An Appointment With Murder (13 page)

“Holy shit, Max! Calm down,” I begged.

“My patience is wearing very thin. I want Gabby to explain why she had my sister’s cell phone.”

Were there pictures of Gabby on Beth’s phone? Doing what?

“Gabby, why did you smash the phone? What was on it?”

“What was on it is on my phone now,” Max said. “I downloaded all the images from Beth’s phone to mine, just in case.” He reached inside his jacket and produced another cell phone.

“Take a look if you don’t believe me.”

I stood, unable to move. Gabby’s eyes were fixed on the phone Max was holding in his other hand. Was he telling the truth?

“Wait, Sarah.” Gabby said before I could decide. She held up her hand to stop me. “Please don’t.”

“What, Gabby? What is on that phone?”

She shook her head and I could see her eyes tearing up. She was breathing hard, her chest heaving up and down, and there was something in her expression that told me Max was telling the truth. I felt like I was going to throw up.

“I’m sorry,” was all she said to me. “It was an accident.”

Sorry for what? What accident? “What is it? Tell me, please,” I begged, feeling like my heart was ripping in half.

Gabby looked at Max, then back at me, and her shoulders slumped. She wiped her forehead with her sleeve and looked at the floor in front of her. A few agonizing moments passed before she finally spoke. “A few months ago one of my male clients asked if I’d jerk him off after the massage for an extra fifty bucks. I didn’t think it was such a big deal.” She covered her eyes with her hand and took another deep breath. “But before I knew it, I had four or five clients requesting ‘special treatment.’ The money came so easily, but I knew you’d be pissed if you found out.” She paused and looked at me. “Beth somehow figured things out. She set up cameras in both of our rooms and got photos of me giving hand jobs to my clients.”

“Then you
did
know why Beth had those pictures of me and Jeff.”

She nodded. “You were the reason Beth put the cameras in our rooms, but I was the one that got nailed.” Gabby closed her eyes. “She confronted me and threatened to tell you about what I was doing. She said she had proof. I begged her not to, told her I would stop doing it.”

“But you didn’t stop, did you?”

She shook her head slowly. “I wanted to, but I was so used to getting all that extra cash. I just figured after a while Beth would let it slide. But she was so fucking persistent.” Gabby’s hands were shaking. As she took a deep breath and exhaled slowly, obviously trying to decide what to say next, Max lowered the gun slightly, his face red and wet. “I knew you were working late last Friday. I came into the office as Beth was getting ready to leave. We talked for a few minutes. She said she was planning to tell you about what I was doing. I begged her to reconsider. I knew I’d be fired and have nowhere to go. Then she made a call on her cell, just sitting at her desk like she owned the place. She gave me that look. Like I was a loser and she was perfect.” Gabby continued, clenching her fists.

“Oh god,” I said, squeezing my eyes shut.

“And then, I don’t know what happened. I… just snapped. I came up behind her and . . . .”

I opened my eyes. Her face was streaked with tears.

“Her body went limp and I panicked when I realized what I’d done. I didn’t mean to hurt her. I swear. I just became so furious and I couldn’t control myself. But I realized right then what I needed to do. I grabbed her cell phone and planned to get the hell out. That’s when I heard someone coming down the hall, so I tried to hide. But when you came in and found Beth in her chair… I freaked out. I didn’t want you to know I was there so…I hit you as hard as I could with her cell phone. I didn’t want to hurt you, Sarah. I swear, I never wanted to hurt you.”

The tears cascaded down her cheeks as she spoke, and all the terror of that night came rushing back. I could never in my wildest dreams have imagined that Gabby would be capable of such things.

“So that’s when Jeff came out of the shower?”

“Yes.” Gabby swallowed hard. “When I heard him shouting for you, I ran out and waited a few blocks away. I still wasn’t sure if Beth . . . or you . . . if anyone was . . . dead. So I watched as the police and ambulance came and went. I knew you were still alive when I saw you walk out and get into your car. I . . . I was so relieved that you were okay. You can’t even imagine.” She was shaking and the floor was wet at her feet.

“Even if Beth had told me what you were doing, I’d never have fired you. We would have worked it out,” I sobbed, tears streaming down my face now.

