The Beginning
By
Landon Richardson
Official Disclaimer
The characters of Lieutenant Commander Steven 'Steve' McGarrett, Chin Ho Kelly, Kono Kalakaua, Victor Hesse, Anton Hesse, Former Detective John 'Johnny / Jack' McGarrett, Mary McGarrett, Lieutenant Catherine 'Cath' Rollins, Frederick 'Fred' Doran, Detective Meka Hanamoa, Amy Hanamoa and Billy Hanamoa do not belong to me in any shape or form. I am merely using them for my own 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 Danny could have been if everything in his life had gone his way. 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 her maiden name when she was divorced). Her parents also are amicable which has also impacted Grace but never fear, she's still the sweetheart we know and love, if anything she's more a sweetheart now.
The character of Duncan Taylor, Detective Rory Clements, Supervisory Special Agent in charge Ryan Moore, Special Agent Kale Meade, Special Agent Alexis Moss, Jeanine Landon, William 'Will' McGarrett, Noah Landon, Anna Michaels nee Landon, Theresa Law nee Landon, Deborah 'Debs' Landon and Michael Landon also belongs to me as does any other character who you do not recognise from the show. Please do not use them, or my version of Danni and Grace without first asking for my permission to do so.
Thank you.
Author Note
Here's the next chapter for you all.
This will be the last chapter where Steve is referred to as McGarrett, starting from next chapter he shall be known as Steve. This was deliberate choice as the narrative is from Danni's perspective, up until this point she has referred to Steve as the Commander or McGarrett in person and in her mind. This has now changed and she is now thinking of him as Steve. I hope this clears up any confusion.
Please note that the location used for Doran's trailer is a real place in Hawaii, however it is likely that it doesn't look as I have described since I have taken poetic licence and changed it to suit my needs for this story lol
Please enjoy
Official Summary
When Danni Williams moves to Hawaii, all she wants to do is keep her head down and survive the time she had to stay there. The last thing she expected was to meet Steve McGarrett, a man who seems more intent on getting her blown up and finding out everything about her life than he is about following proper procedure. Danni has a job to do though and one way or another she is going to do it.
Chapter Summary
The very minute that Danni drove up to the trailer park where Doran was stating as living, was the very same moment which made her want to reverse back the way she had come and drive away from the place without so much as a glance in her side mirror.
Overall Romances
Hints of Steve McGarrett / Danni Williams (McDanni)
Hints of Steve McGarrett / Catherine Rollins (McRollins)
Mentions of past Duncan Taylor / Danni Williams (Dunni)
Hints of Ryan Moore / Danni Williams (Rynni)
Meka Hanamoa / Amy Hanamoa (Mekmy)
Mentions of past John McGarrett / Doris McGarrett (Joris)
Michael Landon / Karen Landon (Micren)
Chapter Romances
Mentions of past Duncan Taylor / Danni Williams (Dunni)
Meka Hanamoa / Amy Hanamoa (Mekmy)
Warning
This story features a female Danni Williams in place of a male Danny Williams. Although in some stories I write, Danny does exist, he does not exist in this one.
If this is not your cup of tea then please hit the back button.
Other note
I do not have a Beta so please forgive any mistakes which may creep in, I always do my best to edit the story and check it but sometimes mistakes do creep in.
The places I've mentioned in Hawaii are ones which come from google, including the addresses. I've never been to Hawaii myself in person so I apologise for any mistakes which I may make, these are not intentional.
Chapter Six
You're the back up
Thursday 23rd September 2010
56-335 Malaekahana Beach Campground
Kamehameha Hwy
Laie
HI 96731
The very minute that Danni drove up to the trailer park where Doran was stating as living, was the very same moment which made her want to reverse back the way she had come and drive away from the place without so much as a glance in her side mirror. The whole place gave off a vibe which instantly placed her on full alert, turning the slight unease she had been experiencing since McGarrett had fallen into a brooding silence into full blown concern instead.
Danni had learnt the hard way to always trust her instincts when it came to unknown, unplanned situations and at that one second in time as she pulled the car into a small alcove, every instinct which she possessed was telling her that the two of them should remain in the relative safety of the car and make a call to dispatch to get some backup before they proceeded any further.
For them to head out there when it was just the two of them would be stupid and reckless and would probably end up with one of them, if not both of them, being injured and shot. With the way that her day had been going she was willing to bet that she would be the one having to make the journey in the back of an ambulance while being treated by the EMT to the nearest Emergency Room to be properly stitched up.
Danni bit her lower lip as she twisted the key in the ignition and killed the engine, she left her hand where it was as she leaned forward in her chair, looking through the front window as she took in as much detail of the surrounding area that she could see, The area was tightly packed with trailers of all different sizes leaving only narrow paths which they would have to go in single file to get through if Doran decided to run. Doran would have plenty of escape routes he could take and plenty of areas where he could launch an attack if he chose to. She briefly closed her eyes, running through a mental image in her mind of the map which she had glanced at earlier when she had still been at her desk at HPD. The Trailer park which Doran had chosen to live at, led onto the beach with the ocean technically blocking off one way of escape but she already had the feeling that it didn't mean that he would be easier to contain, if anything it would be harder.
