Shauni returned to the sitting are of her suite with a full assortment of drinks and noticed that everyone was sitting except Steve.
"Hope you all like Coke products, because that's all we have. They're one of my sponsors, so there is always plenty on hand. We also have a few different kinds of beer if anyone wants one, but I sort of figured you'd give me the 'We're on duty right now' answer on that one." She smiled as she sat down and everyone grabbed a cold beverage. Again, except for Steve.
"Don't you want to sit down, Commander?"
"No thanks. I think I'll just have a look around while you all talk." As Steve started making observations of their surroundings, the rest of them continued to chat. He walked around the room looking at each window, checking the doors leading to the patio, looking at the air vents, and anything else that looked even remotely accessible. Shauni silently watched him as she tried to stay part of the conversation around her. They talked a little about where they were all from. Chin and Kono being native Hawaiians as well as cousins was a fun fact Shauni liked hearing. They also talked briefly about Kono's professional surfing days and what Danny had affectionately called his "previous life" in New Jersey. They were all secretly impressed and a little surprised by the fact that she seemed interested in their lives at all. If they'd had any preconceived notions about working with a "diva" this week, she was showing them otherwise.
"So can I ask you a question?" asked Danny.
"Anything." she answered.
"Well, I've heard it said that celebrities usually have crazy requests for things when they're staying at hotels. Is that true?"
"You mean like stocking my room with only blue M&M's, 1,200 thread count sheets, and white roses trimmed to precisely 10 inches tall?"
Danny glanced at the roses on the table in front of them. "Yeah, something like that."
Steve turned at the sound of her laughter and she felt her breath catch for a minute. She held Steve's gaze as she answered Danny, "Well, it may be true for some, but I've never been that way. I don't understand it really. I mean I don't see the sense in being hard to deal with. I'm pretty easy to please, so if there is anything specific I want, I usually just get it myself."
After a few more minutes of small talk, she could tell Steve was anxious to get to the matter at hand.
"Commander McGarrett?" Steve turned to look at her once again. "I guess we should talk about why you're all here, right?" Steve answered with a nod and made his way back to where they were all sitting.
"So what would you like to know?" she asked him.
"Everything you know about the guy who is out to get you." Steve answered.
Shauni took a deep breath before she began. "His name is Carl Matthews. He's in his mid 30's and has a history of mental disorders and schizophrenia. I'm not the first celebrity he's become obsessed with, but I do seem to be the only one with whom he's taken it this far."
"What do you mean?" asked Chin.
"Well, he's sent creepy letters to others in the past, but not like the ones he's sent to me. He talks about our life together as if we really know each other and are in love. He's also never gone as far as to hang around outside the houses of others, but he's been seen outside my neighborhood."
"How has he threatened you lately?"
"I live in a gated community. A couple of weeks ago, he showed up outside and told the guard at the gate that he was my husband and had lost his keycard to open the gate. Of course, they knew that wasn't true so they refused to let him in. He got really upset and they had to call the police to come and remove him from the property. A few days after that, my manager received a letter where he went off on this rant about not having access to his "wife" and how he had plans to basically kidnap me and take me away where no one else would be able to bother us. I wouldn't have taken it quite so seriously, but with the letter he also sent one of my scarves that we have no idea how he got into his hands."
"A scarf?" Kono asked.
"Yes. I'd bought this scarf on a quick trip I'd made to NY, but then thought I lost it before returning home. We looked all over the hotel room for it before leaving and couldn't find it. I figured I'd just lost it…..Until it turned out that he'd gotten his hands on it."
"So he got into your hotel room in NY and stole it? That is creepy." Kono shivered.
"Creepy and psychotic." replied Steve. "How do you think he got access to the room?"
"I have no idea, but it weirded me out, for sure. When my Dad found out about it, he wanted me to cancel this part of the tour but I wouldn't do it. The concerts I'm doing over the next few days are going to benefit the Kapi'olani Children's Hospital and the Boys & Girls Clubs in your area. Plus, we have some other things scheduled where I'm going to get to visit with some of the children. I've really been looking forward to the trip and I wasn't going to let the kids down."
"So your schedule is pretty much public knowledge at this point, right?" asked Chin.
"I guess most of it is. The personal appearances have been advertised, and they sold tickets for the concerts, of course, so all of that is public knowledge. Fans have a way of finding things out, too, so everyone probably knows where I'm staying by now."
"Yeah, we noticed some of them already downstairs." Danny said.
"How many people have keycards to this suite?" asked Steve.
Shauni counted up, "Probably 10-12 plus me."
Steve looked shocked. "Why so many? Who has the cards?"
"My road manager, assistant, stylist, the members of my band, and the driver who will be taking us around this week. We're a family, Commander. I trust them all implicitly."
Steve shook his head as he looked at Chin, "It's still too many. First order of business is to get back all of the keycards except for the ones held by her road manager and her assistant." Shauni opened her mouth to protest, but Steve stopped her with a look, "Anyone else who needs access can knock on the door. And one of us will let them in. No more answering the door yourself. Understand?"
She crossed her arms in defiance. "Would you like my keycard too?" she asked sarcastically. Danny's eyebrows rose in surprise. Not intimidated by Super SEAL, huh? Steve may've met his match, he thought to himself as he tried not to laugh.
Steve gave her his best interrogation stare down which could usually draw out confessions of even the most hardened suspects, but Shauni didn't budge. She met him stare for stare.
"But MY suite is our central meeting place for the week." she tried again.
"Not anymore." Steve insisted. "Where are your manager and assistant staying?"
"My manager, John, is staying in a suite down the hall and Stacy, my assistant, is staying here with me."
"Is everyone else staying on this floor too?" Steve asked.
"Yes, we all have rooms right here together."
"Okay, so since John also has a suite, we change the central meeting place to his room. No one else needs easy access to this room under the circumstances, so that's the first thing we change. Chin, I need for you and Kono to work on getting those keycards back. Also, talk to the hotel manager and let them know that we need to monitor anyone with master keys this week. I don't even want the housekeeping staff coming in here without us knowing it. Get a copy of her schedule for the week so we can map out the best routes without being noticed. We need to have a way to get her in and out of everywhere without a lot of public access".
"On it." answered Chin as he and Kono stood up and got ready to go to work.
"Now wait a minute….."interrupted Shauni and all eyes turned in her direction, "You can't just come in here and take over, Commander McGarrett. We already have nearly every minute of this week already scheduled and planned out. You can't start changing things now."
"With all due respect, Ms. Steele, yes I can. As your security this week, we have to take every precaution to make sure this guy cannot get access to you. That's exactly what we're going to do."
Shauni didn't like it, but she got the feeling she wouldn't be able to argue the point with him, so she let it go. For now.
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