Well, Folks, it looks like everything that happens on Sunday isn't going to fit just one posting, either.
So, here is part 1 of Chapter 7, "Liability"
Sunday, 4:27am, 58 hours missing...
Steve's heart rate went from a normal healthy resting rate of about 50 to a pounding 150 in only a few seconds as he jerked awake and grabbed for his phone. "McGarrett." He sternly answered, as he twisted his body to sit up on the edge of his bed.
"I'm on my way." He said a few seconds later before hanging up. He ran a shaky hand over his unshaven face and through his unkempt hair before letting out a heavy sigh as the adrenaline rush subsided. He felt the stare on his back and turned to see Catherine's brown eyes on him. "There's a body." He said to answer her unasked question.
"I'll make some coffee while you're in the shower." She offered as she began pushing the covers back.
His hand stilled her motion before he spoke, "I showered last night." He reminded her. "And I don't have time." He added before standing and reaching for his shirt.
Catherine gave only a silent nod of understanding. He hadn't slept or eaten properly for days now. It both showed on him and worried her. It was a good thing she had a plan.
Twenty minutes later on the North Shore...
"What have we got, Max?" Steve asked as he quickly approached the hunched over M.E.
"My preliminary exam indicates a young, Asian, female, drowning victim." Max said as he stood up, before quickly adding, "That I have already determined is not Officer Kalakaua." At seeing the immediate relief on his face, Max continued. "Although the victim has been on the menu of several marine animals, making both facial recognition and finger prints impossible, I have at least been able to ascertain that she is no taller than 5'2",... and Officer Kalakaua is 5'9" tall."
Steve exhaled heavily in relief before feeling a slight twinge of guilt. Although he had every right to feel glad it wasn't their Kono, this victim was still someone's daughter.
McGarrett Home...
"Oh look, Catherine, you've already got a grease stain on your new shirt." Doris said, gesturing towards the spot.
Catherine stepped back from the stove where she was cooking sausage to look down at the stain, "Oh, that's not from cooking. That's from massage oil."
Doris froze, coffee cup half way to her mouth.
At seeing the other woman's arched brow, Catherine clarified, "Oh, not like that. I was, uh, working some knots out of Steve's shoulders so he could try and get some sleep."
"Looked like he was nearly dead on his feet last night. Or was that early this morning? Anyway, I'm surprised he even made it up the stairs."
"True." Catherine agreed, "But he can either have fitful, disturbed sleep because he went to bed so stressed, or he can have actual restful sleep,... which he desperately needed."
Doris nodded in understanding, "I'll be so glad when they find Kono. All three of those men look equally bad. No sleep, unshaven, and surviving on coffee."
"That's why we're doing this." Catherine said as she noticed Doris pushing things around in a lower cabinet. "Looking for something?"
"Yeah." Doris said, then stood up with her hands on her hips. "I can't find the juicer."
"Oh, it's right over there." Catherine said, pointing out the item on the far counter.
Doris crunched a brow, "That's not where it's kept."
Catherine shrugged, "That's where Steve has always kept it. He's pretty picky about where things are in his kitchen. It's like everything has an assigned spot." She lightly teased.
6:45am Five-0 HQ, now 60 hours missing...
"Okay," Danny began with a wave of his hand as he, Chin, and Steve all stood around the Smart Table, "So the question is, does this morning's drowning victim have anything to do with Kono's disappearance?" He asked, looking back and forth between the two men.
"According to Max, there was no indication of it being a homicide." Chin said from the opposite side of the table. "So unless the toxicology report, which isn't back yet, turns up with something, there's no reason to think she did anything other than drown."
"Okay, but why wasn't she even reported missing?" Steve threw into the conversation.
"Maybe she's a working girl and no one knows she is missing yet." Danny said, throwing out the only idea he could come up with.
"Or a run away." Chin said, thinking out loud. "We can't judge by her appearance, and without a name we have no idea how old she is, and it could be nothing more than coincidence that she and Kono have the same general description; Asian and female."
"Okay, once Max finishes the facial reconstruction and Fong can get us a composite photo, let's get HPD to show it around to the working girls in all the areas they frequent." Steve said.
They were all grateful that Max, Fong, and everyone had been both willing and able to come in and help with the case over the weekend, or anything else that they thought might help them find Kono.
"So, what do we do now?" Danny had just asked when he heard the familiar voice.
"Danno!"
All three men turned at once to see the little girl pushing the heavy door open, then come bounding through it with her pig tails flying behind her.
"Grace," Danny said in surprise at seeing his daughter there. "What are you doing here?" He asked as he bent down to hug her as Catherine, Gabby, and Malia all followed the little girl in.
