“I would really rather not see you,” Ivy shot back.
“Oh, I can guarantee you’ll see me again. And soon.”
MAX WAS READY TO MELT DOWN WHEN they reached the parking lot.
“That guy is creepy!”
Ivy’s hands were shaking when she tried to snap her safety belt. “Yeah. He’s got a few issues.”
Even though he was keyed up, Max took the seatbelt from her and snapped it into place. She was so white that concern bubbled up and grabbed him by the throat. “How many times has he terrorized you like that?”
“Like that? Only once. He keeps showing up, though. He followed me earlier today, too. I just don’t understand how he keeps showing up where I am. I assumed he was back in Bellaire for the day after he followed me from the grocery store.”
“Wait ... this is the second time he’s followed you today?” Max didn’t like that one bit. “What the hell? Does Jack know about this?”
“He knows about what happened at the grocery store. He obviously doesn’t know about this, though.”
“You’re going to tell him, right?” Max’s gaze was pointed.
Ivy fidgeted, uncomfortable. “I ... don’t see a reason.”
Max narrowed his eyes. “You don’t see a reason to tell him what just happened?”
“No.” She shook her head, firm. “If I tell him, Jack is going to go after Archibald. That means Jack could end up in trouble. I’m not putting him in that position.”
“Even though he would want to know that you’re in danger?”
“I’m not in danger.” Now that she was no longer in close proximity to the angry detective, Ivy was feeling bolder. “I’m perfectly fine. There’s nothing to worry about. Besides ... I’m going to let it go. I’m not going to keep pursuing this. Bethany doesn’t remember anything so there’s literally nothing I can do.”
Max folded his arms over his chest, disbelief rolling across his handsome features. He couldn’t swallow the crap she was shoveling. Oh, it wasn’t that she was actively lying to him. She honestly did believe she was done. He knew better, though. Curiosity wouldn’t allow her to simply walk away from this despite her best intentions.
“Fine.” He made up his mind on the spot. “Let’s get out of here. I don’t want to hang around and risk that creepy detective coming outside again.”
Ivy was relieved. “Thank you.” She reached over and gave her brother an impulsive hug. “I guess it was a mistake coming here.”
“It definitely was.”
MAX DROPPED IVY AT HIS LUMBERYARD so she could reclaim her car, hung around his office for thirty minutes so he could be assured that she was gone, and then headed to town. Despite her best intentions, there was no way she could drop this. If she wasn’t going to tell Jack, he was going to have to do it for her.
In his head, the words “snitch” and “tattletale” floated about like party balloons. He didn’t exactly feel good about ratting out his sister, but he couldn’t simply allow things to proceed. Ivy needed a safety net, and Jack was her best bet.
He found his future brother-in-law staring at his computer screen when he let himself into the detective bureau without knocking. It was a relief to find Jack alone ... if only because he knew Brian could potentially make things worse.
“Hey.”
Surprised by the new voice, Jack lifted his eyes. “Hey. Is something wrong?”
Max attempted a lopsided smile. “What makes you think anything is wrong? Can’t I just want to stop in and visit you?”
“You never have before.”
Max racked his memory for something to prove Jack wrong and came up empty. “You’re right. I’m not about to break that streak now.”
Jack was instantly alert. “Did something happen to Ivy?” Fear gripped him by the throat. “She wasn’t in an accident or anything, right?”
Max held up his hands to placate the detective as he sank into one of the chairs across from Jack’s desk. “Chill out. She’s fine. Er, well, she was fine when I saw her about forty minutes ago. She was heading back to the nursery.”
Jack furrowed his brow. “Why was she with you in the first place?”
“Okay, here’s the thing.” Max leaned forward. He was distinctly uncomfortable about squealing on his sister. The impulse ran counter to the loyalty they’d shown each other for the bulk of their lives. Ivy’s safety was more important than anything, though. “I’m going to tell you something and I need you to promise to remain calm.”
