Nearing the town limits of the small town of Halehomaha , Steve felt his hands tighten around the steering wheel as his anxiety level began to rise and he found himself wondering if sending the young man beside him undercover was such a good idea after all, that maybe there was another way they could proceed. He sighed softly, aware that this was probably the only option left to them to investigate this case and bring in a killer before he could kill again.

The case, so far, had yield little leads and their knowledge about the commune's activities, although extensive, was also extremely biased supplied to Five-O by local police officers who wanted the commune gone.

So far, their own investigation had uncovered that the commune had established by the group's guru, Adrian Tomlinson, a brother of the famous Hollywood actress, Elizabeth Tomlinson, in January 1968. After Tomlinson had bought the beachside property at the end of the Kuhio Highway and backed into the government owned Haena State park, his dreams of building his dream home had been dashed by local government officials who had refused to issue him the had building permits to build his home.

Frustrated and angry that he could not even build his home on the property he owned, Tomlinson had decided to get his own back on the bureaucratic officers who stood in his way and had gone down to the local jail and had bailed out thirteen hippies who had been arrested for vagrancy and much to the annoyance and anger of the local officials and police, had invited them to set up their tents and live on his property for free. Eventually the tents had been replaced by crude multi-story tree houses that were precariously balanced on think bamboo stilts.

In the last two years the small camp had evolved into a hippy commune that had spread over seven acres encompassing both the sandy beach and the surrounding jungle, where hippies, families, war veterans and runaways could live in peace and love together, where joints were the smoke of choice, where clothing was optional, and where people could, and it was reported by the local police, did, quite regularly howl at the moon at night. "A real utopia, for drop outs, drug addicts, surfers, Vietnam war veterans and deserters, who don't want to be useful members of society anymore," the Kauai County police chief had sarcastically described the members of the commune when talking to Steve over the phone.

Although the group's membership appeared to be fluid, with young members joining and others leaving, searching for whatever they were looking for somewhere else, background checks on the core members of the commune had also proved fruitless. Although a couple of the members had police records ranging from minor charges for drug possession or charges relating to their involvements in various protests both against the war in Vietnam to the demands to change society, no one had any records for the type of violence that had been inflicted on the victims.

The victims! Steve felt his heart race as he cast a quick glance at the young detective sitting beside him, looking out of the window. The murdered body of a young man from the commune had been found just hours before- so badly beaten that almost every bone in his face had been broken and he was so unrecognizable he was only able to be identified by fingerprints taken when he had a minor drug bust rap a year before. His body, like those of the six young women, had been found floating in the ocean a few miles south of the small commune.

Uncertain of why the murderer had suddenly changed his M.O. and had now murdered a man, or if there had been previous male victims whom they had been unaware of because, unlike the bodies of the young women whose bodies had been found floating in the ocean or washed up along the shore, their bodies had been washed out to sea, had Steve worried. The undercover case had now taken a dangerous turn and the two days of setting up a viable cover and preparing Danny for going undercover no longer seemed like enough time to get him fully into the role he would have to pull off, but time was against them.

"Okay, let's go through your cover story one last time." Steve ordered gruffly, casting another quick glance towards his passenger as they entered Halehomaha and cruised through the small town, past Kono, who was parked in an old beaten up farming truck across the road from a row of small tired looking shops, watching a small group of hippies as they entered one of the grocery shops.

If Danny recognized the Five-O detective, who had helped him learn his role for this undercover stint, sitting in the old truck across from the shops, he never showed it as he turned back towards Steve and quickly slipped into his undercover persona, "My name is Danny Roberts. I'm from Denver, Colorado, my mom and dad still live there, as well as my younger sister, but I couldn't take living by their establishment rules anymore, so I decided it was time for me to pack my bags and hit the road."

"So why Hawaii?" Steve asked as he returned his attention back to the road and continued down the highway, leaving the small town behind them.

