Authors' notes: Sorry for the slight delay on this. Had a bad case of writer's block where nothing I wrote sounded right. I think it's passed now and the chapters should come more frequently. Ran through this a few times to check for errors, but considering I don't have a beta there might still be a few grammatical errors running about. Apologies in advanced and hope you enjoy this chapter!

Chapter 2:
The sound of Danny's cell phone screaming in his ear woke him from his uncomfortable position sprawled out on his couch. The ringing irritated the slight hangover and caused him to groan, contemplating for the millionth time in the last few days about chucking his phone out the nearest window. He reached behind him for the phone on the end table beside the couch, finding it and pulling it down, smacking himself in the head with his hand. He grunted, flipping the phone open and pressing it against his ear, speaking as softly as he could, "Detective Williams."

"Danny, it's Kono. I'm on my way to visit Emily at her apartment. It's actually only a few blocks away from your place…Do you want me to pick you up on the way over there?" This question had the blonde jersey boy wide awake, rising from his position as he attempted to decipher if he had truly heard what he had just heard. Kono was going to defy Steve? What kind of alternative universe had he drifted into in the middle of the night? Kono was rather good at listening. She wasn't normally the type to disobey orders. That was one of the things that he admired about And that was one of the reasons why this conversation was straying on the unusual. Mostly, Danny didn't understand why she would want to risk inflicting the wrath of Super Seal upon her head. He sat up, rubbing his eyes as he spoke, not able to suppress the questioning sound in his voice.
"Sweetheart, don't you think that will piss Steven off?"
"It might."
"Kono, I'm positive that not only will this enrage him - you might end up answering for this for a while."
" Don't worry about the Boss. I'll handle him."
"Oh, you will? Why do you suddenly have the answers to soothing the savage beast in him? Have you been reading some kind of how to manual for dealing with Super Seals? Do I even want to know? You know what? No. I don't want to know. I just know I'm going to regret this."
"Just be ready, okay? I'll be there in twenty minutes."

He heard the line die out in his ear and he pulled the phone away from his ear, staring at it as thought he had just heard the most ridiculous thing in the world. Oh, he was definitely going to regret this. They both would. But, Danny knew that he needed to do this. Steve could yell at him until he lost his voice, or break every single bone in his body. But he was going to find out why the woman his ex had hired as her personal assistant was carrying a concealed weapon in her purse. Specifically a concealed weapon popular with the United States Military. It had been a long time since Danny had interacted with a woman who had walked around with a gun in her purse. Hawaii could be rather dangerous, but it wasn't Jersey. The need for protection wasn't exactly a high priority for the average citizen.
Danny pulled himself off the couch and managed to stumble his way into his bathroom, quickly undressing and rushing through a rather cold shower. By the time that he had finished getting dressed in his usual "business" attire, specifically in a bright blue dress shirt and black slacks with one of his favorite black ties and black dress shoes, he heard a knock at the door. He crossed the living room, running a hand through his hair, before opening the door to see Kono standing there, wearing a pink plaid shirt with a white tank top underneath and a pair of dark blue jeans and white sneakers, cocking her hip to the side as she questioned him, "Hey. You ready to head over to the lion's den?"

"I don't think this is a life and death situation."
"It might be. For all we know this woman could be dangerous."Danny scoffed at that, shaking his head, "Please. This girl? I've seen cockroaches that are more dangerous than this girl. And bigger. Much bigger. Trust me when I say she's not going to cause us any problems. "
"You never know, Danny. Could all just be an act."
"Well, then she deserves an award. But, I don't think this girl has it in her. And even if she did, you could take care of her before she tried anything. So, I'm not worried."
"I guess we'll just have to see then, won't we?"
Danny shrugged as he grabbed his keys and cell phone before closing his apartment door behind him and locking it. He didn't really expect anyone to try and break in, and even if they did, he didn't exactly have anything worth stealing. It was still a forced habit from all his years in Jersey.

