Cujo III – Reloaded – This Time It's Personal
Chapter 38
Here's the next and it's extra-long. Truly sorry if you've lost interest due to the overlong wait for updates. Had this chapter complete but re-read it and it confused even me so I took a machete to it and this is the result. PLEASE let me know if it's ok. Special thank you to Runner043 and Qweb. Without their ideas, assistance and encouragement, my head may have exploded from trying to figure this one out. Even husband was worried enough to help.
Imaginary Beta only got the job because I felt sorry for her. As usual she may have missed something.
Disclaimer: Ninja cats are becoming suspicious. They've ceased to believe me when I tell them their mouse ranch, (funded by the nonexistent income made from this writing), is coming soon. I'm sleeping with my bedroom door locked.
*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*
Blood Will Tell
Steve dumped the nearly half-full grocery bag of Cujo's treasures onto his desk. When he'd moved the water cooler he'd discovered a loose panel on the back of it and, judging from the amount of fur stuck around the edges of the opening into the hollow base, Cujo had been squeezing into and out of his secret compartment for quite a while. Along with their rodent control officer's purloined trinkets he'd also discovered a disgustingly large herd of dust bunnies and other miscellaneous crud. In the future, he'd have to make sure the janitor cleaned beneath it though no one but he himself would be bothered by the hidden dirt.
He was glad he'd bought the can of kippers specifically to bring to the office. He knew they might come in handy if their rodent control officer became difficult and a bribe was needed to distract him. He'd laughed when Cujo's determination to protect his bounty had quickly gone by the wayside when presented with a tin of fish.
Not really surprised the cat was so adamant about protecting his treasure; he admired the fierce little creature's intent to do so even when faced with someone many times larger than himself. Steve was under no illusion Cujo wouldn't hesitate to rip into him if the standoff had escalated to battle. Since the furry piranha had been adopted by Five-0, (or the other way around), the cat had augmented the already impressive number of scars Steve had gathered over the years in performance of duty. He admired Cujo's toughness but it had been almost comically easy to lure him away from the breakroom and into Danny's office.
The collection clattered noisily onto the blotter; a few of the items landing off the edge of it to skitter across the glass-topped desk. He gathered everything into one pile and applying himself to the task at hand began to sort through it.
Snatching up a sparkly pink pen he recognized as Kono's he dropped it onto its assigned location. Next was a black plastic comb he placed onto another designated spot. In only a few minutes he had six distinct piles on his desk; one each for Danny, Kono, Chin, Lori and himself plus the communal pile for the pens, pencils, markers, paperclips, rubber bands and whatever else had been small enough for the cat to haul back to his lair.
Actually, there were some things that should have been too heavy for a seven-pound cat to carry off. "Huh?" he exclaimed in puzzlement as he picked one of his own belongings from the pile. Everyone knows Cujo has the jaw muscles of a pit-bull; he must also have the neck strength of one as well. He shook his head in amazement/admiration at the lead-filled, leather-covered paperweight Cath had given him as a Valentine's gift last year. The heart-shaped object had evidently amused Danny no end when he'd spotted it on his boss' desk.
Next, gingerly picking up the string that had come loose from a still cellophane wrapped tampon, he dangled it briefly over Kono's then Lori's pile before shaking his head and depositing it into the trash can next to him while muttering to himself, "Do I even want to know how Cujo managed to get hold of that?"
What he did know is that Danny would be beside himself when he saw the set of house keys. The detective had been searching for them for weeks.
The next thing plucked from the pile was a black and red thumb drive - he had no idea who's. He'd have to see what was on it before placing it in the correct pile. Pulling his laptop toward him he booted it up and inserted the device into the USB port. Opening E-Drive he found only the one file and clicked on it. What popped up on the screen before him was a startling and artfully lit image of Five-0's rookie wearing pretty much nothing but a smile. Stunned, he quickly closed the file and pulled the drive out of the machine.
