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- Herausgeber: Lorhainne Eckhart, INC.
- Kategorie: Gesellschafts- und Liebesromane
- Serie: A Billy Jo McCabe Myster
- Sprache: Englisch
Chief Mark Friessen is about to be a family man, with a baby on the way. However, he faces a choice: Either he breaks his word to his wife by taking on a job that will put him in danger, or he stays silent, which would haunt him forever.
Mark lives and dies by his word, and he would do anything for his wife but park his morals and turn his back on those he has sworn to protect, kids and animals, a promise he made to his wife and to himself.
After evidence uncovers a global child trafficking network with ties to his island, Mark is contacted by a secret agency of retired servicemen and cops who ask him to help track down and rescue the children no one is looking for.
The only problem is that Billy Jo is pregnant, and accepting the mission will mean Mark needs to leave her for weeks or months on end. As he struggles with his decision to leave the job he loves and the island that has become his home, he realizes he’s at a crossroads. He will need to give everything to save the children, bringing an end to the trafficking of minors, and the elite who prey on them, forever. It’s the only way to bring everyone involved to justice.
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Seitenzahl: 263
Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2022
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The Sacrifice, 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 Sacrifice
A Billy Jo McCabe Mystery
Book 10
Lorhainne Eckhart
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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
A Billy Jo McCabe Mystery box Set: Books 7 - 9
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.
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
Chapter 19
Shadow Game
Other Works Available
Chapter 1, The Hunted
Chapter 2, The Hunted
About the Author
Series Available
Links to Lorhainne Eckhart’s Booklist
About this book
Chief Mark Friessen is about to be a family man, with a baby on the way. However, he faces a choice: Either he breaks his word to his wife by taking on a job that will put him in danger, or he stays silent, which would haunt him forever.
Mark lives and dies by his word, and he would do anything for his wife but park his morals and turn his back on those he has sworn to protect, kids and animals, a promise he made to his wife and to himself.
After evidence uncovers a global child trafficking network with ties to his island, Mark is contacted by a secret agency of retired servicemen and cops who ask him to help track down and rescue the children no one is looking for.
The only problem is that Billy Jo is pregnant, and accepting the mission will mean Mark needs to leave her for weeks or months on end. As he struggles with his decision to leave the job he loves and the island that has become his home, he realizes he’s at a crossroads. He will need to give everything to save the children, bringing an end to the trafficking of minors, and the elite who prey on them, forever. It’s the only way to bring everyone involved to justice.
Yet the kids he’s trying to save are not the only ones in danger. When a phone call from home brings everything full circle, Mark’s ultimate sacrifice could be Billy Jo and his unborn baby.
ChapterOne
There was something about the fall, the cool mornings, the days becoming shorter. It seemed everything was preparing for the cold that would soon be upon them. Mark listened to the crackle of wood as he started the early-morning fire in the woodstove to take the chill out of the air.
Still barefoot after pulling on blue jeans and a navy sweatshirt, he heard the familiar sound of Billy Jo’s three-legged cat, Harley, munching on kibble. Lucky, his mutt, and Sarge, a light lab, appeared at the sliding glass door, evidently ready to come in, too. He walked over to the door and opened it, taking in the quiet. He’d left his wife sound asleep.
“That was quick this morning,” he said to his dogs. The wind was cold, and the rain was just holding off. A light frost, the first of the season, covered the grass.
A door downstairs clicked, and footsteps came up the stairs just as the coffeemaker beeped. “Good morning, Mark,” Gail said, pulling at the tie of her pale green robe, wearing slippers and flannel pajama pants. She leaned down and gave Lucky and Sarge a good petting as Mark filled two dog bowls with kibble.
“Good morning, Gail,” he said. “Coffee’s ready.”
“Oh, I see you started the fire,” she said. “Think I’ll park myself in front of it with coffee this morning. You know, I feel spoiled, Mark. I get up in the morning and you have coffee ready and the house warm. But I’ve been thinking I can’t live here forever. There’s a point where I’ll need to go home.” She turned over one of the four matching green floral mugs that Billy Jo loved, which were sitting beside the coffeemaker, clean and ready. That was just something his wife did. “You get a coffee yet?” Gail asked as she poured hers in the mug.
“No, not yet,” he said. “Pour me one, too, please.”
