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Danny worked his way through another layer of wires and was rewarded by finding the controls that would receive the signal to detonate. However, the reward was short-lived as he realized that the receiver was rigged so that if it was removed, the bomb would go off. That was not good news; to disarm the receiver he would have to disarm the whole bomb. Gritting his teeth, Danny hoped beyond hope that Duke would be able to delay just a little bit longer.



"Friday," Ben Kokua said without any preamble.

"Excuse me?" Chin asked.

"I received word from a reliable source that a new shipment of girls is expected to arrive this Friday afternoon."

Chin didn't know whether to be relieved that they had finally gotten a break or worried that they only had a limited amount of time to figure out which ship the girls would be on. "That's in four days."

"We're going to need the cooperation of both the Coast Guard and the Port Authority to make this work," Ben replied with a hint of worry in his voice. "That's Five-O's job to organize."

"We can't work with Zar."

"We have proof!" Ben declared. "I'll make it an official request from HPD."

"We can't risk it," Chin argued.

"You don't think he could be on the take, do you?"

Chin looked at Ben in shock. That possibility had never crossed his mind. He knew that Zar was ego-driven, racist, and incompetent but crooked…that was too much to consider. "No…but I do think that he'll believe taking this case would be seen as a sign that he shouldn't have fired Danny and his ego can't handle that."

"That what do we do?"

"Get a team together of officers you trust to search for and then board the ship. Between now and Thursday do everything you can to narrow things down. I'll handle Five-O responsibilities with the other agencies, put them on alert and tell them the importance of secrecy in this case."

"But…" Ben protested.

Chin's mind was made up. "Officially, HPD has requested Five-O help: mine. We'll just make sure the paperwork doesn't make it onto Zar's desk until this case is over. We can do this, Ben. We'll deal with the consequences when they come."

Nodding, Ben gave his friend a comforting squeeze on the shoulder; he understood what Chin was risking by putting forward this plan so how could he do anything but lend his support?



When Kono took this job he never imagined that his first case with his new unit would be a murder investigation. But as Kono looked at the decaying body with a bullet hole in the head there was little doubt.

Kono looked out at the pristine Kalalau beach and felt a tinge of guilt. The beach was normally secluded, visitors where limited to the few each day who were granted permits to hike the difficult trial to get here. This was protected land and for it to be filled with police and medical personnel felt like a sacrilege. The beauty of the ʻāina should never have been marred by an ugly act of violence.

At the end of the beach was a cluster of caves where a pair of honeymooners had discovered the body. They had immediately hiked out and contacted the police who traveled to the secluded spot by boat. The question would be how long the body had lain there before discovery.

The coroner, a middle-aged Japanese man who name Kono had forgotten, stood up after studying the body and announced, "Our victim is a young Caucasian male in his twenties. The bullet was the cause of death. I suspect he's been dead at least a week, no more than two. I'll be able to pin the time of date down after the autopsy."

"Thanks, Doc," Kono said.

The Hawaiian detective's colleague, Derrick Nelson walked up to the scene. "I interviewed our honeymooners: John and Lisa Depres. They're from the mainland and had already been on the beach for a day when they decided to explore the caves and found the body."

Officer Mary Seonu leaned down and studied the body. After the police photographer finished, she picked up a stick and brought forth a chain from around the victim's neck. "Looks like a chain used to hold dog tags."

"Expect da tags are missing," Kono added. "Good eye."

A couple of minutes passed as the Kauai detectives studied the scene. Then Kono realized that they were waiting for him to announce the next direction. Thinking of how confident and sure Steve sounded when giving orders, Kono evoked the memory of his mentor to help him. "Mary, head out ta Barking Sands and see if dere are any service personnel reported missing. Derrick, check with da park service; I want a list of everyone who was granted a permit in da past two weeks and get statements from those still on Kauai."

Derrick smiled as he nodded and Mary answered, "On it."

Kono watched his detectives finished studying the scene and then headed for their boat. Not wanting to be left behind, he hurried after them. They had a case to solve.



It was five after eight in the morning so Steve figured out that it was just after two in the afternoon in Honolulu which meant that Danny would most likely be in the office unless he had a case.

