The Girl in White Pajamas (29 page)

Moving day should have been emotionally charged, but there was only a sad resignation in the air. Bailey packed suitcases since she and Isabella were staying in a furnished apartment. Bailey wasn’t sure what to do with Kim’s few belongings so she boxed them up along with Isabella’s books and DVD’s. She placed them next to the suitcases. Everything else would go into storage. Bailey remembered how concerned Isabella had been when she noticed that Fluffy’s grave was disturbed. It was kind of Jesus to jump in and tell the little girl he had been caring for the flowers. She may not have believed him but took comfort in knowing someone cared about her loss.

Jack dashed up the stairs followed by Isabella. He and Isabella ran into the room and closed the door. “The cops are here!” he said breathlessly. As Bailey’s face lost all coloring, he grabbed her and said, “Just stay calm! They have search warrants for this house and the carriage house. I called my attorney and Bogie. He said to tell you to call Merberg and not panic.”

When the large black man entered the shabby storefront, all heads turned. But a small Cambodian man quickly moved from the back room holding a bottle of Heineken by the neck. He walked to Darryl Jones and bumped fists with him. Darryl said, “How you doing, Tony?”

The smaller man moved his hand from side to side showing off the long nail on his pinkie finger. “What brings you to my humble store? I thought you were retired.”

Darryl Jones rolled his eyes. “Yeah, your humble little empire! I heard you had a problem, and thought we might be able to help each other
unofficially
.”

Tony Tran gestured for Darryl to follow him to the back of the store.

Six Heinekens and several promises later, Darryl Jones left the shop on Dorchester Avenue and headed for downtown Boston.

The group gathered around the table in the conference room. Rose sat at the head of the table and looked over the men. “Okay, anybody else have any bright ideas? We’ve eliminated clients and family members. What does that leave us?”

Bogie looked around at Jesus Hernandez, Tommie Jurgenson and the two retired Boston cops. The cops had the same football build and similar mannerisms. Both had the same last name, Washington. The only reason they weren’t mistaken for twins was that George Washington was black and John Washington was white. Hence they earned the moniker
Black and White
.

“All we’ve got left is her relationship with Bud,” Bogie said. “Who wanted to kill her because of that? It wasn’t Bud!”

“The wife!” they said in unison.

Bogie thought for a minute. “Why kill her in front of him? Why not kill her any time she left her house in Weston?”

Jesus spoke up. “That’s the beauty of it! She doesn’t just want to
kill
her; she wants him to
see
her being killed. She’s pregnant with his kid. The wife’s kid is dead and she’s not going to have more kids any time soon, especially with a guy who won’t even let her into his part of the house.”

Bogie thought. “How’d she know he was going to see Bailey that night?”

“You said she used to be a cop. You know how paranoid cops are! Even if she’s an alcoholic, she would know enough about listening devices and bugs to check up on the old man. It’s not like she’s got anything better to do!” George Washington offered.

Bogie held his chin in his hand. “Why? I can’t understand why!”

It was Rose who spoke up. “She lost her kid! No matter what anyone thought, she believed it was an accident and not her fault. That was the only kid she ever had. Bud is going to have another kid with another woman. Where does that leave her? No husband, no kid! Maybe it was one of those revenge type things. If she couldn’t have another kid, he wasn’t going to have one either. She wanted Bud to see that he was not going to be a father. He gets shot instead of Bailey. She wants Bailey dead. It’s Bailey’s fault that he’s dead, not hers.”

They sat in silence until Bogie said, “I still think we’re missing something. We’re missing what triggered this. Why was Bud so desperate to have this kid? The way he screwed around, he could have been a father several times over by now. And Jeannie? Why now? After fifteen years of his philandering, she decides to call him on this one? I don’t get it!”

Rose thought then said, “What if he was in one of those now or never situations?” When the men stared at her blankly, she asked, “What if he had some health issues? It doesn’t seem it was Bailey he wanted but a kid.”

Without speaking three laptops were placed on the table as Rose scanned through her computer while Bogie and Tommie tapped into other people’s information. Rose scrolled down the autopsy report then held up a finger. “Bingo! He had untreated testicular cancer.”

Bogie and Tommie stared at their screens as their fingers glided over the keyboards. Each had the super-concentrated expression only a geek could achieve. Finally, Tommie said, “Bud visited his doctor the first week in February.”

Bogie added, “Ten days later, he had an appointment with an oncologist at Mass General Hospital. Over the next few days, he had tests performed there. He was scheduled for surgery in March, but that was rescheduled to April tenth.”

“Why was it rescheduled?” Rose asked.

Tommie shrugged. “That would require going into—”

“No!” Bogie interrupted. “It doesn’t really matter, does it? Now we at least begin to see his motivation. He thinks he has a chance to be a father, maybe his last chance. You’re right, Rose. I think he was focused on the kid more than Bailey. I just can’t understand what he planned on doing with a kid. Did he think Bailey would raise it? Did he want to raise it? He certainly didn’t want Jeannie to raise it!”

