Wicked Ghosts_A Harper Harlow and Ivy Morgan Mystery

by Lily Harper Hart

  “That doesn’t exactly explain the gunshot wound.”

  “Maybe it was an accident and someone panicked. Did you get a ballistics report?”

  Brian nodded. “No match on open cases, but it was a round from a hunting rifle. I’ve got the exact make and model, but it’s a common gun … especially in this area.”

  “Maybe someone was out hunting and accidentally shot her. They could’ve panicked and run rather than reporting it.”

  “I guess, in theory, that’s possible,” Brian conceded. “I don’t particularly believe that, though, because there’s nothing in season. It’s not deer hunting season. It’s not bird season yet. There’s nothing to hunt out there.

  “When you look at that in concert with the fact that it’s morel season, I don’t know many hunters who would make the mistake of shooting out of season at this time of year,” he continued. “I’ve been through it in my head a few times. I don’t think it could’ve been an accident.”

  “Which leaves us with only one possibility,” Jack noted. “She was chased through the woods on purpose.”

  “Her feet would’ve been hurting something fierce,” Brian agreed. “The only reason she would keep running is if someone was chasing her.”

  “Now we need to figure out who,” Jack said. “I guess that means we start with serious background checks on the guys in that house.”

  “I don’t know where else to look.”

  “Then let’s get to it.”

  “YOU CAN SEE ME?”

  Tabitha’s eyes were as round as saucers as she looked Harper up and down.

  “I can.” Harper was used to dealing with ghosts so she forced a smile that wasn’t too saccharine and sweet. “You’re wearing a very pretty skirt.”

  “It’s faux snakeskin.”

  Harper did her best to keep from making a face. “Well … it’s nice.”

  “Are you really talking to her?” Ivy was intrigued. “What is she saying?”

  Harper merely shook her head. Now wasn’t the time to start repeating everything. “Do you know how you ended up out here, Tabitha?”

  “Tabby,” she corrected automatically. “Everyone calls me Tabby.”

  “Okay, Tabby, do you know how you ended up out here?”

  Tabitha feigned chewing on her bottom lip. “I think I must’ve gotten lost. I don’t really remember coming out here.”

  “Hmm.”

  “What did she say?” Ivy was almost beside herself. Watching Harper talk to thin air was akin to cruel and unusual punishment.

  “She doesn’t know how she got out here,” Harper replied.

  Tabitha turned her interested eyes to Ivy. “I know her.”

  “You do?” Harper tilted her head to the side. “How do you know her?”

  “Her name is Ivy Morgan. She runs the nursery in town and has a really hot brother.”

  “She says you have a really hot brother,” Harper volunteered.

  “Good grief. Don’t let Max hear that.” Ivy made a face. “His ego is already big enough for four people.”

  “She’s also a witch,” Tabitha whispered, her voice dropping so low Harper could barely hear it.

  “A witch?” Harper’s eyes were keen when they locked with Ivy’s interested orbs. “Are you a witch?”

  Ivy balked. “I don’t really like that term. My Aunt Felicity calls herself a witch, but it makes me uncomfortable.”

  “Why do you think she’s a witch, Tabby?”

  “Because she dresses like a witch … and makes her own lotions and stuff … and people have been whispering that some odd things have been happening around her.”

  “That’s interesting.” Harper grinned. “I think you should embrace the witch thing, Ivy. Buy a hat or something. I think it’s neat.”

  Ivy rolled her eyes. “I am most certainly not buying a hat.”

  “I think you’re missing out on a prime opportunity, but we’ll talk about that later,” Harper said. “For now we need to talk about some serious things, Tabby. Do you understand why you’re out here?”

  “I’m lost,” Tabitha replied without hesitation. “I’m clearly delirious or something. I’ve been wandering around out here for hours. I really must’ve tied one on last night … although I don’t really remember doing that. Do you think you can help me get home?”

  Harper’s heart rolled at the woman’s sad expression. “Well … maybe. The thing is, Tabby, you’re not lost. I mean … well … you are lost, just not in the way you think you’re lost. Hmm. I don’t think I’m doing this the right way.”

