CHAPTER 2

Tuesday afternoon, Five-0 Headquarters:

Steve walked back into headquarters a little after one o'clock that afternoon. If he had thought he was tired before, now he was exhausted. The case was already stressful enough without obnoxious FBI agents and impromptu meetings with the Governor. He dreaded explaining to his team that they would have to continue working with their temporary partners for the time being. And that they had to play nice. He hated playing nice.

Sighing, Steve opened the glass door to the Five-0 offices. He spotted his team gathered around the smart table, hard at work. Regardless of what Weir thought, these people were the best of the best. While they could have been slacking off, they were instead chasing down leads and looking for any small anomaly in the evidence. That was one of the reasons the team worked so well and high arrest record.

As Steve approached the smart table, they stopped working and looked up at him, waiting for orders. Seeing the serious look on his face, they mimicked his expression and gave him their full attention.

"So, the Vivaldi case is still ours. We are to continue working with the FBI to solve this case." Steve's eyes flicked over to Danny, noting the tenseness in his shoulders before he continued. "As for Reardon, find out as much as we can about him. He had to have been because of his association with the Galinto crime family. We need to find out what that is"

"You're saying Vivaldi killed him because he was a cop? Or because he was dirty?" Danny asked.

"Right now, it's just speculation. I don't know, but Vivaldi killed him for a reason. We need to find out what that was. It could explain why Vivaldi is dropping bodies all over the island," Steve answered. "I'm sorry Danny."

Danny just nodded. He didn't know what to think. In his gut, he knew that his friend wouldn't betray his oath to protect and serve. He just knew it.

"In the meantime, the FBI is coming here in about two hours. I suggest we compile all the information we have on the case so far and have it ready for them. Oh, and Kono? Try to restrain yourself from bashing Weir's face in?" Steve said with a smile.

Kono grinned back. "I can't promise that."

The men chuckled at her response before returning to the task at hand. Exactly two hours later, the FBI entered Five-0 headquarters. Agent Weir entered first, followed by the two agents that were at the crime scene earlier that day.

"Agent Weir. Nice to have you on board," Steve said diplomatically while extending his hand, which Weir shook reluctantly.

"McGarrett," he said. "These are Agents Clearwater and Dartmouth, in case you forgot."

Steve held his hand out to each in turn. Agent Clearwater had a dark complexion with dark, short-cropped hair. His hazel-coloured eyes were kind and twinkled in the light. Agent Dartmouth was taller than Steve and bald. He was muscular and his eyes were grey and hard.

"This is my team," Steve said and motioned to each of his colleagues as he said their name. "Officer Kono Kalakaua, Detective Chin Ho Kelly and Detective Danny Williams."

Agents Clearwater and Dartmouth shook hands with the Five-0 team eagerly.

"May I have a word with you, McGarrett?" Agent Weir asked.

"Of course," Steve said as he pointed in the direction of his office. "Please excuse us, guys."

"I wonder what that's about?" Chin asked the remaining people.

"Your guess is as good as ours," Agent Dartmouth commented.

"Your boss sure put him in his place yesterday," Agent Clearwater said, sounding amused.

Danny frowned. "What do you mean?"

"He told Weir to treat you guys with respect…Weir…he likes to use his body as an intimidation tactic. He thinks if he acts like a jackass, he can get what he wants. Commander McGarrett didn't stoop to his level. We were all expecting the Commander to clear the floor with him, but instead, he remained calm and didn't back down," Clearwater explained.

"Steve doesn't do well with people bullying other people," Danny replied.

"I wish we had Commander McGarrett as our boss. He's made a good team and you can see he respects you all greatly," Clearwater said.

"Yeah, your boss is kind of a dick," Kono said seriously.

Danny snorted at the compliments the agents were giving Steve. "You may change your mind when you get stuck in a firefight with Steve. I think he actually enjoys getting shot at."

"You're exaggerating Danny," Kono remarked, rolling her eyes skyward.

"It's true. Did you know he got me shot on our first day as partners?" Danny asked the agents, who only raised their eyebrows.

