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- Herausgeber: Lorhainne Eckhart, INC.
- Kategorie: Gesellschafts- und Liebesromane
- Serie: A Billy Jo McCabe Mystery
- Sprache: Englisch
Police Chief Mark Friessen and his wife, social worker Billy Jo McCabe, keep a watchful eye on their small island town in the Pacific Northwest. As the couple comes to grips with the fact that a hub of crime run by the political elite has turned the quiet, sleepy Roche Harbor into a playground for the rich and powerful, a young executive of a major international charity moves to town. When Mark and Billy Jo dig deep into the secrets and lies that seem to follow the man, they uncover a twisted truth, one they may wish they had never found.
Newlyweds Mark Friessen and Billy Jo McCabe are back home in the town of Roche Harbor, settling into their life as a married couple while coming to grips with the evil that has woven its web in their small community. Police Chief Mark keeps a watchful eye on all the residents, learning who comes and goes on his island, so when a stranger buys a large property on the west side, Mark shows up on his doorstep to find out why he has moved in.
Walter Crandall tells him the island is home to his five-year-old daughter and his ex-wife, who owns a local bar, and all he wants is to keep a low profile and be left alone to make amends for his mistakes. But there’s something about the man that Mark doesn’t trust, and when he and Billy Jo begin digging into Walter’s past and the charity he was part of, they uncover a deception so twisted they’re convinced it can’t possibly be true.
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Seitenzahl: 251
Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2024
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The Charity, A Billy Jo McCabe Mystery
COPYRIGHT © Lorhainne Ekelund, 2022, All Rights Reserved.
No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.
This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Contact Information: [email protected]
Editor: Talia Leduc
THE CHARITY
A Billy Jo McCabe Mystery
Book 9
LORHAINNE ECKHART
Contents
Keep in touch with Lorhainne
A New Crossover Series!
About this book
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Coming next in the Billy Jo McCabe Mystery
Chapter 1
Other Works Available
The Hunted, Chapter 1
Other works available
The Family Secret, Chapter 1
About the Author
Series Available
Links to Lorhainne Eckhart’s Booklist
Keep in touch with Lorhainne
Sign-up for Lorhainne’s Newsletter & Monday Blog
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A New Crossover Series!
The Billy Jo McCabe Mystery
Nothing As It Seems
Hiding in Plain Sight
The Cold Case
The Trap
Above the Law
The Stranger at the Door
The Children
The Last Stand
The Charity
The Sacrifice
A Billy Jo McCabe Mystery Box Set: Books 1 - 3
A Billy Jo McCabe Mystery Box Set: Books 4 - 6
The social worker and the cop, an unlikely couple drawn together on a small, secluded Pacific Northwest island where nothing is as it seems. Protecting the innocent comes at a cost, and what seems to be a sleepy, quiet town is anything but.
The Social Worker
Billy Jo McCabe wants only to help children overcome their troubled lives, as she herself struggles to forget the childhood nightmare she survived. She took sociology and prelaw at the insistence of her adoptive father, Chase McCabe, and learned how to use power tools from her adoptive mother, Rose. She loves reading in the backs of bookstores before tucking the book back on the shelf and slipping out without paying. She has a fondness for peanut butter and dill pickle sandwiches, has a three-legged cat named Harley, hates running (because that was all she did as a kid), and secretly binges on brownies and red wine on the sofa in front of her TV every Friday night.
She’s never been married and has dated only twice. She visits Chase and Rose when summoned and shows up dutifully for every holiday with her family, but she has no siblings to speak of, and she feels a growing resentment for the mother who abandoned her in foster care. Despite proudly maintaining the same prickly attitude that nearly landed her behind bars as a kid, she has yet to speak up to Chase, who interferes in her life too frequently, ready to fix every problem, whether she wants him to or not.
One thing no one knows about Billy Jo is that she moved to Roche Harbor because it’s the only clue she has about the last known whereabouts of the woman who abandoned her.
