The Grim Reaper's Dance

And now Pat Parnell was gone, whatever Dixon meant by that. Had Casey gotten him in trouble by visiting? Gotten him killed? No, Death would have told her that.

“But why would someone tell?” Bailey said. “And who did?”

“I don’t know. What do you think? Who would betray you all like that?”

Bailey was distressed. “None of them! They wouldn’t…” She jabbed her finger at Casey. “You’re just saying that. It didn’t really happen. Why would you say that?”

“If you don’t believe me, go out to the shed right now and look. The men might still be there.”

Bailey jerked away, crossing her arms over her stomach. “I don’t…” She shuddered. “What should we do?”

“Where are the others?”

“Home.”

Casey really wanted to know which kid had told, but getting them back together tonight would be tricky. “We should sleep. I’ll be in touch tomorrow. Okay? And listen…can we keep this just between you and me? Not tell the others until we figure out how to stop the leak?”

Bailey was silent for a few moments before shrugging. “All right.”

“I need to see you all. Where would it work?”

Bailey hesitated, then swung around. “After school tomorrow, Johnny has a JV football game. We’re all going.”

Casey couldn’t show up there. Too many people. “How about afterward?”

“Sometimes we get pizza in town. Sometimes we go to Newton, to the Denny’s.”

“And how would you get there?”

“One of us would drive everybody. It’s about six miles.”

Casey couldn’t go that distance. “Can you make sure you go to the pizza place?”

“Yeah. They usually listen to me.”

Casey had noticed. “Will you walk from the stadium?”

“It’s right down the street, so yeah.”

“What route will you take?”

Bailey’s face scrunched up as she thought and she rubbed her face hard, smearing her eyeliner. “Up Adams to Main. It’s simple.”

“Any way you can go a different path, where there won’t be many people?”

“I guess. I’d have to come up with an excuse.”

“I have confidence in you. They’ll do what you suggest.”

Bailey paled even more in the illumination from the house’s outside lights. “Okay. So I guess we’ll go back behind the library, you know how you can see the stadium from there? There’s a road that’s more like an alley, and we can take that up toward the pizza place.”

“What time?”

“Six?”

That should work. “Thanks, Bailey. I’ll be keeping the phone off until then. No sense in leading them to us. Goodnight.” She turned to go.

“Casey?”

She stopped.

“Why did you come to me? Why didn’t you think I was the one who’d talked?”

“Because you’re the real deal, Bailey. You care about the others, and about your group. You would never give away your hiding place.”

Bailey frowned. “I care about you, too.”

“Which only proves you’re crazy. But thanks. I’ll see you tomorrow. And remember…” She put a finger to her lips.

Bailey smiled brightly, her teeth shining. “You know me. I can keep a secret. Goodnight, Casey.”

Casey smiled back, and slipped away into the night.

Chapter Twenty-Four

The bed was huge. It was also soft, and warm, and there was someone else in it.

Casey sat up.

“Did I wake you?” Death stopped playing the Native American flute.

“No…no, I…” Casey sank back down to the grass in the little grove of trees. “What I wouldn’t give for a mattress.”

“And miss the wonders of nature? The fresh air, the blue sky—”

“—the pain in my backside.”

Death looked hurt. “I certainly hope you are not referring to me.”

“Hey, you said it.” Casey crawled to the creek and splashed water on her face. “What time is it?”

Death squinted at the sun. “I would say…seven? Seven-thirty?”

Casey was meeting Wendy Halveston at nine. And she was starving. “I’ve still got a few dollars left. Suggestions on where I can go for food and not be noticed?”

“Honey, wherever you go, you’re going to get noticed. It’s like you haven’t taken a shower in several days.”

“I haven’t.”

“Well, then, no wonder you look that way.”

Casey bit her tongue. Arguing wouldn’t get her anywhere. “Too bad women don’t still make pies and put them on the window sill to cool.”

Death looked thoughtful.

“What?”

“Terry’s parents own a bakery.”

“So?”

“Think they throw out the things that don’t sell, and that Terry doesn’t take to the shed?”

“Oh, great. Now you want me to go Dumpster diving for stale bread?”

“It’s not like it would ruin your clothes.”

“No, but it might ruin my stomach.”

Death played a quick tune on the flute. “You could go by the hospital again, grab some peanut butter and crackers.”

Casey ignored this and stood up to do some stretching, careful not to break open the finally-healing scab on her shoulder.

Death groaned. “You’re not going to exercise again, are you?”

“Don’t have time.” She stretched her arms to the sky, feeling the pull in her back. A mattress sure would be welcome. And she had no idea when she would ever sleep on one again.

“You should probably get a move on if you want to make your meeting on time,” Death said.

“Yeah.” She looked at the rock where the papers were hidden. “Think I should take that?”

“Be a little heavy.”

“Not the rock, you moron, the bag of papers.”

“Geez, I think you forgot your sense of humor back there in Ohio with the rest of your stuff.”

“I think I’ll leave the papers here. Wendy Halveston seems to want to talk. She doesn’t need encouragement. And just in case I run into those guys…” She straightened suddenly. “Yonkers!”

“Gesundheit.”

“No. The guys mentioned Yonkers last night.”

“So?”

“Evan was talking about somebody named Yonkers…Willie Yonkers…right before the crash.”

“And what did he say?”