A/N: A little investigation, a little banter.
Chapter 7: Lucky Day
The fire was at Beretania Elementary School and it was worse than the others. Forty-two children were injured, 16 seriously. Eight adults received significant injuries. The principal and one teacher were in critical condition because they had gone back in the building looking for a missing boy. It turned out he had been so panicked he had run all the way home, but the adults were badly burned trying to find him in the building.
As the information came in, the Five-0 foursome plus one grew more and more somber. The two pizzas they had ordered in remained half-uneaten. Nobody had much appetite.
It was nearly 8 p.m., when Steve got off the phone with fire inspector Captain Rafael Garcia and reported back to his team.
"Danny, you and I are going to investigate the fire scene with Garcia first thing tomorrow morning."
The Five-0 teammates nodded. Danny's family background gave him an insight into the way firemen think while Steve's military background had taught him a lot about incendiary chemicals.
Steve continued, "Chin, you and Kono are going to follow up on what Officer Ioki's discovered in his background checks. Speaking of which …" he looked a question at the young man.
"I've found a lot, maybe too much," the young man confessed. "Every man has something that could be suspicious, but there's nothing definitive about any of them.
"Backgrounds: They all have experience with chemicals, chemistry and/or incendiary devices."
"Not really shocking when we're talking about firefighters," Danny commented. The others nodded.
"Captain Harmon James was a chemical operations officer in the army," Ioki said.
"That's more tear gas, smoke and decontamination than incendiary devices," the Navy SEAL objected.
"But he has B.S. in chemistry and took a special course in explosive and incendiary devices during his Reserve training," Ioki countered. "Engineer Michael Harnett is also in the Army Reserves. His MOS is Explosive Ordnance Disposal Technician."
"MOS?" Danny asked. It was obvious that it was Harnett's Army job, but Danny wanted to know what it stood for.
"Military Occupational Specialty," Steve explained. "Every soldier has one."
"What is yours?" Danny asked curiously.
"I'm not a soldier, Danny. Navy, remember?"
"Right, I keep forgetting," Danny said with exaggerated surprise. "Because you spent all your time sneaking through jungles and deserts and I always thought the Navy had to do with boats."
"Ships!" Steve said with mock exasperation.
Danny just smirked, then his eyes clouded over again as he remembered all the children in danger. "Sorry, kid," he apologized to Ioki. "I'd hate to think Mick was involved. He's saved my life twice."
"But he certainly has the qualifications," Ioki pointed out. "Pila Li'ili'i and Blake Bacadi both have bachelor's degrees in science. Li'ili'i's is in physics and Bacadi's in chemistry. Jacob Gratz' worked his way through two years of junior college with a pyrotechnic company, putting on fireworks displays. Lee Kam's family owned an industrial cleaning company, which used lots of toxic and flammable chemicals."
"So they all have a working knowledge of chemistry or explosives," Kono said.
"Correct."
"What about triggers?" Chin asked. "Serial killers usually start because of some traumatic event, serial arsonists are the same, as far as I know."
"We already know about the death of Bacadi's wife and child," Steve said. "Sounds like a trigger to me."
"True, but it was more than two years ago," Ioki said. "I'd think a trigger should be more recent than that. Now Harnett's father died recently, just two weeks before the first fire at Sanders Elementary. Fred Harnett was an Army firefighter who had to retire after he broke his back on the job. His health was always poor after that. His death might have triggered a hatred for the fire department," Ioki speculated.
Danny winced at the thought. That could have been him and his own father so easily.
"Kam's family recently lost their business, a victim of the poor economy, and his parents have moved in with Kam and his wife."
"That might cause a man to break," Steve said, thinking how happy he was when his mother found her own place and moved out of his.
"Any triggers for Gratz?" Danny asked hopefully. He really didn't like the man.
"His wife divorced him for verbal abuse and took their daughter to California," Ioki answered. "That was just a month ago."
"And might give him a reason to go after schools," Chin said with a nod.
Danny was sorry he asked. He hated to have that much in common with Gratz.
"What about the other two?" Kono asked.
"I didn't find any obvious triggers for Li'ili'i," Ioki said. "But Captain James lost a couple of Army friends to an IED about two months ago."
"I see what you mean, too much information but not enough," Chin said. "We can't rule anyone out with this."
"I'm sorry," Ioki said.
"Don't apologize," Steve said. "This is all important information that we wouldn't have without you. But we need more. Now, tomorrow …"
"Financials," Kono guessed. "Any strange purchases."
