Grim Reaper 01 - Embrace the Grim Reaper

arm. “I already know, dude.”
    “But we can talk about it.”
    “Actually,” Casey said, “that would be good. See if you can remember anything more about these.” She stood. “We’ll take it with us.”
    Jack picked up the pieces and looked at them some more before placing them back in the box. “There’s something…”
    Casey closed the box’s lid. “What?”
    “I don’t know. I just think I heard…” He shook his head. “Can’t get it. But I’ll let you know when I remember.”
    “Thanks.” She stuck the box under her arm. “Eric? Eric.” She nudged him with her foot.
    “What? Oh. We going?” He blinked, and his eyes focused on Casey.
    “Come on.”
    Aaron and Jack followed them onto the front porch, Jack continuing down to the lawn and the mower. Eric slid into the driver’s seat, grabbing his keys from the seat, and Casey opened the back door on the same side, placing the box in the back seat. She shut the door and bent down to Eric’s open window. “You okay?”
    “Yeah. I just…every once in a while it just hits me, you know? That she’s really gone. And now I have to wonder if she’s gone because of that .”
    “It’s only been a little over a week, Eric. You can’t expect to not think about her.”
    He looked away, then fumbled with his keys, putting them into the ignition. “You coming?”
    “Where are you going?”
    “I was on my way to the bulk food store. Home Sweet Home needs salt, sugar, that kind of stuff.”
    Casey considered climbing back into the car and accompanying him. “You know, I have a few things to do. I think I’ll stay in town.”
    “You want me to drop you somewhere?”
    “Nah. I’ll walk. Thanks.”
    “Okay. See you tonight at dinner, if not before.”
    She patted the top of the car and stepped back onto the sidewalk. He eased away from the curb, and she waved to Jack. Aaron stood on the porch watching her, his arms crossed over his chest.

Chapter Thirty-five
    “So where are we going?” Death said.
    Casey gritted her teeth. “ I am going to the library.”
    Death made a sound of disgust, focusing on a light blue hand-held computer game, pushing the buttons, turning this way and that with the image on the screen. “You’re so boring. The library, play practice, helping at the soup kitchen. Don’t you ever do anything fun ?”
    “I used to.”
    “Oh, don’t get that whiny tone again.”
    Casey walked faster. Death stepped deftly over a raised crack in the sidewalk, eyes still on the game.
    “You do realize you could go bother someone more interesting,” Casey said.
    “Of course. It’s just, your potential to be interesting is so much greater than most of the others.”
    “I can’t see how that could possibly be.”
    A car drifted past Casey, and she tried not to show her discomfort. A police car. Not the chief this time, but another officer, wrist bent over the steering wheel as he watched her walk. A few seconds later he was gone, but Casey could feel his eyes between her shoulder blades, a reflection from his rearview mirror.
    “See what I mean?” Death said. “That could’ve been something to see.”
    Casey peeked at the game Death was playing. “What is that?”
    “It’s called Gardener’s Row . You plant flowers, or vegetables, and try to keep them watered, weeded, and bug-free.”
    “And you think I’m boring?”
    “Hey. Nature is good stuff. And how often do I get to actually grow things?” Death made a face as the game emitted a sound of failure, a crumbling, sucking sound of plants dying and vegetables decomposing. “Unfortunately, I’ve got a rotten thumb.”
    “At least you can use your scythe to cut down the stalks when they’re dead.”
    “Har, har. You’re a stitch.”
    Casey walked up the library steps, moving aside to let a mother with two young children pass. The older child, probably about five years old, craned his neck to see what Death was playing. Recognizing the gardening game, he wrinkled his nose and followed his mother, who gave no sign of seeing anyone but Casey.
    “See?” Casey said. “Even little kids know your game is lame.”
    Death sat on the bench. “Well, then, let them play the violent stuff. I get plenty of that in my line of work.”
    Casey left Death to weeding and entered the library. Stacy greeted her and hooked her up with her usual computer station. She opened the browser and checked her e-mail, remembering her promise to Ricky to check it daily. There were two