Chapter 2
3 Days Later; West Wind Gallery, Honolulu
Danny winced at the bright lights on one of the "art pieces" as it flash in front of him. He didn't understand modern art at all. It all looked like garbage or something a child younger than Grace could do. Certainly none of this, the giant winking eye, the sculpture of a fish head coming out of a theatre mask, or the three rectangular canvases painted blue with a single strip of white down the center, looked like something people would be spending hundreds of dollars on. Hell, some of it looked like the "artist" had simply gone dumpster diving and put a price tag on it.
He couldn't tell if Chin agreed with him or not. The Korean man was damned good at keeping a neutral expression on his face as they made their way through the crowd, past Meka and Amy, and Duke and John.
"So this is the 'Apocalypse of Moana As Seen Through The Eyes Of A Misanthropic Deity.' What is that even supposed to mean," thinned Danny.
Chin shrugged, obviously as confused as Danny over the title.
"You known, Grace, used to paint stuff like this in kindergarten."
Chin chuckled and looked around. "She might have a future in art."
Danny snorted. "She'd be better off not to. My youngest sister tried to go into art. She was damned good at painting. Couldn't sell any of it 'cause people just want crap like this rather than something that takes actual skill."
Chin looked at Danny surprised. "I didn't take you for a fan of art."
"Not this modern shit." Danny shook his head and turned away from the pantings, looking about the room again for any sign of their target. "I prefer Classical art or Impressionism. Now that, that is real art."
Chin guided Danny through the crowd towards a small statue made from popsicle sticks. "That's a Clifton Bowels original."
"Eh," Danny replied with a shrug of his shoulder. "Still looks like a kids school craft project."
"Even if you don't like it, it is still selling, and the best cover they could ask for is a legit business."
"And offering this stuff up to people with too much spare cash, gives them legit revenue and a damn good cover for any other high priced transactions."
"Correct," Chin agreed.
Meka and Amy were weaving through the crowd nearby when they spotted a well dressed man in a suit walk towards a guarded door at the back, with two young women, dressed in black cocktail dresses that hide practically nothing. "I think I may have just spotted our gate keeper. We're going to need a pass to get to the man behind the curtain."
Amy smiled and patted his shoulder. "I need to use the restroom, hon. I'll be right back."
She smiled and sashayed away through the crowd, bumping into a young man coming from the back room as she tried to avoid a crowd of slightly drunk party girls as they cooed over a sculpture of a man dancing with a dog. Meka looked up and strode over to her, catching her before she could fall. "You alright?"
"I'm fine." She looked up at the young man she had collided with. "I'm so sorry."
"No prob, babe. They're taking up the whole isle," he said with a glare towards the drunk young women. "Honestly."
With a last apology she and Meka made their way from the young man towards Danny and Chin, slipping Chin the card they had pulled off the other man, as they walked past. Chin and Danny caught Duke and John's eye, tilting their heads towards the guarded back room ever so slightly to confirm they were going in.
Striding purposefully towards the gatekeeper, with as nonchalant an air as they could, Danny and Chin proceeded forward. They were almost there. on the other side of that velvet rope was the man who could tell them who the mole in HPD was that was working with the cartels. If they were lucky the man just might be able to give them the Governor as well.
A very attractive blonde woman met them as they made their way towards the gate keeper, asking them if they were wanting to purchase anything. Chin smoothly replied that they were looking for a specific piece, and flashed the small white card. The blond looked them over, her blue eyes managing to project her skepticism even though she causally led them past the guard and into the back room. The room she led them into was long and narrow. The back wall opposite the entrance seemed to made of floor to ceiling windows, though the were covered in long white curtains. A long wooden table was at the center of the room with a white shag carpet beneath it, and there, just past the table was the man they were looking for.
His long dark hair was nearly the same color as the suit jacket he worse, but it was slightly stringy and looked like he might not have washed it that day. He was busy cajoling three lovely young ladies dressed in 60s era minidresses, to flounce about in various poses as he took pictures of him. Danny arched an eyebrow at the sight and shared an amused look with Chin.
"More art," teased Danny.
"Probably not to your taste," Chin replied with a smile. "We've got two other guests."
"And if this goes bad?"
"You take the ugly one," Chin offered.
Danny rolled his eyes, but agreed. Hopefully they could do this without a fight involved since they had no warrant for their little mission.
