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A Man Called McGarrett

by Terri Whitman © 11-30-02

A bright yellowish-orange crescent peeked out from behind the distant mountain range slowly changing the night’s dark azure sky into the very familiar light blue sky of morning. The few light feathery clouds that had lingered along the mountain crests helped to create a dazzling Hawaiian sunrise. As the brilliant rays of sun trickled over the distant tops, they chased away the long shadows of the night.

A long limo stopped in front of the last warehouse on Pier 217. Exiting the vehicle, Song Tai Wo noticed the glint of the morning rays as it was reflected off the highly polished windshield.

As she walked over to the small entrance door she could feel how quickly the morning air was heating up. Once inside she ordered one of the men to open the heavy cargo doors and soon a high pitch metallic squeal echoed throughout the building as the rusted metal chains were pulled long its track.

The metal-to-metal noise was loud enough to arouse McGarrett from his light and fitful sleep. Gently he rubbed his eyes to clear them of the crusty sleep residue. As he slowly opened he eyes, they became accustomed to the dim light which shown through the air holes of the container after being reflected off the aluminum wall near the container. The morning air held the promise of another warm and humid day as it filtered throughout the warehouse and into McGarrett’s wooden prison.

"Damn," he exclaimed when he inadvertently brushed his arm up against the splintery wood. Rubbing his wounded skin, he cautiously shifted his position so he could sit next to one of the air holes. He listened tentatively until he heard a movement nearby before he called out for help, but just like the day before, there was no response to his plea. Sighing despondently, he cautiously leaned back against the wood.

Not wishing to relive his anxieties of the past, he did his best to keep his mind occupied. Another series of severe cramps forced his concentration from his efforts. These he knew were the early tell-tail signs of dehydration. As if the cramps were not enough, his head, eyes and sinuses stung from the chemical odor combined with the ammonia and raw pinesap.

McGarrett moaned as another bad cramp made him grab his stomach, which was screaming for nourishment. He became irritated at his captors when he tried to lick his lips and couldn’t do so. This was just another beginning sign of the dehydration, which was starting to manifest itself by the dry and cottony feeling in his mouth. He uttered a silent pray of thankfulness that he was not dizzy or lightheaded. He knew if help didn’t arrive soon he would soon succumb to them and that the heat and humidity of coming day would severely tax his reserves.

Once the cramp had subsided, McGarrett cautiously shifted his position inside the container. Rearranging the bundles of ropes and netting, he placed them to one side thankful for the semi-protective shielding the items had offered.

"This would have be the morning I’d forget to put my watch on," McGarrett lamentably expressed about having left his watch on top of his dresser that morning. "Not that I could have read it in this light," he bemoaned to himself as an uneasy feeling started to build within him. The months of captivity he had endured in North Korea had left him moderately claustrophobic. At his return he had been unable to stay inside a building for more then a few hours. "Seoul winters cured me of that quick enough," he laughed to himself.

By the time he had came to Five-0, the anxiety only seemed to occur when he was under extreme pressure. Duke Lukela never mentioned this problem to him because he understood his friend’s need to escape to the Palace’s lanai on those occasions. The dreaded feeling didn’t even bother him after he had survived a crash on the Big Island in a small plane, which he had equated with a flying coffin. Fortunately thirty years on the job had helped rid him of most of that.

From the weather forecast he had heard the evening before his capture he knew that Oahu was in the midst of an unusually hot and muggy heat wave. So it didn’t surprise him any when the heat began to significantly rise as the morning progressed. He couldn’t tell exactly how long it was since he woke up but he guessed it was about two hours later that he heard the big the big metal doors as they were closed. He also knew that his makeshift prison would quickly become very hot and stuffy.

The combination of his confinement and intense heat within the container brought back a flood of memories to its occupant. ‘Hell, I survived that hellhole in Korea, I should be able to survive this,’ he thought while he glanced about his small prison for the umpteenth time. He could remember the time when his one antagonist, WoFat, had used a drug to capture him and then tried to brainwash him in the attempt to discredit him. ‘Although he made me confess on that film, he never succeeded in accomplishing his intent. Thankfully Danno came through for me then as I’m sure he’ll do again,’ he reminisced as he thought back to other similar situations where either he or one of his men had been in danger. ‘Danno had had a close time when he and Kurt Metzker were kidnapped and held for ransom by the People’s Attack Group. Even though the bunker was much larger, it was just as confining to him, knowing that there was no way out other then through that steel door,’ he pondered for a moment. "But at least they had a light, could move around if they wanted and had some water," vehemently he reminded himself out loud. ‘Kono on the other hand had been tied up, blindfolded and beaten up before he was placed in that metal holding box at the pier. If I had been a few seconds later in reacting, Earl would have killed him. The last time I talked with him, he was still occasionally having nightmares about that,’ the intensity of that time flashed back to him as he remembered how close he had come to losing the big Hawaiian detective.

The area of the improperly nailed lid gave McGarrett a chance at keeping his mind off his deteriorating health problems. Carefully, he shifted his position so he could try to move it, but the lid wouldn’t budge. "There’s got to be a way out of this," he said out loud, as he surveyed the interior again. ‘Someone will find me. It'll just be a matter of time, but they will find me,’ he told himself as he tried not to think about the possibility that he might be found too late.

*****

‘It has been two days since Steve was kidnapped and there hasn't been any word from the kidnappers,’ Mike Lukela thought to himself as he sat down heavily into his chair. He knew the team was giving their absolute best in spite of the high pressure he purposely had maintained over the last two days to find any type of lead to go on. Unfortunately, with no new leads to go on, he feared his old friend didn't have too much time left and he knew that every man had his limitations. "Even the ‘great’ Steve McGarrett has a limit. I just hope we can find him before that limit has been reached," he reminded himself as he flipped back through the file he had picked up from his desk.

Most of the time Mike was one of the first to arrive at the office, but there were many times a case like this demanded extra time and effort on his part. When his body and mind could no longer take the strain, he would try to rest upon the couch in his office and the night before was just such an example. The extreme pressures and stress of this current case hadn’t allowed him to relax enough to do him any good. Restlessly, he paced around the office. ‘Somewhere, someone has some information that will break this case wide open,’ Mike debated mentally with himself as he went over the known facts of the case again.

Out of habit, he reached for his coffee cup before he stepped out to the lanai for a breath of fresh air. As he lifted the cup up to sip from, his train of thought was temporarily broken when he only saw the dark coffee stain in the bottom of the cup. Perturbed that such a trivial little thing like this could upset him so, he mentally chastised himself for allowing such a little thing like that bother him. "This is stupid," he uttered to himself as he looked at the empty cup.

As if on automatic pilot, he headed for the break room to refill his cup, but when he arrived he found the pot empty. "Just my luck, no coffee," he mumbled to himself as he began to prepare a new pot of the strong brew he liked. "The others will be arriving soon and they’ll want some," he told himself as if to justify his actions as he waited for the machine to finish making the beverage. When it was done, he pour himself another cup and walked back to his office and out to the lanai for a chance to relax before the hectic day could begin.

An hour later Tilda unlocked the main doors to the Five-0 office. Normally the first to arrive in the mornings, she went about putting her purse away before she headed for the break room to prepare the coffee. On her way down the hall, she noticed Mike’s door was open, saw him out on the lanai, and it appeared to her that he was deep in thought. "Good morning Mike," she called out loud enough so she was sure he had heard her as she continued past his office.

The familiar voice emanating from his office door that reached his tired mind caused Mike turned around. He then let out a heavy sigh knowing that another long and arduous day had begun. "Good morning Tilda," he called out to her as he walked through the portals of the lanai doors of his office. After he stepped behind his desk, he noted how haggard he looked and that he probably hadn’t slept very well the previous night. "I see you’ve made the coffee for the morning," she said as she pointed to his cup.

Mike was midway though his grooming ritual when he briefly halted and lowered his hand down to the desk to look up at her. "Yeah, I needed another cup this morning so I went ahead and made a pot," he replied with a tired smile. His blood shot eyes and drawn in expression of his face clearly showed his lack of sleep caused from all the strain he had placed himself. Any lesser man would have gone home, forgetting the urgency of the current case and allowed the faiths fall where they may, but Mike Lukela wasn’t that type of man. He knew that another man’s life hung in the balance from what he did or didn’t do and he wasn’t about to allow that person to loose their life if it was in the realm of his abilities to do something about it.

"And I see you spent another night here too," Tilda said with a knowledgeable smile as she walked over to the small closet and withdrew a clean suit, shirt and tie out for him which she hung on the coat rack near his desk. "Let me know when you’ve changed and I’ll send your other clothes out to Uncle Lee's to be cleaned," she offered before she walked over to the door of the office. Although this wasn’t one of her duties, she knew he appreciated her assistance.

"Mahalo Tilda. What would I do without you?" Mike commented as he continued with his grooming so he could be prepared for what lay ahead that day.

Tilda only smiled and waved her hand at him as she left his office. She had just sat down at her desk when the intercom on her phone rang. "Yes, Mike."

"When the other’s get in, inform them that I want to have a meeting first thing this morning." Mike told her. "And then contact all the other departments involved with the team to let them know about the meeting."

"Okay Mike, will do," Tilda answered.

In her usual highly efficient manner, Tilda alerted all the necessary members about the required meeting. In a slow but steady trickle, the team started to arrive. With everyone assembled, Mike recapped what information they had gathered so far on the case. This took about a half an hour and when he was done their faces mirrored their leaders from the concern, frustration and worry.

Mark handed each person there a small folder filled with papers that contained information from the FBI’s computers. "At first TWIS Company declined to talk with us. But, when our agent informed them that if they didn’t co-operate with us, we would obtain a court order to look at all of their records. When they heard that they suddenly became very cooperative," he relayed with a smile.

"So I take it you got some information on the owner of the company?" Ben, Jr. asked as the hairs on the back of his neck started to rise. When he was younger, his father had told him that his hair used to have the same reaction when he had been with the agency and it had always been a precursor to very bad news. Now highly interested in this company, his eyes quickly scanned over the sheets before him.

