Chapter 10

Thirty minutes later, Danny left the blue room.

Song had clammed up after his little story about Steve liking a little lady and it was obvious he was done talking for now. Danny pinched the bridge of his nose as he walked down the hallway to Steve's office. He could only imagine what Song's little revelation had done to his partner. Danny knew it was a lie, of course. McGarrett would never be interested in a girl that way, just like he would never traffic children. But the news was probably eating at him, causing him to doubt, and Danny was glad he'd left him in the capable hands of Kono and Chin. Otherwise, he was fairly certain Steve would have either fled the building or completely destroyed the bathroom by now.

Which is why Danny was so surprised when he rounded the corner and saw the three of them in the bullpen, Chin working his magic at the smart table while Kono and Steve stood by and analyzed the data.

"Still too many," Steve said, shaking his head as he looked at the screen.

"Too many what?" Danny asked, drawing up to the table beside them.

"Freighters," Kono replied. "We're looking for all the ships that docked in the past two weeks."

"Didn't we already do that?" Danny asked, annoyed, because if he never saw another shipping record as long as he lived, it would be too soon.

"We pulled the records for the weeks surrounding Steve's disappearance, 19 months ago," Chin explained. "But for the current timeframe, we only pulled the records specifically pertaining to the Hinuhinu and Chì Lóng ."

"So why are we pulling recent shipping records now?" Danny questioned.

"Because I remembered another ship," Steve simply stated.

"What?" Danny asked, surprised. "Another one?" Because two ships trafficking girls were already two ships too many in his book. Could there possibly have been three?

Steve nodded. "Yeah. And that's not the best part."

"Then what is?" Danny asked, perplexed.

"It was my freighter. I was the captain," Steve replied, his voice betraying that he thought it was anything but good news.

He was right- it wasn't good news. And it only added to the sinking feeling in Danny's gut. "What were you carrying on the ship?" he asked warily.

Steve's face said it all.

Danny closed his eyes and blew out a large breath. Just when he thought it couldn't get any worse, it did.

Danny had refused to believe Steve would be involved in trafficking girls; refused to believe that he would help willingly; refused to believe that he stayed of his own volition. But fate and Steve McGarrett had insisted on making him a liar time and time again this week.

Well, fate at least. Danny still believed McGarrett had to have been working an angle somehow. However, with each flashback and each shocking revelation, it was getting harder and harder to maintain such a blind trust in his partner. They needed to find answers, not raise more questions, and the sooner the better. Danny could only hope for all of their sakes that they got to the bottom of things before everything came crashing down.

Danny opened his eyes and looked over at Steve. "So there was a girl?" he asked, hoping he was wrong.

Steve didn't meet his eyes, looking down instead.

And he wasn't wrong.

Again.

Danny sighed. That was just what they needed— one more felony to add to Steve's ever-growing rap sheet. It was a good thing Danny wasn't keeping count. It was hard enough to ignore the crimes as Steve's friend, but as a law enforcement officer and the head of Five-0, it was getting to be almost impossible. If Danny stopped to really think about it, he would have to lock Steve up while they continued to investigate. Which was why he didn't stop to think about it.

But still, he was tired of finding out how much worse it could get on almost an hourly basis. He scrubbed his face with his hands and then ran them up and over his hair, exhaling in frustration. "Do you still think she's on board?"

Chin glanced over at Steve, who remained silent, then stepped in. "It's possible," Chin answered. "Steve indicated she was locked in the Captain's quarters, but we don't know if she was always locked-up or if that was just while he wasn't there when the freighter was in port at Shanghai."

"So you're thinking if you find the ship, you find the girl," Danny said, reasoning out-loud. "But the other girls would be long gone. They would have been taken off the ship as soon as it docked."

"Correct," Chin nodded.

"So where do we stand on finding the ship?" Danny asked, looking at the smart table.

"We have 60 freighters that docked in the past two weeks so far. We can eliminate all of the ones that docked in the past three days."

"Because Steve probably came to Hawaii on the same ship and he's been back that long," Danny concluded.

"Exactly," Chin answered. "We know he didn't come in on a plane- I checked the flight manifests two days ago. That only leaves arriving by sea." He worked a few key strokes and several lines of data disappeared from the screen. "Now we're down to 47."

"Still too many," Kono commented. "We can't storm all of them. Even if we had the man-power, word would get out and the crew would get rid of the girl before we even found the right freighter," she added, looking over at Steve apologetically. Not that it mattered; Steve was still staring intently at the floor.

"We're going to have to pull the manifests and look at the cargo," Chin replied.

"Or maybe not," Steve said, finally looking up.

Danny looked over at him, surprised both by what he said and by the fact that he was talking again at all. Chin and Kono were also watching him with curious looks.

"Do you have a better idea?" Danny asked.

Steve nodded. "Yes, I do. Song won't give it up so we need to talk to someone else. So I'm going to go see Sang Min."

They all stared at him in stunned silence.

"What? It's a great idea. If there's any trafficking going on on the island, he's going to know about it."