The blonde woman leaned over to whisper in their contacts ear, her blue eyes briefly looking up towards Danny and Chin. The man practically jumped to his feet waving the models out amidst complaints. As the girls turned to walk away he moved closer to Danny and Chin, hands speed wide before clapping together in front of him.
"Hello gentlemen," he gave Chin a lingering once over. "Let's have a little chat."
Chin smiled at him as he slowed to a stop in front of the both of them. Despite the friendly greeting, Chin had a bad feeling building in his gut.
"Could we, uh, chat in private," Danny asked, giving a significant look towards the two guards.
"Get Out! Get Out," the man called out, gesturing wildly.
The two bodyguards glanced briefly at each other, but complied with the demand. Based on their expression, Chin was sure they were probably used to this happening. So likely they were not in on the gallery owner's side business with the cartel. Or if they were, they were low enough on the ladder not to be needed for negotiations.
"Okay, so now we're just having a good ol' time," Bastille said in a jovial tone of voice, making Chin smile widely despite his misgivings. "Now, I, uh, don't know who you are because I've never seen you before in my life."
Danny lifted his chin at the man, his gaze never leaving the man's own bloodshot gaze.
"Well, my friend here just came in from out of town," Chin calmly stated, motioning at Danny who flashed a grin filled with suddenly sharper looking teeth.
"Ooookay. And would this be the first piece you are purchasing from us?"
Danny's grin widened and he moved towards the table, pulling out a chair and sitting down. "It would be, yes."
"Well then," he grinned at them, his lose body language telling them he was more than a little drunk or high, but still there enough to be wary of their actual purpose in his gallery. He pulled out his own seat next to Danny, practically collapsing into the chair, legs spread wide, chest unobstructed. He was trying to project an aura of calmness to them, perhaps to buy time for more guards than the two who were here to come to his aid, maybe to thinking he could lull them into revealing who they really were, or concerned that they might be working or his supplier? Chin tried to calculate the probabilities but the variables were just too many.
"Are you interested in a specific piece?"
"We are, if by 'piece' you mean 'key.' For those of us not interested in modern art," Danny replied with a flash of fang.
The man swallowed nervously. "I don't have any idea what you are talking about. Um, at all."
Chin tried not to give away how amused he was, as Danny relaxed further and further into the uncomfortable seat, his blonde hair shifting colors gradually to the caramel and black shade of his fur.
"But, if you are wanting to buy a piece it is very simple." The man stood up in a flurry of gestures. "Here's how it works…75% down now and another 25% upon delivery."
"That shouldn't be a problem," Danny replied with a grin. "And if we should prefer to pay Ochoa directly?"
Bastille froze, his eyes widening slightly, gaze darting between the two men lounging very casually in front of him.
"He's in town. Right," Chin calmly inquired.
Bastille swallowed thickly, his pupils contracting into pinpricks as adrenaline began to flood his system. He took two quick steps back from them as Danny slowly rose to his feet. "You two need to get out of here. Right now!"
His gaze darted fearfully towards the two curtained off entrances to the room.
"Right now!"
Danny strode calm closer, even as Bastille continued to back up. "I'm sorry," Danny replied in a cold tone. "Did we say something wrong?"
"No," the man practically yipped. "I just don't like you." He dove for the panic button at the end of the table only to cry out in pain as he suddenly found himself pinned beneath the heavy weight of an adult shifter. His cry drew the attention of his guards, who had been carefully listening from the other side of the curtain.
"Oh, great," complained Chin.
Danny silently cursed as the seams of his suit tore apart as he shifter forms, snapping his fangs at the man pinned beneath him. Bastille cried out in fear, but didn't try to escape, too scared to even think of it. Danny pressed his weight hard down on the man as he looked up to catch sight of Chin throwing one of the bodyguards over his shoulder, onto the floor. The downed man groaned but froze as the rest of the team poured into the room, guns drawn.
"Freeze, HPD," called out Duke.
"Hands up," Meka demanded of the second guard. "Put the gun down and get on your knees."
John strode into the room and straight over to where Danny was pinning Bastille to the ground. "Where's Ochoa?"
"I'm not saying a word!"
"If you want to do it the hard way you should have just said so." John looked at Danny, whose fangs were still barred. "My good friend here, hasn't had diner yet."
Danny leaned down, sniffing at Bastille's neck, pressing his teeth lightly against the vulnerable flesh of his neck. Danny clawed at his chest, tearing the shirt and digging into the skin just enough for little welts to appear on the pale, sweaty skin. "Are you sure?"