Mark put both dog dishes down on the other side of the island, away from the cat, as Gail filled another mug and set it down there for him. “I take it Billy Jo is still asleep,” she said.
“No, I’m awake, and I can smell the coffee. Please pour me one, too,” Billy Jo said, emerging from the bedroom. She was in a long nightshirt and wool socks, her blue fluffy housecoat pulled on but wide open over her swollen six-month belly. It appeared for a moment as if the baby had grown overnight. Damn, she was a beautiful sight.
“You sleep okay?” he said.
She was still yawning as Gail walked over to her and handed her a coffee. Mark let his gaze linger as he waited for her to take a swallow and answer him.
“Only had to get up once to go to the bathroom,” she said, “but I have to say we can add the spaghetti to the list of meals we’ll skip until after the baby is born. Too heavy, and it left me with a lingering heartburn. Oh, and I got a text from Lisa just now, which is what woke me after I finally settled into a deep sleep, a dream I now can’t remember.” She pulled her cellphone from the pocket of her housecoat and handed it to him, something he hadn’t expected.
“You need to tell her to stop texting so early, or I will,” he said.
She only rolled her eyes and walked to the living room, from which he could already feel the heat of the woodstove. “Just read it, Mark, and stop nagging. Important is important.”
Mark took a swallow of the steaming coffee and typed in his wife’s passcode, then took in the text from Lisa:
Just checked messages at the office about the Palmer kid, Mila. DCFS returned her to her mother last night, but Mom wants to know what happened to her daughter, as she has a red medical incision on her abdomen, left side. I pulled up the file, but nothing shows.
Another text dinged: Scratch that. Mom is on the warpath. She’s at the ER right now. Got a call from the ER doc because Mom has threatened half the staff after they discovered her daughter’s left kidney was removed. They want us to go down and take daughter from her. Do I go?
Mark just stared. He could feel Billy Jo watching him as he squeezed the phone, and he flicked his gaze to her. She lifted her brows, blowing on her mug of steaming coffee, and said nothing. At what point would he need to yank his wife from this cesspool of the DCFS? Stress was stress, and he still couldn’t believe she wasn’t all over this.
Mark let his gaze linger on Gail and Billy Jo in the living room, his wife now in the leather recliner and Gail adding another piece of wood to the fire. A knock at the door had them both looking his way, and he took in the clock on the stove, which read 7:15 a.m.
“Yeah, I’ll get it,” was all he said. He put his coffee down beside Billy Jo’s phone and strode to the front door, feeling that unease that seemed to build every day and never leave. He flicked the deadbolt, and Lucky was already right beside him, letting out a woof. Sarge quickly followed, barking more.
“Quiet down,” Mark said before he pulled open the door and took in two tall men, one in a dark coat, the other a light brown. Something about them screamed Fed, and he spotted the familiar bulge of a sidearm under each of their coats. No badges, but everything about them, the way they stood, the way they stared at him, said enough. He let his gaze linger on their clean-shaven faces and two black SUVs parked behind his Jeep. There were three more men in his driveway, one by the side of the house, wearing dark clothes, and one in military fatigues, watching, standing guard.
What the hell? His heart thudded, and he thought of his gun tucked inside his gun safe in the bedroom. Sloppy. “Can I help you?”
“Are you Mark Friessen?”
He didn’t turn around even when he heard footsteps behind him. “Mark, who is it?” Billy Jo said. Damn, why couldn’t she stay put? There was the cold fear he recognized and never wanted to feel again.
“Billy Jo, take Lucky and Sarge. Stay in the house.” He knew it had come out rather sharply, and he glanced only once to Billy Jo and his baby growing inside her, seeing the moment she understood.
“Come on, you two.” She reached for Sarge’s collar, then Lucky’s, and pulled them back down the hall.
Mark stepped out of the house, barefoot, feeling the chill in the air. He pulled the door closed and wished again that he had his gun. He didn’t like being caught off guard. “Who are you, military? Why are you at my house?”
The one at his door, dark hair, close cropped, about Mark’s height and build, gestured to him. “Would like to have a word with you,” he said. “Wondering if we could talk over here.”
He realized it wasn’t a question, as the other guy was already down the stairs. Mark took in the security camera outside, which still had to be hooked up, and followed them both down to the side of the house. They walked as if they knew exactly where they were going, and the hair rising at the back of his neck was just another warning about how vulnerable he and his family were. Everything in him was screaming, What the fuck?
