Fic: Malasada's H5Obigbang chapter 13
CHAPTER THIRTEEN: Incursion of the Floating Clog
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“McGarrett.”
“Where are you?” Chin demanded into the phone the moment Steve answered, his shoulders sagging in relief at finally getting a hold of the man. He did a decent job of not snapping like he wanted to, but clearly his tone was sharp enough that Steve paused a moment on the other end of the line. Or, more likely, it was just lag time over the phone.
“L.A.” Steve answered, like it was the most logical conclusion in the world, which in ‘Steve’s World’ it probably was. It made sense to Chin too, but he had a feeling that they were still on different pages here. He refrained from sighing and put the phone on speaker at Kono’s sharp look.
“Los Angeles,” Chin parroted back for his rookie’s sake and she grinned thinly before looking back to the file she’d been examining.
“Yeah, didn’t Toast send you the information?”
“Yes, he sent us the information on van Hoorn and his shipping company. He also sent the information that the ship we suspect Danny could be on is in the Port of Los Angeles. What he didn’t send was your flight itinerary. We’ve been trying to call you all night,” he let his irritation leak through here, because Steve should know better.
“What? It wasn’t obvious where I was going?” Apparently Steve didn’t know better. This was the reason Danny had taken to carrying asprin around with him religiously.
“No, it was pretty obvious where you might be going, ” he admitted, “ bit of a heads up would have been appreciated though, maybe a time of arrival, maybe giving us a chance to come along as back-up,” he laid in the sarcasm, Kono watching with tired eyes. There was a longer moment of lag over the phone now as Steve processed Chin’s reprimand.
“Sorry,” he finally allowed, sounding more distracted than contrite but Chin would take it for now. He’d just make sure Danny heard about it when he was back safe and let him beat the concept of back-up into his partner. Kono rolled her eyes at the insincere apology. Chin had a raging headache, but at least they had confirmation that Steve was still alive.
“There’s no records of you flying anywhere,” Chin closed the last flight itinerary that he’d been searching through for an indication of what time Steve might be landing in LA.
“I cashed in on a favour,” Steve explained, the distant sound of a seagull echoing over the line, “as far as the world knows I’m still in Hawai’i.” That explained why Chin couldn’t find him until he answered his phone. “I’m at the port now, the ships still here,” Chin could tell he was moving as he spoke quietly, keeping his voice low to avoid detection. He was most likely staring right at the vessel he wanted and Chin glanced at the image of the ship that he’d put on the monitor the moment he’d received the info package from Toast. Right next to it was the image of the dark haired, sharply blue eyed owner: Marcel van Hoorn.
“Not for long,” with a flick of her wrist Kono sent the ports manifest onto the closest wall monitor. “They’re scheduled for an early morning departure,” she scanned the list quickly, “should be launching in an hour if they’re not delayed.”
“Want me to delay them?” Chin asked.
“No,” Steve said softly, “not yet. I don’t want them to suspect they’ve been made and move Danny before I get a chance to even see if he’s still here. If he is here I have no idea how we’re going to get him out without having to explain why these people went to such a huge effort to snatch him in the first place.” There was another pause. “What do you have on van Hoorn?”
“Marcel van Hoorn, the oldest of two sons born to Andre van Hoorn who began his shipping company in 1952. Marcel inherited it eight years ago when his father retired due to early onset alzheimer’s but the company has been on the international watch list since the mid sixties due to suspicion of drug trafficking.”
“The Netherland’s have done three surprise inspections in the last ten years to try and shut them down but they never found anything evenly remotely illegal onboard. A warrant was also served in Japan four years ago under suspicion that van Hoorn was selling weapons to the Yakuza, the weapons hidden in a container on his ship. They didn’t find a thing, there was a lot of embarrassment, people lost their jobs and now authorities are treading extra carefully where they’re concerned.”
“Officially the guy is clean Steve, but unofficially he’s got enough money to have several port authorities on his payroll; L.A. being one of his most frequent ports I would say its guaranteed he has people on the inside there. He’s also suspected of killing at least two competitors. Their bodies have never shown up and it couldn’t be linked to him.”
“Oh!” Kono straightened up and snapped her eyes to Chin. “Steve, Danny is definitely on that ship!”
“What do you know?” he demanded, his full attention finally turning to them.
“Marcel has a younger brother, Alfonse. Last year he was diagnosed with leukemia and Marcel moved him onto the Dryvende Klomp five months ago when it became clear that he wouldn’t survive. Three weeks ago Alfonse flew from Japan back to his home in Rotterdam, fully recovered from his illness. I don’t think this is a coincidence.”
“Where’s the ship headed next,” Steve asked.
