Authors:
It is possible for certain knowledgeable elements of Hawaiian law enforcement to tell the mood of island’s top cop by listening for the sound of squealing tires of a particular Mercury sedan. The owner of the car was perpetually in a hurry and never failed to make the sound that only varied in intensity based on the level of frustration running through his veins. That was how Detective Chin Ho Kelly knew that Steve McGarrett, head of Hawaii Five-O, was not in a good mood that morning even though he never would have been able to tell from looking at his boss as he approached the crime scene.

When Steve reached the police perimeter he paused for a minute to study the area. As Steve finished, Chin turned away from the woman he was interviewing and caught his boss’ eye.

“Any good news to be found in this mess?” Steve asked softy.

“Sorry, Steve,” Chin confessed. “Same MO as the last one. Ralph’s inside with owner.”

With a quick nod, Steve moved on and walked toward the shop. As Chin watched Steve go he couldn’t help but think about the man who was the most powerful cop on these islands. When Governor Jameson announced that he was forming Five-O, Chin, like everyone else on HPD, assumed that Ralph Irons would be placed in charge of the new state police agency. At that time Ralph had been Chief Dann’s right hand man at HPD and had headed the detective unit for almost a decade. But the newly elected governor had surprised everyone when he picked an outsider, a Navy Intelligence man named Steve McGarrett to head the unit.

Chin had worked under Ralph as a detective for HPD and they both had been hired for Five-O even though they were both older and more experienced than the man who was to be their boss. There had been rough patches at the beginning and while Chin admitted that Steve was tough and demanding, he could honestly say that he had never worked for a man who was more loyal to his men, the people, and the land that he was charged to protect. However, Steve’s twenty-four hour work ethic and no nonsense way of running things caused many to perceive him as an overbearing perfectionist who placed unreasonable demands on those under him; a perception that was not helped by the turnover in the final detective slot. Kono Kalakaua was the third detective in as many years to hold that position and Chin was still trying to figure out the young Hawaiian.

When Steve left his sight Chin ended his thoughts and turned his attention back to the young woman standing before him. “Okay, Miss. Can you please tell me again exactly what you saw when you opened the door?”

*~*~*


The reverberations of his slammed locker door echoed throughout the off-duty room as Danny Williams attempted to calm his raging mind.

It wasn’t like he expected life to be perfect when he returned to Hawaii; it was just that he hadn’t expected his entrance into HPD to be quite so…rocky.

Chief Dann had been impressed by his qualifications and quickly signed him on, and Danny had been full of hopes when he started work. And it wasn’t that things were going bad; it was more that the senior officers weren’t quite sure what to do with him. Most treated him as a rookie, which Danny forced himself to admit that in many aspects he was. The city of Honolulu was very different than the open sea; he had never driven a squad car, patrolled the streets, or participated in a homicide investigation before joining HPD. However, he’d been in live fire situations, even though thankfully he had never had to shoot anyone, and he did have significant experience in dealing with drug smugglers. So why as everyone acting like he was stepping on a bunch of toes by helping out in that drug bust?

And it didn’t help that his closest childhood friend wasn’t being exactly supportive.

Lew Morgan leaned against the locker beside his and asked, “Are you purposely trying to get Kainoa to hate your guts?”

Danny turned to face his friend and answered, “No, but what else was I suppose to do?”

“Keep your mouth shut and let the lab boys figure it out.”

Danny gritted his teeth; Lew thought he was being helpful. The truth was the lab boys probably would have figured out the note without his help, but the drugs… Danny knew from experience that finding hidden drugs involved as much luck as it did skill when your opponents knew what they were doing. No, Danny couldn’t have counted on the other guys getting lucky.

Lew cocked his head to side as he asked, “Well?”

“I’d do it again, Lew,” Danny answered honestly. “If Kainoa is mad at me for doing my job then that’s his problem.”

“Fine, pal, but it’s your funeral.”

“Hey, lay off bruddah,” called a tall Samoan from across the room.

Sucking in his breath, Danny watched his friend carefully as he turned his head toward the other officer and snapped, “Back off, Kokua.”

“Hey, take it easy,” Danny said as he placed a calming hand on Lew’s shoulder. For a few tense moments Danny thought Lew was going to let his temper get the best of him but he shrugged off Danny’s hand and walked out the door without another word.

Danny slowly let out the breath he was holding. “Sorry about that,” he said to the other officer. “Lew really isn’t that bad of a guy. He just has…”

“A bit of a temper,” finished the Samoan for him. Then reaching out his hand, he said, “Ben Kokua.”

“Danny Williams,” Danny replied as he shook the offered hand.

“I know Kainoa can appear intimidating but the gruff and sarcasm are just how he deals with the rough stuff he sees. If you ever have a problem there aren’t many better guys on the force to talk to. ”

Danny took his fellow officer’s words to heart. “You’re speaking from experience?”

