The Girl in White Pajamas (25 page)

Bogie dashed back into the office and grabbed the phone. As he spoke, his cell phone continued to vibrate. He checked the caller ID, had the first caller wait while he told the second caller he’d call right back. As he sat at the desk listening, his face tightened and lost color. “Jack, please calm down. Don’t say things like that! You know you don’t mean them. I know this is a terrible thing, but it’s not the…They did
what
? When did this happen? Oh, Christ! Jack, I’m so sorry. What do you want me to do?”

He replaced the phone still holding it with a death grip and speed-dialed his other caller. Bogie listened intently without saying a word. When the caller finished, Bogie mechanically said, “Good work. You earned the bonus.” As Bogie disconnected the phone he stared at the wall replaying all the lies he’d swallowed with gusto because…he wanted to believe them.

When he returned to the party, only a few guests remained. He woodenly walked around, shook hands and worked his way to Rose. When she looked at him, she saw the pain etched over his face. She softly said, “Let’s walk outside.” Without waiting for a response, she took his hand and led him out to the pool. Rose held his hand tight. “Jack called you?” When Bogie nodded, she asked, “Did he tell you the bank is foreclosing on the house?” He nodded again. “Did he tell you the police brought him in for questioning?” Bogie nodded. “Matt called me. He wants me to bring Bailey back for questioning tomorrow.”

Bogie sighed and took a deep breath. “I also just got off the phone with Tommie. He found out why she was working that Saturday night. I feel like punching the wall out!”

Rose took both his hands in hers. “We’ll work through this, but first you have to calm down. Everybody’s just about gone. Go for a run, you’ll calm down. When you get back, we’ll all sit down and talk.”

Rose walked through the reception area and Bogie’s office. She tapped on the bedroom door until Bailey opened it. Bailey clutched her cellphone in her fist. Her eyes were red and swollen from crying. Rose just looked at her then glanced at Isabella. “Is she asleep?”

Bailey nodded.

“I’ve got to get Bogie’s shorts and running shoes. Where are they?”

Bailey pointed to the dresser and closet. “He’s going running? Now?”

“Yes, and when he comes back, we’re going to meet in his office.”

“But it’s—”

Rose put her hand up to stop Bailey. “I’ll be waiting for you. Throw some clothes on and come in.”

As Bogie stealthily moved out of the garage and onto the street, he almost ran over his future son-in-law sneaking back into the building. Bogie stopped him. “Last night she disabled the alarm system so you could come back in. You’re engaged. I know what you’re doing, the jig’s up.” As Randy’s face turned red, Bogie continued. “Go inside and get a key and the alarm code from Rose. You’re family now.”

“Thank you, sir.”

“Bogie. It’s Bogie, okay?”

Randy nodded.

As Bogie ran through the warm night, he tried to clear his head, but there was too much racing through his mind. He couldn’t get over the image of Jack crying and scared. When Jack was a teenager and having a rough time finding his own identity, he never complained. He’d been ridiculed, beaten and pissed on and never fallen apart the way he had tonight. Only his twin could betray him and bring him to his knees the way she had. All Bogie could think of was: 'Bailey, what have you done?' That became his mantra as he ran faster and faster.

After the guests had gone, Rose sat in the office next to Bailey. “Honey, some serious shit is going on now and unless you’re completely honest no one can help you.”

“But—”

“Save it. I’m just the warm up act! Bogie’s out running to calm down. Right now he’s more hurt than angry, and he’s sick about Jack. Don’t get him fuming by playing word games or dodging and ducking. Just tell him the truth. He’s a big boy, he can take it.”

“I don’t know what you want me to say,” Bailey screeched.

As Randy and Amanda quietly walked toward her room, Amanda heard the discourse in the office. “That fuck’n bitch! I knew she wouldn’t be happy until he had another heart attack, and she killed him for sure.” She pulled away from Randy and stormed into the office.

