail sooner,” Steve said.
“And go to what?!” the voice screamed. “I ain’t got no job to go to.”
“Were you working?” Steve asked.
“I was a dock worker. Laid off. Given my last paycheck!” the voice yelled.
Steve turned to Duke. “I’m on it,” he said, going off to find out who’d been fired at the docks recently.
“I was gonna go places!” the voice continued, in despair. “The tiger was gonna roar!”
Terri gasped. Steve turned to her. “What is it?” he asked.
“I know that guy,” she said.
“How?” he asked.
“Todd – Officer Haynes – and I went to high school with him. His real name is Bruce Kubota. His nickname in high school was ‘The Tiger,’” she said.
“Were you friendly?” Steve asked.
“Yeah,” she said.
Steve held out the megaphone to her. “Want to give it a shot?” he asked.
She took the megaphone, without hesitation.
Danny, who had seen the handoff, looked back at Steve, questioning. Steve looked back and silently mouthed “Keep your setup. I’ll signal.” Danny nodded.
Meanwhile, Terri spoke. “Hey Bruce?” she said.
“Who’s that?” yelled Kubota from inside the bank.
“It’s Teddy Bear….. Terri Chiang,” she said.
Steve lifted his head in shock and Danny looked back in amazement. Teddy Bear? This kid Chiang had a lot of guts. If she lived through this, she’d get endless grief from her HPD colleagues.
“What you doing out there?” Kubota yelled. “You ain’t a cop!”
“Sure I am. Great benefits,” she said. “Hey Bruce? This ain’t the way to go, baby. You don’t wanna do this.”
“I can’t face
“You guys still together?” Terri called. At McGarrett’s questioning look, she mouthed, “High school sweetheart.”
“Yeah. We got married,” Kubota yelled. “I can’t tell her about this!”
“Unfortunately, Bruce, you’re gonna have a lot more to tell her!” Terri reminded him. “But baby, she’s a great gal – at least she was in high school!”
“Yeah,” Kubota called. “Oh, God,” he cried out.
Terri looked back at Steve, who motioned to her to keep talking.
Danny signaled Steve and came over. “There’s an angle where we can get a clear shot of Kubota – if we need to,” Danny said.
“Let’s hope we don’t need to,” Steve said. “She’s doing a good job with him,” he said, glancing at Terri with the megaphone.
“Haynes says Kubota’s always had a big problem with a lack of confidence. Haynes says he’s a big guy, that his wife was the head of the cheerleading team in high school – one of those ‘Beauty and the Beast’ couples, Haynes called it,” Danny said. “But Haynes says Kubota’s a pussycat.”
“Well, all this seems to have turned him into a tiger for real, a dangerous one,” Steve said.
“Maybe not,” Danny responded. “Maybe Chiang can get him out of there. But I’m going to set up for a shot. I’m sending Haynes, Kealoha and Wilson to a side entrance, to see if anyone can be rescued.”
“The board members?” Steve asked.
“They’re out in the main section, now. Kubota hustled them
out there when he started waving the guns around.
“OK, Danno, go ahead and set up for a shot, and set them up for a rescue. Don’t do anything more until you get the signal from me,” Steve said.
“Right,” Danny said, and, keeping low, went back to his position.
As Steve went back to his post, he thought about how much
Danny had already done to organize things. Gerry’s
right: He is ready for that
Terri continued her conversation with Kubota. “Listen Bruce, if you end this now, you’ll serve some prison time, but then you’ll get to start anew. Let it end now. Please,” she pleaded.
Duke came up beside Steve. “Steve, we’ve got his wife on communication. We can patch her in.”
That was quick. Steve looked at Duke questioningly.
“Your friend from
“OK, patch her through,” Steve said. He went to Terri and let her know the latest.
“Give it a few minutes, then tell him,” Steve said. Terri nodded.
“Hey, what’s going on out there?” Kubota yelled. “What are you pulling?”
