Wicked Decisions

by Lily Harper Hart

  “You should try Henry Spencer,” Max suggested.

  The name meant nothing to Jack but Brian stirred.

  “Why Henry Spencer?” Brian queried. “What does he have to do with anything?”

  “He and Zelda were dating.”

  Brian was flabbergasted. “No way.”

  “Yes way.”

  “For how long?”

  Max held out his hands and shrugged. “I honestly have no idea, but it’s been at least a few weeks. I saw them together a few times and they were all over each other.”

  Brian made a face. “Henry, huh? I never saw that coming.”

  “I guess that means we have someplace new to look,” Ivy noted. “As soon as I finish my ice cream, we can head out.”

  Brian considered telling her she wasn’t invited, but he didn’t want to start a fight with his partner.

  Jack was the first to speak. “You have to be quiet and not insert yourself into the investigation. We’re already on thin ice with Patsy where you’re concerned.”

  Ivy mimed zipping her lips. “I won’t say a word. I’ll be a demure flower.”

  Jack chuckled at her reaction. “I can’t wait to see that. The day is certainly looking up.”

  Four

  Brian took advantage of the ice cream distraction to pull Jack aside.

  “She can’t go with us.”

  Jack was taken aback. “What do you mean? She’s gone with us to question individuals of interest before.”

  “Not on a case where she was a suspect.”

  Jack respected his partner, trusted him with his life, and yet now found he wanted to punch him in the face. “She’s not a suspect. How can you say that?”

  “I’m not trying to pick a fight.” Brian held his hands up in surrender. The last thing he wanted was to agitate his partner. “I’m also not saying that I believe Ivy is a suspect. Patsy does, though.”

  “Patsy has been leveled by grief.”

  “She has but that doesn’t mean she can’t make things difficult for us. If she decides to make a stink and file a report with the state, we could be in big trouble.”

  “She’ll get over it.” Jack was certain that was true. “There’s no way she can hold a grudge from twelve years ago over something as minor as Max not taking her to some high school dance. She’s simply grasping for someone to blame right now and she’s focused on Ivy.”

  “I would tend to agree. That doesn’t mean we can ignore the potential problems that might arise if we take Ivy with us.”

  Jack made a protesting sound that was dangerously close to a whine. “Why didn’t you say something when it was brought up before?”

  “Because I didn’t want it to turn into a thing in front of Max. I thought maybe you could pull her aside, explain things to her. She’s reasonable. She’ll understand.”

  Jack had serious doubts things would go that smoothly. “She’s going to feel betrayed.”

  “If she does, she’ll get over it when she gets a chance to think things over. I mean ... really think things over. She can’t be included in this investigation. Forget the fact that it looks bad — which I normally don’t care about — but it could taint the court case once we actually make an arrest.”

  Jack worked his jaw. He understood what Brian was so inelegantly trying to say. That didn’t mean he had to like it. “You’re putting this on me because you don’t want to be the bad guy.”

  “No, I’m putting this on you because you’re going to be her husband and it’s your job. You’re the one who said it was okay for her to tag along in the first place.”

  “But ... .”

  “No.” Brian was firm as he shook his head. “She can’t come. I’m putting my foot down.”

  Jack narrowed his eyes. “She’s going to punish me for this.”

  “You’re a big boy. You can take it.”

  “I’m going to punish you for it.”

  “I would expect nothing less.”

  IVY HAD CHOCOLATE ICE CREAM caked at the corners of her mouth when Jack approached. She was telling JJ some story, something that happened to Max when he was a boy, and JJ was laughing so hard he’d started snorting.

  “Hey,” Ivy said, turning expectantly. “Are you ready?”

  “Um ... yeah. I need to talk to you over here first, though.” He gestured toward a spot in the shade about twenty feet away.

  Ivy nodded without hesitation, dumping her empty ice cream container in the nearest trash receptacle. “Sure.”