“You trouble-making bitch! You weren’t happy breaking his heart once, now you’re trying to do it again!”

Bailey stood up, wiped the tears off her cheeks and looked Amanda in the eyes. “I owe you an apology. I did something childish four years ago. You were a kid, and I had you hand him a letter that I should have given him myself. I apologize for that. It was thoughtless of me. Again, I thank you for saving my daughter’s life! But anything that goes on between your father and me is our business. I don’t need you sniping at me every chance you get!”

“You bitch! You— ”

Randy grabbed her by the waist and pulled Amanda from the room. As he struggled with her down the hallway, Amanda swore under her breath. When they entered her bedroom, he slammed the door and stood staring at her. Enraged, Amanda pointed at him. “Is that how you feel? You take her side over mine?”

“There are no sides,” he said calmly.

“You think I’m wrong? Well you can…” As she started to remove her engagement ring, Randy pointed at her and said, “If it comes off again, it’s staying off!”

She looked up at him stunned. Amanda stopped and looked down at the floor as tears spilled down her cheeks. “I thought you loved me?”

“I love you, Mandie, and I want to be your husband. But I’m not going to be your ‘yes’ man. She’s right. Your father’s not demented. It’s obvious he’s crazy about her. Whatever problems they have are for them to work out, not you, not us. We’ll have enough of our own problems to worry about.” He placed his hand over her abdomen. “We’re going to have our own family.” He pulled her close and held her as they heard a shower running.

Bogie was back.

Wearing an old tee shirt and shorts Bogie sat behind his desk. He shouldn’t have looked intimidating, but he did. He stared at Bailey then said, “I haven’t got much to say so listen carefully. I’m sick of your half answers and word games! You have two options. The first option is that you’ll do all the talking. You’ll tell me absolutely everything about you and Bud, up to and including the night he was killed. Maybe somewhere in there you will explain how you got in such a God-awful financial mess. The second option is that you can get up and walk out of this room without saying a word. In that case I’ll get you a plane ticket back to Boston. Rose will go with you. She’ll be the only one with you. Isabella and I will stay here.”

“You can’t take my child away from me!”

“I can, and I will! You’ve created a shit storm of Biblical proportions, and you’re not subjecting her to it!”

A sob escaped from Bailey’s throat. “I was afraid you’d hate me if you knew the truth, but I can see that you hate me already so it doesn’t really matter, does it?” She put her fists to her eyes, and Bogie looked away.

After a long, painful silence she said, “I guess it started last December. Rubin said things were bad, and he was going to be laying off most of the staff. He said I could stay and work a few months settling up some cases, but he could only pay me forty percent of what I was making. I thought he was kidding, but he wasn’t. I knew I couldn’t make the mortgage payments. I could barely make them when he was giving me a full salary. Jack and George were getting married and were all excited about their honeymoon. I didn’t have the heart to tell them about my job and that house. I hate that fuck’n house! What a mistake!”

She paused and took a deep breath. “In January I saw Bud at the courthouse and thought that maybe I should get in touch with you, maybe you’d help me out. I asked him how you were doing and he said you were fine. We went for coffee, and I told him I was having some financial problems and wanted to get in touch with you. He said he’d be glad to help me out. I refused. I told him I couldn’t pay him back. I had to get home, so I left.”

“Two days later, he was waiting for me in the alleyway outside the garage entrance. He handed me an envelope. It had a cashier’s check for $5,000 in it. He said it was a gift for Isabella. I thought that was very generous of him. Our mortgage payments were $7,500 a month.” When she saw Bogie’s eyebrows raise, she said, “We have an ARM. Do you know what that is?” Bogie nodded. “Well we originally got a three percent rate but before we knew it the rate was up to seven. That makes a big difference in the monthly payments. Then the roof had to be replaced, it was rotted and the whole back wall of the house was eaten away by carpenter ants. Anyway, the money Bud gave me was at least enough for my share of one month’s mortgage payment. Then everything started happening. The taxes went up, my car needed major work, and the housekeeper wanted a raise. Instead of paying the mortgage, I tried to keep up with the tide of bills coming in. Everybody wanted money. I wasn’t making enough to even pay the bills by the end of January. I was so depressed. If it wasn’t for Isabella, I would have gone crazy.”

