Chapter 4 - "Decoder Rings & Loco Moco"
A/N: Forgot to mention in the previous chapter that Malia is alive in my FF world. But I'm pretty sure you picked up on that by now.
A/N: Adam & Kono's ethnicity...
* Since Grace Park is half Korean, I stuck with her character Kono also being half Korean.
* As for Ian Anthony Dale, he is half Japanese, but I have altered his character Adam a bit. For the sake of my story Adam is half Japanese (from his father Hiro). Since we have heard nothing about his mother on the show, I have decided, for the sake of my story, that his mother is half Korean.
* I did this because, well, it's FanFiction and I can, but primarily because I wanted Adam & Kono to have that in common and for speaking in Korean to be something they shared.
"Decoder Rings & Loco Moco"
"So, where are we headed?" Danny asked.
But no answer came from Steve as a black SUV pulled up.
Both Chin and Danny had pendulum eyes, going back and forth between Steve and the man that had exited the black SUV and was now approaching them. Obviously if the unknown man was a threat, even a suspected threat, Steve would be not be in the calm mode he was in. Well, maybe 'calm mode' was not quite accurate though. Having stopped his forward momentum, Steve now stood still, his feet shoulder width apart, arms crossed over his chest, shoulders squared, and back straight. No, definitely not 'calm mode', more like 'SEAL mode'.
The very tall and slim man - whom Danny had quickly dubbed 'Beamer' because his eyes and skin were so dark it made the whites of his eyes stand out - completed his approach and stopped in front of them. Well, actually he stopped in front of Steve, even taking up a similar stance as the SEAL.
It was as if the two Detectives were invisible, as Steve and the stranger just stared at each other while Chin and Danny waited for the man to speak. But to their surprise it wasn't the stranger who spoke first.
"Tag?" Steve asked the stranger. Or at least Chin and Danny thought it sounded like a question.
"Affirmative." Came the man's straight-faced answer. Or at least Chin and Danny thought it was an answer, assuming 'Tag' had actually been a question.
"Load?" Steve asked. Again, Chin and Danny assumed.
"Negative."
"Via?" Steve asked.
"G-Zero."
It was almost imperceptible. The very, very brief and slight tip of Steve's head.
An equally almost imperceptible nod came from the man.
"Gotta go." Steve suddenly said as he unfolded his arms and rushed off, following the man, leaving Chin and Danny just standing there.
"What just happened?" Danny asked as they watched the SUV drive away. "What did they just say to each other?" He added, not bothering to give his colleague time to answer the first question.
"Sorry, brah,... left my decoder ring at home." Chin answered with a snap of his fingers and a shrug, then proceed down the walkway towards his car.
"That was some sort of Super SEAL thing. Right?" Danny sought to confirm, his curiosity obviously peaked. "I mean, it had to be. They both had that 'thing' going on. Oh, and the eyes. It was like they could talk without talking, ya know?" Danny ranted on, arms in full motion. Then he paused, both in words and movement, "Oh my God,..." This finally got Chin to stop walking too and look at him. "I'm gonna have to hear him say, 'It's classified' again. Aren't I?"
Chin just rolled his eyes, and chose to not answer as he resumed the trek to his car.
The rest of the afternoon was spent hunting down leads on the case,... and listening to Danny.
THE NEXT MORNING, JUST BEFORE 9am...
With a take-out container of Loco Moco in one hand, and his car keys still in the other, Adam Noshimuri walked towards the Five-0 headquarters. Turns out Chin was headed the same direction and the two men soon cross paths just outside the entrance doors.
"Lieutenant Kelly," Adam greeted formally as he knew his girlfriend's cousin didn't like him. "Is Kono still here?" He inquired, getting to the point quickly.
"Still here?" Chin questions, eying the take-out container.
"Since she didn't show up for breakfast this morning, I figured Five-0 caught a case." Adam explained.
"Breakfast?" Chin simply asked, indicating the take-out.
Adam answered via a nod before speaking. "She gets so focused and single-minded when working a case, that I knew she wouldn't stop to eat. Since she's not due back at the courthouse until 10, I figured I'd drop her off some of her favorite."
"Loco Moco." Chin safely guessed.
"Of course." Adam confirmed.
"Only thing is, we didn't catch a case." Chin informed.
"Did I hear you say we've got a case?" Danny asked as he approached.
"No, Danny." Chin corrected, "But Mr. Noshimuri is looking for Kono." He added, and the formal use of his name was not lost on Adam.
"Isn't she back at the courthouse this morning?" Danny sought to confirm.
Both Chin and Adam nodded before the cousin spoke, "Yeah, but not until ten."
"Malasadas?" Danny inquired, eying the take-out box.
Adam shook his head, "Loco Moko. Well done, extra gravy on the side."
Turned out that was more information that Danny wanted to know about Adam Noshimuri's familiarity with Kono's breakfast preferences, and based on Chin's eye brow disappearing into his hairline, it was a pretty safe bet her cousin felt the same way.
