Hawaii Five-0 fic: Family business - chapter 9/?
Chapter 1 (contains full headers and overall warnings), Chapter 2, Chapter 3, Chapter 4, Chapter 5, Chapter 6, Chapter 7, Chapter 8
Rating / Warnings: R for angst and references to off-screen violence, including canonical character death.
Spoilers: minor ones up to 2x01, but this is mostly AU.
Word count: 5,300 words for this chapter; 39,000 so far.
Author's note: Thanks for your patience, everyone! We're getting closer...
***
Chapter 9
As if the Nick Taylor situation wasn't stressful enough, there's even worse to come.
On the morning of Christmas Eve, Danny learns that the man who killed Jack McGarrett is still alive. And Victor Hesse has chosen to announce his return in spectacular fashion: Chin Ho Kelly has been left outside Five-0 HQ with a bomb wrapped around his neck, like a macabre Christmas present.
Danny feels like he's been punched in the stomach when Captain Makaha announces the news...he sinks heavily into his chair, speechless. Reyes would no doubt have reacted even more strongly, given how fond she is of her former mentor, but she left two days ago for a week's vacation with Meka and their families.
Lee and Takahashi would probably give a damn, too, except they're already working a double homicide up in Mililani. Several of the other detectives don't seem too concerned about their former colleague's predicament, but Kaleo steps it up from mere indifference to outright callousness.
"Eh, that pilau thief had it coming," he says. "But it'd sure be a shame if the bomb blast damaged the Iolani Palace."
Danny clenches his fists to keep himself in check, and is relieved when the captain intervenes.
"Watch your mouth," Makaha says sharply. "Kelly might be dirty, but he doesn't deserve to die like that. And his wife doesn't deserve to watch it happen, either."
It's hard for Danny to just sit here: he wants to help catch the man who killed his uncle, and he wants to help Chin. But most of all he wants to be there for Steve, who will surely blame himself for not finishing Hesse off three months ago. Steve thinks of Meka, Chin, and Kono as family, and Danny thinks he's already lost enough family for one lifetime.
And okay...so it's been more than a month since the night they talked, and Danny isn't over Steve yet. He can admit that to himself, but still focus on the problem in front of him.
Dozens of patrolmen plus HPD's bomb squad have already been sent over to the Iolani Palace, though. Danny wouldn't be all that useful; at worst, he might even be a distraction to Steve. So he stays at his desk, keeping himself occupied by filing paperwork and emptying his inbox.
Half an hour later, he's checking tomorrow's weather forecast for Newark - two inches of snow, with the chance of heavier falls the day after. Then his phone rings, with Steve's name coming up on the screen, and Danny almost knocks over his coffee cup in the rush to answer.
"Danny," Steve says, "have you heard about Chin's situation?"
"Yeah; God, it's fucking awful. How are you guys holding up?"
"We're all still alive, at least."
Figuring it can't hurt to offer, Danny asks, "Can I do anything?"
"There is something, yeah, but it's risky."
"Tell me," Danny says.
"We've got a plan to get him out of this, but it means Kono and I have to leave the scene...maybe for several hours. Most of these cops hate Chin, and he needs a friendly face right now. So could you maybe come over here and keep him company? The bomb squad would give you a protective suit, but I can't deny you'd be in serious danger if the collar blows."
Danny feels torn. As much as he wants to comfort Chin, a guy he's come to like and respect, his first obligation lies elsewhere.
He sighs and says, "It's Christmas, Steve, and I gotta think of Gracie. If I die today, it'd ruin the holidays for her, maybe forever. But how about this: I could stand at a safer distance, in Chin's line of sight, and talk to him by phone?"
After a pause, Steve says, "Yeah, that'd work too. How soon can you get here?"
"I'm on my way."
Danny hangs up on Steve, and knocks on Makaha's door. "Sorry to bug you, Captain, but I'd like to head over to the Iolani Palace and see what I can do. I don't have any bad blood with Detective Kelly, and I've got no active cases."
Makaha studies him for a moment before nodding. "Okay. If this ends badly, it'd be good to have an unbiased account."
Danny uses the bathroom, and grabs some snacks and a bottle of water from the break room; who knows how long he's going to be on the phone. He calmly walks out the front door of the precinct, and then sets out for Five-0 HQ at a run.
The area around Chin has been cordoned off, with Iolani Palace workers and other civilians evacuated to a safe distance. Beyond the security perimeter, Chin is on his knees with Kono and Steve beside him. Her face is a picture of misery, while Steve looks grimly determined.
