Chapter Text
"Those people that Nick is chasing are arms dealers, brothers - Victor and Anton Hesse. Anton was in prison in Asia not long ago and Victor was reported here, on Oahu. Then Anton vanished during a transport and someone on CIA watch-list was murdered. I don't know why that someone was watched by the CIA, but I'll keep looking.
Those brothers - they are not murderers, nor goons for hire. They are arms dealers. If one of them killed and, at the same time, the other one was aided in his escape, it must have been a transaction. The order to kill came from someone higher up in the food chain. I didn't find his name. Yet.
The Hesses are in the wind right now. If I come across anything I'll let you or Mary know.
Please, take care of yourself and don't do anything stupid.
Miss you,
C.
PS. Have you watched any spy movies? Burn this message. Now."
.
Steve's paranoia was not only contagious, but also developing. He did as instructed and burned the piece of paper, having memorized the names and all the facts. Damn it, his father was on the CIA watch list? Why? Instead of answers, Catherine's message only brought more questions.
Patience was not one of Steve's virtues and waiting on news from Catherine was going to be torture, unfortunately right now it was all he could do - unless he befriended someone from the CIA himself.
Having no other choice, Steve decided to at least follow Danny's idea of an occupation to pass the time. He didn't have to like it - interviewing a crazed widower who accused his children of stealing his silverware - but Danny was right about one thing; they had to eat. And he could always hope that something more to his liking, something "certifiably insane" as Danny put it, would come along.
Kono Kalakaua graduated the military academy and Chin couldn't be more proud, seeing her get her badge and be congratulated by the Chief of Honolulu Police Department. She celebrated the occasion with her family but the day after it was supposed to be just the two of them having a couple of beers at Ahi'inu pub in Waipahu.
Of course he knew they wouldn't only talk about her big achievement. He was mentally preparing himself for having his head chewed off some time during the second or third beer. Dear cousin was worried. She hadn't said anything to him, but he knew she'd spoken to Steve on his behalf and he had caught her giving Steve burning glances every now and again.
She had known the McGarretts almost as long as he had. Hell, he'd occasionally brought her with him - a skinny kid, too shy to open her mouth - back in the days when he'd had to babysit Steve. She had been the one to call them Chin's Ohana when Jack wouldn't turn his back on him no matter what. If anyone had any right to criticize Steve, or Chin's involvement with the McGarretts - it was her. He would take it from her and he wouldn't get pissed, he told himself as he parked his bike under the huge fern outside Ahi'inu.
Then he went in, looking for her mop of black hair. She wasn't in yet. When she didn't appear for another half an hour, he decided to call her. He wasn't worried, he didn't think there was any reason to be. She had this habit of getting late sometimes and all Chin intended to do, was to give her a light rebuke.
She picked up after the third ring.
"Yes, Meka," she said cheerfully. "I'm on my way. May be a little late, though; caught traffic on Kaukonahua Road."
Chin paused for a moment. Did she just call him 'Meka'?
"Kono? What are you talking about?"
"Yeah, swimming at Mokuleia Beach sounds great!"
And then the call disconnected and Chin gaped at his cell, totally flabbergasted for all of half a minute. Then his police training kicked in. First and foremost, he needed back-up, so he dialed Danny Williams's cell.
"Where are you?"
"We," Danny stressed, "are in Ewa and we've just managed to blow off our first potential client, because of your buddy Steve's impeccable manners. Do you want me to tell you what he said to the poor old man, whose only fault was-"
"Look, Danny, I'm sure it's an exciting story, but I think I may have a problem. Actually, my cousin, Kono may have a problem." His brain was processing her words over and over again. If something happened, she'd probably tried to tell him as much as she could in as little time as possible. Each word meant something. Mokuleia Beach was on the north shore, in Waialua, and Kaukonahua Road led there from Wahiawa - which was only ten miles north from Waipahu. Danny and Steve were west from his position, in Ewa and they could take another route to Waialua. He directed them there. "I have another call to make," he told them, remembering that Kono greeted him with the name 'Meka'. They both knew only one Meka - Detective Meka Hanamoa form HPD.
Meka's phone was busy and when Chin called the precinct, he was told that Detective Hanamoa was in the field. That gave Chin goosebumps. There was no time left to lose. He jumped on his bike and sped up toward the Memorial Freeway and farther to Waialua.
Half-way down the Freeway his phone buzzed so he drove to the side and pulled it out of his pocket with trembling hands. It was Hanamoa.
"You called."
"Yes, 'cause I had a very strange conversation with my cousin, Kono. You remember Kono?"
"Sure I do!" he could hear smile in Hanamoa's voice. "I'll tell you more, brah, we're colleagues now, she's started working at my precinct today. I'm not her training officer, though," he sobered now. "I wasn't at the precinct in the morning and Chief put her under Kaleo. What was the call about?"
Chin related the conversation best he could remember and Meka told him to wait up, he would consult with Kaleo, or someone who had an idea what was going on. Instead of rushing right away, Chin called Danny to share what he'd just learned. Danny didn't even say hello when he picked up.
"Your buddy here drives like a maniac and this car is a hundred years old!" he yelled straight away. "He wants to get us both killed! And now he's smirking!"
"Where are you, Danny?"
Danny held on for dear life with one hand, trying to keep the phone at his ear with the other.
"We are at some airport," he uttered, then heard Steve slip him a name. "What? Oh, Steve says it's Wheeler Army Air Field. Are we supposed to still go to Waialua?" he asked quickly. "Where is Kono?" And what was really happening, and he had at least a dozen other questions but he let Chin respond this time.