George Washington said, “That poor bastard! He was only forty-two or forty-three years old. That stuff’s brutal. First they cut the guy’s balls off, then chemo.”

Rose got up, left the conference room and walked out the front door. She lit up a cigarette and inhaled deeply. She smiled as she realized that her reaction to hearing about cancer was to run outside and light up. Before the cigarette was finished, Bogie came out and stood next to her.

“Shut up,” she said softly. “I don’t want to hear it.”

Bogie put his arm around her shoulders as they stood side by side. He knew this was Rose’s weak spot. When she heard of anyone with cancer, she went into a deep funk. She watched her mother wither and die over a painful two year period. The operations, the chemotherapy, nothing worked. Darryl and Gretchen turned to holistic medicine and chelation therapy. As a last resort, Darryl flew her back to Germany where she entered a clinic. Gretchen’s blood was ‘purified’ during a grueling, expensive process that almost killed her. With all their savings gone, Darryl brought his skeletal wife back to Dorchester to die of breast cancer.

Rose flicked the cigarette into the street. “Doesn’t make much sense!”

“Nope,” he answered as he led her back inside.

They heard the buzzing sound and everyone looked at the monitor. Bogie stood up. “I’ll get it.”

As Darryl entered R&B Investigations, he looked around at the décor then at Bogie. “Is somebody getting ready for a war?”

Bogie laughed. “That was my first impression, too, but General Rose has her own ideas.” As he led Darryl to the conference room, Bogie put his arm around the older man’s shoulder. “Tell me something good, Pop.”

When Darryl entered the room, everyone stood including Rose. She hugged her father. “Hey, Pop, what’ve you got?”

Darryl stood at the end of the table. “Well, I’ve got some news, none of it’s good. Tony told me who dreamed up the idea to have Kim work as a babysitter and informant in Bailey’s house.”

Jesus, Tommie and the Washingtons said, “Bud!”

“No!” Darryl said emphatically. “It was Matt MacDonald!”

Darryl continued, “Kim Nguyen is missing. Tony Tran is worried about her and thinks foul play is involved in her disappearance. Anyone who knows Kim believes she would not just take off and leave her baby. The little boy is eighteen months old. She may not be the mother of the year, but she’s very fond of him. Tony admits he slapped her around before she took on the ‘assignment’. He said she deserved it. She was using more than she was distributing. He’s a businessman. Anyway, the whole charade was supposed to last three months. The details are fuzzy. Their part of the deal was that Kim would take up residence in the Weston house and report on Bailey’s activities. Tony and Kim were not told much beyond that point.”

Rose asked, “Who did she report to Matt or Bud?”

“She was supposed to pass info on to Bud. If he wasn’t available, then Matt.”

“What was in it for Kim and Tony?” Rose asked.

Darryl nodded. “Good question. Matt has a buddy in vice. There was enough evidence on Kim to bring her in for dealing on a small scale. Matt told this cop he could flip her and get her to give up Tony. It was Tony that vice really wanted. Kim would be a chicken shit arrest. Matt then went to Tony and told Tony he’d make sure the evidence against Kim got lost if they’d play along. He told Tony he was doing this as a favor for a friend.”

“He never did a favor for anybody in his life,” Bogie said sourly. When Rose glared at him, he said, “Sorry.”

“We know he was doing this for Bud, but what we don’t know is why. As Bogie so astutely pointed out, Matt does nothing for nothing.”

“So,” Bogie continued, “We still don’t know what happened to Kim and why she disappeared. Let’s start a time line and try to figure out the last time anyone saw her.”

As they sat around the table skimming through surveillance reports, they began to chart activities in Weston. Jesus Hernandez pointed to one of his reports and said, “That was the morning after you went to Florida. I got a call from George and went to the house. The back door had been left open, and it looked like she just walked out the door. All her stuff was still there. She even left a couple rocks with her crack pipe under her pillow. The flowers on the cat’s grave were rearranged, and the spot in back of the carriage house was definitely dug up. The cat had been removed from the plastic bag and thrown back in the hole. That was gross!”

Bogie said, “So Kim vanished into thin air presumably right after the backyard was dug up. The only person who had any interest in digging up that yard was Matt MacDonald. He was looking for evidence to fry Bailey and Jack.”

Rose said, “When I saw him at the airport, he had scratches on his face, maybe a black eye. He had definitely been in some kind of confrontation. Let’s say she called him and told him everyone was gone. Why would he go there so quickly?”

“The shovel!” Bogie said. Everyone stared at him, and he continued, “Isabella and Kim saw George with the shovel going toward the back of the carriage house. Isabella told me about the shovel so Kim told MacDonald. He was pissed to find the cat buried there. Kim told him the cat was buried under the flowers, he dug those up too.”

Rose considered this then said, “Kim promised him evidence and didn’t come through. He wasted a trip to Weston. He risked being seen there when he not only couldn’t justify his presence but was trespassing. He must have been livid!”

Bogie said, “Come to think of it, Kim always had a supply of drugs. If Tony was real unhappy about her using too much, he wouldn’t give her an endless supply. But if someone was giving her lots of smack or whatever else she was using while she was playing Mata Hari, that’s who she’d go to when the supply was running low.”