"No. No. No," he chanted.
"If you're sure?"
Danny lifted his head up to look the whimpering man in the eye, then darted forward snapping his jaws shut next to Bastille's ears, making him scream and piss himself.
"Okay! Okay!"
"Where's Ochoa," John demanded.
The man whimpered again as Danny lifted his head up, away from his exposed throat.
"There's a shipment coming in day after tomorrow. Ochoa is supposed to met with me in Wailua." He panted and look away. "At the old coffee plantation."
"How is Ochoa smuggling cocaine onto the island without getting busted?"
Bastille licked his lips and looked nervously at the two guards being cuffed by Duke and Meka. He looked quickly away and back to John. "He uses a guy…some asian guy whose into human trafficking. And he's got a man inside. In HPD. A guy who tells him every single move the cops make."
"Not every move," John replied looking at Danny.
Bastille whimpered again as Danny leaned closer, growling lowly.
"Who is it," demanded Chin.
"I don't know! I don't! Ochoa is the only one who knows!"
"You sure about that," John asked looking at Danny.
Bastille whimpered again as Danny pressed more of his weight down on him. "I'm sure! I swear!"
"Alright then." John gave Chin a significant look. Chin nodded and left the room. He would take Amy out of the building, retrieve the spare suit for Danny from the car, and then leave again. John would call in to a friend of his to get a post-dated warrant for a suspected art theft bust on the gallery so that they had a legal reason to be there, and then they would cart Bastille in to interrogation and watch to see who took an interest. They wouldn't be able to hold him on it since there wasn't any stolen art in the gallery, but it would buy them time to get Kamekona to give them a name for the most likely human trafficker on the island who could be smuggling Ochoa into Hawaii, and if they were lucky then the smuggler would spill the beans on who the dirty cop was that was selling out good men to the cartels. If they didn't know, well they would still have Ochoa, the smuggler, and Bastille. Who they could charge for dealing drugs after the fact.
= = = H50 = = =
The Next Day; Honolulu Police Department
John and Danny finished talking with their captain, who was none too happy that he hadn't heard about the raid on West Wind Gallery that John had headed last night. But considering it was John McGarrett, a man he had known for over thirty years, he was kept his threats to a minimum. He had enough problems what with Meka coming to him about an out of state for a wedding his wife had forgotten to tell him about. As far as anyone else would know, the captain would have approved the vacation time months ago. Mostly because he didn't like his detectives thinking he was a softie. But he liked Meka and his wife. They were good people. And John was probably the only one on the force who would take Williams as a temporary partner without complaint. So, he had called them in the office, told Meka to leave to pack for his vacation, and told the other two men he was assigning them as partners. That pretty much solved most of his problems for the morning.
Of course, neither John or Danny were going to give away the goose when the golden egg was falling into their laps, so to speak. So they had agreed to the captain's decision and walked out of the office and back to the bullpen, where John "quietly" told Danny about last night raid and his suspicion that stolen art was the least of what might be being felt out of the back room of the gallery. They both carefully watched the other cops in the room, while pretending not to. At first glance the looks they got were nothing more than the normal looks of cops looking for juicy office gossip, but Danny thought that Detective Kaleo was paying too little attention, considering how much he usually paid to Meka and Danny.
"So what's the plan," Danny asked John.
"We'll bring him into interrogation and start with questions about the stolen art, then slowly shift into the rumors that drugs can be purchased at the gallery. If we're lucky he'll be stupid enough to make a mistake."
"And if he's not?"
John pretended to scowl and took a long drink of his cold coffee. "Then we'll be forced to let him go until we can get more evidence."
Danny sighed, watching Kaleo out of the corner of his eyes. "This would go better if you had more than rumors, McGarrett."
"Sometimes a rumor is all you need." John stood up. "You coming or not? We've only got him for a few more hours before his lawyer can get him out of here."
"Fine. I'm coming."
The two strode out of the bullpen, Danny waving at Meka who was locking up his desk, as they went past. Meka smirked and called out for him to try and be on his best behavior, his eyes rolling towards Kaleo, signaling he had noticed the odd behavior as well.
The hallway outside the bullpen was mostly empty. A few patrolmen went by occasionally, a clerk running to and fro, but otherwise silent. Danny wanted to talk. To rant and wave his hands about, but didn't dare. He still had to pretend that he had only met John the night before when he asked Meka to assist with the raid. This, Danny knew, was going to be the hardest part of their plan. If Bastille didn't agree to pretend they hadn't asked about Ochoa already, if he let anything slip, then their chances of catching the mole inside HPD, along with Ochoa, would be lost.
