Chapter Seven

Day Three – Early Morning

Yawning widely, Thomas opened the front door of the guest house and invited his beautiful partner inside with a wave of his hand.

"Where's your sling?" she asked with a frown.

"And good morning to you too, Higgy," Thomas responded with a stifled yawn, padding barefoot across the living room. "Coffee?"

"That'd be lovely," she answered automatically, following him to the small kitchen. Pulling out a stool from beneath the counter, she sat down, and for the next few minutes, she sipped her coffee and watched as Magnum rooted around the fridge and the surrounding cupboards. "How's the shoulder?"

"Better. And I'll have the sling back on once we've eaten," he answered, piling eggs, milk, butter, and the other ingredients he needed onto the counter. "Pancakes?"

At her nod, he proceeded to turn on the stove, inordinately pleased that she had agreed to stay for breakfast. Higgins didn't join him often so it was nice when she did. It didn't take him long and the mouthwatering aroma of freshly cooked batter soon filled the kitchen.

"So… what are you doing this morning?" he asked, placing two plates on the counter, each with a warm stack of pancakes on it.

Juliet paused in the middle of reaching for her fork and looked up. "Just catching up with some paperwork for Robin." She eyed him warily. "Why? Do we have a case? I thought we agreed to hold off on any new clients until you've recovered."

Thomas shook his head. "No case, unless you count Kekoa. While I still think we should have taken on Ms Andrews as a client, you're right. No new cases until my shoulder's better." He passed over the syrup and waited until she'd almost finished eating before saying, "Anyway, since you're free, I was wondering if you could drop me off at La Mariana after breakfast…?"

Her eyes narrowed. "And in what world is the phrase catching up with some paperwork tantamount to being free to give you a ride to a tiki bar in the middle of the morning?"

"Funny you should ask that," Thomas grinned, undeterred by the glare. "Look, you can just as easily complete what you need to do at the bar. And I know for sure TC will be happy you're there to keep him company. Besides, you once said that it was like a second home."

"I seemed to recall that it was you who said it was like a second home," Higgins promptly retorted and her lips quirked in amusement when Magnum laughed in response.

"All right – that was me, but you never disagreed or denied it," he reminded her with a cheeky grin. "Unless you've changed your mind about the Ferrari…?"

She found it hard to hide her smile at his hopeful tone. He was right, of course, she'd caught up on her work many times at La Mariana. The company aside, the booth that Rick had assigned to her allowed for some measure of privacy and she found the soothing ambiance of the place balanced out some of the more tedious portions of her task. In fact, she'd been contemplating spending the day at La Mariana doing exactly what Magnum was suggesting before he'd even mentioned it.

"No driving until your shoulder's better," she said primly, ignoring his pout and crestfallen expression. Getting up from the counter, she cleared their plates, and then said, "Actually, that was why I came over this morning. I was planning to head over there after breakfast–"

Magnum's face lit up. "Great minds…"

"Let's not get carried away and go that far," Higgins said, turning away to hide her laugh. "Why so early, anyway? I thought you and Rick were only going to the hospital after lunch."

"I promised the guys I'd look into some security upgrades for the bar," he grinned. "So, what did you find out about Kekoa and Crandall?

Leaning on the counter with her arms folded, Higgins didn't even blink at the abrupt change of subject. "Nothing interesting, I'm afraid," she replied. "Except for the occasional speeding tickets and a horrendous number of parking tickets, mostly on Crandall's part, both men appear to be law-abiding citizens."

"They work together?"

"I doubt it," she answered. "I couldn't find anything on Crandall's present employer – I strongly suspect he's currently self-employed or unemployed but Kekoa has been with the same firm for the past eight years." She paused and then added thoughtfully, "Kekoa's been travelling a lot more for work lately – in fact, he just got back from his last trip when his family moved out."

"Huh, the timing's interesting," Magnum remarked as he retrieved an ice pack from the fridge and wrapped it with a small towel. "How about Crandall? Is he married?"

Higgins shook her head. "Divorced. Kekoa's been married for six years, with one child. I haven't finished with their finances yet but nothing really jumps out so far." She took the chance to study her partner while he carefully iced his shoulder.

"I'm fine, Higgy," Magnum said, a smile in his voice, and then looked up at her.

She raised an eyebrow, her expression carefully blank. "I don't remember making any comments about your injury…"

He chuckled at her dry riposte before saying earnestly, "Really, it just looks worse than it actually is."

Higgins gave him another once-over and then nodded. Picking up her cell phone from the kitchen counter, she checked the time. "Let me get what I need for the day and I'll meet you outside in about… 40 minutes?" When Magnum dipped his head in agreement, she shot him a stern look, "Don't forget your sling."

"Thanks, Juliet."

Savouring the warmth of his smile, she answered softly, "You're welcome, Thomas."

