Steve pulled into a parking spot near The Royal Hawaiian and exited the car while Danny did the same from the other side. They strode through the main doors and into the lobby. There were several people sitting in the chairs set against the windows, and a bellhop who was waiting for someone to finish registering.
Steve pointed to the main desk and quickly strode toward the man desk where two hotel employees were talking. He smiled when the pretty receptionist turned toward hm.
"Can I help you, Sir," the woman asked.
"Five-O," McGarrett said and showed her his ID. "Steve McGarrett and Danny Williams."
"What can we do for Five-O," the man asked.
"Who are you?" Williams asked.
"Don Ho..."
"Really?" Williams asked incredulously.
"No, I'm not related to the singer, but my mother was a bug fan, and before you ask I do not sing Tiny Bubbles," the man said.
"Danny, you can check out Don Ho's tunes later, right now we need to get some answers," McGarrett said and took out the pictures of the two women and told them he needed to speak to employees who were on duty during their stay. He also requested a list of other guests, but the man turned him down on the second request.
"We can get a warrant," Williams said and knew the man would give them what they asked for.
"We pride ourselves on keeping the hotel safe and the guests should not be..."
"We're investigating the disappearance of two of your guests, so I would think your priority would be to find them before the reporters get word..."
"You wouldn't..."
"Believe me he would. I've seen him do that and worse. Have you ever seen a door blown open by a grenade or a man thrown into a shark cage or..."
"I think he sees your point, Danny," McGarrett said.
"I'm just saying that talking to a reporter would be tame compared to some of your other escapades," Williams offered and saw the look of disbelief on the manager's face as he nodded to the woman standing next to him.
"I'll see that you get a list of employees and guests who were here during those dates, but please try to be discreet," Don Ho said.
"What? No grenades?" Williams asked.
"Danny!" McGarrett snapped, relieved when the Jersey native grew quiet. "When can you arrange interviews with your employees?"
"I can give you their home addresses," the man answered. He new it was probably not a good idea, but it was far better than having Five-O do the interviews at the hotel where the guests would be privy to them.
Steve knew he was trying to keep their presence secret and hoped they would agree to doing the interviews away from the hotel. He didn't see any problem with that and took the list from the woman who smiled at him. "Thank you."
"You're welcome, Commander," the woman said. She'd seen pictures of him in several papers and knew his reputation, but it was his physical appearance that made her stand up and take notice. She smiled as she watched him and his partner leave and briefly wondered if asking him out would get her fired, and debated with herself whether she should take the chance or not. Unfortunately he disappeared through the main doors before he had a chance and she sighed before turning her attention to the next guest in line. "Aloha, welcome to The Royal Hawaiian. How may I help you?"
5050505050
Chin and Kono had finished interviewing the hotel manager at The Outrigger and had got a list of the guests and employees with their phone numbers and addresses. They headed back to the office to start calling hospitals to find out if there were any John Does who fit Kevin McMillan's description. They entered the office a little after noon, but Steve and Danny had yet to return.
"Kono, why don't you start with the hospitals and I'll start setting up interviews with the guests and employees," Chin suggested.
"Sounds good," Kono said and quickly brought up the list of hospitals in the city. She knew it was a long shot, but they'd run with those before and come up with answers.
Chin ran down the list of guests and called the first one, a couple from Boston who'd spent the last five years at The Outrigger. The hotel manager remembered the older couple and told them they would help in any way they could. Ernie and Bonnie Cooper were in their sixties and loved to travel according to the hotel manager. He hit the numbers for their home phone and was surprised when his call was answered by a young woman.
"Cooper residence."
"Hi, could speak with Ernie or Bonnie Cooper?"
"Just a minute...Grandma, a man wants to talk to you or Grandpa."
"Who's calling?"
"Chin Ho Kelly from Five-O in Honolulu," chin answered.
"Grandma, I think it's a policeman."
"Hello, this is Bonnie Cooper, my granddaughter said your with the police in Hawaii?"
"Yes, Ma'am, I'm part of the governor's special task force and I was wondering if I could ask you and your husband a few questions"
"Sure, hold on and I'll get Ernie and put you on speaker phone if I can figure the damn thing out."
"Here, Grandma, let me do it."
"Is that really a policeman? Did you and Grandpa rob a bank?"
Chin couldn't help, but smile at the sound of a young boy's excited voice in the background.
"Hush now, Matthew, Grandpa and I need to answer some questions."
"Can he hear me? Is he going to arrest you and Grandpa? Can I come visit you in jail?""
"I'm not going to arrest your Grandma and Grandpa, Matthew. I just need to ask them some questions?" Chin said.
"Just like those policemen on the CSI shows?"
"Yes, something like that," Chin said.
"Okay, Matthew, if you want to stay you have to be quiet now."
"Okay, Grandpa."
"Go ahead, Officer Kelly."
"Thank you, Mr. Cooper," Chin said. "I know you were both at the Outrigger..."
"We stay there every year."
"I know, Mrs. Cooper. The Manager at the hotel speak very highly of you," Chin said and went through the dates he was interested in. " I was wondering if you met any of the other guests during your stay?"
