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The next morning the Five-O detectives could be seen clinging to cups of coffee as they willed their bodies to believe that they had gotten a full night of sleep last night. While they gathered in Steve’s office, Steve starting flipping through the large stacks of papers on his desk and asked, “Is that all?”

Ralph sighed. “Steve, do you have any idea how hard it is to find this information in the middle of the night?”

Steve smiled as his second-in-command knew that he was joking and began the meeting. “Kono, what’ve ya got?”

“I’ve got nothin’, Boss. I’ve looked but it’s like he didn’t exist before college.”

Chin asked, “You figure Cain is an alias?”

“Makes sense since he knew dat he was gonna get caught.”

Steve nodded. “I suspected as much. Chin?”

“Rogers Incorporated is a smaller company owned by two brothers: Leonard and Jack Rogers. They work exclusively on Maui. They’re clean and don’t have any previous history with Mint. Nor have they had any issues with their competitors as far as I could tell.”

No luck there, Steve thought as he turned toward his second-in-command. “Ralph?”

“The Carbell Company is run by an elderly man named Howard Carbell. He’s assumed quite a fortune running construction jobs all throughout the islands and on the west coast. He has a long history with the Mint family and the companies have been rivals for years. Things came to a head a couple years ago over a hotel in Waikiki that the Carbell Company was forced to abandon after a series of accidents. After Mint Enterprises was hired to finish the project, Carbell accused them of sabotage but the charges never amounted to anything.”

Intrigued, Steve spoke up. “You have records of that?”

“I called in some favors and spent a couple hours last night digging through the newspaper archives.” Ralph answered as he gestured toward a stack of papers on Steve’s desk. “Also, it appears that Mr. Carbell is getting close to retirement but he has no children of his own. He has three nephews and has publically stated that the one who shows the most promise will inherit the business.”

A contested inheritance, combined with the history of animosity between the Mints and the Carbells meant that they were possibly headed in the right direction. Besides, one look at his second-in-command and Steve knew that he had something solid. “Alright Ralph, give.”

“Carbell’s two older nephews are both working for the business, but the youngest is getting his degree. However, I couldn’t discover which school he was registered at. Oh, and did I mention his name is Brian Carbell?”

Kono whistled and Steve privately agreed that that news was significant; for most people when changing their names tried to keep them as close to the original as possible as not to forget who they were supposed to be. “Do you have a picture?”

“Here,” Ralph answered as he one down on Steve’s desk. Kono grabbed a photo of Cain off the bulletin board and set it next to the one of Carbell. There was no denying it, the hair was a different color and was cut differently but the faces looked the same.

As they studied the two pictures, Ralph added, “I’ve put in a call to the mainland to run Brain Cain’s fingerprints against those of Brian Carbell. I should hear back from them any minute now.”

Steve tapped a finger on top of the picture of Brian Carbell. “So Carbell befriends the son of his uncle’s worst enemy in hopes of finding some way to discredit their company.”

“It makes sense, Boss,” Chin said. “When he found out that Richard and Susan were fighting over what to do with the baby, it was an opportunity he couldn’t pass up. He could ruin the Mints and open up the door for his Uncle to get the contract, all in the hopes of inheriting a fortune.”

Ralph nodded. “Money, power, and the people who will do anything to keep both.”

“Exactly,” Steve agreed. “If Cain’s and Carbell’s prints match do you have any idea where we find him?”

“Maui. Howard Carbell is out there making his pitch for that resort and if Brian Carbell’s our man, he’s not going to be too far away if he wants to take credit for this.”

“Right.” Steve stood up and shifted gears. “I’ve been working with Che and he was able to confirm that the material Kono found on the bush matched some of the strands we found Mint’s car. Che also matched the tire tracks with the car that Cain left behind at the university. So if we find Cain I believe we’ll be able to clear Danno.”

“But will that be enough to get Charles Mint to back down?” Ralph asked. “He’s still furious that Williams dared to arrest his son.”

“I’ll worry about Charles Mint,” Steve stated firmly.

