Chapter 10: 'Sorta Like Hell Week
Hawaii Pacific University
Ali sat beside Danny in a small lecture hall at Hawaii Pacific University. The professor of semiotics, Professor DeBroglie, had his assistant ask them to wait in the classroom while he finalized certain affairs before his first class began. She was beginning to think, though, that DeBroglie was trying to sweat the detectives out of the classroom to avoid questioning. Ali wished she were sitting on a beach, where the island breeze would cool her off, instead of staring at a chalkboard with the Greek alphabet written on it and Danny snoozing beside her.
She glanced at the blonde detective; his head had fallen over the edge of the seat and his eyes were closed. Every few seconds he would let out a snort, which effectively made Ali want to giggle. She noticed he had taken of his blue tie and unbuttoned the first couple of buttons of his shirt. His legs were outstretched and arms crossed over his chest, with the tie draping over his right arm.
Ali sighed, wishing he hadn't fallen asleep; she had nobody to talk to now and would have to deal with her own thoughts. Her eyes scanned the room and the board with the Greek alphabet caught her attention once again. She smiled at a memory she had of her and Max working on a project when she was eight that involved the Greek alphabet. She recognized the first row of the weird symbols on the board because of that project.
"Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta, Epsilon, Zeta, Eta, Theta," she recited in a whisper.
Before she could continue to the next row, her mind began to spin from the intense heat in the classroom. She leaned back in her chair, but a few minutes later was overwhelmed by the severity of boredom. The entire ordeal reminded her of working surveillance in the field as a covert operative. A spy could sit up to twelve hours in a car, staring through binoculars at a beaurocrat who may or may not have been selling government secrets to people who wanted them. A beaurocrat's life was usually uneventful, filled with meetings and lunches, which meant the person surveilling them had to deal with the same, monotonous routine.
Ali sat up, turned her head towards Danny and bit her lips. She didn't want to make him angry, but what other options did she have? The possibility of losing her mind in the room was very high and she sort of liked having a rational state of mind. Ali raised her hand above Danny's face and pinched his nose. In a matter of seconds he shot up, slapped Ali's hand away and stared her down.
"I was sleeping!" he shouted angrily as his hair flopped down to one side of his head.
"I'm fully aware," Ali replied calmly. "Don't you find it odd that he's not talking to us yet?"
"Well nothing links him to the crime scene yet," Danny reasoned with a tiny bit of venom in his voice.
"Usually, in my experience, it can be assumed they fled," Ali brought up.
Danny scoffed making Ali give him a disbelieving look.
"What?" she asked, feeling as if Danny was edging around something he didn't want to share.
"Nothing," he assured her.
Ali knew that nothing meant something. She wasn't a mind reader, but she did grow up with two older brothers who always pulled these types of stunts on her.
"You know, Daniel, there are different ways I can find out what negative, spiteful things you're thinking about," Ali said, not having any real plan in mind to pry that information from Danny.
"You're really going to bring out that CIA voodoo?" Danny asked incredulously.
"CIA voodoo?" Ali sneered. "Do you screen anything before you talk?"
"My therapist says it's unhealthy for me to keep things inside," Danny shot back as Ali jeered.
"So why don't you tell me, what you were about to tell me a minute ago?" she inquired, eagerly watching Danny who looked annoyed. "You know, since it's unhealthy to keep these things inside."
"I was going to say chasing down a contact through some European city with some guy that looks like Daniel Craig is a little different than questioning a suspect to a murder. Despite what McGarrett thinks, there are rules which we have to follow and without a warrant we can't storm this guy's office without probable cause," Danny explained in his usual annoyed manner.
"Excuse me," Ali held up her hand. "First of all if you're going to compare any of my team members to a James Bond actor, compare them to Pierce Brosnan! Second of all, you need probable cause, I have a few tricks up my sleeve that will force him to talk to us."
"Why do you do that?"
"Do what?"
"That right there, it reminds me of Steve! Are you two going steady or something?"
Before Ali could think of an answer a lyrical voice interrupted them by saying, "I understand my assistance was needed."
Ali looked at the front of the classroom and saw a portly man with thick, dark eyebrows over soft, brown eyes. He wore pants which were in style probably in the sixties, a dress shirt with short sleeves and square rimmed glasses.
"Yes," Danny said standing up with his tie still in hand. "Detective Danny Williams and uh-"
"Detective Alexandra Sarna," Ali lied, deciding to play the role of cop to keep questions at a minimal level.
Ali knew Danny had to restrain himself from ripping her head off, but she continued with her cover anyways. She was sure the professor wouldn't ask questions if Danny pulled out his badge (which he did a few moments later).
