The Beginning
By
Landon Richardson
Official Disclaimer
The character of Lieutenant Commander Steven 'Steve' McGarrett, Former Detective John 'Johnny / Jack' McGarrett, Detective Meka Hanamoa, Amy Hanamoa, Billy Hanamoa, Mary McGarrett, Doris McGarrett, Frederick 'Fred' Doran, Victor Hesse and Anton Hesse do not belong to me, I'm merely using them for entertainment purposes.
The character of Detective Sergeant Danielle ' Danni' Williams probably can be considered to be mine by now. Although she was originally based on male Danny, she soon evolved, becoming her own person. She has her own background, her own family, her own history and her own distinct personality. This isn't to say that the Danny Williams we all know and love is completely gone, he still emerges through her at times. I like to think of female Danni as what male Danny could have been like if everything in his life had gone the way he wanted. As in full custody of Grace and a decent relationship with his ex.
The character of Grace has also changed slightly due to the change in Danni. Her surname is Taylor as this is her father's surname and was Danni's married name (Danni reverted back to using her maiden name once her divorce had gone through). Her parents also are amiable which has also impacted Grace but never fear, she's still the sweetheart we know and love, if anything she's even more of a sweetheart now.
The characters of Duncan Taylor, Danni's ex-husband and Grace's father, Captain Kai Hookano, Detective Rory Clements, Detective Bryan Keawe, Detective Russell Kaiwi, Detective Oscar Alika, Lieutenant Aaron Akuna, Barbara Dunn Special Agent Walker Humphries, Chief Medical Examiner Abigail 'Abbie' FitzGerald and Wanda Clarke however do belong to me so please do not use without permission.
Thank you.
Author note
Welcome to 'The Beginning', the first story in the Rewrite/Main saga of mine.
There are just a few points which I need to get across before you jump into the story.
This story was written before the episode we had which showed that Danny had literally just been handed the case by his Captain. I thought about going back and adjusting the story to become canon compliant but ultimately I decided against it. This is due to the fact that it would be too much work and due to the fact that I am used to writing Captain Hookano's character (A character who was in the original pilot script who was clearly cut) and have plans for him in future stories. I'm keeping to the idea that Meka and Danni have been on the McGarrett case from the beginning which makes this story an A/U from the start but considering it features a female Danni I think we can just roll with it.
Which leads me nicely onto my next point. As you can tell from the story summary and the disclaimer this story features a female Danni Williams in place of a male Danny Williams as is shown in the show.
This story came about because a friend of mine challenged me to write it. I was discussing the newest series with them over a coffee and we began talking about the change between the old series and the new one. I'm too young to have watched the original series but I happened to be off the day before and caught one of the episodes and saw to my surprise that Kono had originally been a male character instead of the female character she currently is. Somehow we got onto the discussion about how different the show would be if another one of the main characters was female changing the ratio from 3:1 to 2:2 instead. That's when she came up with the idea of me changing Danny into a girl (Since Danny is technically an unisex name) and see exactly what did change. My imagination was fired up and off I went.
Although Danny and Danni share the same name, job and the fact that they have a young daughter named Grace, it soon became clear to me that female Danni was evolving into her own complex character, there are some similar characteristics but the way she reacts to thinks changes, her background changed and her personality began to as well. I like to view female Danni as what Danny could have been like if everything had gone his way in life.
Please note that 'The Beginning' is loosely based on the pilot episode (hence the name). Although it was never my intention to change things, it just naturally began to happen so I decided to just go with the flow and see where the characters seemed determined to lead me. The changes which happened are ones which would impact later stories in the Alternative Hawaii Five-O world which I'm slowly creating. The dialogue is different or extended and there are several characters who have a much greater role in these stories then they were allowed to have in the show itself. I don't have the same constraints placed on me so I can explore scenes and characters to my heart content to try and figure out what is really happening. I'm not a fan of 2D characters, in fact I would go as far as to say that I hate them, so I can promise that every character who you comes across in these stories will have a full history which will eventually come to light, if not in this story then in another one. Everyone, from old well know characters to the new ones which I've created, all have a part to play in this universe.
The last main point to raise now so that I don't have to raise it later on is that Danni is a woman of principles and duty but she's also a woman who won't take any crap from anyone. She's the only female Detective on the island and she receives a lot of flack and abuse for it, not to mention the fact that she is from the mainland which doesn't help her cause. It will soon become clear to you the reader just how bad a time she has had. She's currently in self protect mode which means her soft, gooey center is hidden at present time though Steve and the team will soon expose it.
Danni is in no way a damsel in distress and she will be Steve's equal in every sense of the word. She has to be a character worthy of not just being Steve's partner but also of earning his respect. The dynamic between the two of them will be different to the show so please be aware of that while you're reading. This is not Steve interacting with a male Danny, this is a Steve interacting with a female Danni.
This story is written entirely from Danni's point of view, all other stories after this one in the saga, minus the one shots, will jump between characters but I wanted this first one just to be her.
The character of Steve's Dad will be known as John McGarrett. I know some people say that his name is Jack but I have researched it and it is definitely listed as John. I'm assuming that Jack was a nickname which he occasionally went by. Danni, having not known him personally, will refer to him as John.
My chapters are extremely long but have no fear my Author note will never be this long again lol.
Hopefully you'll find something in these stories which make you want to stick around for the series.
Enjoy!
Official story summary
When Danni Williams moves to Hawaii, all she wants to do is to keep her head down and survive the time she has to stay there. The last thing which she expected was to meet Lieutenant Commander Steve McGarrett, a man who seemed more intent on getting her blown up and finding out everything about her life then he was about following proper police procedure. Danni has a job to do though and one way or another she is going to do it.
Chapter Summary
A talk between partner's leads to a change in plans.
Official Romances mentioned in the story
Detective Meka Hanamoa / Amy Hanamoa (Mekmy)
Michael 'Mike / Mikey' Landon / Carys 'Rys' Landon (Mirys)
Mentions of past Duncan Taylor / Danielle 'Danni' Williams (Dunni)
Mentions of past John 'Jack / Johnny' McGarrett / Doris McGarrett (Joris)
Hints of Steven 'Steve' McGarrett / Danielle 'Danni' William (McDanni)
Hints of Steven 'Steve' McGarrett / Catherine 'Cath / Cat' Rollins (McRollins)
Hints of Ryan Moore / Danielle ' Danni' Williams (Rynni)
Romances mentioned in this chapter
Detective Meka Hanamoa / Amy Hanamoa (Mekmy)
Mentions of past Duncan Taylor / Danielle 'Danni' Williams (Dunni)
Mentions of past John 'Jack / Johnny' McGarrett / Doris McGarrett (Joris)
Warning
This story features a female Danni Williams in place of a male Danny Williams. Although in some of the stories which I publish, male Danny does exist, this is a story where he does not.
If this is not your cup of tea then please hit the back button.
Secondary Disclaimer
I do not have a Beta so please forgive any mistakes which may creep into this story, I always do my best to edit the story and to double check it before uploaded one of my works but sometimes mistakes do creep in, this might also include me accidentally using an English word in place of an American word as my brain, being English, doesn't always pick up on it being incorrect.
The places which I have mentioned are either made up or have been obtained from google including any areas or addresses. One day I hope to go to Hawaii in person but until then I'll have to make so with using my imaginations to build the places in my mind.
Saga
Part one of the Rewrite saga
Chapter One
Just a simple Thursday morning
Thursday 23rd September 2010
Danni Williams's and Grace Taylor's home
500 Hakaka Place
Honolulu
Hawaii 96816
Danni Williams came awake with a sudden start, jerking her head off of the warm, smooth surface it had been resting on and looked around her in confusion, her hand automatically lowering down to her waist where she normally kept her gun.