The Cop
Mark Friessen, son of Jed and Diana Friessen, has landed accidentally in the role of small-town detective, a position in which he’s going nowhere. Nearly married once, and broken-hearted three times, he’s sworn he’ll stay single forever, and he keeps his tattoo of a former girlfriend as a reminder that only fools fall in love. He’s tall, attractive, and stubborn, and he refuses to live in the shadow of his two older brothers, Chris and Danny.
As Roche Harbor’s youngest detective, he sleeps with a gun under his pillow. He has a stray dog that won’t leave, and he swears that the only two food groups that exist are meat and potatoes. His favorite drink is black coffee in the morning, sugared coffee in the afternoon, and a shot of whiskey in his coffee at night to keep him warm.
***Each book in this series is a complete book, with no cliff-hangers, and can be read as a standalone. However, these books may contain references to situations from earlier books in the series. As with any long book series that focuses on specific characters, their changing relationships, and how their lives continue to unfold, you may find it more enjoyable to read the series in order of publishing, as there will be developments and changes in the relationship dynamics of the core characters.
About this book
Some secrets aren’t meant to be told.
Police Chief Mark Friessen and his wife, social worker Billy Jo McCabe, keep a watchful eye on their small island town in the Pacific Northwest. As the couple comes to grips with the fact that a hub of crime run by the political elite has turned the quiet, sleepy Roche Harbor into a playground for the rich and powerful, a young executive of a major international charity moves to town. When Mark and Billy Jo dig deep into the secrets and lies that seem to follow the man, they uncover a twisted truth, one they may wish they had never found.
Newlyweds Mark Friessen and Billy Jo McCabe are back home in the town of Roche Harbor, settling into their life as a married couple while coming to grips with the evil that has woven its web in their small community. Police Chief Mark keeps a watchful eye on all the residents, learning who comes and goes on his island, so when a stranger buys a large property on the west side, Mark shows up on his doorstep to find out why he has moved in.
Walter Crandall tells him the island is home to his five-year-old daughter and his ex-wife, who owns a local bar, and all he wants is to keep a low profile and be left alone to make amends for his mistakes. But there’s something about the man that Mark doesn’t trust, and when he and Billy Jo begin digging into Walter’s past and the charity he was part of, they uncover a deception so twisted they’re convinced it can’t possibly be true.
Chapter1
Sleeping in was something Billy Jo didn’t do, but for the past four days, Mark had opened his eyes to find his wife sound asleep. As he stood in the kitchen, the stove blinking a digital blue 8:10 a.m., he realized he needed to wake her soon.
The coffeemaker beeped, and Mark poured himself a cup of the steaming brew before turning back to the island, on which a file lay open, revealing notes on another thirty of the island’s residents. Hesitating only a second, he wondered when he’d become that cop who went digging into civilians’ lives, looking for any secrets they might have.
Oh, yeah. When a bunch of criminal elites took up using his island as their personal playground.
He had to roll his shoulders, feeling that punch in the gut again, silently hating the world of people who, at times, were untouchable.
“You didn’t wake me.”
He turned to see Billy Jo in a blue robe, yawning as she walked sock-footed past him and pulled a glass from the cupboard to fill with water.
“Figured you needed sleep,” he said. “Was going to give you another ten minutes before waking you. You feeling okay?”
She brushed her shoulder-length brown bed hair away from her face and shook her head before drinking down the water. “Fine. Just tossed and turned because of your snoring. What are you doing?”
She settled her glass in the sink, then reached for his coffee and took a swallow of it. As she looked down at the open file, her brow furrowed. He realized she wasn’t giving the coffee back, and he couldn’t believe she had tossed out that comment about his snoring, considering she had fallen asleep before him.
He leaned down and pressed a kiss to the top of her head, then filled a second mug, a matching green one, from the many wedding gifts that seemed to still be arriving daily from people on the island he’d met only a time or two.
“Looking into the folks who live here,” he said, “why they live here, what they do, especially the ones who look too clean. Who lives here full time, part time, and what hidden secrets do they have? You know, the usual investigative thing I do, looking for red flags and skeletons.”
