Free On A White Horse by Katharine Sadler Page B

were my
friend.” He stands up slowly and faces me without a word. I dance
up and punch him in the jaw hard enough to whip his head around. He
doesn’t fall down, but he does hobble back over to the couch and
sit down. Mrs. Hunt was a tough lady.
    I want to hit him again, but I pick up one of
Mrs. Hunt’s little knickknacks and smash it on the floor instead.
It’s almost as satisfying as hitting Tyler and I don’t risk killing
the body he inhabits.
    Tyler leaps up and stops me before I pick up
another one. He places a gentle hand on my arm. “Shit, Holly, those
are real Limoges boxes. They’re worth like three hundred bucks
each. I’d rather you took it out on me.”
    His gentle touch and voice sap my anger, and
I let my shoulders slump. “Why didn’t you just ask me? I’ve got a
lot of money saved. You know that. You’re always getting on my case
about how I live in a shitty apartment and never buy anything nice
for myself.”
    “Someday, you’re going to have a family of
your own and you’re going to need that money.”
    Tears well in my eyes. “Like hell I am.” I
sniffle.
    “Mrs. Hunt had more money than she could ever
use. I knew taking her money wouldn’t hurt her.”
    I let him pull me into a hug. “You killed
her,” I say into his shoulder.
    “It’s nice to be able to hold you. I’ve
wanted to for so long.” His breath tickles my ear and my heart
races. I imagine that it’s Tyler’s body I’m hugging. It’s been a
long time since someone touched me. Too long if I’m enjoying a
hug from an elderly woman as much as I am .
    “I never imagined you’d have breasts when you
did.” I step away from him.
    He laughs, but it sounds hollow.
    “You haven’t even mentioned the third
option,” I say. I don’t know why I’m not already on the phone to my
boss and reporting him. I should be.
    He shakes his head, but he doesn’t move away
from the window. “No. If we kill the body, and I come back to work
like I never reaped her, they’ll investigate and they’ll change her
will. They’ll figure out what I’ve done.”
    I’m a little irritated that he’s not
concerned about the whole world of shit I’d be in if Harvest One
found out about this, not to mention the police. Most of all, I’m
angry that he killed someone rather than just talking to me and
letting me help him.
    I’ve never met his daughters, but I know what
it is to want to help family and not be able to do anything. My
sister didn’t share my gifts, but she could have worked for the
corporation as an ordinary. When she left, I was forbidden to have
any contact with her. I missed her, but I chose my job over her,
and I never spoke to her again. I found her obituary in a Google
search last year. She died of a drug overdose. If I’d known the
trouble she was in, I would have risked anything to help her.
    I steel myself. “I can’t help you, Tyler. I’m
sorry.”
    He pales. “Holly, please.”
    “Let’s think this through. You know the
corporation monitors us, right?”
    “If they think there’s a problem.” He crosses
his arms over his chest.
    “No. They spot-check us all to make sure
we’re following their rules. If they knew that you’d been visiting
your daughters, they’d start paying closer attention.”
    “They would have said something to me,” he
says, but Mrs. Hunt’s pale blue eyes lose some of their
sparkle.
    “No, Tyler. Even Harvest One understands the
need to check in on a loved one every once in a while. They would
only take action if it became a habit or if you started interfering
in some tangible way.” I sigh and my head pounds. “But let’s
pretend they don’t know you’ve been visiting family. We go on a job
and I come back and tell them you crossed over in the middle of it.
Even if I lie convincingly, they are going to check up on my story.
They are going to make sure Mrs. Hunt hasn’t acquired any new
friends or habits.”
     
    “So I wait a couple of years before I visit
my