Wicked Ghosts_A Harper Harlow and Ivy Morgan Mystery

by Lily Harper Hart

  Ivy’s smile slipped. “Fine. No more morels for you. You’ll be sorry when I make my famous morel soup, though.”

  “Something tells me I’ll survive.”

  “ARE YOU SURE we’re going in the right direction?”

  Harper asked the same question for the third time in as many minutes and Jared had to bite back a hot retort as they picked their way through the woods.

  “I know where we’re going.”

  “You say that, but we’re not from around here.” Harper adopted a pragmatic tone. “You’re not the sort of guy who spends a lot of time in the woods as it is. You don’t have a compass or anything.”

  “No one carries a compass these days.”

  “You don’t know. People might carry compasses.”

  “Heart … .” Jared pulled up short and swiveled so he was facing her. “Are you trying to drive me crazy?”

  “No.” Harper’s expression reflected innocence. “Is that what I’m doing?”

  “You have no idea.”

  “I’m not trying to be a pain.” Harper adjusted her tone so she sounded apologetic. “I’m really not. I’m just worried that we’re going to get lost and never find our way back. We could end up being on one of those Dateline mysteries you hear about. Couple disappears in woods and authorities search for answers ten years later. I don’t want to be that couple.”

  “Oh, good grief.” Jared pinched the bridge of his nose. “You’ve been spending far too much time with Zander. You know that, right?”

  Harper wasn’t about to be dissuaded. “I have big plans for our future that don’t include being lost in the woods and dying.”

  “So do I.”

  “That’s why I have to ask the question again: Do you know where you’re going?”

  Jared let loose with a loud growl as he grabbed her shoulders. “You are so lucky I love you. If I didn’t, I would abandon you and take off right now. You would have nothing to eat but the feet mushrooms if I did that.”

  “Those mushrooms are good.”

  For lack of anything better to do – and a desperate need to quiet his girlfriend – Jared smacked a loud kiss against her lips. Harper enthusiastically returned the kiss and when they separated, her cheeks were flushed with excitement and she felt a bit lightheaded.

  “Maybe I wouldn’t hate being lost in the woods with you,” she hedged.

  “You’re going to be the death of me. You know that, right?”

  Harper shrugged, noncommittal. “What a way to go, though.”

  Jared’s grin was so wide it almost swallowed his face. “I love you so much it hurts sometimes. You drive me crazy, but there it is.”

  “I love you, too.” Harper sidled closer to share another kiss with Jared, but she was interrupted by the sound of a man clearing his throat. She jolted at the noise, swiftly turning as Jared instinctively shoved her behind him. Instead of a strange predator, though, they found Max and Ivy watching them from behind a clump of bushes. “What are you doing here?”

  Ivy held up the pillowcase she clutched in her hand. “Hunting for morels.”

  “Again?” Jared made a face. “Why?”

  Max chuckled, genuinely amused. “You know, I don’t think Ivy is the only one who found a new friend. You remind me so much of Jack I almost want to start singing the ‘Identical Cousins’ song whenever you two are around one another.”

  Jared was blasé. “That’s not an insult.”

  “No, it’s not,” Ivy agreed, elbowing her brother. “What are you guys doing out here?”

  “Oh, well … .” Harper shuffled back and forth as she stared at her shoes.

  “We wanted to come for a walk in the woods,” Jared supplied, taking the onus of the conversation off his girlfriend. “We were hoping to spend some time alone.”

  Max wasn’t convinced. “In the woods?”

  “People can be romantic in the woods,” Jared argued. “This was the one place we knew Zander wouldn’t follow us. After yesterday’s adventure, he has absolutely no interest in ever venturing into the woods again.”

  “I can see that,” Max said. “I thought maybe you guys were here because Harper was looking for a ghost to chat with.”

  Jared balked. “We most certainly were not.”

  “We were,” Harper conceded, causing Jared to scorch her with a look. “What? They’re not idiots.”

