Embrace the Grim Reaper (25 page)

Eric sank down onto Karl’s desk, his shoulders slumping.

Casey stayed standing. “You’re sticking to the story that the company needs to move because of the union’s demands?”

“It’s not a story.”

“Maybe not.” She held up the folder. “But this isn’t a story, either. At least, it’s not a fabricated one.”

He hesitated. “That has nothing to do with—”

“A little over a year ago,” Casey said. “One of HomeMaker’s dryers killed someone. A child. Why wasn’t there a lawsuit?”

Karl shrugged again. “HomeMaker wasn’t at fault.”

“Wasn’t it?”

“Well, ultimately it could be seen to be. But it’s not like HomeMaker purposefully put out a dangerous product. The mother was just as responsible.”

Casey’s breath caught in her chest, and she forced herself not to smack him. “Was this the first time you knew of a problem with the latches?”

“Of course.”

But Casey had seen it again. That flicker in his eyes. “How long before?” she asked. “How long before had the first complaint come in?”

“I told you that was the first.”

“And would Yvonne say the same if I asked her?”

“Of course she would.”

Casey had seen the fear on Yvonne’s face. She would say whatever Karl Willems wanted her to say.

“The boy’s death is the real reason you’re moving the company to Mexico,” Casey said. “If it’s actually even moving.”

“What?” Eric’s voice rose.

“Your fath—Karl has his own reasons for escape, don’t you, Karl? How do we know the company’s not simply going to cease to exist?”

Eric looked back and forth from Casey to Willems. Willems met his gaze defiantly.

“Dad,” Eric said. “What did you do?”

“Nothing. I did nothing.”

“Yes, Karl,” Casey said. “That’s exactly what you did.” She pulled the second contract from the folder and handed it to Eric. “Take a look at this, Eric. See everything your father didn’t do.”

Karl made to get up, but Casey stepped forward, crowding him back onto his chair. “You,” she said. “Sit.”

He sank into the leather seat. “It wasn’t my fault. They had no right—”

“Shut up, Karl.” Rage burned behind Casey’s eyes. It wasn’t my fault. I had no way of knowing such a little thing could cause such an accident. Who would’ve thought those complaints about the faulty fuel pump could have told us more? Don’t blame me, Casey, blame Pegasus if you have to blame someone. How was I to know? I’m just an employee, I do what I’m told…

“You’re the leader, Karl,” Casey said. “The Chief Executive. You’re supposed to protect the little guy. The employees. Your customers. Little boys who see a dryer as a good hiding place. If nothing else, you should’ve protected your company.”

“The company? What do they care? They would’ve hung me out to dry in a heartbeat.”

“So you decided to make this entire town pay in your place?”

Eric cried out, and Casey looked at him, keeping her position over Karl.

Eric held out the paper. “You knew? You knew there was a problem with the latches. How many complaints had you gotten? Four? Half a dozen?”

Karl waved a hand. “It was a door latch, for God’s sake. A door latch. Not the heating element. Nothing electrical. Who would’ve thought some kid would be dumb enough to crawl inside? And that his mother wouldn’t even notice? What kind of a mother is that? A poor excuse for one, if you ask me.”

“And Ellen?” Eric’s voice cracked. “She found out about this. About the boy. Did you kill her, too?”

Karl’s eyes sparked. “I didn’t kill anybody. Not the boy, and certainly not Ellen. What am I going to do, go to her house and force her to OD on her own sleeping pills? Grow up, Eric. Grow up and see that she’s the one who did it. Your perfect angel Ellen killed herself. It wasn’t anybody else’s fault. Not yours. Not HomeMaker’s. And it certainly wasn’t mine.”

Casey leaned over and jabbed the pressure point at the back of Karl’s jaw. His eyes widened, and she thrust her arm against the side of his neck, cutting off his carotid artery. He slumped over in his chair, but she kept the pressure on.

“Casey!” Eric leapt forward. “What did you do? Is he—”

“He’s fine. He’ll wake up as soon as I take off the pressure.”

“But…but how are you doing that?”

Casey sighed heavily. “It’s not hard.” She rubbed her free hand over her forehead. “I just…I needed him to stop talking.”

Eric glanced down at his father, whose head lolled onto his chest, his mouth slack. “Well, he did.”

“And now,” Casey said, glancing at the broken door. “We need to leave.”

