TEN

The police squad car slowed and then pulled into the curb directly across the road from a small beachside takeaway shop. Behind the wheel, Sergeant Alex Sanchez turned to his young rookie partner with the smile of a kid in a candy store. “I’m going to grab a quick bite to eat. You want anything while we’re here?”

Benny Pupshaw shook his head politely. “No thanks, Alex, I packed my lunch today.”

“Cheap arse,” Sanchez threw his hands up theatrically, then he got out of the car and made his way across the street.

Pupshaw watched as his overweight, balding partner disappeared inside the shop. Takeaway food, again. The wife wasn’t going to be happy. Would it seriously have killed his partner to consider eating something that didn’t add inches to his belt size?

The rookie’s eyes tiredly shifted down towards beachfront, out to the sparkling blue waters, and he wondered again what the hell he was doing in this job. He had a degree in business management for god’s sake! Benny wished now that he had taken his father’s advice to work as a butcher in the family’s business. But instead he was stuck now in a job that he hated, doing the sort of work that he, and his entire family, considered far beneath him. In his father’s eyes, he was a young man with so much wasted potential.

With his shy smile, smoothly shaven face and neat crew-cut hair, Benny Pupshaw appeared much younger than the twenty-six years of age that he was. Whether he liked it or not, this did very little to enhance his reputation in the eyes of his fellow officers; not once since he’d started on the job four months ago had anyone so much as asked him out for a drink after work. Nobody gave two shits about the new kid; least of all his flabby partner.

Relaxing back into his seat, Benny closed his eyes. It was best not to think too much about all that; thinking only made him angrier. Besides, he was not going to be a policeman forever; he already had another source of revenue on the side.

Suddenly the warm midday sun began to make him feel drowsy. He figured he could try to get some shut-eye before his partner returned. Working all day with an obnoxious loud-mouth like Alex Sanchez certainly took its toll on you.

***

Inside the takeaway store, Officer Alex Sanchez greedily scanned over the menu that was displayed up on a chalkboard over the counter.

Unlike his brooding, bitter young partner Benny Pupshaw, Sanchez was a man who never took his job for granted. That was because it was something he had fought so hard to earn. Ever since he was a child Sanchez had been forced to do things tough. He had lost his mother to cancer before his sixth birthday, then his father to a car accident by the time he was ten. After his father’s sudden death, Sanchez had been forced to fend for himself out on the unforgiving and uncharitable streets of Panama City. It had been tough, living out of cardboard boxes in alleyways for well over a year, but then he ran into a kind man known as General Miguel Gomez. Through Gomez’s kindness, Alex Sanchez had been given a real chance at life; the General had pratically raised Sanchez, even helping to pay his tuition and put him through a private school. He was a criminal, sure, but one with a heart.

Just as Sanchez reached the front of the line, he suddenly caught sight of a familiar face somewhere in the corner of his eye. The man was not difficult to spot amongst the shop’s crowd of beach-going regulars and fat-joes; he was seated alone at one of the tables, eating his lunch with his usual complete lack of manners. Fido.

Sanchez’s thoughts were put on hold as the clerk at the counter asked for his order.

“Ah…” Sanchez licked his lips hungrily, his eyes returning to the menu. “Just give me… two large Colossal Burgers, an extra-large fries, and a diet coke. And fifteen… no, twenty chicken nuggets. And a cherry muffin. And make that three lots of extra-large fries… in addition to my first one.”

The man at the counter took down the order and smiled politely. “Sí, sir. There will be about a five minute wait on those Colossal Burgers.” He handed Sanchez a numbered ticket.

Sanchez turned back then to the man he recognised as Fido, making his way towards him. Yes, now that he could see him more clearly, Sanchez was certain it was him. There was no mistaking him with his unshaven face, mid-length hair, cheap black sunglasses, and an all-round sense of untidiness about him.

“Hey, Fido, is that you?” Sanchez said with a ridiculous grin as he got within range.

Fido glanced up from his box of fries. “Officer Alex Sanchez,” he smiled. “You fat son of a bitch. It’s been too long, hasn’t it? How are things? Don’t tell me you’ve missed having me around.”

“Of course I’ve missed you, you fucking homeless bum!” Sanchez howled hysterically. “The boys at the Port of Balboa have all been asking about you — where you’ve been the last few years, whether or not you were ever coming back — and to be honest, I don’t even know what to tell them anymore. What are you doing back in town?”

