One Small Step
by
Sylvia
(Missing scenes and epilogue to “The Singapore File”)
July 20, 1969
As Neil Armstrong stood on the porch of the lunar module Eagle, Steve McGarrett and Nicole Wylie
watched on television in a house roughly 300,000 miles away, in
“I’m going to step off the LEM now,” Armstrong said, and did. “That’s one small step for …man, one giant leap for mankind.”
“Amazing,” Nicole said.
“Absolutely,” Steve agreed. “That Armstrong’s something else.”
“Do you know him?” Nicole asked.
“Some,” Steve said. “He served in
“How much more do you know about them?” Nicole asked.
“Enough that Five-O is on standby for their landing plans later in the week,” Steve said, smiling and looking at her.
“Is there anything you don’t know, Steve McGarrett?”
“Yeah,” Steve said. “But you’re going to change that.”
It had been a few days since Steve, Nicole and Chin Ho Kelly
had returned from the
Danny Williams and Kono Kalakaua, with help from the Honolulu Police Department, had done a thorough job of busting Ravasco’s operations. The same day Steve, Nicole and Chin were winging their way back across the Pacific, Danny, Kono and HPD were arresting dozens of Ravasco’s helpers, right down to drivers and shipping clerks. Five-O had both the attorney general’s office and district attorney’s office working overtime on those cases.
However, Steve, not leaving anything to chance, still arranged for Nicole to stay in a safe house, which they were both in right now. Two HPD officers were guarding her on a 24-hour basis. Steve was also there for most of those hours, knowing he had her trust. When he wasn’t there, Chin was. It was with Chin that Nicole had watched the moon landing earlier that day. When she expressed regret that he wasn’t with his family to watch, he said, “That’s OK…..I get away from all the yelling.” She laughed.
The veteran officer had already won Nicole over with his
sense of humor. When he, Steve and Nicole had gotten into a police car to go to
the airport in
Steve and Nicole, who had used the names “Mr. and Mrs. Henry Collins” in their journey to escape Ravasco’s thugs, had burst out laughing.
“Next time, we come on the American plan,” Steve had said. “Right Mrs. Collins?” he added, taking Nicole’s hands in his.
“Right, Mr. Collins,” Nicole had responded.
At the safe house, Steve had been gentle toward her, as he had been during their long trip, but still very much on duty. Nicole kept recalling that last night in the ship’s cabin, when they had kissed, and Steve had pulled away. She also recalled the following day on the truck, when he handed her the flowers.
Steve McGarrett was unlike any cop, or any man, she had met before. I do trust you. I’ve never said that to any other man, she had said. Indeed, it was so.
“A penny for your thoughts, Nicole,” Steve said, bringing her back to the present.
“They’re across an ocean,” she said, looking directly at him.
“Ah, the past. What ever happened to ‘Let’s talk about the future when we get there?’” Steve asked kiddingly.
“Those were your words,” Nicole said. Steve smiled.
On the television, astronaut Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin was now taking his first steps on the moon, calling it “magnificent desolation.”
“How appropriate,” Nicole said. “He just described my emotions for the last few years. Magnificent desolation.”
Along with the rest of the world, Steve and Nicole watched the planting of the American flag, the phone call from President Nixon and the two astronauts unveiling the scientific experiments. A couple of hours later, after the crew had gotten back into the lunar module, Steve turned off the television.
In the quiet that followed, Nicole seemed lost in thought again.
“OK, Miss Wylie, want to tell me now what you were running from?” Steve asked.
“The cop is back,” Nicole said, smiling.
“He never goes very far,” Steve said, looking intently at her. “Especially when he’s looking at a missing heiress.”
Nicole smiled wryly and looked at Steve. He nodded.
“That’s right,” he said. “Your fiancé had put out word more than a year ago.”
“He was afraid of losing his incoming assets,” Nicole said. She stood up and began to pace.
“God, I could use a drink now,” she said.
“Juice? Water? Coffee? Tea? Considering the hour, maybe a glass of milk?” Steve asked, a slight smile on his face.
Nicole sat back down next to him. “Boy, you don’t make it easy,” she said.
“Talking about it does,” Steve said.
