The next few days are a succession of briefings, meetings at HPD and 5-0 headquarters, extremely late nights at the office and desperation. Three strategic locations on the island destroyed, thirteen dead, thousands forced to get their water supply from bottles, one angry Governor, hundreds of law enforcement personnel tired to the bone, unable to go home and kiss their wives and children, or have a home cooked meal, or sleep for more than 3 hours at a time. The team at 5-0 has been going on, non-stop, for that long as well. Steve goes back to the HPD report, to make sure he didn't miss anything. However, HPD had simply caught some chatter, on the grapevine, about something big about to happen, but were unable to find out a lot of details on it. Without any further Intel, 5-0 could do nothing more than tell HPD to keep their ears pinned to the ground, and maybe lean on their CIs for any more information.
On the morning of the fourth day, Duke shows up at headquarters with news; the undercover officer from vice came through with more details. It turns out, the plastic explosives had been bought on the mainland, and then brought to the island via a makeshift airstrip the middle of the jungle, by a local: Akamu Kahele. Despite trying to fly under the radar, his flight had been flagged by Hawaiian aviation, and when Police had arrived, they'd found only the biplane. But one of the local men roped in to help unload the cargo was the undercover officer's confidential informant, and he had hinted at the possibility that the crates were all filled with explosives. As Steve calls Danny, he asks Junior and Lou to get in touch with the officer and go through his file on the small time criminal, and Tani and Quinn to then go pick him up at his house. Adam suggests tapping into his own, underworld connections to try to find out if the Yakuza had any hand in the bombings.
Akamu Kahele does not prove easy to track down or capture; despite managing to find his last address, according to his parole officer's file, the man seems to have disappeared without a trace. Steve and Danny know that his disappearance is not good news and hope they can track him down, nonetheless, from browsing known associates to talking to neighbours. However, a scan of the neighbourhood yields nothing usable, since the neighbours refuse to help the police, angered by years of suspicion and accusations of wrongdoing. On their way back from the location, they receive a call from Tani and Quinn, letting them know that Kahele has a brother, Kaikane, who also lives on the island and has no registered job.
As they reach the address, and by now eerily aware that this may prove to be a case unlike most of their daily cases, Steve and Danny proceed with caution, nervous. One of the brothers may be a small time crook, but he has powerful and dangerous people behind him (or leading him), to have been able to carry out three simultaneous bombings on an island teeming with law enforcement officials. After knocking twice, Kaikane Kahele doesn't answer the door, and when Danny positions himself at the rear of the house, he spots a man trying to exit through the window. His capture is swift and simple; the man does not seem to be a hardened criminal and is, in fact, scared. Steve and Danny sit him down on his living room couch and inquire after his brother. Kaikane tries to deny any knowledge of Akamu, but when Steve threatens to take him into his custody, mentioning it won't be the same as being locked up in a police cell, the man opens his eyes very wide and starts to profess his innocence in the whole affair. However, it doesn't take Steve and Danny long to extract vital information from him: his brother had, indeed, been staying with him for a few days, apparently hiding out from a weapons buyer who had recently arrived on O'ahu. He also tells them that he left, after the sale was concluded and that he had help from a few of his old "friends" to go undercover, for a while, until the aftermath of the sale blew over. With a few names for reference, Steve cuffs the man and drops him off at HPD headquarters, prompting Duke to keep leaning on him for information.
The hours that follow are spent chasing the other criminals who supposedly helped Akamu broker the explosives deal. At around 9 p.m., a call comes in from Kamekona, who Steve had asked Tani to get in touch with, with news. One of the perps has been hiding out at an abandoned warehouse at the harbor, but when the team gets there, he's nowhere to be found. There is blood evidence of a death, so CSU is called and asked to process the scene. Steve is getting really frustrated at the lack of news, but suddenly Adam comes through: the Yakuza, although not having been involved in the bombings, seems to have been contacted and he has a name: Ahmed Zahed. He appears to be a mere foot soldier, but Steve doesn't care – he wants to know who is behind the bombings and the name is a start. Half an hour later, they all reconvene at headquarters, where everyone gets down to the business of trying to compile the information HPD has on the man.
"According to Customs, he is an Afghani national. He arrived three days ago on the island," Tani states, putting up his passport photo on the big screen. "31 years old, he's an old acquaintance of the NSA."
"What the hell was he doing on the island and why weren't we warned of the risk he posed?" Steve asks, frustrated, running his hand through his face. "Unbelievable!"
"Well, you'll have to ask the NSA that, but his file reads like a shopping list of crimes. He should've been flagged on arrival, I don't get it."
Suddenly, the team hears the double glass doors open and two government agents walk through, looking anxious. Steve sighs, mutters "figures" under his breath, and braces for more trouble, or maybe, finally, an explanation of what's going on. When the men ask to speak to him in private, he blows them off, annoyed. He's tired, wired and losing patience, and his team also needs to hear what they have to say. Relaying information, at this point, will only serve to delay their actions and he's tired of waiting, due to the lack of progress that they've been experiencing.
"Commander, we're from the NSA," the first man starts, only to be interrupted by a sneering sound from Danny, annoyed. "As I was saying," he goes on, while Danny stares him down, defiantly, "we flagged Ahmed Zahed as he arrived on the island, three days ago."
"And why weren't we informed?"
