Cujo III – Reloaded – This Time It's Personal
Chapter 33
Here's the next. If you haven't yet seen the end of season 1 – spoiler warning. Also another appearance made by an OC from Cujo II.
Imaginary Beta still a bit under the weather. This chapter will be no more error-free than usual. It was proofed between sneezes loud enough to startle ninja cats into hightailing it for the hills. Though nuts and marshmallows may clog the needle, will have to let her mainline some medicinal rocky road.
Disclaimer: Make absolutely no income from this but still foolishly believe money isn't everything. Am just sad foolish beliefs don't buy plane tickets to Hawaii.
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Anger Management
Not finding anyone on his team willing to pick him up to drive him to work and receiving at least two pleas and one not very veiled threat to follow the doctor's orders to stay put and recover, Steve gave Kamekona a call.
"I dunno." said the big man in a worried voice, "Even if you Five 0's Big Kahuna, da little haoli still gonna be plenny pissed you show up at da cop house."
"Don't worry about it big guy; I'm his boss. Besides, he's always pissed anyway."
"You got dat right bruddah but before I come give you da ride, jus answer me one question."
"Sure, what?"
"What kind flowers you want at da funeral?"
….
He thanked Kamekona, and wincing only slightly, alighted from the jeep onto the still heating asphalt of the palace's parking lot.
It was only nine in the morning but the day was already too warm and the humidity promised to be brutal - just another thing for his peevish and sometimes overly critical partner to complain about. Steve had realized long ago that if Danny ever stopped bitching about everything from the weather to the way his teammates made coffee it would probably mean he was dead . . . and he would be sorely missed. The continuous kvetching was somehow familiar and comforting.
Using just the one crutch he made his way to the door and up the steps. Entering the cool marble lobby; in grudging concession to his injury he took the elevator up to their offices rather than employ his usual method of taking the steps two at a time at a semi-gallop.
Another concession was the meds he'd taken before leaving the house. They'd be in effect for several hours though they only muted the pain. Reluctant to take them because they slowed his thinking and clouded his judgment, for the time being, it was what he had to do to function.
He'd tried to keep to keep from going bonkers by working on whatever home maintenance projects he was capable of doing with a gimpy leg. Even with Cujo for company it wasn't enough to keep from going stir crazy. His natural restlessness had returned full force.
Books, videos and television had long since ceased to entertain him and he knew it was time to get out of the house when he'd decided that climbing onto the roof to repair a few loose shingles was a good idea. Halfway up the ladder he'd realized it was the pain meds that had made him feel invincible enough to do so. He'd rationalized that, whether anyone agreed with him or not, it's a lot safer to be at work. At least there aren't any repair projects here.
Ditching the single crutch behind a potted palm in the hallway and pushing open the heavy glass door; he marched in with what he thought was a commanding and limp-free stride.
The team's uninjured, (for the most part), members were gathered around the smart table. The image of a middle-aged man appeared on the big screen above them. The likeness appeared to have been taken from a booking photo.
"Who's that guy?" he asked as he strode up.
Chin and Kono had already spotted him coming in and both cousins looked from their leader to their temporary leader with expressions best described as apprehensive bordering on outright panicked. Both took a step back from the table where Danny was engrossed in perusing information on the man whose mug shot was on display.
The detective, hearing the familiar voice behind him, stiffened his posture and tightened his shoulders as he slowly turned to reveal a face like a thundercloud. For several long seconds he held a stare that could melt glass before bellowing, "WHAT THE HELL IS THE MATTER WITH YOU?!
Steve only seemed amused at the reaction and through past experience knew the question was only rhetorical.
"All recuperated, Danno!" he all but chirped; taking another step forward and gesturing toward himself in a theatrical way that should have included the exclamation 'ta-dah!'
"Uh huh." was the quieter but still angry response. The detective's bright blue eyes evaluated Five-0's leader. Though pallid, he did seem to look well enough despite the limp he was trying to hide . . . not terribly successfully.
Steve calmly stood looking back with a lopsided grin. "What are we looking at?" he repeated, adding a gesture toward the large screen.
Continuing the murderous glare and not yet willing to let his friend off the hook Danny replied, "At this moment I'm looking at someone who may possibly be the most stubborn friggin' jackass I've ever met."
"So, I'm at the top of that list?" grinned Steve
Without bothering to answer the non-question, Danny, waving his hands about for emphasis, huffed, "I still have both sets of your keys! How did you get here this time?"
"Called a friend for a ride." airily replied the man who wasn't yet cleared for even desk duty.