~O~O~O~

"What are you two doing here? I sent you that text yesterday so that you wouldn't be traipsing around the hospital harassing the staff for updates."

Thomas and Rick turned in unison at the irritated tone and came face to face with a clearly exasperated HPD detective.

"Gordy…!" Thomas greeted him with a wide smile. Hoping to forestall the inevitable lecture, he quickly explained, "We promised Nancy Kekoa that we would look in on her husband, and see if we could find out what's going on with him."

"Also, harassing people isn't really our style," Rick chimed in, looking slightly insulted by the notion.

Katsumoto levelled them a look, arms akimbo. "I thought I told you to let HPD handle this."

"To be fair, you didn't really say any of that," Thomas couldn't help pointing out even as he wondered if something had happened. Gordon Katsumoto not only looked tired, he seemed crankier than usual, despite his customary bland expression.

"Yeah, well, it's implied, especially when it involves you, Magnum," the older man bit out, his hands still on his hips.

"What's wrong?" Thomas asked, ignoring the jibe. He sensed that there was more to what Katsumoto was saying. "Is Kekoa…?"

"He's fine," Katsumoto was quick to assure them. "He's still pretty out of it but he woke up long enough to see his wife and child yesterday, and to give a preliminary statement this morning."

"Well, maybe we could talk to him–"

"He's sedated right now, there was a mild complication earlier," Katsumoto shook his head, interrupting Magnum. "And you're not the only one who needs to talk to him."

The PI tilted his head slightly. "There's something you're not telling us. What is it?"

Katsumoto sighed. "Kekoa is saying that the entire incident was just a friendly misunderstanding between Crandall and himself."

"What!" Rick exclaimed. "There was nothing friendly about what happened."

Thomas stared at the HPD detective, quickly putting the pieces together. "You're letting Crandall go, aren't you?"

"Once he posts bail, he'll be released pending charges," Gordon confirmed. "Between that and him sticking to his story that it was you who caused the accidental discharge of the weapon, we really don't have much of a choice. And as long as Kekoa chooses not to press charges, all we can do is hope that the prosecutor decides that this is a case worth pursuing."

Thomas blew out a breath. "Please tell me you have people watching out for Kekoa and his family…"

"Not that it's any of your business, Magnum, but I can't simply place someone in protective custody based on my bad feeling or your… hunch, especially when there isn't any proof that their safety is seriously threatened," Katsumoto countered but there was no heat in his tone. He ran a tired hand across his face. "But because of Kekoa's earlier stunt, I've stationed a uniform outside his room until we've had a chance to get his complete statement."

"Look, I know you said to leave it to HPD–"

Katsumoto raised a hand, effectively silencing the private investigator, and then crossed his arms over his chest. "As much as it pains me to say this, Magnum, and I'll deny ever saying it if this ever comes up, but anything you can find out would really help…"

Thomas exchanged a quick look with Rick and then they both nodded.

"Okay, I'm heading back to the station. Keep me posted," Katsumoto said, his eyes dark and serious. Walking past them, he paused long enough to add, "Do me a favour and stay out of trouble."

~O~O~O~

It wasn't long after they had left the hospital when Thomas noticed the tail. He tensed slightly in his seat as he tracked the dark car that seemed to be keeping pace with the Porsche.

"Tommy?" Rick called out. "What is it?"

The PI slouched a little lower, his eyes never leaving the side-view mirror. "I'm almost sure we're being followed."

"What–?" Rick glanced at the rear-view mirror and then at the side-view ones. He changed lanes twice and then asked, "The black sedan?"

Thomas hummed in reply and then said, "I think it's been there since we left the hospital."

Rick was tempted to turn the car around to confront whoever it was tailing them but he didn't want to take any unnecessary chances, not when Thomas was still recovering from his injury. Not to mention that there were other cars on the road with them and causing an accident was not on his to-do list.

"What now?" he asked, giving the other man a sideways glance.

"Can you lose him?"

Rick gave a terse nod and the next few minutes were spent in silence as the former Marine sniper expertly made a few quick turns and then got off at the next exit. "Do you think that's Crandall?" he asked once he was sure that they'd shaken the other car.

Thomas' expression was thoughtful, eyes shadowed. "Unless it has something to do with one of my old cases, that's probably him or someone connected to him."

"Why is he following us?" Rick protested. "It's not like we know anything!"

"Whoever he is, he obviously thinks we do," Thomas said grimly. He turned back for another long look at the vehicles behind them and then said, "I think it's time we had that conversation with Roger Kekoa."

.

A/N: Renewed! Hooray for Season 4!
Special thanks to Marlab, Guest, bree1387, Lhaven, and Gabb Magra for your encouraging words – they really made my day! Also to everyone following this story. Thanks for reading!