Family business

Word count: 4,500 words for this chapter.



Author's note: despite the appearance of an NCIS team in this chapter, this is not a crossover fic.

 

***



CHAPTER FOUR

By 9.30 Thursday morning, Danny has already placed several dozen calls to NYPD precincts. He's been put on hold, disconnected, and transferred from switchboard to Robbery to Homicide and back again. But he's managed to describe the Oahu crew's M.O. to detectives all over Manhattan and the outer boroughs.



Unfortunately, the pattern doesn't ring a bell with anyone. Danny crosses the city off his list, and prepares to move on to the rest of downstate New York and Connecticut.



Then Captain Makaha comes into the bullpen with a grim expression. "There's just been another bank job, out in Kaneohe. But this time we've got two victims instead of one."



Danny's heart sinks. Fuck...he should've pushed the envelope and kept making calls yesterday. Even with this crew on a roll, though, he couldn't have imagined them striking again just 24 hours after the last robbery. And his approach was always likely to be a long shot, compared to everything HPD and Five-0 have been doing on the ground.



"Oh, God," Reyes says, "did those bastards put down a hostage as well?"



Makaha nods. "There was a Marine sergeant in the bank when the crew turned up. Apparently he'd gone off-base to run a few errands, still in uniform. He made no attempt to resist; hell, he wasn't even armed. But the ringleader killed the guard and then killed Sergeant Andrews too."



Kaleo curses in at least two languages, Reyes covers her mouth with one hand, and Danny shakes his head in disgust. That Marine probably survived multiple deployments, earning every dollar the hard way. And now he's returned home only to be shot by some greedy son of a bitch who can't be assed working for a living.



"Five-0's on the scene already, but be ready to move if McGarrett calls for back-up," the captain tells them, before heading back into his office.



Ahuna taps his fingers against his desk, obviously itching to get out there and do something. "I'm guessing the crew rushed their recon, this time, and didn't realize how many servicemen use the banks in Kaneohe."



"Or maybe the shooter's such a psycho, he just didn't care," Lee counters.



"Well, he'll care soon enough." There's a hard edge to Kaleo's laugh. "We all know what happens once squids and jarheads are involved; NCIS swoop in and take over. Let's seen how McGarrett likes losing a turf war, for a change."



Danny must look blank, because Lee explains, "NCIS are Navy cops – they investigate when any of their personnel get killed."



"With all the sailors and Marines stationed on this island, we have regular overlaps with NCIS," Reyes adds. "They demand jurisdiction and Makaha's always forced to concede. But I don't think we've seen McGarrett's team square off against them before."



"Five-0 versus NCIS...sounds like a couple of dueling rappers," Danny cracks, and immediately anticipates a backlash. But it seems like making jokes in the face of tragedy is a universal habit among cops, because Lee and Reyes laugh and most of the others smile.



"So why wasn't that Marine armed, anyway?" Danny asks.



"We've got pretty strict gun laws here," Ahuna tells him. "Military personnel only get to wear their sidearm off-base when they're on official duties."



Danny nods. "Well, I'd bet you anything the ringleader assumed Sergeant Andrews was carrying. Because back home, he probably would have been."



***



A quarter hour later, just as Danny's struck out with another Connecticut precinct, Danny gets a call from a local number he doesn't recognize.



"This is Chin Ho Kelly from Five-0. I've got an audio sample for you, Detective."



"You pulled something off one of the hard drives?"



"Afraid not," Chin admits. "But one of the Kaneohe bank tellers pressed the 'record' button on her phone, the moment the crew burst in, and hid the phone in her pocket."



"Brave woman," Danny comments.



"Yeah," Chin says. "A friend of hers works at the first bank that was hit, and told her that the surveillance system got wrecked. So she was trying to get us some evidence."



"Want me to come over to your office to hear it?"



"No need – I can play it for you now."