“Okay, you have me here at the side of my house,” he said. “Who the hell are you?” He couldn’t make out the other two guys by the vehicle, but he had a feeling they were special forces, maybe. It was just something about the way they stood, the way they were positioned to the side, as if each had a job.
“We’re with the military,” the dark-haired man said. “We’ve been following you, Chief Friessen, and we’ve put together a special unit going after human traffickers, child traffickers. We’d like you to join our team.”
He just stared. For a second, he couldn’t come up with a reasonable response. “What?” He glanced between the two men. The other was chewing a piece of gum and glancing everywhere but at Mark. He had a mustache, light brown hair, and was a few inches shorter. These men were not desk jockeys, judging by how pumped they appeared, from weights and training or something. “I’m not clear,” he said. “You’re with the US military?”
“No, not entirely US,” said the dark-haired one, jumping in, and Mark picked up something in his accent that said he wasn’t from around there.
“Look, boys, I need a little more than what you’re giving me,” he said. “I’m not entirely comfortable with you showing up at my door, either. My family is here. You say you’re not entirely US, so what does that mean, exactly?”
The shorter one with light-brown hair and a mustache dragged his gaze over Mark. His eyes were brown, and the edge in them gave nothing away. “We can’t disclose too much,” he said. “Let’s just say we’re a team comprising some former military, some current military, former law enforcement, and former intelligence from the US and a few other countries. What we’re doing is putting together a team to put an end to trafficking on a worldwide scale. Right now, I’m sure you’re aware human trafficking was once surpassed by guns and drugs, but there’s more to it, and we can’t say too much unless we get a commitment from you to join our team. We operate under the radar, but we’re tackling head-on something that has remained untouchable.”
Mark let out a rough laugh, which, he realized, was likely not what they’d expected. He jammed his hands through his thick red hair. He didn’t know what to think, and he wondered for a second whether this was a joke.
“I understand you may be a little thrown,” the man said. “This is highly unusual, but we’re in a different world now, Chief. Let me ask you something. You feel as if your hands are tied at times? We’ve been following you. We know about the trafficking ring you discovered on the island, the one the old chief was a part of, and the church minister who was a staple of the island. For how many decades have children been moved through here, under the radar? One of your cops was even part of it, and a prominent pediatrician, and how many on the town council were aware? This is only one island. You brought it down single-handedly, but you’ve found yourself in a constant political battle ever since. You’ve been looking into every resident of the island because you have a feeling this is bigger than you can imagine. You’ve battled constant red tape, district attorneys refusing to prosecute, working against you. You’re up against a line of predators who can operate unscathed because of who they are and the power they hold. Then there was the social worker before your wife. How many kids disappeared, were trafficked and sold?”
“If I recall,” Mark said, knowing he sounded pissed, “you guys showed up and took all the case files, shutting down my investigation into the kids the caseworker was responsible for, who basically disappeared. The missing money and all the evidence is gone.”
The dark-haired one had the same expression as the other guy, a hardness that gave nothing away. “Not us,” he said.
“It was the military.” Mark leaned in, hearing the asshole tone of his voice. He didn’t like being blown off.
“Chief, you can’t be that naïve,” the man said. “You know there are multiple branches within the military. Units follow the orders they’re given and don’t even realize that the people whose orders they’re following aren’t the ones they swore allegiance to. You were over the target, getting too close, and have stepped on toes. Others are watching you, too, not just us.”
He thought his ears were ringing. “What? Who’s watching me?” He found himself looking over his shoulder. The chill that went up his back bothered him in ways he couldn’t have explained to anyone.
“Those whose toes you’re stepping on. You don’t want to be on their radar. Leaves you with that nice, tingly feeling, doesn’t it? Maybe you want to sit with this for a minute. And that camera you have at the front door? You should get it hooked up.”
Then both men turned and started walking back to the front.
“Wait,” Mark called out. “I don’t even know who you are, your names, how to get a hold of you. You just show up here and drop this bomb on me?”