"Thank you for accompanying Kono to lunch yesterday, Detective." Adam said to break the awkward moment of silence. It was only a moment, but awkward none the less, hence the upcoming explanation. "Kono and I tried re-scheduling for dinner, but her leaving the courthouse late ran right into my evening meeting. So, we attempted to meet this morning for breakfast. Only she didn't show, so I assumed Five-0 caught a case."
"Well, let's go inside and see if there's something going on we don't know about yet." Danny suggested, and all three men entered the building.
Steve exits his office as they enter, his phone still in his hand. "Oh, it's you." He says in obvious disappointment.
"Well, good morning to you, too, Steven." Danny says with a smirk.
"Oh, sorry." Steve says, "Could tell there were three of you, and was hoping Kono was with you."
Danny just shakes his head with a slight grin. He wasn't sure why he was surprised at the Super SEAL's ability to detect three sets of shoes on the hard wood floor. "No. Actually, we were hoping she was here."
But that wasn't what caught Chin's attention, "Why were you hoping she was arriving with us?" He asks.
"Because Lukela just called me, because the District Attorney's office just called HPD inquiring why Kono did not show up this morning to finish her deposition. Plus, she's not answering her phone." Steve explained.
"But she's not scheduled for another hour." Chin stated.
"But according to the DA's office, they conferred with her to change it to 8:30 this morning." Steve explained as he glanced at his watch.
"What time did that happen?" Adam asked.
"The DA's office told Lukela 'about 6:45'." Steve said.
Adam set the take-out box on the edge of the smart table to flip through his phone's call log. "Here it is. Kono called me at 6:34, as she was leaving the DA's office. We talked as she walked to her car. Call ended at 6:42." He said, the pocketed his phone, "When we talked, she was still scheduled back at the DA's office at 10:00."
"Which is why you both thought she had time to meet for breakfast this morning." Danny stated, and Adam confirmed with a nod.
"When did you try to call her?" Chin asked, pocketing his phone with a shake of his head as he had been trying to call Kono himself as they had all been talking. But it just went straight to voice mail.
"I didn't." Adam said, "When she was late, I sent a text, like I usually do. She prefers a text, since she might be in the middle of a case and doesn't want her phone ringing at the wrong time."
"Makes sense." Danny says with a nod, as they can all understand not wanting their phone to ring when they're trying to sneak up on a suspect. "So, the DA's office talked to her after she had already spoken with Adam, which means-"
"Which means we need to find out what happened after that." Chin said, as he walked around the Smart Table.
"Chin, try tracking her phone first." Steve said unnecessarily.
"Already on it." Chin stated as his fingers moved quickly over the computer. "Nothing. Her phone is either off or she has a dead battery."
"Track her car." Danny suggested, which sent Chin to work on the next step.
"GPS Locator puts her car still in the parking garage by the courthouse." Chin announces a few moments later.
"So she arrived back at the courthouse this morning, but never made it to the DA's office?" Steve says, thinking out loud.
"No." Adam states. "No, she would have called or texted me last night if our plans had to change."
"Noshimuri's right." Chin states. He may not like his cousin's boyfriend, but he knew his cousin well, and she would never be inconsiderate or rude like that.
Adam notices that at least the 'Mr.' part of his name had been dropped.
"So that means whatever happened to Kono, happened after her call from the DA's office, but before she left the parking garage. Chin, there's gotta be camera's in that garage, see what you can find." Steve instructs, and Chin is already getting started.
"This is gonna take a few minutes, guys." Chin informs them.
"So," Danny begins in a hushed tone as he leans closer to Steve, "since we have a few minutes to wait, you wanna tell me what happened yesterday." Danny asked.
Steve leaned slightly in Danny's direction, and in an equally hushed tone said, "It's classified."
HAWAII FIVE-0
Here is a repeat of the conversation between Steve and 'Beamer', this time with interpretations:
"Tag?"(are you here to get me?) Steve asked the stranger. Or at least Chin and Danny thought it sounded like a question.
"Affirmative." Came the man's simple answer. Or at least Chin and Danny thought it was an answer, assuming 'Tag' had actually been a question.
"Load?" (do I need any gear?) Steve asked. Again, Chin and Danny assumed.
"Negative."
"Via?" (transportation; how & when?) Steve asked.
"G-Zero." (G=ground, Zero=now, no waiting)
A/N: In case you didn't recognize him, that was Lieutenant Tiko Durbin – a.k.a. Beamer – one of Steve's former SEAL team members from my story "2-4-1" in that opening scene.
A/N: Had to try the local favorite Loco Moco when we were in Hawaii recently. Was told that it is usually served topped with over-easy or sunny-side-up eggs. Well, that was just not gonna happen on my plate. So, over-hard they are for Kono as well.
A/N: And a 'Thank you' to all who keep sending in their guesses about what is in the envelop Adam gave to Kono. I'm afraid that you, and Chin, and Agent Thomas will all just have to wait a little longer to find out. But feel free to continue guessing, because no one has got it right yet.