"That information is on page four Ben," Mark told him after he had found the desired information in his own folder. "Our investigations have been able to obtain fairly good bios on the majority of the TWIS people. A Ms. Song Tai Wo is the president of this Hawaiian based company. Ms. Wo is thirty-three, height five foot five inches, weight around 120, has the classic oriental looks with very dark brown eyes, and long black hair which falls a little passed her waist and very beautiful. ‘Strikingly beautiful’ is how my agent described her. Ms. Wo is also a graduate from the University of Peking with major in business.

My agents weren’t able to turn up a lot of information about her parents. But we do know that her mother’s name was Sue Ling Wo. She died shortly before Ms. Wo moved to Hawaii and apparently left her daughter a vast fortune. Unfortunately, our investigation was unable to discover who her father is or was," Mark informed the others as he took a breather and a sip of his coffee.

"Were you able to get any information on the others?" Frankie asked because most of her investigations had resulted in nothing but dead ends. She felt as if her efforts had been to no avail so far, so any news from another member was of great interest to her.

"Yes," Mark replied as he continued. "Like I said, the company suddenly decided to became very helpful. Ms. Wo told our agent that Chi Ow Tong had been fired two months ago and that she didn't know where he presently lives or works. She also gave our agent a description of him. He is twenty-eight, about five foot eight, weighs around one hundred sixty-five pounds. He’s of oriental descent with dark brown almost black eyes and black hair, which was short the last time she saw him. When asked about facial hair, she said he didn’t have a beard or mustache. She did say that he has a tattoo of a dragon on his upper right arm.

"When she was asked about the other employees, she informed our agent that twenty-three other people from China were brought over when they first set up the company here in Hawaii," Mark added. "My office is now trying to obtain this additional information from the parent office in China."

"Does that report tell if any of the other employees happen to match the description Mr. Swan gave us?" Ben, Jr. asked.

"Yes, it does list a half a dozen men who vaguely fit the descriptions given to us," Mark replied as he looked at his list. "If you go to page seven, you will find the names of these men. I’ve placed a check next to their names. They are Quon Lee, Peter Winn, Kim Lu Yang, Chris Osuna, Richard Lee and Chang Lee." He paused for a moment as he looked over his papers for the next important point he wanted to make before he continued. "You will notice that both Richard Lee and Chang Lee are taller then the other four. This Chang Lee character, I’ve was told, is the tallest and most imposing. Right now my office is trying to locate these men." There was a rustle of paper as the team members flipped through their papers on each of the six men. "Before I came to this meeting, I stopped by HPD and gave them a copy to hand out to their officers. This way the more eyes we have looking for them the faster we can find them," he added.

"Do we have any pictures of these men?" Ben, Jr. asked as he read up on each of the men mentioned.

"Not yet Ben," Mark replied, "but as soon as we receive it, I’ll have copies made and distributed to everyone. I’ve also gone ahead and posted agents at the airports and at the docks."

"Good idea Mark," Mike said as he made some notes in his notebook of that part of the investigation. The information wasn’t much so far, he mused, but it was a lot more than what they started with. "Anything on the missing car?"

"So far, no trace of the car has been found," Jeremy reported. "It’s as if it vanished off the face of the earth. I’m having HPD check out the local junkyards right now on the premises that they may have been stashed the car at one of them to be crushed. They will also be checking the other known dump areas," he included double-checking his notes before he continued. "But I did hear from one of my waterfront snitches. He said he has something to tell me and wants to meet with me later today," he added with a slight smile when he thought of the skinny little man with the squeaky voice who had called him earlier in the morning.

Mike felt that Jeremy fit in good with the team. He knew that he frequently butted heads with Jasper at times but they balanced the team in a positive manner. "Good. Good," Mike said as he broke into a smile. "You might want to consider bringing him in Jeremy, for his own protection. Last thing we need is a possible witness to disappear."

"That’s not a bad idea Mike," Jeremy replied as he made a mental note to bring in his informant.

"How reliable is your snitch’s information?" Jasper asked challenging the validity of Jeremy’s informant.

Annoyed at Jasper's comment Jeremy fired back in defense of the man "’Shoes’ has never given me any wrong information before. So I don’t have any reason to start doubting him now."

An amused expression grew on Tilda's face. "Shoes?" she asked as she repeated the name.

Jeremy chuckled some as he broke into a smile. "Yeah, Shoes. I sort of gave him the name because he was wearing mismatched shoes the first time I met him. When I asked him about them. He laughed at first and said, ‘That’s funny. I’ve got another pair just like them in my duffel bag.’ Thus the name, Shoes."

The humor behind the statement broke the tension in the room and everyone started to laugh at the name Jeremy had given his snitch.

"Okay, anything else?" Mike asked as he steered everyone back to the business at hand.

"Nothing more on the one unidentified shoe Mike," Deana informed the group as she quickly glanced at her notes. "But I do have some news. There was enough residue in the hypo cap so that we could confirm the type of drug used. Somehow they got their hand on some ‘versed’. It’s a fairly fast acting knock out drug and it wouldn’t take very much to render Steve unconscious. What we’re trying to do now is find out how and where they obtained the drug. So far we’ve checked all the hospitals on the island but so far there aren’t any reports of missing supplies. We're even checking past police reports to see if any pharmacies have been broken into or have reported a shortage in their inventories."

"If you need help there, let me know and I can get you more help," Mike informed her.

"Thanks Mike. Another pair of eyes would be helpful. The list of pharmacies is surprisingly large," Deana told him. "Jasper and I started going over them last night, but we only got about a third of the way through. We stopped because most of these companies had closed for the night."

"Okay, I’ll get you that additional help," Mike said and turned to his secretary. "Tilda, contact HPD to see if they have any clerical staff that could help out in this."

"Right boss, I’ll get on it right now," Tilda said as she stood and left for her desk.

Mike waited a minute more to see if anyone else had anything further to add. When no one else had anything new, he wrapped up the meeting. "Okay, it looks like we’ve still got a lot to cover yet before we’ve got any solid leads here," he said. "Let’s get back out there and get something new that will help us. Time is running out for Mr. McGarrett, people."

Shortly after Mike had sat in his chair, Tilda buzzed him, his father was on the phone. He kept the call as short as he could, but briefly told him what had taken place in the mornings meeting. When he concluded the call, he placed a call to the Governor to brief him as to what new information he had.

*****

"Quon Lee! Peter Winn! Kim Lu Yang!" Song Tai Wo called out to the three men as they stood near the big metal door they had just opened.

The men looked at each other before they walked over to their mistress. "Yes Mistress," Kim Lu Yang said as they bowed before her.

"I want you three to keep everyone away from this part of the warehouse. If anyone asks about any noises, tell them to ignore it," Song Tai Wo told them. "Then report to me who did the asking. So far the law doesn’t have any reason to be interested in these buildings."

"What about that one man? He was from the FBI," Quon Lee asked her. He was terrified of her but he feared the federal agent more. He knew this person could send him back to his home country where life was much harder.

Song had sensed that Quon might be one of her weaker links in the group. She was sure she could control him but she knew she would need to keep an eye on him. "Don’t worry about them. I’ve informed them that Chi Ow Tong hasn’t been with my company in over two months and that I don’t know where he is anymore. You three ‘did’ get rid of his body properly, where no one can find it for a long time, if ever?" she asked with a tone that sounded more like a threat.

The three men nodded in silent agreement.

"Good. Your only duty today is to do what I’ve told you," Song told them as she turned to leave. Before she walked out the big doors, she paused to listen to see if her captive might make some noise that could be heard. When she heard nothing, she smiled as she walked over to her car.

Chang Lee, her bodyguard and driver, opened the door so she could get into the back. Once seated, he closed the door and walked to the driver’s side. After he got into the car, he started the engine and drove off to his mistress’s next appointment.

The three men stood at the door as they watched the car leave. They were terrified of this woman and wished that they didn’t have to follow her instructions, but lacked the courage it took to break free of her.

As the car drove by another warehouse, Song saw a lone person as he stood near the end of the building. "Stop the car, Chang," she instructed her driver.

"Yes Mistress," Chang answered as he brought the car to a stop at the side of the road between the two warehouses.

"Isn’t that the same person we saw the morning before Tong drove up to our warehouse?" Song asked him as she continued to watch the lone figure.

"I believe it is, Mistress," Chang replied unemotionally as he looked at the man.

"He might have seen something that morning," Song instructed the big man. "I want you to go over to him and see if he will tell you anything. Offer him some money, if you must. If he does know something, you know what to do."

"Yes Mistress," Chang answered as he got out of the car. Chang had been Songs bodyguard for most of her life. His father served Wo Fat for several years. After McGarrett had captured Wo Fat, his father had managed to escape back to China, where he lived he rest of his life in disgrace.

Song watched Chang as he quietly walked over to the man. Preoccupied with his stub of a cigarette, he didn’t see the big oriental until it was too late. Quickly Chang brought the side of his hand down hard upon the man’s neck. Immediately the man collapsed to the ground. Very casually, the large oriental reached down, grabbed the unconscious man’s head with his large hands, and gave the head a quick twist snapping the man’s neck.

Quickly Chang searched through the pockets of his victim for anything that could identify him. The only thing he found was the man’s wallet, which contained an expired driver’s license. The old document identified the man as William Howard. Pocketing the wallet, he picked up the body with very little effort and carried it to the edge of the pier where he dropped it into the bay water below. The big man watched for several minutes to make sure the body had disappeared beneath the waves before he returned to the car.

"Very good Chang," Song told him as he walked over to her door. "Let’s leave before someone sees us." She was very pleased that this possible problem had been dispatched in a quick manner. Her face clearly showed her evil intentions if any other person or persons should interfere with her plans.

Chang bowed low to his mistress before he got into the car and drove off.

