Most Wanted

38

FROM THE DEPTHS OF HER SLEEP, MELANIE HEARD a telephone ringing. She struggled to the surface through waves of fatigue. By the time she sat up and reached for the receiver on her bedside table, the answering machine had clicked on in the other room.

“Hello? Hello?” she repeated, eyes burning, wincing at the screech on the line as the machine cut off.

“Hello, Melanie, it’s Elsie.”

She looked at the clock sitting next to the telephone. It was nearly seven. The alarm was just about to go off, and the bed felt empty without Steve in it. She’d barely slept last night, with everything that was on her mind. Given the length of Elsie’s commute and the fact that she obviously hadn’t left home yet, Elsie was going to be late to work. Which meant Melanie was going to be late to work.

“Hey, Elsie, what’s up?” she asked, her stomach sinking. She had so much to do today.

“Did I mention today was my birthday?” Elsie asked.

“No. No, I didn’t know it was your birthday. But I’m glad you told me. I’ll pick up a cake on my way home from the office today, and we’ll celebrate.”

“Well, my children want to take me out. After how much I’ve been working, I need the day off. So I’m afraid I won’t be able to make it today,” Elsie said.

“I beg your pardon?” Melanie asked, hoping she’d misunderstood.

“I said I can’t come in today.”

“Elsie, if you want to take a personal day for your birthday, we can talk about that, but I need some notice. I’m in the middle of a major murder investigation.” She was panicking, breathing hard.

“I’m sorry, Melanie. I really can’t make it today. I’ll see you tomorrow.” Elsie hung up.

SHE CHECKED ON MAYA, STILL SOUND ASLEEP in her crib. Por favor, stay that way a little longer, nena! Melanie needed to concentrate on solving this problem. She made some coffee and sat down at the kitchen table, rubbing her eyes. Tired as she was, coping with this unexpected complication seemed beyond her abilities. Think, think. Who could she call? Well, Steve, of course. He was Maya’s father, wasn’t he?

She reached him at his parents’ and explained the situation.

“Can you believe that?” she said. “I feel so let down. No notice or anything.”

“Elsie’s probably trying to make a point about how you’ve been treating her,” Steve replied.

“I know. I get it. I’m not stupid. I do need to have a heart-to-heart with her about overtime. But this is her job. When I have to stay late, no matter how tired I am the next day, I still show up for work.”

“Give her a break. She’s been working pretty hard lately, and she’s no spring chicken.”

“Okay, I hear you. But will you cover for me? At least until this afternoon when my mom gets off work?”

“No, I won’t, Melanie. You know why? You need a lesson in what this separation stuff means in real life. Being a single mother is no picnic.”

“Steve, this is no time to be vindictive.”

“It’s not about that. You’re rushing into this separation without considering the consequences. Maybe this’ll make you think twice, appreciate me a little more. Because I want to be in your life. Yours and Maya’s.”

“Steve-”

“Think about it,” he said, and hung up.

Yeah, she’d think about what a jerk he was, that’s what she’d think about. As if his refusal to pitch in would make her more likely to reconcile with him. Fat chance. She put the phone down and banged her head several times on the table. Not that that helped anything, but it summed up how she felt.

The phone rang loudly, right in her ear, making her jump. She snatched it up and answered it.

“Hello?” she said hopefully. Elsie, perhaps, calling to say she’d changed her mind?

“Hey,” Dan said. “You get some sleep?”

“Oh, hi.” She was momentarily disappointed it wasn’t Elsie. Things were so screwed up in her life that Dan felt like one more complication. Maybe she should have a talk with him, straighten things out, although that seemed awkward, even presumptuous. After all, nothing had really happened last night. Just one tiny kiss. Mmm, it was pretty great, though. She couldn’t help smiling. He was pretty great.

“How are you this morning?” she asked, brightening.

“Not so good,” he said. “Listen, I got some real bad news.”

“Oh.” She reviewed all the possibilities in her mind. Could it have something to do with Bernadette? “What? Tell me.”

