5-0

Chapter 1

The sound of my phone wakes me up from my peaceful sleep, it's my partner Danny Williams.
I let out a groan and answer it, "Yes Danny?"
"We have a case, do you want me to pick you up?" He asks.
I nod, "Yeah, just give me 20 minutes."
After we hang up, I get out of bed and make my way out of my room and into my closet. I get dressed in a loose white long sleeve shirt with a criss-cross pattern in the front, black skinny jeans, and some black heeled boots. I attach my gun and badge to my jeans and go into the bathroom. By the time I'm done straightening my hair and applying makeup, I hear a honk outside, signaling Danny's arrival.
I grab my phone and run outside, getting into the car. I let out a small laugh when I see Danny. He's been living in Hawaii for quite some time, but he doesn't realize how strange he looks with the tie.
He raises his eyebrows as he backs out, "What?"
"A tie, still? Really?" I joke.
He rolls his eyes, "This is how a detective looks in Jersey, professional, besides, Grace gave me this one."
I shoot him a smile, "Ok, whatever suits your fancy, partner."
I've been working with Danny for about a year now, and I honestly have so much fun with him, he's like an older brother to me. He moved here to be with his daughter who lives mostly with his ex-wife and stepdad Stan.
"How's Grace?" I ask.
"She's great, but Step-Stan bought her a real bunny for the animal show and tell today," he replies rolling his eyes.
"So what are you going to do with the huge pink bunny in the back?" I ask motioning to the bunny I helped him pick out.
He shrugs as we pull up to a house, "I don't know, maybe I'll give it to her later."
We then get out of the car and walk towards the house.
"So what do we have here?" I ask.
"Victim is John McGarrett, a single gunshot wound to the head. He looks to have been held hostage and was severely beaten." Danny explains.
I hear a noise coming from the garage, I look over to Danny whispering, "Do you hear that."
We take out our guns rounding the corner to see a very attractive dark-haired guy.
"You! Hands up! Don't move!" I yell, causing him to turn around and pull out his own gun, aiming it at us.
"Who are you?" The guy asks firmly.
"Who are you? I am Detective Danny Williams, and this is Detective Quinn West!" Danny shouts.
"Lieutenant Commander Steve McGarrett. This is my father's house!" He tells us.
"Put your weapon down right now!" Danny shouts.
"No, you put your weapons down!" He yells back. "Show me your IDs."
"You show me the ID, right now!" Danny yells.
"I'm not putting my gun down," Steve tells us.
"Neither are we," I reply.
"Use your free hand, and take out your IDs," Steve instructs us.
"Please after you," Danny argues.
I roll my eyes at their annoying banter, "How about we do it at the same time."
"What like on the count of three?" Danny asks sarcastically.
"Sure. Okay, three's good." Steve replies.
"One..."
"Two..."
"Three..."
While this is going on, the three of us take out our badges showing them to each other. Once we see that none of us are threats to each other, we put our guns and badges away.
I let out a sigh, "Listen. I'm really sorry about your father, but you can't be here right now. This is an active crime scene."
"Doesn't seem that active," Steve replies with a shrug.
"We can't share any information with you," Danny adds.
"Hess wasn't here alone when my father was murdered. Someone was sitting at the desk in the study, there was a space clear for a 13-inch laptop and my father hated computers." Steve explains to us.
As much as I hate to say it, we could use his help on this one, but I know that Danny won't like that.
"I'm gonna ask you again, you've got to leave," Danny tells him.
Steve picks up this red, old, toolbox starting towards the door, "You got it."
I roll my eyes, "And you can leave the box, that is evidence. You know that."
"I came with this," he lies.
"No, you didn't come with it. I see the dust void it left right here on the counter." I tell him while pointing to the empty spot on the tool table. I then turn back to face him, "What's in the box?"
He ignores me and says, "How long have you guys been with the Honolulu PD?"
I roll my eyes, "Since I was out of the academy, I grew up here."
"None of your business. What are you, Barbra Walters?" Danny asks defensively.
"No, it is my business if you're investing my father's death," Steve retaliates.
"We are, and we'd like to get back to that, so the sooner you leave, we can." I snap.
"Anything you say," Steve replies, turning around with the box still in his hands.
"Leave the box or get arrested, alright?" I tell him.
"You gonna call for backup?" Steve asks.
"An ambulance."