"As a matter of fact there was a couple from Toronto, Canada, and a young woman from Viet Nam...she had the most beautiful eyes."
"Do you remember her name?"
"No...wait it was To Fim...no Tao Pham that's it. I remember because Ernie was so enamored of her eyes."
"They were so dark you had trouble distinguishing the pupil."
"Did you spend much time with her?" Chin asked.
"As a matter of fact we spent almost every day with her. Come to think of it we were supposed to meet for lunch the day we were leaving, but she never showed up. We figured it was because of the man she met at the luau the night before."
"Thank you, Mrs. Cooper, can you tell me what he looked like?"
"I don't remember much about him, except that he had a scar over his right eye. It was small, but it touched his eyebrow and looked like someone had drawn it with a pen."
"And his voice. Remember his voice, Bonnie?"
"Oh, my, yes. It was creepy and sounded like he was speaking with a mouthful of crushed glass. Tao thought it was kind of cool, but I was glad when he rarely answered with words and only nodded or shook his head. I think it may have hurt him to talk."
"Is there anything else? Do you remember his name?"
"I think it was Jerry, but that name just didn't seem right. He was white...not quite as tall as Ernie..."
"How tall are you, Mr. Cooper?" Chin asked.
"I'm six foot two...so I'd say he was around six feet tall. He was pretty well built too like he was into that body building crap."
"Excellent, what about his hair?"
"Dark...not quite black and maybe blue or gray eyes."
"Thank you Mrs. Cooper. If there's anything else you can remember about him please don't hesitate to call." Chin said and quickly gave them a number where they could reach him before saying goodbye to the couple and their grandchildren. He called several more numbers on the list before looking at Kono who seemed to be having no luck with the hospitals.
"Thank you," Kono said and huffed out a frustrated sigh before hitting the number for Queens.
Chin listened while he went over the notes he'd made of his conversation with the Coopers. He still had several dozen to go through, and hoped he'd get the same cooperation from them as he did from the elderly couple.
"Thank you, I'll be there in 30 minutes," Kono said and put her phone in her pocket. "There are two John Does matching Kevin McMillan, one is in surgery...the other is in a coma. I told her I'd be right over. Any luck with your list?"
"Ernie and Bonnie Cooper," Chin answered and quickly told her what the couple said about Tao Pham and the man she'd met. "I'll keep checking the list of guests while you check out the hospital."
"Call when you hear from Steve and Danny," Kono said before hurrying out of the office, smiling at the handsome man who walked past her.
"Can I hep you?" Chin asked the newcomer.
"Hope so I'm looking for Fish Bait."
"You took the wrong turn...this is Five-O headquarters. You can get fish bait...Fish Bait," Chin's eyes lit up as he realized who the man was. "You're Danny's friend from Jersey?"
"Give the man the prize. David O'Brien at your service. You must be Chin Ho Kelly," O'Brien said and shook the man's hand. "So is Fish Bait around?"
"Sorry, he's on a case and I'm not sure when he'll be back," Kelly answered.
"Can you give him a message from me?"
"Sure," Chin answered.
"Tell him I can't make it tonight, but I'd like to reschedule," O'Brien said.
"I'll let him know. Does he have your number?"
"I think so, but I'll leave it with you just in case," the newcomer said and handed him a business card. "Thanks, Chin."
"No problem," Kelly said and watched the man leave before turning his attention back to the long list of numbers.
5050505050
Steve and Danny had very little luck at The Waikiki hotel even after they threatened the manager with calling the reporters and giving an interview on what was happening at the prestigious hotel. McGarrett looked at the manager as if the man was lowlife scum, but when he spoke it was surprisingly calm.
"Your guests comfort and anonymity are low priority right now. We have several missing people and two of them were guests here. I need to question everyone who worked during that time and every guest who might have spoken to her."
"I already told you, Commander, I will not be intimidated into betraying the confidentiality of The Waikiki's guests," the manager told them.
"Come on, Steve, he's not afraid of you so we might as well go before he calls the police...oh, wait, we are the police," Williams said and saw the smile form on his partner's face. "Should we get a warrant?"
"Good idea," McGarrett said and turned away fro the man smugly standing at the desk. "How many men do you think we need to help serve it?"
"I don't know...ten or fifteen. Maybe five or six squad cars..."
"Now see here..."
"Be quiet, we're trying to organize a large undertaking and make sure it gets the best possible coverage by the reporters who are bound to show up when they get wind of this," Williams said.
"You can't do that! Our clients rely on discretion..."
"Then we'll discretely tell them it was your idea to bring in the warrant. Come on, Danno, I know a judge who 'll give us a warrant on short notice," McGarrett said, gad to see the smug look had been wiped from the man's face.
"I'll call the governor."
"Go ahead...here, use my phone since the number is already programmed in," the head of Five-O said and offered the man his cell phone.
"I'll get you the numbers, but you have to respect the guests and interview the employees away from the hotel," the manager told them.
"That could be arranged," McGarrett said and waited while the man gave the receptionist the go ahead to print up the lists. Once they had it in hand they headed for his vehicle and drove back to HQ to find Chin waiting for them.