Wow. Was the only word that came to mind and not because of her attire or lack of it. Chin would definitely not be thrilled if he knew she'd posed for something like that. He knew if it was Mary, he'd feel the same way. Actually, he wasn't sure if his sister hadn't already done that. It seemed like something she'd eventually find her way to.
He placed the drive into the pile with the other things that Cujo had purloined from his young detective. Maybe he'd have to have a talk with her about leaving stuff like that around but that would be awkward for both of them so . . . maybe not. Shaking his head and ridding his mind of how uncomfortable that conversation might be, he returned to his task.
For whatever reason, Cujo had decided a wadded ball of blue masking tape looked like something valuable. Most of its adhesiveness had been lost to dust and dirt and he was about to fling it into the trash can when something came unstuck from it and clinked onto the desktop before bouncing onto the floor. From the familiar sound, it was a small metallic something.
He realized he now had to go crawling around to look for it. "Shit." muttered Steve. His leg wouldn't really be amenable to that exercise. Deciding whatever it was that had waited this long for discovery could surely wait until tomorrow, he called it a night . . . err morning . . . whatever. He winced as he stood to limp out to the hallway and turn toward Danny's office to go let Cujo out of his cushy prison. There was no doubt that by now the cat had finished consuming his bribe. Halfway there he swore and returned to make sure he'd shut the door to his office. It would be more than annoying to come in to find the carefully sorted stuff had disappeared again courtesy of klepto kitty.
He checked his watch. It had been returned to him only a few days ago with 'mysterious' chew marks on its band. He was startled to see it would soon be time for Cath to wake to ready herself for her morning jog. He knew there'd be hell to pay if she woke and realized he'd driven himself somewhere. He still wasn't yet officially cleared to get behind the wheel though he'd snuck out a couple times for short trips. He hadn't been dizzy for a while now and had begun to cut back on the pain meds days ago.
As he opened the door to Danny's office Cujo walked out to wind around his legs. Leaning down to scratch behind the cat's ears he said, "Sorry about your treasure Captain Sparrow. I'm afraid you'll have to pillage and plunder all over again."
The cat only purred loudly at his human. He wasn't yet aware that he'd been robbed.
….
His stomach full of little fishes the cat lazily washed a paw over his face. It was strange that his human had come here to give him little fishes. It was still dark and the light hadn't come yet. He was glad he didn't have to fight to keep his toys. His human even patted him on the head and scratched him behind the ears as he talked to him before he left. Most of the time he didn't understand the meaning but he always liked when the tall man talked to him.
Finished with his bath, the little animal trotted to where his toys were kept. He was looking forward to playing with the sparkly stick he'd taken from the female who smelled like water. He'd taken other things from her too but they weren't as much fun. Maybe he'd play with the thing that was sort of mouse shaped with a long tail of string.
A long time ago he'd found it in her big table. The box that slid out of it was usually closed but the female had left it open when the dark came and she left. He had a good time exploring what was in it.
First he took the mouse on the string and then he took a little thing that was easy to carry. He didn't know what it was but it would be fun to push across the shiny ground.
In happy anticipation he approached his den before suddenly freezing. It smells different! He crept slowly and cautiously forward.
It smells like the long stick with the wet strings on the end. The man who is sometimes here when the dark comes, pushes it around on the shiny ground. He looked really afraid last time he chased him. He hasn't seen that human in a long time.
He squeezed himself into the opening and the smell is so strong it makes him sneeze. He closes his eyes until the explosive bout is over but when he opens them expecting to see his treasures in front of him . . . the space is bare.
His things are gone! Did his human take them? Why would he take them? He doesn't like to play with things like that.
The little cat meowed sadly. Where are his toys?
…..
The time shown was two-forty-six A.M. and Steve had mysteriously appeared onscreen. The video showed him pausing at the entryway before he'd crept carefully down the hall to the breakroom. The feed from the camera set atop the fridge and concealed in a box of cereal, (a kind none of them liked), showed him appearing to be talking to Cujo who was sitting in front of the water cooler. After leaving for a bit Steve returned with a dish of something he waved back and forth in front of the cat.