"Kamekona?" bit out the annoyed detective. "He's your usual go-to when you're planning something incredibly stupid like arming yourself to the teeth to break into the Governor's mansion."
Seemingly mesmerized, the cousins stood rooted to the spot. It was like watching a train wreck.
Danny had all but pulled out the big guns by mentioning the incident that had gotten Steve shipped off to Halava when he'd been framed for Pat Jameson's murder. Their entrepreneurial friend had been the one who'd supplied Five-0's fugitive and overly-amped SEAL with weapons.
Chin and Kono, suddenly snapping out of their daze, almost stumbled over one another to take their leave. As they rushed toward the door, Kono called over her shoulder, "Good to see you back, boss."
Chin added, "Yeah, good to see you . . . uhh we're going to go check out that anger management class. We'll call you with an update."
In the blink of an eye they were gone.
Glancing again at his partner's face, he knew why the two had taken off like scared rabbits. He'd wanted to call out after the fleeing cousins. He wanted them to check if there was a way to enroll Danny in the class.
With Chin and Kono now absent, Steve looked a little apprehensive. There wasn't anyone to intervene if Danny decided to take the scolding to another level. The SEAL knew the repudiation of both his doctor's instruction and his partner's threats to stay home would result in a major rant. Taking a deep breath he braced himself for it.
"You're an idiot!" snorted Danny dismissively as he turned back toward the table.
Waiting for the rest of it before realizing there was no more, the tall man asked, "That's it? That's all you got?" He sounded almost disappointed.
"Why would I even bother to waste the energy?" resignedly sighed his 2IC; voice now eerily calm. Turning to face his partner who stood looking a bit lost he furthered, "At least I now truly understand why you and that cat get along so well."
"Yeah, why's that?" asked Steve cautiously but still smiling and still not quite ready to give up the vigil of waiting for the other shoe to drop.
"You know, both of you really are the same species. You're just bigger with less fur and more grenades". Then looking upward and gesturing as though in entreaty to heaven he asked, "Why do I even bother to get worked up about it?"
"Oh come on Danny. You know you love us." smirked his partner
Reacting to the brazenly unapologetic statement, the blonde barked, "Yeah, about as much as I love accidentally slamming the car door on my fingers!" then taking a calming breath he went on, "But to continue what I'd started to say Steven, everyone pretty much knows that we humans are only pissing in the wind if we want cats to follow instructions. Ergo, you are obviously a cat."
"Again with the ergo huh?"
As though he hadn't heard him Danny continued, "As with your furry piranha, it goes against your very nature to do what people tell you no matter how much it's for your own good. So, my friend, I give up."
"Really?" asked Steve quirking his brows and hoping that was the extent of the chastisement he knew he deserved.
The detective only stared tiredly at him before thrusting his hands outward with palms up in a gesture signifying he really had given up. The campaign to get Steve to stay home was over.
Before the tall man could breathe a sigh of relief, Danny added, "You know what? I do have some final words on this subject."
"What's that?" asked Steve tilting his head like a cocker spaniel. Here it comes, he thought as he again braced himself for an angry avalanche of words delivered with the usual accompanying gestures.
"This is like that old saying." began the detective as he turned and strode toward his office.
Teeth clenched in discomfort, Steve asked, "Which one?" His thigh muscle was now starting to cramp like a bitch though he continued trying to hide his limp as he followed his partner down the hallway.
Danny reached his office and plopped himself tiredly into his chair; folding his hands in front of him in an almost comically prim way before saying, "It goes like this: Never try to teach a pig to sing. It only wastes your time and it annoys the pig."
"So I'm a pig now? Not a cat?" smiled Five-0's leader in his annoyingly cocky way.
"Yes . . . No . . . whatever!" huffed Danny losing his newly acquired calm, "You are a pig in cat's clothing masquerading as a Neanderthal horse's ass!"
"That doesn't even make sense." snorted Steve, "and that saying was probably plagiarized from one of those ancient re-runs of the Andy Griffith Show or something. You have weird taste in television programs."
Recognizing Steve's attempt to de-rail the conversation and without rising to the bait Danny replied, "Well as long as you're here, I may as well ask if you'd be so kind as to make yourself useful and go through this information."
He shoved a folder toward the far corner of the desk where Steve now leaned his hip. With a small wince that Danny didn't fail to note, Steve leaned across the desk to pick it up.
"Brotman called and said he thinks there may be a link between Andrew Timmons and our murders."
