I do not own Hawaii Five-0 or any characters. No copyright infringement intended.

Notes: Happy Christmas Eve and Happy Holidays to everyone! You will all probably get another chapter sometime later today.

Chapter 3

H5O* H5O* H5O* H5O* H5O*

"So Alphonse, what are you going to do? I know that something's wrong." Ellen Ramirez asked with a genuine curiosity. She was pouring them both coffee after her husband, Alphonse, more commonly called by his nickname, Ponch, had come home from a half day shift at the clinic. It was difficult for him to leave most days, but this time something more had driven him back in a desperate need to be more private.

He absently toyed with the sugar in the bowl before using three generous spoonfuls in his mug. Ellen raised her eyebrows since he typically took it black and completely unsweetened before huffing loudly in surprise to catch his attention. But he had nothing to say about it. Almost spitefully, he took a sip and had to bite back the sour expression which had his wife grinning in confusion.

"Okay. Spill it. What happened today?"

"Supplies are missing. If they even ever arrived." Ponch declared. He was now tapping the table with one hand as he gazed blindly at the well worn wood and yet still described his concerns. He had spent a great deal of time over the last few weeks reviewing the clinic's inventory and woeful lack of equipment, medicines and general supplies.

"Certain, very important medications are missing or in too short supply. Morphine, codeine, OxyContin, hydrocodone and Demerol." He was clicking things off from a mental list he had been developing over the last five month period of time where he'd been working pro bono per court order.

"Valium and Xanax." He frowned and tapped harder. "What worries me the most are the stores of ethylphenidate, dextroamphetamine, and amphetamines which seem to be unaccounted for based on prior inventory calculations."

Ponch was both worried and irked but didn't yet have enough information to go on. His process was slow for a number of reasons, the biggest being the poorly kept records and lack of accountability around the management and dispensing of medications. While both he and Doctor Jasper Mitchell maintained dutiful records of what was prescribed, neither of them had real visibility into the actual stores or inventory processes which were more than woefully lacking.

"They should be accounted for and locked up safely at all times." Ellen agreed. "It's required legal protocol for any of these controlled substances to be closely monitored. I don't understand how something like this could be so lax."

He completely agreed but was at a loss to explain the origin of the problem. "Ellen, these are very specific medicines in enough volume to one, be suspicious and two, be making a decent amount of cash for someone. A certain someone who doesn't need the money but likes the thrill of it; a person who likes to play with danger and if hasn't done it already, will probably kill someone."

Ponch had his assumptions there too and Ellen knew all to well where he was going.

"Parker?" She offered with a knowing glance from her side of the table. "He essentially owns the clinic and his father has been so well-respected. Why would he want to and would he really be capable of doing something like this? I don't see any benefit in it for him."

Neither of them understood the state of the place based upon the purported wealth of the Parker family. Yet, the clinic was a sad, little rundown hovel that was barely keeping its head above the water-line. Regardless of other possible suspects, Ponch had contrived a particular dislike for Alan Parker which was not entirely of his own doing since Parker had been his main antagonist since day one.

"He would. At least based on the bit that I've been exposed to. He's nothing like what his father is said to have been like when he ran the clinic." The big doctor hesitated with a deepening frown giving him an even farther away expression. He changed the subject with his head down and his breath puffing away the swirls of steam coming off his coffee mug.

"On top of all of this, yesterday a man came in with a fresh surgical scar on his lower back. This is the third man in five month's time claiming he woke in an alley with no recollection of where he'd been for three days."

"Kidney?" Ellen asked in horror as her husband made a face and nodded. "There's been another already? Didn't HPD and Five-0 just report finding a body on a beach after this last big storm, too?"

He had been loathe to tell her since it was so dire an experience. But after a restless night and a long morning where he'd now found disturbing proof of clinic inventory running astray, Ponch needed to vent all of those things preying on his mind.