“Oh, well, that sounds just like me,” Jack drawled, leaning back in his chair. He sensed things were about to take a turn for the worse and he wasn’t looking forward to it. “Tell me what she did.”
“It’s nothing bad,” Max reassured him quickly. “Well ... it’s mostly not bad. I guess it’s kind of bad when I think about it.”
“Max.” Jack made a growling noise.
“She came to me a few hours ago and asked me to go to Traverse City with her.”
Jack was confused. “Why would she want to go there? She was already there this morning. She didn’t get anywhere with that trip.”
“Well, she wanted to improve on the outcome. She wanted a chance to visit Bethany Parker and ask her a few questions.”
“I thought she was unconscious and clinging to life.”
“So did Ivy ... until Bethany’s sister stopped by the nursery to thank her for saving Bethany’s life. It seems that Detective Archibald might’ve been exaggerating when he detailed her prognosis.”
“You mean he was lying.” Jack’s gaze darkened. “I knew there was something wrong with that guy. What’s the truth?”
“She’s awake and expected to recover. Although she is heavily medicated and sleeping a lot. Ivy convinced me to schmooze the receptionist to get her room number so she could go up.”
“And I’m guessing you did this.”
“Yeah, and if you’re going to yell, I don’t want to hear it.” Max’s gaze was pointed. “I already regret taking her there. It was a mistake, but I can’t take it back. Yelling at me isn’t going to change things and, believe it or not, it’s not going to make you feel better.”
Jack wasn’t convinced that was true, but he forced himself to remain calm. “Just tell me what happened.”
Max launched into the tale. It was difficult for him to keep from embellishing but that seemed unnecessary this time. When he got to the part about Archibald showing up, the expression on Jack’s face turned to one of absolute rage.
“Now, Ivy is afraid to tell you what happened because she’s convinced you’ll go after him and potentially lose your job. She’s terrified that you’ll fly off the handle and get in trouble and she doesn’t want to cause you yet another headache.”
“When did she cause me the first headache?” Jack gritted out, fighting for control.
“She thinks you’re embarrassed about her being on probation.”
“I’m not embarrassed. I’m annoyed that I couldn’t get her out of it.”
“I know that.” Max flashed a legitimate smile. “I think deep down she knows it, too. She’s embarrassed, though. She was always a good girl and now she has a record.”
Jack let loose a pent-up sigh and rubbed his forehead. “She makes me tired sometimes.”
Max cracked a smile. “You love her. She loves you. Things will be fine. It’s just ... I’m worried about this detective. The way he looked at her, and the grip he had on her, I’m not sure he’s entirely sane.”
Jack’s eyes turned to slits. “He put his hands on her?”
Max nodded. “Yes, and you can’t run off half-cocked. I need you to think about what’s best for Ivy in this situation. She promised she was going to let it go and I believe she means it. The thing is ... .” He trailed off, unsure how far he really wanted to go.
“The thing is she can’t always help herself,” Jack finished. “She’s got a curious mind and that gets her into nonstop trouble because she’s Ivy.”
Max nodded, moros
e. “I don’t want to be the guy who tattles on his sister, but I’m afraid. That detective is out to get her. If you explode all over her, though, you’re going to get into a huge fight and that’s only going to propel her to dig deeper. That’s what she does.”
Jack opened his mouth to argue and then snapped it shut. Max wasn’t wrong. “Thank you for telling me,” he said finally.
Max’s eyes widened in surprise. “That’s it? You’re not going to tear out of here and track her down?”
“No. I’m going to calm down and take a few hours to think. Hopefully, by the end of my shift, I’ll know the correct way to approach her.”
“And you’re not going to tell her I snitched, right? She’s going to be really mad if she thinks she can’t trust me.”
“I don’t know what I’m going to do yet. I just ... don’t know.” Jack let loose a world-weary sigh and briefly shut his eyes. “I do love your sister, Max. That’s never going to change. There are times I want to lock her in the basement and never let her out, though.”
