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, Kamekona Tupuola, 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.
I hope you're all enjoying reading this as much as I've been enjoying writing it.
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
Danni breathed out as she pulled her car into the Ali'iolani Hale car park and into the space which she had used earlier. The car park itself had several empty spaces making her wonder who exactly they would be sharing the building with. It would have to be a department which was connected in some way to the justice system but she couldn't think of who would fit that description.
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
Hints of Steve McGarrett / Danni Williams (McDanni)
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.
Another 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 Thirteen
Three heads are better than two
Thursday 23rd September 2010
3rd Floor
Ali'iolani Hale
417 King Street
Honolulu
Oahu
Danni breathed out as she pulled her car into the Ali'iolani Hale car park and into the space which she had used earlier. The car park itself had several empty spaces making her wonder who exactly they would be sharing the building with. It would have to be a department which was connected in some way to the justice system but she couldn't think of who would fit that description.
Pushing the thought to the back of her mind she gathered her belongings together, smiling at Steve when he picked her bag up for her and held it our for her to take. She thanked him absently as she pushed her car door open and climbed out, closing it behind her as she squinted slightly in the bright overhead sun before focusing her attention on Chin as he approached the car, a wide grin on his face which brought an answering smile to her own.
"You know I really have to hand it to the pair of you, your new task force hasn't been established for longer than a few hours at most but within that time you've managed somehow to secure the Ali'iolani Hale as our headquarters. That is an impressive feat because let's be honest shall we, this building beats the one where HPD are housed by far." He stated, waving a hand to the building behind him. Danni followed the movement, her eyes scanning their headquarters thoughtfully, wondering whether she would be happier here than she had been at HPD. She looked back towards Chin, realising quickly that he was waiting for a response from either Steve or himself. She glanced towards Steve, sighing inwardly when she saw his expression, knowing instantly that he wasn't going to say anything.
"I actually had nothing to do with our headquarter location I'm afraid, this one is all on Steve so you'll have to ask him if you want to know how he managed it." She remarked lightly, shouldering her bag as she twisted round so she could lock the car.
Chin nodded at her, before he turned to look at Steve with a raised a questioning eyebrow at him.
"Well Steve? Care to share how you managed to secure us the building?"
Steve looked over the roof of the car at the pair of them, his eyes flickering between them before he shrugged casually and spoke.
"Nope"
Danni rolled her eyes at her partner's response before she turned to Chin who was studying Steve thoughtfully, probably wondering what exactly he had let himself in for. It was a response that she couldn't blame him for considering the amount of times she had thought the same thing since Steve had swept into her well-ordered life and turned it upside down in the space of a few hours.
"What Steve means to say Chin is that he has absolutely no idea how we ended up being stationed here. I doubt the thought of where we were going to be based had even crossed his mind because we've been focused completely on the case." Danni said, attracting both men's attention to her. "If I had to hazard a guess I would say that the Governor or more likely the Governor's personal assistant has been in contact with Steve and told him where to go, either during a previous phone call or via a text. That was probably when he found out." Danni remarked, twisting her head round so she could meet Steve's eyes, a smile coming to her face as she tilted her head to the side. "So, was I close in my assessment?" She queried, her smile widening into a rare grin when Steve made a huffing sound, rolling his eyes at her remark, telling her without words that she was spot on with her assumption. "Well, hopefully that's answered your question about the place Chin" She said, turning back to the older native.
"It certainly does Danni" Chin answered with a nod at her. "You're going to have to thank the lady in charge for us Steve." Chin, looked back towards the building, frowning slightly before he spoke again, changing the subject. "Is there anyone else who is based in the building at the moment or is it just us?" he asked.
Danni shrugged, grateful when Steve answered Chin's question.
"The Governor's decided that she wants to make more use of the building. We're going to be situation on the third floor and will have use of the basement for any interrogations which we need to do. I'm not sure who will be in the second floor but the fourth, fifth and sixth floor will belong to the District Attorney's office. The Governor eventually wants us to expand the team further so she may keep the second floor free in case we need to spread out more but who knows right now. Everything is still in the process of being done. The DA's office won't move in there until the beginning of November at the earliest so it's just us in there at present time as well as the guards who the Governor has temporary hired."