  On instinct, Jack grabbed two napkins from the stack at the kiosk and followed her. He felt like the lowest of the low even though he knew Brian had a point. Including Ivy before she was officially cleared could turn into a mess for both of them.

  “What’s up?” she asked when they were a safe distance away.

  Jack used one of the napkins to attack the leftover ice cream. “So ... there’s a thing.”

  “There’s a thing?” She arched an eyebrow and smirked at his cleanup efforts. “This is a little weird. You could’ve just told me I had ice cream on my face.”

  “Maybe I just like taking care of you.” He leaned in and gave her a soft kiss before pulling back. He wanted to somehow soften the blow, although that was likely impossible. “You can’t come with us.”

  Ivy’s smile slipped. “But you said ... .”

  “Brian doesn’t think it’s a good idea.” Jack had no problem throwing his partner under the bus on this one. If he could redirect Ivy’s ire to the older detective it would be better for him. “He brought up a few things that I hadn’t thought about before I agreed to include you.”

  Ivy’s hands landed on her narrow hips, causing Jack to cringe. “And what are those things?”

  “Patsy.”

  “What about her?”

  “She’s determined you killed her mother.”

  “Yeah, but I didn’t.”

  “I know that. You don’t have to tell me that. It’s just ... Patsy is in an odd place mentally. She can’t see beyond what’s directly in front of her right now and she’s in shock. She thinks you killed her mother. Until we can officially clear you, you can’t be part of the investigation.”

  Ivy reacted with visible shock. “I’m a suspect.”

  “No.” Jack immediately started shaking his head. “You’re not a suspect. I know you’re innocent. Brian does, too. We just have to be careful.”

  “Of what?” Ivy’s voice raised an octave and bordered on screechy. “If you know I’m innocent, why do you care what Patsy thinks?”

  “Because she could make things difficult for us.” Jack scrambled for the best way to explain things to her without making the situation worse. “She could file a complaint with the state, Ivy. Do you know what that means?”

  “I ... maybe.” Ivy reined in her anger as reality smacked her in the face. “It means they could conduct an investigation into you, maybe cause you to lose your job.”

  Jack hadn’t even considered that. “I guess that’s possible. That’s not my biggest fear, though. I mean ... I love my job. I love you more, for the record. I would willingly give up my job to keep you happy.”

  Ivy knew that in her heart and it allowed her to bank all of the anger she’d been hoarding. “I don’t want you to give up your job. That’s not fair to you. I don’t have to go.”

  He grabbed her hand and gave it a squeeze. “That’s not my primary concern. I’m worried that if she files a report with the state police that they will come in and take over the investigation.”

  And that’s when the rest of it slid home for Ivy. “And if they’re the ones investigating, they won’t rule me out simply because they know me.”

  “Yeah.” Jack’s fingers were gentle as he brushed her hair away from her face. “I don’t want to risk someone who isn’t as invested in finding Zelda’s real murderer coming in and taking the lazy way out. I know you had nothing to do with this. They might not care.”

  Even though she was bitterly disappointed — a
nd maybe a little depressed at being cut out of the action — Ivy acquiesced without further argument. “You have to do what’s right for everyone concerned. I get it.”

  “I’ll keep you updated on what we find. I won’t cut you out of anything else. I just can’t let you question people with us. Not this time.”

  “I understand.” Ivy took a deliberate step away from him. “You should get to work. Maybe we can have dinner at the diner tonight. I mentioned it to Max and JJ got really excited.”

  In truth, Jack would’ve preferred having dinner at home, where they could be alone. He didn’t put up a fight, though. “Sure. That sounds great. I’ll call you when we’re done and we’ll set up a time.”

  “Okay.”

  She looked so forlorn he couldn’t stop himself from grabbing her by the front of her shirt and planting a sultry kiss on her lips. “I love you,” he whispered.

  “I love you, too.” She forced a smile she didn’t really feel. “Go do what you have to do. I’ll be fine.”

