Chapter 2

"Isn't this something you could do on your own?" Steve McGarrett sighed as he placed the clothing hanger back on the rack.

His partner, Danny Williams, had asked for a quick stop on the way in to the office. No matter how many questions Steve asked of his friend, the answer was always, "I've got something planned with Grace." It wasn't just any stop either. As Steve had commandeered the driving of the Camaro and had agreed to the side trip, he was left with no other choice than to pull in to the parking lot for 'Beach Bumz' when Danny smacked his shoulder and directed him to stop there.

Now, fifteen minutes later, he had reached his patience limit. He wasn't the type who enjoyed clothes shopping for himself – which perhaps explained Danny's continual jabs at the cargo pants and plain T-shirts – but to sit idly by while his partner palmed through the many styles and colours of board shorts, only to hem and haw at each one, was a test Steve wasn't sure their friendship was ready for.

Danny, on the other hand, didn't look the least bit worried about Steve's state of mind. Steve guessed by the other man's muttering that there was something deeper involved with the impromptu shopping trip.

"Danny," Steve tried to get the blonde man's attention, but he just stepped to the next rack of clothing options, ignoring the call of his name.

Steve tried again, a little louder, "Danny!"

At least this time his partner broke away from his musings to look at him over the line of clothes. Just as Steve was about to ask how much longer, his cell phone buzzed from his pocket. With a hopeful look of salvation, Steve pulled the phone free from one of his many pockets. He showed the device to Danny, making it obvious that he was answering the call. Danny spared him enough time to wave him away and went back to his mystical quest for the perfect pair of boarding shorts.

With a sigh, Steve answered his phone, "McGarrett … We'll be right there."

Sliding his phone back into his pocket, Steve grabbed his partner by the elbow. "That was Chin. We've got a case."

With more force than may have been absolutely necessary (but really, after being told to just stand there and look pretty amidst the bright colours and bold shapes; and his patience had lasted far longer than even he'd have given himself credit for) Steve pulled his partner from the store.

There was almost a scuffle as Danny pulled back, yelling over his shoulder to the sales clerk something about the perfect shorts on the last rack and he'd be back later. The whole while Steve kept his eyes on the target - the silver Camaro parked right outside the door. He was so focused he missed the death glare coming from his partner and the confused looks of the girl manning the till.

~H50~

The Camaro pulled in and parked behind Kono's red Cruze. Before stepping out of the car, Steve made sure to tuck his t-shirt behind his badge which was pinned to a front belt loop on his pants. He really didn't want a repeat of last week's attempt to access a crime scene. A rookie had held him back at the yellow tape line until a higher ranking officer was free to verify his badge and him as the head of 5-0. While Steve was sure that Officer Lau would never make the same mistake twice, there was still a whole class of fresh academy graduates out there and the governor's task force was still new enough that it didn't have instant recognition.

Danny, who hadn't even had to slow down, much less stop, enjoyed the situation. He took the opportunity to emphasize his own dress code, saying if Steve would only take a little time to dress like a professional he wouldn't suffer from that kind of humiliation. Steve thought he remembered Rambo being mentioned once or twice, but had zoned out by that part of the rant and he couldn't be sure.

Thinking of his partner, Steve leaned back into the open driver door to ask if Danny wanted to take the M.E. with the body or gather HPD's Intel. Before he could utter a word the passenger door closed and through the window he watched Danny head towards Max Bergman and their CSU connection, Charlie Fong. Both were standing over a spread out medical blanket on the dock.

He stood and closed the door on the now empty Camaro. Steve couldn't seem to help himself as he continued the conversation, "Sure. No problem, Danny. I'd be happy to see what HPD has."

A hand clapped Steve on the shoulder. "Who are you talking to?"

Steve turned to greet his smiling friend and teammate, "Hey Chin." Not wanting to explain, or even knowing where he would start, Steve got right down to work. "What have we got?"

Chin Ho gave a quick look to Steve and followed his gaze to their blonde co-worker. He looked as if he was going to ask a question but changed his mind as he shook his head. Instead he made a grand gesture towards the harbour behind them and got back to work.

"Boat exploded. HPD has pulled most of the wreckage from the water. There wasn't a lot left of the driver, but Max is going over what's been found." Chin pointed to where Danny was standing, leaning over the shoulder of the kneeling M.E.

"Uniforms have made the rounds. It's been established that the boat's owner, one Mr…" Chin had to double check his notes, "Akino Salvator was taking his boat out after having completed some repairs."

"Anyone know what the repairs were?" Steve asked as they started towards Sergeant Duke Lukela. Sergeant Lukela would be the senior officer on site. He was also their friend and good about sharing information.

Chin shook his head, "Not specifically, no. But Mr. Salvator was known to do most of the boat's repairs himself."

The two 5-0 members reached Officer Lukela and had to wait while he finished delegating two officers to finish taping off access to the Queen Celeste's dock space.

"McGarrett," he nodded in greeting.

"Duke," Steve smiled back. "Anything more for us?"

Duke nodded. "We've pulled a copy of a police report filed by the victim. It's barely twenty four hours old. It's why we called 5-0 in."

Chin gave Steve a doleful smile. "It seems there's been a rush on the harbour tour business. It's a possible case of the larger competitor trying to take out the little guy."

Steve's brows scrunched up with mild confusion, not that he wouldn't be happy to help out HPD, but this didn't seem like a case that screamed for the attentions of the Governor's special task force.

"Who's the competitor? Why the bum's rush into a criminal case and not a mechanical problem that got out of control?"

