Kono woke first, a little before seven in the morning. She moved over to the table and logged onto the computer.
Along with the men's drivers' licenses, Chin had taken their fingerprints by using their blood and a piece of paper, a trick he had learned from McGarrett on their first case together before Steve dangled the suspect from the roof of a building, resulting one of his many 'Danny rants'.

Through records she identified the first shooter was Gabriel Paranda, 32 years old, a convicted felon who was released from prison six months ago having served twelve years on drug and gun possession charges.
The second shooter was Eddie Cox, 28 years old, also a convicted felon who was released just two months ago having served ten years on robbery charges.
Upon review of their prison records it was found that the two had been cellmates for six years and that Cox moved in with Paranda upon his release. They had two other roommates, Bryan Stewart and Julian Shields, both ex-cons and drug offenders.

Chin woke a short time later and after changing clothes he walked a few blocks away to grab McDonalds breakfast and coffee's for everyone. When he returned, the others were all awake and Steve was on the phone with the Governor.
"…..yes Sir…...we'll stay in touch…"
Danny was motioning to Steve to hand him the phone and before hanging up he said, "Governor, Danny needs to say something"
He held out the phone, "What Danny?"
"Just give me the phone please Steven"
Taking the phone Danny spoke, "Hello Governor…..thank you Sir, I appreciate that. I wanted to thank you for providing the private plane for me to transport Matthew in…yes Sir….and one other thing Sir, when you talk to the Police Chief can you let him know that when we meet with him, we'll need to see a Doctor as well…yes, yes Sir, McGarrett is stubborn…..thank you"

Steve was sitting on the edge of the bed, shaking his head "I'm fine Daniel"
"You're a bit out-numbered here Steven, my guess is four to one" Steve was glaring at his partner as Danny continued, "Don't give me that look!"

"I'm telling you, I'M FINE"
Danny threw his hands into the air in frustration and turned from his partner.
Chin jumped in, "Calm down Danny. Steve, please just humor us okay and see the Doctor. WE'LL all feel better if you do"
Steve sighed before agreeing, "Yeah, okay…no problem"
Danny turned back and stated, "Thank you. Now can you tell us how we are proceeding?"

Chin handed everybody coffee's and Egg McMuffin's as Steve spoke, "Governor Denning knows the Chief of Police for Stearns County and he feels we can trust him. His name is Bruce Jessup. He's been the Chief of Police for seven years and according to Denning he is particularly tough on drug offenders. Apparently he lost a teenage son to an overdose of tainted heroin about twelve years ago. He won't give the Chief any details, just that Matthew was Danny's brother and that our lives are in danger. Denning's going to call him now and we should hear from Jessup soon. Chin, you stand guard at the window"

Cath inquired, "I thought we could trust him?"
Steve smiled, "We're just playing it safe Cath" he then asked, "What have you found out Kono?"

As they ate, Kono filled them in on her findings and while they waited for the call Cath re-dressed Steve's head wound which had bled through the bandaging over-night. As she applied an antiseptic ointment to the gash, they were all relieved to see that the bleeding had stopped.

Steve's cellphone rang half an hour later, "This is McGarrett"
"Commander McGarrett, this is Police Chief Bruce Jessup. My friend Sam thinks we need to meet"
"Yes Sir, I believe we should"
"Where are you?"
"No…when can you be at your office?"
"No good McGarrett. There's a family restaurant on the edge of town, Carol's. I can meet you there in forty five minutes"
"My partner and I will be there. You'll come alone?"
"Yes. Take a seat by the window and I'll see you soon"

Steve hung up and turned to Danny, "We're meeting him at a restaurant in forty-five minutes, are you ready"
"Absolutely"
As Steve spoke he took the battery out of his phone "Good. In case he traced my phone….use yours to call us a cab. By the way, you've got crumbs on your tie"

Steve went to use the bathroom and Kono asked quietly, "Is he up to this Danny?"
Danny nodded as he wiped the muffin crumbs from his tie, "He seem's fine. Don't worry, I'll watch him" Danny then called for a cab.

Exiting the bathroom Steve looked at Cath and his team, "You guys be careful here. Chin if you haven't heard from us in two hours call the Governor"
Chin nodded, "Will do Steve"
Catherine kissed Steve tenderly, "Be careful. I love you"
"I love you too"
Danny stood peering through the drapes and several minutes later he said "The cab's here Steve, let's go"

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They arrived at the restaurant twenty minutes prior to their meeting time. Before entering Danny walked around to the back of the building and meeting Steve at the door he said, "All clear. Anyone following us?"
Steve shook his head, "No, we're good"
They entered Carol's and requesting a window seat overlooking the parking lot they sipped on coffee while they waited. The restaurant was full of patrons, mostly big rig drivers and the amazing aroma of fresh baked caramel and cinnamon rolls filled the air.