“I never wanted to hurt anyone, honest. I’m . . . so . . . sorry.”

“So my sister is dead because you wanted a little extra cash. Was it really worth it? Huh? Was it?” Max stood up, reached into his pocket, and threw a wad of bills at her.

“Here ya go, if you need it so bad. Had I known that’s all it would take I would have gladly drained my bank account for you!” Max gave her a disgusted look and then pointed the gun at her face.

“Max, don’t! Please! Let the police handle it. It’s over now.” I inched closer to him. He had a steady hand. I wondered if he had ever fired a gun before. Gabby’s expression went blank and she hung her head.

Max looked over at me. “Fine,” he said. “Call the police. Tell them we have Beth’s killer.” He lowered the gun.

My hand was trembling as I reached into my purse for my phone. I could barely breathe, my lungs felt contricted. Just as I felt the hard metal device, I grabbed it to bring it to my ear. A movement caught my attention. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Gabby lunge towards Max, her outstretched arms reaching for the gun. I looked up. Taken by surprise, he struggled to keep control, fighting Gabby for the gun. The sound was something I would never forget. Nor the look on Gabby’s face as the bullet tore through her chest driving her body back onto the kitchen floor.

* * *

We weren’t positive Gabby was dead when Max tried to give her CPR, but it soon became apparent that she was already gone. Seeing her lifeless, blood soaked body spread out on the floor caused me to shake uncontrollably as I huddled in the corner of the kitchen crying into my hands. My sobs sounded more like a pitiful, hollow wheeze. Then Max came to me and held me, smoothing my hair with a gentle hand. It seemed we waited an eternity for the police and ambulance to arrive. The examination was brief and she was quickly carried out. Max helped me up and led me into the living room. As I took one final glance back towards the kitchen, I saw Beth’s pink phone, shattered into many pieces, lying in a pool of Gabby’s blood.

We were sitting on the couch when Detective Flynn walked in. He looked around and scratched his head, then walked towards us. “This is quite a mess we have here,” he said, pulling up a chair and sitting next to us. His face expressed remorse.

“It’s my fault,” Max said, “I broke in and confronted her. I didn’t intend to use the gun. I’m sorry I brought it.”

“Gabby tried to grab it from him,” I interjected. “It was an accident.”

But was it really an accident? Or did Gabby want Max to pull the trigger? Did she want to die?? We’d never know.

“We got the e-mail you sent with the video images of Gabby and her clients,” Detective Flynn said. “I was just looking through them when we got the 911 call from Sarah.”

Max looked over at me and put his hand on my back. I wiped my eyes again.

“How’d you figure out it was Gabby?” I asked quietly.

Max leaned back on the couch and took a deep breath.

“It started to come together for me the other morning. You mentioned how upset you were about the conversation between the women in the locker room at your gym, about giving hand jobs.”

“Yeah?” I said, confused.

“Well, I kept wondering if there was any truth to it.” He looked at me apologetically. “I didn’t believe it was you, so it had to be someone else who worked there. And then, when Carter explained how Beth took those photos and how she was on to something else, it all started to fall into place.”

“So you broke into Gabby’s house?”

“Yeah. On a hunch I searched the place inside and out.”

“Where did you find the cell phone?”

“Honestly, I figured it was already at the bottom of a lake somewhere. But when I was going through a box in her basement, I found it. And something else.”

“What?”

“Two small digital clocks. I recognized the brand. The same as the one we used to sell when I had my business.” He slipped them out of his shirt pocket. “This little device can record up to ten hours of video at a time. The SD card was still in her phone, so I was able to watch the videos she’d taken of Gabby and her clients.”

“No wonder,” I said, taking one in my hand.

“What?”

“A few days after Beth started working for me, she gave me these to put in the massage rooms. Said she’d gotten them for free and I could have them. I thought nothing of it, and put them in the rooms up on the shelves. Little did I know.”

“And you didn’t notice them missing this past week?”

“Honestly, no. It never even occurred to me. I forgot all about them. But why didn’t Gabby just destroy them? Why keep them in a box in her basement?”

“I’m guessing she never figured anyone would come looking for them. She was never a suspect in the investigation.”

