Embrace the Grim Reaper (17 page)

“And you.”

“I suppose you remember our conversation earlier today.”

“Of course.”

“That’s good. I wouldn’t want you to think I forget about folks who are new to town.”

Casey met his eyes. “Oh, I would never think that. Chief.”

He held her gaze for a few more moments before turning so she could pass. Eric looked at her with some confusion, but she gave a small shake of her head, moving past him toward the front door.

“See you later, Denny,” Eric said.

Casey didn’t hear the chief reply. And she didn’t look back. All she wanted to do was get far out of his line of sight.

Chapter Thirty

“Okay,” Eric said, driving away from Ellen’s house. “I am officially freaked out.”

Casey didn’t answer, feeling enough the same way she was afraid her voice would show it. Instead, she closed her eyes and concentrated on her breathing, trying to ignore the fact that she was, once again, in a car.

“You have the CD?”

She opened her eyes and pulled it out from the back of her pants, wiping it on her shirt. “Got it. Shall we listen to it?”

He looked at the disk, licking the sides of his mouth. “I guess. That’s what we got it for, right? And maybe…” He hesitated. “Maybe it’s nothing. Maybe it really is an album—or a movie—Hunter got off the Internet.”

“Sure, it could be.” But Casey knew it wasn’t. She could feel it. She slid it into the CD player.

Nothing.

“So it’s not audio,” Eric said. “It’s a DVD. We have to watch it.”

Casey ejected it from the player. “Where should we go?” She really didn’t want to go to Eric’s place, just the two of them, this late at night. “How about your mom’s place? They’ve got that great TV.”

He grimaced.

“Oh,” Casey said. “Another present from your dad?”

“Irritating, but true. And I have to admit Mom and Rosemary have really enjoyed it.”

“Unlike the Orion.”

He grinned. “What Orion?”

The lights were still on at The Nesting Place, and the women came hurtling into the foyer at the sound of the front door.

“Oh, thank goodness you’re all right,” Rosemary said, crushing Casey in a hug. “You were taking so long. And you.” She pointed at Eric. “What are you doing here?”

Lillian hung back from the group, her eyes shadowed, waiting for Eric’s response.

He cleared his throat. “Um, Casey and I sort of…met up…at Ellen’s house.”

Rosemary frowned. “You went there.”

“Yes.”

“On your own.”

“Yes.”

She shook her head. “And you found Casey going through Ellen’s things.”

“Well…” He glanced at Casey. “She sort of scared the crap out of me, but I’m over it now.”

Casey held up the DVD. “We found something.”

The women’s eyes locked onto the disk.

“We think,” Eric said.

“Well,” Rosemary said. “Let’s watch it. Or is it something to listen to?”

“Watch, we think.”

“Then come along.”

Together they trooped into the parlor, where Rosemary held out a hand for the disk, then ceremoniously placed it in the DVD player. She remained standing, her eyes on the screen. Casey stood beside her, with Eric on the other side of the TV. Lillian alone sat, but pulled the ottoman close so she could be within their little circle.

An image came suddenly onto the screen. HomeMaker. A wide-angle of the parking lot. The picture, a date at the bottom which said the footage was two weeks old, narrowed slowly, coming to rest on the first row of cars.

“There’s Karl’s car,” Eric said. “And Yvonne’s. And that one…it’s mine.”

“Whose are the other two?” Casey asked.

“Don’t know.” He looked down at Lillian, but she shook her head.

“Wait.” Casey pointed at the car on the far right, one of the two unidentified ones. “There’s somebody in there. Two people.”

They all leaned toward the screen, as if that would help them to see more clearly.

Rosemary let out a sound of exasperation. “It’s impossible to tell who it is.”

“Maybe they’ll get out of the car.” Casey hoped so, because otherwise this was a bust. “Here they come.”

A man got out of the driver’s side and crossed around the back, opening the passenger door. He held out his hand and a woman took it, stepping from the car.

Rosemary narrowed her eyes. “Who are they?”

Eric shrugged. “Never seen them before.”

They walked into the building, leaning on each other, the man’s arm around the woman’s waist.

The picture switched suddenly to the inside of the office, and Yvonne, Karl’s secretary, whom Casey had met earlier that day—came into view, as seen from the vantage point of Ellen’s desk. The image was lopsided, as if the camera were strapped to something, or set in a place that would be hidden, perhaps by the computer. The date was the day following the footage of the parking lot.

“What are we looking at?” Eric said. “I mean, other than the office?”

“Karl’s door.” Casey pointed to the left of the screen, where the door was clearly visible past Yvonne’s left shoulder. “Maybe somebody’s in there who will be coming out soon.”