  “Doing what?” Jared asked, appearing in the clearing behind Harper and Ivy. “Why did you run off, by the way? You should’ve told us you were going.”

  “We walked like twenty feet,” Harper replied.

  “More like two hundred and fifty,” Jared corrected. “You should’ve told me.”

  “Whatever.” Harper rolled her neck. “We found Tabitha.”

  “It’s nice to meet you.” Tabitha stuck out her hand when she caught sight of Jared’s handsome face. When he didn’t so much as react to her voice, she frowned and dropped her hand. “There’s no reason to be rude.”

  “He’s not being rude,” Harper supplied. “He simply can’t see you.”

  “But how is that possible?”

  “Well … .”

  “Ivy, you shouldn’t have taken off without telling me,” Max barked, following Jared into the small area where the woman stood. “If I lose you in the woods, Jack is going to beat me to a pulp. I promised him I would watch you.”

  “I’m fully capable of taking care of myself,” Ivy pointed out. “Plus, we didn’t go all that far.”

  “Hello, Max,” Tabitha purred, making an effort to smooth her hair even though she didn’t have a corporeal body. “You’re looking … hot … this fine spring day.”

  Max didn’t shift his eyes from Ivy’s face. “Next time you need to tell me what’s going on. You can’t just wander off. I made Jack a promise.”

  Tabitha’s already pale features turned whiter, if that was even possible. “What’s going on here? Why is everyone ignoring me?” She waved a hand in front of Max’s face to get his attention. “Seriously, what is going on here?”

  Harper sucked in a deep breath and exhaled heavily. “I don’t know how to tell you this but … you’re dead.”

  “I’m what?”

  “Dead.”

  “That can’t be right. I think I would know if I was dead.”

  “Obviously not.”

  “What’s going on here?” Max asked, interested despite himself. “Who are you talking to, Harper?”

  “Tabitha’s ghost is here,” Ivy replied. “Apparently she thinks I’m a witch and you’re hot. It’s been a whole … thing.”

  Max puffed out his chest. “At least she has good taste in men.”

  “She’s also dead,” Ivy reminded him.

  Max deflated. “You have to ruin everything, don’t you?”

  “Oh, I don’t think this is right.” Tabitha fluttered her hands as she floated in a small circle. “Something is definitely wrong here.”

  “Something is definitely wrong,” Harper agreed. “You’re dead and we have some questions to ask. So … if you could stop yourself from freaking out for a few minutes, I promise this won’t take long.”

  “OKAY, THE HOUSE is registered to a Mike Blake,” Brian said, studying his computer screen. “He’s twenty-three and works at one of the resorts on Grand Traverse Bay. He’s a bartender.”

  “I’ve also got three people getting mail at that house,” Jack offered. “Dan Lively is the guy who answered the door yesterday.”

  “Ah, Mr. Smiley.”

  Jack smirked. “We also have Caleb Jackman and Logan Butler. They’re all between the ages of twenty-one and twenty-three.”

  “Have you run their records?”

  “Just Lively so far. He’s got two minor infractions on his record, including a minor in possession and a distur
bing the peace citation.”

  “That’s nothing that would cause me to think he’s turned into a murderer.”

  “No, and if Tabitha was chased through the woods, I doubt he was doing the chasing,” Jack noted. “He’s a bit on the hefty side to be playing Hide-and-Seek with a woman who was in much better shape than him.”

  “If he had a gun, that could’ve been an equalizer,” Brian pointed out. “Plus, we don’t know they’re not working as a team.”

  “I don’t think we want to go there just yet. We have no idea if they’re even involved.”

  “Run the other names,” Brian instructed, finishing off his doughnut as he watched Jack work.

  “Caleb Jackman has a drunk driving arrest pending in Grand Traverse County,” Jack supplied. “He was over the limit but not super drunk or anything. That’s all he’s got in his past.

