Grim Reaper 01 - Embrace the Grim Reaper

Eric’s face. “Gentlemen, you may go.”
    The security guards hesitated, but Karl pushed between them and jerked his head back, an unmistakable gesture of dismissal. “Out. Back to your posts.” They left. Karl stepped into the room. “It’s not what it looks like, son.”
    Eric snorted. “And what exactly do you think it looks like? I think it looks like you were covering up the death of a child. A death caused by a HomeMaker product.”
    “Oh, is that what you think?”
    “It’s more than that,” Casey said.
    Karl turned to her. “And what do you know?”
    “I know how these things work. Businesses and deaths and law suits and confidential contracts.”
    “I see.” He stepped further into the room.
    Casey got past Eric this time, and stood between the two men. “Why don’t you stay right there?”
    Willems regarded her thoughtfully, then nodded. He stepped over to one of the chairs in front of his desk and sat in it, crossing one leg over the other. “You can’t have found much. Security called me only ten minutes ago to say you were here.”
    “Ten minutes for security to get here?” Eric said. “They were slow.”
    Willems shrugged. “Soon it won’t matter anymore.”
    “Right,” Casey said. “When the company moves to Mexico.”
    Willems shook his head. “It’s a shame, but there was nothing else to be done. No matter what some people thought.”
    No matter what Ellen thought, he meant.
    Eric sank down onto Karl’s desk, his shoulders slumping.
    Casey stayed standing. “You’re sticking to the story that the company needs to move because of the union’s demands?”
    “It’s not a story.”
    “Maybe not.” She held up the folder. “But this isn’t a story, either. At least, it’s not a fabricated one.”
    He hesitated. “That has nothing to do with—”
    “A little over a year ago,” Casey said. “One of HomeMaker’s dryers killed someone. A child. Why wasn’t there a lawsuit?”
    Karl shrugged again. “HomeMaker wasn’t at fault.”
    “Wasn’t it?”
    “Well, ultimately it could be seen to be. But it’s not like HomeMaker purposefully put out a dangerous product. The mother was just as responsible.”
    Casey’s breath caught in her chest, and she forced herself not to smack him. “Was this the first time you knew of a problem with the latches?”
    “Of course.”
    But Casey had seen it again. That flicker in his eyes. “How long before?” she asked. “How long before had the first complaint come in?”
    “I told you that was the first.”
    “And would Yvonne say the same if I asked her?”
    “Of course she would.”
    Casey had seen the fear on Yvonne’s face. She would say whatever Karl Willems wanted her to say.
    “The boy’s death is the real reason you’re moving the company to Mexico,” Casey said. “If it’s actually even moving.”
    “What?” Eric’s voice rose.
    “Your fath—Karl has his own reasons for escape, don’t you, Karl? How do we know the company’s not simply going to cease to exist?”
    Eric looked back and forth from Casey to Willems. Willems met his gaze defiantly.
    “Dad,” Eric said. “ What did you do ?”
    “Nothing. I did nothing.”
    “Yes, Karl,” Casey said. “That’s exactly what you did.” She pulled the second contract from the folder and handed it to Eric. “Take a look at this, Eric. See everything your father didn’t do.”
    Karl made to get up, but Casey stepped forward, crowding him back onto his chair. “You,” she said. “Sit.”
    He sank into the leather seat. “It wasn’t my fault. They had no right—”
    “Shut up, Karl.” Rage burned behind Casey’s eyes. It wasn’t my fault. I had no way of knowing such a little thing could cause such an accident. Who would’ve thought those complaints about the faulty fuel pump could have told us more? Don’t blame me, Casey, blame Pegasus if you have to blame someone. How was I to know? I’m just an employee, I do what I’m told…
    “You’re the leader , Karl,” Casey said. “The Chief Executive . You’re supposed to protect the little guy. The employees. Your customers. Little boys who see a dryer as a good hiding place. If nothing else, you should’ve protected your company .”
    “The company? What do they care? They would’ve hung me out to dry in a heartbeat.”
    “So you decided to make this entire town pay in your place?”
    Eric cried out, and Casey looked at him, keeping her position over Karl.
    Eric held out the