*****

"Damn it. It’s one fifteen," Jeremy said to himself as he glanced at his watch. "I told Shoes I’d be here by one," he commented to himself as he pulled along side one of the buildings. He knew his tardiness was unavoidable because of a traffic jam on the freeway. He stayed in the car for a bit as he scanned the area. Not seeing or hearing any movement near by, he got out. Shoes had told him that he would meet him here, but where is he, he thought. He walked over to the edge of the building where Shoes had told him he would be waiting. But he saw no one, just the squawking of the terns that were there.

"Okay Shoes, where are you?" Jeremy said out loud. "You told me you would be here." He scanned the wharf again and wandered over to the edge of the pier. He glanced down at the water to see if anyone was down there, but saw no one, just the waves as they impacted the barnacle covered pilings of the pier.

Jeremy wandered around the pier a little longer before he returned to his car. He sat heavily on the seat and picked up his cellular phone. "Central, this is Detective Kalakaua. I need an APB out for a wharf vagrant that goes by the name of Shoes. He's about fifty-five years old; height is five foot nine inches and weighs about one hundred forty pounds. He has short gray hair, brown eyes, no beard or mustache. He is wanted for questioning in the disappearance of Steve McGarrett."

"Ten-four," the operator replied.

Jeremy sat in his car for a bit, trying to give Shoes some more time to appear. He semi-listened to the APB the dispatcher issued. A few more minutes ticked by as he continued to scan the area one last time. With a heavy sigh of disappointment, he shook his head as he started the car. 'Shoes, you've failed me,' he thought to himself as he drove off. What he hadn't seen was the body of Shoes as it floated out from under the other side of the wharf.

*****

The mid-summer Hawaiian day had turned extremely hot and humid. Mark, the FBI operative, had supplied Deana and Tim with a catalog of shoes that were made in China. The catalog, which he had obtained from a CIA contact, contained over ten thousand pictures of shoes and their tread patterns. Each of the tread patterns now had to be compared with the cast sample taken from the crime scene.

Jasper came into the lab shortly after two PM and walked over to his colleagues as they leafed through the pages. "How's it going?" he asked Deana.

"Not very fast, that’s for sure, Time told him. He had long since removed his coat and his shirt clearly showed the widening stains of sweat under his armpit and down the middle of his back.

"Can I get you anything?" Jasper asked as he took the shoe Deana had in her hands and looked at it.

"If you really want to be of some help, can you get us some fans to circulate the air? Maybe that would help cool things down some," Deana suggested taking the shoe back from him as she took a slight breather from the pile work in front of her.

"How about you Deana? Can I get you anything? Maybe a licorice whip or a block of ice to sit on?" Jasper asked teasingly, knowing how hot it was in the lab.

"Just get us some fans, will you?" Deana replied as she threw a shoe at him, which thudded against the doorframe as he left.

Twenty minutes later Jasper returned with two fans. He plugged large freestanding fan into a nearby wall outlet and directed it toward the ceiling, so the breeze it created wouldn't scatter the papers spread about on the desks. The other he placed behind his colleagues and directed its breeze at the floor. Once the air began to circulate the room began to feel moderately cooler.

"Jasper, how about giving us a hand?" Tim asked as he stood in front of one of the fans for a moment to cool off even more. Four other lab technicians were already there helping out. "Another pair of eyes will help make this list go faster."

Jasper hesitated as he looked at his watch, when he saw he had some time, he took a seat on one of the stools next to Deana. Together they worked through the list of shoe patterns. After three hours, Kimo Nuesmeyer, one of the technicians, called Deana over.

"Deana, I think I’ve got a match here," he said as he held up the two sheets for her to see. Jasper joined her and looked at the sample. The tread markings matched completely.

"Gentlemen, we’ve got a match," Deana told the others with a smile as she handed them over to Tim to see.

"Good work Kimo," Tim told the assistant as he patted him on the shoulder.

Deana took a copy of the shoe tread and put the two sheets into a folder and motioned Jasper to follow her. "I think Mike will want to know about this right now," she said as Jasper and Tim followed her out of the lab.

*****

Jasper led the way to Mike's office where they found him out on the lanai. Mike had decided to take a break and enjoy the fresh air the afternoon rain had created. But he turned around quickly when he heard his name.

"Mike! We've found a match to the shoe from China," Jasper said as he handed him the photos.

Mike took the items and compared them for himself. "So we know that at least one of the men was most likely from China," he said as he raised his eyebrows. "No chance of finding out where this person got the shoes?"

"No, Mike. We don't have any leads on that." Tim told him, "Even if we tried, I don't think we could."

Mike looked at the prints again. He wished the information was more but at least they now knew the type of shoe to look for on one of their suspects. "Okay, thanks Tim. I've had Tilda called everyone to come to another meeting this evening at seven PM. You can present this information to the team then," he told her with an audible sigh indicating how exhausted he was.

Deana had heard the sigh and it sounded like her friend had stretched the limits of his endurance. "Sure Mike," Deana replied her voice filled with concern, perhaps more than she wanted.

"I’ll catch up with you later guys," she told her partner and Jasper before they left for their respective offices. When she was finally alone with her friend she turned to him, a worried look was on her face. She knew he seldom went home to relax when they were on a big case. "You look awfully tired Mike. Did you spend another night on the office couch?" she asked.

Mike smiled at her in a brotherly way. He liked her. Most of the time her expertise in her job made his so much easier. Another thing about her he liked was her inordinate amount of curiosity. This curiosity had broken some of their hard cases wide open. "Yes, I did," he replied tiredly as he looked out at the lightly swaying palm trees that dotted the park below. This scene was a typical of the tropical splendor that had made Hawaii famous and wondered if McGarrett would ever get to see another one.

"Sounds like what my Dad has told me about you is right then," Deana said with a smile as she leaned against the doorframe and folded her arms in front of her.

"And what is that, Ms. Williams?" Mike teasingly answered as he turned from the view and looked at her. She looked a lot like her father, Dan Williams, but had her mother's looks. She was smaller then her father and had his curly hair, but it was dark brown instead of sandy-blonde. When she got excited or was on the track of something, her blue eyes would sparkle, just like her father's did.

"That you will push yourself harder than the others," she stated, her voice was friendly but concerned, "up to and including not taking care of yourself." She had always felt at ease around him, because he always allowed her to speak her mind on all subjects.

"Okay, Doctor Williams, just for you, I'll try to take better care of myself," Mike replied as he walked with her back to Jasper's office. When they reached his office, he opened the door for her. "Jasper, can you take this mad doctor off my hands for a while. She just told me I don't work hard enough, so I've got to get back to work," he said with a wry smile.

Deana gave him a look of mock hurt and surprise. Jasper caught on to the act and told his boss, "Sure, you want me to haul her off to the cells to let her cool her heels off?" He said as he played along with the joke.

Mike's face broke out into a smile when he saw Deana's fake expression of surprise. "Nah, just take her out to lunch. That should convince her that I let my staff relax at times."

With that, they all broke out into laughter as Mike went back to his office and as Jasper escorted Deana out of the building to take her to lunch.

*****

It was 9 AM when Dan woke up to the smell of fresh brewed coffee. The jet lag had finally caught up with him and his hosts had allowed him to get his needed sleep. He was temporarily confused as to where he was when he first woke up. But he quickly adjusted. After a shower he dressed into some lightweight clothes and joined his hosts in the kitchen.

When Deloris saw Dan enter the kitchen she reached into the cupboard for a cup and filled it with some fresh brewed coffee. "Good morning Dan," she said with a smile as she handed him the cup. "Would you like some eggs and bacon for breakfast?"

Dan sat down on the stool as he took a sip of the coffee. "Hmm, that sounds good," he answered her.

"Help yourself to some fresh pineapple juice Danny. How would you like your eggs?" she asked him as she walked over to the refrigerator to get the eggs.

"Mahalo. Over easy is fine with me Deloris," Dan replied with a yawn. "Embarrassed for the yawn he apologized as he stood up to pick up a glass located near the pitcher of juice. After he poured himself some, he settled back down on the stool.

"I thought we could do some investigating of our own today," Duke said as he finished up his own breakfast and carried his plate over to the sink.

Dan had just taken a bite of one of the eggs and had to swallow before he could say anything. "You have an idea of where to look?" he asked.

"I called Mike this morning. And something he said gave me the idea to check the docks somewhere near the warehouses," Duke replied. His determination not to just wait around the house while Five-0 did all the work was quite evident in his voice.

"Umm. What piers?" Dan asked between bites.

"Mark, the FBI representative, came up with some information on the company that had been the employer of the guy who rented the car," Duke said as he relayed the information about the company to Dan.

"What makes you think we'll find something there that the others haven't?" Dan asked between mouthfuls.

"I don't know if we'll find anything, but it won't hurt to look. Besides, I'm not crazy about how little my son is allowing us to help," Duke explained while he poured himself another cup of coffee. "He told me that the team had another meeting this morning and that the lab finally matched the odd shoe print. Apparently it did come from China."

Dan took his last bite of bacon and washed it down with the last of the pineapple juice. "And naturally, they can't identify what store where the shoe was purchased," he said disgustedly but with renewed hope that finally they had a lead.

"Yeah. They’ve also finally figured out what drug had been used on Steve," Duke told him.

"It sounds like they've got quite a lot of information so far. Why don't they just go to that warehouse and tear it apart?" Dan suggested with a ‘that’s what I’d do’ tone.

Duke shook his head negatively before he spoke. "You know the procedure, Dan. Besides, they don't really have any proof that Steve's in one of those warehouses," he said sympathetically. Duke knew his son would love to tear the warehouses apart but couldn't do so without absolute proof that Steve was in there. So for now his hands were tied legally.

*****

Duke parked his car up along side one of the warehouses at the head of the long pier. Once out of the car, the two retired detectives walked over to their new escorts who had just parked their cruisers up behind them. "Dan and I are going to take a walk around this pier," he told the officers. "When we’re at the end, you should be able to see us."

