Wicked Reunion

by Lily Harper Hart

  Felicity finally reacted, and it was with withering disdain. “Oh, please. Jack doesn’t care about any of that. He only wants you. He’s been that way since he got here. He loves you.”

  For some reason, even though she already knew that, Ivy felt better hearing it from someone else. “Right. It’s going to be okay.”

  “It’s going to be fine,” Felicity agreed. “In a few weeks it will be behind you and you’ll have nothing but a funny story to tell ... that is if I don’t kill you first.”

  Ivy was taken aback. It was rare for her aunt to be the one to go after her. Felicity was the one who listened to Ivy complain, talked her down when she was feeling emotional. Heck, Felicity was the one who helped her see what was right in front of her when she was trying to figure things out with Jack. She was always his biggest cheerleader.

  Ivy hesitated. “I don’t understand.”

  “I think you left something out of your story from yesterday,” Felicity said finally, her tone clipped.

  “What?” Ivy was genuinely at a loss. “What did I leave out? The woman was afraid, she was shot at point-blank range, and the cops were jerks. That’s everything.”

  “Uh-huh.” Felicity’s cheeks were so red Ivy was afraid she was going to spontaneously combust. “And where were you when this incident occurred?”

  Slowly, the color began to drain from Ivy’s cheeks as she realized what Felicity was getting at. “Oh, well ... .”

  “What’s going on?” Michael asked, appearing from the east with a bag of mulch. He’d clearly missed the first part of the conversation and didn’t realize that things were about to go off the rails.

  “I was just talking to your daughter,” Felicity replied. “She’s been ... up to no good.”

  “Of course she has. That’s what she does.” Michael plopped the bag on the stack by the register and flicked his eyes to his sister-in-law, as if sensing for the first time that she was agitated. “Do I even want to know what’s going on here?”

  “No,” Felicity barked. “Go away.”

  Ivy was strong to the point of being stupid sometimes, but she knew when to call in for backup ... and now was one of those times. “You should stay.” She impulsively reached out and grabbed Michael’s wrist so he couldn’t wander away. “I think Aunt Felicity wants to have coffee with you or something.”

  “No, Aunt Felicity doesn’t,” Felicity drawled, referring to herself in the third person. “Aunt Felicity wants to strangle you for being a liar.”

  That single word — liar — was enough to snap Ivy back to reality. She straightened her shoulders and pinned her aunt with an annoyed glare. “I’m not a liar.”

  “Really? Weren’t you with Dorian? If not, the newspaper got it wrong. He’s mentioned in the article about the shooting.”

  Ivy felt caught, but she refused to back down. “Honestly, I forgot everything that didn’t revolve around the shooting. I was going to bring it up at dinner last night, but then I got distracted by Mom going on and on about the perils of working on a chain gang. I’m a little freaked out about the community service if you must know.”

  “Oh, please.” Felicity offered up a haphazard wave. “You’ll be fine. It’s not as if it’s going to be an Orange Is the New Black situation. You’re acting like a child. You’ll pick up trash for forty hours and then they’ll discharge you from the system. Everybody knows that you’re the reason that Maisie is alive. They’re just doing this part for form’s sake.”

  “I certainly hope so.”

  “I know so. Stop being a baby.” Felicity’s tone was icy. “I want to talk about Dorian. What were you doing with him?”

  “Um ... .” Ivy licked her lips and looked to her father for help.

  “Did you really find Dorian?” he asked after a beat. “I mean ... how? I knew you were asking questions about him after the whole Henry Spencer incident.”

  Felicity’s eyebrows almost flew off her forehead. “Why would you be asking about Dorian? You haven’t mentioned him since ... well ... the first few weeks after he left. Back then you were curious about him. You haven’t been since.”

  “That’s because I didn’t remember him,” Ivy replied. “He was mentioned when I was upset about you dating Henry.”

  “And why does that bother you so much?” Felicity challenged.

