Chapter 4

"So, after talking to Dharini, and checking out the info she gave us, it looks like our suspect is a guy named Farshad Khoshbakht."

The Five-0 team, along with Catherine and Commander Gosnell, were gathered around the smart table being debriefed via secured chat by Captain Macide Yzun.

"What do we know about him?" Steve asked.

"He's not your run of the mill thug," Macide replied. "He was born and raised in the area then moved to the UK with his parents at age 14. He went to Oxford and got a degree in chemical engineering. Worked in multiple locations across Europe before landing back in Afghanistan a little over a year ago. I sent you a copy of his school and employment records."

"I got them," Chin said as he swiped the documents onto the screens surrounding Macide's image.

Catherine scanned the information. "Any arrest records?"

"Not that we've turned up so far," Macide answered. "I've got a team working on piecing together his life over the last decade or so. I'll let you know what they come up with."

Danny couldn't help but notice that on paper at least this guy looked like an upstanding citizen. "How can you be sure this is our guy?"

"We can't be 100% sure," Macide conceded. "He's really good at keeping his hands clean. But there appears to be a large amount of money moving in and out of accounts this guy is associated with. The local scuttlebutt is definitely that he's bad news. Apparently, some of his men have loose lips when they're trying to impress the locals. They've been bragging about getting one up on the American military. Claim they have people on the inside."

Commander Gosnell's jaw tightened. He hated to think any service member would be involved in smuggling drugs and guns back to the United States but if they were, they would be dealt with immediately. "Does he have any military connections?"

Macide shook her head. "Not as far as we can tell, but we're looking into it." She hated the idea that any navy personnel might be involved as much as Gosnell.

"So," Steve raked his left hand through his hair, "What's our next step?"

"We're working on getting ears on his compound," Macide reported. "We should have something within 72 hours. I'm also working on gathering up anything we have from our in-country resources. Give me a few days and I'll get that to you."

"In the meantime, I'll run the names of every person working at the transport center to check for any connection at all with Khoshbakht," Gosnell said. "Maybe we'll get lucky and turn something up there."

"Sounds good," Macide replied. "Let me know if you come up with anything. Otherwise what do you say we meet back here Monday morning your time and see where we stand."

They all agreed and after a round of goodbyes disconnected the call. As Macide Yzun's picture faded from the overhead screen Steve turned to Catherine.

"You know how this stuff works better than anyone," he said. "When can we expect some more concrete info on this guy? Without knowing his full history it's impossible to figure out who his connections on the island might be."

"Macide is the absolute best at what she does," Catherine assured him. "There's no one I would trust more to get what we need. Remember, she has to be careful. She doesn't want to spook Khoshbakht and she also has to be sure she doesn't compromise her sources in any way. It's not like gathering intel stateside."

Steve nodded. He knew she was right. It was just that waiting was never his strong suit.

"I'm headed back to my office," Catherine continued. "I have a meeting about the new highways and bridges bill and then a lunch with Senator Patterson. After that I'll come back over here and make some calls to some of my other contacts. See if they have anything on Khoshbakht."

Steve exhaled. "Sounds good. You're looking into any connections between this guy and active navy personnel, right?" he asked Gosnell who nodded in the affirmative. "The rest of us will take the local angle and see what we can turn up. Chin and Kono, work your sources and see what the word on the street is. Danny and I will go talk to Duke and see if they've identified the victims in the apartment shooting yet. Let me know right away if you find anything."

"We identified the three dead bodies," Duke reported. "Three low level thugs. Kalai Kawai, Jake Keaunui, and Mana Kanekalua." He handed Steve and Danny a copy of their arrest records. "Possession with intent to distribute, drunk and disorderly, assault. Nothing that makes you think they'd be involved in an international conspiracy."

"Sometimes guy like that make the best dupes," Danny pointed out, "They'll do anything to make themselves seem important."

Steve scanned the records. "Known associates?"

