Runaway Witness
Disclaimer: I do not own Hawaii 5-0. Nope, I looked and they haven't granted me ownership so I guess I am still just playing with it.
Hello, long time no see. I hope you remember me. My muse went into hibernation before the holidays and refused to talk to me for a long time. I guess she got bored though and now that she is back we will see where this one takes us. I hope you come along for the ride.
Chapter 1
Lt. Commander Steve McGarrett strode into 5-0 headquarters with a serious look on his handsome face. His team hurried out of their offices to join him at the computer table which was where he was headed. They knew he had been called to the Governor's office two hours ago and the summons had sounded serious. The look on McGarrett's face confirmed that this had not been a routine request.
"Let me guess…..Denning wasn't checking on how many tickets we would be needing for the Sustainable Coastline ball," Danny stated dryly as he stopped beside his partner as Steve was inserting a flash drive into the table.
Steve favored him with a flat stare for a moment before addressing the rest of the team and as he activated the table.
"Over the last week and a half, HPD has responded to a series of robberies that seemed to be unrelated at the time they occurred. When looking at the reports, the Governor's Chief of State Security saw some red flags and had Denning call me. The Governor wants us to make this a priority and find out if they really are linked," he informed them as he displayed the robbery reports.
"Two hardware stores, an electronics store and three gun shops," Lou read aloud. "Well I can see the gun stores setting off red flags."
"Look what went missing from the hardware stores," Chin pointed out. "Pipes, cases of nails, wire…..all the fixings for….."
"Pipe bombs," Kono finished for him gravely. "And timers and other things from the electronics store. Also several disposable cell phones. Add in the weapons and it looks like someone is planning to do a lot of damage," she added.
"Which is exactly why Denning wants us on this case," Steve pointed out.
"Does he have any thoughts on who or what the target is?" Danny asked. "It would help if we had a time frame to work with."
"That is our job to figure out. There are several high profile events in the up-coming weeks. There is the surfing competition on the North Shore in two weeks, a fashion show highlighting Hawaiian designers that will bring in many mainland designers as well the week after and then the Dole Pineapple Festival that takes place the same week as the fashion week," Steve said naming off a couple of events.
"Blowing up pineapples works for me," Danny said under his breath, making all the others chuckle but Steve. McGarrett continued as if he hadn't heard Williams.
"And then there are all the general tourist attractions that draw a lot of human targets and would cause a panic," he stated.
"Any of those events would strike at the heart of Hawaiian tourism and hurt Denning's standing in the polls. There is an election coming up this fall and he's not running unopposed," Chin said seriously.
"A bombing event certainly would not help Carson Makenna's campaign," Kono observed. "His main platform is the need to provide safety by following the law completely by the book. He doesn't approve of 5-0 and our means and immunity but he would not approve of killing innocent people just to make us look bad, would he?"
"No, not him but if we can't stop this from happening it will definitely give his platform a boost," Lou said sourly. "And we will all be out of a job if Makenna gets into office."
"Until he finds out how necessary 5-0 is," Danny pointed out.
"We can't worry about politics right now. Our job is to find these would be bombers and stop innocent lives from being lost," Steve said in an attempt to bring the focus back to the job. "No matter the reason that these bombs are going to be set off, we have to prevent it from happening."
"Do we have the security footage from any of the robberies? The gun shops for sure must have had some," Kono questioned.
"We do indeed have security footage," McGarrett nodded, happy to be back on task. Denning had been very concerned about what this could do to his re-election but his main emphasis had been to make sure no innocent lives were lost. "We do have video but our thieves were very smart, they are all wearing masks so we can't run any facial recognition. They worked in teams of four and from further study of the body shapes it appears that the same team pulled all the jobs." With a few finger strokes he brought up the videos and sent them to the overhead screens.
"It's pretty damn obvious that they cased these places before hitting them," Lou said as they watched the quartet go about their business. "They know exactly where the items they're stealing are located, there is no wasted time in any place. Did HPD check all the employee's backgrounds?"
"They did as soon as they saw the videos. Not all the checks are completed yet at the large hardware places but the gun shops and electronics checks have come back clean," McGarrett answered.
"So we have all the makings for major mayhem and no clue what the target is. I see many late hours in our future," Danny said in frustration. "So who do we talk to first, the gun shop owners or the hardware stores?" he added looking at Steve.
"Let's you and I check out the hardware and electronic stores. Chin, you and Lou go to the gun shops and get a detailed list of what was taken. Get a feel if anyone had suspicious people in there asking questions but not buying. Kono, look over these reports, make sure HPD didn't miss anything. They didn't know that the thefts might be related when they first investigated. Look for any connection between these robberies and create a timeline for us. Also, could you ask Jerry if he's heard any rumors flying around among his conspiracy theory friends? Maybe there is talk of some group with a grievance," Steve suggested.
"Sure thing Boss," Kono agreed.
"Okay, let's roll, the clock is ticking," McGarrett responded and headed for the door. Chin, Lou and Danny followed.
*H 5-0*
It was late afternoon when the men returned to compare notes. Kono looked up from the table with a tired smile.
"Please tell me my eyes are not crossed, I've been studying these reports so long I'm not sure if I'm seeing straight," she sighed. "So far all the background checks on employees have produced nothing. I have requested videos from the week before to see if any of the body shapes match our four thieves or if anyone was acting suspicious. Now I'm going through the list of employees who just retired or were recently fired, checking their backgrounds."
