Page 5 of Carlos: Trilogy: Part Two

The man looked at the name on the door and then Carlos’s nameplate on his desk. It still read Deputy Sheriff Carlos Santiago. “I was unaware that there was a new sheriff in town. Congratulations on your promotion.”

Carlos steepled his fingers before his chin, trying to decipher just what the fuck was going on. “I was unaware that ghosts were kept apprised of Mount Grove’s comings and goings.”

The man’s lips twitched. He took a seat in the left chair of the two before Carlos’s desk. “I’m here to deliver a message.”

“From the Great Beyond?” Carlos queried.

“Not quite so mystical,” was the response. “There’s a bounty hunter in your area. Goes by the name of Trapper. Keys will be able to find him if he’s not in your system. Zoe’s left her hidey hole. Good for her, but you need to be cautious. Trapper has no reason to come to Mount Grove, but he might.”

Carlos remained quiet. He had no reason to trust the ghost of the man sitting before him. The fact that he, one, knew about Keys, and two, knew about Zoe only made Carlos even more concerned. However, he kept his composure, not wanting to giveaway his unease.

“I’ll take your warning under advisement. Care to tell me how you’re sitting in my office when I was present at your funeral?”

The man’s straight face gave nothing away. “Were you?”

“I stood over your dead body as the coroner declared you dead, so yeah, I went to your funeral. How the hell are you alive?”

“There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy.”

Carlos snorted. “Quoting Hamlet only makes me more inquisitive, not less.”

The man stood. “I came to deliver a message, Sheriff. I am not in your area long and wanted to check on Zoe. Consider it me fulfilling a promise I made many years ago.” He walked around the chair and made for the door. Then he paused and turned back towards Carlos. “I am pleased she’s finally breaking free. A woman such as her was never meant to be caged. Don’t make the same mistake as her husband did, Sheriff, and try to clip her wings. Let her soar—or you won’t have to worry about her turning a gun on you too. I’ll do it without hesitation.”

Carlos did not respond. He stood and watched as the ghost of the man he’d known walked out of the bullpen. Jeff slipped into his office and closed the door.

“I didn’t want to leave him in the lobby with Belinda,” he explained. “Was that… I mean, you went to his funeral? We were there at the crime scene. I saw his body. How could he be…alive?”

“I have no fucking idea.” Carlos sat back down and pulled out his phone. “But my brother has some explaining to do.”

Steel, Lucky, and Bulldog met Carlos and Jeff in the diner. The three VDMC officers came in the back door and were wearing their cuts. They sat in a booth away from the other patrons and with a clear view of the front door.

Kelly brought them all coffee and took their breakfast orders.

“Tell them what you told me,” Bulldog said as soon as Kelly stepped away from the table.

Carlos filled them in on his visitor. He watched Steel and Lucky carefully, trying to determine if they knew anything about Conner’s resurrection. When he’d called Bulldog on the phone to tell him, Bulldog had been enraged, confused, and doubtful. It wasn’t every day that one’s younger brother called him up to tell him that the prospect they’d buried was alive and kicking.

“Alive?” Lucky repeated. “That makes no sense. I was there. I saw him die.”

Carlos had been securing Mateo Castillo in cuffs and had not been present for Conner’s last breath, but he’d been there soon after. Bulldog was the only one who hadn’t seen Conner’s body, because he’d been somewhere unknown on an unknown mission for the club that Carlos wasn’t supposed to know about.

Steel, Carlos, Lucky, and Jeff had all been there. They’d seen the blood, the bullet wound, and the body.

“There’s no way he survived that,” Lucky continued. His voice was almost insistent, like if he said it sternly enough he could make it true.

Something else occurred to Carlos then as he saw how pale and uneasy Lucky looked. Harper and Lucky had named their son after Conner. He’d died sacrificing his life for Harper’s, who had unknowingly been pregnant. That dedication meant something to both Lucky and Harper. If Conner was somehow alive… What did that mean for their son’s name? It wasn’t like they would change it, right?

But, of course, he was alive. There was no other explanation for what had just occurred in Carlos’s office.

“Why didn’t you detain him?” Bulldog asked his brother. “At least then we could question him, get some answers.”

“Next time you have the ghost of someone you saw die appear before you, see how well your brain works,” Carlos snapped at him.

Bulldog made to reply but Kelly came back with a giant tray. Jeff was sitting at the end of the table and immediately hopped up to help her lower the tray onto a folding stand. Kelly gave him a kiss on his cheek before passing around the five meals. They all thanked her and she wandered off towards other customers.

Jeff sat back down. “I both saw his body and saw him at the station. Trust me, Conner’s alive.”

Carlos looked to Steel, who had been suspiciously quiet. “Did you know?”

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