A Billy Jo McCabe Mystery Box Set Books 7 - 9

Chapter 5

Chapter Five

Billy Jo could hear Mark talking to Pam, but whatever he was saying to her, she couldn’t make it out. She typed another name from the long list into the computer for the CPS system, then reached for the phone again to dial the number of a facility called the Braxton Institute. She listened to the ring, and then she heard a buzz and an automated message: “This number is not in service.”

She took in the list of places the children apparently were. So far, she had discovered exactly the same thing for each: no number in service.

“The Braxton Institute, Coronaldi, Pleaseman Detention Center, and a numbered company, 567899… Like, what the hell is all this?” she said, staring at the names. An icy unsettled feeling lingered inside her. Where were the names of the families the kids should have been placed with?

She pushed back her chair, holding the paper, and walked out of her office to see Mark standing in front of Pam’s desk, reading something from a file, while Pam was on the phone. Mark looked right at her as she walked over, and just the way he was watching her, she realized how much she depended on him. He was her go-to, her person to lean on, and she didn’t know what she’d do if he weren’t there.

“What’s wrong?” he said. That was just something else that was too perfect about him. He could read her so well.

“I can’t find these kids. I’ve made it halfway through the list, and all that’s come up has been a detention center, an institution, a numbered company… I’ve never heard of any of these places, Mark. I called two of them, and I keep getting a number not in service message. For the numbered company, there’s no phone number at all, and I can’t find anything about it or where it is.” She held the sheet of paper out to him, and he took it from her.

Pam hung up the phone and turned to her. “That was Grant. He’s coming out to the island because of the issue with Link’s files.”

“You called Grant and told him?” She knew she sounded accusing, but Pam shook her head.

“He called me. Apparently, Joy from accounting called him to give him a heads-up after I called about those checks. Several were cashed by Link Stone, but how or why, I don’t know,” Pam said, then lifted her hands.

Billy Jo dragged her gaze over to Mark, whose expression was all cop. “You tell Joy I want a copy of all the checks cashed by Link Stone, all of them,” he said. “For every payment issued to kids on this list, I need to know what it was supposed to be for and where it was sent. I want to know who cashed them.”

Pam just stared at Mark, then looked over to Billy Jo.

“Pam, these kids were sent to places I’ve never heard of before,” Billy Jo said, reaching for the paper Mark was still looking at. He dragged his gaze to her and let her take it back, and she put it on the desk in front of Pam. “Have you ever heard of these places? Because I haven’t.” Her finger was on the paper by the names, and the odd look on Pam’s face said everything.

Pam shook her head and looked up to her. “No, I haven’t. Where are these places? Are you sure that’s right? All the kids?”

Billy Jo turned to Mark, who was watching Pam and her. He held his hand out for the paper again and said, “I’ll give this to Elisha, get her to check it out. She was looking into Link, as well. I think it’s time I have a talk with him and find out what this is, see what light he can shed on it.”

Pam said nothing, just linked her fingers, clasping them in front of her. Her demeanour gave Billy Jo an off feeling. Finally, she said, “I called him last night. I’m sorry, but Link is a friend, and I’ve known him for a long time. I can’t believe he would do something like this. There has to be another explanation, and⁠—”

“Pam, Mark told you very clearly not to call him,” Billy Jo snapped, cutting her off.

“I know what you said, but I know Link, and there’s no way he’s good for this. He has to have been set up. There’s no other explanation!” Pam yelled, ready to fight back.

“Hey, enough. Stop this,” Mark said, shaking his head. “Pam, I was clear when I told you not to say anything to Link.”

Billy Jo had to pull her hands over her chest and squeeze her forearms to resist the urge to wrap them around Pam’s throat.

“So please tell me what his explanation was,” Mark continued, and she didn’t know how he could sound so calm. “I take it he denied it.”

Pam turned to Billy Jo without pulling her gaze from Mark, and she wondered whether she was trying to figure out what not to say.

“Pam, so help me God, if you lie or hold anything back…”

“Oh, hush up!” Pam snapped at her, and Billy Jo had to take a step back. She couldn’t remember ever being on this end of such nastiness from Pam before. “Link Stone is one of the finest men I know. He remembered every birthday I ever had. He was the one there for me when my husband cheated on me. We worked it out, likely because of Link and what a good friend he was to me. I watched how he cared for those kids, every one of them, wishing he could do more. I know his kids, too, and was at their birthdays, graduations… We barbecued on weekends. There’s no way he’s good for this.” She really was on the defensive.

“So he said it wasn’t true?” Mark cut in.

