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Chapter 4 - The Good Guys Can Plot Too
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Danny leaned nonchalantly against the brick wall of one of the many small shops in downtown Honolulu. Holding a lit cigarette in one hand, Danny looked and felt like a juvenile delinquent as he searched the street for his targets.

Kainoa and Lukela had given him very specific instructions about he was to do and who they wanted him to befriend. His target was a small gang run by a seventeen year old Hawaiian kid named Josh Kaiko Kikeona. Kikeona had a long history with HPD but so far they had been unable to find solid evidence to connect him to the car strippings. They did have some circumstantial evidence, however, that suggested that Kikeona was involved. Duke told him that a previous member of Kikeona’s gang had broken off and formed a gang of his own and several members of that gang had been caught possessing hot car parts. The theory was that if Kikeona was short a member he would be on the lookout for a replacement.

Half a block down on the other side of the street, Danny spotted two of the punks that he was supposed to meet. The skinny Hawaiian kid who looked like he needed another growth spurt was Kikeona. Standing next to him was a part-Hawaiian, part-Chinese kid named Johnny Pouha.

Continuing to smoke his cigarette, Danny did nothing more than occasionally glance in that direction. His goal was to be seen so that the local gang would notice that he had moved into the neighborhood. Danny was so focused on trying to appear natural that he almost missed the third and youngest member of Kikeona’s gang coming up behind him.

“Can I have a light?”

Danny turned and saw the fifteen year old D.J. Harden. Harden was about Danny’s height and build but with shoulder length beach blond hair and brown eyes. According to Duke, Harden met Kikeona while the two were serving time at Juvenile Hall and have been inseparable ever since. Reaching into his pocket, Danny remained silent and tossed the kid his lighter.

“Thanks.” Harden said leaning against the wall beside him. “I haven’t seen you before. Where you from?”

“Waialua.”

“Here to stay?”

“That’s what they tell me.”

The kid gave a short laugh, almost like a bark. “D.J. Harden, you?”

“Danny Burken.”

Harden handed the lighter back. “Guess I’ll be seeing you around.”

Danny nodded in response and watched Harden walk down the busy sidewalk. After he was out of sight, Danny acted like the visit had never happened but let his eyes swept the street until he spotted a casually dressed Duke Lukela reading a newspaper. Duke caught his eye, showing that he noticed the exchange. Leaning back against the wall, Danny waited until his cigarette burned down to a stub and, flicking it to the ground, walked back to his new home.

Danny had only officially been on this case for a few days but he had already decided serving undercover wasn’t as glamorous and exciting as he imagined it to be. In preparation for this case, Danny had equated being undercover to being a spy. As a teenager he had enjoyed reading Ian Fleming’s Bond novels and, while he did realize that those stories were works of fiction, he hadn’t imagined that the real thing could be so boring. Loitering on the streets for three days hoping to be noticed hadn’t been his idea of a fun time. Danny hoped that things would pick up now that he had made contact with the gang but he suspected that he’d have to wait several more days before he could make another move.

Danny tried to tell himself that boredom was a good thing because the easiest way to get some excitement would be for him to break his cover. He needed to remember to be patient; excitement would come soon enough if everything went according to plan. However, if Danny would honest with himself he would have to admit that it was easier to complain about boredom than it was to admit that he was still rather nervous about how he would act if he managed to join Kikeona’s gang.

Reaching the apartment that was serving as his home during this assignment, Danny ignored the man sitting on the couch and walked into kitchen. Grabbing a soda from the fridge, he looked briefly at the beer on the self disliking the fact that he was now technically underage and his ‘uncle’ would be sure to say something if he had a drink.

When he had meet the man Duke called the other Steve, Danny had immediately liked him. Officer Steve O’Donnell was a career officer who was content spending his days out on patrol. Known around the force as a family man, Danny wondered how excited his new partner would be for this assignment but Steve had said he liked the deal. Apparently, whenever O’Donnell was supposedly out of the apartment for work he was allowed to go home and play with his three kids who enjoyed having Dad home during the day.

When Danny walked out of the kitchen, the slightly overweight cop shifted his position on the couch to turn around and look at him. “How was your day?”

Danny replied with a noncommittal grunt. It wasn’t that he trying to be rude it was just that Steve had told him in no uncertain terms was he to drop his cover unless he was told to, even in the seclusion of their small apartment. Danny suspected that he was still being tested and he didn’t let it bother him; this was his first time undercover and how could he insist on HPD showing absolute confidence in him when he wasn’t entirely confident in himself?

Maintaining his silence, Danny retreated to his room. They said practice makes perfect and Danny hoped they were right because he feared that he was going to have to be perfect to pull this off.

*~*~*

Duke walked briskly through the halls of the police department until reached the set of offices reserved for the detective unit. Henry was waiting for an update and Duke was happy that he would be able to report some progress. If things kept moving along at this pace, Duke was hopeful that Danny might be invited to help out the gang by the end of week.

When Duke reached the open office door, the older detective looked up and spoke first, “How’s Williams?”

