Chapter 7

"Is there anything else you need from me to get ready for this afternoon?" Lea asked of Steve and Catherine who were seated in the visitors' chairs in front of her desk giving her a final report before Lee Willoughby's meeting with both Eddie Ocala and Farshad Khoshbakht. If everything went as planned the two smugglers would be in custody by nightfall and a major supply line of illegal drugs and weapons into the US would be cut off.

"We're all set," Steve replied confidently.

"Khoshbakht's plane landed at a private airstrip on the far side of the island at around 1:00 AM," Catherine added. "The surveillance team followed him to a private residence Eddie Ocala owns on the outskirts of Honolulu and he's been there ever since."

The intercom on Lea's desk buzzed and her assistant's voice filled the air. "Commander Gosnell is here to see you. He said it's important."

"Send him in," Lea responded.

"Sorry to interrupt, Governor" Gosnell said as he entered the office. "We finally got a line on how Khoshbakht managed to get contraband onto US naval transport flights and I figured you'd want to know right away."

"Absolutely." Lea indicated one of the chairs sitting along the wall that were used as extra seating for large staff meetings. "Pull up a chair."

"Thank you." Gosnell placed his chair next to Catherine's and proceeded. "I'll get right to it since I know you've got a busy afternoon ahead. We've detained Lieutenant Commander William Regent. He's the second in command of the Kabul Transport Center. He helped Khoshbakht bypass all the checkpoints and get the crates on the planes. He's admitted his role in the operation and is currently cooperating with the investigation."

Catherine and Steve both felt a wave of disappointment. They knew it would have been almost impossible for those crates to have made it on the planes without help on the inside but they both hated the thought of any naval personnel being involved.

"Did he say why he did it?" Catherine asked.

Gosnell blew out a breath. "He did. It seems his wife Bina has a drug problem. She went to rehab last year but it didn't stick. Somehow Khoshbakht found out about it and exploited it. He was giving her drugs at no charge on the condition she would help him by making deliveries around town. Which she did."

"Let me guess," Lea said. "He then used that information to blackmail her husband."

"That was his first attempt," Gosnell replied. "But it didn't work."

"How so?" Steve asked. "You said he confessed to helping get the stuff on the transport flights."

"After the first blackmail attempt Regent and his wife told Khoshbakht 'no deal'. They said they were prepared to tell his superiors the whole story. Bina would enter rehab again and they would let the chips fall where they may."

"Gutsy," Lea said. "What happened to change their mind?"

"The next morning, right before he was set to meet with his boss, an envelope of pictures was delivered to Regent's office," Gosnell explained. "His wife Bina is a local. She has a large family including a sister she's very close to who has four small children. The envelope contained pictures of the children sleeping in their beds."

Steve and Catherine winced. They both had an immediate visceral reaction to the thought of receiving pictures like that.

"The message was loud and clear," Gosnell continued. "He could get to Bina's family anytime he wanted. Regent felt like he didn't have any other option. He found a way to get the crates on the planes. He swears no other navy personnel were involved."

"What's going to happen to him now?" Lea asked.

"It's hard to say exactly." Gosnell's mixed emotions were written all over his face. On the one hand Regent had committed a serious offense and needed to be punished accordingly. On the other hand he could see how the man, who had had an exemplary service record to that point, felt trapped and did what he thought he had to do to protect his wife and her family. "He'll definitely be demoted and be brought back stateside immediately. If he cooperates with the investigation and agrees to testify in court there's a good chance he won't be dishonorably discharged. He'll be reassigned and given a chance to continue his service."

Steve nodded. "That's a pretty good deal all things considered."

"Hopefully his wife will get the help she needs," Catherine added.

"We'll see that she does," Gosnell promised. "Regent is going to remain at his post until after you have Khoshbakht in custody to avoid any chance he might get wind of the arrest and not show up for the meeting."

"What about the rest of his organization?" Lea asked. "Will they be taken into custody as well?"

Gosnell shook his head. "Unfortunately not. We're not going to get any cooperation at all from the local government. They're in the pocket of men like Khoshbakht. The best we can hope for is that Khoshbakht's disappearance will create enough temporary chaos that we can force the disbanding of the rest of his organization. At least temporarily. Eventually they'll probably leave town and try to gain a foothold somewhere else. That's just the nature of the game in that part of the world."

"Well at least we'll manage to cripple a major supply line if we can get Ocala and Khoshbakht into custody," Catherine said.

"Speaking of …" Steve looked at his watch. "We have to get going. I want to talk to Willoughby one more time before the meeting to make sure he has everything straight."