Chapter Forty-three

They didn’t bother trying to avoid the cameras this time, as they only had half a minute, at the most, until Karl would wake up. He would be disoriented, which would give them a little more time, but he would soon remember everything that had happened, and be after them with a vengeance.

Casey kept her eye out for the security guards, in case they hadn’t gone back to their posts as ordered, but none appeared. Casey and Eric didn’t wait around. They ran straight out the front doors and through the parking lot to the neighboring property, where they found and pulled on their dark sweaters.

Once they’d gone a couple of blocks Eric stopped, bending over and putting his hands on his knees. “I’ve gotta stop, Casey. I’m not made for this.”

Casey grabbed his elbow and pulled him upright. “Not here, Eric. We have to keep moving.”

With a groan he followed her back the way they had come from town. Casey led him silently through yards and alleys, until they were a couple of streets from his home. Casey’s arms were beginning to hurt again. Time for a few more ibuprofen. She wished she’d brought more pills from Eric’s house. She pulled down the collar of her sweater and glanced at her shoulder. Spots of blood had leaked through her bandage, onto her shirt. Her lip throbbed, and her head ached.

Knowing it was out of the question to go back into Eric’s house, Casey found a dark patch at the back corner of someone’s yard and pulled Eric into the shadow.

Eric heaved a sigh. “He knew. He could’ve kept that boy from dying.”

“Yes.”

Eric closed his eyes and shook his head slowly. “He was more worried about money. As usual. It would’ve been expensive to recall the door latches and replace them. Expensive and bad PR.”

Casey nodded. He was right. “Karl also could be held personally liable. If he knew about the defective part and didn’t stop the production, it could all be put on him. HomeMaker could argue that it was all his fault.”

Eric clenched his jaw. “So he gave the company up?”

“Looks that way. It was either close down the company, or he’d get all the blame. Probably go to jail. He made a separate agreement with the family, to protect himself.”

Eric looked at her, his expression one of sorrow, and resignation. “So what now?”

She arched her back, wincing at the pain in her kidney, and looked up at the sky, stars twinkling through the leaves of the tree above her. She was tired. She was confused. She needed stitches.

Eric spoke quietly. “At least Karl didn’t kill Ellen.”

“He says.”

“I believe him.”

“Yeah. Yeah, I guess I do, too.” It had been in his eyes.

“You should leave, Casey.”

She turned her head to look at Eric, but saw only the back of his head as he stood facing away from her, his arms crossed over his chest.

“You should take my car and start driving. Get far away.”

He was right, of course. She should leave Clymer, with all of its problems, and all of its goodness, behind. Right that moment.

“I can’t, Eric.”

“Why not?”

Yes. Why the hell not? “I have to know. I have to know what happened to Ellen.”

“But why?”

When he turned to face her she looked up into his eyes. “Because she deserves the truth, Eric. Her kids deserve it.” And what else do I have to live for?

He looked away. “But what if the truth is really that she did it? That no one else killed her?”

“You really think she could have? Really, Eric?”

He sighed heavily and looked at the ground between his feet. “No. No, I don’t really think she could have.”

“Then she didn’t.”

He looked over at her, the corner of his mouth twitching. “And I’m certainly not about to argue with you.”

She put her hands on her hips and rolled her neck before stepping back into the alley. “Then come on.”

“Where are we going?”

She smiled. “We’re going to go see exactly what it is Yvonne knows. And we’re not taking no for an answer.”

He hesitated. “Karl will be out looking for us by now.”

“Yeah, well, he can join the club.”

They walked a bit, until Casey realized Eric was laughing. She stopped. “What?”

“It’s just…you were like Spock. Doing the Vulcan stun thing to Karl.”

“Oh. Well. Live long, and all that.”

“Yeah.”

They kept walking.

Yvonne’s house was dark, except for the outside light by the door, which she must’ve turned on after they left the first time. Her husband’s truck was still absent.

“What about the dogs?” Eric said.

“I guess we’ll have to hope she doesn’t let them eat us.” She slipped beside the house, where she’d be hidden when Yvonne opened the door. Eric looked at her to get the go ahead, then rang the bell.

Yvonne didn’t answer, and the dogs were silent.

Eric rang the bell again, and knocked on the door. After a few minutes of this, the inside door jerked open.

