Rewrite

AvalonReeseFanfics

A/N: Happy Wednesday my wonderful readers! It looks like the app issues are cleared up, or at least they are for me. Let me know if you guys are having any issues with reading the story and I'll put in another ticket with the devs. As always, don't forget to leave a review and I'll see you guys next week!

Chapter 472

The first stop was one that Adam requested, despite Wo Fat saying they should go straight to get the money. No, first Adam wanted to warn the one person that wasn't under Rowan's protection, who hadn't gotten the warning like Kono and Chin Ho had confirmed they had. He went to Jessie's place. The new place seeing as she had moved again after the murders of Hideki and her boyfriend or boytoy, Kazuya Nimoto. Adam still wasn't sure what that relationship had been.

Adam knocked on her door and then let himself in. She had been confused but she had listened intently as he explained what had happened and how she was in danger. Predictably she had not been impressed.

"Great, so your half-sister's daddy issues turned her into a stone-cold psycho and now anyone connected to you is in her crosshairs," she snapped.

"Yeah well, I'm going to fix that," he said. She glared at him and he sighed. "Look Jessie, I'm sorry. This operation, what I've asked you to do, if I knew it would have come to this…"

"It's not your fault," she said, though he wasn't sure he believed her. "Just tell me what our next move is."

"Well... Wo Fat has a plan. But first we need to come up with the money."

"Wo Fat… you couldn't just let the man shoot her?"

"We need to get close to her first. She put up a big show of pretending not to be afraid of him but there's a reason why she never went at him head-to-head. She doesn't want to face him down herself. So the plan is to get the money, use it to bait her out into the open, and then leave her alone with him."

When Wo had explained the plan on the drive over there it had made so much sense. They would pick up the money, use it to lure Noriko out, Wo Fat would deal with it from there. He wouldn't explain what dealing with it meant, but if Adam was a betting man, he'd bet that Noriko wasn't making it out of the encounter alive.

"And where the hell are we getting 20 mil from?"

"It uh… it's actually rather lucky, but it turns out that Wo and Rowan happen to have 20 mil that I can borrow."

"They do?"

"Well… Rowan does… we just have to go get it."

Wo Fat had been reluctant to mention that. That Rowan was the one with the money. Probably because it used to be him and he no doubt didn't like having to rely on Rowan for so much of this. Wo Fat had always been a solo-operator, though he was adjusting rather well to having a family willing to help him with the darker aspects of his job and old life, old habits did die hard.

"Alright, so let's go."

Adam's eyebrows drew together in confusion. "No, I just wanted to warn you, I can't take you with me."

She cocked an eyebrow at him. "No, my life is on the line now too, I have to make sure you two don't fuck this up somehow."

Adam almost told her that there was no way that it was possible. With Rowan, they were pretty much set. Nothing could go wrong, nothing that could get him killed anyway, especially if he was with Wo Fat. But Jessie didn't know that Rowan was psychic, nor could he explain the strings to her, so he just kept his mouth shut. He looked her up and down and realized that there was no way that she was going to let him leave without her, and if he did she might put their op in jeopardy either on purpose or by accident.

"Alright, fine, but you have to listen to him, he gets really pissy when people don't listen to him," Adam warned her.

He let her get ready and then together they walked out of her house and towards Adam's car, where Wo had been left. He was now casually leant against the hood, puffing away on a cigarette, an image he had seen Rowan recreate when she had been fresh back from her year away.

He clocked Jessie and groaned at them. "Tell me we're not taking the pornstar."

Beside him, Jessie bristled at the comment but otherwise just frowned at him. It would be up to him to plead her case.

"She wants to come and we need the help."

"We most certainly do not," Wo Fat snapped, he then pointed at her and gestured back to her house. "Go back inside."

"No. My life is on the line too," she snapped. "I don't trust you to have my best interests in mind."

"And the way to ensure that I do is by coming with us to face the danger?" Wo Fat asked dryly.

