A truck blew past and ruffled both their hair.
“Okay,” Valerie said slowly. “This was so worth covering for you. You actually went and did it, you absolute dog!” She smiled brightly once more. “I expect a full write-up at the end of all of this, but first—” She dropped her hands and her expression sobered. “Morrith isn't just annoyed anymore. Your missed collection triggered a review. Oversight is asking about Dustin's file and why it's still marked Pending after this long.”
Greg's dread sat like a stone in his gut. “How bad is it?”
“Bad enough that Morrith can't sit on it much longer.” Valerie's gaze turned sympathetic. “He vouched for you once. He's not going to do it again. Whatever your next move is, you need to make it fast.”
“Okay.” Greg took a deep breath, processing. “I think I know where to look,” he said.
Valerie nodded. She didn't ask where. Maybe she didn't want to know.
“Be careful, Grigoreth,” she said.
“I will,” Greg promised, feeling oddly touched.
Valerie gave him one last look, and then she teleported away, back to HQ.
Greg stood alone on the highway shoulder.
He wanted to panic. He very badly wanted to panic.
But this was not the time for panic. This was the time to act.
He had his glasses and his clipboard. He had Dustin waiting for him.
He could do this.
CHAPTER 27
When Greg walked back in through the closed door, he almost tripped over Dustin's boots.
“Graceful,” Dustin observed, masking the wave of relief that hit him at the sight of the reaper.
“Your boots are in the middle of the room,” Greg complained.
“They're by the door. Where boots go.”
Greg righted himself and pushed his glasses up his nose. He'd gotten his clipboard back, and he was fully solid.
Good. That was good.
But something was weighing on him. Dustin could tell by the way he stood in the middle of the room with an expression like he had something to say and hadn't figured out how to say it. He looked almost more anxious than usual.
“What happened?” Dustin asked.
“Um.” Greg sat on the edge of the bed, close to Dustin. “Someone else had my clipboard. A man named Noah. He was sitting on the guardrail at the accident site when Iarrived. He knew my name. He knew about you. He knew everything.”
Dustin's eyebrows went up. “How?”
“I don't know. He said he wasn't from Oversight, and he wasn't a reaper. He was just... there, wearing a bow tie with rubber ducks on it.”
“Rubber ducks.”
“Yes.”
Dustin filed this underweird supernatural shit he didn't have the bandwidth to processand moved on. “And this Noah just had your clipboard.”
“He picked it up from the asphalt after we left. He gave it back. But he said something first.”