Fido glanced back down to his fries and took another handful, shoving them greedily into his mouth. “I’m here on business.”

“Oh, I didn’t realise you were working again.”

“I’m not.”

Sanchez helped himself to a seat at the table, taking a few of Fido’s fries. “Will you be in town for long?”

“No.” Fido took a slurp of his drink, not at all concerned about his table manners. “Probably no more than a few days.”

“Oh,” the smile dropped from Sanchez’s face. “You’re still gunning for Loa Lacroix, aren’t you? And I take it that you’re here because you think he’s in town.”

“Very perceptive of you, Alex.”

“Is that the only reason you’re back?”

“Do I really need to answer that?” Fido quickly finished off the last of his fries and then stood up to leave. “It was nice chatting to you again, Alex, but I’ve got to run. Maybe we can catch up again for a beer sometime.”

“Fido, wait,” Sanchez stood up just as his friend began to make a move towards the exit. “Don’t you at least want to visit General Gomez while you’re in town?”

Fido stopped in his tracks, as though he’d just been seized by an invisible force. He turned back slowly to his friend. “I didn’t come back here to stay, Alex, don’t you get it?”

“I know, and I understand.” Sanchez forced a smile. “But even so, the General would love to see you again, Fido, even if it’s only once.”

“Why? What good what that do?”

“He’s only the man who raised you.”

“I know what he did, Alex!”

“Don’t worry, I’m sure he won’t try talking you out of leaving again. Especially after how pissed you got the last time...”

“Well, I wouldn’t put it past him.”

Sanchez watched his friend pondering what to do. He had always known Fido to be the sort of man who shied away from making connections with other people. He guessed it was because the man was afraid to get close to anyone, which was hardly surprising given that he didn’t even know who he was himself.

“Panama City is one hell of a big place to try finding someone in,” Sanchez added. “The General might know a few people who can help you track down Lacroix; as far as I know he still has his ties to the Paravinchis and the Kojimas. And those guys keep tabs on everyone. And hey, if nothing comes up, I could always try pulling out some of Lacroix’s files for you from the station’s archives myself. There might be something for you to go on in there.”

“Thanks, Alex, I’d appreciate that,” Fido said slowly, clearly struggling to find the right words to express himself.

“Don’t mention it,” Sanchez nodded. “But, I do have one condition; you have to come with me to see General Gomez. And I don’t mean next month, next week, or even tomorrow; I mean right now, Fido. Not negotiable.”

“Fine,” Fido shrugged and nodded. “Just make it quick, alright? I’ve got shit to do.”

They both turned to leave, but then Sanchez rested a hand on his friend’s shoulder to stop him.

“What now?” Fido asked.

“Ah… actually I just have to wait a few more minutes for my order to come through,” Sanchez said sheepishly. “I hope you don’t mind, I’m starving; I’ve only had a sandwich and three donuts since breakfast.”

***

Benny Pupshaw looked on in curiosity as his partner emerged from the store with a shaggy-looking stranger. The two of them crossed the street together and approached the squad car. Sanchez got in behind the wheel and the stranger shuffled into the back seat.

“Well, what do we have here?” Pupshaw asked. “You bust this guy for trying to skip out on his bill?”

“Don’t be stupid, Benny; Fido here’s an old friend of mine,” Sanchez laughed, turning back to Fido and winking. “You’re no thief, right Fido?”

“Not lately.”

Pupshaw looked suspiciously at their new passenger. He somehow looked familiar. “Where do you know him from?”

“I met him back during my days with General Gomez,” Sanchez said, starting up the ignition. “The General took him in and treated him like his own son, just as he did me. The two of us were good friends.”

“Oh,” Pupshaw nodded. “He’s the one, isn’t he? The kid with the bullet in his brain? From the news?”

“So what? I’ve been on the news too, haven’t I?” Sanchez edged the car out onto the street. “By the way, we’re taking a slight detour on our way back to the station, I hope you don’t mind.”

“Come on, Alex,” Pupshaw turned to his partner with annoyance. “We’re supposed to be on duty here. What the hell do you think you’re doing?!”

“Well, damn, I’m sorry to inconvenience you, kid, but this is important.”

“Then you won’t mind me calling it in to HQ.”

“No, this is off the books. Trust me, kid, just shut up, sit back and enjoy the ride.”

“You know something, Alex,” Pupshaw snorted, “you can be a real prick when you want to be!”

“Yeah? Well, so can your boyfriend.”