She opened her eyes again, focusing on the area in front of her once more, it was crowded with civilians which was an issue and concern for them especially if things went sideways like she expected. Civilians could end up getting in the way during a chase, or becoming hostages or even picking up guns and attacking them themselves, there was no way to know for sure how they would react and it worried her. She tilted her head to the side, watching as the residents came and went, leaving their trailers with arms full of fresh washing, calling out to each other with a familiarity as they went about their own individual business. It would be easy for Doran to grab one of them and use them in some fashion to get away from them. The whole scene was a disaster just waiting to happen.
Danni continued to nibble on her lower lip, frowning slightly as she mentally weighed their chances. The people had turned to them when they had driven up, their expressions curious at first before they were slowly replaced with looks of distrust, clearly viewing the pairs of them as outsiders to their small community. It was a look which did nothing to ease Danni's feelings of concern, if anything the looks merely elevated them to a new level. Danni had seen looks similar to them back on the streets of New Jersey and the resulting confrontation had never ended well for either side involved. It was the look of someone who had very little to their name but who would fight to the death, regardless of who they were fighting, to protect what little they did have in the world. It was the look of someone who believed that they had nothing to lose and everything to gain and it was a look which Danni dreaded seeing the most out of every other expression she had so far encountered on the job.
It didn't take a rocket scientist to realise that she and McGarrett were standing on shaky ground here. Anything they did may be a trigger to the people here which would set off any of the numerous situations racing round her brain. The people in front of them wouldn't hesitate to attack them if they felt as though they were being provoked, especially since the pair of them were dressed in their own clothes rather than the familiar uniform of HPD.
Danni reached up and pinched the bridge of her nose, her eyes closing again. They needed to use her cell phone and ring through to dispatch for assistance since the car they were in didn't have a car radio they could use. Choosing any other option at that moment in time would be stupid and if there was one thing which Danni tried not to be when she was at work it was stupid.
She opened her eyes once more, giving the scene in front of her one final glance before she leaned back, tilting her head to right so she could focus on McGarrett instead.
He looked calm and collected though that was hardly a surprise for her. He had clearly faced a hell of a lot worse situation then this on in his time as an Active Navy SEAL and survived it well enough. Something like this must have been a walk in the park for him, just something which he could do alone and in his sleep.
Danni continued watching as he pulled out a gun from the waistband of his cargo pants and checked the clip before quickly reassembling the gun. For a second he seemed to just stare down at it, his grip tightening on it before he turned to look at Danni, his eyes meeting hers with an intense look which sent a shiver down her spine suddenly making her glad that she was on the same team as the man next to her and not someone who he considered an enemy. She remained still under his searching eyes, breathing out silently when the intense look lessened and he nodded at her. A moment later his seatbelt was off and he was shoving the door of the passenger side open and stepping out, slipping his gun back into the waistband of his cargo pants and covering the weapon with the grey shirt he was wearing so it was out of sight of any of the locals.
She blinked, her mouth falling open for a moment as she realised exactly what he was planning to do.
"Hey" She called after him quickly before he could shut the door on her. She quickly reached down and hit the button for her seatbelt, pulling it off of her so she could lean across the gearstick, her eyes focusing on the back of his head as he scoped out the scene. "Hey McGarrett" She was close enough to hear him sigh before he twisted round and leaned down, one arm resting casually on top of the door as he stared at her, his eyebrow raised in a questioning look.
"Yes Williams?" He asked calmly, an almost curious undertone to his voice.
"What do you think you're doing right now Commander? Where are you going?" She asked him, noticing a flash of something across his blue eyes before it was gone leaving a thoughtful look in its place. "Just… please get back into the car for a moment so that we can come up with a plan about how we're going to handle this. I don't know whether you have noticed that this is not the type of place or situation where we should be running in with our guns blazing, demanding answers. If we do that than its most likely that all hell will break lose and someone will get hurt in the crossfire, someone who may have absolutely nothing to do with it in the first place."
McGarrett's eyebrow rose higher before he straightened up, his head moving side to side as he searched the scene again. She thought for a second that she might have gotten through to him but instead he leaned down again and spoke.
"You're worrying unnecessarily Williams" He told her. "I've been in situations like this countless of times in the past and things have always worked out fine in the past-"
"Probably because you had a full team of SEALs with you" She interjected, sighing when he continued on speaking as though she had remained silent.
"We don't need an elaborate plan for what we're planning on doing. You've done your research on him so we already know what trailer number is his. All we need to do is find his trailer, gain entry to the property, arrest him and bring him back to headquarters for questioning so we can learn what he knows about Hesse. How his arrest goes down is completely dependent on him and how he reacts to us." McGarrett stated.
"How he reacts to us?" Danni repeated as her heart sank in her chest. "Did you even read the file which I put together on him before we headed out here?" She asked. "Doran is a known arms dealer who is suspected of a brutal murder with psychotic tendencies. The minute he knows who we are is the minute that everything will go sideways. That's why we need a plan and a backup plan as well to limit the amount of collateral damage."
"If things are going to go sideways regardless then what would be the point of a plan in the first place? The only thing we need to do is to gain entry to the trailer once that happens then we shall have all we need to arrest him, there's bound to be something illegal in the trailer" McGarrett remarked with a careless shrug.
"And if there isn't?" Danni countered. "What if we get in there and there's nothing or worse, if there is something in there but we can't use it because we broke into his home? If we do that then nothing of what he find can be used in court, unless you're planning on letting Doran go if he leads us to Hesse."
