A/N: Many, many apologies. I have not lost my passion for Steve/Kono or the wishing that the writers/producers will wise up… like really, really soon. ;) The thing I did lose was the time to be able to focus on this and give it the proper attention it (and you lovely readers) deserve. In that time, I had skipped season 3 and season 4, so I missed a lot of the plots going on. And from what I've observed, haven't missed much. But I did stumble upon a season 5 episode that has renewed my Steve/Kono vigor. ;) So, here we go at trying my hand at this writing thing again. I hope it's decent enough…
Part Eight
HPD Morgue
"Hey Max," Kono greeted the man with a smile. The medical examiner looked up from where he was finishing off a stitch on his current 'patient', a light lamp on his forehead to make his work a bit easier.
"Officer Kalakaua, it is good to see you," he said before turning back to do a couple more quick stitches. "As you can see, I am just putting the final touches on this particular case."
"Anything new you can tell me?" she asked, leaning against the empty autopsy table next to him.
"As Fong no doubt mentioned to you, it was found from the ballistics off the bullet that it came from a high-performance, long range rifle, most likely a SIG-Sauer make. This would be consistent with the bullets that had come earlier from Reyes and Komoa. As each of these killings occurred from a distance between 600 to 900 meters, I would concur that the sniper rifle would be your murder weapon," he rattled off.
"A skilled sniper killing two victims in the safety of their own home and then another who was running through the docks. At first glance, this has organization written all over it," she muttered to herself. But whose organization? That was the question. Max looked up at her.
"I would have to agree, Officer Kalakaua. When I tried to run this man's prints through all the known databases, it was curious that there had been no connections. I can say the same with facial recognition. It would seem that our victim does not exist," he informed her as he straightened, shutting off the head lamp and slipping it off. Kono frowned.
"So that is two John Does now, with no information on them whatsoever? This is getting messier and messier," she said. Max made a small hum of agreement, stripping off his gloves.
"But," he started. "What was even more curious was that when I did run his prints, the system made a match to an unidentified print from a breaking and entering case from a few years ago." Kono crossed her arms over her chest as she thought through that for a long moment.
"What was the address of that B&E, Max?" she asked. He went over to one of the work stations and pulled up the files he had been looking through earlier.
"It was at 590 Prospect Street," he read off. Kono let out a humorless chuckle as it made sense.
"Not far off the mark," she said, thinking over the Governor's neighborhood in her head. She stood up straight. "I think you just might have made the connection between our John Doe here and our B&E cases. And with the tattoo in the mix, we now may have the connection we need for the Reyes and Komoa killings."
"It would seem highly likely," Max confirmed.
"Can you send me all the information from that unsolved B&E?" she asked. The other man nodded.
"Absolutely. I will do it now," Max said as he paged through the reports and made sure they were where they needed to be.
"Well, that gives us another place to start looking for something concrete," she told him with a smile. "Thanks."
"You are welcome," he said to her back as she started out. As she opened the door, though, Kono stopped. Turning on her heel, she went back to the medical examiner.
"Max? Do you still have that John Doe from the B&E?" she asked, a thought teasing her brain and her gut telling her to pay attention. Max looked thoughtful for a second.
"Yes, I do believe so. Being listed as a John Doe means the body is considered a responsibility of the state at this point. No family has identified him or claimed the body," he confirmed.
"Could I get a quick look at him again, in person?" she said.
"Of course," he said as he stood and walked over to the large wall of metal coolers. Max picked one and quickly opened the door, sliding out the bed.
Kono looked at his face closer and it did seem familiar. She hadn't been able to pay much attention to it as they'd found him. And the lack of identification had merely stumped her enough to really pay more thought to it as a John Doe than anything else. As she kept looking, the memory of her first official dinner out with Adam became clearer and clearer. She straightened and let out a breath she been holding. This man… this man was the person who had interrupted them with a message. She reached down and tugged the sheet covering him down to his waist and gently turned his left arm toward her. And this… this was the tattoo on his wrist she'd seen that night.
She closed her eyes as she realized the implication of this particular lead. Kono hesitated as she pulled out her phone, and it took a few seconds of her finger hovering over the speed dial, but she did press the number eventually.
"Steve… when you get this, we're going to need to talk." If her voice sounded heavier than it normally did, it was because of the lump of unease that had suddenly formed.
She tucked her phone into her back pocket, mumbled a quick thanks to a frowning Max, and made her way out to her car. She suddenly felt like a shave ice…
Five-0 HQ
Steve threw one of the evidence bags across the table. It had only been an hour, but it was still enough.