"Gotta make sure that everything goes smoothly, right?"

Wo Fat sighed aggressively, glanced to Adam and seemingly came to the understanding that Adam was fine with this. He tossed his half smoke cigarette to the side and straightened. "Alright fine, but this is a terrible idea."

"Duly noted, Wo," he said to him.

"I'm glad it's noted, cause when shit goes down and she can't handle it, it's gonna be on you," Wo said and then got into the car.

Adam sighed at him but gestured for Jessie to do the same, moving the driver's side seat forward so she could get into the back. He glanced at his watch. Only hour and a half left.

H5O-H5O-H5O-H5O

Wo had them drive up to the Kimura Bonsai Nursery, also up in Waimanalo wild country. This place was as old as the hills, also had very few neighbors and was the place to go for Bonsai care and purchasing. Adam also knew it was a Vault location, the first and largest one on Hawaii.

There was an old man out front, a massive bonsai sitting on a small wooden table that he was diligently trimming, his eyes turned up when Adam's car drove up onto the gravel driveway. His eyes narrowed at them, no doubt wondering how they were, but a smile appeared when Wo Fat got out of the car.

"Kimura-san!" Wo Fat said as he moved towards the man.

"Is that… Wo Fat and Adam Noshimuri. Been a long time since I've seen you and a Noshimuri together."

Adam watched at the two men embraced as if they were old friends. Adam moved towards them intrigued by this strange relationship. "You knew my father?"

"He was always trying to get in here. But I didn't want his kind of trouble. He liked to overdraw and under pay when it came to debts," Kimura said before turning to Wo. "I suspect this is about Miss. Pierce and the call I received this morning."

"It is," Wo Fat said. "I know it's last minute and I know it's a lot to ask for, but we're in a bit of a crisis and I'll need it. I do plan to have it back to you before tomorrow though if that's any consolation."

Kimura gracefully nodded his head at Wo. "You're not running off with her again, are you?" he asked. "That didn't go so well for you or your accounts last time."

"No, no, we're not running," Wo said with wry shake of his head.

"Good, good," Kimura said to him and then shot him a smile. "I hear you two are expecting."

"She is," Wo Fat said with a nod. "With her husband. You know she married someone who wasn't me. That shouldn't surprise you."

Kimura's smile widened at him, signifying that he was teasing, that had Wo Fat playfully swatting at him like he was a teenager.

"Yes, we were all aware when she married someone who wasn't you. I lost a lot of money on that bet, you know. I still haven't forgiven you," Kimura said wagging a finger at Wo Fat who merely smirked at him.

"You should have spoken to me before putting that bet down, I could have advised you better."

"Was the underworld betting on if you'd marry Ro or something?" Adam asked, as he wasn't aware that was something going around. Then again he had been long out of the game before those rumours would have started flying.

"Yeah, if I'd marry her, if I'd give her back to Steve, which one of us would die," Wo Fat said with a wave of his hand as if it were entirely normally for people to be putting bets on that.

Kimura pinned Wo Fat with a very serious stare. "Shall we go back? Do we trust them?"

Wo Fat glanced back to Adam and Jessie. Adam knew he'd vouch for him, he wasn't sure what Wo Fat was going to do about Jessie.

"For now, yes," he said, which wasn't a stellar vouching, but Adam would take it. Kimura seemed to take it as well as he gestured for them to follow him into nursery.

He took them past the displays of bonsai trees that were probably older than all of them combined and into the back where men were moving between the floors. They were going down into a hatch and bringing up stacks of cash that were being handed into duffle bags waiting on the floor.

Jessie took it all in and then turned to Adam, nudging him with her elbow. "Holy shit… what… what is this place?"

"This is Hawaii's first and, in my opition, best Vault," Wo Fat said. "It's a very exclusive underground banking ring. It's where I stash most of my cash. It's like any normal bank, the process withdrawals, take deposits, dole out loans and of course everything is untraceable and untaxable and unfreezeable."