  “I’ll be in touch.”

  “Yeah. I know.”

  JACK WAS STILL FUMING TEN MINUTES LATER AS Brian navigated the police cruiser to a country road the younger detective wasn’t familiar with given his limited time in Shadow Lake.

  “Are you going to pout the entire afternoon?” Brian queried.

  “I’m thinking about it.”

  “I know that shutting her down was hard for you ... .”

  “Let’s not talk about it.” Jack was determined to avoid being a morose mess. He needed to concentrate on the case. The sooner they caught the real killer, the sooner Ivy would be cleared in the eyes of everyone concerned. That’s what he wanted more than anything. “Tell me about Henry Spencer.”

  “There’s not much to tell.” Brian made a face. “He’s about my age. I know him a little bit ... although I prefer keeping my distance. He’s kind of a schmuck.”

  Jack arched an eyebrow. “I’m going to need more than that.”

  Brian heaved out a sigh. “Henry is ... well ... he’s a tool. That’s the best word I can use to describe him. I believe that’s a word Ivy often dusts off, right?”

  Jack nodded, his lips quirking. “That’s what she called me right after we met and she didn’t like my attitude.”

  “Yes, but that wasn’t warranted. She was attracted to you and lashing out to protect her heart. Henry really is a tool.”

  “Meaning?”

  “Meaning he’s something of a womanizer. He’ll sleep with anything that moves and actually applied for early membership at the senior center because he likes hitting on the women there. They cook for him.”

  Jack made a face. “Wait ... so he’s hitting on older women because they cook ... and he admits it?”

  “Oh, he’s proud of it. He likes his reputation, even though it’s less than complimentary. It’s not just the older women he hits on either. He also hits on recently-divorced middle-aged women because he believes neediness makes them easy. Then there are the younger women in town. He goes after them when they’re in a rebellious stage because he knows they might have sex with him just to irritate their parents.”

  Jack’s stomach twisted. “Are you talking underage girls?”

  Brian shook his head. “No, he waits until they’re eighteen. He’s not an idiot.”

  “But ... why would girls that age want to even entertain the notion of having sex with him?”

  “Because he knows how to read people and he goes after the vulnerable ones,” Brian replied. He looked as disdainful as Jack felt. “As far as I can tell, he hasn’t been able to convince many of the young ones to cross the line but there have been a few. He’ll buy them things, woo them for a bit, but most of the girls use him for what they can get and then dump him before they have to see him naked.”

  Jack was appalled. “How do you know all this?”

  “Because Henry is very open when he talks about his method at the senior center and I often visit my mother there on Tuesdays and Thursdays during euchre tournaments.”

  Jack knew that. He thought it was cute when Brian visited his mother. His partner was loyal, which was only one of the things he liked about him. “Your mother can’t be happy about that.”

  “My mother wants to knock his head against a wall and watch his brains ooze out. She thinks he’s disgusting. She keeps trying to get me to arrest him.”

  “For what?”

  “Being a tool.”

  Jack chuckled, some of the tension he’d been feeling over the course of the drive diminishing. “Well, he sounds like a lovely guy. I can’t wait to meet him.”

  “I’m going to remember you said that when you’re venting how much you hate him on the way home.”

  HENRY LIVED UP TO JACK’S expectations ... and then some. He was dressed in a Hawaiian shirt, which was unbuttoned to his navel, and allowed for a carpet of wiry white hair to be visible through the gaping vee. His blond hair was thinning to the point that he had to comb it over the top to even pretend he had hair and he wore a pair of bright pink chinos that were so loud they made Jack’s eyes water.

  “Well, this is a surprise.” Henry ushered them into the house without asking why they were there and had cocktails poured before either detective could decline. “It’s five o’clock somewhere, right? These are Mai Tais ... and they’re awesome.”

  Brian held up a hand and Jack politely shook his head.

  “We’re on duty, Henry,” Brian explained. “We can’t drink.”

