It wasn't very often that Steve McGarrett had to admit he was wrong about something. After years of having served in the Navy, and even more years of being an officer of the law, McGarrett didn't just pride himself in his ability to read situations and people. It was the reason the governor trusted him so implicitly; it was the reason he was heading Five-O. He was good at his job. In the event that he would fail to correctly assess a situation, and put one of his own men in grave danger, was not a likely occurrence. As it were, the fact that it had happened at all was almost as terrifying as the unknown fate of McGarrett's second in command.
H5O
Anyone who had met him would agree that upon meeting Christian Iona, he was one of the kindest, sweetest, most charming men to ever walk the face of the earth. He was charismatic, and always knew the perfect thing to say to charm the pants off of anyone he encountered. Which was probably the reason he was such a good crook. Nobody knew it was him as he did it, and nobody suspected him once he was done. The perfect thief, so it would seem to anyone except those who worked in the offices of Hawaii Five-O.
As he wasn't any sort of threat or danger - except to the hundreds of thousands of dollars in various valuable, precious rocks he had stolen - but HPD couldn't catch him. In the several months of robberies, the humble police department hadn't even come close to finding the culprit. The case was handed over to Five-O, who begrudgingly took it. McGarrett didn't like having to spend their energies chasing after a robber, and a non-armed robber at that. Even so, the head of Five-O understood that the man was still a menace, and should be caught- and the sooner the better. He didn't want to waste any more time than he had to on a simple, petty thief. Not when they were busy trying to pin down an international drug dealer who was using children's toys to smuggle in the drugs. If it was up to Steve, their undivided attention would be given to the unpredictable drug dealer, as it had been for the past month. It wasn't up to him though, and while the Governor wanted the dealer caught just as much as McGarrett, the fact remained that the dealer had gone under the radar for some time now. It was time to move on to other things for the time being. Hence, the jewel thief.
McGarrett and his team had run themselves ragged in the past month trying to find the location of their drug dealer, so being handed such a small case, should have come as a relief. Things were never that simple with Five-O though. Being forced to abandon his previous search only made McGarrett agitated, and he through all of his frustration into solving the jewel thief caper. It was common knowledge around the office that when McGarrett's temper was flaring at his team for no particular reason, it wasn't long before Danny would get his temper up and try and level his boss out. Combine that, with the overhanging fatigue and stress that lingered, and the whole office ended up irritated and breathing fire at each other.
Though the atmosphere in the Five-O office would have seemed to prevent the detective from doing their job, it only seemed to push them to work harder. Within two days, they had the name Christian Iona and a theory that he was behind the high-end stone thieveries. Danny had gone through the security footage of the six jewelry stores that had been robbed in the past three months, and found one man had at least had a fleeting part in each video. Kono checked the man through HPD, and came back with no criminal record save for a speeding ticket at age eighteen. But they had a name. And a photo, which Chin began taking round to households that had reported missing jewelry in the past three months. Half of people who had reported the household robberies had indeed seen the nice man, Christian Iona. Most of the homes had been reported the missing valuables after a party or social event of some kind, which low and behold, had been attended by none other than Mr. Iona. None of the robbery victims could believe that the sweet gentleman who had so charmingly graced their parties had been behind their missing jewels.
Steve put out a BOLO for the six-foot, half-Hawaiian, charismatic Christian Iona, and the Five-O team issued his picture to all local jewelry stores that were possible targets. Kono and Chin began compiling a list of parties that had the potential to be robbed in the next week, and informed the hosts and hostesses of their quick fingered thief.
Three days into the search for Christian Iona, Five-O had made record time in their tracking down and search for the criminal. There was nothing for them to do but sit back and wait for Iona to make the next move.
"You're sure there is nobody that even begins to match Iona's description at his listed residence?" Steve asked Kono impatiently.
"I told you boss, the landlady, Mrs. Scottson, said she used to rent to a man who she thought resembled Iona, but he left four months ago, and she hasn't seen or heard from him since."
"He rented from her for almost five years. She mentioned they were close. He had become almost like a son to her. Why would he just leave without as much as a goodbye?" Danny pondered from his perch on Steve's desk.
"How should I know that? Maybe he just didn't care for her as much as she cared for him," Kono shot back with ire.
Danny snapped his head around. "I wasn't questioning you, it was just a thought. It doesn't really make sense, if they were as close as Mrs. Scottson said. He just leaves her one day, out of the blue without any word at all? From what everyone has told us so far, he's apparently the 'ideal man.' He's nice, considerate. Doesn't seem like the kind of guy to just abandon someone."
"Unless she's lying," Steve said. "Which is highly possible if they're as close as she claims. It would only make sense that she'd want to protect him if she knew anything."
"Maybe, boss. But the neighbors said they haven't seen him around for about four months. When Mrs. Scottson said he left," Chin said.
"Doesn't mean they aren't in contact though. He could still be calling her," Kono noted.