"Why not Hawaii?" Danny shrugged nonchalantly before he frowned in annoyance and asked, "Look man, why all the questions? I'm just lookin' for somewhere to chill for a while. Maybe find my own little piece of Nirvana," before he grinned, cheekily, "or maybe even a foxy lady or two…"

Steve nodded as he looked at Danny again, who seemed quite relaxed with going undercover. Dressed in an old pair of jeans, a red tee-shirt and a faded blue denim jacket which had several different patches roughly hand sown on the front of the jacket and a large white peace sign painted on the back and with his shaggy hair that spilled over the jacket's collar, Danny looked every part of a young man who wanted to drop out of society. "Both Kono and myself will be staying at the Best Western Hotel. We'll be staying in town to investigate the latest murder and so we can keep a bit of an eye on you. So, I want you to report in, daily, Kono will meet you at the south end of the beach every evening about six."

Danny frowned, "I'm not sure I-"

"I mean it, Detective, I want you to report in daily to Kono, no excuses…" Steve reiterated sternly as the radio suddenly crackled to life. Snatching up the mic as he returned his attention back to the road, Steve depressed the mic's button and snapped, "Five-O 1."

"Steve, it's Kono, they have just left the grocery shop and are headed your way. I'll give them a couple of minutes to get ahead before I follow."

"Thanks, Kono," Steve answered, glancing down at the mileage, "We're about two miles west of town. Just make sure you stay back far enough not to draw any attention."

"Will do."

Snagging the mic back down on its hook, Steve turned onto a small dirt track and parked behind a line of trees that helped to block sight of the car from any one driving along the main road.

Turning off the engine, he turned quickly to face Danny as Danny reached back to snag the rucksack from the back seat. "Listen Danny, I want you to be careful and don't take any unnecessary chances. We still don't know who we are dealing with."

"I won't." Danny promised as he turned and reached for the door handle.

Grabbing Danny's arm, momentarily halting his egress from the vehicle, Steve waited until the young man turned back and looked at him questioningly before he added firmly, "I just want you to know that Kono and I will have your back as much as we can."

Danny smiled and nodded as he climbed out of the car, "I know, Sir."

"And I will pull you out at the first sign of trouble." Steve added as Danny slung the rucksack over his shoulder, adjusting it until it was comfortable to carry.

"I know that, too." Danny smiled before he turned and headed through the tree line back towards the main road, giving Steve a confident wave of his hand as he called out over his shoulder, "Catch you later, man."

Steve nodded, his brow creasing with worry, as he watched Danny, through the tree line, reach the edge of the main road and begin to walk in the direction of the park. Holding his breath as he heard the Kombi van approaching in the distance, he never took his eyes of the young detective as Danny turned back in the direction of the approaching van and held out his thumb. He could feel his heart beating hard in his chest as the van belonging to the commune members', who had just left town, slowed down and pulled over before Danny approached the van and spoke to the occupants before climbing in.

He released his breath in a soft whoosh of relief as the van drove away, followed a minute or two later by Kono's pick-up truck. He had not been sure that the plan Williams had suggested, while working out how he could infiltrate the commune, of being picked up hitchhiking by the commune members after they had finished their weekly shopping trip into Halehomaha would really work. Now all he could do was wait and see if the young Vice officer would be welcome into the commune.

Reaching the roads edge, Danny turned as he heard the van approaching, before he put his thumb out and continued to walk backwards as the battered, old blue Kombi came over the crest of the hill. Dropping his hand as the van rolled to a gentle stop just in front of him, he jogged the few steps to the side of the van as the passenger window wound down and the young man sitting in the front passenger seat asked, "Where are you headed?"

Looking up to get a better look at the passenger, Danny shrugged and smiled, "Where ever the wind blows me, man."

"Hop in," the passenger invited as the rear door opened, revealing several young people sitting in the rear of the van.

"Thanks," Danny grinned as the sweet, pungent odor of marijuana smoke wafted out of the van. Shrugging his rucksack off his shoulder, he tossed it inside before clambering in himself as two of the passengers smiled up at him and moved apart to make room for him to sit as the door slammed closed behind him. He only had enough time to cross to the over side of the van and attempt to sit down before the van started with a loud, smoky backfire and a hard jolt, causing him to fall against the young man next to him. "Sorry," he apologized as he quickly sat up and leaned back against the van's wall.

