The Stranger Next Door

by Lorhainne Eckhart

  As she walked out the door with Mark, the dog running around the Jeep, she heard the front door close behind them, and Mark reached for her arm and said, “So what was that?”

  She took in his warm hand and how close he was standing. “I don’t know, Mark. A warning, maybe. I have a bad feeling here.”

  He didn’t say anything at first, and she took in his expression, the way he glanced past her, thinking. She was very aware of his moods, and that scared her.

  “Yeah, fuck,” he said, “but here we are.”

  She nodded. “I hate to say this, Mark, but I wish Sunday had never knocked on your door.”

  He squinted in the sun and then let his gaze settle on her. “Wishing isn’t going to fix this or make it go away. You off to work?”

  Right. Her appointments, her schedule, the kids she needed to check in on.

  She nodded and said, “Do me a favor.”

  He was still looking at her. “Am I going to want to hear this?”

  She touched him again, this time pressing her hand to the flat of his chest. Damn, she’d never touched him this much before. His gaze dropped to her hand. “Don’t do anything today about Sunday,” she said.

  He pressed his hand over hers and squeezed, pulling it away but not letting go as he said, “You know I can’t do that.” He leaned in and hesitated only a second before pressing a kiss to her lips and pulling back. “I’ll call you later.”

  Then he pulled open his Jeep and let the dog in, and Billy Jo wished that Mark, just this one time, would not be the hero.

  Chapter Seven

  For the second time that day, Mark pulled in and parked in front of the island stationhouse. He found himself really looking around, taking in the hotel and restaurant across the road, the cars on the street, and the stores. The island was now into its morning routine. Lucky jumped out, having dropped the rawhide bone on the backseat, and was quickly at the door to the office.

  Nothing about his stopover at the chief’s had given him the answers he wanted to hear. Instead, it had left him with a heaviness settling over him.

  He turned the knob and opened the door to see Carmen and two new faces, and he took a second to wonder what the hell was coming at him now.

  “Oh, hi, Chief,” Carmen said as she jumped up from her chair.

  He took in a tall, lanky young man with light hair and freckles, wearing blue jeans that hung on his too-thin frame, and a woman with light blond hair pulled back and pinned up, wearing what looked like a brown deputy shirt. She flashed him a bright smile.

  “Just sit down, both of you,” Carmen said quite sharply to the two, and they sat in the chairs in front of her desk.

  As Mark closed the door, Carmen hurried over to him, her expression too weird for him to try to decipher.

  “What’s going on?” he said, gesturing with his keys in his hand, letting his gaze linger on the guy and girl, who were both staring at him with smiles pasted on their faces. He settled his hands on his waist and just looked down at them, then gave his head a shake and kept walking into his office. He heard Carmen say something to them in a low voice as he walked around his desk and dropped his keys, and the dog followed him in. He sat down in his chair, looking out into his precinct.

  “You want to explain who that is out there?” he said to Carmen, whom he couldn’t remember ever looking so awkward. She reached for the door and closed it, but from the glassed-in office, he could see everything.

  “They’re the new deputy and dispatcher,” she said, and he was pretty sure she winced.

  He shot her a look and flicked his gaze back out to take in the two sitting there, looking his way. They lifted their hands and waved at him.

  “Excuse me? Who sent them? Because I’m pretty sure I didn’t call anyone to come in yet and interview, let alone decide on someone to fill the vacancies.”

  “They showed up an hour ago with Hal Green. He said the council has already hired them, and they have signed contracts.”

  Mark leaned back hard in his chair, hearing the squeak, and linked both his hands over his belt as he listened to Carmen. Someone was jerking his chain from behind the scenes, and he didn’t like that feeling at all.

  “You’re telling me Hal Green walked in here while I was gone and said those two sitting at your desk now work here?”

  Carmen glanced over her shoulder and then back to him and nodded. “Correct. He said something along the lines of your being too busy, and since they already sent over the resumes of their picks, they just figured it would be easier to take it off your plate and finalize it. They have contracts and are apparently starting right now.”