Max chuckled. “That’s how I spent my teen years.”
“I’m afraid for her right now, too.” Jack was somber. “She’s in deep on this one and this detective is not a good guy. He has a terrible record and I don’t believe he’s above framing her.”
“So ... what are you going to do?”
“I have no idea. I have to do something, though. She’s at risk and I need to protect her.”
“I’ll help as much as I can. Just tell me what to do.”
“As soon as I figure it out, you’ll be the first one I call.”
IVY REALLY WAS DETERMINED TO LET THE shooting go. She understood on a basic level that things would spiral if she didn’t mind her own business. It wasn’t like when she poked her nose in one of Jack’s cases. He might get angry, but he wasn’t out to get her. Archibald was a different story.
“Where is your head at?” Michael asked as he found her working on a bush that had two busted branches. “You’ve been sitting over here staring at nothing for twenty minutes.”
Ivy lifted her eyes, rueful. “Sorry. I was just thinking.”
“About whatever you ran off to do a few hours ago?”
“Yeah.”
“Do you want to tell me about it?” Michael dropped to the ground and grabbed the pruning shears from his daughter, his eyes immediately going to the damaged bush. “What happened here?”
She shrugged. “I don’t know. I think I can save it, though. It’s going to take some extra effort and I’ll never be able to sell it, but I thought maybe I would put it by my back deck.”
A small smile played at the corners of Michael’s mouth. “That sounds like a good idea.”
“Then why are you laughing at me?”
“Because you’re simply unable to admit defeat.” He inclined his head toward the bush. “Most people would look at this bush as a lost cause. It doesn’t look healthy and is going to need a lot of TLC.”
Ivy shrugged, noncommittal. “So?”
“So, it just amuses me that you’re going to put in the work to save this bush even though it’s not necessary. Most nurseries lose a decent amount of stock. You lose very little because of your determination.”
“I don’t see the point in throwing away a perfectly good bush,” Ivy countered. “If it can be saved, it should be saved.”
“Uh-huh. You’re that way with people, too. I’m betting that’s why you took off the way you did earlier. You’re still trying to figure out what happened to that poor girl who was shot, aren’t you?”
Ivy averted her gaze. “I didn’t say that.”
“You don’t have to say it. I know you.”
“I’m starting to think I should take a step away from this one,” Ivy admitted, her voice low. “It’s starting to feel dangerous.”
Michael’s expression dimmed. “Then you should definitely take a step away from it.”
“I can’t stop thinking about it, though.”
“Thinking about it is fine. Putting yourself in danger is not. Go with your gut on this one, Ivy. Take a step back. Let the police do their jobs. This isn’t your responsibility.”
“Yeah.” She blew out a heavy sigh. He was right. What was worse was that she knew he was right. “I’m going to get some stuff from the greenhouse and fix this bush. That way I can take it home with me tonight and tend it there.”
“I think that’s a great idea. That will give you something else to focus on.”
“That’s what I’m going for.” She pushed herself to her feet. “You can take off. I’m not expecting an afternoon rush or anything. I abandoned you for most of the day. I can close up myself.”
Michael winked at her. “I think I might take you up on that and surprise your mother with a romantic dinner. That picnic everyone says you had with Jack got me thinking.”
Ivy scowled. “You didn’t need to tell me that. Now I’m going to have nightmares.”
“You’ll live.”
13
Thirteen
Ivy found the items she was looking for relatively quickly, but a hint of movement caught her eye out the side door. When she exited, she expected to find a lost customer or even her father checking on her.
Instead she found a ghost.
“What are you doing here?”
Susan Bishop had entered Ivy’s life months before. She haunted the woods beyond the nursery property and had begun teaching Ivy a thing or two about being a proper witch. Even though she was used to her, Ivy wasn’t in the mood for another lesson. She was too distracted to focus on anything other than her mounting problems.
