Grim Reaper 01 - Embrace the Grim Reaper

several rows back from the stage.
    She didn’t look at him. “I’m fine. Thanks.”
    She was spared further conversation by being summoned to the stage, where Thomas kept her busy every moment. When the end of rehearsal finally arrived she cast about for thoughts of how she might get out of walking home with Eric.
    “Casey!”
    She stopped in her tracks, as did the rest of the actors.
    “Everyone else,” Thomas said. “Shoo!”
    Shoo ? Casey smothered a laugh, albeit a nervous one.
    Eric hesitated mid-aisle, and Leila ran into him.
    “Go ahead,” Casey said. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”
    “I can wait.”
    “Really. No reason for you to wait. I’ll be fine.”
    His face set into stubborn lines, and he went out the doors, Leila on his heels. Casey sighed, figuring he’d be outside when she was done, although maybe Leila could convince him to go out for that drink he’d promised her. She turned back to Thomas, who sat in his seat, tapping his pencil on his closed script. She glanced up at the darkened stage, wondering if they actually were alone, but got no sense that Taffy and Bone were anywhere in the building.
    She looked back at Thomas, but stayed facing the stage. “Yes, Thomas?”
    He didn’t stop the pencil, and looked steadily forward. “Casey, I want to know who you are.”
    She stood still, the rhythm of the pencil almost hypnotic. “Who I—”
    “Your real last name, for one thing.” He grabbed the pencil, stopping it, and looked over at her.
    “I told you. It’s Smith.”
    He stared at her, unblinking. “You’re going to stick with that, are you?”
    “Yes.” Her body began its defensive routine of relaxing muscles and deeper breathing. The aisle was on an incline, which could be tricky, but she could compensate. If Thomas came after her, he’d be down in an instant. He didn’t have a clue.
    “Then how about where you came from? Let’s start with that.”
    She looked at him. “West.”
    “West. I see. And that would be west as in Iowa, or maybe California? Or perhaps you’re thinking the Wild West, in which you are the female version of the Lone Ranger?”
    “Just west.”
    “Ah.” He looked down at his script again, laying his hand flat on it, studying his fingers, or perhaps the ring on the fourth one. “Is there a reason you don’t want people to know?”
    “Is there a reason you need to?”
    He was quiet for a moment, looking at his hand, which he brought up to brush over his face. Then he stood, slowly turning toward her and stepping out into the aisle. Casey took a deep breath through her nose.
    “I don’t know who you are,” he said. “Whether you’re coming from Hollywood or Broadway, or…other places…because obviously your career—or part of it—has been this one we share.” His voice was low. Even. “But I’m telling you now. If you’re here to cause trouble for me, it’s going to be bad for you .” He watched her. “Do you understand?”
    “What kind of trouble do you think I’m here to cause?”
    His eye twitched. “If you don’t know, I’m certainly not going to tell you, am I?” He took a step toward her. “But I am going to tell you this. What you’re up to…I’m onto you. I know what you’re doing. And when I catch you at it…” His lip rose, and Casey flexed her fingers, ready. But when he moved, it was toward the stage, backing up, still facing her.
    “You can go,” he said. “And when you do, you tell your friends this. Thomas Black is not afraid of them. And if they think sending a…a scrawny little woman to do their dirty work is going to change things, they can think again. I’m doing the best I can, and when I have what they want, I’ll get it to them. It should be soon. You tell them that.”
    Casey stared at him.
    “Go on. Give them the news. I’m sure they’ll be glad to hear it.”
    Casey watched him for a moment longer before turning and making her way up the aisle, feeling his eyes on her back with every silent step, ready to turn should he come after her. She went out the double doors and stepped to the side, leaning back on the wall. Out the front door she could see Eric, waiting for her on the bench. Leila was nowhere in sight.
    Obviously Thomas was in something over his head. The men expected something from him, and from what she’d heard, it was most likely money. It could’ve been something else, drugs, maybe. But she’d put her money on cash. Did Thomas think she was in league with Taffy