“Back to Japan,” Chin looked at the map with the shipping lanes he’d pulled up with the manifest. “It’ll be passing by us again, though not as close to the islands as when they took Danny.”
“Okay,” Steve acknowledged and went silent for a minute. “Okay, I’ve got to get on the ship before they launch-”
“No.” Chin refused immediately, not liking the sound of this at all. “Not without backup Steve.”
“You’re too far away to get here and we can’t risk pulling any authorities in on this. I don’t trust anyone outside our group and if anyone else learns about Danny they could leak the info to the wrong agency. It might be the government we have to break him out of next and that will not end well for anyone. So I’m getting on this ship now, I’m going to find Danny and we’re going to get him off the ship when we’re passing home.”
“Steve, what if you get caught? You could put Danny at further risk; they could kill you and Danny would be moved and we could lose him permanently. We need to wait and come up with a solid plan,” even as Chin pointed out these crucial facts he knew it was a moot point. Steve McGarett was in sight of Danny now: there was pretty much no stopping him. Honestly, Chin didn’t really want to try.
“I’ll make it work Chin, just make sure you have an extraction arranged for when we’re close enough.”
“I’ll figure it out. I’ll test you a time to be ready asap,” Chin frowned at the map, already beginning to calculate distances and times. “Don’t get shot again,” he frowned at the phone.
“I have other plans for the bullets,” Steve replied darkly and disconnected. Chin shut his own phone and looked outside. It was still the middle of the night, which meant that dawn was fast approaching LA.
“You got a plan, cuz?” Kono asked, posture stiff with the sudden anticipation of finally being able to do something real, and the fear that it might not be enough.
“Maybe. Kamekona still hangs with that friend that owns that hangar down by Ke’Ehi Lagoon park?”
“Yeah, they’re still tight,” she nodded and a slight smile it up her pretty face. “I’ll go wake Kamekona up.”
Chin nodded in agreement, still staring at the maps. Maybe this could work, but he had a lot of planning to do and only a few days to do it. He just hoped Steve didn’t get himself and Danny killed before any of them even had a chance to implement it.
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The Los Angeles harbour was enormous. Not bothering to say goodbye to his old Navy friend (who was more than happy to start paying off the debt he owed Steve) Steve had quietly departed from the courier plane he’d (illegally) hitched a ride on and gone straight to the massive shipping port.
He had a taxi drop him on Seaside Ave. and moved quickly to cross onto Port property with ease. The port was about 4500 acres, not including the water, and he was thankful he’d had the forethought to have Toast print up a basic map of the area and mark where the ship he wanted would be berthed. The Dryvende Klomp was spending the evening on the East Basin Channel at the Yusen terminal and he headed in that direction almost instinctively. Danny was there, he knew he was, and every step Steve took he was closer to getting his friend home and safe where he belonged. Nothing was going to stop him.
He slipped into the shadows of the towering cargo containers stacked tightly all around. It felt like there were thousands blocking his path and twice he had to quickly switch direction to avoid being seen by the early morning workers and the harbour’s patrolling police. When he finally found his target the sun was just beginning to peak over the horizon, pink and blue spreading out to bounce off the wispy clouds and the massive container ship sat silently. He glared at the flag he could just make out waving at the top of the bridge and was planning his next move when Chin called.
He’d stared guiltily at the phone before answering, knowing he should have let his team know what he was doing before he’d even caught the flight from Hawai’i, but his timeframe had been nearly impossible to make and he was well aware that when he got caught up in a plan some things, like calling his team, tended to fall to the wayside. He was pretty sure he would have called Danny though, if it were an option, because nothing was worth the snit that man would get into if Steve didn’t keep him in the loop 24/7, no matter how much the Jersey boy bitched about never being left alone.
Chin had not been very impressed with him. Steve was going to have to get him a new fishing spear or something when he got back to apologize.
By the time his phone conversation ended and a basic (Chin and Kono would figure it out) plan was made Steve didn’t have much time to waste getting onto the ship. The port was already becoming noticeably busier as five A.M. rolled around and it was almost too bright for Steve to feel comfortable approaching the exposed vessel.
His eyes tracked the night guard he’d spotted on the Klomp, watched his head bob far above him before it disappeared around the rear end of the ship and Steve knew that this was probably the last decent chance he had to successfully board the ship. A quick glance around showed that the way was clear and he sprinted across the open expanse of asphalt to a grouping of yellow bollards wrapped tightly with the stern lines from the ship. By the time he reached them he’d already determined which rope he needed and therefore didn’t hesitate to reached down and wrap his hands securely around it. Sliding over the edge of the dock in one fluid move he remained swinging over the dark, dirty water for a moment and listened for any sound of alarm. When it didn’t come he curled his body tightly, pulling his legs up and crossing his ankles over the rope he began methodically pulling himself along its length, hand over hand over hand.
