The Girl in White Pajamas (21 page)

After they walked away from Matt MacDonald, Bogie crossed State Street and hailed a cab. Confused, Isabella asked, “Aren’t we going to visit Mommy at her work?”

Bogie shook his head. “I think it’s better to leave her alone and let her work. We’ll go to R&B, and you can practice some of your moves.”

“That’s wonderful!” Isabella said as they left the cab and walked into the R&B Investigations and Security building. While Isabella practiced moves with Jesus and Ken Nguyen, Bogie and Tommie sat across from each other at the conference room table. Each had a laptop in front of him and a super-concentrated expression on his face. Tommie stared at his screen with his ear buds in place, and Bogie studied his screen with a tight, angry look on his face and murder in his eyes.

Bailey sat at her desk wondering if she should wait for Bogie and Isabella or start heading home. Her cell phone rang and she grabbed it hoping it was Bogie. It wasn’t. The call was from David Thompson, one of the young men who had been thrown out the third floor window of a crack house. He’d been arrested and was in jail waiting for her and the bail bondsmen to get him out.

When Bailey got to the jail, she met Detective Chin in the lobby. David had been picked up in Neiman Marcus trying to make a purchase with a MasterCard issued to Yan Li. The Chinese detective thought this particularly funny since David was a two hundred and fifty pound black man who stood about six feet three inches tall.

After another cop came upstairs and took Detective Chin aside, Chin was no longer laughing. He just learned that the man he had arrested and fingerprinted announced he had chicken pox. “If I get sick, I’m going to kill that mother-fucker!” Chin said a bit too loudly to the other cop. He turned to Bailey and asked, “Do you want to see him?”

Bailey stared at the detective then shook her head. “I’ll wait for the bail bondsman. Please tell David to call the office and not come in. I don’t want to deal with him or his chicken pox!”

The cop pointed to Angel Fernandez standing six feet away from Bailey wearing his black R&B windbreaker and black cargo pants. “Is he with you?”

Bailey looked back at Angel and nodded. “He’s my paralegal.”

“And he carries?”

“It’s a tough world out there!” Bailey said with a straight face.

Bailey called Rubin, but the call went straight to voicemail. She felt more isolated each day as cases turned to crap while Rubin floated away into his Prozac world.

Bailey and Angel returned to her office and found Rose waiting for them. After Bailey placed her briefcase on the desk, Rose asked, “What did Matt want with you?”

Bailey stared at her blankly. “Who?”

“Matt MacDonald, the detective.”

“Oh, him. He just wanted to ask some questions about the Saturday night I was working.”

Rose sat down in one of the visitor’s chairs in front of the desk. “Honey, we’re going to be heading for Weston in a few minutes, and you’d better think of a better answer than that by the time we get there. Bogie’s waiting to talk to you!”

Amanda walked over to the apartment where her Grandmother and Aunt Annie were staying. When she reached the door, it opened. Margarita stood there grinning with her black hair tied back in a red kerchief. “How are you doing?”

Amanda just shrugged.

“Margaret! Margaret!” Elizabeth McGruder called out. “There’s someone at the door!”

“I’ve got it, Elizabeth. Would you like some lemonade?”

“In a while.” Elizabeth’s voice was barely audible.

Amanda looked at Margarita. “Where is she?”

Margarita whispered, “She’s in her bedroom watching a movie. I think she thinks it’s not something she should be doing.”

Amanda considered this. “I think the only TV they had in the house was in the kitchen. Trudie watched it.”

Margarita motioned for Amanda to sit down. “I heard you visited John Carpenter this morning,” Margarita said before she started laughing.

Amanda put her hands over her face. “This place is like a cesspool of gossip. You know, we could start our own blog.” After she stopped and sighed, she said, “I was totally humiliated!”

Margarita continued laughing and Amanda joined in. As the women laughed, Carlos tapped on the open door and walked in. “Having a party?”

They continued laughing and shook their heads. Carlos looked from one to other and smiled. He pointed to Amanda. “Randy’s looking for you. He said something about needing a shower.”

Amanda stopped laughing and glared at Carlos. “That’s not funny!”

“Yes, it is, and he is, he’s looking for you,” Carlos said sweetly.

At six o’clock, Bailey and Rose came into the kitchen to find a large Cobb salad on the table. Bogie broiled fish as Isabella practiced kick boxing moves she learned from the big guys while her father and Tommie hacked into emails, telephone and bank records. “Dinner’s almost ready,” Bogie said to the women in greeting.

