I do not own Hawaii Five-0 or any characters. No copyright infringement intended.
Chapter Ten
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Chin and Kono literally got no sleep as they automatically rolled into that next full day. Both of their team-mates were now safely housed in the hospital's ICU and they were anxious to investigate Bernard Botha and gain intelligence on any of his associates. They had also kicked off the early stages of coordinating a manhunt with HPD SWAT back to the site. Their offices had already been long buzzing with activity when Kamekona pushed his way through the main doors. Laden with boxes and bags of food from his shrimp truck, it was obvious what his real intent was going to be. However, dealing with the nearly distraught man about not only the possible condition of his enormous entrepreneurial purchase, but of its very remote location was not a timely discussion.
"Suppose they junk it? Or they decide to use it for target practice .. this is my livelihood!" He was following Kono around the smart table and then to her own office like a large, lost puppy.
"I can't lose it now. That helicopter is critical to my expanding business!"
"We'll get it back .. I promise. And it will be in one piece!" Kono kept her mental fingers crossed as she tried to calm the big man down, but he was virtually inconsolable after making sure that both Steve and Danny were safely being cared for.
Her multi-tasking mind wasn't far from thinking about them either. Especially Danny. She had more than expected him to awaken in the ambulance. Collins' off-hand comment had encouraged the thought, established the expectation and when Danny didn't move, her dismay had grown. The medics had recorded startlingly low vital signs; declared him to be in shock and then that he was in nearly critical condition.
Unlike Chin with Steve, she had not been able to stay even a few minutes with Danny once they had arrived at the hospital. Chin found her leaning against the wall in the E.R.'s small waiting room with her eyes closed and on the verge of weary tears. After providing much too sketchy information, the trauma team had pulled him away to a room and then eventually to surgery. So much time had gone by with still no word, that Chin had insisted she go home so at least one of them could freshen up. But instead, Kono had gone directly to the office to begin developing the initial planning stages for a scramble with HPD for a mission back into the jungle.
Later that morning .. and it was still very early when Chin arrived at headquarters after only being able to see Steve ..Kono had the plans completed with SWAT for an organized manhunt. She also had begun to reach out to the South African police agencies. And though her eyes were red-rimmed with fatigue, Chin couldn't fault what she had already accomplished. However, while his update on Steve was very promising, what could be shared about Danny's general condition wasn't even remotely satisfying. Still in recovery when Chin left that morning, they only knew now that he was at least settled in the ICU after a disconcerting amount of time.
"It's not a good time." Kono pushed her hair back behind her ear as she pointedly interrupted Kamekona. "We get it .. we do. But it's not a good time." With still no real improvement regarding Danny's condition, Kono's stress level was rising as Kamekona continued to follow her again during her fiftieth march between the smart table and her office to check something on the actively working computers.
"Maybe I should go along with you as part of your detecting plans .. that way, I can just fly it back myself."
This time, she ignored him because what he had just stated was ludicrous. It was hard for Chin though to bite back on his fond laugh, since Kamekona was incredibly serious as he tried every trick in the book. But hiking into a remote part of a jungle with a SWAT team and the not-so-stealthy, larger than life Hawaiian in search of an unknown band of criminals was not going to be part of any agreement.
"It crashed .. you can't just waltz in with us and simply fly it out. Listen to Kono .. once this is put to bed .. then we will retrieve your fine bird!"
"Better do that, brah. I can't afford a loss this big!" He lingered then taking up an inordinate amount of space as officers trotted back and forth, in and around him. Kamekona eventually found himself backed into a corner without a clue as to what to do. Finally taking some pity on him, Kono came to their mutual rescue by physically pushing him out the door with promises to call post-mission.
As soon as Kamekona was out of sight, Kono was running back to her office and grabbing for her loudly ringing telephone. She was relieved to hear the voice of the South African official who was calling her back for the second time regarding Bernard Botha. Originally, she had trouble obtaining credible information until she understood the national police services' structure.
After making numerous calls, she found a helpful person that described the primary units and gave her the name of a Captain Charles who could help in the Crime Combating and Investigation Division. Having made contact with the Captain, Kono was now receiving a treasure trove of information. Though not all of the information was immediately helpful, it was through Charles that she learned how Botha was linked to numerous illegal but rather mundane petty activities including an occasional small-time drug deal, car theft and bar-room brawling.
He was calling her back again with more information and a special request. "Have you identified any more of his associates?" Captain Charles asked. "As I thought, he's a lackey at best .. typically small time. However, a colleague here has potentially linked him to a new diamond smuggling ring and we think he was in Hawaii for that very reason."
She could tell just by his tone that the Captain was surprised by the evident changes in Botha's level of acquaintance. "I'm not sure why. But it appears that he fell in with a different criminal element. Led down the wrong path or simply out of his league .. if this is true, Botha made a very poor decision."
"We think there are at least two more involved." Kono said truthfully. "But no, we don't have anyone else yet. We're in the process of coordinating a search right now back into the area of their main encampment." The period of silence on the phone was almost too long as they respectively considered what they had cobbled together. While the information was helpful in terms of a character study, it didn't yet provide a firm direction for the Five-0 team.
"I have a rather large favor to ask." Captain Charles hesitated very briefly on the phone because his supervisor had wanted him to personally assist in all next steps.
"We believe Botha's new acquaintances are Erick Selebi and his brother, Albert. These two are behind a surge in smuggling activity out of two particular diamond mines in Sierra Leone. There is no solid evidence .. it's almost all conjecture but we think that you may discover one or both brothers are now on the islands."
