A/N: Prepare thyself for an extended Steve/Kono scene in this one. Hope you don't mind. And my favorite chapters are on deck after this, so buckle up. ;)
Part Ten
Five-0 HQ
Joe White stood at the smart table with four pairs of curious eyes and one pair of distinctly pissed off eyes. He met Steve McGarrett's gaze head on.
"Listen… Steve, I did what I had to do," he opened with. The younger man's eyes did not soften, nor did he relax his stance.
"Is Hiro Noshimuri alive, Joe?" Steve asked. "Because if you'd been in contact or around at all, you'd have noticed that there's sort of a vacuum in that particular arena of Hawaii that's kick-started a bit of problem." The older man raised an eyebrow at the sarcasm.
"Hiro is… alive. At least he was when I saw him last," he said. Steve's frown deepened.
"Which was when?" he demanded.
"About three days ago?"
Steve crossed his arms over his chest. "Are you asking me or telling me? Because I can't tell, Joe."
Joe shook his head. "It's a bit of a blur with all the travel. It was three days ago. I'd had him under watch, but as I was prepping to come back here, he was extracted from under our noses. Our source tells us it was out of Japan."
"You're telling me that a cartel boss, under ex-Navy SEAL guard, was just spirited off like it was nothing?" Danny asked, his eyebrows in his hairline for how surprised he was. He spared Steve a glance and saw that 'aneurysm face' was in full effect.
"I'm pretty damn sure that Yakuza got Hiro out, but that does not mean Wo Fat isn't involved. I'm almost dead certain that Hiro is either Shelburne himself or has been partnered very closely with Shelburne. And we all know Wo Fat wants Shelburne, badly. So wherever Hiro is, Wo Fat is likely to not be very far behind," Joe informed them
"So Hiro is basically still classified as missing since he hasn't shown up himself and no one's claimed credit for taking him out," Lori piped in. "If Yakuza got him out, that could mean they're likely involved in a completely different arena than what we're already dealing with." Joe's gaze slid to her.
"Or both. That's entirely why I'm here," he said. "I admit it, I shook the hornets' nest by absconding with Hiro in the first place. And I'm going to need your help pinning him down to keep this contained. Whether it's with Yakuza out of Japan, or with XYZ Company in Timbuktu, who the hell knows?"
"So you've come to Five-0 for help?" Chin asked, surprised at the other man.
"I only go to the best," Joe said with a grin, looking to Steve, who still very much unimpressed. Danny just let out an undignified snort of disbelief as he crossed his arms.
"You're only saying that because you trained this mad bastard. Ego much?" he grumbled. Then he rolled his neck and got back on task. "So, we've got Delano to worry about, Wo Fat, Noshimuri the younger, now Noshimuri the older, and then… you know, likely whoever is pulling all the puppet strings if it's not one of those particular model citizens."
"I hate to be the one to say it," Chin cut in. "But we're getting a little stretched, Steve." Joe kept his eyes on the man in charge.
"I'm here. Use me however you can. I'm here for your help, but I'm also here to help," he said. After a moment, Steve gave a short nod.
"Fine. I think it's safe to say we'll be depending on Fryer with the Delano angle. Kono…" he hesitated for a split second, but it was enough to broadcast his opinion of the situation. "You can touch base with him tomorrow. Right now, we'll go talk with the wait staff about our first John Doe." She nodded.
"Lori and I still need to follow-up with staff at the travel agency. We've got the home address of the owner," Chin noted. Steve nodded.
"Do that, and after… Lori, if you could get a hold of someone at Homeland Security and get extra eyes out for Wo Fat or Hiro Noshimuri, it could help us out. And get eyes on Adam Noshimuri, ASAP. He could lead us to Hiro if he gets in contact," Steve requested. The blonde gave a quick nod of confirmation.
"Joe and I can start in on Hiro, figure out last knowns and everything," Danny supplied. Steve nodded.
"Alright, let's do what we can for now. But go get some rest, too. I want fresh eyes in the morning," he said. Everyone nodded and set out to do what needed to be done.
The silence in Steve's truck wasn't necessarily uncomfortable. There just was an air of unsaid things. And considering the past few months, those things could be numerous.
"Are you sure you want me dealing with Fryer, Boss?" Kono asked quietly, as she looked out the window. The sun was just setting below the horizon, settling Waikiki into hues of pinks and purples. When Steve didn't answer right away, she chanced a look over to him. His posture was still relaxed, but his jaw had tightened.
"Boss?" she asked again. Steve let out a breath.
"Yeah," he said finally. "I want you dealing with Fryer. Delano is at large. He specifically targeted you. And Fryer has all the information on the son of a bitch. It makes sense. Since you are at least five steps ahead of us on Delano and how he works, it would put us at a disadvantage to send anyone else."
Kono turned to look out at the road ahead of them. "Right." After her edgy response, Steve let out a small, tense chuckle before looking over at her.