“We’re not pulling anything, Bruce,” Terri called. “Hey, how are the people doing in there?”
Silence for a moment. Then, “there’s a woman who says she’s about to have a baby!”
Terri looked back at Steve in amazement. Steve motioned to her to keep talking. He looked back at Duke, who gave the thumbs up. Mrs. Kubota was connected.
Steve looked back at Terri and gave the same signal Duke had given.
“Hey Tiger, someone wants to talk to you,” Terri said.
“Who?” Kubota called.
Static from the radio….Then, “Bruce, honey?”
“
“Yeah…..Honey, please don’t do this. Please let them go. Those people didn’t do anything, Bruce,” Nancy Kubota said through the radio, which Duke was transmitting through a second megaphone.
“Makali did,” Kubota said.
Steve looked across at Duke. “Sam Makali, the head of Ocean Transport,” he said. “Said he had to lay five workers off, including Kubota. Price of oil has made it hard on them with the petroleum that needs to go into the ships. Oh, and Steve…..he’s missing the two 22s he keeps in his desk.”
Steve shook his head and motioned for Terri to talk again.
“Hey, Bruce?” she called. “Those other people aren’t your beef. Let ‘em go!”
“And be left with what?!” Kubota asked. “I can’t let ‘em go!”
“Honey, please let them go!” Nancy Kubota called from the car radio, which Duke dispatched.
“Listen to your wife, Bruce,” Terri said.
There was silence from inside the bank, then a woman’s cry.
Kevin Wilson lifted his gun and trained it on Kubota.
“What’s going on in there, Bruce?” Terri called.
“She’s …. She’s having a baby!” Kubota called back.
“We’ve got to get an officer in there to help her,” Steve said.
“Todd….Officer Haynes….has delivered babies before,” Terri said.
“OK,” Steve said. “Keep him talking; we’ll get Haynes in there.”
He scooted over to Danny, who beat him to the statement. “Haynes says he’s delivered–“ Danny started.
“I know. Let’s get him in there,” Steve said.
Danny motioned Haynes over.
“Haynes, we’ll send you in there to help the woman if Kubota allows it,” Steve said.
“No arms,” Haynes said, taking off his gun belt. “No tricks.”
Boy, both these kids are smart, Steve thought. He nodded at Haynes.
“Yeah,” Steve said. “Your dealmaker is discussing the terms right now,” he added, motioning at Terri.
“No one better,” Haynes said, looking affectionately, and with concern, at Terri. “That’s why I married her.”
Steve knew that HPD permitted married couples – Kevin Wilson’s wife, Lori, was an officer - but he was astonished that they had one in a police partnership, as well. He would have to ask Chief Nick Kamekona about that.
His attention was drawn back to Terri on the megaphone.
“Hey, Bruce?” she called. “Remember Todd Haynes?”
“You were going with him,” Kubota called.
“Well, I married him,” Terri said. “He’s also a police
officer….If you let him, he’s going in to deliver that woman’s baby.”
“Wait a minute,” Kubota called. “No tricks!”
Todd motioned to Terri for the megaphone. “Hey, Bruce?” he called. “I’ve got nothing on me……But I’m bringing in an emergency medical kit for the mother. And Bruce?”
“What?” Kubota yelled.
“Talk to
“OK, Haynes, come in,” Kubota called. “But no tricks!”
Todd looked at Steve, who said, “Go.” He looked to Terri, who gave him a wink, even as she looked worried. Their silent communication wasn’t lost on Steve.
Todd smiled at her, and walked toward the bank with his hands up, the medical kit in his right hand.
Danny looked toward
“You’ve got a good shot?” Danny asked.
“Yeah,”
“If Kubota takes one shot, you fire at him,” Danny said softly.
“You got it,”
Todd walked in through the door, which was ajar. There was silence, broken again by the pregnant woman’s labor cries.
Steve motioned for Duke to get back on the radio with
“Bruce honey?”