"Hesse is our primary goal" McGarrett told her, a harsh tone coming to his voice as his eyes narrowed.
"He is" She agreed, watching as some of the tension in his shoulders eased at her words. "But he shouldn't be our only goal. Doran is a bad man, if we can get him off the streets then we should."
McGarrett made a sound of annoyance at the back of his throat, looking as though he was resisting the urge to roll his eyes before he focused back on her.
"It will all be useless if we break in?" He repeated, waiting until she nodded before "The judge and DA and whoever deal with what happens afterwards won't be able to use it?"
"Exactly" She said with a nod. "It's our jobs to bring them in but we also have to be able to provide the DA with a case so they can make sure he's convicted. You might not be bothered with the aftermath but I can promise you that they are and so am I. I'm not going to let people we take in go free due to us not following the correct procedure. Our arrests have to stand McGarrett, we can't let them get overthrown in the court of law if we can help it." She told him. For a moment he was silent before he spoke.
"This means a lot to you doesn't it?" He asked her with a frown.
"Being able to put the criminals away and ensuring that they stay there is why I became a cop in the first place" She replied, meeting his gaze, determined not to back down.
"Fine, in that case we get him to invite us in. If he invites us in then all that evidence which we both know will be there will be able to be used. Once he's in our custody you can call dispatch and tell them to send a CSU team down here to secure the evidence. Happy now Williams?" He asked her.
"I'd be happier if you let me phone dispatch now and ask them to send up some backup before we do this. In case it's escaped your notice there is only the two of us here. Doran is likely to put up a fight and it would be stupid to think that he's here alone without some allies of his own. We shouldn't be doing this without some kind of backup"
"You're the backup" He stated, flashing her a smile which didn't reflect in his eyes before he straightened again, slamming the door shut behind him as he began walking down the rocky path which led to the trailers, leaving Danni sitting alone in her silent car with what she was sure was a stunned look on her face.
"I'm the backup" She repeated to herself, shaking her head as she spoke. "I hate him, I may actually hate him. If he get us killed here then I'm going to bring him back to life somehow just to kill him myself."
She glanced down at her hand which was still resting on the key in the ignition, tempted for a split second to start the car back up and leave McGarrett where he was, coming back later to pick him up once he had done what he was planning on doing but instead she merely sighed and dropped her hand instead.
She couldn't leave him here alone, the man was officially her partner now and she had never left her partner alone before, especially not during a case. McGarrett was counting on her to have his back and she couldn't let him down. Cursing in her mind, she leaned down and grabbed her bag from the passenger side foot well, kicking off her heels and quickly pulled out the her ballet pumps from her bag and slipped them on, thankful that she had gone with her gut instinct back at the house and brought them. Somehow she had the feeling that she would need them.
Danni climbed out of the car, shutting her own door and shouldering her bag before she quickly locked the vehicle and headed down the path which McGarrett had taken. It didn't take more than a moment for her to spot McGarrett's tall frame in front of her, his head moving from side to side no doubt checking out the numbers of the trailers as he searched for the one they wanted. Danni shook her head, saying a quick prayer for strength as she hurried after him. She caught up with him, slipping past him and twisted round in front of him, reaching out with her palm and placing it against his chest, pushing against him and stopping him in his tracks though she was under no illusions that it was her strength which stopped him, more his curiosity about what she was doing.
"Will you please just stop for a moment and think. You don't even know which direction you're meant to be heading in, you're just wandering about this large place hoping for the best. Do you see now why actually having a plan or at least speaking to your partner before leaving the car is a good idea? Plans are a good thing to have McGarrett. Plans tend to stop mistake occurring or stops us wasting our time. They also tend to stop people from being shot because they've done something stupid like walking blindly into a situation they know very little about. I personally like having a plan in place so please can we both just stop for a moment and discuss how we're going to do this before something happens which neither of us back take back." She remarked firmly.
McGarrett stared at her face for a moment before he looked down at her hand which was still pressed against his chest with a slight frown on his face as though he was surprised that it was there though he made no effort to push her hand away, instead he merely looked back at her and spoke.
"I said what our plan was back at the car, find his trailer, get into his trailer, arrest him and then find out everything which he knows about Hesse" McGarrett commented.
"You make it sound so easy when it's anything but easy" She said tiredly. "How exactly do you plan for us to get invited into his trailer? How, if by some miracle it happens, are you planning on getting those answers when every other attempt to have the man talk has failed? I hate to be the one to tell you this Commander but any techniques which the Army may have taught you can't be used in the real world because they aren't legal in the real world. We're cops, or rather I am a cop, which means that as much as we may want to or as much as he may actually deserve it, neither of us can touch him in anything but self-defence. If we want information from him which the DA can actually use in the courtroom then we need to somehow convince him to talk without resorting to either violence or coercion to get it."
McGarrett remained silent, his body still as he continued to watch her with an expressionless look on his face which made her wonder what it was he was exactly thinking. She waited, giving him time and was rewarded a moment later when he spoke.
"I was in the Navy Detective, not in the army" He corrected her mildly.
Danni blinked at him as she dropped her hand from his chest.