"Listen, that… I realize that came out all wrong," he told her, causing her to look over at him in return with a raised eyebrow. "Can we get one thing straight here? Like write it in stone or something so it can't be debated from here on out?"
"What's that?"
"I trust you," he said simply. When she didn't say anything, he continued. "I trust you with my life, the team's lives. I trust your instincts, and I trust you in doing this job. No matter what." Kono swallowed hard. Leave it to Steve McGarrett to actually read the subtle layers of a conversation when she hadn't expected it.
"It's not that, Boss," she said. Steve shook his head.
"No, I think it is. You need to know that, and I need you to know that," he insisted. "But, call me biased if you want, the person I don't trust is Vince Fryer. He may not be like Delano, but he is definitely a man after his own agenda, no matter who gets caught in the crossfire."
"I don't trust Fryer either, Boss," Kono told him. "If you've thought that, you're wrong. I was caught in his crossfire before, I know how it works."
"I know…" Kono reached over at touched Steve's shoulder at his response.
"You think I blame you, don't you?" she asked, letting her hand drop. He tensed at the question, confirming it. Kono shook her head. "I don't, you know. I did what I had to do to make it back to Five-0, and you all had my back when I needed it most. So let's also put that in stone, too." The corner of Steve's lips tipped up slightly in the vestiges of a smile after a moment.
"Okay," he told her. She smiled back as Steve turned the truck onto Helumoa Road. When he parked the truck, he held her back from getting out by a hand on her arm.
"When I said I trusted your instincts…" he said, letting his eyes fall on the Waikiki Parc Hotel in front of them. "That means I also trust your instincts on Adam Noshimuri." Her eyes followed his for a moment. When she looked back at him, their eyes met. She could tell it took him a lot to say that, considering who Adam Noshimuri was.
"To be honest, Steve, you may not have to ask after all," she confided quietly, referencing their past conversation about the younger Noshimuri. "The jury's still out, officially, but… I do have a bad feeling about this." Steve nodded, acknowledging those feelings. He had a bad feeling himself. And it wasn't just because he'd rather keep Kono as far away from Adam as he could… which was a subject he'd rather not dwell on too much.
"Well, let's go figure out what we can, and go from there," he said. They both exited the vehicle and made their way to where the restaurant was located.
It was a weekday, so the restaurant patronage wasn't as crowded or busy as it could have been. When they'd asked to talk to the manager, the hostess took them right back to where they needed to go. The man, a Mr. Himura, was giving orders to some of the wait staff as they entered his office. Kono and Steve waited patiently for him to finish and dismiss the group. When he saw them, and the badges at their hips, he approached. But not without giving Kono an extra, yet subtle, look over. It never failed to set Steve's teeth on edge whenever the people they interviewed did that, obvious or not.
"How can I help you, officers?" Mr. Himura asked.
"We'd like to ask you a couple of questions about a former employee of yours," Steve told him. Mr. Himura nodded as he went to close the door for more privacy.
"Does this employee have a name?" he asked. Kono pulled out her phone and pulled up a picture.
"Unfortunately, we don't have one. That is why we are here. Do you happen to recognize this man?" she asked, holding out the phone to him as he came to stand in front of them once more. Mr. Himura took it and studied it carefully.
"I admit that I am having trouble placing him. Are you sure he was an employee here?" he asked. Kono gave Steve a quick look.
"Well, I'd dined here a few weeks ago. He was in uniform and had served my companion and I our drinks," she said. The manager looked thoughtful as he continued to look at the picture.
"There was a private event a few weeks ago," he mentioned, as he looked up to assess Kono again. "To be honest, I thought I'd recognized you from somewhere. You were Mr. Noshimuri's companion, am I correct?"
Kono gave a quick nod. "I was. And unfortunately, this man is part of an on-going investigation. We have been unable to find any identification for him."
"That would be odd, since we do pretty thorough background checks on our employees. With our clientele, we have to be certain. But, I am not 100 percent sure he was our employee. For Mr. Noshimuri, we allowed two of his own staff members to be allowed on the crew the night he rented the place," the man said, handing her phone back to her. He went behind his desk, though, and started going through a file on his computer.
"We do have to have record of them, for security reasons as they are allowed through a good portion of our premises. They would have had temporary employee badges. And we record those when we give them out," Mr. Himura said. He gave a small smile as he found what he was looking for. "We logged one badge out to an Eiichi Akamatsu and a Randal Cortez."
"Do you have further information on them?" Steve asked. The other man nodded as he pushed another button.
"I will print it out for you. They have their pictures there as well." He stood and retrieved the necessary papers. Kono looked them over quickly before handing them to Steve.
"Thank you for your help, Mr. Himura," she said. The man nodded.
"I hope this helps," he told them. "And if you need anything else, please let me know."
Steve led Kono out of the office. His eyes went over the pieces of paper one more time.
