Drained (Edgars Family #6) - Suzanne Ferrell Page 0,49

waiter approached with their bill and they quickly let go of each other.

“That’s the second time Abby saved me. And I finally realized that she’d been right all along. I was selling myself short. Taking the easy way to achieve things by offering up my body, instead of using my brains. Most of the women and girls in that sex ring were there by force or desperation. I was almost in it because of my bad choices.” When he started to argue, she shook her head. “It’s the truth, Aaron. And I promised myself from that day forward I’d respect myself and the men I let into my life by expecting more from both of us. Truth. Respect. Loyalty. Things that matter.”

“I hope you know I do respect you,” he said with the honesty she’d come to appreciate in him.

“I do,” she said, hoping he’d understand that she’d decided to let him into the walls she’d built around herself the day he rescued her from that mansion. But they had things to do first. “We’d better go collect Stanley from the hospital and get on with our job for the night. Nana won’t be happy if we’re too late and she has to take him out.”

Aaron scooted out of his seat and held her coat for her. “I tasted those cookies she brought for Paula and the staff today. I’m pretty sure she could bribe someone to take Stanley outside with those.”

This one weighed heavier than the last. Probably all the excess water. No matter, once she thawed out that would all be gone.

He squatted down and dropped her with a thud on the ground. Then looked around to make sure no one was near to hear.

Nothing moved. The only sounds were the dull motors of cars and trucks on the road, the wind whipping through the trees and the far-off horn of a freight train.

Gently, he lowered the sack from his right shoulder, careful not to bend the object inside. Opening the top of the bag, he drew out the violin bow. The marvel of something so simple as the straight hairs of a horse’s tail could be bundled together to make something so beautiful always amazed him. Think of how a horse used its tail. To flick away bothersome flies. But in the hand of a master craftsman those hairs could be used to make beautiful music.

He laid the bow on the canvas bag as to not damage it and went to work on the other bundle. First, he cut the bindings on the plastic at the top and bottom, then slowly peeled back the edges. For a moment, he studied his handiwork.

Clean.

Head to toe scrubbed free of the dirt and grime her life had laid upon her. Returned to the perfection of what her life should’ve been before she’d destroyed it with filth.

Careful not to disturb his masterpiece, he dragged the tarp closer to the brick support of the train overpass above them. Then grabbing the body under the armpits, he maneuvered it up against the bricks, just enough to be sure she’d be seen by a passerby. Next, he pulled away the tarp, dropped the bindings inside, and rolled it up. He turned and squatted down beside her, looking out onto the Cuyahoga River flowing past the Flats and the interstate bridge crossing the river. Grasping her head with both gloved hands, he adjusted her position until she was staring out at the same view. Finally, he laid the bow across her lap, securing it in place with her hands crossed on top of it. The violin would remain with him. A tribute to remind him of his work.

Last fall he’d watched her play in one of the parks. Elegant. Beautiful. Worthy of a solo with the Cleveland Orchestra or even the Philharmonic.

And what was she using her talent for? To beg for money from passersby. Money to buy poison and stick it in her veins. It was a blasphemy. That’s why she had to become a donor. To put her body to some use. Just as he’d cleansed her outside, harvesting her blood cleansed her inside.

15

“Well, we know it’s been more than a week wince Art was last here,” Aaron said, as he and Brianna stood down the block from the Lutheran Ministry Shelter while Stanley did his business.

The largest homeless shelter for men in the Cleveland area, the huge facility had beds and food service for the homeless, training in the food prep industry