She blinked rapidly, trying to clear the sleep from her eyes as she tilted her head to one side, listening out carefully for any sound which might have indicated to her that she wasn't alone in the house but there was nothing. The only noise she could hear which broke the silence around her was the sound of her own breathing. She breathed out slowly, reaching up with her hand to rub tiredly at her eyes, feeling the tension slowly ease out of her shoulders as she dropped her hand and looked around her again, this time focusing on her current surroundings. Her eyes roamed across the familiar pale yellow walls and wooden cabinets which took up the majority of her spacious kitchen, noting that everything looked like it had done the previous evening, right down to her plates beside the sink.
Danni was by herself in her house just like she should have been, a thought which brought her a surprising amount of comfort. It was the same every Thursday morning since her seven year old daughter Grace stayed at her father's home every Wednesday night and slept over.
The lack of noise or disturbance of any kind led her to the conclusion that she had woken up under her own steam. A sleep which had obviously hit her hard and fast and resulted in her sleeping over her kitchen table rather than making use of her extremely comfortable bed on the next floor.
"Not again Danielle, you've got to stop doing this." She muttered to herself as she slumped back in the wooden chair she was in, rubbing at the back of her neck. She dug her fingertips into the tense muscle trying to work out the kinks which her awkward sleeping position had left her with. Falling asleep on her kitchen table was beginning to become a bad habit of hers and yet it was a habit that was becoming more and more frequent in occurrence.
It had become worse for her since she and her partner Meka Hanamoa had been handed the John McGarrett murder case and ordered by their Captain to bring in the killer or to expect a number of equally shitty cases to land on their desks at a result of their failure.
Normally solving a case wasn't an issue for her and Meka and that had been proven with this case as well, they had known at the end of their first day of investigating the case what had happened to John McGarrett within his home on the day of his death. The problem that they were both facing was locating the man who had committed the homicide, the same man who had seemingly disappeared from the face of the planet though every instinct told her that he was still somewhere on the island, no doubt biding his time to leave.
Danni glanced towards the kitchen window, her eyes lingering briefly on the sunlight which was spilling through the gaps in the blind and onto the clear counter tops. Sunlight which told her two things; one, that she had managed to sleep through the night until the morning, wasting precious time which she had needed to use to double check through their evidence reports and secondly that it was going to be yet another scorcher of a day in Paradise, something which Danni could have happily have done without.
She breathed out nosily, her eyes moving away from the window to stare down at the numerous photographs and reports which were spread out across the kitchen table.
It was rare for her to have them out, normally she would have kept the files and their contents safely out of sight and locked away in the small safe she had, worried that the sight of some of the gruesome photographs would scar Grace if she happened to see them.
Last night though she had been able to spread them out in front of her and spend time looking properly over them all without anyone breathing over her shoulder asking for updates. She had made notes in her notebooks of all the small things which didn't quite add, though it had done her little good. All they had was the name of Victor Hesse and absolutely nothing evidence wise which could link him to their case, all they truly had at present was a witness statement given by John McGarrett's son to his Commanding Office. A son who had been on the phone to Hesse during the time of the murder.
As much as she hated to admit it, there was no way that the statement would have been enough to convince a jury of Hesse's guilt. It wouldn't have even been enough to convince the DA's office to prosecute the case in the first place. If they didn't have the forensic evidence needed to support the case then Hesse would simply have walked away with a wave and disappear from Hawaii and there would have been nothing which she or Meka would have been able to do about it other than to watch him go. A witness statement, however compelling it might have been to hear, would not have been enough to place Hesse behind bars where he belonged.
They had to find something else.
Danni reached down and picked up one of the photos from the top of the pile and stared down thoughtfully at the undamaged face of John McGarrett. She wondered whether he had any idea that three months after this photo had been taken that he would be brutally tortured within his own home before being shot point blank in the face in a classic execution shot while his only son was forced to listen on the phone, unable to help him in any way.
Somehow she doubted it.
He looked normal to her, just like she would expect any sixty eight year old man who had lived in Hawaii for the past forty three years to look like. He had been tall for his age and a healthy weight according to the Medical Examiner's report which they had received a couple of days before. His grey hair was kept short and had shown little sign of receding or of him losing it. His skin was wrinkled and tanned from continual exposure to the relentless Hawaiian sun. He looked healthy in the picture she held, smiling at his friend who had taken the photo though Danni could detect a tenseness around his pale blue eyes and mouth as though there had been something which had been troubling him. Something which he had been unable to stop thinking about even while he had been out on a weekend fishing trip with a group of close friends.
Whether that issue was something connected to his murder was something which she didn't know but it was certainly an angle which she needed to look into.
She and Meka had been working the case under the general assumption that John McGarrett's death had been a direct result of his son's job as a Navy SEAL in the intelligence Unit but perhaps they had been looking at the case from the wrong angle. She had heard more than one person refer to John as a tenacious bastard, each time with the fond tone of remembrance but if John had been looking into something, something which he shouldn't have been, then perhaps Hesse hadn't been there in the house due to McGarrett's son at all, perhaps Hesse had been sent to take care of the old man due to something which he had done or something which he had found out which wasn't meant to be found out by anyone.
The question was what that was.
If the case wasn't related to the son and his job, then what was it that McGarrett had been looking into which had caused his death?
Danni's mind drifted back to the crime scene, her eyes narrowing slightly as she reran what she had seen there through her mind. There could have been something there which she had missed the first time around, something which she had seen but hadn't realised the significance of it at that moment in time.
It was difficult to know though, she and Meka had been wrapping up another case when Captain Hookano had arrived at their desk, throwing the file onto Danni's desk and telling them that the case was already three hours old and they had better get their asses over to the house because CSU were already processing the scene and the uniforms were there waiting for them to take point.
They had hightailed it over there in Danni's Camaro but they had been too late to really see the scene in its raw form. There had instead been members of the Crime scene unit crawling over it, taking photographs and picking up samples of everything before the scene was disturbed even further by the Uniforms who were patrolling the area, both inside and outside the taped off crime scene.
They had been approached the moment they had entered the house by Special Agent Walker Humphries who was one of the three senior field agents who worked CSU and were sent out as leads to the various crime scenes. He had immediately filled her in on what they had learnt so far and as she had expected the news hadn't been good for them. CSU had found no discernible fingerprints or fibres from anyone other than John McGarrett within the house. The only thing they had found which had been out of place was a partial bloody footprint on the study floor. The house itself had been ransacked but as far as they could tell nothing had been taken which meant that robbery as a motive had been instantly out.
Danni's shoulder had hunched down at the news, a sharp stab of pain in her temple telling her without words that a tension headache had begun to brew in response to the knowledge.
The likelihood of them being able to match the partial footprint to Hesse was slim to none and even if by some small miracle they did manage it then the defence would simply argue that it was a common sole tread and that anyone could have purchased them from any store and been wearing them that day. The wooden chair where McGarrett had been seated at the time of his death had been empty but that had been little surprise to her. The Medical Examiner who had been on duty had been the chief Medical Examiner Abbie FitzGerald who was well known throughout the department for the quickness in which she got a body dealt with at a scene and transported. John McGarrett would have already been at the morgue by the time they stepped foot on the scene.
The thing about the scene which had bothered her the most was the fact that Hesse had left the murder weapon in plain sight, the gun sitting innocently on the desk behind the body.
Why had he chosen to leave it there?