Steve nods and sets the box down on the vintage car covered in a sheet.
"Thank you," Danny says in an exasperated tone.
He looks over at us, "I wouldn't thank me yet."
He pulls out his phone and dials a number, holding it to his ear.
"What are you doing?" Danny asks.
"Uh, yeah? Governor Jameson, please. Tell her it's Steve McGarrett."
"Oh please," I mutter.
I hear her voice come from the phone, that cocky little shit put it on speakerphone. "Governor Jameson here. What can I do for you?"
He takes it off speaker and presses the phone to his ear, "Governor. I'll take the job. Well, let's just say I found something that changed my mind. No, no, no immediately. I'll transfer to the reserves, and I'll run your task force." I give Danny a bewildered look, who the hell is this guy. "What right now? Okay." He then turns around raising his right hand in the air. "I, Steven J. McGarrett, do solemnly declare upon my honor and conscience, that I will act at all times to the best of my ability and knowledge in a manner benefiting an officer of the law... Thank you, governor." He picks up the stupid ass red box and smirks at us, "Now it's my crime scene." He says before walking out.
After that we don't really know what to do, so Danny drops me off at my house and goes home.
Not an hour later, I hear a knock at my door. I get up off the couch and head to the door, opening it. On the other side stands Steve McGarrett.
I roll my eyes crossing my arms over my chest, "What do you want?"
"As you know I'm now the head of a task force, and I want you on it. I'm making you and Danny my new partners."
I raise my eyebrows, "Why me?"
"The captain of your precinct tells me you're one of the best. Plus you know this island, and that's exactly what I'm looking for." He explains.
I let a sigh, leaning my arm against the doorframe, "I'm guessing I don't really have a choice in this."
He lets out a chuckle, "You thought right, welcome to the team."
I follow him outside and quickly get in the back of Danny's car. They then explained to me that we were going to this arms dealer's house, who's name is Doran, which we have been thinking Hess stopped there first when he arrived at the island.
The ride was pretty silent up until Danny's phone rang, it was a sound from a scary movie signaling it was Rachel, he declines it and lets out a sigh.
"I take it your marriage didn't end too well," Steve says, breaking the silence.
"No. It would have had my ex not remarried and dragged my daughter to this pineapple-infested hellhole."
I roll my eyes, I have no clue how he doesn't like it here, it's so beautiful and warm. "You're so dramatic."
"You don't like the beach?" Steve asks.
"I don't like the beach." He replies.
"Who doesn't like the beach?" Steve asks.
"I like, uh, cities, you know. Skyscrapers, no tsunamis, no jellyfish." Danny explains.
"Tell me you can swim," Steve replies.
"Do I know how to swim?" Danny asks with an annoyed expression on his face.
"You don't know how to swim."
"I know how... I swim... I swim for survival, not fun." Danny explains.
Danny's phone goes off again, he lets out a sigh, before picking it up and clicking the answer button. "Yes, dear?" His expression suddenly changes happily. "Hey, monkey... No, no, no, I thought you were your mom... I am so glad everybody liked Mr. Hoppy... I'm excited too baby. We're gonna have so much fun this weekend... Hey, Danno loves you." He hangs up the phone, putting it back in the cupholder.
"Who's Danno?" Steve asks.
"Don't."
"Hmm?" Steve asks.
"Just don't."
"Okay..." Steve replies.
"Thank you."
Silence fills the car once again, this one is much more awkward. We soon pull up to this sketchy house. Steve gets out right away, ready to barge in. I climb over the seat. "Hey, hey, hey! This guy Doran's a shooter, alright? We shouldn't be doing this without backup." I tell up.
"You guys are the backup," Steve replies before walking away.
"We're the backup. I hate him. I hate him so much," Danny mutters.
We get in the car and follow after Steve, up to the grungy house, hip-hop music playing in the bathroom. We walk up the door, hiding against the side by the door when we hear things breaking and this woman shouting. I pull out my gun and walk to a corner, ready to shoot.
This girl in a bikini walks out all angry, Danny grabs her and pulls her back against him, covering her mouth.
"Get your ass back here! Tracy? Tracy." I hear a man yell from inside.
The woman bites Danny and runs forward. I hear gunshots and Danny comes flying through the window, falling beside me. I duck down, trying not to get any fallen glass on me. I lean over by Danny, he's holding his bleeding arm, wincing. "Are you alright?" I ask nervously.
