Wicked Decisions

by Lily Harper Hart

  “Yeah, but ... .” Lucy glanced over her shoulder, as if internally debating the merits of allowing the detectives inside of her home. Finally, she blew out a sigh. “As long as it’s quick, I don’t see why it should be an issue. Come on in. I’ll make a pot of coffee.”

  Jack offered up a winning smile. “Great. The sooner we get this out of the way, the better it will be for all of us.”

  “If you say so.”

  IVY WAITED UNTIL SHE WAS CERTAIN Brian and Jack were inside the house to engage the fob. She hissed out a breath when the locks snicked open and eased out of the cruiser. She stared at the house for a bit, part of her convinced that Brian would know what Jack had done and come out to scold her, but when the house remained quiet she pushed her worries away.

  She had bigger concerns, after all.

  She couldn’t knock on the front door and she wasn’t familiar enough with Lucy’s house layout to risk going in through the back. She’d visited a time or two as a child – there were group picnics and dinners back then – and she was almost certain the kitchen was located by the side entrance. That meant she couldn’t enter through that opening either.

  So what did Jack expect her to do?

  It didn’t take her long to make up her mind. She was careful to avoid the first-floor windows, ducking low to let a few hedges camouflage her. She edged around the side of the house and headed toward the backyard. She had no idea what she was looking for. Instead of plotting, though, she decided to let her inner witch take the lead.

  At first, her nerves were so shot that she couldn’t focus on what was happening inside of her. She spent all of her time darting her eyes to the windows, convinced that her heart was beating so loudly that Lucy would be able to hear it from inside. After a few minutes of deep breathing, though, she managed to regain control of her senses … and that’s when things started happening.

  The first was a small bird. It landed on the fence at the back of the property and stared at her. Initially she ignored it. Birds were common in Michigan, after all. The bird started chirping loudly, though, demanding her attention. When she finally met the creature’s gaze, she found it wasn’t really a bird at all. It was something else.

  It was ethereal, a mass of swirling sparkles rather than wings. It wasn’t chirping as much as singing, although it wasn’t a song she recognized. It whirled, glittery tendrils whipping out, and when it was certain it had her full attention, it disappeared over the gate.

  That’s when Ivy realized exactly what she was supposed to do. It was with determination that she approached the aged gate. At first she thought it was locked and she wouldn’t be able to go through – which meant going over it – but after two tugs the latch came free and the gate swung open. She now had a clear shot at the backyard.

  Ivy remained uncertain about what Jack wanted her to do with her sudden freedom. She knew what she was going to do, though. She was going to find Maisie.

  She was cautious as she crossed the threshold into the backyard, ducking low when she heard voices through an open window. It was Lucy, and she seemed to be answering whatever questions Jack and Brian were throwing at her.

  “We’re not accusing you of anything,” Brian reassured her in a patently calm voice that he’d perfected over the years. “We’re simply trying to understand everything that happened.”

  “And yet it sounds like you’re accusing me,” Lucy snapped. “I don’t understand what I’ve done to earn this from you either. All I did was try to help.”

  “Yes, and you tried to help by pointing the finger at Fanny,” Jack noted.

  “That’s because she’s guilty.”

  “Is she?” Ivy couldn’t see Jack’s face, but she could picture it in her mind. She could practically see the dubious slope of his eyebrow and it made her smile. The sound of his voice also settled her. He was close. Nothing could happen to her. Even if Lucy somehow managed to catch her, Jack would be there to make sure everything was okay. The notion bolstered her.

  She turned back to the whirling mass of energy and held her hands palms-up. She didn’t speak out loud, but the gesture was enough to convince the harbinger to begin moving again. This time when it started zipping forward, it ran directly toward a window on the far side of the yard. To make sure she wasn’t accidentally seen, Ivy dropped to her hands and knees and crawled beneath the window. She kept close to the shrubbery as she moved away from Jack, Lucy, and Brian. She kept her focus completely on the magical entity ... and pulled up short when it stopped moving.

