by A. V. Scott
Melissa tried to sound oblivious. “What do you mean?”
“They found her dead in her apartment this morning. It’s all over the news. You are so lucky that she rescheduled the interview. What if you would’ve walked in on the murderer?”
“Oh wow. I didn’t know,” Melissa said, sitting down on Angie’s art deco sofa.
“Well, let me pass you through to her,” Claire said.
“Okay. Thanks.” Melissa didn’t wait on the line for too long. Regina picked up the call and immediately offered her a week off with pay. She told Melissa not to make too much of it. She wasn’t doing it for her. She was doing it for the magazine. She wanted Melissa to come back to work with a clear head. Melissa gladly accepted. By the time Regina got off the phone, Melissa decided it was time to tell Angie about Valerie.
“Angie,” Melissa called out. She checked the front door but Angie wasn’t there so she tried the bedroom. She found Angie, sitting on her vanity chair. Angie then abruptly slams the vanity drawer and stands up.
“Here,” Angie said, handing something to Melissa. “I think breakfast finally arrived.” Angie went to see who it was.
Melissa hadn’t heard the doorbell or even a knock at the door. But she was so engrossed in her thoughts that she hadn’t really been paying attention. “What the hell?” Melissa said, looking down at what she was holding. It was a check for $100,000.
There was no way Melissa was going to accept that kind of money from Angie. She would never, no matter the circumstances. “Angie, I can’t accept this,” she said, from the bedroom.
Angie tiptoed to the door again, just in case it was Carlos again. “What a lovely surprise,” she exclaimed when she realized it was someone that she knew.
“I think I have your breakfast,” a man’s voice resonated from behind the closed door.
“I’m so glad you’re here. I’m dying to introduce you to a friend of mine,” Angie said after she opened the door. “Mel, come in here. There’s someone I want you to meet.”
Melissa walked out of the bedroom. Her eyes widened. She couldn’t believe it was him.
15
“What the hell are you doing here?” Melissa asked Claude as he stood in Angie’s kitchen.
“You two know each other?” Angie asked.
“Something like that,” Claude said as he placed a brown paper bag on the kitchen counter.
Angie walked over to the bag and peeked inside. She smiled and began taking out a white foam cup. “And he makes deliveries.”
Claude laughed. “The delivery guy and I crossed paths in your hallway.” His lips curled into an enigmatic smile. Melissa had never noticed his mouth before. They were like two rose petals. I could kiss that mouth, she suddenly thought.
“He’s the guy I told you about with the devil dog,” Melissa finally said to Angie. Then she looked back at Claude. He still hadn’t told her why he was there and for whom?
“I swear it’s a small world. Mel, he’s the nice officer who took my statement at Charlie’s office,” Angie said, taking the plastic lid off the coffee cup and taking a sip.
“You’re a cop?” Melissa couldn’t believe it. There was no way he was a cop. Why he didn’t tell her who he was? Who goes around hiding something like that? It’s not like he was a garbage man or a tax collector. Both of which Melissa could clearly forgive him for wanting to hide. But he wasn’t those things. He had one of those professions where people needed to know straight away, for many different reasons. Melissa’s reason was that she was hiding a secret and the last thing she wanted was for anyone to find out. Then there was the little matter of the fact that she liked him. Now though, she wasn’t so sure.
“Actually I haven’t been a cop in years,” he said smirking. “I’m an FBI agent.”
“FBI?” Angie and Melissa said in unison.
Feeling weak, Melissa sat down on the sofa. How could she consider dating Claude if he was an FBI agent? First, her fiancé is a thief at a grand scale and now the guy she likes could have her thrown in jail for obstruction, or whatever people go to jail for when they hide information. Right now, she wasn’t thinking technical cop terms, nope. She was thinking life without parole, or death with legal injection. Shaking her head, she reminded herself that Valerie was already dead when she found her. The thing was no one knew she had been there.