Steve sees Danny making his way towards them, and hurries over. "Hey, thanks for coming. Listen: the collar is motion-sensitive, so you need to keep him calm and still, no matter what. We gotta go, but I'll call as soon as I get some news."
"Good luck," Danny tells him. "And if you shoot Hesse again, go for the face this time, okay?"
Steve's answering grin is positively feral. He pushes past the uniforms guarding the entrance to his headquarters, returning with a spare phone and using it to dial Danny's number. Once Danny picks up, Steve goes back to Chin and lays the phone on the ground beside him, adjusting the volume on the speaker setting until Chin and Danny can hear each other clearly.
Kono reluctantly gets to her feet. Through her tears, she flashes Chin the sign for 'I love you'...and Danny's heart just breaks for her when Chin can't return it as usual. Danny hands her a Kleenex as she passes through the perimeter, and she nods in thanks. With her face dried, Kono no longer looks lost and afraid. In fact, she looks almost as scary as Steve.
Steve clasps Danny's shoulder briefly, and then he and Kono leave to carry out whatever crazy plan they've concocted.
***
Once they're gone, Danny makes his way around the cordoned-off area until he's on the other side from the bomb squad's command center. It's quieter, over here, and Chin can see him without having to move his head. And the barricade will hopefully be thick enough to protect Danny, if the worst happens.
"Hey, man. Reyes would be here if she could," he tells Chin, propping both elbows on the fence, "but she's over on Kauai."
"Yeah," Chin says. "Meka's parents retired there, so their kids and grandkids go over for Christmas every year. And Reyes is 'ohana - she and Meka were partners for so long, she's part of the family now."
"See, I understand old folks from New York or Boston moving to Florida for the warm weather. But why would you retire from one tropical island to another?"
"A lot of people migrate within Hawaii, for school or a job," Chin explains. "The Hanamoas have lived on Oahu for decades, but they're originally from Kauai and I guess they got homesick."
"Yeah, I get that. Anyway, that's why you're stuck with me as your babysitter instead of Reyes."
Although Chin is sweating and trembling, he gives Danny the ghost of a smile. "Screw you, Williams, I've got at least half a decade on you."
"Well, if we're gonna play the 'age equals seniority' game, then I should get to lord it over Steve," Danny argues. "I'm three whole months older than him, you know."
Chin sighs. "You guys are lucky. With me and Kono, the age gap was 12 years. That made it all so much tougher."
Danny's stomach twists, and it's not just because he's dangerously close to a bomb: Chin is talking about himself in the past tense, and he's picked up on what Danny's tried so hard to hide.
"What do you mean, 'you guys'? There is no 'us guys', Chin."
"Maybe not yet, but I've noticed how you look at him. He's better at pretending, but I can tell he wants you too."
Given the situation, Danny sees no point in denying it further. "Yeah, okay, you're right. But we talked about it before Thanksgiving, Steve said no, and I have to respect that. I even started dating a nice woman from New Jersey."
"Well, I hope that works out for you," Chin says, wincing as he shifts his weight just a little. Kneeling on asphalt for so long must be agony, but the constant terror must be even worse.
Seeking a way to keep Chin's mind occupied, Danny says, "Hey, listen: tell me about you and Kono."
"Why?"
"Because I don't know the history there, and I gotta admit I'm curious. And because you need to focus on her as your reason to stay still, and stay alive."
"Yeah, okay," Chin says, looking down at his hands. "Well, we didn't really know each other when we were younger. Kono's parents went through a nasty divorce, and it caused a rift between her mom and my folks. Her dad brought Kono along to some family luaus, but she was always just one of many kids and I was already a teenager. I hardly noticed her."
"So what changed?"
"I was out surfing with my cousin Sid one day, years later - and this 12-year-old girl showed up, and blew everyone away with her skills. I got such a shock when Sid said it was Kono. I'd missed a lot of luaus, what with the academy and then working all the crappiest shifts as a rookie. She'd grown up a lot since I'd last seen her."
Chin glances up, as though he knows what Danny was too polite to ask. "No, I wasn't attracted to her then; I just admired her talent and her ambition. We started surfing together, more and more often. And when she joined a pro team at age 15, I tried to make it to all her events."
Danny has strong opinions as to the validity of surfing as a competitive sport, but this is hardly the time and place to voice them. "How long was Kono's professional career?"
