Danny stood outside the café, wishing desperately for the familiar smell of Paul's Joe back home. Paul didn't like flowers and smoked cigars outside his front door on a regular basis, whereas this coffee shop surrounded itself with floral arrangements, trees, and "No Smoking" signs. The unfamiliar perfume made it difficult for him to relax, and he contemplated finding a tobacco store to buy a cigar just for the smell. Maybe that would rid him of the overpowering scent of hibiscus and the memories of the barista laughing at his tampon.
The warmth from the fresh malasadas at his side and the vision of a burly tobacco salesman chuckling at his makeshift nose plug made up his mind for him, and he began the trek back to headquarters with a bilious feeling rising from his heart.
He had recognized the timbre of Steve's voice the moment he had heard it. Even though it was disguised by a rasp and some phlegm, Danny's mind had immediately connected it with the adrenaline-fueled voice of his partner. It was the same voice he used when something went wrong or when he had just narrowly gotten himself out of a tight spot. The day he had hung someone from a roof for interrogation, he had used that exact tone.
Danny was now in the most crazily precarious situation of his life. Even treading the waters of attempting to keep his former wife hadn't seemed as mentally daunting as his current assignment, because then there had been someone to help him stay sane, someone for him to focus on and fight for.
Grace wouldn't be able to help him this time. She wasn't involved, couldn't become involved.
Avenging Chin Ho and finding Steve had seemed to be cut from black-and-white cloth. Neither one had seemed inherently complicated.
Now, they kind of seemed to be the same thing. The cloth had bypassed grey and warped into some color that didn't exist on the light spectrum, all the colors mashed together and watered down with utter confusion and betrayal. Danny's mission had just become finding, arresting, and helping to convict his best friend, who had supposedly been kidnapped over two years ago.
He no longer knew what to think. Had Steve pulled the wool over all of their eyes? Had he been working for Wo Fat the entire time, just waiting to escape his new position at the helm of Five-0 and betray his new friends?
No. No, Danny couldn't believe that. Couldn't let himself even start to believe it. And yet…there was still a niggling doubt in his mind.
Steve was definitely on the island, but he hadn't contacted any of them. He hadn't been home, he hadn't gone to the shrimp truck, he hadn't even shown up to help when Grace had been—
Shit. Grace. Sang Min. Boom, headshot.
Steven McGarrett was an excellent sniper. When Danny had dug into his files, his marksmanship scores had been a little frightening, but that had eventually become a reassurance. After all, he and Danny were on the same team. Those sharpshooting skills had done them all well, but if Steve was working for the enemy…
"By shooting Sang Min, he saved Grace's life," he chided himself as he elbowed the handicapped button and walked through the door.
Maybe Steve was undercover. Maybe he had infiltrated Wo Fat's organization and was working to undermine him. He could have dedicated himself to stopping the crime lord's plots, and when he had heard that Sang Min was going to kidnap Gracie he foiled the plan by killing him.
"He still shot Chin Ho, though," he said aloud, drawing attention from a couple of suits in the lobby. He ignored their raised eyebrows and muttered comments about the tampon. If he hadn't still been able to feel his nose bleeding, he'd have ditched it in the nearest trashcan.
Why would a Steve who was working against Wo Fat from within shoot a member of his ohana? And if he had, in fact, turned to Wo Fat's side, why did he call for help? Why not leave Chin there to die?
His thoughts were cut off by Kono as he entered the office. "Took you long enough."
"Long line," he said quietly. She snorted and took one of the cups of coffee and the donuts from him. "Look, we need to get the rest of the information from the scene, so why don't we go down to Fong's?"
"Way ahead of you, brah," she replied, gesturing to the screens behind her. "Charlie just sent us his latest findings, but he's still working on some of it. It turns out that the one room by the alley was pretty much a setup."
"Huh? A setup for what?"
She expanded one of the photos of the bloody room. "All of these puddles but this one," she waved a malasada at a pool of blood in the closet, "are made of fake blood. Those footsteps are pretty hard to see from the interior door, and apparently whoever did the interior decorating wanted to make sure anyone looking around went inside to investigate further-"
"And follow the blood outside, where an ambush would be waiting." Danny sipped his coffee and shook his head. "That's insane."
"Well, it also explains why some of those pools still looked wet. Fake blood looks fresh for a long time." Kono inhaled the rest of her malasada. She gagged slightly on it when her phone began to ring, and she thrust it at Danny to answer as she chugged some coffee to clear her throat.
"Officer Kalakaua," he said.
"This isn't Kono," a man said in confusion. "Who are you?"
