"Anything new turn up while I was out?"McGarrett asked when he returned to the office, hoping for world peace with sprinkling of puppies and kittens and an order of unicorns on the side.
Jenny handed him a bag from the pharmacy. "Just this."
He glared at the bag. "Get that damned quack on the phone for me. NOW!" he said, stalking off to his office. Jenny buzzed through a few minutes later to let him know Doc Bergman was on line one.
"That didn't take long," Bergman groused.
"I don't need those damned pills."
"Yes, you do," Bergman said calmly. " Your blood pressure is too high. I bet you've got a headache right now."
"I've never had a problem with blood pressure before." Steve said, annoyed that Bergman knew he had a headache.
"You've never been fifty-three before either. Your bp's been borderline for years, and now that you're getting older, it's getting harder to control. Since you don't have a medical history for either of your parents, I'm going to go out on a limb here and suggest that you're probably genetically predisposed to hypertension. The last thing I want to do is have to explain to that little Army sergeant why you popped off from a stroke that could have been prevented. Take the damned pills!" Bergman hung up the phone.
Steve ripped the narrow white bag open and dumped the contents on his desk. Two bottles of the same beige capsules; the label on one bottle read 'home', the other 'office.' He stored the bottle marked office in a desk drawer, dropped the one labeled home in his shirt pocket, dry swallowed a couple of aspirins and buzzed Jenny. "Tell Kono and Duke Lukela I need them in about half an hour, please."
"Will do, boss. Anything else." she asked.
"You could be a love and make some fresh coffee." he said.
"Coming right up," she said. She would be happy when Danny made it back from DC. She knew that he'd needed to see that redheaded sailor from Alabama and had spent a week finding an excuse to send him there. That meant the rest of the crew had to pick up the slack left by his absence. No one minded the extra work, but after a long week, they were also ready for some down time.
Duke and Kono arrived at the same time, Duke looking preoccupied. Duke was currently seeing Maggie's friend Lu, the first women he'd dated since his wife passed away. The pair were polar opposites in temperament yet it was clear to anyone who bothered to look that they were crazy about each other. Chin Ho, after a day in court testifying on a drug case, made it back just in time to join in.
McGarrett handed around copies of the file on the United Church of the Living Truth that the DA had given him. "Well, gentleman," he said. "Ever hear of this bunch before?"
"All I know is they've got a mission down on Hotel Street, Steve," Duke said. "So far there haven't been any complaints from the public. Any idea what denomination sponsors them?"
"That's what I'm hoping you will be able to tell me. With luck it won't be one of those ordain you over the internet scam operations, although if it is, it'll make it that much easier to shut down."
"Gotta be Protestants of some sort," said Chin, a devout Catholic. "If it were RC I'd have heard of them by now."
Steve nodded. He'd suspected as much. "Kono, get your informants to start beating the bushes for any information on the congregation you can come up with. They're suppose to be working with newly released cons. Chin, contact the parole office and see who's become a regular churchgoer during their incarceration. Get a background check on the group leader, the Right Reverend Simon Leeds. Find out if he's got a record. When Danno gets back Monday I'm sending him down to the computer lab to see what the techies can turn up. Let's see if he learned anything new this week."
"Done, boss. What's all this about anyway?"
"Big Chicken wants out of the coop, Brudah."
"Does this have anything to do with the latest from the Court of Appeals?" Duke asked. He was all too familiar with the lawsuit. He'd sent nearly as many of the plaintiffs to prison as McGarrett had.
"Unfortunately, yes. He's got a parole hearing Wednesday, along with about a dozen more of his partners in crime, including Frank Collins. We need to find a way to keep them locked up.
Kono and Chin hit the streets, leaving a thoughtful Duke behind. He looked up from the folder. "I thought the ruling only applied to non-violent offenders. Collins is a dangerous psychopath and he still got this church to sponsor him for release? There's something about this whole organization that doesn't ring true. There's a saying on the streets, the more high sounding the church name, the more they're trying to hide. Want me to get an informant on the inside?"
"For Sunday's service if you can. Find out who the regular rank and file churchgoer's are. See if you can separate the saints from the sinners."
"Easier said than done. I hear Chicken's some sort of minister now."
Steve dropped his head in his hands. "Ever have one of those days when you think the whole world's gone crazy?"
Duke smiled a bit. "All the time, Steve. It's not all bad. I understand congratulations are in order. Susan told me the good news."