They observed him luring the little animal into Danny's office then quickly stepping out and closing the door, leaving the cat inside. He then went to the janitor's closet before returning to the break-room with cleaning supplies. They watched him move the water cooler away from the corner and pause to frown at the floor.
Kono's heartbeat began to quicken as she saw Steve discover and then gather up the things that had been stashed beneath the water cooler. She couldn't tell if the thumb drive was in the stuff he'd picked up or not but her stomach was now in a giant knot.
Shit! What if it's there and he opens the file to find out who it belongs to? She'd die of embarrassment that her boss had discovered her error in judgment so blatantly and artfully displayed in soft focus and flattering light.
Chin looked at his cousin in sympathy. "Maybe he didn't find it cuz."
"With my luck?" said Kono as she slumped back into her chair. "He found it and looked at it to see who it belonged to. I'm so screwed."
"Well, we all have our umm . . . issues that can make us squirm a little."
"Yeah but most of them aren't wearing teddies and feather boas . . . if anything." she added - her tone that of defeat.
Chin first winced at his little cousin's admission then smiled and said, "Cuz, you forgot about J. Edgar Hoover." referring to the late and legendary director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation who was rumored to have been quite fond of attiring himself in women's clothing.
They watched Steve leave through the front door before Kono turned to her cousin. They couldn't be sure he'd found the thumb drive. Both were faced away from the screen while discussing whether she should approach their leader about it or wait for him to come to her.
Discouraged and resigned to her fate, Kono turned back to the screen and was about to close down the viewing when, suddenly, with her hand paused over the keyboard she exclaimed "Hey!"
Another, figure had suddenly appeared on the surveillance video.
Chin immediately leaned forward as they saw the mysterious figure get down on all fours and begin to crawl around on the floor under the smart table. They couldn't make out a face because it was covered by a bandana. The stranger's hair was concealed beneath a knitted cap pulled down far enough so there was only a small gap to see through.
"Who the hell is that?" Chin exclaimed as they watched the disguised intruder search around for another few seconds. Suddenly, whoever it was jumped up and made a dash toward the door. Right behind the now fleeing figure was a small cat and both were quickly out of view. Tapping at the keyboard, Kono pulled up the feed from the camera mounted facing the front door. Another few taps brought up the feed taken during the same time frame from the additional angle.
At this point Cujo appeared to be attached to the trespasser's ankle. After frantically dancing around and trying to shake their office guard cat loose, the masked stranger grabbed him by the tail and managed to pull him off to fling him across the room before turning to disappear out the door.
"There's always cameras trained at the building's entrances. See if you can access the surveillance for this morning." directed Chin, still astonished at what they'd just viewed.
After several more moments and much swearing Kono said, "Someone's disabled the building's system! There's no record of yesterday's or this morning's video.
Crap!
…..
It had been their first stop on the way in this morning and Steve and Danny had just returned from their visit to the anger management class.
She'd just picked up her phone to call them about what the video had revealed when the two walked in. They were engaged one of their usual animated disputes that sometimes had the uninformed speculating as to the nature of their relationship.
"Boss!" she exclaimed as she rushed toward them, Chin right behind her.
"Good to see you guys too." said Steve as he and Danny ceased bickering and stopped in their tracks. Steve had once again abandoned his crutches and had to put a hand on his partner's shoulder to maintain his balance at the abrupt halt.
"Steve, someone broke into H.Q. last night." said Chin his usually serene expression showing a bit of tension.
"What?" exclaimed Steve; Danny echoing the word not half a second later.
Five-0's leader quickly limped forward to stand in front of the smart table as Chin pulled up last night's office surveillance footage.
"Who'd have the balls to break into Five-0's headquarters?" wondered Danny as he came forward to stand beside the others around the smart table.