"I've stared at this stuff too much. My damn eyes are crossing," he cursed.
"Yeah, well, I'd insert some joke in there about how it would improve your look, but I'm too tired to dazzle with my stunning wit," Danny grumbled. Steve chuckled.
"Stunning wit? That's debatable. I'll make coffee," he said, standing. Danny just closed his eyes, resting his cheek on his hand.
"If I'd known it would have been that easy, I'd have asked you to go get food, too," he said. Steve gave a disbelieving snort.
"Not in this lifetime," he said. Danny shrugged.
"Worth the shot," he said as Steve made his way to the coffeemaker. "Make sure you put a little water in it this time, babe. We don't all need the high octane fuel you call coffee to sustain us."
"Are you just going to bitch all afternoon?" Steve asked, already internally groaning at the prospect.
"No, but I'm doing what I can to avoid looking into that evidence box again," he said. When Steve finally sat down, the other man looked up.
"Why'd you give us the boring job today?" he asked.
"Bonding?" Steve answered with his own sarcastic question. He gave Danny a mock concerned look. "Tell me, how have you been? How's life? Are you getting enough sleep?" Danny narrowed his eyes at the overly saccharine questions and threw a pen at his partner.
"Why ya gotta be like that, huh? Just because you're not blowing things up or shooting people doesn't mean you have to be a complete jackass to compensate." Steve shrugged with a straight face.
"I'm just trying to be a good partner, Danno." Danny just gave him a quick, narrow-eyed look that conveyed just how convinced he was of that. The two men then succumbed to staring at the evidence pile that was in front of them. They'd gone through about half of it and found nothing that could offer any more information or theories. They were pretty much at a standstill until Chin and Lori returned or Kono brought back some information.
"So, I'm betting that you know Fryer is trying to recruit Kono," Danny tossed out there into the silence, leaning back in his chair. Steve's grip on the pen he'd been twirling absentmindedly tightened before he realized it wasn't a good substitute for Fryer's neck.
"Yeah," he let out on a huff.
"You told her not to do it, right?" Danny asked, putting his hands behind his head. Steve looked over at him with a confused look.
"Why the hell would I do that?" he asked.
"Well, oh Great and Wonderful Commander of Five-0, you're the boss. She should listen to you," his partner replied. Steve sat back in his chair and looked at the blond man incredulously.
"You really do need a coffee. You actually think that would work, Danny? Honestly?" he asked. Then he shook his head. "It's no wonder you're divorced…"
"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Danny said, sitting up straight again. "That's a bit of a low blow, mister. Not necessary." Steve rolled his eyes.
"Then you need to describe to me, Danno, a moment when you've told a woman – well, anyone for that matter – what they can't do and it actually worked, especially when it is totally their prerogative to do something. I'm going to need specifics on this one," he requested. Danny looked to think that through for a moment. And if his partnership with Steve McGarrett has taught him anything, it was that perhaps that the other man had a point.
"You're right. I hate that you're right, and I'm not sure how it happened, but you're right," he conceded, sitting back again. The fell into silence for a moment as Steve fiddled with the pen.
"She told you about it?" he finally asked. Danny shrugged.
"She mentioned it. Didn't get into details, seemed a bit cavalier about it," he said. Steve nodded, but didn't say anything.
"She wouldn't give up Five-0, Steve," the blond said, trying his best to believe it himself. "She risked too much to just walk away now."'
"I'm fully aware of what she risked," Steve growled unexpectedly, the reminder of all of that suddenly spiking his anger. Danny held up his hands in surrender.
"Sorry, sorry. I know you do," he sighed. Danny looked like he wanted to say more, but mercifully stayed silent as Steve willed those particular memories away. Thankfully, the buzzing of his phone was enough of a distraction to successfully do so. With a sigh, he connected the call.
"McGarrett," he greeted.
"We might have a lead on our John Doe from the docks," Fryer's voice greeted. "We got a missing persons report in here at HPD for a Jonathan Nevins. When we do a search on Nevins, we get a hit, but the real Jonathan Nevins has been dead for 7 years. For someone to report him 5 days missing seems more than a bit suspicious. This person described the John Doe down to the tattoo on his arm."
Steve stood up and motioned for Danny to pack it up. "Five days missing? That's interesting considering he was only killed in the last day or so. Do you have a name and address for the person who reported him missing?"
"Sending it to you now."
"Thanks." He gritted his teeth as he said it, as it wasn't something he liked saying to Fryer.