"I'm guessing they also wash your money for you," Jessie added.

"Among other services," Wo said softly. He observed the process for a moment longer before saying: "Start getting them in the car."

There were six bags in total. All of them heavy, and they would be with that much cash stuffed into them. They took turns taking a bag to the car and stuffing it into the trunk. He let Jessie take the last bag and then he cornered Wo Fat once he was done thanking Kimura for all his help.

"Before we go, we should talk about the next step of the plan," Adam said.

Wo Fat nodded. "Easy, you're going to call Noriko and let her know you have the cash, then we'll go and meet her and I will deal with it from there."

"Yes, I know, but what does that mean?"

"That's not important, you're going to wait by the car."

Well that was certainly frustrating, but if Wo Fat was telling him to wait by the car death really was on the agenda and it would be better if Adam wasn't a part of it. Still he wished Wo Fat would just tell him what was happening, he really wasn't liking being out of the loop.

"Okay and how am I calling Noriko, do you have a number to contact her at?"

At that Wo Fat frowned. "She didn't give you a number?"

"Well… no?"

"What? That makes no sense, how the hell were you supposed to get the money to her?"

Adam thought about it for a moment. "Maybe I'm supposed to just… bring it back to the house she met me in? Leave it there?"

"You don't even know if she'll be there?"

"Or maybe I take it to McNeal?" Adam offered.

"No, that'll be a no go. He's the reason that her DNA was found on Hideki. She wasn't the one to kill him, McNeal was. He wanted me to find out about her," Wo Fat said. "The plan was to make it known to her that he did that, let her deal with him."

"Is that still the plan?"

"Uhm… well… I don't know. I'm thinking no," Wo Fat mused. "So… which house was she in? Do you think it has surveillance?"

"I don't know… I mean… probably?"

"Goddamn it, Adam, I need to be able to surprise her."

"Yes I know but I can't tell you what I don't …"

Wo Fat cut him off by raising a hand and putting it in his face. Adam fell silent, he almost asked what Wo Fat was doing, but then he heard what Wo could hear. The sound of an engine revving loudly.

"Did you… the porn star, where's the porn star?" Wo asked. Adam opened his mouth to tell Wo Fat that he had left her with the car, but that must have been obvious when the sound of his car peeling off followed that question.

Both men swore and rushed out the door just in time to watch the bumper of Adam's car disappear around the bend. Adam stood there, mouth open, his brain struggling to reconcile what he knew to have happened, and what he had just seen when he very much didn't want to admit that it had just happened.

Wo Fat recovered first. "You left her alone with the cash? ARE YOU CRAZY?!"

Adam turned a glare to him. "I didn't think… why would she…?"

"I told you not to bring her along, didn't I tell you?" Wo Fat snapped.

Adam ground his teeth. God he had never wanted to hit Wo Fat more and at one point he thought Wo Fat had killed his father. "Yes Wo, thank you for that. Can you call Rowan please?"

Wo Fat went for his pocket for his phone as Adam did the same. God they had to fix this.

H5O-H5O-H5O-H5O

Adam had tried to call Jessie. She had picked up once and told him that she was getting out and taking Wo Fat's money to do it. She had no faith in Adam's faith in Wo Fat, even less faith in Wo Fat's plan. She didn't care if everyone in Adam's family was in trouble, if Wo Fat and Rowan were so deadly, they wouldn't need the money anyway. Besides, they were all cops were they not? They could handle themselves.

Then she hung up on him. He didn't get to remind her that she was stealing from Wo Fat, and therefore putting a whole different kind of mark on her back. He didn't get a chance to plead with her to come back. To give them a chance to have the plan work. She was just gone, with his car and the money.

He was frantic by the time she hand ended the call, Wo Fat, however seemed to have calm down. Adam's call was finished quicker so he had to wait for Wo Fat to hang up.

He barely spared Adam a glance to tell him: "We'll have to hang here until we get a ride."

Adam nodded, scuffing his feet against the ground like a scolded child, sending pebbles flying. "Is Con coming?"

