Rachel watched her husband walking toward her and knew by the tension in his shoulders that things had not gone well. Through the years she'd known him, Danny had always been a champion for those who needed help, and right now Steve McGarrett seemed to be in that role. He would stand beside Steve, and make sure no one kicked him while he was down.
"Sorry you had to be there for that, Rachel," Williams said and hugged her.
"Is everything all right, Danny?"
"No, everything's gone to hell and then some," the Jersey native spat. "I just don't get it, Rachel."
"Get what?"
"How can everything be going down so fast. I mean first David comes down here and I'm excited about having him here."
"That's understandable. You and David have been friends a long time and you trust each other."
"Yes, we do, but that's where things are getting messed up. What if Steve is right about David, Rachel?"
"Do you think he is?"
"No, yes, hell, I don't know, and that's the problem. I've known David a lot longer than I've known Steve, yet my instincts tell me he's right."
"Trust your instincts, Danny," Rachel told him.
"I am, that's why I didn't want David alone with Steve."
"Do you really believe he'd hurt Steve?"
"Honestly, yes, I do and I need to get over to Steve's place and check on a couple of things, but I don't want to leave Steve alone. Especially with those two bumbling idiots nosing around."
"Danny, I could stay with Steve while you and Chin go check his place."
"I can't ask you to do that."
"You didn't ask...I offered," Rachel told him and kissed his cheek before walking with him to the door. "I'll call if he needs anything."
"Thanks, Rachel," Williams said. He'd already called in a favor with Duke and knew someone would be there shortly to keep unwanted visitors from, barging in on McGarrett. He spotted a familiar figure striding toward him, and wasn't surprised when it turned out to be Lukela himself.
"Hey, Danny...Ma'am," the newcomer greeted. "How is he?"
"No change, but they are going to wean him off the heavy meds so he'll be waking up by morning," Williams explained.
"Good, I'll stay with him and keep Higgins and Sheffield away," Lukela assured him.
"Thanks, Duke," Williams said. "Rachel, would you stay with Kono in case she wakes up?"
"Of course," Rachel told him "Duke, call if there's any trouble."
"I will," Lukela vowed.
Danny and Rachel left the injured man to duke Lukela and hurried to Kono's room. Once there they poke to Chin and Rachel changed places with him while Danny and Chin headed for McGarrett's home.
5050505050
Danny pulled his car to a stop in front of Steve's home and hurried to the front door. He used the spare key McGarrett had given him to unlock the main door and stepped into the dark house. He hit the light switch and cursed as Chin joined him in the destruction that was their friend's home.
The kitchen drawers had been dumped on the counter, the contents having spilled onto the floor. The cupboards were open, everything inside in disarray while the fridge door had been left open, the smell of food beginning to spoil adding to Danny's anger as he moved into the living room. The destruction in here was just as bad as the kitchen and Williams stepped over several DVDs and reached for the cushions on the floor. He placed them back on the sofa while cursing the two men who'd ordered the search of his partner's house.
Pictures had been maliciously taken from the walls and piled in a corner. The trophy and medal case were next to the patio doors, the glass broken and several medals torn from the ribbons attached to them. He moved to the case and picked up the medals, knowing they belonged to Steve's father and meant more than anything to him.
"Those bastards didn't need to go this far," Williams snarled.
"I am going to call my cousin Halia, she might be able to help," Chin said.
"How many cousins do you have?"
"Too man to count, but on days like this I'm glad I do."
"Me too...does Halia own a demolition company?" the Jersey native snapped.
"Better, she has the best damn cleaning crew in the country and she owes me a favor," Chin said and walked back into the kitchen.
Danny took the medals and placed them on the coffee table, silently cursing the devastation Higgins and Sheffield had wreaked on his friend's home. He moved back to the sofa and looked at the pile of DVDs and CDs strewn across the coffee table and on the floor around the sofa itself before sitting on the edge of the coffee table. He spotted a lone DVD case beneath the edge of the chair and reached for it as Chin returned.
"Halia says she'll have a crew here by six tomorrow morning," Chin said.
"She better bring a full regiment," Williams observed.
"Funny you should say that. Halia's nickname is drill sergeant," Chin told him and looked at the case he held. "Is that the DVD?"
"I don't know. Guess there's only one way to find out," Williams said and reached for the remote that controlled both the TV and Blue Ray player. He turned on both items, placed the DVD in the slot, and moved to sit on the edge of the coffee table as Chin took the recliner. He pressed the play button and watched as a series of case files were reviewed by a man he recognized, but didn't know very well.