Ben shrugged then shifted gears. “Look, the detective spots are hard to get and coveted by a lot of guys on the force. Your suggestions are making it look like you’re angling for one.” Ben nodded towards the door that Lew had walked through moments before. “Your friend there wants one.”

“And you?”

“Maybe,” Ben responded with a slight grin.

Danny was thinking of a reply when he heard someone call his name. He turned around and saw Lieutenant Kealoha standing in the doorway. “Chief wants to see you.”

Great, just what I need, Danny thought to himself as he followed Kealoha.

Arriving at Chief Dann’s office, Danny couldn’t help but feel a little intimidated by those who were gathered. He noticed the head of HPD detectives, Lieutenant Henry Kainoa right away. He was there with one of his men, a middle-aged Hawaiian that Danny recognized only by sight. Lieutenant George Kealoha, one of the Chief’s right hands who frequently served as a go between with HPD and Five-O, followed him into the room. And seated behind his desk was Chief Mike Dann, Head of HPD.

Chief Dann gestured to the one officer he didn’t know and said, “Officer Williams, this is Officer Duke Lukela from our detective unit and I think you know everyone else.”

Danny nodded and waited for the Chief to continue.

“I suspect you’re wondering why you’re here.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Word of some your exploits have reached my ears. First, the Orson case: what made you think the note was a fake?”

Danny took a deep breath and thought back to that morning as he made himself relate the facts with as much professionalism as he could muster. “After we secured the premises I got a brief opportunity to look at the note before Lieutenant Kainoa assigned me to a station. I was stationed by the kitchen door. Next to the door was a phone with several handwritten notes. One had masculine handwriting, but the ‘s’ was curved differently than the other note I had seen. Since there had been no mention of other males in the household I thought that I should bring it to Lieutenant Kainoa’s attention.”

Chief Dann was unreadable as Danny finished his explanation. “That’s a small detail for any officer to pick up on if they’re not looking for it.”

“I’ve had some training in document analysis,” Danny stated. “The Guard needed someone who could examine ship manifests to see if they were legit."

“And on the raid this afternoon?”

“It just looked out of place.”

Kainoa spoke up, “What, no previous experience in electronics?”

Danny felt his cheeks burn at the quip and his voice rose as he shot back, “With all due respect, sir, no. But I do having plenty of experience boarding ships carrying contraband and I’ve learned that finding the little details that look out of place are usually the hope we have for finding the goods.”

Kainoa caught the anger in Danny’s voice and held up his hands in mock surrender as he said, “Easy, kid. No one’s here to read you the riot act.”

Admonished, Danny remained silent. There was something going on here and it was clear that he had no clue what it was.

Chief Dann met Danny’s eyes before he began to speak, “Williams, you have an eye for detail and your willingness to bring your observations to your superiors is an asset to this force. Henry has requested that you be assigned to help out the detective unit with an ongoing investigation.”

At a loss for words, Danny’s mouth opened and closed several times in shock. That had certainly not been what he was expecting, and he had just made a fool of himself for no reason.

Kainoa coughed, bringing the dazed officer back to his senses. “Williams, are you aware of the dramatic raise in car strippings we’ve had over the past month?”

Still stunned, Danny instinctively fell back on his Coast Guard training. “Yes, Lieutenant.”

“The perpetrators are many of the local youth gangs of Honolulu but cracking down on the gangs hasn’t yielded any results. This suggests to me that there is a bigger fish running this show. We need to catch that fish to stop the gangs. Understand?”

“Yes,” Danny answered slowly. “But I don’t understand where I come in.”

Kainoa smiled. “You’re young, likable, and have good instincts. I want you to infiltrate one of gangs and take up a life of crime. You’ll work closely with Officer Lukela in setting up your cover story and receiving any additional training you might need. Once inside you’ll report regularly and let us know when you make contact with the fish we want.”

Lukela spoke up for the first time. “I want you to understand something first. This isn’t going to some quick assignment of a few days or weeks. It could take months for you to work your way into their system and gain the level of trust and access we need. That will be months without access to your family and friends. As far as HPD is concerned you will be off on a training exercise on another island. It will be lonely and it will be stressful and it won’t be easy.”

Chief Dann continued, “Undercover work is dangerous, Danny. We believe you have the skills to handle it but no one in this room is going to hold it against you if you don’t want this assignment.”

Danny blinked as the older man’s words sunk in; they were serious. So even though his whole being was screaming at him to say yes he said, “Give me a minute.”

Undercover work would be unlike anything he had ever done before. Life on a cutter was a structured and you followed your superior’s orders without question. If he took this assignment he would be out on his own and he would have to rely on his own judgment. To work in the detective department was Danny’s dream but could he mess it up by taking an assignment that was over his head?

Dann and Kainoa obviously didn’t think this was outside his abilities or they wouldn’t have asked him, and Danny had heard the other officers comment that the department was taking a lot of heat over this case. If he could help, how could he say no?

In the end, Danny knew there was only one answer he could give. “I’m in. What did you want me to do?”