The Stranger Next Door

by Lorhainne Eckhart

  Billy Jo was speechless. “Gail, honestly, I have no idea what you’re talking about. Does this have anything to do with Ash or Sunday Byrd?”

  Gail looked to the door, which was now closed, and pulled in a breath. Gail was smart, not coming right out and saying what was on her mind.

  “Gail, you know I was adopted, and my dad worked as a fixer in Washington for politicians who found themselves in trouble. But at the same time, he’s one of the best legal minds around, and he taught me about how laws work, how they’re created, how the lines are blurred when people have power over other people. I have to wonder if you’re scared or—”

  “I’m smart is what I am, and I know you’re an intelligent girl,” Gail cut in. “Because you know as much as you do, you’ll understand what I’m going to say next, and you’re going to really listen. Tolly and I have managed to stay under the radar, so to speak, because we understood that for some people out there, fixing a problem is as simple as making a call, and no one will look into it. Ash Byrd is very much adept at solving problems, making them go away.

  “Let’s take a scenario. Say a woman has her sights set on getting close to a man, and not just any man but an athlete or a big-time celebrity that women flock to. Say he slips and sleeps with her, and oops, she accidently gets pregnant. But this big-time celebrity is married, and he can’t have that problem. So his agent, manager, or lawyer makes a call to Ash to make the problem go away. Ash pays a visit to this confused woman, and he gives her a reason not to do what she’s doing. Maybe she’ll go running and tell her family or a friend, because she’s scared, or maybe she’ll tell the police if she’s really stupid, so then Ash has to deal with the other people, the friends, the parents, the cops who shouldn’t be looking too closely, and he has to take care of them.

  “One thing about Ash is that he takes the reasonable approach first, as long as you follow the rules as he’s clearly outlined them for you. But when you start dragging other people into the problem, it makes it difficult for him, and he starts doing things the hard way. Now he has to give these other people reasons not to do what they’re doing, too.”

  Not once in all the time she’d known Gail had she ever seen her like this, looking around as she talked. She wondered if this was paranoia.

  “Who is this guy, exactly, that he can do what he does?” Billy Jo said. “What, is he a former cop or something?”

  Gail unclasped her hands and sat up straighter, pressing one to her thigh. “Cops do not ever have the kind of training he has. That knowledge and skill is something you learn only in the military, and not just as an average grunt. Ash spent years learning every skill, from explosives, to wiretapping, to psychological warfare—you know, to get someone to do what he wants and needs them to do. He understands exactly how to influence public opinion, how to master people’s behavior and get them to bend, and he knows how to break them. You get what I’m saying?” Gail didn’t pull her gaze, as if she was willing her to understand.

  “You’re saying Mark could find himself under investigation. I know he mentioned charges of sexual assault against a minor. And if he keeps fighting and trying to do the right thing, he’ll have other charges and allegations coming from everywhere, old girlfriends, acquaintances, maybe people he’s never met before. It’ll be so bad that there’s no going back, and his life will be over.”

  Gail slid forward. “As I said, you’re a smart girl, and you love that guy. And he is a good guy, with a strong moral character, someone I would want in my corner—but not in this. You get him to walk away.”

  As Gail stood up, Billy Jo wondered if she had any idea what she was asking. “You realize Mark can’t be bought or pushed around. The reason he’s here is because he wouldn’t look away from a bunch of dirty cops when he was told to. He’s not going to back down, and I couldn’t ask him to park his integrity and morals even if I wanted to.”

  Gail let out another heavy sigh and reached into her bag to pull out a folded piece of paper. “How did I know you would say that? Fine, here.” She held it out.

  Billy Jo knew she was frowning as she unfolded it, seeing a handwritten name, Amy Holt, and a phone number. She gestured to the paper. “What is this?”

  Gail had one hand on the doorknob and the other on the strap of her purse. “Memorize it and then shred it. Do not share that name with anyone. Sometimes, when a woman finds herself in trouble, the kind of trouble no one can help her get away from, she gives the help that’s needed.”

