The Stranger Next Door

by Lorhainne Eckhart

  She could hear the nastiness in his voice, and maybe she deserved that slap. She wanted to say people wouldn’t believe it, but she knew that wasn’t true. “I’m sorry, Mark. What are you going to do?”

  He sighed. “I don’t know. Go see the chief, have a word with him about Ash Byrd, find out who he is, what he does for people, exactly, and everything about Sunday.”

  Then he started walking out of the kitchen right past her. No hug, no kiss, no nothing.

  “Mark,” she called out to him.

  He stopped halfway to the door and glanced back to her.

  “I don’t really believe you’d do that,” she said. “It’s just my own insecurity.”

  He nodded. “I know, but there is a point, Billy Jo, where you can go too far, push too hard, lashing out to slap me down and push me away. I wouldn’t do that to you, not ever,” he said.

  Then he kept walking out the door, and she shut her eyes, feeling his words and knowing how right he was. As Mark went down the stairs, Lucky barked from where he’d evidently been left in the Jeep.

  Billy Jo realized she needed to get her head right, or this thing with Mark would never go anywhere. Because he was right: She was pushing him out of her life because he knew too many of her dark and dirty secrets, and he could read her way too well, and that was the one thing that absolutely terrified her.

  Chapter Six

  “Damn, damn, damn, why?” Billy Jo said as she flicked her gaze to her rear-view mirror, taking in her eyes, dull blue, her straight mousy brown hair, and the freckles she’d always hated. She felt like absolute shit, the knot tightening in her stomach as she realized she’d gone from the girl who’d caught Mark’s eye to the girl who was driving a knife into his heart. “There’s something seriously wrong with you. Get it together.”

  She was driving down an island road, down a driveway shrouded with trees, seeing Gail’s white truck and Mark’s Jeep. Her heart thudded because she suddenly felt awkward and stalkerish as she pulled in and stopped behind it.

  “You just can’t help yourself, can you, going from one stupid thing to the next? You shouldn’t be here, Billy Jo.” She looked again at her reflection, trying to figure out how to explain her showing up there without sounding like a nutcase. Then the front door opened, and she knew it was too late as she took in Gail standing there, staring at her.

  She turned off the car and let out a sigh as she pulled open the door and stepped out. As she closed it, Gail didn’t pull her gaze, unsmiling, wearing blue jeans. Lucky was racing out the front door toward her.

  “Hey there, good boy,” she said. “Missed you this morning.” She rubbed the dog’s side and knew she was stalling, so she forced herself to look up to Gail and did something she’d never done before: She pasted on a smile.

  “Oh good God, what’s wrong?” Gail said, alarm flashing across her face. It had the knot in Billy Jo’s stomach twisting more, and she nearly stumbled.

  “Nothing is wrong. Why would you ask that?” Billy Jo clutched her keys and watched as Lucky walked right back into the house past Gail, making himself completely at home. Billy Jo took in the woman she’d always have a soft spot for.

  “Your face,” Gail said. “One thing I like about you is that as long as I’ve known you, you’ve never pretended to be something you’re not. Some girls can pull off that fake smile, but you’re not one of them. So what is it?”

  She stopped in front of Gail, hearing voices inside, the chief and Mark. She had realized while driving in that she didn’t have a reason to explain this madness. “Mark is here?”

  Gail only lifted a brow.

  Billy Jo let out a sigh. “Fine. I screwed up big time and said something I wish I hadn’t, and I feel like an absolute asshole…”

  Gail shook her head and rolled her eyes, stepping back and gesturing inside. “You mean with Mark? So you’re here to apologize, make it right. Boy, this I have to see,” Gail said, and Billy Jo nodded as she stepped inside. Gail took her in, letting her gaze linger and then drop lower. “You look rather fresh.”

  She angled her head and took in the teasing smile that appeared on Gail’s face. “Fresh, what the hell does that mean?” She felt her shoulders pulling forward, feeling a wave of unease about the light green V-cut blouse that made her feel more like a girl than she was comfortable with.