He nods, "I'll be fine, go."
"Danny!" I hear Steve yell as I run around the house.
I find my way so I'm standing behind Doran, who has a hostage at gunpoint, Steve standing right in front of him. I won't shoot yet, I wait, letting Steve try and get some information out of him.
"You sold a weapon to a man named Victor Hess. I'm not after you. I want him!" I hear Steve say.
"I'm not talking to you!" Doran shouts.
"Where is he?"
"I said I'm not talking to you! Now put the gun down or I kill her. You don't think I'll do it? I'll do it! I'll kill her right now." Doran shouts.
I see Steve lower his gun, and Doran raises his weapon at him. I quickly pull the trigger, shooting Doran in the head. When he falls to the ground, Steve has an annoyed look on his face. This guy is our new partner? I just saved his life and he doesn't look one bit thankful.
After Danny gets patched up, we meet Steve up front, he's leading a woman to a deputy, she must have just been smuggled in. He then turns over to us. "Okay, so she was smuggled in four days ago in a cargo ship from China, with her parents and a couple of hundred refugees. She gets here, she's traded to Doran..."
"Okay, excuse me, I'm sorry. This is typically where you would, uh, thank her for saving your life." Danny tells him, referring to me.
"You just shot my only lead," Steve replies, making my anger boil.
"Are you kidding me? Are you serious right now?" I snap.
Steve turns his back to where we are standing, "These are guys that are moving people out of Asia. They could have smuggled Hesse into Hawaii..."
"You just took a stupid risk, okay? Understand that. I am not getting myself killed for your vendetta, I have a daughter, okay?" Danny yells.
"Yeah, that girl there, is someone's daughter too."
"You don't get it. I mean for someone who just lost their father, you're pretty dense." Danny snap. I wince slightly, I know how Steve feels right about now, my dad was murdered too, so I take a deep breath and calm myself down.
"What did you just say? What did you just say to me? What if she was yours, huh! Is there anything that you would not do to hunt down the son of a bitch that did that to her and killed her!" Steve shouts.
Danny leans forward pointing a finger in Steve's face, "Do not question my resolve-"
"One warning, take your finger out of my face."
"Listen to me you son of a bitch!" Danny yells.
He doesn't get to say anything else as Steve grabs his arm and twists it behind his back.
"What did I tell you, I warned you."
I glare at Steve, "Let him go. What are you a ninja?"
A few deputies walk up to us with questioning looks on their faces, "It's fine, get back to work." The walk away and Steve turns back to Danny. "Now, you don't have to like me, but right now there's no one else to do this job."
I put a hand on Steve's shoulder," Steve seriously, let him go."
He stares at me for a moment, before letting out a sigh and releasing Danny. Danny stands up and fixes his hair.
"Alright, look, we need to find these human traffickers-" Steve doesn't get to finish his sentence as Danny punches him right in the jaw.
"You're right, I don't like you," Danny tells him, before walking away.
"Men," I mutter, before walking to the car.
The ride is again filled with awkward silence, thanks to Danny and Steve.
"How's the arm?" Steve asks.
"Lets just not talk," Danny replies curtly.
"You mean right now or ever again?" Steve asks.
"Just both, okay?"
"You know I think I might know why your wife left you," Steve says.
"Really?"
"Yeah, you're very sensitive," Steve replies.
"I'm sensitive, huh?" Danny asks with an annoyed tone.
"Yeah."
"Quinn, do you think I'm sensitive?" He asks me.
I hold up my pointer finger close to my thumb. "A little bit. But the ladies love a sensitive man, so I wouldn't worry there partner," I tell him as I prop my legs up on the middle console, crossing my arms over my chest.
"See."
"When did you come to the conclusion that I was sensitive, huh, Steve? Was it when a bullet was tearing through my flesh, is that when I seemed sensitive to you? Huh? I am really glad that you're not afraid of anything. Okay? I'm glad that you have that GI Joe thousand-yard stare from chasing shoe bombers across the world ok? But in a civilized society, we have rules alright? It is the unspoken glue that separates us from Jackals and hyenas, alright?" Danny rants.
I get where he's coming from, but I can't help but let out a laugh at how he says it. "Jackals and hyenas?" I ask, letting out another light laugh.
"Animal Planet, whatever. Okay, the point is, rule number one: If you get someone shot, you apologize!"
"I'm sorry."