"The security will have to be top notch if you're going to have both the DA's office and the headquarters of the Governor's personal taskforce in the same building." Chin commented, a serious look on his face.
Steve nodded at the comment.
"The Governor has asked me to deal with the security of the building, she wants it secure and safe since like you said it will be a target now. She's given me a free rein to do as I see fit to accomplish that goal." Steve stated, the answer surprising Danni. He had made no mention to her of the secondary job of the Governor had given him. It made sense though, Steve would certainly have all the necessary knowledge and experience to make the building safe. The only question was what exactly he planned to do to ensure it.
"That will keep you busy then Brah" Chin remarked, his eyes flickering towards Danni for a moment before he continued to speak. "You know HPD have been trying to get permission to move into this building for the last five years or so. There are going to be quite a few ruffled feathers when they hear that the Governor has placed her own taskforce in, especially considering the fact that we've already got jurisdiction over them when it comes to cases. They could cause us some problems." He pointed out in a mild voice.
"To be honest Chin, whatever we do over the next few months will cause a lot of ruffled feathers one way or another. We'll just have to deal with it as we go. I can deal with the uniformed officers, I know most of them and we've build up a good amount of trust and respect during my time with HPD with each other. They'll support us in any situation we may find ourselves in. I've also befriended the dispatchers so we should have no issue with them. As for the other Detectives well…" She stopped for a moment, nibbling on her bottom lip before she straightened her shoulders and continued speaking. "Well they may cause some problems like you said. I'm good friends with Meka Hanamoa since he was my partner up until a few hours ago and there is Rory Donovan as well, he's a Detective form the mainland as well but that is it. It might be a good idea if someone else dealt with them other than me since I seem to be everything which they hate in one package." She remarked, pushing down the stab of hurt her comment caused her, hating that they had the power to pain her. She looked back to the building, her eyes narrowing slightly before she spoke again. "You know what I'm looking forward to the most about being in this building? I bet it actually has working air con. The one in the old building never worked, it was always breaking down." She said with a sigh, turning in time to catch the look of embarrassment which came over Chin's face as he moved from one foot to another. An action which caught Steve's attention as well if the way he suddenly stared at the older, native man was any indication to go by. "Why are you wearing that expression Chin? Is something wrong?" She asked him curiously.
Chin licked at his lips for a moment, his eyes flickering to Steve before he sighed and looked back to Danni, his hand reaching up and rubbing at the back of his neck.
"The Air condition system in the HPD building would have worked those times." He told her simply.
"No, it didn't" She replied with a shake of her head. "Trust me Chin, I just spent the last six months of my life stuck in the bullpen at HPD with the other Detectives and it didn't work once. It was beyond disgusting in that room by the late afternoon. It should have been illegal to work in such a hot office. I thought about…" her words trailed off abruptly when she caught the pitying look in his eyes, her stomach sinking as everything about the last six months slotted into place in her mind. She swallowed hard, glancing away for a second as she tilted her head to the side. "Oh" She said flatly. "I understand now. Don't tell me, someone was watching from the window, waiting for me to return and when they saw me they would turn off the air con because they knew the Ha'ole would suffer in the heat and they were hoping I would have enough and they could just drive me out. I guess hazing me and making me suffer on a daily basis was more important to the other Detective then, oh I don't know, actually doing the job we were hired to do, you know bringing people into justice for the crime they committed against innocent people. Silly of me to think differently" She stated as she crossed her arms over her chest before she looked down.
"Chin?" There was a demanding tone to Steve's voice, an undercurrent to it which sent a shiver down her spine and which Chin clearly recognised as he began to explain what he had meant by his comment.