  “He is, but I’m pretty smart.” Ivy grinned as she jerked her thumb in Max’s direction for emphasis. “Do you think Tabitha’s ghost is really out here?”

  Harper held her hands palms up and shrugged. “I don’t know. It depends on if she was killed in this location or somewhere else.”

  “We don’t know where she was killed,” Jared pointed out. “She could’ve been killed anywhere. It’s a shot in the dark to think she’ll be out here.”

  “We can at least look.” Harper jutted out her lower lip. “You said you would help me.”

  “Oh, don’t give me that look.” Jared made an exaggerated face. “I said I would help you and I meant it. There’s no need to get all pouty. I’m totally going to help you.”

  Harper brightened. “Great.”

  “We just need to go that way to find the scene.” Jared pointed to the area behind Ivy and Max. “I know where I’m going. You need to trust me.”

  “I do trust you.” Harper squeezed his hand before turning back to Ivy. “Have fun on your morel hunt. Hopefully we’ll be able to meet up this afternoon and have coffee or something.”

  “I drink tea, but that sounds nice.” Ivy smiled as she stepped out of the way to let Jared and Harper pass.

  “Do you think we should tell them they’re going in the wrong direction?” Max whispered.

  Ivy shrugged, unsure. “I think Jared reminds me of Jack when it comes to taking direction. I’m not sure he wants to know that he’s going the wrong way.”

  “Yes, but they could get lost.”

  “Good point.” Ivy made a coughing sound to get Jared and Harper to glance toward her. “So … um … the body was found that way.” Ivy pointed toward the north. “You’re never going to find the spot if you go in that direction.”

  Harper’s smile tipped down into a frown. “I told you.”

  “I still maintain it’s in this direction,” Jared argued, pointing.

  “Who are you going to believe, yourself or two people who actually know the woods?” Harper challenged. “You’re not even a woodsy guy. You’re a city boy. Just admit it.”

  Jared balked. “We don’t live in the city.”

  “No, but we hardly live in the sticks either.”

  “Oh, I’ve always wanted to live in the sticks,” Max drawled.

  Jared shot him a warning look. “Don’t make things worse.”

  “That’s what he does,” Ivy supplied. “Don’t worry about it. We were going to swing by the scene anyway. Why don’t you walk with us?”

  “Are you sure?” Jared didn’t look happy with the change in the group configuration. “We don’t want to interrupt your day.”

  “We can hunt as we go,” Max offered. “Besides, I would never forgive myself if you guys got lost and were never seen again. I would hate to have to give an interview to one of those news shows because Ivy and I were the last ones to see you alive.”

  Harper’s eyebrows flew up her forehead. “See!”

  “Oh, I’m never going to hear the end of this,” Jared grumbled as he clasped her hand tighter. “Lead the way.”

  Max and Ivy exchanged amused looks.

  “I love when city folk visit the sticks,” Max deadpanned.

  Ivy shook her head. “Don’t make things worse.”

  “Would I do that?”

  “You always do.”

  “THIS IS DEFINITELY the spot.”

  Harper warily glanced around the familiar clearing, her stomach shifting as she remembered the previous day.

  “I still think I would’ve found this place eventually,” Jared grumbled.


  Max patted his arm, amused. “It’s okay, man. You’re not from around here. No one expects you to magically know your way through the woods.”

  “Whatever.”

  Max, who loved poking people, sobered. “I get that you’re not thrilled to be here, but if you’re upset about last night … .”

  “I’m not upset,” Jared offered hurriedly. “I know you were just messing with your sister.”

  “I was. That doesn’t mean I want to make you uncomfortable.” Max spared a look for Ivy and Harper as they prowled around the clearing and then lowered his voice. “I love my sister. I also like to mess with her. I can’t help myself.”

  “And you’re amused because she and Harper seem to have bonded,” Jared noted. “Don’t worry. I noticed it, too. Ivy is the first person to accept Harper’s admission that she can talk to ghosts without so much as batting an eyelash. I think Harper likes that.”