"They were pretty much a little band of three," Duke replied. "They were brought in a couple of times with a guy named Kurt Wolford. We're scouring the island for him, but it looks like he's gone underground."

"Of course he has," Steve said. "Any word on the shooters?"

"A lady in one of the upstairs apartments said two men came into the building behind her about 10 minutes before she heard the shots. She remembers they were carrying a duffel bag but didn't get a good look at their features. We pulled a picture off the camera mounted on the building across the street." Duke showed them the photo. "They both wore hats and kept their heads down. Makes me think these guys are pros. We're checking other cameras in the area to see if we can get a better shot of them."

Danny and Steve studied the photo.

"As far as we can tell they got into a car that was parked about halfway down the block," Duke continued. "The plates traced back to a 2009 Toyota that was reported stolen earlier the same morning from a parking lot downtown. We found it abandoned at the airport. We're checking flights just in case, but they could easily have dumped it there just to throw us off."

"You think the shooters came from off the island?" Danny asked.

Duke shrugged. "Gotta check every possibility. I have as many guys as I can spare reviewing footage as we speak. As soon as we find something, I'll let you know.

By 4:00 PM the team was once again gathered with Catherine and Commander Gosnell reviewing the new information they'd gathered. It was sparse to be sure, but in a case like this it was hard to know when one tiny detail might jump start the investigation and help them bring down the smugglers.

"A lot of my regular sources have clammed up," Chin said. "Whoever's involved must be bad news because no one wants to say anything."

"Same with me," Kono reported. "I don't think there's any way these guys are local. If they were someone would be willing to talk. I think they must have been brought in just for this job."

"So Khoshbakht is covering his tracks," Gosnell suggested.

"Looks like it," Catherine agreed.

Steve's phone buzzed with an incoming call and when he saw Duke's name he stepped away. "What's up, Duke?"

"We might have something, Steve. I just got a call from Collins over at the DEA. The alias Oscar Emsworth rang a bell with him. He thinks it might be tied to someone they have under surveillance. A heavyweight from the mainland named Rutger Finn. He's renting a place out on Diamond Head."

"Can he get us any clearer pictures?" Steve's tone was hopeful.

"I'm sending them to you now. I'll let you know if I hear anything else."

Steve stepped back towards the group and pulled up the pictures Duke had just sent on his phone. "Looks like we might have caught a break. The DEA has eyes on a possible suspect. He uses the alias Oscar Emsworth which showed up on some of the bills of lading." He held out his phone. "Does he look familiar to anyone?"

"Uh-oh," Gosnell said. "We've got trouble." He exchanged a glance with Catherine who looked equally as alarmed.

"You know this guy," Steve asked.

"Not the one on the left," Gosnell replied. "But the other guy is named Willoughby. He's with LAPD. We met him in the governor's office the other day."

It took some doing but Lea managed to get Captain Willoughby back into her office where she was waiting with Steve, Danny, Catherine and Commander Gosnell.

"Would you care to explain this?" she demanded showing him the picture from the DEA surveillance before he'd had a chance to even get all the way in the office.

"That's me," he replied defiantly. "And Eddie Ocala aka Oscar Emsworth. I heard from one of my confidential informants in LA that he was here on the island trying to move some merchandise that matched the description of the stuff brought in from Afghanistan, so I went to have a little talk with him."

"Do you have any idea what you've done?" Gosnell thundered. Everyone else in the room was momentarily taken aback by the normally even-keeled Commander's outburst. "If he knows we're on to him he'll disappear. And take any hope of leading us to his boss with him. You have interfered with a naval investigation and there will be severe consequences."

"Relax." Willoughby held his hands up in front of his chest. "He doesn't know who I am. I used an established alias to make contact. He thinks I'm a high-level dealer from back on the mainland who just happens to be on Oahu checking out some new business opportunities."

"And will that alias hold up when he checks you out," Gosnell asked heatedly. "Because these guys are gonna do more than a simple Google search."