  Unbelievable. It seemed nothing about today would be easy or smooth. He nodded. “Well, that’s just fucking great. Seems I’m getting my hands tied from every direction,” he said, though he knew Carmen didn’t understand. He gestured to her. “You find out anything on Ash Byrd and that plate number I gave you?”

  Carmen didn’t often show she was rattled, but he could see she was a little thrown. “Plate you gave me is registered to him. He owns a house up on Sanders, top of the hill, twenty-five acres. Gated, too. What I could find on him is that he’s some type of consultant, with an office in Hollywood and a staff of five but no website. That’s it. No social media, nothing online, and no company reviews, so that tells me…”

  “He works for the who’s who, and having a public profile works against him,” Mark cut in, rocking a bit in his chair. Lucky was sitting now, looking up to him and panting.

  “So what do you want me to do?” Carmen said. “You want to send those two packing? I have to say, Chief, we need the help now. There’s the phones, and no one is doing rounds because I’m here taking care of this place, which Gail always did. You know Gail’s shoes are going to be hard to fill. She had her finger on the pulse of this community, and she knew how this office and everything runs.”

  “Get one of them to fill Lucky’s bowl with water and get him some kibble. Then send me Byrd’s address.” He stood up and grabbed his keys from his desk, taking in his dog and a wide-eyed Carmen, who gestured to him.

  “So you want me to put them to work?” she said.

  He dragged his gaze to the two, who were now talking. The man looked over to him and tapped the woman, who also looked his way. “Nope,” Mark said. “Get one of them on dog duty, but I’m going to have a word with them both after I pay the council a visit, because they do not get to hire my people.”

  Then there was Ash Byrd. Mark didn’t have a clue how he was going to handle that. Add in Billy Jo, who confused the hell out of him, and today was shaping into the kind of tough day where everything that could go wrong would.

  “Word of advice, Mark?” Carmen pressed her hand to his desk, and in that suddenly personal moment, he realized another warning was coming.

  “Why not? Seems to be a day of advice,” he said. He could see her confusion in the way her brows knit, but at least she didn’t ask.

  “I’ve been working here a long time,” she said. “You may not have liked Chief Shephard’s way of doing things, but he handled the council so things worked for him, and most times they did. As the chief explained to me not long after I started, when he was training me, it took him a while to figure out the way of things. He said they’re like snakes. You walk out thinking you’ve agreed to do things one way, and before you’re even back in your office, you find a knife in your back. They’ll suggest something and you’ll say no, and you’ll think that’s the end of it, yet they’ll do it anyway. Or they’ll cut your legs right out from under you and force your hand. They operate totally differently than we do, using some obscure playbook. But Chief Shephard managed for the most part to keep the council hands off when it came to running this department, and that included their not influencing investigations or telling him how he was to interpret the law. Do you understand what I’m saying? He never once went in there and had a showdown, which I can see you very much want to do. Trust me when I say it will ba
ckfire on you. Think first. Be smart.”

  He knew what she was saying, but he wasn’t about to take this lying down. “Thanks, Carmen. I do appreciate the shared wisdom, but I’m well aware of what I’m dealing with, and I’m not going to be made a fool of.”

  Carmen pulled open the door, and Mark gestured to the dog, who ran out ahead of both of them. He followed her out of his office and took in the two council recruits, who were standing now, their expressions eager.

  “You do exactly what she says and touch nothing,” was all Mark said to them on his way out. “And someone get my dog some water and kibble!”

  Then he pulled open the door and stepped out, shutting his eyes for a second, because it seemed policing this island had become the last job he was doing.

  He could have walked to the council office because it was only a block away, but instead he drove. As he parked at midday in front of the two-story whitewashed building with an American flag waving in front, a town worker was weeding the flower garden, and the automatic sprinkler was running. The lawn was well manicured, so he could see taxpayer money was being well used.

  He shook his head as he stepped out of his Jeep. The day was warm already as he strode up to the commercial glass front door, his cowboy boots scraping the stone steps. He pulled off his sunglasses and stepped inside, where he took in the bright, flirty smile of the council assistant as she greeted him.

