The Girl in White Pajamas (28 page)

“What was she scared of?” Bogie asked.

“I don’t know. She was okay on Sunday morning. I told her I didn’t feel good so she took Izzy downstairs. They watched TV or something.”

Bogie glanced at George. Bailey looked at him and said, “What?”

Bogie smiled. “I think I know where she got her appreciation for the Jerry Springer Show. Sorry for the interruption. When did she start acting scared?”

After thinking for a moment, Bailey said, “Sunday afternoon or evening. I caught her staring at me a couple of times. When I asked her if she had a problem, she just cowered and said she was concerned about me.”

Bogie said, “So by that afternoon she learned that Bud was dead. If she knew he might try to confront you at the office, she probably suspected you had some involvement in his murder.”

Bailey nodded. “How could she betray me like that?”

Bogie thought about that then said, “I don’t think she betrayed you. She was just doing her job. Don’t forget, it was Bud who brought her there. She wouldn’t have left a kid in Dorchester to work for what you were paying her. I think she had a side deal with him. He didn’t just pick her name out of a hat. There was some history there. She hasn’t been to the house in days. Have you been able to reach her?”

Bailey speed-dialed Kim’s number. Kim’s mailbox was full. She wasn’t listening to messages.

Bogie looked at Jack. “Are they still checking out your car?”

Jack nodded.

“You know they still might find a trace—”

“I know,” Jack said dejectedly. “But at least that can be explained away in some bizarre way. If you hadn’t taken those clothes, we’d really be fucked!”

Bailey looked at Bogie. “You knew?”

“I figured it out. Fluffy helped me do it.”

Bailey stared at him. “What are you talking about?”

“I realized if the ground was too frozen to bury a plant, it was too frozen to bury the cat. When Isabella and I went to plant flowers, she told me George took the shovel the day before. Since George hadn’t touched Fluffy’s grave, he must have been burying something else.”

“And you didn’t say anything?”

Bogie pointed at her. “That’s what you were supposed to do! If I hadn’t brow beat these guys, and they weren’t reasonable enough to confide in me, yes, you’d be fucked!”

George looked from Bailey to Bogie. “Is this where we leave so you can fight?”

They both smiled and Bogie said, “Nope! We’re now on Version 2.0 of our relationship, no more secrets!”

By their second morning at the Four Seasons, the little family was almost in a routine. Bogie and Bailey were asleep entangled in the sheets while their daughter sat on the couch with the remote control in her hands. She moved buttons with a skill few adults had mastered. She scanned the screen until she found her favorite movie.

Although the sound was low, Bogie heard a young female voice sing:

I was five and he was six.

We rode on horses made of sticks,

He wore black and I wore white,

He would always win the fight.

Bang bang, he shot me down,

Bang bang, I hit the ground.

Bogie wondered if children ever questioned the words to some of these songs. He drifted back to sleep knowing his little daughter finally understood what she could and could not watch on TV.

The next sounds Bogie heard were the strumming and thumping beat of music followed by a man moaning. When a female voice angrily said, ‘Your name is Buck, and you came here to fuck’, Bogie reached down, picked his boxers off the floor and slipped them on. He got out of bed and sat down next to Isabella on the couch. She was so engrossed in the movie that she hardly noticed him. Bogie studied her and tried to appear calm. “Why are you watching that? That’s not for children.”

Her fingers moved over the remote as she pushed the pause button. “This is my favorite movie.” She pointed to the frozen characters on the screen. “There’s an important part coming up.” Isabella pressed the remote again.
The Bride
used a wheelchair to get to the parking garage where she located a bright yellow pickup with
Pussy Wagon
written in hot pink lettering on the back. “See that, Da-dee?” Isabella asked.

At a loss for words, Bogie stared at her.

Isabella studied him then asked, “Don’t you understand? He’s a bad man. He has a pussy wagon. Kim said he went around killing cats…like Fluffy. Maybe there’s a man in our neighborhood who has a pussy wagon.”