  “Because he’s beneath you. You deserve better. Then it was mentioned that you had better. They told me about Dorian, including why he had to move away, and I asked Jack to track him down for me.”

  “You asked Jack to track him down for you.” Felicity was positively apoplectic. “Well, that’s just great. I don’t suppose it occurred to you to mind your own business, did it?”

  Ivy shook her head, not missing a beat. “Honestly, it didn’t occur to me,” she replied. “I just wanted to know what happened to him. After ... well, after he was mentioned, I couldn’t stop thinking about him, to the point where I was becoming a bit obsessed.

  “I found myself wondering if you were ever happy, or if you spent your whole life pining after him,” she continued. “I wanted to know if he missed you. I’m not sorry I asked Jack to do it. If you’re fishing for an apology, you’re not going to get it.”

  Sensing trouble, Michael held up a hand and stepped between his sister-in-law and daughter. They could both hold their own, but Ivy was unlikely to protect herself against an attack from her aunt. “And you actually saw Dorian, Ivy?”

  Ivy nodded, her lips curving. “He’s in Bellaire. He owns another shop. I went in yesterday to ... well, spy on him quite frankly. I wanted to know if he had a wife or bad memories about Aunt Felicity. I didn’t plan on telling him who I was, but it came out fairly quickly because I made a mistake.”

  “What sort of mistake?” Michael queried.

  “I actually liked the stuff he had in his store and it reminded me that I needed to get that painting Aunt Felicity did for me when I was a kid fixed so I can hang it in the basement.”

  Felicity’s forehead wrinkled. “Painting? Are you talking about the morel painting?”

  Ivy’s grin widened as she nodded. “Yeah. I think it’s going to drive Jack nuts so I want to put it in the basement. You know how he feels about morels.”

  “Yes, I’ve heard the comment about them tasting like feet so many times I’ve lost count,” Michael said dryly. “The painting is a nice touch. It will be funny. I want to go back to Dorian. He talked to you?”

  “When I mentioned the painting he remembered that Aunt Felicity made it for me,” Ivy explained. “After that, he was eager to hear about all of you. He asked about Max ... and Mom and Dad. He asked about the cottage.”

  “Did he ask about me?” Felicity asked in a low voice.

  “I can’t remember if he asked or if the conversation simply turned to you,” Ivy replied. “We didn’t have a lot of time to talk before it happened. I asked why he came back to the area and didn’t look you up and he said he was afraid to.”

  “Oh, why did you do that?” Felicity complained. “Now he’s going to think I sent you there.”

  “No. He knows that’s not true. I said I couldn’t remember him and someone had brought you up recently and when I found he had a store in Bellaire I wanted to check him out for myself to see if it would jog a memory. I’m not a complete and total idiot.”

  “Not a complete one,” Felicity drawled, rolling her eyes. She didn’t seem to know what to do with her hands and she was fidgety as she shifted from one foot to the other. “Well, don’t leave me in suspense. Is he married? Does he have kids?”

  Michael smirked. “Yeah. Get to the dirt, Ivy.”

  “He’s not married,” she offered quickly. “He moved back to the city and worked for someone for a long time. Then he moved over to the west side of the state for a few years and then he decided to come up here and try another store. He was very friendly.”

  “There has to be more to the story than that,” Michael pressed.

  “Like I said, we didn’
t get a lot of time together and the woman getting shot in front of us sort of ruined the ‘let’s catch up’ mood,” Ivy replied. “I asked him if he ever considered contacting Aunt Felicity. He said he was afraid to because he assumed she was married and didn’t want to disrupt her life. I said she wasn’t married ... and then a strange woman walked into the store and was shot directly in front of us.”

  For the first time since approaching Ivy with a mountain of righteous indignation, Felicity’s expression softened. “Well ... I guess that doesn’t sound too bad.”

  “I just wanted to see if ... well, I just wanted to see him.” Ivy’s gaze was imploring. “You deserve better than Henry, and if there’s a chance for you and Dorian, I want you to take it.”

