Hollyweird by Terri Clark Page B

here. It wasn’t until I got assigned to Dakota that I understood what a real bad-ass was and I didn’t want to be anything like that. I’ve been here just over six months, working undercover, paying penance.”
    â€œI’d say you’ve been doing a good job,” she said. “You’ve protected us.”
    â€œThanks,” I said, touched by her words. “Let’s hope He ”—I pointed up with my phone—“agrees.”
    â€œSo, you don’t really look like this?” she asked as she gently tugged her hands free and then playfully plucked at the spiky ends of my hair.
    I smiled. “Close. My hair was a lot longer and a tad darker. My eyes were blue instead of green. And I had a scar through my eyebrow.” I pointed over my left eye. “But otherwise, this is pretty much me.”
    â€œYou’re just different enough that you won’t scare anyone you once knew?”
    â€œI might give them pause, but—”
    â€œBut they’d rationalize away the similarities,” she finished.
    â€œRight. And this way, I still feel like me.”
    â€œSo, is there like a whole extreme makeover department up there?” Des asked. “Cosmetic surgeons, dentists, beauticians … ”
    â€œNot exactly,” I said with a laugh, turning my attention to her. I’d been so wrapped up in Aly I’d completely forgotten Des for a moment. I pointed my phone at her. “It’s more presto change-o than that.”
    â€œGimme that,” Des said, yanking the cell out of my hand.
    â€œHoly shit-ake mushrooms!” she cried out, even as she self-censored. “A Seraphone. This ain’t no Verizon or T-Mobile model; you actually have a celestial cell.” She scrolled through my texts. “A direct line.” Her hands shook as she peered at my phone in beatific astonishment. “This is like Ellen Degeneres’s old ‘Phone Call to God’ skit my mom has shown me over and over again.” Her thumb hovered over the buttons. “Can I?”
    My ringtone sounded again, startling Des into a yelp.
    When she looked to me for permission, I nodded. She clicked okay on the message and a rapturous smile spread across her face. “ He said: Hello, Desdemona. Thank you for helping Jameson .”
    Desi hugged my Seraphone to her chest, but Aly’s eyes were swimming with unshed tears.
    â€œAly?” I asked.
    She swallowed several times, trying to regain composure, and when she couldn’t, she walked away.
    Catching up to her, I gently grabbed her arm and turned her to face me. “Your mom?”
    She nodded and a lone tear streamed down her face. “It’s been two years since I lost her. I’ve tried to imagine her in heaven, watching over me, but I … ” She grabbed my shirt front. “If you can be here, why can’t she?”
    â€œI’m here because I was stupid. She wasn’t. She’s up there.” I looked heavenward. “Where she belongs.”
    Her gaze followed mine to the smog-shrouded ceiling of California. Not your most impressive view of heaven, or the best way to give a girl comfort. But then, despite a still, breezeless night, the pollution parted to reveal a black, diamond-encrusted sky. Aly gasped at the clear perfection.
    â€œWatching over me?” she asked.
    â€œAlways,” I answered with complete certainty.
    â€œWow,” Des said. “God is truly cinematic.”
    I chuckled and took my phone from her. “If he can’t be dramatic, who can be?”
    â€œTrue enough,” Aly said, with the first smile that I’d seen radiate throughout her entire being.
    â€œI’m almost tempted to think you spiked my drink,” Des said with a tonsil-baring yawn. “There’s a whole freakin’ society we never knew about, Joan Rivers is a hag, you’re a naughty angel, and the Lord almighty just texted me. By the way,