Rose looked at her watch. “Thanks, but no thanks. I’ve got places to go.”

Bailey looked at her as if to say ‘please don’t leave me here alone’.

The dinner revolved around Isabella as she relayed the day’s events from tea with Mister James and Missus Trudie to their wonderful meal at McDonalds. Kim smiled. Bailey forced a smile then said, “I thought you were going to visit me.”

After thinking for a moment, Isabella said, “Yes, we were. We were there and we talked to…what was his name Da-dee?”

“Matt. Matt MacDonald.”

“Just like McDonald’s. He laughed and Da-dee said we had to go to Da-dee’s work. Jesus and Ken and I were kick boxing. Do you want to see me kick box?”

“Sure. After dinner,” Bailey said with no enthusiasm and an ashen-colored face.

After the meal, Isabella concentrated as she bent her elbows and put her small fists in the air on either side of her face. She did some jabs then did kicks with each leg as she spun in a full circle. When her face was red from exertion, Bailey stood up and clapped. “That was great!” Before Isabella could protest, Bailey added, “Bath time.”

Disappointed that her performance had been cut short, Isabella said, “I want Da-dee to give me a bath.”

Bailey nodded and walked to her computer. After Isabella had been bathed, bid good-night by her mother and read a story, Bogie walked back down to the kitchen. As he started to clean up, he realized that Kim had found her way to the back yard while he was upstairs. She returned while he was loading the dishwasher and headed straight for her room. ‘We should all have a job like yours,’ Bogie thought as he continued to shut his mouth.

As Bailey sat at her computer, she hoped Bogie would start checking doors and windows, but he didn’t. Instead, he walked into the dining room and sat down at the table. Bailey turned around, and they stared at each other until he said, “We need to talk.”

Bogie motioned for her to leave the computer desk and chair in the corner and sit at the table.

“I really have a lot of work—”

“You have no work to do. You know it, and I know it.”

“You’ve been snooping—”

“This isn’t about ‘snooping’ it’s about lying and deceiving.”

Bailey got up and went to a chair across from him at the table. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Bud.”

Her face lost all color. “What about Bud?”

“You tell me.”

“I don’t know what you want me to tell you.”

“Were you involved with him?”

Elbows on the table, she held her hands on either side of her head. “Yes. For a short time.”

“When?”

“Two...three months ago. I saw him a few times. It was a mistake. I ended it.”

“Why?”

“I was lonely. He was good-looking, charming.”

“I didn’t ask why you fucked him. I asked why you broke it off.”

Bailey’s nostrils flared. “Don’t you talk to me like that! I’m sure you were celibate the past four years!”

“No, as a matter of fact, I wasn’t; but we’re talking about you…now. Why’d you break it off?”

“He was pushy, controlling. Once he started slapping me.” She pushed a tear off her cheek. “I called the Weston Police.”

“When was that?”

“I don’t know, sometime in March.”

“Did they come here?” Bogie asked.

“Yes, but Jack and George heard me scream and came through the cellar. They made him leave. When the cops got here, I told them it was a misunderstanding and the party involved was gone. I didn’t want to file a complaint. They weren’t happy about that but left when I wouldn’t give them a name.”

“So you never told them it was a cop who was slapping you around?”

She shook her head. “Then I started getting phone calls, hang ups, and Fluffy was killed. I thought it was Bud.”

“Did you call the cops?”

“No. I had no proof it was him, and it turned out it wasn’t. He was dead, and the calls kept coming and then my car—”

“Why’d you lie to me?” Bogie demanded.

She glared at him. “I didn’t lie to you. I asked you for protection because someone was trying to kill me.”

“And you didn’t think I needed to know anything else?”

She shook her head.

“Four years ago, you ripped me a new one telling me what a devious liar I was because I didn’t tell you something. And now you sit here and tell me you did the same thing to me, and I should just shake it off. Is that right?”

“This is different.”

“How?”

“You treated me like a whore! You let me believe you were really married, that you were cheating on your wife. But the whole marriage was a fake. You never told me until they were dead! That child wasn’t even yours!”

“I told you why I did it. I did it for the money so we’d have something for our future.”

“You hated your father yet you made a deal with him to marry his girlfriend who was having his kid so she could stay in this country?”

“Yes.”

“Was it worth it?”

“Certainly not for the kid,” Bogie said softly. “She got killed.”

“You could have told me. I would have understood.”

“Sure! You hadn’t talked to me for a year, and when I told you I was married, you punched me in the mouth and didn’t talk to me for another year. I’m sure you would have understood!”

“I offered myself to you, and you rejected me!”