"It was an old trick that the other detectives used to use anytime a Ha'ole joined the team. I never experienced it myself but I remember your Dad telling me about it when I first started on the force Steve. It's been going on a long time, long enough that they did it to him when he first started and that was in the late sixties, early seventies. If went on for eighteen months before they final gave up doing it, probably realising that your Dad wasn't going anywhere. I didn't realise that they were still allowing it to happen though." He stated. "The police department, especially the Detective section, don't like people who they considered stranger to their island coming and telling them what they should be doing, especially when that person in question is female. A lot of the guy's working there still hold old fashioned views there." He remarked quietly.
"So, I noticed when they were telling me that my place should be in the kitchen cooking for my family." Danni remarked, her voice expressionless matching the look on her face. There was no point in allowing it to bother her further. What was done was done and she would hopefully not have to experience that again. "We should probably head inside now" She stated, changing the subject abruptly. "The more time that we waste out here talking, the more time Hesse has to come up with a way to get off this island" She forced herself to remain calm, arms held easily at her side as she looked back towards the building, her thoughts whirling around her mind.
God, she needed this task force to work out especially as most of the Detective in her old unit would know now about her unexpected promotion. She couldn't bear the thought of it failing and her being sent back to the hellhole she had just left. She would do everything in her power to ensure that it didn't happen.
"Danni is right, we can talk about any issues like this at a later date. The main thing to focus on now is the case at hand." Steve said, his eyes lingering on Danni's face for a moment as though he was checking to see whether she was okay before he nodded towards the entrance hall. "We have little time to figure out what we're going to go now."
Danni breathed out, watching as her new partner turned from them and headed towards the entrance, his stride brisk.
"Hey, I'm sorry if I hurt you with what I said, it wasn't my intention Danni" Chin said, coming to her side and looking at her. She searched his face for a moment before she nodded, reaching out and patting his arm.
"You've got nothing to apologise for Chin, it wasn't like you were the one who was doing it and I'm not someone who will shoot the messenger of bad news just because they are the ones to tell me the truth about something." She told him, dropping her hand and nodding towards the building. "We should get in there, the one thing I've learnt about Steve already is the fact that he hates being kept waiting, especially when his mind is focused on something else like it is now." She began walking to the building, slightly surprised when Chin remained at her side, matching his pace to her slower one.
"That is good to know" He answered. "I should thank you as well for giving me this chance and for not believing…" his voice trailed off as he frowned. Danni stopped, turning to face him directly on.
"I don't know much about you Chin and I hope that changes in the future but what I do know is that I am a good judge of character, according to my old boss back in New Jersey it was one of the things which made me a hell of a detective. I don't know your back story but what I do know is that you're a good man who has integrity and honesty, two qualities which are rare to see these days. You are not the type of man who would take a bribe that much I do know for sure. So, you don't have to worry about me not trusting you or not having your back when we're out in the field because I have it and I hope that you will have mine as well. The people who worked with before were blind idiots if they couldn't see the truth about you." She commented, flashing him a quick smile before she started walking towards the door again. Chin silently walking by her side with a thoughtful look on his face. "Thank you" She said as he held the door open for her before she stepped into the reception area and looked around her.
It was a good-sized space, the walls painted a soft blue colour contrasting with the floor which was made of a black marble shot through with glittery dark blue, large windows made the area seem light though the air remained cool.
"It's a pleasant looking place." Chin said, breaking the silence between them as he looked around him.
"If you think that the foyer is pleasant looking wait until you see the office space we've been given" Danni remarked. "We'll need to get you signed in at the reception since you don't have a badge at the moment. I'll talk to Steve and see what is happening with that. I'm guessing that the Governor will want us to have our own personal shields to reflect where we work." She stated thoughtfully, she looked through the security barrier to see Steve pacing the floor near the elevators in a way which told her his patience was waning dangerous thin. "Chin, could you head over to the desk for a moment and start filling in your details with them, I'll be over in a second to countersign the form" She requested, smiling when he nodded at her before she moved over to the security barrier, calling out Steve's name and waving him over to her when he turned towards her.
"What's taking you both so long?" Steve demanded with a frown as he came to a stop by her, the barrier standing between them.