Pam shook her head. “He was thrown, likely because I woke him in the middle of the night. He was real quiet on the phone. He was upset. I could hear it in his voice.”

Mark was watching Pam as a cop would. She’d seen this side of him so many times with people. “And what, exactly, did Link say? Did he say he didn’t do it, Pam?”

Again, she shook her head. “No, he didn’t come right out and say he didn’t do it. He said he’d call me back.”

Billy Jo realized she was fisting her hands, staring at Pam, wondering how she couldn’t get through to her.

Pam glanced over at Billy Jo. “And don’t look at me like that. If you were in my position and someone accused Mark of something heinous, even if there was evidence that pointed at him, you can’t honestly tell me you would just believe it,” she said, fire flickering in her eyes.

Billy Jo wondered if she hissed as she stepped back. She made herself look over to Mark as if he could make sense of this, then said, “Well, first, Pam, Mark wouldn’t do something like this. He wouldn’t cash checks made out to kids and then try to hide it, so don’t you dare turn this on me and the man I love. I hate to tell you this, but a bunch of kids are missing. On first glance, it seems they’ve vanished, yet these checks were issued to them. How many were cashed by Link Stone? He didn’t deny it and said he’d call you back, but I’ll tell you why he got off the phone—because he’s trying to figure out how the hell to cover his tracks. You just tipped off a man who was responsible for these children and needed to do right by them. How the hell do you explain any of this?” She couldn’t remember ever yelling at Pam, at anyone, like this.

“Billy Jo,” Mark said in that calm voice. He stepped over to her and ran his hand over her back. His touch usually settled her, but right now she was too furious with a woman who’d chosen to protect a man she knew deep down was responsible in some way for something she had a bad feeling about.

“You deal with her,” Billy Jo said. “I’m going to see what I can find out about these kids, where they came from, their parents, anything.”

He slid his hand over her cheek, the touch gentle, and she took the paper from Pam and rested her hand on Mark’s chest before walking past and back to her office. She heard Mark say to her, “Okay, Pam, get Link on the phone, because right now, I want to have a word with him.”

Billy Jo glanced back to Mark, who she had to remind herself was now the chief on the island, the man she loved. She had this awful unsettled feeling she’d never felt before.

She squeezed the paper and looked at the names of the kids, the ages she’d written beside them, and the places they supposedly were, and she walked over to her desk and pushed the laptop back. She hesitated only a second before lifting the phone and dialing home.

It rang only once before she heard, “Chase McCabe.” The way he said it, she knew he was distracted, evidently working.

“Hi, Dad, you got a minute?”

“Hey, sweetheart, always for you. What’s up?”

“Well, a few things I need your help with. I wonder if I can run something past you.” She heard something in the background.

“You know you can ask anything, right?” he said.

She wondered when she would tell him how serious it was with Mark. She leaned back in her chair and stared at the names of the kids, the places they were supposed to be. “Yeah, I know. I’ve hit a brick wall on something. If I send you the names of some businesses, some institutions kids were sent to… I can’t find anything about them, and the numbers I called were not in service. It just feels off.”

“And you’re not talking to Mark about this?”

There it was, the curiosity. “He’s here now, and yes, he’s also helping.”

“Well, that’s good,” Chase said. “You don’t have to explain. Send me the names, and I’ll do some digging, make some calls, and see what I can turn up. Anything else you want to tell me about you and Mark?”

Why did it seem as if he knew something?

“We’re going house-hunting, you know, getting a bigger place,” she said. Her dad was quiet, and for a second, she wasn’t sure he was still there. “Dad?”

“Yeah, sorry. I thought you said you and Mark are house-hunting.”

She knew her dad was teasing. “Okay, stop it. Yes, we’re still together, and I did say that. Now, how about I send those company names and you let me know what you can find? Oh, and one more thing! Dad, remember Carmen Zarko, who took over as detective? Well, she found herself on a no-fly list, some bureaucratic mistake that has her listed as a person of interest. I told Mark I’d call you…”

Her dad sighed on the other end. “Send it my way, darling. You know I’ll do what I can. Hey, and, Billy Jo?”

She was leaning back in her chair, squeezing the phone, knowing her dad was likely going to toss out unwanted advice, so she said nothing.

Instead, he said, “It’s really nice to hear you’re so happy.”

She hadn’t expected that. “Thanks, Dad,” she replied.

Then she hung up and stared at the phone, the paper, and her laptop, for a moment wishing that just once, something good could happen for these kids, as it seemed nothing ever went their way.