"We taking your car or mine?" Kono questioned as they began to stroll down the driveway,
"For once, It might actually be nice to drive my own vehicle. You know? I miss it terribly. Super Seal and his control issues take up most of it's time."
Kono laughed and shook her head, as she handed towards the passenger side door of his car. Danny didn't know why Kono was jumping out on a limb here for him, but she must have suspected something as much as he did. Or she had such a deep amount of respect for him that she assumed he needed to be involved in the case. It didn't really matter. He just hoped that she would agree to keep their little rendezvous with Emily a secret. For both of their safety.

The apartment complex was quite literally a two minute drive from Danny's place. And the worst part was that the area was in worse conditions than his was in. For the first time since he had arrived in Hawaii, he found himself thanking that his apartment was considered decent to the ones in this area. It also made Danny wonder just how Emily had managed to snag a job working for Rachel. As…particular as his ex could be, he could only imagine that she would want someone who had a good bit of change tucked away. Rachel was the most materialistic woman he had ever met. It didn't really seem to add up. He parked the car in front of the number, looking around, licking his lips pensively for a moment before turning to Kono, "Are you sure this is the place?"

"Yeah, this is the address Rachel gave me when I called her this morning."
His nose crinkled as her name leaked from Kono's lips, smacking his head as he reached into his pocket, flipping open the phone and noticing for the first time that he had three missed calls from his ex and one voicemail. He didn't know how he had managed to sleep through the ringtone, but he could only figure that he was growing to immune to it. "Something wrong?" Kono asked, concerned, as she watched him push the call button to receive his voicemail messages. "Rachel. I forgot to pick her and Grace up from the hotel this morning."

"Oh, don't worry about it. McGarrett went over there."
Rachel's brief and aggravating message confirmed Kono's story and he nodded, closing the phone and reaching up to rub his temples, shielding his eyes, letting out a deep sigh. "You okay?" the soft response came from the woman beside him and he nodded, forcing a smile as he reached for the car door, deciding now was not the time to break down and talk about his feelings, not that there was ever a good time for that in his opinion. It wasn't that he didn't trust Kono or their friendship. He simply thought he had more important matters to deal with than his current emotional turmoil and never-ending stress. "Yeah. I'm fine. It's not important. Let's just go and knock on the door and see if by some miracle Rachel managed to tell you the truth."

Danny and Kono made their way from the car up to the door. Danny reached up, knocking on the door. He heard what sounded like movement coming towards the door and in the next minute the door opened to reveal the woman they had been looking for. She stood in what appeared to be pure shock, her mouth opened wide as her jaw slacked. After she recovered from the initial shock, she leaned against the doorway, crossing her arms over her chest as she spoke, her bright blue eyes catching with his. Her hair was tied back in a ponytail that wrapped around to lay against her right shoulder. She was simply dressed in a little sunshine yellow vintage sundress with a square neckline and pleated skirt with a pair of sandals on her feet. No jewelry or makeup decorated her. She was simply natural, and Danny felt his jaw slacking at the picture before him.

This was the first time he had really noticed how attractive she was. He didn't know if that was because it had been because of the cover of darkness during their first meeting or if he just had been to worried about Grace - and Rachel - to notice how appealing she was, but he was noticing it now. And he was definitely enjoying it. He felt himself involuntarily swallowing, as though he was gulping for air. He couldn't help but allow his mind to wonder to places that weren't exactly appropriate. Even if he was trying with everything he had to keep those thoughts pushed in the back of his head.

"Is there a problem, officers?" The blush that had brushed across her freckled face was simply adorable to Danny, and he felt himself smiling even if he knew he shouldn't. He felt like a goof, but she didn't seem to notice. She was either avoiding him or ignoring him deliberately because he was staring, but Danny couldn't be blamed for admiring someone for their beauty.

"Of course not, Miss Monroe. We just want to ask you a few questions about last night. Can we come in?" Kono asked, her eyes studying the young woman before glancing back to Danny. Danny wasn't exactly aware he was being observed by the rookie cop. His eyes were too focused on the woman in front of him, as though all the answers he was searching for could be found by studying her every move. She glanced away, and he wondered what exactly it was that she was trying to hide. It was obvious that something was going on that she didn't want him to know about. If he couldn't tell anything else about the woman - he could at least see that she wasn't very good at keeping her emotions hidden.

