Gold Lame' (That's le-mayy) (Gold Lame' Series)

by C. Pic Michel

  “The perfect fit.” David removed the lid and daintily reached in the box to lift the gold lamé shoes by their straps. Setting them gently on the shelf, he turned the box over and shook a folded manila envelope into his right hand.

  “I guess it’s fate,” he cooed at the envelope. “If she had taken the shoes and left, you would be long gone.” He lifted the edge of his jacket and tucked the folded envelope in the inside pocket. “You’re going to take me and my baby very, very far.”

  Amelia sneered in disgust for his lusty comment. Not after I get a hold of you, she promised. Miguel heard a faint buzz he thought might be Amelia. He tried to tune in by relaxing a little and acting like it was easy to listen to her thoughts.

  “All I have to do now is find my little partner in crime.” David opened the back door and exited into the alley behind Des Shoe.

  His partner in crime? Amelia wondered as he turned the key in the lock. “Jojo?”

  Miguel heard Amelia’s thoughts clearly for the first time and he tried to keep his own thoughts quiet.

  You son of a… Miguel winced at the volume of Amelia’s thoughts. Damn you! She continued to shout and Miguel wished he could turn down the volume. Instantly she toned down as she stepped out of the restroom and started stomping across the floor on the high heels of her gold lamé shoes, kicking designer shoes out of her way as she headed for the door.

  “How could you do this you twit?” Amelia kicked at a box. “And use a poor little kid?” She scuttled a purple pump into the air with the side of her foot. “I’ve had about all I can take!” Amelia ranted out loud.

  Suddenly a gunshot blasted from the alley. Amelia pulled back her hand that was reaching for the doorknob. Miguel, not understanding their invisible nature, came out of the shadows and grabbed her, quickly placing his hand over her mouth as she struggled to scream for help.

  “Shh! Shh! It’s Miguel!” he whispered frantically into her ear. Amelia bit him hard on the finger. Miguel didn’t know he could feel pain in a dream. Amelia twisted out of his arms and turned to him pulling her hand from his.

  “Let me go!” she hissed. Opening the door, Amelia stopped in the frame. The black Camaro was spinning its wheels in getaway mode. On the pavement lay David. Slowly, the life completely emptied from his eyes that were wide open and staring in her direction.

  At least I’m not alone. Amelia heard David’s last thought as Miguel stepped past her to check his vital signs. They were gone.

  Pause, sniff, sniff, pause…

  8 Objects in Mirror are Closer Than They Appear

  Jahni and Hrim met in the reception area of the Wait Zone as David Delaney crossed over the line. No one had entertained a dream of him living that was stronger than the one that had killed him.

  “That’s him.” Jahni pointed to David. “That's the drunk!”

  “Not anymore.” Hrim corrected.

  David proceeded to the pair looking disheveled and quite disappointed.

  “Am I dead?” he asked the twosome.

  “Pretty much.” Jahni nodded.

  “I'm not surprised.” David hung his head a moment then looked at them in alarm. “Am I going to hell?”

  “Do you think that you should?” Hrim asked. David delved deeply into his Roman Catholic background for an answer.

  “I suppose I could, but isn't it payback enough that I'm dead so young?”

  “What brings you here?” Jahni asked to see what David would volunteer.

  “Fate?” David tried.

  “Try again.” Hrim gave David the universal upraised eyebrow look of disapproval. “What’s your crime?”

  “Well, I was heading for my car and this thug crunched me in the head with something hard.” David searched between Hrim and Jahni’s faces to see if his answer would pass.

  “Then what?” Jahni nodded.

  “He had a gun and ordered me to empty my pockets.”

  “What was in your pockets?” Jahni wanted to see if Miguel’s drug dealing angle would pan out.

  “Nothing.” Hrim and Jahni glared at the sheepish grin on David’s face. “I mean my wallet, sunglasses.” David tried. The pair continued to stare expectantly. David wondered if they knew what he had and were testing him to see if he would be honest.

  “An envelope,” he offered tentatively. Jahni’s eyebrows rose with interest.