  Felicity let loose a hollow chuckle. “Ivy, Dorian and I haven’t seen each other in more than twenty years. Do you really think we can just pick up where we left off?”

  Ivy nodded without hesitation. “As a matter of fact, I do. He mentioned wanting to see you and then things blew up. By the time Jack arrived, he was furious with that detective because of the way he was treating me and we marched out before I had a chance to even say goodbye to Dorian.”

  “Yes, well ... .” Felicity flicked her eyes to the side and stared into nothing. “I don’t know what to think about all of this. I had no idea he was back in the area. I’m kind of sad that he didn’t bother to tell me he came back.”

  “I think he was afraid.” Ivy searched her aunt’s face. “Do you know what we should do? We should head over there. I will just bet he’ll be glad to see us and I want to apologize for not saying goodbye yesterday. Dad can run the nursery, right?” She shot her father a pointed look.

  Michael nodded decisively. “I think that’s a good idea,” he said without hesitation. “I can run the nursery and you guys can visit Dorian. Just make sure you share the details so I don’t miss out on the gossip when you’re done.”

  “Deal.” Ivy grabbed Felicity’s shoulder and gave her a hard push. “Let’s go. I can’t wait until you see him again.”

  Felicity was suddenly nervous. “I don’t know.”

  “I do. You’re going. I don’t want to hear another word about it.”

  JACK HAD TROUBLE FOCUSING ON HIS WORK, to the point where Brian grew sick of listening to him make sighing noises and decided to take the bull by the horn.

  “What’s your deal?” Brian was busy trying to wade through paperwork and Jack’s constant noises were driving him insane. “Why are you acting like the world is coming to an end?”

  Jack balked. “I’m not acting like the world is going to end. Why would you even say that?”

  “Because it’s obvious that you’re upset about something.” There was a time Brian thought he would never get his taciturn partner to open up. It turned out the opposite was true. Jack liked to talk ... and the thing he liked talking about most was Ivy.

  “I’m not upset,” Jack argued, falling silent for a beat before shifting. “Okay, I’m upset. Do you know what happened this morning?”

  Brian did his best to tamp down his amusement. “I’m guessing a pretty someone with pink hair did something to annoy you.”

  “Actually, no. For once, she’s not at the center of my agitation. Well, I mean ... she is, but it’s not her fault.”

  Brian made a face, legitimately confused. “I’m going to need more than that,” he said finally. “I don’t understand what you’re talking about.”

  “Detective Archibald showed up at the cottage this morning.”

  Brian turned grim. “Are you serious? Why would he show up at the cottage? He didn’t try to arrest her, did he?”

  “No, and if he tries, I’m not going to allow it to happen. It will scar her. She’s already freaked out about the community service.”

  “She’s going to be fine with the community service,” Brian countered. “She’s just psyching herself out. That’s what she does. Archibald, though ... what did he want?”

  Jack told his partner about the visit, leaving nothing out. By the time he was wrapping things up, he was excited again. “He actually tried to lead her to a photo even though she told him she couldn’t make an identification. He wanted to point her toward a suspect.”

  “That honestly doesn’t surprise me.”

  Jack frowned. “You can’t think what he’s doing is okay.”

  “Oh, I don’t think anything that guy has ever done is okay,” Brian replied hurriedly. “That’s not what I’m saying. Archibald doesn’t have the best reputation in law enforcement circles. It might be multiple departments, but it’s a small area. We all know each other.”

  “And?”

  “And he’s always been a bit of a wild card,” Brian replied. “He wrecked a cruiser when he was in training, although that was honestly an accident. People laughed about it for weeks, though, because he ran into the barrier on the freeway when trying to pass a semi on the Zilwaukee Bridge. He didn’t realize about the wind shear ... although that’s a whole other story.

  “He’s been in trouble in and out since he earned his badge,” he continued. “My understanding is that he turned things political with the Bellaire mayor and threatened to arrest him at one point because they disagreed on a funding bill for the marine division of the sheriff’s department. The real horror was when he shot that woman, though.”