“This … this woman’s having a baby!” Kubota called. “She’s…”
He was interrupted by a baby’s cry.
“It’s a girl!” Haynes called out.
Kubota looked over at something inside the bank. There was silence for a moment.
“Hey Bruce?” Terri called on the megaphone. “What’s going on?”
The bank door opened wide. Danny, Wilson and Truck Kealoha trained their guns.
Bruce Kubota came out, tossed his guns on the ground and put his hands in the air. Behind him came Todd Haynes, carrying the newborn baby.
Danny Williams came over to Kubota and cuffed him. He motioned to Duke, who told Nancy Kubota a car would be on the way to escort her to the Honolulu Police Department.
Steve motioned for one of the ambulances that had been on the perimeter to drive in. He walked in with Terri and Todd and found the baby’s mother, who was lying on a couch in the bank’s main waiting area.
“Here, Mrs. Sakai,” Todd said. “Here’s your baby girl.”
“Thank you so much,” Mrs. Sakai said with a smile.
Steve smiled. “The paramedics will be here in a few minutes,” he said, looking down at the baby. “She’s beautiful.”
“Thank you,” the mother said.
“We’ll contact your husband,” Todd said.
Mrs. Sakai chuckled. “My husband and I have been trying to think of a name. What’s your first name?”
“Todd,” he said, blushing.
“Hmmm…..” Mrs. Sakai said.
“Well, my wife’s name is Theresa – Terri for short,” Todd said, motioning toward her. “She was the one out there calming him down.”
“Theresa would be a good name,” Mrs. Sakai said, smiling.
Terri was taken aback. “Thank you,” she said. “I’m honored.”
“Good job, Dr. Haynes,” Steve said, patting Todd on the back. Todd laughed at the “Dr.” moniker. “You too, Officer Chiang.”
“Thank you, sir,” both officers said.
As Steve nodded and walked away, the young officers looked at each other.
“The Man himself,” Todd said to Terri, who just shook her head.
Then she remembered. “Let’s go back to headquarters and talk to Bruce and Nancy,” she said.
“After you, Teddy Bear,” Todd joked.
“Quiet, you, or I’m going to let McGarrett know what your nickname was in high school,” Terri said.
Todd laughed.
****
Steve then joined Kevin Wilson to check the rest of the hostages. From bank customers to tellers to executives, all appeared well, if somewhat dazed. The hardest part for them would be afterward, with the emotional scars. Physically, though, it looked like Kubota hadn’t shot or otherwise hurt them. There were no booby traps or anything else. Steve sighed with relief.
Danny walked up to Steve. “Truck Kealoha and Sandi Welles are taking him downtown,” he said. “Where are Chiang and Haynes? They did great work.”
“Yes they did. They also just headed back to HPD, to be with Nancy Kubota. Everyone seems to be all right here,” Steve said.
“I’ll help get everyone’s statement,” Danny said. “Gerry’s coming in, too.”
“OK,” Steve said. “Something tells me we’re going to owe Gerry another lunch after this.”
“I think so,” Danny said.
“Oh, Danno?” Steve said.
“Yeah?”
“Later today, after we have all the statements taken down, I need to meet with you,” Steve said.
“Right.”
Steve stood on the lanai of his office. He was proud of his officers, the HPD officers and Gerry. They’d all done top-notch work. And he was thankful at the peaceful way the crisis had ended.
Bruce Kubota would have to serve quite a bit of jail time, but he also needed emotional help. Steve sensed he hadn’t really wanted to kill anyone, that he’d just snapped. Steve had met Nancy Kubota at the jail, and he was convinced that such a loving wife would help her husband any way she could. That was good.
Steve was also convinced of something else: Today, he’d seen Five-O’s future at work. Kevin Wilson, Truck Kealoha, and especially Todd Haynes and Terri Chiang had been impressive.
He liked what he had heard about Chiang from Nick. Steve wanted Terri to be Five-O’s first full-fledged female detective. She showed cool in a crisis and she could be the liaison to the Chinese community that Chin had been.