"Professor, we were hoping you could tell us what this symbol meant," Ali explained as Danny showed DeBroglie a photo of the scar.
The photo made Ali think of the victim, how she was found. Ali didn't know how someone could justify doing something so unthinkable like that. She felt her stomach turn and couldn't handle thinking of it any longer.
"I don't recall this one hundred percent," the professor admitted, heading towards a large, old, wooden bookshelf and taking out an enormous book. "However, I remember when I taught in Portugal, a student asked me about this symbol."
The professor flipped through the book, not speaking, prompting Ali and Danny to exchange awkward glances with each other.
"You know, this is a perfect time for you to, uh, tell us what you told the student or anything you remember," Danny egged the professor on.
"Detectives, the symbol is, as you see, not prevalent in our society, but its meaning is a very serious matter," DeBroglie explained.
"Great, let's get down to the point," Ali impatiently ordered.
"It originates from classical Greece; the scholars carved this into their arms because they believed that it was Hades, god of the underworld, who gave them their higher levels of intelligence. There was a very small group of Greek migrants who fled Athens during the Peloponnesian War to Jerusalem. The Sanhedrin, the high Jewish priests, didn't understand the mark and declared it was the mark of gentiles, of the devil," Professor DeBroglie lectured.
Ali sighed, she didn't know how to make any sense of what the professor just told her. How did a blonde girl who wore an expensive satin gown get mixed up in some sort of cultural war?
"That isn't all, detectives," DeBroglie assured glancing up at her through his glasses. "When that student approached me I took the liberty of doing some extra studying. I discovered cults which believe Satan guides them and gives them their influence. They have adopted this symbol and in many of these rather misguided groups, it is an initiation scar."
"So 'kinda like hell week?" Danny questioned.
"I'm sorry?" the professor inquired with a confused expression.
"Hell week, you know the … never mind," Danny gave up.
If Ali hadn't been paying attention earlier she definitely was now. Francois, the man she feared most, used to be the leader of a cult, the Frakstioon Valitud, and now a girl could have been the victim of that cult's activity. If what the professor told her was true, it also meant Francois was on the island. It meant that he was overlooking the assassin's search for Ali. The only detail which kept her from collapsing to her knees and crying out to God was the fact that the scar was on the woman's arm. When Ali infiltrated Frakstioon Valitud she studied each detail vigorously, memorized every single aspect of the Valitud's customs. Carving a symbol onto a person's antebrachial region was not apart of their belief system… unless something happened to make that change.
"Professor," Ali began shakily. "The student in Portugal, was he an international student?"
"As a matter of fact, he was. How did you know?"
"Lucky guess," Ali said. "Where was he from?"
"He was from Tallinn, Estonia," DeBroglie answered shattering Ali's hope.
"Thank you," Ali whispered and nodded towards Danny, telling him that they needed to leave the university.
Danny's Camaro
"What did you get from that?" Danny questioned as he made a right turn at an intersection.
It was the first thing either of them said since they left Hawaii Pacific University. Ali just needed some time to think of a plan, how to make sure Francois didn't hurt anyone else, including her.
"Well she wasn't Jewish because the scar confirms it. Although I doubt that, that is the reason she had that engraved onto her arm," she revealed.
"You think she was apart of a cult then?" Danny inquired.
"It's kind of out there, but yeah," she sighed, not wanting to talk about it any further.
She couldn't explain why she became quiet when there was danger in her near future. Maybe it was because since she was little she knew to expect it and that no amount of tears, no matter how much she stomped and swore at her misfortune, nothing would change unless she handled it with a clear mind.
Her first plan of action would be to tell the team of that mission, make them understand the information she told them wasn't something that could leave the office. Then she would go after the assassin, hopefully with backup, and after she had him apprehended she would squeeze the answers out of him. Ali would make Vlotkovsky believe that she controlled his life and that unless he helped her, he wasn't going to leave custody. The nice little dark room the task force had for questioning suspects would be perfect for that part of the plan. The final detail of her plan involved finding Francois from the information Vlotkovsky supplied her and handing him off to her superiors, who, despite the fact she hated it, would kill him.
"What made you ask about the kid in Portugal?"
"Few years back, I had to infiltrate this religious sect called Frakstioon Valitud. They were from Estonia."
"So you think they're diffusing around the world? Like Diaspora?"
"No, what I think is happening is a little more complicated than that."
"Feel free to share any time," Danny encouraged after Ali paused for a few seconds.
Ali shook her head, "This car could be bugged and the office feels like a more secure place."
"Spooks," Danny muttered, shaking his head as Ali smiled.
"So, awkward question," Danny began a few minutes later. "What exactly is that with you and Steve?"
