Chapter 8- Proper procedure
It has been a long while since the last time Steve had to use a room like this.
For the first two weeks after the navy gave him the concoction that helped awaken his naturally enhanced senses, he practically lived in the room they build for him. Then, during initial training, for several months, it was the only way he was able to get some sleep. Real sleep. He used to lay naked on the meticulously stretched expensive silk linens, marveling on how they successfully kept the room air fresh and at 73F without the feel of moving air and revealing at sensing almost nothing until he quickly sank into exhausted sleep.
Catherine called it "The Incubator". The name seem to fit, especially when he got used to concentrating on the monotonous sound of his own body, heart beating, air filling his lungs then being squeezed out, blood pumping through his arteries.
Gradually, he didn't need his environment to be so deprived of stimulations. It was enough for him to relax by listening to his body. Close his eyes, and he was able to shut everything else down. Sometimes, it was Catherine's body he listened to.
A stab of guilt runs through him when he realizes that she wasn't on his mind since this morning. She is wounded, recovering in a hospital bed, all alone. She understands, of course, but he didn't even think about her and it feels like he abandoned her.
He blinks into the darkness. This complete darkness is what he needs, but it is still disturbing, because he can't tell if his eyesight is indeed getting better as the doctor promised. At least his ears stopped ringing. Almost completely.
He reaches out blindly to grab the headphones he knows are next to the bed, puts them on and presses the button.
"Joe, you're still out there?" His voice falls strangely flat, the special walls in the quiet room absorbing all sound.
"I'm here son," comes Commander White's voice, barely a whisper through the headphones, "How are you holding up?"
"I'm fine, sir. Do you know how Lieutenant Rollins is doing?"
"She's doing fine, Steve." Joe reassures him. "Worries about you. Which makes her insufferably stubborn, almost as much as you. It took a direct order to keep her in that hospital bed."
Steve smiles "She isn't very good at being sidelined."
"You should talk." comes Joe's immediate retort.
"That's not fair, sir!" Steve protests "I didn't say anything since you put me in this room!"
"And I'm sure it's because you are trying to get a reduced sentence for good behaviour".
Steve manages to stay quiet only for a few more seconds. Joe is right of course. "What are my prospects?"
Joe chuckles, but Steve can hear the seriousness in his voice when he speaks "I don't know, son. The doctor should be here sometime in the morning. Why don't you try and get some sleep."
"In the morning! Sir, I feel fine, the headache is almost gone, my hearing is fine. More than fine, in fact, I can hear you rolling your eyes this very minute."
"Well, I did that out loud on purpose." Joe answers
"Sir, every second I'm in here, Hesse is one step closer to vanishing."
Joe remains silent. The Sentinel can hear his slow breathing, the soft rustle of his uniform as he shifts, and Steve can imagine how the older commander changes his stance, probably planting his legs apart and crossing hands over his chest.
"You will get him, Steven." He finally says "If not now, next time."
"No, no, Joe," Steve protested "There can't be a next time. Next time means more casualties. I lost Freddie, I lost my father, I almost lost Cath…"
-"And we almost lost you. You need to heal, Sailor. And I don't mean just physically. How long has it been since you had a proper sleep?"
"Cut the bullshit," Steve spits, then adds "Sir" in an attempt to somehow soften the words being thrown toward his commanding officer. "You know that doing nothing is not the way for me."
Joe sighs. "OK, Fine, just try to lay back for a bit more. I'll see if I can get the doctor here sooner."
"Joe…" Steve suspects it's just an attempt to shut him up
"I am not letting you out of here without the proper approval of the doctor. Rest, Sailor." Joe's voice doesn't leave any room for arguing and Steve complies reluctantly.
"Yes, sir." He says, losing the headphones and leaning back in his bed.
He doesn't bother to close his eyes, he will not able to sleep anyway. Instead he thinks about his next steps.
He hopes Detective Danny Williams is able to make some progress. He dares assume that the Detective keeps his focus on their job. One thing Steve learned in the past two days, especially in the last few hours before coming here, is that Williams takes his duties seriously. The detective kept complaining about being forced to work with him, but his actions were loud and clear as much as his words, and conveyed the contrary. Once he decided to take on the job, and Steve had no illusions that despite the appearances of being forced, it was indeed a decision Danny made himself, he jumped right into it. And besides being good at his job, he was a good partner. Steve doesn't know the details of what happened in the apartment after he was neutralized. However, he does know that he is still alive, with no bullet holes in him, despite the obviously carefully planned attack. And Danny was there at his side, insisting, annoyingly, to stay there, between the attackers and their target.
The exhausted Sentinel doesn't even realize he falls asleep until he is woken by tiny bits of noise slipping into the room through the slightly ajar door.
