Page 23 of Simon Says… Fight (Kate Morgan Thrillers #11)
He stopped, looked at him, and shook his head. “I’ve spent a long time just trying to stay out of trouble,” he murmured, “so I won’t do things that create problems. Anything going on in that building has just been plain bad.”
“Why don’t you tell me about it?”
“What do you want to know?”
“Anything and everything.”
“It’s got a history of its own, and it needs to be dropped so something new, something invigorating, something inviting can go back up,” Arnie shared.
“There are just times when a building needs to not stand any longer. I know it sounds like crazy talk, as if I think a building has a soul, but I’ve seen a lot of buildings in my time.
And I swear to God, a lot of them, they either don’t have a soul or lost whatever soul they once had. Buildings like that should be dropped.”
Arnie was out of the vehicle before Simon could even park properly.
“I’ll just carry on from here,” he murmured.
“I do have some friends here, and they won’t take kindly to my coming up with a cop, or at least with somebody who’s a little too…
well-connected.” He started to walk away, then stopped, looked back, and added, “Thank you. You are a redeeming person in this very dark world.” And, with that, he turned and walked away as fast as his old body would allow.
Simon let him go, knowing nothing would be easy for Arnie now that Elsie was gone.
Simon was filled with a certain sadness to think Arnie was going back to that life, even lonelier now, where really nothing around him was available to help him very much.
Regardless, Simon wasn’t even sure that Arnie would accept the help.
Once Elsie was gone, Arnie felt he had to get up and to move on. Simon wasn’t sure if it was because Arnie knew that he was next or if Arnie just wanted to move on quickly through this missing-Elsie stage.
Either way, instead of parking, Simon kept on driving and ended up outside the warehouse where they’d found the skeleton.
He swore as he stared up at it. Police tape was still all around it, and off to the side were most likely the same three men Kate had taken for a meal earlier.
He doubted if they would be open to talking to him, but he found himself parking and walking over to them anyway.
The men just huddled together, looking at him warily.
He nodded. “You spoke to Detective Kate earlier,” he began, “about the beaten-up man who was found here.”
They looked at each other, and their gazes narrowed.
“She’s my wife…” he explained.
Their eyebrows shot up, and still they assessed him and the vehicle. He shook his head. “My partner, anyway,” wondering why he’d even used the term wife . “They found another body in the building this morning, and this one had been there for years, was basically a skeleton.”
They didn’t say anything, just stared at him,… waiting.
“I just wondered if you knew anything about it.”
“Who’s asking?” one of the men asked. “You or the cop?”
“Whatever you say to me would go to the cop, unless you tell me that you don’t want it to go to the cop,” he stated. “I just hate to think that somebody languished in that building all these years and that nobody cared.”
“Nobody ever cares,” one of them declared. “It’s evidence of the sad deterioration of our society.”
He looked at him and nodded. “That could be, but it doesn’t have to always end up that way.”
“It sure seems like it,” he muttered. “We don’t know nothing about that skeleton.
We heard talk of one in there, never saw one, never went in to look.
Really don’t want any more of that stuff in our world.
Living out here on the streets, we see dead people all the time, from overdoses, beatings, car accidents. ”
The homeless man shook his head and continued. “No shortage of that side of life in our world,” he noted. “But bodies that have been there for a while? Hell no, but there have been rumors. I can tell you that. Plenty of rumors.”
Simon nodded. “I just spoke to Arnie, if any of you know him.” Again that blank stares turned his way. He nodded. “Arnie and Elsie. Elsie passed away this morning.”
All three of them winced.
“Arnie is heading to the shelter, at least I hope so. I’m also hoping he has some friends who might rally around him right now. He’s pretty upset.”
The men just looked at each other, then back at him, still not saying anything.
“Of course, if you don’t know the old man, that won’t be an issue for you. But, if you do, and can do anything at all to make his day a little bit better, you might want to consider getting in touch with him.” And, with that, he headed back to his vehicle.
“How do you know Elsie died?” one of them called out behind him.
“I just took her body to the vet,” he shared, turning to look back at him. “I gave Arnie a place to stay while she was in the worst way.”
Surprise lit his dark gaze, then he frowned.
“I know,” Simon explained. “It’s not the usual thing to happen, but all of us haven’t lost our humanity.”
“Are you sure?” he asked. “It seems as if the whole world is lacking all signs of humanity.”
Simon smiled. “And you would be correct in some ways,” he admitted, “but I couldn’t not help Arnie.” And, with that, he turned and headed for his car.