“Is there sound?” Rosemary got the remote and turned the volume up. They heard the generic sounds of air-conditioning, computer keyboarding, and the occasional comment or question from Yvonne to Kathy.

Minutes passed in which they watched Yvonne work on the computer—words flying across her screen as she typed—talk on the phone, and file papers.

“How did Ellen get this?” Eric asked. “She certainly wasn’t working there anymore.”

Casey considered it. “Either she got someone else to plant it, or she snuck in and placed it herself, using a timer to start filming when she wanted. Is there someone who would help her with that?”

“Here we go,” Rosemary said. “Look.” Karl Willems’ door opened.

Yvonne looked up at the open door, and even as she continued working smiled up at Karl.

No, she wasn’t smiling at Karl. She was smiling at the person behind him, who came through the door directly on the CEO’s heels.

It was Eric.

Chapter Thirty-one

Eric’s face grew even whiter than before. “Me? Why was she taping me?”

Rosemary paused the disk and looked from Lillian to Eric. “Okay. What is going on?”

Lillian sat like stone on her stool, looking at the wall, somewhere past the television console. Eric shook his head repeatedly, in short bursts, as if rejecting the image on the screen.

Casey placed a hand over her mouth and closed her eyes. Had she been completely wrong about this whole thing? Was Eric somehow involved in putting the townspeople out of work? Or in killing Ellen?

No. She couldn’t be wrong.

But then, Death was awfully anxious for her to befriend him.

“Eric,” she said, “you’ve got to think back. What happened that day? What were you doing there? Why were you talking to Karl?”

He ran his fingers through his hair roughly, pulling it into peaks, as he had done in his office. “I don’t know. When was it?”

They looked at the date on the screen, jittering slightly on the frozen image.

“Two weeks ago this past Tuesday,” Rosemary said. “Ten-forty-three AM.”

Eric’s hands remained on his head as he thought. “I don’t know. I don’t remember.”

“Think.” Casey wanted to shake him.

He sighed loudly. “There was a day I went to talk with Karl about COBRA. You know, the insurance for the workers once they’re laid off. And severance packages.” He thought some more. “I went once to ask why I hadn’t been copied on some memos. I had to find out from people at dinner—Home Sweet Home—that the move to Mexico had been pushed back two weeks.” He looked up at Casey. “But I don’t know which day that would’ve been. Maybe if I went home and looked at my calendar…”

Casey sat back on her heels and looked up at Rosemary. Rosemary’s hair, usually so cheerful and bright, looked out-of-place now over her lined and pale face. Lillian, still seated on the ottoman, kneaded her hands on her lap, chewing her lip.

Casey stood. “Let’s watch the rest of the footage.”

Lillian turned so quickly she almost lost her balance. “So we can see more of that? Accusations against Eric?”

Casey waved a hand at the television. “There was no accusation. Just a film of him coming out of Karl’s office. If we keep watching, maybe we’ll see something that would make more sense.”

They all looked at Eric. He took a deep breath, his nostrils flaring. “Yes. Okay. I know there was no reason for her to be filming me. I want to know what else there is.”

Casey nodded, and waited for Rosemary to press Play on the remote. When she didn’t, Casey stepped forward, pushing the button on the machine.

The footage went back into motion, with Yvonne watching as Eric and Karl left the picture. Her face was expressionless, her smile disappearing the instant Eric was gone. She grabbed a notebook and pen and stood. Karl Willems swept by the table and she followed, disappearing into his office.

Casey looked sideways at Eric as he watched, wondering what he was feeling. Sorrow? Surprise? Perhaps even guilt? She didn’t like to consider that.

A few minutes of footage passed with only the office sounds, the image framing Yvonne’s desk and Karl’s door. Soon the door opened and Yvonne came out, her face stony, her posture stiff. “I’m going out for a minute,” she said.

Kathy said that was fine.

Yvonne dug in her purse, pulled out a pack of cigarettes and a cell phone, and left. The image held on the empty desk. Rosemary, focused again on the task, fast-forwarded until Yvonne was back in her seat. There were several more minutes of keyboarding, which Rosemary fast-forwarded, until Yvonne reached for her phone. Rosemary rewound to just before the movement.

A beep sounded over the speaker, and Yvonne leaned over to grab her handset. She glanced up, toward the front of the office. “Of course. Thank you.” She replaced the phone and stood, waiting for someone. They could see by her face when the person appeared, for it became slightly more animated, although still professional. “Good morning, Mr. Nolan.”

Eric glanced over at Casey. Todd?

It was Todd, and he didn’t wait for Yvonne to lead him to the door, surging past with an energy Casey hadn’t yet seen in him.