  “What was in the envelope?” Hrim asked. David hesitated as if he still had something to lose. “You’re dead David, what does it matter?” Hrim reminded. “There’s not much left to lose except eternity.”

  “Stuff.” David kept it brief.

  “Stuff?” Hrim and Jahni repeated. “Was this stuff valuable?”

  “In a way,” David agreed. “I didn’t care about it very much, but it was worth a fortune to others.” David’s eyes glimmered at the thought of money. Hrim and Jahni silently consulted with one another.

  “Where did you get this stuff?” Jahni asked.

  “From a friend of a friend.” Hrim sighed as David continued to make things difficult. “Listen, I’ll tell you what you want to know if you promise I won’t have to go to hell,” David offered.

  “Can’t do that.” Hrim shook his head. On top of his already dead state, David turned a whiter shade of pale.

  “I thought you were in charge.” David attempted to find a way to change his situation.

  Hrim shook his head. “Saint Peter is taller and usually hangs out at the pearly gates.”

  “Oh for God—I mean Gosh Sake! What do I need to do to get out of this?” David’s eyes darted back and forth between Hrim and Jahni.

  Jahni scanned the record. “You should have asked that before you crossed over.”

  Pause, pause, pause…

  “Shouldn't you be chasing after the car?” Amelia stood frozen in the doorway.

  “On foot?” Miguel fished David’s cell phone out of his pocket. “I’m wondering who David might have spoken with in the last 24 hours.” He explained as he flipped open the phone and started searching its contents.

  “Himself.” Amelia remembered David’s conversation with himself at the apartment.

  “What about this number. It’s the same one showing up five times. Do you recognize it?” Miguel held out the phone. Amelia made no effort to see.

  “I don’t recognize anything right now.” Amelia looked down at David’s lifeless body. Miguel knew the shock that was setting in by heart. Too many victims’ families became worthless for information due to their grief. He sidled between Amelia and David.

  “C’mon Amelia, look at this.” He held up the cell phone so she could see the numbers. His eyes searched her confused face for some signs of recognition.

  Amelia looked at the glowing screen on the phone. There was something familiar about the number, but she couldn’t place it.

  “I don't get it.” She shook her head and turned away from Miguel and the scene at their feet. “None of this makes any sense.”

  Miguel pressed the send button on the cell phone and waited. The call was answered on the second ring but no one said a word.

  “Hello?” Miguel spoke into the phone. “Who is this?” The call disconnected. Miguel snapped the phone shut.

  “What did they say?” Amelia asked.

  “Nothing. This indicates to me that they didn’t expect to hear from David.” Miguel put the phone in his pocket. “Did you see the driver or catch any part of the plate?” There was something about the plate that also struck a cord with Amelia but again, she couldn't pinpoint what it was.

  “No, sorry. I was really focused on David. I couldn't believe what I was seeing.” Amelia's eyes filled with tears. Then the tears turned to something else. She felt as if a huge weight had been placed upon her chest. She opened her mouth and gasped for air but none came in.

  “Amelia?” Miguel jumped up from the pavement and rushed to her side. “What's wrong?!” Amelia shook her head and put her hand to her chest.

  “I can't,” she choked. Amelia
sank against Miguel and fell slowly to the ground.

  Miguel's thoughts instantly went to Karen Bradford sitting bedside in the hospital. He looked deep into Amelia's eyes and blinking found himself next to Karen in the Intensive Care Unit.

  “She's coding!” The nurse hit the alarm calling staff to Amelia’s bay on the ICU. Then she firmly grabbed Karen by the shoulders and forced her to turn away from Amelia. “You have to leave.”

  “No, I can't!” Karen felt herself start to shake as tears distorted her vision. She felt wild inside as if there was something she could do to protect her daughter.

  “Did she sign the DNR?” the attending physician asked as he entered the curtained bay.

  “She hasn’t been able to,” the nurse answered.

  “Then you must leave Mrs. Bradford so we can do our job.” He turned and grabbed the paddles from the crash cart.