  “Who would know?”

  “We would know.” Brian was firm. “Besides, we’re here for an important reason. It’s come to our attention that you were dating Zelda Morris.”

  Henry nodded without hesitation. “She’s one of my current ... playmates. Why? She wasn’t in an accident or anything, was she?”

  “You could say that.” Brian was grim. “There’s no easy way to tell you this, but she was killed in her store a few hours ago. Someone entered through the loading door and stabbed her. Since the two of you were involved, you understand, we need to ask you a few questions.”

  “Stabbed?” Genuine remorse washed over Henry’s features, although Jack wasn’t sure if he believed the reaction. Brian said Henry could read people well. That might mean he was a good actor.

  “Multiple times,” Brian confirmed. “It was a quick and frenzied attack. It was over quickly and the individuals in the front of the store didn’t even realize anything had happened until it was already over.”

  “Well, that sucks.” Henry pursed his lips. “I guess I’m back to three.”

  Jack furrowed his brow. “Three what?”

  “Girlfriends.”

  “You have three girlfriends?” Jack found his temper bubbling up ... again.

  “I had four until you told me about Zelda. I liked that number. There was a certain symmetry to it. You know ... four corners and that. It’s better than having three because then two of them can band together and outnumber you. If you have four, they never band together because they don’t want to risk being outnumbered on the other side.”

  “You’re a real prince when it comes to relationships,” Jack grumbled.

  “Yeah. I’m awesome,” Henry agreed absently. He’d obviously missed Jack’s tone. “This really sucks. Zelda made a mean gumbo. I mean ... it was authentic and awesome. She was going to cook it for me again tonight. I guess that means I have to make other dinner plans.”

  “You sound real broken up about it,” Jack snapped.

  Brian shot his partner a warning look and then cleared his throat to get Henry’s attention before the other man could wise up and kick them out of his house. “We need to know the name of your other girlfriends, Henry. We also need to know where you were between noon and three o’clock this afternoon so we can clear you.”

  “Clear me?” For the first time since the police officers had invaded his house, Henry showed real understanding for what was going down. “Am I suspect?”

  “You were
romantically involved with our victim,” Brian answered, opting for the truth. “You know how that goes. We have to run down every angle. So, we’ll start with the main one. Where were you?”

  “Well, I had breakfast at the diner this morning and then headed over to that spa in Bellaire. You know the one I’m talking about, right? The one at the resort. I was there for four hours.”

  Brian jotted down a few lines in the notebook he carried. “Will they be able to confirm that?”

  “Yeah. I got a massage, facial, my back waxed, and a smoothing mask applied to my nether region. I paid with a credit card, so it should be relatively easy to track down.”

  Jack wasn’t sure he wanted to know, but he couldn’t stop himself from asking. “A smoothing mask for your nether region?”

  “What?” Henry’s cloudy eyes cleared. “Oh, yeah. It’s this great thing that makes you smooth as a baby’s bottom down there. The women love it.”

  “I’ll have to take your word for it.”

  “You should definitely try it. You snagged that Morgan girl, right? She’s a pretty little thing. I was going to make a move on her eventually, but you beat me to it. You’re just lucky you put a ring on it because nothing else would’ve stopped me.”

  Jack could think of a few things Henry was lucky for, too, like not approaching Ivy with a sexual suggestion. She would’ve castrated him herself if he tried. “I feel so lucky.”

  Brian pressed the heel of his hand to his forehead. He could sense the conversation going south. “We’ll check your alibi, Henry. It should be easy enough to rule you out. We need the names of your other current girlfriends, though.”

  “Sure ... although I think you’re barking up the wrong tree there. None of them are killers.”

  “Jealousy does strange things to people,” Brian pointed out. “Just give me the names.”

  “Fanny Frederick, Lucy Thompson, and Felicity Goodings.”

  Jack almost fell over in his chair. “Felicity?”