“Do FBI agents carry handcuffs?” Angie asked, imagining herself being handcuffed to her bed by a sexy cop in uniform. She had never had sex with a cop or with a guy dressed like cop. A firefighter? Yes. A doctor? Of course. But not a cop. She quickly added that on her bucket list.
Melissa shot an evil glare at Angie who was too busy drinking her coffee that she didn’t notice. How could Angie be thinking about sex at a time like this? Couldn’t Angie tell by the look on Melissa’s face that it was not the time to think about sex?
“Ladies, I’m sorry to interrupt. I’m sure you want to eat your breakfast in peace but I’m here on business,” he said, looking at Angie.
“Did you get a lead on who killed Charlie?” Angie asked, removing the items from inside the bag, one by one and placing them on the counter.
“Actually… no. I’m not here about Charlie,” Claude said, walking over to Angie. “I’m really sorry Angie. I don’t know how to say this but, it’s about your sister.”
“How do you know about Valerie? I only just found out the other day that I even had a sister,” Angie asked, grabbing a plate from the cupboard. “Hmm. Sister. It feels strange saying it out loud.”
Melissa stood off to the side, afraid to look at either of them. She didn’t know if she should say something or not. But if she didn’t, Claude would. She couldn’t let a stranger tell her. “Angie I think you should sit down,” she finally said, looking at Claude.
Claude looked at Melissa, quizzically. He wasn’t sure what or how Melissa knew. “Melissa, do you know why I’m here?”
Melissa ran towards Angie and grabbed her hands tightly. “Angie, I’m so sorry. I should’ve told you.”
“You guys are scaring me. What the hell is going on?” Angie asked.
“Melissa, how do you know what I’m talking about?” Claude asked, reaching inside his jacket.
“I was there. Well, not there. Not when it happened,” Melissa rambled on as she let go of Angie’s hands and walked over to the couch to sit down. “I knew this would happen.”
“Seriously one of you is going to have to tell me what the hell is going on,” Angie said as she followed Melissa.
“You were there?” Claude asked.
“Angie I’m so sorry. I should’ve told you a long time ago but I was scared and I didn’t know how to tell you. I mean really, how do you tell your best friend such devastating news? And then when you told me Charlie was dead well, I didn’t want to make you feel worse,” Melissa said, crying hysterically.
Seeing Melissa so distraught, Angie gave her a hug and tried to console her. “I’m sure whatever it is we’ll get through it, together.”
Claude walked over to them and took out his handcuffs. Melissa began to cry more at the sight of them.
“What the hell are you doing?” Angie asked Claude.
“If she was at the scene of a murder I have to take her in.” He said so matter-of-fact like.
Angie screamed. “She wasn’t at Charlie’s murder!”
“Are you going to tell her? Or am I?” Claude asked Melissa.
Melissa looked at Claude with pure anger in her eyes. “I’ll tell her,” She said and turned to Angie. “Angie, do you remember when I had to interview Valerie?”
“Yeah. You said she rescheduled.”
“She didn’t reschedule.”
“Oh? She didn’t?”
Melissa turned her gaze to Claude. “No one came to the door after I’d knocked. So, I went inside. I know it was stupid now but then, I just wanted to get the interview over with. I kept calling out for her but she didn’t respond. When I reached her bedroom I walked in and that’s when I saw her
, on the floor.” Melissa turned to Angie again and began to cry again. “There was blood everywhere.”
“Blood? Valerie’s blood? Oh my God! Is she okay? Why didn’t you tell me? I have to go to the hospital and check on her,” Angie screamed.
Claude grabbed Angie as she ran past him. “Angie,” his voice was soft and calm. He looked at her with such compassion that she immediately knew her sister wasn’t at the hospital.
Angie turned and looked at Melissa with pure rage in her eyes. “You killed my sister?”
16
People say that women are at their most beautiful when they are pregnant. They say that there is a glow that comes from within and shines through their pores. In some countries, pregnant women are surrounded with beautiful things and fine clothing. They’re taught the arts of music, singing and painting and fed exquisite foods blessed by the holy men.