“Fine. He’s met Harden and I saw Kikeona watching him; we’re moving forward slowly.”

“Sounds like it’s time to speed things up.”

Duke blinked his eyes a few times in surprise; his boss’s statement went against all of instincts. One didn’t rush undercover assignments but Henry’s statement had been sure. Curious and cautious, Duke asked, “How are we going to do that?”

“By convincing Kikeona that he can trust Danny Burken.”

“Won’t he get suspicious?”

“Not if we play our cards right.” Grinning mischievously, Henry looked the surprised officer in the eye. “Duke, didn’t they teach you that the good guys can plot too?”

*~*~*


Danny walked slowly down the pavement, trying to look no different than he had any other day. The problem was he knew that today would be different, today would the day that he convinced Kikeona to trust him or he went back to doing patrols in a squad car. Danny fought back the urge to check the time for he knew that would be extremely out of character; Danny Burken did things at his own pace and certainly didn’t wear a watch! Breathe, Danny ordered himself. He had to remain calm, natural…

When he reached the front of small café, Danny stopped and leaned against the cool windowpane just to the left of the front door. Taking out a cigarette, he slowly lit it, willing his hands not to shake. Any time now, he thought to himself.

Raised voices several blocks down told Danny that the plan was underway. Danny couldn’t see what was happening, that was by design, but he knew that right now an HPD man was currently questioning D.J. Harden. With this knowledge a subtle change passed over Danny’s features and the nerves stopped and his instincts took over. He would do what he had to do.

A startled shout and the sight of a teenager running toward Danny meant that step one had been successful; Harden had been spooked into splitting. As D.J. ran past, Danny swiftly reached out and grabbed his arm. “In here,” he hissed, jerking his head toward the café door. The young punk jumped back in shock at Danny’s touch but he recovered instantly and followed Danny’s suggestion.

Five seconds after the café door shut, Danny saw an older, huffing and puffing cop retracing Harden’s path; Kainoa really stacked the deck in their favor for there was no way this man would ever have been able to keep up with Harden.

The officer stopped a few feet short of where he was standing. “Hey, you,” he called out, looking straight at Danny.

Danny pretended that he didn’t know who the officer was addressing and kept smoking. The officer took a couple of steps closer and stated firmly, “I’m talking to you, kid.”

“Yeah,” Danny said as he flicked his cigarette to the sidewalk.

“Did a kid with blond hair and a red shirt run this way?”

Danny shrugged. “Don’t know. I didn’t see anyone.”

The officer growled and started moving further down the sidewalk; he never even glanced inside the store Harden had ducked into. After the cop was out of sight, Danny waited a minute and then turned and looked into the building.

“D.J.’s not there.”

Whirling around, Danny saw standing beside him the person this act had been played out for. Danny knew Kikeona was short but he hadn’t realized how short until he stood next to him and saw that he had several inches on the teenager and he would never be confused as someone who was tall! The Hawaiian punk was smirking, seemingly happy that he managed to catch him by surprise. Danny didn’t like the fact that Kikeona mentioned to sneak up him but shrugged it off as the more important thing was the fact that he was standing there talking to him. “Doesn’t matter to me,” Danny replied in answer to the punk’s statement.”

Still smirking, the punk kept pushing. “Whaddya help D.J. out for then.”

“I don’t like fuzz.”

The Hawaiian laughed. “Good reason, Bruddah.”

Deciding it was time to start pushing back, Danny asked, “And you are?”

“Kaiko. D.J.’s a friend of mine.”

It didn’t pass Danny attention that Kaiko only introduced himself with one name, and it was his middle name, nor the fact that he didn’t inquire about Danny’s own name. But those were details Danny filed away in his mind as he kept the conversation going. “What’d your friend do to get the cops on him?”

“Nothin’, da fuzz was fishing…” Kaiko’s words drifted off as an idea came into his head. “Ya don’t like fuzz?”

Danny shifted his stance so he was looking directly at Kaiko. “That’s what I said.”

“Wanna get dem back?”

“Depends, I don’t want to go to no prison neither.”

Kaiko grinned. “Follow me,” he called out as he started walking down the street.

Danny remained where he was. “Where?”

Looking back over his shoulder, Kaiko gave Danny a challenging look. “What, ya got nothin’ bettah to do?”

“Fine,” Danny conceded, “but you better not be wasting my time.”

As Danny followed Kaiko through the crowd he remained silent and forced himself not to get too excited. He may have passed one test but he still had a long way to go.

When they were several streets away from where started the two of them ducked into a parking garage and Kaiko led Danny up to a battered light blue van. A tall teenager was leaning against the hood. Danny recognized the figure as Pouha for the kid had the light brown skin of a Hawaiian but his black hair fell across oriental eyes. Those eyes noticed them approach as Danny felt the kid’s inquisitive glaze on him.

Kaiko broke the silence as he jogged up to the other punk. “Where’s D.J.”

“Went home. He thought it’d be better to lay low for the day.”