"Keep your eyes closed for now, Commander", Dr Ellison orders softly, "I'm going to adjust the light."
Eager as he was to test if he is able to see more than just blurry stains, he follows the order, shutting his eyes and covering them with his hand. "What time is it?" he asks, voice hoarse.
"Six-o-nine" She reports. Steve swallows a curse. "OK, We're ready," Comes her voice again. "Go slow."
Steve removes his hand and blinks a few times. It is still very dark, so he gingerly allows himself to look more deeply.
"What do you see?" Asks the doctor after several seconds
"I see You, doctor." Steve answers and can't help the smile from spreading on his lips "Looking very fashionable in night vision goggles."
It is pouring rain when Steve gets out of the taxi, so he runs the short distance to the door of the old small house and pounds on the door with his fist.
There is shuffling of feet from within, a door creaking open then shut and then Danny appears in the front door.
"Steve!" Danny opens the door and steps aside, letting him in immediately. Steve steps in, looking around at the tiny apartment. "Are you OK?" Danny inquires "I tried to get a hold on someone to check how you were doing, it looks like you navy guys think everything is restricted information. Catherine said you were fine and being treated, but…"
So many words. "I'm fine." Steve cuts him off with a smile. "What about you, buddy? Your captain told me you took…" he suddenly frowns, looks in the direction of the a door leading out of the room "Who else is here?"
"Ah," Danny half smiles, "Yes, you do seem to be fine." he turns towards the door Steve is looking at "Kono, it's fine, you can come out."
A young, beautiful, Hawaiian woman steps out of the door. She looks embarrassed, but her eyes hold Steve's gaze without a flinch. Steve stammers "Oh, I'm sorry," He holds his hand out, her shake is firm "Steve McGarrett, I didn't realize I'm…" His gaze moves to Danny, "disturbing…"
Danny rolls his eyes "You're not. In fact you came just in time. Steve," the detective gestures towards him, then to the woman "This is officer Kono Kalakaua"
"Kalakaua?" it takes the sentinel half a second to recognize the name "From the roof."
She smiles hesitantly "Just how every woman likes to be remembered." He returns her smile, one eyebrow raised "You are John McGarrett son, right?" she asks
"Yes, do you know...did you know him?"
"Just by hearsay. My cousin was his partner for a while at HPD, he always spoke very highly of him. I am sorry about your loss."
"Thank you. Who is your cousin?"
"Chin Ho Kelly."
Steve thinks for a second, "Yeah, I remember him. Kukui High School, great quarterback, held all the records for a long time."
"Yeah, thats him"
"How is he?"
"He's…" she look hesitantly at Danny "OK."
Danny seem to take the cue "OK, so a nice reunion, but we have work to do"
Steve nods, dropping for now what obviously became undesirable subject "So, what's up?"
"Officer Kalakaua...Kono, came to me last night, after you...you know, and she had a very interesting thing to tell me. Go ahead Kono, tell him"
She nods, "I was, as you remembered, on the roof. Detective Kaleo was about 20 feet ahead of me, and there were sun panels on the roof, so I didn't see all that happened, but when I got there, the perp was with his gun pointing to the ground, facing Kaleo, and Kaleo just shot him. He was about five or six feet away from him, and he just shot him."
Danny sits back on the only couch in the small room "This is consistent with what the M.E. told me." He adds "I don't have the official report just yet, but unofficially he confirmed that the shooting was close range."
Officer Kalakaua looks at Danny, and he nods, then she says "I confronted him regarding this. He said it was getting dark and he didn't see very well, and…" She trails off
"And what?" Steve encourages her
"Nothing, that is it."
It was clear that It wasn't it, but Steve decided to let it go for now. again. He turns to Danny "So, what are you thinking?"
"I'm thinking that this is our dirty cop. I'm thinking he let these guys in, then, when there was no way for the perp to escape and no way for Kaleo to let him go without raising suspicion, he decided to off him before he gets caught and rats on him."
Steve frowns, his gaze switching between Danny and the young officer. "OK… so, we need to talk to him." Danny is still sitting on the couch, stretching his legs, clearly with no intention of moving.
"We can't just talk to him." the detective says "He would simply deny it, repeat the excuses he gave Kono…"
"I can make him talk."
Danny jumps to his feet, waving his hands "No, no, Steve, you can't, I mean, I'm sure you can but...listen. There is more to this than just forcing him to spill what he knows about Hesse. Actually, I'm pretty sure he doesn't know anything about Hesse." Steve frowns again, then he catches yet another quick glance between the two police officers. He decides to remain quiet.
