Slowly cruising down Hotel Street, Benjie Melendez glanced down at his watch, aware that Roberts was not going to be happy that he had not returned to the station as he had been ordered to. He would deal with Roberts later, but for now he had a little bit of payback to take care of, payback for Danny. A small, grim smile graced Benjie's lips as he saw the man he was searching for.
Pulling up to the curb, he climbed out of his LTD and leaned against it as he watched Rollins walk towards him. The small-time drug dealer seemed totally oblivious to his presence as Rollins shuffled quickly along the empty street, constantly checking over his shoulder as if he was worried that he was being followed. Stepping forward as Rollins passed, Benjie roughly grabbed the smaller man's arm as he steered him across the footpath and into the garbage littered alleyway before he shoved him roughly against the door of the old derelict building that formed one wall of the alleyway. "Worried someone's looking for you, Tommy?" he growled as he moved closer, placing his hand against the door above Rollins' head as he deliberately towered over the terrified man. "Someone like me, maybe?"
"Detective Melendez." Rollins gasped as he tried to back away from the angry Narcotics police officer a little but was stopped by the closed door behind him, "I…I heard what went down at the warehouse…"
"I'm sure you did!" Benjie snarled.
"I…I didn't know what Touman had planned, I swear. If I had have known it was some sort of a set up, I … I … would never have tipped you off." the smaller man whimpered in fear.
"I believe you, Tommy." Benjie suddenly smiled as he stepped back a step and gently began to smooth the drug dealer's ruffled shirt.
"You do?" Tommy gasped in surprise before he frowned nervously, terrified by the cop's sudden friendliness.
"Of course, I do." Benjie lightly patted the other man's cheek. "Why wouldn't I?"
The other man swallowed hard and nodded, too scared to speak or even move, as he watched Benjie chew his bottom lip for a moment. He jumped and pressed himself back against the door as the cop suddenly frowned and stared at him.
"Unless…unless Touman offered you more money to help set me and my partner up than I gave you for snitchin'." Stepping closer, he leaned down so his face was only inches away from his snitch, Benjie asked quietly, "Is that what happened, Tommy? Did Touman offer you a better deal to set up me and my partner? Maybe to get us killed?"
"No… no, Detective Melendez," Tommy shook his head hard, desperate for the furious cop to believe him, "I swear I'm telling you the truth. I would never set you up that way. You've been too good to me. Please, you have to believe me, I never knew it was a set up…"
"You never knew…" Benjie breathed quietly as he reached behind his back and pulled out the small, unauthorized back up gun he had started carrying since Brian was killed. Pressing it hard under his snitch's chin, forcing Tommy's head to tilt painfully back against the door, "You never knew? Just like Nelson never knew when he set me and my partner up six months ago and got my partner killed?"
"I swear, I never…" Tommy moaned in fear.
"You never knew. Yeah, yeah, you already told me that you would never help set me and Williams up for Touman."
"I swear, Detective Melendez, I didn't set you or Detective Williams up." Tommy choked as the gun pressed painfully into the bottom of his chin, forcing his head back against the door, making it hard to breathe as he pleaded, "I just told you what I heard on the street about the buy going down, honest…" he choked again before he managed to wheeze, "Please, you have to believe me."
"No, Tommy, that's where you are wrong," Benjie hissed coldly as his finger tightened on the trigger, "I don't have to believe you, just like I didn't have to believe Nelson when he claimed the same thing. And we both know what happened to him," Benjie smiled as he pulled the trigger, "he was found dead in an alleyway just like you."
Stepping back, he tucked his gun back into his belt behind his back while he watched the small man's body tumble to the ground, leaving a trail of blood and gore down the door. Pulling out a white handkerchief from his pocket, he swiped away some blood splatter he could feel on his face as he looked down at his snitch's body and the growing red puddle of blood that was spreading out beneath it. "That's for setting me and Danny Williams up!" he growled softly, kicking the motionless body.
OoOoOoOoO
Hearing the light rap on his cubicle wall,Chin looked up from the report he was writing as McGarrett walked past. Pushing the report away, he stood up and followed McGarrett into his office, closing the door behind him. "Steve, Duke told us about what happened with the Narcotics raid this morning. How's Danny?" he asked as he sat down on one of the white high back chairs in front of McGarrett's large desk.
"He's critical but stable, he took a round in the stomach." Steve answered guiltily as he sat down. He swallowed hard, struggling to keep his composure as he remembered hearing the details of the shooting and just how close he had come to losing Danno. Drawing a deep breath, he lightly cleared the large lump that had formed in his throat before he continued, "He … he lost a lot of blood at the scene and they had to remove his spleen to control the bleeding, but the doc said barring any unforeseen complications, he should be good for a full recovery."
"Thank God!" Chin breathed softly, from what little information Duke had been able to tell him about the failed narcotics raid he knew that Danny's condition had been very much touch and go at the scene. He waited for Steve to continue, aware that there was something more on his boss's mind. He was rewarded several heartbeats later when Steve asked softly, "Chin, do you know anything about Danno's new partner?"
