‘Of the kid having joined the LAPD?’ Hunter asked, rolling down the passenger window.
Garcia nodded.
Hunter sat back on his seat and observed the buildings flashing past until their car came to a halt at the traffic light on the junction of S. Alameda and 4th Street. Hunter’s eyes then settled on the seven-story, boarded-up, white building to his right – the old 4th Street cold-storage facility building. Despite being boarded up, Hunter knew that it was far from unoccupied.
Just past the old cold-storage building was the beginning of theinfamous Skid Row – a neighborhood of only 6.9 square miles, but with the largest, stable, homeless population in the whole USA. It was estimated that between ten and fifteen thousand homeless people lived in that single neighborhood at any one time.
Due to its size, the old cold-storage building had become a home, a leisure center, a drugs market… and a killing ground to many of the residents of one of the seediest and most dangerous neighborhoods in America.
Hunter couldn’t even begin to imagine how many of those residents ended up on Skid Row as a consequence of having run away from home due to parental violence. Lives destroyed even before they had a proper chance to start.
‘Joining the LAPD might’ve been Emiliano’s way of staying off the streets, Carlos,’ Hunter finally replied. ‘And it could play to our advantage.’
Garcia chewed his bottom lip. ‘Being with the LAPD might make him more inclined to help us out.’
‘Let’s hope it does,’ Hunter agreed.
Minutes later, they finally entered the neighborhood of Watts.
The information they had was that Officer Esqueda was doing the regular street beat, together with a fresh-out-of-the-academy cadet, around Freedom Plaza – a medium-sized shopping mall just off the southern end of S. Alameda Street.
Garcia got to it and pulled into the mall’s parking lot.
‘I guess we’re here.’
The mall was certainly larger than they had expected.
Hunter and Garcia exited the car and had begun making their way toward the main entrance when they spotted an LAPD officer leaning against a wall just outside Wingstop, smoking a cigarette.
Garcia checked his phone for the photo they had of Emiliano Esqueda. Since the photo had come directly from the LAPD Headquarters, it was pretty up to date.
‘That doesn’t look like him,’ Garcia said, tilting his phone Hunter’s way so that he could have a look at the photo.
Emiliano Esqueda was an average-looking man – black hair, round nose, dark-brown eyes and full lips under chubby cheeks. He seemed to have one of those non-memorable faces – a face that in a crowd would quickly blend in and fade into a nondescript blur.
‘No, that’s not him,’ Hunter agreed. ‘But he could be inside Wingstop getting some food.’ He checked the time on the top left-hand corner of Garcia’s cellphone – 12:47 p.m.
‘Excuse me,’ Garcia said, approaching the officer and quickly flashing his badge. ‘Could you tell us where we could find Officer Esqueda? He’s supposed to be working the beat around here.’
The officer, who looked young enough to still be in high school, dropped his cigarette and practically stood to attention.
‘Umm… yes, sir.’ His eyes pinged from Garcia to Hunter. ‘He should be at the other end of the mall, sir.’ He indicated as he spoke. ‘Just by Smart & Final, over there. I was just taking a quick cigarette break, but I’m all done.’
‘Relax, kid,’ Garcia chuckled. ‘We’re not the cigarette police. Enjoy your smoke, and thanks for your help.’
The two detectives made their way to where the officer had indicated. A minute later, they spotted Officer Esqueda just outside Smart & Final, helping a senior citizen load his car with groceries.
‘To protect and to serve, I guess,’ Garcia whispered before grabbing the officer’s attention. ‘Officer Esqueda?’ he called. ‘Officer Emiliano Esqueda?’
Emiliano placed the last of the grocery bags into the car’s trunk before closing it and waving goodbye to the elderly gentleman. Only when the car had pulled away did he turn to face the two detectives.
‘Who’s asking?’
Hunter had been wrong. Emiliano Esqueda didn’t actually have a non-memorable face. Up close, he had features that clearly stood out. His nose had a slight right bend to it… his jaw was strong and squared… and if you looked closely enough, you could see the shadow of a cleft chin, but the feature that really caught Hunter’s attention was Emiliano’s left profile. It did take some noticing, but it seemed that the outer edge of his left eye dipped in ever so slightly.
Hunter and Garcia showed him their credentials.
Emiliano frowned at their badges. ‘Robbery Homicide UVC Unit? Are you sure you got the correct Officer Esqueda here?’ His voice sounded like it was still making that transition from teenager to adult.