"Just three years, until she blew out her knee. Going through surgery and months of rehab left her pretty miserable, so I often stopped by to keep her company. And eventually I realized that seeing my 19-year-old cousin was the highlight of my day, and that I hardly looked at other women anymore. Kono was pretty much everything I wanted."
"Damn...what did you do?"
"I fought against it - not so much because we're related, but because of the age gap. So I hit the singles scene again, and started dating. I got serious with one woman, Malia, even though Kono hated her."
Danny thinks of how intently Steve had stared at him and Julia, that night at the sports bar. But even if there was some jealousy involved, Steve's made his position crystal clear.
"You didn't see that as a sign Kono felt the same way?" Danny asks Chin.
"No, I had no idea. I knew I was important to her, but I figured she saw me as the brother she never had. And a kind of mentor, too...after a few years working various jobs, she decided to join HPD. Kono's mom wasn't exactly pleased about that, though, because she'd been unhappily married to a cop. She convinced Kono that studying first would keep her options open."
"Ma hoped I'd go to college, too," Danny comments. "But Pop's a firefighter, so he understood why I went straight to the academy instead."
"Same here," Chin says. "Law enforcement is pretty much my family business, and it was all I ever wanted to do. So anyway: Kono enrolled at Chaminade, here in Honolulu, because it had the best Criminal Justice program. And I'd go over to her dorm room most evenings, and talk shop."
"Were you still with Malia, then?"
"Yeah, but not for long: she ended it half-way through Kono's freshman year, saying she hardly ever saw me. And a few months later, Kono declared that she was tired of waiting for me, so she made the first move instead. That was 2004, and we've been together ever since."
"Wow," Danny says. "Gotta love a woman who knows what she wants."
Chin grins. "That's my Kono."
"And she really proposed to you the day you quit HPD?"
"Yeah, that's right. It would have been the worst day of my life, if not for her." Chin exhales hard. "But after everything we went through, back then, today she's going to -"
Chin cuts himself off. Danny doesn't want to let him dwell on those bitter memories, or worry about the future. So he says, "Okay, change of subject: tell me about your days as a quarterback."
"That was a long time ago," Chin objects.
"I know, but you should tell me anyway...or else I'm gonna regale you with stories about my time playing varsity baseball, including a blow-by-blow account of the championship game we won junior year. I've got all the stats memorized, buddy."
With a small smile, Chin says, "All right, all right. I'll talk about anything you like, so long as I can avoid hearing baseball stats."
They manage to kill another long spell by talking about football, until Chin's voice begins to go hoarse and Danny has reminisced about all the great games he saw at the old Giants stadium. When the lull in the conversation starts to stretch out, Danny changes tack and tells Chin about breaking up Jefferson High's Homecoming dance back in his rookie days.
"Apparently the quarterback got real upset that he didn't get voted Homecoming King; the captain of the soccer team won, instead. So the quarterback jumped up on stage and punched the newly-crowned King to the floor, and then the soccer team's goalkeeper knocked the quarterback out, and then two linebackers and three cheerleaders tackled him. There was pretty much a riot, after that, and the principal called 911. It was weird arresting kids in rented tuxedos and prom dresses, I gotta say."
That gets a grin out of Chin, and he counters with some funny memories of his own early days on the beat. Jack McGarrett was his training partner, it turns out, and Danny welcomes another perspective on his uncle. Chin paints a picture of a cop devoted to the job at his family's expense, but who loved his kids more than they ever knew.
"I recently mentioned to Steve that we'd watched all his games, and he was shocked - he'd had no idea his dad was even there. Poor communication must be a McGarrett family trait. But I guess it skipped you, huh?"
Danny laughs. "Yeah, I got my big mouth from Ma; she's never short of words, either."
Half an hour later, Danny's in the middle of a story about Halloween, 2002, and how some weird kids calling themselves 'Juggalos' popped him with a stun gun.
And then there's a sudden clicking sound from the bomb collar, and the flashing red light at the front turns green. Danny instinctively crouches down behind the barricade, holding his breath, terrified, but nothing else happens.
A moment later his call waiting beeps, with Steve's number flashing on the screen.
Danny tells Chin to hang on, and stabs at the button. "What the fuck just happened?"
"We got Hesse and disarmed the bomb," Steve says, panting hard. "It's all over."
"Oh, thank God," Danny breathes.
"Tell Chin to stay still for now, and then go inform the bomb squad. They can remove the collar safely."