Mark filled the mug with coffee and settled the carafe back on the burner. Billy Jo angled her head, glancing over to him in that way of hers. She was complex, with many moods, and he figured something else was coming.
“You were serious, then?” she said, flattening her hand over the file, the notes he’d been reading on Shirley and Tom Campbell, and pulling it closer to her. “You’re really going to investigate every person who lives here and dissect their lives even though they’ve done nothing wrong? Isn’t there some law against that, let alone the fact that you’re overstepping a bit?”
She didn’t smile and didn’t pull that fiery gaze from him. She was the complete package, a woman who was his best friend, his lover, his wife, and she knew how to push every one of his buttons. Damn, he loved everything about her.
He reached for the file in front of her and pulled it away. “Knowing who’s on this island and what they’re about is something I should have done long ago. You forget what happened here? I don’t want that kind of evil ever sneaking in. So yeah, I plan to dissect the lives of everyone who lives here to make sure the members of this community are decent, honest, not looking to set up some criminal enterprise, thinking they can do anything. And that includes our politicians. Consider it my new pastime. I plan to find out everything about them, what they do, who they see, to really dig into their lives. If they are honest people, then they become the people I’m protecting. But how many more criminals are still here, so deep underground that I haven’t found them yet? And yet is the key word.”
She looked up at him, and a smile touched her lips as she leaned against the island, so close to him. “You know all the right things to say sometimes,” she said. “Go dig and dissect the lives of anyone and everyone. Oh, and make sure, will you, that you take a second and third look at everyone collecting a check from the DCFS, and especially who rubber-stamped their approvals?”
“They’re first on the list—kids and animals.” He leaned down and kissed her forehead.
“You’re the best,” she said. “Damn, I’m going to be late.” She lifted the mug and took a swallow. “Oh, and I forgot to tell you we’re going to drop in and see Gail tonight. I’ll swing by the station after I’m done and we’ll head over. I told her we’ll bring dinner…”
She had trailed off as she walked back to the bedroom. Then she turned in the doorway, looking back, when he hadn’t said anything. The tightness that came every time he thought of Tolly Shephard returned deep in his chest. He knew he’d made a face.
“You have to figure out a way to get past that, Mark,” she said. “Gail is our friend.”
“Her husband was part of a child trafficking ring.”
She let out a heavy sigh. “I know what Tolly Shephard did and didn’t do—and what they did to his son to gain his compliance when he played both sides. He’s dead, but Gail isn’t, and she still has to get up every morning and come to terms with all the secrets Tolly had. Mark, you’ve turned this island upside down and woken up a lot of people to what has been happening behind their backs. No one saw it. The town council is in a state of flux. You have interim appointees, as the mayor and councilors are now charged, awaiting trial. The entire CPS department has been turned upside down, and jobs are still being vacated. You’re a hero for the children, Mark, but you have to know many of the island folks have turned on Gail. Their anger is misdirected. Her truck was spray painted with CHILD KILLER. People she’s known forever on the island have phoned and said some horrible things…”
“Someone vandalized her truck?” he cut in. “Why didn’t she call me? When did this happen?”
Billy Jo glanced over to the window. Her three-legged cat was curled up on the cat tree, whereas Lucky had padded into the kitchen and was lapping water out of his dog bowl. She started back toward him in the fuzzy robe that was more warm than flattering, and he didn’t know what to make of the shadows around her eyes. He knew well the places her head went when she struggled. What she was thinking, he had no idea.
“Gail won’t phone you,” she said. “Not that she thinks you wouldn’t show up and file a report, because she knows you would, but I think she believes that because of what Tolly did, she deserves every hateful thing coming at her. Yet every time someone lashes out at her, it kills a little piece of her soul. I can see it. I know Tolly wasn’t strong enough to end things the way you did. But I also know he hid it well. So tonight we’ll take a pizza over, talk to her and be civilized, and let her know she’s a human being and we care.”
Maybe it was the way she’d said it, but he wondered whether she understood how he felt about Gail. He couldn’t look at her without seeing Tolly.
