Chapter 25
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Two hours later, a black Mercedes slowly made its way down the street before turning into the driveway of Sang Min's temporary home.
Kaye and several officers watched the car approach the house from the safety of the HPD situation room. Steve and Danny, as well as Chin and Kono, refused to sit out the take down. With Chief Mahaka's approval, they left earlier and set up at two different secure locations near the meet site.
Kaye picked up the Nextel two-way radio, which shared a secure frequency with both sets of partners as well as the HPD officers and SWAT team in the field. "We have a black Mercedes approaching the house from the driveway," she said.
Steve nodded as he looked through a set of binoculars from Danny's Camaro, perched on a road above and behind the house, several hundred yards away.
Danny, sitting in the driver's seat next to Steve in the car, pressed the button on the radio. "Got it," he confirmed.
"Us too," they heard Chin's voice crackle over the radio. He and Kono were watching from Chin's SUV a few blocks from the house. "Looks like a scout team," he continued.
Steve squinted in the binoculars for a few more seconds and then put them down and, with his good hand, took the radio from Danny. "That's affirmative," Steve said. "There are two men in the car, neither of which is Wo Fat. Let's sit tight and see what they do."
The car pulled to a stop under one of the trees in front of the house. The car doors opened and two large men got out. The driver emerged, empty-handed, although Steve knew he had a weapon or two hidden on his body somewhere. The passenger was most likely similarly armed and was carrying a bulky, handheld device.
"Anyone recognize them?" Steve asked over the radio.
"Negative," came Chin's reply a few seconds later.
"So, we have no way of knowing if these guys belong to Hiro or Wo Fat," Danny commented, watching the men through his own set of binoculars.
Steve shook his head. "Not really. But my money's on Wo Fat."
They watched as the men slowly walked towards the house, glancing around as they went.
"Looks like they're here to check things out," Danny murmured. "That thing has to be a thermal imaging device."
"Sure looks like it," Steve agreed, glad they had decided against putting anyone in the house with Sang Min. Even though Steve did not like the criminal, he certainly didn't want him to die, especially not during a sting operation that he, himself, had set-up.
As the men got closer to the house, they diverged. The driver headed towards the front door, while the passenger walked around to the right side of this house, making it impossible to view them through binoculars at the same time.
"I'll watch the driver; you take the passenger," Steve said to Danny.
Steve watched as the driver stepped onto the front porch and hesitated, looking around before he withdrew a gun from a side holster. "The driver's got heat," he said. "Looks like a Beretta."
"My guy's looking in all the windows with the imager," Danny said. "He keeps moving on, so I don't think he's seeing anything suspicious."
A few tense minutes later, the passenger made it all the way around the house and joined the driver on the front porch. He set the thermal imager down on the ground and withdrew his own weapon. Then he nodded at the driver, who nodded back and then rang the door bell.
Steve held his breath and waited for Sang Min to open the door, praying the men would not shoot him. Granted, Sang Min was wearing a Kevlar vest under his button up shirt and jacket, but there was nothing they could do if the men went for a head shot.
Steve's whole plan hinged on the fact that Wo Fat liked to tie off his loose ends personally, like he did with the Governor and Laura Hills. But, if Wo Fat deviated from his nature, and instead sent these men to take care of things, then Sang Min would be dead and they would be back to square one, without any ideas on how to catch Wo Fat. He would disappear again, for who knew how long, and they would have missed their best chance. And possibly their only chance.
Chief Mahaka was only giving them one shot and if they failed, they would lose what little authority and protection they had. Five-0 would become as defunct in reality as they were on paper.
Steve put down his binoculars again and picked up the two way radio, pushing the button. "Kaye, keep us live so we can hear what's going on."
"Will do," Jenna replied, then kept the button pushed down on the radio so that the conversation they were about to hear in the situation room would be broadcast to Five-0 and the officers in the field.
Steve and Danny watched as Sang Min finally opened the door, half-way. "Who are you?" he asked.
"We are associates of Mr. Noshimuri," the driver replied. "We've come to make sure this location is secure. We need to come in."
Steve tensed as he watched Sang Min debate whether or not to let them in. This was not part of the plan. But, thankfully, they had prepared a scenario just in case it happened.
"What? Hiro does not trust me, huh?" Sang Min replied with a customary bob and weave of his head. "Maybe I don't want to do business with people who don't trust me."
The driver shifted his weight. "We need to come in," he repeated. "Otherwise, Mr. Noshimuri will not feel comfortable coming to this location."