"Chin doesn't have a badge so we need to get him signed in at the desk. He can't just walk into the building; the security guards won't let him." She pointed out, keeping her voice reasonable. "Do you want to head up to headquarters now and we'll meet you up there once we're done down here or do you want to wait for us?" She asked him. Steve breathed out nosily, looking past her at Chin who was talking with the security guard as he wrote on something.
"How long do you think it will take?" He asked her.
"I doubt it will take much longer Steve. He's already filling out the forms." She told him after considering his question for a moment.
"If you don't think it will be much longer than I'll wait a few more minutes for you, if you're still not done then I'll head up" He stated turning away from her when she nodded at him. Danni watched him for a second before she turned and headed over to Chin, smiling at the Security guard and taking the pen which Chin held out to her. She quickly countersigned to from which Chin has filled out. The security guard ran through the instructions with her that Chin would have to remain with her while in the building, before he ushered them both through. They joined up with Steve at the elevator, watching as he jabbed the button before stepping into the empty elevator and waited until the door slid closed, Steve pressing the button for the third floor. The journey was made in silence before the door slid open and they stepped out, moving down the corridor towards the entrance to their headquarters.
"This is our headquarters Chin" Danni said to the older native, breaking the silence between the three of them as she waved her hand towards her glass doors.
"Chin head on in and have a quick look around the place to get your bearings. Danni and I will follow you in, in a moment." Steve said.
Chin glanced between the two of them, his eyes quickly searching their faces before he nodded, pulling the door open and entering the room. Danni caught sight of his impressed look before she turned her attention to Steve.
"Is everything okay?" She asked him cautiously, well aware of what a loaded question it was considering everything Steve had been through over the past three days.
"I'm fine Danni" He replied, his hand cutting through the air as though he was brushing aside her concerned question. "I wanted to make sure that you were okay after what Chin said outside about your old work place." Danni blinked in surprise at the question, leaning back slightly so she could see his face. There was nothing but genuine concern for her and it shocked her. Steve, whose whole world had been shattered, was worried about her and how she might have been feeling.
"I'm fine Steve" She promised him. "And I appreciate the concern but you've don't need to worry. My head is in the game, exactly where it should be." Steve nodded, turning as though he was going to enter the room when she stopped him, looking down at his empty hands, feeling the sudden need to lighten the mood. "So, out of interest Steve where exactly is the cherry shaved ice which I asked you to look after for me. Please tell me you didn't leave it in the car did you because if you did then I'll be sending you down there to get it. The last thing I want is it to melt on the seat, it be a nightmare to get out."
Steve blinked at her, a cautious look coming to his face.
"I didn't leave it in your car." He answered, reaching up and running a hand through his short dark hair. "I threw it away when we arrived here when Chin was asking about the building. It was already melting and you clearly weren't going to finish it off."
"What gave you that impression Steve?" She asked him, tilting her head to the side as she crossed her arms lightly over her chest. "Was it when I told you that it was the nicest cherry shaved ice which I've had since arriving here in Hawaii or was it the fact that I was actually eating it earlier which gave it away that I was no longer interested in finishing with it. I had planned to eat it here you know, that was why I gave it to you to hold in the car rather than simply throwing it away like you did when we were back at Kamekona's place."
Steve opened his mouth to retort when he stopped, his gaze searching her eyes, clearly picking up on the amusement she was feeling. She watched as some of the tension which he had been carrying around with him eased off slightly.
"I'm sorry" Steve remarked. "Really Danni, I'm deeply sorry that I threw away your cherry shaved ice. I realise that now the world has ended because you haven't been able to finish it, wait… do you hear that?" He queried as he cupped his hand round the back of his eat with a thoughtful frown.
"What should I be hearing right now Steve?" She asked him in return, making no effort to hide her enjoyment from him. He looked back at her seriously.
"The sound of millions of people crying out over your loss" He responded in a deadpan tone. Danni let out a startled laugh.
"Millions of people" She repeated, her mouth curling into a smile as he nodded at her.