"Andrew Timmons is the guy you think attacked me. The one who was killed when Cujo chased him into traffic, right? I seem to remember the name but the blood loss and the meds made it all kind of hazy but," he quickly added, "I'm all better now."
"Yeah, whatever." replied the detective with a dismissive wave, "Just see if you think there's something to it. Chin and Kono have gone to check out that class to see if any of its members may have anything useful to the case. It's scheduled to start in about another five minutes."
Steve took the folder and thumbing through it, limped back to sit in his office to study the information. In his concentration on the material at hand he even forgot to hide the limp.
Thank God I'm finally back to work! was his thought as he hobbled down the hallway.
Danny watched his partner make his way to his office, shook his head, and mumbled something under his breath as he picked up the phone to update the Governor.
…
The class was being held at Kamehameha Park in a community center adjacent to the library. Chin and Kono strode up the long curving walkway to the low-rise building. The grounds were abloom with flowering plants and shrubs. It was the only thing to soften the appearance of the industrially severe structure which looked to be a leftover from the Second World War.
Engaged in conversation as they approached, Chin asked, "So where have you searched for the thumb drive?"
"Everywhere." answered Kono with a frustrated tone, "If Cujo did get hold of it he could have stashed it anywhere."
"That cat is pretty smart . . . and sneaky. Look at all the stuff he copped from Doris and Steve. The little pirate really did collect a pile of treasure." laughed Chin
Not even cracking a smile Kono replied, "Cuz, I've looked in the storeroom, under everyone's desks, in file drawers, behind the cabinets and the copier, just about anywhere a popoki could squeeze into. I give up."
"Maybe we'll have to get a little more creative in the search." observed Chin as he reached to pull open the outer door to the building.
"I'm just afraid someone else is gonna find it before we do. I'd never live it down if they saw what was on it." groaned Kono
Her cousin nodded in agreement. For her sake they'd have to find that thumb drive soon.
It was another uncomfortably warm and muggy day. The temperature in the small lobby was only marginally cooler than that of the air outside. The directory in the aluminum frame fastened to the right of the door indicated the meeting room was at the back of the building through the short hallway to the left.
As they neared its door, from within sounded a female voice raised in anger.
"Anger Management, huh?" remarked Chin, placing verbal quote marks around the word 'management'.
"I guess someone needs a little more practice." observed Kono as they pushed open the door to enter the meeting room.
The person whose voice they'd heard in the hallway didn't interrupt their angry litany as the two Five-0's quietly went to the back of the room to stand against the wall and observe for a moment.
There were eighteen people in the class including the one they assumed was the instructor, a surprisingly elderly woman no taller than four and a half feet at best. The detectives were both surprised such an aged and diminutive instructor had been assigned to control people who had their own issues with control. Several of those gathered were large, tattooed and menacing.
The yeller, a woman whose appearance embodied the archetypical, mini-van driving, soccer mom, was addressing some sort of practice dummy that had been suspended on tethers from the ceiling. She appeared to be running out of steam. Her voice, hoarse from all the screeching, had notched down to a more reasonable volume.
"Now, Janice, try that again using the techniques we've learned in class. But, this time, don't kick the dummy in the crotch." instructed the woman in charge of the class. Her words garnered nervous laughter as at least a couple of the male students made to uncross their legs.
….
"My students call me Mrs. R and yes, I remember Mr. Timmons. A nice, quiet, man. I was a little surprised he wound up in this class but then I read his file – poor thing." tsked the tiny white-haired instructor.
From this corner of the room she kept her faded blue eyes on her students who were now pairing up to engage in a role-play exercise. One half of the pair was to be the calm person of authority trying to reason with the angry one. From experience she knew this activity could sometimes get out of hand.
"He just always seemed so timid and sad." stated Mrs. R in her nearly helium-pitched voice. Chin was sure he'd seen her before somewhere but put the thought aside for right now.
"Did he have any friends in this class? Someone who might know a bit more about him?" queried the Hawaiian
"He rarely spoke unless spoken to but I did see him engaged in conversation with another student during break time one day." She narrowed her gaze for a moment as she caught the eye of a student who was doing something he shouldn't. It halted the guy dead in his tracks and he looked down at the floor like a scolded child. Satisfied she'd put a stop to the unapproved behavior, the instructor turned her attention back to the cousins.
"Who is this other student?" asked Kono while keeping her own wary eye on the class in case one of its larger members decided make-believe was too close to reality.
