Chapter 12 - Smugglers Meet Spies
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*~*~*

Steve sat motionless watching the same scene that was being shown on many televisions across Oahu from the driver’s seat of his Mercury sedan. As the gurney was loaded onto the ambulance, Steve remembered the shocked look on May’s face when he told her what he needed her to do. Steve took it as a sign of her dedication that she had accepted the job with only a few complaints.

“Do ya think Haku will fall for this?” Kono asked as the ambulance sped away.

“You’ll be surprised, Kono, how little people question things when they believe that they are going their way. When suspects believe that they have won that is when they let their guard down long enough for us to grab them.”

“Central to McGarrett.”

Steve reached down and grabbed the mike. “McGarrett.”

“Steve, the Kikeonas, Williams, and an Asari twin are in a car heading toward Kulolia.”

“Follow them, Ralph. I want that ship.”

Steve heard laughter on the other end of the mike. “What’s so funny?”

“Just that we started this case as a bunch of cops chasing a couple of thieves and now it feels like we’re a group of spies trying to trap a gang of smugglers,” Ralph joked.

Playing along, Steve replied, “Well, Mister Bond. Let’s keep our smugglers in sight.”

Ralph kept laughing. “If I’m Bond that makes you M.”

Steve’s patience for joking around was starting to reach its limit. “Just don’t loss them,” he ordered.

“Right, Steve,” Ralph replied seriously.

Steve set down the mike and saw Kono shaking with mirth beside him and sent him a questioning look.

“Nothin’, Boss,” Kono answered with a big grin.

Steve didn’t press. The things he did to keep his men happy.

*~*~*

It was a quiet and uneventful ride from their hiding place to the docks and Danny was thankful for that. When the van door openly, Danny stepped out into bright Hawaiian sun and looked at the big cargo ship that somewhere in it held everything that Five-O and HPD had spent the past month looking for.

Danny saw a rare grin on Haku’s face as she looked at that ship. “Tetso,” she ordered, “go tell the captain that we are ready to leave.”

Tetso nodded and jogged up the ship’s ramp. Haku walked behind him with Danny and Kaiko following. As his feet hit the metal surface, Danny prayed that Five-O wasn’t far behind him or he’d be taking an unexpected trip to the mainland.

When Danny was halfway up the ramp he heard the welcome noise of tires squealing and doors slamming and he knew before he turned around that the cavalry had arrived.

“What the…?” Kaiko cried out beside him as he looked down at the pier.

The man that Danny recognized as McGarrett’s second-in-command stood behind the closest squad car and raised a bullhorn to his mouth. “Attention. This is the police. Put your hands up and come down the ramp slowly.”

Danny froze and raised his hands into the air. He was about to give silent thanks that this ordeal was finally over when a quick glance at scene told him it was anything but. Haku and Kaiko weren’t moving. Tetso stood still at the top and ramp and Tomo was nowhere in sight. When Danny realized that he was the only one to raise his hands he slowly lowered them back down.

Haku stared down at the array of law enforcement spread out on the pier. “Don’t you have anything better to do than harass a lady?” she asked calmly.

“You’re no lady, miss. Now put your hands on your head,” the older detective ordered.

“Shouldn’t you be worried about your boss?”

Almost as if he was waiting for that cue, McGarrett stepped into their line of sight and grabbed the bullhorn which he quickly put into use. “Now why would you think that something happen to me, Ms. Kikeona?”

“It was a logical conclusion from watching the morning news and seeing you not here. So did your secretary have a heart-attack?”

“Enough talk. Put your hands on your head and walk down the ramp.”

“You can’t order me around, McGarrett.” Then looking at her men Haku ordered, “Kaiko, Burken, up the ramp.”

Unsure of what to do, Danny risked a quick glance at McGarrett and he instantly knew that he had made a mistake. Before Danny could look away he felt the cold hard metal of a knife held against his throat. “Don’t move,” a cold voice ordered. Looking at its owner, Danny saw the livid hatred in Kaiko’s eyes; he would kill him if he had the chance.

Haku drew a gun as she looked down at McGarrett with the confident air of someone in control. Meeting her gaze, McGarrett called out again, “Drop your weapons or we’ll open fire.”

Haku calmly replied, “I don’t think so. Not unless you want to kill your man.”

Danny’s heart sunk; they had everything set up perfectly to catch Haku red-handed and he had let his cover slip at the most critical moment. Danny saw his fellow officers with their guns raised; they were prepared to make a move but didn’t dare out of concern for his life. The two sides were at a standstill and it was his fault. Danny had never felt more helpless; his life was literally on a knife’s edge. Yet, Danny couldn’t just stand there and hope that McGarrett would find a way to save him, he had to do something.