Bogie nodded slightly to let her know he was considering this clue. “So you and Kim watch this movie?”

Isabella nodded. “It’s a secret. We love this movie! And look, Da-dee!
The Bride
is able to wiggle her toe. See! She has a nose just like ours.” Isabella touched her small nose and said, “Some day mine will be like that.”

The corner of Bogie’s mouth twitched as he began to understand her interest with his nose and realized Isabella’s bride was Uma Thurman. “How did you find the movie on this TV?”

She looked at him as though he were dim-witted. “You go to the main menu.” Her small fingers flew over the buttons. “See! Here are the movie listings. You go down to
Kill Bill
.”

“You can read?”

Again, she looked at him with disbelief. “Yeees. Everybody reads. I can’t read everything but I can read
Kill Bill
.”

Bogie looked at Bailey who was sitting up watching them. “Did you know that she can read?”

“Of course. She’s been reading for about a year.”

“But she’s only three years old.”

“So what! She’s a smart little cookie, aren’t you, Baby?”

Isabella just grinned at her mother.

“Do you know what she’s been watching?” Bogie asked.

“I heard. Now I know who she’s trying to emulate, Uma Thurman.”

Bogie looked from Bailey to Isabella. “You know what I think? I think she’s a forty-year-old midget posing as a three-year-old kid.” He got up, went into the bathroom and took a shower.

Bailey called the office and spoke to the receptionist. Bailey learned that Mark Curtis, the other man thrown from a third floor window, had been arrested on an assault charge. He was being held in the Dedham jail. Bailey’s only thought was ‘and they said he wouldn’t walk again’. Both men had already been arrested, and they hadn’t even started the litigation process.

When Bailey asked to speak to Rubin, she was surprised to learn that he was in the office and even more surprised when he picked up the phone. “Did you enjoy your vacation?” Rubin asked formally.

“Yes, I did. Thanks for asking. What’s going on there?”

“Well, we’ve been hounded by reporters and photographers. A few even snuck up to this floor. The woman from Channel 7 called me at home. She wanted to interview the uncle of the
Persons of Interest
.”

“I’m sorry,” Bailey said softly.

Rubin sighed. “I was going to wait till next week, but I’m closing the doors on Friday. I’ll just finish up the cases from home.”

“Do you want me to come in and go over—”

“No! I don’t need another sideshow around here!” After pausing to catch his breath, he said, “I’m sorry. Just give me a verbal update and I’ll figure out the files.”

“Mark and David have already been arrested and the owner of that property hasn’t even responded to our letters. The only recourse is to file suit, but you’re looking for a truckload of trouble going through litigation with those two.”

Rubin’s only response was, “Mildred Murphy. They offered $5,000 to settle it, and I laughed at them.”

“Don’t laugh too hard. You know she fell apart at the deposition. She’ll never hold up during a trial. If you could get them up to $10,000 or $15,000, take the money and run.”

“What about all those medical bills?” Rubin asked.

“Call the providers and cut deals. That’s what you always told me to do. Now you can do it.”

“Any chance the Armenians—”

“Forget it! We’re talking insurance fraud of the highest order. You want to work from home, not prison.”

“Is that what’s in the future for you and your brother?”

“No! Your confidence in me is underwhelming! And
no
we didn’t kill anybody!”

“I’m sorry.”

“So am I.”

Stunned, Bailey sat on the couch watching Uma Thurman destroying her enemies without seeing a thing.

When he got out of the shower, Bogie glanced at her then the cell phone in her hand. “Are you all right?”

She looked up at him. “I’ve been fired.”

He shrugged. “He’s closing down, and he wasn’t paying you enough anyway.”

“But—”

Bogie held up his hand. “We’ll talk about it later. You and Uma Thurman better get dressed. Today’s moving day!”

When they walked into the office, Tommie Jurgenson was working at the front desk. The giant grinned when he saw the little redhead in her karate clothes. “Here’s the little termite in her white pajamas.”