"Not likely," Danny said shaking his head. "There's only one phone in the building, and it isn't even in her apartment. It's in the hallway. Granted, she's usually the one to answer it, but it could be answered by anyone on the floor. I doubt he'd take a chance on calling her."
"He might if he thought there was no way we were on to him," Steve said. "But I don't think that's the way to go yet. What about the jewels? He hasn't taken any money, just jewels. Diamonds, especially. Where are they going?"
"I checked with one of my contacts, Steve. He hasn't heard anything about diamonds being sold on the black market," Chin said. "Or any jewels for that matter."
"He's raked up hundreds of thousands of dollars in jewels. If we don't catch him soon, that might just change to millions," Steve huffed, walking around his desk. He wanted this case to be over, so their attentions could be turned back to their drug dealer case. But he really just wanted to get this guy off the streets. He didn't like the way this guy worked, so smoothly and expertly. At that moment, he wanted nothing more than to find Christian Iona, and lock him up.
"Putting aside the jewelry stores, what was the atmosphere like at the parties he stole from?" Steve questioned. "The guests, the venue, the hosts. What was similar?"
"All the parties were thrown at some home. It would have been easy to slip away for a moment and take some of the host's jewels," Danny started. "And the parties were thrown in nice houses. High-end. Fancy. Lots of people lingering around. An extra, uninvited guest could virtually go unnoticed."
The phone rang.
"McGarrett."
Steve's face went from aggravated, to an edge of triumphant. He hung up the phone, and looked at his team. "We've got him!"
H5O
Cornelia Apuku's elite social gathering, had been planned for months. It was prestigiously laid out, and a salute to the parties and gatherings she had attended when she was a girl in upper New York. After marrying her Hawaiian husband, she gladly gave up that life for a still elegant, but laid-back tropical lifestyle. Still, she found herself smiling and reminiscing about those days of long ago as her fiftieth birthday approached, and her loving husband did his best to replicate the stories she had told him. The party was magnificent. It brought her back to the days of her youth, but with just enough tropical flare that had been her life for the past thirty years. It was perfect, as was the food, and the guests, she thought as she walked around the open space of their large living room. A voice from behind her startled her thoughts.
"Happy Birthday Cornelia," a tall stranger smiled down at her.
"Christian!" Cornelia exclaimed. "Oh! How are you?"
"I'm quite well. Yourself?"
"Oh, another year older. Time just seems to go as fast as you start getting older."
"Time perhaps, but not your beauty," Christian Iona flashed a smile.
Cornelia blushed. "Oh, stop."
"It's true! Why, if you weren't so happily married to Keanu, I'd ask you to marry me on the spot."
Cornelia smiled. "It's lovely to see you again, Christian."
"You as well. Oh, and I'm terribly sorry to ask, but I'm afraid I had one too many glasses of champagne. Might I use your..."
"Oh, yes of course," Cornelia leaned in quietly. "There's a restroom upstairs you can use. Third door on the left. It really is wonderful to see you again Christian. I'll try to find you later, to catch up, yes?"
Iona nodded and tipped his head at his hostess before venturing up the stairs.
H5O
McGarrett's car squealed to a stop down the street from the Apuku residence. At Steve's request, HPD had assigned a team to observe the guests entering and leaving all prime target parties. Fortunately, there were not many. Covertly watching the guests arriving at the Apuku residence, the HPD officers on call were quick to spot Iona striding into the house, like he owned the world. A call to McGarrett, and in true McGarrett style, he was there quicker than should be possible.
Steve and Danny approached the door of the Apuku house. Before either could begin to make a move, the door burst open and a woman walked out, turning and waving goodbye. The pair slid into the house as the door closed shut. No words were needed from either party to understand the plan. Find the host, inform them of the threat, find the crook, and book 'em.
Neither detective thought that events wouldn't be going as smoothly as anticipated.
Upon finding the host and hostess, McGarrett and Danny quietly began to explain the situation and produced a picture of their thief. Much to the surprising chagrin of Mrs. Apuku.
"What, Christian? Don't be absurd. Christian is an old friend, he wouldn't harm a fly," Cornelia Apuku exclaimed.
"Maybe not a fly, ma'am, but we have solid proof and evidence that this is the man behind several robberies which have occurred over the past few months," Danny quietly tried to reason.
Steve scanned the crowd of faces, none matching that of the profile of one Christian Iona. Beside him, Mrs. Apuku was raging at his second-in-command for daring to accuse such a sweet, innocent man of any illegal wrongdoing.
Chin and Kono had secured the back of the house, waiting to see if Iona would try and make a run for it. The HPD team was stationed in the front. With Steve and Danny inside, Iona quite literally had no chance of escaping.
At least, he wouldn't have, if things had been going as expected. And things absolutely were not.