  She flicked her gaze to the name and number again. “Gail, please, are we talking about Sunday, the same girl you told me to steer clear of, the girl you warned me is a big storyteller?”

  Gail looked at her in a way that said everything. “Sometimes a woman has to disappear for her safety, and for her children’s, because she isn’t safe where she is.”

  “So you’re saying Sunday is in trouble and needs help?” She was leaning forward.

  Gail shook her head. “My default position has always been to believe every woman, but not every allegation is real. Issues with accusations can make people run to opposite corners after an assault, especially when someone involved is in the public eye. Then things go horribly wrong. Liberal groups generally believe the woman, whereas more conservative groups believe the accused man. Listening to a woman recount such horrible intimate details is not pleasant, as I’m sure you know, and making a claim like that brings the kind of attention most women don’t want to bring to themselves.

  “So most accusers don’t lie—but some do, and when someone does make a false accusation, it’s a slap in the face to every woman who has faced the uphill battle of getting the police, the prosecutors, and the public to believe her, and it can bring down all the decades of progress we’ve made. So no one wants that lie made public. When an allegation is made, before evidence is even provided, people will blindly believe one side. Some go into a crazed fervor, ready to tar, feather, and burn the accused at the stake instead of waiting until the facts are in. Then there are the few who will never believe a woman, who will question her more than is becoming.

  “Tolly was pulled into a rape case before he was chief. It was a he said, she said, where he said it was consensual and she said otherwise. After months of Tolly investigating, she ultimately admitted she had falsely claimed that consensual sex was rape after her boyfriend found out about her affair, which she had been hiding.”

  Billy Jo didn’t like hearing this. Maybe that was why the earlier tension had returned. She pulled her hand across her face and looked over to Gail. “So she was outed by her boyfriend? Wow, a shitty thing. I bet the guy she accused has sworn off women forever. Who is she?” She wondered if Gail would tell her.

  “She’s gone now, left the island. He served seven months behind bars because his lawyer convinced him to take a deal and plead it down so he had some chance of a future. A day later, she admitted her lie, and Tolly was the one who spent months fighting the DA and the courts to clear Roddy Peepgrass’s name,” Gail said. When Billy Jo frowned, she gestured toward her. “Yes, the very same Roddy who owns the tow trucks on the island. Married now and has two teenagers, but I think the people who remember that day still believe he’s not as innocent as he claims. That shadow of a doubt follows someone. Don’t know why he stayed. Out of pure stubbornness, I think, refusing to be chased away from his home.

  “Bily Jo, I’m telling you this because Mark won’t survive a battle with Ash. Yet you already know you’ll never convince him to walk away, to look the other way. You probably couldn’t love him if he did, could you?”

  She just stared at Gail, who seemed to understand her too well. “So why Amy? What is she going to do for Mark?”

  Gail shook her head. “She’s not doing anything for Mark. You’re going to get her to help Sunday.”

  “You’ve lost me. Are you saying she’s telling the truth?”

  Gail let out a rough sigh. “No, what I’m saying is Amy is Mark’s ‘get out of jail free’ card. If
Sunday isn’t here, then Mark has no case to look into. Sunday showing up the way she did means she hasn’t been able to leave Ash, so her only way to leave is with the help of someone like Amy, who can help women disappear and never be found.”

  She hadn’t expected this from Gail. Maybe there was a lot more to her and Tolly than she understood. “You’re talking about women in abusive relationships with men they can’t get away from…”

  “Now you’re starting to get it,” Gail said. “Like the woman who’s married to a cop and can’t even report him because his friends are cops, so she’ll never get help. Or the woman who’s married to a judge, so not even the DA would be so suicidal as to go up against him. Or the woman married to any man who operates in the world of power. Amy creates safety plans and has access to new identities, an underground network only for women who have no other options. Memorize and then destroy that paper, and when you call her, tell her Vera Scott sent you.”