Victor Hesse must have taken the time to clean the scene of any evidence which could have incriminated him or pointed to the fact that he had been in the house and yet he had left the gun behind so that anyone who entered the room would be able to see it. He had both the time and the means to have disposed of it, since according to the official report which Meka had read to her as she had driven them to the scene, from the moment a member of the son's SEAL team had placed an urgent call through to dispatch, to the moment that the SWAT team had gathered themselves had headed to the scene was twenty minutes. In that time he could have easily have taken the gun with him or thrown it into the ocean which was right outside John's McGarrett's back door and yet he hadn't bothered.
The logical answer which had immediately come to her mind was that there was something about the gun which Hesse had wanted them to find, either that or he was just that supremely confident that he had left nothing on the gun which they could use to trace it back to him which she someone doubted. She didn't know much about Hesse, especially on that first initial day, but she had known that he was a clever man who was extremely cautious. That much was clear from the scene.
Danni had always hated when a suspect in a case she was working on attempted to involve themselves in some way or tried to play games with them. Normally she would ignore all attempts and just rely on the other evidence which she had gathered for the case but this time she couldn't. This time there simply was no other evidence which they could use which meant that they had been forced to follow where Hesse was trying to lead them.
It was the only way which they had to try and find him.
They didn't know much about the man in question either, only that Victor Hesse had been the name which McGarrett's son had given his Commanding Officer who had debriefed him after the event had occurred. A debrief report which they had only received the day before. Danni had read the transcript of the interview as soon as it was on her desk.
It had been an interesting read, the son, a Lieutenant Commander Steve McGarrett, had been clear and concise in his report, stating that Victor Hesse had made contact with him via his personal cell phone using his father's cell phone during something which he had called Operation Gemini. They had been hit by an ambush in the middle of a transport and in the resulting gun fight Hesse's younger brother, Anton had been killed by Lieutenant Commander McGarrett who had been defending himself. Victor Hesse upon hearing the news of his brother's death had retaliated by killing McGarrett's father.
Danni hadn't picked up on any sign of the grief which Steve McGarrett must have been feeling but she hadn't expected to either. Military men, especially those within the Special Forces were taught during their training to only stick to the facts which was relevant to the mission.
Everything else, including their emotions, could wait.
Knowing the name of the man suspected of the crime has been a bonus but it had done her and Meka little good. The Honolulu Police Department database had no information on the man and every attempt they had made to dig deeper into him had been stonewalled. She had even gone as far as to contact the Navy, asking to speak to Steve McGarrett directly so she could question him about Hesse and try and get some background into how the other man worked, only to be told that that Commander was currently unavailable to speak to her and a message would be passed on to his current Commanding Officer to say that she called and was looking to speak to him.
It had been beyond clear after that first day that she and Meka were on their own with the case. If they wanted to find out anything then they would have to rely on themselves or allow Hesse to escape from Hawaii. They had managed to figure out a few things during one of their many brainstorm sessions. They knew that Hesse was good at fighting and that he had no issues with using a gun. He also clearly had no problem with killing someone meaning that he had done it before.
Danni knew that Hesse was on the island somewhere but where he could be hiding out was beyond her at that moment. The lack of knowledge in the way that Hesse worked mixed in with the fact that she had only been on the island since the end of February and still didn't know the terrain well was working against her.
If they couldn't figure out the way in which he operated then they would have no chance of finding him.
There was a small part of her which truly believed that the John McGarrett case would go unsolved. The Captain was already visibly growing impatient with them, wanting them on other cases and she knew that he wouldn't wait much longer to yank them off of it. The only reason why he hadn't done it already was because according to the gossip working its way around the pen and the break rooms, the Governor herself was personally involved in the case, demanding daily updates from the Captain making Danni wonder just what kind of relationship the Governor and John McGarrett had with one another.
She knew that she could write up her report that day and Hookano would sign it off and pass the case over to the two Detectives in the unit who tended to work on the cold cases which the department had, while giving her and Meka a new case which would result with the criminal behind the deed behind bars but she couldn't bring herself to write it, or at least she couldn't do it yet.
The truth was that she felt as though she owed it to John McGarrett to at least look at every possible angle and lead they had before she was forced to relinquish the case over. She owed it to his family to try and give them a sense of closure if she could manage it.
She breathed out, her mind drifting back to the conversation which she had ended up having with John's McGarrett's daughter Mary who was currently living in L.A. A call which had been difficult and which had lasted for thirty minutes because Danni couldn't bring herself to hang up while the other woman sobbed down the phone at her.
The case wasn't over yet.
She and Meka still had until the close of play the next day until they had to present their findings to Hookano, forty eight hours in which to break the deadlock surrounding the case. She just needed to be patient and to keep digging away at the facts and information that she already had.
If there was a way of locating Hesse then they would find it.
Danni shook her head as she dragged her thoughts back to the present day, looking away from the picture to look down at her watch with a slight thoughtful frown. It was only twenty to seven which gave her enough time to get ready for work and drive the five minutes which separated her house and the house of her ex-husband in order to pick up Grace and take her over to the private school which she attended. Once that trip had been made then Danni could head over to the Police station and look over the notes which she had left there, taking to time to dig deeper into John McGarrett's past to see whether there was something which he had been looking into.
She had to make sure that she and Meka weren't so blinded by the obvious that they missed something else.
Danni reached up and pushed her tangled hair away from her eyes before she lowered the picture of John McGarrett back to the table. She pushed her chair back and came up to her feet. What she needed right now was a large mug of coffee, a hot shower and a change of clothes. Once she had done that, not necessarily in that order, than she would be ready to face the day.
She yawned, covering her mouth briefly with her hand before she stretched her arms above her head, coming up on her tiptoes and letting out a groan when her spine gave a satisfying crunch. Coming back down, Danni glanced once more towards the papers on the table before she turned and left the room, heading down the corridor and towards the stairs which led up to the second floor where the bedrooms and bathrooms were situated.
The case could wait for another twenty minutes before it needed her.
She had managed to find a large two storied house on the day it had come up on the market and had gone to look at it, surprised when she had found herself falling in love with it from the moment she had seen it. Danni hadn't bothered playing any games with the realtor, knowing that she needed to find herself a house where Grace would feel at home in. A house exactly like the one she had seen. She had found out the asking price and had used everything which she had left in her savings and had borrowed the rest from her older sister Caitlin who held a position as the vice president of their family business and who had been happy to lend the rest of the money Danni had needed.
Her parents had thought that she was mad to buy a property outright in Hawaii but they had soon changed their tunes when Danni had sent them pictures of the house and they had realised just how much the property would be worth if she ever made the decision to sell it again. The small amount of income which she received monthly from renting out her home in New Jersey was a god send for her, helping her to afford all the little things which Grace needed which a police salary didn't quite cover. There was no denying that it was tighter then she would have liked it to be but between her being careful and the budget she had set up for them, they were coping.
It had been worth it when she had seen the way that Grace's face had lit up with joy and excitement the first time Danni had taken her to see their new home. A home which had a swimming pool and a garden for Grace and was situated in a gated community which gave Danni further peace of mind.
Danni might have been fond of their house and the small neighbour which it was situated in but she wasn't greatly fond of the State of Hawaii itself though she made sure to keep her opinion about it to herself. She didn't like the continual hot, sunny weather or the humidity which often accompanied it. That added to the fact that she had received nothing but attitude and abuse from her colleagues had all added up to a bad experience for her but Grace loved it there and she knew that the small girl loved the fact that her Dad lived so close to them meaning that she could spend more time with him, so Danni simply kept her feelings about it all to herself and tried to make the best out of a bad situation she couldn't change.
Being able to see Grace's wide, happy smile when she found something new which she liked on the island was enough to make Danni forget exactly why she disliked the place so much in the first place.