  As Karen strained to see Amelia through her tears, Miguel realized she could not see him next to the bed. Even so, he tried to achieve eye contact with Karen, and nodded to her in reassurance as the nurse led her away. Miguel moved in closer to Amelia, unaffected by the activity around him. Bending low he whispered into her ear, “You have to stay here for now,” he encouraged. “Don't leave us Amelia. We're almost there.”

  The machine that was monitoring Amelia's heart made a long droning sound and Miguel looked to see the flat line roll across the screen uninterrupted.

  “Please Amelia!” Miguel wished for a dream stronger than what he was seeing.

  “Clear!” the doctor shouted. Miguel placed his hands around Amelia’s hand as the current went through her body and sent him in a wave of energy straight through to the Wait Zone where Amelia was already standing.

  “Oh for goodness sake!” Tetta practically swore. “You too?” Amelia and Miguel looked at each other. “Listen you both need to go back, it's not your time yet!” Tetta implored impatiently.

  “Are you sure?” Amelia asked.

  “It could have been, but things have changed, now get back! Both of you!”

  Pause, pause, pause…

  Miguel woke up feeling as if he hadn't slept all night. He clearly remembered all of his dreams and shot out of bed to begin determining what was real and what might have been the embellishments of his imagination.

  Miguel remembered the shooting behind Des Shoe and turned on the morning news to see if it was true. He impatiently endured hearing that the day was supposed to be sunny with the possibility of afternoon showers. When the weather report finished Miguel found no news of a shooting or the slain store owner.

  Miguel grabbed the phone and dialed the seven numbers he knew could lead him to the solution.

  The cell phone vibrated on the end table beside the bed. Nick Green picked it up and checked the number lighting up on the screen before he answered.

  “I can’t golf today.” Nick answered the phone.

  “Nick, have you heard anything about a shooting last night at Des Shoe?”

  “What?” Nick’s grogginess was quickly cleared away as Miguel urgently jumped to the point.

  “The owner of Des Shoe was shot last night.”

  “How did you hear?” Nick pushed up on his elbow. “I was finishing a case late last night when the call came in. Robbery, I think.”

  “Nick, it's not robbery,” Miguel’s voice was low and steady.

  “No? What ya' got partner?” Nick was interested by Miguel’s inside knowledge. “No names have been released.” He sat up on the edge of the bed letting his toes lightly touch the bare wood floor.

  “It has to do with that drug case... Darius Lovelle, the boy.” Miguel paused, “All of it Nick. I need your help.”

  “Where and when?” Nick replied without hesitation.

  “I'm stuck at home until Alicia arrives. Can you meet me here?”

  “Sounds like a plan.”

  “Thanks Nick.”

  “No problem,” Nick reassured his former partner. “I’ll be there within the hour.” Nick hit the disconnect button. The blanket on the bed next to him squirmed.

  “Who was that?” a soft hand touched Nick’s bare shoulder.

  “Nothing. Just something I need to take care of,” Nick replied.

  “But you said you could take off. It’s Sunday!” the cuddling lump complained.

  “Don't worry, I'll be back before you're up. Now go back to sleep.” Nick kissed the top sheet of the form that squeezed up against him. Sitting of the edge of the bed and pulling on his pants Nick wondered how Miguel had apparently gotten himself so deep into this.

  Pause, pause, pause…

  Amelia looked past Tetta and saw David talking with Hrim and Jahni.

  “I'll go,” she promised, “in a minute.” She walked past Tetta and approached David.

  “Mimi?” David seemed surprised. “Did you die too?”

  “Only for a moment,” Amelia nodded to Jahni and Hrim then turned back to David. “I'm sorry about your loss of life,” she said softly.

  “Thanks.” He paused, wondering what more appropriate response he could express upon receiving sympathy over his own demise, then added, “I guess.”

  “David, I just want to know how you could use a little boy to deal drugs, and how you could cheat on me.”

  “What?” David was speechless.

  “I was there David. I heard and saw everything. I saw the money, I heard you talking about her. Who is she?” Amelia crossed her arms emphatically.

