AMERICA LAND OF THE FREE

Ten days had passed since Paco had been woken up with a gun in his face and run out of his trailer and job. Since then he managed to barely stay alive sleeping behind a church and helping the local produce store load and unload boxes.
Reverend Chi Chi Conchera was taking out the trash when he saw Paco sleeping behind the church and approached him. He had no idea how long he'd been there.
" Not too comfortable ey?" The Reverend addressed Paco in fluent street Spanish. "Come inside, take a shower, get something to eat?"
Paco was unsure why the man was being so nice but decided there was nothing to lose taking charity from him.
" Si." He answered dusting himself off.
When Paco got out of the small shower he saw the change of clothes new socks and underwear as well as a plate of fruit and juice sitting on a small makeshift table in the church recreation hall.
He sat down to eat the Reverend approached him. "Where are you from?"
" El Salvador. Been here ten days. Need working." Paco replied blending his fluent Spanish with the little English he knew.
" Not having much luck?"
" I found a good job right away but..." Paco hesitated and wondered whether or not he should tell the complete story. "I got run off middle of the night."
" What kind of work do you do?"
" Anything cars. I fix things. Need money to send home eat."
" Well. We have several people who worship here that could probably use a hand with their cars. I'll put the word out. There's a small room out back, nothing fancy. It's got a bed, small refrigerator and cooler. You are welcome to use it until you get on your feet."
Paco had heard about Christians but had never met any. The church in El Salvador was too poor to help everyone and even if it wasn't Paco doubted the church would have. Only the rich went to church and sat in the respected places. When poor people went they were usually ushered to the back because of their shabby clothes. Paco had often wondered what kind of God cared only about the rich.
While Paco rested up in back of APOSTOLISTA EVANGELISTA the police investigators made their rounds with Big Pete's computer generated composite photo.
*

Worn out from driving around all morning Sergeant Littleton parked in front of the Checker Auto parts store on Central and Baseline and walked in. He thought the employees looked nervous when he approached them.
" I need some help." He said producing the photo. "Does anyone of you know who this man is? What is name is? Where he lives?"
" He looks familiar is this his real photo?" The counterman said.
" We think he lived around here. He's been shot we're trying to identify him."
Several of the employees came up to the counter to look at the image. A young man looked at the photo. "I don't know who he is but I've seen somebody who looked just like him at the restaurant where I work. He comes in a lot. Maybe one of the waitresses knows him, Casa Molina right down Central by South Mountain Park."
" Thank for the tip."
Littleton drove into the Casa Molina parking lot. It was packed. Littleton had heard about the place it was famous for their chili peppers dishes. He figured he'd get lunch too while he was there. After eating the house specialty he asked for the manager. He was surprised to see a rather good-looking tall Hispanic approach him.
" The waiter said you wanted to speak to me. How can I help you?" She addressed him.
Littleton pulled out the photo. "I'm a cop investigating a homicide. You know who this is? He was a big fellow. There was no identification."
" Wow." She picked up the photo and studied it. "We have a lot of customers. He looks like one of our regulars everybody calls him Big Pete. He comes in two, three times a week. He's a pretty big tipper. He owns the wrecking yard over by Roeser."
" When is the last time you saw him in here?" Littleton questioned noting her responses in his small spiral notebook.
" Been a little over a week I'd guess. He was in here with a young fellow they had dinner. Don't think I've seen him at all this week. You say he's dead?"
" Either him or somebody who looks like him. Thanks I'll drop by the wrecking yard."
Littleton called in and told his supervisor where he was going. He drove up and saw the sign BIG PETE'S emblazoned on an old brick building. He peered over the fence and saw no one there. The gate was partially opened. He pushed it back and entered the property. He heard flies buzzing. About fifty feet up he came upon a dead German shepherd. He saw it was shot. He felt he was on to something. He walked over towards a shed and pushed the door back. Inside were the parts of a car. He radioed in. While he was waiting for backup he walked around the perimeter and spotted the hole in the fence and the large metal dumpster with ALLIED WASTE on the side. He walked back carefully knowing not to get his boot prints mixed up with any of the possible suspects. He knew to preserve the crime scene as much as he could.
Within twenty minute the investigation division was out on the scene. Everything was dusted and fingerprinted. They found Pete's empty videotape surveillance machines and bagged the old tapes sitting next to them on shelves hoping they'd shed some light on the scene. The investigators bagged the dead dog and took it to give to the country coroner.
Sergeant Huddleston approached Littleton. "We've got a potential gravesite area over here looks like it's seen fresh digging."
" You shouldn't be walking over there Huddleston. You're trampling on the crime scene. We still need to make some prints of that area."
" I don't think we're going to find many prints. It's all mud. We had that big rain over the weekend. Where were you?"
" I was up a Lake Havasu. I guess you're right. Why don't you get Allied Waste on the phone and see if we can get this hauled down to the police yard. We need to check and see if there's blood samples we can match."
The police investigators worked the scene all night. News teams were out interviewing anyone who would talk to them about the story.
The car parts, which were identified as being from a BMW, were put on a police trailer and hauled out while news crews were shooting.
" This is Lisa Evan with channel Five Live action news. Police are investigating the disappearance of BIG PETE from Big Pete's wrecking yard at 3348 S. Central. His dog was discovered shot earlier in the day. Investigators are speculating that it was a possible chop shop for high-end luxury auto parts. In addition to a late model BMW found nearly dismantled they found parts to a number of other luxury autos. Our reporter Sean Hamill is live on scene now with Sergeant Huddleston of the Phoenix Police Department."
" Has the body of Big Pete been recovered?" Sean asked him.
" We are pursuing the investigation to determine if the body found days ago at the West Side dump is the body of Big Pete. Right now we are looking for possible leads. It appears to be a robbery homicide."
" Police are looking for help on this one." Sean spoke. "If you have any information call 887-8000. The Live at Five Hotline. We'll make sure the information gets to the right people. Back to you Rita."
*

