So yeah, I'm home again at long last, having just been through the most amazing three weeks of my life. And, I return with a chapter! Thank you all for being so patient, I hate it when people just don't update stories, so I can understand if any of you got annoyed. Special thanks to wotumba1 for reviewing almost all my chapters, it was something really nice to come home to. I'll shut up now, since you all probably want me to just get on with it :)
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It took a great amount of self control for Steve to keep his hand steady as he reached for the folded paper. Carefully, he placed the book back on top of the desk to free his hands, then opened the small note.
His eyes scanned the page for a moment, not reading, just observing the familiar scrawling calligraphy that Steve could remember from his childhood so well. His gaze was drawn to the top left hand of the page: For Steve. Taking a shuddering breathing, avoiding Danny's ever watchful gaze, he began to read.
Steve, if you are reading this, then it must mean that I was unable to complete my task, and my assassins have at last caught up with me. It also means that I have been unable to convince you of the truth in my warnings. Maybe in light of the recent events you will begin to see that you should heed my words. At the very least you must hear my warnings, and then even if you disregard them, I can be at peace knowing that I did what was right.
The first thing that I must tell you is that you must realise that you cannot win this war, no matter how hard you try. The second thing you must know is of the war itself. This is no battle that you can see, but more of politics and power. The conspiracy reaches further that even I can see. You have been on the islands for several months now, and you are surely beginning to see that the authorities do not hold all the power. The true power lies with the gangs that reside here, and it is their influence that is contested.
Believe me when I tell you that when I came to you, I had no idea of the severity of the danger, and had I known then what I know now, I would have warned you.
For months now, I have been working with several people, who for their own safety must remain nameless, and together we have been following a web of conspiracy that has led us to many shocking revelations. Trust no one. There are many with the resources and motives to kill you should they find out you are poking around in their business. With my death, they are probably already hunting you, and it will not be long before they fall on you.
I know that you were never a runner, but I beg of you that this time you will not try to fight them. If you try, then you are doomed to fail.
This note is a warning. It is not safe enough here to explain all that I have discovered. The only way for you to learn what I know is to find my friends. This I know you can do. You always completed the Easter treasure hunts faster than I did at school.
I hope that what I leave in here is enough. My time is running short as I write, and I regret not being able to tell you the whole tale, but this writing is not safe, and even with a thousand pages could I not explain.
My love to you and to my family,
Benji
Steve read it through twice, before handing it over to Danny. His mind spun. None of the letter made sense. A conspiracy? Involving who? With a hand he tried to massage away the growing headache, closing his eyes and trying to put everything into some form of order that made sense.
"Well, that answers all our questions," Danny's sarcastic voice cut through his thoughts. "Does any of that mean anything to you?" Still deep in thought, Steve's only response was a slight shake of his head. "Wonderful. So the cryptic message doesn't mean anything at all to the one man it was intended for. This is going to go well. We have a murder of a man who leaves a note for the man investigating said murder, even though the man investigating the murder has no idea what the note means, and we now have absolutely nothing to go on other than: 'Beware great danger, you're in the middle of a war that you didn't even know existed.' Just great." Danny clearly was trying to vent some frustration with his usual rant, but for once, Steve didn't have the heart to hear it.
"If you don't want to be part of the investigation, you can just say so," he snapped harshly. "No one will try and stop you giving up."
Without another word, the SEAL brushed past the Jersey native, who spluttered slightly, searching for something to say, but came up empty. With no words to hold him back, Steve slipped out the front and walked over to the car, leaning against the driver's door. He rubbed his face, trying to rub away the pain and weariness that was contorting his thoughts. He hadn't meant to snap at Danny. He was just frustrated and he had turned it on his friend, leaving him feeling guilty.
He dropped his hands from his face when he heard the door opening, and looked up in time to see his partner appear out of it, his face completely blank.
"Danno, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to snap at you," he said, his eyes darting over the Jersey native's face for some show of emotion. Danny never was one to try and hide how he was feeling.
"Don't call me that," was the only response that he got, as the blonde man crossed to the car and dropped into the passenger seat, slamming the door closed behind him. Resisting the urge to slam the top of the camero in frustration at his own stupidity, the SEAL pulled open his own door and climbed into the awkward confines of the car.
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"Did you find anything at the house?" Kono asked the two partners as soon as they came through the glass doors.
"Sort of," Danny supplied, since Steve appeared to make no effort to answer her. The Hawaiian's eyes flickered between the two, catching onto the tension in the pair. "There was a note for Steve, but it doesn't make much sense." He fished it out of his pocket and gave it to her. For a moment it was silent as she read the page, then looked up at them in confusion.
"A conspiracy theory?"
"So it would seem. And we won't get answers unless we can find the 'friends' mentioned. Not that there are any clues as to who the 'friends' are." He added slightly bitterly. Steve remained silent, his face thoughtful.
"Let me see the letter," he said after a moment, reaching for the paper. The rookie handed it over without a word, her eyes taking in the tightness of his shoulders, the flickers of pain the crossed his face periodically. 'He was shot this morning. Pain would make sense,' she reminded herself.
As he read the letter, Steve frowned to himself. 'Don't read the article as a whole,' the voice of his old naval intelligence instructor informed him. 'Take each word separately, look for patterns. Find the hidden obvious.'
"I know where to find the next clue," he said suddenly. It was so obvious it was almost painful. He put the letter down on the computer table to show the others. "You see here it talks about treasure hunts?" He pointed to the line on the page. The others nodded. "It didn't make any sense before. Benji and I never did treasure hunts at school. Ever. It's a clue, a direction to the next stage."
"You're making this sound a lot like a treasure hunt in and of itself, you know," Danny informed him, but with a slight smile. His previous anger was fading as he realised that he was just being an overtired idiot.
"It's something that Benji would have done. He tended to lean towards the theatrical."
"So you think that there's something you need to find at the school?" Kono asked, a frown creasing her face. Steve nodded.
"And I know where. The end confused me: 'my love to you and my family.'" At this Danny felt he had to butt in.
"Some people like to admit that they care for people, Steven. It's human nature," he said, a smile dancing on his face. Steve rolled his eyes.
"What I meant was that Benji doesn't have any family. His parents died a few years ago and he never married."
"Maybe he had siblings?" Kono mused, but Steve shook his head.
"He would have told me." His voice was certain.
"What does the family bit mean then?"
"It was an old joke. When we went to school, the teachers were trying to promote 'friendship' et cetera, and they used to refer to each class as a family. We need to go to my old classroom." He told them.
"If all the clues are this cryptic, this is going to take a while," Danny observed. Steve just shrugged at him. "What have you got, Kono?"
"I'm trying to get Komua's financials, but they're all over the place. There is money going in and out sporadically from multiple banks, and several transactions that are proving to be untraceable. Either he was incredibly disorganised, or his was trying to hide a paper trail."
"Given what's in the note, I'm going to bet on the latter." The Jersey native muttered.
"You'll find it, I'm sure," Steve told her, grabbing the keys for the camero. "Where's Chin?"
"Down at the lab, trying to get them processing everything as fast as they can, but I gather it's slow going."
"Pass on what we've learnt. We'll be back in a few hours," he called over his shoulder as he and Danny headed for the car park.
"I will," she called after them just as the doors swung closed. Then under her breath: "Stay safe."
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There you go! I hope you liked it. This story is so hard to write. It took about three hours to even get the vague idea of this chapter, so I hope it worked out alright. Feel free to PM me with any questions, I think the story is going to get a little confusing from here on in. Anyway, reviews make my life, and hello once more. :)