"Good thinking," Steve approved. "HPD was thorough so we didn't learn anything new." He looked at Chin and Grover. "How about you two?"
"They knew what they wanted, that is for sure," Chin replied. "They took semi-automatic rifles that can be converted to automatic, several AK-47s and TEC-9s. They also made off with plenty of ammunition for all the stolen weapons."
"All in all they made off with fifteen rifles and ten handguns and any conversion kits they could find," Lou added. "I'm thinking the bombs are their main plan but they're going to be heavily armed when they plant those babies. The ability to fire off as much ammo as possible seems to be their strategy since they left all the shotguns and hunting rifles untouched."
"So their goal was to take the weapons that could provide maximum damage in a short amount of time," Danny said sourly.
"This has the chance to become ugly real fast," Lou said shaking his head. "Unless we get some names to with those bodies on the videos, we have no clue how to proceed with this investigation."
"They have to have left a trail somewhere," Steve insisted. "An operation this big has to have left a footprint behind. No one is that careful."
"Then we keep digging," Kono said determinedly. "I haven't heard back from Jerry yet. Maybe he will have heard something."
"Why don't I talk to Kamekona, he may have some contacts left who may have heard a rumor. He really isn't part of this scene anymore but it can't hurt to ask," Chin said.
"Leave no stone unturned," Steve nodded. "Okay, let's have dinner delivered and we can go over the information one more time and see if anything jumps out."
*H 5-0*
In an empty storefront in a small strip mall near Waikiki, four men met on the main floor as the dusk began to fade into night. One man with dark hair and worried eyes stood facing the other three who formed a semi-circle before him. The mild looking man held up both hands in front of him as he focused his attention on the man in the middle of the group. The bulky, tall man glowered at the individual before them.
"Conrad, be reasonable. I am not about to go to the authorities and talk about your plans. I support your reasons but I just can't participate anymore," the nervous man pleaded. "I can't be involved, my conscience won't let me but I promise I won't rat you out." He was sweating profusely as he kept shifting backward a few feet. He let his gaze move to the other two men, hoping they would speak up for him. Their faces were stern in the dim light that came through small grimy windows.
"And why should we believe you Bruce?" the man named Conrad growled. His close cropped hair was salt and peppered but he had the build of a man who was strong and physically fit. "You knew our purpose from the start. You also knew from the beginning there was no walking away. Come on Bruce, you took an oath to see this through."
"I never knew that people might end up dead when you talked about bombs. It was never said that innocent people would die. I thought it would be after hours, when the places were empty. Keawe, you don't want to hurt innocents, do you?" Bruce begged.
"It's collateral damage Bruce. People don't care when a few buildings get destroyed. That doesn't rile the folks up to demand change. We have to make them care, we have to show that Denning and his 5-0 team are incompetent. This state needs proper law enforcement, not a crew of loose cannons who stomp on the rules to get quick arrests. We need cops who can make those arrests stick," Keawe said harshly, his handsome face looking fierce.
"But they do get results, even though their methods are pretty out there. I don't like how they operate but killing people isn't right," Bruce replied. "I know Makenna is running against Denning and he is the better man but this is taking things to the extreme. He wouldn't want the win this way."
"How many people get hurt when 5-0 plays fast and loose with the laws?" Conrad sneered. "Carson Makenna will restore proper law enforcement and Steve McGarrett is going to learn that he is not some national hero that can do as he pleases. He needs to go back to the Navy where they sanction his breaking the rules. We discredit 5-0 and Denning's popularity will slide and Carson will walk into the Governor's mansion."
"But at what price Conrad? If we kill innocents, we are as bad as 5-0. I can't do that. I'll keep my mouth shut but I will not stay involved in this." He turned to head for the back door.
"You can't be trusted to keep your mouth shut," Conrad announced coldly as he drew a gun from a holster under his light-weight jacket. Bruce looked back at him in shock.
"But we're friends Conrad….." he protested as Conrad fired twice, catching him square in the chest. Bruce collapsed without a sound.
In the aftermath of the shots, a thump and a muffled scream could be heard from the floor above. All three men looked up.
"Nelson, check that out. No witnesses," Conrad ordered his son who bolted for the stairway off to the left. After several long minutes of silence, there were three shots from above and then Nelson clattered down, looking frightened.
"There was a girl up there. We gotta go, I heard music coming from the back of the place next door. It shut off right after I shot the girl, the person may be calling the cops," the young man panted.
"Damn, no one is normally around after hours," Conrad said angrily. "Okay….don't panic. Wipe down the doorknobs and let's get out of here. Hurry. Do not call attention to yourself driving home, don't get stopped. Make sure your alibi is solid," he instructed Keawe.
"What about Bruce's car?" the Hawaiian native asked.
"Leave it," Conrad answered. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a couple packets of white powder. Throwing it towards the body he looked at the two others. "He got caught in a bad drug deal, that ought to cover it." Without a second look at his former friend's body, he walked to the rear entrance.
End chapter.
So there you have it. This is going to build a bit slower than some of my other stories. I promise that there will be whump later, the muse always insists but there is a stage to set and that takes a bit more time. Just look at it as more story to read. Thanks for reading, I love feedback.