Instead of saying something, he took another swallow of coffee.
“She thinks you hate her, Mark,” Billy Jo said, striding back over to him. She put her mug down on the island, not looking away from what he knew was likely shock staring back at her.
“Excuse me?” he said. “I don’t hate her. Where would she ever get an idea like that?”
Billy Jo took another step toward him, sliding her hand on the island to touch the file again, likely seeing the names listed. “Maybe it’s because you make excuses never to go and see her. I show up alone, and every time I do, she asks about you, and I feel like I’m cheating when I say you’re great but busy, or else you’d be there too. She doesn’t believe one word of it, because she can see in my face that I’m lying. Or maybe it’s because the last time she saw you was when you told her about Tolly.”
Mark pulled his hand over his face, knowing she was right. He could feel the heavy sigh of frustration before it passed his lips.
“You going to make me go alone?” Billy Jo said, pulling her arms over her chest, not looking away.
“I don’t hate her,” he said. “I just don’t know what to say to her. There’s a difference.”
Billy Jo glanced away, pulling in a deep breath. Then she lifted her gaze, which had softened just a bit. “Sometimes just being there is all that’s needed. Don’t say anything. Don’t pretend. Just pick up a piece of pizza and eat. Can you do that?”
He’d never known Billy Jo to be so reasonable. “I can do that.”
She ran her hand over his arm, rose up on her tiptoes, and kissed his cheek. “Good. And you may also want to consider asking Gail to help you dig into the people here. Pick her brain,” she said as she reached for her mug and topped it with more coffee.
He wondered if she’d lost her mind. “Breaking bread with Gail is one thing, Billy Jo, but I’m not having her anywhere near this.” He knew it had come out rather sharply. He had felt the bite in his words.
Billy Jo blew on the steaming coffee and took a swallow. “Well, that’s too bad, because I’m sure she could fill in a lot of holes about a lot of people that you wouldn’t otherwise know. And it may help her feel as if she’s doing something to make up for what Tolly did. It’s a helpless feeling, Mark, feeling responsible even though it’s not logical. You could dig and miss something Gail knows that you would never have figured out in a million years. She’s been here, like, forever.” She tapped his arm again. “Think about it, Mark. That’s all I ask.”
Then she walked away, and he watched her, her heavy socks, her warm housecoat. This time, she didn’t look back.
He reached for the file, seeing the names, as the shower popped on.
“Yeah, there’s no way I’m asking Tolly Shephard’s widow for help when it comes to anyone on this island,” he muttered. Lucky brushed his leg, then looked up at him and whined. “Now, don’t go looking at me like that. We’ll go see her, eat pizza, and then leave.”
There it was again, that sinking feeling he got every time he thought of Gail. As he took in the open file and the notes that only scratched the surface, he couldn’t help thinking Billy Jo was too often right. But he wouldn’t ask Gail even though she could clear up a lot of questions about a lot of people.
No, involving Gail was exactly what he wasn’t going to do.
Chapter2
Mark dropped the files on his desk just as Carmen walked into his office, wearing a dark blue sweater over blue jeans, dark hair pulled back in a ponytail. She was holding a file of her own, unsmiling, and her badge was pinned to the waistband of her jeans, her gun holstered.
She closed the door. “You know, there’s a point where I wonder whether I’ll go to hell,” she said as she held out the file to Mark. “You have any idea how hard it was for me not to look at Lacy while I was digging into her personal life, learning the kinds of things I shouldn’t and don’t want to know? God damn, Chief, we all have something in our closets. Now I know way too much.”
Mark reached for the file and glanced out of his glassed-in office to where Lacy was filling Lucky’s dog dish with more kibble. Her hair was short, a mix of white and dark. The scent of fresh brewing coffee was a reminder he needed another cup. He set the file atop the others on his desk, then shrugged out of his jean jacket and tossed it on a hook on the spindly old coat tree that had come with the office. “Good morning to you, too,” he said to Carmen, noting the impatience in her face and how stiffly she stood. “Any red flags? Anything stick out that I need to see?”