"Benjie Melendez?" Chin frowned.
Steve nodded, watching him closely.
Chin shrugged, uncertain of what Steve wanted to know or why. "Not much, only that he has been working Narcotics for the last three years. From what I heard he's a bit of a paniolo, Boss, but he always ends up getting results, why?"
The sick feeling in Steve's gut intensified as he answered Chin's question with another question of his own, "Did you know that Narcotics have lost two good officers in the last in the last six months, in raids similar as the raid that Danno was involved in today?"
Chin nodded, hearing about a fallen officer was something no officer forgot, but when one heard about two officers being lost in such a short period of time, it was something that tended to stay with an officer for a long time. "Yeah, Rodriguez and Stanton." Looking across at Steve, his frown deepened in confusion, "But we both know that Narcotics raids can be dangerous, Steve, and sometimes officers are injured or killed."
"I know Chin, but what would you think if I told you that there was one Narcotics officer who was involved in each one of these raids…"
"Melendez?"
Steve nodded as the phone on his desk began to ring.
"Steve…" Chin warned softly, realizing just where Steve was headed as Steve reached for the phone, snapping, "McGarrett," as he pressed it to his ear. Listening to the caller for a few seconds, he answered, "We're on our way!" Slamming down the phone, he stood up and grabbed his coat, "There's been a shooting in a small alleyway on Hotel. HPD is requesting us to attend." he told Chin over his shoulder as Chin stood up and ran after him out of the office.
OoOoOoO
Spotting the two Five-O officers as they entered the alleyway, Roberts softly spoke to the coroner who was inspecting the body before he hurried across to join Steve and Chin.
Steve looked at the Narcotics captain in surprise as Tom joined them, quickly introducing Chin to the Narcotics captain before he turned back to Tom, "Tom, what are you doing here?" He paused, glancing across at the bloodied body sprawled in the doorway before he looked back at Tom and asked almost cautiously, praying that he was wrong, "He's not one of your guys, is he?"
Roberts shook his head, "No, no, he's not one of mine, but he is one of Benjie's and Danny's snitches. His name's Thomas Rollins, a small-time dealer who makes ends meet by occasionally giving us some useful bits of information." Turning and walking back towards the body with Steve as Lee headed across to join two officers who were talking to two potential witnesses, Tom continued, "It was his tip that led to this morning's raid."
Pausing to look around the scene as they reached the body, Steve frowned, "Who found the body?"
The Narcotic's captain hesitated before he answered softly, "Benjie."
Steve turned and stared at him in surprise, "Benjie Melendez? Danno's partner?"
Tom nodded.
"But I thought you sent him back to headquarters."
"I did," the Narcotics captain sighed, "but Benjie decided to find Rollins to bring him in to answer a few questions about this morning's raid. But when he found him… I guess it was too late. Looks like someone is wrapping up loose ends and decided to shut Rollins up permanently, before he could talk. Benjie's sitting in my car, writing out his statement while things are still fresh in his mind."
Steve nodded but said no more as Roberts turned and walked back towards his car. Returning his attention back to the body, Steve knelt beside Doc who was still examining and asked, "What have we got, Doc?"
"Gunshot wound under the chin, Steve, by the look of the entry would I would guess it was probably from a .38. Death would have been instantaneous, not much left of the back of his head. Looks like he was killed here, and his body fell to the ground." Steve nodded his agreement as he looked up at the bloody smear that trailed down the wall as the coroner continued, "Time of death I would say was no longer than an hour ago, the body's still warm and the blood is still congealing. There is stippling and burn marks around the entry wound, but I will be able to tell you more once I get him on the table."
"Thanks Doc," Steve smiled as he patted the coroner on the shoulder before he stood up and stared at the bullet hole in the door behind the body. Although the spent bullet had lodged in the door after passing through the victim's head, it was no longer there. Scratch marks around and in the hole left behind, instantly told Steve that shooter had taken the time after the murder to dig it out. Stepping back, Steve glanced around, not surprised to find there were no visible shell casings on the ground. Someone had taken the time to clean up after the murder.
OoOoOoO
Chewing the top of his pen, Benjie re- read the report he was writing about how he had gone in search of Tommy Rollins to bring him in for questioning about this morning's raid, but instead of finding Tommy alive, he had found small snitch's body in the alley where Tommy was known to carry out his petty drug transactions. Satisfied with what he had written about how, after finding Rollin's body, he had followed procedure, immediately cordoned off the crime scene and radioed it in.
Hearing another car pull up near him, he looked up, just in time to see the two Five-O officers alight from their car and head into the alley. His top lip curled up into a hateful snarl as he watched McGarrett stroll into the crime scene like he thought that he was someone special, stopping briefly to talk to Roberts, probably to tell the captain that he was taking over the case, before kneeling to examine Rollin's body.
He shook his head in disgust, as he looked back down at the notebook he held in his hand to add the final details to his 'report', unable to believe that the kid and McGarrett had not only been partners but also had once been friends. He needed to teach the kid not to be so trusting because one day trusting the wrong person was going to get him killed.