Sitting on the examination table at the gynecologists office, wearing nothing but a disposable paper gown, Melissa felt no pregnancy glow emerging from anywhere on her body. The cold room was not helping her unusually dry skin. She had an uber amount of gas and was starting to crave cheese which she was sure wasn’t a great combination.
She looked around what was to be her second home for the next nine months, if in fact she was pregnant. After all, she could very well have the flu and those at home pregnancy tests could have been broken. She knew that it was a long shot. But the crazy week she’d had proved that anything was possible.
“I’m not sure how to say this,” Dr. Bern said as she walked in with Melissa’s test results.
Definitely not the flu, Melissa thought. Dr. Bern must have seen the look of concern on her face because she quickly added, “You have an ectopic pregnancy.”
“What is that?” Melissa asked.
“It means that the fertilized egg has attached itself to your abdomen and you require emergency surgery.”
“When?”
“Today.”
“And how long is the surgery and recovery? I have my mother’s wedding this weekend. There’s no way I’m missing my mother’s wedding,” Melissa said as she gathered her belongings.
“Surgery doesn’t take long at all and the recovery is only a few days. I’m more concerned with getting you into surgery as soon as possible. Without emergency surgery you could die,” Dr. Bern said, scribbling something in Melissa’s chart.
Death would be a better option, Melissa repeated the same words she said the day she found out she was pregnant. She never realized how true those words would actually be.
“Will I be able to have kids in the future?” Melissa needed to know. She found it ironic that as soon as she heard the doctor tell her the pregnancy had to be terminated, she wanted to keep it.
“Luckily, your ectopic growth is small. Surgery will be minimal and we won’t need to remove any portion of the fallopian tube.”
She didn’t feel lucky. She felt angry and ashamed for not wanting to be a mother all this time. She should have wanted to keep the baby from the beginning, not now when she was being told that she couldn’t keep it. “Well it’ll have to wait until after my mother’s wedding.”
“If you’re going against my wishes I need to you to sign this form,” Dr. Bernard said, handing her paperwork.
“Fine.” Melissa grabbed the paperwork and signed it as fast as she could. Then she left the office before the receptionist could schedule the surgery.
“All done,” she said as she entered Claude’s car. The black sunglasses she was wearing hiding what her heart couldn’t say.
“You okay?” He asked, pulling out of the parking space. She didn’t have to look at him to know that he was staring. She always knew when he was looking at her.
“Fine,” she said. She had to lie to him. It wasn’t any of his business and he didn’t need to know.
“I have to stop by the precinct to hand in the description of the guy you said was following you and then we can head back to your place. I also just got off the phone with techs and they finished bugging your entire apartment,” Claude said.
“Wow.”
“What?” Claude asked as he turned on the ignition.
“It’s just that a week ago my life was completely different. I was going to get married and well now, I’m being babysat by an FBI agent who’s trying to not only catch my ex-fiancé but investigating the murder of two people. It’s surreal.” Melissa looked out of the car window, trying to hide the tears that were running down her cheek.
“I can imagine how you feel. I’m sorry I don’t know what else to say,” Claude said.
She shook her head. There was nothing to say. Her life had been completely turned upside down. She was no longer thinking about shopping for the newest fashion accessory or trying to get her own column at Hush Magazine. All she wanted to do was get the investigation over with so that she could find a way to go on with her life, even if she didn’t know how.
“Do you have to come with me to my mother’s wedding as well?” Melissa asked, hoping that he would say he didn’t have to.
Claude drew in a breath. “I’m afraid so. Wherever you go I have to be there. Just in case.”
“Great.”
“You still haven’t told your mother?”
“No,” Melissa moaned.
“I know it’s none of my business but don’t you think your family knows?” Claude asked, holding the steering wheel with one hand as he turned on the window wipers. “Your picture has been all over the news.”