"This is now the third man. Oddly, the surgical site was infected and he was feverish, so I insisted that he be admitted to the hospital. I then reported it to Steve. Five-0 has interviewed the man and he'll heal physically." Ponch was as horrified as his wife. The idea of kidnapping someone for their body parts and then either killing or abandoning that lost soul to heal in some rundown motel or back alley was a sick atrocity. Whomever was involved, was selecting young healthy enough individuals. Men and women alike with non-existent families. Most were poorer and now one man had wound up at their small clinic in shock and babbling frantically about what had happened.

"What does Jazz say? At least about the inventory that seems to have gone missing. I find it very hard to believe that no one working in that clinic missed this laundry list and he's practically there as much as you are." Successfully changing the subject, Ellen grinned when her husband's face softened. From day one of his court-induced penance, he had leaned towards Mitchell.

"That boy." She snorted in amusement because while young, Mitchell was far from being a boy. Just a year or two shy of thirty, he likely would not have appreciated the sighed out reference much either. Like it or not though, that boy had already been taken under Ponch Ramirez's wing where he had a strong mentor and ally.

"He's so single-minded about his patients. He has little inclination to question what other things might be happening around him. He has no interest in administrative issues or anything much beyond the examination room or surgical theater. Don't get me wrong, Mitchell is quite diligent about his own prescriptions but he's got no mind for the front office." Clearly exasperated about this short-coming, Ponch shook his head and completely missed his wife's amused expression.

She smiled behind her hand since administratively, her own husband had to teach himself that dull skill for he was as single-minded about his patients as Jasper Mitchell. Even then, he preferred to leave the bulk of that work to others. Once he found his administrator, Mary-Pat McCoy at Tripler, she had remained in his employ for years since no one else would do. Plus the woman was as abrasive and forthright as the big doctor she worked for. No one would dare cross Mary-Pat nor get away with any type of duplicity.

"Really? Is that so?" Ellen coughed out through her fingers almost demurely. She knew from long experience that Ponch's former administrator would easily hold a similar opinion about Ponch, himself. That is, until Mary-Pat had whipped him into some sort of dutiful shape. She then quickly hid behind her coffee cup when Ponch looked up, nearly laughing out loud when he missed her sly comparison completely.

"Jazz can only say that the clinic has never operated any differently since he's been there. They've never had enough supplies or medications. The shelves have never been adequately stocked and he's learned to cope with the short-comings. He puts up with Parker for the patient's sake and he's never met the old man. Rumor has it that Adrian Parker has dementia and his estate is in turmoil." Lost in thought, Ponch made an unhappy face.

"This issue with the medication and the supplies is all Parker's doing. I'm sure of it. But as for what, how or why … I have no idea. At least not yet." When Ponch felt something as strongly as he did now, he held no punches and gave no ground. He had begun inquiries of his own. Asking about the elder Parker and his reputation; his intent on building and funding the clinic. What he learned about Adrian's reputation so far had surpassed that of the son who seemed cut entirely from a different cloth. Her husband's disgruntled attitude made Ellen smile again as she sipped around the steaming mug of coffee.

"Alan Parker simply isn't interested in the clinic. This community needs a clinic, but a good one. Not this travesty and I don't understand why he or his father simply doesn't close it down or even sell it." Ponch rapped the table before taking a healthy swallow of coffee and then twitched his lips against the over-sweet taste. "Something at least should be questioned about these missing medications. The value on the street is very significant."

"Now what will you do? You need to be careful with this, Alphonse, and not make allegations that are not substantiated. It's also going to be a defamation of character issue if you go about it the wrong way." Tenacious as ever, his court-ordered probation and subsequent retirement from Tripler had taken on new meanings. But he was the new guy in this unique situation for the first time in a very long time, plus he was on a rather serious type of probation. He couldn't afford to cause trouble or make waves that could have long reaching and potentially very negative impacts for him or his own family.

However, Ellen could see the sparkle of interest as he finally stopped the incessant tapping and met her gaze evenly. Pointing her finger at him in warning, she made her own demand quite clear. "Tread carefully, Alphonse."

"He's over-whelmed with this obscene case of organ trafficking, but I'm going to ask Steve what he thinks before I do anything else." Ellen pulled an impressed face. Her husband was angry, however he was already being cautious and rightly so. She approved and didn't need to say more so she merely nodded in agreement.

~ to be continued ~