To Steve and everyone else who knew her, she was Lu. Duke was the only person he knew who called First Sergeant Yablanski by her given name without suffering the consequences. "Thank you. Look, other than getting an informant in there for the Sunday service, there's nothing on that list that won't wait until Monday if you have plans for this weekend."
Steve noticed a slight flush as rising on Duke's face. "My kids are meeting Susan tonight. My daughter's making dinner and I'm not sure what Eddie's got planned."
"Everything will be fine," Steve said, wishing he could be a fly on the wall for that meeting. Lu Yablanski had been in the Army for twenty-three years and was a Desert Storm veteran. She was as tough as nails and could detect bullshit from across a crowded room in dim lighting. She'd taken one look at Duke Lukela and had fallen in lust, which was being rapidly replaced by love. Duke just knew that there was something about the tall blonde from Indiana that had grabbed his attention and refused to let go. For the first time since his wife died he was finding that he was genuinely happy. His kids had noticed and insisted that they meet the woman responsible.
Duke nodded. Suddenly it seemed that everyone he knew were seeing military women. Colonel Dale had remarked more than once that he was running a HPD substation instead of a newspaper. There was some truth to the statement. It had all started when Steve had met that little army sergeant and had escalated rapidly.
"I hope they like her. She makes my world a better place."
"Good luck, Brudah." Steve said. If Lu made Duke half as happy as Maggie made him, he was going to be one lucky Hawaiian. "Seriously, though, if Collins gets out, you're going to need to watch your back."
"Back, front, and sides. He still blames me for sending him up. Routine traffic stop and he comes out swinging a cane knife." Duke had put four bullets from his service revolver into Collins before he dropped the knife. "I'll have an informant in for Sunday. I'd like to go myself, except someone would probably recognize me and put the whole congregation on guard. I'd like to see first hand what's going on in there, get the lay of the land."
"I'll settle for an informant wearing a wire. Fix that with Manicote, will you? He's suspecting this group is front for laundering money from the prison rackets. If we shut them down, then the rest of that stinking cesspool falls in like a house of cards."
"Hopefully on Big Chicken's head, with Collins standing next to him. He's caused as much misery in prison as he has out. The only difference is he's got a smaller target audience. If we can get anything federal to stick, he's off to the mainland and out of our hair for good. I've heard there's a new supermax opening in Colorado where he'll fit right in."
"I'd love to reserve a cell just for Chicken." McGarrett closed his eyes. The bright afternoon sunshine was making his head hurt worse.
"You okay there, Steve?" Duke asked.
"Yeah, just tired. I think I'm going to head home early tonight. See if my fiance still loves me." He liked calling her that.
"Good idea. I'll send Robbie Compton in. He needs some undercover experience. He can take his girlfriend with him to keep him out of trouble. I'll get back with you as soon as I have the warrants. We can have them meet us in the lab early Sunday morning so Che can get them wired up." He left McGarrett's office for the short walk to the DA's. It was a beautiful afternoon. The sun was shining, birds were singing in the trees, along the beach the tide was coming in, and in a few hours Susan would be at his house for dinner. His son lived in the dorm at the university where he was a criminal justice major on an ROTC scholarship and his daughter Lillie had informed him she would be going to her friend Monica's house after dinner and would be there the rest of the weekend. He would have the house to himself, and Susan would be there with him. He was hoping she'd stay for the night.
Maggie had made it home first. Unless she had duty, she usually did. He was counting the days until she would be home every night, waiting for him. He knew that sort of thinking was archaic and was suppose to have gone out of style about a hundred years earlier. He didn't care. After years of coming home to an empty house the idea of having her waiting there for him made him inexplicably happy. Maggie's sister had jokingly called him an old fuddy duddy. His sister had accused him of being born a century too late. Maggie had just given him that small Mona Lisa smile and said he was fine, just the way he was and that she wouldn't have him any other way.
She was in the kitchen, wearing soft cotton leggings that clung in all the right places and an oversized silk shirt that was the same shade of green as her eyes. He crossed the room and wrapped her in his arms, holding her tight against his chest, feeling better in spite of the headache that seemed to want to stick around for the weekend. "How's my best girl?" he asked, kissing the top of her head.
"Better now that you're home. Do you realize this is the first time this week you've made it home before midnight?"
"Is it? I hadn't noticed." No sooner had he said it than he knew he'd said the wrong thing.
