Wicked Decisions

by Lily Harper Hart

  Ivy hadn’t considered that but given Zelda’s age, it was possible. “Okay. We’ll check on her.” She didn’t hesitate as headed down the hallway, her eyes alert as she extended her witchy radar looking for trouble. She hadn’t always known she was a witch — it was a more recent development — but she was slowly coming into her own.

  “Which way?” Amy asked when they reached a fork in the hallway.

  Ivy inhaled deeply and tilted her head. Finally, she pointed toward the left. “This way.”

  Within five more steps, they were in a large storage room. It was more of a delivery dock than anything because it had a garage door that raised and lowered, offering access to the back alley. It was open now, allowing for natural light to spill in. That made it impossible for Ivy and Amy to miss the body on the ground.

  “Oh, my ... .” Amy hurried to the fallen woman, ignoring the blood that spilled out in every direction.

  Ivy didn’t go to Zelda. It was already too late. She knew that because all of the woman’s vitality had slipped out along with the blood. All that was left was a wan shell and sightless eyes staring at the ceiling. Zelda was most definitely dead ... and this was no accident. Someone else was clearly responsible.

  Resigned, Ivy dug in her pocket until she found her phone. She scrolled until Jack’s name popped up on her contacts list and then pressed the phone to her ear. He picked up on the first ring.

  “Hello, honey. How are the dresses?”

  Ivy didn’t bother with a greeting. “Zelda is dead and she’s been stabbed. I need you at her shop right now.”

  Jack was all business. “I’m on my way.”

  Two

  The police station was located two blocks away so Jack and his partner Brian Nixon managed to make the trip on foot in under five minutes. That didn’t mean Jack wasn’t a bundle of nerves when he walked through the door of the dress shop.

  He’d been a police detective for years so he was used to tense situations. His heart still gave a small heave when he realized the front of the store was empty. “Ivy?”

  “Back here, Jack.”

  He almost cried out in relief when he heard her voice emanating from the interior of the store. He didn’t as much as look at his partner before hurrying down the dark hallway. He could hear voices, so he followed, and was almost on top of Ivy and Amy before he realized where they’d ended up.

  “Are you okay?” He pulled Ivy to him before she could answer, burying his face in her hair. “You’re not hurt, are you?”

  Ivy patted his arm and pulled her head back so she could stare into the depths of his concerned eyes. “I’m fine ... although I’m feeling a bit like an idiot. We were in the other room when this happened and we didn’t hear a thing.”

  Jack couldn’t hide his confusion. “What do you mean?”

  “I think they’re saying they were in the front of the shop when Zelda went down,” Brian offered dryly, dropping to his knees next to the body. “This was ... brutal.”

  “How could you not hear anything?” Jack asked, moving his hand to the back of Ivy’s neck so he could attack the tension pooling there. “I mean ... didn’t she scream or anything?”

  Ivy shook her head. “I didn’t hear a sound. I swear. It’s not as if we were being that loud in the front either. We weren’t even really talking.”

  “Yes, we were all talked out,” Amy volunteered. “I think Ivy has a limit on how many words she can say a day. She was over talking about dresses.”

  Ivy glowered at her. “I just had nothing to say.”

  “Trust me. She has no limit on the words that come out of her mouth,” Jack countered. “She’s a real chatterbox right about the time I want to go to sleep every night.”

  Ivy’s expression only darkened. “Oh, you’re so funny.”

  Because he needed the contact, Jack planted a quick kiss on her pouty lips. “I didn’t say I didn’t like the chatter.”

  “Yeah, yeah, yeah.” Ivy made a dismissive gesture and then turned her full attention on Zelda. “She was only back here for ten minutes. Whatever happened ... it was over with quickly.”

  “I guess it would have to be.” Jack gave Ivy’s neck one more friendly squeeze and then moved toward his partner. “What do you think?”

  “This was a frenzied attack,” Brian replied, choosing his words carefully. “If I had to guess, I would say that our suspect was already waiting back here when Zelda arrived.” He flicked his eyes to Ivy. “Why did she come back here?”

