Chapter Sixteen
This was the hard part of the interview. Wes watched Lisa Sloan choke out her words. “I should have gone with her. I can’t believe I let her leave alone.”
He looked over at Rick, who gave him a sympathetic nod from behind the camera. Wes wanted to give Melanie’s best friend time to compose herself. “I’m so sorry. I know this must be really hard.”
“She didn’t even want to go.” Lisa sniffled and wiped her eyes with the crushed tissue in her hand. “I wanted to get out of the house so bad. The kids had been driving me crazy.” Lisa took a deep breath and looked straight at Wes. “It’s been over a week.”
“I know. She could be out there somewhere.”
“Where?” Lisa’s face crumpled again. “When I saw her car was still in the parking lot, I just freaked out. If she had come back into the club, she would have come over to me. I can’t believe someone would harm her. But after American Voices she had become pretty popular. We joked that she was more popular now than we had ever been in school.”
Wes asked, “Was there anyone you can recall who harassed her?”
“Melanie has always been pretty. She would get crazy e-mails and posts on her Facebook profile from guys.”
Wes made a note to check Melanie’s profile page. “Was she still with Jay Strong? I imagine he probably wouldn’t have been happy with that type of attention.”
Lisa rolled her eyes. “Yeah. I never understood what she saw in him. He’s a complete loser. No, Melanie was through with Jay long before she auditioned for the show. He started to remind her too much of her dad.”
“Abuse?”
Lisa shook her head. “Her dad drank a lot and ended up in jail. Jay drank too much, and his friends were not exactly role models. He could also be real mean. If Jay ever hit her, Melanie would have told me.”
“Okay. By the way, where is Melanie’s dad? I’ve only seen her stepmom.”
“I don’t know. He’s been out of prison. He was always trying to be young.”
“What does that mean?” Wes asked.
“You know, he was one of those cool dads when we were all younger. He threw parties, and all the kids loved to go to Melanie’s house. Then her mom died, and he remarried. He still tried to be cool, but no one wants to hang around their parents.”
“Didn’t he try to come back into Melanie’s life while she was on American Voices?”
“Oh yeah! It was the second-to-last show Melanie was on. She did so well the week before. I begged my boss to let me take the time off from work. My mom was so mad, but as soon as she said she would watch the kids, I was on a plane to Los Angeles.” Lisa sighed. “Melanie and I had a blast. Anyway, that night after the show Melanie seemed really upset for some reason. I couldn’t figure out why, because my girl sang that Christina Aguilera song.” Lisa bobbed her head and snapped her fingers in the air. “I was finally able to get her to tell me her dad had tried to contact her. She didn’t want to talk to him. Who could blame her?”
“So he did show up? Did you see him?”
“Oh no, no. I never saw him. I guess he called her or sent her something. I can’t recall, but I do remember her saying over and over again, ‘He’s going to ruin everything.’ I told her, ‘Girl, you just go out there and sing. Don’t worry about your dad.’ The following week I thought she did good, but something was off in her voice.” Lisa waved her hands to fan away the tears that had sprung in her eyes. “She just didn’t get the votes she needed. I felt so bad for her.”
“I know that was probably devastating. Have you seen Mr. Stowe since Melanie’s been missing?”
Lisa shook her head. “No. Why do you ask?”
“I mainly want to get a better picture of Melanie’s life. I just realized I have never seen him.”
Two small children burst into the room, with an older woman behind them, carrying a baby. Lisa called out, “Hey, Mom, you were supposed to keep the kids outside for a while.”
The older woman looked at Wes and then at Rick. “I’m tired. You can take your children back.” She walked over and handed the baby to Lisa.
“Thanks a lot,” Lisa yelled. “Chris, Maurice, stop running around here like you lost your mind.” She turned back to Wes. “I’m sorry. I hope I was able to help you.”
Wes stood. “Yes, you did.” He waved to Rick to stop rolling the tape. Then he turned around. “Lisa, I do have one more question for you.”
The baby in Lisa’s arms started squalling. Lisa rocked back and forth. “What else?”
“Was Melanie happy after the show? Did any offers come in for her?”
Lisa stood and held the baby close. “She waited a lot to hear back from people. There was an offer that came in a few days before she disappeared, but she wasn’t really hopeful about it.”
“Why is that?”
The baby’s cries quieted as Lisa began pacing. “She wouldn’t admit it, but I knew Melanie. I think she was embarrassed by the attention during and after the show. A lot of people were asking her when she would have an album out. She kept saying soon, so this time I think she wanted it to be a sure deal.”
A crash was heard in the other room. Lisa looked at him with panic in her eyes. “I really have to go.” She headed toward the back. “Boys, what are you doing in there?”
“Thank you for your time.” Wes didn’t know if she heard him.
He helped Rick with his equipment, and they left the house. Behind him he could hear Lisa yelling. As Rick packed the station car, Wes pulled out his phone. He’d sent a few messages to Angel, but she hadn’t responded yet. Wes hoped he hadn’t alienated her. He really wanted to talk to her again.
Rick interrupted his thoughts. “You ready to go?”
“Yeah, let’s head back to the newsroom.”
After Rick started the car, he asked, “You got big plans for the weekend?”
Wes let out a sigh. “I don’t know if I call being in a wedding party big plans, but it’s a favor to a childhood friend.”
“Well, is he having a bachelor party?”
“Of course! It’s tonight.”
Rick grinned. “Then have fun tonight. It will make tomorrow bearable. Be glad you aren’t the one getting tied down.”
Wes looked forward to the day when he would be waiting for his bride to walk down the aisle. One day it would be his turn.