"I don't know what's going on," he heard Chin sigh. "But I hope your buddy Meka will be able to shed some light on it."
"Meka? What does he have to do with anything?"
"Well, apparently they are working together now. Look, Danny, I gotta go," Chin changed the subject. "I'm still a couple of minutes out and I'm on a bike, so I can't drive and talk. I'll explain everything when we meet and I hope I'll know more by then."
Danny hoped so too. And he hoped they would get there in one piece.
"You know where you're going?" he asked as he put his phone away.
"I told you that three times already," Steve snapped. "Do you have hearing problems or just short attention span?"
"Oh, I don't know! Maybe I would hear better if you weren't driving this antique at a hundred miles per hour one-handed!" Steve gave him a glare and Danny felt his cheeks burn. Yeah, yeah, don't mock the cripple. Except that Steve, despite his disability, was anything but, so Danny decided that he could - ha! should - be mocked. Mocking was better than all out asking that he let Danny drive, because one - he'd never agree, for all the control-freak traits he demonstrated; two - that would actually be more arrogant than cracking a joke here and there, and three - Danny wouldn't even want to drive this piece of junk, thank you very much.
On top of that his phone gave off a hair-raising shriek that Danny allotted to his dear ex-wife. He nearly jumped out of his seat and Steve gazed at him sideways. He hit 'ignore' but it immediately shrieked again and this time McGarrett turned to face him with his eyebrows almost at his hairline.
"Eyes on the road!" Danny yelled, then, "What?" he snapped to the phone...
... and heard the most lovely voice of his sweet-like-marshmallow little pumpkin.
She started telling him about her rehearsal before her school theater performance of "Sleeping Beauty", where she would play the Fairy and he tried to apologize for his rude 'hello', but she didn't even notice and she didn't let him finish, instead kept chattering about Lucy who would play Beauty and that she was lovely and talented - and who dared to think that some Lucy was more talented than his Grace, damn it - and about Akahi who would play the knight, and Danny completely forgot where he was and what he was doing, until he heard a whisper, "We're almost there," so he told his Monkey all their usual goodbyes and huggies and I-love-yous and he hung up feeling happy and bright and almost floating.
"Danno?" asked a voice from his left and Danny's happy bubble burst in an instant.
"What?" he snapped.
"Who's Danno?" Steve damn McGarrett was smirking at him and Danny closed his eyes, took a deep breath and felt he was not pissed, at all. But Hell if he was going to explain anything, especially this, to this man.
"Just," he waved his hand."Drive."
After driving up the Kaukonahua Road for ten minutes, Chin saw Steve's Marquis parked on the side of the road at the crossroads outside Waialua. There was still no news from Hanamoa.
"Where did she say she was going?" Steve was on him before he took his helmet off. "Where did she call you from? Did you try calling her back?" he was shooting questions like from a machine gun. "What's going on?"
Chin had to repeat his conversation with Kono once again and he watched as Steve's brow furrowed more and more. Williams looked no less concerned.
"She was speaking in code."
"Like someone was..." Steve swallowed then finished in a lower voice. "Holding a gun to her head."
Chin felt cold. He'd tried not to think about it like this. He had tried calling Kono but all he'd gotten was 'out of range'.
He was staring at his phone when it finally buzzed.
"It's Hanamoa," said the voice on the other side. "I spoke to Kaleo and learned that Kono was supposed to babysit the son of a computer systems specialist who had been kidnapped earlier today. The guy's girlfriend was looking out for the boy with her. After your call we did some digging and we found out the girlfriend is the same nationality as the men who attacked and took the scientist this morning. That's too much to be a coincidence."
"It is," was all Chin could choke out. Kono. His little cousin, Kono got in trouble on her first day in the line of duty. She had no experience, she was too young. Chin felt sudden hate toward her training officer who didn't check all the leads, didn't tie up the loose ends and it might cost his baby cousin ... too much.
Hanamoa was saying something and it took a lot of willpower for Chin to focus on his words again.
"HPD is on its way, Kaleo, a few other guys and a SWAT team." Kaleo. That was the name of the officer and Chin didn't trust his ass. "They'll find her."
"No! Wait!" he shouted into the phone, pacing and running his hand through his hair. "We're in Waialua already, Meka. If you have any idea where they could have taken her, tell us, please."
"I can't, I'm sorry," he could tell Meka was sincere. "It's an HPD case."
"Give me the phone." Chin saw Danny's extended hand right in front of him. He hesitated only as long as it took him to realize what Danny intended to do. He handed the phone over. "Meka? This is Danny. I'm here with Chin and we have all that's needed to take them on. I mean the gear. Plus training. A week ago I was your partner, man, you know me. It's about my friend's family! Help the man out here."
Chin watched Danny listen to what Meka was saying with his heart in his throat. Kono's life was at stake and they could act now, or wait for the HPD to arrive in twenty minutes, maybe more, while very second counted.
"Thanks, man," Danny said and clicked the phone shut. "They only have some presumptions, nothing solid at the moment. The guy they caught was Serbian and the kidnapped specialist worked on some program regarding the security of the Hickam Air Force base, but they don't really know the purpose..."
When a growing roar of an airplane engines interrupted him, all three heads shot up and they all must have had the same thought.
"Interesting," Steve voiced it, as the plane flew right above their heads, really low and really loud. Security of an Air Force base, the direction Kono had given them and - Chin had a flash of realization - there was an airfield nearby. It all added up to one thing. "Into the car, now!" Steve grabbed Chin and pulled him away from his bike and into the Marquis.