Chin puts his phone on speaker, and a muffled recording starts. Danny winces as two gunshots ring out in quick succession; even though there was a silencer on the pistol, it's still pretty loud. Then he listens intently as the ringleader barks instructions at the bank's staff and customers.



The recording clicks off, and Danny says, "Got it. That's a Philadelphia accent, or maybe Camden in southwest Jersey."



"Detective Williams," Steve interrupts, making Danny jump a little. "This is Commander McGarrett. Do you know anyone in those police departments?"



So Steve wants to keep up the pretence that they don't know each other, even though Danny is no longer Jack's dirty little secret? Fine. Danny doesn't have to like it, but he'll play along.



"Yes, Commander McGarrett, I do. I was already making a bunch of calls to East Coast PDs this morning, actually...I just hadn't worked my way that far south yet. You want I should keep calling, or give you their details?"



There's a moment of silence. Then Steve concedes, "It'd probably go better, coming from you." At least he doesn't berate Danny for doing unauthorized work on a Five-0 case.



"Keep me in the loop," he adds, and hangs up without saying goodbye.



Danny closes his eyes and mutters something uncharitable about Steve, for the benefit of anyone within earshot. But secretly, he's starting to find his cousin's brusque manner kind of hot – and imagining Steve giving him orders in bed makes his mouth go dry. Jesus, just how did Danny's life get this fucked up?

Trying to put Steve out of his mind, Danny focuses instead on three dead security guards and one dead Marine sergeant. He goes back to work with renewed determination.



First of all, he tries his contact in Camden. Detective Kirkpatrick co-operated with Danny last year, when a couple of Bonnie and Clyde wannabes went on a road trip up the interstate, knocking over 7-11s and liquor stores en route.



"Yeah, sounds familiar," Kirkpatrick says, after he hears Danny's well-practiced spiel; Danny sits bolt upright. "There was a crew working the Philly area and they operated just like that. They went off the grid about a month back, so maybe they retired to a tropical island and then got bored of tanning."



"Did your friends across the river identify any suspects?" Danny asks, crossing his fingers.



"I think so, but I can't remember the names. I'd check for you, except our goddamn computer network is down again – the IT department got hit hard by the budget cuts, so it won't be fixed anytime soon. But Tom Zielinski is the guy you want to talk to over there; he was working that case."



Kirkpatrick reels off the Philly detective's number, and Danny says, "Thanks, man; I appreciate the help."



"What the fuck are you doing on a tropical island, anyhow? You're Jersey through and through, Williams."



"Tell me about it." Danny ignores the little voice that argues he's actually half-Bostonian and half-Hawaiian. "But my ex-wife remarried and moved my daughter out here, so I had to follow."



Kirkpatrick sighs. "Well, that sucks balls. Good luck catching your scumbags – show them Hawaiian detectives how it's done, yeah?"



***



Zielinski sounds close to retirement and jaded as hell, but he comes alive once Danny explains the situation.



"Congratulations, Detective Williams: I think you just found Curtis Howard, Pennsylvania's most wanted fugitive."



Danny only gets a moment of jubilant pride. Then he's scribbling notes for several straight minutes, as the veteran cop describes the six hits on small suburban banks over a five-week period. The M.O. is a perfect match to the Oahu robberies, except that the physical descriptions of the two silent goons are different.



"We had bupkis on that crew," Zielinski admits. "They were just so fucking professional. In and out in minutes, hardly any forensics worth a damn, and no surveillance footage either. And if any of our CIs knew anything, they weren't talking. Then this Haitian punk, Patrice Olivier, showed up at the precinct the morning after the last robbery, and confessed to being the crew's getaway driver."



"Jesus," Danny says. "What prompted his sudden change of heart?"



"Turns out Curtis Howard, the shooter and mastermind of the whole operation, had just killed the other two after they demanded a bigger share of the take."



"Lie down with the Devil, wake up in hell, huh?" Danny comments.