“Where’d he get it?” John Washington asked.

They all looked at him with disbelief.

“Police evidence,” Darryl graciously answered rather than waiting for one of the others to call him a ‘dumbass’.

Bogie held his head in his hands and closed his eyes. After a few moments he opened his eyes and said, “We’re missing something! Matt wouldn’t kill some druggie for jerking him around. He went over his boss’ head and talked to the DA. That’s career suicide. MacDonald’s in this whole mess so deep, he’s swimming in shit. What’s his motivation? Friendship is one thing, but blowing up your career and your life are another.”

At a few minutes after three o’clock, Bailey and Isabella were in their new apartment at 15 North Beacon Street in Allston. There was no sign of Bogie. “I’m hungry,” Isabella whined.

Bailey looked at her watch. “I’m kind of hungry too. Bogie said to order groceries, but I want to eat now, not two hours from now.”

Isabella nodded.

Bailey looked at Angel Fernandez and asked, “Is there a pizza place around here?”

“Sure. There’s actually one right out in front of the building on North Beacon.” He paused. “But I can’t remember the name.”

“Just call down to the concierge desk and ask them.”

Angel gave her a thumbs up sign and made the calls. “It’ll be about fifteen minutes.”

Bailey smiled then her face dropped.

“What’s the matter?” Angel asked.

“Do they take credit cards for deliveries?”

Angel laughed. “Don’t worry about it. Got it, my treat!”

“You are an angel! If you don’t mind, I’d like to take a shower. I feel cruddy after moving.”

“Go for it! Izzy and I can practice some kicks.”

Isabella beamed, held her hands at her sides and bowed.

As Bailey rifled through her suitcase for clean clothes, Angel and Isabella moved through the sparsely furnished living room while a large, gray-haired woman sat in her Toyota Forerunner in the parking garage below. With an ear bud in place she tapped the wheel as she listened to their conversation.

At three fifteen, Jeannie McGruder took the elevator to the third floor. She got out and lumbered to the exit door six feet away from the door to 314. Jeannie opened the door, took a spare clip out of her cargo vest, carefully positioned it at the bottom with her foot then stood on the landing watching the apartment door. Jeannie loosened the top of a small bottle and placed a wadded cloth over it. She returned the bottle to one of the narrow compartments on her vest, released the safety on the .45 Ruger and waited. The elevator dinged, and a dark-skinned young man came through holding a large red container. He knocked on the door. “Pizza delivery!”

It took four seconds for his identity to be confirmed through the peep hole. As the door opened, Jeannie McGruder opened the Exit door, stepped into the hallway and shot the delivery man in the back. Before he hit the ground, she shot Angel Fernandez in the face. Isabella shrieked and ran to her sheathed sword.

Jeannie poured the liquid on the cloth, trampled over bodies and entered the apartment. Bailey opened the bathroom door. Jeannie grabbed Bailey by her hair and pressed the cloth over her nose and mouth. Bailey struggled but soon dropped to the floor. Isabella continued screaming as she started to pull the sword out of the scabbard with her right hand. Jeannie seized Isabella and pushed the cloth over her face. The small child struggled then went limp.

As soon as she came to, Bailey looked around and started screaming. She ran to the door slipping on blood and brains. She tripped over a body and ran into the hallway screaming. Doors opened as neighbors gaped at the naked redhead covered with blood. “Call 911! Call 911! My baby!” She ran back into the apartment and punched a number on her cell phone.

As soon as Bogie answered the phone, Bailey screamed hysterically, “She took Isabella! She shot Angel! He’s
Dead
! My baby! My baby!”

While Bogie listened to Bailey’s screaming, his face lost all color. ”Are you all right?”

“My baby!” she screeched.

“Bailey!” he shouted. “Are you injured?”

“No! My baby!” She sobbed uncontrollably.

Phones rang around the table and in the office. Everyone grabbed their phones and started talking frantically.

“Bailey, listen to me! Someone will be there soon. I will get Isabella back. I promise you!”

“You swear?” she asked then started crying again.

“I swear to God, I’ll get her back!” He closed his cell and looked at the others as though in a trance. Everyone was talking and yelling into phones. He took a deep breath and stared at the table in front of him concentrating on holding it together.

Rose yelled to him. “The police are in the building. Bailey is hysterical. They called for an ambulance to take her over to St. Elizabeth’s. The assailant used ether or something similar on her. Angel…is dead.” She squeezed the bridge of her nose. The pizza delivery man is dead.” She paused and listened then said, “The security cameras picked up a banged-up, gray Forerunner exiting the garage about fifteen minutes ago.”

Bogie stared at her then softly said, “Jeannie.”

When his cell phone rang, Bogie glanced at the caller ID. Confused, he answered it. “Hello?”

“This is James. I’m sorry to bother you but…” The old man became choked up. “I swear I saw Jeannie carrying Isabella into her house. The child looked limp…the red hair…and the white pajamas…”