  “Chief Friessen, how are you today?”

  What was her name again, Jeanette, Jane, Julie? He leaned on the counter, taking in her round face, shoulder-length dark hair, and sleeveless silky blue shirt. She was attractive, in her early twenties, but he wasn’t interested in the least.

  “Hal Green in?” he said, but he heard voices down the hall before she could say anything, and he leaned back to spot Hal and Mary Jane herself coming out of a boardroom. “Never mind. There they are…” he said, then patted the counter and started walking down the hall. It was Mary Jane who saw him first.

  “Mark, what a surprise. Didn’t know we had a meeting scheduled,” she said. Mary Jane was neat and tidy, attractive in a conservative way, her makeup flawless and her smile perfect. Hal, though, was balding and of average height, and his smile reminded Mark of a used car salesman.

  “We don’t have a meeting,” he said. “I came to have a word with Hal, but it’s even better that you’re here so I have to say this only once.”

  Mary Jane gave a sharp shake of her head. “Mark, I don’t have time today. I have another meeting in ten minutes.”

  “It won’t take that long,” he said, sensing she was trying to blow him off. He gestured to the office in front of him with her name on the door. “Shall we?”

  Mary Jane’s unsmiling expression held something he wasn’t familiar with, and it gave him that off feeling. “Five minutes only, Mark,” she stressed as she strode into her office.

  Mark waited for Hal to walk in as well, but the man didn’t move. Instead, he said, “No, after you, Mark.”

  So the power play had begun. Mark walked in ahead of Hal and glanced back to him as he closed the door. Mary Jane was standing behind her desk, wearing a silky black shirt with ruffles and a pencil skirt. She was slim, and he knew her pumps weren’t overly high.

  “So what can I do for you, Mark?” she said, sounding quite short, all business.

  “You can both explain to me why Hal walked into my precinct today with two newbies and told my detective they’re the new recruits. You do not have jurisdiction over hiring. Who I hire is my call.”

  “I completely understand,” Hal said, “and if I was in your position, I’d likely feel the same way. But here’s the thing, Mark. We sent you the resumes of our picks, who we feel would work best for this community…”

  “Last night. You sent over your picks last night,” Mark said, cutting off Hal, whose phony plastic smile he wanted to wipe off his face. “Are you telling me that between last night and today, you decided to just go ahead and hire them? Well, you’re going to have to un-hire them and explain to them why they don’t have the job.”

  Mary Jane was no longer even pretending to smile. No, looking back at him was a woman who knew how to run things her way. “We can’t do that, Mark. They’re under contract with the council, on payroll, so you’re just going to have to make it work. Train them and get them to work. The detective is on a one-year contract, and the dispatcher is on a nine-month—”

  “Detective? I have a detective, Carmen. We’ve been through this already. The only job openings are for a deputy and dispatcher to fill Gail’s position.” He was very direct and unusually calm.

  Mary Jane let out a heavy sigh and looked over to Hal, who was still standing by the door, his arms crossed, leaning against it. Mark saw an arrogance in him that he’d never liked.

  “We, the council, never approved Carmen’s promotion,” Hal said, “and in case you may have forgotten, we pay her salary and yours. As far as the council is concerned, she was only filling in until someone with the necessary qualifications could be contracted. We’ve taken care of that for you. Oh, and another thing, Chief.” Hal uncrossed his arms and rested his hand on the doorknob, ready to pull it open.

  Mark said nothing, pulling in one breath and then another.

  “I understand there may have been a discrepancy in the handling of the budget for the island homeless,” Hal continued, “but I believe that’s been rectified. Seems our dear Jennifer out front isn’t quite as efficient with the bookkeeping as she let on. But we wouldn’t want her to lose her job over it. Nor would we want something of this seriousness to get out, because it would be a black mark that would forever trail her. It could possibly even end with her being charged with a misdemeanor. I mean, that’s not fair, but if you insist on pushing…” He pulled open the door, and his smile widened.

