I do not own Hawaii Five-0 or any characters. No copyright infringement intended.

Chapter 14

H5O* H5O* H5O* H5O* H5O*

Kono wasn't entirely embarrassed about what had happened mostly due to the fact that she didn't remember anything. Her biggest personal issue was her mistake in stupidly exposing herself to the drug. More than that though, she was upset about Chin's shoulder and arm. He was in a sling to rest badly wrenched muscles and tendons in his neck and shoulder which had been injured between her well-aimed repetitive hits and the way he'd strained himself to make sure she didn't actually leave the car.

The impressive black and blue mark on the left side of his forehead only added to her chagrin. However, the entire situation also gave her a pretty good idea about how Steve felt for his much worse altercation with Danny. Staring at her cousin across the width of the smart table, she had to bite her tongue from apologizing again. She was responsible for every blemish he wore and the small bottle of anti-inflammatories he'd been prescribed by the doctor. Learning from Danny's firm example though, Chin would be similarly tired of or at least uninterested in hearing what she had to say again. What had happened was a risky part to their jobs and it was now over. It was definitely time to move on.

She went back to her task purposefully and without uttering a single word. Her fingers paused though as she read and then reread the paragraph. "Oh my god." Kono said. Truly shocked she had to take a minute to read it again and then cross-reference her findings once more. Her demeanor and expression brought Chin around to stand next to her and his pleased smile echoed her first ?

"Good work." Chin said. "Do you want to tell him now?"

"I don't have everything on Larson yet." Kono replied, knowing that Chin meant telling Steve. "But I think now is a good time. If this is just the beginning, we have Pete Larson as our missing link."

Chin hugged her close with his good arm. "And so much more if we can prove it." On the heels of that praise, Steve strode from his office calling to Danny at the same time to join them. Feeling better that day, Danny had started the morning on time and was in own office studiously going through a mountain high pile of paperwork.

"I just got off the phone with Charlie." To say that Steve was beaming was an understatement. "He found significant amounts of glow in the medicated bottle of powder that was in the cardboard box. The lid was loose and the powder had spilled out. Kono, you probably inhaled a bit of it when you got it from the Matthews' house."

It only made her feel slightly better. She continued to be bewildered by the interesting looks shared amongst the three men on her team. She glared at Steve when he almost too playfully nudged Danny's shoulder. Kono didn't exactly know why she appreciated Danny's total deafness to Steve's obvious grin. None of them would tell her what she'd done, only that she had been very funny since she'd been more glowed than fogged.

"Someone stuck it in there on purpose so Jason would be drugged during the game." Noticeably taking two steps away from Steve when he tried to tease him again, Danny picked up the conversation. "Between whatever he might have inhaled plus absorption after he applied it, he got a massive dose and was probably fogged out of his mind."

"It explains almost everything." Still grinning, Steve was excited but they needed to prove who had done it. Assuming that it was Eric Doonan could be correct, but it was one hundred percent unfounded and could be extremely unfair to the other teenager.

"Are you ready for more?" Chin asked slyly. He rocked into Kono and tapped the table to bring up the photos they'd found of Peter Larson.

"Pete Larson changed his name from Francis Peter Largo in 2000 after serving 2 years in jail for a past child molestation case. He was arrested in late 1997 on charges of institutional sexual assault, corruption of a minor and disseminating obscene materials to a minor." Kono looked up automatically as Danny rapped the edge of the table angrily.

"Our friend Frank, was the math and calculus teacher at a High School in Tennessee at the time. The girl in question was fifteen."

"Unbelievable." Danny groused angrily. "How long has he been out here tutoring kids? How long has he been working exactly in the element he needs to stay away from?"

Kono nodded at what he said because she was finding more and it wasn't as buried as one might have thought. "There's a gap in time so I'm not sure. But I can begin tracing his activity locally over the last two years. He lives in a small but very expensive condo downtown. When he's not tutoring on the side, he works at a car dealership."

"Two years are a long time and he's well off." Steve snorted at the strange mix of roles and the implication about the man's lifestyle. "I want a list of all his current and past students. All of them; and I want to know if any complaints have been made against him while he's been here."

"We can pick him up just on the these facts alone." Danny pointed out. "He's living under an assumed alias and he's working illegally with minors."

Folding his arms, Steve nodded in agreement but he wanted an ironclad case against the man related not only to his offenses but also to the drug. That relationship could be tougher to define. Steve remained quiet for a few minutes as he considered their next options. His subsequent demand was initially confusing. "I want to talk to the Martins and then Ivy again with her parents present. It may require their lawyer as well as a representative from Child Protective Services."

A sardonic grin slowly spread across Danny's face. It was heavily dosed by a father's angry concern, too. "She said that her instructions for the buy came from this guy Largo and she couldn't identify him." His tone resonated in the room because he knew what was going on.