As long as Grace was happy then Danni would be happy. It was as simple as that.
If the decision had been solely up to Danni then she and Grace would never have left New Jersey to move to Hawaii in the first place, however, it hadn't been just up to her, her ex-husband still had a large say in his daughter's upbringing and was a large part of not just Grace's life but of Danni's as well.
Duncan worked at a large successful bank which had required him to move around a lot initially. Sometimes he had been based in America, other times he had been in Europe or in Asia for months at a time. It had been the physical distance and lack of contact which had been one of the main reasons behind their divorce, that and the fact that they had fallen out of love with each other. They had quickly realised after Duncan had returned to Jersey after his last posting, that they were better off as close friends than they were as husband and wife. It had still been hard to set the ball rolling on their divorce though, and they had considered on more than one occasion if it was worth even getting divorce when things were still working out well for them, but they had decided it was for the best and applied for it, though the divorce itself had only been finalised two months previously.
When Duncan had been appointed as the manager of the newly opened Hawaiian branch of his bank, a post which they had informed him would last for at least two years, he had placed his foot down and told her that he wanted both her and Grace to move out to Oahu with him so that he could still have a relationship with his daughter. A relationship which had already suffered in his opinion because of his other postings.
There was no denying that Danni had been taken aback by the request though in hindsight it wasn't that much of a surprise. For all the faults he might have had, Duncan had always been an amazing father towards Grace, loving and warm and always there when she needed him even if it was only by phone, even when he had been out of the country he had still made sure to call her every evening. Danni had argued the point with him, pointing out that taking their daughter out of school when she was still in her first year was a bad idea and could cause more harm than good for Grace in the long run but he had been adamant about it.
He wanted his daughter with him and that was that.
Danni had been slowly but surely worn down, not only by Duncan but by Grace's constant pleads to be allowed to go as well because she didn't not want to see her Daddy once she had been told about the situation. The final straw had come about two months after the initial subject had been broached when Duncan had sat her down and informed her that he would fight for Grace and if that meant having to go for custody, something which he didn't want to do, then he would do it. Danni had sighed, half hating him for putting her in the situation and half loving him for being willing to fight for Grace and had finally agreed.
The thought of having to go up in a court against her ex-husband for custody had made her sick to her stomach, especially when she knew that she couldn't guarantee that she would gain full custody.
Not with her current job at least.
They had spent the rest of that meal hashing out a custody agreement with each other, one which admitted was made easier by the fact that they were still legally married to each other at that point. They had their lawyers write it up, checked it over a separate dinner and then double checked it for good measure before they both signed it and had it countersigned and agreed by a judge.
A month after Danni had given in and signed the form, she and Grace had stepped off a plane which had come from Los Angeles onto an island where they both knew no one other than Duncan who they had ended up living with for two months while Danni searched for a house for them to live in.
That had been six months ago and it was only now that they had their own place and their own routine in place that they were beginning to settle down and Danni was beginning to think that maybe they could survive and build a new life together there.
Danni headed into the bathroom, closing the door behind her out of habit and headed over to the bath tub, turning on the shower above it. She waited, humming softly to herself, while the water heated up before she stripped off her vest top and shorts which she had been wearing the previous evening and climbed into the bath, stepping beneath the powerful water jets. Danni washed herself, using her favourite shower crème before turning her attention to her hair. Sighing, she turned the shower off once the water began to cool and stepped out, wrapping herself in one of the large pale yellow towels which Grace had been adamant they got from the store because it happened to be her favourite colour at that moment in time.
Danni moved across the floor to the sink and swiped her hand across the steamed mirror before she grabbed her toothbrush, squirted some toothpaste onto it and began to brush her teeth.
Her eyes flickered up absently to focus on her reflection in the glass, taking in her appearance with a critical look. Her long blond hair was already beginning to curl back into its normal waves, if she was quick enough styling it then she might be able to do something with it for once. Large grey eyes set in a pretty fair face stared back at her, her head tilted slightly to the side as she stared with a thoughtful look before shrugging and turning her attention back to her teeth, spitting out the paste into the sink and dumping her brush into the pot before she turned and left the room walking into the attached bedroom.
It didn't take long to go through her morning routine, including the five minutes it took to blow dry her hair and the other five minutes she spent every morning in front of her wardrobe trying to decide which lay ahead in her day so she could pick out the best outfit for it. She had a simple rule which she lived by, if she thought that the day was going to be active then she would wear trousers with a pretty top, if it was going to be an office day then she would pick out a dress or a skirt and top combo. Today was definitely due to be an office day so she grabbed a simply short sleeved navy blue dress with a flared skirt which ended just above her knees. She pulled it on, humming to herself as she finished the look with a pair of nude high heels.
Danni glanced at herself in her full length mirror as she brushed her hair, forcing it into the complicated hairstyle which she tended to favour while at work and gave herself a nod of satisfaction as she took in the effect of her choice. She looked professional with the slightest hint of glamour to it which was exactly the look she had been going for.
She had learnt within a day of working at the Honolulu Police Department that they neither wanted nor approved of having a female detective within their ranks and they had absolutely no problem letting her know about it at every given opportunity they had. Danni had accepted that she was on her own in the place and had resorted to doing small things for herself to make the days more bearable for her. Making sure that she looked as feminine as possible day after day was one of the way she had of sticking her middle finger up at each and every one of them who had made their feelings about her perfectly clear. If they had made such a big deal about the way she looked and the fact that she had been blessed with a feminine figure then she would as well.
Danni turned as the familiar sound of Michael Jackson's smooth criminal shattered the quietness of her home. She looked around her curiously, swiftly twisting on the spot as tried to locate her cell phone before she realised that it must have still been in the living room where she had dumped her bag the previous evening. She quickly ran out of the room and down the stairs, scooping up her phone and answered it before it could ring out to her voicemail.
"Detective Williams." She stated in a brisk tone, grabbing her large, nude coloured work bag from the couch.
"Aloha Kakahiaka Danni girl, it's Meka"
Danni smiled at the familiar sound of her partner's cheerful voice as it boomed over the phone line at her. Meka had to be one of the only people who she knew in her life who could sound so happy and upbeat this early on in the morning.
"Hey yourself Partner." She replied brightly as she headed out of the living room and back into the kitchen, dumping her bag onto the chair before she turned her attention to collecting the pages for the McGarrett case back together, making sure that they were in the correct order for ease of reference later on. "I'm just getting the McGarrett files I brought home with me last night together and then I'll be leaving for the office. I'm headed over to Duncan's house this morning to pick up Gracie so I can take her to school." She explained to him.
"You're picking up Gracie?" Meka repeated, sounding surprised by the revelation. "Why do you have to head over there to do that? I wasn't imagining it yesterday when you reminded me that it was Wednesday and therefore Grace would be over at her father's overnight was I?" He questioned.
"Nope, you heard me right. Duncan rang me last night, his work have landed him with an urgent early morning meeting with the London branch of the bank. It starts at seven thirty our time so there is no way he can take her to school or he'll end up missing the meeting. He asked if I could pick her up and I obviously said yes which means that you my friend will have to find another way to get to work this morning because I'm not going to be able to swing by and pick you up. Not when we both know that Captain Hookano is watching me and waiting for me to slip up and make a mistake, If I start being late then he'll rake me over the coals for it and trust me when I say that I'm trying to keep a low profile in the office at the moment after that situation with Detective Alika last week." She reminded him on a sigh.