The braided nylon was rough from use and slightly damp from the early morning dew, making it slippery under his grip. He wished he’d thought to bring gloves to help with traction.
He heard the approach of soft voices when he was only three quarters of the way up the rope, the climb drastically steeper than the near horizontal angle he’d started at. He craned his head towards the ship even as he kept pulling himself up but couldn’t see the owners of the voices. He was already moving swiftly, his shoulder and arm muscles not fatigued but definitely feeling the burn of an exercise he hadn’t done in a long time. He put more effort into climbing up the line.
The voices became louder in approach just as he reached the hull. Awkwardly he released the rope with one hand and stretched up to grab at the closest bar on the railing. As soon as his grip was secure he reached out with his other hand, grabbed on, dropped his legs and twisted in the air so that he was pressed chest to hull. The cool sheet metal didn’t have a chance to chill him through his clothes because he was pulling himself up and over the railing before his legs had even connected with the ships side. He sprinted as silently as possible to the large ropes hawser and ducked behind it just as two men rounded the far edge of the deck.
Feeling the adrenalin pumping through him he silently pulled his knife from his boot sheath and gripped it loosely in preparation. Killing these men now would mean he’d have very little time to find Danny and get off the ship before the alarm was raised, but he had to be prepared for anything.
He waited, crouched as low as he dared, and slinked around to the other side as the two men moved passed his hiding place. They were a few paces passed, Steve watching carefully from the other side of his metal and rope blockade, when the shorter of the two paused and cocked his head. Steve caught the muzzle of a weapon as the guy slowly turned before ducking back and tensing, prepared to strike. It took a few steps before it was clear that he was heading to the decks rail, but Steve didn’t relax, sharp ears listening carefully for both of them to change direction and head for him. There was a moment of soft conversation, a short laugh, and they were moving again. Steve peered back around the hawser and watched them walk away, the short one flicking a cigarette over the side of the ship. When they turned the corner he was moving quickly. He needed to get to a secure hiding place and fast, before they were back in a few minutes to begin debarking procedures.
He slipped down a narrow passage, up two flights of stairs and found a stack of large crates that looked like they wouldn’t be moving for a while. There was no room to squeeze behind so he scaled to the top and rolled to where they pressed against the wall. The over hang from the deck above stuck out far enough that he was well hidden from every angle, and he shifted into a position that he knew he could maintain comfortably for a long time. Chances were it wouldn’t be safe to move again until nightfall, but at least he was on the ship.
As the sun rose around him and the ship began its departure out to the Pacific he pulled out his phone, sent a text to update Chin, and settled in to wait.
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Chin stepped from Kamekona’s dirt encrusted jeep, too intent on his purpose to even be relieved to be back on the safety of solid ground, and looked around. It was like any other hangar or warehouse district he’d ever been to: lots of pavement, chain link fences with barbed wire drooping unevenly across the top, older and newer cars parked side by side in a large lot to his left and a couple inside a small corrugated building that reminded him of the portables that had been at his school as a child. Tufts of brown green grass stuck up in random locations trying to decide if it was even worth surviving in an achingly hot environment surrounded by asphalt and dust.
Chin looked back to the small, corrugated building, the massive hangar that most likely housed the company’s birds and equipment looming up behind it. He took in the cheerful neon open sign with a green helicopter outlined beside it. A massive sign was bolted into the wall beside the door, boasting “Hoani Flights” in a colourful, professional script. Kamekona bypassed the office completely, walking past the open chain link fence and nodding at a man who looked up suspiciously from his work. The guy nodded back.
“Few years ago some tourists from the mainland took themsleves on a tour of the grounds without letting anyone know. Started fussing with the machines and did some serious damage. Moko tried to sue for the damage but it was ruled that without security to watch the gates the tourists couldn’t be responsible for thinking it was okay to wander in here and do whatever they want. Cost him a lot of money.”
“You sure he’s going to help us?”
“Have a little faith Brah, Moko is ‘ohana.” Chin didn’t say anything, eyeing a chopper across the tarmac that was in the process of lifting from the ground, eager faces pressed up against the glass in excitement for the tour. Kamekona hadn’t said much about his cousin Moko, just grinned and said he’d arrange a meet this morning and here they were. Chin was trying not to look too desperate, because if they couldn’t get a bird in the air he had no clue how the hell to get Danny and Steve of that ship.
When they finally rounded the far edge of the building, Kamekona huffing from the effort of moving so fast, Chin came face to face with the owner of Haoni Flights. While he hadn’t known what to expect, the man before him hadn’t fit in his mental image of a chopper pilot.