"I'd rather you not. My…mother is asleep and I do not wish to disturb her. She works the night shift over at Queens Medical center as a nurse."
"Then if you don't mind, would you step out here for me? Please? This won't take more than a minute, I promise," Danny practically begged, attempting to be as polite and reasonable as possible. He really didn't want to show his ass any more than he had the day before. That probably wasn't the best impression to leave on someone. Especially not someone who Gracie was fond of. If Grace thought she was nice enough to scold her father for being "mean" to her, than he should truly try to get to know her.

Emily looked from Danny to Kono, and then back to Danny again, a clear nervousness spreading over her face before she nodded, stepping outside and closing the apartment door behind her. Her arms returned to their position crossed across her chest as she spoke, an uneasiness clearly still wafting about in the air. "What do you need to know?"

"How long have you been working for Mrs. Edwards?" Kono asked, studying the woman's facial expressions. She had already told Danny that she was going to have to be the one to ask all the questions since he technically wasn't even supposed to be with her. And as far as she knew, Danny appeared to be okay with this. She didn't know how long that would last, but she could at least appreciate that he was in a far better mood than the day before. Or, he was just putting on a brave face. Either way, it was easier for her not to worry that things were going to go horribly wrong by allowing him to accompany her on the interview.
"A couple of weeks."
"And what exactly do you do for her?"
"Mostly….filing paper work, taking phone calls, running errands for her -"
"Picking up Gracie," Danny interrupted, which caused her to glance back at him again. It was almost as though she didn't know if she should respond to him or not. But, she nodded in response. He took that as an okay to proceed with his questioning, ignoring Kono's cough in protest to his actions.
"How much time to you spend with my daughter a day?"
"I rarely spend more than a few hours a week with Grace. She has a nanny and Rachel spends quite a bit of her spare time watching over her. I'm sure you know that, Mr. Williams."

Kono shot Danny a dark look and he nodded, deciding to keep his mouth shut, as he shifted uncomfortably to the side, as the line of questioning continued. "Can you explain to us exactly what you witnessed last night, Miss Monroe?"
"I told you this last night. Mrs. Edwards and I were working on some last minute paper work that was due today in her study. Grace was asleep and Stan is away on business. We heard the alarm go off. She sent me to go and check on Grace and she called the police. The story hasn't changed, Officer Kalakaua." Danny studied her, the pursing of her lips, the fire in her eyes. Kono had struck a nerve, and she wasn't sure if it was because she didn't like someone thinking that she was a liar or if she was getting irritated with being asked a million questions.
"We are only verifying the information."
"Of course. I apologize."
"One last question…Why exactly were you carrying a concealed weapon in your purse?"

Emily's eyes darted to Danny, who couldn't suppress an almost pleased expression. And the heat the was eluding from her made it quite clear that she wasn't exactly his favorite person at that moment. In fact, she was quite sure she was going through a profound list of the many different ways of how she could take pleasure in murdering him and destroying the body so that he would never be found. And Danny hated thinking that the fire in her eyes was rather attractive as well. He had issues, clearly.

Finally, her gaze turned back to Kono, and she let out a deep exasperated sigh. "The gun is for…protection. I have a permit for the weapon, which is what I told Mr. Williams last night. Mrs. Edwards was aware that I had it with me. In fact…she was the one who requested I purchase it and register the weapon."

Danny's expression darkened and he couldn't help but laugh, cutting Kono off as she tried to keep him quiet. "You are telling me that Rachel asked you to purchase a weapon to carry around in your purse for safety? And why would she do that?"
"I think I've done enough talking -"
"No, you haven't. Not nearly enough. Because, you see…Rachel knows how I feel about guns. She knows that I don't want them near our daughter. Rachel would not request for you to bring that weapon around my child. At least I didn't think she would. Is this really your story or do I need to take you in for obstruction of a police investigation?"
"Danny. Stop," Kono demanded, raising her right hand to place on his shoulder, which caused him to look over at her. He sighed, turning away from her and heading back towards the car. He didn't even know what he was feeling at that moment. Worry? Panic? Anger? It was a humongous glob of messy emotions and he didn't really know how he was supposed to contain them. All he knew that nothing was adding up and he didn't know how he was supposed to process the apparent development.
"Danny?"