When Danny saw out of corner of his eye the sun glinting off of what appeared to be rifle on the ship he knew that that he had to act now. Throwing aside thoughts of his own safety, Danny twisted away from the knife and dove toward Haku’s gun. The Hawaiian woman spotted him and turned to bring her gun into a line of fire which caused Danny to miss her and run straight into the ramp’s railing. The sound of gunshots rang in Danny’s ears as his momentum propelled him over the railing and into the water.

The sight of Haku firing and Danno’s body falling toward the water barely registered before Steve aimed his weapon and rapidly fired two quick shots at Haku’s torso. The woman’s calm face turned into shock as the bullets hit her. Her body crumpled to the ground as Steve looked towards the ship where he had spotted a gunman earlier. Steve quickly spotted the rifle next to a fallen body and knew that one of HPD’s sharpshooters must have gotten him.

Kono, Chin, and Ralph had sprinted up the ramp as soon as the first shot had gone off. When Steve spotted them, Kono and Chin were placing handcuffs on Kaiko’s wrists and Ralph held Tetso Asari at gunpoint. Confident that his men had things under control, Steve looked to where Danno had fallen.

A crowd of HPD men were gathered at the dock’s edge and Steve allowed himself a quick sigh of relief when he spotted a head of curly hair swimming in the water. As he watched, Duke Lukela reached down and pulled a wet, but otherwise unharmed, Danny Williams onto the dock.

Reassured that the undercover officer was in one piece, Steve’s relief was quickly replaced with anger. Diving toward that gun was reckless, stupid, and irresponsible; just because Danno was impersonating a punk didn’t mean that he had to think like one.

When the officer came to his feet, Steve stormed over to the dock’s edge. Danno was wearing the slight grin of one who was grateful to be alive and was taking some good natured teasing from his fellow officers. Williams looked at Steve expectantly when he saw him approach but Steve wasn’t going to encourage the behavior he had seen. “Officer Williams,” Steve demanded, “what were you thinking?”

“I…” the shocked officer stuttered, the grin disappearing from his face.

“You weren’t. I hope that’s what you were trying to say.” Not in the mood to hear Williams’ excuses, Steve turned and walked back toward his men before Danny could answer.

Ralph was waiting for him at the foot of the ramp and launched into a status report as Steve approached. “Haku is dead. Tomo Asari was hit but it looks like he’ll make it. The rest of the ship’s crew is pleading ignorance about the jewels, saying their only extra cargo is a few car parts. I think the captain will be surprised when we show him the diamonds. How’s Williams?”

“Fine,” Steve answered. “Finish up here for me. I’m heading back to the office.

As Steve stormed off, Kono came over and stood next to Ralph. “What’s wrong with da boss?”

“I’m not sure,” the older man replied as Steve disappeared into the distance.

*~*~*

Danny stood still, avoiding the stares of his fellow officers. He was angry at McGarrett for publically berating him but angrier at himself for messing up. What possessed him to think it was a good idea to look at McGarrett for orders or to dive for Haku’s gun when he was surrounded by back-up?

Lost in his thoughts, Danny barely even noticed when Duke came up and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. The detective didn’t say anything, he just supported him with his presence and for that Danny was grateful.

Danny probably would have stood there forever expect Lieutenant Kainoa walked over, took one look at him, and said, “Williams, come with me.”

Danny followed obediently, keeping his eyes on the back of the detective’s suit jacket. Opening his car door, Kainoa gestured for him to take a seat. Danny hadn’t realized how much he had needed to sit until he felt his body’s relief after he settled himself in the passenger seat. He had been through a lot and his body simply needed the opportunity to do nothing.

When Danny didn’t hear the car door shut behind him, he turned his head and saw Kainoa leaning against the open door. The Lieutenant’s eyes were looking kindly down upon him as he began to speak, “Look, kid, don’t beat yourself up over this. You succumbed to an instinct that’s been drilled into you for years: check with your superiors. You’re not in trouble, Danny. McGarrett’s mad because you could have been killed. I say you’re alive, learn your lesson and move on. You made a mistake most rookies and many senior officers would have made. The question is what do you do now? You can do more than spend your career walking a beat if you wish.”

Danny shrugged not trusting himself to answer. It was odd, before he had been given this assignment he had desperately wanted to have Kainoa’s support and approval. But now, after facing McGarrett’s disapproval, Kainoa’s words meant nothing.