Finally, Danny spoke. "Well, I agree. And it would be a great idea. Except that we don't know where he is."

Steve shrugged. "I think I can find him."

Danny laughed. "Seriously? Because I don't mean to brag, but I'm a pretty good detective and I've been looking for him for almost two years with no luck. You think you're just going to waltz out there and find him today?"

Steve nodded. "Yes."

It was almost funny. Except that it wasn't. But why did Danny expect anything else? Of course. Of course Steve just thought he would go out there and magically find Sang Min. Like he, Chin, and Kono had been twiddling their thumbs all this time and all Steve had to do was go overturn a random rock and there Sang Min would be, slithering like the little snake he was.

"Do you know where he is?" Danny asked dubiously.

Steve shook his head. "No. But I have a feeling."

"Great!" Danny exclaimed, throwing his hands up in the air dramatically. "You have a feeling!"

"More like an educated guess," Steve countered, shifting his weight and folding his arms over his chest.

"Even better," Danny argued. "But still just as likely to get you killed."

"I won't get killed."

"That's right, you won't. Because if you're going out there, we're coming with you."

Steve shook his head. "No. I'm going alone."

Danny couldn't help it. He laughed. "No, you're not."

"Yes, I am," Steve argued, more forcefully this time. "Think about it, Danny. If Sang Min thinks I'm dirty, he'll be more likely to talk to me and tell me what he knows."

"And if he hasn't heard that news, he'll be more likely to just shoot you," Danny countered.

"Trust me, he's heard. Bad news always travels fast. And besides, if any of you are there, he'll know I'm back with Five-0 and won't tell me anything," he said, looking at Danny, Chin, and Kono. "And every one of you know it."

Danny did know it. But that didn't mean he had to like it. He didn't have to like it one bit.

Still, Steve had a point. And even more irritating, he was right. "Then we'll back you up from a few blocks away," Danny proposed as a concession, "and you'll wear a wire."

"Three blocks away and no wire," Steve counter-offered.

Danny sighed, realizing it was probably the best offer he was going to get from his stubborn partner. He might as well take it.

"Deal."

*H50*

Steve walked down the street confidently even though he wasn't exactly sure why he picked this area of town.

It wasn't an abandoned warehouse in the industrial district, where Sang Min had preferred to work in the past. Instead, it was a middle-class area, filled with mechanic shops, dry cleaners, and grocery stores. The houses were small but generally neatly kept, with an occasional bike in the yard or swing hanging from the tree. The residential streets were mainly empty, the home-owners away at work. However, the main streets were busy as people driving their Hondas, Fords, and Chevrolets ran out to grab a quick bite for lunch on their allotted 45 minute lunch breaks.

In short, it was not an area where anyone would expect to find a notorious snakehead.

But yet, it felt right.

Steve kept walking, the GPS in his phone transmitting his location to Danny in his Camaro and Chin and Kono in her red Cruze. He hadn't spotted them but he knew they were only a few blocks away, begrudgingly staying out of sight like they had planned back in the office. They had forgone the live feed via the walkie-talkie app on his phone, another sticking point between them. But as Steve pointed out, Sang Min's men would check for it just like they'd check for a wire. Danny didn't like it, and neither did Chin or Kono for that matter, but they finally agreed. Steve was for all intents and purposes going in alone; the others would only come in if they heard gunfire.

It wasn't perfect, but it was as close to perfect as Steve could get it. He really preferred to go it completely alone to avoid risking the others but since he didn't call the shots anymore, he could only get so much. He supposed he should be happy Danny was letting him do anything at all.

After all, with all the incriminating evidence from Steve' memories resurfacing, it was somewhat of a miracle that Danny was letting him do anything besides pace around in an 8x6 cell. He knew his partner was taking a chance, believing that whenever they got to the bottom of things, Steve would be vindicated. But if Danny was wrong, if his blind trust was misplaced, then he would be out of a job at best and at worst, facing jail time for impeding an investigation and harboring a fugitive.

And Steve wasn't going to let that happen. No matter what, he would make sure Danny, Chin, and Kono escaped any consequences that might come from the past few days. He'd lie and say he had a gun pulled on them the whole time if that's what it took. They weren't going down with him; that much was certain.

Steve walked down the sidewalk, past the ABC store and bus stop, then looked both ways before crossing the street. No cars were coming but for some reason, he stopped half-way across and looked down to his right again. There wasn't much to see—just a gas station and a school, but it seemed… familiar for some reason.

He immediately changed course and headed down the street. He passed the gas station and then found himself stopping in front of the Maka Luana Elementary school. The school looked almost deserted and a large sign in front declared it was closed for the school year for remodeling, courtesy of a 2011 bond election. A few construction trucks were in the side parking lot but otherwise, nothing much was going on.

And Steve knew this was the place.

He made his way around to a side door which, for some reason, he knew would be unlocked. It was. He pulled on the door cautiously, opening it, and then slipped inside. He was in a hallway, lined on both sides by child-sized lockers which were in various stages of being refinished, the dirty beige paint giving way to the new, bright royal blue. Above the lockers on the left wall was a mural depicting the "Friendly Dolphins" frolicking in the surf, apparently the school's mascot.