Sang Min ran the tip of his tongue over his teeth and looked the men up and down. Then he opened the door the rest of the way. "Fine," he said, irritated, and stepped outside onto the porch. "But I'll wait out here while you invade my personal privacy."
"Good job," Steve muttered under his breath as he watched. One of the things he had drilled into Sang Min was that he shouldn't be alone with anyone where HPD could not have eyes, and guns, on him. If he was, there was no way they could protect him.
The driver disappeared into the house while the passenger waited on the porch with Sang Min. After a few minutes, the driver emerged back through the front door. He nodded once to Sang Min and said, "Mr. Noshimuri will be here to meet with you shortly," before he and the passenger walked back to the black Mercedes.
"Sure he will," Danny mocked. Even though he did not know who the men worked for, he did know what they just told Sang Min was a blatant lie. "There really is no honor among thieves."
"Generally not," Steve replied as he watched the men drive off in the car and Sang Min go back inside the house.
"So," Danny asked, taking his binoculars down from his eyes, "how long do you think it will be before Wo Fat shows up?"
Steve suddenly sat straight up in the passenger seat of the car, his gaze still focused on the house. "Evidently not long." He quickly grabbed the radio and pushed the button, the frequency once again free. "I've got a white Mercedes coming in at two o'clock. Wo Fat's in the back seat."
"Copy that," Chin replied.
"Us too," he heard one of the plain clothes officers reply.
"And us," chimed in a SWAT team member.
"Ok, guys," Steve said. "This is it. Look sharp and stick to the plan."
Danny started the car and then picked his binoculars up again in time to see the white Mercedes circle in front of the house and stop, the front of the car pointed towards the street. Looking to make a quick getaway, Steve thought.
The driver got out, and based on the bulge in his suit jacket, Danny could tell he was carrying at least two guns; one in a holster on his right side and another tucked into the back of his pants. Another man got out of the passenger side and appeared to be armed similarly. He moved to the back door and opened it.
Wo Fat stepped out of the back seat of the car and looked around.
"C'mon," Danny whispered, "go to the door." He smiled a minute later when Wo Fat complied with his request.
Steve was watching, too, as Wo Fat walked up the steps and onto the front porch. Then Steve put down his binoculars and pulled out a disposable phone of his own. He pushed the speed dial button for the only number he had programmed into it, putting the call on speaker as Danny held down the Nextel button, allowing everyone on the team to listen in on their conversation.
Wo Fat was reaching his hand out to push the doorbell when suddenly his pocket began vibrating. He withdrew his hand and looked around the front yard, scanning for danger. Upon seeing nothing out of place, he reached his hand into his pocket and pulled out his iPhone. He did not recognize the number and considered hitting the "ignore" button, but decided to answer it instead and lifted it to his ear.
"Here, let us get that doorbell for you," Wo Fat heard a voice say on the phone. Before he could react, a bullet whizzed past him and the doorbell exploded.
"Now that we have your attention," Steve said through the phone, menacingly, "we have you surrounded. If you surrender and come with us peacefully, no harm will come to you."
Wo Fat smiled as he began scanning the premises again, looking for the sniper. "McGarrett," he replied, pleasantly, "that beating you took in prison must have affected your brain. So, let me refresh your memory. You don't have any legal authority anymore."
"That's true," Steve agreed, his voice still threatening, "I don't. But the HPD officers surrounding you do. So, if you want to live, I suggest you surrender. Now."
Wo Fat's smile faded and he disconnected the call, calmly placing the phone back into his pocket. Then he lifted his head, minutely.
And all hell broke loose.
***H50***
"Go! Go!" Steve yelled at Danny, as he dropped the phone into his lap pulled out his SIG. Danny threw the Camaro in gear and they raced towards the meet location, which, in a few short seconds, had become a battleground.
Steve cursed at himself and wondered how Wo Fat had gotten anyone in position. However, he only had seconds to think about it as Danny quickly pulled up and stopped behind the house. Before Danny even had the car in "park", Steve threw the door open and began running towards the front to provide support. He slowed down as he drew close, then paused for a moment to peek around the house's front, right corner and assess the situation.
Wo Fat and his driver were hunkered down behind the two open front doors of the Mercedes, using the doors as shields as they fired their handguns towards the front and sides of the property. Wo Fat's other man was laying a few feet off the front porch, blood pouring from a messy headshot, apparently dead. The two other men, who visited the house earlier in the black Mercedes, were a little further out on the lawn. One of them was sprawled awkwardly on the ground and appeared dead as well; the other one was hiding behind a tree, trying to pick off anyone who approached from the front. Steve did not know why the snipers had not already taken out Wo Fat, but surmised the angle must be off.