Danny didn't like having so many of their eggs in one basket. Even if Chin was able to get Kamekona to give up a name, they could still miss catching Ochoa. If the bank in Singapore wasn't willing to give Meka the name they could lose the mole, and he, or she, would know someone was onto them and go to ground.
There were just too many 'ifs.'
"Try to relax, Danny. People are going to think you never interviewed a suspect before."
Danny shook himself and looked over at the old cop. He was right, Danny had to get his head back in the game if their end of the plan was going to work. "Sorry. There's just something about the guy that off-putting."
John chuckled and slapped Danny's back. "I couldn't agree with you more."
Finally they reached the interview room where Bastille and his lawyer were already seated and waiting. John walked in first, with Danny right behind him. As Bastille caught sight of Danny he whimpered, the room filling with the scent of his fear. Not that anyone but Danny noticed that.
They went through the normal formalities, laying out the charges, confirming Bastille knew his rights, and then started in on the questioning. Bastille, surprisingly, played his part perfectly. Even his lawyer believed it, which was good considering how expensive the guy was, which meant he likely had not been hired by Bastille himself, but by his employer.
This part was going to be the hardest because Chin would need to get a hold of Kamekona, his CI, get the information to Duke, and get everything set up so that when they were done questioning Bastille they could immediately raid the human trafficker before Bastille would have his paperwork finished so that he could leave. Chin had already agreed to get his younger cousin, Kono, in as their undercover agent if need, despite her only being part way through the Police Academy. She would be the best bet to get into the bolt hole of the trafficker, to allow for a speedy, and legal, take down.
Now they just needed to buy Chin a few hours to get it all in place.
= = = H50 = = =
Five Hours Later; Honolulu Dockyard
Everything was in place, everyone was ready. The name Kamekona had given up had matched the name that Bastille had accidentally given up as someone who could smuggle in stolen goods form the mainland. Apparently this snakehead called Sang Min had his fingers in a lot of pies. While they hadn't expected it, it would still work in their favor. It gave them an even more valid reason to set up a raid on Sang Min, and fortunately enough the raid was already in place and ready to go before anyone else at HPD knew that Bastille had talked.
That wouldn't last however, so they all knew they were on a time crunch. But, Danny felt confident they could pull it off. They would snag Sang Min and see if they could get him to talk and give up his contact in HPD. If not they could still get him locked up for smuggling stolen goods.
Danny sat back in the mobile surveillance vehicle, watching the screen as Kono made her way into the building where Sang Min was waiting, surrounded by his men.
Duke, John, and three other cops they were positive were clean, were waiting in full tactical gear to rush in to her defense. Danny was still getting his vest on, while Meka's cousin manned the surveillance equipment, listening to everything going on in the building while Danny and John watched the thermal on a separate monitor.
The sound of Kono's voice was filling the cabin, and Danny felt his Dog stirring at the back of his mind.
"I can find you whatever you want," came Sang Min's voice.
"I want my fathers jade dragon." Kono gave her voice a hesitant tone. "And I want my father out of Taipei as well."
Danny growled as the thermal screen showed one of the bodyguards shifting closer to Kono.
"I can get them both to you in a week," Sang Min said with confidence. "But paying for it? That's the hard part."
"I have money," Kono replied.
"Do you mind if I ask what you do?" Sang Min stood up and moved out from behind his desk, coming to a stop in front of Kono.
"I work at the cannery on Pacific…and weekends as a housekeeper at the Royal Hawaiian."
"Two jobs," he replied with a note of surprise. "Very commendable. Only I'm afraid the kind of money we're talking about might be out of your reach. Unless of course," he said reaching out to run his fingers through her hair, "We find some other form of payment."
He stopped talking and Danny's hackles went up. "He suspects!"
"Calm down, Danny. Give her time," John said, squeezing Danny's arm gently.
"Sand," came his voice over the speaker once more. "What kind of person working two jobs has time to go to the beach?"
"if he smells a trap he's gonna kill her," Danny growled.
"Trust her, Danny."
"I surf during my lunch hour," came Kono's voice once more. Softer this time, a touch more feminine than it had been before.
"Or maybe you're a cop."
All of them froze, listening carefully in case this was the moment they needed to rush in.
