Steve pulled his truck into a random parking lot and began to examine the file. Michael Lenes was an arms dealer who had been smuggling guns and explosives in from Mexico via ships and ground transports. He tried to decipher what he could from the vague file and his own experience dealing with these types of criminals. The FBI had been tracking his activities for months but couldn't build anything substantial that would warrant a long enough prison sentence. This witness to the murder was a big break, but he thought it oddly ridiculous of them to think that she wasn't in danger because Lenes was still in LA. A criminal of this sort would have connections or even employees who could do the job for him. He recognized the address for the safe house as not an actual house but a North Shore hotel. Not exactly the best place to lay low. He shook his head in disbelief, 'FBI." He looked at his watch, 5:30am, he thought about texting Danny to let him know he wouldn't be in the office for a couple of days but thought best if he waited a couple more hours for that. No need for a morning thrashing from him. He looked over the only information they had on the woman. Her name was Lexi Daniels, no description only a phone number where she could be reached.
He picked up his phone and began to dial the number. A woman answered on the second ring.
"Yes." her voice was small and Steve could tell right away she was apprehensive.
"Lexi?" he asked.
"Yes." she said barely above a whisper.
"This is Commander Steve McGarrett from Five O." He waited for a reply that didn't come. He could hear her breathing and knew she was just being cautious, "First off Lexi, let me assure you that I have no loyalty to the FBI." He smiled into the phone hoping that would appease her some.
She thought to herself that he didn't sound FBI they were all so cold. She did know that he had been a Navy Seal. "You were in the Navy weren't you?" she asked.
He was taken back by the question, but assumed the FBI had told her of his credentials to get her to agree to meet him. "Yes, I was. I was a Navy Seal for six years."
Lexi hesitated not sure if he was actually the person he said he was. The FBI could be playing her again. She didn't know what he looked like or anything about him except that he was in charge of a task force called Five O for the Governor of Hawaii and had been in the Navy. Her father proudly displayed a plague in his auto shop business that had the Seal motto, if he knew it; maybe he was who he said. "There is an unofficial motto that is known in the Navy, Non Sibi, Sed Patriae. Do you know what that means?"
Steve was surprised again by her question, but even more surprised that she pronounced it correctly. She had to have had Navy ties. "Yes, I do, it's the Seal motto, it means not for ourselves, but for our country."
"That's right." Lexi replied, relieved. For the first time in a week she actually felt that she could trust someone. "You really were a Seal."
Steve felt he had won her over, "Tell me where you are?"
"I'm at the Denny's in Waikiki."
"Which one?"
"I don't know?" she didn't expect there to be more than one.
"That's ok, look outside, what do you see?"
Lexi moved to get a look out the front windows. "I think there's a hotel across the street. The Ohana Waikiki West?"
"OK, good, you're on Kuhio St. Just sit tight and I'll be there in ten minutes."
"How will I know you?"
"I'll probably be the only one in the place wearing a badge." He joked, trying to keep things light to keep her at ease.
Lexi smiled again. She liked him already and knew she had chosen wisely.
She knew it was him the minute he walked in the restaurant. He was younger than she expected, but the confident stature and commanding presence made him stand out, just like her father used to. He glanced in her direction and they made eye contact. He didn't react, only moved to where she was sitting. He took the seat across from her in the booth. It was still early and they were the only ones in the place. That pleased him, making it easier for him to control the environment.
Lexi sat up straight in the booth and for a second felt the urge to get up and run, but then he smiled and spoke. The rugged image disappeared and was replaced by a handsome, confident man with features that could have weakened her in any other situation. The thought was trivial compared to the situation she was in. It was gone before she could ponder it further.
"Hi Lexi, I'm Steve." First impressions were big for him; he could generally pick a person apart just from their demeanor on first sight. But she wasn't what he had expected. She locked eyes with him and didn't turn away, this told him that she couldn't be easily intimidated, which he liked. She also sat up, making herself seem more confident when he sat down, that gave the impression that she wanted to be seen as equal and not weak. He liked that even more. He wasn't prepared for Lexi to be as beautiful as she was. Her long dark hair and green eyes against that flawless complexion showed concern and apprehension, but nonetheless, the whole package could level a man.
Lexi liked the idea that he was trying to put her at ease. She needed that, because even though she was trying desperately to give the impression that she wasn't afraid, she was actually terrified. "I'm not sure what I'm supposed to do now."
When she spoke he knew right away she was more afraid than she was letting on. He learned that skill from interrogating hundreds of people over the years. No one can hide fear in their voice. "That's why I'm here. I know what to do."
The waitress appeared holding a coffee pot, "Would you like coffee?"
Steve pushed his cup toward her, "Please."
Lexi put her hand over hers, but before she could get the words out the coffee pot exploded and spewed glass and coffee all over the table. The waitress and Lexi both were stunned but even more surprised when Steve pushed the server to the ground with one arm and reached across the table and pulled Lexi by her shirt out of the booth and onto the floor. He laid over top of her as another shot blew a hole into the seat where she had been sitting.
The panicked screams from the waitress brought the cooks from the kitchen into the dinning room.
"Get back inside!" Steve ordered them. The waitress scrambled to her feet and followed them. He rotated his body around and pointed his gun at the front door as two men entered. Lexi lay still on the ground too afraid to move. From between the booths Steve could see that they had weapons. He leaned down to Lexi, "Crawl under that table and don't move!" he pointed to a bigger booth in the corner. She did as she was told and didn't look back. He picked up the handle to the broken coffee pot and flung it across the room. The two men turned away and he stood up and fired at the closest one, hitting him in the shoulder. The victim dropped the rifle in his hand and fell to his knees. The other shot was aimed at his partner, missing his head and hitting the cash register. Steve recognized both of them as the two from the condo earlier. He dove for cover as the wounded man's partner raised a machine gun, sweeping bullets across the top of the booth and into the wall across the way.
