High Heels in New York (22 page)

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 Ang
ie 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 tru
e 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 going 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 b
oth guys are the same person?” T
he
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?”

“Well, I was at home you know, being angry at you and crying so much that when I remembered how much I’ve paid for this face I seriously forced myself to stop.”

“Stop being angry at me or stop crying?”

“B
oth. But then I remembered this,
” Angie
said, handing
Claude a file. “It’s the file the private investigator gave me.”

“We already know Valerie was your sister,” Claude said taking the file
and flipping through the pages
.

“Yes but what you don’t know is that I also have a brother,” Angie said smiling.

“Is this him in the picture with your sister?” Claude asked.

“Yes. At first I didn’t think anything of it. But then I remembered Melissa said something about a guy with Bruno
Magli
shoes following her on the train.” Angie walked over to Claude and pointed out something on
the snapshot
. “Look there.”

“Unbelievable,” Claude said shaking his head. “So the guy following Melissa the entire time was your brother? And he was the same guy who murdered Valerie.
But why?”

“Money,” Angie exclaimed and then plopped down on the chair next to Melissa. “He was broke and we had money. I was his first target. He tried to force Charlie to give him my money but Charlie resisted and so he killed him. Then he went after Valerie.”

“But why was he following me? Jonath
an took all my money. I’m broke,
” Melissa
said
.

“I don’t know,
” Angie said.

“Shit.” Claude screamed and jumped out of his chair. “How in the world did you figure this out?”

“Darling, in New York City there are three things that motivate people to do
anything, sex, money and power,”
Angie said. 

“Wow. I can’t believe it,” Melissa said.

Claude couldn’t contain his excitement. He grabbed Angie’s face and kissed her on the cheek. “You’re the best!”

“So I’ve b
een told,” Angie said laughing,
and then she turned to Melissa.
“Are you okay?”