Thank you for your patience. I had thought that this was going to be a short transitional chapter. I think Danny and Denise may have the beginning of a beautiful friendship.
Denise saw the disdain in Danny's blue eyes. She wondered why the hell he was treating her like she had some type of communicable disease. The sour look on Danny's face made her think of her mother's old refrain regarding peeing and cornflakes. She could not help the smile that crossed her lips – a smile she quickly suppressed as she saw Danny's eyes begin to narrow in anger.
"Jerk," Denise thought to herself. "Typical cop, aren't you? See a woman in power and your precious masculinity is threatened? Well, to hell with you Detective." Denise smiled sweetly at Danny, "Pleasure to meet you, Detective. Now if you excuse me, I have work to do." She turned on her heel and headed toward Alyssa's desk.
Danny did not realize that he was watching Denise walk away and found himself enjoying the view. His thoughts were interrupted when Steve clapped him on the shoulder. The smug look on his partners face, soured any enjoyment that he was having. The smile that he did not even know he had on his face faded into a scowl and he slaked off to his office.
Denise had not intended to watch Danny go, but she found that she could not help herself. She found him ridiculously handsome with his blond hair and blue eyes. Although her encounter with those eyes was not pleasant, for some reason she was sure that they were much more used to amusement and kindness than the cold flashes to which she had been treated. He stood out from the other members of the force. While jeans and Hawaiian shirts appeared to be the norm, Detective Williams was wearing an Oxford button down shirt, dress pants and lace us dress shoes, which she had noticed had been freshly polished. Something told her, that he was actually used to wearing a tie, and that it had taken something near an act of God for him to wear his collar open. And then there was his accent. It was not one she had heard in a while, but it still sent a nostalgic warmth through her body.
Denise was brought back to reality by a quiet clearing of the throat. She shook her head; the very idea that she was even having these thoughts was ludicrous – they man clearly despised her and frankly, she thought that the feeling was pretty mutual. Denise looked up into the blue eyes of the younger woman that she had come to see. "OK," she said," How can I help you, Officer Grant?"
Alyssa took a deep breath and explained. "What I am sure of is that Wo Fat has a very large and far reaching organization. He is currently in the wind and I would do just about anything to track him and find where the son of a bitch is hiding." Denise looked up at the woman's vehemence – there was definitely some history here, but that was none of her concern; she focused back on what Alyssa was saying. "In any case, if I can figure out where the financial transactions either start or end, maybe I can figure out where he is. I can track the transactions through to Asia, but then there is weird co-mingling that I can't sort through. Frankly, I'm lost. I have no idea how to sort through this or how to figure out where the money is going. Is there a way to do that? Is there anything you can do to help me?
Denise chewed on her lip, thinking. This was quite the problem, but she liked challenges. She had liked challenges since she was in school working on math problems. It was this love for figuring things out and her tenacity that had won her the distinction of the highest math score ever to be achieved on the college entrance exam in New Jersey. Somehow, and she always thanked her lucky stars, The University of Hawaii, at Manoa, offered her a scholarship in math. Wanting to get as far as she could from the brutal New Jersey winters, Denise accepted, double majoring in applied mathematics and computer science. It proved to be the happiest time in her life. College led to Yale Business School. After graduation, Denise searched for any job that would take her back to Hawaii and when she found one for a Financial Analyst at the First Bank of Hawaii, she jumped at the chance, spending most of her savings on the move. Her skills and tenacity were rewarded and she was made the youngest CIO in the financial industry seven years ago at the age of twenty five.
"I think I can help you," Denise said. "There is a different way to approach this. We can look for proxies of the transaction, not the actual transaction. Large sums of money either deposited of withdrawn, specific behaviors or patterns. I need to think about how exactly to do it and then I can write an algorithm that will do the work for us." She reached for the lists of transactions that Alyssa was holding. "Can I get a copy of those? The computer that I have at the office is much more powerful and I think it would be better if I tried to write this on that machine."
Alyssa nodded and headed off to make copies. Denise reached for her phone to check her schedule. When Alyssa returned with a manila folder housing the information, she said, "I can get this work done over the next couple of days. I should be able to get at least something directional to you by next Monday. Would that work?"
"That would be great," Alyssa staid. "I so appreciate this." She handed the folder to Denise who set her phone down to put the paperwork in her bag.
"If there is nothing else, I should get going," said Denise. "I will be in touch. Please don't hesitate to call me if anything comes up." She looked around, Commander McGarrett, Lieutenant Kelly, Officer Kalakaua, Officer Grant; it has been a pleasure." She spared a look at Danny, "Detective Williams," she was rewarded with a grunt and a curt nod. Adjusting her purse, Denise walked out the door.
Alyssa went back to work. Sometime later, her concentration was broken by the chirping of a cell phone. Automatically, she reached for the one on her desk. "Oh, crap," she said. "Denise left her phone. We need to get it back to her." A few taps of the keyboard brought up her address.
"Hey Danny," Alyssa called out, "its on your way home. Do you suppose you could drop it off to her?"
"Why the hell not, "Danny groused. "Rachel and Stan took Grace to Disneyland on the mainland. I've nothing better to do. Give me the address."
One look, and Danny's mood soured even further. It figured that she would live in Kahala. The address showed that she lived only a few streets over from where Stan and Rachel lived. "Oh, great. Story of my life. Give me the damn phone and let me get out of here."
Alyssa handed Danny the phone, wondering what had gotten him so upset; she was used to seeing Danny sardonic and pugnacious, but usually not actually in a foul mood and angry. She shrugged. "Thank you," she said.
Danny spent the majority of the drive to Denise's house in a black mood, muttering under his breath. He was pretty sure that the universe was out to get him. He drove into the familiar gates of the estate and used the GPS on his phone to get to Denise's house.
The home, of course was beautiful. It was large and well-appointed with gorgeous landscaping. There was a blue BMW and a red Jaguar on the driveway. "Figures," Danny muttered to himself.
Suddenly, Danny stopped his muttering – something wasn't right. His instincts, honed by his years as a cop, were telling him that something was not right. Not sure why he was doing it, but Danny unsnapped the holster of his service revolver – just in case – and carefully walked toward the door. Odd – the door was opened. He had not thought that Denise was the type to forget. He had actually taken her for an uptight sort. He was at the door and was just about to ring the doorbell, when he heard a loud crash, followed by a woman's scream.
What do you think? I am not so good at writing Danny, so your thoughts and recommendations are welcome. Please let me know how you like this. Your reviews are so very welcome.