Page 97 of Drag You Down
Levi listens intently as I walk him through the cleanup process. He doesn’t balk at getting his hands even dirtier first, which proves yet again that he was made for me.
It takes us under an hour to wrap Zachariah up in several layers of trash bags and destroy all other evidence on scene.
Once we’ve changed clothes, I start going through Zachariah’s wallet. I find five different ID cards, as well as several hundred dollars in cash.
“He really was a con man,” Levi says as he shines the flashlight on the IDs. He shakes his head and looks at me fiercely. “And now he can’t ever take advantage of anyone else ever again. Not me, not… Eve!”
“Eve,” I repeat. Part of me wishes he’d forgotten about her, but I know it’s not in his nature to look away from his family.
Levi looks at me, his expression guarded. “Did you mean what you said?” he asks. “About helping her? She’s going to need it. I can’t turn my back on her, Daddy.”
“I know you can’t.” I stuff Zachariah’s wallet into my backpack. I’ll have to destroy it all later. “I’ll help her. But you have to be sure we can trust her. She knows we were here.”
I get my phone out and send a text to the contact I’ve labeledOffice Management.
Me
One bag. Courtyard Hotel.
They’ll handle removing the body. I delete the text as soon as it’s sent.
Levi watches me. It’s not until I look back at him that he says, “I don’t know what she’ll do or say, not anymore.” He swallows hard. “But I can’t leave her behind. I can’t abandon her. And if we don’t come back at all, she’ll still know something’s wrong.”
“All right.” I extend my hand to him, and he takes it. The wet wipes we’d use to clean up have left his hands a bit dry and clammy, but that’s better than being covered in blood.
My phone tells me it’s past three a.m. now. The streets are empty, and we have no trouble getting to the apartment building.
We find Eve sitting on the first step leading up, hunched over herself.
I scowl. I’m pretty sure I told her to go back to her apartment.
Levi hurries over to her. “Eve! Eve, you’re…” He notices the way she’s holding herself, and his expression turns furious all over again. “He hurt you. He hurt you so badly.”
Eve looks up, tears streaming down her face. “You’re okay. I thought… You disappeared, and he went after you, and you were gone for so long…” she sobs. “I thought you were dead, Levi.”
He leans down, starting to wrap his arms around her, but when she cries out in pain, he releases her at once. “I’m sorry!” he says quickly. “I’m safe. I’m safe, and you’re safe, and I’m going to take care of you. No one’s ever going to hurt you ever again.” He falters, missing a beat, but he goes on, “We’re going to get out of here before he can come back.”
I nod along. “Did anyone else come to check on you?”
Eve’s eyes tear up even more. “No. Not even Ruth. I heard a few doors open and shut, but nobody came down.”
Levi takes a deep breath, and he offers a hand to her. “Let’s go get our things and get out of here. Fast.”
There won’t be anythingfastif we have to help Eve up and down the stairs. I shake my head. “Stay here, Eve. Levi and I will take care of it.”
She looks grateful about not having to walk, at least. Levi and I hurry up the stairs and to their apartment.
It’s as sparse as I imagined. No TV, no radio, even. There’s only a shelf with some books.
“I’ll grab my things,” Levi says, and I nod, heading into Eve’s bedroom.
I stuff as many of Eve’s clothes into a small suitcase she had under her bed.
I pause when I find a cardboard box that’s taped up. Curious, I cut the tape open with my keys.
Inside are birth certificates, a driver’s license for a woman who looks similar to Eve and Levi, and a small diary.
I hold up the birth certificate. It’s for an Evelyn Reed, born nineteen years ago.