"How did you find out? Did someone call in a report?" asked Steve
"We . . . uhh . . . were going over some surveillance video from last night and saw someone come in and begin searching around." stammered Kono as the feed popped up on the big overhead display.
"Why would you be going over video of H.Q.?" asked Danny
"Better yet, why do we have video surveillance of our office? I'd been thinking of having a system installed but I know there isn't one that's part of the building's existing system." puzzled Five-0's leader, frowning as he tilted his head at the cousins.
"We don't uhh . . . we were just . . . we just sort of . . . ", stammered Kono
"We were trying to see if it was Cujo who'd been snatching all the little things that have disappeared around the office lately." coolly interjected Chin, silently willing his stammering cousin to shut the hell up and keep it together. "We installed a few night-vision cameras to see if we could catch him at it."
"Nice to see that you're concentrating on the major crimes." said Steve; conflicted over whether to congratulate them on their discovery of the intruder or reprimand them for taking time and resources to pursue something he thought petty.
"Any idea of who it is?" he finally asked as they all watched the mysterious figure creep around the office.
"Nope, as you can see, the person was all covered up. Have no idea." replied Chin
"It was probably a woman." said Kono now all business; relieved that Steve hadn't stopped to dwell on the fact that cameras had been set-up in their workplace without his knowledge.
"What makes you think it was a woman?" asked Danny eyes glued to the screen above them, still puzzled by who would have the chutzpah to break into H.Q., (other than any of the many bloodthirsty and ruthless scumbags they'd dealt with in the past). It could actually be a long list.
"Slight build, narrow shoulders; and you can see the delicate movements." said Kono as she gestured toward the screen.
"Looks like Cujo took a chunk out of whomever it was though." supplied Chin.
There were smiles on all their faces as they watched Cujo in attack mode before wincing as one when he was flung away.
"Any blood left behind?" asked Steve, "As you can see, our office guard was really pissed. If he got in a good shot maybe there's some on the floor somewhere."
"Nothing on the floor but we haven't had a chance to check his fur yet. Last time we did that, we only found Danny's blood." smiled Kono
"Yeah, well, you won't find any of mine this time. The wolverine and I have sort of buried the hatchet for now." stated Danny as Chin's and Kono's eyebrows rose in surprise.
Just then, the animal in question jumped onto the smart table, making Chin wince though Cujo landed lightly and wasn't heavy enough to damage the device. Plopping down in the middle of it the feline sat staring at them as they stood staring back at him.
Why are all the humans looking at me? I haven't done anything to make them angry but they don't really look angry. What do they want?
…
Kiki hissed as she applied the antiseptic to her ankle, dabbing at the still bleeding wound. The fang marks were deep and she should have gone to the E.R. but she hadn't realized how badly she'd been mauled until she got home and out of her clothes.
She realized she'd been stupid for laughing at Mickey, cat bites are fucking painful. The accompanying claw marks gouged into her calf made it even worse but at least her injuries weren't in such a tender place. The injuries inflicted by that runt puma on the too easily manipulated Mickey deserved to be laughed at.
Kiki was murderously annoyed. She knew she'd have to have another go at searching the office but first she'd have to get rid of that shithead cat. Despite not being the sharpest guy she'd ever met; Mickey was right. The little fucker is dangerous.
….
Excitement over at least for now, they waited for Charlie Fong's call regarding the blood they'd discovered on Cujo's fur. With luck, it may match someone already in the data base and they'd have an I.D.
The little cat hadn't even been upset when they'd swabbed him for evidence. Of course that can of tuna helped.
Steve had been sitting at his desk when he heard from down the hallway, "Where the hell did you find these?!"
The tall man smiled to himself. His partner had discovered the pile of purloined belongings Steve had set on his desk when Danny had been out getting lunch to bring back for them all.
"Oh, wait, let me guess." he heard as the garrulous detective entered his office; keys dangling from his fingers in display. "You were holding them hostage until I agreed to let Cujo drive my car. I'm surprised the two of you waited this long."