"Yeah, pretty much," Zielinski says. "So Olivier was shit scared, thinking he'd be next to get a bullet through his skull. It took us a while to negotiate a deal, immunity and witness protection and all, but it was already too late: Howard had skipped town. Olivier swore he had no idea where to, and didn't change his story no matter how hard we leaned on him."



"You find any sign of where he went?"



"Nope. There's been no activity on Howard's accounts, no plane tickets bought in his name or any known aliases, and he didn't have a passport. So I figured he bought himself a gold-plated new identity, and left the country with all that cash. I got no fucking clue why he'd go to Hawaii."



"We'll ask him why, once we find him," Danny promises. "Can you send me a copy of Howard's jacket, plus your files on the bank jobs?"



"Sure. You got a fax machine there? I ain't so good with email attachments and all that online shit."



Danny pulls out one of his brand new HPD cards, and is surprised to find the precinct's fax number listed among his contact details. He didn't think anyone faxed, anymore.



He gives Zielinski the number and then says, "Thanks for all this; I owe you big-time."



The old cop laughs. "Well, my wife's been bugging me forever to take a vacation someplace warm. Maybe once I retire next year, we'll come to Hawaii and lie on a beach for a while. You got a spare room, Williams?"



"Nope, sorry – my daughter gets the only bed at my place, and I sleep on the sofa. But I'll definitely buy you a beer."



"Make it a six-pack plus Curtis Howard in handcuffs, and it's a deal," Zielinski says.



When Danny gets off the phone, he calls out to Ahuna who's pacing the floor outside Makaha's office.



"I think I know who our lead robber is. This guy was suspected of half a dozen identical bank jobs back East but never caught, and he's been off the radar for the last month. Question is, do I report this to Five-0 or NCIS?"



Ahuna's lips curve in a slightly vindictive smile. "Tell Five-0 first, and let them pass it on. It'd be good to show McGarrett that old-fashioned detective work can get results, too. Nice job, Williams."



Danny doesn't appreciate being part of Ahuna's vendetta against Steve's team, but the praise sure is nice to hear. Reyes flashes him a grin and high-fives him as he passes her desk, while Kaleo just frowns.



The fax machine in the corner starts whirring – God, Danny had forgotten just how long it takes – and Danny gets his first look at their prime suspect.



According to his record, 31-year-old Curtis Howard has been a suspect in various violent crimes in the Philly area since his teens. But he was only ever convicted of a single mugging; sentenced to four years, he was released in April after serving three. There's no mention of bank robbery on his file before that, so the guy must have learned a few new tricks in the joint.



The file photo shows a tall, lean white guy with brown hair and unremarkable features. You wouldn't give him a second glance on the street, yet apparently Howard has killed a dozen people in the space of just two months.



Since Danny's not supposed to have Steve's number, he calls Chin back with the news.



"All I've got are my shorthand notes and the documents Zielinski is faxing over," he explains, "so it'd probably be fastest to explain it in person."



He hears Steve's voice in the background, and an indistinct conversation. Then Chin says, "Can you be at the Iolani Palace in 20 minutes? We'll get the NCIS agents in here too, so you can brief both teams at once."



***



Danny makes it over to Five-0 HQ a little early, and finds the four of them crowded around the central computer table.



He's about to introduce himself when Steve holds up one hand.



"Hey, guys? This is Detective Danny Williams, who just joined HPD." Steve rubs at his jaw. "And, uh, turns out he's also my first cousin."



The team's reactions would be funny – perfectly synchronized glances flicking from Steve to Danny and back again – except that Danny's reeling too.



The youngest member of Five-0 is the first to get it together. "Hi, I'm Kono," she says, shaking Danny's hand with a surprisingly strong grip. "Welcome to Hawaii."



"I'm Chin," her husband follows up. "Nice work on finding us a suspect."



"Meka," Danny's predecessor says with a grin. "Reyes has been telling me good things about you. So you're in the family business too, huh?"



Danny makes appropriate replies to each of them almost on autopilot, still shocked that Steve decided to be honest.