"You don't wait for a special occasion..."
"I'm sorry."
"Okay? Like birthdays..."
"I'm sorry."
"Frickin' Presidents' Day!"
"Danny shut up," I tell him.
"Look man, I said I'm sorry,  I'm sincerely sorry. That's what I was trying to tell you last year when this conversation first started." Steve tells him.
"Your, uh... apology is noted. Acceptance is pending." Danny replies.
"You let me know, now."
"Yeah I'll let you know," Danny states.
"Make the next left up here." Steve instructs.
"Why?"
"I think I know someone who can help us."
We arrive at this gift shop, and head inside. In there is someone I haven't seen in a long time.
He smiles at me, "Quinn West."
He pulls me into a hug,"Chin, how've you been?"
He pulls away, still smiling,"Oh, you know, alright, yourself?"
Steve raises his eyebrows,"You two know each other?"
Chin nods,"She's one of the only people that believed that I didn't take the money. Pretty much everyone else at the station hated me."
I shoot him a smile as I sit down beside him on a picnic table. Steve pulls out his phone and shows him a picture of the woman we rescued from Doran's place. "Her name is Chen-Chi."
"Where did you find her?" Chin asks.
"Locked in a house. She came here to start a new life. They drugged her and turned her into a prostitute. The guy we're looking for is high profile, Victor Hess. CSI, FBI, Interpol, he's on everyone's radar. Which means he didn't just land here and get his passport stamped, he was back-channeled in." Steve explains.
"Mm. And you think the same network that brought this girl to the island smuggled Hesse in," Chin states.
"Well, he made a fortune trafficking kids out of Malaysia, so..."
"Then you're looking for a snakehead," Chin explains.
"Local Chinese gangs that specialize in human smuggling," I explain.
"Okay, we need a name," says Danny.
"Are you kidding? Look at me. I'm a rubber gun now," Chin replies, laughing slightly.
"Come on, you were on the force for 15 years."
"Okay, look, I know a guy who's got ties to that world-"
"Great, get us an intro." Steve says.
"Forget it. He's a formal confidential informant. He trusts no one. Especially not haoles." Chin replies, and I nod my head, knowing who he's talking about, Kamekona, he's helped me on a few cases in the past.
"You talk to him then," Steve suggests.
"I'm busy."
"You're busy? What, you expecting a crime wave in the gift shop this afternoon?" Danny asks.
"Look, I can't be a cop anymore," Chin tells us.
"Why not?"
"Because I can't be! You understand? HPD accused me of taking payoffs. So I'm the last person the department wants to see wearing a badge. I got to go," Chin tells us, before standing up.
"This is going really well," Danny mutters.
"Did you take the money?" Steve asks, causing Chin to stop and turn around.
"Excuse me?"
"Did you.. take the money?" Steve asks again.
"No."
Steve stands up,"Then come with us, and we don't need to talk about this again. Ever. This is your ticket back into the game. Call it payback, call it whatever you want, I don't care, but I need you."
"How do you know you can trust me?" Chin asks.
"Because my old man did."
We pull up to Kamekona's shave ice shack, getting out of the car. We walk up to see him working inside.
"Hey Kamekona," Chin says, bringing Kamekona's attention to us.
They do a bro handshake, smiling. "How's it?" Chin asks.
"Good to see you, my brother. And my favorite hauli looking native. How's it Quinn?"
I shoot him a smile,"I'm good."
Chin leans over the front counter,"Hey, bro."
"Hmm?"
"I need a name," Chin states.
"They wait out there," Kamekona says, nodding his head towards Steve and Danny. They turn to walk away, "After they pay... Two cones, two shirts to go."
Steve pulls out his wallet,"Medium."
"XL and up, brah. My face don't fit on anything smaller," he replies.
"How much kala, bulleh?" Steve asks.
"You speak bird, huh?" Kamekona asks.
"Yeah, I grew up here," Steve explains.
"Don't matter, you still look  hauli to me," Kamekona replies.
Steve pulls out a 50, handing it to him. "This one feels a little lonely, brah." Steve glares at Chin before handing him another. "One more thing I need you two fine white gentlemen to do."
Kamekona hands them their shirts, making them put them on. He sends them with two snow cones to rep his merchandise.
After a talking, Chin and I head over to Danny and Steve, laughing.
"You better have a name," Steve says, glaring at us slightly.