Ali gave him a quizzical look, "What do you mean?"
"Well, being a detective, I can pick up on things and I just noticed you two… behave in such a way which would lead one to call it some sort of Espionage-military flirting," Danny postulated making Ali feel very tongue tied.
Ali let out an awkward laugh.
"No, he's just-why are you asking?" she blurted out.
Why was Danny asking her questions she didn't know the answer to yet? It was hard enough for her to not tackle Steve and attack him, like she almost did last night, but now there were questions? Did Steve put Danny up to this? Did he make the New Jersey native ask about their status?
No… Steve wouldn't do that, she assured herself, desperately hoping a pack of cigarettes would make its way into her possession.
"Curiosity," Danny assured making Ali breathe a sigh of relief.
After a moment of silence Ali spoke again, "Didn't it seem weird to you that the professor had to look up our symbol which was used in ancient Greece when he was preparing a lesson on the Greeks?"
"The alphabet on the board?"
"Yeah, I mean I guess that would have been an introduction or whatever, but it almost seemed rehearsed."
"He doesn't have motive or means, which we know of yet."
"I guess not, I'd feel more at ease though, if I had eyes on him."
"Eyes? HPD isn't going to help us, in fact I think they'd rather obstruct this case because our charming boss thinks he can run around like he's in GTA," Danny pointed out as Ali scoffed.
"Oh Daniel, there are different ways of watching someone."
"Oh Alexandra, please explain."
"Listening device in his computer, tracker in his car and if all else fails, surveillance," Ali explained as her phone rang. "Ali Sarna."
"It's Kono," Kono greeted, with more cheerfulness than she had in the morning.
"Hello, Kono," Ali greeted in the same cheerful manner.
"The boss wants us to reconvene at HQ," Kono informed. "We found some evidence."
"Perfect timing," Ali said as Danny pulled into the parking lot of the headquarters building. "See you in a bit."
Steve stood by the table top computer with Kono as Ali and Danny walked in to headquarters. Steve felt a little happier now that Ali was back, but he had to ignore it for now. A woman was killed in one of the most disgusting ways imaginable and Steve was going to find the son of a bitch who murdered her.
"You two look happy," Kono remarked as the two blondes approached the computer.
Steve glanced at Ali, she looked tired, upset and ready to kill the next person who said one wrong word. Steve then glanced at Danny; he appeared annoyed and he wasn't wearing his tie.
"What?" Danny asked shortly.
"No tie?" Steve questioned.
"The professor had the hottest room in the history of hot rooms! You would've done the same thing!" Danny shot back.
"I was just asking," Steve defended himself as Chin came out of his office.
"What've we got?" Kono asked her older cousin.
"The lab just called," Chin informed with a concerned look.
"What's the news, then?" Ali questioned.
"The condoms we collected at the crime scene were clean," Chin explained.
"So they were just thrown there for show," Steve postulated.
"Exactly," Chin confirmed as Danny sighed.
"So now we have no DNA evidence and a Jane Doe," Danny brought up.
Steve hated to acknowledge the downside to this case, but Danny was right. They had nothing to work with from the crime scene. They now had to wait until the medical examiner finished his autopsy of the Jane Doe to find cause of death and possibly any other clues that could help the team.
"We may have more than you all think," Ali began as Steve arched a brow.
"What are you talking about?" Kono asked.
"The professor told us the symbol was used by satanic cults," Ali explained.
"Oh, right," Danny interjected. "You're 'eyes' theory."
Steve was lost; what was Ali's 'eyes' theory?
"Eyes theory?" Chin voiced Steve's question.
"She wants us to take turns surveilling the professor," Danny explained as everyone exchanged glances.
"I'll explain in a minute," she assured. "Anyways, a few years ago, I was sent to Estonia on an assignment. I can't share the details, but I had to infiltrate the Frakstioon Valitud, a satanic cult."
"You think that their people are here? In Hawaii?" Kono asked.
"No. I ended up sending their leader, a French national name Jacques Francois, to England," Ali explained, slightly confusing Steve. "To their MI-5 prison."
"If he's in England why does it matter?" Steve questioned.
"He broke out," Ali dropped. "This guy is the one who's after me. I think he's here on the island, trying to get to me through the civilians."
"What do we do?" Kono asked. "Standard procedure? Find the guy and book him?"
"No," Steve said. "If this guy is wanted by the government, he's not like any other con."
"Precisely," Ali validated. "I did think of a plan, though."
Steve had to admit that Ali surprised and impressed him. The last time he saw her before this task force she was putting on dance shoes, kicking a soccer ball and worrying about her grades, but today she could come up with a quick solution to a problem that would have devastated anyone else.
