Here's chapter 2, "Photos"
A/N: Special Agent Thomas is the name I made up for Chin's FBI friend.
And Lili is the name I made up for Adam's house keeper.
A/N: Honolulu Star-Advertiser is indeed the largest newspaper on O'ahu, at least according to Google.
A/N: For the sake of my story, Adam is Japanese (father's side) and Korean-American (mother's side).
A/N: Shoken is Japanese for 'view'
A/N: I'm hoping you all remember the part where Kono helped HPD's SWAT Team in my last story "Diamonds Aren't Always A Girl's Best Friend"... because it's this scene – that image - that I will be making reference to. Here's a quick recap, in case you need it;
Kono quickly worked herself into a jump suit. She secured her side arm before the SWAT guy started handing her additional weapons for every slot and pocket the jump suit had. She was securing a bullet belt over her shoulder when... She picked up her rifle and walked away, dressed in head-to-toe black and laden with sniper gear, just like the SWAT members accompanying her. She had a job to do.
Kono descended the stairs and took to the street with the SWAT team as they headed back the way they had come earlier...She rested her rifle on her should and continued the trek.
Chapter 2, "Photos"
THE RIDE BACK TO HQ (Chin is driving)...
Text from Adam: You think poster size is too big?
Text from Kono: Huh?
Text from Adam: Picture of you.
Text from Kono: Why?
Text from Adam: Need new décor in my office.
Text from Kono: Yes.
Text from Adam: Yes what?
Text from Kono: Yes, poster size is too big.
Text from Adam: Already got the frame.
Text from Kono: Too big for your office.
Text from Adam: I'll knock out a wall and make it bigger.
Text from Kono: You've already got a 5x7 on your desk.
Text from Adam: You haven't see today's paper, have you?
Text from Kono: Nope.
Text from Kono: Why?
Text from Kono: Adam?
ARRIVING AT HQ...
The glass doors hadn't even fully closed behind Kono as she followed her cousin into HQ before several copies of today's Honolulu Star-Advertiser were thrust into her hands. Some were full editions, some were the paper's lead section, and some were just article clippings. But they all included the same thing.
Her.
The newspaper's editor had been bugging the Governor, and Steve, for months now about doing an in-depth piece on Five-0. Both had declined. Thankfully. But yesterday's jewelry store case and the media buzz surrounding it had given the local newspaper what the Governor and Steve hadn't; permission.
And there was Kono's picture. Large and in full color. On the front page.
The largest photo was solely of her, dressed in all black, and laden down with weapons and ammo, just like the SWAT members she accompanied. Not that she needed any help in remembering the moment or the determination that surged through her as she and the five SWAT members headed for the building across the street to take out the perp who had forced Steve to strap on a bomb vest. She just hadn't realized it had shown on her face.
A smile crept to her face, not at seeing her picture on the front page of the island's largest newspaper, but at the smaller picture that showed all six of them; the word SWAT in white reflective letters on all the flak vest, except hers. Five-0 proudly stood out against the black fabric, and the sun's rays reflected off her badge. Yeah, Five-0 was what stood out, not her. She could be happy about that.
Now that she understood Adam's previous texts, she took out her phone.
Text from Kono: You don't need a bigger office. Now put down the sledge hammer.
A few minutes later, and after being stopped many times to hear 'congratulations' from fellow officers, Kono followed her cousin into the Five-0 offices. She could tell he had increased his usual casual pace. Clearly he was hoping to make it to the safety to his office.
"Hold it right there, Cuz." She ordered as she put the many newspapers down on the Smart Table. This caused Chin to pause at his office door. "I'm gonna get started on the-" He began.
"You're not gonna start anything, until you finish what you've already started." She insisted.
Chin's hand fell from the door frame where it rested before he took a step closer to her, "Listen, Cuz,"
"As in finish our conversation, and tell me what's bothering you." She said, not giving him a chance to argue with her.
After another step closer, Chin watched her cross her arms, a definite sign that he wasn't getting out of this one. "Okay, okay, come into my office."
Chin had never had a problem with knowingly playing the older, overprotective, and hopefully wiser, cousin. But in this case, he knew his younger cousin's response was not going to be calm and quiet. Yeah, that was a given in this case, and probably why he felt a little more confident with himself on one side of his desk, and her on the other. "Remember my friend in the FBI Field Office?" He began.
"You mean the one who sent you the photos of me and Adam at the airport?" She asked, already not liking where this was going.
Chin arched a brow, "Kono, he was there to take pictures of Michael Noshimuri, a convicted felon, a man guilty of manslaughter." He reminded her unnecessarily, hoping to put the focus on the criminal. Not that that would do any good, considering that Michael Noshimuri had nothing to do with what he was about to disclose.
"Continue." She ordered, not taking the bait.