  “It’s probably because Ivy can do some weird things, too.” Max realized his mistake in making the admission when it was too late to take the words back. Jared was already staring at him with keen interest. “I mean … .”

  “What can Ivy do?” Jared asked.

  “She … crap.” Max slapped his hand to his forehead. “She is not going to find it funny that I have such a big mouth. This is why she bribes me with food.”

  For the first time in hours, Jared felt the tension in his chest easing. “Yeah. Why don’t you and I sit over there and let the ladies do their thing? We should probably talk.”

  “Sadly, I think you’re right.”

  “DO YOU SEE ANYTHING?” Ivy looked to Harper hopefully as the two women crossed paths.

  “I don’t know.” Harper stared at a tree about a hundred yards away, narrowing her eyes as she rested her hands on her hips. “What’s over there?”

  Ivy followed Harper’s finger with her eyes and shrugged. “More trees.”

  “Can we go over there?”

  “Sure.” Ivy opened her mouth to tell Max and Jared they were moving, but the two men were buried so deep in conversation she opted not to interrupt them. “It will be fine.” She motioned for Harper to follow, the two women falling into step together. “Jared doesn’t like it when you open up about your abilities, huh?”

  “It’s not that,” Harper replied. “He’s simply … protective. He can’t help himself.”

  “I think that’s a man thing.”

  “He doesn’t mean anything by it. When we first started dating, it was hard for him. He didn’t believe in ghosts and yet I kept telling him things only a dead woman could know and … he was thrown.”

  “Did it cause him to take a step back?”

  “No, the opposite. It caused him to move things forward.” Harper glanced over her shoulder and smiled fondly when she saw the two men talking. “I’ve never had a relationship that moved as fast as my relationship with Jared. Before, I was always careful to take things slowly because … well, it’s a long story. I was wary of men, though. Jared broke through my defenses quickly.”

  “It’s weird that you put it like that.” Ivy was thoughtful. “I wasn’t in the market for a boyfriend when Jack and I met. The second we saw each other, though, it was like the atmosphere started to crackle. I wanted to ignore it, pretend it wasn’t happening, but it wasn’t an option.”

  “Did you start dating right away?”

  “No, we fought it … and hard. It wasn’t until we started dream walking that I realized something special was happening.”

  Harper widened her eyes. “What’s dream walking?”

  Ivy was sheepish. “Oh, well, you might think it’s weird.”

  “I can see and talk to ghosts.”

  “Yes, but … this is especially weird.”

  “Try me.”

  “Okay, Jack called me into his dreams not long after we met,” Ivy explained. “At first I thought I was dreaming about him, but then we compared notes and realized that we were sharing dreams.”

  “That is so cool,” Harper enthused. “Can you control the dreams?”

  Ivy nodded, thankful to have a friend who found the dream walking exciting rather than co-dependent. “We go to the beach a lot. This is after Jack called me into a reoccurring nightmare he had about his partner shooting him. I helped him through that – he was the guy I told you about who was possessing his sister, for the record – and we were pretty much stuck together after that. It wasn’t even a question … it just was.”

  “Jack was shot by his own partner?” Harper was flabbergasted. “That sounds terrible.”

  “It was, but he doesn’t dream about it anymore … at least not like he did.”

  “Do you dream walk every night?”

  “No, we agreed that spending too much time in each other’s heads once we were dating was dangerous,” Ivy explained. “We still do it on special occasions, or when one of us is upset. Mostly we try to keep our dreams separate, though.”

  “That sounds healthy.” Harper pursed her lips. “I think you’ve been holding out on me. Can you do anything else?”

  “I’ve seen through the eyes of a killer and a few months ago I got flashes of things before they happened. Like … psychic flashes. It was creepy and weird and I’m trying to pretend it didn’t happen.”

  Harper gripped Ivy’s arm so hard her knuckles turned white. “You’ve definitely been holding out on me. How come you can do these things? I mean, I was born into my gift. Were you born into yours?”

