Page 5 of Chrome Poppies

“What does Sal want this time? Didn’t she already text you the entire grocery list?” I chuckled.

“It wasn’t from Sal. It was from the coroner: they got the identity of one of the motorcycle club bodies. The coroner found the victim’s driver’s license and, um, Deputy’s badge stuffed into one of his socks. Larry… Deputy Jensen Grimes was one of the slain.”

My heart sank into my stomach, and nausea enveloped me. Nearly seven years ago, the chief ordered Deputy Jensen Grimes to work undercover as a prospect in the Chrome Poppies motorcycle club. His only job was to report any and all unusual occurrences to me. Yet, we never received a report. Now that I thought of it, he went off the radar completely.

I can bet if the dead could talk, he would have told me that Levi would have known he was a cop, and he was as good as dead, if he had reported anything to us.

“Larry?”

I braced the wall and slightly bent over to catch my bearings upon hearing this news. Not only was he a fine deputy in this department, he had been my good friend, though he had distanced himself once he took this assignment.

“I’ll be fine. But, um—after hearing that news about Jensen, I nearly forgot the reason I called you back here.” I moved and opened the bedroom door. “Tell me, how many beds do you see in there?”

Sherman leaned in without walking into the room, “I see two beds, two dressers and a bedroom that looks like a tornado blew through it.”

“There is a third child, and we need to find her before Levi Shields does—if he knows about the fifth Dillon family member.” I closed the door after Sherman exited. “I need to check the master bedroom to look for any motive for this slaughter. You can take off and get Sal’s groceries before she blows your phone up with more added to the list.”

He didn’t need to be told twice as he rushed down the hall. I still had work to do in the house, but I knew the work was only beginning. First, find the motive. Second, find the child and third, watch the lethal injections enter Levi Shields’s veins with deep satisfaction.

FOUR

JENSEN

The sound of birds chirping, and a bubbling brook nearby woke me from this odd dream I had where I witnessed a cold-blooded slaughter of a family of innocents. Before I could see what happened to the little girl, I woke up.

I squinted my eyes, giving them time to adjust to the brightness. In the middle of blurred trees, a figure stood over me and startled me. Rubbing my eyes to focus, I saw a young woman smiling down at me. “Who- who are you?” I groaned and tried to move but was paralyzed.

She reached out a tiny hand wrapped in a stark white ace bandage. “I’m Franklin.”

“But you’re a woman.” It wasn’t the most appropriate thing to say, the annoyance on her face told me that much.

Franklin crossed her arms over her chest and tapped one foot. “So, and your point? Lots of girls have dude names. Get up, lazybones, we don’t have all day. Breakfast is almost ready. It’s Tuesday, and it’s Pancake day—my favorite. I can eat a whole eight stack all by myself.” She responded as she pulled me up as if she had some sort of super-strength. She giggled when I nearly stumbled over my own two feet, which I didn’t find funny at all.

Franklin had the mentality of a young girl, and she was too perky for my liking. Yet, this scenario was freaking me out at the thought I was in a dream within a dream.

“Do you like pancakes?” She asked while I was bent over, wiping leaves and dirt that clung to my jeans.

Looking up, I gave her a slight, crooked grin and asked, “Will there be bacon?”

Franklin giggled, “Of course.”

“Then I like pancakes. Where am I?”

I didn’t take her hand when she reached out until she rolled her eyes and let out a heavy sigh. “You need to take my hand Jensen Grimes, or you’ll be walking for days to his place.”

Arching a brow, I had to inquire who’s place she was talking about. The moment I opened my mouth, she answered the question for me.

“We are going to see my boss, Ezekiel Gamboa. He’s like, the head angel and works for our almighty God.” Franklin replied with a finger pointing up.

I threw my hands up in the air, completely confused now. “Wait—how am I in heaven? I’ve committed my share of crimes and murders.”

“You were a deputy and sometimes you needed to make that choice of taking a life. But you’re not in heaven yet, Jensen Grimes—you’re in limbo. If you were a horrible man like Levi Shields, your limbo would look a lot different. It would be darker and scarier. But you sacrificed yourself for a young girl, which is why you are in the Heaven sanctum of limbo.”

The little girl wasn’t just a product 0f my dreams, she existed, and I couldn’t see anything happening to her. “Her name is Emilie Dillon. I took the bullet for Emilie to ensure she’d have a future. Unfortunately, I could not save the rest of her family.” I felt around my body, first my head to notice there was no bullet hole of any kind. The Chrome Poppies vest I wore was gone. “What happened to my vest?”

“I made it disappear. It wouldn’t be a good idea wearing it on your mission.”

“My mission?”

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