“They are
not
pajamas, these are my martial arts clothing!” Her mouth opened wide as Tommie lifted her into the air by her belt. He held her close to his face. “What did you say, termite?”

Her little face turned red as she snarled and hissed at him taking swings while trying to kick him. When he realized how angry she was, Tommie hugged her with his enormous arms. “I’m sorry, Izzy. I was just teasing you!”

Isabella closed her eyes and took a breath. “You shouldn’t do that! I could hurt you!”

Trying to keep a straight face, Tommie carried her to the back room where he presented her with a small cardboard box. She opened it and squealed. “Oh, Tommie, I love it!”

Bogie and Bailey walked down the hall in time to watch their daughter swinging her small wooden Bokken sword. Bogie’s hands opened in front of him as he tried to decide whether to choke Tommie or grab the sword from Isabella.

“Oh, Da-dee, isn’t this
WON-DER-FUL
!?”

Outmaneuvered, Bogie nodded slowly. Bailey looked from him to Tommie, shook her head and left the room.

Rose was in her office when Bailey tapped on the door. “Come in,” Rose called out.

“I just wanted to say ‘hi’.”

Rose put down the phone and smiled. It always amazed her how this woman with all her education sometimes still acted like a hick. Rose came around the desk and hugged Bailey. “Are you ready to get back to work?”

Bailey shook her head. “Rubin fired me.”

“Well, Honey, it’s not a big loss. It’s not like you haven’t got enough happening in your life.”

“I know. We’re going back to Weston today. I just wanted to tell you.”

Rose turned her head as she heard the squeals and shouts from the training room. She and Bailey returned to watch Isabella getting a lesson with her miniature Bokken sword. Isabella’s face was serious as she moved the wooden sword through the air. She smiled when she saw Rose. “Look, Aunt Rose, look, Mommy.” She demonstrated her new skills. All the adults used great self-control and didn’t laugh during Isabella’s demonstration.

When the performance was over, everyone clapped and Rose motioned for Bailey and Bogie to come into her office. She was about to ask Tommie to keep Isabella entertained when Angel Fernandez came into the office. Isabella ran to him and hugged him. “Wait till you see what I have!”

Rose closed her door. She picked up copies of newspapers and placed them flat on her desk. The front page of the Boston Globe and Boston Herald had pictures of Bailey, Jack and their attorneys leaving Schroeder Plaza.
Persons of Interest in Cop Killing
and
Twins Kill Cop
. The press repeated inside information from a source who wished to remain anonymous. Bailey was portrayed as the former mistress of one brother and present mistress of the other. The articles rehashed the story of the fatal McGruder car accident pointing out that Bailey was the babysitter and mistress at that time.

Bailey’s face reddened and she bit her lip. “This is all wrong! It’s not true! It’s so humiliating!”

Rose smiled. “Honey, you’d better fasten your seatbelt! It’s going to get worse before it gets better.”

Bogie looked up. “Palm Beach?”

Rose nodded. “Jose Lambiet and his Gossip Extra broke the story online.”

Bogie held his head with both hands.

Studying him, Bailey asked, “How bad can that be?”

Bogie looked at her and half-smiled. “It will be all over the internet before the day’s out.”

“Oh!” was all she said.

“Any word on Kim?” Bogie asked.

Rose shook her head. “We even checked with the boyfriend and her girlfriend. Nobody’s seen her for the past several days.”

Bogie looked at Rose. “It doesn’t make any sense. Where the hell would she go? She’s got a small kid?”

Rose just shrugged. “You tell me, Kimosabe!”

The return to Weston was not a happy time. The house seemed more cold and empty than it ever had before. Isabella picked up on the dire mood of the adults and acted out by whining and complaining about everything. Her father brought bags of groceries from Whole Foods, but she just looked over the offerings, and said she wasn’t hungry. Before anyone could stop her, she stomped up the stairs.

Bailey found her sitting on her bed watching Kim’s
Kill Bill
DVD. “What’s the matter, Baby?”

“Why did we have to come back here? And Kim’s not even here!”

