The Charity

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.

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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

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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.

Chapter 1

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