  “You can really fill out a pair of blue jeans nicely. Seems you’ve been hiding all that hotness under boxy and plain clothes. There’s nothing boxy and plain with how you look now. Boy, you really are sunk, aren’t you? Well, come on in…” Gail started walking.

  Billy Jo found herself looking back at the closed door, wondering whether it was too late to walk back out, climb in her car, and drive away. After all, how was she going to explain the craziness of her just showing up there?

  As she followed Gail into the family room, which overlooked the open-concept kitchen, she took in the box of the chief’s photos and memorabilia. Mark was staring at her with an odd expression, his gaze narrowed, whereas the old chief looked at her the same way he always had. Evidently, his fondness for her hadn’t grown.

  “Look who I found at the door,” Gail said.

  Billy Jo’s heart thudded, and she took in the deep green loveseat Gail stood in front of, glancing back to her. Mark and the chief were each in an easy chair, the stone fireplace between them, and everyone was staring at her, waiting for her to say something, anything, about why she was there.

  “Sorry I’m late,” she said, looking right at Mark. All he did was lift a brow. She could feel the chief watching her, and she thought Gail was laughing at her. “Can I talk to you a second?” she continued without moving or pulling her gaze.

  As Mark stood up and took a step over to her, Gail walked around him to the old chief and said, “Tolly, I need your help.”

  She gestured, and the chief pushed himself out of the chair. She had expected him to at least ask what she wanted or say no, but to his credit, he said none of that, instead following her down the hall obediently. That left her with Mark standing right in front of her, his jean jacket still on. Her eyes went right to that magnificent chest, and she pulled in a breath and lifted her gaze to those unsmiling vivid blue eyes.

  “What are you doing here?” he said.

  “I don’t like how you left, and I wanted to say I’m sorry, because you’re right.”

  He didn’t blink or make a face. Something about the way he could hold her gaze was really unnerving. “You showed up at the chief’s, where I’m trying to find out about Ash Bryd, to say you’re sorry, seriously?”

  Having him point out to her how ridiculous this seemed didn’t help the awkwardness she was feeling.

  “I know this is crazy, and I realized as soon as I pulled up here that it was ridiculous, but then Gail opened the door, and it was too late to drive away. So here I am, feeling stalkerish, trying to save face. I feel way out of my depth, and I’m so very sorry for what I said. I can’t believe I accused you of being interested in Sunday Byrd. I know you’re not that kind of creep. It was just my—”

  “Issues, insecurity,” Mark cut in, and Billy Jo found herself gritting her teeth because it felt as if he were shoving it in her face. “Are you still going to deny this is personal for you?”

  At least he hadn’t compared her to Sunday again. She resisted the urge to roll her shoulders, feeling the tightness and the pinching, fighting her first instinct to run out and walk away, pulling herself kicking and screaming from her comfort zone. This was so damn hard.

  “I still don’t believe she’s telling the truth, not about everything,” she said. “You find out about Ash Byrd yet from the chief?”

  From the way he nodded, she wondered whether he was agreeing with her or conceding and not pushing her to admit that maybe he was right. There was too much about Sunday that she didn’t like, and those qualities were the same ones she had hidden inside herself.

  “Just got here. Didn’t have a chance to get into anything to
o much,” he said.

  Billy Jo made herself reach over and press her hand to his arm. He angled his head, and his expression softened, but he didn’t make a move even though he’d been the one in their relationship to make every single move to that point, giving a touch, a kiss, some support.

  And she’d fought him every step of the way.

  “You two kiss and make up yet?” Gail called out.

  Damn, was this awkward. Mark gave a soft chuckle under his breath. He must have figured out how terrified Billy Jo was of herself. He slid his hand over her shoulder and stepped up close beside her. His touch said everything.

  “Yeah, we’re fine, Gail. You can come on back in now,” he called out.