"Okay Mr. Lukela. But I think we should follow you though," Officer Stan Jewell said as he held up his hand to shield his eyes from the morning sun. "Mike did instruct us to keep an eye on both of you."

"I know," Duke replied, "but we don’t want to draw any unnecessary attention to us as we are walking. If someone should see you following us, they might get wise to what we’re trying to do."

Dan had kept quiet during this conversation but then his eyes sparkled when he got an idea. "What if one of you drove around the pier just as we got to the end of the pier? That way it will look like you’re just making your normal rounds," he suggested.

Officers’ Stan Jewell and Carl Yarber looked at each other briefly and nodded to each other in agreement to the plan. "That would work. One of us can drive the same way around the building and pass you both at the end of the pier. That way, both sides of the pier can be watched," Yarber suggested.

With that problem settled, both Dan and Duke began their walk along the long road of the pier. They wanted it to appear as though they were merely interested in the sights. When they reached the end, they followed the road around the warehouse and continued back to their car.

As they walked Dan, the closest to the edge of pier's lip, happened to look down at the water. At first, he wasn't sure what he saw, so he stopped to take another look. He walked a little further down so he could see the object in the water a little better. Just as he stopped, a wave pushed the object a little further away from the pilings. "Duke! Come here quick!" he yelled and waved excitedly to his friend.

Duke had continued down the road and hadn't realized Dan had stopped until he heard him call his name. Quickly, he ran back over to Dan's side and looked to where his friend pointed. There in the water was a body of a man, floating face down. "Keep an eye on him Dan. I'm going for help," he said, as he looked around for one of the HPD officers before he decided that his car was the closest to them.

Duke ran back to his car where he flagged down one of the officers who were at the entrance of the pier. When he reached the officer he said, "Dan and I found a body floating under the eastern side of the pier and we're pretty sure that he's dead."

Quickly Jewell reached over and grabbed his microphone. "This is One Delta 9 calling Central Dispatch, Jewell calling Dispatch," the officer said as he spoke into the microphone.

"This is Dispatch. Go ahead One Delta 9," the voice of the dispatcher said.

"I need some backup at my location, send the Fire Department and a meat wagon sent to the east side of the Pier 217. We have a floater in the water," Jewell informed the dispatch operator.

"Ten-four," the dispatcher replied and immediately contacted the requested people.

"They’re going to send another HPD unit and the fire department. They’ll meet us at the site," Officer Jewell told Duke just as Officer Yarber parked his cruiser up next to them.

"I heard your call. What’s up?" Yarber asked after he walked over to the two men.

"Looks like Williams and Lukela here found a floater," Jewell informed his partner with a tone of voice that didn’t sound like he was too happy to be shackled with guard duty.

Disgruntled at the officer’s attitude, Duke quickly walked back to his car. "Look! I'm going back to where my friend is. I’ll meet you two there," Duke sternly told the officer as he got in, started the engine and quickly drove away before the officers could react. Officer Jewell’s lack of concern annoyed him and he needed a chance to regain control of his emotions.

When he reached the other side of the warehouse, he parked his car close to the side of the building and walked over to Dan. Almost immediately, Jewell and Yarber parked their cruisers behind him. There, the four of them kept an eye on the body until the backup arrived.

Five minutes later the Fire Department rescue unit and two additional HPD cruisers arrived on the scene. Fire Chief Captain Omanu instructed one of his men to go into the water and retrieve the body. After the ambulance arrived, it parked near the other vehicles. Quickly, the EMT’s checked the body for any signs of life, but found none.

One of the officers searched the body for any kind of identification without success. "Looks like another John Doe," he commented with a shake of his head.

The former Five-0 detectives had kept silent as they watched the EMT’s gently place the body into a body bag, zip is closed and strap it to the gurney. With the body secured in the back, the ambulance silently headed for the morgue at Queen’s Hospital.

The former detectives and their assigned bodyguards watched as the fire truck departed. After the other HPD officers had taken their statements, they walked back to Duke’s car.

"We’ll be right behind you," Yarber said as he gave his partner a look that told him he also disapproved of the man's attitude.

Neither Dan nor Duke spoke too much as they drove. But they were immensely relieved that the body they had found wasn’t McGarrett’s. What did bother them the most was that the man had died of an apparent broken neck, which suggested that he was dead before he hit the water.

*****

"Good evening Tilda," Duke said as Dan and he walked into the Five-0 office shortly after 6 PM.

Tilda smiled at first when she saw her two friends then she realized the time. "Hey, you two are early. The meeting doesn’t start until seven."

"Yeah, we know but we want to talk to Mike before the meeting starts," Dan told her with a smile and a wink.

"Oh, okay, hold on while I tell him you’re here then," she replied as she rang Mike’s office.

Mike was at the board, looking over what little information they had. He glanced frequently at the sheets of information he held in his hands as he tried to see if any common link was there that they might have missed. Exasperation was starting to set in when the phone rang and interrupted his train of thought. Not bothering to pick up the receiver, he depressed the intercom button. "Lukela."

"Hi Mike. Danny and your dad are here. They’d like to talk to you before the meeting," Tilda informed her boss.

She heard a tired sigh escape from the other end of the line before he responded back to her. "Okay, have them come on in," Mike told her before he walked over to the door to meet them.

Tilda looked up at the two men after she hung up. "Mike said to go on in."

"Mahalo, Tilda," Dan said as the two men started down the hall to the double set of doors.

Mike’s timing was perfect for just as the two men reached the doors to his office he opened the door to admit them. "Hi Dad, Danny. Come on in," and escorted them back to his desk. "Tilda said you wanted to talk to me. What’s up?" he asked as he took a seat in his chair.

"Yes son. Dan and I did some of our own investigating today over at Pier 217. As we were walking down the pier behind the TWIS warehouse, Dan happened to look over the edge and saw a body floating in the water below," informed Duke as he started the discussion.

Mike’s tired expression turned to one of interest at this bit of information. "I had heard you had discovered a floater."

"Yeah, an elderly man and apparently he was dead before he ended up in the bay. The EMT told us that his neck was broken," Dan reported.

"Um!" Mike grunted and pursed his lips at the thought. "You said this was behind the warehouse. Directly behind it?" he asked as he thought of Jeremy’s witness. Jeremy didn’t say where he would meet his informant wasn't known if this was the same person or not.

"No, not exactly directly behind it," Duke told his son as he described the location. "TWIS is at the end of the pier on the west side. This was on east side of the pier almost in the middle of the second section of warehouses."

"Pier 217 has three sections of warehouses, Mike," Dan added.

"Right," Mike put in. "There are roadways separating each of the sections," he said as he started to jot down notes.

"That’s correct son." Duke said. "We were almost near the first roadway between the first two sections," then turned to Dan. "Do you remember the name of the company we were in front of?"

"Tide Zone Shipping," Dan replied after he had removed his note pad and looked at his notes from that morning.

Mike smiled when he saw the retired detective refer to his note pad. "Old habits are hard to break, aren’t they?" he commented with a light tone of voice as he nodded his head toward the pad that Dan had just put back into his pocket of his shirt.

Dan looked at him with a raised eyebrow, not sure what he meant. Suddenly it dawned on him what the younger man had said. "Oh. Yeah," the former detective lightly laughed, "I never really stopped and thought about it much. I guess you’re right, old habits ‘are’ hard to break."

By 7 PM everyone had assembled for that evening’s meeting. Tim and Deana started it off as they explained about the previously unknown brand type of shoe and that it did indeed come from China.

"So this confirms our suspicion that it was someone from China was one of the kidnappers," Ben, Jr. said hopefully as he wanted this to be a lead to the wearer.

"No, unfortunately, it only means that the shoe came from China," Deana stated. "What we need to remember is that this person may been a tourist and bought the shoes in China. We have not way of knowing if this person was from China, but we're not throwing that probability out entirely."

"We can tell you that the wearer of this shoe was fairly tall, maybe six foot or better and weighed about one hundred eighty pounds or more," Tim added as he referred to his fact sheets he had in front of him. "From the prints, I’d say his was left handed because the impressions from the left foot were deeper than the right."

"Speaking of shoes, what about the meeting you had with ‘Shoes’?" Mike said as he turned to Jeremy. He hoped this witness would have something they could use in this case.

Jeremy ruefully shifted his position in his chair. He was on edge because of his failure to meet with his informant. "Ah, the meeting didn't happen," his tone clearly indicated his disappointment. "Shoes wasn't there like he said. I've had an APB put out for him, but so far HPD hasn't been able to find him."

"Sounds typical," Jasper said sarcastically. Ever since he had started with Five-0, he didn't have a high opinion of HPD. "Obviously, HPD isn’t leaning hard enough on some of their snitches."

"And just what are you implying, Jasper, that our department doesn’t put in as much effort on this case as the great Five-0?" Sandy said in defense of her group. "I’ll have you know we’re doing every thing we can, and then some, to find Shoes and that car. I don’t see you and any of your team out there twenty-four hours a day."

"I didn’t say you’re not looking," Jasper said heatedly, as he leaned back in his chair, rubbed his eyes and stretched a bit. He was tired and his brain just didn’t want to work anymore that night. "But I do think that you could lean on your informants more."

Mike was looking at the board at this time. He had studied this board so much that he had it memorized. Whenever he closed his eyes, even a moment, he saw the board with all the information they had so far. Frustrated by the lack of new leads, he knew the investigation was at a stand still. So deeply concerned with this snag his train of thought was broken when he heard argument start. Hearing the heated words, he turned around and faced the group. As he looked at each team member, he knew that they were tired and exhausted, just like himself, but he also knew they couldn’t waste their time arguing like this.

Everyone had started to argue about what information they did have and started to point fingers at each other. A few of them felt that the others hadn't done enough, that they should have gotten more information from their snitches.

