Read Online Shooting for the Stars by R. G. Belsky - Free Book Online

she’s a struggling actress who’s going nowhere, the next she’s the biggest star in the world. And then she’s dead. It all happens so fast. Even if we get lucky like Laura did, we need to be able to enjoy the moment. Because no one ever knows how long it will last. I guess that’s the message we can all learn from her life.”
    As we ate, we talked about the fallout from her story. The cops had reopened the Laura Marlowe investigation. The trail was very cold after thirty years, of course, but they were at least going through the motions of trying to find the real killer. The press had picked up on it in a big way too, with Laura Marlowe’s name back in the headlines all over again. And everyone was talking about Abbie and wondering about the blockbuster exclusive she had promised for next week’s show.
    â€œTell me about the serial killer angle,” I said.
    â€œI can’t.”
    I stared at her in amazement. “You showed me a picture of a dead singer named Cheryl Carson and three other women. You suggested to me that their deaths were somehow connected. You all but told me you thought they were killed by one person—the same person who killed Laura Marlowe thirty years ago. If it’s true, that’s one of the greatest serial killer stories of all time. So what else did you find out?”
    She shook her head no. “If I told you everything I know right now, you’d think I was paranoid and/or crazy.”
    â€œAbbie, I don’t think you’re paranoid or crazy.”
    â€œWell, I guess it’s sort of like the old joke about the guy who says: ‘Okay, I may be paranoid, but that doesn’t mean people aren’t following me.’ That’s kind of the way I feel about my life right now.”
    â€œDoes this have anything to do with Tommy Rizzo?” I asked.
    â€œTommy? No, Tommy’s the least of my worries. You’re wrong about him—he’s really a nice guy. Besides, I think he’s finally given up on me. We had a long talk. I haven’t heard from him since.”
    â€œWhatever story you’re working on sounds like it could be dangerous,” I said. “Maybe you should just walk away from it.”
    â€œI can’t do that.”
    â€œWhy?”
    â€œHave you ever walked away from a big story?”
    â€œNo.”
    â€œMy point exactly,” she smiled.
    It was one of those special New York City moments that don’t happen to me too much anymore. The rain falling gently on the streets of the Village. The parade of people—an entire gamut of New York nightlife ranging from funky-looking neighborhood folks to wide-eyed tourists to street hustlers—passing by outside the window.
    We talked about some of my notoriety—the good as well as the not-so-good moments I’d had in the public spotlight. Eventually, of course, the conversation got around to the Houston story. The low point of my career. The story that nearly got me fired from the Daily News and would remain as an albatross to my career for as long as I was in the newspaper business.
    â€œI’ve replayed it all over in my mind so many times over the years,” I said. “How I ever made the decision to put the imaginaryquotes in the story and make it sound like they were really coming from this legendary New York City streetwalker called Houston. I dream about being able to go back in time to undo everything I did wrong on that story. And about how different my life would have been if I hadn’t put those fictional words in her mouth. But I did. I’m still not sure why. The only thing I do know for sure is that I will never do anything like that again.”
    She brought up some of the big stories I’d done at the Daily News . The high points. There were plenty of those too. Many of my biggest crime exclusives had involved serial killer cases. Which is probably why Abbie had asked me all those questions