Steve smiled indulgently at his annoyed partner. "He's still too young to drive; besides I thought you guys had come to a truce?"
"Sort of. It's still on a trial basis." answered Danny as he lounged against the door frame
"Well, don't start anything with him. Just be glad you got your stuff back. I finally found out where all those little things had disappeared to. Cujo had been stashing them under a space beneath the water cooler."
"Oh, is that why he looks so depressed right now. You made off with his stash?"
"Yeah, he does look kind of down doesn't he." replied Steve with a worried frown.
"He's a friggin' cat. He'll get over it." snorted Danny with a dismissive wave of his hand.
"You know, Danny, creatures other than ourselves can have strong emotions too."
"Animal Planet again?" smirked the blonde
Not bothering to react to the dig, Steve said, "I've distributed the things Cujo had stolen back to their rightful owners. I'd be careful about what you leave lying around though. Cujo may find a new hiding place for the next batch."
Danny smiled and said, "I'm sure Grace will be happy to get her hair clip back. It's one of her favorites and you haven't seen anything until you've seen a ten-year-old girl in a melt-down over a hair accessory."
"The hair thing must be genetic." said Steve not looking up from the paperwork he'd returned to.
"What the hell do you mean by that?" demanded Danny, knowing he was about to be dissed by someone whose entire grooming routine consisted of a three-minute shower and a brushing of teeth.
"I guess I should just be glad you don't wear hairclips." snorted Steve looking up with a grin and saying, "They'd actually be redundant considering how much crap you put into your hair to keep it in place. I bet you even have a special drawer somewhere for all of your hair products."
"Of course I don't!" defended Danny, (though he did).
The compact detective was absolutely positive Steve didn't even own a comb let alone a blow-dryer, conditioner, gel or even spray. He probably just ran a hand through that cropped, haphazard, mess on his head and considered it styled.
Chin and Kono had just walked in the door, having returned from their early morning visit to the security alarm company. They waved in greeting and went to their offices to get started on their report. Steve wanted it in writing to present to Denning if it was something to back-up his theory there had to have been an accomplice. He still wasn't giving up on it.
"So you found his stash!" he heard Chin exclaim from his office as he discovered the small pile of his belongings, happy to see his comb again. He knew he was being a little weird but he'd missed it.
A smile on his face, the Hawaiian detective came to join them. Strangely, there was no similar exclamation from Kono.
She sat looking at the small black and red object atop the small pile of her stuff in the middle of her desk. She felt her face beginning to grow hot. Oh God, how could she ever look Steve in the eye again?
…
Mickey mulled over what Kiki had asked of him. For whatever reason, she'd demanded an immediate update on the Macchiato Murder case.
There really wasn't anything new to tell her. The murders had stopped when Timmons had been killed, which, as far as he was concerned, meant the case could be closed. Even though Five-0 and his dickhead partner Brotman were still unwilling to declare it a done deal, the Governor was satisfied it was over.
His remembrance of him and Denning being on the same side during the discussion a couple days ago caused him to smile as he sat at his desk. Certainly couldn't hurt his career. Another plus was that McGarrett didn't look all that happy when the head of the State of Hawaii dismissed his opinion the case wasn't yet ready to be closed. The meeting had definitely worked in the favor of one Detective Michael A. Kilkenny.
He was still smiling until Kiki's request once again intruded on his thoughts. The woman had been creeping him out the last couple of weeks. The sex was still great but there was something making him uneasy. He didn't think it was that his wife was back and he had to be a lot more careful planning his 'meetings' with the seductive reporter.
It wasn't that Phil had finally confronted him about it either. He couldn't care less what Brotman thought about his relationship with Kiki. The guy was gonna be out of his hair in another month or so and would soon be just a dim memory. He knew his secret was safe because Phil wouldn't say anything to upset Deirdre. He liked her too much to do that. Mickey was confident his wife would never have an inkling of his extra-curricular activities.