"We brought you breakfast, Daddy." She answered, gesturing excitedly to the baskets the women carried.
"Breakfast?" All three men chorused with curious expressions.
"Uh huh." Grace confirmed with an enthusiastic nod that sent her pig tails bouncing. "Auntie Malia, Auntie Catherine, and Dr. Gabby all said that you have been so busy working on a very important case that you don't even have time to eat."
"So, we brought the food to you." Malia added with a half-worried look at her husband.
The men all looked at each other dumbfounded, and even a little bit helpless, as the women silently guided them towards the break room.
"Auntie Malia cooked the eggs, 'cause she says Uncle Chin will only eat them one way. Dr. Gabby fried the potatoes, and put onions in them, just the way you like, Danno. And Auntie Catherine cooked the sausage, 'cause she says there's only one kind Uncle Steve will eat." Grace rambled off as the women began unloading the baskets.
"They did, huh?" Danny asked as his daughter was handed a stack of napkins to distribute. "And did you get to help?"
"Uh huh." Grace answered as she began walking around the table to distribute the napkins. "I made the pancakes!" She announced excitedly. "Well, actually, I just flipped 'em."
"Oh, well, that is a very important assignment. Expert pancake flipping is a skill." He said as he watched her repeat the process with the silverware.
"Auntie Malia set up a griddle on the dining room table at their house where Auntie Catherine was squeezing oranges, 'cause there was no more room at the stove." She further explained as Catherine began pouring said orange juice while Malia and Gabby filled plates.
Malia wiggled a finger at Chin, indicating that he was to sit in front of the filled plate on the table while Catherine did the same to Steve, and Grace pushed a chair closer to her dad and climbed into it as Gabby sat on the other side of him. The Detective was literally sandwiched by the two women in his life, and while that scenario would usually make him smile, he now felt helpless.
"You want some coconut syrup, Danno?" Grace asked as she poured both coconut and maple syrups on her pancake at the same time.
"Um, no thanks, Monkey. You go ahead." He said, hesitantly picking up his fork and giving Chin a sideways glance as the other men did the same thing. It wasn't that they didn't appreciate what the women in their lives had done, they completely did, but the very idea of eating just wasn't going over very well with any of their stomachs right now,... not with Kono still missing.
"Grace put blueberries in them, just the way you like, Danny." Gabby said, finally speaking up. She and the other women had already eaten, but were staying to make sure the men did... and if that didn't work,... well, there was always Grace to help with that part.
"Here ya go, Uncle Chin." Grace said esthetically as she slid the syrup bottle towards him. As if being the designated 'pancake flipper' wasn't enough, the little girl was excited just to be there with the women and helping out. Of course, she had no idea why Kono wasn't at the table as well, why the men had skipped breakfast, or why her daddy obviously hadn't shaven in the last 2 days,... and no one was going to tell her, either.
Across the table Steve was managing another bite of the fried potatoes. They were good, they really were, and apparently he wasn't the only one who preferred them with onions. Although he truly did appreciate all the work the women had obviously gone to, it didn't make eating any easier as his mind kept going back to their missing team member and that did nothing but make his stomach churn.
Back across the table Chin had reluctantly joined Danny in humoring Grace and trying her favorite combination of coconut and maple syrups. One look between the two men told the same story of wishing there was one more person seated at the table.
At that moment Steve glanced up to see Adam Noshimuri being escorted in by Sargent Lukela. With just the excuse he needed, Steve excused himself from the table, despite a stern look from Catherine, and stepped out of the break room. The freshly changed bandage on Adam's arm did not go unnoticed as it peaked out from the short sleeve of the t-shirt he wore with jeans, his usual formal attire long gone.
"Tell me it wasn't her." Adam demanded. Gone was his usual single-worded and all to familiar request for information. "I saw it on the news. Tell me it wasn't Kono." He pleaded.
"It wasn't her." Steve immediately informed the man and noticed a huge sigh of relief from him as well as Lukela who was obviously waiting for the answer as well. He suppressed the urge to feel happy because it again brought guilt with it. Instead he gave the Sargent a nod and watched him leave in his peripheral vision, knowing he would head straight back to HPD and inform everyone else.
Adam turned and place two shaky hands on the edge of the Smart Table, leaning into it for support, closed his eyes, and took several deep breaths.
"Hey, you okay?" Steve asked with a step forward at noticing just how shaken up the other man was.
Adam didn't respond at first, but finally turned just his head before speaking, "I can't loose her, Commander. Not again. I just can't."