  “As for Logan Butler, he does have a violent charge on his record, but it was dismissed before going to trial,” he continued. “His sister accused him of assaulting her with a baseball bat after a drunken fight. It looks like that fight resulted in him moving out of the house he shared with his mother and sister and into the rental.”

  “A baseball bat is an interesting choice but that’s pretty far from a gun,” Brian pointed out.

  “Maybe he decided not to leave a witness this go around.”

  “That’s a possibility.”

  “I think that means we have to interview these guys, and this time we have to do it on the record.”

  “Yeah, I don’t see a way around that.” Brian got to his feet. “Shall we?”

  “I don’t see why not.”

  “I CAN’T BE DEAD.”

  Tabitha was firm as she crossed her arms over her chest.

  “Listen, I hate being the bearer of bad news, but you’re dead.” Harper was matter-of-fact. She’d been bitten a few times by letting her sympathetic heart out to play and she was determined to make sure that didn’t happen today. “You’re dead. We discovered your body yesterday.”

  “You discovered it?” Tabitha was dubious. “How did you just happen to discover it?”

  “We were hunting morels and my friend found you.”

  “Morels? You mean those stupid mushrooms everyone eats? Ugh. I hate those things.” Tabitha was in a petulant mood. Harper couldn’t blame her – dying was rough, after all – but she wasn’t keen to coddle the woman either.

  “You were out here in the woods.” Harper gestured for emphasis. “Right over there, in fact. Do you have any idea why you would be out here?”

  “No. It’s not as if I like the woods.”

  “Ask her about her shoes,” Ivy instructed.

  Harper was confused. “What about her shoes?”

  “She wasn’t wearing any,” Ivy explained. “They weren’t found with the body. Jack thinks it’s odd and I have to agree.”

  “You wear shoes, right?” Harper asked Tabitha.

  “Of course I wear shoes. I have these great pink cowboy boots. In fact … .” She broke off, her expression troubled. “What day is it?”

  “It’s Wednesday.”

  “Wednesday? That can’t be right.” Tabitha shook her head back and forth. “That absolutely can’t be right.”

  “Why can’t it be right?”

  “Because it’s Saturday. It has to be Saturday. The last thing I remember is getting ready for a party and that was Friday night.”

  “A party, huh?” Harper slid her eyes to Ivy.

  “Was the party at the house on the highway?” Ivy asked. She felt stupid asking the question to thin air but didn’t see where she had a lot of choice. “The house between the lumber yard and that old diner out there, the one beyond the city limits.”

  Tabitha nodded. “Yeah. We’ve been partying out there every weekend lately. There’s not much else to do in Shadow Lake.”

  “Do you know the men who live there well?” Harper asked.

  Tabitha shrugged. “I wouldn’t say I know them well. They’re friendly enough, though. I know the people who go to the parties. They’re all locals.”

  “What locals?” Harper asked, listening closely as Tabitha rattled off a list. “Do the names Maisie Washington, Kendra Tudor, and Brent Sisco mean anything to you, Ivy?”

  Ivy made a face. “Yeah. Maisie is the local librarian. She’s my age but still parties quite a bit. She’s got something of a reputation around town.”

  “A reputation as a total slut,” Tabitha muttered, causing Harper to smirk.

  “Brent Sisco works construction for the county,” Ivy added. “I’ve never known him to be much of a partier, but he could be bored or something. He’s pretty quiet and something of a loner.”

  “Ah, the word tossed about for serial killers the world over,” Max muttered.

  Jared nodded in agreement. “What about the other name?”

  “Kendra Tudor?” Ivy heaved out a sigh. “She’s slightly different. She’s married and has two kids. She’s a few years younger than me, got married right out of high school. She was wild when she was younger, but I thought she settled down.”

  “You need to pass those names to Jack and Brian,” Jared instructed. “They could provide information during interrogation.”

  “I’ll text Jack as soon as we get out of here,” Ivy said. “I’m not going to get a signal in the woods.”

  “Can you remember anything else about that night, Tabby?” Harper prodded. “We need more information to go on if we want to solve your murder.”