"Oh, she served her time and graduated about five months ago." answered Mrs. R, eagle eyes narrowing once again as two of her student's voices became a bit louder and more agitated. Apparently satisfied nothing was amiss she went back to answering questions.
"What was her name?" asked Kono
"Oh something like . . . umm . . . ", the tiny woman pursed her thin lips and scrunched her already wrinkled brow as she tried to bring up a name, "Carrie or Clarice, something of the sort."
"Can you access your records for us? It may be important that we speak to this woman."
"Of course, but first I must finish this class. They've only got another five minutes or so and then we can go to the building next door where the records are kept."
Sensing the elderly but fierce woman was one who assumed no one would dare go against her wishes, the cousins stood back to watch the last of the exercises. Suddenly, a huge, muscular, tattooed guy in a flowered shirt, face reddening in anger, shoved his role-playing partner in the chest and let loose a string of profanities.
"That's enough Mr. Laanui! Sit down!" barked out the bird-like instructor; her voice now sounding as if issued through the gates of hell. The confrontation came to an abrupt halt and the aggressor muttered, "Sorry Mrs. R.", and took his seat.
Shaking her head as she tottered off to excuse her class for the day; under her breath she muttered, "Damned boys!"
….
Cujo stretched luxuriously on the pillow. The sun that came through the opened bedroom drapes dappled just the right spot to make it warm and soothing.
The little cat yawned widely, displaying his needle sharp teeth that had been put so handily to use the night before. He was tired and his head kind of hurt a little. This morning he'd even let his human go about his routine without demanding that he be fed first. It was an exceptionally lazy morning - even for a cat.
Nevertheless, he'd followed his human through the house for a very long time. First, the tall man took a small cloth and put something on it that had a smell he didn't like. He then took apart several of those metal things like the one he sometimes carried and rubbed the cloth on them. Then, the tall man put the metal things back together! He didn't understand why the man took something apart only to put it back together. Weird.
After that, he recognized the familiar smell of the stuff that his human put on a bigger cloth and wiped it over wooden things like the big boxes that held other boxes in them.
This was boring. He'd just about decided to take a nap in the round metal bed that was kept on top of the big metal box in the food place. It was the box that made things hot. The other bigger metal box in the food place made things cold. He'd figured that out a long time ago. He'd climbed into it once to investigate the intriguing smells and his human had found him and quickly chased him out of it. He didn't sound angry though.
He guessed his human had grown tired too because he went up the wooden hill to the sleeping place sat down on the soft thing and looked sad. He went to him and asked to be scratched. The tall man smiled and rubbed his ears and ran his hand down his back. He purred in appreciation of the attention.
The tall man sighed and said something he didn't understand then he looked at the small box that made noise sometimes so he would talk to it. It didn't make any noise this time but the tall man picked it up and poked at it then held it to the side of his head for a little while before he began talking to it. He knew that if he listened closely, he could hear it talking back.
Shortly after that, his human had given him clean water and new crunchy ground in his box. He'd even given him a couple of good tasting things he took out of the big cold box. Whatever it was, it wasn't as good as mouse but he thanked him for it by purring loudly.
Then, with a last scratch behind his ears and words that sounded familiar, his human went out the door. He followed him to the door and watched from his perch in front of the opening in the wall as the tall man and left in a big rolling box that made a lot of noise and it didn't have a top on it. The huge human from the place by the water where he'd been given some of the sweet cold stuff that went away if you tried to keep it too long was in it too.
It rolled away then he leaped down from his perch and taking one last, lazy, stretch, trotted off to check his turf.
Last night, after drinking the fizzy, funny tasting, stuff he was too sleepy to do his usual patrol of his territory. As he entered the room where the man he'd chased had hurt his human, he stopped in his tracks. Something is wrong! The ground is harder and colder than it was before. It smells different!
Sniffing cautiously, he advanced slowly.
Where's the heavy fuzzy thing he crawls under to get to his hiding place? He needs it back! With it gone it's too easy to see the opening to where he keeps his toys.
Squeezing underneath the cabinet to the triangular shaped empty spot behind it the little cat meowed in distress.
Everything is gone!
*5-0*5-0*5-0*5-0*5-0*5-0*5-0* Hawaii 5-0*5-0*5-0*5-0*5-0*5-0*5-0*
Reviews would be most welcome. Think of them as inexpensive Christmas presents.
So far, it's still almost a tossup as to whether you want the guys to abort their mission against Angie. There's still time to vote if you haven't already.
If ninja cats and relatives leave me alone long enough I may have something to give you by Christmas.