Looking at the phone in front of him, Steve debated the best way of approaching the forthcoming conversation. Last night's actions had yielded the anticipated results; recruiters had searched for new crew to serve on the Morning's Light and Steve was now one of them. He had orders to report to his new station in an hour and the last thing he needed to do was let Five-O know that he was alive, that he was undercover on the ship, and that the ship would be arriving in Honolulu in four days time.

Except it wouldn't be as easy as just calling and reporting in. Steve knew that.

Five-O needed to know but word of Steve's survival needed to remain under wraps. Once Danny calmed down, Steve believed that he would do what needed to be done. Danny would keep up the ruse for a few more days and so would Kono and Chin but Steve doubted that Jenny would be able to contain herself if she recognized his voice. So Steve would have to be careful to get past his secretary and then get Danny alone before revealing his presence.

That was the easy part, because then Steve needed to figure out how best to make Danny understand the difficult decision he had been forced to make.

Steve realized that he could debate his options all day and come up with no good answer. He just needed to make the call; he was on a short time frame. So Steve picked up the phone and dialed the series of numbers to contact him to the Five-O office.

Steve was rewarded with the familiar voice of his secretary saying, "Hawaii Five-O."

Deepening his voice so that Jenny wouldn't recognize him, Steve said, "I'd like to speak with Dan Williams."

There was a pause and Steve feared that there connection was dead when Jenny finally responded, "I'm sorry, Sir, but Mr. Williams no longer works in this department. Can I connect you with another detective?"

Steve bit his tongue to hold back an order demanding to know why Danny was gone and forced himself to reply normally, "Kelly or Kalakaua, please."

"Kelly is out of the office and Kalakaua has transferred out of Five-O. I can take a message for Detective Kelly or connect you with Detective Zar who is available."

Flabbergasted, Steve was at a complete loss for what to do. He couldn't leave a message and he had no idea who this Zar detective was. Knowing there was nothing he could say, Steve slammed the phone back on the receiver and stared at it in disbelief.

Tang Yi, who was lounging on the couch in their hideout, called out, "Is something wrong?"

Steve couldn't even answer "Yes" as he was too shocked by the developments at Five-O in the short time he had been away. How could Danny and Kono be gone? He had trusted Danno, trained him and believed that if anything had ever happened to him, Danno would ensure that Five-O would continue to protect the citizens of Hawaii. Steve wanted to scream, to find his detectives and demand to know how they could have left. Part of Steve knew that his thoughts were irrational; he didn't know the reason that Danny and Kono were no longer part of his team or even if their leaving had been voluntary but that didn't make Steve any less angry.

Steve had made a plan in his mind and now with one failed phone call it lay in ruins.

What in the world was happening in Honolulu?

Finally, necessity made Steve turn to Yi and say, "Change of plan. Once the ship leaves I need you to lay low until twelve hours before she is scheduled to dock. At that time, contact Kaye and tell him – make sure you speak directly to him – that we discovered a human smuggling operation and give the name of the ship and tell him to prepare but keep my presence on the ship a secret just in case there is a mole. Worst case scenario, I'll sneak off the ship, contact HPD and try to make a move before the cargo disappears."

Then taking a breath, Steve spoke words he never thought he would say, "We can't count on Five-O coming to our aid."



Arriving in Singapore in the mid-morning, Danny quickly checked into a hotel and then took a cab to the main Singapore Police Station. After showing the Governor's letter to the secretary at the front desk, he was led into an office and introduced to a Malaysian detective by the name of Malik bin Aban. After exchanging pleasantries, Detective Malik cut straight to the chase. "I see from your credentials that you are here to investigate the death of an American police officer, Steve McGarrett."

"Yes," Danny replied.

Malik reached in a cabinet and pulled forth a file and handed to Danny. "You are welcome to go over our files but I doubt you will find anything useful. The explosion destroyed any evidence that might exist."

"Witnesses?"

"A few that heard gunshots shortly before the explosion, one man who claims he saw a boat investigate the explosion but he was unable to give us a good description. A number of people who saw the explosion but not much else."

"But you were able to confirm that McGarrett was aboard?"

"Yes, along with Tang Yi. Is that name familiar to you."

Danny shook his head. "No."

Malik grabbed a pad and a pencil and said, "I am hoping that you may be able to shed some light on a possible motive."

