A Billy Jo McCabe Mystery Box Set Books 7 - 9

Chapter 3

Chapter Three

“You want another piece of pizza?” Billy Jo asked, sitting cross legged in the middle of the office, while Mark was in Pam’s chair. The file cabinet was open, and what seemed like every file had been pulled out.

He didn’t look over to her as he shook his head and said, “Nope, all yours.”

She reached for another slice from the open box beside her. It was dark outside, and the clock on the wall read nearly midnight. She had so many notes, pages and pages.

When she heard the click of the front door, she damn near jumped out of her skin. Mark was on his feet, and Billy Jo turned to see Pam walking in, her hair pulled back in a ponytail, wearing yoga pants.

“Why are you both here?” Pam said. “I was just driving by on my way home, out for dinner with friends, and saw the office lit up. I didn’t think I’d left the lights on… Why do you have all these files out?”

She could see Pam was ready to make an issue of this. What was Billy Jo going to say to get her out of there?

“Just researching some things,” she said.

Mark, who was still standing behind the desk, lifted a brow to her and then dragged his gaze back to Pam. “Actually, Pam, we’re looking into a discrepancy that could pose a problem. You’ve been here a long time. What can you tell me about Link Stone?”

What was he doing? The last thing she wanted was to give Pam a heads-up, because then she’d call Grant or someone else, and then everything she was looking into, the links and the evidence, would suddenly disappear. She pressed her lips together and stared at Mark. He had to know what she was thinking.

“Link? What do you want to know about Link? You were asking about Link this morning, too, about a file of his. What’s going on?”

Billy Jo put the loaded pizza back in the box and took in Lucky, who was lying on the other side of it, eyeing it. She uncrossed her legs, her feet bare, and stood up to toss the box on top of the file cabinet. “You know what, Pam? It’s probably nothing, just a question I have, and…”

“So you’re pulling all the files out? There’s paper everywhere. You know I’m going to have to put this all back in the cabinet. I had it all organized.”

Billy Jo didn’t miss the fury directed her way. “You won’t have to put anything away. I’ll do it.”

“I still need you to tell me about Link Stone,” Mark said. “You worked with him, didn’t you? Because there are discrepancies in his case files.” He just wouldn’t let it go.

Pam walked around her to her desk, where there was a stack of files, two open.

Mark lifted a check, the one to Deena Rae, holding it so Pam could see. “See here? This check was made out to a young girl, and then it was signed over to Link Stone. You haven’t answered me.”

Pam furrowed her brow. “Link was here a long time, a great guy, worked with a lot of kids. He made a real difference, you know,” she said, looking at Billy Jo. Then she looked back to Mark and reached for the check he was holding.

Mark flipped it over and pointed to the other side. “See that it’s signed over to Link Stone? Was this something he did?”

She gestured to the check. “Was it cashed?”

Billy Jo crossed her arms and took a step into the circle. “The check hasn’t been cashed, but it was in an envelope addressed to Link, and the envelope was tucked inside a file. I mean, you’re the one who knew him and handled the files. Did you put it in there, or did Link?”

She glanced between Billy Jo and Mark, then lifted her hands in the air and let them fall. “I have no idea. Link handled his own files. Sure, okay, that’s strange, but Link is one of the good guys, and I’m starting to get the feeling you’re trying to pin something on him or make him look bad. He did more for these kids than anyone. He went above and beyond when they needed something.”

“Like what? What did he do that had him going above and beyond?” Billy Jo said. “Because what I’m seeing is a lot that doesn’t add up. There are kids in these files from three months of age to fourteen, over forty kids just in the files we looked into. He had payments coming to these kids, a three-month-old, an eight-year-old, a thirteen-year-old. That makes no sense. And when I went into the system to look for these kids, I couldn’t find any of them.”

Pam frowned. Mark hadn’t pulled his gaze from her. She reached for one of the files and lifted the paper to read it, then shook her head. “You know how it is, Billy Jo. These kids get shuffled around and off the island. Records get lost all the time…”

“So why is there a request from you for money for these kids—for camp, school supplies, clothing? I could go on.”

Pam looked over to her and then back to one of the files. She could tell she was a little thrown as she shook her head. Billy Jo lifted a sheet of paper to show a requisition with Pam’s signature on it, pointing right to it.