“Eric? What do you want? You’re going to wake the kids, and then what are we going to do?”

Casey stepped out, swung open the screen door, and braced the inside door with her foot.

“You?” Yvonne said. “They’re looking for you.” She glanced out at the street, as if expecting a police car to appear.

“Yes,” Casey said. “May we come in?”

Without waiting for an answer, she pushed past Yvonne into the house, and found herself pinned to the counter by the two large Doberman Pinschers, snarling and emitting low growls. Casey froze, her hands out in front of her.

“Yvonne, don’t!”

Casey looked up from the dogs to see Eric wrestling a cell phone out of Yvonne’s hand. He wrenched it away, ended the call she’d begun, and shoved it into his pocket.

Yvonne backed away from him, flattening against the wall. “They said if I saw you again I should call them.”

“So they know I was here before?”

“Jimmy came home for something to eat. I told him.”

Eric glanced at Casey, who was trying to access her ability to fight two large dogs. Fighting off people was one thing. Dogs were a different story altogether. She glanced at the counter beside her. The only things within reach were the soap dispenser, a dishrag, and a plastic napkin holder. Nothing too promising as a weapon.

“Yvonne,” Eric said. “Can you call off the dogs?”

Yvonne hugged her stomach, staring at Casey. Casey had no doubt her swollen lip and bloody shirt did not paint a pretty picture.

“She killed someone,” Yvonne said. “She’s dangerous.”

“She’s not dangerous,” Eric said. “Not to you.”

Yvonne shook her head, her mouth open.

“I won’t hurt you, Yvonne,” Casey said. “The only reason I…those men attacked me. I had to defend myself.”

Yvonne closed her mouth, but her lips continued working against her teeth.

“Yvonne,” Eric said. “Please. We just want to talk. Come on. You know me.”

Yvonne took a few more heavy breaths before holding out her hand. “Only if I can have my phone back.”

Eric placed his hand over his pocket. “You won’t call them?”

Yvonne lifted her hand higher. “I’ll listen to what you have to say.”

Eric looked at Casey and she nodded shortly. If Yvonne made the call, Casey would just have to fight her way through the dogs. Maybe she’d squirt them in the face with the anti-bacterial hand cleaner.

Eric reached into his pocket and pulled out the phone. He hesitated briefly before placing it in Yvonne’s open palm. She wrapped her fingers around it and pulled it against her stomach. “Roxie. Jabba. Down.”

The dogs dropped to their haunches, and their growling turned into happy panting, their tongues lolling from their mouths.

“Bed,” Yvonne said.

The dogs trotted to the next room, where Casey could see two large doggie pillows lying side by side. The dogs curled up on the cushions, but their eyes remained on Casey. She shivered, returning her attention to Yvonne.

“Yvonne,” Eric said. “We know about the boy.”

Her face went blank for only a moment before her eyes widened, filling with tears. “The boy…”

“Come on.” Eric led her gently to a chair.

They were in the kitchen, and the closest place was at the table. Yvonne dropped her phone in front of her before laying her face in her hands.

Eric sat next to her. “Yvonne, what happened? What has Karl done?”

She rolled her head back and forth in her hands before jerking it up, her face inches from Eric’s. Her eyes were red, and tears spilled over onto her cheeks. “I can’t tell. I can’t tell you.”

“But Yvonne—”

“I can’t!” She pushed herself away from the table, sending her chair crashing backward. Her face twisted and she grabbed the chair, lifting it off the floor.

Casey stepped forward and wrapped her hand around one of the rungs. “Don’t, Yvonne. Please.” Casey kept a hold on it, making eye contact, watching as Yvonne’s grip slackened, and then relaxed completely.

Yvonne let go of the chair and spun away, leaning against the wall.

“Yvonne,” Eric said.

Casey shook her head, and he quieted.

Yvonne’s shoulders began to shudder, and soon she was gasping for air, her body heaving. Her hand trailed down the wall as her knees buckled, and Eric jumped from his seat, grabbing her around the waist as she slipped to the floor. He went down, too, and ended up holding her on his lap, rocking her as he would a child. “Shh, Yvonne. It’s okay. It’s okay.”

Tucking her face into his neck, her sobs gradually diminished, until she was taking deep breaths and wiping her face on his shirt.

“Tell us,” Eric said gently. “Please.”