“Slice got to Amanda. She was murdered last night. Shot in the head. Flanagan, too.”

A wave of nausea swept through her. She rushed to the sink just in time to throw up. Her eyes were tearing, and she couldn’t see. She ran the water, splashed some on her face.

“Melanie? Melanie?”

She heard the phone squawking and looked down in surprise to see that it was still in her hand. In her head she heard Delvis Diaz’s voice, telling her the people she’d brought to the interview were dirty. Not just Randall. Dan, too. Dan, who insisted on taking her out for a drink last night when they should have been at the hospital guarding Amanda. Dan, the man she told her husband she had feelings for, the man she was letting further undermine her already devastated marriage. God, what a fool she was!

“Where the fuck was Randall? Why wasn’t he watching her door?” Tears were streaming down her cheeks, but she managed to sound tough, collected.

He paused a moment before responding. “I don’t know. I can’t find him, and he’s not answering his pager.”

“Where are you?” she asked.

“At the hospital, but I’m about to leave. It happened overnight. Crime Scene went through the room already and took the bodies to the morgue. I can come pick you up if you want. With Slice out there-”

She hung up, cutting him off in the middle of a sentence.

“Jesus Christ, Melanie Vargas,” she said aloud, “you are a fucking idiot.”

HER MOTHER COULDN’T GET THERE UNTIL AFTER lunch. Melanie said yes to that, then sprang up and paced, racking her brain for other solutions. She grabbed the Yellow Pages and thumbed through frantically until she found baby-sitting services. But no. She couldn’t do it. She couldn’t leave Maya with a complete stranger. Her sister was out of town. Sophie. Sophie Cho. She realized Sophie had never returned her message from the other night.

She dialed rapidly and tapped her foot, listening to the rings. But all she got was a prerecorded mechanical mes sage: “We’re sorry. The number you called has been disconnected. No further information is available.”

What? She dialed again carefully and got the same thing. Damn! That was strange. With everything going on, she suddenly felt nervous about Sophie. Why would her telephone be disconnected? Melanie rummaged in the drawer for her address book and found Sophie’s cell-phone number. She dialed. Please answer, please answer.

“Hello?”

“Oh, Soph, it’s Melanie. I’m so glad I got you.”

“Melanie?”

“Yes.”

“Look, I called you-”

“Yes, I know. I returned your call, and then I never heard back. Is everything okay? Did you disconnect your telephone for some reason?”

“Yes. Yes, I did.”

“Why? Are you moving?”

“I’m taking a vacation.”

“Vacation?”

“Yes. I’m going up to Vancouver to stay with my cousin.”

“Oh, for how long?”

“I’m not sure, but a while. I’m thinking about moving there, actually.”

“Oh, my.” Melanie’s heart sank. It wasn’t just because she needed a baby-sitter either. She hadn’t realized until just that moment how important Sophie’s friendship was to her. Sophie was really her only close friend, other than her sister. “Soph, I’m shocked. I mean, when did this happen? You never mentioned it before. Wow, I’m gonna miss you so much.”

“I’ll miss you, too. In fact, I was hoping I could come over this morning and say good-bye to you and the baby. If it wouldn’t be too much trouble.”

“No, no, of course not. I’m stuck home until my mom shows up anyway, because my baby-sitter is taking a personal day. It’s awful timing, I’m just frantic at work with the Benson case and everything.”

There was a pause on the other end of the line. “Yes. How’s that going?” Sophie asked stiffly.

“It’s been pretty rough, but I won’t burden you with the gruesome details. I brought it on myself, after all. So when should I expect you?”

“Is it okay if I come over now? I put all my furniture in storage yesterday. I’m just sitting in a Starbucks with nowhere to go.”

“Of course. Gosh, why didn’t you call me? You could’ve slept on my couch last night.”

“It’s okay. When is your mom coming?”

“After lunch.”

“Listen, if you want me to baby-sit Maya until then so you can go to work, it’s no problem. My flight doesn’t leave until this evening.”