The murder was big news for three days each day investigators added to the story and splashed more information on the front page featuring Big Pete's picture in color. One day Paco was walking by the newsstand and saw the color photo of Big Pete in the window of the TRIBUNE news box. The headlines read $1,000,000 GOLD HEIST. One of the reporters had heard the rumor that Big Pete had a hoard of gold and put his own twist on the story. The word also leaked out that Big Pete was running a Chop Shop near the South Phoenix Police Precinct.

That night after church Paco sought out the Reverend to talk with him. He had to tell him what he knew. He gripped the folded newspaper in his pocket hoping to get the words translated
" I saw this picture in the paper it was the man I worked for. Was he murdered?" Paco questioned.
" Yea." The Reverend looked at the article surprised. "You know something about the Chop Shop Killing?"
" What's a chop shop? That man I work for. I take apart stolen car. There only one day two nights."
" You got any idea who might have killed him?" The Reverend asked.
" No, I just know one of men who run me out. They not want me there."
" You need to tell your story to the police investigators." The reverend encouraged him switching to more formal Spanish. "They don't have clue to who murdered him. The investigation is still wide open."
" I'm afraid. Will they deport me?" Paco shuttered.
" No. Police have nothing to do with Immigration. They'll just take a statement and probably have you look at some pictures. Let's go now. I will translate for you. We'll be back in a few hours. Just remember Paco - tell the truth, God always helps those who live in the light of the truth. He knows whether or not we are lying anyway just as He knows all our thoughts and deeds."
Paco thought a moment and said, "In my country God was only interested in the rich. Why is it different here in America? Why do you help me? I am poor. I have no papers. I can give you nothing."
" Jesus commanded us to do good to everyone. He said whatever we did to others we really did to him. If I refuse to help you out then I am refusing to help Jesus. We shouldn't help others to get something back. We give and God gives back to us. He never forgets the good we do. It is not Jesus that is interested in the rich sometimes it is the people who run churches, not everyone who says he works for God really does, many just work for status and position. Jesus said you can't serve Him and serve money too."
The Reverend had some misgivings as he drove down to the South Central Police station. His old Dodge caravan wagon stalled out a few times and he wondered if he shouldn't turn back. He thought about Jesus on trial before a rigged group of Jewish elders intent on convicting him even if they had to make up evidence. He glanced over at Paco and offered him a weak smile. Paco was an honest kid. He wondered if he was delivering a lamb into the jaws of a lion.
*