"It'll hold up," Willoughby said defiantly.

"And just exactly who gave you permission to make contact with a suspect here in Hawaii?" Lea asked angrily. "I thought I made it very clear the other day that we are handling this investigation."

"And I told you we've been on this guy's case for over a year," Willoughby snapped back. "I'm not about to have all that work go to waste because a bunch of locals smell a big bust."

"I would hardly call either the Five-0 task force or the HPD a 'bunch of locals'," Lea growled, not backing down in the face of Willoughby's obvious anger.

"Well, I'm not taking any chances," Willoughby snotted back.

"What about the DEA?" Steve stepped directly in front of a now red-faced Willoughby. Their eyes met and for the first time the others in the room saw Willoughby's confidence falter. He squared his shoulders and straightened his spine but there was something in his manner that made it clear he had lost a measure of bravado. "They have an active surveillance operation going. Did you make them aware LAPD was going to be running an undercover operation?"

Willoughby placed his hands on his hips. "No."

"LAPD just figured they could come to the island and run their own investigation without filling us in?" Steve arched an eyebrow causing Willoughby to take a step back and swallow hard. Steve was an excellent reader of people and he knew someone going rogue when he saw it. There was no way the LAPD brass would have condoned any operation on the island without the permission of the governor's office.

Lea moved behind her desk. "I'm going to get to the bottom of this." She pressed the intercom button. "Karen, can you please get the me the chief of the LAPD on the phone."

"No … wait," Willoughby said. "There's no need for that." He took a deep breath. "My boss doesn't actually know I'm here or that I made contact with Emsworth."

Steve glared at him. "What are you talking about?"

"I was telling you the truth when I said we've been working on finding this guy for over a year," Willoughby said, suddenly more contrite. It was if being found out allowed him to drop some of the brash attitude he'd been sporting since his arrival in Hawaii. "He's bad news. He has contacts all over the world. You name the illegal contraband you're interested in and this guy will get it for you. Anything from diamonds and illegal ivory to guns and drugs. There's even a rumor he's dabbled in heavy artillery and nuclear materials."

"That doesn't explain what you're doing here on the island meeting with the guy," Steve said in a tone that made it clear he wanted Willoughby to get to the point quickly.

"I tried going through channels and my bosses turned me down. They've been working to get someone on the inside for over a year, but it hasn't happened. They keep saying they need time to gather more evidence but meanwhile this guy just keeps going about his business and killing innocent people."

Steve saw a flicker of something familiar in the man's eyes. A look he'd seen before in his own mirror. He could tell the man was on edge and he needed to proceed carefully, or Willoughby would shut down. "So, what's your plan here?" he asked in a more even tone. "You made contact with the guy but what now? You don't have any backup. No resources. How are you going to handle this?"

"I figured I'd call me boss and let him know I found a way in and then we could work out the details," Willoughby admitted. "What's that old saying … it's easier to ask for forgiveness than permission?"

Danny snorted. "Where have I heard that before?"

Steve mock glared at his partner then looked back at Willoughby. "Why is this so personal for you?"

"Who said it's personal," Willoughby scoffed, but the fact that he couldn't meet Steve's eyes was a dead giveaway.

Steve continued to state silently until Willoughby finally continued in a softer voice. "About a year ago we got a call about some suspicious activity in a warehouse in downtown LA. We dispatched two cars to check it out. They rolled in there expecting they were dealing with a noise complaint. Emsworth's men panicked. They thought they were busted so they opened fire with large caliber weapons. Killed two of the officers and wounded the other two." He took a beat. "One of the dead officers was my sister."

Steve winced. "I'm sorry for your loss." He looked first at Lea, then at Catherine, Danny and Gosnell in turn.

When he saw a similar look on each of their faces he turned back to Willoughby. "You're not going to be able to handle this on your own. You'll need back up."

"Yes," Willoughby acknowledged.

"OK then," Steve said. "Let's make a plan."

TBC