"Yep," he said, his voice terse, clearly not in the mood. He went into his suit jacket inner breast pocket and pulled out his cigarettes.

"Rowan give you anything useful?"

"She's still on the move, she'll get us something when Jessie stops," he said and then he took out a cigarette to light.

Wo Fat got through four cigarettes before Wo's black Audi came rolling up the driveway. Con parked the car and only got halfway out, Wo Fat clocked the smirk on his face and pointed at him with the lit cigarette.

"Shut up."

"I haven't said anything yet," Con cried.

"It's on your stupid fucking face. Just… shut up."

Con kept his mouth shut, biting his lip, trying to hide the smile that was there as Wo Fat walked up to him, hand out ready to accept his keys. Con handed them over and then a chuckle broke out of his lips.

"You're getting old, old man."

Wo Fat scowled at him, but it was Adam that added: "That's what Noriko called you too."

"Fucking excuse me?" Wo cried turning to him.

"Yeah, she called out a washed-up has-been, old man, operating on old world respect."

Wo Fat's mouth dropped open in shock. "She said that?" he asked. "I fucking trained her! At great cost to my fucking patience and as a favour to your fucking father. And that's what she says about me?"

"Wait you trained her and you still forgot about her?" Adam asked.

"It was six months, and I quit," Wo Fat snapped.

"You did, why?"

"Firstly she was annoying, questioned everything I said. Secondly, shit with McGarrett kicked up I was otherwise busy," Wo Fat said and then thought a moment. "And honestly she wasn't that important to me… I didn't bother to remember."

"Dude, maybe you do have memory issues," Con said. "We might need to take you to the doctor.

Wo Fat scowled at him but any argument he had was cut off by his phone beeping. He grabbed it right away and looked it over.

"She's got us a heading, everyone get in the car."

Adam didn't need to be told twice, he got into the back, letting Con ride shot gun. He wished Wo Fat would speed up, but he seemed perfectly content with just making his way at the speed limit.

They found his car abandoned on the side of the road, twenty minutes away from where they had originally been. So Jessie hadn't gotten that far, which couldn't be good.

Adam was out of the Audi before Wo could park properly, he moved towards his car, gun drawn noting that his truck was popped open and completely empty. That didn't bode well.

As he moved towards the driver's side, he heard Wo Fat growl behind him: "And my money's gone."

That wasn't what Adam was most worried about at that moment. He got to the driver's side, he called Jessie's name when he spotted her bare shoulder and a bit of the black tank top she had been wearing. She didn't answer though.

He got closer, he said her name again, but when he looked at her, when he really got a good look at her face, he saw that it didn't matter.

Jessie wasn't going to answer him. Because Jessie was dead.

Her eyes were closed, the bullet hole had gone through her temple. Blood had splattered behind her, painting the head rest and the backseat of his car red. He was honestly surprised there was none on the windows.

Guilt welled up in his chest. This was exactly what he told her wouldn't happened. He had told her he'd protect her. He had failed.

"No, no, no, no," he said, tears welling up in his eyes.

"Why the fuck are you crying? She ripped us off!" Wo Fat cried. Adam turned incredulous eyes to him and found that he was standing beside Con and his trunk. Con looked a little more concerned, while Wo Fat was staring him down, hands on his hips, frown on his face. "You know, on principle alone, I was going to kill her for this. She was dead either way!"

Con turned a frown onto Wo Fat, and then dug his elbow into Wo Fat's ribs. "This is not the time," he hissed. "Can't you see he's upset."

Adam luckily found his tears paused, only because he was absolutely fucking horrified by this whole exchange.

The two men exchanged a bit of a heated stare, before finally Con turned back to him, a pity smile on his lips. Honestly that was worse than Wo Fat's rage.

"Go on, you're entitled to your feelings, no matter how stupid they are," he told him and Aam bit back the groan that rose up his throat.

Fuck, he had never wanted Steven more.