"Hey, Steve...Fish Bait," Kelly greeted with a grin.
"I'm going to shoot him," Williams griped.
"Don't...the paperwork on just pulling your gun is a bitch," McGarrett said. "Shark cage works better if you leave the door open. You get rid of the body that way."
"David said to tell you he has to cancel tonight, but he wants to reschedule," Kelly said and handed Williams the business card. "He said you should call him."
"Go ahead, Danny, I'll start going through the list of names," McGarrett told him and nodded when Williams used his office to make the private call.
"Did you have any luck at he hotels?" Chin asked.
"We got a list of names, but it's going to take a long time to contact each one. Did you and Kono have any luck?"
"I spoke to half the people from The Outrigger, but so far there's only one couple who had dealings with Tao Pham," Chin answered and relayed what the elderly couple told him.
"Where's Kono?"
"She went to Queens to check out two possible John Does who match Kevin McMillan's description," Chin answered as Williams returned.
"Everything okay?" McGarrett asked.
"Think so, David has a meeting with the governor tonight," Williams answered.
"He knows the governor?" Chin asked.
"Looks that way," Danny offered and placed his phone back in his pocket, missing the frown that formed on his partner's face. "So, what do we have so far?"
"Not much," Chin said and repeated what he'd told McGarrett.
Steve frowned at the idea of O'Brien meeting with the governor, but whatever it was about he was pretty sure Jameson would fill him in on it at tomorrow's meeting. Right now they had more important things to think about, like who was behind the disappearance of the women on the list. He went to the table and began going through the files on the computer as Danny and Chin joined him.
5050505050
Kono entered Queens through the main entrance and moved to the desk where several people were speaking with a harried looking receptionist who continued to smile despite the questions being directed at her. She sympathized with the woman, but also understood the frustration of the visitors who seemed to be taking offence at the answer she'd given them.
"I'm sorry, but there's nothing I can do until the system is updated," the woman answered the same question with a forced smile before turning her attention to Kono. "Can I help you?"
"I called half an hour ago about a john doe patient you have here," Kono said.
"Officer Kalakaua?"
"That's right. I need to see both patients."
"I'll all their floors and check with the nurses to see if you can visit them, but we do have a positive ID on the man who's in the coma. His family arrived a few minutes ago," the woman explained and looked at the computer as it brought up the file. "His name is Charles Croft and his wife thought he was away on a business trip...she's not sure how he wound up in a car accident."
"Did she file a report with the police?" Kono asked.
"I think so," the woman said and held up her hand as she spoke into the phone. "Jayne, I have officer Kalakaua here and she wants an update on your John Doe...Ill tell her."
Kono waited for the woman to finish and listened as she gave her directions to the surgical floor. She hurried toward the stairs and made her way up to the right floor and moved to the main desk. There were two nurses behind the desk, one going over a chart, the other tapping a pencil on the desk.
"Can I help you?" the pencil tapping nurse asked.
"I'm Officer Kalakaua. I believe the desk called to tell you I was coming."
"I have this Paulette," the nurse holding the chart said and smiled at Kono. "Please follow me, Officer Kalakaua."
"Thank you, Jayne," Kono said and followed the woman along the hallway.
"I should warn you he's still pretty groggy and confused."
"Will he be all right?"
"The doctor is pretty sure he'll be fine, but as i said he's confused."
"I just need to ask him a couple of questions," Kono said when they stopped in front of an open door.
"I will stay with you," the nurse told her before they entered the room.
Kono made her way to the bed and looked at the man lying there. The right side of his face was covered in a vivid bruise surrounding a laceration that had been closed with stitches. A blanket covered him to his navel and she could easily see the bandage covering a surgical incision that was draining into a tube at the side of the bed.
"Sir, can you hear me?" Kono asked softly, and watched the eyelids flutter and the tongue dart out of the mouth as if searching for moisture. "Can he have anything?"
"A few ice chips. He's been sick several times since surgery," the nurse answered and spoon fed the man once his eyes were open.
"Where...where am I?"
"You're at Queens and you just had surgery, but you're going to be all right," the nurse answered.
"Sir, my name is Kono Kalakaua. I'm an officer with Five-O and I need to ask you a couple of questions. Is that okay?"
"Gu...guess so," the man said and frowned before looking around as if searching for something.
"Is something wrong, Sir?" Kalakaua asked.
"I...I need...God, where...where..."
"Can you tell me what happened?" Kono asked.
"I don't re...member. I don't know...I don't even know my name...please, you have to he...help me."
"I'm going to take your picture and have an officer take your fingerprints to see if we can find out who you are," Kalakaua answered. "Is that okay with you?"
"Yes...please, I need...need..."
"I'm afraid that's all for now, Officer Kalakaua. He really should be resting," the nurse said.
"Call me as soon as he's lucid enough for more questions," Kono said. She used her camera to take the picture, and reluctantly left the hospital room with more questions than answers.
Author's Note—- Well, I survived the Karate Seminar and had a fantastic time at The Polaris convention. Ben Browder is absolutely amazing and gorgeous in RL as he is on television. I'm sorry for the delay in posting, but hope to get back to posting on a regular basis...Winnie