"That's cute" She commented dryly. "So that's what you took away from what I just said to you then is it?" She demanded with a shake of her head as she stepped towards him, entering his personal space and glaring up at him ignoring their blatant height difference. "Right now Commander I don't care whether you served your time in the army or the navy or eve the flipping air force. The only thing I care about is us getting this right the first time round and not messing it up over something small which could have easily been avoided." She told him, wondering not for the first time how she had ended up being partnered to someone like McGarrett if he had no intention on listening to what she had to say to him. "You are aware Commander that you're heading in the wrong direction, this is number sixty while the one beside it is sixty two. Doran lives at ninety one which would be in the opposite direction so down there" she told him, pointing past McGarrett towards one of the narrow trail ways.
McGarrett's eyes narrowed at her before they flickered away to focus on the trailer numbers. She caught sight of his frown as he turned to look back towards him, his face dropping into a glare. Danni stared back with an impassive look, crossing her arms over her chest as she waited for him to say something.
"Hey beautiful, I'm thinking that you might be ever so slightly lost if you've ended up here. We don't tend to get many women who look like you in these parts!"
Danni blinked as an unfamiliar voice spoke attracting their attention. She frowned slightly as she took a step to the side so she could see past McGarrett, her gaze landing on a group of young men who were gathered together in one of the small pathways between the trailers just beyond where they were currently standing. She counted seven of them in total though there could easily have been more of them hidden from their sight. The eldest of the group looked as though he was in his very early twenties while the youngest must have been fourteen or fifteen with the rest fitting between the two of them in age.
"Lost?" Danni repeated, raising her voice up slightly so the group could hear her over the surrounding noise. "Normally you would be right but on this occasion I'm not lost. I happen to know exactly where I'm going unlike some other people who I happen to know" She commented lightly with a smile at them. She took a step towards them, tilting her head to the side as she dropped her hand to McGarrett's wrist, wrapping her fingers around it and digging her nails into the soft flesh, her gaze and smile never wavering from the group. McGarrett was a military man so she was sure he would take her gesture as she meant it to be taken. A silent way of informing him that she would take the lead with the boys. If McGarrett decided to take the lead then the group might scatter and get word to Doran that they were coming. The last thing they could lose was their element of surprise.
"Are you sure you aren't because you and your boyfriend look lost" A second voice piped up. Danni's eyes flickered over the faces until she found the owner of the voice. A tall, slim boy of about seventeen or eighteen with a mop of dark, shaggy hair which looked in need of a good cut and a pair of dark eyes which looked concerned in the overhead sunlight. "I mean this place is like a rabbit warren. It's real easy to get lost around here you know? We've learnt how to navigate it so we could help you if there was somewhere you needed to go?" He offered, a flush of pink dusting his cheekbones as he stared at Danni.
"I appreciate your offer but I think my friend and I will be okay" Danni responded pleasantly ignoring the way some of the faces lit up at her words. She took another step towards them, letting go of McGarrett's wrist and slotted her body between him and the boys. "Would you mind if I ask you a question before you go?" She asked, keeping the expression on her face open and friendly. There was a moment of silence from the group as they glanced towards each other before turning as one back to her.
"That will depend on what your question is" One of the older boys commented, a trace of suspicion to his voice. Danni would have placed this one at around twenty in age, he appeared nervous if the way his eyes kept flickering between her, McGarrett and the surrounding area was any indication to go by though she noted that he was clearly trying to keep that nervousness hidden from his friends.
"I'm guessing that you all must have lived here for the majority of your lives right?" She asked them interestedly, crossing her arms lightly across her chest in a non-threatening move. The boys looked at each other again, seemingly considering her question for a moment before they focused back at her. Some of them nodding their answers while others chose to either grunt or say yes to her. She smiled before continuing. "So in that case you must know everyone who lives here then?"
"Everybody who lives here knows everybody else and they know all their business as well. It's hard to keep secrets here." The youngest answered her, mirroring her stance as he spoke. "It's a small neighbourhood lady and some of the people here don't like strangers or newbies arriving."
"Well I can understand them feeling like that" Danni agreed with a nod, aware of McGarrett moving slightly behind her as though he was shifting from one foot to the other, a movement some of the boys noticed if the way their eyes automatically shot to look at him was any indication. "I mean this area belongs to all of you. It's your home. It would make complete sense that you would all want to know who was here and where they were at any given time right. That way you know who is trouble for you and who isn't. If you know who the troublemakers are then you can easily stay away from them and make sure you and your families are protected"
"That's right" Came the reply from one of them followed by a general murmur of agreement from the others.
"So in that case you must all know where Fred Doran currently is" She ended flashing them another warm, reassuring smile as she closed her trap.
The change which came over the group of boys at the mention of Fred Doran's name was almost instantaneous. One moment the boys had been relaxed and clearly happy to talk to Danni about anything she wanted for as long as she wanted, the next their body language shifted becoming wary and alerted instead. The boys who had been spread out from each other, leaning against the side of the trailers or hunched down immediate straightened or came to their feet and moved back to the main body of the group, packing in tightly.
"I think you should probably take that as the answer to your question" McGarrett murmured quietly as he stepped up beside her. She spared him a quick glance from the corner of her eye, automatically picking up on the way his body tensed slightly, clearly ready to leap into action if the need suddenly arose.
"Why do you want to know where big D is? No one ever wants to know where he is" One of the younger boys near the centre asked them anxiously. "Are you the cops or something?"
"No" McGarrett responded before Danni could speak to reassure him. "Do I look like a cop?" He demanded, waving a hand down himself. The boys looked at him, clearly noting the casual way he was dressed and the tattoos peeking out from the sleeve of his t-shirt and relaxed slightly.