"Stop it." Mike said harshly to the group but meant his words for mainly Jasper and Sandy. "Arguing like this isn’t going to get us anywhere. HPD has been working just as hard as we have on this Jasper. It only seems like their not because they have all of HPD working on it where we only have a few."

"What did your informant look like?" Dan asked as he thought of the body that Duke and he had found earlier. When Jeremy described what Shoes looked like, both Duke and Dan looked at each other in shock.

"I think Dan and I might know why Shoes didn’t meet you today," Duke said. " We found a body floating in the water under the pier this morning that fits that description. The body was taken to the morgue at Queen’s Hospital."

Jeremy’s face paled at as he listened. He quickly wrote down the information and then excused himself from the meeting to call the morgue.

Stunned by this development, Mike didn’t saying anything as he turned back around, walked over to the lanai doors, and leaned against its framework. A tear trickled down his cheek at the thought about the death of the only person who might have information as to McGarrett’s whereabouts. ‘What type of fiend are we dealing with here? Here was an innocent person trying to do what was right and it cost him his life by trying to help us,’ he despondently thought to himself. He didn’t know this person, but his untimely death touched the Five-0 chief deeply.

The previous heated argument was totally forgotten as each team member dealt with this sad piece of information. Information that could have broken this case wide open had now been lost if this person was in deed Jeremy’s informant. Each person there privately vowed to make those responsible for Shoe’s death pay fully for their horrible deed.

Finally composed enough to deal with what had just transpired Mike glanced at his watch and realized how late it was. He then turned his attention back to the table at where he saw the weary faces of his team. From their looks he conceded that they needed to get some rest as this investigation had taken a lot out of everyone.

"Look, it’s almost midnight," he said as he walked back over to the table. "We’ve been at this now for sixty-four hours straight. Everyone, go home and get some rest. And we'll attack this again in the morning. Then I'll want everyone to hit the streets again and question your snitches, lean on them hard if you have to, but we need some answers."

Dan and Duke chose to remain in Mike’s office as the rest of the team filed out of the room. Before Deana left she came over and gave her father a hug. "Don’t stay too much longer Dad, you look totally beat," she told him.

"Don’t worry, Honey. I just want to talk with Mike a little more before we leave," Dan said with a tired smile on his face.

"I’ll make sure he gets some rest Deana," Duke informed her. He knew how worried and concerned she was on how her father was dealing with this case. Her busy lifestyle didn’t leave her much time to visit with him since his arrival.

"I’m going to hold you to that promise Uncle Duke," Deana told him with a friendly smile as she gave him a hug and a kiss on his cheek in appreciation of his watching over her father’s welfare.

Before Deana left, she looked over at Mike and gave him a wink, waved her hand goodbye and headed for the door.

Dan waved back to her with a smile. But the smile was only on his face a moment before his expression changed to one of frustration. For some reason, he didn’t feel like he could trust the information the CIA had given to Mark. ‘Something is missing. The answers are just to pat, to concise. There has to be more,’ he though silently to himself as he walked over to the information board. ‘The lead is there. But what is it?’ he mused carefully looking over the posted facts.

Duke stepped over to Dan when he noticed his friend going over the information again. "Something wrong Danny?" he asked.

"I don’t know Duke. My gut says we’ve missed something important about this company," Dan told him without taking his eyes off the board.

"I can’t think of anything Dan, the company's been checked out, top and bottom," Duke said as he walked over to the board and began to look at it himself. "Even the CIA didn’t find anything out of line."

Mike had stepped over to his lanai doors for some fresh air. The mild tropical breezes blowing in from the bay had a heady mixture of plumeria blooms and a touch of saltiness to it. Although the temperature was a bit on the cool side for that time of year, it was a pleasant relief from the extreme heat of the previous day.

Having heard Danny’s reference to his ‘gut instinct’, Mike turned his head as he silently watched the two older men. "What makes you feel that way Danny?" he asked as he leaned against the doorframe once more.

"I’m not sure Mike, but something just doesn’t sit right with me," Dan replied squinting his tired eyes some more as he tried to make sense of the different forms he was studying. He reached up under his glasses and lightly rubbing and massaging his eyes. A yawn escaped him as he continued to rub them, feeling the grittiness in them.

"Why don’t you two call it quits for the night," Mike suggested stretching his body to its full height. He too was tired and wanted to go home. ‘Rest,’ he despondently sighed to himself, ‘That will be something I won’t get until we’ve found McGarrett, alive or dead.’

Duke glanced over to his son. He could see in his son's face how tired he was. "You look beat yourself son," he commented. ‘He’s just like Steve was. He’ll push himself to an early grave if he keeps this up,’ he mentally reflected to himself, his fatherly concern budding to the surface.

Mike looked at his father and smiled, "I am, Dad. I’ll be going home myself shortly. First, I want to meet with the Governor. He told me he would be working late tonight himself and would be available if I needed him. I want to go ahead and get the Coast Guard and Navy involved right now. Their assistance would help us out a lot right now."

"That would be a big help," Duke said as he nodded in agreement. "Every extra pair of eyes could make a big difference."

"I’m hoping they will. Unfortunately I’m afraid Steve might be quickly running out of time," Mike said as he walked around his desk to join his father and Dan at the board and escorted them to the reception area. "You two try to get some sleep. We’ll tackle this some more tomorrow morning." And opened the door so his guests could leave.

Duke wished his son goodnight as he and Dan left.

Mike lingered at the office doors as he watched the men walk down the hall to the elevators. Just before they entered the lift, he waved goodbye. With a sigh he closed the door and walked back to his office.

*****

As soon as Jeremy got to his office, he called Katie Williams, the chief mortician at Queen’s Hospital. "She must be working on Shoes," he said to himself.

Jeremy had known Katie Williams ever since she started to date Daniel Williams, Jr. He was one of men who had stood next to Daniel in the wedding, standing next to Steve McGarrett, who was the best man.

During the beginning of the new couples’ marriage, Katie had to split her time between continuing her medical training and being wife and mother to two adorable children, Kyle Steven, who is now six and Catharine Alexis, who had just turned four. The demands of her family, almost made her leave college, but after a lengthy talk with Dan Williams, she decided to pursue a career in pathology. Her efforts and some family sacrifices were finally rewarded when the position to head the Pathology Labs at Queen’s Hospital was offered to her. Now through the combined efforts of herself, her adopted Uncle Kono Kalakaua and Steve McGarrett, the Pathology lab worked even closer with Five-0 on many of their cases.

Most of the autopsies were performed during the normal business hours, but due to a temporary personnel shortage the needed chores of pathology were slightly backlogged that day. Having already allowed her afternoon staff to leave, Katie had taken on the chore of one last patient.

"Case number 154972a, Caucasian male who looks to be in his mid-fifties. He is clean-shaven with no visible marks or tattoos. He is five foot nine inches and weighs one hundred forty-two pounds with short gray hair and brown eyes. From my preliminary exam, he has a broken neck approximate at the second and third vertebrae," Katie said loud enough so the microphone could hear her. "There is also an area of hematoma measuring approximately 6.5 centimeters by 8.75 centimeters noted to the right proximal clavicle. This was most likely caused by blunt trauma."

She stopped her verbal notes as she proceeded to eviscerate the body. She examined the lungs carefully, but other then for obvious signs of years of smoking, the lungs were ok, free from any signs of fluid. She placed the lobs in a dish for further examination later and continued her dissection. "From my brief examination of his lung, I could find no fluid in his lungs, so it suggests that he was dead before he entered the water. The heart and other appear to be normal," she stated as she finished her recovery of different specimens for study. With the dismal task done, she began to place the removed items in special jars. That’s when the phone rang. Hurriedly she wiped her hands before she reached to answer the phone. "Morgue, Katie speaking," she said into the receiver.

"Good evening Katie. I see you’re putting in some late hours too," Jeremy said as he stifled a yawn.

"Oh! Hi, Jeremy," Katie answered with a smile in her voice. "I hear Five-0 hasn’t found any leads on Steve’s kidnappers yet." She was aware of the investigation because Dan had called Daniel each day so far to keep him informed on what had happened thus far.

"Yeah, and it looks like one of my leads might be on one of your tables down there," Jeremy told her.

Katie found the comment rather puzzling. "What do you mean, on one of my tables?"

"Dan and Duke told us at the meeting tonight that they found an unidentified man floating beneath the pier near one of the warehouses that might be involved in the case," he told her.

"Oh! Really!" Katie exclaimed. "Yes, we did get a John Doe in today. He’s got a broken neck and was found floating in the bay beneath a pier. Maybe this is the person you’re looking for. Can you describe him to me?" she asked the detective.

Jeremy described to her what Shoes looked like as best he could based on the last time he saw him. "He's about 55 years old; height is five nine and about one hundred forty pounds. He has short gray hair, brown eyes, no beard or mustache and he usually wears mismatched shoes."

As Katie listened to the description, she realized she had seen a 'client' that looked like that. "As a matter of fact," She replied, "I've got a John Doe that looks like that. Could you come down and make a visual ID for me?"

Jeremy leaned back in his chair and wearily rubbed his face with his hand. ‘That explains why Shoes hadn’t met me today as arranged,’ he thought miserably. "Sure Katie." His voice was clearly less than enthusiastic. Trips to the morgue weren’t at the top of his list of most favorite things to do, but he knew he had to go. He felt he owed it to Shoe in some way, after all this might not have happened if he hadn’t pressured Shoes some in telling him about what he had seen. "Are you going to be there for awhile yet?" he asked.

"Yeah. It looks like I’m going to be here for a while yet," Katie told him. "I want to finish up the paperwork on this John Doe tonight, if I can."

"Okay, Katie. Then I’ll see you in about an hour," Jeremy said as he closed the folder on Shoes he had lying open on his desk. "I’ve got to talk to Mike first before I come down. Aloha," he said as he hung up the receiver.