Still, something about Kiki wasn't right.
….
Danny was already busy doing some preliminary work on another case. Their, thankfully, last meeting with HPD's detectives to tie up the paperwork on the coffee shop murders was about to take place in a couple more hours.
The Governor had adamantly wanted the case declared closed even though Five-0's leader had tried to convince him otherwise. McGarrett had told his second-in-command he suspected the rush to declare it a done deal was because Denning was trying to get back into the good graces of the coffee shop's bigwigs. It was almost time to begin soliciting those big donations for his re-election campaign fund. If he could assure them it wasn't still open-season on its employees he had that much better a chance at getting them to write a check.
The upside is that even if Steve didn't prevail, it would be the last time they'd have to put up with HPD's most annoying detective. He thought Brotman a decent guy but Mickey's one of the biggest assholes he'd ever had the misfortune to meet let alone try to work with.
They'd keep working the case when there was time and opportunity and if Steve strangled Mickey after this was over, he'd be cheered on from the sidelines. Actually, Danny was pretty sure there'd be an entire bleacher full of those supporting the decimation of Detective Michael A. Kilkenny. Maybe they could sell popcorn.
….
Though sure there was still something yet to be discovered regarding the Macchiato Murder investigation, Steve didn't hold much hope of convincing Denning of it. He looked up from signing off on the last of the paperwork to see Danny lounging against his door frame. "What's up?" asked Steve as, pen poised; he looked expectantly at his 2IC.
"Remember Gracie's show and tell?" smiled Danny
"Yeah but I was hoping the two of you would forget about it." grumbled Steve suddenly feeling his shoulder muscles begin to tighten with dread.
"No such luck Rambo. Since you were so conveniently unavailable for last month's show and tell . . . "
"I think I had a legitimate reason Danny." grumped the man whose thigh had only just ceased to ache while he was sitting still. Actually, as long as he didn't overdo it wasn't too bad. Physical therapy was going well and maybe in another couple weeks he could get back to his morning run instead of the annoyingly modified exercise regimen to which he currently adhered. Now officially OK'd for light duty he expected to be fully cleared by the end of the month.
"As I started to say Rambo, now that your owies are better and you're almost back to your former crazed self, it's time to make good on the promise for you and Cujo to be present so everyone one in the fifth grade can ooh and ah at you and the wolverine."
"You're not going to let me slide are you? asked Steve resignedly and, he was pretty sure, rhetorically as well.
"Not unless you want to break the heart of a little girl who worships the ground you walk on." replied the Jersey detective knowing guilt would surely make his reluctant partner fold like a wet cardboard box.
"Okay, okay. What day and time dammit?"
They confirmed the appointment and Danny had turned to go back to his office when he suddenly remembered something and turned back again to say, "Make sure you have the drugs to dope up our mini-mountain lion for the visit."
Despite the meaning of the statement, Steve almost smiled. That was the first time he'd heard Danny refer to the fanged fence rabbit as 'our'.
"Danny, I don't think it's ethical to drug Cujo to keep him docile." frowned Steve. "Besides, it can't really be good for him."
"So, you're saying the possibility of El Gato del Diablo escaping to kill and consume a child or for that matter several children and a teacher or two isn't a good enough reason to slip him a mickey?"
"Well . . . "
"Right. Do you need me to pick up his roofie prescription or are you gonna pick it up?"
"Yeah, okay, I'll call it in to the vet." said Steve with a resigned sigh, "And speaking of Mickeys, you know our favorite HPD detective is going to be here this afternoon for the final meeting on the coffee shop murders, right?"
"You don't really need me here for that, do you?" asked the man who'd never lost the desire to pound the HPD detective into dust if he got chance to do so. He wouldn't even need Cujo's assistance the next time.
"Yes Danny I do need you to be there. I'm going to make one last try at getting them to keep open the investigation. I'd appreciate your back-up."
"You mean you need me to keep you from winding up in Halawa for choking the ever-loving shit out of Mickey?"