“This is our home.”

“Why can’t we stay at Da-dee’s house? I like it better there.”

“Maybe we will.”

“You promise? I really don’t want to live here anymore.”

Bailey smiled and hugged her daughter knowing that whatever genetic engineering was in place, this child had Bogie’s mindset, and nothing would change that. “I promise,” she answered.

By six o’clock Jack and George were back in the carriage house and Jesus Hernandez was on duty. Isabella agreed to eat her dinner only on the condition that she could perform for Jesus and her uncles. Her tiny Bokken sword cut through the air as she again showed her agility with it. When Bailey told her it was time for bed, Isabella said, “I want Da-dee to put me to bed.”

After bathing the tiny warrior, Bogie tucked her in bed and kissed her good-night.

“Aren’t you going to read to me, Da-dee?”

“You could probably read to me,” he said dryly.

“No, I like it better when you read to me.”

“You’re not too old for ‘Winnie the POOP’?”

She giggled. “No, I like when you read, especially
The Blustery Day
.”

Bogie smiled. “That was Mandie’s favorite story.”

Isabella grinned. “We should call her. You can read to both of us.”

Bogie pressed the speed-dial button and reached his daughter. “How’s it going, Princess?”

“It’s going. What’s up with you?”

“Isabella’s here and I’m about to read
The Blustery Day
. I told her it used to be your favorite story so she wanted to share it with you.”

Mandie laughed. “Go for it. I haven’t heard that one in a long time.”

As Bogie read about Winnie the Pooh’s exploits, Isabella fell asleep while her sister sat on the other end of the phone with tears in her eyes. When the story ended, Mandie sniffled.

“It’s not a sad story, Princess.”

“I know. I used to love when you read to me.”

“Now you’ll be doing the reading.”

“You were always a great father. Did I ever tell you that?”

Feeling a little teary Bogie said, “No, but I appreciate it. And now I’ll get a chance to use my fathering skills yet again. So how are you doing with your grandmother and the press?”

“Grandma told off Mister Jenkins in 210. I think she thought he was Grandpa. Anyway, she’s okay. John and Randy found some paparazzi lurking about and sent them on their way. Aunt Annie’s been playing tennis with Dolores. Do you miss us?”

“Very much! I can’t wait to get back! I’ve been meaning to ask you something. Did you know that Isabella can read?”

After a silence, Mandie said, “Randy told me he found her reading the newspaper one day, but I thought she was just pretending she could read.”

Bogie then told his daughter about her younger sister’s obsession with
Kill Bill
and how he discovered she could read.

“I’m not surprised,” Mandie said. “She’s really smart. You know
really
smart like one of those little genius types.”

“You’re smart.”

“Not like that! She’s like a baby Einstein. You know, sometimes she creeps me out!”

Bogie laughed.

“You never told me you had like a genius IQ.”

“Who told you that bullshit?”

“Aunt Annie. And you know it’s not bullshit. Why do you act like that? Do you think I’m not smart enough?”

“Stop it! I told you that whole IQ thing is overrated. See how upset you’re getting over something that is unimportant!”

“If it’s so unimportant, why didn’t you ever tell me?”

“Tell you what? That I was a smart kid who fucked up?”

Mandie thought for a minute then said, “Why’d you leave Boston Latin before you graduated? Aunt Annie said you could have gone to Harvard or MIT or anywhere you wanted to go.”

“Well, the only place I really wanted to go was West Point. When I told my old man, he laughed at me. The old lady thought it was funny, too–a bastard with no political connections thinking he could get into West Point. She made it clear she didn’t plan on using any of hers to help me get in.”

“They were mean!”

“Yes, they were! I was a smart kid, but people weren’t standing in line ready to pay for my education. Your grandfather told me he wouldn’t pay for it, and your grandmother wouldn’t have dreamed of paying for it. I wasn’t her kid. The only one who offered to pay was Pop, and he had enough of his own financial problems.”