"She knows exactly who Largo is because they're having an affair. She's protecting him. Ten to one Ivy Martin claims that she's in love with this joker and he's got her under his thumb."

"Exactly." Steve concurred. The situation was going to be potentially ugly and painful for the Martin family if the path they were revisiting was a valid one. "Let's visit the Martins now. We talk to the parents first and then Ivy again. We hope she can implicate Larson before we bring him in. I want hard facts and I want to rack up these charges against him one by one. Doonan will have to wait just a bit longer."

"Get a tail on Larson immediately." Steve demanded of Chin. "Danny and I are going to take a ride over to the Martins' home. You two find out where Larson is right now. I want covert surveillance in place; I want to know where he is and what he's doing every minute of every day."

H5O* H5O* H5O* H5O* H5O*

What happened next was fast and completely not what any one of them had expected. The first stop for Steve and Danny was that in person, unannounced visit to the Martin family residence where they gently inquired of Ivy's whereabouts. They were both instantly mortified when a perplexed but very pleasant Mrs. Martin invited them in to talk, but then informed them that Ivy was having an afternoon session with her math tutor at that very moment.

"Where?" Danny and Steve rose to their feet instantly. It was the right for the parents to know about Larson, but Danny hesitated since he didn't want to terrify the woman within just a few minutes of arriving. "Where do they meet for their math lessons?"

"Usually at the school library." Mrs. Martin was leery at the odd round of questioning and concerned by the new tension that suddenly flowed off the two Five-0 officers. "Why? What's happened? Is Ivy alright?"

Steve made a face as he asked her to come along with them to check on her daughter. "We have reason to believe that Pete Larson is not whom he says he is. It does put your daughter at some level of risk and we'd like to not only ask her a few questions, but also bring her home."

Mrs. Martin stared first at Steve and then at Danny. She didn't understand, but was duly worried for her daughter as she grabbed her pocketbook and keys to follow them in her own car.

With instructions to stay in her vehicle in the parking lot at the school, Danny and Steve left a now very anxious Mrs. Martin for the library. They found her daughter sitting at a table near the front door at a private computer station with her calculus books open. By the notes she was taking, it was no lie that Ivy was indeed studying and focused on her extra-curricular activity.

"How's math going?" Steve asked lightly. She looked up when they stood over her and instantly pinched her face much the way her mother had done.

"It's fine thank you." Her tone was flooded with annoyance however as she boldly stared back up at them. "What do you want now? I told you everything before."

Ivy wasn't nervous but she knew something was wrong to have the two officers who had first interviewed her arrive so unexpectedly. Danny raised his eyebrows quizzically as Steve scanned the floor for the math tutor. Gone was the sweet and seemingly innocent young lady they had met at the hospital. "I didn't do anything, so what do you want?"

Uncharacteristically huffy, Ivy folded her arms and leaned back from her studies. She was oddly angry and her cheeks were bushing a deep maroon color. "Where's your math tutor today, Ivy?" Danny asked softly. By Steve's annoyed posture following a fast circuit of the small library, it was apparent that Larson was not there and they were only drawing the attention of a few other scattered students along with that of the librarian.

"Not here." She literally ground her jaw while her eyes flashed. "He's with Martha. I wasn't good enough. I've never been good enough. But he's never ditched my lesson for her like he did today." Steve chuffed a sound as his eyes widened in shock. The way she said her friend's name was filled with a childish jealousy but her attitude was an almost adult-like rage. She was mad and wanted her own style of revenge and their arrival could not have been timed better.

"Where did they go?" Steve asked as gently as possible as Ivy started to turn off the computer and gather her books together. It was obvious that she felt her day was a lost cause and she didn't want to speak to them anymore. She shrugged at first, but then her anger won out as tears filled her eyes.

"His place probably." Ivy slammed her calculus books into her backpack. "They usually go there because they're in love." She sneered the last word while rolling her eyes dramatically. "Martha loves him and she's planning out the wedding, the big house with the ocean view, how many kids, the dog in the backyard. But she wouldn't have met him if it wasn't for me!"

She was getting louder as tears rolled down her checks. "He was mine first!" Steve rubbed his face in despair before meeting Danny's troubled expression. They would need to have the right professionals available for further questioning. The fact that she was at least in front of them was reassuring but now they had another teenager to worry about. Ivy tried to push past both of them but Danny snapped the strap on her backpack to keep her in place.

"We were worried about you and your mom's in the parking lot. She's going to take you home." Ivy gave out with a stunned sound as her hand flew up to cover her mouth. Her whole attitude changed again back to the teenager they'd met in the hospital. Tears coursed down her cheeks at the news.

"Why? Why would you do that?" She cried. With his arm around her, Danny led Ivy from the library. She was upset now and afraid of her what her parents were going to find out. "I can't believe you told them and you brought my mother here!"