"I'm not sure if we're going to make this connection public knowledge, guys," Steve cautions, "so keep it to yourselves, okay?"



His team all agree. Danny doesn't get a chance to voice an opinion, though, because just then four NCIS agents walk into the room.



As Steve's counterpart introduces her team to Danny, he notes that the hostile body language between Ahuna and Steve at yesterday's crime scene is entirely absent here.



That's explained when Steve adds, "Special Agent O'Connor and I cooperated on some investigations when we were both based in San Diego. So instead of involving the Director and the Governor in a messy jurisdiction fight, we're taking joint lead on this one."



O'Connor, an African-American woman in her 40s, is wearing civvies like the rest of her team. Judging by her bearing, though, she had a military career before turning cop – Danny finds himself unconsciously straightening his spine in her presence. He'd pick her two senior agents, an Asian guy and a white woman, as coming from civilian law enforcement, while the younger Hispanic guy has all the eagerness of a recent academy graduate.



Danny's audience listens intently as he relays what Zielinski told him about Curtis Howard. Kono starts scanning the documents into Five-0's system; Chin's fingers fly across the computer screen as he creates an APB and alerts the island's airports and ports.



Once he's outlined the basic facts, Danny gets peppered with questions by the two teams. Between Zielinski's briefing and the faxed case notes, he's able to answer most of them.



It's Steve's question about where Howard was living in Philly that gives them their next possible break in the case.



"His base was a disused warehouse near the river," Danny reports. "He'd tried to clear the place of evidence before leaving town, but Zielinski's team found some stuff in the trash that might help us locate him here. It looked like he was a heavy smoker, because he bought Marlboros by the carton. And he was a huge fan of Vietnamese food, too...ordered take-out from the same restaurant, pretty much every night."



Mitchell, O'Connor's 2IC, perks up. "I think I've tried every Vietnamese place on this island since I transferred out here," he says. "But none of them can beat my –"



"– Grandma Kim-Ly's cooking," his teammates Bennett and Fernandez chorus along with him; Mitchell grins and shrugs.



"Well, it's true. Anyhow, I can see if any of the restaurants have recently started making regular deliveries to an industrial area."



"Take Bennett," O'Connor orders. "But go in alone if you think the owners won't talk with a non-Asian in the room."



Mitchell and Bennett nod, and head out.



Fernandez asks, "Did the getaway driver reveal what kinds of places his boss hung out?"



"Apparently Howard didn't go out much," Danny tells him. "But he used to send his crew out to a bunch of strip joints, to get rid of any sequential bills he noticed while counting the take."



Chin nods. "That's a great way to get the traceable cash back into circulation without attracting attention."



"So we're looking for two or three locals who've become big spenders at the island's strip clubs since last Tuesday," Kono says. "I can make the rounds, talk to the girls and the bar staff."



"Go ahead," Steve says. "Meka, back her up."



"It's just as well I have a very tolerant wife," Meka says with a wry grin.



"If Amy complains, I'll take full responsibility," Steve promises.



Kono doesn't kiss Chin goodbye, but she makes the ASL sign for 'I love you'. Her husband returns the gesture with a smile that makes Danny's breath catch. That's the real thing right there, not just a cousinly kind of affection.



"You know," Chin says, all business again once Kono and Meka have gone, "there's a chance Howard's sidekicks aren't too happy about Sergeant Andrews' death. I'd guess there's more respect for servicemen here than in your average mainland city, since they're such a visible part of island life. Maybe his crew rebelled after the robbery, and he's killed them already. Or maybe they'll break Howard's gag order, and confess to friends and family. It might be worth checking in with our CIs again."



Danny nods. "Want me to tell the Homicide squad, so we can spread the net wider?"



"Yeah," Steve says. "You'll be our official liaison with HPD on this case."



"Those guys barely know me," Danny points out. "It won't make me any friends if I get special treatment in my first week."



"Considering what they think of us, it's hardly going to improve your cred," Steve counters.



