Chapter 9

At the sound of footsteps, Danny Williams pushed himself to his feet and moved toward the noise. He listened carefully as the footsteps stopped outside the door in front of him. Bracing himself, Danny's eyes wondered to the doorknob. Someone was unlocking it. His survival instincts kicked in and determination flowed through him as he waited for his opportunity to make an escape. He had no idea why he was taken to this place or by whom but whatever the reason, he was willing to bet it boded further dangers for him.

As the door began to swing open outwardly, Danny charged forward and using his shoulder, he rammed into it. The unexpected impact caused the person on the other side of the door to fall back on to the wooden floorboards. Danny stumbled out of his confinement and took stock of his surroundings. His earlier deduction that he was on a boat of some kind proved to be correct. He could now see, by the light of the moon, that he was on board a craft moored somewhere off-shore. He ran to the side and made a quick calculation of the distance to shore. He could see lights up ahead indicating he was not far from land and civilization. Confident that he could make the swim, despite the nausea which left him in a weakened state, Danny prepared to make the jump into the black, rippling water. The sound of hurrying footsteps was quickly followed by the sickening crunch of bodies colliding. Danny had taken a deep breath and prepared to leap over the side of the yacht when all the air exploded from his lungs and pain erupted in his chest. He realized his captor had caught up with him and slammed him into the railing. Rough hands grabbed him by the back of the shirt and threw him onto the deck, pinning him in place. Danny groaned in pain, and gasped as he struggled to breathe and push his assailant off him at the same time.

"Slippery one, aren't ya?" a voice growled into Danny's ear. A voice Danny didn't recognize but that spoke in a dangerous tone.

o-o-o-o-o

The lateness of the hour called for a conclusion to the telephone conference held between Governor Jameson and the district attorney, John Manicote.

"You do realize that I may lose Steve if we follow through with this? Those two are like brothers." Jameson voiced his deep concerns and waited for the DA to reply on the other line.

"Sir, we have no other options. The evidence clearly points to Danny's involvement. We have the letter from Big Chicken's prison inmate with some very incriminating information. It's been proven already that the man is a model prisoner and had nothing to gain out of this. Also, the gun used to shoot Steve was found in Danny's locker with Big Chicken's finger prints all over it. As far as HPD and internal affairs are concerned, Danny is a suspect in a crime that has the potential to destroy many lives. Even Dann is out of his league to stop this from spreading throughout the island. If we try to protect Danny, rumors of political corruption will spread like wildfire. He's part of the State's elite forces. A force you set up," John sighed heavily.

"I just don't think he did it. It's unthinkable. Preposterous."

"I agree with you, but until Five-O can prove otherwise, my advice is we keep to the facts and pray Steve will play along."

"You're right. We have to protect Five-O from outside interference at all costs. If their hands are tied, they'll have a hard time getting to the bottom of this. Five-O would lose a brother if they fail and I can't afford to lose Five-O," Jameson declared. He knew if Danny was not the only member of Five-O to be implicated in corruption, there was a serious risk that the people of Hawaii would lose faith in him as their leader. He couldn't allow that to happen, even if it meant isolating an innocent detective from those he thought he could count on to help him. Those he trusted with his life. As cruel as the decision to have everyone cut off ties with Danny sounded in the name of politics, Jameson also knew that this was the young man's best chance to clear his name. Five-O needed free rein to investigate and protect one of their own, even if it meant the one they protected was prevented from knowing he still had friends.

Jameson and Manicote ended their conference, leaving both men sitting alone at their desks, in their respective private offices, mulling over the events which transpired that day.