"Do you know him, Danny?"
"I think that's Jake Partington. He's the one who sent this to the governor," Williams explained.
Chin listened as the Newark cop went over the cases that involved David O'Brien and Danny Williams. There were several cases that had been investigated by both men and wound up being dismissed because evidence had been misplaced or a witness had decided his memory wasn't as clear as he first thought. Partington was thorough and his delivery of those cases made it easy to see why he would think the two men were dirty. He pressed the pause button and turned toward Kelly.
"Chin..."
"You don't need to say anything, Danny."
"I didn't have anything to do with what happened to the Murray family."
"I believe you. I trust my instincts, Danny, and I know damn well you did nothing wrong."
"How can you be sure?"
"Grace."
"My Grace?"
"Yes, she means too much to you and she looks up to you. I know you would never do anything to disappoint Grace, Danny, so, Partington is wrong where you're concerned."
"Thanks...but what about David?"
"There's something about him that makes my stomach churn," Chin answered. "Look, let's see what else Partington has to say."
Danny nodded and pressed the play button. This time Partington started by saying Williams had left for Hawaii, but David O'Brien had stayed in Newark. The Jersey cop was pretty sure O'Brien was bad, but again most of what he had was circumstantial until you looked at it in one full sitting. There were several picture of women who'd gone missing over several weeks a month after Danny left for Hawaii and Jake quickly showed them to the camera.
"Danny, do you see the similarities?"
"They look like they could be related to the missing women in our case," Williams observed.
"It can't be coincidence that O'Brien was involved in that case before he came to Hawaii."
"I can't believe he's involved in human trafficking," Williams said, growing quiet as Partington went onto other cases that involved the sale of illegal drugs and munitions that were supposed to have been destroyed. Danny couldn't help feeling as if he'd been betrayed and somehow, deep down, he knew that's what had happened. Somewhere along the line, David O'Brien had become the one thing most cops despised. A dirty cop who had nothing but his own interests at heart.
Partington went on about how leads that should have brought numerous arrests were discounted, and most of the time those cases involved David O'Brien. The problem was the man knew how to cover his tracks and had put in a transfer before Partington could begin to put together a case to take to the DA.
"Chin, we need to find out everything David's been doing since he came to Hawaii."
"Danny, David trusts you."
"I know," Williams said. "I wonder what would happen if I made him think I was as dirty as we think he is."
"You'd be putting yourself in a dangerous situation."
"Isn't that part of our job, Chin?"
"True, but we're not supposed to go looking for it," Kelly said.
"I'm not looking for it, but I think David brought it to me. I think I'm the only one who can get close enough to him to find out exactly what he's up to. Maybe he'll make a mistake and lead me to the missing women," Williams said. "Chin, I'm going to do this, but I need your word that you'll keep it between us."
"Danny..."
"Look, I know how hard it will be keeping it from Kono and Steve, but the best way to make David believe whatever story I come up with is by making it look like Steve and Kono believe it."
"Danny, what makes you think you can make Steve and Kono believe you've gone bad?"
"It's like any other undercover assignment, Chin."
"Not quite...you'd have us watching your back if it was a normal operation. What you're proposing is that you make Steve and Kono angry enough to believe you've gone bad."
"With your help I can do it, Chin."
"Danny, this is crazy. Any undercover operation takes weeks of preparation and planning."
"We don't have that kind of time, Chin. If David is dirty and I'm beginning to believe he is then we need to act fast and find these women."
"Okay, so how do you get David to believe you?"
"We use those two bumbling idiot from IA."
"Higgins and Sheffield?"
"That's them," Williams said and reached for the DVD before handing it to Chin. "Take this and mark on it what it contains then put it somewhere Heckle and Jeckle will find it. Maybe doctor a couple of files to make it look like I've been on the take for some time."
"Danny, that'll just put you in their sights, but it's not going to make Steve and Kono believe you're dirty," Chin said.
"That's where you come in, Chin. I need you to convince them."
"How?"
"Tell them you saw me take something from a known felon."
"That won't do much even if I have pictures. They'll know something's not right."
"They'll both be out of commission for a few days, especially Steve. That makes it a little easier and as long as you convince Kono then that's all we need," Williams said.
"I may be able to convince her for a day or two, but she's not that easy to betray a friend's trust."
"That's all we need, Chin. David trusts me and if I can convince him I know what he's doing then maybe he'll offer me a chance to join him. It'll give us a chance to find out exactly what he's doing here."
