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I leaned back in the chair and crossed my arms over my chest. “Why didn’t you stay at your neighbors’ house like you were told to by the cops?”
My question was answered by a non-committal shrug, which was common for this child. I didn’t expect her to open up to me. This girl had been through some horrific trauma, something no one, especially an eight-year-old child needed to live through. “If you don’t want to talk about it, I understand Emilie.” I leaned across the table and placed a comforting hand on her arm. “We can’t stay here. If that dangerous man finds out you’re still alive, he will hunt you down.”
“Pink Bunny said he needs to die,” Emilie said matter-of-factly, with no emotion and seriousness in her huge brown eyes.
Well, Pink Bunny wasn’t wrong. Levi Shields was like a cat with nine lives, though his time was nearly up on Earth. I didn’t want to feed into her rather morbid comments and shifted topics. “So, does your companion have a name?”
“His name is Pink Bunny,” she mumbled and held the bunny to her ear. “He’s mad at you for eating his fries but he says you’re a very nice man.” This warmed my heart to hear, as did the smile on her face. “But you shoulda’ shot that man in the head, not in the balls.”
I choked on the soda I was drinking. I had no idea how to respond to that and as much as I wanted to chastise her for the verbiage, I sensed it wouldn’t be a good idea in her vulnerable state. “I was- um- well, I don’t think this is an appropriate place to talk about it. Are you ready to go? I want to head back up to Tehachapi before it gets too late.”
Suddenly fear was written in her expressively enormous eyes as a single teardrop trickled down her cheek. “I don’t want to be by myself again. I want to go with you.”
Bracing my hands on the table, I leaned into her and stroked the tear from her cheek with the back of my thumb. “You will never be alone again. You and Pink Bunny are going with me.” I grinned and pulled one of the bunny’s ears, “I have a sidecar on my motorcycle, just for you and Emilie, Pink Bunny.”
Emilie slowly slid out of the booth and rushed past me to the entrance until I caught up to her. I kneeled down and wrapped my hands around her skinny arms, showing her the concern that had consumed me since the first time I saw her. “You need to stay with me, don’t wander off. It’s not safe for you.” Emilie nodded and looked to the side.
“Those men are staring at us.” She whispered, which was our cue to get out of this town as quickly as humanly possible.
It was hard to tell if Levi had any of his men linger around the neighborhood looking for her. However, there was no doubt that, if he knew she was alive, he’d want to make sure there were no witnesses.
SEVEN
DETECTIVE LARRY MCCRAE
This was my lucky night and after days of looking for this child, my partner, Detective Brent Sherman, and I spotted Emilie Dillon inside the same restaurant we were dining at. But she wasn’t alone, she was standing in line next to a man who dwarfed her. There was no mistaking it was Emilie Dillon. The dark, wavy hair gave her away and the large, almond-shaped eyesI caught when she looked toward me.
“Is that her, Larry?” Sherman whispered, never taking his eyes off Emilie and the large man.
It was hard to tell who he was; however, he didn’t seem like a threat to her. She was nervous but didn’t seem frightened of him since she was receptive to every question he had. She only nodded, though, never spoke a word to him.
“Shouldn’t we approach them?” Sherman asked, shifting in his chair with his hand on the butt of his gun.
I looked down at his holster and shook my head. “The gun isn’t necessary. This man isn’t a threat to the child.”
“Man? Um okay.” Sherman appeared offended and tightened his lips, diverting his attention to drowning his French fries with a half dozen packets of ketchup. “Any person can look innocent in public. She could be a monster privately. Ugh, the thought of it makes me sick.” He stuffed a few fries in his mouth, never taking his gaze off the man and Emilie. Though, I was confused when he referred to the adult as a ‘she’ but considered the source. Sherman was an odd duck, and an acquired taste.
I got a closer look at the man’s face when they sat down in a booth across the dining room from where we sat. There was something familiar about him, but it was hard to tell who he was. Then, it occurred to me I couldn’t get a good look at him without my glasses on. I felt around my shirt until Sherman pointed to the top of my head.
I slipped my glasses on my face and moved my head slowly toward the child, “You’ve got to be kidding me?” The man she was sitting with was the late Deputy Jensen Grimes. “Sherm? Didn’t the coroner tell us one body was Deputy Grimes?”
“Yeah. They found his wallet and badge in one of his socks, remember?”
“Please tell me I am not losing my mind. I swear to the man above, that man with Miss Dillon is Jensen Grimes.”
The burger Sherman was about to take a bite of, fell to the tray and he burst out laughing. “There’s no way. You need to check your prescription, dude. Grimes died immediately from a GSW between his eyes.”
There was nothing we could do in a public establishment. It wasn’t like we could approach the man and ask why and how he was alive. Not only was it unprofessional, but it was also awkward. “We need to monitor these two. When we get back to the office, we’ll contact every single Sheriff’s department and police department in the state of California to apprehend the man, if it’s at all needed.”
Sherman shifted in his chair, raising his upper torso and intending on standing up, until I pushed him down into his seat. “I’m confused. Aren’t we supposed to take the child to family services?”
I nodded to Sherman’s question but decided it would not be in her best interest to do that just yet. “We need to. It’s our job, but what if that’s not Jensen Grimes? What if it's a family member who’s taking her out of harm’s way?”
“For one, it’s not Jensen Grimes, so get that thought out of your head.” Sherman glared and rolled his eyes, “And another, it’s our fucking job to make sure this child is in the system. Do you realize this is not only a dereliction of duty? They could take away our badges from us for not following through and endangering the child.”
I heavily sighed, “We will approach the man in the parking lot. Let’s not do it here with other diners.”
Any other night, we would have taken the child into our custody with no questions asked. We wouldn’t have cared less about the man she was with. We would arrest him and place him behind bars, while we’d start processing her foster care. Yet, I felt dissuaded from approaching this situation, as if there was some pull in the universe telling me to leave it alone.