And, unfortunately, the angle was also off for him, the car blocking a good, clean shot. However, he did have the element of surprise working for him. Wo Fat and his driver had their backs to the house, and, therefore, to Steve as well.
While Steve was surveying the action and quickly formulating a plan, he saw movement behind him from the corner of his eye. He turned his head to see Danny running up beside him, his Heckler and Koch out and ready.
"What's the plan?" Danny whispered, urgently.
Steve nodded once, resolutely, eyes blazing. "Cover me." And with that, Steve burst from the corner of the house in his familiar, running crouch.
Danny cursed silently to himself but waited before he fired, not wanting to alert Wo Fat and his driver of his position. And, more importantly, not wanting to alert them to the fact that Steve was running straight at Wo Fat, through a hail of bullets, like some crazy action hero in a video game.
Wo Fat's gunman seemed to sense Steve's approach and spun around. Danny dropped him with a quick shot to the right shoulder.
Unfortunately, the shooting of his driver alerted Wo Fat to the attack from behind. He spun around, gun in hand, pointed directly at Steve, who was still running at him from approximately ten feet away. The car was blocking Danny's angle and before he could adjust and get off a shot, a gunshot went off and Steve leapt at Wo Fat. They both went down, disappearing behind the far side of the car.
"Steve!" Danny yelled, but he could not see what had happened; Wo Fat's Mercedes was still blocking his view. He glanced up quickly to see the last man from the black Mercedes, who was still hiding behind a tree, go down.
Should be all of them, Danny thought, but he didn't even wait to hear if all of the gunfire had subsided. He took off in a crouched run, gun drawn, towards Steve and Wo Fat. He didn't know what he was going to find when he made it around to the other side of the car, but the reality certainly wasn't what he imagined he would see.
Steve was on his knees, a short, but safe, distance away from Wo Fat, breathing heavily with his right arm pressed tightly against his body, blood smeared across his shirt. He still was holding the SIG in his left hand, which was pointed directly at Wo Fat's head.
Danny also trained his weapon on Wo Fat, who was laying on his back on the ground beside the car. His gun was several feet away, presumably where Steve had either tossed or kicked it.
Not that a gun would have done Wo Fat much good, anyway. Because squarely in the middle of his right hand was a gaping, bleeding hole where a bullet had gone, through and through. He clutched his right hand with his left, grimacing in pain, trying to stem the flow of blood. Although he did not utter a word, there was no mistaking Wo Fat's anger and hatred. He was positively seething. But he was also smart, and knew better than to say anything.
"Steve, you hit?" Danny asked urgently, noticing Steve's labored breathing and eyeing the blood on his torso.
"I'm good," Steve replied, still somewhat out of breath. "Blood's his, not mine. Got it on me when I tackled him."
"You sure you're ok?" Danny asked again, relieved Steve had not been shot, but now concerned that his partner might have reinjured himself. "'Cause you seem a bit… winded."
"Trust me… I've never been better."
Now that the rush of the moment was subsiding, Danny could hear that all the gunfire was indeed over. Sirens were wailing, coming closer from a distance. He glanced up to see Chin and Kono running up to them from the street in front of the house, their guns also drawn.
"You guys ok?" Chin called as he and Kono stopped beside them and also trained their guns on Wo Fat.
"We're fine," Steve nodded. "You?"
"We're good."
"And everyone else?" Steve asked.
"One of the officers was winged. His partner's attending to him know, but he should be fine. Everyone else is ok," Chin replied.
"Good," Steve nodded, curtly, still looking down at Wo Fat. "Now we just need some cuffs."
"I'd be more than happy to help you with that," Chin said as he handed his Serbu Super Shorty to Kono. He pulled a pair of handcuffs from his back belt loop and held them out to Steve. "Boss, would you like to do the honors?"
Steve looked intently at Chin and then holstered his gun and took the cuffs from him. "Yes. As a matter of fact, I would."
Chin leaned down and roughly rolled Wo Fat onto his stomach, pulling his arms tightly behind his back. He held them there and pinned Wo Fat to the ground with a firm knee to the back as Steve cuffed him, ironically only using his one, good hand.
Then Chin began to recite.
"Wo Fat, you have the right to remain silent. Anything you say or do can and will be used against you in a court of law…"
To be continued…
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Author's note: I hope you all liked the action and extra-long chapter! You have no idea how much it absolutely *killed* me not to write "to be continued" after the break mid-chapter. But then again, knowing me, you probably do! So, please note for the record that I *can* be nice and pass on a killer cliffhanger. But don't count on it happening too often. ;D