"All right, Danny, but if I think things are going bad I'm pulling the plug on it," Chin said. "What about Rachel and Grace?"
"We need to keep them in the dark about this, Chin, but Rachel and I talked about David...she knows I don't trust him."
"So why not tell her the truth?"
"Maybe, but it depends on what we have to do to convince David I'm as dirty as he is," Williams said and looked at the DVD. This was just the beginning and if things went the way he wanted them to he was about to alienate the one man who trusted him implicitly.
5050505050
Steve fought his way up through what felt like thick layers of mud until he felt something down his throat. God, he hated this and reacted violently, but he was restrained even as unfamiliar voices.
"Easy, Commander, you're in the hospital and had surgery. My name is Dr. Wilson and I'm going to remove the tube, so just relax for a minute."
Steve tried to make sense of what was happening and sought out anything that might ground him as the man removed the tape and latched onto the tubing. He thought he heard him say something about breathing out and did just that as the doctor pulled the offending item from his throat. He coughed and gagged, feeling whatever was in his stomach come up and burn at the back of his throat.
The pain hit as soon as the tube was gone and he tried to curl into a ball, but the restraints limited his movement. He clenched his fists in the thin sheet and felt a warm cloth washed over his face before the man spoke again.
"Hold on, Commander, Judith is giving you something to help with pain and nausea," Wilson explained and checked the monitors. The numbers were good, except for oxygen intake and wrote up orders for oxygen to be given by nasal canulas until McGarrett's numbers returned to normal.
"What...what happened?" the head of Five-O finally managed.
"What do you remember?" Wilson asked.
"Being at a bar...shots..."
"You were at a bar and there were shots fired. You decided to stop one with your body instead of letting it hit the wall where the damage could easily be fixed with a little plaster and pain," Wilson said.
"Damn, can't seem to stay awake," McGarrett said.
"Then don't fight it. Go ahead and sleep," Wilson ordered and watched as the lids dropped over the glazed eyes. E made several more notations on the chart before leaving the room, surprised that McGarrett's partner was nowhere to be found.
5050505050
Kono opened her eyes and looked around the unfamiliar room, frowning when she saw Danny's ex-wife sitting in a chair near the window. She pressed the button to raise the head of the bed and looked at the line running into her left arm.
"Good morning, Kono, how do you feel?"
"I'm not sure...did someone get the number of the truck that hit me?"
"No truck, I'm afraid," Rachel answered with a smile. She poured a glass of water and handed it to the woman who seemed to be trying to find enough moisture to form more words. "Near as I can tell you were slipped a drug yesterday."
"A drug? By who?" Kono asked and closed her eyes, rubbing her temples as she tried to bring everything into focus. Her memories were jumbled, as if they were a jigsaw puzzle with several pieces missing. "We were at a bar...trying to catch...someone."
"It's okay, Kono, the drug they used messed with your mind," Rachel told her.
"Danny and David were there. Chin too and I think...I think Steve showed up...he wasn't supposed to."
"No, he wasn't. Danny is angry with him."
"There's nothing new there," Kono said and looked at the woman who entered the room. "Hi, Keanna."
"Hi, Kono, how are you feeling?" Wahine asked
"Punch drunk," Kono told her, groaning when the physician flashed a light in her eyes.
"I bet, but that should clear up, although you might feel like you're a little hung over."
"No might, Keanna, that's exactly how I feel. Where's everyone?"
"Danny and Chin went to Steve's place," Rachel answered.
"Where's Steve?" Kono asked and saw the look that passed between the two women. "What's wrong with Steve?"
"He was shot..."
"What? By who?" Kono interrupted Rachel.
"We're not sure. It might have been David," Rachel told her.
"I need to get out of here," Kono told them.
"That depends on the results of the blood work we did this morning," Wahine told her and listened to her lungs. "Right now everything looks good, but I don't want to take any chances."
"Can I see Steve?"
"Sure, as long as you take it easy," Wahine warned. "I'm going to see him in a couple of minutes so hold on and I'll get a wheelchair."
"I'm okay to walk," Kono said and slid her legs over the edge of the bed.
"All right, but we go slow," Wahine told her and reached for a second gown to wrap around the young woman. Once that was done she grabbed a pair of hospital issue slippers and placed them on her feet. "All right, Kono, I think we're ready, but you tell me if you need to rest."
"I will," Kono said and shuffled toward the door.
Author's Note—-Sorry for the delay. Had several pages done and for some reason they didn't save so had to rewrite...Winnie