"Her partner, Danny Williams. She'll be right with you," he said as Kono finally managed to swallow the rest of her donut and reached for the phone once more. She put it on speaker.
"Hello?"
"Kono, it's Ping."
"Cousin? What's wrong?" Kono's eyes filled with concern. "I thought Chin was doing better."
"Not anymore. Kono, you need to get down here." Danny's chest tightened in concern at the tone in Ping's voice. "Malia said you'd want to see him before…"
"He's…he's not…" Kono sobbed. "He can't be dying!"
"I'm sorry. Don't tell my mother I called you, but get here as soon as you can. I have to go." Ping cut off the call, and Kono wailed.
"Let's go." Danny took her coffee cup away and set it on the table as her hands started to shake. "I'll drive."
"But he's…" Kono seemed to be unable to continue her train of thought as a wave of sobs took over, and Danny led her from the office, pulling the tampon from his nose and throwing it out as they exited.
The drive to the hospital had been nearly unbearable. Danny had barely been able to keep his own tears in check, and Kono was an absolute mess. Her family hadn't made things much easier once they arrived, with most of them shouting insults and demanding they leave. Ping, however, was waiting to escort Kono to Chin Ho's room. Danny had made sure she was safely inside the trauma center before leaving the ER and returning to his car.
He still had a case to investigate, partner or no.
After sitting alone in his car for several minutes, he had made for the coroner's office. Of all the friends he'd had in Hawaii, Dr. Max Bergman was the only one Danny hadn't encountered as yet. The traffic had picked up somewhat, but thirty minutes later he strode into the ME's office with a heavy heart.
He was greeted by a piano rendition of "Love Potion No. 9" upon entering the lab. His friend sat at his upright piano, banging away on the keys and swaying back and forth. Before Danny could say anything, Max raised a single finger for silence and continued his playing, finishing with a trill reminiscent of their first meeting.
When Max stood, he didn't look in Danny's direction. "I presume you're here for the John Doe who shot Chin Ho Kelly?"
"Yeah. It's been a-" Max walked right past Danny without meeting his eyes and led the way to his examination room, talking over the detective.
"Our victim, if you can call him such, is a male, approximately 32 in age. 5'11, 230 pounds, native Hawaiian ancestry. Cause of death is two gunshot wounds to the forehead, both from the same gun."
"Two shots to the forehead? Some aim," Danny replied. "Then again, since our prime suspect is a former Navy SEAL, sharpshooting is to be expected."
Again, Max ignored him. "His hands tested positive for GSR, as was expected, meaning this man did indeed shoot. I cannot say for certain whether his gun was responsible for the trauma to Captain Kelly, but as he was shooting from behind a man who was shot in the back, it is logical to conclude that this man tried to kill the captain."
"Yeah, and he may have succeeded," Danny said.
"I was told that Captain Kelly survived the shooting," Max said. He finally looked Danny square in the face, and his jaw dropped slightly. "Detective Williams!"
"Nice to see you again, Max," Danny responded. "Wish it were under better circumstances, though."
Dr. Bergman blinked owlishly several times before shaking his head. "I suppose your presence here indicates that you have returned to HPD?"
"Actually, I'm the head of Five-0 for the time being, but I am working the case." Danny looked back to the dead man. "Is there anything that might give us a clue as to who he is? He's showing up in our database as Adam Noshimuri, who is currently in a hospital in a comatose state."
"How strange," Max murmured. "I recently read in a journal about a case where the DNA for several victims of a serial killer was swapped out for the investigating officers. Perhaps our SEAL suspect got some help from that killer. I can get you the details of the case, so perhaps you can confer with the investigating officers for advice."
"I'm one of the investigating officers, Max," Danny grumbled. "And I have bigger problems than working out how the database was hacked at the moment. Chin Ho took a sudden turn for the worse, and the doctors don't think they can save him this time."
Max gripped the side of the examination table. "I wish there was more I could do to help, but I can't even help you identify this man, his probable killer. He has no major scarring, no tattoos, not even a particularly strange feature that might ring a bell in some people's memories."
"Great." Danny sighed before turning to leave. "I'll keep you posted, Max. Thanks anyhow."
"You are quite welcome."
As he climbed back into his car, Danny mentally cursed the powers that be for laying such a case on his shoulders. How could one person handle all of this?
A flash of white caught his eye as he moved to start the engine: the malasada bag. Kono had apparently brought them along unconsciously.
He bit into one of the donuts and squeezed his eyes shut. He had to finish this, for Chin Ho…and for Steve.
A/N: Aloha! Check it out, I'm posting on time today! Hopefully this means I'll stay on schedule for the duration...hopefully.
Mahalo for all of your support, my friends!