"Diamonds?" Kono was almost impressed by the product of choice. "They're smuggling diamonds and this is one of their stop-overs?"
Charles made an affirmative sound on the other side of the phone. "I'm respectfully asking that you wait for me to come in person. Would you do that so we can catch them in the act? We have inside intelligence advising us of a drop scheduled to happen within the next few days. The intel is somewhat suspect to be honest. However, if it is valid then the Selebi brothers are dealing with a small faction of the Yakuza and Botha may very well have been involved. Leveraging this could be equally advantageous to you in the long-run too."
It was Kono's turn to hesitate completely as she looked at the volume of activity taking place around her. The other two men could be the brothers; adding Yakuza to the mix certainly made the tone of their investigation quite different. Not to mention bringing in an entirely new team. Regardless, such a complete change in scope was not within her authority.
"I need to call you back .. give me an hour." She excused herself and then explained the situation to Chin.
In seconds, he had placed a call to the Governor asking for direction. He sighed and rubbed his hand into his hair while he listened to Denning speak and then nodded. "Alright. That's what we'll do."
And Kono knew the answer just based on the look on his face. "We're waiting?"
"Denning wants to try and bring in the Yakuza buyers. Plus the sense of cooperation with the South African officials is considered to be a valuable and pertinent relationship." Chin thumbed his finger over his shoulder towards the gathered SWAT team.
"I'll tell them. But call Captain Charles back and get him here ASAP."
"Done." Kono said easily enough and then chuckled ruefully. "Kamekona is not going to like this!"
Her follow-up call to the Captain was met with a genuinely thankful tone. But she could hear papers rustling on the other side of the line, as if the Captain were rifling through a pile of folders. "There is something else." He was distracted and getting annoyed with himself as he searched through his desk.
"Simon de Vos. He and Bernard are very close friends." Charles announced as something thumped heavily on his desk. "One never seems to stray far from the other."
"Yes, here it is .. de Vos. He has consistently been Botha's benefactor of sorts .. bail, support, legal aid. It may be something .. I will send you what I can on this gentleman before I book my flight out. But I would assume they have continued to keep in touch. Between the two of us, we may be able to find another lead or a new angle that will be of help."
With that, the call did finally end and Kono brought Chin up to speed. It was getting late and their eyes were burning with fatigue. The HPD SWAT members had been surprised about the sudden change in plans. Reluctantly leaving the office, all next steps would be put on hold until their new team members arrived within the following day.
"Let's go and see how they're doing." Kono said around a big yawn which did nothing to cover her ongoing anxiety. Now that they had time, the stress of the last many hours was catching up in earnest. And even thought they were exhausted, their thoughts naturally turned back to what might be happening at the hospital.
But Chin held up his hand. "Let's just see." Not expecting success, he took a few final minutes to run de Vos' name through their local system while Kono began to turn off her equipment. And then she stopped with her hand on the door to her office when she heard Chin's surprised exclamation.
"I don't believe it .. he's here .. he arrived in Honolulu four weeks ago!"
Quickly moving to the smart table, Kono and Chin ran a myriad of searches. However, they couldn't locate de Vos immediately through the standard credit card traces which would have turned up the most current restaurant, banking, rental car or hotel usage.
"He only used his credit card and bank card the first week he arrived. And all here within Honolulu." Chin confirmed some of the same information which Kono was also locating. "But I'm not seeing any new activity since that time period." They worked a few minutes longer to be sure, but by all appearances, he had not booked a flight back to South Africa or to any other city.
"That's odd. Unless he changed his name, de Vos is still here." Chin leaned back to toss his hands in the air. "Somewhere."
"So where is he?" Kono asked in confusion. "If he's here in Honolulu .. then where exactly, did he go?"
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By the time Captain Charles had first uttered his name, Simon de Vos was already standing in the cool recesses of a lovely townhouse that his family owned on the Kaneohe Bay side of the island. Upon arriving in Honolulu, he had stayed there quite happily for a full week as Bernard regaled him with the excitement of Erick's business venture.
He had returned there now after quite literally walking out of the jungle the very same afternoon when Danny first awakened in the ICU. Calmly and purposefully, Simon had ambled into the closest small town to hire a taxi. Scruffy and unkempt, the cabbie had at first declined to take him without proof of payment.
He had anticipated that however, and the issue was easily resolved with the cash he kept stashed in the false bottom of his duffel bag. Leery again about the upscale address, the cabbie had finally shrugged and driven Simon to the exclusive gated community.
The guard there was hesitant too until he recognized the real Simon de Vos through the dirt and grime; the two had a good laugh about the hazards of camping before the man willingly allowed him back into the complex. Moments later, Simon was taking a much needed hot shower in the large two story vacation home. A shave and a change to nicely tailored clothes made him nearly unrecognizable. His filthy clothing and everything else he was wearing from his exploits in the jungle were neatly bagged and then disposed of in the community dumpster.
Much later that afternoon and approaching dinner time, Simon had called his father. He had listened patiently and perhaps with even more of an open seriousness as his father once again tried to tease him home. This time, the old speech didn't jar his nerves or offend him. This time, Bernard's death was a sobering, fresh reminder of what could much too easily happen if he continued to play childish games.
Standing in the large living room, Simon was sipping scotch and staring at the distant ocean. Deep in thought, he knew that he would eventually heed his father's pleas.
But in the meanwhile and until he committed to that change, Simon was still weighing his options for Erick Selebi.
~ to be continued ~