"Millions of them, all crying out for you." He confirmed. His eyes twinkling at her belying his serious expression, the look making her heart skip a beat. She ignored thee sensation as she spoke
"Well it's nice to know that some people out there understand my suffering" she remarked lightly, some of the pain from earlier dispersing after the encounter. Steve smiled at her, reaching past her and pushed the door open, his other hand resting on her shoulder as he twisted her round on the spot and guided her into the room. He gave her shoulder a last comforting squeeze before he let go and moved passed her, the unreadable mask she was used to seeing, slamming down over his features again, hiding the glimpse of the man she had just seen.
"This place looks like it's going to be a good base of operations for us to use." Chin stated as he came out of the doorway which Steve had stated led into their kitchen area. "Do we actually have an office each because I'd like to claim that one as my own if we do" He said as he waved his hand towards the office which Steve had given to Danni. She followed the movement of his hand, raising an eyebrow and turned back to him, opening her mouth to correct him when Steve's voice cut across anything she may have said.
"Sorry Chin, that's the office I picked out for the second of commander for the taskforce which is Danni. The one next to it belongs to me but you can pick an office from the remaining ones. It's going to be a first come, first serve basis." He told him.
"Sorry Chin" Danni remarked absently, looking back towards her office, her mind already picturing how she could decorate it to make it look cosier than it currently was.
"Nothing to be sorry about" Chin assured her with a smile.
Danni turned towards Steve, watching as he headed across the room to his office, pulling the door open and disappearing inside. She moved towards the table set up in the middle of the room, dropping her bag next to the leg of it before looking up in time to see Steve re-enter the main bullpen area holding a laptop carefully under his arm. Danni was no expert when it came to technology but she could tell from the way Steve was cradling it that it must have been expensive and valuable.
Danni leaned her palms against the surface of the table, watching as Steve plugged the laptop in and booted the system up. He typed something on the keyboard for a moment before moving it round so it was facing Chin before speaking.
"Chin, can you bring up any information you can find on the name which Kamekona gave to you. This laptop is linked not only to the Honolulu police department but also to the military database. If there's any information to be found on the man then we should be able to access it." He stated.
"Yeah, I can do that for you" Chin responded as he moved towards it, looking down at the laptop with a thoughtful look on his face. "Dare I ask where you got this laptop from?"
"It would be best if you didn't" Steve answered briefly, mirroring Danni's pose and resting his hand on the table.
"Right" Chin said, drawing the word out as he raised an eyebrow, his attention switching to Danni when she spoke.
"Because you saying those words in that particular tone Steve doesn't automatically make it all that more interesting and mysterious." She remarked with a sigh, waving her hand dismissively at Steve when he looked away from Chin and focused on her, a glint in his eyes which she would have placed as amusement if she had to name it. "Allow me to translate for you Chin because I feel like I'm getting the hang of this already."
"Be my guest" Chin said with a nod at her.
"It's best if you didn't is Steve's talk for him telling you that the information you're asking from him is classified and therefore you're never going to find out the answer, at least not from him, so he hopes you understand his position and not ask him pointless questions like that which he can't answers. Am I right?" She queried with a tilted head.
Steve considered her remark carefully for a moment before giving her a single nod.
"That is the gist of it, you're beginning to learn already Danni." He told her, the comment making her smile.
"Well you'll soon find out that I'm a quick study when I need to be. I'm sure that within two weeks of working here I'll be the official Steve translator for the other members of the team and the members of the public, not to mention the other law enforcement officers or agents we come across while in the field. Perhaps I should set up some working hours for it. I don't want people to call me up at all hours of the day after all. I'll need to be able to take a break for the important stuff like sleeping and eating" She remarked thoughtfully, crossing her arms over her chest and tapping her right cheek with her fingertip.
"I'm sure I'll be with you most of the time anyway Danni so they probably won't need to call you since you'll be right there beside me." Steve remarked with a casual shrug, his attention focused on the laptop which Chin was still using.
"That may be true for when we're at work during the day but not once work finishes. You'll be off doing whatever it is that SEALs tend to do with their free time. Things which won't include me" Danni replied, shooting him a stern look, her mind already bringing up worst case scenarios on what Steve may do in his free times.