He snorted softly as his grip on the pen tightened, Hell, he had trusted Chris and Sam to watch not only his, but also Brian's, Adam's and Danny's backs, during the raids and they had let him down and it was his own trust in Rollins not to set them up today had almost got Danny killed. And Danny had trusted McGarrett to not only be his partner and mentor but also his friend, but McGarrett had tossed the young man aside, without a second thought, after the younger man had dared to disagree with him.
Well from now on, his new motto and the motto he was going to drum into Danny was going to be "Trust no one but each other!" and that included McGarrett!
After giving his 'report' a final cursory reading, he snapped his notebook closed, jumping in surprise as he heard a soft rap on the window beside him, a heartbeat before the car door opened and Roberts leaned inside. Handing the Narcotics captain the report he had just completed before the other man could even speak, Benjie cleared his throat. "Umm look, Tom, I know I disobeyed orders and I am really sorry but…"
Accepting Benjie's closed notebook, Roberts sighed, "I know you are Benjie, and to be honest if it was my partner who was shot today, I probably would have gone looking for my snitch as well to get some answers. But you ignored my explicit orders, given to you in front of the top cop on the islands, to return to the station, and we both know that I might not have any other choice but to report your actions and bring you up on charges in front of the disciplinary board."
"I know…" Benjie nodded.
"Also, I don't know what issues you have with McGarrett over what happened between him and your partner but whatever they are I want you to put them behind you. I am handing this case over to McGarrett and Five-O and I expect you co-operate fully and to fill him in on the case that you and Danny have been working on-"
"But-" Benjie began to protest.
"No buts, just do it!" Roberts ordered; the tone of his voice instantly warned Benjie that the older man was in no mood for any arguments.
"Okay, Cap," Benjie nodded reluctantly.
Placing his hand on the back of his detective's shoulder as Benjie climbed out of the car, the tone of Roberts' voice softened, "Look Benjie, I know you want to find the son of the bitches who are responsible for setting us up. I do as well. But we need help to get the bastards and McGarrett's the best man I know to do the job."
Casting a quick glance over his shoulder at McGarrett who was studying the bullet hole in the door before looking down to search for any spent shells, Benjie slid his hand into his pocket, his fingers curling around the bullet and casing hidden there as he turned back to Robert and agreed, "You're right, Tom, I'll promise, I will co-operate … and so will Danny…"
"Good man!" Roberts smiled with relief as he patted Benjie's shoulder, "Now get your ass back to the station and get that report typed out. McGarrett is going to want to see it as soon as he's finished here."
Benjie gave a single, curt nod before he turned and headed back to his car.
OoOoOoO
Garlic! It was the faint, bitter taste of garlic in the back of his dry throat that greeted Danny as the darkness began to lift. He swallowed hard as his stomach threatened to rebel. His head felt like it was full of cotton wool, his body felt as heavy as cement and the strange sensation of something covering his mouth and nose, blowing warm moist air only made his nausea worse. This had to be the worse hangover that he had ever had, although he had no memory of even drinking. In fact, he had no memory at all at how he had even come to be in bed.
He took a deeper breath, wincing as a sharp pain lanced through his stomach as he weakly lifted his hand up to his face to remove the offending item from his face. But his attempt was foiled when a hand firmly grabbed his, preventing him from doing so and his hand was lowered back down to the bed as a soft female voice gently scolded him, "Whoa, hey, that has to stay where it is, young man, it's helping you breathe."
Forcing his heavy eyelids open, Danny found himself staring up into a blurry face hovering above his own. "Wh…?" he managed to mumble as he blinked, trying to bring the face above him into focus.
"Where are you?"
Danny nodded slowly as the nurse's face came into focus and he slowly become aware of the soft beep of a heart monitor beside his bed and the soft hiss of oxygen as it flowed to the oxygen mask on his face. In his peripheral vision he could see two IV bags hanging above the bed, their tubes snaking down towards him.
"You're in Queens Hospital," the nurse told him softly as she took a syringe from the kidney tray on the table next to the bed and carefully injected the needle into one of the IV bungs, carefully depressing the plunger as she spoke, "you were shot in the stomach during some sort of a raid."
After a few seconds delay as he tried to comprehend what the nurse was telling him through the strange fuzziness of his mind, Danny nodded again as he struggled to keep his eyes open. "Steve…" he murmured, "he…okay?"
"Steve?" The nurse frowned before she smiled down at him and patted his arm, "Ohh, you must mean your partner, Detective Melendez, he's fine."
Danny shook his head in confusion, finding it hard to think. 'No, no, Melendez wasn't his partner, Steve was…'. He took a deep shuddering breath as he remembered that he was no longer Steve's partner, he was no longer in Five-O. He had transferred across to Narcotics and he was Benjie's partner now. A single tear slid from the corner of his eye and rolled down the side of his face as his eyes slid closed and the darkness slowly pulled him back into its silent and painless embrace as he remembered that Steve and he were not even friends anymore.