Kainoa, however, kept pressing, “Danny, you did good work on this case. You handled more than we imagined when we gave you this assignment and you handled it well.”

“I…” Danny began. “I don’t know what to say.”

Danny doubted that his answer would be enough but it was really all he could say. The last twenty minutes had happened so fast that he was still trying to process how it had all happened: from HPD arriving, to Kaiko threatening to kill him, to angry look on McGarrett’s face when he came out of the water. What did one say after all of that?

Kainoa seemed to accept that answer and turned towards Duke as he walked over to the car. “Duke, did you bring Danny’s things?”

“Got them right here.” Duke smiled encouraging as he handed over keys and a small bag to the dejected officer. Danny nodded in thanks as Kainoa closed his door and walked over to the driver’s seat. When Kainoa started the car, Danny anticipated more conversation but the drive back to his apartment happened in silence much to Danny’s relief. When the car was parked, Danny stepped out onto the sidewalk, grateful to be home.

As Danny turned to say goodbye, Kainoa gave one last order. “Come by my office tomorrow morning. There’s some paperwork and other odds and ends to finish up. After that I’d say you’ve earned a couple days of vacation.”

“Thank you, Lieutenant,” Danny said and then turned and walked into his apartment building.

When Danny walked in the front door of his apartment in was like he was walking into a whole new world. He had only been away for about two weeks yet it felt like a lifetime. It was weird to know that he was home, that he didn’t have to pretend to be anyone but Dan Williams.

After changing into dry clothes, Danny walked over to his fridge and pulled out a beer. As he sat down in an armchair his mind returned to what happened on the dock, to the look on Haku’s face when she decided that she wasn’t going to go down without a fight…

Danny shuddered as he realized that he had almost died on that ramp. Kaiko could have slit his throat, Haku’s bullet could have hit him, and the fall could have killed him. Was Kainoa right? Was McGarrett really just angry because he had almost been killed?

Officer Williams, what were you thinking?

What had he been thinking?

You weren’t. I hope that’s what you were trying to say.

But he had been thinking…that was the problem. Danny had convinced himself up on that ship that he had to find the way out of his own mess so he had acted of his own initiative. So why were McGarrett’s words bugging him so much?

Danny took another sip of beer and tried to convince himself to relax. He had succeeded in finding the source of the thefts, Kainoa wasn’t upset, and he would probably never have to work with McGarrett again. But Danny found no comfort in those thoughts because he knew that something deep inside of himself wanted McGarrett to be proud of him.

The truth was that it didn’t matter that he had succeeded at everything else. He had failed to earn the one thing he really wanted: McGarrett’s approval.

*~*~*

Steve fumed as he drove through downtown Honolulu. Why was he letting that kid bug him so much?

The case was over, the thieves were caught, and the jewels recovered. Five-O had done its duty and his men had conducted themselves well. So why was he continuing to obsess over Danno? It had been well within Steve’s right, and he would argue his duty, to reprimand Danno’s reckless behavior but why couldn’t he just leave it at that? Danno was HPD’s problem; Chief Dann and Kainoa would have to decide what to do with the talented but impulsive officer. If the kid didn’t learn and got himself killed it wouldn’t be his fault.

Fault…

No, it wasn’t Steve’s fault that Danno had acted recklessly but he was responsible for sending the undercover officer back into the middle of the action. And when Steve had seen Danno fall over the railing he had been certain that he had gotten the young man killed.

I never should have started thinking of him as Danno, Steve thought as he pulled into his parking space outside of the Iolani Palace.

Danno had…

Williams, he berated himself. Steve needed to think of the young officer by his real name. Williams had knowingly put himself at risk when he agreed to return but Steve was responsible for letting him go.

The truth was that the kid had saved his life last night and then almost lost his own this morning, because Steve sent him back. He should have known that the rookie officer wouldn’t have stood by if things went south. Williams had proved that last night when he risked his cover to save the lives of those in the Five-O office.

As he jogged up the stairs, Steve knew that he had to make a choice. He could ignore the officer and hope that Williams learned the lessons on his own or he could guide him, talk to him, and take him under his wing… Steve could pay back the debt that he owed him

If I do this I won’t able to think of him as anything but Danno.

Was that really such a bad thing?

Steve’s thoughts gave him pause. He had admitted to Chin that he had seen a bit of himself in Williams but the question remained: did he dare get involved? Did he have any choice?

By the time Steve walked into the Five-O office he had made up his mind. “May, call HPD and let them know that when Williams comes into work tomorrow I want to meet with him in my office.”