Danny rolls his eyes at Steve, but ducks into the closest office to call Reyes and explain what's happening.



"Okay, I'll spread the word," she says. "So what's it like inside the lion's den?"



"Ever been interrogated by two ex-military types with sticks up their asses, four experienced detectives, and two peppy rookies?"



Reyes chokes on a laugh. "Better you than me, brah."



Danny hangs up, and gives himself a moment to just breathe. He looks around the office he's in, and immediately realizes it must be Steve's due to the medals and the model ships.



Still, it somehow seems impersonal. Danny can see no photos of Steve's family, whereas Gracie's picture was the first thing he put on his own desk. There aren't any souvenirs of Steve's travels, either, even though he must have circled the globe over and over.



***



Back at the computer table, Chin is explaining to Steve why he can't run all arrivals from Philadelphia through facial recognition: there aren't any direct flights out of PHL to Honolulu, so passengers have to transit through a variety of other cities en route.



Danny could've told them that, seeing as how he'd checked every airport within a 100-mile radius of Newark in a desperate search for an airfare he could afford. But he'd rather not admit that his brother Matt, Wall Street broker extraordinaire, ended up shouting him a ticket using air miles he could easily spare.



Instead, Danny points out, "We've got a three-week window when Howard could have traveled, anyway, and no proof that he didn't leave Philly by road and then fly from somewhere else."



O'Connor cracks her knuckles, expression thoughtful. "Okay, let's try another angle. Kelly, can you map where the trail of boosted vehicles ended after the previous two robberies?"



Chin works his magic, and soon has an image up showing where and when each car was reported stolen and found abandoned.



"So they hit banks in coastal towns and then head inland, changing vehicles until they reach a sparsely populated area where they feel safe," O'Connor concludes. "Could mean they've got a base up there?"



"Or maybe they're leaving the last one at a pre-arranged spot, and driving away in their own vehicle," Danny suggests.



"Well, we've got HPD patrol cars out cruising already," Steve says. "Chin, get them to focus their efforts on the central valleys. The last vehicle has probably been dumped by now, but we might get lucky and catch them in the act."



"Copy that," Chin says, and calls dispatch.



"There are no traffic cameras that far out of town," Steve continues, "but we could get images off one of the reconnaissance satellites in geosynchronous orbit over Hawaii."



"You guys have access to spy satellites?" Danny asks. Jesus – no wonder Five-0's got such an impressive solve rate, with all this fancy tech at their disposal.



"Not directly, no, but I have a...friend in Naval Intelligence. She helped us on another case recently, when we were trying to track a killer's movements."



O'Connor grins. "Still fraternizing with Lieutenant Rollins, huh?"



"Yeah," is all Steve says, with a quick glance at Danny.



It should be no surprise that Steve is taken; even with his assholish tendencies, nobody that attractive could stay single for long. And yet Danny's stomach clenches up, and it only gets worse once he sees the picture of 'Cath' come up on Steve's phone. Damn, she's gorgeous.



"Are you trying to get me court-martialed?" Lieutenant Rollins says, once Steve's explained what he needs. "We did this a few weeks back and you invented a plausible cover story – scarily fast, in fact. But it'll look very suspicious if I try that again."



O'Connor leans across the table and says, "Lieutenant, this is Special Agent Vanessa O'Connor of NCIS. I'm requesting assistance with our investigation into the murder of Marine Sergeant Kevin Andrews this morning. Will that cover your ass sufficiently?"



"Yes, thank you," Rollins says, over the sound of her rapid typing. "Steve's really taken this whole 'full immunity and means' thing to heart, and forgets that the rest of us have regulations to follow."



Steve looks like he wants to argue; instead, he reels off the co-ordinates and times they're after. Danny bites his lip in an effort not to grin, but Chin smirks at Steve and O'Connor laughs out loud.



"Got it," Rollins says. "I'm emailing you the data now."