If Danny decided to take the
Danny came out to join Steve on the lanai. “Everyone did good work today,” he said.
“Yes, they did,” Steve said, patting Danny on the shoulder. “You did well with the setup, Danno.”
Danny shook his head. “Credit those kids. Chiang and Haynes…..Boy, those two have ice water in their veins.”
“In that case, it comes from knowing their subject,” Steve said.
“And Kevin Wilson knew his stuff, too,” Danny said.
“Yeah. If you take the
Danny looked at him in shock, then shook his head. “That Gerry Meyers,” he said. “I turned him down.”
Steve walked into his office, and motioned for Danny to follow. “Sit down, Danno,” he said.
As Steve sat in his chair, and Danny in front of the desk, Steve leaned back. “Why did you turn down the job?” he asked.
“We’re short-staffed here, Steve,” Danny said.
“Do you think you’re qualified for the job?” Steve asked.
“I don’t know,” Danny said. “It’s a lot of bureaucracy, a lot of politics, and not enough police work.” He grinned.
“Well, the first two parts of it sound like my job,” Steve said, also smiling. “And I happen to think you’re very qualified. It also gives you the chance to command others – and in the biggest stage a cop could ever work in.”
“You think I should take it,” Danny said.
“Yes, I do,” Steve said. “I know you’ve said no to Gerry, but haven’t you imagined it a little bit?”
“Yeah,” Danny said, smiling again. Then he turned to Steve. “You’re kicking me out?” he asked.
Steve sighed. “I don’t have anything to teach you anymore, Danno.”
“Oh, I don’t know about that, Steve,” Danny said. “I’ve learned something from you every day I’ve been on this job.”
“Well, then here’s something else for you to learn,” Steve
said. “You’re ready for that
Danny looked closely at his boss and best friend. He saw that Steve was looking at him as his equal. He looked down, humbled.
“You sure know how to get someone to do a job, Steve,” Danny said, struggling suddenly to find his voice.
“I have mixed feelings about this, Danno, if it makes you feel any better,” Steve said.
Danny smiled. “Glad to hear it,” he said. “So do I. So, Kevin Wilson as the new second-in-command, huh?”
“Yeah,” Steve said. “I’ve already asked Nick for Truck; that will probably happen in the next few weeks. What do you think about Terri Chiang as the first full-time female with Five-O?”
“I think a lot of it, but Nick and the governor may not agree with you,” Danny said. “She’s very young.”
“So were you,” Steve reminded Danny.
“Somehow, I’m not sure lighting’s going to strike twice,” Danny said. “Particularly when there are veteran female police officers who have been waiting for a chance to join Five-O for years. What about Sandi Welles?”
“She’s being heavily recruited by San Francisco PD,” Steve said. “She may take that job.”
Danny nodded. “That’s right. Her fiancé is there now,” he
said. Sandi was engaged to a doctor who had just transferred from
“Joyce Weber just got tapped to head HPD’s Bunko squad, and Joyce Bennett hasn’t wanted to get anywhere near us since that brainwashing hypnosis thing 10 years ago,” Steve said.
“Well, the fact that she shot you didn’t help,” Danny said, smiling.
“Did I ever tell you Wo Fat was behind that?” Steve asked.
“Really?” Danny said.
“Yeah. I’ll save how I found out about it for another time….. Terri Chiang’s the real deal. Nick really sang her praises today. And Todd Haynes wouldn’t be bad as a liaison, the way Duke once was.”
“Keeping the couple together, huh?” Danny joked.
“Yeah, call me a sentimentalist,” Steve joked back. “Especially when two officers work as well together as they do.”
“Well, if you need support from me, you’ve got it,” Danny said.
“Thanks, Danno. And in the meantime….” Steve stood up. “You,
Detective Williams, are going to take that
He walked over to Danny and patted his shoulder.
“And you’re ready.”
