I do not own Hawaii Five-0 or any characters. No copyright infringement intended.
Notes: This story is a strong collaboration between me and CinderH. The core plot of this story is all CinderH's doing and our muses took a collective hold to build on the plot bunny.
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Dangerous Dealings - Chapter 1
Danny was angry. The anger began a little more than a month earlier after reading up on Five-0's latest case and honestly, it wasn't just him but the entire team felt the exact same way. Sergeant Duke Lukela had asked for assistance based on the potential size of the drug ring working behind the scenes. He didn't want to leave any rock unturned or accidentally make any mistakes that would allow a single evil soul to pass through their fingers. Everyone wanted these guys because they were selling drugs to school children through a sneaky network of dealers. Their reach had grown and one dealer in particular was proving more treacherous each passing day. He was ruthless and dangerous, and didn't care if it was a kid or an adult as long as impressions were made and cash was pocketed.
So the team was eager that following week after Kamekona called with a lead – a solid lead that would bring them Dane Schneider on a silver platter and unravel the network. The warehouses were huge consisting of three separate, older buildings spaced out over one acre. It was late on a Friday afternoon and thunder rumbled off in the distance, the threat of heavy rain now more than a possibility. Opening the trunk of his silver Camaro, Detective Danny Williams grumbled under his breath about having to give up an afternoon with his daughter, Grace.
But he was also anxious to bring the ringleader to justice and his palms virtually itched in anticipation of grabbing Schneider by his slimy shirt collar.
"Danny, I'm sorry about Grace. I almost wish Kamekona hadn't called until Monday with the tip that this was where Schneider hung his shingle." Steve said to his partner and best friend as he came up behind him.
"What the..." Deep in his thoughts Danny jumped, startled when Steve spoke practically in his left ear. "Freakin ninja! I've told you before to not sneak up on me like that." Pulling out both his and his partner's Kevlar vests from the truck, he continued with a rueful sound that Steve had actually heard his quiet mumblings about his daughter.
"What, you have super sonic hearing too? And it's alright." Danny's tone was serious and he was focused as he checked his weapon and communications ear bud.
"Well, not really alright, but we can't have this guy doling his junk out to school kids. Grace understands. Let's get this guy." He didn't need to add that Grace understood because the she knew the boy who had been injured by dangerously laced drugs. It was horrifying to Danny that the boy was only in the grade above his daughter's. There was no doubt by now that the entire team was well aware of their case's most recent history.
Danny had been at HPD two weeks prior when Sergeant Duke Lukela received a call from a local grade school principal to inform them that Schneider had been spotted hanging around the grounds. That one sloppy sighting was enough to begin their stake out operation, build a growing file of habits, acquaintances and proof. And now with Kamekona's tip, there was some undeniable excitement in the air because they expected two of the dealer's primary partners to also be meeting in the warehouse that night.
"Oh they aren't the only school we have heard from, Danny." Duke had told him. "Last week I received a phone call from Maryknoll and another from Sacred Heart. We just haven't been able to grab him yet."
Danny's face had turned stormy with the news and he'd spat the words out angrily. "Sacred Heart? That's where my daughter goes to school."
"Yes, I know and you aren't going to like the latest. A child injured himself." Duke turned towards his computer and started printing the file.
"What happened? Who got hurt?" By now Danny was outraged and tersely growling out the words as be leaned over Duke's shoulder. He handed the document to Danny as he summarized the story.
"A twelve year old and his friend bought some pot off him, just testing the waters, but Schneider had laced it with something stronger. Both attend Sacred Heart. One boy said he felt weightless and decided to see if he could float off the roof of his house. He was lucky, only ending up with a broken leg. We're afraid someone is going to be hurt badly .. or god forbid, something even worse..
Though any grade school was tragic, it was made worse by touching Grace's own school. Her supposed safe haven. After that, Danny made it his mission to catch Dane Schneider and they almost had him twice to rights earlier that same week. The case was grating on everyone's nerves since they had been so close. But by the slimmest of chances, Schneider had managed each time to get away from either Five-0 or HPD.
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The team assembled quickly and quietly on the opposite side of the large complex. Their remote parking location provided them cover due to a large copse of trees. An old narrow dirt path nearly hidden in the heavy foliage would lead them to the back bays of the main warehouse building. Intentionally keeping the operation small that night, Five-0 had what they thought would be rock solid plans. However, Duke knew their location and every planned move down to the millisecond as he anxiously awaited their update.
They had two hours to sweep the area and ready for Schneider's meet in the largest building. So Steve was abrupt as he gave last minute instructions and they split into two halves.