  Jack stilled. He should’ve been surprised by the offhand statement. Instead, it seemed to fit with what he knew about the man. “Do I even want to know?”

  Brian shrugged. “I’m not sure. Do you?”

  Jack tilted his head, considering. Finally, he nodded. “I need to know all there is to know about him. He’s fixated on Ivy, and I’m afraid for her.”

  “I don’t blame you.” Brian was grim. “I don’t like the way he’s looking at her either. As for the woman he shot, it was during a domestic incident about five years ago. It was right after he was made detective.”

  “I’m still confused how he managed to rise through the ranks the way he did,” Jack argued. “He’s about my age and he’s a detective.”

  Despite himself, Brian was amused. “You’re a detective.”

  “Yeah, but ... other than not realizing my partner was a murderous criminal, I’ve always stayed on the right side of the law. It doesn’t sound to me as if that’s the case with Archibald.”

  “I don’t know that he purposely breaks the law,” Brian hedged. “I just know that five years ago he was called out on a domestic disturbance. A teenager called 911 and claimed her parents were running a criminal drug ring out of their home and Archibald went out there with the same lazy reaction he showed when Ivy told him about the guy in the mask.”

  “In other words, he didn’t believe there was anything to worry about.”

  “Pretty much,” Brian confirmed. “He asked to talk to the parents but didn’t secure the scene. He was known for refusing to secure the scene because he didn’t believe anything bad could happen in Bellaire.

  “Anyway, the husband panicked because there were cops at the door and tried to hide the people packing drugs in the basement. He told the wife to take the stash out back, which she did. When she was coming back, Archibald saw her in the yard and decided that she was acting squirrelly.”

  He made a face before continuing. “This is where the story gets weird and there were multiple witnesses in the front yard, but no one actually saw what happened in the back and several tales were told. The official story is that he yelled at the wife and asked what she was doing. She denied doing anything. He told her to put up her hands, which she did, and then he shot her anyway.”

  Jack was horrified. “Even though she’d basically surrendered?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Did she survive?”

  “She did. It turned out to be a shoulder wound. It wasn’t all that dangerous in the grand scheme of things, but that’s hardly the point. She followed his instructions and he still shot her.”

  “And he’s still on the fo
rce,” Jack muttered, running his hand through his hair. “Even worse, he’s handling Ivy’s case. I don’t want him around her.”

  “I don’t see where you have a lot of choice. It’s not our jurisdiction. He’s going to do what he’s going to do.”

  “That doesn’t mean I’m going to sit back and do nothing.”

  “I didn’t think that. You need to be careful, though. Archibald isn’t someone to be trifled with.”

  Unfortunately, Jack was already figuring that out himself.

  7

  Seven

  Felicity was a nervous wreck by the time Ivy joined her in front of the store. They drove separately. Felicity said it was necessary in case Ivy got bored, but the pink-haired witch knew better. Once the initial reintroduction was over, Felicity would want to talk to Dorian without a witness present and if they shared a vehicle Ivy would be stuck. This way she could take off as soon as things looked like they were progressing.

  “How do I look?” Felicity asked as she smoothed her blouse.

  “You look beautiful,” Ivy reassured her, smiling. “There’s nothing to worry about. You’re perfectly fine. He’s going to be thrilled to see you.”

  Instead of responding with a grateful smile, Felicity frowned. “It’s been more than twenty years. I don’t look the same. What if he decides he no longer likes the way I look?”

  Ivy didn’t bother to hide her eye roll. “Oh, please. It’s going to be fine. Now who is the one freaking out over nothing?”

  “Young lady, this is not nothing. This is ... .”

  When she didn’t finish, Ivy merely smiled. “You’re so excited it’s cute. Did I act this way when Jack and I first started dating?”

  “When you and Jack started dating it was everyone else who was excited. He pulled you out of that self-imposed exile thing you were doing that was driving everyone crazy. He’s been wonderful for you.”