“Okay, that is my signature,” she said. “You know I fill these out, and I do it for you too. There are all kinds of requests that have to be submitted on every kind of form. I can’t remember all of them. I’m sure there is a simple and reasonable explanation.”

Billy Jo swept her hands out. She could feel Mark watching her. “Then explain why Link Stone was having checks issued to all these kids. A few, sure, but a three-month-old? I mean, how does a three-month-old cash a check, or a seven-year-old, or a nine-year-old? Do they even have bank accounts? I would really like to see all these cashed checks and who cashed them. What are the chances of that?”

Pam was now staring straight at her. Her face paled, and Billy Jo saw she understood clearly what she was accusing Link Stone of. “I’m sure you’re wrong, I can find out from accounting in the morning. I know Joy in finance. She’ll be able to pull up the cashed checks and see. I’m sure it’s just a simple error or something…”

Billy Jo could feel herself going to that place of wanting to argue.

“That would be helpful, Pam,” Mark said, cutting in. “But, just to be clear, because of the seriousness of this issue, I’m going to ask you to enquire on all these files.” He slid over to her the piece of paper with all the names of the files in question. “I want you to call about each of these kids. Just ask to see the last check cashed and who cashed it for each of these names.”

She shot him a bugged-out expression. “That’s a lot of names. You know, I remember a few here—Dillon, Cam, Lea, Janny…” She looked over to Billy Jo. “I really hope you’re wrong here. There has to be a simple, reasonable explanation. Have you called Link Stone?”

Mark didn’t pull his gaze from Pam. “He transferred to Wyoming, right?” he said, though Billy Jo knew he wasn’t there.

“No, he’s retired now. Thought you knew. He’s down in San Antonio. Said it was just too hard, the work, the kids, the same old. He said there’s a point where you just have to say you’ve done all you can do, and he was at that point.”

Billy Jo wondered how close Pam was to Link. She sounded unusually fond of him. “You know where he is and how I could get a hold of him?”

Pam shrugged, opened the middle drawer of her desk, and pulled out a card. “He sends me a birthday card every year.” She held up the card and the red envelope. “That’s his address. Do you want his phone number?”

Mark took the envelope. “Yeah, give me his number—and in the meantime, Pam, I don’t want you calling him. Call your friend in accounting and give me the information about who cashed those checks, and then I’ll call Link Stone. You do not talk to anyone about this.”

Even she could hear the warning in Mark’s tone.

Pam lifted her hands and shook her head. “Understood. Call accounting. But, again, I know Link. He’s one of the good ones. When you find out you’re wrong, and you will, I hope he never learns how you, Billy Jo, and you, Chief, questioned his moral character.” Then she slung her purse over her shoulder and narrowed her gaze at Billy Jo as she walked around her desk and started to the front door.

Then she turned back. “And you know what? I have enough to do when I come in in the morning, and the last thing I want to do is clean this up. So, with all due respect, I expect all these files to be neatly put back in the cabinet exactly the way I left them.” Then she walked away to the door, pushed it open, and walked out.

Billy Jo listened to the key in the deadbolt, then dragged her gaze back to Mark, who had an odd look, still watching the door where Pam had walked out. When he looked over to her, she could see something she’d seen only a time or two.

“You think she’ll call him and tell him we’re looking?” he said. It was a good question and one she didn’t know how to answer.

“I don’t know. I hope she doesn’t, but she could,” she said. She looked over to Lucky, who had his eyes closed, tired, just like she should’ve been.

“Well, I think we’ve done all we can tonight,” he said.

She knew he was right. “Why don’t you head out? I’ll put the files away and meet you at home.”

Mark reached for one file and then another and stacked them on the desk. “Nope, I’m not leaving you here alone. I know how to file. You can double-check the names on the list and I’ll put them away.”

He shook his head again, and she could see the heavy thoughts lingering in the way his brow knit, the way he looked across the room as if thinking. He looked back to her. “You know, Billy Jo, I hope Pam is right.”

“But you know she’s not.”

He let out a heavy sigh. “You know me too well,” he said, then pulled open the drawer. “Come on, hand me those files.”

She took a step over to him and ran her hand over his arm, his back. She leaned against him a second, letting her hand link with his. “I love you.”

He leaned down and kissed the top of her head. “I know. I’m a catch.”

She nudged his arm and couldn’t hide the smile that only he could put there. “You really are arrogant.”

He winked. “Yeah, I am—and yours.”