Danny explains "Look, we spend most of the night talking to my partner, Meka is accused of dealing with the Ochoa cartel, very high profile here on the island and they have some dealings in the main land. He collected a fair amount of materials and came long ago to the conclusion that HPD has someone tipping them off. Then he got too close, and they started planting evidence to frame him. He still couldn't tell who the guy was, but last night, with Kaleo in mind, we went over his investigation and it all fits. Mostly circumstantial, but it fits."
"So you think Hesse asked for the cartel's assistance in this." Steve determines
"Yes." Danny's hands express his content "And we have to do this carefully, by the book, if we want to get Kaleo and clear my partner as well as getting Hesse."
Danny is looking at him intently now.
We don't have time to be careful, the Commander wants to tell him. No time for going by the book. He wants to grab this Kaleo, shake as much information from him as possible, then move on. Hesse was not successful in killing him, but he did manage to delay him considerably. Maybe even enough for him to find another way to get off the island, especially if he made a deal with a strong cartel.
It is hard for Steve to accept that maybe Hesse got away. It means that this was all for nothing.
But then again, as he rushed through leads and suspects in the last few days, Hesse has been one step ahead of him, leading him by the nose, setting traps and distractions.
"Fine." He finally says "So why don't we leverage him with Kono's testimony and the M.E. report?"
Again that look between them. They hold it a bit longer this time, and just as Steve finally decides to address these looks, Danny suddenly grabs Steve's elbow, dragging him through the front door while calling over his shoulder "Excuse us one second, Kono, OK?"
"What are you doing?" Steve protests. It is still pouring buckets, and the narrow awning above the door gives very little protection.
Danny closes the door behind them. "Listen, there is something you should know about her cousin, your old friend apparently, and, shit, your father's old partner…"
Steve says nothing, his eyes boring holes into Danny. Keeping silent is a very effective means of interrogation sometimes.
"He went rogue." Danny continued "After he was accused of stealing some evidence money… well...more like suspected of stealing, he left HPD and after a while... teamed up with the bad guys. Everyone knows he is now one of Ochoa's boys."
Steve works hard to keep his face expressionless. He knew Kelly, or used to know him, he'd never thought...and to think of his father being partners with that kind of a guy, it is … he couldn't tell what it is. If Kelly was a guide, which is more than probable, it is even worse.…Steve forced himself to focus back on Danny, who is still talking. "What?"
"I said," Danny repeats slowly "that this is why Kalakaua's statement won't hold. They would question it, like they would question everything she ever does in the force. Guilt by association. And I feel like an asshole, but although I really want to believe her myself, I don't really know her. You think you can do your thing with her?"
"My thing?"
"Yes, your thing." Danny waves his hands in circles "See if she's truthful."
"You know this thing doesn't hold in court, right?"
"I don't need it for court. I need it for me. We will figure out how to bring Kaleo down, and Hesse" Danny adds immediately "But I know I'm not completely objective here, I really want it to be Kaleo, I just need to know…"
"Alright." Steve cuts him off
"Alright?" Danny's hand movements stops abruptly, hands in mid air, as he looks at him for final confirmation.
"Yes." The Sentinel says "Can be get back in? My socks are getting wet by now."
Danny snorts as he opens the door again "Aren't you tough navy guys supposed to like getting wet?"
Steve rolls his eyes, then his gaze focuses on the young officer. The uncertainty is evident in her eyes, but again, she does not look away and holds his gaze.
"Officer Kalakaua," Steve doesn't waste time. He looks in her eyes, monitoring closely the tiniest movement of her pupils, his ears find the slightly elevated beating of her heart, distinguishing it from other, similar noises in the room, the rhythm of the contracting blood vessels, his nose picks up the slight scent of sweat. "Detective Williams told me about Kelly's current employer." he keeps his voice harsh, but even "And I need to know if you are connected to it in any way, or aspire to be connected to any illegal activities."
"What?" She pales. Her eyes moves to Danny, and the commander can tell that the surprise at the question is replaced quickly by a disappointed indignance.
"Look at me." He commands, and she complies immediately "Answer my question honestly and we will never speak of it again."
"No!" she says adamantly "I... have no dealings with my cousin..."
"Do not lie to me." He warns, cutting her off harshly. His voice is still low and even, devoid of any emotion.
She swallows, losing what little color she still had behind her tanned complexion. "He is my cousin," she finally answers softly "and I love him despite his… and I did try to help him, I will try to help him if he'd let me, but I will never, ever, collaborate with people like the Ochoa cartel. And I will do anything to bring them down, even...even if it means putting my cousin away. Because I'd rather see him in jail than dealing with them or...dying for them."
Steve holds her unwavering gaze for few more seconds. Then he visibly loosens his stance, putting his hands on his hips and releasing her from his gaze.
"Very well." He looks at Danny, slightly nodding, "I assume you have something that might be called a plan?"
A/N: As always, I would love to know what you think