Danny ignored their reactions and continued. "He also hung a guy off a roof by his ankles."

"For real?" Agent Clearwater said, awe-struck.

"Unfortunately, yes," Chin answered.

"Wow," Clearwater muttered.

As Steve and Agent Weir talked inside Steve's office, the FBI agents and the Five-0 team began discussing the case. They went over all the information they had while shooting covert glances at their respective bosses in Steve's office.

Ten minutes later, Steve and Agent Weir emerged and joined them at the smart table, their expressions not giving anything away.

"Commander McGarrett has suggested that a divide and conquer approach might be best. Five-0 will be handling the Reardon case while we run down all the crime family members and see if we can identify who or what Vivaldi is after," Agent Weir said, getting straight to the point.

Everyone looked at each other before nodding, agreeing to their assignments.

"We will reconvene here tomorrow, say, same time as today?" Weir asked.

"That's fine," Steve answered.

"Okay," Weir said.

Without any further comment, Weir left. Agents Clearwater and Dartmouth said goodbye and shook everyone's hand before leaving and following their boss.

"I am so glad he is not our boss," Kono commented as soon as the doors closed behind the agents.

"Those poor agents have a tough job," Chin added.

Danny crossed his arms over his chest and smiled at Steve. "So, you want to tell us what happened in there?"

"Weir apologised for his behaviour yesterday. I suggested that it would be best if our teams had as little contact with each other as possible to avoid friction. He agreed," Steve answered succinctly.

"I'm proud of you," Danny said sincerely. "You kept your cool."

"Especially since I desperately want to put a dent in his smug face," Steve added.

"Especially because of that. But even if you did, it would be his fault anyway," Danny reasoned.

"That is true," Kono agreed.

"Whatever. Let's see what we can find on this case," Steve said, changing the suspect.

"I contacted my old partner in Jersey. He's sending over Reardon's files. They should be here by tomorrow morning at the latest," Danny said.

"Good. What else?" Steve asked.

"Max is conducting his autopsy now. He'll have information for us by the morning. He said it will be tricky to determine time of death because of the cold temperatures inside the crate. He also said there was a bullet still in his body. He will send it to ballistics as soon as he can extract it," Chin answered.

"I'm tracing Reardon's last movements. He came into Hawaii five days ago, which coincides with the first murder attributed to Vivaldi here on the islands. He was booked into the Hilton for a few days, but apparently he never checked in," Kono continued.

They all knew what that meant. He never checked in because he was dead.

"Kamekona may have some intel on Vivaldi," Chin suggested.

"Okay. Chin, you and Danny go see Kamekona and see if he has heard anything. Kono and I will start searching through all of Vivaldi's known associates. We'll meet back here when you are done," Steve ordered.

Chin and Danny nodded and left the office to go see Kamekona.

"Are you sure about this, Steve?" Kono asked Steve as soon as Chin and Danny left.

Steve sighed tiredly. "I don't know, Kono. I would love to not have to work with Weir, but the Governor gave us our orders. I'd like to have passed Reardon off to the FBI, but with Weir at the helm, the man wouldn't respect the victim. As for Danny… he will be fine. He has to be."

"It was a hard choice, boss," Kono said sympathetically. "I just have a bad feeling about all this."

"Yeah, Kono. Me too," Steve said, shaking his head. "Let's just see if any of Vivaldi's associates are on the island and we can worry about everything else later."

Tuesday afternoon, Kamekona's Shave Ice Stand:

Danny and Chin arrived at Kamekona's shave ice stand and waited in the queue. Eventually, the line whittled down and they were able to speak to the large entrepreneur. Kamekona's face lit up when he saw them.

"What can I get you?" the big man asked cheerily.

"Sorry man. No shave ice today. We need information," Chin leaned in to whisper to Kamekona. "It's kind of personal."

Kamekona looked around before motioning them over to a free bench. "Okay. What do you fine police peoples need?"

"We were hoping you might have heard something on the street about a certain crime family," Danny said cryptically.

Kamekona raised his eyebrows in response.