"No" One of the other said, almost hesitantly.
"What about the Lady?" Another one asked but his query was answered by one of the other boys.
"Cops don't wear dresses" He stated "And they don't look like her, haven't you watch TV." He scoffed with a wave of his hand.
"We just got some business which we need to take care of with Doran. He's got quite the rep outside of this place as well so we want to see him and take care of a few things" McGarrett said, cutting through the potential argument which was clearly brewing.
The others shared another look, silently communicating with each other before they looked back at them yet again, this time their eyes focusing on Danni, clearly finding her the easier of the two to speak to. She couldn't blame them for feeling that way. McGarrett was rather intimidating to look at, especially when he had his unreadable expression on his face like he did now."
"If you're looking for big D then you're going the wrong way, he lives down that way" The eldest said speaking for the first time as he pointed down the same way which Danni had indicated earlier. "You can't miss his trailer because it's the only one around with a fence covered in barb wire around it. Everyone who lives here knows that you don't step foot past that fence unless Big D is expecting you or your business with him is legit. A few people found that out the hard way."
"Like never seen again hard way" The youngest piped up, rubbing at his arm as though he was cold.
"Just walk two minutes back that way. We saw him earlier through the window of his trailer so he is in" The eldest said again, wrapping an arm around the youngest. There was enough similar features between the two that Danni would bet that they were brothers.
"Thank you for letting us know, it good that we haven't made a wasted journey down here to see him." Danni remarked with a smile.
The younger man searched her face for a moment before he spoke.
"You may not feel the same way shortly" He remarked wisely, sounding older than his years before he turned to the other boys. "Let's head out of here guys" He stated, giving Danni one final glance before he headed away from them in the opposite direction to Doran's trailer, clearly wanting to put as much space between them and the trailer as possible.
Danni watched them leave, raising an eyebrow when the boy with the shaggy haircut stopped suddenly and looked back towards her with a worried expression. He hesitated for a moment before he spoke, the words rushing together.
"You should be careful when you head over there" He told her, keeping his gaze on her to indicate who he was speaking to. "Big D hates women, especially Ha'ole women and he has no problem showing them how much he hates them if you know what I mean" He warned them, scuffing his trainer against the dirt floor. "He says that the only thing a woman is good for is sex and cleaning and he likes…" His voice trailed off. Instead he lifted his hand towards his face and waved it towards the area of his cheek with an awkward look.
"He likes to hit them" Steve finished for him.
A relieved look came to the young boy's face as he nodded at them.
"I see" Danni said slowly, looking over her shoulder in the direction of where Doran's trailer was situated before glancing back again. "I'll be fine, I'm tougher than I look. You should go and catch up with the rest of your friends and stay with them. There is no point in you getting involved any further, we don't want you or your friends to be hurt if something happens."
The boy nodded once at them before he turned and disappeared through the same gap his friends had gone leaving Danni and McGarrett alone in the area.
"You know I'm surprised they have up that information to us so quickly, it must have been because you were the one asking the questions." McGarrett commented, breaking the silence between them. Danni considered the comment for a moment before she shrugged.
"Maybe that's a part of it but I doubt it" She answered, going on to explain when he shot her a questioning look. "Doran is clearly the big man on campus here who runs the trailer park with an iron fist. If I had to hazard a guess I would say that those boys were hanging out together for protection. You know safety in numbers and all that. They've probably had a run in with Doran or his associates who have visited him in the past because the minute you said we were heading over to him about business was the minute they ran in the opposite direction. They were terrified by the mere mention of Doran's name though they tried to hide it from us." She said, breathing out as she absently reach up and pulled at her lower lip thoughtfully before speaking again. "You heard the warning that boy gave us. Doran hates women and he clearly is in the habit of mistreating them."
"So he said" McGarrett remarked his eyes narrowing slightly as he looked at him. "And if you were going to give him a psyche analysis what would you say?"
Danni blinked in surprise at the question before she answered it.
"I would say that it's likely that Doran was abused as a child either by his mother or some other woman in his early life who he had a lot of contact with. If it was his mother than he probably loved and hated her in equal measures. He wanted and needed her approval and hated the fact that he felt that way. Instead of focusing his rage on the source he instead focuses it on women in general. It's a classic tale really" She remarked, looking towards McGarrett surprised to see he was staring at her, a glint in his eyes as though he was impressed with what she had told him though it was hard to tell. "What?" She queried, tilting her head to one side. "You look surprised by what I said. I just like to state for the record that I am more than just a pretty face."
"So I can see" McGarrett answered her, his eyes moving across her features with an almost warm look which took her by surprise. "Let's head out" He remarked, his voice changing as it became business like again. He moved passed her, leading the way down the narrow path the boys had indicated, silence falling between them. Danni watched the trailers to either side of her carefully. She could feel eyes watching them but no one approached them or came outside to challenge them which she was grateful for. "There it is" McGarrett said, breaking the quiet as he came to a halt, nodding to the trailer in front of it. Danni looked at it, her eyes taking in the detail. It was larger than the surrounding trailers but that didn't surprise her. "Are you ready?" He asked her. Danni finished her scan of the trailer before she nodded at him.
"I'm as ready as I'll ever be" She responded.