  Then she pulled open the door. Billy Jo wanted to ask who the hell Vera Scott was, but before she could, Gail said, loud enough that Pam could hear, “See you and Mark for dinner Friday. Tolly has been brewing his homemade beer and can’t wait to have Mark as his first victim.”

  Then she walked away. Billy Jo heard her say something to Pam out front, and laughter followed. She stared at the name and number, reading them over and over to burn them to her memory, before getting up and walking to the shredder by her cabinet.

  When she shoved the paper in, his image popped into her mind, the red hair, the arrogance, and the flaws. Damn, she didn’t just care about Mark Friessen; she was totally, completely head over heels in love with him. So now she had no choice but to do everything she could to protect him from himself.

  Chapter Nine

  He dumped his keys on his desk without a word after walking back into the station, trying to wrap his head around a clusterfuck that seemed to be imploding around him.

  “I take it that didn’t go well,” Carmen said as she strode in.

  He looked past her to the two new cops he hadn’t hired. “You want to say you warned me?”

  She pulled her arms over her chest, and his gaze flicked to the deputy badge tucked into her jeans. A job she’d earned was being yanked from her. “So what am I supposed to do with those two? I have rounds.”

  He pulled in one breath and then another, his hands on his hips, then shrugged out of his jean jacket and tossed it over the back of his chair. He didn’t know why, but he sat and reached for his keys, selecting the one for the bottom drawer.

  “Tell me about those two out there,” he said.

  The lanky guy was sitting at his old desk, and the lady walked out from somewhere in back and leaned against it, saying something to him. Lucky, meanwhile, was asleep, curled up on the dog bed.

  “Dwayne Green, and the girl is Roberta Underwood. So I take it they’re staying?” Carmen said as if she already knew the answer.

  “Do you want me to say you’re right? Never honestly saw this coming from the council,” he said as he shoved his key in the lock of the bottom drawer and pulled it open only to see it empty. His ears were ringing.

  “Chief, everything okay?” Carmen said.

  He heard the door to the precinct, and he shut his eyes, closed the drawer, and looked up to see Billy Jo walking in. “Yeah, fine, sorry. Listen, was someone in my office?”

  Billy Jo wore the same loose V-neck and blue jeans as she stepped into his office. “Everything okay?” she asked, likely from the expression on his face. Her gaze lingered as she dumped her bag on the empty chair.

  Carmen looked over to Billy Jo and then back to him. “No one was in here. Why?” she asked.

  “Someone has been in my desk. You sure one of them wasn’t in here?”

  Billy Jo stepped around the desk. She said nothing, but the way she glanced to the drawer and back to him, he wondered if she knew.

  “No. I mean, I went to the bathroom, but I wasn’t gone long enough. I told Dwayne to fill up the dog’s dishes with food and water. Other than that, he’s just been sitting at that old desk of yours. And Roberta has organized the pens and basically chatted it up with Dwayne. What’s missing?” She frowned.

  He forced himself to shake his head. “You know what? It’s fine. And I’ll deal with those two out there. Go do rounds, but when you get back, dig around and find out anything and everything you can on Sunday Byrd—her birthdate, her parents, where in California she’s from… I want everything.”

  He could feel Billy Jo watching him intently, and when he looked up to the girl who had stolen his heart, her unsmiling blue eyes met his.

  “Okay…” was all Carmen said as she started out of his office.

  Billy Jo closed the door and walked back over to his side of the desk to sit on the edge. She was so close to him that her leg brushed his. Her back was to the door. “So is it what I think it is that’s missing?”

  Mark hadn’t bothered to lock the drawer again, considering it was empty. He pulled it open, and she nodded as she looked down but said nothing. She glanced over her shoulder to the two newbies out front and back to him.

  “And who are they?”