He sat quietly for a moment and stared at the phone trying to control his emotions. He felt bad about Shoes' death. ‘Could he have prevented it?’ he asked himself. Shoes chose the life he led and agreed to be an informant for him and knew the risk. Sure, he didn’t know the man well, but he cared about the contacts he had on the street. He didn't have an easy life lately, but the man didn’t deserve the type of death he had either. Jeremy silently vowed to catch Shoes’ killer and after he had regained his composure, he got up and went to Mike’s office.

Jeremy found Mike’s door open when he walked down the hall. When he saw Mike seated at his desk, he knocked lightly on the door before he entered the office.

Mike looked up from his work at the noise and saw Jeremy enter the office. "Jeremy," he said as he leaned back in his chair, "I thought you had gone home already."

"I was following up on the floater that Dan and Duke found this morning," Jeremy answered as he walked in and sat heavily in one of the chairs in front of Mike’s desk. "I’ve got a strong feeling that floater might be my informant, Shoes."

Mike could see that his associate was upset so he didn’t say anything right away. He watched Jeremy for a bit and waited for him to continue, but when he didn’t he asked, "Are you going to the morgue to check it out then?"

Jeremy's face was obviously long as he sat there looking at the floor. He wasn't sure why he upset like this over this obvious murder. He sighed before he answered, "Uh, yeah. I guess so. I’ve already called the morgue. Katie told me they got a John Doe in today that sort of fits Shoes' description. I was going over there to confirm if it was him before I went home."

Mike stood and walked around to his desk and sat on the corner of his desk when he saw how troubled his detective was by this death. He waited a few more minutes for Jeremy to deal with his emotions before he spoke. "Jeremy," he said, "you don’t know yet if it is Shoes. If it is, you could not have foreseen this. Unfortunately, death is a part of our job, and God knows you have seen your share. Our job now is to find out who killed Shoes and to bring that person to justice."

Mike rested his hands on his right thigh as he paused to allow Jeremy to consider what he had said. His hoped his words didn’t sound like empty gestures as he thought back to when McGarrett had a similar conversation with him.

A despondent sigh escaped from Jeremy he rose from the chair. "Yeah, you’re right," he admitted. "I guess I just am kicking myself for not being there for Shoes when he needed help."

Mike put his hand on Jeremy’s shoulder as they walked to the door. "Check with Katie and if her John Doe is Shoes, call me and let me know. We won’t let this one fall to the wayside Jeremy, I promise. We’ll find out who did this and bring them in," he said earnestly.

"Okay Mike. Thanks," Jeremy replied as he left Mike at his office door and walked back up the hall, his head down in despair.

Mike watched Jeremy while he walked away. He stood there for a moment with his hands on his hips, emitted a sigh and slowly shook his head. "Sometimes this job can be the pits," he said to himself as he turned and walked back into his office.

*****

It was almost 2 AM when Duke finally parked his car in his driveway. He and Dan waved to the officers as they walked slowly up to the house, worn out emotionally and physically from the strain of the last two days.

Worried about both of her men, Deloris had again decided to stay up and wait for them. When she heard their car drive up, she laid down her book she had been reading and went to the door. It had been a long time since either of them had worked so hard and she could see how tired they were.

"Still no word Duke?" she asked, her voice filled with worry and concern.

"No, Honey," Duke replied sadly, "but I’m sure we’ll be getting a break soon. I’m just hoping that it’ll be soon enough." Not wanting to upset her any more he didn’t tell her about the dead body they found earlier in the day. "We think we have some information about a person who is or was working for a company here in Honolulu."

He noticed that Dan had walked out onto the lanai and stood at the railing looking out at the dark star-filled Hawaiian night sky. Quietly he joined his friend and both men contemplated if they would ever see Steve alive again.

‘Steve, just hold on,’ Duke thought to himself. ‘We’ll find you somehow. Just hold on. You did it in Korea, you can do it now.’ His mind flashed back to another dark night years before when they both were POW’s during the Korean War. He remembered how McGarrett, as their commander, had taken the brunt of their punishments when their captors repeatedly beat and tortured him because he wouldn’t break, wouldn’t give them the information they wanted.

Several minutes had gone by with neither man saying anything. Deep in thought, Duke didn’t realize Dan had left until he heard the sliding glass door open. His eyebrows rose surprise when he saw Dan bring out the updated files from that night’s meeting. "What do you have there Danny?" he asked as he walked over to the small wicker table now covered with the various papers.

"You know Duke," he said, "I've never trusted anyone who worked for the FBI. Let's go back over the files again." He was far too wound up to even think of sleep and positive the information was there, they just hadn’t found it yet.

Duke looked his friend before he sat down. "Okay Dan," he replied wearily as he started to go back over the files. "If you really think it will help." He didn’t think they’d really find anything, but he knew it couldn’t hurt to give the files a second look.

Deloris brought them out some chilled fruit juice as a refreshment. Instead of retreating into the house she brought over a chair and joined them thinking that perhaps they could bounce ideas off her. Curiosity made her thumb through the forms. That’s when she noticed something seemed out of place to her. "Duke," she said as she reviewed the form, "this form doesn't show the name of the parent company in China. It only shows the name of the company here in Hawaii and when it was started." Before she retired, she had worked for the City of Honolulu in the business-licensing department and was still familiar with many of the forms they used.

Duke looked over at his wife, "Where are you looking at Deloris?" He then stood and walked over to her chair to look over her shoulder to see what she had found.

"Here," she said pointing to the line item on the form. "See, it doesn't mention anything about the parent company, only that they started here in Honolulu in 1988. I thought they still had to disclose that kind of information before they could set up a business here."

Dan stood and looked over Duke's shoulder the new information. Deloris handed the form to her husband so both the men could see it better. Sure enough, the information about the parent company was missing.

"I believe they still do," Duke commented as he walked inside to use the phone. "Hold on, I'll call Michael." Dan followed him to the door so he could listen to what Duke was going to say to Mike.

Deloris turned in her chair to watch her husband and Dan. She saw her husband dial the well-known number and then smile back to him as he waited for someone to answer.

HPD had always handled the late evening, weekend or holiday calls but one of the changes Mike made was to hire a small staff of people to handle those calls now. Each person on the staff was familiar with the families of the Five-0 office. So when Marge Rand answered the call, "Hawaii Five-0", she knew by the voice who the caller was before they identified themselves.

"Hi Marge. This is Duke Lukela. I need to speak to my son Mike please. Is he’s still there?" Duke told her. His eyes sparkled at the thought that what they had found could be the break they had been looking for.

"I'm sorry Mr. Lukela," she told him, "he's in a late meeting with the Governor right now."

"Can you transfer my call over to him? It's urgent," Duke's voice was insistent as he watched his wife walk over to him. Putting his arm around her, he gave her a light squeeze as he smiled and winked at her.

"Sure, hold on," Marge replied as she put his call on hold and dialed the Governor's office. "Hi Paige. Hey, I've got Mr. Lukela on the line and he says it's urgent that he talks to Mike. Can you connect me?"

"No problem. I think they’re done anyway. Hold on," Paige answered putting Marge on hold and dialed the Governor’s number.

"Yes, Paige?" Governor Hayward answered when he picked up the receiver.

"I’ve got Marge from the Five-0 answering service on the line," Paige informed him. "She says she has an urgent call for Mike. It's his father."

Governor Hayward raised his eyebrows in surprise as he looked up at Mike. "Sure, hold on," he replied as he held out the receiver for Mike. "It’s Marge, from your answering service. She has your father on the line and he’s saying it’s urgent that he talk to you."

Mike stood and took the receiver from the Governor. He mouthed a thank you to him before he spoke. "Yes, Marge. Go ahead and put my dad on the line."

Marge asked Mike to wait a moment while she pushed the necessary buttons on her switchboard that transferred Duke's call to his son.

"Hi Mike. I hate to call you like this but Mother found something that might be important about the TWIS company," Duke said as he went on to explain what had been found. He pointed out the information not shown on several line items on the forms about the company. He suggested that they come to his office to talk about it. As Duke briefed his son about the missing information on some of the forms, he gave Deloris another hug and smiled at both Dan and his wife.

A big smile grew on Dan's face as he listened to Duke. ‘Finally a break in this case that might lead us somewhere,’ he thought as he winked at Deloris, who smiled and winked back to him.

"Okay, Dad," Mike said as he looked at his watch, "I’m almost done here. I’ll meet you, say in an hour?"

"Okay, we’ll be there. See you then Son," Duke replied and hung up the phone. He looked at his wife who he still held in his arms and smiled giving her another hug. "Honey, you’ll need to come with us. Your knowledge of these forms could be important."

"Sure," she replied, "but I don’t know how much I can be of help. It’s been years since I last had to deal with these types of forms, you know."

"Well, you’ve caught something that at least fifteen other people have missed." Dan was obviously pleased with the discovery. "Duke, you didn’t tell me your wife was such a good detective."

"I should be," she commented as she gave her husband a hug of her own. "What, with raising three kids and spoiling seven grandkids, you better believe I’ve learned how to be a good detective. Besides, I’ve had the best teacher around."

"We better get going if we’re going to meet Michael," Duke said as he walked with his wife to the door. Dan followed them as they left the house.

*****

The box had become very stuffy and hot as Honolulu went through an unusual heat wave. With the warehouse doors closed, the interior became even more stifling. "Damn it’s starting to get really hot in here," McGarrett said as he wiped his brow. He was growing concerned now as he could feel himself becoming weaker. ‘But I can deal with this. This is no worse then Korea was, better in fact because I’m not being beaten,’ he thought as he laid back to spare what energy he could, but when he shifted himself backwards he felt one of the sores on his back open up a little.

Ignoring the discomfort as best as he could, he thought back to when he had been a prisoner of war in Korea. ‘They had tried to break me back then when they had me locked up for two days without any food or water in that God awful metal box. The heat and humidity in that part of Korea was far worse than it is now,’ he reminded himself as if to urge himself to keep going. ‘If I could survived that, I know I can survive this.’

Noises that became normal within the warehouse sounded close to his container on several occasions. Each time he would call out as loud as he could, but no one answered his pleas for help.