“OK, Dr. McGarrett,” Nicole said. Steve smiled.
“Yes, I’m the daughter of Bertram Wylie, king of Wylie
Industries, Incorporated, of
Steve smirked at her reference to her fiancé. “You can use a stronger description, if you wish, Nicole,” he said. “You’re not on the witness stand yet.”
“That’s OK, Steve. I’ve already called both of them every name in the book….mostly to their faces,” Nicole said. “I notice you’re not shocked.”
“I’m long past shocked about a lot of things,” Steve said. “But go on.”
“Well, I was to the manor born,” Nicole said. “My parents, when they weren’t busy cheating on each other, or throwing me at the first nanny who came along, were trying to raise me to live the exact same dishonest, ulcer-inducing life they had.
“They sent me to a boarding school and a woman’s college, where I didn’t learn very much, except backstabbing,” she continued. “I graduated with honors, of course, and came back to attend all the social events of the seasons…..One season and one social event melted into the next.
“The same with men. ‘Go towards that one,’ my parents, or my social set, often said when there was a good-looking, empty-headed and full-pocketed fellow at a party. So I did. And then one of them, Mr. Grayson, proposed a merger – well, he called it a marriage.
“Then came the day of the engagement party,” Nicole continued, looking at Steve. “My father started introducing us, sounding all the while like he was addressing the company’s board of directors. Well, actually, he was….They were all at the party.”
Steve shook his head.
“The more he talked, the more I started to feel like I was in a prison I couldn’t get out of….Have you ever felt that way?” Nicole asked.
Steve nodded.
“I couldn’t breathe,” Nicole said, staring straight ahead. “He just went on and on…..Finally, I ran out of the room, out of there. I went up to my room, locked the door and started to pack. My parents came after me, banging on the door, and so did Mark, but I just ignored them. That night, I climbed out the window with my suitcase, like you see in the movies, throwing it on the ground and throwing myself after it, walked to the bus station…..I’d never taken a bus before…..and went across America, either taking city buses or with my thumb up.
“I got all the way to
“Well, most of the rest,” Steve said. “How did you come to
‘earn a living,’ as you put it, in
Nicole took a deep breath and looked at Steve. There was no judging in his expression, just a wish to learn. She clasped her hands and continued.
“I took money from my own bank account to get the plane ticket,” she said. “That was the last of it – at least from my family’s money. The moment I left the house, my father cut off any other distributions.
“I got to
“You sew a pretty mean jacket,” Steve said, putting a hand over hers.
Nicole chuckled. “Actually, I can do some sewing….I like to…..But it’s seen as an occupation ‘not worthy of a Wylie,’” she said, adopting an imperious tone. “But I couldn’t get a job as a seamstress there; that’s open to native women. I went to a bar, hoping to get hired as a hostess…..And well…….maybe I didn’t think I was worth anything more at the time than what I turned into. But I earned enough money to live on…..and, yes, to drink on.
“Then Vincent showed up, and I remembered that I had something to live for…..I just wasn’t sure what it was yet.” Nicole looked at their joined hands, then at Steve’s face. “I still don’t.”
“Well, for one thing, you literally saw something out of this world today,” Steve said, motioning at the television. “Aren’t you glad of that?”
Nicole nodded. “I am,” she said. “But I think I need an epiphany a little more down to earth.”
Steve smiled. “We’ll help you with that,” he said.
Several days later
“Do you want a drink of water, Miss Wylie?” Danny Williams asked.
“No, thank you,” she said, smiling at the young detective. They were sitting on a bench outside the courtroom where Ravasco’s trial was going on. Danny, Chin, Kono and several HPD officers were standing guard.
Nicole was nervous, but seeing Danny more nervous than she was relaxed her somehow.
“Hey, what’s the worst that can happen?” she asked lightly.
“You don’t want to know,” Danny said, then kicked himself.
“Oh, goodie,” Nicole said. “Just tell me, Detective Williams.”
“It’ll keep,” Danny said.
Chin walked up to them. “Miss Wylie’s next on the list. Steve’ll come out to get you,” he said kindly.
“Thank you,” she said, standing up. Danny also stood.