"Okay here we go" Chin said, clearly ignoring the light banter occurring between the two of them. He pressed the enter button on the keyboard before turning it round so that the screen faced them. "This is the face which according to both the HPD database and Steve's military database matches the name which Kame gave me earlier at his place."
Danni stared at the mug shot in front of him through narrowed eyes, the man looked to be in his late thirties, possibly his early forties, with a sullen expression which barely escaped being a sneer. His hair was dark and cut in a bad impression of a mullet, while his general look indicated that he was either of Japanese or Chinese descent. Cunning dark eyes stared out of the mug shot with a gleam of intelligence in them which the camera picked up on. Bad haircut or not, this man was dangerous and she knew it. Danni breathed out slowly, her hands curling into fists on the surface of the table as she continued to stare at it.
Just how many women had stared into the same face she was looking at now? Women who were terrified out of their minds as they were sold into slavery and given to people like Fred Doran by the same man who had promised to help them begin a new life here in Hawaii when he had taken their money from them. Money which had been probably all they had, had in their possession.
"What have you found out about him so far?" Steve asked, his voice flat and expressionless. Danni tilted her head to the side at the tone, forcing herself to relax her hands, she could feel a vague, lingering pain in her palms which told her that she had been digging her nails into the soft flesh.
"His name is Sang Min" Chin answered, all sign of his previous friendliness gone, leaving a brisk tone in its place. "He is originally from a place called Pingyao in China but he moved here to Hawaii roughly about eight years ago, though I say roughly because there are no official records listen on either database about when he actually entered Hawaii."
"Why not?" Steve asked, a frown coming to his face.
"If he was originally from China than there's a good chance that like the people who he helps, he came over through some illegal means." Danni answered him, her gaze moving to meet his for a moment before she looked back at Chin in time to see him nod.
"Exactly" Chin agreed as he crossed his arms over his chest.
"So, if that is the case then where did the eight years you mentioned come from or was it just a guess on your side?" Steve pressed.
"Eight years ago, was when the Honolulu Police Department encountered him. He was brought into the station on a charge of aggravated assault against a Bouncer at one of the popular night clubs of the day. According to witnesses he didn't like the way the Bouncer was flirting with the woman who was with that night." Chin commented. "Looks like his reputation was already built by then because the Bouncer never pressed charges on him regardless of all the witnesses who saw what happened. HPD was forced to let him go the next day."
"If he was here illegally then why did they let him go? They could have arrested him under Immigration law and deported him back to China." Steve remarked.
"Because unfortunately it's not that easy, everyone simply believes that it is." Danni answered before Chin could say anything. "Even if you find a person who is here illegally actually deporting them from the country back to where they are originally from is a long and difficult process. They have rights, they can appeal against the detention, they can put in human rights claims or if that fails they can claim Asylum. There's no real limit to what they can do. Even if you counter every submission they make, half the time they can still place a Judicial Review with the courts." She bit down on her lower lip for a moment before continuing, aware they were both giving her their full attention. "My guess would be that Sang Min had a falsified document at the time. A harassed policeman working the late shift on a Friday or Saturday night would simply have looked through it, seen the visa which he assumes is valid and think nothing more of it. I've seen some of the fakes which are around and even I found it difficult to tell at first that they were fake and I've had the training. My youngest brother Ben works in immigration and he said that some of the ones he has seen would fool anyone. I doubt the training is available for HPD, or if it is, I never heard of it. Did you?" Danni asked Chin curiously.
"I remember when I worked there, there was some discussion about it and it was offered as a course to be run but the Captains at the time refused the offer, seeing it as a waste of time, training and resources. Most of us didn't agree with the decision but things were different back then, what they said went." He replied before focusing back on their previous conversation. "We can guess that Sang Min has been here for longer than those eight years."
"What else do we know about him? Have we got any personal details or history listed on him on the database? Is there anything which we could use for our own advantage?" Steve questioned, crossing his arms over his chest.