"It's hard to get over the whole mess." Meka responding, sounding angry for a moment. "The Captain should have known that you…"
"He doesn't know because he's never taken any opportunity to get to know what I'm like either as a cop or a person." Danni interrupted him, her hand tightening briefly on the handset as she continued. "And even if he had or he had bothered to actually get all the fact he still wouldn't have cared, there is no way that he would ever take my word over the word of Alika. Seriously though Meka, there's no point in getting angry over it because it won't do any good." She reminded him.
Meka fell silent for a moment as though he was thinking about what she had said before he sighed.
"I hate saying this but you're right." He admitted glumly. "Try not to let it get your down okay, just give it some time and the others will move onto someone else to torment, they did the same thing with Rory." He assured her, speaking of Rory Clements who was the only other Detective in the unit other than Danni who had moved to Hawaii from the mainland. "And don't sweat about having to drive me into work today, it's not a problem, I'll just get my little baby out of the garage and drive myself in today, it's not like Lolita couldn't use the action. Babies like my one have to seen and admired by people otherwise they'll just wilt away." He told her, making no effort to hide the proud tone from his voice.
Danni began to nod in agreement, absently picturing the wide grin which would be on his face when she suddenly stopped, her eyes widening in surprise as his actual words about his plan sank into her mind.
"Are you sure that's such a good idea for you to do Meka?" She remarked cautiously. "Maybe it would be a better idea for you to get Amy to drop you off at the headquarters on her way to take Billy to school, I mean she has to pass by the station on her way anyway and if she's already gone then you could try calling a taxi or one of the other Detectives in the unit to come and get you. I mean they all like you after all so they would have no issue in doing it for you if you asked them. If you don't want to do that, then how about walking in, you're only what? A twenty minute walk away so a walk would do you good and give you some exercise. Don't think for a moment that I haven't noticed the way you've been packing on the pounds over the last month or so, Partner." She stated, her voice trailing off at the sound of disbelief which he made in response to her suggestion. He remained silently, clearly mulling over each of them before he finally spoke.
"Perhaps you could explain to me Danielle where exactly all of this concern for my health has come from because you certainly weren't bothered by it a few weeks ago." He asked her, a suspicious tone coming to his voice which made her smile. "Because I'll have you know that I am currently as fit as an ox. Have you and Amy been talking about this again because I know that she's concerned about it, the two of you together is more a cause of concern to me then my health currently is because you keep teaming up and double teaming me both at work and at home." He grumbled, the tone and comment causing Danni to roll her eyes.
"I'm not going to deny that your wife might have brought up the topic of conversation the last time I met her for coffee." She admitted, opening her mouth to speak and raising an eyebrow when he beat her to the punch.
"You're a traitor Danielle." He said in mock accusation. "You're meant to be my partner and to have my back in all things going on in my life. It's in the Partner handbook, I can highlight it for you and show it to you so you can read it and refresh yourself on it if you want." He told her.
"Yeah, well the person who wrote that handbook has never had to deal with Amy Hanamoa before or they would have changed that rule instantly." She retorted back, grinning when he burst out laughing at the comment.
"Too true Makamaka, too true." He agreed once he had stopped laughing.
"Beside Partner, your wife is my best friend here on the island. If she asks me to keep an eye on you for her while we're on the job to make sure that you're safe and you go home to her and Billy each night then I'm going to do it. Hell I would still do it even if she hadn't asked me too because you're my partner. The reason for my concern right now is the fact that your little baby as you call your car…"
"Actually I call her Lolita, my little baby is more of a term of affection I occasionally use." He corrected her instantly, the comment causing her to sigh.
"Fine, let me put it bluntly, Lolita is a death trap on wheels and you know call it crazy and everything but I don't particularly want to have to take my dress blues out of the wardrobe and put them on because I'm having to go to your funeral. I've seen the way you drive remember and that car you have mixed with the crazy racer boy style of driving you've adopted is just an accident which is waiting to happen." She remarked.
"While I appreciate your concern for me Danni, I feel like I need to remind you that Lolita who you're so casually insulting in your roundabout fashion is what most people with taste would refer to as a classic car which means it should be respected for the beauty that it is. There are several people on the island who would give up a limb for the chance to get behind the wheel of my baby or to own their own." He informed her, sounding offended.
"You want me to respect your car?" Danni asked, waiting until he made a sound of acknowledgement at the back of his throat because she continued to speak. "Okay, well let me explain something to you Meka, the day that I respect that pile of junk which you keep referring to as a classic, is the day when it can make it from one side of the island to the other without breaking down and needing a tow. You know once Lolita can actually manage to perform the basic function which it was created to do."
"You know, it sounds to me like you're issuing me a challenge there Danni." Meka announced, a gleeful undertone to his voice which made her sigh. She could picture the grin that would be on his face and the fact that he would be rubbing the palm of his hands together as well when she closed her eyes. He would no doubt have tilting his head to the side, trapping his cell between his ear and his shoulder just so he could perform the action.
"I'm pretty sure that the word challenge hasn't come up in the conversation at all." She corrected him mildly. "But if you do decide to try and make it from one end of the island to the other in your car then make sure that you give me plenty of warning so I can make sure that Gracie and I are free to watch you attempt it and to cheer you on."
"You'd cheer me on?" Meka replied in a suspicious voice.
"Well, when I say cheer what I really mean is that we'll be there ready to call the tow truck for you because rest assured my friend, you are going to break down during this mission and you will need a tow again, I dread to think how much money you've paid that company, it's no wonder they sent you a birthday card." She remarked with a grin.
"Danielle, need I remind you that you're my partner, you're meant to have faith in me and support me in my endeavours? Where exactly is that faith and support now hey?" Meka demanded, the comment causing Danni to snort down the phone at him.
"Where is the support and the faith Meka?" She repeated as she slipped the McGarrett file into her bag and shouldered it, glancing around her clean kitchen to make sure that she had everything which she needed with her before she carried on speaking. "Need I remind you partner that I'm the person who you end up calling for help every time that Lolita breaks down on you? I'm the one who has to stop what I'm doing to come and pick you up and to take you to wherever it was that you were actually meant to be going to in the first place. You may have thought that I had forgotten about all the times I've done that but you would be wrong. There is a tally chart currently pinned to my fridge at this very moment in time which gets a mark added to it every time that you call me and with the amount of tallies already on there, you're going to owe me big time."
"What sort of owing are we talking about here?" Meka queried, sounding genuinely curious.
"I'm thinking of you covering me if I decide to take Gracie back to New Jersey for a couple of weeks for Christmas and the New Year, that kind of owing." She replied.
A silence met her suggestion before Meka spoke.
"I can't believe you've been keeping a tab on that, how many tallies are there on there?" He asked.
"Enough to make you pull out your hair." She told him on a laugh.
"And here I was all this time thinking that you came out to help me from the goodness of your heart and instead I find out that you've been using a tally chart and adding it all up." Meka said, no doubt shaking his head at the knowledge.
"If it makes you feel better then the first twenty times that you rang me it was for that very reason." Danni assured him as she reached up and tucked a stray curl which had escaped from her hairstyle behind her ear. "But now? Well now I come out to pick you up when you call mainly because I'm terrified about what Amy would say and do to me if she found out that I had left you sitting on the side of the road somewhere. I like to think that I'm a brave person Meka but I'm not that brave or suicidal."
"No one is that brave Danni." Meka agreed fervently causing them both to laugh.
"You know if we're ever desperate to get a confession from a suspect then all we really need to do is place Amy in a room with them for five minutes or so, after that I bet they would be willing to tell us anything they know." Danni suggested with a grin which grew when Meka laughed again.
"Yeah, I dare you to make that suggestion to her directly the next time you come over to ours for dinner, I'd love to see her reaction to it first-hand." He stated.