“What I wouldn’t do for a cigarette about now,” Nicole said.
“I know what you mean,” Danny said. They both chuckled.
“I quit about a year ago,” Danny said.
“I quit about a week ago,” Nicole said. She looked at Danny and smiled. “Something tells me we have the same coach.”
Danny grinned. “Steve has that effect on people.”
“Ah, there he is now,” Nicole said, as Steve walked out of the courtroom. “Ready for me, Coach?”
Steve looked puzzled. “Coach?”
“That’s for your efforts to get people to quit smoking,” Danny said.
Steve smiled. “Well, I’ve got one success story,” he said, patting his second-in-command on the shoulder.
“The jury’s out on the other one,” Nicole said.
Steve put his hands over hers. “Danno, can we have a minute?” he asked, looking at Nicole all the while.
“Yeah,” Danny said, stepping away to talk to Chin.
“Ready?” Steve asked.
Nicole nodded. “I think so,” she said. “Detective Williams was about to tell me about the worst thing that can happen to a witness.”
“It’ll keep,” Steve said.
“That’s exactly what he said,” Nicole responded. “Maybe I really don’t want to know.”
Steve squeezed her hands. “You’ll do fine,” he reassured her. “Just go in there and tell them the whole truth. John Manicote went over everything with you.”
“Yes he did,” Nicole said. “He also said Ravasco’s attorney will challenge me on everything about my lifestyle except the toothpaste I use.”
“After what I got on that ship, they may even challenge you on that,” Steve joked. Nicole smiled.
“Thanks, Steve,” she said.
Knock ‘em dead, lady,” he whispered.
A bailiff came out and nodded to Steve. “Here we go,” Steve said to Nicole. The bailiff held the door open as Nicole, Steve, Danny and Chin walked in.
“Who is your next witness?” Judge Kalima asked Manicote.
“The people call Nicole Wylie to the stand,” Manicote said.
Nicole walked to the stand, while Steve, Danny and Chin sat behind the district attorney’s table. Kono stayed near the back of the courtroom in case any emergencies arose.
“Would you please raise your right hand?” the bailiff at the stand asked. Nicole did, swearing to tell the truth.
“State your name for the record,” the bailiff said.
“Nicole Denise Wylie,” she said.
“Official address?” the bailiff asked.
“Landsdown Manor,
Danny looked at Steve in surprise. “Ritzy digs,” he said.
“Yeah,” Steve said. “Long story.”
Manicote walked over to Nicole. “You’ve had a long journey,” he said.
“Yes, sir,” she responded.
“Would you please tell the court how you happened to wind up
in
Nicole recounted the story she’d told Steve several days before. The revelation of her family ties got the court buzzing, and the judge banging his gavel for silence.
She then recounted her meeting with Ravasco,
and the trip to
“Miss Wylie, were you aware of what Ravasco was doing?” Manicote asked.
“Not the details,” Nicole said. “Usually, when he’d start talking with others, he’d say, ‘Baby, get out of the room.’ And I did.”
“Did you know he was a mobster?” Manicote continued.
“Yes…Yes…” Nicole said.
“Why did you stay with him?”
“I had gotten to the point where even a dangerous man was better than one who would strip me of my soul,” Nicole said. “The irony, of course, was that Ravasco was also stripping me of my soul.”
The courtroom buzzed again, prompting the judge to gavel again.
“Let’s talk about the night of the murder,” Manicote said. “What happened?”
“Ravasco took me to a party near
“I heard a loud argument – Ravasco and Harvey,” she added. “I walked into a room opposite the one they were in, I saw Ravasco pull out a gun, and shoot. He looked up and saw me.
“And I just ran,” Nicole continued. “Ran out of the house, down the street. I took a cab to the Honolulu Police Department. I didn’t even have the money to pay the cabdriver. He got me there, and a nice sergeant….Sgt. Lukela,” she said, waving an arm at the silver-haired officer, Edward “Duke” Lukela, sitting behind Steve, Danny and Chin, “…He paid my cab fare and brought Mr. McGarrett over to see me.”
She looked at Steve. He nodded at her, as if encouraging her to continue.