Moko looked up as soon as they rounded the corner, the largest aviator glasses Chin had ever seen covering half his face and his expression until the guy broke out into a huge grin, nearly loosing the dark cigar clamped between his teeth.
“Kamekona you nui honu! I hope you’re not looking for a tour cause my biggest birds already in the air and I’m not sure she’ll be willing to dance with you!” his teeth flashed obscenely bright, definitely bleached but fairly dim next to the loudest pink and green Hawaiian shirt Chin had ever seen. He was also one of the skinniest guys Chin had ever seen, his arms so thin poking out of his shirt that they could have been twigs.
“No way you’re getting me up in one of those bricks you little stint, if I were meant to fly I’d have wings,” Kamekona grinned.
“Probably for the best, I don’t think I could afford the gas to haul you around,” Moko shrugged with good humour, his attention drifting to Chin now that he’d greeted his friend. His grin dimmed, lips tightening slightly at the edges as it became forced politeness. “Who’s your friend?” He asked, eyes still hidden beneath the massive glasses but he pulled the unlit cigar from his lips.
“This is Chin Ho,” Kamekona introduced and Moko made no move to shake his hand.
“You here for a tour? We got the best one going across four of the islands,” he made a gesture that was probably meant to incorporate all of Hawai’i and Chin noticed the grease marring the back of his knuckles.
“I’m thinking more of a private charter, off the books,” Chin said carefully and Moko looked between Chin and his cousin, frowning.
“Chin Ho Kelly,” he repeated his name, lips pursed, and then he seemed to straighten out, losing the slightly hunched posture, squaring the shoulders and appearing bigger and more confident than his previous stature suggested. Chin realized the mans style wasn’t meant to hide a meekness due to his size, it was to mask his strength. “Of Five-O?” he asked sharply and Chin nodded, not having a reason to lie. That seemed to clear up something for the man because he stuck his hand out to shake Chin’s and pushed his glasses onto the top of his head, revealing a dark piercing gaze.
“You found the haole yet?” he asked and it was Chin’s turn to be cautious now, because cousin of Kamekona’s or not he didn’t know this guy and what he was trying to arrange with him could get Chin’s entire team in deep shit were it discovered by the wrong people.
“You know about Detective William’s disappearance?” he asked carefully and looked to Kamekona who shrugged, silently telling him he hadn’t mentioned their mainlanders abduction to him.
“Aside from the fact that pretty much everybody but the media does, I’ve made a point on keeping an eye on the guy.”
“Why?” Chin asked sharply and Moko held up his hands in the classic calm down gesture, not bothered in the least by his tone.
“Relax Five-O, nothing sinister. A year back I was arrested for some serious stuff, which I didn’t do but try telling that to the detective assigned the case! Guy just wanted to wrap it up and get home and it looked pretty air tight against me. Then along came Williams, deciding that something wasn’t right even if it was considered an open and shut case. I asked him to help, he put his reputation on the line but he and his partner figured it out in the end. Saved my ass big time, kept me from prison, kept me from losing my company and birds, and put down the guy who was framing me. So yeah, I kept an eye on him, because he sure didn’t make any friends helping me out and I owe him.”
“That was Danny that helped you out?” Kamekona shook his head at the apparent revelation. “That haole just keeps getting into everyone’s business,” the admiration just seemed to grow. If Danny wasn’t more careful he might have a fan club headlined by the big man himself.
“So you found him then?” Moko eyed Chin, deciding to take his non-answer as an answer in itself, which was what Chin hoped for. “And you need a bird to get to him?” This time Chin nodded. “Off the books huh?” he raised his grease covered hand and scratched the back of his neck, thinking over what that meant, and Chin ignored the unease in his stomach at having to ask this of someone he didn’t know well enough to trust. Then Moko grinned. “I’ve got just the thing.”
“It’s gonna be dangerous,” Chin warned severely. “The guys who have him run in the weapons trade, they’ll be armed and not happy with unexpected company. I can’t guarantee your safety.”
“The airforce didn’t train me to be a coward, Chin Ho. You want a pilot, you’ve got him, off the books,” he flicked his ridiculous aviators back down over his eyes and shoved the cigar back between his lips. “Lets head to my office and we can talk about how we’re getting your Haole back with a little more privacy.”
Kamekona slapped Chin’s shoulder in victory, nearly off balancing him, and grinned with satisfaction.
“Relax Brah, we’ll get Steve and the little Kahuna home before you know it,” and there was a belief in his words that hit Chin, that finally penetrated the weeks worth of fear for his friend. They would get Danny back, it felt like they’d been saying that forever, and for once Chin finally began to believe.
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Hoani -Bird of the gods
Nui honu - big turtle
Little stint - is a small wader bird
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Chapter 14
Masterpost