  At first, Ivy wasn’t sure what it was doing. It wasn’t as if she could have a conversation with it. There was no mouth, at least that she could ascertain. But when it started whirling quicker, emitting a light that glinted off the window, Ivy realized what she was supposed to do.

  Because of the location of the sun, Ivy had to shield her eyes to look through the window. It took her eyes a moment to adjust, and when they did, she gasped out loud.

  There, in the center of what looked like a small library, Maisie sat tied to a chair. Her head was hanging low, her hair obscuring her features. Her arms were secured behind her and each foot lashed to a chair leg.

  “I was right,” Ivy muttered before she could shake herself of the potential excitement coursing through her. “I was totally right.” The second sentence was uttered with a bit too much gusto, coming out on a squeaky breath. The noise was enough to cause Ivy’s heart to skip a beat. Instead of looking over her shoulder to see if Lucy had somehow heard, though, her eyes remained trained on Maisie.

  Slowly, as if someone had hit a button on a remote control to slow down the action, Maisie’s eyes drifted open. The gag in her mouth stopped her from crying out, but Ivy could see the wild look in her eyes. Without thinking, Ivy pushed on the glass. It was a ridiculous thing to do, but she couldn’t help herself.

  To her utter surprise, the window pane tilted and fell forward, landing on the floor with a loud thud. Ivy’s mouth dropped open as Maisie’s eyes grew to the size of saucers. Ivy didn’t know what to do. Instead of running and hiding, though, she doubled down and crawled through the opening. She gave the fallen window a cursory glance and then scrambled toward Maisie, immediately reaching for the ropes holding her arms in place.

  Maisie made muffled sounds through the gag, causing Ivy to peer around the woman’s shoulder.

  “Oh, right.” Ivy abandoned her initial task and jerked on the fabric until she could dislodge it from Maisie’s mouth. An admonishment to be quiet was on the tip of her tongue, but Maisie wasn’t in the mood to listen.

  “Are you part of this?” Maisie practically bellowed the words, causing Ivy to cringe.

  Ivy made a face. “Of course not. Don’t be ridiculous. Oh, and shush.”

  “Don’t shush me.”

  “I have to shush you. We don’t want anyone to hear us.”

  Maisie’s eyebrows drew together. “I don’t understand. If you’re not part of this, what are you doing here?”

  “Looking for you.”

  “But … how did you find me?”

  Ivy stilled. She wasn’t sure how to answer. “I had a feeling it was Lucy. After I talked to you, I figured out you were seeing Henry. I told Jack, and when questioned on the matter, Henry admitted it. We’ll discuss how stupid you are for dating that old freak once we get out of here.

  “Anyway, we went to your house and couldn’t find you,” she continued. “I wasn’t sure if you ran because you killed Zelda or if something happened to you. Then Fanny and Lucy got into it last night and there was just something off about the way Lucy was reacting. I talked Jack and Brian into coming here to check her out, and when they sat down for an interview, I went looking for you.”

  Maisie was incredulous. “But how did you know I was here?”

  Ivy shrugged. “It was just a feeling.”

  Maisie stared at her for a long beat and then inclined her head toward the rope that was holding her hands in place. “My hands have gone numb. Can you un
tie me?”

  “Whoops. Sorry.” Ivy was sheepish as she went back to her task. “Did she say anything to you? I mean … did she tell you why she did this?”

  “She’s deranged.”

  “She must’ve said more than that.”

  “She just said that she was trying to make life easier for Henry. She claimed Zelda was making things difficult for him – the same as me – and if we were any kind of women we would let him go. I didn’t even realize she was in my house until it was already too late. She hit me over the head with a big book. When I woke up, I was here.”

  “I wonder how she got you out of the house by herself,” Ivy mused.

  Maisie made a groaning sound deep in her throat. “Does that really matter? You can wonder about that to your heart’s content once you get me out of this house. She’s crazy. She keeps threatening to kill me.”

  “But she didn’t kill you,” Ivy pointed out. “If she’d been smart, she would’ve done that rather than kidnap you.”

  “She said she wanted me to promise that I would let Henry go.” The ropes gave finally and Maisie lifted her arms in exaltation. “Oh, praise be.”