“Mr. McGarrett told me he …. Five-O …could protect me,” Nicole went on. “But I was so scared; I just couldn’t bring myself to trust him. He put me in a safe house for the night. I couldn’t get to sleep. Later that night, I asked the police officer guarding me to check, because I’d heard a noise outside. I hadn’t heard anything, but I took the chance to sneak out.
“I got to the docks and stowed away on a freighter bound for
She stared into space for a moment, then looked at Manicote. “But Ravasco found me through his killers.”
She recounted the flight she and Steve had taken to safety.
“Thank you, Miss Wylie,” Manicotte said. “No further questions.”
Ravasco’s attorney, Gene Gold, stepped in front of Nicole. She stole a glance to find Ravasco sneering at her.
In his seat, Steve pressed his fingers together. Stay cool, Nicole, he thought to himself. Remember what we talked about.
Gold stepped in front of her. “You had a very long trip, didn’t you Miss Wylie?” he asked, with a condescending tone.
“Yes,” Nicole said.
“And you didn’t have to take any of it…..Not the one through
You’re a smart woman, a college graduate, Miss Wylie,” Gold sneered. “Just what prompted you to take off the way you did? You could have escaped a bad marriage. You had money.”
Nicole was silent, staring at Gold. Atta girl, thought Steve.
Manicote stood up. “Objection, Your Honor,” he said. “Where is this leading?”
“Good question, Mr. Manicote,” the judge said. “Mr. Gold, is there a question in all this?”
“Yes. What was your aim here, Miss Wylie?” Gold asked. “Trying to keep someone’s goods when you couldn’t get it from your family?”
“Your honor,” Manicote shot up again.
“Objection sustained,” the judge said. “Mr. Gold, if you have no change in your questions, I’ll excuse this witness.”
“No further questions,” Gold said, trying not to look at his client.
“The witness is dismissed,” the judge said, a little surprised.
So were the Five-O detectives. “He’s mutinied against Ravasco,” Danny whispered to Steve. “Who would’ve thought?”
Ravasco obviously thought so, too. “What the hell was that?!” he snarled at Gold. “You call yourself a defense lawyer?!”
Nicole stood and stepped off the witness stand. As she passed the prosecution and defense tables, she avoided looking in either direction.
Ravasco couldn’t contain his anger any more.
“Whore!” he screamed at Nicole. “Whore!”
As the judge banged his gavel and warned Gold about his client’s conduct, Steve and Chin got Nicole out quickly, while Danny and Kono stayed behind, making sure Ravasco didn’t get out of hand.
“You called it, Cop,” Nicole said when they had gotten outside the door. “You predicted everything that was going to go on in that courtroom - right down to Ravasco yelling at me.”
“I didn’t predict his attorney waving the white flag, though,” Steve said, still shaking his head at Gold’s retreat. “It’s a tribute to John, I think…and you.”
“They were just going to try to throw a monkey wrench in my credibility in front of the jury,” Nicole said, also shaking her head.
“And you did very well, lady,” Steve said. “Let’s go.”
That afternoon
“Wake up, Sleeping Beauty.”
From the fog of sleep, Nicole woke up to see Steve’s face above her. When they’d gotten back to the safe house, Nicole had suddenly felt so worn out from that morning’s testimony that she’d lain down on the couch for a nap.
“I thought Sleeping Beauty was supposed to be woken up with a kiss,” Nicole said.
She could see a battle going on in Steve’s eyes, similar to the way he had looked on the ship when they kissed.
“But I’ll settle for lunch,” she added hastily.
Steve smiled. “You got it,” he said.
They went to the kitchen and prepared sandwiches. While they fixed lunch, the phone rang.
“Hello,” Steve said, avoiding his usual last-name greeting. As long as the trial was still going on, he was playing things low-key.
“Yeah, Danno?” Nicole noticed the expression on Steve’s face change from all business to relief, then a smile, as he listened to Danny Williams on the other end of the line.
“Mahalo, Danno,” Steve said. “Thanks.” He hung up and looked at Nicole.
“Good news, I hope?” Nicole asked.
Steve took Nicole’s hands in his. “Guilty. On all counts,” he said.
She sighed. “Thank God,” she said.