The mustached man looked back to him, and Mark figured he was the one in charge. “You can call me Dion, but understand we didn’t have this conversation. We’ll give you a bit to think about what we’re offering, what it is we’re asking of you. Just know that it’s best you don’t share this with anyone. This isn’t a job, Mark Friessen. We’re asking you to join the team. There will be training. We’re going after these traffickers, after the children. Some we can save, but many we can’t. Think about it, Mark. How many children go missing every minute, never to be found again? Who’s taking them? This is bigger than you think. We’ll give you the morning.”
“Wait,” Mark said. “I have a wife and a baby on the way.”
Dion didn’t pull his gaze, which, for the first time, held something that resembled emotion. “Maybe that’s another reason we’re asking. Again, Mark, we’ve done our homework on you and your wife, the social worker. Billy Jo, is it?”
He liked this even less, these men he didn’t know anything about bringing up his wife. “Who do you work for, then? Who funds you? Who do you report to? I kind of need to know more than what you’ve told me, just showing up here and asking me to join some task force. I’m the chief on this island. You’re asking me to walk away from my job. Who is going to watch over the people here, keep things safe? The former chief wasn’t part of it by choice, so you evidently know somebody got to him. My question, are those same somebodies watching me? I won’t keep this from my wife. We have no secrets.”
Dion gestured to him, standing at the front of the house now. There was no window at that side, and three tall, thick fir trees also sheltered them. They were out of view of everything. “You’ll be briefed in full detail when you decide to join the team. You’ll sign a military NDA. What you learn will be classified, and you can share only what isn’t. You’ll have to explain it to your wife. We have our own families, too, who understand that what we’re doing is important. You can share the general gist, just not ops. Those details don’t get released to anyone outside the team. I shouldn’t have to explain why. Your chief was gotten to because the people responsible, who have you in their sight now, operate in the shadows and compromise those they can’t buy, those like your former chief, among others.”
How much did Mark really know about the intelligence community? Less than he should. For a second, as he stood there, he couldn’t get his brain to come up with anything he knew he should be asking. “How do I get a hold of you?”
Dion only shook his head, then started walking, “We’ll contact you,” he called out over his shoulder.
Mark followed, stepping over the pinecones on the grass, and watched as five men climbed in two SUVs, backed out, and drove away. He took a second, standing in the cool morning air, unable to shake the feeling that he was now at a crossroads, and whatever choice he made would forever change his life.
It was unsettling. His wife was pregnant, but what was the thing he’d always promised her? Kids and animals, he’d sworn to protect them.
ChapterTwo
Lucky had let out a soft woof as Mark headed out the front door, and he still sat there, waiting, whereas Sarge was already eating his kibble again.
“Lucky, come here, boy. Lie down,” Billy Jo said, gesturing sharply to the dog bed in the corner of the living room.
Gail gave the dog a rub as he walked past her and over to his bed, but instead of lying, he sat. “He’s just worried,” she said. “Doesn’t like it when he can’t do his job, looking after Mark.”
“Yeah, well, the feeling is mutual,” Billy Jo said. “You see him out there?”
Gail shook her head, then walked over to the living room to look out the front window. “No, he’s out of sight, and that’s not a good thing. What do you think they want? Does Mark know them?” She was looking out into the back yard now.
Billy Jo couldn’t shake her unease. She knew when Mark was on edge, worried, scared in a way that had him going all alpha like he had a few minutes earlier. It was just a look, his voice, and the tension she could feel coming off him in waves. “I know nothing,” Billy Jo said. “That’s the problem. I don’t know who they are. I don’t think Mark does, either, by the way he acted. He just told me to take the dogs.”
She heard the door open and put her coffee mug down as she heard Mark’s heavy footsteps. He appeared, his gaze intense, tension pulling across those broad shoulders and arms that held her every night.
He said nothing as he walked over to the island, where her phone and his coffee mug were, but instead of reaching for it, he seemed lost in thought.
“Mark, who was that?” she said. “Did you know them? What did they want?”
His hands were now resting on the edge of the island, and he leaned heavily on them before stepping back. How quiet he was in that second really bothered her.
“Mark, what’s going on?”
He gave his head a shake. His red hair still had that bedhead look. “I don’t know who they are,” he said. “Some type of military unit. Special forces, from what I figure. Didn’t really say. Didn’t offer their names or where they’re from, only this cloak and dagger shit. No, I don’t know them, but they seem to know all about me.”