"She'd probably love the idea especially if it meant that you could get home quicker each night." Danni pointed out before she changed the subject, aware that time was beginning to creep away from them. "So what can I do for you today then or did you just decide to call this morning because you missed my voice or something?"
"I saw you yesterday Danni." Meka pointed out. "It's pretty hard to miss someone's voice after so short a time so yeah, definitely not the reason behind my call this morning."
"It amazes me how there are some people out there who find you charming." Danni responded dryly with a roll of her eyes
"Well, I appreciate you noticing that partner, my charm is one of the many gifts which I possess and lets be honest, I must have done something right because I did get Amy to date and marry me after all."
"My head is literally swimming from all the responses which I could give you in regards to that statement but I'm not going to because it's too easy and we'd be here all day." Danny remarked serenely. "Anyway all joking aside what can I do for you? If you're calling to ask me to pick you up a coffee on my way to get you then you can forget it. The last time I've checked I've gotten you a coffee three times in a row which makes it your turn today. On top of that you can grab us a couple of muffins for us to eat as well since you neglected to bring any snacks to the last stakeout we did last week. Don't think for a moment that I didn't notice you stealing the food which I had brought for me."
"You've only got yourself to blame for that Danni, if you weren't such a good cook and baker then I wouldn't have to steal your food." Meka pointed out as though he was making a sensible comment. "Beside, I brought myself to the stakeout and kept you company throughout it, what more could you possible want?" He asked.
"Please don't tell me that you expect me to answer that question?" Danni replied sceptically.
"No, I don't think my ego could take it." He replied on a laugh before he became serious, dropping the jokey manner as he came to the heart of the matter. "I'm actually calling you because I got a call from Hookano about ten minutes ago telling me that he needs my input on another ongoing case so you'll be on your own today for the McGarrett murder or at least by yourself for the morning. I can't see this consultation taking longer then that so I should be back with you in the afternoon. We should probably get all the files together and go through everything again and see if we've missed something that could narrow down out search for Hesse."
"That's fine Meka, I'll be in the office for most of the morning running down some other leads other than McGarrett's son to see if there's another angle we can come at this from. I'm going to head down to the house and have another look around the place. I don't know why but I feel as though we're missing something there, something is probably incredibly obvious and will have us kicking ourselves for missing it the first time around when we finally figure out what it is." She remarked thoughtfully.
"If there's going to anyone in the department who can figure out what we're missing then it's going to be you Danni." Meka told her confidently. "Just like how you managed to find the third person involved in our last case who we had initially missed. I'm pretty sure the only reason we closed that case and put the perps behind bars is because you managed to link everything together." He reminded her warmly, causing her to smile.
"We closed the case, I would never have realised about the third person if you hadn't found that clue in the car." She pointed out. "And do me a favour and never bring up that case again until we have to, I've had enough of that guy to last me a life time. There's nothing quite like being hit on by a low life drug dealer to make a girl feel all special and tingly inside." She remarked sarcastically, shuddering at the memory of having to interview the man.
It was those sorts of experiences which she could have easily done without being in her life.
"Yeah well, regardless of his lame ass attempts of flirting with you, you still managed to break him during interrogation and get his confession so clearly whatever you were saying to him worked out though next time I'm going to stay in the room regardless of what you say." He warned her firmly before continuing to speak. "We all have to make sacrifices when it comes to the job Danni girl and I'm afraid that one of your burdens to bear is being hit on by most of our suspects."
"Lucky me." She replied dryly, raising an eyebrow when she heard a second voice speaking to him. He replied, his voice muffled no doubt by his hand covering the mouth piece on his cell before his voice suddenly cleared making it clear he was speaking to her again.
"Sorry about that, Billy was just asking a question." He apologised, speaking about his six year old son. "I've got to head off now Hoaloha. You take care of yourself this morning though it sounds like we're both going to be trapped at our desks so I'll see you in the office and don't worry, I'll bring in the coffee and the muffins today." He promised.
"Make mine a large latte with an extra shot of espresso and a chocolate chip muffin would you? I feel like I'm going to need the caffeine today." She said on a sigh. "Oh and just so you know Meka, one of these day I'm finally going to find the time to start learning the Hawaiian language just so I can figure out what it is you've been calling me over the past four months. If I find out that it's something rude then I can promise you that I'm going to go all diva on your ass and trust me when I say I can go diva with the best of them. It tends to be drilled into you how to do it when you've been raised from a young age in the streets of New Jersey." She said, taking a deep breathe and ignoring the sound of his laughter as she continued speaking. "I'll see you in the office, good luck with the consultation and remember that we're trying to keep on the Captain's good side at the moment."
"As if I could forget Danni, just do me a favour and make sure you're on your best behaviour, just because you aren't in the Captain sightline it doesn't mean that he doesn't have other people watching what you're up to Danni. You're the best partner I've had so lets not get him a chance to split the two of us up." He warned her before he said his goodbyes and hung up the phone on her.
Danni stared down at the handset for a moment before she dropped it into her bag and made her way through the house and came to a stop beside her alarm system, imputing the code and waiting for the familiar beep before she exited the house, locking the front door behind her and headed down to the silver car parked on her drive way.
She had been forced to borrow the car from her ex husband while her own silver Camaro was in the garage being fixed after a high speed chase which she and Meka had somehow found themselves involved in. She liked the car, she couldn't deny that, but she was missing her own and couldn't wait to get it back. She lowered herself into the car, closing the door behind her, a smile coming to her face when she caught sight of the large pink cuddly toy rabbit which was sitting in the seat. A rabbit which Danni and Meka's wife Amy, had spent all of Saturday morning searching for since Grace had told her the previous week that they were having a pet show and tell at the private school which Duncan had insisted that Grace attended.
She had toyed with the idea of buying Grace a real life rabbit but had swiftly decided against the idea, promising herself that she would buy Grace one if she still wanted it when she was nine or ten and able to look after her pet herself. The cuddly toy had been an alternative since Grace was still young enough at seven not to be embarrassed by such things and her class mates would be young enough not to tease her over it.
Danni placed her bag in the toy rabbit's lap and started the engine, reversing out of the driveway onto the road, stopping for a moment so she could punch the code into her cell phone which would close the gates to the property behind her. She waited until they had locked before she took the route which would lead her to the house where her baby girl was currently waiting for her.
It had taken Danni a total of about four months to finally be able to understand the basic outline of the island and that was only because Amy had taken pity on her one weekend after she had managed to get lost on her way to their house and had driven her around, showing her all of the shortcuts which Danni would need to know to get to the places she would have to go to on a regular basis.
Danni thanked her lucky stars on a daily basis that Hookano had chosen Meka to be her partner the first day. Out of a unit of twenty five other Detectives, Danni could name exactly four who didn't treat her as though she was a sub species of human which needed to be eradicated.
Meka was one of them while Rory Clements who was the only other Detective on the force from the mainland was another one. The other two who treated her normally had left her surprised. Detective Bryan Keawe was a Detective who was in his early fifties who had been on the force for as long as anyone and who actually treated her with respect while the other one was Detective Russell Kaiwi who was couple of years older than she was. Meka was convinced that the man wanted to get into her pants but Danni had an inkling that it would be more likely that Meka was Kaiwi type though she kept silent about it, not willing to isolate one of the only people who actually said good morning to her and was willing to help if she needed it.
The rest of the squad room treated her as though she was dirt, calling her a Haole to her face and mocking the fact that she was the only woman in the department, not only that but she was one of the youngest out of them and stood at five foot one without her heels on. The whole delicate beauty which she had been blessed with did nothing to endear her to any of them either. She had lost count of the numbers of times things had gone missing from her desk and god only knew how many bottles of sun cream were being stored in her drawer now. At least they had drawn the line at going any severe hazing but she had the feeling that Meka and Keawe were responsible for that.