Danny straightens up again and shouts Steve's order to Chin, giving him the thumbs-up as encouragement. Chin just looks skywards, murmuring something Danny can't hear and doesn't need to. Danny runs around the cordon, and approaches the bomb squad leader.
As the guys in protective suits go out to do their thing, Steve says, "Will you stay with Chin until Kono gets back? Hesse isn't dead - she only shot him through the shoulder. I'm not letting him out of my sight, but he needs urgent medical treatment if he's going to make it to trial."
"Of course I'll stay," Danny says. "Hey, exactly how did you pull off this happy ending?"
"Trust me...you're better off not knowing. This isn't your fight, Danny, and plausible deniability is your best defense."
That just makes Danny even more curious, of course, but he says, "Yeah, okay. I won't ask."
"Good. Tell Chin that Kono says 'aloha', and she'll be there as soon as she can."
When the collar is removed, Chin slumps forward onto his hands, gasping for breath and shuddering all over. Danny gives him a moment and then helps him to the waiting ambulance, relaying Steve and Kono's words en route.
The paramedics have done their thing, the barricade has been dismantled, and people are filing back into the Iolani Palace by the time Kono arrives. She throws her arms around Chin and presses her face to his neck, and he holds her tight.
Danny looks away, overwhelmed by the display of raw emotion. "I should get back to the precinct, guys," he says eventually.
Kono pulls back from her husband and turns to Danny, kissing his cheek. "I'm so glad you were here."
Chin surprises him with a hug. "Thank you, Danny. I won't forget this."
"Hey," Danny says lightly, "all I did was answer the phone. You guys did all the hard stuff."
"Still," Kono says, "if there's ever anything we can do for you, just ask."
Danny thinks for a moment, and then says, "Well, actually...how would you feel about teaching me and my daughter how to surf?"
Chin laughs, a rusty but genuine sound, and Kono grins. "Grace finally talked you into it, huh? Sure, I'd be happy to."
***
"You stayed on the line with him for three hours?" Captain Makaha asks, once Danny's returned to HPD.
"More or less, yeah. Detective Kelly's teammates had to go solve the problem someplace else," Danny explains, "and I figured nobody should suffer that kind of ordeal alone."
"Do you know how, exactly, they solved the problem?"
"Well, I know that Victor Hesse guy got shot again. Beyond that, I have no clue," Danny says truthfully.
The captain looks dubious but says, "All right. Write me a short report outlining what happened, and then you can call it a day."
Danny goes back to his desk, feeling a renewed sense of appreciation for his padded chair and the bullpen's AC after standing out in the sun for so long.
Once he's handed in his account of the day, Danny heads home. Though it's barely mid-afternoon, he feels exhausted now the adrenaline has ebbed away; starving, too, since he didn't have lunch. He only manages to eat one slice of leftover pizza before falling asleep in front of the TV.
The ringing of his phone wakes Danny from his nap a couple of hours later, but it's his parents on the line and he's always glad to hear from them. Danny grabs a beer from the fridge as he listens to the family's plans for tomorrow: Jen and her husband giving Tyler his first bike, Lisa's daughter Sophia receiving a dollhouse made by Pop, and Matt doing his usual best to spoil his nieces and nephews rotten.
Since a big UPS box arrived yesterday from FAO Schwarz, Danny guesses Matty hasn't forgotten Grace either. The package his parents sent is much smaller, but Danny knows all the presents inside will have been wrapped by Ma using paper saved from previous holiday seasons. She's so careful not to waste anything...a legacy of her cash-strapped upbringing, he presumes. Ma rarely talks about her life in Boston, though, and Danny and his siblings learned long ago not to ask.
All the Christmas traditions Ma and Pop mention are incredibly familiar, but they make Danny feel even more homesick. So in a way, he values the tone of this conversation more than the content.
He's pleased that his relationship with Pop hasn't really changed since Ma's revelation. The two of them still share a dedication to a difficult and risky job, a similar sense of humor, and many common interests. And unlike the communicatively-challenged McGarrett men, Pop isn't afraid to tell Danny that he loves him.
For her part, Ma has seemed happier this past month, ever since Danny read her the letter Winston had written to Jack. It's as though a weight she's been carrying around all these years has lifted. She's even asked Danny to put some flowers on Winston's grave come January 23, to mark the anniversary of his death.