McGarrett nodded, brushing past her as he began his journey towards the trailer, Danni following quietly behind him, thoughts dancing around her head. If she had known that her day would end up the way it was going then she would have worn trousers or better yet, simply stayed in bed with her duvet pulled over her head.
McGarrett came to a sudden stop, reaching out with his hand and grabbed Danni by her arm, pulling her back against one of the nearby trailers into partial shadow, he glanced towards her and placed a finger against his mouth before looking away again. Danni looked past him in time to see the door to Doran trailer slam open and a young woman in her early twenties stormed out. She was dressed in a pair of shorts and a bikini top, both of which had clearly seen better days. Her straight blond hair fell to her shoulders in a state of tangles as though she hadn't brushed it a while. There was a large bruise around her eyes which looked extremely painful and extremely fresh indicating that that particular injury had only just occurred.
"I'm so done with you and with all your shit as well! You've ruined my god damn life you son of a bitch!" She screamed over her shoulder as she took the trailer steps two at a time. The door behind her opened again with enough force that the glass in the door shook and cracked under the impact.
"And right there is the man of the hour himself." She murmured softly to McGarrett as Fred Doran emerged from his home, a look of rage twisting his features.
"Jaycee! Get back in here now! I'm not finished with your scrawny ass yet." He screamed back at the girl, standing at the top of the stairs as the girl made her way across the dusty ground, a beach bag clasped tightly in her hand.
"What part of me saying that I'm done with you don't you understand Freddie" She yelled back at him. "I'm through with all of this shit, trust me when I say that you won't see me again. I was an idiot to even listen to you and come here in the first place."
Danni looked towards Steve as he stiffened next to her at the girl's nickname for Doran but was stopped from thinking about it further when Doran yelled again attracting her attention back to the scene in front of her.
"Who the hell are you kidding bitch, you'll be back here before the day is through because that's what you always do! You always come running back to me. You'd be lost without me and we both know it" He told her, his mouth twisting into a sneer before he turned and stormed back into the house, slamming the door behind him again.
Danni breathed out as she shook her head, tracking the movement of the girl who disappeared towards the direction of the small car park.
"Well that's the picture of a healthy and happy relationship isn't it?" She remarked sarcastically, glancing down at McGarrett's hand which was still wrapped around her arm when he squeezed down on it.
"It was something" McGarrett responded. "Doran is clearly something which we can deal with though" He stated, making a move towards the side of the trailer where a window was partially open.
"Hey, hey, hey stop okay, I know what you're thinking of doing and we can't do that. Did you not listen earlier when I told you that we can't break into the property if we want to use the evidence inside? We have to get invited inside." She stated as she lunged forward and wrapped both arms round his arm to stop him moving any further.
"And how do you expect to do that?" He replied sounding annoyed at her. "Do you want us to just walk up to his front door, knock and ask nicely whether we can come in, talk to him and arrest him while asking him politely not to shoot us with any of the guns he probably has in there."
"That is exactly what I want us to do." She replied, ignoring his startled look. "You said it yourself earlier that all we need to do is get into the trailer which we can do now if we knock because Doran is going to think that we're Jaycee coming back to talk to him, he's going to open that door because he's going to want to be proven right that she can't do without him. He has no idea we're coming and as you said to those boys neither of us look particularly like a cop… or rather you certainly don't look like one." She corrected herself, giving him a quick once over. "Once we're inside it will be easy to arrest him, we won't even have to work hard to do it."
"How do you work that out?" He asked.
"Because of all those illegal guns which he will want to use on us." She answered him, her mouth curling into a small smile. "He won't be expecting us so he's bound to have some of them at least on display, weapons which I highly doubt have permits attached to them and ones which is CSU were to test them would probably come back linking him to some cold case on the island. We get invited in like you wanted, we arrest him like I want and then we use that evidence to get a warrant from a judge which will give us permission to rip that trailer apart which is what the DA will want from us. We'll have enough to put him away for life and you Commander will get your time with him to question him about Hesse." She told him.
"And what do you get out of it?" McGarrett questioned.
"What I get out of it is being able to go home tonight without an injury so I can be there when my ex drops our daughter home. As far as I can see it's a win-win situation for everyone. In fact the only person who doesn't get what they want is Fred Doran and his opinion doesn't greatly matter to me right now." She remarked, biting on her lower lip again as she searched his eyes.
"You do realise that the minute we're in there he's going to go for one of those guns and try and shoot us to escape right?" McGarrett stated with a raised eyebrow.
Danni nodded slowly, glancing towards the trailer before she looked back at Steve.
"Well that is a strong possibility but we're prepared for that. If he shoots us or tries and makes a break for it then we'll be ready for it. I give you permission to shoot him in a non-fatal area of his body though if he does manage to hit me then I hope the area you pick will cause him a lot of pain. I have complete confidence in your ability to do that for me."
"That wouldn't be a problem." He answered her with a half-smile before he turned serious and jerked his head towards the trailer. "Can we go and arrest the man now Danni or are we going to stand here and discuss the situation a bit more?"
"We can move out" She told him with a nod, her eyes widening when she realised that McGarrett had referred to her by her given name for the first time. Her shoulders slumped down, if he was going to start referring to her as Danni then she would have to return the favour and call him Steve.
McGarrett lightly pulled his arm from her grasp and headed towards the trailer, adjusting his course so he was moving in the direction of the front door rather than the window. She followed him, hunching down when he stopped at the side of the door, plastering himself against the trailer before he looked back at her with a frown and spoke, his voice barely audible.