Rollo had been right no one was too concerned with the death of Big Pete. After it played out on TV and in the newspaper the police investigations put it on the back burner. Violent crimes were nothing new to a growing metropolis like Phoenix whose population had grown 300% in less than fifteen years.
The videos from Big Pete's security system had been delivered to the police property room. A rookie cop, Antonio Degas, had spent hours gleaning through them. He had pulled a few people's photo's off them but nothing that actually showed the killings or much movement at all. The overall lighting on the outdoor shots was very poor. The dumpster had been checked and they found blood samples caked to the bottom. Serology matched those to Big Pete.
No one had found out any information that could shed any light on just how much in gold had been stolen. Juan, Louis and Rollo had lay low after seeing the news flurry. They traveled to Denver and sold all the coins to a no questions asked Quick Pawn on Colfax for less than $20,000 cash. After that they had split up feeling that they'd be safer if they didn't hang as a group. Only Rollo had returned to his girlfriend and child in Phoenix. She never read the newspaper or watched television. As long as there was food on her table she was happy.
Rollo had no trouble getting a job and stopped at a 7-11 on the way home from working as a parking garage attendant by the America West Arena. Staring at him from the newsstand was once the face of Big Pete. He realized he made a mistake leaving him in a dumpster. His conscience told him he'd made a mistake killing him. Rollo pushed the thought back and grabbed a twelve pack of Coors. "Nothing like a few tall ones to chill you out he thought. The seven grand from his share had dwindled down. He had stashed about twenty of the coins in his shed but didn't figure they would be easy to sell. With the money he had bought a new washer and dryer, television, stereo paid off a few bills and got some chrome wheels for his low rider. No matter how hard he tried nothing could take the face of Big Pete out of his brain.
*

Louis had stayed in Denver moving in with one of his cousins and working as a roofer. Nothing seemed to bother him. To him it was to have been a simple robbery and a quick getaway. He hadn't believed that Rollo would kill Big Pete. He was glad to be away from both Rollo and Juan. He was hoping he'd never have to see either of them again.
Juan had drifted over to Las Vegas where he got a job at a swanky casino. Nobody checked to see if he had a prison record. He was a bellhop and made extra cash in tips. He treated himself to a nice wardrobe, big stereo and big screen television and settled into a small four-plex on the outskirts. He spent his last seven hundred from the robbery on a new mountain bike to get to work. It didn't last a week before it was stolen. He didn't give Big Pete a second thought.

