Chapter 13
The case against Alex Addison was closed very quickly. No identification was made
of the man who had shot him or the getaway driver. There was nothing distinctive
about them on the hotel security videos. They’d gotten a license plate, but it proved to
be a stolen vehicle. So the murder case was dead. Alex died intestate, without heirs or a
will, so all his possessions would be sold and added to the eleven million dollars he
had in the bank. Each of the five women would get about three million dollars. It wasn’t
adequate compensation for their ruined faces, but it was something. All of them were
satisfied that justice had been done, and no one shed any tears over Alex, except his
most devoted patients and his staff. Mickie shed none, in her suite at the Beverly
Wilshire, with a stack of Alex’s luggage full of her clothes that she had retrieved from
his home.
Billie texted Mickie several times to be sure she was all right, and she didn’t
respond. She had nothing to say to her. She didn’t need an older sister anymore. She
didn’t need anyone except herself.
She had called the Hong Kong investors whose card she’d retrieved from the evening
bag she had worn that night. The four men were still in L.A., doing business and meeting
with companies they wanted to invest in. They told her they were sorry about Alex’s
untimely death, and didn’t make a point of mentioning his exposure as a fraudulent
doctor. It was a shocking and fascinating story that he had gotten away with it to the
degree he had. He had incredible charisma and was amazingly bright.
Michaela told them when she spoke to them that she would still be interested in a job
in their beauty center, or in one of their fashion investments. They had extensive
ownership in several high-end shopping malls of luxury brands. They made an
appointment to meet her at the Beverly Wilshire for a drink, to discuss it further with
her.
They came with an open mind. She was honest with them about how old she was
because she couldn’t hide it from them if she wanted a job. She had written up a CV for
them, including what her goals were. She thought it would be exciting to live and work
in Hong Kong. She was interested in fashion and beauty, and they were impressed by
how stylishly she was dressed. She would be a good representative of any of their
brands.
Two weeks later, they offered her a position as a junior executive in marketing for
their best shopping mall, and they were willing to groom her as a buyer. They would
supply her an apartment in The Peak section of Hong Kong, with a starting salary of two
hundred thousand dollars a year, which was high, but she was an unusual woman. She
could start as soon as she was ready to leave, and she said she was. She said she had no
family ties, and no reason to stay in L.A.
She called Patricia Scott after she accepted the offer, and asked if she was supposed
to notify the police. As a courtesy, Patricia called Lieutenant Kelly and told him that
Michaela had accepted a position out of the country in Hong Kong, and wanted to get a
fresh start. He said he had no problem with it and she was free to leave. Patricia called
Michaela and reported to her, and Mickie booked a ticket after that. She was ready for a
new life.
Dan Kelly mentioned it to Jason the next time they spoke, that Michaela was leaving
for Hong Kong and had taken a job there.
Jason told Billie about it that night, and she was surprised. “She’s moving to Hong
Kong? Why?”
“She got a job offer there, and maybe the whole mess with Addison burned her out.
Seeing him murdered right in front of her must have been pretty awful. He would have
gone to prison if he’d lived, probably for a long time. Maybe Hong Kong will be good
for her.” Billie listened quietly, and nodded.
She tried to call her again the next day, and texted her that she wished her well and
would like to say goodbye.
“Why? We hate each other,” was her response by text.
“I don’t hate you. I love you. You’re my sister,” Billie said.
“I was switched at birth,” Michaela answered.
“Me too. So what?” Billie persisted.
“I’m not like you. I don’t need a family, or even want one,” Michaela said. “I don’t
have feelings like you do. I don’t need anyone.” It was the most honest she had ever
been with Billie. She had already called their father to say goodbye. He was surprised
she was leaving and sounded sad. She told him her boyfriend had died and not the rest.
“Do you miss Alex?” Billie asked her, curious, still by text.
“No.”
“When do you leave?”
“Tomorrow night.”
“If you give me your flight number, I could say goodbye at the airport,” Billie offered.
She needed closure. Michaela didn’t care.
She texted her flight number, and turned off her phone.
Billie told Jason the next day at breakfast that she was going to the airport to say
goodbye to her sister.
“Did she say you could?” He was surprised.
“She texted her flight number, and I offered to say goodbye to her at the airport. Who
knows when I’ll see her again.” Maybe never.