"Eat your dinner," she said, somewhat testily. She had always known he worked odd hours, except that this week it felt like he was gone all the time. He would come home late at night, shower, get in bed next to her, and be asleep in minutes.
A stray lock of silver hair had escaped from the long braid that fell down her back. He tucked it behind an ear, bending to kiss her neck as he did. "Let me get out of this jacket and tie. I'll be right back." He gave her a soft pat on the fanny.
Maggie finished setting the table and putting the food out. She poured two glasses of iced tea adding lemon to hers. He came back a few minutes later in shirtsleeves. He'd even taken off the shoulder holster. She gave him a slight smile. "Are you okay, honey?" she asked. There were dark circles under his eyes and thin red lines traced across the whites. "Doc called to remind me to remind you that you need to start taking the blood pressure medicine tonight."
He took the bottle out of his shirt pocket. "You mean these? I already told Doc I don't need them."
"Yes, you do," she said. "Doc has tried everything else he can think of to get your blood pressure down and none of it has worked. Take the pills."
He gave her a rueful smile. "This coming from the woman who refuses to take the medication the doctors give her."
She gave him a look of total disbelief. "I can not believe you just said that! I won't take the pain meds unless I have to and I flat out refuse to take the anti depressants because I don't like the way the things make me feel. Nor do I plan on becoming addicted to any of that junk. It's an entirely different kind of medication."
"I'm just need a good nights sleep. It's been a long week, sweetie. I don't need the pills."
She gave him a look that nearly broke his heart. Her eyes darkened, wet with tears. "Fine," she said, "have it your way. You know, I can just about live with the fact that when you walk out that door in the morning you might not walk back through it in the evening. It's a risk that goes with your job. I can understand it but I don't have to like it and I will never get use to it. Only there's not much either of us can do about it. There is something you can do about your blood pressure and if you don't take the pills, you could die from something that is preventable. Except you're too damned stubborn to admit that you need the pills. Has it ever occurred to you that just maybe I don't like burying husbands?" She got up from the table and stormed out of the room.
Damn, McGarrett, he thought to himself, you've done it now. He hadn't intended to upset her. He hadn't known it was possible to love someone as much as he loved her. The last thing he ever wanted to do was to hurt her, and now he had, all because he was to stubborn to admit he needed the medication. He opened the bottle, and shook one of the pale beige capsules out into his hand. He swallowed the pill, washing it down with iced tea. He finished the chicken salad that Maggie had made for dinner, cleared up the dishes, and put the leftovers in the fridge, hopefully giving her time to calm down. He turned out the light and made his way to the bedroom. She was lying in bed, her back to him, reading, or at least pretending to read. He showered, pulled on a pair of pajama pants, and got into bed beside her.
"I'm sorry," he whispered, "I took the pills. I didn't mean to upset you. I'm not use to having someone around who cares for me enough to worry about me."
She turned to him, her face wet with tears. "Baby, please, don't cry." He said, cradling her face in his hands, wiping away the tears with his long fingers. He kissed her softly and slowly until he could feel her heart start to beat faster.
"I can't stay mad at you," she said at last, "even when I should. I can't stand the thought of living without you."
He held her closer, feeling her soft, warm curves pressed against his skin and realizing that the headache that had bothered him all day was gone. Maybe Doc was right after all. "You won't have to. You're stuck with me, my Little Menehune. All you have to do is name the date and I'll meet you at the alter."
"You've got yourself a deal, Big Guy. I'll let you know as soon as I've looked at dresses. I'm so short anything I want is going to have to be custom tailored, unless I make the dress myself. Then I still have to shop for fabric."
"You could always wear your Blues," he said, reaching under her pajama top to caress the warm skin underneath. "You look very sexy in those."
"No," she said, "No uniforms." The feel of his hands against her skin was getting distracting. Two can play at this game, she thought as she let her fingers wander through the dark hair on his chest. "I've missed you this week."
"I've missed you, too. It's been a rough couple of weeks and I have a feeling things are about to get worse." He tightened his arms around her, pulling her closer until he could feel her heart beating.
"Anything I need to know about?" she asked, concerned.