"Hey, it's cool man," the other man grinned as he shuffled side wards a little to give Danny a little more room to get comfortable as he introduced himself, "I'm Noah. And this is Sunshine." The young girl sitting beside him raised her hand in a friendly wave as he continued the introductions over the loud roar of the van's engine, nodding in the direction of each of the other five people sitting in the rear of the van, "Tommy, Angel, Savannah, Bulldog and the guy sitting over there, not sharing, is River."

Taking a large drag on the joint he held to his lips, River raised his hand in a welcome wave before he lowered the joint and released his breath in a large plume of white smoke. "Up yours, Noah," he grinned as he tapped the back of the front passenger seat and passed the joint to the front seat passenger as the young man in the front passenger seat swivelled the seat around to face them.

Accepting the joint, he took a large drag, momentarily closing his eyes and holding his breath, enjoying the initial effects of the drug as it entered his lungs before he re-opened eyes and released his breath, allowing the smoke to escape as he spoke, "I'm Lucas," Tapping the driver's shoulder and offering him the joint, shaking his head when the driver shook his head 'No' and looked up into the rear vision mirror. Lucas shrugged, cocking his head in the driver's direction before handing the joint across to Sunshine as he spoke, "And tall, dark and sullen here is Marcus."

Sunshine giggled as she accepted the joint, taking it delicately between her thumb and forefinger before putting it up to her lips and taking a puff before handing what was left to Danny.

"I'm Danny," Danny smiled, juggling the small sliver of the joint between his fingers in an attempt to stop it from burning his fingers as he tried to keep his balance as the van bounced over the rough road.

"So, where are you headed, man?"

Danny shrugged, before taking a small drag on the remnants of the joint that he had been handed. Slowly releasing the mouthful of smoke, he relaxed back against the van wall, passing what was left of the joint back to Noah, who was watching him closely, before he closed his eyes and answered, "Where ever, man, just as long as I'm free."

Accepting the fingernail length sliver of tobacco paper that contained just the last couple of shreds of marijuana leaves, Noah grinned as he looked at Danny before he looked across at Lucas, who nodded his approval, "Hey Dude, if you wanna opt out of the man's rules and chill out for a while without the establishment breathin' down ya neck, you're more than welcome to hang with us."

Opening one eye, Danny looked at Noah, "You mean like in sort of commune?"

Noah nodded, his grin never fading, "Yeah."

"Cool!" Danny grinned, opening both his eyes and sitting up a little straighter, as Sunshine slipped her hand into his and gave it a small, excited squeeze.

Staying as far back as he dared, without losing sight of the van traveling in front of him, Kono cursed as the pick-up bounced over another large bump in the uneven dirt road and his head slammed against the roof of the pick-up. Easing his foot slightly off the accelerator, he tried to steer, unsuccessfully, around the next large pothole, cursing again as his head hit the side window and the van containing the young Vice officer and the group of hippies whom they were investigating disappeared from his sight around a distant curve.

Slowing down and stopping, aware that he was not far from the even narrower dead-end road the led into the commune, Kono watched the Kombi in the distance disappear momentarily around the next corner before he saw through the screen of trees between them glimpses of the kombi as it slowed down and began to traverse down the narrow road.

Watching the kombi disappear along the road and out of sight, Kono reached for his mic. Depressing the mic button, he called. "Five-O 2 to Five-O 1."

Steve responded almost immediately leaving Kono with no doubts that Steve had been waiting anxiously for his radio call as he heard Steve's reply of, 'Five-O 1.'

"Looks like he's in, Steve, they have just arrived back to the commune."

He waited for a moment for Steve's reply of, 'Okay Kono, it's up to Williams now, let's meet back up at the hotel.'

Glancing back in the direction of the commune before he placed the pick-up into reverse, to reverse backwards until he could find a suitable place to turn the pick-up around, Kono depressed the mic's button again and answered slowly, "Okay Steve, will do."