The next morning, Danny visited Gerry in his hotel room and accepted the job. “So Steve finally talked you into it, eh?” Gerry asked, shaking his hand.
“He made a better case for you than you did,” Danny said.
“Hmm, maybe I should have recruited him, too,” Gerry said. They both laughed.
Gerry set a June 1 start date for Danny. Before Gerry
returned to
“Yeah, you do – big time,” Steve said. “You take care of him, Gerry.”
“I will, I promise,” Gerry said. “And I know he’ll take care of us.”
“You’d better believe it,” Steve said.
In the weeks before Danny was to leave, his ohana gave him an extended goodbye. The Kelly family, the Kalakauas, Ben Kokua and his family, Doctor and Mrs. Bergman, Che Fong and his wife, and other old friends, including May, Jenny and Lani. Current and former members of HPD also joined in.
“Are you running for office, Danno?” Steve kidded him at one party. “That’s how popular you are.”
“No thanks. Being a cop is tough enough,” Danny said.
There was one final party at Five-O headquarters. It started
with Luana putting on a tape of Liza
Minnelli singing the song “
“Start spreading the news/ I’m leaving today/ I want to be a
part of it/
At the song’s end, Danny said, “So if I make it there, I’ll make it anywhere, huh?”
“You’ll do it, Danny,” Duke said.
“Absolutely,” Steve added.
Truck, who had already joined the squad, brought Danny a blessing from a kahuna.
“You go in peace, bruddah,” Truck said.
“Thanks, Truck,” Danny said.
When the party was over, Duke pulled Danny aside.
“You’ll take care of everyone, won’t you Duke?” Danny asked, fighting back tears.
“Yeah,” Duke said. “I’ll keep you posted on everything that happens here, Danny.”
“Mahalo, Duke,” Danny said. “And thanks for being such a good friend.”
They embraced.
Danny stayed late one last time to clean up his desk. Steve walked out of his office.
“You all packed?” Steve asked.
Danny nodded. “I wanted to get it done in time for all these things,” he said. His voice choked up.
“Oh, boy,” he said.
“What?” Steve asked.
“I promised myself I wasn’t going to do that again…get all emotional,” Danny said.
“I did, too….at least not until tomorrow morning,” Steve
said. Danny was to leave for
Danny looked up and followed Steve into his office, and out on the lanai. There they stood, side by side.
“How many times have we stood out here, Danno, trying to solve a case?” Steve asked.
“Or not solving a case?” Danny said, with a grin.
Steve chuckled, looking at the scene below. “Yeah,” he said.
They were both silent for a moment.
“You know, we’ll be on the phone to each other a lot,” Steve said. “A lot of the drug trade we get here starts there.”
“Always glad to forward work to you,” Danny joked.
“What are you doing about housing?” Steve asked. He hadn’t asked before. The question was too final for him. Now, he had to. “Are you staying with your aunt?”
Danny shook his head. “No. I love Aunt Clara dearly, but I
could probably put up with her for a few days before I’d go nuts. Gerry found
me a place in
“The subway’s a good way to get to know the city well,” Steve said. “But it’s a bad way to get dates.”
Danny laughed. “You know this from personal experience, don’t you?”
“Yes,” Steve said, joining in the laughter.
“I’ll figure something out, I suppose. Or
maybe not.
“Well, the women will find you, I’m sure, Danno,” Steve said.
They laughed again, then stood in silence once more. Steve looked at his friend.
“I haven’t wanted to believe it,” he said, swallowing hard.
“Neither have I,” Danny said. He half-chuckled, half choked up.
“Danno, it’s impossible to count what you’ve meant to Five-O as a police officer, and what you mean to me as a friend, and as a brother,” Steve said.
Danny looked at Steve in surprise.
“I love Mary Ann very much, you know that, but I’ve always wanted a brother,” Steve said. “Someone to teach things….To boss around,” he said with a grin.