“Good.” Kaiko turned toward Danny who was standing off to side. “Danny, dis is Johnny.”

Danny nodded to show that he heard and waited for Kaiko to continue. “You wanna get back at da cops den get in da van. If not, I’ll see ya around.”

Danny breathed out slowly; he was seeking a balance between a kid who didn’t trust easily and one who had a certain sense of adventure. “Why don’t you tell why I’m here and then I decide whether to get in the van or not.”

Kaiko appeared to consider his reply before he ventured, “You heard about what’s got da fuzz riled up?”

“Yeah,” Danny answered cautiously.

“I ain’t been caught yet and I ain’t gonna be. Stick with Kiako and ya can join da fun.”

“I ain’t never stripped a car before,” Danny said. At least outside of HPD’s garage.

“Dat’s no problem. You in?”

“I’m in.”

“Great.”

Kaiko slapped the side of the van before opening the passenger side door and jumping in. “Come on, Johnny. Let’s go pay Robin a visit.”

“He’s not going to be happy to see you,” Johnny stated.

“Tough. Besides, da old man’s greed will get da best of him.”

As Johnny got in the driver’s seat, Danny jumped in the back and was surprised to see that there was no seat for him; they all had been taken out of the van. Now, he knew how the parts were moved away from the scene of the crime. Settling down on the floor, Danny made sure he could watch where they were going out the front window.

Having spent most of his life on Oahu, Danny had no trouble following where they were going but he was slightly surprised to see that they were headed toward Sherwood Forest; one of reasons he had been given this assignment was HPD was pretty certain that the thieves were not operating out of there.

When the van parked, Danny stepped out into a small clearing that was obviously a temporary chop shop. Car parts littered the grass and a couple of other cars waited to be taken apart. However, the place looked really quiet in comparison with the number of thefts that were occurring recently.

A fat, short man came waddling up to their van, wagging his finger at Kaiko. “Hey, you! What are you doing around here? You don’t ever bring me business no more.”

Danny quickly reassessed his thinking maybe they weren’t working out of Sherwood Forest after all.

Kaiko didn’t fazed by the man’s words. He spread his hands and shot back. “What can I say? Ya pay pennies brah, Haku pays dollars.”

“Those dollars are going to dry up some day and when they do, you see if I let you punks sell your stuff around here.”

“Look man, I can see ya got two sedans back there waiting for someone to relieve dem of their parts and I got dis friend who needs some practice. We’d be doin’ each other a favor.”

“What it’s worth to you?”

Kaiko turned toward Johnny who handed the man a car radio. The overweight man thought it over as he turned the radio around in his hands. “Deal. But if the kid can’t do it, make sure you finish the job.”

“Mahalo, brah.” Turning back, “Come on, Danny.”

“Kaiko! When Haku leaves town you remember to bring your goods to me.”

Danny followed Kaiko toward the first of the sedans and looked the car over until Kaiko placed a long piece of metal in his hand. Looking the tool, Danny pretended to be skeptical. “A wrench? You want me to take this wreck apart with just a wrench?”

“Think ya can’t do it?” Kaiko shot back, the smirk back on his face.

That smirk, Danny decided, was going to drive him nuts by the end of this assignment as he tightened his grip on the long wrench and walked up the front right tire.

“No. Tires last. You’ll make your job harder if you do dem first. Start with da hood…”

And so it went. Kaiko called out directions and Danny followed them. It went slowly at first but Danny let himself pick up speed as he decided to appear more comfortable with the work. After the first car was in pieces, he worked in tandem with Kaiko and Johnny on the second vehicle to get used to how they’d work as a team on a real job.

“Mo’ bettah,” Kaiko said as they finished up the last car. Then leaving the parts where they were the three of them got back in the van and Johnny drove back to Honolulu.

During the drive, Kaiko took the opportunity to question Danny. Danny slowly gave the Hawaiian his cover story and managed to learn a few things in return. The van eventually pulled up next to a small run down shack along side of the beach. Seeing D.J. come out of the shack as they got out of the van made Danny realize that this must be the home Johnny had mentioned earlier. The trick they had pulled really had convinced Kaiko to trust him.

D.J. walked up and slapped Danny on the shoulder. “Thanks for helping me out back there.”

“No problem,” Danny replied.

D.J. turned toward Kaiko. “He joining us tonight?”

“Yeah. Danny, ya need a ride home or ya good?”

Danny thought over the offer; it would be a twenty minute walk but it would be worth it to get a better grasp of the area. “I’ll walk.”

“Alright, meet us here tonight at one. Think ya can ditch your uncle?”

“Easy. I’ll be here.”

After trading goodbyes, Danny started walking toward downtown running over the events of the past few hours in his head. He had been skeptical at first of Kainoa’s plan but it had succeeded beyond what any of them had imagined. He would join the gang on a theft tonight, he knew where they were staying, and he had the name of Kaiko’s buyer: Haku.

It had been a long day and was going to be a longer night, Danny wondered if it would be out of character once he reached the apartment to take a nap. And to think that yesterday he was complaining that this job was boring.