Ohana Mea
(Family Matters)
Chapter 3
While getting into the car, Danny's phone rings and sees April's name flashing on the screen. He stares at his phone for a few seconds before he answers it.
"Hey April" said Danny.
"Hey Danny, are you busy?" April asks.
"Ah, yeah why?" Danny asks
"Um, I need to talk to you" said April.
Danny quickly picks up a sense of fear in April's voice.
"Why, is everything okay?" Danny asks.
"Not really" said April. "Everything's a mess Danny"
Danny starts to hear April sobbing over the phone confirming his suspicions about April's sudden visit to Hawaii.
"April, I'm sorry but I'm really busy right now" said Danny.
"Um where are you?" he asks.
"Ah, I'm at a place called "Kamekona's Shrimp Truck" said April. "Do you know the place?" she asked.
"Yeah, let's just say I know the owner" said Danny. "Look, how about I meet you there in an hour"
"Okay, I'll just hang here then" said April.
Danny and April both hang up.
Steve watched Danny talk to April on the phone and could tell something was definitely up.
"Everything okay?" asks Steve.
"Well I'm pretty sure it's not" Danny replied. "She sounded pretty upset on the phone"
With that being said Steve and Danny take off to pay Eric Malvern a visit.
After a 15 minute car ride they arrive at Eric Malvern's apartment block. They head upstairs to the second floor of the building and knock on the door. Within a couple of seconds Eric answers the door without hesitation. When Eric sees Steve and Danny standing outside his door he greets them with a slight smile.
"Eric Malvern?" asks Steve.
"Yeah, that's me" said Eric.
"I'm Lieutenant Commander Steve McGarrett and this is my partner Detective Danny Williams from Five-0" said Steve. "Is it okay if we come in? We need to ask you a few questions" he asks.
"Ah yeah sure" answers Eric.
Danny and Steve walk in the door and then sit down with Eric in the living room. They notice immediately that Eric had indeed been drinking; it was no surprise given that he had just discovered four of his family members murdered this morning.
"Ah listen, we're very sorry about your brother and his family" said Danny.
Steve and Danny then see Eric's eyes well up.
"I just can't believe it" said Eric. "I mean why would someone do this to them? They were good people"
"Look we understand you're grieving right now, but we do need to ask you some questions" said Steve.
Eric nodded, completely understanding what Steve had just said.
"Why were you going to their house this morning?" asks Steve.
"I was going over to have breakfast with them" said Eric. "It's a thing that we did every Sunday"
"How did you get in the house?" asks Danny.
"My brother gave me a key" said Eric. "I had drug problem a few months back and he said if I ever needed anywhere to go when I was in trouble, I could stay with him and his family; provided I was sober"
"This is the last thing I needed" said Eric. "We lost our parents six months ago in an accident; that certainly didn't do me any favours since I was dealing with my drug problem. Now I've got no one"
"We're very sorry Eric" said Danny. Danny then puts his hand in his pocket and pulls out his card and hands it to Eric.
"Here's my card" said Danny. "Call me if you think of anything else"
When Steve and Danny get up to leave the apartment, Eric just sits still on the couch staring at the card Danny had just handed him, not even acknowledging Steve and Danny as they left.
The trip back to Five-0 headquarters was mostly silent. They had just talked to a man who had just lost his entire family and support group. It kind of made Steve and Danny grateful of what they had. Suddenly, the silence is broken when Kono calls them from headquarters.
"Hey Kono, what've you got?" asks Steve.
"Hey guys, we just checked the Malvern's financials and it turns out they inherited a lot money after Glen and Eric's parents died six months ago" said Kono.
"That's got to be a motive" said Danny. "How much money did they inherit?" he asks.
"Five and a half million dollars" said Chin.
"Anything else?" asks Steve.
"Yeah, the Malvern's only moved into that house four months ago; before that the Malvern's were living in an apartment" said Kono.
"Which means whoever killed them, more than likely knew who they were" said Lori.
"Okay guys, now I need you to find every person who knew the Malvern's" said Steve.
"Friends, colleagues, neighbours; I want everyone"
"We'll back in five" said Danny.
"Okay" said Kono.
About Five minutes later, Steve and Danny arrive back at Five-0 headquarters to give the other three members of Five-0 a hand with their search.
"Find anyone yet?" asked Steve.
"Ah yeah, so far we've found some of Glen's former colleagues and an interesting article" said Kono.
"Good read?" asks Danny.
"Actually, yeah, it turns out after Glen's family inherited the five and half million dollars, things got very tense with Glen and the company" said Lori.
"It was alleged that Glen was starting to throw money at problems, paying people off; basically putting the company's name in the dirt" said Chin.
"Then, two months later, the company gets in trouble for supposedly paying off a safety inspector" said Kono.
"What happened to the company?" asks Danny.
"After a month of being under investigation, the company was shut down" said Lori.
"Putting every single person who worked there, out of work"
"That could also be a motive" said Steve.
"Okay, Chin, Kono and Lori get a list of all the former employees of the company. After you've done that, we're going to interview one of them" "I don't care how long it takes; we're going to find these guys"
"Here are a couple names we got from the article and their addresses" said Lori as she handed Steve a piece of paper.