  “She had some dress samples for me to try on,” Ivy replied. “She said she kept them in the back so nobody else would see them. We didn’t follow her because we assumed she would only take a few minutes ... and, well, we weren’t invited.”

  “And you say you waited ten minutes before checking on her?”

  “Yeah. We were starting to get worried that she fell or something.”

  “She only fell because she was stabbed,” Brian murmured, his gaze grave. “Whoever it was had to know that Zelda wasn’t alone. I mean ... there’s no other way to look at this, right?”

  “Not necessarily,” Jack countered. “There’s no bell above the door. It’s silent. If our killer entered through the loading door, he or she might not have realized that Zelda had customers.”

  “In that case, I would say that Amy and Ivy are extremely lucky,” Brian noted. “If the killer realized there were potential witnesses on site, he or she might’ve tried to quiet them.”

  An involuntary shudder coursed down Jack’s spine. He didn’t want to think about that. “They’re safe. That’s the most important thing.”

  “I’m not sure Zelda would agree.” Brian was grim as he rubbed the back of his hand across his forehead. “We need to get the medical examiner down here and then call Patsy. She needs to be informed about what happened before word starts to spread through town.”

  “Who is Patsy?” Amy asked.

  “Zelda’s daughter,” Ivy volunteered. “They’re very close. This is going to be hard for her.”

  “Even if they weren’t close it would probably be difficult,” Amy offered. “Still ... this is just horrible.”

  “It’s definitely horrible,” Brian agreed. “We still have to make those calls. We need answers, because whoever did this is an animal.”

  “I’ll call the medical examiner,” Jack offered. “You can handle Patsy. You know her better.”

  “Thanks for that,” Brian said dryly. “I really appreciate having to make that call.”

  “That’s what you get for being the lead detective.”

  IT DIDN’T TAKE LONG FOR PATSY to arrive on the scene. She was out of breath, her eyes wild, and she immediately tried to push through the throng of people from the medical examiner’s office and stomped toward Brian.

  “I want to see my mother right now,” she demanded. “I want to know what’s going on here.”

  Brian, who had been purposely vague on the phone because he didn’t want Patsy to be despondent while driving, cut through the crime scene technicians.

  “We should talk in the other room, Patsy,” he started.

  “I don’t want to talk in the other room.” Patsy craned her neck so she could better see the activity behind him. “Who is that? Was someone hurt?”

  “Patsy, someone was hurt,” Brian confirmed. It was best to yank the bandage off right away, not draw things out, he reminded himself. “It’s your mother. I regret to inform you that she’s been killed.”

  Ivy, who opted to remain at the back of the room so as not to intrude on Patsy’s grief, internally cringed when she saw the horrified look on the woman’s face. Patsy wasn’t much older than Ivy — only two years separated them in high school — and while she wasn’t close with the woman, she could imagine the despair she felt.

  “W-what?” Patsy looked absolutely gobsmacked. “That can’t be right.”

  “I’m sorry, but it is. We identified her ourselves.”

  “But ... .” Patsy started vehemently
shaking her head and turned her attention to Jack rather than Brian. “You’re the one who identified her, right? You don’t know her well. It could be someone else.”

  Sympathy rushed through Jack and he recognized the woman’s words for what they were — desperation. “I’m sorry, but I’m familiar enough with your mother to properly identify her. Besides that, Brian was with me.”

  “But, no.” Patsy shook her head so hard her loose bun fell apart. “This isn’t right. This isn’t ... no. You’ve made a mistake.” Her voice firmed and her eyes remained free of tears. “You’re wrong. That’s not my mother. I want you to check again.”

  “We don’t need to check again, Patsy,” Brian replied. “I’m sorry but ... it’s her.”

  “No. I want to see her. I don’t believe you.”

  Brian worked his jaw. “I don’t think that’s a good idea,” he said after a beat. “It wasn’t an accident, Patsy. Do you understand what I’m saying? Someone purposely killed her.”