  Billy Jo shut her eyes for a second, feeling mortified, and maybe Mark understood, as he squeezed her shoulder again. Meanwhile, the dog trotted in with what looked like a rawhide bone in his mouth, lay down in the middle of the family room, and started chewing. Yeah, Gail and Tolly really did have a soft spot for Lucky.

  When they followed the dog in, Mark gestured to the loveseat and looked right at Billy Jo.

  “So you didn’t ask about Sunday, either?” she said in a low voice to him. “I searched the internet and didn’t find anything on either of them.”

  He only shrugged as he sat right beside her, so close, and glanced over to her. “I wasn’t here long enough to ask anything before you got here.”

  The chief sat back down in the same easy chair, and Gail took the other. “I know this isn’t a social call, Mark,” he said. “You said you needed to talk to me about a potential problem. I’m all ears.”

  She looked at Mark, who was leaning forward, his forearms resting on his knees. She reached over and pressed her hand to Mark’s arm again, and of course he looked her way. “Last night there was a knock on Mark’s door,” she said. “It was a young woman by the name of Sunday Byrd with quite a story. Sixteen yet married for three years already, looking for help. She said her husband, Ash, killed her family, and she was forced to marry him. She has two children already. This morning, Ash greeted Mark in his office. He was sitting and waiting for him, knowing his wife had been over last night.”

  Mark was looking right at her, and she rubbed his arm before pulling her hand away and flicking her gaze to Tolly, who looked over to Gail. Whatever passed between them, she realized they already knew something.

  “You say he was waiting for you when you went in,” the chief said.

  Mark dragged his gaze back over to him. “He’d walked in before I got there, told Carmen I was expecting him, made himself at home. But what really bothers me is how well he knew your office. He talked about the file in the bottom drawer, the information on the council, what you left for me. That was after he warned me away from his wife. How he knew she was at my place, I have no idea, considering I promised her I wouldn’t say anything. Maybe she told him. So I have to wonder, Chief, did you have him dig up that dirt for you? Because our conversation had me wondering how well he knows you and you him. So who is he, and do I have something to worry about?”

  Mark gestured to the chief, waiting, as an unspoken conversation seemed to pass between Gail and Tolly.

  “Are you going to tell him?” Gail said in a way that made Billy Jo suspect she might not like what she was about to hear.

  “He showed up to warn you off, did he?” the chief said, then shook his head, and the knot in Billy Jo’s stomach only tightened further. Mark wasn’t looking her way, and she found herself sliding closer to him.

  “You evidently know him,” Mark said.

  The chief made a face. “Yeah, I know Ash. So Sunday showed up at your place. My advice, Mark? You need to forget she was ever there, and if she shows up again, you send her on her way. Yeah, Ash takes care of problems for those who can afford it, if you know what I mean. I didn’t pay him, if that’s what you’re asking, but he showed up one day because the council was politicizing and jerking my chain to get me to follow their orders. He knew, everyone knew. I knew who he was, as you learn quickly who’s who on this island, those who come and go. He had found out everything about who was calling the shots in the council, with everyone else just following along. So, after we had a conversation, he provided that information to me. He even had a word with the famous three, Mary Jane Trundell, Herb Walker, and Hal Green, to let them know messing with me would be their downfall.”

  Even Billy Jo knew what he meant by that, considering how much her dad had shared with her, growing up, about how things worked in politics. But it seemed this was different.

  “So it was a gift to keep you quiet, out of his business. You knew about his child bride?” Billy Jo cut in. When Mark turned his head back to her, she wondered whether he was expecting her to be quiet. If so, that wasn’t going to happen.

  “Ash Bryd is from California,” the chief said. “He made his money there and has an office in Hollywood, with a part-time home here on the island. Agents, managers, big producers, and the Hollywood elite hire him when stars get themselves in trouble, and he fixes the problem. He’s probably the best around. So if he showed up and warned you off, you need to listen. You don’t mess with Ash Byrd.” He spoke so matter of factly, dragging his gaze over to Billy Jo, “And let’s be clear on something. Sunday Byrd is his wife. She may be underage, but what he did is completely legal. In California, there is no minimum age to marry. So there’s no crime there. You have a problem with any of that, write your congressman and change the law.”