And by 'continue', Chin decided that actions would speak louder than words in this case,... and since he was pretty sure that his cousin's words were going to be more than loud enough for the both of them, he just pivoted his laptop around for her to see more pictures. "Special Agent Thomas sent me these yesterday."
Leaning forward, Kono took in the photos. "Your friend needs to work on his timing." She said, pushing the laptop away in disinterest and leaning back in the chair. "That top one was taken weeks ago." She added, referring to the photo taken of her walking across a busy Honolulu street with her arms full of shopping bags, her white sundress and sandals stark against her tan skin.
"He asked me a question, Kono,... and I wasn't sure how to answer him." Chin finally said.
"Since I'm the one in the photo – not Adam, not his brother, but me – then he should be asking me, not you. But go ahead." She said.
"He wanted to know if a member of Five-0 was really a kept woman for the head of the Yakuza." Chin said in his usual zen tone.
It started with a snicker, then a smile that couldn't be suppressed, then an all out laugh. "A 'kept woman'? Are you serious? He actually asked that? What is this the 1940's?" She managed to get out as her laughter finally died down. She wasn't sure which was funnier; the absurdity of it and her cousin managing to ask her that with a straight face.
Chin seemed less than amused at the moment and clearly did not share his cousin's sense of humor.
"Okay, Cuz," Kono began, then held her hand up as she had to pause to take a few calming breaths to keep from laughing again. But that was okay with her, because it was better, at least at the moment, than yelling. "Okay," She tried again, "if your friend had done his job right, neither one of us would have ever seen that photo."
Chin did not speak, but rather calmly leaned back in his chair, hands laced together behind his head, as if saying, 'Enlighten me'.
So, Kono did. "I made the observation while at Adam's house a while back that he had no Christmas decorations up anywhere. Come to find out that there hadn't been any since his mother stopped coming to Hawaii ten years ago." She paused at the memory of how sad it had made Adam to tell her about his mother refusing to leave her homeland of Korea as long as her husband held tight to his ties with the Yakuza. "The long and short of it is that I helped his housekeeper Lili shop for Christmas decorations. That's the other woman in the picture walking with me. And if your friend had done his job right, he would have know that. He would also have known what we bought, and where we bought it." That was all Kono had to say, the laughter distinctly absent from her voice by that point. Although, she was enjoying the mental image of Adam returning from his business trip to Japan and finding his house all decked out in red and silver.
Chin clearly had nothing to say at that point, either. He silently clicked a button on the laptop and turned it back around so his cousin could see that he had enlarged another picture. This one of her and Adam walking behind his car, his hand on the small of her back, as they headed for the door of the restaurant.
Chin remained silent, as it was obvious he was now awaiting an explanation on that one as well.
On one hand, Kono wanted to maintain the ominous expression on her face, clearly directed towards her cousin. On the other hand, part of her wanted to smile at remembering the dress she wore. Well, not the dress specifically, but the reason Adam had asked her to get a special dress in the first place. Pushing that thought aside, "We went to dinner at Shoken." She stated simply.
Chin took a moment to turn the laptop towards himself, took a closer look at the screen, then turned it back around again, although Kono did not look at the picture again. "The date stamp on that is before Shoken even opened up." He stated, as if informing her of something she didn't already know.
"True." Kono confirmed. "Adam and I were the invited guests of the owners. We were attended a private dinner." She paused, but saw that the expression on her cousin's face hadn't changed, so she explained further. "The owner, Sakio Lee, is a former employee of Adam's. Mr. Lee and his wife had been waiting for their daughter to finish culinary school so they could open a restaurant together. And since Adam had been so supportive – even flying their entire family to the graduation in his private jet – the Lee family invited us to a private dinner to sample the new restaurant's menu."
One more turning of the laptop showed another photo enlarged. This one of Kono and Adam sitting in a private dining room at an upscale restaurant. Despite the scene being dimly lit by candles only, it was clear to see an envelope being passed across the table.
"What's in the envelope?" An unfamiliar voice asked, causing both of them to turn towards the door and stand immediately. Kono's hand reached for her side arm, as no one should have been allowed back into the Five-0 offices without an escort. Chin though obviously knew the man, as he stepped forward with an outstretched hand.
"Hey, good to see ya, brah." He greeted. "I'd like you to meet my cousin. Special Agent Thomas, this is Officer Kono Kalakaua. Kono, this is Special Agent Thomas, the guy wi-"
"-with the bad manners." Kono said, cutting off Chin's words and earning herself a glare from him.
"It's nice to meet you, Oficer Kalakaua." Thomas said anyway.
"Thomas." Kono greeted in return. Refusing his full title.
Thomas managed to smile politely in return, after all, it's not like he expected to be welcomed with open arms. "Well, despite the fact that, yes, it is considered bad manners to take someone's picture without their consent or knowledge, I do still have to ask you, Officer Kalakaua; What's in the envelope?"
end chapter 2
So, dear readers, what do you think is in the envelope? Any guesses?