"Again?" Steve asked, his hands now on the edge of the table as well.
"Having her drown once was more than I ever wanted to see." Adam said, his head now bowed down with eyes closed. "If that had been her-"
"Wait. Stop. Drown?" Steve ordered with Danny-like hand gestures, Adam finally looking up at him.
Adam nodded his head once, a look of confusion on his face. "Yeah. After Chin called me. Delano." He prodded, then it dawned on him as he pushed back from the table to stand fully, "She didn't tell you, did she?"
Steve shook his head. "No, she didn't."
"When I pulled her from the water, she wasn't breathing. I had to resuscitate her." Adam informed, a brief far-away look in his eyes before shaking his head at the horrible memory.
"Oh sh-"
"Uncle Steve!"
"sh- uh, oh, hey, Gracie."
"Auntie Catherine says your eggs are getting cold." Grace informed him from the doorway where she propped the heavy glass door open with her foot.
"You tell her I'll be right there." Steve requested with a fake smile and watched her release the door and go back into the break room.
"Is that Detective Williams' daughter?" Adam asked with a nod towards the now closed door.
"Grace." Steve informed. "Or, in today's case; the 'Food Police'."
"Ah." Adam mumbled in understanding. "Kono has spoken of her."
"You, uh, wanna join us?" Steve offered with a gesture towards the food source.
Adam shook his head adamantly, "No, uh, thank you, Commander. But the very idea of food right now-"
"Yeah. I know what you mean."
"It seems like every time I turn around someone on my staff is trying to shove food at me." Adam said with a shake of his head and looking almost disgusted at the very idea. "I mean, how can I eat not knowing where Kono is. Is someone feeding her? Is she even alive?"
"Hey,... we're gonna find her. She'll be okay." Steve assured as the break room door opened again.
"You've never see Kono eat, have you?" Adam mumbled as he noticed someone was walking towards them.
"Mr. Nashima." Malia greeted as she approached, surprised to see the man outside of the more familiar fund-raising environments.
"Dr. Kelly." Adam greeted in return, shaking her hand.
"Adam just stopped by to see if we've got any new information on Kono." Steve said.
"Little did I know when I introduced you two-" Malia began, trying to force a smile.
Despite the current situation, those unfinished words made Adam smile at the memory. "Yeah." He was all he said with a slight blush.
"So, did Kono ever tell you how relieved she was when you out-bid her on that painting?" Malia asked.
"No, she didn't." Adam answered, surprised at the admission.
Malia smirked, "Well, since she'd gotten there late, she missed the auctioneer's introduction and didn't hear the part about bids being in thousands." She explained almost sheepishly.
"Wait,... in thousands?" Steve questioned, not having been to an auction himself.
"Yeah. For example; when you bid '50' you're really bidding '$50,000'." Malia explained.
"And Kono didn't know this." Steve said in confirmation.
Malia nodded, "So, when she had bid 72 on the painting, just because she liked the color for her living room-"
"She was really bidding $72,000." Steve said in understanding as Malia gave a nod.
"Wow." Was all Steve could say at first. "Now wonder she was happy about that." He finally added while trying to suppress a smirk. "And you outbid her '72' just to meet her?"
Adam just gave a nod before turning to Malia, "And thank you for that introduction, by the way."
"You introduced them?" Chin asked his wife as he approached from behind her.
"Yes." Malia said with a slight smile as she turned towards her husband. "After the auction at the hospital for the pediatric wing."
"Hey, hey, hey, you two,..." Danny began as he now quickly approached. "You cannot leave me alone in there with those women and all that food." He added sternly with full hand motions.
"Come on, Chin." Steve said with an eye roll, "I think that's our cue." He added, as he attempted to usher the other men back towards the room with him, knowing that if he didn't they'd all just end up out in the main room.
"You go ahead. I'll be right there." Chin stated firmly, with a guiding hand on his wife's back.
"Chin." Steve mumbled with a stern look.
"I'll be right there." Chin managed towards Steve with a zen-like tone to his voice.
Steve gave a nod of farewell in Adam's direction before catching Chin's eye with an obvious look of warning. But Chin continued to manage his zen-like exterior as he watched his wife and colleagues head back towards the break room, leaving only Adam in the room with him.
"I guess that's my cue as well." Adam said, taking a step in the direction of the exit.
"I warned my cousin." Chin stated as he looked at Adam's back, causing the man to turn and face him again. "I warned her that she could become a 'liability'."
"I would never do anything to hurt her." Adam said in a tone that was half-insistent and half-pleading, but his assurance fell on deaf ears.
