It was late and the head of Five-O pinched the bridge of his nose, squeezing his eyes shut against the throbbing pain that hammered through his skull. He sat at his desk, sighing in frustration and staring at the report in front of him. The lives of two innocent civilians were lost that day, as well as five police officers and a group of prisoners in a tragic accident. The forensics team concluded a truck carrying barrels of highly flammable chemicals had collided into a prisoner transportation van en-route to Oahu State Prison. HPD officers were faced with the gruelling task of informing loved ones of the tragedy and asking them to make formal identifications. So far only two bodies were recovered from the wreckage of the van. The telephone rang, jolting the detective as he reached out and picked up the receiver. "McGarrett."
"Steve, it's Chin. I have the names for the prisoners who were in that transportation van." Chin Ho Kelly's voice transmitted.
"Okay, Chin. Hit me." Steve replied as he grabbed a pen and turned over the report to reveal a blank page.
"Jose Ramirez, and Paul Reynolds, both convicted on drug trafficking charges and assault with a deadly weapon. Teddy Burns, Howard Lane and Kevin Weaver. All three were found guilty of two counts of first degree murder." The Chinese detective dictated.
"Thanks Chin. Have they all been identified?" Steve asked anxiously, as he scribbled down the names of the prisoners.
"No. So far we only have two positive IDs, Ramirez and Reynolds. They're still looking for the other three. The lab boys are still trying to find their remains. Steve, are you worried they may have escaped?" Chin questioned, his voice filled with doubt on the other line.
"That thought has occurred to me, Chin. No one deserves to die like that, but if there was any chance some of them may have survived, then I need to know. Burns, Lane and Weaver are extremely dangerous. If any of them managed to free themselves from that wreck, we'll be hard put to find them again." Steve replied apprehensively as he climbed to his feet. "Look Chin, it's getting late and I don't think we'll find out anything else tonight. Do me a favor, will you? Get HPD to pass along the descriptions of the missing men to all the hospitals and medical centers in the area. I'm not taking any chances."
"Will do, Steve."
"Thanks. Once you've taken care of that, why don't you go on home?"
"Sure Steve. What about you?"
"Yeah, I've just finished my report. Goodnight Chin." Steve ended the call and hung up the receiver. Stifling a yawn, the lead detective retrieved his jacket from the coat stand and walked out of his office, switching off the light on his way through the door.
H50
Teddy Burns, Howard Lane and Kevin Weaver sat out of sight in their stolen car, quietly discussing their next plan of action.
"There's a luau going on tonight over at the Ilikai. I heard a couple of the cops at the station talking about it before we left," Burns said. "It's supposed to be a pretty big event, and expensive."
"How does that help us?" Weaver snapped, getting more tired and frustrated by the moment.
Burns shot him a dark look. "People are going to be paying at the door, Kev." He snarled, never taking his eyes off of Weaver's. "They'll have the money at the stand in front of the hotel until the luau starts. They'll most likely take it away to the safe, 10 or 15 minutes after the party starts. That way they can get it into a safe before anything happens."
"Something like, three escapees making off with all their money?" Lane asked, a sly grin creeping onto his face as he realized what Burns was getting at.
Burns turned to him, and met his smile. "You got it. Now maybe you can knock the idea into your cousin's thick skull."
Lane glanced over at Weaver, who was getting edgier by the minute. Burns' careless insults weren't helping anything either. Lane just wanted to get the money, and get out of Hawaii, and he knew his cousin well enough to know he wanted the same.
"Ease up Ted. He wants this just as bad as we do." Lane said. "Now tell me, how do you propose we steal this money?"
Burns opened his mouth to talk, but Weaver cut in. "Why don't we sneak in? It isn't really that hard to get into a luau. Besides, once we're inside, people will just think we're there to have fun, so approaching the money booth won't seem suspicious until after we've made our move, and by then, it will be too late."
Burns and Lane looked at him for a long moment. Burns forgot any pent up anger at Weaver, and a half smile appeared on his face. "Weaver, you're a genius. We can sneak in from some back Hotel door, or just take a walk down the beach where the luau is at, and get in that way."
Lane nodded, "We can mingle, and make our way to the money stand, and then get to the car. It's fool-proof. Nothing can go wrong, and nobody is gonna stop us. We'll have enough cash to get off this rock."
A thought suddenly jumped into Weaver's mind. "Hey wait, I thought we were planning on getting back at those two pig-headed cops that busted us."
"I think getting the money, and getting gone is our best solution right now. We can get out of here clean, before anyone knows the difference. Forget those pigs!" Burns said.
Lane and Weaver exchanged a slightly disappointed look, but they agreed that it would be better and safer for them to not go out looking for trouble, or for cops.
H50
Grabbing a drink from a nearby table, Burns watched the people around him, waiting anxiously for Lane and Weaver to show up. The plan was, for Burns to stand alone, until Lane and Weaver "saw their old friend standing by himself, and the three old pals joined up and went to go buy drinks." That was the plan, but Burns was wondering where Lane and Weaver were.
He was about to start walking around, when he saw the convicted cousins walking towards him. He met them halfway, and they exchanged fake salutations of joy, before beginning to make their way to the 'money stand,' as they had taken to calling it.
Lane who was leading the trio, was about to turn a corner, when his eyes went wide, and his hand flew into Burns's chest and he pushed him backwards against the tall Hibiscus plant.
"What do you think you're doing, Lane?" Burns growled under his breath.
"Shh! Look at that." Lane discreetly pointed to the two men who were walking through the gates into the outside party area of the Ilikai Hotel.
Burns and Weaver turned their heads and froze, as they saw Detectives Danny Williams and Kono Kalakaua walking in.
Burns recovered first, and looked at Lane and Weaver. He let out a sinister laugh. "Gentlemen, looks like our luck has shifted! I do believe that perhaps a slight change of plans are in order."
Weaver returned the smile. "Revenge time?"
"Oh yes." Lane replied. "I can already smell the sweet, sweet taste of revenge!"