After ending the call with his parents, Danny's looking forward to an evening alone. He's almost glad that Grace is at Rachel's, being fussed over by her visiting English grandmother, and that Julia has gone back to the East Coast for the holidays.
If nothing else, it's good to have a chance to rest his vocal cords - even by Danny's own standards, he did a lot of talking today.
First of all, Danny cleans his apartment. He only gets Grace for six hours tomorrow, but he wants to make sure everything looks nice. Then he wraps her presents: mostly small things, because Danny can't compete with Stan's money and would bankrupt himself trying. So there's a pink scooter for her to ride around his neighborhood, a new Yankees shirt to replace the one she's outgrown, and the latest book in a series Danny has been reading to her.
Rachel and Danny had already decided that she would buy their daughter a surfboard, plus all the gear, if he found a suitable teacher and paid for her tuition. Now he sits down and draws up a certificate entitling Grace to surfing lessons with Kono.
Danny can't wait to see his baby's face when she reads it, because she's talked several times about Kono's amazing skill out on those giant waves. Hopefully Grace will be pleased that Danny has agreed to learn along with her, as a daddy-daughter thing.
Dinner is more reheated pizza, eaten while watching vaguely amusing sitcoms. By about 8.30pm, Danny is on his third beer of the evening and relaxed at last. So when his phone rings, Danny thinks of ignoring it. Then he focuses on the screen, sees that it's Steve calling, and feels his traitorous heart start to beat faster.
"Hey, Danny. I'm sorry to bug you again, but I need another favor," Steve says.
Danny sits up straight. "What's up?"
"Something weird is going on with Victor Hesse. He refused to talk when I questioned him on the way to the hospital today, even after Kono put extra-heavy pressure on his bullet wound."
Hesse really is lucky to be alive after trying to kill Kono's husband, so Danny decides not to comment on the ethical lapse.
"Once Hesse got patched up, he was released to the infirmary at Halawa Correctional," Steve continues. "And an hour ago, he had a visitor."
"Who was it?" Danny asks.
"I have no idea, but whoever it was made him change his tune in a hurry. As soon as the visitor left, Hesse insisted on seeing me immediately. The prison's warden was an old buddy of Dad's, so he phoned and offered to give me special access. I can have a face-to-face meeting with Hesse in private, tonight."
"So what do you want from me?"
Steve clears his throat. "I need your help to interrogate him. Chin is recuperating, Kono won't leave his side, and Meka isn't around. I can't be alone in a room with Hesse, or else I'll be tempted to...to hurt him. Please, Danny?"
Danny's already on his feet, switching the TV off and looking around for his shoes. "Okay, I'll do it. And hey, it's like you told me after we took down Curtis Howard: gotta keep prisoners alive for questioning, right? Victor Hesse is a criminal, not an enemy combatant, and he has rights whether you like it or not. Fuck this up, and the case against him might get thrown out of court. Chin deserves justice, and so does your father."
"Yeah, I know," Steve sighs. "You want me to swing by and get you, or do you want to drive up to Halawa yourself?"
"Come pick me up. I've had a few beers, and I know HPD's running a big drunk driving crackdown tonight."
Danny realizes once he's hung up that he didn't give Steve his address, but is unsurprised when he finds his way to Danny's door regardless.
***
Half an hour later, they're sitting in a prison interview room and Hesse is being led in by guards. He has one arm in a sling, looks battered and broken - Steve's doing, Danny assumes - and is probably on strong painkillers. But there's something else in his demeanor. Either he's the world's best actor, or he's deeply afraid.
Once Hesse has been shackled to the table by his good hand and both ankles, he rasps, "Glad you could stop by, Steve. Who's your friend here?"
"Someone I trust," Steve says flatly. "What the hell was so important, Victor?"
"I have information to offer you, in exchange for protection: information about Wo Fat."
Danny looks at Steve, to see if that name means anything to him, but Steve's face is blank. "Who or what is Wo Fat?"
Hesse scoffs. "You really should know him already, Steve, if only by reputation. Dear me...weren't you supposed to be the best and brightest Naval Intelligence officer around?"
Steve responds by sitting back and crossing his arms, movements leisurely and deliberate. "You're not exactly convincing me to stay and hear you out."
"All right, fine," Hesse tells him, mocking expression abruptly turning serious. "Wo Fat is one of the world's most dangerous men. He has corrupt politicians and bureaucrats in his pocket, and active interests in every part of the underground economy. Organized crime syndicates, terror cells, mercenary outfits, drug-runners, and arms dealers all answer to him."