  “I don’t remember anything.” Tabitha looked despondent. “I can’t believe I’m dead. This is just the worst day ever.”

  Harper imagined, from her perspective, she was telling the truth. “Well, we’ll see if we can help you move on. How does that sound?”

  “I would rather be alive.”

  “That’s not a possibility.”

  “Then I’m not done being dead.” Tabitha was firm. “I’m going to find out who killed me myself … and then I’m going to make them pay.”

  With those words, the ghost disappeared and left Harper with more questions than answers.

  “She seems … fun,” Harper said after a beat. “She says she’s going to mete out some retribution even though she has no idea who killed her.”

  “She’s the least of our problems,” Ivy noted. “If what she says is true, it sounds to me that the parties at the rental house are a lot bigger than we originally thought. That could mean a relatively large suspect pool.”

  “And that makes it easier for a killer to hide,” Jared said. “We should get someplace we can raise a cell signal and text those names to Jack. At least it’s somewhere to start.”

  Ivy nodded, solemn. “We can go to my house. I think that’s the closest spot.”

  10

  Ten

  Jack was exhausted when he got home, an afternoon of fruitless interviews with annoying people he was sure lied to him every chance they got conspiring to create what felt like an endless day. He was glad to find only two vehicles belonging to visitors when he parked. The truck was Max’s vehicle and he hoped the other belonged to a contractor who would be leaving shortly.

  He was trying to come up with a way to hurry Max and the contractor along when he opened the door and found a house full of people … and none of them looked like they were going anywhere soon.

  “Welcome home, honey,” Max teased, meeting him at the door with a beer. “Did you miss me?”

  Jack openly glared at him. “What are you doing here?”

  “Oh, didn’t your wife-to-be tell you? You’re having a barbecue.”

  “That would explain all the people,” Jack grumbled, wrinkling his nose as he watched Shawn and Zander on the couch. They had Nicodemus, Ivy’s temperamental cat, sitting between them as they took turns stroking him. “I don’t understand how this happened.”

  “Your fiancée has become a social butterfly,” Max supplied. “She invited everyone over for a party. She’s basically found a
new friend and she’s never giving her up.”

  Jack scrubbed at the back of his neck, doing his best to tamp down his irritation. His plans for a quiet night with Ivy – one that ended with them together in a bath – quickly evaporated. “Well … great. Where is she?”

  “On the back patio with Jared and Harper. They’re firing up the grill. Jared is going to show her how to grill the steaks she bought.”

  “She bought steaks?”

  “And made pasta and potato salad. She went all out.”

  “Of course she did.” Jack was resigned as he twisted the top off the beer and headed for the back patio. He offered Zander and Shawn what he hoped was a friendly head bob before opening the sliding glass door.

  “I don’t want to touch the meat if I don’t have to,” Ivy announced to Jared.

  “I don’t understand how you can be a vegetarian,” Jared argued. “That cuts off like half your food choices … and eliminates all the good ones.”

  “I happen to like vegetables.”

  “I do, too, as long as they’re wrapped around a steak.”

  Ivy merely shrugged as she turned to the door, hopping to her feet the moment she saw Jack. “Hey! I was wondering when you would get here. I guess we can start grilling.”

  “I’ll handle that.” Jared was all smiles as he waved at Jack before turning to the plate of covered meat next to the grill. “I’m a master griller.”

  “He’s very good,” Harper enthused. “I think it’s a man thing because he always insists on grilling.”

  “It’s definitely a man thing,” Max agreed, using his hip to move Jack out of the way so he could join the party. “Jack never lets me grill now that he’s the man of the house.”

  “Oh.” Jared’s expression reflected unease. “I suppose you want to grill, huh?”

  He didn’t put a lot of effort behind the question and Jack put even less in the answer. “You can grill.” Jack dropped a perfunctory kiss on the corner of Ivy’s mouth before letting loose with a groan as he sank into one of the chairs. “I didn’t know you guys would be here.”