“If you were that smart, you probably could have gotten some kind of scholarship.”

“Maybe, maybe not. But you see I had another problem.”

“What was that?”

“I was so angry, so full of hate. I was better off getting out of that situation than staying there. I probably would have killed somebody.”

“And the Army cured you?”

“The Army showed me that nobody gives a shit about your IQ and that if you think you’re a mean, tough son-of-a-bitch, there’s a meaner, tougher and bigger son-of-a-bitch out there just waiting for you.”

“Are you disappointed that I’m not going to college?”

“No. I figured if you were interested, you’d go. Money isn’t a problem. You’re young, and you might change your mind. There are too many people sitting in colleges who don’t belong there.”

“I think it’s a little late to worry about college.”

“It’s never too late. Ten years from now you might have a burning desire to get more education.” When she laughed, he said, “It could happen. But for now, you can get ready to have your own baby Einstein.”

“Aunt Annie said it’s your fault I don’t want to go to college. She said you should have encouraged me more.”

Bogie laughed. “Wow! The worm has turned! She sat like a mouse in a corner for twelve years. And now she’s spouting out her pearls of wisdom. Double wow!”

“She wasn’t trying to interfere. She was just concerned because I won’t have a college education.”

“Honey, she has an MBA from Babson and hasn’t worked a day since she moved back home. What good did all that education do her?”

“She said she had a meltdown after her divorce.”

“I think she had a meltdown when she married that asshole!”

Mandie laughed. “That’s another thing. She was giving me shit about how I talk. She said I talk like you, I should speak more refined.”

Bogie laughed. “You think we should sign you up for elocution lessons?”

It was past nine o’clock and Bogie was sitting in bed still working on the laptop trying to go through the back log of reports. Without reports they didn’t get paid, and he’d slowed down the process considerably in the past few weeks. Bailey was propped up next to him reading a book since she didn’t have to worry about her job or applying for refinancing any more. When his phone rang, they both stared at it. Bogie checked the caller ID, pressed a button and held it to his ear in one fluid motion. “Hi, Rose, what’s up?”

“I just want you to know that we’re not having any luck finding Kim. Her boyfriend, Tony, has put feelers out for her too.”

“I thought they split up.”

“Well, I guess that’s the problem. She never really split up with him. It was all some kind of ruse.”

“Why?”

“I’m not sure, but I’ve got a feeling they were both mixed up in this whole mess with Bud and Bailey.”

Bogie frowned. “What are we going to do?”

“I’m going to have Pop go talk to him. He picked up Tony a few times over the years, and they became
frenemies
. Tony’s been involved in everything from insurance and immigration fraud to pandering. But the one thing they could never pin on him was drugs, and that’s probably how he gets most of his income.”

“Tony? Italian?”

Rose laughed. “No, his real name’s Thang Tran, but he calls himself Tony.”

Bogie thought for a minute then said, “That guy! I know who he is. He’s the King of Dorchester Avenue. What was he doing with Kim? Christ, he must be thirty years older than her!”

After a moment of silence, Rose said, “I’ll pretend you never said that. I’m just giving you an update. I knew you were up because I’m watching the reports coming into my computer. I’ll let you know if anything new happens.”

“Thanks, Rose.”

When he finished the last report, Bogie took off his reading glasses and rubbed his eyes. As he closed the computer, Bogie saw her watching him. “What?”

She smiled. “I love you.”

He put the glasses on the nightstand and slid the computer under the bed. “I love you, too.”

Before he could turn to her, she flung the blanket off the bed then knelt over him with her knees on either side of his legs. She brushed his lips lightly with hers. “Just lay still,” she whispered as her tongue rolled around his ear. She kissed him lightly over his throat and moved down his chest.

As the butterfly kisses moved over his abdomen his face was flushed and his eyes were glassy. “Oh, Bailey,” he groaned.

“Shhhh,” she said as she moved down. As he moaned, her tongue glided over his erect penis. His hands moved through her hair as she took him in her mouth.

And they began their quiet evening at home.