Reapers, Inc. - Brigit's Cross by B.L. Newport Page A

She had remembered looking up to the top of the building and
seeing the pale, bald man in black robes peering down at her. She
had thought that he was seeing a sight so horrendous that his soul
might be damned forever. She now realized that he was only making
sure he had completed his unassigned assignment. Brigit shook the
image from her head and refocused her attention on John
Blackwick.
    "Beyond that, what are our options?”
    “Well,” John began, setting his teacup in its
place on the saucer. “We have two options. We can go and reap
immediately the files that come in, or we can put them to the
bottom of the pile and make them wait until we can get to them.
Considering the pace that they are delivered to my desk, we would
be constantly be reaping the fresh souls. We’d never get to the
over due.”
    “Who delivers the files?”
    “Unseen hands. All I know so far is that they
are placed on my desk every morning whether I’m present or not. I
just look up and they’re there. I suspect it is the Bailey, but I’m
not completely sure.”
    “How many reapings can we do in a day’s
time?” Brigit asked, wondering how many she could fit into the
hours that Maggie was awake. Today had been a training day, she
knew. By her internal clock, they had only been out for a few
hours. John simply shrugged his shoulders in reply to her
answer.
    “There are too many facets to consider that
makes it hard to calculate an average. Until six months ago, there
were thousands of Reapers in the firm. Work loads were not measured
and we had no quotas to meet, no deadlines. Today, there are only
the two of us to do the work of thousands,” John pointed out.
Brigit detected the note of bitterness in his voice but decided not
to dig to the source of it. “Besides, I’m not a mathematician. It
would take me years to provide you with even a decent
estimate.”
    “So, maybe,” Brigit’s fingers began to drum
on the counter top as her mind began to churn quickly. “Our first
step is to organize the files by priority.”
    “And the second step?” John asked as Giuseppe
stepped up and whisked away the Grim Reaper’s empty teacup.
    “The second step would be to recruit some
help.” John shook his head against the idea.
    “We don’t have the time to interview for
every position,” he pointed out.
    “How did you come to the decision to offer me
a position?”
    “Three reasons, really,” John sighed as
Giuseppe returned the teacup with a fresh brew steaming from
within. “First of all, I knew there was something special about you
when I met you. Once I read your file, I discovered that you are an
accomplished assistant. You’re highly organized, logical in thought
and process. Thirdly, there was the fact that you had not fulfilled
your oath to Maggie. You had not completed your reason for living
before you died. The Bailey took you before you had fulfilled your
vow. I believe in love, Brigit, and I could tell that you were
determined to fulfill your purpose even in death. I’d rather have
you working by my side than spending my time in a stalemate with
you until Maggie’s time comes.”
    Brigit stifled a smile as she listened to his
explanation. He was right. She was determined to fulfill her
promise to Maggie. His efforts to pass her would have ended in a
long running stalemate until Maggie was ready to go as well.
    “I have an idea,” Brigit finally said. “As we
organize the files, we should peruse them as we would resumes. If
we find the right candidates, we can offer them the opportunity to
join the firm,” she suggested.
    “That’s bloody brilliant,” John said. He
looked pleased by her suggestion. “I don’t know why I didn’t think
of that myself.”
    “You’ve got a lot on your plate,” Brigit
offered as an excuse.
    “You’re right,” John agreed. “If you’re
ready, let’s go back to the office and see what headway we can make
on the files.”
    “Sounds good. Can I take my coffee?”
    Giuseppe the