“I don’t know. Maybe. I guess I expected my sister to call my mother and tell her everything. Since that’s what she does. And since my mother hasn’t called me I’m hopeful that somehow my sister grew a heart.” Melissa knew that what she was hoping for was a near impossibility. It was more than likely that her mother was waiting for Melissa to tell her herself, which was something that Melissa wasn’t sure how to do.
“All siblings are like that you know. I couldn’t stand my older brother,” Claude said honking the horn at a taxi driver that cut him off.
“Is your brother a sneak like you?” Melissa asked with a glazed expression on her face.
Claude parked the car in front of the police station, turned off the ignition and turned to look at her. “He died of leukemia last year.”
“Gosh I’m such an idiot. I’m so sorry,” she said, looking at him with empathy.
“It’s okay. All I’m saying is that you can’t choose your family. Be grateful for what you have and love them for who they are. Because in the end, that’s all you have.”
Melissa nodded. She wasn’t sure what to say. She knew that he was right. Her family may not be perfect but they were hers. Shaking her head, she unlocked her car door and froze when she saw the mob on the street waiting for her. There were cameras and reporters surrounding the car.
“Are you going to be okay?” Claude asked.
“I have no choice,” Melissa said, opening the door and slamming it behind her. After the media got wind that Valerie and Jonathan were planning on getting married before she was murdered, they immediately began following Melissa around everywhere she went. They wanted to know how she felt about everything, the murder, Jonathan leaving her; they even asked her if she was going to return to Hush Magazine once the investigation was over. But she didn’t know how she felt or what she was going to do. All she knew was that she wanted it to be over.
Once inside the police station Melissa sat down with a sketch artist. She tried to remember as much details she could about the guy she saw in the train a few days ago. “He was a few inches shorter than the train doors.”
“Ok. That puts him at about five feet eleven inches.” The artist said. “Anything else?”
“No. he was wearing a baseball cap so I couldn’t see his hair,” she said, closing her eyes and replaying that night. “Wait a minute.”
“What?” Claude asked.
“I can’t believe that I hadn’t thought of that before. I guess with everything g
oing I didn’t think anything of it.”
“Do you remember something?” Claude asked.
“Yeah. Actually, I do. The day I went to interview Valerie there was a guy. He was rushing out of the elevator and I bumped into him.”
“Did you get a good look at him?” Claude asked.
“No. but I remember his shoes.”
“His shoes? I don’t see how that would help,” Claude slumped back down into the chair.
“No. you don’t understand. He was wearing these really nice Bruno Magli shoes. They’re easily about five hundred dollars, on sale. And I remember thinking how tacky it was that he was wearing such really nice shoes with that nasty leather jacket and jeans. Those are dress shoes. You don’t wear it with a leather jacket and jeans,” Melissa said.
Claude and the artist exchanged glances.
“Listen, I know it sounds stupid but I’m telling you that no one who could afford Bruno Magli shoes would wear them like that. And that leather jacket looked just like the one the guy on the train was wearing,” Melissa said, grabbing her stomach. She had been feeling cramps all day but now, the pain was getting worse.
You okay?” Claude ran to her side.
“Fine. Cramps,” she said, hoping he’d believe her.
“You know…it is possible that both guys are the same person?” The sketch artist asked Claude.
“We checked the video tapes from the security desk a million times and everyone checked out,” Claude said, running his fingers through his hair.
“Was there a guy with a leather jacket in that tape?” Melissa asked as she tried to ignore the jabbing pain in her abdomen.
“Let’s find out,” Claude said, walking out of the room.
Melissa tried to think of anything else that would help but she came up blank.
“Look who I found,” Claude exclaimed as he walked back in the room with Angie.
“Where have you been? I’ve been calling you the past two hours,” Angie yelled as she briskly walked to Melissa and hugged her.
“Crap. I turned my cell phone on private this morning and I must’ve forgotten to change it,” Melissa said, going in her purse and turning up the ringer on her phone. “I’m really glad to see you. But, what are you doing here?”