"No, baby," he said. The headache was gone and he was feeling much better. "Just going to be more long hours next week. I have to go in for a few hours tomorrow, then I have the rest of the afternoon free. Want to go sailing?" She had grown up on a barrier island off the coast of Louisiana and had been around boats since she was old enough to walk. She loved sailing and being out on the open water as much as he did. The first time he'd taken her sailing he had watched in wonder as she had walked the decks barefoot, long hair flowing around her face, totally in her element on the deck of a boat. He'd dropped anchor at sunset and they had spent the night making love under the stars, falling asleep in each others arms to the rhythm of the sea.
"Can't," she said. "Flores's wife went into labor this afternoon. I've been bumped up on the duty roster. I'll be babysitting the troops again."
"You did file those retirement papers, right?" he asked. There were times when her job had worse hours than his. "I am getting tired of sharing you with the Army."
"Yes, preliminary paperwork has been filed. Quit complaining and keep focused on October of next year. I still can't believe the targeted ETS date is on Halloween."
"No tricks for that one, young lady. I want you home with me."
"How about a treat then?" she said, sitting up to kiss his neck, her warm lips moving downward across his chest. "You just lie there and let me take care of you." She said, nibbling on his nipple. He was too tired to to do more than lie back and enjoy. He was on autopilot as she trailed kisses down his abdomen, sending shivers down his spine. He entwined his fingers in her long silver hair as she took him into her mouth; prisons, parole boards, and criminals forgotten.
Lu snuggled closer to Duke, her head resting on his shoulder. She felt as if all her bones had melted and turned into liquid fire. He had been so gentle, his touch so tender it felt as if he were worshiping her body with is hands and with his lips. He had been especially gentle when he had touched her breasts, softly kissing the scars from the lumpectomies before taking the nipples into his mouth, teasing them with his tongue until she was ready to scream. He had taken his time, exploring every inch of her body until all her nerve endings were singing. She had lost count of the orgasms she'd already had, and then when he had finally slid inside her, she could have sworn the universe had imploded. When at last he collapsed on top of her, he had whispered her name as his lips softly caressed her ear.
"Susan, my magic lady," he whispered, holding her tight. "I think I've fallen in love with you."
She sighed, holding him even tighter. "I think the feeling is mutual, you've done gone and got me to fall in love with you."
He kissed her again. She felt so good, cuddled against him. It had been a good evening. She had met his kids, and they had taken to her immediately. He was especially happy to see that she was getting along with his daughter. Dinner had been a success, and when the kids had left afterward, they had sat on the couch as anxious a pair of teenagers wondering what to do next.
"Want to go for a walk on the beach?" he'd asked, mentally cursing himself for saying something so stupid. He didn't want to walk on the beach, not tonight anyway. What he really wanted to do was rip off all her clothes and have his way with her right there on the living room floor, which would be rude and probably uncomfortable, especially since there was a very comfortable queen sized bed in his bedroom.
"Duke," she'd said, looking at him with those big blue gray eyes, "Any other time, I'd say that sounds wonderful. Not tonight. Do you understand? Not tonight. There's something else I think both of us would rather be doing than walking on the beach." She reached over and started undoing the buttons of the Aloha shirt he was wearing.
"Susan," he said, tilting her head back to kiss her, "I don't know how I'm suppose to ask."
"Yes," she said.
He looked at her, confused. "Yes, what?"
"Yes to whatever it is you have in mind. Yes to anything you can think of. Mostly yes to going to bed with you, unless you need more clarification."
"I think that about covers it," he said, standing up and pulling her to her feet. "This way, magic lady, I've been wanting to make love to you since the moment I met you."
She let him lead her into the bedroom. One candle burned on the dresser, giving the room a soft golden glow. "Help me with the zipper," she said, turning her back to him. He unzipped her dress, kissing her neck and shoulders as he did. Her dress dropped to the floor, and she kicked it aside. He unhooked her bra and gently slid the straps down over her shoulders. She was built like one of the old style pinup models, with real curves that would have sent a WWII pilot running to the supply room for art supplies. She could have graced any aircraft flying, and thanks to Army physical training, her curves were firm and toned. "You are beautiful, magic lady." he whispered. She turned to face him, wrapping her arms around his neck, as time melted away.
Now he lay beside her, her head resting on his shoulder, her body warm against his. "Don't even think about going anywhere," he said, kissing the top of her head, burying his face in her soft hair. "God, you feel good."
"I'm not going anywhere, Duke. I'll be here for as long as you want me to be."
"Then you're going to be here a long time," he said, pulling her on top of him and kissing her until the world stopped and she was the only thing that mattered.