"The Galinto family?" Danny specified, keeping his voice low so no nearby tourists could hear him.

Kamekona looked around to check no one was listening in on their conversation. "Yeah, I might've heard something. About two weeks ago, I heard some big-time drug dealer was coming to town."

Chin frowned. "Two weeks ago?"

"Yeah. I haven't heard anything about the guy actually arriving though," Kamekona said.

"Did you hear anything about why they were coming?" Danny asked.

Kamekona looked down and avoided eye contact. Chin and Danny exchanged knowing looks.

"Listen Kamekona. This guy killed a friend of mine and I want to know why. His family wants closure. If you know anything, please tell us," Danny whispered.

Kamekona looked up into Danny's eyes. "I'm sorry bruddah. I didn't know."

"It's okay Kamekona. But we really need any information you have, okay?" Danny replied.

"Okay. Here it is. I heard tell that this bad dude, uh, Vivaldi, was coming to town. Apparently he was looking for someone that used to work for him. He wanted what they stole and had tracked them to the islands," Kamekona replied.

"That's very specific information, Kamekona. How do you know all this?" Chin asked.

"A guy came to see me a little less than a week ago. He was asking questions, like you. He told me what had happened and asked if I had heard of Vivaldi or where he might be," Kamekona answered.

Chin shared a look with Danny before turning back to the large man. "What did he look like?"

Kamekona shrugged. "Haole, brown hair. Tall, thin, stubble on his chin. Wore a tie, just like you, Jersey."

Danny took out his phone and showed Kamekona a picture of Reardon. "Is that him?"

Kamekona squinted at the picture. "Yeah, that's him."

Danny sighed and looked at Chin. "Mitch was on the case. We need to find out why he was chasing Vivaldi."

Chin nodded in agreement.

"Call us if you hear anything else," Chin said to Kamekona.

Kamekona nodded. "Sure thing, bruddah. Sorry I couldn't be of more help."

"You helped a lot, big guy. Thanks," Chin said, clapping Kamekona on the shoulder.

"Hey Jersey! Sorry about your friend," Kamekona said apologetically.

Danny smiled sadly. "Thanks Kamekona."

Kamekona waved goodbye as they walked to their car before returning to his shave ice stand. Danny started the engine with sigh.

"Are you okay?" Chin asked.

"Yeah. I just can't believe Mitch went to Kamekona, is all," Danny replied.

"You're wondering why he didn't come to you?" Chin suggested.

"Yeah," Danny admitted.

"It's only been a short time since you left the mainland. Maybe he was trying to look you up while he was here and didn't get the chance," Chin reasoned.

"Yeah, because he got killed," Danny added snidely. Suddenly, a thought popped into Danny's head. "If Mitch was looking for Vivaldi, how did he know he was on the island? And why didn't he take any backup?"

Chin shrugged. "Maybe he was following the evidence?"

"Which means the trail of bodies had to start in New Jersey," Danny announced.

"Probably. Whatever Vivaldi is looking for is obviously worth something to him. When is Mitch's case file coming in?"

"Tomorrow morning."

"Well, hopefully that will give us some answers."

"I hope so," Danny said.

Danny indicated to pull away from the curb and pulled out of the parking lot. He flicked a glance into his rear-view mirror and spotted a dark sedan that pulled out at the same time. Turning left to go towards the Palace, Danny noticed the sedan doing the same manoeuvre and appeared to be following them.

"Heads up, we may have company," Danny said to Chin.

Chin glanced into the side mirror and saw the same car Danny had seen. Chin nodded to Danny, indicating he had identified the possible tail.

"Let's see if they follow us," Chin said.

So, instead of driving straight to the Palace, Danny took a detour through the streets of Honolulu. Even in the heavy traffic, the car was never separated from them by more than four vehicles. After three consecutive left turns that had them emerging on a street they had already travelled, Danny nodded to Chin. Danny pulled into a quiet street and a few moments later, the sedan followed their path.

"Amateurs," Danny muttered under his breath. "Hold on, Chin," Danny said loudly as he slammed on the brakes and spun the steering wheel.

