Grim Reaper 01 - Embrace the Grim Reaper

Casey as if she’d actually attacked the man the way she’d wanted to.
    She stood. “Come on, Eric. He’s obviously not going to tell you anything. This is a waste of time.”
    Willems stayed seated, his eyes flashing. “Who are you?”
    Casey’s eyes flicked to Death, whose disappointment was evident.
    “I am no one,” she said. “But the people of this town… they are the ones that must be reckoned with. The ones whose faces you should see each night, the ones whose names should roll off your tongue, with sorrow that their lives have taken such a turn. And those who have died? It would be better if you wouldn’t claim to know what they knew. The dead have a way of speaking the truth.”
    Narrowing her eyes, and giving Death a nod, Casey spun on her heel, and left.

Chapter Twenty-six
    “My God,” Eric said, seeming to mean the words as the prayer they were. “What was that ?”
    They were in his office, where he had pulled her after their exit from his father’s presence. He’d shoved her onto a small couch, where she now sat shaking, her hands clutched together in her lap.
    “I’m not sure. But aaah…” She shook her head once, hard. “He was so…so…”
    “Infuriating? Pompous? Disgusting?”
    Casey let out a short laugh, and Eric relaxed, sitting beside her and running a hand through his hair. “Wow, were you scary. It was like you were somewhere else for a minute. Or you’d been possessed by something. Shakespeare, maybe.” He smiled stiffly.
    Casey couldn’t smile back, remembering the image of Death standing over Eric’s father, waiting for Casey to lose control… She had a hard time looking at Eric, his eyes concerned and full of trust. “I sort of was. But I’m back now.” She stood up and walked to the window, looking out. “There’s something.”
    Eric came to stand beside her, joining her at the window. “What?”
    “No, not out there. In here.” She turned, indicating the room, the building. “He’s hiding something.”
    Eric snorted. “He’s always hiding something.”
    “Something about what Ellen said. I think she was telling you the truth.”
    “Of course she—”
    “I don’t mean she wasn’t lying. I never thought that. I mean she was right . There was something that could’ve gotten these people their jobs back.”
    Eric tensed. “You really think so?”
    Casey remembered that flicker in Willems’ eyes, that split-second sign that there was a secret. “Yes.”
    Eric’s face hardened. “Then we have to find out what it is. And we have to find out before…”
    “Before it’s too late and this place is closed down for good.”
    He nodded.
    Casey looked at his desk. “What’s on your computer?”
    “The usual. Production details. Payroll. Employee records.”
    “Do you have access to everything?”
    “I’m not sure.”
    “Find out.”
    He seated himself at his desk and turned on the computer. “I haven’t used this in weeks.”
    Casey paced the office. “Ellen’s desk.”
    He glanced up, his computer making the beeping and humming noises of booting up. “What about it?”
    “Has it been cleaned out?”
    “I’m sure it has. She left here months ago.” He looked toward the door. “But we can check.”
    “I wouldn’t know what to look for on there,” Casey said, indicating Eric’s monitor. “I’ll go through Ellen’s desk. If that’s okay.”
    Eric’s face had gone a bit gray with the past hour’s events, but he stood and went to the door. “I’ll need to tell Yvonne and Kathy. They won’t like it, probably, but if I ask they won’t make a fuss.”
    Casey followed him out to the office, where he explained to the two women that Casey would be searching Ellen’s desk. He glanced nervously toward his father’s door. “What are his plans the rest of the day?”
    Yvonne didn’t even have to look. “Nothing. I mean, he has no appointments. He could leave any time. If he sees…” The worry was easy to read on her face. She wanted to keep this job. Even if it was only for three more months.
    Eric turned to Casey. “Maybe we’d better wait. Come back later.”
    She considered it. “But if there’s anything there…”
    “He’s not going to do anything with Yvonne and Kathy sitting out here.”
    “And if he waits until they leave?”
    Eric exhaled loudly, running a hand over his face. “If he comes out here he’s going to be angry.”
    “He’s already angry.”
    The two women were looking at them, fear