Steve intuitively turned left down the hallway, toward the offices. He ran across a few construction workers, who all nodded like they knew him. Steve nodded back and couldn't help but notice the guns strategically concealed beneath their tool belts. Apparently, Sang Min had gotten into the construction business. It was a perfect front when he really thought about it. Construction jobs were always big and expensive, and usually overran their budgets and timeframes; it would be easy to launder some money through the overages. Plus, all you had to do was put up a sign and some yellow tape and people stayed away, all but guaranteeing privacy. You could do almost anything you wanted and as long as the work got done, nobody would be the wiser.

Steve was pulled from his thoughts when he reached the main office. He opened to door and was greeted by two men who were apparently not too concerned about hiding their AK-47s. Steve supposed if anyone got this far, they were considered a friend or at least another criminal, so there was no need for stealth. And friend or foe, there was no downside to obvious displays of force, if for no other reason than to remind the visitor of who was in charge.

One of the men stepped forward and thoroughly frisked Steve, checking him for guns and wires as well as his phone, while the other man kept his gun trained on him. Steve handed over his handgun without a fight and was glad he was able to convince the team to forgo audio monitoring. Evidently satisfied, the man stepped back. The other man lowered his gun and knocked on the door to the principal's office twice, then motioned with his head for Steve to go in.

Steve turned the knob and opened the door to see none other than Sang Min sitting behind the principal's desk. For a moment, he looked displeased.

Then he broke into a wide smile. "McGarrett!" he said with genuine pleasure as he rose from behind the desk. "Back so soon?" He offered his hand. "What, do you have another shipment for me?"

And as Steve looked down, the hand, just like the school, seemed familiar…

Steve held the binoculars up to his face, looking off to the shore in the distance. Almost immediately, he saw two flashes of light, followed by a 10 second pause, and then two more flashes.

He lowered the binoculars and turned to the man piloting the ship. "It's a go," Steve told him.

The man didn't say a word, but instead nodded, clearly understanding what Steve meant.

An hour later, the ship safely pulled up at port and one of the crewmen tossed a dock line to the worker on the pier, who quickly tied it to a ballast. Steve watched it all carefully from the helm, using night-vision goggles to scan the area, making sure they weren't going to be attacked or arrested. So far, the coast was clear. He continued watching until the ship was secured to the dock and a walkway bridging the two was set-up.

Suddenly, a white work van drove up. It was fairly new and the blue and white AT&T logo was painted on the front, back, and sides. The plates were new as well, which helped conceal the fact that they were stolen. Old plates on a new vehicle were always a dead giveaway.

Steve tensed slightly, as he always did during an operation, and gripped the goggles a little more tightly. But it was a good tension; it kept him alert and on his game. And here in Hawaii, in particular, he had no room for error.

The van pulled up to a stop near the ship and the rear door opened. Two large men exited and quickly checked out the area, making sure the coast was clear. Then one of them rapped his knuckles on the passenger side door. It opened, and out stepped Sang Min.

He looked the same as he always did: his hair was carefully oiled, his shoes were shined, and he was wearing a suit that looked cheap but that Steve knew would take him a year's salary to buy. Sang Min glanced around, then made his way toward the walkway on the side of the ship.

It was time.

Steve set his goggles down and picked up an aluminum suitcase at his feet, which was quite heavy given its size. He made his way to the walkway, then crossed over and met Sang Min, who was waiting on the other side.

Sang Min smiled. "How many do you have in the shipment this time, McGarrett?" he asked, skipping the pleasantries and getting right down to business.

"Thirteen," Steve replied.

Sang Min bobbed and weaved his head around in a circuitous pattern like only he could do. "Thirteen, huh?" he asked. "That's a very unlucky number."

Steve shrugged. "Maybe," he replied, "but it's a whole lot more profitable than twelve."

At that, Sang Min laughed.

Steve handed over the suitcase, which Sang Min took and gave to one of his guards to hold. He popped it open revealing a large sum of cash inside. Steve watched as Sang Min visually counted it. Apparently satisfied with the amount of payment, he closed it back. "It's all there."

Steve turned and nodded to his crewmen on the boat and a minute later, the girls appeared. Unlike the girls from the Chi Long, they were clean, neatly dressed, and well-fed. However, they did share one striking similarity with the girls from the other ship- they were clearly scared.

The crewmen guided them to the walkway, which they nervously crossed to the dock. One of Sang Min's men began herding the girls into the van through the open rear door. When the last one was inside, the guard followed them in, closing and locking the door behind him.

"Always a pleasure, McGarrett," Sang Min said as he stuck out his hand.

Months ago, Sang Min had offered his hand to Steve for him to shake it: to bind their deal; to seal the fate of the girls. And Steve had taken it.

Now today, Sang Min was offering it again.

And as Steve stared at his outstretched hand, with its neat manicure and gold ring on the fourth finger, something clicked in his head.

And Steve remembered.

He remembered everything.

To be continued…