"Have you got your gun with you?"
"Have I got my gun with me?" She hissed back quietly. "Don't you think it's slightly too late for you to be asking me a question as important as that? Luckily for you I'm a professional and so I always have my gun with me because I am a cop and it's what we're meant to do."
"Where is the gun?" He questioned back, his eyes flickering up and down her body with a look which almost looked puzzled.
"That doesn't matter right now Steve. All that matter is that I have my gun with me so let's get this over and done with so I can be home in time to greet my daughter." She replied, fighting the sudden urge to shake him. McGarrett remained silent, his eyes still looking at her before he turned away and before he straightened. Danni rolled her eyes at him before she moved out of her own hunched position and slipped past him to stand in front of the door. For a moment she wished she had slipped her heels into the bag she had brought with her so she could have pull them on but she pushed the thought away as she reached out and knocked three times on the wood. A glance towards McGarrett had him standing stiffly beside her, a look on his face which made him almost look constipated. She couldn't help the smile which came to her face at the sight of it. She whistled softly and spoke once she had his attention. "I'll knock one more time, if that doesn't work then we'll figure something else out" She promised, noticing the way his eyes lit up at her words.
Shaking her head, Danni reached up to knock again, dropping it when she heard Doran's voice on the other side of the door, getting louder with every word he uttered as though he was approaching them.
"What did I tell you Jaycee, I told you that you would come crawling back to me bitch. You just can't keep away from me, have you realised now that no one else would put up with any of your shit? I-" The door was flung open revealing Doran, his dark eyes widening briefly before they narrowed. "Who the hell are you? I'm not-"
"This would work better for all of us if you don't do anything stupid right now." Danni warned him, keeping her tone pleasant. "My partner and I just want to have a word with you and we all know that you can't reach any of your guns quick enough to use against us. We on the other hand don't have that problem." She told him, nodding her head towards McGarrett.
Doran's cold eyes focused on her, narrowing further as he gave her a blatant look up and down in a way which made her want to shudder though she kept her face expressionless. He licked his lips before he spoke, his eyes still fixed on her as though he was silently challenging her to react.
"You're a cop lady, I can almost taste it on you. I don't talk to cops, especially not one like you" He hissed.
Danni allowed her mouth to curl upwards into a humourless smile at his words.
"Well I don't particularly like talking to scumbags like you either but it would appear that we all have to do things today which we don't want to. Now this is how it's going to work Fred. You're going to invite my partner and I into your trailer. If you don't then I'm going to step to one side and allow the Commander to deal with you the way they are taught to deal with uncooperative people in the SEALs. I'm sure you don't want to deal with that amount of pain and I don't particularly want to have to deal with the added paperwork. The only person here who wants you to go that route is the Commander here." She ended thoughtfully, looking towards McGarrett who sole focus was on Doran, a look in his eyes which reminded her of the nature documentaries she and Grace tended to watch together. She turned her attention back to Doran noticing that he had followed her gaze. "Looking at his expression I would hazard a guess that he really doesn't like you and that doesn't tend to end well for anyone. I don't want to force you into anything. I mean you are free to exert your rights to refuse but personally I suggest you do it my way. It's less bother and will cause less pain all around" She remarked with a shrug of her shoulders.
She waited quietly as Doran's eyes flickered between the two of them, his hand curling into a fist at his side. She could almost see him mentally weighing up his options to see whether she was right or not. He suddenly growled in his throat, a look of hate coming to his face as he took a step back leaving the entrance to the trailer open.
"Come in" He stated through gritted teeth, each word sounding like it pained him.
"Thank you, we will" Danni remarked calmly, she took a single step forward, stopping abruptly when McGarrett's arm shot out in front of her, creating a barrier and stopping her from entering the trailer. She shot him a questioning look, rolling her eyes when he stepped in front of her, blocking her from Doran's view with his own tense body. She shook her head as she followed him into the room.
Danni looked around her, her nose wrinkling up in disgust as she took in the state of the interior. The place was a complete and utter mess to the point that she wondered how anyone, even someone like Doran who clearly didn't care too much for personal hygiene, could live there comfortable. She moved around McGarrett, her attention focusing on a low table to the right hand side of them, a table which was covered with scales and lines of suspicious looking white powder which could only be one thing in her opinion. A second glance round showed that there were different type of guns and other weapons everywhere, some poorly hidden while others were in plain view as though Doran had been in the process of cleaning them or even using them for something.
Danni moved further into the main room, getting herself into a position where McGarrett could see her without having to take his attention away from Doran, she met his eyes for a second and gave a slight nod towards him, telling him without words for him to take the bulk of the interview while she continued to look around. She received a single nod back from McGarrett before he turned his gaze to Doran again and spoke in a cold, deadly voice which she hadn't experienced before, a voice which sent a shiver down her spine.
"I have a few questions for you" McGarrett commented. "And how you give me those answers really doesn't concern me. We can either do this the easy way or the hard way because the truth is I'm not interested in you Doran, I'm only interested in the information you provide to us."
"You want information" Doran repeated, sounding almost surprised for a moment as though that had been the last thing he had expected them to want. "And what sort of information do you and your little pet Ha'ole want because I got nothing to say to a pair of cops."