Lexi curled up into a ball and fought the strong urge to scream.
Steve crawled to the end of the isle and fired again as the one helped his wounded partner toward the exit. He turned his machine gun again and fired aimlessly back at Steve until they reached the door and left.
Steve ran hunched over toward the booth were Lexi was. "Are you OK?" She nodded but the terrified look on her face told him she wasn't. "Come on!" he reached his hand out and she took it and he pulled her out from under the table, "Stay low!"
They made their way into the kitchen and toward the back of the restaurant. He stopped and moved her behind him against the wall before opening the back door. "Wait here." he exited, gun first and did a quick sweep of the area.
Lexi felt her knees begin to buckle when Steve appeared again and pulled her out into the alley by her arm. She wasn't sure how she was capable of making her legs move, but she kept up with him as he pulled her by one hand and held his gun in the other. He knew it wasn't safe to go back to his truck. He had to find a place were he could lay low and decide what to do next.
The International Market Place was just beginning to come alive as the vendors arrived and began to set up their shops. Steve jumped over a waist high fence and turned and scooped Lexi up and over. He concealed his gun and took her by the wrist again and led her through a maze of open street shops and small venues. Only a couple of people noticed them but really paid them no attention. Between two buildings he stopped and faced Lexi.
"You ok?"
Sweat beaded on her face and she tried to speak but only the fear came out. She covered her face and began to cry, falling against his shoulder. Steve tried to comfort her the best he could and not make a scene. "You're OK." She wasn't hysterical so he just held her for a few more minutes and let her calm herself down. He was impressed that she hadn't panicked and gone into a screaming frenzy like the waitress, it might have saved them both. In the distance they could hear the HPD arriving at the Denny's. He had to contact Danny but wasn't sure if they had a track on his cell phone. Just to be safe he took it from his pocket and shut it off.
Lexi felt her sanity slowly returning and pulled away from him. "I think…" she stammered trying to control her body from shaking. "I think I'm ok. I'm sorry."
Steve steadied her with his hands on her shoulders, "Sorry for what? You did exactly what you were supposed to and didn't panic. It got us both out of there in one piece."
"What are we going to do?" she looked at him for direction holding onto the sleeve of his shirt, for some reason she couldn't let go of him, just holding this small piece of material attached to him made her feel safer.
He knew now that it was not FBI that he had met earlier, but who were they and more than that, who was she? "You need to tell me everything you know. They took an awful big risk right there, what did you witness?"
Lexi took a deep breath and began, "Michael Lenes worked for my father in his body shop." she paused to catch her breath and continued, "Michael worked for him for two years until one day my father came home really upset and said he fired him and didn't want me to have any contact with him ever again."
"Why?"
Lexi shook her head, "I didn't know at first, he wouldn't tell me why. He was just very insistent that I not have any contact with him. I found out later that it was because Michael came to him and wanted to use my dad's business to smuggle guns into the country. He made frequent trips into Mexico for cheaper car parts so it would be a good front." Steve felt the pressure on his arm as she tightened the grip on his shirt. "Two days later my father was murdered while being robbed at the body shop." He sympathized with her, knowing that pain all to well. "I think it was Michael that pulled the trigger, but I don't think it was him that organized the guns smuggling part."
"Who do you think was in charge?"
"I don't know for sure, but…" Lexi stopped mid sentence when Steve pushed her against the wall of the building shielding her body. His gun was drawn but before she could react he had her by the shirt and pulled her around the corner and down a narrow path between the fence and the buildings.
"How did they find us?" Lexi cried out
Steve pulled his cell phone from his pocket, "They have a lock on my cell." he smashed it against the corner of the building breaking it in two and tossed it in the bushes. "Come on, they didn't see us." He knew he had to get out of that alley; it was confined and could be a dead end, literally.
He found a break in the bushes, "Can you climb?" instead of answering she pulled herself up and over the 6ft fence with ease. Steve was up and over before she hit the ground on the other side. She followed him through a parking garage and into a hotel lobby.
"This way." He took her arm, continuously scanning the area for any danger. They entered the stairwell and ran up two flights before he opened the door and peered into the hallway. She followed him without question, knowing he knew exactly what he was looking for. At the end of the hall by the elevators was a courtesy telephone sitting on a table.
Danny rolled over and squinted at the numbers on his digital clock, 6:38am. With an annoyed look he picked up his ringing cell phone and examined the incoming call. "Holiday Inn? What the hell!" He slid the arrow over allowing the call; ready to do some damage if this was a solicitation. "Hello!" he answered angrily.
"Danny! Listen to me, I need you to pick me up at Shave Ice at Ala Moana beach."
"What? Steve? Why are you calling from Holiday Inn?" he asked confused and then smiled cunningly, "Oh, please, please tell me you got drunk and forgot where you left your truck."
"Danny I'm serious! I need your help."
The tone of his voice made Danny sit up and shake off the drowsiness. "What's wrong, what happened?"
"I'll explain when I see you. I dumped my cell so don't call me. And Danny…" Steve regretted having to get him involved, but he knew there was no one else he could trust, "Make sure you're not followed."
"I can be there in ten minutes." He was already out of bed getting dressed.
"You'll beat us there, so wait in the back, park down the street."
"Us? Who is us? Damn it Steven, what the hell is going on?"
"Not now, I'll see you in a few."
Danny looked at his phone seeing the call had ended. He slipped it in his pocket and grabbed his gun off the nightstand.