"Thanks, Cath, that's fantastic," Steve tells her.



"Well done, Lieutenant," O'Connor adds. "Let me know when you're next in port, and I'll buy you a drink."



"Will do," Rollins replies. "And Steve, you still owe me dinner. Several dinners, even."



Steve grins widely at that. "Yes, ma'am."



His phone beeps as soon as he ends the call, and two sets of satellite footage appear on the computer screen. Last Tuesday's sequence shows a white sedan pull up at a rest area; two guys get out, dressed in black and wearing gloves. They walk to an old green muscle car parked nearby, and take off heading south. The only thing that's different about yesterday's sequence is the make and model of the stolen vehicle.



The images are taken from above, of course, but there's enough of an angle for Danny to recognize the passenger as Curtis Howard.



Steve claps him on the shoulder; his big hand feels warm through Danny's shirt. "Looks like we're chasing the right man after all – good work, Danny."



Danny just nods, deeply relieved. He'd had a gut feeling ever since speaking to Zielinski, but it would've been awful to have led the investigation astray and wasted all this time.



Chin identifies the muscle car as belonging to a Tongan guy, Tevita Lomu, and his DMV photo matches up with Howard's pal in the satellite footage. Unsurprisingly, the guy has a record for grand theft auto; he was also suspected of acting as getaway driver in a Honolulu jewelry heist last year, but never charged. Soon an APB for Lomu and his distinctive ride is on its way to HPD.



Kono calls a few minutes later, and Chin puts her on speaker.



"The strippers were very helpful," she reports. "If we'd asked yesterday, I think we would've been stonewalled. But they're all upset about the Marine's death."



"No surprise there," O'Connor says. "Servicemen are big supporters of Hawaii's sex industry, for better or worse."



"Yeah. So Tiffany and Leilani, who dance at Femme Nu, both mentioned three young guys who first showed up last week. They tipped like rich tourists, but they were definitely locals. And they arrived and left together, each time."



"You get any names?" Steve asks.



"Nope," Kono says, "but the girls said all three were in, yesterday afternoon, and Meka found them on the club's surveillance footage."



She sends a still image through, and it flashes up on the screen. They all recognize Lomu immediately; after another moment's scrutiny, Chin points to an Asian guy in his mid-20s.



"The guy next to Lomu is Vince Sato," he says. "He grew up in my old patrol district. I busted him a bunch of times when he was a kid, but I thought his spell in juvie had scared him straight."



Chin brings up Sato's jacket, and shakes his head as he sees the convictions for increasingly serious thefts.



"Guess he fell off the wagon," O'Connor says. "He was released from jail three months ago, right? Fernandez, call his parole officer. We need to find these lowlifes, and get them to turn on Howard."



O'Connor and Fernandez leave to go pick up Sato, while Kono and Meka head out to Lomu's place. Running the third sidekick's image through facial recognition doesn't produce a name, but he's a minnow compared to Howard anyway.



Chin, Steve, and Danny stay behind at HQ, trying to come up with other ways of finding a professional criminal who's living under a rock-solid alias and leaving no electronic trail.



It's a frustrating process – nothing they think of seems to pan out – but Danny still enjoys bouncing ideas off the other two. Chin is a calm, highly competent cop who knows every inch of this island. Danny can see why Reyes likes him so much, and why Steve hired him despite the taint of supposed corruption.



As for Steve himself, what he lacks in policing experience he makes up for in determination, intelligence, and intuition. This case may be the only opportunity Danny ever has to work closely with him, which is a real shame; Danny is surprised by how well their differing approaches mesh.



Danny's not fucked up enough to hope that the manhunt goes badly, so his time with Steve can be prolonged. He's keen to catch Howard, to prevent further deaths here in Hawaii and to give a long-serving detective back in Philly something to celebrate.



Still...when it comes to Steve, Danny will take what he can get. And if that means he's gaining more enjoyment from this investigation than is healthy, well, nobody else ever needs to know.



***