"We know he gave you the drugs, Ivy." Danny said it as a simple statement of fact to draw her out more. The three stopped in the school hallway just feet from the front door. Ivy could see her mother standing worriedly outside their blue car.

"Who? Pete?" She was confused by it though. "Pete never gave me the drugs; I lied for Martha." Ivy's voice was small but she turned to look directly at Danny and she seemed to be telling the truth. "I gave her the money to get them but I lied for Martha. She got the drugs from Largo. I never did .. I never met Largo."

"Wait a minute." Danny frowned in confusion because they all knew that Pete Larson was Largo. "Do you know who Largo is?" He asked to be sure and was stunned when Ivy shrugged because she didn't seem to know.

"I have no idea. Only Martha has met him and she said she was keeping everything about him a secret. All these secrets started after she met Pete." Steve shook his head in wonder. It wasn't entirely making sense, yet in a way it was. "Now they're together and he totally ditched me for her today!"

"I know you're very upset, Ivy. But how long has Martha been seeing Mr. Larson?" Danny asked as patiently as possible. It sparked the anger in the girl again, but not as badly.

"A long time. I thought he liked me first but he was only using me to get to Martha. Then when they met, he totally ignored me except for these stupid math lessons. Today was the first time he totally ditched me though!" She couldn't get over the rejection but was torn between that and what her parents were going to say. "Martha was supposed to be my friend and now there's nothing but secrets and Pete doesn't want to see me anymore. All he did was email me my lesson for today."

Danny wanted to ask if he'd touched her or done anything inappropriate, but it wasn't the place nor the time. What they were getting from her spontaneously was enough to get their end rolling at a more rapid pace. Now though, they had another seventeen year old girl to worry about and one that was very likely with their suspect at that very second.

He glanced to Steve and then motioned to Mrs. Martin who had moved off the car and was walking to them across the parking lot. She had spied them through the glass and was growing increasingly upset. "Let's get Ivy home and do a few other things." Danny suggested as he insisted on holding Ivy's elbow to escort her out.

Distracted by doing just that, Steve left Danny to reunite the teary-eyed girl with her mother. Walking to a quiet area, he called Chin and Kono to give them the latest on what was potentially going on with Pete Larson, also known as Francis Peter Largo.

"Chin, Ivy was supposed to have a lesson today with Larson. But we just found her alone." Steve explained, not giving Chin a chance to interrupt what he wanted to also say. "She thinks he's at his condo with her friend, Martha."

"Martha? We already have him in our sights. Steve." Chin finally shared. Not knowing that their suspect was supposed to have been teaching, he and Kono had been lucky. They had seen his car parked outside a coffee shop and were lingering about a half-block behind. "He's got someone with him in his car. We thought it was Ivy." A second silhouetted shape was sitting in the passenger seat and Larson was laughing while handing a coffee through the window.

"It's a girl. Dark-haired; I guess it could be Martha." Kono advised as she peered closely. She could just see the outline of a long full hairstyle. She watched as the tutor leaned through the window to give the girl a warm kiss. "Nice."

"Stay on him." Steve waved Danny over as the Martin's drove away and put his phone on speaker. He grimaced at Danny's expression which had worsened considerably in the last many minutes. He gave him a warning look before tapping his head once. The motion earned him a glare, but Danny was already sweating and growing pale. With the way things were escalating on them, Danny was bound to do too much, too soon. Ignoring the glare, Steve tapped the air with his palm down to further his point for his partner to keep his blood pressure in check.

"Like I said, it may be Ivy's friend, Martha. So go slow and be cautious." Even more interested, Kono leaned forward in the car to try and make out the outline better, but they were too far back. Then they were moving since their prey was driving off. Based on the condo address, they were only a few short miles from the man's home.

"We'll be there in five." Steve reported as he and Danny started to leave the school. Half-way there though, Chin was calling them back with an urgent tone to his voice.

"We're not going to be able to wait." Chin reported in a soft whisper. He and Kono were watching as the older former teacher slung his arm companionably around the teenager's waist. She was cuddled happily up against him and juggling both of their coffee cups while he searched with his free hand for a house key. The two had parked in an assigned spot at the exclusive condo complex and were walking down the sidewalk.

Steve glanced once more in warning towards Danny as his foot started to tap impatiently by what was being related to them. "Danny ... you need to take this down a notch." He demanded as his partner wiped his forehead from sweat. "We've almost got him dead to rights."

"I see them now and Larson is unlocking his front door." Chin gave a detailed blow-by-blow of what he was watching. The worry in his voice grew as he watched them share a long passionate kiss in full view. The difference in their ages was startling in its clarity but the older man was over-confident and seemed to enjoy the risk he'd been taking. Seconds later, they were disappearing inside the unit. "We can't wait, Steve. He definitely has Martha with him."

~ to be continued ~