Carmen pulled her arms over her chest and made a rude noise as she shook her head. “Let’s see. She’s had a total of four different cell phones. Seems she cancels one when she gets a better deal somewhere else. Maybe I should ask her about that, considering my own carrier seems to be screwing me over and over. She has accounts at three different banks. The highest balance is with the local credit union, just over three thousand, give or take. The other two carry balances of only around fifty dollars.
“She’s been divorced twice. Has a daughter who’s married, living in New Mexico. Ex number one is the father. Looks like the scumbag drained their bank account and took out a second and third mortgage on the house they owned, then lost everything to gambling debts, drinking, and a fondness for cocaine. The only good thing he did for her was up and leave. Lacy and her daughter were on food stamps and welfare for six months.
“Then she worked a job in Astoria for three months before picking up odd jobs back on the island and living in an old travel trailer on the north end for a year. She worked at the cheese factory, one of the local farms, the brewery, and the grocery store, then cleaned houses and waited tables at four of the restaurants on the island. Deadbeat number two she married and divorced in six months. During that time, roughly ten years back, there was a complaint on file that Tolly responded to.”
Mark opened the file, taking in the pages of notes. Hearing the name of the old chief, he was still having trouble coming to terms with his death. It sucker-punched him every time. Those last moments he had seen Tolly alive still haunted him.
“What kind of trouble was it?” he said, flipping the pages.
Carmen leaned on his desk and pointed to the third page, halfway down. “She pulled a shotgun on deadbeat number two and threw him out of the house, her house, which she bought after scraping together enough money. The deadbeat called Tolly, saying she was trying to kill him, which apparently was how Tolly found her when he arrived on scene. He took the shotgun and talked the deadbeat into leaving quietly. Looks like the deadbeat hired a lawyer to push it further, though, and ended up getting half of what Lacy had managed to put away. A nice fat payday. Evidently, he had taken up with Dori Little, who runs the post office, and it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that Lacy busted him for the affair. Lacy had to move, because him taking half meant selling the only thing that was hers. That put her in the little house she now owns by the cove.”
Mark flicked his gaze over to Carmen. He knew by the way she had hesitated that she wasn’t done. He lifted a brow but said nothing, and she gestured toward the file again.
“If you’re wondering whether Dori is still with the deadbeat, no. Seems she saw the light not long after. For the record, I can see why Lacy has decided men aren’t worth the effort. She’s remained single, and for that she’s kept her house and her bank accounts.” Carmen pulled in a heavy breath and tossed an uneasy glance over her shoulder. “Now how the hell am I supposed to look her in the eye, knowing what I know about her messy personal life? God dammit, Chief, if anyone looked into my past…” She angled her head. “Wait, you looked into my past?”
At the sharpness in her tone, he felt pinned by her scrutiny. He made himself clear his throat. “You were always a tough one to read. I looked into you long ago, Carmen. For the record, you were screwed over. Always bothered me what happened with your kid. But, cards on the table, I’m pretty sure you’ve done your own digging into my life, probably before I got here. So now that we all know everything about each other, let’s move past it. Good to know there’s nothing to worry about with Lacy and my instincts about her were right on.”
There it was, the blank look Carmen had mastered. She blew out a breath. Maybe she was still stuck on the fact that he knew she was human just like he was. “Fine,” was all she said, with a ton of snark. She glanced away just as there was a tap on the door and it popped open.
“Chief, coffee’s ready,” Lacy said, leaning in. “Lucky is out of kibble, so I’m going to make a quick run to the corner store.”
Carmen was quiet, with an expression that gave nothing away. She pulled her arms over her chest, awkward.
“Oh, and are you done dissecting my past, Carmen?” Lacy continued. “Found all my skeletons? My bank called with one of those automated alerts, said someone had pulled my credit, which I thought was odd, since I’m not in the market to buy anything. I’ve learned the hard way from deadbeats trying to steal from me, so I know when someone is doing something they shouldn’t behind my back. Then there was the fact that you couldn’t look me in the eye for two days.