"You gave a man called Victor Hesse a gun, I want you to tell me where he is and how he contacted you. Did he call you on a cell number or was it via another way? Tell me and I'll leave you in my partner's capable hands. She's gentler than I am when it comes to people like you mainly because she remembers the law. She may just limit it to a bullet in the kneecap rather than one in the head which is what I would be tempted to do" McGarrett commented casually. Danni raised an eyebrow at the comment as she quietly moved around the room, using Doran's distraction to their advantage.
"How about this for information. I'm gonna tell you jack shit about what you want so take your Ha'ole and leave my trailer before I forget my manners and show you exactly what I do with people who aren't welcome here." Doran responded.
"Well, that sounds to me like you want this to go the hard way which is good for me. At least the fact I offered should appease my partner." McGarrett remarked, sounding pleased by the turn of events. Danni ignored the conversation as she headed back over to the table she had first seen and stood beside it, reaching into her bag and pulling out a fresh pair of adhesive gloves. She pulled them on.
"What the hell are you doing over there bitch? That ain't got nothing to do with you so get away from there." Doran yelled angrily.
Danni ignored him as she tilted her head to the side thoughtfully before she leaned towards the table surface and took a small pinch of the white powder between her fingertips, grinding it between the pads so she could feel the texture of it. She made a tutting sound before she spoke.
"Really Fred, going the cliché route of having drugs on view? And here I was thinking you were just a gun smuggler and murderer." She commented on a sigh. "Didn't your mother ever warn you just how much trouble you could get into when it came to drugs?"
Doran's face turned scarlet making his eyes appear all the darker.
"What are you deaf or something? I told you to get the hell away from there!" He yelled again, twisting on the spot and racing towards her. Danni tensed getting ready to dodge out of the way, her mind already slowing and picking up the potential weapons she could use to knock him out and defend herself when Doran suddenly stopped short with another yell, this time of pain, as he fell to his knees, one arm wrenched hard behind his back with enough force that it could have been broken. Doran moaned in pain before he started cursing at them. Danni disregarded it, her eyes coming up to stare at McGarrett's face as he spoke, directing his comment to the man he was holding.
"You know going for my partner is a really stupid move to make." He growled, jerking Doran's arm further up causing Doran to yell out in pain again.
"Commander" Danni said mildly, an undercurrent of warning to her voice as she continued speaking. "The last thing either of us want is to have to take him to hospital so if you could lower his arm slightly then I would appreciate it." McGarrett glanced up at her for a second before he complied with her request. "Thank you" Danni remarked calmly as she pulled off her adhesive gloves.
"I'm going to kill you, you fucking bitch. There will be nowhere on this island that you can hide from me." Doran stated, panting with pain as he glared daggers at her. Danni shrugged lightly at the threat, forcing herself to keep her face in its thoughtful expression.
"You know that the more you open your mouth the more you make my life easier right Fred?" She asked him, picking up on the sudden look of confusion which briefly crossed his face. "If I was you then I would serious consider using my right to maintain my silence right about now. At the moment we have you on possession of illegal drugs, suspicion of intent to sell, possession of illegal weapons, attempting to assault a member of the Governor's personal task force" She stopped, crossing her arms over her chest before she brought one hand up to her face so she could tap her fingertip against her cheek. "What about you Commander? Is there anything you can think of at the top of your head that I missed out from the charges?"
"We could probably add the fact that he is an accomplice to a murder and that he's withheld evidence and knowledge during an ongoing investigation. Perhaps we could charge him with being a dickhead as well" McGarrett suggested, sounding as thoughtful as Danni had.
"Well I'm not sure whether the last charge would stick in a court of the law but I would be willing to give it a go and see whether the DA would make Fred here the exception to the rule. Of course let's not forget the death threats which he has been making against the two of us as well. That is never a good idea so based on all of that I think we have enough to arrest him" She finished, placing the used gloves into a small plastic bag she kept in her bag to throw away later before she spoke to McGarrett. "Have you got him secure there?" She queried.
"He isn't going anywhere unless he wants to try and live the next few months with a badly broken arm" McGarrett replied calmly.
"Let's hope he's sensible then and doesn't try anything" Danni remarked mildly, her attention on the bag she was searching through. She made a humming sound as she pulled out her handcuffs and moved towards them, her gaze moving briefly to Doran before focusing back on McGarrett. "If you could lower his arms for me" She asked politely, waiting until McGarrett had yanked them both down before attaching the cuffs on, binding his wrist behind his back and reading him his Miranda rights before turning back to her new partner. "Thank you, you stay here while I head outside to make those calls that we should have made earlier starting with the on duty judge who can give us the arrest warrant we need for him." She stated with a nod at Doran.
"Don't be too long, I want to start searching this place" McGarrett responded.
"It will take as long as it takes" She replied simply, reaching out and patting his arm as she turned and headed towards the door before stopping and looking back at him. "For the record I could have handled myself if it had come to it but I appreciate the gesture, it was…" She hesitated for a moment over the word before smiling at him. "Cute, unnecessary but still cute."
She turned away from him before he could respond to her comment, pulling out her cell phone and going through her contacts until she had the one which would connect her to the courts.
She couldn't shake the feeling as she waited for her call to connect that this day was going to get a whole lot more interesting before it was finally done.
Author Note
Thanks for taking the time to read. An especially big thank you if you have left me a review, favourite the story or decided to follow it.
I really appreciate it