  Something about the story bothered Ivy. “If all she wanted was for you to promise to stay away from Henry, why didn’t you do it? You didn’t have to mean it. All that was important was that she believe you meant it.”

  “I tried that.” Maisie’s eyes flashed with impatience. “Do you think I’m an idiot?”

  “That’s a loaded question.”

  “Oh, whatever.” Maisie’s nose wrinkled. “I promised I wouldn’t see Henry – or say anything to anyone else – but she didn’t believe me. I think she grabbed me before she thought things out.”

  “Did she admit to killing Zelda?”

  “Yeah. She said that she tried to talk Zelda into giving Henry up, too, but Zelda refused to do it. She said they belonged together or something and were going to make a true go of it once Henry got the courage to dump everybody else. It was a bunch of nonsense.”

  “Not so much nonsense,” Ivy countered as she removed the ropes from around Maisie’s ankles. “Apparently Henry runs the same line on everybody he dates. He promises it will eventually be just them and then strings them along until he can finally get up the courage to break up with them.”

  Maisie’s eyes narrowed. “Are you saying he lied to me?”

  Annoyance rose up to join the bile in Ivy’s throat. “What is it with you idiots and Henry? He’s not even a good catch. I mean … he’s gross.”

  “That’s easy for you to say. You have Jack. Not all of us are that lucky.”

  “I do have Jack.” Ivy smiled in a benevolent sort of way. “You could still do better.”

  “Yeah, yeah, yeah. I … .” Whatever Maisie was going to say died on her lips as the door to the library flew open, revealing a wild-eyed Lucy in the doorway.

  “Uh-oh,” Ivy muttered, her heart sinking. “I guess I should’ve thought this out better.”

  Maisie was apoplectic. “Oh, you think?”

  Twenty

  Ivy had no idea what she was going to say, her mind so busy she thought she might legitimately pass out.

  “What are you doing in my house?” Lucy shrieked.

  “I think the better question is, what is Maisie Washington doing in your house?” Jack asked as he appeared behind Lucy. The look he shot Ivy was hard to read, but the pink-haired witch had no doubt there was a lecture in her future. “It doesn’t exactly look as if she was here voluntarily.”

  Lucy swiveled quickly, her hand going to the pocket of her housecoat. His reflexes kicking in, Jack stopped her before she could dig inside.

  “I don’t think that’s a good idea.” He grabbed her wrists as Brian eased around him and reached into the pocket.

  The older detective was grim as he pulled out a handgun. “What were you going to do with this, Lucy?”

  “She’s been threatening me with it for days,” Maisie volunteered. “I want her locked up. She’s crazy.”

  “You haven’t even been missing for twenty-four hours,” Ivy pointed out. “You only missed two meals.”

  “Oh, stuff it.” Maisie watched with grim satisfaction as Jack cuffed Lucy. There was no jubilation in the room, but the relief was palpable. The moment Lucy was safely in custody, Maisie took a running start and threw her arms around Jack’s neck. “You saved me. I don’t know how I’ll ever thank you.”

  Jack looked taken aback. “Oh, well … um … .”

  Ivy rolled her eyes. “I saved you. That was me. I was the one who crawled through the window and rescued you.”

  “Yes, speaking of that … .” Brian edged over to the spot where the window had fallen inward and gave it a long look. “What are you doing in this house?”

  Uh-oh. Ivy sensed serious trouble. “Oh, well … .”

  “That’s what I want to know,” Lucy exploded, her eyes wild and fierce. “You have no right to be in here. That means this was an illegal search. I demand to be released at once.”

  “Yeah, that’s not how that works,” Jack drawled, shaking his head. “You let us into your house. Once alerted to a loud noise, even though you stalled for a good two minutes, we followed you to ensure your safety. That’s when we stumbled across … this.”

  Lucy’s gaze darkened. “You can’t hold me. You have no proof I did anything.”

  “We have Maisie,” Brian noted, his eyes never leaving Ivy’s face. “Obviously she’ll be giving us a statement.”