"A liability to either you,... or to the Yakuza." Chin said before walking away.
Adam stood alone in the room for a moment, letting the words sink in before finally leaving.
Steve had only been seated long enough for more food to be shoved in his direction before his phone rang with Mary Ann's name on the screen. "Hey, Mare." He greeted in as normal of a tone as he could manage. "Wait,... what?" He said before excusing himself to stand just outside the door where he could hear better. "When was this?"
After hanging up Steve tapped on the glass door, at getting Catherine's attention he motioned for her to join him.
"What's up, Steve?" She asked at seeing the unidentified look on his face.
"That was Mary." He began, indicating his phone. "She called me, because she had gotten a call from Doris."
"O-kay." Catherine drug out, indicating that she needed him to say more than just that.
"Apparently, Doris wanted to know who inherited the house after Dad died." Steve added.
"Didn't you say that both you and Mary Ann did?" Catherine questioned, not sure if she was remembering correctly.
"Yeah. Yeah, we did. Then I bought Mary's half from her because she didn't want it and didn't want to live here." Steve said to remind her of the details.
"Is Doris just now realizing that her husband died with no wife to leave the house to because she was 'dead'?" Catherine asked.
"Apparently." Was Steve's only answer, shrug included.
"O-kay." Catherine repeated, not sure why he was not more forthcoming.
"So, you were cooking at my house this morning?" He questioned and got a nod of confirmation.
"I cooked the sausage at your house, before joining the others at the Kelly's." Catherine explained. "Why, Steve? What does that have to do with anything?"
"I'm not completely sure." Steve admitted, "But apparently something was aid that triggered Doris into thinking about this and calling Mary for answers."
"I'm not sure, what could..." Catherine paused, her brown crinkled and a look of contemplation on her face. "Let's see,... she noticed the oil on my shirt and thought,.. .well, never mind. Then she was looking for the juicer, then we-" Catherine paused in an obvious 'light bulb moment'. "Oh my gosh, Steve. I'm so sorry. Doris was looking for the juicer and when I showed her where it was I commented off-handed that you were picky about your kitchen."
Steve heard the words, but they obviously didn't register with him.
"Steve,... I said,... 'Steve's kitchen'." Catherine reiterated.
"Ahhh," And yes, the light bulb was finally on for Steve as well, followed by his noticing Catherine's expression. "Hey, don't worry about it, Cath." He assured her. "My mother lives with me, not the other way around. It obviously just never occurred to her that the house is no longer hers."
"Yeah, I can see that. But still-"
"But nothing, Cath." He said calmly, with a hand on her shoulder. "The way I look at it, this is just one more of the consequences she has to deal with since faking her own death. She'll get over it."
"Okay." Catherine breathed a sigh of relief, not having to worry that her words had caused strife between Steve and his mother. "Now, you, Sailor Boy, back to breakfast." She added with a playful poke to his chest, causing him to groan.
They re-entered the break room just in time to hear Grace asking her father, "Can we make a plate to save for Kono, since she's not here right now?"
"Oh, absolutely, Monkey." Danny agreed, trying to hide a cringe.
"You'd better put another pancake on that plate, Grace." Chin suggested.
"That's a lot of food, Uncle Chin." Grace said at eying the plate where he added, not one, but two more pancakes.
"You've never see Kono eat, have you?" He said to tease the little girl, as well as get as much food off the table as possible.
Steve bit his lower lip at hearing Chin repeat Adam's words. "Hey, Grace." He called out form the doorway, "Why don't you bring that plate and we'll put in the refrigerator in my office." He suggested.
"Okay, Uncle Steve." The little girl quickly agreed as she slid from her seat and took the plate from Malia who had covered it with a paper towel.
With one hand Steve propped open the door, with the other he guided Grace from the break room as he looked back over his shoulder giving a nod to Danny, indicating that they could all now talk about what could not be said in front of the little girl who was now headed to his office with him.
~~~~Hawaii Five-0~~~~
A/N: I was re-watching 3.03 recently where Chin tells Kono that she could become a 'liability' to Adam, or to the Yakuza. She got ticked off and went to get coffee, but I wondered how it would make Adam feel to hear those words.
A/N: I got the "Steve's kitchen" idea from Doris showing up there in 3.04 to cook her son breakfast one morning, without being invited, and with her luggage.
A/N: Grace's affinity for coconut syrup is from the 3.05 episode.
A/N: 60+ cases comes from adding up the episodes so far.
A/N: As always, my continued thanks to my beta reader, PoisonedShip. Sunday's events will continue in my next posting. Please keep my muse typing by leaving a review before you go.