Danni was determined not to rise to the bait and instead she ignored them, treating them all politely but indifferently, barely giving any of them the time of day. She held onto get temper each day, unleashing it in the car where she would let go and talk to Meka about what was troubling her until her voice would give way. She could still remember the way that Meka's mouth had fallen open the first time that she had let loose but now that he was used to it, he would merely listen to her, a soft smile on his face before he would say something that stopped her anger and leave her reluctantly smiling at him.
The two of them had bonded quickly, getting on with one another from that first day and Danni had soon come to rely on the older man and to call him a friend. He had taken her back to his within two weeks of knowing her so she could meet Amy and their son Billy. Within three weeks Meka had begun calling her Hoaloha or Makamaka which Danni had assumed was some sort of affectionate term of address like Buddy. A month later Danni had introduced Grace to the small family of three and their friendship and bond had been cemented. Six month on, Danni viewed Meka as not only one of her closest friends but also as a brother who she would do anything for.
A feeling which she knew was mutual.
If meeting Meka had been a blessing then meeting Amy had been a miracle for her as she had found herself taken under the wing of the other woman giving her a much needed friend on the same sex who was only two to three years older than she was.
She hadn't realised until Amy had entered her life just how much she had needed someone in her life who she could call up to simply chat to or to go out to do some shopping or to get their nails done. Just simple things which she used to do with her mother and her older sister back when she was still in New Jersey. Add the fact that Billy was close to being the same age as Grace and Danni was in heaven, knowing that she could bring Grace with her and the small girl would be entertained.
They were like a mini family of their own.
An Ohana as Amy had taken to calling them and Danni was glad for it.
She pushed the thoughts out of her head as she turned into the enclosed area where Duncan lived, waiting at the gate for a moment before it opened allowing her access to the gated community. She drove down the road, parking outside one of the big houses and killed the engine, hunting through her bag for a moment before producing her cell phone. She pressed down on the number two button and brought the handset up to her ear, tapping her finger against the back of it as she waited for her ex-husband to pick up the call.
"Hey Danni, are you outside? Thanks again for doing this, I'm going to owe you one." Duncan said, his voice calm and steady over the phoneline, the same way it always was. There was very little which ruffled her ex-husband she had found, he was very much a man who took everything in his stride.
"Morning Duncan, it's not a problem, I'd prefer you call me to come and take her then to let her walk to school by herself." She replied, shifting in her seat. "How is Gracie? Did she sleep well?"
"She seems to be in good form today and as far as I know she slept like a rock. What about you? Did you manage to get any sleep or did the McGarrett case keep you up again?" He asked her absently, sounding as though he was searching for something which wouldn't have surprised her considering the fact that Duncan was regularly misplacing things which he needed.
"I managed to sleep and you know that I can't answer any questions about any active case, its all need to know Duncan." She reminded him with a shake of her head.
"You and your needs to know." He remarked in fond tone before he continued to speak. "Do you want to come inside for a coffee, I've got a fresh pot on and there's time before my meeting start." He offered.
"That's incredibly tempting but I can't, I need to make a quick call while I can. If you could just send Grace out to me this time then I'd appreciate that Duncan. We both know just how much she would complain if she was late to school and tarnished her perfect attendance record." Danni remarked, her mouth quirking up into a smile when he chuckled at her comment.
"God, we would never hear the end of it if that actually happened." Duncan admitted. "As soon as she's down from brushing her teeth I'll send her out to you, speak to you later." He said, waiting until she had said her goodbyes before hanging up the phone. Danni dropped the handset onto her lap for a moment as she turned her attention back to her bag, pulling out one of the files. If Grace was still upstairs brushing her teeth then it would mean that Danni had at least five minutes to make her phone call.
Resting the file on top of her bag, she opened it, flipping through the pages until she found the ballistic report which she wanted. She re-skimmed it, making sure that she had all the information which she would need before picking her cell phone back up and dialling a number into it, hitting the connect button. She waited, tapping her fingers against the steering wheel as she waited for the call to be picked up.
"Hello, you're through to the Honolulu Police Department, how many I direct your phone call today?" A bland female voice answered.
"Hiya, my name is Detective Danielle Williams, badge number 7576. I need to be placed through to the department which deals with getting a trace set up on a suspect." Danni responded politely, there was a brief silence, broken only by the sound of typing before the woman spoke again.
"You'll need to speak to Lieutenant Akuna in regards to that Detective Williams. Please hold the line while I transfer this call over to his Department."
Danni breathed out, frowning slightly as a random, happy tune came over the phone line. She had often wondered why the waiting music which people picked was always guaranteed to drive the person being forced to wait, insane. There were plenty of amazing tracks out there so why not pick one of them?
"Hello, Detective Williams are you there? This is Lieutenant Akuna speaking." A male voice stated breaking through the song. He sounded as though he was in his fifties with a surprisingly gruff voice.
"Yes, I'm still here Lieutenant." Danni answered as she sat up straight in her chair.
"Excellent, I apologise for the wait, I was just finishing up another query. I was informed by Barbara that you require a trace to be laced on a suspect?" He queried.
"That's correct." Danni agreed, tilting her head so she could see the report again, her eyes scanning the picture of the angry man glaring at her from the mug shot as she continued to speak. "I need to have a warrant write up for a surveillance wire on a suspect in connection to the ongoing John McGarrett murder case." She told him firmly.
"I see" Akuna responded, his voice coming across as professional and serious. There was the slightest of pauses before he spoke again. "What is the full name of your suspect starting with the surname please?"
"The surname is Doran, the first name if Frederick and his middle name is Richard, according to his records he goes my the nickname of Fred." She answered him.
"How is that surname spelt Detective?" Akuna responded.
Danni felt a small smile come to her face as she silently savoured the fact that there was someone in the police department who not only seemed to know what they were doing but also seemed willing to help her without any of the sarcastic comments or sly put downs which she was used to hearing when she had made similar requests in the past.
"D-O-R-A-N" She spelt out for him.
The sound of the metal gate to Duncan's house opening caught her attention and she glanced towards it before turning her attention back to her work. The gate opening meant that Grace would now be in the process of hugging her Dad goodbye which meant that Danni had just under two minutes to wrap her phone call up.
"Thank you for that, I'll get these forms filled in straight away for you and have them sent over to the correct people to be signed off. I'll drop you a call on this number once the action has been approved, it normally takes roughly about two hours. Is there anything else which I can help you with Detective Williams or is that it for today?"
"That's all I need for now but thank you for the help Lieutenant Akuna, I really appreciate it." Danni responded warmly.
"That's no problem, if you need anything else then just call me and I'll see what I can do." He stated before he ended the call. Danni ended it on her end, placing the phone and file back into her bag which she placed on the floor. She took a moment to fluff the pink bunny before undoing her seatbelt and climbing out of the car, one hand automatically smoothing down her skirt as she moved towards the driveway. Her gaze instantly honing in on Grace. The small girl was walking sedately down the driveway by herself though a quick glance behind her showed Duncan leaning against the frame of the door, clearly watching their daughter to make sure that she reached Danni without any incidents.
The minute Grace's eyes landed on Danni, her calm behaviour went flying out of the window as she burst into a run, a large grin on her face as she flew into Danni's waiting arms. She laughed as she hugged Grace tightly to her.