Danny liked this detective; he seemed to take his job seriously and was interested in what he had to share. Knowing that his odds of finding anything useful rose drastically if he could get help from the Malaysian detective, Danny decided to take the risk and trust him with all the information they had.

Reaching down into his bag, Danny brought forth a copy of the files he had attempted to show Zar before he was fired. "Steve was investigating rumors of a smuggling operation run by a man called Da Shu. This organization is using Singapore as a staging ground to smuggle sex slaves into Honolulu. I think Steve discovered something they didn't want us to know and was killed for it."

"Human trafficking," Malik declared, "are you sure?"

"Yes, a few of the girls have been found dead."

Malik leaned back in his chair and thought for a couple minutes before replying. "The crash occurred close to a pier district that we are suspicious of. A few of men reported that they had been approached about bribes to remain quit about unusual activity. We thought it was drugs."

"We were surprised too," Danny added honestly.

"We started an investigation but were told to back off."

"And you did?"

"Maybe it is different in your country, Mr. Williams, but corruption is a major problem among our ranks. By handing the investigation over to the international authorizes we figured there would be a stronger chance of an arrest."

"Who ordered you to back off?"

"A Peter Black from your FBI. He said Interpol wanted to take the case."

Danny was right, this whole thing had been a plot to get Steve out of Hawaii, but now that Shu's organization had played its role why hadn't the FBI moved in to stop it? Unless…

Suddenly, the pieces of the puzzle fell into place and the events since Danny's "arrest" all made too much sense. Killing Steve had never been the end goal; Steve was simply just an obstacle that had needed to be removed. How could he have been so narrow-minded?

This was a much bigger plot then any of them had previously imagined.

Danny looked Malik straight in the eye as he replied, "Corruption isn't just a problem here. We have it too."

"Black?"

"Yes."

Malik cursed in Malay, but Danny was too worried to notice. Because if he was right, and he believed he was, then Chin was in trouble and Danny was stuck half a world away.



That was strange, Jenny Sherman thought as she hung up the phone. The caller seemed to have no idea of the events that had been all over of the news and then hung up suddenly when he couldn't be connected to the people he wanted. Though in fairness, if someone would have told her a couple of weeks ago what was going to happen to Five-O, she never would have believed it. But the caller didn't ask for Steve. Did that mean that he knew that Steve was dead? But how could he know that and not know about Danny and Kono? It didn't make sense.

Jenny knew she shouldn't dwell on it but she couldn't shake the thought that there had been something odd about that voice.

The outer office door opened and Jenny saw Scott Miller and Parker Clausen enter and head straight towards Zar's office. Jenny ignored them unless they spoke to her. She didn't like Zar's hires anymore than she liked the Boss.

Disappointed to not see Chin bringing up the rear, Jenny picked the report that she had just finished before the mysterious caller had telephoned and headed toward Zar's office.

Jenny walked to the door and suddenly stopped as she heard Zar, "Where's Kelly?"

Wanting to know what Zar thought of Chin, Jenny decided to wait a minute before entering the room and moved closer to the slightly cracked open door.

"Setting up the raid you ordered with HPD," Clausen replied.

Miller said, "I followed Kelly like you ordered and he met with Kokua. I looked into the files and discovered that Kelly was the detective that originally got Five-O involved in this case; I doubt he's going to drop it now."

"His meddling is going to cause problems," Clausen added.

"I can't fire him or convince him to quit," Zar voice added softly which caused Jenny to press her ear against the crack. "Governor Jameson wasn't happy about the situations with Williams and Kalakaua. However, he accepted the results as necessary but he was very explicit about the importance of having a detective familiar with Five-O and the islands on the team. If we get rid of Kelly, I suspect the Governor will get rid of us."

"So we just let him ruin everything," Clausen hissed.

Zar's voice went cold. "If Kelly's sidelined or killed while on duty, the Governor won't be able to protest. We have to be careful. No one here can pull the trigger. One of you needs to be distracted when he needs cover. Understand?"

Clamping her hands over her mouth to cover a gasp, Jenny missed the reply. She could not believe the words she just heard!

Slowly tip-toeing back to her desk, Jenny forced herself to take deep breathes so as to not start screaming. She couldn't let Zar and his cronies know that she overheard their plots. She would have to be strong and remain calm if she was going to save Chin.