Yvonne was able to sneak past him at the last moment in order to open the door, but Todd pushed directly by her and into the room. Yvonne stood there for a few seconds before stepping back and shutting the door. She looked over at Kathy with an expression of surprise, and sat back at her desk.

Ten minutes later—fast-forwarded by Rosemary—Todd came out of the office, banging the door open against the wall, startling Yvonne. She jumped up from her chair, hands out in front, as if to defend herself. Todd stormed past, his face mottled with rage. He brushed so near to Yvonne’s desk that papers fluttered, and she reached out to hold them down. As soon as Todd was gone she hustled to Karl’s office, where she spent only a few seconds inside before coming back out and shutting the door behind her, leaning against it, her eyes closed.

After almost half a minute Yvonne walked back to her desk, where she sat and placed her hands on the desktop, hesitating there for several beats until pulling her chair back up to her desk.

“Is there more?” Lillian’s voice was small, and quiet.

Rosemary pushed the fast-forward button, but all they saw was Yvonne at her desk, everyone leaving for lunch, and the same routine in the afternoon. No more visitors. Eventually everyone was gone, and the camera stopped filming.

“Well,” Eric said. “At least taping Todd makes more sense than taping me.”

Casey sat on the love seat. “Ellen must’ve known he was coming by at some point, but didn’t know when. I still don’t get it. Sure, we saw he was angry, but how does that help us?”

Eric dropped into a chair. “It shows that Todd and Karl had a fight.”

“Yes, but…” Casey looked at Rosemary, and then Lillian. “Karl’s not the one who died. If he had been, then perhaps Todd would be a suspect, based on this. But Karl’s alive and kicking.”

“Unfortunately,” Rosemary muttered.

“It’s got to have something to do with the lay-offs.” Eric laid his head back on his chair. “Why didn’t Ellen just tell me? Instead of…” He jutted his chin toward the TV. “Of that.”

Casey considered his words. “Maybe she was still gathering evidence. She didn’t want to say anything until she had it all pieced together. If we think of this video in that way, it makes more sense. It’s not everything she knew, but just a part that would make sense with other information.”

“So where’s the other information?” Eric banged his hands on the arms of his chair. “This doesn’t look like anything that should’ve gotten her killed.”

Lillian gasped, and Rosemary strode quickly to her side. “What is it?”

Lillian’s mouth opened, then shut, and she stood up, almost knocking Rosemary aside. “I think…” She rushed from the room.

“Lillian?” Rosemary bustled after her.

Eric rolled his head so he was looking at Casey. “This makes me feel like puking, too.”

“Oh, me, too.”

Casey blinked, and somehow refrained from exhaling with disgust at the sight of Death, one hip perched on the back of Eric’s chair, eating a chicken leg.

“It gives me motion sickness, you know,” Death said, waving the drumstick. “Watching TV. I really can’t take it.”

Casey closed her eyes.

Eric leaned forward, his elbows on his knees. “I wish I knew what she was trying to tell me…”

Casey wanted to go comfort him, but couldn’t make herself move closer with Death looking over his shoulder. Besides, if what Lonnie said about Eric’s feelings was true she really needed to—

“So what now?” Death took a bite of chicken, using a sleeve to wipe barbecue sauce from where it had dripped onto the chair.

Casey could feel her stomach turning.

“Eric.”

Death was gone, and Lillian hesitated in the doorway, a box in her hands. Rosemary stepped up beside her, her hand on Lillian’s shoulder. “This…” Lillian came closer. “This was from Ellen. She’d given it to me to keep for…for your birthday. With everything that’s happened, I just…I forgot about it.”

Eric’s eyes locked onto the package, a small box with shiny red paper and a gold bow. “What is it?”

Lillian shook her head, her eyes bright with tears. “I don’t know, sweetheart.” She held it out, but he didn’t reach for it.

“Oh, come on,” Death said in Casey’s ear. “Take it already.”

Casey made a shushing motion toward the empty air around her, which she turned into a stretch when she noticed Rosemary watching her.

Slowly Eric reached out and took the package, turning it over in his hands. “It hardly weighs anything. Are you sure there’s something in it?”

Lillian’s mouth twitched. “She said you were sure to like it. In fact, she said it would probably be the best birthday gift you ever got.”

Rosemary huffed. “Then she didn’t know about that birthday trip to see the Harlem Globetrotters when you were ten.”

Eric gave her a sad smile. “I guess I should open it, then, if it’s that special.”

Rosemary nodded. “No need to save the paper.”

Eric ripped the shiny wrapper from the container, which wasn’t a jewelry box, but about that size. He stared at it for a moment before gently lifting the lid. He looked down at the contents, then up at the women, his face a picture of confusion.

He held the box out to Casey, and she gazed down at a perfect, silver key.