"Did anyone check her for a wire," asked Sang Min.
"We checked her when she came in," said one of the burly bodyguards, in a deep voice full of confidence.
Sang Min turned to face the bodyguard, and Danny felt the shift right at the edges of his control. The wild dog wanting to come out. To hunt.
"Well maybe you missed it," he snarled. "Take of your dress. So I know you're not wearing a wire."
There was a momentary pause as Kono's figure on the screen seemed to hesitate before reaching to pull off the cotton dress she was wearing. Finally it was off, sitting by her feet in a pile.
"Turn around," Sang Min demanded, voice hard.
Kono did as commanded.
Danny growled louder now as they watched Sang Min run his fingers over her back, down towards her panties. John squeezed his arm hard and quietly commanded the others to get in position, that they were going to go in shortly. Danny could feel his teeth growing longer, sharper as he watched Sang Min finally remove his hand and move back to lean against his desk.
"Can I put my dress back on," Kono asked in a quiet voice.
Sang Min didn't answer. On the screen Danny could see the man raise up his cell phone and snap a picture.
"What are you doing," Kono asked in an embarrassed panic.
"I'm gonna send this photo to a friend of mine."
"We've got a wire on that phone! I'm tracing it now," Meka's cousin, Ailani, called out to the team.
"And he's gonna show it to his friends, and if anyone recognizes you…you're dead."
"Oh my god," she whispered. Ailani turned to look at John and Danny. "It's tracing back to HPD!"
"Fuck," John cursed. "Can you trace to which desk or unit?"
"I'll try!"
"John," Danny growled. "We have to go in. Now! They've made her!"
On the screen two of the three bodyguards suddenly charged Kono. She flipped one over and spun about as the second charged at her. She punched him and twisted back towards the first attacker, knocking him back down before her body jerked unnaturally and crumpled to the ground. Danny screamed at the team to "GO! GO NOW!"
In a mad rush they ran into the building, guns raised. The third body guard, who had been standing closest to Sang Min still had his gun aimed at Kono, when they kicked down the door. He swung his gun about but was shot by Duke before he could fire off a round. Sang Min darted behind his desk as John ran forward yelling at the other snakeheads to stand down with their hand behind their backs. Danny was already rushing to Kono's side, checking to find her pulse when one of the other officers, Morgan, squared off with Sang Min.
The snakehead glared and raised his hands as Morgan approached.
"Gun," yelled john as he caught sight of one of the downed men drawing his weapon.
Morgan twisted about, firing off a shot, taking out the underling, but turning his back on Sang Min in the process. Before any of the rest of them could react Sang Min had drawn his own weapon and fired off a dozen rounds, hitting Morgan in the chest and forcing the rest of them to take cover.
Danny grabbed Kono, pulling her with him behind several steel file cabinets. Looking down at her, he cursed. They needed to end this now. Kono was bleeding out. He clamped his hand over the wound in her throat, putting pressure on it.
"Come on, Kono. You can't go out like this!" Danny set his gun down and grabbed on of her hands in his. "What'll Chin do without you?"
Kono tried to answer, but her words were blocked by the blood pouring up out of her mouth.
"Shit! Shit! Shit," Danny cursed. He looked around the side of the cabinets they were hiding behind. John, Duke and the two other reinforcements were still gunning off with Sang Min and one of his goons. Turning back towards Kono, Danny cursed again. There was no way she was going to make it out of her alive at this rate.
"Kono," he called to her gently. "Kono! I can save you!"
Her eyes widened and she coughed up more blood. Danny squeezed her hand.
"I can save you. If you trust me?"
She nodded, though it might have just been her head rolling as she seemed to be getting close to losing consciousness from the blood loss.
"Trust me." Danny let go of her hand and neck, yanking at his clothes, hoping off buttons in his haste to get them off.
Kono blinked slowly at him, her eyes not seeming to focus too well.
With a painful groan Danny forced his body into shifting faster than he ever had change rolled over him in a painful wave, but in seconds rather than minutes, he was in his African Wild Dog form hunched over the now fainting Kono. Whining, he bit down on his tongue until he could taste his own blood filling his mouth, then without hesitation, he began licking at Kono's wounds. His blood spilled out of his mouth, over his tongue, and into her wounds. Danny could taste their blood mingling together along with his saliva. The blood in the wound seemed to bubble and steam beneath his tongue and Danny prayed that he wasn't too late.
Behind them the sound of gunfire ceased.