A now riled up, temperamental Cornelia Apuku was losing her temper with a seemingly level-headed Danny Williams. But even Danny had his breaking point, and once he began to lose his cool, Mr. Apuku stepped in to defend his wife and her friend. The discussion quickly escalated from a quiet, contained ordeal, to a heated argument, and finally ended with a punch being thrown, and sent a sandy haired detective reeling backwards.
The chaos that ensued turned the quiet house party into a wild mess. Previously well-behaved guests began yelling, and fights began breaking out between the men. Later, Steve would compare the scene to drunken bar fights out of a western. As some of the men took to fighting, the women became frantic as they tried to reel them in. Fists were being thrown left and right. Steve and Danny began trying to settle the rambunctious crowd. Hearing the commotion, Chin, Kono, and the HPD officers burst into the house to try and calm the crowd. One man, not part of the rowdy group, came walking down the stairs, and ducked quickly out of the house. Steve saw the movement out of the corner of his eye, and he knew.
"Iona!" Stuck in the middle of a room full of people, Steve was helpless to reach the man in time.
Danny sharply turned when he heard McGarrett's yell, and putting two-and-two together, bolted out of the house in pursuit.
The party was finally tamed by the joint forces of Five-O and the HPD team, and everyone was sent on their way.
"He's gone, Steve," Danny panted, coming up to the open doorway. "He's on foot, so he has to be around here somewhere. But right now, he's gone."
"Damn."
Losing Iona, after being so very close to having him, was immensely frustrating. Steve wanted to hit a wall, but instead took the frustrations and channeled them into his work. "Find him. I want to know where he is and where he is going, and I want to know yesterday. Next time he makes a move, we're going to be there first. Have HPD set up a perimeter around this area. He might be gone, but as Danno said. He can't be far away."
"On it, boss."
Steve turned to the Apukus. "Mr. and Mrs. Apuku, I need you to check and see what is missing. He won't have taken any money, but jewels, jewelry...that he will have. My detective will go with you," he nodded at Chin.
Cornelia Apuku seemed to make a move to protest, but was silenced by her husband. "Of course, Mr. McGarrett, we'll do what we can to help." The pair disappeared upstairs. At some point, Roger Apuku had realized that there might be some truth to Five-O's claims, and wanted to try and rectify the hellish situation.
H5O
"Chin said most of her jewelry, plus family heirlooms were taken, Steve," Danny said. "She says she just can't believe her old friend is capable of such a thing."
"That seems to the key. He's the last person anyone would suspect anything from," Steve replied.
"He doesn't need to be armed or dangerous, he just needs to flash a smile," Danny mused.
"We've got HPD out looking for him, and he isn't gonna show up to another party like the Apuku's. He's got to surface sometime soon," Steve said.
"Especially since he has the means to stay hidden, he just can't really use them without alerting us," Danny agreed, stifling a yawn.
It was the day after the Apuku party/near capture of Christian Iona, and each member of Five-O were still only working on a few hours of sleep at best.
McGarrett's office door opened, and Jenny walked in with a package. "This just came for you, Steve," she said setting it down and retreating from the office.
"Thank you, Jenny," Steve walked around behind the small brown box. It was addressed to him, but had no return address. He carefully opened the flaps, and looked inside. His face hardened.
"What is it, Steve?" Danny asked, noticing the quick change in McGarrett's demeanor.
"A message, it would seem," Steve said, handing the box to his second.
Danny peered inside, and the contents made his eyebrows shoot up.
A large, perfectly round diamond was inside, settled nicely on top of a picture of Danny Williams himself. The picture was one of Danny, standing in front of Five-O. It was obviously taken from a newspaper clipping. Written across the photo, were the words.
BACK OFF.
Danny looked up at Steve. "A threat? That doesn't really make sense for Iona."
"Which is why I'm wondering if it even is a threat," Steve said. "It might just be a message. One he thinks will come across loud and clear, and we will go ahead and back off."
"What makes you think he isn't bluffing?"
"Call it a feeling, Danno. Nothing he's done so far has shown us he's dangerous, or willing to go to extreme measures to avoid getting caught."
Danny considered that, and relented. "That, and why risk even more jail time and punishment? Even though he's a skilled one, he's just a thief. We can't lock him up forever for that."
"Precisely. Attempting to send a message through a veiled threat, isn't going to work. No. No, we're not going to back off. Not a chance. We're going to catch him, Danno." Steve said. "I'm calling his bluff."
H5O
Aloha! Feels like it's been years since I've wrote with these characters (never mind the fact that it actually has been years). That being said, I apologize profusely for my rustiness and if anything seems a little off or out of character. I'm trying to get back in the swing of things! Part of this story was among a bunch of half-thought out ideas I had stashed away deep within the files of my computer. I finally decided it was high time I dust those babies off, and pick-up doing something that I really enjoy. So here's my first attempt. Again, hope it isn't too botched, and I sincerely hope you enjoyed it! There's one more chapter at least, maybe two, depending on how I end up feeling like splitting the story up. Thanks for reading and reviewing!