“I didn’t reject you; I said you were too young.”

“But she wasn’t?”

“We’re waaay off point now. Let’s get back to you and Bud.”

“He was a mistake—a bad mistake.”

“And now he’s dead.”

She looked at him with shock. “And you think
I—
I swear to God I didn’t kill your brother, and Jack didn’t kill your brother. I don’t
know
who killed your brother!”

She pushed the chair back, got up from the table, walked over to the computer and shut it off without logging out. As she ran up the stairs, Bogie stared at the wall. Yes, she was a liar; but no, she didn’t kill Bud.

Having the good sense to stay out of the line of fire, Ken Nguyen, who was the perimeter guard that night, opened the cellar door and saluted Bogie. “Permission to come aboard.”

Bogie smiled. “I’m going to bed. Thanks for entertaining Isabella this afternoon. Now she thinks she’s Bruce Lee.”

“She’s going to be a man killer!”

“Just like her mother!” Bogie muttered.

They lay side by side in the dark until Bailey said, “You think I’m a whore.” When Bogie didn’t answer, she said, “I’m not. I’m not a whore!” She turned and faced the wall. The bed shook gently as she cried.

Bogie reached over to touch her, and she moved away. He rolled over on his side and kissed her shoulder.

“I’m not a whore,” she cried shakily.

“Listen, Richard Nixon, I know you’re not!”

“What?”

“You know, ‘I’m not a crook’.”

She elbowed him and moved to the edge of the bed. He sat up and looked over. “About another half inch and you’ll be on the floor.”

“Just go back to your side and leave me alone.”

After a long silence, Bogie said, “I don’t think you’re a whore, I never thought that. I’ve done plenty of things in my life that I’m not too proud of, so I’m not in a good position to judge you. We weren’t together. We made no promises and had no commitments. You were free to…”

She sniffled. “Just like you. I know you had somebody.”

Surprised she knew, he said, “Yes, I had a companion.”

“Like a paid companion?”

Bogie laughed. “No, somebody I escorted to dinners, functions. Amanda called her ‘a friend with benefits’.”

“Oh! She was okay with that?”

“Sure, until she decided it was time to ‘bring our relationship up to the next level’.”

“And you said?”

“No, thanks!”

“Why?”

“I didn’t love her. I like her, but that’s it.”

“Where is she now?”

“In her house in Palm Beach. She lives near me.”

“That must be awkward! A sad, old woman rejected by you!”

“She’s not old. Where the hell’d you get that idea?”

“I don’t know. I just thought Florida…old people…”

“She’s four years older than me, but I don’t think she’s ready for the glue factory. But then again, since you think I’m an old man, you must consider her a relic.”

“Stop it already! I shouldn’t have written those things. I’m truly sorry. I didn’t mean…”

“Then why
did
you write them?”

“I was hurt—and so angry with you. I was pregnant and wanted to get married, and you were telling me to wait a year.”

“You never told me you were pregnant.”

“I didn’t want you to marry me just because I was pregnant. I wanted you to marry me because–because you loved me.”

“I did. I wanted to give us a year.”

“Why? Were you so worried about what people would say?”

Bogie laughed. “I never did and never will give a rat’s ass what people say.”

“Then why?”

“I wanted to find a property in a warm climate—a fixer-upper—and get at least a part of it livable so we could move in. As far as computer work, I could do that anywhere. But you needed some experience. I figured that after a year, you’d know whether you wanted to work for somebody else or have your own practice.”

“Why didn’t you ever tell me this?”

“Why didn’t you ever ask?”

“I thought you’d come back,” she said softly. “I thought you would read the letter and come back and tell me I was wrong.”

“That was impossible! Mandie gave me the letter on the plane like you asked her to. I read it and had a heart attack.”

She gasped. “Oh, my God! I didn’t know!”

“That was the easy part. We were already descending into Palm Beach so there was an ambulance waiting. Poor kid, she was hysterical!”

“Oh, good God! I’m so sorry. I guess she really hates me now.”

“Yes, she does. Anyway, while I was in the hospital, I was told my arteries were clogged and my heart was turning to shit. I had to recuperate for a month and then go in for open heart surgery. It was a real bad time. If it hadn’t been for Rose and Annie, I don’t know what I would have done. It was an experience I don’t want to live through again.”

Bailey lay next to him crying. She turned to face him and moved her hand over the slight scar on his chest. “I’m so sorry. I never knew. I thought you didn’t love…”

Bogie turned onto his side and held her close. “I thought you were smarter than that.”