Chapter 2

Later, only a few attendees remained in the ballroom as the party wound down. Chin and Ben had left, and even the Governor had gone home. Steve would have been gone, too, had it not been for wanting to touch base with his second-in-command before he left for the evening.

It took a bit of searching. He knew Danny was there somewhere—his car was still in the parking lot. In his hand as he hunted, Steve strangely carried the congratulatory plaque with Danny's name inscribed on it—one of the servers had found it apparently forgotten near one of the exits.

With amusement, he briefly considered the possibility that Danny had met a female companion during the evening and left with her, but he had not seen anyone like that with him all evening. Not so much concerned as he was curious, he was checking just one last place or two before he left when he recognized the figure of a lone man out on one of the ballroom's many lanai's, intensely studying the view by moonlight. "Danno?" he called out. There was no response. Even though it was dark he was sure it was him. "Danno?" he called again. This time Danny turned toward him, so Steve spoke, "What are you doing out here? The party's over, and you forgot your plaque."

Stepping away from the lanai's railing where his hands had been propped, Danno—looking a little rumpled around the edges, Steve thought—reached out with one hand toward the plaque as Steve approached him. All at once, he stumbled and fell toward Steve, who made one big stride forward with his long legs and caught him by reaching out with both hands, even though the plaque was still in one of them.

"Hey, hey! Are you all right?" as he moved one of his arms around to the back of Danny's shoulder to support him. Danny struggled to hold up his head and stand steadily. "What's wrong, Danno?"

"Nothin'. Leave me alone." As he shook out of Steve's hold, he knocked his own plaque out of Steve's hand. It fell to the hard concrete and broke into several large pieces.

As a puzzled Steve watched, Danny clumsily reached down to pick up two of the larger pieces, one in each hand. "Well, I guess that is quite symbolic, isn't it, Mr. McGarrett?" Then he casually threw the two pieces down, where they again broke in two more pieces each. "And that very definitely is the end of that."

Confused and alarmed, Steve stepped over the fragments of the ill-fated plaque and clamored toward Danny, "What's gotten into you?"

Danny jokingly held his wrists out ready to be handcuffed, "Aren't you going to arrest me for littering?" he laughed mightily toward Steve, who was quickly coming to the conclusion that his friend was intoxicated—very.

Less panicked now but still very concerned with this sudden turn of events, Steve spoke in a serious tone, "What about 'drunk and disorderly'?" He was not happy and not joking as he stared his friend down. "How much have you had to drink?"

Danny answered too honestly, "Obviously a good bit, but the champagne wasn't strong enough. I had to start in on the hard stuff so I could really begin to feel it."

Not so much disappointed as he was dumbfounded, Steve looked his friend up and down. He felt as though he was talking to a different man than the one he had spent time with just more than an hour earlier. "Danno, somehow I suspect this is not just too much celebration. What's the matter with you?"

Looking at the bloodshot blue eyes, Steve could see Danny's mood swiftly shift from carefree to sadly careworn. "Burying my troubles, that's all."

That brought a look of dismay from Steve, who couldn't understand Danny's disposition on a night when they were honored guests. What had happened?

Looking uncharacteristically spiteful toward his boss, Danny continued. "Well, if you're not going to arrest me, I guess I'll go party some more," as he turned away and started walking unsteadily down the steps toward the parking lot, holding on to the stairway railing for dear life.

Steve hurried to block his path and held his arm. "The party here is over, and you're not going anywhere near your car. I don't want to have to scrape what's left of you up off the road later tonight."

Cruelly, Danny shouted out, "Why not? Quick and painless—hopefully. Let me go!" as he unsuccessfully tried to elbow Steve away.

Hearing such a stupid, quasi-suicidal statement come from his sensible best friend was surprising and disturbing. He reminded himself that Danno was drunk. That in itself was unusual, but his whole mood was strangely odd, and Steve couldn't quite chalk it all up to the liquor.

Commandingly, Steve said, "No, Danno! You're coming with me."

"So, you are going to arrest me?" Danno almost happily commented as they walked toward the parking lot together.

"No, I'm taking you home in my car." Steve had a firm hold on his friend's arm and wasn't letting go.

"But, I can drive…."

"Ordinarily you can, but not tonight."

"Hey … have I ever told you you scare me the way you drive?"

Steve gave Danny a serious scowling look as they lumbered along to the large Mercury, "I think you've mentioned it. C'mon."

Steve McGarrett sat in the Governor's office. Even with his superior, who was also his friend and knew him so well, his mask was in place. Stern, edgy, in control.

After the party the night before, Governor Jameson had requested Steve to come to his office first thing this morning. He was not told why.

He was surprised then, even shocked, to hear that the topic of discussion was his second-in-command, whose first-class conduct up until yesterday was without tarnish. As with all those associated with Five-O, he had an enviable professional reputation, as solid as the rock under Honolulu.

What's going on here? First last night, and now this. Steve had not shared with anyone his disturbing post-party encounter with a drunken Dan Williams. The Governor could not see the storm that surged just behind Steve's eyes.

As Governor Jameson relayed the incident at the party with Genevieve Davaut, Steve presumed, as the Governor also had, that mistaken identity was the source of the lady's discomfort. After all, Williams was a common name. But then again, something upset Danno too last night.

As usual, the Governor was animated in his description. "Before she got in the car, she told me she knew of whom she was speaking. She recognized him, as well as his name. She said he was born and raised in Hawaii and that he went to Berkeley, which is where she knew him."

It was Danno who upset her, and… probably she who upset Danno.

Around the edges of the McGarrett mask, the Governor could see something materialize – concern, disbelief, defensiveness. "Steve, do you have any idea what this is about?"

Covert about his own nervous thoughts, Steve smiled and insisted, "No, sir, none at all. In fact, I find it hard to believe that Danno could have done anything last night or ever before to have upset her. What is it exactly that he is supposed to have done to offend her so violently?"

"I don't know. She didn't tell me and was quite anxious to leave. Now look, I don't know her really at all, but her friend Carmen Espinosa, who brought her to the party, is a good friend and an important political supporter. Mrs. Davaut is likely to be a believable source. If there is someone in my administration who has any questionable background, I need to know. So, what happened at Berkeley?"

Steve protested, "But Governor, you know Danno! Whatever happened—IF it happened—her reaction could be way out of proportion. It could have been just some misunderstanding or hurt feelings…, and from that many years ago? And whatever it is, it's most likely personal, and consequently none of our business."

Leaning forward to address the Five-O head intently, the Governor maintained, "Steve, I'm telling you, I want to know."

In utter frustration with the implied accusations, Steve let his mask down perceptibly. "But it's Danno, Governor, come on!"

"Steve, don't be impertinent," Governor Jameson ordered.

Steve took a deep breath and stood to leave. "My apologies, sir. I'll talk to Danno."

"Today. Is he in the office now?" was the Governor's impatient follow-up.

Steve shuffled mentally. Time to cover. "No, sir, not yet, but he'll be in later. I'll find out what his connection is with Mrs. Davaut, and we'll go from there."

The Governor also stood and looked intently at the head of Five-O. "Steve, I want to know what you've found out, and I'll go from there. As I said before, with an election coming up, I can't have someone in my administration who is going to be found to have a problem in his past."

Narrowing his eyes with distaste and suspicion, Steve countered, "What are you saying, sir? He's my right hand and a great cop," then more softly but earnestly, "and a good man."

"I'm saying that if there is something from his past that we don't know about that is damaging in any way…," the Governor paused as if it were hard to say, "Williams is out."