  “You bet I will.” Maisie puffed out her chest and pulled away from Jack. She didn’t allow for much distance between them, but her anger was directed at Lucy. “She told me everything. She told me how she killed Zelda. She mentioned that she stole a binder from Zelda’s store just so she could shove it in Fanny’s burn barrel and frame her. She said she found an earring in Henry’s car. She assumed it was my earring and she planted it on Zelda’s body. Did you find an earring?”

  “We did,” Brian confirmed. “The earring belonged to Felicity Goodings, though.”

  Lucy stopped struggling against the cuffs. “What?” She looked baffled. “I don’t understand. She and Henry weren’t intimate. I know that for a fact. He told me.”

  “Probably not for lack of trying,” Ivy muttered under her breath.

  Jack shot her a quelling look. “The earring belonged to Felicity. It was missing for some time before it showed up on Zelda’s body. Why did you kill Zelda, Lucy?”

  Lucy immediately started shaking her head. “I didn’t. I … .”

  “It does you no good to lie at this point,” Brian noted. “Maisie was found on your property. She was obviously held against her will. The discovery is going to stand even though Ms. Morgan broke in. She’ll be facing her own set of charges.”

  Ivy balked. “What? I only broke in because I saw Maisie through the window.”

  “You still broke in.” Brian was firm. “You’re going to be arrested, too. There’s no getting around that.”

  Ivy looked to Jack for help. “Are you going to let him arrest me?”

  “I don’t have a choice,” Jack replied softly, carefully extricating himself from Maisie, who he was convinced suddenly had eight arms. “I have to recuse myself from the case because of our relationship.”

  “You could always break up with her,” Maisie suggested brightly. “Then you could help her escape the charges – she really was trying to help, which is something you can rarely say about her – and then you’ll be free and clear to find someone new. You’re really not suited for one another.”

  Jack made a growling noise deep in his throat. “We’re not breaking up. As for the charges … you’ll probably get nothing more than community service, honey. I mean … extenuating circumstances will surely be taken into account.”

  “You can’t arrest me!” Ivy was furious. “I was saving a life. See!” She gestured toward Maisie. “You wouldn’t have even known she was in here, her life in danger, if it weren’t for me.�
�

  “And we appreciate your service to this community,” Brian replied evenly. “You’re still being taken into custody.”

  Ivy folded her arms over her chest and openly glared. “This is crap.”

  Jack had to bite the inside of his cheek to keep from smiling. He loved her fiery attitude. “I might be able to tailor your community service if I put in a request with the judge. Cross your fingers.”

  “Ugh.”

  Brian turned his focus back to Lucy. “There’s no way for you to get out of this. I just want to know why. Zelda was a good woman. She didn’t deserve to die … especially not that way.”

  Regret wafted over Lucy’s face. “I didn’t want to kill her. She refused to go away, though. I tried talking to her, but she just wouldn’t listen. She said that Henry promised her they were going to be together and I knew that couldn’t be true because … because … .”

  “Because he promised you the same thing,” Ivy volunteered quietly. “You thought you were the only one.”

  “Up until last night, I assumed Zelda was making it up,” Lucy admitted. “Henry is so attentive when we’re together. I thought … I thought he meant what he said.”

  “Did you plan to kill Zelda that day in the store?” Jack asked.

  Lucy nodded stiffly. “I made the decision the night before. I had Maisie’s earring – at least I thought it was Maisie’s earring – and I figured she would make a good scapegoat. I heard her on the phone with someone plotting against the rest of us. She had a plan to get us cut out of the equation. She’s a drain on society. No one would miss her.”

  Ah, well, that explained the phone call Ivy saw in the vision.

  “Hey!” Maisie’s perfectly-sculpted eyebrows flew up her forehead. “A lot of people would miss me. Jack would miss me. Right?”

  Jack pretended he didn’t hear the question. “You entered through the loading dock, correct?”

  “She always left it open. It seemed like the best option. I didn’t realize she had people in the store until I heard voices through the heating duct. Even then I didn’t know it was Ivy. I just … needed her to go away.”