Time had slipped past him quickly as he sat there. In the distance he heard a soft click just before his immediate world went black. Carefully he laid down to sleep, but his sleep was repeatedly disturbed by the reoccurring nightmares of years past when he had been a POW. The voices and images that invaded his sleep were just as clear as if it was yesterday.

"Commander McGarrett, you must know that we will win," a voice from outside of the box said. "Make it easy on your self. Give us the information we want and we will make sure you and your men will be treated better. If you do not, we can make it much worse for you."

"Go to hell," McGarrett told his captors defiantly.

"Now, now. That is no way to talk. Here I’m trying to offer you a way out of this situation and all you can do is yell at me. Tsk, Tsk," the voice again said. "Maybe another day in the box will change your mind. Good day Commander McGarrett," he said as he left, hitting the side of the metal box hard with the whip he held in his hand.

McGarrett cringed and covered his ears from the painful noise. This movement thought proved to be very counter productive as he cased him to move back and when he did his back touched the hot metal. With his ears still ringing and his back hurting like fire from the beatings received the day before, it was very clear to him that his captors had no intentions of honoring the rules of the Geneva Convention on the treatment of prisoners of war.

It appeared like Lady Luck had deserted McGarrett and his crew the day his plane was shot down. Of the four-crew members, one man was killed upon impact. The rest had received various injuries, ranging from minor bumps and bruises for himself to Sergeant Paul Davison’s badly broken leg and severe concussion. With the aid of Lieutenant Duke Lukela and himself, the three men avoided capture for four long days. It was when they stopped to allow Davison time to rest that they were finally captured.

Their captors marched them for over six hours to a North Korean base camp. Once there, they were taken by truck to a prison camp that was well behind the battle lines. Upon arrival, a Korean doctor tended to the new prisoner but all he did was put on a rough splint on Davidson’s leg, and ignored his other wounds. This lack of medical attention caused both McGarrett and Lukela to try to attend to their friend’s wounds as best they could. Unfortunately, the severity of Davidson’s wounds caused him to frequently slipped in and out of consciousness. Both men went so far as to share the small amount of water given to them when he did come to because their captors had only provided enough for the two of them. They didn’t see the need to supply water to a prisoner who wasn’t able to drink it.

Several times a day they were escorted out of their cell and heavily interrogated. The methods their captors used started off easy enough but as time went on, they became crueler in their methods of interrogations. On the third day their inquisitors realized that their prisoners weren’t about to break and that’s when the beatings began in earnest.

McGarrett took every advantage, every moment that he could to work on the ropes that bound his wrists behind his back. With the combination of sweat and blood, he had managed to loosen his bindings some. He almost had the knot loosen when he watched in horror as they started to beat Sergeant Davidson, who lay unconscious on the floor in front of him. With a final tug at the knot, he freed himself and attacked the North Korean nearest him.

McGarrett emitted a threatening growl as he attacked. Spurred on by his anger and the desperation to help Davidson, he hit the Korean guard in the back of the neck with the side of his hand with such a force that he heard it break. Even in his weakened condition, he gave a good account for himself, for he wasn’t about to stand by and watch this inhumanity being done. With the odds stacked against him, seven against one, he knew he didn’t really have much of a chance.

It was when McGarrett tripped over Davidson’s legs and fell to the floor, that two of the guards were able to grab him from behind. Each man firmly took hold of one of his arms and viciously forced them behind his back. With his arms secured, they half-dragged and half lifted him to his feet. Still in a fighting mode, he tried several times to kick at anyone who tried to approach him from the front, but each time he did that each guard would increase the pressure to his arms.

Trying not to cry out from the pain, McGarrett gritted his teeth and growled some more, letting forth a volley of curses. As his captors sought to control him, they forced him against the wall of his cell where one of them successful avoided his flying feet as he slugged him in the stomach several times. When the guard stopped punching him, he slumped to his knees clutching his stomach moaning in pain.

Located in the middle of the camp were five small boxes, whose metal sides and top were coated with rust from constant exposure to the rain and sun. The metal on these ‘hot boxes’, as they were called, could get hot enough to seriously burn a person’s flesh if it made prolong contact with it. These boxes were where they put any prisoner that wouldn’t cooperative. Standing to one side of his beaten prisoner, the lead guard ordered McGarrett’s tattered shirt to be removed before he was dragged outside and placed into the middle box. Thrown roughly into the box, McGarrett let out a cry of pain when his bruised and beaten body made contact hot metal. Once their prisoner was deposited inside it, the guard slammed the lid down with a sadistic smile on his face.

McGarrett was abruptly awakened from the nightmare when the big doors were opened. As the scraping metal noise continued he wearily rubbed his face with his hand. He wasn’t sure if he was relieved to be awakened from his past nightmare only to be faced with his present one. He looked at his hand and noticed the amount of sweat on it. As he rubbed his wet fingers together he wondered how much time he had before he would pass out from lack of fluids.

*****

When Duke, Dan and Deloris entered Mike’s office they were surprised to see the whole Five-0 team including the Governor. Mike had called them immediately after he spoke with his dad regarding the new information he had.

"Good evening Governor," Dan said as he deposited his file on the table and extended his hand to shake hands. "I wasn’t expecting to see you and the others here."

Governor Hayward shook Dan's hand and smiled. "Good evening to you all. It’s nice to see you again Mr. Williams and you too Mr. Lukela. Mike had asked me to sit in on this meeting. He said you’ve found some possible important information on the case," he said as he extended his hand to Duke and noticed the woman who was standing next to Duke.

"Actually Governor, my wife Deloris is the one who found it," Duke replied as he turned to his wife and smiled with pride. He transferred his file to his other hand so he could shake the Governor’s hand and placed his arm around his wife’s shoulders. "Dan and I had been bouncing ideas off her tonight while we were going over the files again."

Deana walked up to Dan, gave him a hug, and kissed him on the cheek. "Hi Dad," she said. "That’s sort of like what you and Mom use to do, Dad."

Dan smiled a somber smile at that thought. He was pleased that his daughter had remembered how her mother, Kimberly, would go over a case with him. They did this many times when he would come home late and was too restless to sleep. Time and again she would let him bounce ideas off her or she would offer a suggestion that would cause him to look at a problem in a different light.

"Yes, Deana," Dan added with a smile and a wink just for her. "Like Mother and I use to do when I was working a case."

"I use to work in for the City of Honolulu in the business-licensing department before I retired." Deloris began, pride was quite evident in her voice, "and when Duke asked me to look at the file tonight, I saw that something was missing. You see these are some of the forms I used everyday."

Duke didn’t say anything while she spoke but his eyes clearly showed his deep love and pride for his wife.

"When my father called me he briefly explained that some important information was missing in their paperwork. So Mom, I’m going to need you to walk us through these forms and explain to us what you have found missing," Mike said as he motioned everyone to take a seat around the table.

Duke held out the chair for his wife and slid it under her as she sat down and took the chair next to her. They both looked at each other for a moment as he reached over and gave her hand a light squeeze as they exchanged smiles.

Deloris took the file folder from her husband, opened it up and removed one of the forms. She took them step-by-step over each of the forms needed and why that information was required. As they looked at their copies they saw what she was telling them. "So you can see that many of their employees are possibly here in the U.S. illegally."

The Governor's brow furrowed as he examined the form and thoughtfully rubbed his chin. "That’s assuming that they brought their employees with them when they first set up the company."

"True Governor, but the owner of the company doesn’t even have a copy of their own visa in the file," Deloris replied as she re-stacked her copies of her file, "and he or she isn’t a U.S. citizen either as far as I can see here."

"The FBI reports states that the company is owned by a Miss Song Tai Wo. We still don’t have very much information on her or her family," Mike stated. "All it says is that she came here about two years ago and set up the company. When we ran a simple credit and criminal check on her, it came up with nothing. Apparently she’s kept a very low profile since she arrived in Honolulu. Not even a parking ticket."

"We need more information on this Miss Song Tai Wo," Dan suggested just as an uneasy feeling came over him. He couldn't explain it but it was as if a shadow from the past knocked on his door as the hairs on the back of his neck had begun to stand on end.

Jeremy continued to study the file then looked at Mike. "Maybe we should stake out the company," he suggested. He had voiced his uneasiness about this company at the last meeting.

Jasper sat back in his chair and drummed his fingers on the table, a habit he had when he was thinking. "Wasn’t this Chi Ow Tong an employee of this company?"

"Yes, he was. Why?" Mike replied as he studied Jasper's face in an attempt to follow his thoughts relating to the missing information.

Jasper sat forward again as he answered Mike’s question with a one of his own. "Is this guy Chi Ow Tong a U.S. citizen or one that was brought over from China when the company came?"

Deana had taken the chair between her father and Jasper and had been watching him as she began to grasp the idea of where he was headed with his question. "The FBI file had him listed as a citizen of China," she stated as she looked back at Mike.

The rustle of papers filled the room as everyone went back over their files. Dan was the first to look up with a smile. ‘At last,’ he thought, ‘they had a good lead on this case.’ Now all they had to do is find this Mr. Tong and ask him some questions. "Why isn’t there a copy of his visa here?" he asked.

Mike rose from his chair and walked over to the board and stood there examining what he had posted there as he thought about the new information. ‘How come this information isn’t in files? And why do I feel like we’re getting very close to finding Steve?’ He turned back to the group and shook his right index finger of his hand lightly before he spoke. "Frankie, I want you contact Central Dispatch and have an APB put out for this Mr. Tong. I want him brought in for questioning."

Frankie acknowledged her boss's request, got up from her chair, and walked out the office to make the call. While she was gone he continued with the meeting. "How many warehouses do they have?" Mike asked as he leaned on the table with both hands and intently looked each person seated there.

Jasper was the first to answer. "I believe they have four in all, Mike," he replied as he flipped through his notebook looking for the page he had that written down. "Yes, they have four," he added when he found the page. "They are the last four buildings located at the end of Pier 217. Isn’t that near where you two found that body?" he asked as he turned towards Dan.