“Bud started running into me more and more. Once he mentioned that you had a girlfriend. I remember him laughing and saying something like ‘first he robs the cradle and now he robs the grave’. I guessed you were seeing somebody older but didn’t want to know more, it hurt. Finally, he asked if he could see Izzy. He came out one Saturday. We had some drinks and one thing led to another. I knew it was a mistake, but didn’t want to hurt his feelings. I finally got rid of him on Sunday. Monday, he was waiting in the alley again.”

“The nanny got mad at me and quit around that time. I wrote her a couple of checks when my account was overdrawn because of bank charges. The checks bounced, and she said I couldn’t be trusted so she just left with no notice. George was home sick and watched Izzy, but I couldn’t continue to take advantage of him. I was really upset that day when I came out of the office. I told Bud the nanny just left without any warning, and I had no one. He said he’d get me somebody fast, and he did.”

Rose placed a glass of water in front of Bailey, and she took a drink before she continued. “Bud brought her to the house. He said Kim would work for two hundred dollars a week as long as I paid her under the table. At that point, I didn’t care. I was making less money and had more bills. I kept hoping and praying that a big case would come in or settle or something. What a pipe dream!” she said bitterly.

“George’s MS got worse, and he had a bad episode. He had to go to Brigham & Women’s for steroid infusion treatments. Jack was worried sick about him, and I couldn’t tell them what a financial mess I was in when George could barely walk.”

“Bud started coming over more and more. He was suffocating me and taking over my life. I could tell Izzy wasn’t comfortable with him. When he was around, she always wanted to visit Jack and George or she would get really whiney.”

With the door slightly ajar, they heard Isabella crying out, “Mommy. Da-dee. Mommy…”

Bogie held up his hand for Bailey to stop, and walked to the door. He saw the frightened child sitting in the middle of the large bed. He heard the knocking on the hallway door and opened it. Amanda stood there. “I heard her crying.” She brushed past Bogie and sat on the bed with the child. “What’s the matter, Izzy?”

“I’m scared,” she whimpered.

“Did you have a bad dream?”

Isabella shook her head. “I heard Mommy crying. I can’t find Da-dee.”

“I’m right here, Pumpkin,” Bogie said softly.

Amanda put her arm around the little girl and squeezed her. “Do you want to sleep in my bed until your mom goes to sleep?”

“Are you going to be there?”

“Yes.” Amanda lifted her up and carried her little sister to her room.

When Bogie moved back to the desk, Bailey balled up the tissues she had used. She took another deep breath and continued, “In February I realized I was pregnant. I had no desire to have Bud’s child. I told him I was pregnant and would get an abortion. He went crazy, yelling and swearing at me telling me I owed him money, and he owned me. He said I had your baby but wanted to kill his child. It was horrible, ugly. He started slapping me. I ran in the bathroom and locked the door. I called the police. I opened the window and started screaming for Jack and George. They came in and there was a lot of pushing and shoving and Bud finally left. When the cops showed up, I told them he was gone. They just kept after me for a name. I finally told them to get the hell out.”

“After that, I knew I had to have an abortion or this lunatic would ruin my life. I made an appointment at a clinic for a Monday afternoon. When I got there, he was standing at the front door waiting for me. He started grabbing me and telling me we had to talk. I got scared and ran away.”

“He kept leaving messages and calling me names. Crazy things like ‘Ice Queen’ and ‘Hillbilly Lawyer’. Then there were all these hang ups on my cell, on the house phone. Even in the office, a call would come in for me, I’d pick it up and the line would be dead.”