"Hey Mamma! I missed you last night, did you miss me?" Grace asked her, her voice muffled from where she had her face buried against Danni's neck. Danni twisted around, resting her cheek against Grace's light brown hair and squeezed her before she let her go, lifting her hand and acknowledging Duncan's wave before turning her attention back to her daughter. Her eyes searching Grace's face as she found herself amazed once again at just how much she loved the small girl standing in front of her.
"I always miss you when you aren't around Gracie bean, did you have a good time with your Daddy yesterday?" She asked, resting her hand lightly on Grace's back as she met her daughter's dark green eyes, an eye colour which she had inherited directly from her father.
"It was really good Mamma, we played hide and seek for ages and then we had a really nice chicken thing for dinner which Daddy and I cooked from scratch and then we watched the Princess and the Frog before I went to bed. It was so good."
"It sounds as though it was good Baby." Danni agreed, leaning forward and planting a kiss against Grace's forehead before she leaned back enough to notice for the first time that as well as having her backpack, Grace was also holding a cage in her hand which contained a small, chubby white rabbit in it. Danni blinked at it in confusion for a moment before she looked back at Grace. "And who is your new friend Gracie?" She asked the small girl with a nod towards the cage to indicate who she meant.
Grace glanced down towards it with a look of surprise as though she had forgotten that she was holding it and hoisted it up so Danni could have a clearer look at the occupant.
"This is Mr Hoppy Mamma." Grace told her seriously. "Daddy gave him to me yesterday for the animal show and tell. He said I could keep him at our house so I can spend more time with him and learn to look after him."
Danni closed her eyes for a moment, mentally kicking herself for forgetting to tell her ex that she didn't want Grace to have any pets until she was older. She should have realised that Duncan would have made sure that Grace had something to bring with her when he heard about it.
"Well, that was very nice of your Daddy to do that for you Grace, I'm guessing you named him?" She asked, smiling when Grace nodded at her. "Did you thank him for getting it for you?" She pressed, pleased when Grace nodded at her. "Good because we both know that manners cost absolutely nothing. We'll have to figure out the best place to put him when we get home later on." She pointed out to Grace who grinned at her.
"Thank you Mamma" She replied.
Danni nodded, running her hand down Grace's long wavy hair.
"I see that your Daddy left your hair down again this morning?" She commented, smiling when Grace sighed as she threw her hands up in the air in a move which Danni was pretty sure the small girl had learnt directly from her.
"He did try to do it Mamma but he's just no good at hair so I told him to leave it because you would do it for me and he said that it was probably for the best if you did." She told her, her suffering tone making Danni's smile widen.
"Well the main thing is that he tried to do it for you, maybe doing your hair is something which you can teach him hey." Danni said soothingly as she patted Grace on the shoulder and continued to speak. "I'll plait it for you when we get you your school but we need to leave now or we'll be late. Have you got everything which you need for your day at school?" She queried as she straightened up from her hunched position.
"I've got everything Mamma." Grace confirmed with a single nod of her head. "I even had Daddy double check my bag just to be certain."
"That's my girl." Danni said fondly, glancing once more at the house before she turned and headed towards the car. "Let's go then, we can't have Mr Hoppy being late for his first day can we? What would Ms Clarke say if that happened."
"She wouldn't be pleased at all Mamma, she hates when people are late." Grace replied earnestly as she reached up and swiped some hair off of her face, tucking it behind her small ear.
"Well in that case let's make sure that we don't give her a reason to be mad at us." Danni advised as she reached down and took Grace's free hand in hers, leading her down towards the car.
"I agree Mamma" Grace said with a nod.
Danni made a humming sound, her eyes widened when her gaze fell on the pink rabbit.
There was no way that she could give the rabbit to Grace now.
She thought fast, walking with Grace towards the driver's side before she spoke
"And where exactly do you think you're going Gracie Bean? Are you planning on driving the two of us to your school, is that it?" Danni asked teasingly, relishing the large smile which came to her daughter's face as she twirled the small girl around on the spot as though they were dancing. "We both know that you aren't allowed to drive until you're at least ten years old. You're in the passenger seat, this way before you make me dizzier then I already am." She moved in front of Grace, blocking the view of the passenger seat, something which she knew she wouldn't be able to do for much longer at the rate that Grace was growing. "What's that down there?" She asked, pointing down the road. Grace automatically looked away towards where Danni was pointing giving Danni enough time to reach through the open window and stuff the toy rabbit behind the passenger seat where Grace wouldn't be able to see it. "What are you doing looking over there? Come on Baby, we're going to late for school and work." She said, opening the passenger door with a flourish and closing it behind Grace once she was settled in.
Danni moved around the front of the car, glancing back towards the house as the gates began to close before she climbed in, flashing Grace a reassuring smile and making sure that her seatbelt was on correctly before she turned the key in the ignition and did a U-turn heading in the direction of Grace's school.
"Mamma" Grace suddenly said, breaking the comfortable silence which had fallen between them.
"Yes Grace?" Danni responded, glancing towards her with a questioning look on her face.
"Daddy said that he's taking me to the Aquarium on the next weekend he has me. Do you think that maybe you could come with us as well? I really want you to be there." She pleaded.
Danni bit the inside of her mouth as she considered her daughter's request. It was an unspoken rule between her and Duncan that they would normally leave the other person alone during their weekend with Grace but there had been the rare occasion when they would do something together. Danni made a humming sound.
"Let me speak to your Daddy first and see what he says okay?" she said, thankful when Grace merely nodded with a smile and let the subject drop. "That reminds me Gracie, do you want to go and visit Uncle Meka, Auntie Amy and Billy over the weekend?" She asked.
"Yeah!" Grace replied enthusiastically. "Do you think we could go to the beach as well with them Mamma because Uncle Meka promised me the last time I saw him that he would help me and Billy build the biggest sandcastle the State of Hawaii has every seen. He said that we would make it so big that people would be able to see it from space."
Danni laughed at the comment even as she nodded.
"Well if that is what Uncle Meka has promised you then we'll have to make sure that it happens won't we." She replied. "I was thinking that tonight the two of could have a girlie evening together? I could make us some pizza as a rare treat, what do you think?" She asked as she turned the car into the road where Grace's school was situated.
"Yes please Mamma, we can put extra cheese and veggies on it." Grace informed her happily.
"Okay, that's what we'll do then." She remarked with a smile and a nod. "I'll give Auntie Amy a call later on today to let her know that we want to go to the beach as well. We can bring your swimming gear with us as well if you want?" She offered.
"Definitely and maybe we could get some shaved ice as well Mamma?" Grace asked her hopefully.
"Yeah I don't see why we couldn't." Danni agreed as she brought the car to a stop outside the school in one of the designated drop off bays. She undid the seatbelt and twisted around in her seat, taking the bright pink hairband which Grace was holding out to her. She bit down on her lower lip and quickly plaited Grace's hair before leaning back and making sure it was straight before she nodded to herself. "There we go, your hair is now done." She stated, leaning back in and kissing Grace's cheek when the small girl turned back to her. "Have a good day at school and make sure that you listen to everything that Ms Clarke tells you and don't worry about your show and tell later on, you and Mr Hoppy will be brilliant in it." Danni told her seriously knowing that Grace never liked speaking out in public.
"I will Mamma, I love you." Grace told her equally as seriously.
"I love you too Gracie bean." Danni answered, watching as Grace grabbed her school bag and left the car. Danni waited until she saw Grace join up with a group of her friends before she hit the indicator and pulled out of the space, aware that others were waiting for it.
She breathed out as she joined the steadily moving traffic on the freeway, her eyes narrowing slightly as she drove.
She had a murderer to find.
Author Note
Thank you for taking the time to read my story, it's much appreciated. An especially big thank you if you left a review, a favourite or a follow. It means a great deal to me.