“You need to run.” Susan wasn’t one to mince words and today was no exception. “You need to run right now!”
Ivy was taken aback. “I don’t understand.”
“There’s a man. He’s looking for you.”
“But ... my father.” Ivy glanced over her shoulder, back in the direction she’d come from.
“Your father is fine. He’s already left. You have to run.”
Ivy’s stomach did a long, slow roll. “Are you sure?”
“I’m absolutely sure.” Susan bobbed her dark head. “You can’t stay here. There’s danger. I feel it.”
As if on cue, the hair on the back of Ivy’s neck stood on end. She cast a furtive look toward the parking lot and found it empty. Her father had taken her words to heart and left. She was well and truly alone.
“The cottage,” Ivy said after a beat. “I can run to the cottage. I’ll be safe there. Then I’ll call Jack.”
Susan shook her head. “No. He’s waiting near the trail. He’s been watching since you returned. He listened when you were talking to your father. I wanted to show myself then but ... I wasn’t sure that was a good idea.”
Ivy tightly gripped the fresh pruning shears she’d gotten from the greenhouse and chewed on her bottom lip. “I’m not sure what to do. Maybe ... maybe I should run out to the road. I might still be able to catch my dad.”
“And if you can’t?”
Susan was serious enough that Ivy knew better than to question her. If Susan told her to run, she had to run.
“Okay.” Ivy turned on her heel and entered the woods right behind the greenhouse. She was familiar with every bit of land between her house and the nursery. That meant she would have the advantage. She would have to use it.
JACK WAS STILL ANNOYED WHEN HE SHUT DOWN his computer. He’d spent the last two hours telling himself that yelling at Ivy was going to get him nothing but heartache. If he pushed her too far, she would make him sleep on the couch ... and that was pure torture. He hated being separated from her.
Even more, though, he knew he would never get over it if something happened to her. There was no other choice but to have a serious discussion with her.
It was a full hour after his shift when he exited the building. To his surprise, he found Brian standing in the parking lot talking with two men. It took Jack a moment to register the faces, and wh
en he did, the anger he’d been hoarding like gold returned with a fury.
“Wow. This is fortuitous,” he intoned, stalking in Archibald’s direction. “I was just thinking about you.”
Brian’s shoulders hopped when he realized Jack was about to join them. He’d been talking to Halsey and Archibald for a good twenty minutes, and for some reason he assumed his partner had already left for the day. He fervently wished he’d thought to check because whatever was about to go down wasn’t good.
“Oh, it’s you.” Archibald’s smile was smug, although he looked a bit sweaty and disheveled, as if he’d been out running in the middle of the day despite the heat. “I was hoping I would run into you. I wasn’t sure you would still be on shift. Your partner said you’d left for the day.”
“That’s because I assumed he had,” Brian shot back. The more Archibald talked, the more he disliked the man. “He’s usually gone at five o’clock. It’s after six.”
“I had some things I was researching,” Jack said, his eyes dark slabs of onyx as he glared at Archibald. “I’m glad you’re here, though. It will save me the trouble of tracking you down tomorrow.”
“You were going to track me down?” Archibald looked amused. “I feel so ... special.”
Perhaps sensing trouble, Halsey stepped between the two men and held up his hands. “Maybe we should head over to the bar or something and talk about this?” he suggested. “I think we’re all off shift. That might be the best course of action.”
“I don’t even understand why you’re here,” Archibald snapped at his partner. “You followed me ... which wasn’t really necessary. I told you I had things under control.”
“I didn’t follow you,” Halsey countered, patience on full display. “I came to have a discussion with Detective Nixon. I had no idea you were going to be here until I saw the two of you talking.”
Jack was still catching up, but it didn’t sound to him like Halsey particularly liked his partner. If he thought he needed to come over and have a conversation with Brian, that probably didn’t bode well for Ivy. The realization set Jack’s teeth on edge. “I don’t understand why either of you are here.”
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