Steve opened his arms, and Nicole walked into his embrace. The ordeal was over.
Why do I feel so shy? Nicole thought, as she sat at the restaurant table.
The Ravasco verdict meant she could finally be liberated from the safe house, at least a
little bit. Steve didn’t want to parade her out in public before she went back
to
Nicole looked through the closet at the items Jenny had bought for her, which Chin had brought to the house earlier in the week.
“I have daughters, so I’m used to this,” he had joked.
Nicole had left
She came out to find, to her surprise, Steve dressed in a red-and-white floral, long-sleeved Hawaiian shirt and white pants.
“That shocking?” he asked at her startled gaze.
“Is this what you wear when you’re off duty?” she asked.
“Sometimes,” he said. He presented her with white plumerias, which she put in her hair. “Sometimes I even wear it on duty.”
“I’m sorry to hear that,” Nicole said. Steve smiled and walked her to the car.
As he drove, Nicole thought a moment, then asked, “Steve? What is it that you and Danny Williams didn’t want to tell me about a witness?”
Steve thought a moment. “Oh,” he said. On the way to the restaurant, he told her about Mary Travers, the bookkeeper who had been willing to testify against the corrupt mobster Leonard Tokura and had been murdered, dying in the courtroom when her lipstick was poisoned on Tokura’s order.
“I’m so glad you didn’t tell me that before I walked in there,” she said. “That poor woman.”
Steve nodded. “We didn’t want to take any chances. I don’t think Ravasco is that sophisticated, but we were being especially careful.”
He paused.
“And you did a great job today, Nicole,” he said. “You should be proud of yourself.”
“Thanks,” she said. “And thank you and your men for keeping me alive.”
At the restaurant, they gave their orders and sat at the candlelit table. She looked up and caught Steve’s gaze. The cop was never entirely gone, but his gaze also included appreciation.
“I never told you how lovely you look,” he said.
She blushed, hoping he didn’t catch it in the dim light. “Thanks,” she said.
“What are you going to do once you get to
Nicole thought a moment. “Well, I will go to my parents’ house,” she said. “And after they give me the requisite boot-in-the-butt, I guess I’ll have to go out and start hunting for work and a new place to live.”
“Are you so sure they’ll react that way?” Steve asked.
“Yes, Steve,” she said. “Especially after today. Especially after word of my testimony gets to the local papers there.”
“You don’t sound too sorry,” Steve said. What a shame to have parents like that, he thought. The more he had studied the background of the Wylie family, the more cutthroat they sounded.
“I’m not,” Nicole said. “As scary as this has been, it – you – have given me the chance to start over.”
Steve smiled, but thought about losing his own father when he was 13, what he would have given to have him back again, and the love his parents had showered on him and Mary Ann in those few years. How could any parents waste such a thing?
“Penny for your thoughts,” Nicole said.
“Here and there,” Steve said.
“Now Steve, I haven’t known you long, but I do know you well enough to know that your thoughts are never ‘here and there,’” Nicole said.
“Your family,” he said, startling her. “How they could just go without loving their own child – it seems that way, anyhow.”
Nicole smiled. “Steve, that’s the nicest thing anyone has said to me. And you and your detectives have said quite a few nice things this week.”
“Which of my detectives have been saying nice things? I’ll report them,” said Steve, grinning. Nicole laughed, then turned serious.
“Thank all of you for your kindness this week,” Nicole said softly.
Steve reached across the table and took her hand. For a moment, they gazed at each other.
“It’s our pleasure,” he said, his voice low, as the food arrived.
As they ate, Steve said, “I have a friend in Chicago, Sam Bell. He’s a retired cop. I’ll give you his address and phone number. He helps people who are trying to make their way back from all sorts of things.”
Nicole leaned her head on her right hand. “How am I going to repay you for all of this?” she asked.
Steve smiled. “Gratitude is not only the greatest of
virtues, but the parent of all others,” he said.
“And what, Mr. McGarrett, does
“Two things, Miss Wylie,” Steve said. “First, it means consider your debt paid. And second, it’s gratifying to know the lady knows her literature.”