  Billy Jo felt the slap. She wasn’t sure what to make of the way Gail was watching Tolly.

  “So you’re telling me that if I don’t let it go, he’ll make good on his word?” Mark said. “He threatened to see to it that word gets out that I’m hooking up with his child bride. Even though he’s married to her, I’d suddenly be seen in this community as a predator of young girls. I’d be run off the island, and the council would have all the ammunition they needed to fire me.”

  Maybe hearing Mark say it now was what made Billy Jo realize how bad this was. He was the one guy who didn’t walk away when someone was in trouble. It went against everything he was.

  “Word of advice, Mark. In this one, you’re going to have to park your integrity. I know it goes against who you are, but if Ash Byrd warned you off, that was the gentleman in him giving you a courtesy, a heads-up that you crossed a line. Ther’s no second chance. Let’s be clear on what will happen. You will wake up one morning with a shitstorm of allegations against you, likely learning first about it in the news—sexual impropriety, maybe assault, or maybe you just have a thing for young girls. There will be no mention whatsoever of Ash Byrd or his marriage.

  “You’ll be in front of the firing squad, and you won’t be able to talk your way out of it. It will be dirty, ugly, and you won’t have a leg to stand on with the council, because the Feds will likely be investigating you. You’ll find yourself facing charges, a criminal indictment, and whether you fight it or not will be irrelevant, because you’ll never win against the federal government. And that’s the best-case scenario, because you just might not survive going up against Ash Byrd.

  “You know, Mark, there’s a saying. If you want to make a lot of money, go to Wall Street. If you want to spend a lot of time with gorgeous women, go into the modeling business. If you want to have power over people’s lives, go to Washington. If you want all three, money, sex, and power, go to Hollywood. Because in Hollywood, you can access things you can’t anywhere else.

  “That’s who Ash Byrd is. He’s the power behind the scenes, the one who fixes the problems of the Hollywood elite, and that includes the judges, the attorney general, the elected representatives in California. I’m sure you’re already figuring out that half this island is owned by the California who’s who.” Tolly was leaning forward, and Gail was now standing.

  Billy Jo knew that was their cue. Mark looked back to her, and she patted his arm again and stood up when he did.

  “Well, thanks for coming, you two
,” Gail said. “I’ll have you both over for dinner soon.”

  It wasn’t lost on Billy Jo that she was shutting down the conversation about the Byrd family. Mark called Lucky, who still had the rawhide bone in his mouth, and followed the chief to the door. Billy Jo was following him, unable to make out what Mark was saying to the chief, when she felt a hand on her arm, pulling her back. She glanced up to Gail.

  “You think she’s lying, don’t you?” Gail said in a low voice so Mark and Tolly couldn’t hear.

  “About some of it, I do, and maybe more.”

  Gail looked to the door and then back to her. “You keep Mark away from her,” she said, her voice just above a whisper. “Because Ash will break him. He’s no joke. He’s good at what he does, which is why he’s the one the Hollywood elite call when they find themselves on the front page, with trouble dogging them. As far as Sunday, be careful with her. She may be just a kid, but she’s smart as all hell. My guess is she wants something. Ash is dangerous, but Sunday has been with him long enough that she knows how to play. And for both your sakes, don’t talk about this with anyone.”

  Billy Jo knew Mark was waiting. She realized Gail knew a lot more than she was saying. She’d never seen her so on edge before. “And her story, you think it’s true?”

  Gail dropped her hand from Billy Jo’s arm and stepped back. “We’ll do a barbecue, catch up,” she said loud enough that Mark could hear. Then she was walking to the door, and Billy Jo realized that was her cue to leave. She wasn’t getting anything else.