FIFTEEN

The sun set at 6:32pm. By that time, up in his room at the Kojima building, Ryu Honda had already showered and changed into a white button-up shirt and black suit trousers. He left his room half an hour later and went down to meet his friend Kenji in the lobby of the building.

Several wakacku had already gathered there too as Ryu got off the elevator and rode one of the escalators down to the reception area. Much like Ryu, the wakacku were all dressed in black suits and ties. But Ryu had to smile at Kenji’s choice of attire for the evening, which was a flashy red suit made of pure silk. Typical Kenji. He always had to try to one-up everyone else.

“Are we waiting for anyone else?” Ryu asked, his eyes quickly scanning the small crowd, for Meyoko in particular. She was nowhere to be seen.

“No, this is it,” Kenji said. “Most of the other wakacku were tied up with work tonight. But don’t worry, we’ll be meeting up with Meyoko and her friends later; they left just before you got down here.”

Kenji led the group outside to a black stretch limousine that had just pulled up. He and Ryu both got inside, where there was an ice-bucket and a bottle of sparkling champagne waiting for them. Two wakacku named Hideo and Daigoro shuffled in opposite them. The two could not have been any more different. Hideo was a man who had always been quite reserved and well-mannered. He was an introvert by nature, one who couldn’t stand the thought of looking like a fool in public. The baby-faced Daigoro on the other hand was much more of a free spirit; whenever the drinks began to flow one would be hard pressed to find anyone making a louder ruckus than him.

Kenji cracked open a bottle of champagne and poured everyone a drink, then they all raised their glasses as one.

“I know it’s been a long week for all of us,” Kenji said. “Especially for me. So let’s go out there and enjoy ourselves tonight, gentlemen. That’s a fucking order!”

They all clinked their glasses together.

***

Officer Alex Sanchez had just finished up for the day at work as he made his way through the underground parking garage of the police station. He smiled politely to the new female officer in the garage’s security booth on the way to his car. She was a pretty young thing, but like most other women, in his eyes, she had nothing on his wife.

He unlocked his car, which was a white and rather dated Toyota Camry, and got inside, ready to drive home to his dinner. But just as he started up the ignition, a red Holden Commodore suddenly came speeding towards him, parking him in.

“Hey, what the fuck are you doing?!” Sanchez blared his horn in frustration. “Move it, arsehole!”

“Hold it right there, Sergeant,” the driver of the Holden called out to him, popping his head out the window. “There’s no need to pop a testicle; Randy and I just need to have a quick word.”

Detectives Randy and Jackson got out of the car and walked over to his window.

“Come on, Detectives,” Sanchez wound down his window in frustration. “I’ve got a wife and kid to get home to. I’m already late. Can’t this is wait until tomorrow?”

“We’re sorry, Sergeant, but no, it really can’t,” Detective Randy smiled in a patronising fashion. “We’ll try not to take up too much of your time; we’re just conducting a private investigation on the Chief’s behalf. We need to ascertain your whereabouts and what you were you doing this afternoon. Specifically between the hours of 1pm and 3pm.”

Sanchez rolled his eyes. “Why? Did I do something wrong?”

“We’re not singling you out here, Sergeant; we’ll be speaking to a lot of people over the next few days,” Randy said. “There was shooting across town today. According to several eye-witnesses, the triggerman was wearing a police uniform. Hence why we need to know the precise whereabouts of everyone on duty today between the aforementioned hours. I’m told that you and your partner were working off the grid.”

Sanchez shrugged. “The kid’s still learning the ropes. He must have forgotten to report our position in to HQ.”

“We figured as much. But we’re still going to need you to tell us where you were.”

“Fine,” Sanchez sighed. “I stopped for lunch at about 1:30 and ate two large burgers at some place by the beach. I was there until around 2pm. After that, I was on traffic duty for a couple of hours over near Calle Uruguay. We returned here to the station by around 4:30pm to get our paperwork done and I’ve been here ever since.”

Randy glanced across quickly to his partner, then back to Sanchez. “And you’re certain that you’re not skipping over any details, Sergeant? Anything at all, no matter how small or trivial you think they may be?”

“Would you like to know how many times I went to take a piss?”

“No, no, there’s no need for any of that. Not yet. Actually, I’d say we’re about done with you.”

“Well, thank fuck for that.”

“Ain’t this a relief, Randy,” Detective Jackson smiled to his partner. “And here I was believing a rumour going round the office today that old Sanchez here met up for lunch with that dickless vigilante named Fido.”

“Suspected dickless vigilante, Jackson,” Randy corrected him.

Sanchez’s eyes flickered involuntarily at Fido’s mention. He looked at Randy for confirmation that what Jackson said was true

“It’s true, Sergeant,” Randy nodded. “One of our colleagues says he saw you speaking with this Fido character earlier this afternoon. Said he saw you in some beachside café named Humphries, and that you even sat down and had lunch with the man like you knew him.”

Sanchez frowned. Despite his surprise, he managed to cloak his emotions well. That had always been a talent of his. But his breath was quickening and his heart had begun beating out of his chest.

“As you’re no doubt aware, these are some pretty serious allegations, Sergeant,” Randy continued. “Especially with the new Police Chief trying so hard to crack down on corruption as of late. You wouldn’t be helping a suspected killer track down his marks now would you?”

“So that’s what this is really about? You think I’ve been helping out a criminal?”

“We’re not in a position here to make any accusations yet, Sergeant. The Chief just wanted to give you a chance to clear some things up.”

“So you lead with all this bullshit about an unrelated shooting?” Sanchez gritted his teeth. “Typical detectives. And just out of curiosity, which one of your colleagues saw me speaking with this man Fido?”

“I’m sorry, Sergeant, that’s classified,” Jackson said. “But since the rumours aren’t true, I guess you’ll have nothing to worry about when we pass on our findings to the Internal Affairs Division.”

“I guess not,” Sanchez forced a smile. In truth he was not at all worried. He knew General Gomez had friends in high places in the newly formed IAD. “So can I go now? My wife is waiting.”

“Sure, no problem,” Randy nodded to his partner.

“Fuck her once for me, would ya?” Jackson added as the two detectives got back inside their vehicle. “I hear she’s a real peach.”

Sanchez just pretended he didn’t hear him.

Once the two detectives had reversed out of his way, Sanchez quickly drove out.

...

“So?” Detective Jackson turned across to his partner. “How do want to proceed?”

“Orders are orders,” Randy’s eyes remained fixed on Sanchez’s Camry as it left the parking garage. “We’ll use the new kid. Sanchez won’t even see it coming.”

“Where will it go down?” Jackson asked. “At the house? Sanchez has a wife and kid…”

“El Maestro doesn’t like loose ends.” Randy’s face remained blank. “Kill them all.”