  Ivy shrugged, unsure how to answer. “I don’t know. I’m starting to think Jack’s arrival in town made things happen. Before then, a few things happened, but they were small and easily dismissed. Since we got together, though … .”

  “You’ve been getting more and more powerful,” Harper surmised, enthusiasm washing over her features. “I love this. I’m so excited to talk about this. You have no idea.”

  “Hey, can you see me?” Tabitha’s ghost popped into view next to Harper, frustration whipping through the wind to signify her arrival. “If you can’t see me, I’m going to think the worst and kill myself.”

  Harper held up a finger to still Ivy. “One second.” She turned her full attention to Tabitha. “You’re dead and I’m the only one who can see you. We can totally have a conversation just as soon as I finish up this one. Don’t be rude, and wait your turn, Tabitha.” Harper’s eyes sparked when they turned back to Ivy. “So, what else can you do?”

  9

  Nine

  “What have you got?” Jack stopped at Brian’s desk long enough to unload a fresh cup of coffee and doughnut before shuffling to his work station.

  “This is a nice surprise.” Brian lifted the coffee and inhaled deeply. “I would thank you, but since it was your turn I’m going to give you crap for being late instead.”

  Jack made a wry face. “It’s not my fault. I was late getting out of the house because the contractor wanted to question me about the entrance we’re building into the basement – that’s more work than I ever envisioned, by the way – and then Max was sneaking into the driveway when I tried to leave so I had to talk to him.”

  Brian cocked an eyebrow. “He was sneaking into the driveway?”

  “Yup.”

  “How do you sneak into a driveway?”

  “He was parking all quiet and like, making sure to put his truck behind the workers’ vehicles.”

  Brian snorted, genuinely amused. “You’re a dramatic soul. Has anyone ever told you that?”

  “You just did.”

  “I did indeed.” Brian sipped his coffee. “Why do you care that Max is at the house?”

  “Because we found a dead body and Ivy tends to attract trouble. I figured they were up to something … and I was right.”

  “What were they up to?”

  “Morel hunting.”

  “Those fiends.” Brian’s tone was teasing. “Are you going to arrest them?”

  “If I thought arresting them would make it so I never have to eat those terribl
e feet mushrooms again, I might give it a try.”

  “Morels are good food, son.”

  “You keep telling yourself that. Ivy made me eat them again last night and they were just as bad as I remembered. In fact, they might’ve been worse.”

  Brian snorted. “You’ll live. So, did you put your foot down and tell them they couldn’t go morel hunting?”

  “No.”

  “That’s probably why you’re still standing, huh?”

  Jack scowled. “I told them to stick close to one another. We don’t know that it’s dangerous in the woods – and I honestly don’t want to rain on Ivy’s parade because she seems to love searching for those stupid mushrooms – but I can’t shake the feeling that something weird is going on.”

  “Yeah?” Brian pursed his lips. “Well, I’m only going to make things worse when I tell you what I have to tell you.”

  Jack leaned back in his chair. “How much am I going to hate this?”

  “I don’t know. I guess we’ll have to find out.” Brian shuffled through the papers on his desk until he came up with a blue file. “I just got the medical examiner’s report back.”

  “And?”

  “And Tabitha died from a gunshot wound to the chest,” Brian replied. “It was a fatal wound and she probably bled out in fewer than three minutes.”

  “Well, at least she didn’t suffer.”

  “That’s just it, I think she did suffer,” Brian countered. “You know how her feet were bare? Well, she had more than a hundred different wounds on just her feet alone.”

  “I assumed those marks were from scavengers.”

  “I did, too. It seems we were both wrong. It seems that Tabitha had so many wounds on the bottom of her feet because she ran through the woods without shoes. She injured her own feet, and the medical examiner believes she probably ran for miles to incur that sort of damage.”

  Jack stilled, dumbfounded. “Did she do that willingly?”

  “That’s the question, isn’t it?”

  “What are our options?” Jack thoughtfully stroked his chin. “She could have run into the woods because she was high. She might have confused herself and took off, getting lost in the process.”