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When Kono found him, Danny was sitting on the beach, staring at the mountains. It was hard not to grin at the sight. “Hey,” she said.
“Hey,” Danny said back. “I take it the big bossman sent you to throw me over your shoulder and carry me back to HQ ?”
“I’m strong, but you might be too much,” Kono said.
“Takes a big person to admit they’ve got limits.”
“So that makes me bigger than McGarrett?”
“Like Shamu.”
“Why do you call him that?” Kono asked.
“He asked me to. We were talking about whiteness, and then we talked about orcas and oras, and which one we’d want to be. I’m still shocked there aren’t any around here.”
“Because this is a tropical island?” Kono asked.
“Because most zoos in America have them,” Danny said. “An ora is a Komodo dragon. Personally, I’d rather be an orca too.”
“There are orcas just offshore,” Kono said.
“True,” Danny said. “But that’s not why you’re here. And I’d put money down that what we just talked about, isn’t why either.”
“I heard about Grace.”
Danny said nothing. Not even an ‘ah.’
Rachel had won complete custody of Grace. Danny had their daughter for Christmas holiday. But for anything more than that, the odds were as small as those for Hawaiian independence.
“Then what?” Kono asked. “Back to Jersey?”
“Maybe,” Danny said. “Maybe I don’t know. I do know I can’t stay here.”
“Because Grace is here.”
“And Rachel. And step-Stan.”
“What about your job?” Kono asked.
“You know what I said when I agreed to work on the Five-0, Kono?” Danny asked.
Kono shook her head.
“I told McGarrett that I get up every day to be a cop so Grace will be safe. Now I don’t even know if Grace is going to stay in Hawaii. Step-Stan’s job takes him and Rachel around the world, so who knows.”
“And your friends?”
“I trust my friends with my daughter’s safety,” Danny said. “If she’s in Hawaii, I know she’s safe, because I know the people handing out justice.”
“We need you on the team.”
“Trust me,” Danny said. “The fact is, there will be an odd number of people on the team once I’m gone, and that is gonna drive him nuts. You’ll have a rookie of your very own in no time.”
“Then there’s something you should know,” Kono said.
“Yeah? What’s that?” Danny asked.
“Surfers don’t train to carry people over their shoulders. Firefighters do.”