  “And I’m saying you’re wrong. I want to see her.” Patsy wasn’t the type to back down on a normal day and this was pretty far from a normal day. “There’s nothing you can do to stop me from seeing my mother. I won’t believe you until I see her with my own eyes.”

  Ivy stirred from her place pressed against the wall and struggled to get Jack’s attention. Finally, she made a noise deep in her throat to get him to look at her. “She needs to see, Jack,” Ivy prodded. “You’re not getting through to her.”

  Even though it was his crime scene and he wasn’t thrilled at the prospect of his fiancée ordering him around, Jack recognized the truth in Ivy’s words. They were destined to keep going in circles if they didn’t break Patsy of her delusion that they’d somehow made a mistake.

  Brian must’ve come to the same conclusion because he held out his hand. “Come with me.”

  Patsy kept her hands clutched into fists at her sides and followed. She was stoic, although her lower lip trembled. She was determined not to fall apart until she had a reason to, Ivy realized. She’d honestly convinced herself she was going to find a stranger’s face under the tarp.

  Brian exhaled heavily and then moved to kneel next to the body, which was still on the floor so the crime scene techs could continue gathering evidence. Slowly, he tugged down the tarp and revealed Zelda’s face.

  One look at her mother, whose eyes were open and staring at nothing while her mouth remained open in a silent scream, was all it took to snap Patsy’s delusion.

  “Momma!” Patsy dropped to her knees and reached for the body.

  Jack’s reflexes were fast and he managed to catch her around the waist before she could contaminate the crime scene. “I’m sorry,” he murmured as he lowered himself to the ground and held the shaking woman.

  “That’s my mother,” Patsy wailed, tears streaming down her cheeks. “How could this have happened to her? Who did this? I want to know what happened right now!”

  JACK AND BRIAN ALLOWED PATSY several minutes to clean up and collect herself in the bathroom. She was a shaking mess as she continued to make demands, but Brian convinced her she needed a moment to gather her thoughts. Even though she clearly didn’t agree, Patsy stormed into the bathroom to escape from the harsh reality awaiting her in the other room.

  “I want that body out of here now,” Brian ordered the second she was out of earshot. “I don’t want another scene like that.”

  “We’re on it.”

  Brian planted his hands on his hips and glared at the floor as he wrestled with his emotions. This was his least favorite part of the job. He liked doling out justice and helping people. Forever altering lives with the worst news imaginable was the bane of his existence, though.

  “You had to show her,” Jack said finally, his voice soft. “She wasn’t going to believe you otherwise.”

  “I know that. I just ... I hate this. I’ve known Zelda for a long time. I’ve known Patsy her entire life. I never wanted to be the one to deliver that sort of news to her.”

  “It’s not as if you had a choice.”

  “No.” Brian stepped forward so the medical examiner’s technician could remove the body from the scene. “We need to figure this out. Ivy, did you see anyone on the street when you were entering the store? Maybe someone was watching or something.”

  Ivy immediately started shaking her head. “It was just Amy and me ... and I would’ve noticed if someone was hanging around because Amy and I stood in front of the window for a long time. We could see the activity on the street behind us ... and there wasn’t much of it.”

  “Ivy’s right,” Amy volunteered, checking her watch. She was running late and already planning her escape. “We spent a good five minutes talking about stuff in front of the window.”

  “What were you talking about?”

  “How much Ivy hated the dress in the window because it was too big. How I’m considering getting counseling for JJ. How I’m worried Max is going to grow bored of me. How Ivy is worried she’s not going to fulfill Jack’s perfect fantasy in her wedding dress.”

  Jack’s eyebrows drew together as Ivy scowled.

  “You know you didn’t have to share all of that, right?” Ivy challenged. “I mean ... that wasn’t important to the story.”

  “Sorry.” Amy was sheepish. “I can’t shut up when I’m nervous.”

  “Well, try.”

  Jack was determined to catch Ivy’s gaze. When their eyes finally met, he was firm. “We’re going to talk about this later.”

  Her scowl only grew. “Great. I can’t wait.”