"If you don't do it yourself you mean?"
"Yeah, if I don't do it myself. It's waay too tempting."
"Good, then we'll keep each other in line." smiled Steve
"Why don't you call in that prescription now. Maybe we can slip some of it into that dickhead's coffee."
"Tempting but no. I think we'd be the first suspects in case we 'accidentally' give him too much and he croaks on us." smiled Steve
"That would be a freakin' tragedy." sighed Danny
…..
Steve punched the button on his ringing cell and barked, "McGarrett" in his usual abrupt way, face creasing into a smile as he listened to the person on the other end. "Yeah Charlie, that's good news. I'm surprised you got a hit so quickly. Thanks."
"We got something?" asked Chin who'd dropped the last of the reports on the coffee shop's security systems onto his boss' desk.
"Charlie's sending over the information on the blood we got off Cujo's fur. Says there's a hit in the data base. Someone I haven't heard of before and have no idea why they'd be breaking into our office. He said what he'd found was from at least twenty years ago."
Chin went to the main office to power up the smart table, Steve following him. Seeing McGarrett and Kelly standing and looking up at the big screen, Danny and Kono joined them.
"What's up boss?" asked the slim Hawaiian woman
"Just got the report back on the blood sample we sent Charlie. He says there's a hit on it and we're about to look at the face of our intruder. Her name doesn't ring any bells though."
Chin tapped briefly on the surface of the smart table. "Meet Cecile Legere." he said and before them appeared the image of a girl with bleached blonde hair and incongruously dark and thick eyebrows. She appeared no older than maybe thirteen or fourteen.
"She does look kinda familiar." mused Steve as the others nodded in agreement, each and every brow furrowed in thought.
"Shit!" declared Danny. "It's that Rucker woman!"
….
"What the hell would Cecile Legere aka Clara Ann Rucker, want here at Five-0?" asked Danny as he leaned back in the semi-comfortable chair and crossed his arms.
Tablet in hand as he sat in the chair next to him, Chin read to them what he'd managed to dig up: "Her original name was Cecile Marie Legere. At the age of thirteen, Marie had been a suspect in the murders of her parents. They'd been shot and killed in their home in Upper New York State. There'd never been enough evidence to arrest her and eventually she disappeared into the system."
Kono, from her usual seat atop the credenza, next took up the narration: "Two years later she surfaced again when she'd been adopted by a Benjamin and Jeanine Rucker. They'd officially changed her name to Clara Ann Rucker as soon as the adoption was final. The family moved from their home in Albany and she finished her upbringing in Sunnyvale, Texas. After coming here, she got a place in an iffy neighborhood on the leeward side but I can find no further record of her for the past five and a half years. As you know, even the state's DMV records appeared to be wiped. She'd just disappeared until she was booked for assault stemming from the incident that had landed her in the anger management class."
"Yeah, if it wasn't for Missus Ratliff, we wouldn't even know what she looked like." said Chin.
Danny looked pointedly at his Hawaiian teammate and said, "You and I are gonna have a discussion later about that."
Smiling in his maddeningly serene way at their haole detective Chin continued, "Obviously, she had to have a reason to disappear."
"The most obvious answer would be that she'd gotten involved in something illegal and is now hiding out under another name." Steve now weighed in
"She's managed to have her records somehow erased but with that hair and those eyebrows her name could be Madonna for all we know at this point." said Danny, still glaring back at Chin
"Yeah, I'd sure like to find out how she did that." said Steve ignoring his partner's Madonna reference, "It could have serious implications for the state's security."
"Either she's got some crazy-mad hacker talents of her own or she knows someone who has access to HPD's data base." opined Kono
"We have to see what further information we can come up with on Clara Ann." said Steve. "Maybe there's something in her educational background that could have helped her there."
Danny shook his head. For the life of him, he had no idea why anyone would want to name their daughter Clara Ann. To him it brought to mind images of women in orthopedic oxfords and eyeglasses with those little chains that let them dangle around their wearer's necks.