Before Ralph could respond, May stepped into the office and handed him a piece of paper. Then she looked towards Steve. “You have a meeting with Walter at eleven. He wants an update on the Carver case.”

“Thanks, love.”

After May left the room, Ralph looked up from the paper and announced, “It’s a match.”

“May!” Steve hollered and his secretary poked her head back through the door. “Cancel the meeting with Walter. Then call the airport and get Ralph and I tickets on the next plane to Maui.”

*~*~*

The piercing noise of an alarm clock cut through the haze of sleep in Danny’s mind. Grumbling, Danny rolled over and shut off the offending noise. As he sat up and rubbed the sleep from his eyes the events of the previous day came rushing back all at once:

The preliminary hearing. The accusation. The fight with McGarrett. The trip to that fateful baseball diamond. Danny’s theory. Five-O’s determination to solve this case and clear his name.

It was enough to make Danny want to go back to sleep in hopes that it had all been a bad dream. But he knew better and besides he had hope. For one thing remained clear in spite swirl of memories that were bombarding him: McGarrett wasn’t giving up and neither would he.

Getting out of bed, Danny forced himself to move. He would have to move quickly if he wanted to get to work early. Now, Danny realized that no one expected him to show up and he should probably call in and make his being sent to the beach official but Danny decided that he was tired of being pushed to the sidelines. He was sick of not being in control of his own destiny. He’d had enough.

Officer Dan Williams of HPD had a duty to serve and protect and he could not carry out that duty on the beach.

So after getting ready, Danny walked into the station a half hour before his shift was to start dressed in full uniform. He ignored the looks of surprise and shock as he walked past his co-workers in the hall. Once he reached Chief Dann’s office, he asked for the secretary to announce him.

After few moments, Danny stepped inside the office and the Chief looked up from his desk and ordered, “Take a seat.”

Obeying, Danny waited for his boss to speak first. Dann looked weary as he sighed and said, “I know you and McGarrett already talked so I see no need to repeat what you’ve already heard. However, I do feel that it would be best if you took a couple days off until we get this settled.”

“If you don’t mind, sir, I prefer to stay.”

“Danny, that wouldn’t be wise.”

“I don’t understand.”

“Your character has been publicly called into question. The public will take your accuser’s word until we can prove otherwise.”

Furious, Danny forced himself not to yell as stated firmly, “I could walk in here and claim that you are sleeping with the Governor’s wife but that doesn’t make it so.”

The look of shock on the Chief’s face made Danny wonder if he had gone too far but he had played his hand and he was not going to back down. “If you have enough evidence to suspend me, suspend me. Because if you treat me like I’m guilty everyone is going to believe that I am.”

“No one is claiming that you’re guilty.”

“With all due respect, sir, that’s not true and you know it. No one is going to believe that I just randomly decided to take a few days of unannounced vacation. Mint’s doing this because he knows that he can push HPD around. I refuse to be pushed to the sidelines and watch as I become another John Leota.”

Dann looked guilty at the mention of Leota’s name. “You’re correct in saying that we don’t have enough evidence to suspend you. Just know that that if you go through with this there will be pushback, most likely from the media.”

“I understand.”

“Your image can’t afford another outburst.”

Danny’s cheeks burned as he nodded. “I know.”

Dann let out a deep breath and said, “If you are determined, Henry might have a few things…”

“No,” Danny interrupted.

The Chief shook his head in amazement. “Excuse me?”

Danny gathered his resolve and looked his boss in the eye. “Sir, don’t hide me behind a desk; it didn’t work last time. Prove to Mint and the public that you trust me by letting me do the job that I was hired to do.”

Several moments passed in silence as Dann considered Danny’s words. Finally, the Chief chuckled. “I need to keep you away from McGarrett; his stubbornness is wearing off.”

Now it was Danny’s turn to be confused. “Excuse me?”

“I’m putting you back on active duty on one condition: stick close to your partner. You’re not to engage in any activity without another officer present.”

“I will. Thank you, Chief.”