  “Interesting you should ask,” he said. “Remember the resumes I had you looking at yesterday, the ones marked by council? Well, those are the new hires, walked in by Hal Green this morning before I got here. Seems they signed a contract. The council had no intention of leaving it in my hands. Just got back from paying a visit to them. Went a round with Mary Jane and Hal, who also pointed out that one of them is taking over as detective, and Carmen is back to being a deputy with reduced pay. But she doesn’t know it yet, and I haven’t figured out how to deal with this. Worse, Hal mentioned the missing funding Herb was helping himself to. Seems it was an error, and they’re ready to point the finger at their assistant, the girl who works the front desk.”

  Billy Jo’s jaw slackened, and she pulled her arms over her chest. “You think they found out what was in your bottom drawer and helped themselves? Who has access to this office? How would they know?”

  He pulled in a breath and let it out, staring at this girl he trusted more than anyone. “You know, after I walked out of the council office, realizing war had been declared, I climbed into my Jeep and thought of the photos of Mary Jane with Philip Maddox, the emails from Hal Green ordering the chief to take care of all his tickets, and the evidence of Herb Walker dipping into the local funding, all the dynamite that would have been enough to blow up their careers, which the chief had used to keep them in line. I never wanted to operate that way, Billy Jo. And as I was sitting there, watching, you know who walked into the council building?”

  Her mouth was tight, her lips firmed. She uncrossed her arms. “Let me guess. Ash Byrd.”

  Evidently, she was smarter than he was, because he still couldn’t believe he had seen that man walk up to the front door and inside. It only solidified that feeling he had that this was a game of cat and mouse—and he’d never expected to be the mouse.

  “Maybe I should have asked you first,” he said. “But now, seeing this drawer, I’m not surprised everything is gone. For all I know, Ash broke in here and helped himself. Is he working with the council? Maybe they hired him to take care of me, and I’m on my way out.”

  She shook her head. “Yet you’re still investigating Sunday—or, rather, you’re having Carmen do it. Did you forget his warning to you, Mark? Maybe, after seeing that empty drawer and seeing Ash walk into the council office, you need to take a step back. You have nothing to protect yourself.” She lifted her hands and pressed them to her nose. He could see she had something to say, and he wondered whether he wanted to hear it.

  “You want me to look the other way and refuse to help someone? I can’t do that. If a crime has been committed, I’m going to investigate. No one gets a pass because of who he is. Sunday said he killed her family. You know what? Enough of this dancing around.” He reached for his keys and stood up, brushing Billy Jo’s leg. S
he was so close, and alarm flickered in her eyes as she looked up to him.

  “What are you doing, Mark? Where are you going?”

  He lifted his hand to skim her chin, running his thumb over it, and she wrapped her hand around his wrist, holding him there. “I think it’s time to drive over and walk right into the lion’s den, to see Sunday. Maybe, if I’m lucky, I’ll have a few minutes to talk to her and get the story before Ash gets home.” He pressed a kiss to Billy Jo’s forehead, then stepped around the desk and pulled open the door.

  “Mark, wait,” she snapped, slipping off the desk and reaching for her purse. “I’ll come with you.”

  He shrugged. “Well, let’s go then,” he said, and he started walking.

  In the bullpen, two pairs of eyes looked over to him, and his dog was slurping water. Dwayne was appearing too comfortable in the chair he sat in.

  “Dwayne, is it?” Mark said, stopping right in front of him.

  The young man stood up. “Yes, Chief. Do you have something for me?”

  He looked over to Roberta, who was standing by the open file cabinet, reading a file—a case file. He walked over, reached for it, and took it from her hands. “When I said touch nothing, I meant it,” he said, then closed up the file and dumped it on the desk. “You keep an eye on my dog. He doesn’t go out. Answer the phones and take messages. Any problems, you call me or Carmen.”

  He pulled open a drawer at Gail’s old desk and pulled out two cards, one with his cell phone number and one with Carmen’s. “You, over there,” he said to Dwayne. Billy Jo was now standing right behind him. “You just sit there and do nothing,” he said. Then he walked to the door and pulled it open, holding it and letting his girl walk out first.