"Including you?"
"Yeah - Anton and I worked for him for years, brokering the illicit sale of weapons between Asia and Europe. I was one of his go-to guys, but now I'm a loose end," Hesse says, spreading his good hand as far as the heavy chain will allow. "Wo Fat is ruthless about keeping his operation tidy, and I know too much. Even in maximum security, he can get to me. I need protection from him."
Steve leans forward, then, just inches from Hesse's bruised face. Danny rests his hand on Steve's knee, under the table, as a reminder of the need for restraint.
"You killed my father, you tried to kill me, and 12 hours ago you put a bomb collar around my friend's neck," Steve says, his voice so low and furious that Danny shivers involuntarily. "Why the hell should I do anything to save your worthless hide? Why shouldn't I leave you to rot here in Halawa, and let this Wo Fat guy or his minions do their worst?"
"Because Wo Fat ordered the hit on your father," Hesse counters, "and he remains a danger to you and everyone you care about."
They both stare at him in shock; Danny is the first to recover the power of speech. "What the fuck are you talking about? Why would this international master criminal give a damn about some retired cop in Hawaii?"
Hesse shakes his head. "I'm not saying any more until I get protective custody. If I'm convicted, I want to serve my sentence under a new identity in a mainland prison. And on the off-chance you ever capture Wo Fat alive, I'll testify in return for a significantly reduced stretch. That's my deal."
"Sounds like a lot of demands from a man facing multiple life sentences," Steve says, his eyes narrowed. "And you've given us no evidence that Wo Fat even exists."
"He visited me at this prison, Steve, not two hours ago," Hesse says, tapping the table for emphasis. "So run facial recognition on the surveillance footage, get a lip reader to tell you what he said, and then go talk to your pals at Langley. They've been after Wo Fat for nearly a decade now - they'll be mighty pleased to hear what I know. It'd be like Christmas has come early for the CIA."
"And even if he does exist, why should I believe you killed Dad on his orders?"
"Well, I can prove I arrived in Hawaii four days before you captured my brother, back in September," Hesse tells him. "You might have trouble confirming it with the man who smuggled me here from China, Sang Min, since you so kindly set him free him yesterday. But I'll make it easy for you: get me a piece of paper, and I'll write down everywhere I went on this island prior to knocking on your father's door. You'll just have to retrace my footsteps."
Steve is silent for a long moment, his face unreadable. "All right," he says. "I'll get you into solitary confinement now, under the strictest lockdown. And I'll look into this Wo Fat guy. If I get enough proof that you're telling the truth, then we'll discuss a possible deal."
"Make it quick," Hesse says. "If Wo Fat finds out I've talked to you, I'll be dead for sure...and then you'll never know why he had me question your father under torture before blowing his brains out."
Under the table, Steve clenches his fists. Danny is willing to try and stop him harming Hesse, even if the bastard richly deserves it and even if intervening might be like wrestling a bear. But Steve maintains his self-control; he just stands up and says, "We're done here."
Danny follows him out, leaving the smirking killer chained to the table. In the corridor, Steve tells the guards to give Hesse a pencil and paper, and to watch over him while he writes. Then he stands still, and takes several deep breaths.
Instead of asking stupid questions, like whether Steve is okay, Danny just says, "Do you think he's telling the truth?"
"There's not much Hesse wouldn't do to fuck with my head, considering our history," Steve replies. "But I think I'll play along, at least for now - keeping him in solitary reduces his chances of escape, anyway."
"I don't know Hesse like you do, but I read him as being genuinely freaked out. And if he was deliberately manipulating you to get himself a sweeter deal, wouldn't he have been less of a jackass?"
Steve shakes his head. "He'd know that I would immediately be suspicious. There's too much bad blood between us to ever be remotely civil, even if we may have a common enemy now."
"So what's your next move?"
"I need to talk to the warden, first of all, and then pick up a copy of that surveillance footage. Can you stay here, and grab that list as soon as Hesse finishes writing it? I'll meet you at the front entrance once I've got what I need."
"Sure," Danny says. Steve gives him a quick nod and then strides off down the corridor.
Danny leans back against the cinderblock wall, blowing out his breath. If he's having trouble processing the possibility that Jack's death was an organized hit, then how is Steve coping with it?
He knows better than to expect Steve to open up, at least not any time soon. All Danny can do is stay close, and offer his support as a colleague, cousin, and friend.
***
Chapter 10