"Okay, good job so far." said Steve, "Now, we have to find out more about our suspect's background and figure out why the Rucker woman would be snooping around in our offices."
Cujo had wandered into their meeting. The sleek feline jumped onto Steve's desk and, purring loudly, tried to get his human's attention. "Not now Cujo." mildly admonished Steve as he absently began to scratch behind the little animal's ears.
As they sat discussing Clara/Cecile, Cujo got bored and jumped down onto the floor. Wandering over to where Kono sat on her favorite perch on top of the credenza he pawed at her leg for attention and she too said, "Not now Cujo." but bent down to briefly pat him on the head before gently shooing him away.
Tail now twitching in annoyance at not interesting anyone in paying attention to him, he next approached Danny.
"Don't even think about it Buzzsaw" warned the blonde detective, "Don't you have some lizard to dismember somewhere?"
They were ignoring him. Humans are no fun sometimes. Even the female who smells like water won't play right now. He could almost always get her to play but right now she didn't want to.
His human could be really fun but almost never played with him during the light. Sometimes he would play when the dark came again and the others had left. They would sometimes run really fast. First he would chase his human and then his human would chase him. Afterwards he would get treats but never any little fishes – even when he demanded them.
Humph. I'll just have to find a toy to play with.
Still ignored by the team the little cat began to search around on the floor under their feet as the drone of their voices floated above him.
Sometimes he could find the little bent metal things to play with. He would push them across the shiny ground and chase them or maybe that metal toy the angry female had left was still here under the big box. He didn't like her but her toy was fun. It hadn't been in his hiding place so maybe his human hadn't found it.
Out of the corner of his eye, Steve saw the little cat crawl under the credenza. He realized that if Cujo got any fatter, there wouldn't be enough space for him to fit under it. There were probably a couple stray paperclips for him to pounce on then he'd be off chasing them as they skittered across the floor when he slapped at them.
He was just about to stand and pick him up to put him in the breakroom before Kilkenny and Brotman showed up when he heard the tinkle of a small piece of metal below his feet.
Looking downward, he saw that Cujo had found a shell casing and was batting it around. He bent down to pick it up wondering when he'd been careless enough to lose one then remembered the clink last night when he'd emptied the little cat's stash onto his desk and something had fallen on the floor.
He shooed Cujo away from it and picked it up to set it on his blotter as they continued to discuss the Rucker woman. Being ADD enough to need something to fiddle with while they talked he picked it up again. He could tell by the subtle difference in size and weight it wasn't one of the familiar 9mm casings from the ammo used by his team.
Looking more closely he realized it was most likely a 38. Since when had any of them used a 38?
"Kono", he interrupted, "Didn't you say that Kenworthy woman dumped a purse full of stuff on the floor yesterday?"
"Yeah, she was pretty pissed about it. Why?" asked the slim young woman quirking her eyebrows
"Wasn't that gun that was sent to her at the station a thirty eight?" he asked her.
"Yeah, an old-school type revolver; a Ruger I think." she answered
They all sat up a bit straighter and focused on their leader. Steve was going in a definite direction with this.
"I just picked up a shell casing off the floor and I know it's not from any of us. Chin and I use SIGs, Danny an H&K and you have your Smith & Wesson – all of them 9 mil. Why would a 38 caliber casing be on our floor?"
There was a stunned silence as the implication sank in.
"You think it came from Kiki's purse?" asked Danny
"Could have." replied Steve as Cujo jumped back onto his desk looking for the toy.
"I think we need to find out more about KAEO's star reporter." said Steve as he reached into his drawer for an evidence bag to drop the casing into.
*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*
Writing time has been a bit scarce of late. Had vowed to complete this in two more chapters but my resolve is starting to wane. May have to extend it an additional chapter or make the next one twenty-thousand words long.
PLEASE review. Not sure if this ultimately made sense.