“I paid attention to some things in class,” Nicole said. “Actually, it was just to read about people having worse lives than mine.”
“Well, you’ve obviously read about better ones, too,” Steve said. “It’ll be good practice for you.”
After dinner, Steve drove back to the safe house, where he and Nicole went for a walk on the beach, hand in hand.
“See, now this is the
“It happens every day here,” Steve said.
He led Nicole by the hand to the back of the house, and sat on a bench on the lanai. They both sat quietly for a while, listening to the waves against the shore.
They looked at each other.
“I’m glad to be finally able to enjoy this,” Nicole said, indicating the outdoors, the ocean, and the star-filled night.
“Me, too,” Steve said. “I wish I could show you more of
I wish I didn’t have
to go, Nicole thought, but knew she must. There were items to address with
her family – such as it was – in
Someday….
She looked up at Steve, into the penetrating blue eyes.
Nicole could no longer deny to herself that for the first, and maybe last, time
in her life, she had fallen in love. She felt like she had found a soulmate in the tough Irish cop who worked at the
She also knew that for many reasons, he couldn’t return her feelings, at least not right now. But she knew he cared for her. That was also in his eyes.
“Nicole,” he whispered, leaned in and kissed her. They put their arms around each other as they kissed.
When they broke the kiss, she put her head on his shoulder, and listened for a moment to the sound of his breathing and the ocean waves. He stroked her hair.
I wish I never had to leave, she thought.
She lifted her head and looked into his eyes again. “Steve,” she whispered.
He kissed her again, with more urgency. When they broke apart, he looked at her, a question in his eyes. She gave a slight nod.
Steve stood up and held out a hand to her. She took it and walked with him into the house. He closed the door.
The next day (just
after the last scene in the episode)
Nicole sat in her airplane seat, looking out the window to the gate where Steve still stood. She knew he would be there until the plane took off.
As it began to taxi, she kept looking back until Steve was out of her view. She then sat back in her seat, fingering the lei he had slipped around her neck just before they had said goodbye.
Aloha, pretty girl……
His baritone voice rang in her ears. She continued to touch the flowery necklace, which seemed to serve now as a silent sentry.
Next time you have a
vacation, try
“Aloha, Steve, my love,” she whispered. “Someday….”
One month later
“Here’s the mail, boss,” Jenny said, handing it to Steve in his office. “Coffee’s coming up.”
“Thanks, Love,” he said, sorting absently through it. Three
invitations to upcoming functions, a notification of a conference on the
mainland….and a letter from
Nicole.
He set the others aside, opened that one and began to read:
“Dear Steve,
I just wanted to
update you on how it’s been going for me here. The first thing I did when I got
back was head for the manor. Predictably, neither my father nor my mother cared
to see me. My mother sent a butler out with word that I disgraced the family
and I was not to show up on their doorstep again.”
Steve stopped reading and cursed. He took a breath and continued.
“So, I contacted
Detective
And guess what? Debra, who just graduated from
business school, has opened a store called Having a
Ball. It features evening gowns and fancy dresses. Beautiful things, the kind I
used to wear. Anyway, Debra has hired me as a clerk and seamstress.”
Steve smiled, remembering the jacket Nicole had sewed while they’d been on the boat. Her work had held up pretty well. When he’d finally gotten that jacket to the cleaners, Mai, the shop owner, gave it back to him with the words, “Whoever repaired this for you is first-rate.” The tailor who had finished fixing the jacket said the same thing.
He returned to the letter.
“I’ve never had
training as a clerk, but Debra said she’d be glad to teach me. I’m having a
great time. And I’ve found a new apartment for myself.
Small, but pretty, and with a lovely view of a courtyard.
That’s my small step-not necessarily for mankind, or womankind, but definitely
for me.”
He smiled and read the ending:
Say hello to your
detectives. And thanks again so much to you and them
for giving me back my life.
Fondly,
Nicole”
Satisfied, he folded the letter, put it in its envelope, opened a desk drawer and put it away. He leaned back in his chair.
“Until we meet again, pretty girl,” he said aloud.
(Fun real life notes:
In the interview Heather Henderson conducted with Marj
Dusay, who played Nicole Wylie in “The