With a wave of the hand Danny was dismissed and he walked through the halls of the station with a grin on his face as he looked for his partner. Danny found the other Steve leaning against their squad car, waiting on him.

“Aloha, did the news travel that fast?” Danny asked.

“That’s the coconut wireless for you,” the other Steve answered as he moved to sit in the driver’s seat. When Danny was seated next to him, he continued, “There’s an accident at the intersection of King and Pikoi; they need us to help direct traffic.”

Danny nodded to show that he heard, grateful to be back to normal day to day work of being a cop.

Danny’s shift passed without incident and all he had left to do was to file some paperwork. As he walked past an open door, he overheard a familiar voice mention his name.

“Did you hear about Williams?”

“I did but don’t know if believe it,” a deep voice answered.

“I thought he would be done for sure.”

Another voice spoke, “I heard that he told the Chief to either suspend him or let him do his job.”

The first speaker stated, “I got to admit, that kid has guts. He doesn’t let anyone push him around.”

Danny forced himself to keep walking before he was noticed but that couldn’t stop a smile from spreading across his face. For the voices he just heard where the same ones that only a few days ago were questioning his ability as a cop. Apparently, his determination to do his duty was enough to convince them that he deserved to be here. Now, only if he could convince a certain rich family of the same.

*~*~*


With an arrest warrant in his jacket pocket, Steve McGarrett knocked on the door to rooms that the Howard Carbell was staying at during their time in Maui. Ralph had discovered from the hotel staff that Brain was with him and the two detectives waited as they heard footsteps approached the door.

A butler opened the door and Steve immediately showed the man his badge. “McGarrett, Irons, Hawaii Five-O.”

The butler nodded and led them into the suit where he introduced the two detectives to an older well dressed man and a younger man that Steve immediately recognized Brain Carbell. The two men rose as the detectives entered and the man the butler introduced as Howard Carbell spoke. “Mr. McGarrett, to what do I owe this pleasure?”

“The murder of Susan Carver.”

The older man looked shocked. “McGarrett, I assure you that I have no knowledge of this woman.”

“But your nephew has.” Steve turned and looked at the younger man. “Isn’t that right, Mr. Cain?”

The color drained from Brian Carbell’s face as he whispered, “How?”

“I’m a detective. It’s my job to listen to the cries of those who are murdered. Brian Carbell, you are under arrest for the murder of Susan Carver.”

The young man held out his hands as he declared, “Look, I can explain.”

“I’m sure you can. Book ‘em, Ralph.”

*~*~*


Several hours later, Brain Carbell was safely settled in Maui lock-up and Steve was getting a few moments of rest as he waited to board the plane back to Oahu. Steve closed his eyes and must have dozed off because the next thing he heard was the voice of his second-in-command.

Ralph was holding a copy of the evening edition of the newspaper and had a concerned look on his face. “You need to read this. Charles Mint is making a ruckus about, quote, ‘the lack of investigation into the crimes committed by HPD Officer Dan Williams.’ The press is reporting it and is complaining loudly that Danny worked his regular shift today.”

Steve shrugged to show that he wasn’t surprised by the news.

Ralph took a seat next to Steve. “To be honest, I’m surprised that Mike let him back on duty.”

“He wasn’t going to,” Steve confessed. “But I called Dann after Danno left last night and convinced him that if Danno showed up to work the morning and was serious about wanting to work then he had no grounds to stop him.”

Ralph gave his boss an I-can’t-believe-you-did-that look. “Somehow I doubt he liked that.”

“He didn’t. I think the only reason he agreed was because he didn’t think Danno would show up.”

“So how do want to handle this?”

“Ignore the media for now. We’ve got more important things to focus on.”

“True but Carbell’s willingness to talk should make things easier.”

“It should,” Steve agreed. “But I need…”

“Every angle checked and double-checked.” Ralph finished. “I’ll grab Chin and Kono as soon as we get back and we’ll verify as much of Carbell’s story as possible.”

“Good. I want this case to be foolproof. We can’t afford any more surprises when we go before the judge.”