Yvonne gave one last snort, then climbed to her feet, stumbling into the other room. Casey poised for flight. Eric held out his hand. The sound of Yvonne blowing her nose came from the back hallway, and they heard water running. Yvonne returned to the kitchen, her face blotchy, water spots dotting her shirt.

“I didn’t know what to do,” she said. “Except keep my mouth shut. He told me…he told me if I didn’t, I would be arrested. Arrested. Me!” She shook her head with apparent disbelief. “Even with Jimmy being a cop, I could be… Anyway, I couldn’t say anything. It was in the contract.”

“Why didn’t the parents file a lawsuit?” Eric asked.

Yvonne gave a small laugh. “Why do you think? HomeMaker—well, Karl—made Mrs. Marlowe think it was her fault. That if she hadn’t neglected her son he would still be alive.”

Casey made a sound in her throat, and Yvonne glanced at her. “I know. It’s awful.” She glanced toward the back of the house, back toward the bedrooms. “For any mother to be told that…”

“But why did HomeMaker want that in the first place?” Eric asked. “To avoid publicity?”

“Oh, sure. They didn’t want the world thinking they killed somebody. They just wanted it to go away quietly. To pay the Marlowes from the insurance money, sign the confidentiality contract, and have it be over with.”

“But something happened,” Casey said.

“Yes.” Her eyes flicked to Eric. “The Marlowes found out about Karl.”

Eric clenched his jaw. “Found out what?”

“That he knew about the door latches.”

His eyes met Casey’s. So they were right.

“There had been several complaints,” Yvonne said. “Nothing big. Just that the latches had jammed. No one had been hurt. But a consumer would put something heavy in, or too large of a load, and the next thing they knew they couldn’t open the dryer door. Karl said it was their own fault for filling the dryer too full, and ignored them.” She closed her eyes, and swayed on her feet. Eric grabbed her elbow and led her back to a chair.

“Why did Karl trust you to type up the contracts?” Casey asked. “Why put you in that position at all, instead of doing it himself?”

Yvonne looked up at her, and swiped the tears from her cheeks. “Because I knew, too, don’t you see? I knew about the earlier complaints. I was already in the position of knowing too much.”

“Kathy didn’t know?” Eric asked. “She works right next to you. Or…or Ellen?”

Yvonne shook her head. “There were lots of things Kathy and Ellen didn’t know. There was no reason to tell them. It wasn’t anything exciting. Just…door latches. I mean, we get complaints all the time that never amount to anything, about a lot more serious things.”

“But somehow Ellen found out,” Eric said. “That’s how we knew to even look. She videotaped your computer when you were working on the contract, just a few weeks ago.”

“I don’t know how she would’ve…” Yvonne’s forehead creased as she thought. “I don’t think anybody else knew. The board, I guess, but they don’t live around here, and even if they did, it’s not like they’re going to be telling the employees about legal problems. I certainly didn’t tell her.”

“Lawyers?” Eric said.

Casey shook her head. “Wouldn’t tell.”

“How about…bankers?” Eric looked at Casey.

Could it be? Todd has sworn his meeting with Karl had nothing to do with the company, that it was personal. But it wouldn’t be the first time someone had lied about this whole mess.

Yvonne shook her head. “He wouldn’t tell the bank.”

“But Todd came to his office—”

“It wasn’t about this.”

“You’re sure?”

Yvonne looked at Casey. “Karl was falling behind on some payments. He’d paid so much money to the boy’s family… The bank wanted to repossess some things, but they were in other people’s names. Todd was the one who’d approved the loans, and was having trouble explaining to his superiors how he’d made such bad decisions.”

Casey almost smiled. The Pegasus Orion. So it was in Lillian’s name, after all. Just another way for Karl to save his assets. “Who would Karl tell about the money?”

Eric frowned. “He certainly didn’t tell me.”

Yvonne’s face paled, as if there were a connection she feared Casey would make. Casey’s breath hitched. “Yvonne, does Chief Reardon know? Is he protecting Karl?”

Yvonne’s brow furrowed. “The chief? No, he doesn’t know anything.”

“Denny?” Eric said. “Why would you think—”

“He’s been suspicious of me since I arrived. Like I’m here to cause trouble.”

Yvonne gave a short laugh. “That’s just the chief. He thinks anybody new is here to cause trouble. He knows nothing about this. I swear.”