Danny turned the car so it was facing oncoming traffic, or in this case, the tail car. The black sedan stopped suddenly and Danny and Chin got out of the car, their guns aimed at the driver. The sedan suddenly reversed back down the street, but not before they got a glimpse of the driver through the tinted windows.

"Is that…?" Chin asked.

"Yep. Why the hell is the FBI following us? I thought we were supposed to be working together?" Danny asked angrily.

"I have no idea. Let's get back to the office," Chin said, motioning to the car.

Danny was still glaring in the direction the sedan had taken off in. He briefly wondered about calling in a roadblock, but thought better of it. He walked back to the car and angrily slammed the door before driving off.

"Oh, I can't wait for Steve to rip into Weir for this. Call Kono, tell her to get the popcorn ready for the show," Danny commented about halfway through the otherwise silent drive.

Chin smiled in response. Chin was also looking forward to seeing their boss confront the arrogant man. The smile didn't last long as a chill ran down his spine. He was honestly concerned about the FBI's behaviour and wondered what it all meant. It couldn't be anything good if they had resorted to tailing the team. Chin had the feeling that the case was going to take a downhill turn and he hoped that Danny's personal connection to the case wouldn't be their downfall.

Tuesday afternoon, Five-0 Headquarters:

Danny, Chin and Kono were standing around the smart table, wincing when they heard the volume of Steve's voice increase from inside his office. He was on the phone to the Governor, explaining the behaviour of the federal agents. Though they couldn't hear every word, they got the general idea of what he was saying based on the way his voice rose the longer the call went on.

After roughly fifteen minutes, the conversation appeared to have finished. Finally. The silence was welcomed. The conversation had started polite enough, until the Governor had evidently pushed Steve's buttons. Now the team understood how Steve could have been an Officer in the Navy. Just his voice commanded respect and order.

When Steve didn't come out of his office, the team looked over at him, surprised to find him slumped in his chair, his head on his desk. The team exchanged concerned glances until Danny sighed loudly. Danny headed to his office and rummaged around in his bottom desk drawer until he found what he was looking for. He then approached Steve's office, or in this case, the lion's den.

Danny knocked on Steve's door and entered without waiting for permission. He dropped the bottle of Tylenol on his partner's desk and sat down to wait for him to look up. When he finally did, Danny was surprised by the exhaustion he could see in his partner's eyes. Steve sighed, rubbing a hand down his face as he picked up the bottle and shook out two tablets. He swallowed them with the last sip of his cold coffee.

"Thanks Danny," Steve said appreciatively.

"Sure babe…So, despite the headache, how are you feeling?" Danny asked.

"I'm fine. Just tired of bureaucracy."

"What did the Governor say?"

Steve chuckled humourlessly. "The Governor demanded that we continue to work with the FBI due to their 'invaluable knowledge on the subject'. No matter what I said, she refused to change her position on the matter. I even told her about the poor tailing job they did on you and Chin yesterday. She said that they 'have their reasons'."

"You know we are fine, Steve? All they did was follow us. No one got hurt. Except maybe their egos," Danny said with an indulgent smirk.

"Yeah, I know," Steve groaned as he stood up and exited the office, Danny following in his wake.

"The Governor still insists that we work with the FBI on this case, regardless of their behaviour," Steve announced to the cousins.

"What did she say about they tailing us?" Chin asked.

Steve rolled his eyes. "She stated that it was perfectly reasonable, and that they had their reasons for it."

"That's ridiculous!" Kono exclaimed.

"I know, but those are our orders," Steve looked down at his watch. "Look, it's late. Why don't we all go home, get some rest and start back here tomorrow morning?"

"Sounds good. Hopefully forensics will have something for us by then. Max said he should have his examination done too," Chin said cheerfully.

"Yeah, and Mitch's files should be in then too," Danny said.

"Good. The sooner we solve this case, the better. I don't want to have to work with Weir any longer than we strictly have to," Steve said.

The others silently agreed. That was definitely one thing they could do without.