  Brian snapped his fingers to force everyone’s attention back to him. “This is a serious situation. We don’t have time for the soap opera theatrics of The Jack and Ivy Show. Zelda was a good woman and she was brutally murdered. We have a killer on the streets ... somewhere.”

  “How are you going to find them?” Patsy asked as she appeared from the bathroom. She looked more composed than she had minutes before, but her eyes were red and puffy and she continuously sniffled as she reached for a stack of tissues on the counter.

  “We’re going to investigate,” Brian replied calmly. “We’ll start by interviewing all the neighboring businesses. Someone had to see something that was out of place. Whoever did this had it planned. Otherwise they would’ve changed their plan when Ivy came into the store.”

  “Wait ... Ivy was in the store?” Patsy shifted until she was staring at Ivy. “My mother said you were coming in to try on dresses. I didn’t realize that was today, though. Are you saying you were here when this happened?”

  Ivy felt put on the spot. “Yeah. I’m sorry. We didn’t hear anything. I think it happened really quick, if that’s any consolation.” The words were barely out of Ivy’s mouth before she realized she’d made a huge mistake.

  “If that’s any consolation?” Patsy was incredulous. “Are you kidding me? You were in the building when my mother was killed. You were twenty feet away and you didn’t do a thing to help her.”

  “I would’ve helped if I realized something was happening,” Ivy offered lamely. “I just ... didn’t. She didn’t make a single noise.”

  “Right. She didn’t make a noise even though she was murdered in her own store.” Patsy’s eyes were filled with cold hatred. “That sounds just like her. My mother was strong. She had a lot to live for. She would’ve fought to save herself. Nothing you’re saying makes any sense.”

  Even though Ivy was more than capable of standing up for herself, Jack felt the need to intercede. Ivy was clearly going to stand there and take it as Patsy unloaded on her because she didn’t want to add to the woman’s grief. There was no way Jack could allow that when Ivy was already traumatized by guilt.

  “Ivy had no way of knowing what was happening,” Jack interjected. “She was here to look at wedding dresses. She assumed everything was fine when your mother disappeared in the back. She only went looking when your mother hadn’t returned after some time.”

  “Or so she say
s,” Patsy snapped. “How do you know that she’s not the one who killed my mother?”

  “What?” Ivy’s mouth dropped open. “I would never hurt your mother.”

  “I’m sure that’s exactly what her killer would say.”

  Brian cleared his throat to draw Patsy’s attention, extending his hand in the process. “Patsy, I know you’re grieving — and that means you can’t really see straight right now — but what motive would Ivy have to kill your mother?”

  “Well, for starters, maybe she didn’t want to pay for her dress. Maybe she killed my mother so she could steal it.”

  “Yeah, that seems unlikely,” Brian countered.

  “Plus, they weren’t even real dresses,” Ivy pointed out. “They were samples. You know what that means. They weren’t dresses I could legitimately wear to a wedding.”

  “Maybe you just wanted the samples so you could steal the design and make your own dress,” Patsy spat.

  “I don’t sew.”

  “Maybe you were jealous of my mother because she makes so many people happy and you’ve always been a miserable person,” Patsy barreled forward, tears coursing down her cheeks again. “That’s probably it. People always thought you would be alone until you found this guy. No one could understand what he saw in you. Maybe you cast a spell on him — people say you’re a witch, you know? — and you make him cover up your murderous ways.”

  The charge was so ludicrous Ivy could think of nothing to say.

  “Ivy has an alibi,” Brian pointed out. “She wasn’t here alone.”

  “What alibi?” Suspicion flitted across Patsy’s twisted features. Grief was threatening to overwhelm her and the weight of it was enough to drag her down.

  “Amy was here with Ivy.” He inclined his head toward the uncomfortable blond. “They were together.”

  The news obviously threw a wrinkle in Patsy’s pet theory, but she wasn’t willing to let it go. “Maybe they killed her together and are lying to cover their tracks. I want her arrested.” She jabbed a finger in Ivy’s direction. “She killed my mother and I want her to pay.”