“That’s how she wants it,” he said gently. Billie was such a caregiver and so
brimming over with love that she couldn’t accept the fact that Michaela wasn’t like her
and was hollow inside. “I’ll drive you,” he volunteered. He wanted to be there for
Billie. He was afraid it would be hard for her.
They got to the airport in plenty of time, put the Jeep in the garage, and walked into
the international terminal. Billie looked for Mickie and didn’t see her, and texted her.
“I’m here. Where are you?”
“In the first-class lounge.” Mickie’s new employers were paying for a first-class
ticket for her. “I went through security early. You can see me from the observation deck
when I go through to board the plane.” Billie felt it like a blow. Mickie had put an
airport and a glass wall between them, knowing Billie couldn’t get through security
without a ticket. She didn’t want to be close to Billie and hug and kiss goodbye. She felt
no emotion to be leaving her.
“Okay, I’ll be watching for you from the observation deck.” Michaela wanted no
personal contact, but their mother had left her in Billie’s care. And if this was the best
she could do, she was doing it. Billie had held up her side of the deal to the end. It was
up to Michaela how much she wanted, and how much she could tolerate, how human she
could be. Mickie didn’t pretend to feel anything for her sister.
Billie was watching when the passengers started to board. She watched for her sister,
but she didn’t see her, and wondered if she’d missed her. Then she saw her, one of the
last to board. Michaela looked stylish and grown-up in a black wool coat, tall boots,
and a big tote bag for the long flight. Billie watched her, without taking her eyes off her,
willing her to turn around. Michaela looked straight ahead, never looking up. She knew
Billie was there. She was punishing her for the differences between them, for not
understanding who she was. She didn’t want to love or be loved. She and Alex had
never told each other they loved each other, because they didn’t. They had sex, they
didn’t make love. Love was too painful for Michaela. There was something missing
inside her and she knew it. She didn’t feel the things that other people did, or need them.
Billie’s shoulders sagged as she watched her sister. She could tell Mickie wasn’t going
to turn around. She would rather hurt Billie than please her. It was the eternal dance
between the two sisters. One loving, and the other unable to love. Just like Alex, she
was a sociopath, with a profound need to hurt others.
Michaela was just about to go through the last door to the plane when slowly she
turned, and looked up. Their eyes met immediately, in spite of the distance. Michaela
looked at her sister for a minute and never smiled. And Billie touched her heart. Even if
she couldn’t reciprocate it, Billie could send her a sister’s love to do with as she chose.
Michaela stood there and nodded. She acknowledged it, even if she couldn’t send it
back. She wasn’t evil all the time. She was empty and she knew it, and Billie was
brimming with love for her, and for Jason. She had loved their mother and would have
loved their father if he had let her. Michaela took a last long look at her sister, and
walked through the door to her new life, free from all her past lives and the people in
them, as Billie stood watching the door until they closed it, and she saw the plane pull
away from the gate and wished her sister well. She forgave her for all the pain
Michaela had given her in their childhood, for all the mean things she’d done to her, for
all the love she couldn’t give and the things she had blamed her for.
She watched the plane take to the skies with her sister on it. The sister who didn’t
want to be one, the sister she had been, and the one Billie wished for and never had.
Jason gently put an arm around her shoulders. “Come on, let’s go home,” he said
softly. Billie nodded and tucked herself under his arm. She felt liberated and lighter. She
had finally understood and accepted who Michaela was.
She looked up at Jason and smiled. He kissed her. She was free now. Michaela
couldn’t hurt her anymore. Leaving her was Mickie’s final gift to Billie, and the only
way she knew how to love. They would be released now from the burden they had been
to each other, and the pain it had caused. Billie had a good life ahead of her with people
who knew how to love her and return the love she gave so generously. Michaela would
have the life she chose, whatever she had to do to get it, just as she had always done,
and knew how to do so perfectly, no matter what it cost, or who it injured, as long as
she got what she wanted in the end. The only person Mickie loved was herself.
Jason kept a strong arm around Billie’s shoulders as they walked out of the terminal
together. They had a whole life to look forward to, as Michaela’s plane disappeared,
taking her to her new life, as far away from Billie as she could get, which was a
blessing for them both. And all Billie could do for her now was wish her well.