“Then in 1965, along came this young recruit from HPD,” Steve continued, looking at Danny, who looked down and smiled. “Eager, somewhat hotheaded, a charmer…..Similar enough to me that I thought I could train him, different enough that I was afraid he was going to give me ulcers worrying about him – especially on a surfboard.”
Danny chuckled and shook his head.
“’Never get close to your employees’ is a standard rule,” Steve said. “And against everything I’d been trained, I broke it with you. I had lots of friends in the Navy……But I never knew anybody – maybe Hennesey was the closest, Gerry qualifies, too, because I’ve known him all my life – who I felt I could put absolute, complete trust in to always back me up – even when he didn’t agree with me – until you. Somebody who would truly understand what this job as a cop was like.
“I got a lot more than a great cop when you joined Five-O, Danno,” Steve said. “I did, indeed, get a brother. And whoever replaces you as second-in-command….I’m sure that person will be a good, even a great cop. But I don’t think that person will ever be what you are.”
“Steve, I don’t know what to say….” Danny said.
Steve put an arm around Danny’s shoulder. “I just wanted you to know that,” he said. “Now go home and get some rest; you’ve got a long trip tomorrow. And that’s the last order I can give you.”
They were both awake early, and Steve drove Danny to the
airport. They both sat and waited for the plane that would take Danny to
Neither had said much. “Your apartment here?” Steve asked.
“Oh, they’ll rent it to someone else,” Danny said. “Ben
bought my Mustang.” Ben Kokua was now a criminal justice professor at the
“It’s going to a good owner,” Steve said reassuringly. He knew how Danny loved the car.
“I gave my surfboards to Tim Kelly and Kono…..Kono’s little girl wants to learn to surf. He’s already calling her ‘Gidget,’” Danny said. Both men laughed.
Then Danny looked at his now former boss closely.
“Steve, I’m leaving behind my brother, too.”
Steve looked up.
“I think almost from the moment Hawaii Five-O was founded, I
wanted to be a part of it. I was just in my second year at the
“Somehow, I knew you were a no-nonsense, honorable man. And I thought, ‘That’s the type of guy I want to work for.’
Even when I went to
“I remember when you’d work with us on some of those early assignments when you were with HPD,” Steve said. “Chief Dann said he always knew we’d steal you from him one day. It took three years. I think we had our eyes on you from the moment you joined HPD.”
“We?” Danny asked.
“Chin wanted you, too,” Steve said. “He’d always say, ‘That kid’s got something.’”
Danny smiled wistfully. “I miss him,” he said. “Every day. Every moment.”
“Me, too,” Steve added.
Silence again. Then, Danny continued.
“I wanted so much to impress you….” Danny said. “There were times I wasn’t sure I was getting anywhere.”
“I would have thought I was pretty obvious,” Steve said. “I made you second-in-command, didn’t I?”
“Taking a lot of heat in the process,” Danny said.
“Yeah, well it wasn’t the first time, or the last,” Steve said.
“You showed a lot of confidence in me, over and over again, when I didn’t have any in myself,” Danny said.
He was interrupted by the public
address system. “This is the first call for boarding for United Airlines Flight
934 to Los Angles, with connections to
Both men got up and walked out to where the plane was. HPD officers on duty recognized the head and now former second-in-command of Five-O, and saluted.
“They’re saluting you, too, Danno,” Steve said. Danny smiled and looked down. “You’ve made a lot of friends in your lifetime here.”
As they got to the stairs Danny would descend to walk to the plane, the two men looked at each other once more.
“Steve—“ Danny started to say. It came out in a whisper.
He reached out and hugged Steve. “Mahalo, Aikane,” Danny said. “Thank you for everything.”
“Mahalo to you,” Steve said quietly. “Be safe. God go with you, Danno.”
Danny grabbed his bag and went down the stairs, walked to the plane, walked up the steps and gave one final salute. Steve waved back. Then, Danny entered the plane.
Steve stayed until the plane had taken off.
“Aloha, Aikane,” Steve whispered.