“One morning I looked out the kitchen window and saw Fluffy hanging from a tree in the back yard with a noose around her neck. The cat was dead. I wanted to run out and cut her down before Isabella saw her, but I heard her screaming upstairs and knew she’d seen the cat from the bathroom window.”

“He’d still show up outside in the alley. I kept telling him to get away from me, and he’d say that we had to talk. He didn’t want to talk. He just wanted to scare me or threaten me.”

“I made another appointment at the clinic, and the same thing happened. I don’t know how he knew when I was going to be there. Maybe he knew somebody in the clinic, I just don’t know. I was getting really scared by that time. He was making it impossible for me to get an abortion. Time was running out and I was getting nervous so I decided to make an appointment at another clinic. I wanted it as soon as possible. They had a cancellation for the following Monday. That’s when I was supposed to get ready for a deposition. I made the appointment figuring I could get the file and exhibits in order on Saturday, have the abortion on Monday morning and meet with the client in the afternoon.”

Bailey looked up at Bogie’s face and studied his cold eyes that told her nothing. She took another deep breath and continued, “It was getting icy outside and my car doesn’t do well on the ice. I asked Jack if I could borrow his car, and he said he’d drive me because I couldn’t drive for shit on ice and snow. He dropped me off in front of the building then drove around the block and parked in the garage.”

Bogie nodded.

“I spent about two hours getting everything in order. I called Jack when I was ready and came down. When I walked outside, I realized how bad the weather had gotten. It was a sheet of ice outside the door. The wind and rain were blowing right in my face. I couldn’t see. I had the hood up on my coat and tried to keep my face down and concentrate on not falling. I almost fell a couple of times but finally made it across the street. There was a dark car parked there. I grabbed onto it to stop from sliding. Suddenly, the car door opened and Bud got out. He scared the hell out of me! I yelled at him, and he said something to me, but we could barely hear each other. Then he smiled, and my blood ran cold. He had this evil smile that wasn’t really a smile. I’ve gone over this a hundred times in my head and all I can piece together is that there was a second or a fraction of a second when the expression on his face changed. He knocked me to the ground. I felt the back of my head hit the sidewalk then everything went black. I don’t know much of what happened after that. I guess I was knocked out. Jack drove out of the garage, came down the street and saw this bloody mess. At first, he thought Bud and I were both dead because Bud was lying on top of me and there was all this blood over both of us. He didn’t know it was all Bud’s blood. He heard me moaning and moved Bud and got me up. I was covered with blood. We both started crying. We didn’t know what to do. My life was enough of a mess I didn’t need to get involved in Bud’s murder. I told Jack that we should get out of there. He didn’t want to go, but I yelled at him telling him that George and Izzy were home waiting for us.”

Bogie held his head in his hands as they sat in silence. Finally, he looked up and said, “Now I have some questions for you. First, what happened to the clothes you were wearing? What about the car?”

“We wanted to bury the clothes and boots, but the ground was still frozen so we put them in a garbage bag under a mulch pile in back of the carriage house. We put some branches and rocks over the bag. Jack cleaned his car, and then he had it detailed.”

“So why were the cops looking at your car?”

Bailey thought for a minute then said, “The garage pass. We only have one. It’s in my name. Since we usually come in together, we use one pass.”

“The cops never asked you which car was in the garage?”

Bailey shook her head.

“You never saw anybody else there that night?”

Bailey shook her head again.

“When did you realize it wasn’t Bud they were trying to kill, but you?”

“Sunday, maybe Monday--I was sick. I got a phone call on my cell. The caller was saying “
Murderer! Murderer
!” I had a concussion, and I kept going over and over the whole thing in my mind. I remembered there was that second when the expression on his face changed. He probably saw or heard something and was pushing me out of the line of fire.”

“Was the caller a man or a woman?”

“I have no idea. I think the voice was altered.”

“Did you have the abortion?”