Mark pushed away from the island, then reached for his mug and took a swallow of his coffee, but it was likely cold, as he walked over to the sink and dumped it out before reaching for the carafe to refill it. Billy Jo glanced over to Gail, who was still standing by the sliding glass door, wearing that motherly look as she watched Mark closely. Then she dragged her gaze to Billy Jo. Okay, so she had picked up on it, as well.
Mark didn’t turn around, which had her suspecting that what he said next would be something she wouldn’t like. “You remember what happened here, what we found under the minister’s house, under the floor?” he said. “The cells, the rooms where he was keeping kids? And the things he was doing with them, selling them? It’s something no one wants in their head.”
There it was again, that awful knot in her stomach. Mark turned around and let his gaze linger on her, and she could see in his amazing sky-blue eyes that there was way more. She could only nod as she pulled her lower lip between her teeth and instinctually rested her hands on her baby, the flutter of life that she felt throughout the day. Mark’s gaze went right to the baby she carried, then over to Gail.
“They offered me a job,” he said. “Actually, I don’t think it’s really a job. It’s more that they want me to join a task force or something, considering what I found, that small pedophile ring hidden here. There appear to be many more. I don’t even know who those guys are, but if what one of them said is true, they’re former cops, military, intelligence…” Mark stopped talking, and she recognized the quiet place he went, seeming to hold on to things. He stared into his mug of coffee and then shook his head, making a face. “When I first became a deputy, I never expected to find what I did on this island. I’ve had my eyes opened in ways I never thought possible. I believed the world to be one way, but I’m starting to think everything I thought to be true was a lie. I knew deep down that the problem wasn’t isolated to this island.” He let his gaze linger, and she had an awful feeling of an impending change.
“So what does this mean, exactly, Mark?” she said. She knew Gail hadn’t moved, just listening to everything. “You have a job as the chief on this island. This is our home.”
Mark’s face told her everything he hadn’t said, and it really hit home. “I think you know what it means. From the little they said, if I join this team, I won’t be chief here anymore. That’s all I know. It’s military, but not what we think of. I don’t know all the details. Seems they operate under the radar, which is the only way to go after the kind of corruption we’re talking about. Drugs and illegal guns have been coming across our border, out of control, for so long, but human trafficking has exceeded everything. You know what I’m talking about—kids, babies, women. This is about taking them down, and that’s all I know. I’ll know the details only if I decide to join. Some things are classified, and no one outside the team can know. I think you already know that the people involved in trafficking are in positions of power. They have access to everything, and they have people everywhere.”
Billy Jo put down her mug of coffee. “And why does it have to be you?”
He walked over to her after setting his own mug down and rested his hands on her shoulders, then ran them down over her arms so tenderly, lovingly. “I didn’t say yes,” he said. “They want me to think about it. Only if I commit to joining them will I know more. I’m not taking on something without talking to you. I’m telling you what I know and what they want. For all I know, this could be someone messing with me.”
“I don’t think you believe that, Mark,” Gail cut in.
Billy Jo turned to her. Gail’s expression was tense and heavy, and from the face she made, Billy Jo wondered whether she was thinking again of what Tolly had done. She didn’t know how she’d feel if it had been Mark.
“We’ve never talked about what happened,” Gail said, “not really. But think about it. Who has that kind of power, to have gotten to my husband through my son, having him agreeing to look the other way as innocent kids were preyed on? It wouldn’t just be here. How many others are involved? How deep does this go, how far up the chain of command? The low-hanging fruit, the working class, is doing the dirty work, but how many are pulling the strings, controlling this? They have the power and money to control the system, so who has that kind of power?”
Billy Jo felt Mark squeeze her arm as if he needed to hold on to it.
“I think you and I both know we’re talking at a level above governments,” he said. “But, as I said, I haven’t accepted anything, and I may not even hear from them again. Speaking of which, about that text from Lisa, I’ll call her and handle it. I’m going to grab a shower and head in to work.” He pressed a kiss to her forehead. “Why don’t you stay home this morning, put your feet up and take it easy?” He let his fingers run gently down the side of her face.
“No, I’m right behind you,” she said. “I have some files I need to clean up, calls to make, and I plan to be there when you have your chit-chat with Lisa. One thing I’ve learned about her is that she loves to go down the rabbit hole, finding things and digging in places the average person will never go, but it could be just another screwup.”