“It’s no wonder we’d gotten so many sleazy guys calling our place. I never put two and two together.”

“Why would you? You trusted Gabby.” Max reached over, put his hand on my knee, and offered a tired smile. “I’m sorry, Sarah. I know Gabby was your friend, and this must be… so hard for you.”

“Not as hard as it’s been for you,” I said, covering his hand with mine. “By the way, can you call Melissa tonight and tell her what happened? She thought someone was in Beth’s room today, looking for something. It must have been Gabby. She must have found out where Beth and Melissa lived from our files. I wonder if she’d begun to worry that Beth might have planted other surveillance devices.”

Detective Flynn, who had been content to sit and listen intently to our exchange, got up. “Well, you must be relieved that it’s over. Of course, I’ll need an official statement from each of you so we can put this thing to rest.”

Of course.” Max said.

“By the way, I’m assuming you have a license for that pistol.”

“Yes I do, sir.”

“Good. Then just hang tight and we’ll wrap this up.”

He walked into the kitchen as we continued to sit on the couch, listening to the subdued voices of the police officers in the other room. Max sat close to me, holding my hand.

“You should probably call your family,” he said, finally breaking the silence.

“Yeah,” I relied, knowing they’d never believe the bizarre turn of events.

An hour or so later, Max walked me to my car. He rested a hand on my shoulder. “Go on home and get some rest, okay?” he said, running his other hand through a strand of my hair.

“I don’t know what to say, Max. I feel numb.” I leaned my forehead into his chest.

“I know exactly how you feel,” he said, caressing my back. “But take it from me, you’re going to get through it.”

“I wish a lot of things were different, you know?” I said, wondering if he knew what I really meant.

He leaned down and kissed my cheek, then slowly backed away.

“And I wish I could say that I hope things work out between you and your husband, but that would be a lie.”

I laughed softly.

“What about Carter?” I said. “Are you going to report him to the authorities?”

“What for? I don’t like him, but he’s just a guy trying to make a living. He never made Beth do anything she didn’t want to do.”

“Good point.” I said, “And what about you, Max? You sold your business. You solved your sister’s murder. Now what?”

He looked away and narrowed his eyes, as if searching for something to say.

“Maybe I’ll go on a little road trip with Marsha Brady. I have some money saved. Perhaps I’ll do what my parents wanted to do a couple of years ago.”

I wanted to say, “Take me with you,” but knew I wouldn’t go even if he asked.

“I think you should do it,” I said, taking his hand and rubbing the side of his arm. “Send me a postcard from somewhere.”

He nodded, smiled, and hugged me again, then turned and walked to his car.

After Gabby’s death, I decided to close my business and take a much needed vacation. The shock was beginning to subside but I found myself unable to even step foot inside my office. I needed to distance myself. Mostly from the memories that haunted me.

Daniel was leaving on another business trip and I was actually looking forward to having the house to myself again.

I thought of calling Max on several occasions, but stopped myself every time I picked up the phone. What was the point? I had a husband and a son. What kind of mother would I be to run off with a younger man. Besides, I barely knew him. I decided it was best to put him out of my mind. If only it was that easy.

I sat at the kitchen table going through the mail I’d been neglecting. At the bottom of the pile was a small, square envelope in a mint green color addressed to me. There was no return address. I slid my pen under the flap and opened it. On the front of the card that I slid out of the envelope was a glossy photo of a golden retriever smiling with a perfect set of human teeth and the word CONGRATULATIONS, all upper case, below it. I’d seen cards like this at the pharmacy, and had always gotten a chuckle out of them. I opened it and read:

Dear Sarah,

Congratulations on your new job. It was so wonderful to see you a few weeks ago. I’ll be back in town on Friday and I hope you’ll join me again at the same place for lunch. I have some interesting things to tell you about. I do hope you’ll be able to make it.

Your cousin,

Greg

I read the letter several times. I thought I’d made it perfectly clear to Carter a few weeks ago that I wanted nothing to do with him and his ridiculous stunts. And why me, an average mother and wife with no skills whatsoever in his kind of “business?” What could I possibly do to help him? I chuckled as I thought how ridiculous I‘d look sneaking around spying on people.