"McGarrett… we may not like each other, but we're after the same thing here. These guys killed our own," Fryer said before disconnecting. It was as close to a truce as they were going to ever get.
"Let's go, Danno. Got a lead," he said. Danny looked heavenwards as he picked up his badge and gun.
"Finally…"
Hau'oli Travels
The little bell over the door jingled as Chin and Lori walked in. It was a simple office: just one room partitioned off into four cubicle areas. There was a small reception desk, occupied by a lovely brunette who was now smiling at the pair in welcome.
"Hello! Welcome to Hau'oli Travels. My name is Yvette. How can I help you?" she asked. Lori stepped closer to the desk and held out a picture to the woman.
"We're with the Five-0 task force and would like to ask you a few questions about Leilani Komoa," she told her. The woman frowned as she looked at the picture.
"I'd love to be able to help, but I've only worked here for about two weeks. I've never met this Ms. Komoa. How was she affiliated with our business?" she asked.
"She worked here for about 3 years," Chin stepped in. "Is your manager or supervisor in today? We'd like to talk to them about Ms. Komoa."
The woman shook her head. "No, unfortunately not. Mr. Lewison is out at a client meeting this afternoon. And our other manager, Ms. Linn is out of state at a conference for the week. Can I get your contact information? I will make sure they have it and get in contact with you."
Chin looked to Lori, who pulled out a card. "Please, have them get in touch as soon as they can."
Yvette smiled as she took it. "I certainly will. Mahalo! And have a great day…"
Chin and Lori walked out, the little bell jingling again as they pulled the door shut behind them. Lori let out a frustrated breath.
"Well, that was a waste of time," she said. Chin nodded in agreement, as he took a quick peek in the window. Their friendly receptionist was on the phone, glancing at them only once before paying closer attention to her task.
"Did you believe the wide-eyed innocent behavior?" he asked. Lori frowned.
"You don't think she's a new hire?" she asked. Chin shrugged as he started back towards the parked car.
"I don't know. It seemed way too convenient. It should be easy enough to prove if she is a two-week employee, I suppose. We'll just have to stop back in to see if we can talk with the elusive management," he said, opening the car door.
Lori nodded as she looked back at the small office. "She was on that phone awfully quick after we left…" She pulled the passenger side door open and got into the car.
"She could just be trying to be a good employee and give her boss the run down. It's not every day that Five-0 stops in to local businesses," Chin said. The blonde looked over at him with a smirk and a shake of her head.
"Must you play the devil's advocate?" she asked. Chin smiled.
"No. But we do have to consider every angle and all the motives, otherwise we'll be chasing the wrong leads," he said. "That's not a good way to spend a day." Lori chuckled.
"Yeah, tell me about it. Well, let's go give the team the good news…" she said as they pulled out into traffic.
Wailoa Shave Ice
"Howzit, girlie!" Kono smiled at the jolly greeting as she stepped up to the window.
"Good! How's it going here?" she asked. The big man grinned at her.
"Busy. Been busy like you wouldn't believe. Shave ice for the pretty lady?" he asked with a wink. She grinned back.
"I could use one, absolutely," Kono said. He nodded to one of the workers and pointed to her usual flavor before turning back to her.
"But that's not all you're here for?" he asked. His eyebrows furrowed in concern as she gave him a quick nod. She pulled out her cell phone , swiped through a couple of pictures before settling on one, and then handed it to him.
"Do you know this guy at all? Seen him around? Hear about him?" she asked. Kamekona stared at the first John Doe from the B&E. After a few seconds, he shook his head.
"No, never seen him," he said. Kono nodded as she took the phone back and swiped to another picture.
"How about him?" she asked, handing the phone to him again. Kamekona looked, but only shook his head again as he didn't recognize the second John Doe. Kono sighed as she took the phone back. She swiped to one more picture and showed it to the man.
"Last question, then I'll take that shave ice from you. Have you ever seen this tattoo before?" she asked. Kamekona looked at it and for a second seemed perplexed. There was a confused recognition on his face and it made her hopeful. But then, as Kamekona looked up at her, his face changed into one of alarm.
"I believe he has seen that tattoo before, Kono," a familiar voice said from behind her. As a gun dug into her back, a hand grabbed her arm. "I believe he saw it on me not more than a few minutes ago…"
Kono didn't need to turn around to confirm that Frank Delano was no longer sitting in Halawa Prison.
To be continued…
A/N: Yes? No? Maybe so? Apologies for any errors. This was written quickly. Hope you enjoyed it… More to come, I promise!
