Authors:
The cool waters of the Hawaiian ocean surrounded Dan Williams, former Five-O detective, as he swam toward the ship ahead. Swimming alongside him was his companion and friend Officer Ben Kokua, a detective in the Honolulu Police Department. They were working together to complete a task that appeared to be next to impossible but that wasn’t their biggest problem.

The problem was that Danny wasn’t even supposed to be here. Danny no longer had the authority to be here and a whole lot of people were putting their necks on the line by allowing him to be involved in this operation but they had no other option.

Danny needed to be here.

For the threat had been made. The perps would rather destroy themselves, their ship, and the HPD men gathered on the dock then surrender their illegal human cargo. Danny was the only person in the immediate vicinity with the training to disarm a bomb. And so Danny’s current lack of a badge was overlooked as plans were made to put him into a position to disarm it.

A lot was riding on his shoulders and Danny just prayed that his recent training in bomb disposal would be adequate for the task at hand.

After all, it was what had started this whole mess.

*~*~*

July 1972

It was a typical day in the office for Jenny Sherman, secretary for Hawaii Five-O, as she fed another piece of paper into her typewriter when the phone beside her began ringing. “Hawaii Five-O, how may I help you?”

“This is Beth from United Airlines. I’m just calling to inform you that flight 3980 from Los Angeles has been delayed and is now scheduled to land at 1:13 pm.”

Jotting down the information, Jenny thanked the agent and hung up. While the delay was disappointing, she was glad to know that Danny would be returning, even if it was two hours later than they were expecting. The office just didn’t seem right without him. And while the Steve, Chin, and Kono would never admit it, the stress of trying to run Five-O with three detectives for an extended period of time was beginning to take its toll.

Danny had been gone for over a month learning the skills of disarming explosives at a school in Alabama. This was the training that Jenny knew that Danny had wanted to receive ever since he had to disarm his first bomb a year and a half ago. If Jenny would close her eyes she could picture that moment perfectly: Danny bent over the bomb, sweat rolling down his forward as he followed directions shouted to him through a closed door. Danny had pulled through and saved everyone in the room, including her, but the fact that he never would have been able to disarm that bomb without help irked the young detective. Being certified in bomb disposal was Danny’s way of dealing with the aftermath of that case. Jenny couldn’t be prouder.

Stretching as she stood up, Jenny moved over to Steve’s office and stuck her head through the door. “Steve.”

“Yes.”

“Danny’s plane’s delayed. He’s not getting in until after one.”

Steve’s brow furrowed in thought. “That’s when I have the meeting with Attorney General?”

“Correct.”

“See if Kono can pick him up.”

Jenny nodded and walked toward Kono’s cubicle. Only a few more hours and things would be back to normal.

*~*~*


A slight frown crossed the face of a sandy-haired detective as he looked around for a familiar black Mercury sedan. Failing to spot his ride, Dan Williams checked his watch; it was 11:23 am and for once his plane had landed on time. Steve must be busy responding to a case or have simply forgotten when his flight was coming in.

Weary from the long flight, Danny picked up his suitcase and walked to the nearest payphone. He’d call the office and have Jenny send someone to pick him. After six weeks on the mainland, Danny was ready to be home and sleep in his own bed.

Stepping into the booth, Danny dug in his pockets for some change. Once he found what he needed he started to reach for the phone but stopped when he felt something hard jab into his back.

“Freeze, Mr. Williams,” a cold voice stated behind him.

Moving slowly, Danny let go of the phone and held out his arms. “What is the meaning of this?”

Silence was Danny’s answer as rough hands patted him down. Once they discovered that he was unarmed, Danny was allowed to turn around and look at the men threatening him. There were two, both Caucasian, and dressed in nondescript dark suits. The shorter of the two men held out a badge. “FBI. You’re under arrest.”

It took all of Danny’s self-control to remain still and not react in a way that would make things worse but his mind was instantly suspicious. However, Danny forced his voice to remain calm as he asked, “On what charge?”

“Conspiracy to set off an improvised explosive device.”

“This must be some mistake,” Danny protested. “I just came your school in Huntsville where I learned how to disarm bombs not arm them.”

“A man has to know how to make a bomb in order to unmake one.”

The taller man reached for his cuffs as he replied, “If this is just a misunderstanding then there is no harm done in coming with us. But if you resist we will have no choice but to assume that you are a threat and handle it accordingly.”

This was ridiculous but there was no mistaking the tone of that voice; Danny was going to have to obey. They had him cornered in the phone booth and the badge was legit. Reluctantly, Danny held out his hands and watched as the cuffs were secured around his wrists. The men grabbed his arms and walked him toward a waiting car. Danny was quickly shoved into the back seat.

As the car pulled away, Danny didn’t have time to note which direction it was heading before a hand forced a cloth over his mouth and nose. Then Danny knew no one more as darkness claimed him.

*~*~*

Kono Kalakaua was normally a patient man but as he looked at his watch and at the board listing the incoming flights, he was quickly becoming frustrated as Danny’s flight wasn’t listed. Hoping that his friend wasn’t stuck in LA, he decided that standing around wasn’t getting him anywhere and went looking for a service agent.

A pretty young woman looked up from the counter and smiled as the detective approached. “How can I help you?”

Kono grinned back. “Has flight 3980 from Los Angeles been delayed?”

The woman frowned as she looked at her papers. “We don’t any flights matching that description coming in today…Wait, there it is. The plane landed on time two hours ago.”

“Can you tell me if Dan Williams was a passenger on dat flight?”

After finding the necessary papers, the woman nodded. “Yes, he was.”

Kono didn’t want to jump to conclusion but his gut was telling him that something fishy was going on. If Danny had landed on time and no ride was there, he would have called the office, wouldn’t have he? Though it was possible that he took a cab to his apartment.

“Can I use your phone?” Kono asked the agent.

“Certainly.”

Picking up the phone, Kono quickly dialed the number to Danny’s apartment but there was no answer. Not able to shake the feeling that something was wrong, he hung up and called the office.

“Hawaii Five-O.”

“Jenny, Kono. Who was da agent who told you Danny’s plane was late?”

“A woman named Beth. Kono, what’s going on?”

“I’ll tell you later. Mahalo.”

Looking back at the agent, Kono continued his questioning, “Is dere anyone named Beth working today?”

The woman looked confused. “No one by that name works here.”

Unfortunately, that was the answer Kono was expecting to hear. Something was definitely wrong. However, there was one last thing that Kono wanted to check before he called Steve. Turning away from the counter, Kono walked swiftly outside to the curb and approached the closest security guard. “Kalakaua, Five-O. How long have ya been on duty?”

“Since seven this morning.”

“Have you seen a man: haole, ‘bout 5’7 with curly sandy blond hair?”

“Sure, lots of guys coming through here match that description but there was a guy matching that description who was arrested a couple hours ago.”

“Arrested?” Kono asked incredulously.

“By two guys in suits. The man who described was in the phone booth. I noticed them corner the guy but they showed him a badge so I figured it was official and stayed out of the way.”

“Did you see what agency they were?”

“No, sorry.”

Kono politely nodded and thanked the man for his help but inwardly he was worried. The man who was arrested had to have been Danno; it was the only explanation that made sense with the facts at hand. The problem was how had this happened without Five-O’s knowledge? There were very few authorities that would have been able to arrest him without Steve knowing and all of them would mean major trouble.

Steve was going to go berserk when he found out.