"There's not much listed here. We'll have to request the original file from eight years ago from HPD. Most of the files from that time were handwritten and I doubt that they've found either the time or the resources to get those original transcripts typed up and added to the main system especially on a case where there was no further action needed on it because the Victim didn't press charges against the perp. It would have been sent to the file room, stashed somewhere and forgotten about."
"Well we need to find it. Danni, could you look into locating that file for us?" Steve asked her. Danni pulled a face at the request but nodded her head.
"I'll see what I can do Steve" She promised him. "I'll try and see whether we can find it for today but if not then we'll definitely have it by tomorrow if it's there where it is meant to be. It may take them a while to locate it though, as Chin said there are hundreds if not thousands of files down there. If it hasn't been stored properly than it may take longer than that." She said seriously.
"Understood, just see what you can do" Steve stated with a nod before focusing on Chin again. "So what information is listed there?"
"Well according to this he is married to a woman called Evangeline who was born in Rwanda, she's probably the woman mentioned in the police report, the one who the bouncer was flirting with that night. We'd have to check out her immigration status but I'm willing to be that she is here illegally as well. If Sang Min has false documentation for himself then you can bet that he would make sure his wife does as well though without seeing both passports we would have no way of knowing." Chin said.
"Yes, we do" Danni interrupted him. "If you can give me her name and her date of birth then I may be able to send a message to my brother and to ask him to have a look into her records for us. He is due to work tonight so he should be able to do it later. Just like the military they tend to have just one database which has all the information on it. Considering how many favours he owes me and the fact that I'm apparently his favourite sister, he will be willing to do it for us this once as a one off."
"Send that text" Steve agreed with a nod before he turned back to Chin. "The fact that he is married to an illegal citizen give us an angle which we can work on with him. Does the record say whether they have any children?" He went on to ask, a thoughtful look coming to his face.
"They have one child as far as we know" Chin remarked. "A son who is seven years old so it's likely that we would have been born right here in Hawaii which means there must be some hospital records which we can dig up as well to give us more information. According to my man Kamekona, Sang Min is a well-known man in the Hawaii underworld. He runs the island human import and export business. If you want some brought in and out of Hawaii, without the authorities knowing then he is the man you should go and speak to. No one enters the Island without him knowing all about it first. Word on the street is that he's extremely discreet as well. As long as you have the money to pay him then you'll get his full service. A service where no questions are asked regardless of who you are."
"Okay I hate to be the one who has to be the voice of reason here but we need to be absolutely certain of this." Danni said seriously as she leaned down and pulled out her cell phone, sending her brother a text as she continued to speak, aware of the identical questioning look both men shot her. Looks which would have made her smile at any other time. "Let us assume for the moment that the information which Kamekona gave us earlier is completely legit and this man is the man who we need to speak to in regards to our case" She remarked, waving an absent hand towards the screen. "What reason is there for him to come down here or come with us to speak to us? We have no solid evidence linking him to anything, something he'll realise within minutes of talking to us and you can bet the minute he does is the minute he'll be standing back up and leaving with us left staring behind him with no answers and no legal way of detaining him to get those answers. If he has any sense then after that encounter he'll go into hiding knowing that we don't have the time or the man power to go chasing after him. If we are going to bring him in then we need that solid evidence behind us, something we can use to arrest him so he can't walk out of here. You can bet that he'll have a good lawyer as well which means that when I talk about solid evidence I'm talking about him admitting his part in this verbally and on tape. Anything else could be seen as a coincidence if his defence team play it right in court. We can't afford that."
"She has a good point" Chin said. "We need to get the conviction because a man like Sang Min needs to be off of the streets and his operation closed down."
"That is exactly what we're going to do. We'll motivate Sang Min into speaking to us willingly and providing us with exactly what we need." Steve stated, his expressionless look on his face, the sight of it frustrating Danni though she kept her voice calm when she spoke.