"It would seem this Cortez is our guy." Kono nodded in agreement.
"If Cortez is his real name," she said, wryly noting how their luck had been going. "It seems a bit odd that Adam would have two men on his personal staff there. He was always so careful to keep the professional and personal separate. Or… at least he seemed that way…"
They exited the hotel and made their way to Steve's truck.
"What better way to keep tabs on business, having someone you trust there. Especially if something big is going down," Steve said. Kono nodded slowly in agreement. It was silly how much this new information was affecting her. It was strange to find herself suddenly in this personal and professional tug of war. And it was more than obvious as Steve stopped them from continuing any further by gently grabbing her wrist and turning her to look at him.
"Kono…" he started. But she shook her head to stop him.
"Steve, no. Stop whatever you are about to say. I'm a big girl, I can handle the situation. Whatever happens from here on out, I can handle it," she assured.
"I'm more concerned about you, not the situation," he told her, surprising them both with the admission. She smiled.
"Don't worry about me. I'm not in so deep that I can't get myself out," she said. "Adam is… was… a nice guy. We had a connection, and I used it to do what I could to keep tabs on him. Did I genuinely like him? Sure. And I think it was returned. But at this point, it's possible he was likely using me just as much as I was using him…"
Steve let out a breath as they continued towards the truck. "The fact that you are in this at all kinda pisses me off, considering I'm the one that put you there." Kono chuckled.
"You didn't put me anywhere. I chose to do this. What is it Danny always says about your control issues?" she teased. Steve unlocked the truck for them to get in.
"Yeah, well, Danny has a whole list of things he says," he said back. Anything she was going to say was cut off as her phone buzzed. The lighthearted feeling she'd just been enjoying sunk like a heavy weight as she read the caller I.D.
Adam.
With a hesitant breath, she connected the call while climbing into the truck.
"Adam," she greeted, paying no attention to the way Steve was suddenly on alert next to her.
"Kono…"
"Hi." She tried to play it normal.
"So, I honestly can't help wondering when I will get to see you again." Kono fought the blush that was rising with everything in her. Adam Noshimuri was a charming man, no doubt, and good-looking to boot. But… the sad reminder of why she and Steve were where they were brought her back down to earth again
"Well, I'm working right now, actually," she told him.
"Not all night, I hope. I was thinking I could maybe convince you to come by."
"How about I give you a call after I'm done?" she asked.
"That sounds like a plan. I'll have a chilled bottle of your favorite rosé waiting…"
"There are some girls in the world that aren't impressed when guys remember their favorite wine," she said with a smile. She could hear his answering smile.
"But you're not one of them." The certainty was in his voice.
"Awfully sure of yourself," she commented. Adam chuckled.
"I have a suspicion you wouldn't look at me twice if I wasn't at least a little sure of myself." Well, he had her there. So, she gave him a half-hum of agreement.
"I'll call you when I'm done," she told him again.
"Looking forward to it." He said a quick good-bye before disconnecting. Kono let out a breath and let her head fall back onto the seat's headrest. And she tried to pretend that Steve hadn't heard her flirting over the phone with a man that could be a suspect in a lot more than just a murder.
"You okay?" Steve finally asked. Kono shook herself out of the self-doubt.
"Of course." It sounded a lot more certain than she felt.
"You going to call him back then?" Steve asked with an air of nonchalance as he gently swerved through evening traffic towards headquarters.
"Well, if I suddenly dropped off his radar for no reason, I have a feeling he would suspect something," she told him. He tilted his head in a way that indicated agreement. Silence fell for a heavy moment as Kono contemplated what to do. She realized, though, that she honestly had no better sounding board than the man sitting next to her.
"He wants me to come over," she told him plainly.
"You don't have to," he said, almost too casually, too quickly. Kono smiled as she looked over at him.
"I know that. But… I do want to distance myself a bit. And I can't do that without a conversation. What better time to do that?" she asked. Steve opened his mouth to say something, but seemed to think better of it for a second.
"Lori should hopefully have some eyes on Adam's place soon," he said finally. "If you need anything, you'll have that as backup. And call me, text me… anything, if you feel uncomfortable or need more backup."
"I will." The ride was silent the rest of the way to headquarters. Steve pulled up next to her little red car and let her get out. Before she could say good-night and close the door, he called out to her.
"I mean it," he told her, his blue eyes locked on hers. Kono could read the threat that he'd sit outside of Adam's house himself if she'd let him in them plain as day. So, she gave him a firm nod in response. Then, before she closed the door, she gave him a smile and a wink.
"I couldn't ask for better backup."
To be continued…
A/N: Sorry all, I'd meant this to continue into a few more scenes, but it was getting pretty long. I still have some more to polish up on those particular scenes, so I wanted to get this posted for you before too long. The next part should be along in a day or two hopefully. Thanks for the patience. ;) Hope you enjoyed it.