Chapter 4 - The Green Bag|
The steel door opened with a slow, heavy groan.
Josie was sitting on the edge of the cot, her knees pulled up against her chest. She had washed her face in the small sink in the corner, stripping away the black soot to reveal pale skin, a sharp jawline, and a dusting of freckles across her nose.
Nico walked in, carrying a folding chair and the green diaper bag he had pulled from the fire.
He set the bag on the small wooden table in the center of the room and unzipped it, dumping its contents onto the surface.
The paper bank straps split open. Bundles of hundred-dollar bills tumbled out, alongside two passports, a small velvet box, and a brass key with no label.
"Tell me about the money," Nico said, sitting down across from her.
"I told you," Josie said, her voice dry and raspy. "I’ve been their nanny for six months. Eleanor hired me through an agency in Northbrook. She was quiet. She kept to herself. Walter Brandt came over maybe twice a month, and every time he visited, she sent me upstairs with the babies."
"And tonight?"
"Tonight was different," Josie said, her eyes shifting to the brass key on the table. "Around six o'clock, she got a phone call. She went into the pantry to answer it, but her voice was loud. She was yelling."
"What did she say?"
"She said, 'He knows about the accounts. If he finds out what we did with the shipping logs, none of us make it out of Chicago.'"
Nico leaned forward, his hands resting on his knees. "Did she use a name?"
Josie hesitated. "She called him Paulie."
Nico didn't move. Beside him, Dante let out a low whistle under his breath.
"Go on," Nico said.
"After the call, she ran upstairs," Josie continued, her hands trembling as she pointed at the green bag. "She pulled that bag out of her closet. She told me to dress the kids in their Halloween costumes so we wouldn't look suspicious if someone saw us walking down the road. She said a driver was coming at seven-thirty."
"And the fire?"
"I was in the kitchen getting Maya's juice cup," Josie said, tears welling in her eyes. "I heard glass break in the study. When I ran down the hall, the curtains were already burning. Eleanor pushed me back, shoved the bag into my hands, and yelled at me to get the kids out."
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She looked straight into Nico's eyes.
"She locked the study door from the inside," Josie whispered. "She didn't try to run. She locked herself in with whoever was in that room."