"Eyes theory," Danny said as Ali rolled her eyes.
"No, that's the professor, Daniel," Ali corrected. "I was thinking, we get the assassin, David Vlotkovsky to come to me. Then when he tries making his move, we make ours and bring him back here where we do a type of questioning dubbed extraordinary rendition-"
Steve couldn't believe what Ali was proposing. Extraordinary rendition involved torture and even though he has crossed the line with the last case, he couldn't let Ali torture a suspect in the interrogation room. It wouldn't work, the assassin would never talk because he was most likely already put through something worse.
"Ali, torturing him here won't help our cause," Steve declined. "Besides the governor could make a surprise visit and –"
"Did I hear you correctly? I mean did the man who grilled Sang Min for hours on end with a stun gun just say he isn't torturing someone?"
"Danny-"
"Well, then, we make it seem like we can control his life. We make it seem like we know every detail about him," Ali proposed, putting an end to an argument amongst Danny and Steve before it began.
Steve knew what she was suggesting because he was taught how to go through that sort of interrogation, as both the interrogator and detainee.
"We were taught different ways of interrogating someone, Ali," Chin posed.
"I know how to do what she's talking about," Steve spoke up.
"Of course, Super SEAL saves the day," Danny piped up.
Steve ignored the blonde detective and looked at Ali, "Do you have any files on Francois?"
"After I complete a mission everything is sent to Langley and locked up for nobody to see," she informed. "This is why nobody can mention this outside of the circle of secrets we've created."
"Got it," everyone said simultaneously.
"Why?" Ali asked Steve after a moment.
The fact of the matter was that Steve needed something to work with. He needed any information on Francois, to know what they were going up against.
"I need to know Jacques Francois," Steve explained.
"I know everything about the man. His height, weight, eye color, favorite food, aliases," Ali notified.
"It's been a few years, Ali, even you know that he's probably changed," Steve posed as she nodded.
"What do you want us to do?" she asked.
"Ali, Kono and Chin, I want you guys to stay here and figure out who our Jane Doe is. Ali call anybody you can, try to get any CIA files on Francois. Then write down everything you remember about the guy, how he looks, sounds," Steve ordered.
"Will do," Ali assured, grouping up with Chin and Kono to start working on their assignment.
"What are we doing?" Danny questioned the SEAL.
Steve glanced at him, "We're headed to the Pearl Harbor to see if they have any files on Jacques Francois. Navy Intel is always up to date in Hawaii."
"Great," Danny groaned, following Steve out of headquarters. "More androids and cavemen to look forward to."
Pearl Harbor Naval Base
"What do you mean all your files on Jacques Francois were wiped?" Danny shouted at Commander Grant who was a tall, domineering man with short, ginger hair and a stare, if it could, would kill.
Steve didn't know how to express how angry he felt. He didn't believe that it was a coincidence that just as they begin to unravel the truth, files they need go missing. He knew there was something bigger at play here, that's how it always was. Steve was going to have to bluff to get what he wanted.
"Danny, come on," Steve beckoned. "We'll just go interrupt the governor's lunch with Admiral Cohan."
Grant's facial expression gave him away and Steve knew he and Danny had control of the way things were going.
"Cohan's in town?" Grant questioned nervously as cadets ran by.
Steve kept a straight face when he answered, "Sitting at La Mer with Governor Jameson right now."
"I'm sorry, Commander McGarrett, I can't give you those files," Grant denied again, he at least didn't hide behind a lame lie this time.
"Listen, Grant, I know what it's like to be in your position, but if the governor is sweet talking Admiral Cohan right now and you don't give us what we want, how do you think Cohan will react? Us being the governor's task force?" Steve questioned as Grant became stone-faced.
"What you want is in a restricted section of our naval library," Grant explained. "I'll get it to you in a few days."
"We were hoping to have them now," Danny said.
"Yeah, well I want my wife to dress up each night, but that doesn't happen either," Grant shot back. "You'll have them when one of my guys finds them."
With those final words Commander Grant turned around and marched away leaving Steve and Danny alone.
"I like him," Steve said.
Danny scoffed, "He didn't remind you of anyone? Like, I don't know, you?"
Steve glanced at his partner with a cocky smile on his face, "That's why you felt free to shout at him."
"Let's just go before I suffer an embolism," Danny hissed turning around and leaving the main building of the naval base.
Steve sighed, knowing nothing he said would make Danny act calmer. He brushed it off his shoulder, knowing that if he wanted to work through this case, find Francois and save Ali, he would need all his focus to be on the case.
Sorry it took forever to put this chapter online! I didn't know where to go with it, but I figured it out. Once again, I hope you guys like this one!