  Mark just stared in horror, hating the man and how he was suddenly two steps ahead of him. When he looked back at Mary Jane, she wore a hard expression as she linked her fingers and stared at him unapologetically. She lifted her wrist, glancing to her watch. Yeah, this was no surprise to her.

  “Wow, absolutely fucking amazing, both of you,” was all he got out before Mary Jane said, “Okay, now we’re done. I have a meeting. Mark, you can show yourself out.”

  And that was that.

  Hal was now outside the office, still smiling, standing in the hall. Mark only shook his head, because there was that feeling again of having the rug yanked out from under him.

  “Close the door behind you, please,” Mary Jane said as she sat in her black high-back executive chair, reaching for the phone.

  Mark pulled the door closed behind him, and that left Hal and him in the hallway. “You think you’re smarter than me,” he said, unable to help himself.

  Hal’s expression was smug. “Be careful, Detective. That sounds like a threat.”

  Mark took a step toward him, putting all his aggression into each step, his hands fisted, and Hal jumped back, maybe because he wasn’t as stupid as he’d first thought. “You be careful there, Councillor. You may have found yourself a scapegoat, but there’s one thing I know about snakes like you. If you had your hand stuck in one thing, there will be another, and now I’ll be waiting. You may be slick, but I’m tenacious, and I will break you.” His voice was low and calm, and he could feel the edge. Then he stepped back. “And one other thing. Don’t you ever discuss anything about me outside of the council again, not anywhere in this community.”

  Then he started down the hall, and he glanced back only once to see Hal walking the other way. At the reception, Mark took in the young girl Hal had somehow managed to point all the evidence toward.

  “You all done, Chief Friessen?” she said, looking up from behind the laptop she was typing on.

  “I am. Thanks, Jennifer.”

  She smiled brightly. “Have a good day, Chief.”

  “You too, Jennifer,” he said, then walked out the door, wondering if that young lady, the assistant to a bunch
of sleezy politicians, had any idea that they could and would set her up to take the fall to save their own skin.

  God damn. Sometimes he really hated this job.

  Chapter Eight

  New families, follow-ups, complaints, and telling Grant only what he wanted to hear. So much about this job took a piece out of her little by little. Maybe that was why Billy Jo was sitting in the dark in her small office with the blinds closed, needing a minute before she figured out which tasks she could push to the side and avoid and which she had to do.

  There was a tap on the open door, and she dropped her hands from where they were pressed over her face and turned in her chair to see Gail, with her graying shoulder-length hair. She had never been in her office before.

  “Gail, what are you doing here?”

  “You busy? So this is where you hang out. You don’t like lights?” She wore blue jeans and a blue striped T-shirt, the same one she’d worn earlier, with a brown purse slung over her shoulder.

  “Come on in. I prefer the dimness when I’m trying to clear my head.”

  Gail didn’t wait for her to say anything else. She closed the door and took a seat on the sofa. “Okay, you know that I like you—a lot,” she started. “I think you’re one very cool lady, and I’ve always been in your corner…”

  Billy Jo just stared as Gail leaned forward, resting her arms on her legs, her hands linked, and then gestured to her. Something was wrong. “Okay…sure,” she said, wondering what bomb was about to be dropped on her next. “Are you here to warn me about something, or what is this? Because I have to say, this feels very cloak and dagger.”

  Gail let out a heavy sigh. “You and Mark kind of remind me of Tolly and myself way back when. I was the girl who was going to right the world, idealistic, a dreamer. I backpacked across Europe into countries you wouldn’t dare set foot in today, and I wasn’t scared of anything. So when I tell you something, I need you to listen very closely. Sometimes you meet someone and know they’re trouble, but you’re naive. You believe right always wins in the end, and the good guy and bad guy are easily recognized and defined. But when the bad guy is the one making the decisions, in charge, the one everyone has to follow, lines begin to blur. Who is the criminal? You find yourself questioning everything about your community, how the rules are supposed to work. You know what I mean.”