Chapter 9
"Steve, we just got a match on those prints from the Mustang: Charlie Opono. He's got a record that dates back about ten years. Started with stealing cars, then possession, then possession with intent to sell." Danny threw the file onto Steve's desk.
"Why did it take so long for a match? Sounds like he should've been easy to find in the system." Steve looked through the file.
"Don't know. Kono said the first time she ran it, nothing came back. Just on a hunch, she ran it again and there it was." Danny plopped down on the couch.
"This guy is pretty much a low level dealer. How did he get involved in something involving 30 keys of heroin? That's a lot of money for a small time pusher." Steve tossed the file back onto his desk.
"I don't know. We've got a last known address on him there. Kono and Chin are going now to bring him in." He got up and his phone rang. "Oh, great! Rachel – again." He growled as he walked out of the office.
"Alright Cuz, are you ready?" Chin Ho Kelly looked at his younger cousin, Kono Kalakaua. She checked her weapon and opened the door. "Let's go." She was out of the car before he was.
The two officers quickly and quietly approached the apartment building. Chin moved around to cover the back in case Opono decided to try to duck out that way. Kono waited thirty seconds for him to get into position. Standing to the side of the door, she knocked loudly and identified herself. "Five-0! Charlie Opono, come out with your hands on your head. NOW!" There was no response from inside. She listened intently. Nothing. She tried the door and it was unlocked. Cautiously, she opened the door and stepped inside – to find the bloody body of Charlie Opono in the middle of the floor.
"What do you mean, he's dead?" Steve was pacing around his office now. He listened as Kono told him exactly how they had found the dealer. "Okay, see what you can find." He hung up and walked out to the common area. Danny was looking at some files. "They found Opono – dead."
"Oh, well now, that's really helpful." Danny tossed another file on the desk as his phone rang. "Rachel – again!" He and his ex-wife Rachel were constantly fighting over something, usually something that pertained to their daughter Grace. He answered and walked out into the hallway.
"Ah, ah, ah! No you don't! You sit! Now!" Mama was after Houston again. CJ had dropped him off at the Novelli's restaurant while she went to talk to a florist about flowers for the wedding. Mama took her job very seriously. "Mattlock Houston, you sit down right now! If you delay this wedding anymore I'ma gonna skin you alive."
Matt was playing with Tony and Vince, Jr. "Well, Mama it's hard to play cowboys and Indians when you can't move around." He tried his best to con her and persuade her by using those dark eyes – but it wasn't working.
"Face it, man, you're sunk. She's not falling for that stuff." Vince laughed. Matt leaned over and whispered something in Tony's ear, and the two boys nodded and took off. "What have you put those two up to doing? They get in enough trouble all by themselves without a super-sized juvenile delinquent to help." Vince just shook his head. "Sometimes I wonder which one is the kid and which is the adult."
Houston just smiled a little mischievous smile. "Aw, come on, Vince. We're just having a little fun. Besides, I've got to get some exercise and get this knee back in shape. Not to mention trying to keep off the fifty pounds I'm gonna gain from eating here." He patted his stomach.
"So have you got any pre-wedding jitters?" Vince took a sip of his iced tea.
"No, I don't." Matt shifted in his chair a little bit and straightened his knee out. "I don't have any doubts at all. She's the perfect woman: she's smart, beautiful, has a good sense of humor…"
"And she knows how to keep you in line." Vince smiled as he finished the Matt's sentence.
Houston just smiled. He watched as Mama went back into the kitchen, then he got up and snuck out the back door to meet up with Vince, Jr. and Tony.
Vince just shook his head and smiled.