"We did not deem him dangerous enough for the security forces to be made aware of his presence," the man goes on, not looking Steve in the eye.
"You mean, you tried to hide his presence here. You hoped he was on holiday, or you were hoping to arrest him for some other crime?"
The men squirm, seemingly uncomfortable to even answer Steve. "We had information that he might be looking to broker an arms deal and we were hoping to capture him and his accomplices."
"But you failed to do proper surveillance and he brokered an explosives deal under your noses and gave you the slip. Nice. Great job."
"Unfortunately, he knew he was being watched. And we couldn't watch him any closer, for fear of him figuring out that he was being followed. Commander, these are our protocols," the man concludes, shielding himself and his Agency in the rules of engagement.
"Could've at least warned us! We could've avoided 13 dead, the water supply to half the island blown to pieces and a very nervous Navy Commanding Officer who's been breathing down my neck for the last three days!" Steve finishes, furious. "Now, what?"
"We're here to help. We have a few names for you," the man goes on, chastised. "And we are available to help with anything your team may need," he says, as he lays his mobile phone on the smart table and clicks on a few buttons, bringing up the information he has for the team. "This is a man by the name of Al-Nazri, and we think he's the mastermind behind the bombings."
The face of an Arab man comes up on screen, filling it completely, staring each member of the team in the face. He appears to be in his thirties, pleasant face that would not stand out in a crowd, tan, brown eyes. In one picture, he has a rough beard and is dressed in peraahan tunbaan (1), the typical Afghani clothes; in the other, he could be a visiting scholar from Oxford University.
"He's an Afghani national and he arrived on the island two days ago. We have him passing through customs with a false passport, but unfortunately the forgery was so good, it took us a whole day to realise that. This means that he has access to a really good forger and that entering the country under an alias was part of his plan.
"Clearly," Steve says, still annoyed. "But why do you think it was him?"
"He's been referenced in terrorist activities, at home and mostly abroad, but we've never been able to even capture him. He disappeared this morning, just before the bombs went off. We are not aware of any other activity while he was on the island. He didn't visit any tourist spots, he didn't eat at any restaurant, and he didn't take any scenic tours, didn't sleep at any known hotel. No matter how hard you try, there is no apparent reason for him to have come."
"But he could've come to do another illegal deal," Danny adds, suspicious. "Why are you sure it was this one?"
Again, the men squirm and look uncomfortable. "Two years ago, Al Nazri's brother was killed on a joint NSA-CIA operation in Kabul, and the team that took him out came from here, so we can only assume he wanted to get even with Hawai'i, as well as the USA. He was responsible for the deaths of two dozen children from a nearby village whose parents had refused to let them join Al-Qaeda. He may have been the younger brother, but he was cruel and deadly."
Everyone goes completely silent, contemplating the horror of so many innocent deaths, but also of the fallout from that mission. "Big brother had to run and hide and we were unable to capture him. The mountains of Afghanistan are not for the faint hearted. We never received any more intel on him, until yesterday, so he really went into hiding, probably bid his time, orchestrated his revenge. By the time we realised the danger of having that man loose on the island, we got our best men on the case, but unfortunately it proved too late," he ends, exhausted. "So we know we dropped the ball, Commander, but we want to help."
"What more do we know about him?" Steve nods, getting down to business. It's too late for this crap.
It's Tani's turn to talk. "From what I can read here, born in Afghanistan, in a town called Khayfan, and rose to prominence within the Al-Qaeda about five years ago."
"Yes, he's been consistently moving up, within the ranks. Which only goes to prove how dangerous he is. He's also a very intelligent man, educated in England, and radicalized in their mosques. We got his MI-6 file this morning and frankly, we were alarmed," the most talkative of the two agents adds.
"Let's go back… Where is Ahmed Zahed, right now?" Danny asks, wanting to move forward.
Another wince, from the NSA spokesman. "We don't know. We lost track of him. He may still be on the island, or he may have already left. With a false passport like the one he used, we believe he can travel anywhere. Naturally, as soon as we found out about his arrival, we flagged his passport, and so far, no one matching his description has tried to leave, at least not through the normal channels."
"Well, thank you for coming over to brief us on the situation. You have my number, let's keep in touch," Steve concludes, sensing that there isn't much more the two men can add to what they already know. They dropped the ball, and they know it.
"Commander, ladies, gentlemen," the man nods, and with that they both turn round and leave. It's the middle of the night, Steve still has to brief the Governor on the little they know and his team is falling to pieces.
"Guys, go home. Not much more we can do at this hour. HPD is canvassing possible hideouts and keeping the airports and heliports under surveillance. It's time to bury the dead and take care of the living. Go get some sleep, let's meet back here in a few hours."
With that order, most of the team disbands, but Danny lingers, inconspicuously. He follows Steve into his office, worried about his friend and the apparently tenuous grip on the situation he has, right now.
"Steve, you also need to get some sleep. You still haven't recovered from Montana, remember?"
"Danny, there's no time. We need to get on top of this. Plus, right now, I need to call the Governor. Not a call I want to make."
"I know, but at least try to rest. Even if it is on the couch," Danny says, looking doubtful of the couch's ability to provide any semblance of comfort.
"You go on ahead, Danny. I'll see you later."
"OK, Call me if anything changes, OK?"
(1) shirt/pants outfit