He turned to see Kono standing there, and let out a deep sigh, running his hand through his hair, and licking his bottom lip before he held his hands up, almost in defeat. "I'm sorry."
"Don't. Just….just don't mention this, any of it, to the Boss."
"Oh, don't worry. I'm in no hurry to get tossed to the ground on my behind again."
Kono nodded, continuing, "I think we've got enough for now. I'm going to question Rachel in a few hours. But, I think it might be a good idea if you don't come with me to see her. I don't need to help start another civil war with the pair of you."
"Sweetheart, I'm wounded. Don't you trust me?"
"No. Not really."
'Wise decision…It's just…with Rachel…"
"She's a weak spot, I know. Just…take me back to get my car and then we can go into see Chin Ho and Steve before they start to wonder where we are."
"Good idea," he simply nodded in agreement, knowing that he had felt his phone vibrate in his pocket a couple of times since they had arrived at Emily's apartment.

Danny arrived ten minutes after Kono, who was already in the process of talking to Steve and Chin. They stopped talking as soon as he arrived and he knew that they were talking about his ex's case. He decided that he wasn't going to let it bother him, because he wasn't in the mood. He really wanted to drive over to Rachel's and ask her what was going on, but he decided against it. His head wasn't in the right place and he knew that he would likely wind up getting himself arrested just as he had threatened to arrest Emily for her obvious lying.

As soon as he got close enough to the table, Steve motioned for him to follow him into his office and he caught a glance at Kono, who simply smiled at him. What the hell did she have to be so damn chipper about? He felt like he was being sent to the Principal's office and he didn't think he was going to like anything that had to be said. When did this happen? When was Steven the person scolding him for acting out and doing things that weren't by the book? When had everything managed to get this He followed Steve begrudgingly into the office, closing the door behind him as he watched Steve move to sit down on his desk, "What is up with you? You're acting like.."

"You?"
"What's bugging you? Are things with Rachel and you really that bad?"

He shrugged, shaking his head as he scratched an itch on his right arm. He didn't know what was bothering him. He didn't know why his temper had flared up and was almost unreadable across the charts. It didn't really make sense. But he wasn't going to try and explain that to Steve. It wasn't really any of his business anyway. His problems were his own and just because Steve pulled rank over him in the office, that didn't mean he needed to dive into his personal problems as well. "I don't know, Steve. I'm just…in a bad mood. It happens."
"You're not just in a bad mood, Danny. You're angry. Not even angry. You're…irate. That's easy to see. And if this continues…."
"What, Steven? What are you going to do?"
"I might have to ground your ass to your office until you learn to calm down. That's what."

Danny laughed, shaking his head as he licked his lips raising his right hand as he spoke, "This is hilarious coming from you, Mr. Control Freak. There are plenty of times that if I had the ability to, I would have tied your ass to a chair and left you to rot in this office until you learned common sense and decency. How does it feel, huh? Not being able to control things? Must be pure hell."
"Danny, don't make me -"
"Make you what, Steven? Huh? What are you going to do?"
"What am I going to do?"
"Yeah, what are you gonna do?"
"Two days. Go home. Now. Come back when you get control over…whatever the hell is bugging you, man."

Steve turned to walk back over to his desk and Danny bit his tongue, mentally kicking himself as he turned to open the door, nearly slamming it into the wall beside him in the process. Chin and Kono stood in the center of the room, both staring at him. He didn't even acknowledge their existence as his made his way back towards the door to head off. He didn't know where he was going to go. He needed to drive that was for sure. There was nothing like a relaxing drive to clear his head and calm him down. At least that was what he would have done if he hadn't have felt his phone ringing in his pocket as he headed towards the door. He pulled the phone out, opening it.

"Detective Williams?"
"Mr. Williams, I have something I need to discuss with you. Don't inform your boss or your coworkers of this meeting. This must remain private. Meet me Ala Wai Harbor at seven p.m. There will be a boat named 'Layla' near the southeast end of the harbor where we will meet. Do not be late."

The phone went dead before he could respond. He didn't know what the hell was going on, but he knew that voice before he even had time to think about it. It was Emily.