“Yes.”
Helena’s scowl deepened to a glower as she chewed. Then she aimed another fry at me. “You are not good at answering questions, are you?”
“I’m not used to needing to.”
She threw up her hands like I’d just proved her point. And… perhaps I had.
I never talked to anyone. I tried not to. I was better off keeping my own counsel. That way, I never got fucked. Until that plan backfired and, apparently, I did.
“Look,” I said, because maybe it was best to just lay it all out. “I was supposed to collect your soul. I didn’t. So I came up short with my delivery.”
“Delivery,” she repeated in a deadpan voice.
“Somebody important noticed there was a soul missing,” I said. “They don’t know it was yours. Not yet at least. But just because your arrival was delayed, that doesn’t stop fate.”
“Hold it right there,” she said, flashing a palm. “You said ‘arrival.’ Arrivalwhereexactly?”
“I don’t know.”
“You don’tknow?” she asked, her chin jutting forward, her tone incredulous. “You’re the Grim Reaper! How do you not know where my soul’s supposed to go?”
I sent a paranoid glance around the dining area. The beefy guy had left, but the elderly couple gave us frightened looks.
“Above my pay grade,” I snarled through gritted teeth.
“Unreal,” she said, grabbing her milkshake and thudding back in her seat, her stare going glassy as she trained it on the table, the lights of which flashed red. “?‘Fate,’ you said. Meaning I’m doomed. Is that what happened today, though? The balcony and the elevator, yeah. But today didn’t feel like ‘fate.’?”
“There are some… office politics at play,” I said, which earned me a bug-eyed stare, but that was the only way I knew how to put it.
“Politics,” she echoed. “At theoffice. Meaning the Grim Reaper has… an office. Does that mean that’s a company car out there?” She aimed a thumb toward the parking lot.
“The Judge is mine,” I informed her.
“You named your car?”
“That’s the model,” I corrected. “1969 Pontiac GTO Judge, Starlight Black. Limited production and that one’s in survivor condition. Unrestored with factory paint, interior, and components still intact. Rare and collectible.”
“You named your car,” she concluded.
“Tell me you didn’t name yours,” I shot back.
“I’mnot death personified!”
I clenched my jaw, holding my silence.
“Back to these ‘office politics,’?” she said. “Pleasetell me corporate gives you guys Tombstone pizza parties.”
Now I leveled her with a baleful glare.
“Is there a customer service department?” she asked. “I have some feedback. Then again, maybe I should just go straight to Yelp.” She waved her milkshake in the air between us. “?‘Doom can be hard, but these guys make it harder.’?”
“That man who attacked you is named Cedric,” I said. “He hates me, and the feeling is mutual. He also wants my job.”
“Let me guess. The benefits are to die for.”
“Iseverythinga joke to you?” I snipped.
“Why?” she asked, slamming her shake down. “Should I panic instead?”