  “Mimi, I didn’t cheat on you.” David looked pleadingly at Hrim thinking one man ought to help another.

  “But you went on and on about giving her what she deserved.” Amelia quoted with her fingers in the air as she quoted David. “How can you tell me there was no other woman?”

  David looked hard at Amelia and then to Hrim. “If I tell her the truth, do I get brownie points?” Hrim scanned the ethers for the connection only David could make now that he had been asked directly for historical information about himself that pertained to Amelia.

  “Yes, that would help you move on.” Hrim nodded.

  “Okay,” Amelia felt validated, “who was the she you wanted to take care of with your illegally gotten gains?” Fists firmly planted on her hips Amelia was in lawyer mode. She was ready to win, but not ready to lose.

  “I'm sorry Mimi.” David’s voice broke off as he thought of the one true love he would never be able to take care of as he had dreamed, “Trisha and I…”

  As David began Amelia felt herself reeling backward as if she was hurtling through time. David and Hrim, Jahni and Tetta disappeared from her view. Suddenly she found herself sitting not in the fog of a lucid dream, but under the fog of unconsciousness. The paddles burned through her skin and she could hear the beeping of her heart on the monitor. For a moment she thought she was going to stay, then everything went black again.

  Pause, pause, pause…

  Miguel tried to convince himself that Amelia was all right. He had only a vague recollection of the woman who sent them back. Sitting by the phone he picked up the handset and dialed the number for the ICU.

  “She coded this morning.” The ICU desk nurse was accustomed to Miguel's calls for daily updates. The pause after her statement was more than Miguel could bear.

  “Is she okay?” he pleaded.

  “She remains in critical condition, but they did revive her.”

  “Breathing?” Miguel asked.

  “By respirator,” the nurse replied. How Amelia managed to stay alive didn't matter as much to Miguel as simply knowing that she was alive.

  “Thank you.” Miguel replaced the handset in its cradle.

  Miguel decided not to wake Jojo. He wasn't sure what his reasoning was. Something just told him to wait and he was trying to be more sensitive to the subtle influences that might be around him.

  Having discovered his own invisibleness at Amelia's bedside, Miguel wondered why it was that only in the waking dream did he or Amelia appear to be non-apparent. Perhaps, he th
ought, we limit our perceptions when we think we're awake. We don’t think dreams are real, so we don’t allow ourselves to perceive anything other than our so-called reality. We can't see what's right in front of our noses sometimes. More pertinent thoughts hadn't been imagined during the course of the dream sequences.

  Miguel looked up and saw Nick's tall figure on the porch through the curtained front door. Walking through the dining room he crossed the entry area and opened the door to his old friend.

  Nick and Miguel had entered the force together 15 years earlier. They had been partners for ten years before Miguel made detective and Nick stayed on the beat. It had been a tough break for Nick. He almost didn't stay on the force after the Lovelle shooting incident. Nick was on desk duty for a year before they let him back in the community. Miguel never had a partner like Nick again. He was the most in-depth analyst Miguel knew and the only one he believed could help him piece together the puzzle.

  “You look wasted.” Nick observed Miguel as he shook his hand and closed the door behind himself.

  “It's been a long and busy night.” Miguel ran his hand through his dark hair.

  “So tell me what got you involved in the Delaney shooting? I didn’t know you were there last night.”

  “I wasn’t,” Miguel lied, wondering if he could tell Nick about the dream experience. “Not really.” He decided he didn't have time to explain how he knew what he did. Carefully he laid out the connections between Jojo, Darius, and the missed pick-up at the back of the store which had gotten Jojo removed from Darius into his custody. Miguel shared his speculation that Darius was using Jojo to run drugs and that David had lived out his usefulness to the operation.

  “So I think his own people whacked him last night,” Miguel finished.

  “Not bad.” Nick looked out the window across the dining room table. “Not bad at all.” He looked at Miguel. “So who do you figure is behind it all?”

  “I'm not sure, but a black Camaro was at the store last night. Same as the one that drove by the house last week. I'm certain it's the same shooter.”