"As soon as you get them to agree on terms we'll move in," Steve said as he reviewed the plan one final time with Lee Willoughby in a small, dingy apartment less than a mile from the scene of the meeting. Catherine, Danny and the rest of the Five-0 team, along with officers from the local DEA and FBI offices, were already in place at various points throughout the warehouse district.

The minute he finished talking to Willoughby, Steve would join them. The entire operation had been planned down to the smallest detail. The LA detective had been drilled on his part at least a dozen times. The listening apparatus were in place. The surveillance team that had picked up Khoshbakht upon his arrival on the island and followed him ever since backed off once Khoshbakht and Ocala arrived at the warehouse, passing the baton to the teams of officers who had been in place for hours already so as not to rouse any suspicion as the meeting time grew closer. Multiple drones were already in the air.

"Don't worry," Willoughby said confidently. "I got this. No way I'm gonna let these guys wiggle off the hook when we're this close to bringing them down."

Steve nodded. He recognized the look in Willoughby's eyes.

Determination.

"Okay then," he extended his hand which Willoughby shook immediately, "Let's do this."

"I see no problem with acquiring the things you're asking for," Khoshbakht said as he scanned the list Willoughby had provided him. "But if you want this kind of merchandise you need to be prepared to pay top dollar."

"My clients will gladly pay up as long as the merchandise is high quality," Willoughby said, his voice strong and unwavering. He cast a glance at Eddie Ocala who had been standing off to the side mostly silent thus far. He was more than happy to help take Khoshbakht out of circulation, along with the guns and drugs he regularly smuggled into the country, but Ocala was the man he really wanted. The man responsible for his sister's death. As long as this day ended with Ocala behind bars, he didn't really care what happened to anyone else.

"I assure you all my merchandise is high quality." Khoshbakht continued to regard his new customer carefully. He had learned over the years how to tell if a man was lying and he never hesitated to take immediate ruthless action if he believed they were. The man standing in front of him showed no signs of nervousness or deceit.

He smiled to himself. A new crop of rich buyers was exactly what he needed to help build his growing reputation as an arms dealer. It would allow him to move away from the drug trade which was something he'd always found useful but ultimately too untidy for his taste. "I can get you some of everything on this list for …" He pretended to study the paper again. "What would you say to $10 million?"

Willoughby made sure to maintain his stoic expression as he pulled out his phone. "I'd say where should I wire the cash."

One of Khoshbakht's bodyguards handed over a small slip of paper. "You can wire it to this account."

As soon as he heard those words Steve gave the signal and an overwhelming law enforcement presence moved in and arrested both Ocala and Khoshbakht, along with their various foot soldiers, without incident.

"Great work." Steve patted Willoughby on the back as the last of the arrestees were carted off.

Willoughby watched Ocala's retreating form as he was led out of the warehouse in handcuffs. "I'll bet he doesn't even know my sister's name," he spat out.

"Probably not," Steve agreed. Men like Eddie Ocala usually didn't give a second thought to their victims, even the innocent ones. "But you know. And we know."

Willoughby nodded. "Hey, maybe you can do me a favor."

"If I can," Steve replied without hesitation.

"When you're questioning Ocala can you make sure you say my sister's name. I want him to know she played a role in bringing him down."

Steve paused for just a second. "Why don't come with me to question him? You can tell him yourself."

Willoughby's eyes lit up. "Really?"

Steve nodded. "Let's go."

It took the remainder of Friday and most of the day Saturday to finish processing Ocala and Khoshbakht and to complete their initial questioning. Both men lawyered up fairly early in the process but, unfortunately for them, several of their foot soldiers weren't nearly as loyal. Steve had no doubt they were going to put both men in federal prison for the rest of their lives.

After getting a chance to help question Eddie Ocala, and to invoke his sister's name, Lee Willoughby headed back to Los Angeles to face the music with his superiors for going off on a rogue investigation. He hoped the two high profile arrests, as well as a few words of praise delivered to his boss by the governor of the great state of Hawaii, would soften the blow.

As an exhausted Steve and Catherine made their way across the parking lot to Steve's truck he yawned. "I can't believe we missed Valentine's Day."

"We'll celebrate next week," Catherine smiled softly.

"Are you sure you don't mind?"

She kissed his cheek. "Positive."

"Next week it is then," he grinned as he opened the passenger's side door of his truck. "I guess you could say these arrests were a pretty good present."

"Nice try, Commander," Catherine chuckled. "They were nice, but they won't take the place of chocolate."

Steve closed her door then moved around the front of the truck and hopped into the driver's seat. "As we always say, we may not manage to celebrate exactly on the 14th but that doesn't mean we don't nail the romance thing."

"You can say that again." Catherine's smile lit up her exhausted face. "Now let's go home and see our daughter."

THE END

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