Surprise! It's me today. Ilna had to help someone deal with a real-life issue so I'm covering today. I'll be wrapping this case fic up on Friday with my usual posting then next week we'll be back to our regular schedule.

Chapter 6

"Remember the goal is to lure Khoshbakht onto US soil where it will be much easier to arrest him," Catherine said. "We can't count on the Afghans to prosecute him. He has too many connections."

Lee Willoughby had finally managed to get a sit down with Eddie Ocala to discuss a large purchase of guns and ammunition. He was huddling with Steve, Danny and Catherine at a local safe house to go over the final details.

"You have to convince Ocala you're a big fish," Steve said. "Otherwise he'll never pressure Khoshbakht to show up for an in-person meeting."

"But don't overplay your hand," Danny interjected. "You come in asking for too much and they're gonna smell a rat."

"I'll be careful," Willoughby said, though something in his tone didn't match up with his cool, calm exterior.

Catherine bit her lip as her eyes met Steve's. They both knew from experience it took nerves of steel to work undercover. Willoughby couldn't afford to come off as anything other than completely confident. The tightness in his voice had them both concerned. Working with a new team was never easy but if Steve felt like Willoughby wasn't up to the job, he was going to have to pull the plug on the entire mission.

"The governor has agreed to provide the cash you need," Catherine tapped a large duffle bag on the table in front of her, "to make an impression."

"Is there a tracking device in there?" Willoughby asked. "Because you know Ocala will check and if he finds one the deal is off and I'm dead."

"No tracking device," Catherine promised him. "The bills are unmarked and non-sequential. Nothing to raise any red flags. Half a million as a down payment should be enough to convince him you're a serious buyer."

Willoughby nodded. "Got it."

Steve handed the LA detective a piece of paper. "According to Macide these are a list of the weapons Khoshbakht currently has access to. Put at least three or four of these on the wish list you give Ocala."

"I'll hand over the money," Willoughby strategized, "then tell him there's a lot more where that came from but I'm gonna have to meet with his supplier to make sure he can provide me with what I need."

"You gotta stand firm on that," Steve reiterated.

"I know," Willoughby assured him.

Catherine pointed to a satellite image of the area around the warehouse where the meeting was to take place. "Chin and Kono are heading the surveillance team which is already in place."

"Are you sure Ocala won't know they're there?"

"Positive," Steve replied. "This isn't our first time doing this."

"I didn't mean to … that is to say I wasn't trying to imply …" Willoughby stammered.

"I know," Steve said. "Just trust me, you don't have to worry about the surveillance team."

Willoughby took a deep breath and nodded. Everyone else in the room could see him working through something in his head. Finally, he took a deep breath and said, "I trust you."

Steve could hear the confidence returning to the detective's voice.

"Commander Gosnell has parabolic listening devices in place on three different boats just off shore and he's authorized the use of 2 listening drones as well. We should have ears on you at all times."

Willoughby nodded. "Are we going to have a code word in case it all starts to go sideways and I need you to move in?"

"We can do that," Danny said. "You pick the word and I'll get it to the team on the ground."

Willoughby thought for a few seconds. "How about pineapple?"

Danny chuckled. "Pineapple?"

"Seems as good as any." Willoughby shrugged. "I don't think I'll have to use it but in case I do that one will be easy to remember."

Catherine and Steve shared a relieved glance. Whatever nerves had affected Willoughby earlier seemed to have passed. Steve looked at his watch. "You better get going if you want to make it to the meeting on time," he said. "Last chance for you to bail out if you don't feel comfortable.

Willoughby grabbed the duffel bag full of money and flung it over his shoulder. "I'm fine," he said confidently. "Let's do this."

Danny paced nervously as the meeting between Willoughby and Ocala dragged on. Luckily the listening apparatus deployed by Commander Gosnell worked flawlessly and they'd been able to listen in on the entire meeting.

"Just get to the point and get out of there," he groused. "The longer this goes on the more chance there is of a slip up."

"He's doing fine," Catherine said calmly.

"He's throwing out the bait," Steve agreed. "He has to be patient so he doesn't spook Ocala."

"Look who's telling me about being patient," Danny snorted as his attention was drawn back to the conversation happening in the warehouse.

"Bottom line is you have the kinds of hard to get items my clients are interested in acquiring," Willoughby said, "And my clients have plenty of money with which to procure those items. I think we can both benefit from working together."

"I'm listening," Ocala said coolly.

"I'm willing to make an initial ten million dollar buy with more to follow if I like the merchandise I receive. I'm looking for Nesterov Assault Rifles, LR-300s, BR18s and of course AK9s and AR15s."

"No problem. I can deliver all of those items."

"Excellent," Willoughby replied. "But there's one more thing. I'm going to need to meet your overseas supplier face to face. I need assurances that he has access to a steady supply of the things my clients want."

"I can give you those assurances," Ocala said.

"No offense." Willoughby stood his ground. "But I need to hear it from the horse's mouth. My clients won't agree to anything if I can't give them my personal guarantee that the supply line isn't going to dry up after the first purchase. And I won't make any such guarantee unless I meet the supplier myself."

Steve, Danny and Catherine held their collective breath as the warehouse fell quiet. The silence felt like it dragged on forever although it was only 30 seconds. Finally, Ocala spoke.

"I'll see what I can do," he said. "Stay by your phone."

Several hours later, after debriefing Lee Willoughby, Catherine and the Five-0 team were wrapping up a few details and preparing to call it a day just in time to make it home for dinner. As they were gathering their things Catherine's phone rang.

"It's Macide," she said as she connected the call. "Hey Macide, what's up?"

"I don't know what your guy said in his meeting with Ocala, but it did the trick."

"Really?" Catherine shot the others a hopeful look.

"Really. We picked up some chatter from Khoshbakht's people. He's making arrangements to move a new shipment of product ASAP. On top of that it looks like he's planning a trip out of the country himself."

"When?" Catherine asked.

She listened for a few more minutes before disconnecting the call and turning to the rest of the team who were eager to hear what was going on.

"Khoshbakht is heading to Hawaii to meet with a potential new client. He'll be here Friday." Her eyes sparkled. "We've got him."

To be continued and wrapped up on Friday

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