Grim Reaper 01 - Embrace the Grim Reaper

a lie, of course, since we’re on the phone now and I do know your e-mail address. Not that you check it very often.”
    “Are they gone?”
    “Of course they’re gone.”
    “I mean gone gone. Have you looked outside?”
    She could hear his sigh over the phone, and the rustle that meant he was moving.
    “Okay. I’m looking out the front window. There’s nobody there. No cars, either. Except mine and—”
    Casey waited. “And?”
    “Nothing.”
    “Oh, no. You’re not doing that. Who’s car is there?”
    “Casey…”
    “It’s not that awful girl from work again, is it, Ricky? What was her name? Jewel ? Please tell me it’s not.”
    “And if it is?”
    “I guess I’ll have to come home after all.”
    “Aaaah, so now I know the secret. I think I will have to call her again.”
    Casey put a hand to her forehead. “So it’s not her?”
    “It’s not her. But back to the reason I called—”
    “You’re okay?”
    “I’m fine. It’s not like these people are dangerous or anything. Just annoying.”
    Casey wasn’t so sure. The guy with the face…well, that face wasn’t any too forgiving. “Just promise me you’ll be careful.”
    “Of what? Incoming lawsuits?”
    “Ricky…”
    “All right, all right. I’ll be careful. Whatever that means.”
    “It means—”
    “I know what it means. I’m not an idiot.”
    “Are you sure?” Casey squeezed her phone. “This number will be in your records now. I’ll have to get rid of it. You do realize they can track cell phones?”
    “You called me yesterday.”
    “At work . Not on your personal phone.”
    “Oh. That’s right. But if you get rid of the phone how am I supposed to—”
    “By e-mail, like usual.”
    “But you have to promise—”
    “I can’t promise anything.”
    “—that you’ll check your e-mail more often. Okay? That’s all I’m asking.”
    Casey blew a stray hair from her eyes. “Once a day.”
    “At least.”
    “ Once a day.”
    Ricky grumbled something she couldn’t hear.
    “And Ricky? Check on Mom, will you?”
    “You think they’ll go after her?”
    “They’re bugging you. They’ve gotta think Mom knows where I am, even if you don’t.”
    “I’ll check as soon as we hang up.”
    “Thanks. And hey, if you find something out about…about Pegasus, let me know, okay?”
    “Same goes for you.”
    “I’ll tell you.”
    “Good.”
    A few seconds of humming phone service hung in the air between them.
    “So…”
    “Thanks for calling, bro. I appreciate the heads up.”
    “You’re welcome. Now come home.”
    Casey smiled sadly, gripping the phone tightly to her ear. “As soon as I can, Rick. I promise.”
    “Well. I guess that’s about as good as I can expect. Love you, sis.”
    “Love you, too.”
    She held the phone to her ear long after he’d hung up, listening to the dead air.

Chapter Eighteen
    Dottie Spears hadn’t started out as a horrible person. At least not when Casey had met her. She’d been sympathetic and kind, her iron hand at Pegasus showing only when one of her underlings said something insensitive in Casey’s hearing.
    But Casey’s lawyers hadn’t trusted the woman, even at the beginning. In fact, they’d gone so far as to call her a slimy, bottom-dwelling, daughter-of-a-snake cannibal. And that was just for starters.
    Casey had wanted to believe the best. Had actually been in too much shock and misery from the loss of her family, not to mention her own injuries, to notice when Dottie said things that might’ve been out of line. Such as suggesting it would be easier for Casey to just forget the whole thing and go on with her life, rather than fight the fight with Pegasus.
    Casey hadn’t wanted to fight the fight. Had sincerely thought it would be best to leave it all, so she could just fade away, spending her days in the darkness of her bedroom, with her blanket over her head. But her lawyers hadn’t felt that way. Neither had Ricky, or her mother. They said she had to keep her head up. Go on with it all to show Pegasus that they couldn’t get away with their faulty mechanics. To keep anyone else from losing their family.
    But Casey could honestly say she hadn’t cared at the time. Hadn’t cared that an entire fleet of hybrid cars and the people in them were headed for catastrophe. She didn’t care about anything at that point, other than the fact that she was alive, and didn’t want to be. In fact, she wasn’t convinced any car other than hers had had the