Duke gave a shrug of his broad shoulders as he answered, "We don't know that it is a criminal case yet, but when the original complaint goes out against the likes of Thomas Terashima, we're not about to assume anything."

Steve frowned, not recognizing the name. Chin explained, "Thomas Terashima; HPD's been following him for a while now. He's suspected of grand scale drug smuggling, but warrants on his holdings turn up nothing."

Duke nodded, not overly surprised that the Hawaiian had kept up on all the office chatter even though he had fallen out of favour.

"Well, now we can add murder suspect too," Danny added as he joined the group. He looked a little peeved that a man who was under police suspicion could continue to operate, and maybe even escalate, his dealings.

"Murder?" Steve raised a curious eyebrow. "What did Max have to say?"

"Not Max. He barely has enough to give the grieving family something to bury." Using his thumb to point over his shoulder, Danny indicated the crime scene investigator following him. "Fong found wire bits with residue and large enough pieces to make out a counter of sorts."

Steve turned to ask Charlie Fong directly, "You found evidence of a bomb?"

Fong, ever the scientist, shrugged non-committal. "We found lengths of light-weight wire not normally associated with the workings of this type of boat. There was some residue on two of the wire ends that we'll have to examine in the lab."

"Looks like plastic explosives," Danny interrupted.

"Possibly plastic explosives," Fong cautioned.

Danny shrugged his shoulders and his hands went up. Even without speaking the words, it was quite clear which outcome Danny was backing.

"There was something about a counter?" Chin asked. "You sure it wasn't a clock from the tour boat?"

At this Fong gave a distinct shake of his head, "Definitely not a clock. There were enough inner workings to determine that much. It looks like a counter of some kind. Maybe for engine revolutions or even a depth finder."

"Couldn't either of those be a normal piece of equipment on a boat?" Duke asked.

"Possibly," Fong was never one to rule out options until the evidence clearly said so. "But there were more pieces of odd wire still attached."

"So a bomb," Danny's hands came together to emphasize his conclusion.

Steve fought back the grin that tugged at the corners of his mouth. Even Chin dipped his head to hide his amusement at his teammate's determination. Duke, however, wasn't so shy.

"We miss you at HPD." He slapped Danny on the shoulder and gave a friendly squeeze.

"I'll let you know what I find," Fong excused himself and made his way back to the evidence gathering area. From there he'd be able to ensure its safe collection and transport to the lab.

Kono Kalakaua made her way over from where she had been taking statements from bystanders. Happy to have something else to focus on rather than his partner's squinted glare, Steve nodded for Kono to give her report.

"The Queen Celeste was the sole tour boat operating from Akino Salvator's Hawaiian Harbour Tours. The business was operated by none other than Akino Salvator and his wife Celeste."

"Not a very creative guy, was he?" Duke asked.

Steve thought the question to be rhetorical, but obviously Danny didn't. "Oh, I don't know. It makes things very clear about what business he's offering, and I suspect his wife didn't complain too much if her husband was to spend most of his time with a water conveyance that he named after her."

"Water conveyance?" Steve shook his head. "It was a boat, Danny."

"Boat, ship, sloop, Chinese junk – call it what you will," Danny's hands moved in time with his list.

Steve frowned in consternation and interrupted his partner's rant, "Each one of those is, or refers to, a distinct vessel type." He knew Danny did this to him on purpose; teasing his knowledge on everything water related. Dammit if it didn't work each time. Danny smiled, and Steve could tell the man knew it too.

"Know what they all have in common, Steven?"

Of course Steve knew. He could define and list dimensions and crew requirements for each. Not that any of that information would appease Danny and his questions. Danny looked relaxed with his arms crossed as he leaned against one of the many posts along the edge of the dock, waiting for Steve to carry on his half of this ridiculous conversation.

With a resigned sigh, Steve asked, "Do you want the list alphabetically or can I just recite them based on my whimsy?"

Danny shook his head, his hands coming free in exasperation. "The fact that you could manage such a list should frighten me, and yet I'm not surprised." Danny's smirk returned. "But it's not needed for the point I'm trying to make."

Steve rolled his eyes and Chin smiled, revealing some sick part of his soul that really seemed to enjoy this.

"By all means, Danny," Steve couldn't help but allow another sigh. "Please make a point. Don't let the fact there's a dead body lying on the docks distract you."

Not looking the least bit distracted – smug perhaps– Danny smiled. "Each one of those distinct vessel types conveys people from point A to point B by crossing bodies of water." It was definitely smug. "Therefore they are water conveyances."

Steve threw his hands up in defeat. "I thought ergo was your word?"

"Like Reader's Digest, I'm trying to broaden your vocabulary."

"Can you broaden your work experience to include this case?" Steve's arms crossed, not that Danny would be intimidated.

Danny's hands pointed to his own chest and his face looked deceivingly innocent. "Me? I'm just waiting for direction from my fearless leader."

When he was little Steve's mother had instilled in him the knowledge that it was wrong to hit people out of frustration. Then again, she never had the pleasure of meeting one Detective Danny Williams. Steve felt his eye twitch as he silently counted to five as he ignored his partner's grin.

Kono gratefully stepped away from the group to check her phone which had just chirped from an incoming message. "HPD just sent the address for the Salvators. You want us to go talk with the widow?" She looked up to see her boss' response.

All kidding now cast aside, Steve nodded. "You and Chin see if she has anything more to add to that police report. Danny and I will go see what Thomas Terashima has to say."

~TBC~