"Let's go. Like we discussed. Chin, you and Kono move out to the last building on the end. Keep an eye and ear towards the loading dock area in case there are any surprises. Danny and I will sweep the two smaller buildings and work our way towards you. Once we confirm that the place is empty, we reconvene at the east end and wait."
The complex was silent as they split up and surveyed their assigned destinations. Danny made a face as the thunder sounded closer and light became dimmer from the darkening cloud cover.
Glancing to Steve, he nodded to take the far left door as Steve took the center so they could quickly do their sweep. Slowly edging inside with gun drawn, he looked around the interior of the dark, gloomy building. Unexpectedly, the small warehouse was divided into several smaller storage rooms and he grinned when he caught Steve's annoyed groan.
Clearing several empty rooms at once, Danny stopped and looked closely at the bigger open space of the huge warehouse. It was difficult to see all of the eerily dark recesses due to the gloomy shadows and fading light, but there were two sets of stairs on different sides of the building going to a second floor. Another unexpected architectural issue that they were faced with and Danny opened his communications link.
"So, it just gets better and better. None of this was on the plans." He whispered to Steve and once again heard the annoyance in the short reply.
"Let's go up." The aggrieved sigh ended the communication as each man reluctantly took a side that would separate them even more. And it seemed straight forward enough as Danny tracked the railing that ran around the upper floor with an open view looking down onto the lower level.
Silently jogging up the stairs, Danny lost sight of his partner as the staircase turned back onto itself like a switch-back on a trail. Halfway to the second floor, he looked down and saw several large stacks of what appeared to be empty cardboard boxes and large rolls of plastic back down in the main warehouse area. Danny continued up and then hesitated on the landing. On his left was a series of small offices. And to his right, the railing opened up as he knew to the main floor. He could look across the way and barely see Steve mirroring his location. The two shared a thumbs up signal as they crept along each side.
Suddenly his ear bud crackled to life as Kono broke radio silence. "Five 0! Freeze!" She shouted loudly. "I said freeze, don't any of you move again or I'll shoot!"
Danny and Steve froze in place as they listened to Chin react to his cousin's demands. Tapping his device in an attempt to clear the static, Danny scowled as he caught what seemed like every other word.
"Kono, I'm on my way. Can you hold them?" Chin asked. A long silence followed and Steve became impatient.
"Report." He whispered harshly as he waved through the gloom to Danny to retreat back down and move back to join them. "Report. We're coming over now."
But they slowed before they even hit the top of the staircase as Kono's disgusted voice came over the air. "False alarm." She said sounding embarrassed. "Continue as planned."
"What was it?" Chin practically hissed the question at his cousin. Through static and broken sound, Danny grinned at Kono's embarrassed reply.
"Uh... raccoons." she replied slowly with a trace of humor in her voice. At Chin and Steve's soft chuckles, she explained further. "Not my fault. They're about 5 feet off the ground on boxes. Give me a break! The light isn't so good in here."
"Copy that." Steve grinned back with concealed laughter in his voice. With a wave, he indicated to Danny that they would finish their sweep. But he completely missed Danny's emphatic gesture that his device was acting up.
"Steve." Danny whispered into the link. "Hey. Steven." And he rolled his eyes as he realized the device was more defective than he originally thought when the man didn't even look up from the other side of the second floor.
Taking it off and trying to encourage some sort of signal, Danny cursed the device before slamming it back into place. At least he could hear some of the communications but he'd have to swing by the cars for a backup. "Damn it."
Soon, Steve's voice crackled faintly over the ear mike. "Dan..?...find an..thing o...ht...?"
Complaining disgustedly under his breath, Danny shook his head as he failed again at catching Steve's eye. Once again, they had moved briefly out of their mutual line of sight. Hurrying now, Danny knew Steve would worry as soon as he realized the lack of response could mean trouble.
In his haste to cross his side for the second set of stairs leading back down to the main warehouse floor, he didn't notice the dark shape tracking him from the shadows. Moving low and steady, the excited gleam of Schneider's eyes followed the Detective. He knew that the man's partner was on the other side but the layout of the second floor would limit his ability to respond. He wanted Williams and he wanted him badly. Feet on the street had pegged the Five-0 Detective as the most persistent and closest to apprehending the dealer and his cohorts. Kamekona's intel was truthful but partly fabricated since Schneider had intentionally set the trap for the team .. and specifically to get Williams. And he'd been waiting the entire day just for them to arrive.
And as his target paused to survey the warehouse and then the opposite side of the second floor before beginning down, Schneider struck. The force of his body slammed purposefully into Danny hard and the unexpected blow sent him flailing down the staircase.
~ to be continued ~