Deloris looked at her husband in surprise. "What body?"

Before Duke answered, he took his wife’s hand again and held it tenderly. This is something he had wanted to spare her and explained as best as he could. "Yesterday morning, while Dan and were walking along Pier 217, Dan happened to look over the side of the pier and caught a glimpse of a body floating in the water. The body turned out to be that of Jeremy’s snitch, Shoes."

"Oh my!" Deloris exclaimed in sorrow. "I’m so sorry to hear that Jeremy," she said remembering how her husband felt about his former informants.

Jeremy didn’t say any thing but looked down at the table with an unhappy expression before he looked up and gave her a halfhearted smile.

"What about a search warrant for the warehouses?" Suzie asked with zeal. Her own thoughts on this case were telling her to check out each and every idea even if it meant tearing apart a large warehouse.

‘From what I have been told, she’s a lot like her father was, wanting to jump on a case with everything she’s got,’ the Governor thought as he looked over at her and smiled. "Are you thinking of searching all them Miss Kelly?" the Governor asked pointedly. "What type of substantial proof do you have that Steve McGarrett is being held there? We can’t just go barging in without a valid reason. Being that TWIS is owned by a foreign company, it could start an international incident if we did."

"I guess you could call it a cop’s instinct, Governor," Suzie answered back a little more heatedly then she wanted. "We don’t have time, or I should say, that Steve ‘might’ not have the time to wait while someone decides that it would cause an international incident if we did," she shot back disliking how politics had now crept into this case.

*****

Kim Lu Yang had seen the madness in Song Tai Wo’s eyes when she shot and killed Tong in cold blood. Ever since that time he would shake in fear whenever she came near him. Later that same day, when he talked with Quon Lee and Peter Winn, he told them how he thought she had to be insane and that he didn’t trust her. But they assured him that as long as he obeyed her, he would have nothing to worry about. Positive his life was in danger, Yang decided from then on to carry his gun with him for protection.

Since coming to the Islands, Yang had learned of the freedoms offered in the United States. The treatment of employees in other companies was nothing like he had experienced in China or with TWIS. His plans were to somehow leave TWIS and seek refuge in the US and obtain his citizenship, gladly leaving behind all the harsh lifestyle of his homeland. From talking with other people, he now knew he was in the US illegally and if he were caught, he would be sent back to China, which was not a desirable option for him.

Wo Fat had raised his family with a mixture of the ‘old China’ and the ‘new China’ sense of order and values. To him, those who worked under him did so by giving him their total devotion and anyone who didn’t abide by his wishes or desires were either harshly dealt with or quickly eliminated. Having been raised with such attitudes and beliefs, Song Tai Wo expected the same from those under her.

Chi Ow Tong had been submissive to her when he first worked for her in China, but after he was brought over to Hawaii, his attitudes changed. He had started to become very belligerent towards her in the past several months and when she killed him she thought for sure the other men he had picked would no longer be a problem. Unfortunately this was proving not to be the case. Though they appeared to cower in her presence, she didn’t feel that they truly feared her enough.

Worried that they might leak to the law where her prisoner was, Song Tai Wo decided that these men now had to be eliminated quickly. "Chang!" she loudly said as she stepped into the livingroom of her luxurious home in Pearl City. "Chang!" she repeated louder.

"Yes, Mistress," Chang submissively replied with a bow after he had entered the room. It was almost 4 in the morning and he was still dressed in his sleeping outfit.

"I want the men to meet us at the warehouse in an hour," she instructed him not giving him any reason why she wanted this meeting. She smiled as she watched him bowed to her again before he turned to carry out her wishes.

Twenty minutes later, having changed into some street clothes, he bowed and said unemotionally, "I have instructed them to be there, Mistress."

"Good. Let’s go," Song told him as she walked towards the door with Chang following close behind. They arrived at the warehouse some fifteen minutes later. So far there was no sign of the men.

Less then five minutes later, a dark blue late model Monte Carlo stopped next to them. Song could see that Quon Lee was driving with Peter Winn and Kim Lu Yang in the backseat. The building’s exterior lights illuminated the interior of the car just enough to make the three men’s expression even gloomier. The self-proclaimed oriental princess smiled when she saw their expressions. ‘It appears that I do still have control over them. But I can’t take any chances right now. In only a few days, my father’s death will be avenged and the ‘Great Steve McGarrett’ will be dead once and for all,’ she silently thought to herself with a wicked gleam in her eyes.

‘You shall pay McGarrett. Pay with your life for what you took from me. My father’s death SHALL be avenged and no man will stop me, now or ever. Not even these peons, these men will not stop me, I will make sure of that.’ Her facial expression clearly showed her contempt for anyone who she thought might stop her.

Chang had sat there passively, saying nothing. Occasionally he would glance in his rearview mirror. A chill went down his back as he saw the hatred, the madness in his Mistress’s face. His father had told him how this daughter of Wo Fat had exhibited the emotional levels of her father and how it sometimes scared even him. But he had sworn an oath of loyalty to her when he was but a boy and he would unquestionably obey all of her orders, even if she ordered him to kill himself.

With the grace of an oriental dancer, Song stepped out and walked over to the other car. "I want you to show me where you put Tong’s body," she ordered Quon Lee. "I need to make sure that you properly disposed of it as I told you to do," she informed them as she thought of how she would remove them as a problem. ‘Killing them shouldn’t be a problem. I’ll leave their bodies along side of Tong’s. There they can rot together." Having given them their instructions, she turned without saying anything further and walked back to her car.

Chang closed the door to the car once she had gotten in. He then went around to the driver’s door, got in and started the limo’s powerful engine. As the blue Monte Carlo drove off, he slipped in behind to follow them. The two cars had been on the LikeLike Highway for several miles when Quon Lee pulled over onto a small turn off area and stopped. This turn off was just large enough for both cars to fit without being in the main roadway.

After everyone had exited the cars, the three men led the way along a barely seen path going up the hill. They continued the excursion following the sometimes-winding path down the backside of the hill into a heavily fern and forested gully.

As they hiked along the trail, Kim Lu Yang increased the length of his stride trying to put some distance between himself and Song. ‘I don’t trust her. She’s going to try to kill us for sure,’ he thought to himself as he stepped off the path to be closer to the trees and deliberately felt his front right pants pocket to make sure his gun was there.

When they reached the wooded area where Tong’s body had been left earlier, Yang inconspicuously stepped around a nearby tree just as the other two men stopped. The two men turned to face Song to show her the body. Their eyes grew wide with surprise and fear when they saw she had a gun in her hands.

Song hadn’t noticed Yang step away from the others as she pulled out her .32 from her small purse she had carried with her. With a smile of satisfaction, she shot both men square in the chest.

Fear swept over Yang as he watched his friends fall. "I knew it, I just knew it," he muttered to himself as he reached into his pocket for his own gun. He took a quick shot at her but his aim was off and he missed.

Quickly Song Tai Wo shot back at him. The bullet hit Yang in the left shoulder spinning him around and causing him to fall amongst the bushes. She took another shot but only hit the ground next to him.

The dirt kicked up from the bullet’s impact peppered Yang’s face. Quickly Yang rolled away to get out of her sight. The thick ferns effectively hid him as he rose to his feet and ran into the thick tropical forest.

Song started to run after him when she heard the wail of sirens coming up the road. "Damn," she said out loud as she ran back to where the bodies lay. Quickly she searched Quan’s body for the car keys. "Here they are," she said as she pulled the keys out of his pants pocket.

"Mistress hurry," Chang pleaded as he looked towards the sound of the approaching sirens. With his Mistress following close behind him, he led the way back to the cars.

"Chang, take the Monte Carlo," Song yelled to him as she tossed him the keys. "I’ll follow you in the limo. When we get off the freeway, split up and I’ll meet you back at the warehouse," Song yelled to him as she quickly opened the car’s door and got in. Within a few seconds, both cars were speeding away from the turn off, heading back to Honolulu at a high rate of speed.

Two HPD cruisers approached the turn off and came to a hard stop just in time to see the two quickly departing cars. "Jim, Jarrett and I will stay here and look around. You and Wade go after those cars," Sandy Wells-O’Briann said over the radio.

"Right, Sandy," Officer Jim Siemans told her as he gunned his cruiser back onto the road and sped off after the fleeing cars.

Sandy and her partner, Jarrett Harmon, exited the cruiser and went to the edge of where the forest and turn off met. "Jarrett, look here. It looks like this is where they went," Sandy said taking the path that led up the hill. They continued to follow the fresh path until they reached the gully. There they discovered the three bodies.

Although she was a seasoned officer and had seen death before, the sight before her made her sick. One of the bodies had apparently been there for a while as it was bloated and very rank smelling. Cautiously she walked over to the closest body, careful not to disturb any of the crime scene until the crime lab could arrive. Reaching down, she rolled over the first body she reached. It was still warm but from the bluish pallor of the skin and the sightless eyes, she knew the man was dead.

Sandy straightened up and glanced over at her partner who grim face mirrored her own. She reached down to her belt and withdrew her portable radio from its clip. "Central, this is Officer Wells-O’Briann," she said into the radio’s microphone. She waited a minute or two then tried again. "Central, this is Officer Wells-O’Briann, please come in." Getting no response, she returned the radio to its clip and started back along the trail to the cruiser. "Jarrett, I’m unable to reach anyone, so stay here. I’m going back to the car and call this in."

"Okay Sandy," Jarrett said as he watched her until she disappeared over the ridge. To occupy his time he continued his search of the bodies for any identification.

Having reached the cruiser, Sandy sat down to re-coup. She didn’t want to admit to herself that the dead bodies had disturbed her that much, but her stomach was close to involuntarily emptying itself. Finally after a few deep breaths, she reached for the cruiser’s radio microphone. "Central Dispatch, this is Officer Sa