“Well, I’m not an idiot. I know you’re looking into everyone on this island. Wondered when my turn was coming. Guess I have my answer. Yes, I’m not perfect. My credit is average. Never understood the world of finance, but I did figure out how to balance my own checkbook after living in a moldy trailer for a year with my daughter. Never put all my money in one bank, either, and I’ve finally figured out how to stop paying endless fees. I’ve never stolen anything except for the candy I pocketed when I was five and my mother wasn’t looking. My car I own outright, and I have no secret stash of cash anywhere. Wish I did. Oh, and I’ve been binge-watching Netflix before I cancel that subscription. I’m too cheap to purchase cable, and I have time on my hands since spring is coming and I’m waiting for the ground to thaw so I can expand my garden. Any other questions?”
Carmen appeared uncomfortable in the face of Lacy’s calm. Damn, he really liked her.
“Just one candy?” Mark said as he closed Lacy’s file.
A twitch of a smile pulled at the edges of her lips. She only shook her head.
“Thanks, Lacy,” he said. “Appreciate it, you taking care of my dog.” He pulled a twenty from his wallet and held it out to her, and she walked around Carmen, saying nothing. The icy chill that lingered had him wincing.
“Oh, and, Chief,” Lacy said as she took the twenty, “you may want to stop in and have a word with Shana Guzman. She owns the local pub, the Dog and Whistle. She mentioned last night that her ex surprised the hell out of her by moving here after she hadn’t heard from him in, like, forever. She was downright pissed, too. Apparently, he said something about wanting to make amends.”
Mark dragged his gaze to Carmen, who had an odd expression—curiosity or pensiveness, he wasn’t sure. “Shana and her ex, what do we know about them?” he said.
Carmen lifted her hands. “I know nothing about him. Shana has a kid, I think…”
“Shana grew up here,” Lacy said. “Nice lady. Locals know her. She’s a straight shooter but, like many of us, attracts the wrong kind. She’s always been hard working. Hasn’t heard from her ex since her daughter was two. Just saying, because I know you want to know about everyone on the island, he apparently bought forty acres on the west side. Showed up the other day, and I’ve never seen Shana so angry. All I know is she doesn’t trust him.” Lacy stepped back. “You’ll listen for the phone?”
“Yeah, we got it,” Mark said, and Lacy was already walking back to her desk.
“You want me to take that one, add it to the list?” Carmen said.
Mark watched Lacy grab her purse and head out. It was suddenly so quiet, and that sinking feeling he had too often was back. “Nope, I’ve got this one. You just keep working through everyone in town.” The coffee smelled tempting, but the knot in his stomach and the tightness that pulled across his shoulders had him glancing at the clock on the wall and reaching for his jacket on the coat tree. “I’m going to have a word with Shana, find out who this ex is. You hold down the fort and try to smooth things over with Lacy.”
“What do you want me to say?” Carmen said. “You’re the one who told me to check into her, yet she’s pissed at me.”
Mark knew he had winced. He’d never understood why women were harder on other women than on men. “You want me to talk to her?”
Carmen uncrossed her arms and flicked her hand at him, giving him the pissed-off vibe that seemed to roll off her at times. “I don’t need anyone running interference for me,” she said, then walked out of his office past Lucky, who was walking in.
Mark considered this for only a second before reaching for his keys and saying, “Come on, boy, let’s go.”
Chapter3
Mark could feel the rain in the air as he stepped out of his Jeep into the parking lot, empty except for an older green Subaru.
“Come on, boy,” he said, then waited for Lucky to jump down before he closed the door.
His cowboy boots scraped the gravel as he took in the old clapboard building, painted a light tan, and the old neon sign for the Dog and Whistle, which had wires sticking out, wrapped in electrical tape. There were beer bottles on the railing of the old porch.
He pulled open the door and heard the clink of glasses. The scent of stale beer hit him as he pulled off his sunglasses and tucked them in his shirtfront.