"Okay, call us when you get more" said Steve as he and Danny left to follow up on the list of names Lori had given them.
"Hey Steve, you hungry?" asked Danny. "I've got to meet April at Kamekona's Shrimp Truck"
"Yeah sure, I could eat anyway" replied Steve.
After ten minute car ride, Danny and Steve arrive at Kamekona's Shrimp Truck. Danny is quick to notice April sitting at a table by herself eating some lunch. April then turns her head and sees them as they are getting out of the car. April acknowledges them with a quick wave of the hand.
"Alright, grab some lunch and sit by yourself, I'm going to talk April" said Danny.
Danny approaches the table April is sitting at and sits down on the opposite side without saying a word.
"Hey Danny" said April.
Danny then looks to see if Steve is keeping his distance from their conversation. Once he knew Steve was keeping away, he started to speak to April.
"What's going on April?" asks Danny.
April's eyes begin to well up after Danny asks her the question. Before April answers the question, she takes in a deep breath and wipes her eyes with a napkin.
"I had to get away Danny" said April.
Danny didn't know what to make of April's statement.
"What do you mean you had to get away April?" asked Danny. "Is this about Nathan?"
April says nothing and just nods to answer Danny's question. But nothing could prepare Danny for what April was about to say next.
"He's been hurting me Danny" said April as her eyes began to well up again.
"You mean physically hurting you?" Danny asked to confirm what April had just said.
Once again April didn't speak. She turned around on her seat and moved her long brown wavy hair away to reveal bruises on her back and neck.
Danny was in disbelief for a few seconds after April showed him the bruises. Nathan had always seemed like a nice guy. Nathan and April seemed perfect for each other. What could have gone so wrong for this to happen? From a distance, though he couldn't hear what was being said, Steve clearly saw the bruises that April was showing Danny. He was in utter shock.
"Well, that certainly explains what Steve said about you being in "physical pain"" said Danny.
"When did it start?" he asked.
"Um, about five or six months ago" said April.
"Did you go to the cops?" Danny asked.
"No, I was too scared to Danny" April replied. "I was afraid what he would do if he found out"
"Besides, that's not the only reason I'm here Danny" April continued.
"Yeah? What's the other reason?" Danny asked.
April paused for a moment and grabbed something out of her handbag. It was a small white envelope.
"I'm pregnant Danny" she said as she took out an ultrasound photo from the small white envelope to show her brother.
Danny then put out his right hand to hold April's hand.
"Ah okay, how far along are you?" Danny asked.
"Um, I'm about nine weeks now" April replied.
"That's why I'm here Danny; I was scared Nathan was going to hurt the baby too"
"Does Nathan know you're in Hawaii?" Danny asked.
"No, he's on a business trip in New York; which gave me the opportunity to leave Newark without him knowing" said April.
"I also don't know if I want tell that I'm in Hawaii Danny"
"Okay, ah, does Nathan know about the baby?" Danny asked.
"Yeah" replied April.
"He was completely ecstatic when I told him; and he promised me he would never hit me again; that promise lasted about five weeks"
"So, what are you going to do now?" Danny asked.
"Look, Danny, I love New Jersey as much as you do; but I have no intentions of going back" said April.
"What are you talking about?" Danny asked.
"I'm saying that I'm starting over" April replied.
"Okay, so where are you going to go?" Danny asked.
"I'm not visiting Danny, I'm going to stay here, in Hawaii" April said.
When April said that she was planning on staying in Hawaii, he was completely speechless. It wasn't because he wasn't happy that she going to stay; it was because it was just so sudden.
"Are you sure?" Danny asked April.
"Danny, I've never been surer about anything in my life" April replied.
"Okay" said Danny.
Danny then turns around to look at Steve. It was obvious that he was giving Danny a face. This was a face that said hurry up.
"Look I should get back to work" said Danny. "Steve's giving me a look"
"Yeah you probably should get back to work" April said in agreement.
"I've got to the hospital to talk about getting a new anyway"
Danny and April both give Steve a slight wave before they stood up. Danny then walked around to April's side of the table and opened up his arms to give April a hug. April happily returned the gesture.
Danny walked back over to meet Steve at the car; April left for the hospital for her interview.
As Danny approached the car he took a deep breath to try and take in what April had just told him. He also knew that Steve was going ask him what he and April were talking about. Danny wouldn't have much of a choice anyway because Steve was only going to pester him until he gave in.
"What's going on with your sister Danny?" Steve asked.
"Where do I start" Danny replied.
"Oh, okay, her now ex-boyfriend Nathan has been abusing her, she's pregnant and oh yeah, she's staying in Hawaii"
Steve was now put in a position where he didn't know whether to say anything or not.
"You want to talk about it?" Steve asked.
"Yeah, but not now" said Danny.
"Okay, let's get going then" said Steve.
After an awkward car ride to interview the first person on their list, they arrived at their destination.
When they arrived, they saw the man they were about to interview, making a run for it. When the man saw Steve and Danny, he then drew a gun from his pocket and starting shooting.