"No Steve, if you're thinking that we can force the answers out of him then forget it. Coercion of any form won't hold up in court. I want to bury him once we get the answers we need from him in regards to Hesse. I understand how important it is for you to find Hesse and I'm in your corner a hundred percent but it is equally as important to me that we shut down this trafficking ring so no other girl has to go through what Chen Chi has been put through. If he is the head of this snake than I want to decapitate it starting with him." She told them, a sharpness to her voice which she couldn't hide as thoughts of her own small daughter raced through her mind.
"We are going to decapitate them both Danni" Steve assured her, reaching out and placing his hand on her shoulder as he met her eyes, a steadiness to them which settled her, he waited until she gave him a slight nod before letting go of her and speaking. "We won't beat the information out of him though knowing what he does make the thought tempting. What I'm suggesting is that we find some leverage like you mentioned earlier and use it against him. The same way we did with Doran earlier Danni."
"Doran?" Chin asked, a curious frown on his face as he looked between the two of them.
"We'll fill you in on him shortly" Steve told the native. Chin nodded, a slight frown on his face before he spoke.
"What sort of leverage are you talking about Steve? Have you got something in mind already?" He asked. Steve considered his question for a moment before he shrugged.
"I suggest we use a bait and trap with an undercover who has been wired up" He remarked.
"I understand" Danni said slowly, consider the plan carefully looking for flaws. "We send in an undercover Officer with a story about how much the person needs to bring their family over from somewhere into Hawaii. They can say that they've heard through the grapevine that Sang Min is the person to talk to when it needs to be done discreetly. Hopefully Sang Min will be confident enough that he's safe in his own domain that he'll say something which will indicate his involvement and his role in the operation. Once we have that then we can make our move on him and bring him in" She stated, a small smile coming to her face.
"That's what I was think" Steve said. "We just ne…"
"It's a solid plan Keiki but it has one major flaw to it." Chin remarked, cutting Steve off mid-sentence. "A bait and trap might work well when you live on the mainland but we're currently on an island which has less than a million people on it which means that the bad guys already know exactly who the good guys are. We can't use any of the three of us for the operation." He said, moving his hand around in a circle to indicate them all. "I'm well known here, not only because I was a cop for a long time but most people know the circumstances surrounding my leaving the force. No criminal worth their salt will believe that I would be forced to resort to this method especially considering how many of my family live here on the island. The same goes for you Steve. You might not have been living here for the past eighteen years but your family is still well known in the community especially since your Dad's murder was in the news and in all the papers including pictures. You've be recognised instantly not to mention your military bearing. You can't disguise it." Chin stated firmly.
"What about Danni then? She hasn't been on the island for longer than six months and she hasn't to my knowledge had her face splashed across the news and paper. She could go undercover for us." Steve remarked, giving Danni a thoughtful look clearly working out the angle she could use in his head.
Danni shared a quick look with Chin before she shook her head.
"I've got to say that I'm with Chin on this one Steve. I would be useless in this kind of undercover work" She stated simply. "I mean take a good look at me. Sang Min brings people in from places like China correct? Who is ever going to believe that I would need to smuggle someone in from there? An intelligent criminal such as Sang Min wouldn't. I'm not even sure if someone of lesser intelligence would buy into it either if I'm being honest."
"Exactly, the game would be up the minute she stepped through the doors" Chin agreed with a nod. "Not only that but Danni is the only female Ha'ole Detective on the force at the moment, even I heard about her arrival and I was working at security at Pearl Harbour. If I knew about it then you can guarantee that the scum on the island certainly knew about it, hours after she first stepped into the building; hell, they probably knew before she had even sat down at her desk for the first time. Add to the fact that Danni has a quite distinct look, petite with blond hair and grey eyes isn't exactly a common look here Brah" He pointed out, shooting her an apologetic look.
"Okay, so we can't use any of us for it but it still remains our best bet on getting what we need to bring Sang Min down" Steve remarked, tilting his head and meeting Chin's eyes, his own narrowing in response. "But you already have someone in mind who he can use for it right? Someone no one would know about or suspect?" He queried with a raised eyebrow.
Danni watched vaguely amused by the grin which came to Chin's face.
"Yeah" He remarked, his grin widening. "You could say that."
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.
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