Steve looked into his partner's eyes, "How are you doing Danno?"
"I'm good partner, how about you?"
"I'm alright. I'll be better when we get answers about Dern"
"Yeah, me too. How's your stomach today?"
"Not too bad"
"I'm sorry to put you through all this Steve….Matty sure brought chaos to your life didn't he?"
"You don't ever have to apologize to me for helping out family Danny"

"He really wasn't a bad guy Steve…..I should never have let him get on that plane…..I let him go and I lost him"
Steve sighed, "Danny, you lost him long before that buddy. You just didn't know it"
"Yeah….."
Steve nodded towards the front door, "I think he might be here"

A man approached the detectives and Steve's hand instinctively moved to his sidearm.
He was a tall man in his mid 50's with black hair, peppered with grey. He wore no jacket and Steve could see he was unarmed.
"McGarrett?"
Steve moved his hand from his weapon and extended it. "Yes, I'm Steve McGarrett"
The man shook Steve's hand firmly, "I'm Bruce Jessup. I'm here to help you"
Steve nodded, "Thank you. This is my partner, Detective Danny Williams"
Jessup shook Danny's hand and the Jersey detective slid over on the bench seat allowing Jessup to sit.

"From what Sam Denning tells me, you feel one of my men is involved in the death of Matthew Williams and that they have also targeted you"
"It's much more than a feeling Sir. We have proof"
"What kind of proof?"
"Two men attacked us last night after we left Reiser's Mortuary. They crashed into our vehicle and shot at us"
Jessup nodded, "A motorist came across the scene last night and contacted us. So you killed those men?"
Danny jumped in, "They were trying to KILL US!"
Jessup raised his hand, "I understand that Detective. I'm just trying to piece everything together"
Wanting to test the Chief's loyalty, Steve continued, "Can you tell us anything you know about those men Sir?"

He told Steve and Danny everything they already knew, plus more….
"Gabriel Paranda was a drug informant for our department"
Steve sighed, "Did he work with any detectives in particular?"
"Our drug unit consists of four detectives, Bobby Warren, Dale Cartwright, Jake Mittlested and Luke Riley…the unit is led by Sergeant Michael Dern"

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Steve and Danny's eyes met and Danny nodded knowingly. Steve had come to the decision that Jessup was exactly what Denning had described him as, a good and honest man.

"Chief Jessup, we took photos of our attacker's ID's and their fingerprints. We identified Paranda and Cox and know that they were cellmates for six years. They also had a notebook in their truck. It mentioned Matt Williams as their number one target and both our names were also listed. A price was listed as 20,000/each - per target and a there was a name…..Dern"

The detectives watched the Chief's reaction closely and it was obvious to both of them that the information came as a shock to him.
"Dern? Are you sure they meant Michael Dern?"
Danny spoke, "As Cox was dying, we asked who sent him….he said one word…cop"

Jessup sighed, "I've known Michael Dern for almost twenty years. Twelve years ago my sixteen year old son died after taking tainted heroin. The drug unit investigated the ring that was responsible and Michael went undercover. He was undercover for almost two years working his way into the inner circle. When we took down the organization, Michael was almost killed. He was shot three times and he came away from the assignment with an addiction to cocaine. He spent almost a year rehabilitating. I'm shocked to hear that he's involved in this, he's a good man McGarrett"

Steve felt horrible for the man. He saw his pain, and he understood it. He understood it all too well, "I'm sure he WAS a good man Chief. Now we need to find out what went wrong. Can I ask you….. over the years has he been turned down for promotions?"

Jessup sighed, "Twice…he was denied promotion as lead of the drug unit the first time he applied. I felt it was too soon after his addiction. Then two years ago he was denied promotion to Lieutenant"

"Was there a reason for that?"
"Honestly…the decision was purely monetary. Like most departments across the country, funding is tight"
"Yeah, I understand. How did he take it?"
"He was disappointed…and upset"
"Does he have financial issues that you're aware of?"
"Not that I'm aware of, but a few months after he was denied his wife left him. They divorced and she moved out East with their two sons"

Steve responded, "Chief Jessup I've seen many good men do evil things for love and money. If Dern felt the department owed him and then on top of that he blamed the breakup of his marriage on not getting promoted….."
Danny added, "I can personally attest to the fact that there's nothing harder to deal with than a spouse taking your child across the country"

Jessup looked at the two men, "So you think he he snapped…"
Steve said quietly, "I'm sorry but it appears so Sir"

They sat quietly for several minutes before Steve asked, "How do you think we should proceed Sir?"
"I need to talk to Dern's Captain as soon as possible. Unfortunately with Paranda's connections to the drug unit, Dern is already involved in investigating his killing"
Danny mumbled, "Great"
Steve asked, "Can you trust the Captain?"
"Yes….yes, I'm certain of it. Let me do some digging on my end and I'll call you in a couple of hours. When I see you next, I'll have the Doctor you requested with me to check you over"

"That would be fine. Chief, there's a couple things we need"
"Oh course, what is it?"
"We need a car, an SUV. Until we know for certain everyone involved in this we can't put anything in our names"
"Of course. I'll have a department vehicle sent here shortly. I'll have the officer park in the lot, next to the dumpster and leave the keys under the mat. I'll take care of the paperwork, there will be no way to track it. Anything else?"

Steve looked at Danny, "Chief, can you please contact the coroner…..it may be a few days before we can fly Matthew home"
Danny sat quietly, looking down at his coffee cup, running his index finger around the rim.
Bruce Jessup responded softly, "I'll take care of it. I'll call you soon" He stood from the booth and after shaking hands with the men, he left the restaurant.

********* More to follow – I'd love to hear what you think? **********