"Particularly chemicals," Chin added.
"Right," Steve said. "If you find anything substantive, I trust you to know when to stop tiptoeing around the edges and begin questioning people. Now, everyone go home and get some sleep. We're going to be busy tomorrow."
They met back at Five-0 HQ just after sunrise the next day. Steve and Danny had to be ready to meet Garcia at Beretania Elementary as soon as daylight was strong enough. Danny brought malasadas and Chin brought good, strong Kona coffee.
"If you're finished stuffing your face, we'd better go," Steve told his partner.
"Don't get cranky, just because you only had time to swim halfway to Los Angeles this morning," Danny replied, but he quickly swallowed the last of his coffee.
Steve's phone interrupted them, playing the ominous "duh duh, duh duh" theme from "Jaws." A glance at the screen showed the name "Denning."
Steve's sweeping suspicious look took in his three teammates and one confused HPD officer. "When I find out who's been playing with my ringtones…" he threatened as he stalked toward his office, hitting "accept." "Yes, governor," the others heard, as he shut the door behind him.
Chin aimed his grin at Kono but she shook her head, so they both looked at Danny. He held up his hands in a stop sign. "Not me. Grace. Though I may have made some suggestions about the ringtones to pick."
"So basically the boss is screwed," Kono laughed. "He's putty in the face of those big brown eyes."
She saw Ioki's confusion, so she fingered the keys on the smart table and brought up a picture of Steve carrying a laughing little girl on his shoulders. "Danny's daughter is soooo cute," she explained.
Steve came out of his office and was momentarily distracted by a glimpse of the picture. "What?"
"Just introducing Walaka to our family," Kono answered easily.
Steve's expression softened when he looked at the photo and Ioki knew the commander would never be able to punish the little girl for playing with his phone. Then Steve's gaze hardened again when the youngster's image reminded him of the school fires.
"All right, change of plans," the commander announced.
"Let me guess, the governor wants to bawl us out for not catching the arsonist in three days," Danny said sarcastically.
"He wants a progress report," Steve corrected.
Danny raised an eyebrow. Kono raised two.
"Which will come down to a bawling out," Chin interpreted.
"Probably," Steve agreed. As a military man he knew, sometimes you just had to let the commanding officer vent his displeasure. After all, he had a boss yelling at him, too. And in the governor's case, that boss was the entire population of Hawaii. "But once he's blown off steam, I can probably get more manpower. Enough to knock on doors. Maybe enough to tail our suspects."
"I can see it now, a parade of unmarked police cars following Engine 68 down the Pali Highway," Danny said dryly.
"Been there, done that," Kono pointed out.
Steve ignored the comments — though the image was amusing — and said, "So Danny, you and Kono go to meet Garcia. Chin, you and Ioki continue the background checks. I'll handle the governor." He pulled car keys from his pocket.
"No," Danny said firmly, snatching the Camaro's keys out of his partner's hand. "No, you do not need to drive MY car to see the governor. He's just across the street!"
"But then I need to go to Beretania," Steve complained.
"That's three blocks north of the capitol building. You can meet us there. It'll be good for you. You missed your run this morning. Honestly, you'll run for miles in training but you won't walk four blocks for work."
"Unless he's chasing someone," Kono pointed out helpfully.
"Danny, you know we need to keep a car nearby in case we're called to another crime scene," Steve said impatiently. "What if there's another fire?"
"Then you can come back here and get your truck. It's one block!" Danny said in exasperation.
"You're going to be late," Chin reminded Steve before he could continue the argument.
Steve threw his hands up in surrender and jogged out.
"I win the chance to drive my own car for the second time this week," Danny said, tossing up the keys and catching them again. "Must be my lucky day."
"Four blocks," Kono pointed out. "You get to drive it four blocks."
"A win's a win, Kalakaua. You coming?" The two detectives headed for the door.
"Are they always like this?" Ioki asked.
"That was nothing," Chin assured him. "Come on, let's beat him to the evidence. We're driving the fastest machine." He cracked his knuckles ostentatiously and began to type on the smart table.
TBC
A/N: The one block business is based on my previous visit to Hawaii. The building they identify as "Five-0 Headquarters" is across the street from the Iolani Palace, which backs up to the state capitol. I say previous, because I am in Hawaii now, but I haven't gotten back to Five-0 HQ yet.
And did anyone find the "lucky day" comment to be vaguely ominous? You should.