*

Chi Chi pulled into an Alberitos restaurant and ordered food for himself and Paco. He wanted Paco to feel relaxed before they saw the cops. They ate in silence.
Finally, they pulled up in front of the South Phoenix precinct and both of them approached the counter where an attractive Hispanic female sat filing her nails.
" Can I help you?" She asked.
" We would like to talk with an officer please. My friend here has some information concerning a recent homicide?"
" Have a seat. I'll see if Lieutenant Garcia has time to see you."
Within moments a bulky middle-aged man came out to greet them.
" I'm Rudy Garcia. Why don't we step in there."
He pointed to a small room with a metal mesh window on the door off to the side. He extended his hand. "I'm Reverend Conchera.. This is Paco Mendez an immigrant from El Salvador. He may have some information on the Chop Shop killings."
" What type of information?" Garcia was aware the investigation had bogged down and the few leads they had went nowhere. He pulled out a notepad and pushed his chair closer in towards Paco. "Would you mind if I talked to the boy myself?"
" No. You sure you don't need me to translate?" Chi Chi answered feeling sick to his stomach.
" I'm quite fluent in Spanish. Why don't you wait right outside? I'm sure it won't take too long."
" Paco." Reverend addressed him. "I'll be waiting right out there for you, tell him just what you told me."
" So." Garcia spoke to calmly. "What's your connection to Big Pete?"
Paco squirmed in his seat. He had no idea that if he wished he could get up and walk out. There was no one to advise him of his rights or to give him any type of advice. "I worked for him."
" How long?" Garcia asked like a bloodhound on the trail of a fat rabbit.
" Just one day." Paco answered. "I just got to the United States two weeks ago."
" How did you come to work for Big Pete?"
" A fellow I met on the bus coming up from Tucson told me about the job. Somebody picked me up from the bus station and Big Pete hired me. I didn't know the cars were stolen."
" This fellow you said you met on the bus. You got a name?"
" His name was Juan. He said he had just got out of prison in Texas and was never going back."
" Why did you leave?" Garcia leaned in blowing the smoke past him.
" I got woken up in the middle of the night at gunpoint and was told never to return."
" Who told you?"
" A guy with a bandana over his face and two other guys one had his gun in my face. I didn't know them. They drove me away to Guadaloupe and handed me sixty dollars. I was going to leave at the end of the week anyway. I didn't come to United States to end up in prison. I came to work to help my family in El Salvador not to work on stolen cars."
" So you were nowhere around when Big Pete was killed?"
"I know he was found dead but I don't know exactly when he was killed. I just saw his picture in the paper and that is why I talked to the Reverend. I thought maybe if I told what I knew it would help you find his killer."
Garcia thrust a picture of Big Pete as found in the dump and another picture of Shep laying on the ground.
" They found him in the dump. They found his blood in the dumpster. Killed execution style. El Salvador that is where they had the big rebellion isn't it the Sandanistas?"
" No that was Nicaragua. We had a civil war but that was a little before my time and more out in the country."
" Did you ever shoot a gun?" Garcia asked.
" Yes, my uncle had a small ranch sometimes we would shoot at coyotes, rabbits, wolves. If you are asking did I shoot Big Pete. No." Paco was amazed at the turn the questioning had taken. He had come in to volunteer information and now found himself to be a suspect.
Garcia was curious. There was more below the surface. His gut told him that the kid was hiding something. He didn't know what. He wasn't the lead officer on the investigation. The main investigation after bogging down had been kicked downtown where they had more resources than the south substation. He knew that by accepting the appointment as division leader of the substation he had taken a detour on his goal to become Police captain. He wondered if solving the investigation would bring him some well-needed attention and rescue him from the dead end road he seemed to be stuck on. He picked up the phone and called the booking officer.
" Ted. This is Rudy. Could you bring your fingerprint kit in here? We have a lead in the Chop Shop case and I want to get some prints on file."
" I am hoping you don't mind if we take your fingerprints and a photograph of you in case anything comes up in the investigation." Garcia asked aware that Paco had no obligation to grant him either request.
" Sure." Paco looked up as Sergeant Ted Brown entered carrying a fingerprint kit and Polaroid camera.
One by one Paco's fingers and thumbs were put in the ink and onto a card. Then several shots were taken of his face against the white wall. After they were done Garcia accompanied Paco into the hall where the Reverend was sitting waiting and praying.
" We are sorry to have detained you so long. I was hoping to get your address and phone number in case we have any other questions for Paco."
The Reverend pulled out a card and gave it to Garcia. "I hope he was helpful?" He was searching for some type of indication in Garcia's face where the investigation was going. It was impossible to tell. Garcia had a poker face and was showing no emotion whatsoever.
Garcia stuck his hand out to Chi Chi and spoke a subtle warning. "Thanks for bringing him in Reverend. I hope you'll keep him around for a while. We are going to check on what he told us. We'll probably have more questions for him."