For there was no way that Jenny was going to let these goons who called themselves detectives hurt Chin!

Terrified but motivated to act, Jenny debated the easiest way to contact Chin when Zar's door opened and the three men walked out and then left the office. As soon as she was sure that she was alone, Jenny quickly called HPD and asked for the one man she knew could always trust. The one man whom she knew who would make sure Chin was warned without Zar finding out. "I need to talk to Sergeant Duke Lukela immediately."



It was a different day, difference place, but the scene before Chin looked the same as he again prepared to begin yet another raid – this time on a suspected drug dealer.

Scott Miller was standing a couple of feet behind him as they guarded the rear entrance while Chin took point and waited for the official word.

Miller gave the signal and Chin kicked the door in. Moving into the room, he didn't see any one and begin to clear the room when someone came running in from the hallway. Chin turned to face the threat and saw the gun aimed at him. He threw himself to the ground a half a second before he heard the weapon fire. Bringing his weapon around, Chin fired and missed. He saw the gunman prepare to take another shot and he knew that this time the man wouldn't miss…

Suddenly, the gunman stumbled and fell to the ground and Chin found comfort in the knowledge that Miller had gotten him but when Chin turned toward his rescuer it wasn't Miller.

Duke Lukela was standing in the open doorway, gun in hand.

Before Chin could ask what was going on, Miller entered the room. "I thought I saw someone and on the side of the building and checked it out," he said briskly. "Is everything good here?"

Hurt that Miller had been off chasing ghosts when he should have been covering his back, Chin just stated, "Building's not clear yet."

Miller took off to investigate the other rooms as Chin started to push himself to feet only to find Duke suddenly by his side. The HPD Sergeant grabbed Chin as if to support him and ordered, "Limp."

"Why?" Chin asked, confused and still a little shaken by the close call.

"Trust me," Duke whispered, "you twisted your ankle dodging that bullet."

Sensing the serious tone in Duke's voice, Chin nodded and started to limp. When Miller came back to announce that the building was clear, Duke explained that Chin had hurt his ankle when he fell down and that he was taking him to the emergency room to get it checked out.

Once Chin was seated in Duke's cruiser and the doors were shut, he demanded, "What is going on? Why are you here?"

"Jenny sent me. She overheard a conversation between Zar, Miller and Clausen. They know you met with Ben yesterday and they see it as meddling. The Governor has told Zar that if you are fired then he will be too. So Zar ordered his men to not cover you properly on this raid in hopes that you'd hurt or killed."

Leaning back in the seat, Chin felt all his blood drain from his face. He couldn't have heard Duke correctly. "This can't be real."

Sadness filled Duke's eyes as replied, "I'm sorry, Chin."

It was real. How could it be real?

Finally, Chin was able to whisper, "Does anyone else know?"

"No."

Tears threatened to flow as Chin thought about what would have happened if Jenny hadn't overheard, if Duke hadn't gotten there in time. He had prepared his family for the possibility that he could be killed but none of them had ever imagined the person seeking his death would be one of those they trusted to have his back, to protect him.

Ben had raised the possibility that Zar was crooked and Chin had dismissed him. Now the suggestion seemed all too likely. It was the only conceivable answer to a situation that defied all reasonable explanation.

Chin had made a mistake, he had thought that Zar was merely incompetent but he was wrong. Zar was not incompetent; Zar was clearly corrupt and even worse, he knew exactly what he was doing. He wanted Five-O destroyed for a reason. And Chin feared that he now knew why. Those raids that Chin had cursed for being ineffective, he now realized were achieving one thing: all the major crime organizations in Honolulu were pulling back on operations and moving into survival mode which meant that they would not be able to stop a competitor from moving in. Da Shu was planning to set up shop in Honolulu and Zar was helping him do it.

Duke parked the cruiser outside of the emergency room entrance to Queens. "I called ahead so Bergman will meet us; just remember to limp."

"We aren't going to fool anyone."

Duke looked Chin straight in the eye and stated firmly, "You are hurt; you twisted your ankle."

Suddenly, Chin realized what Duke was planning. "Will Doc sign off on this?"

Duke cracked the first smile Chin had seen in a long time. "You know he will."