Wicked Season (An Ivy Morgan Mystery Book 7)

by Lily Harper Hart

  “She’s pregnant and due to give birth any day now.”

  “That is a conundrum, isn’t it?” Ben feigned sadness, but Brian could almost see the glee flitting through his eyes.

  “I think we should just go through the prosecutor’s office and get a judge to sign off on the warrant,” Jack offered, drawing Ben’s attention to him. “We should be able to get it done in two hours flat and then we won’t have to deal with this … jackhole.” The word was out of his mouth before he realized he was saying it and he couldn’t help but internally cringe when he realized he was starting to mimic Ivy’s rather colorful vocabulary.

  “I think you’ll find that it will be harder than you imagine,” Ben said, tilting his chin in a defiant manner. “Financial records are private.”

  “Not when you’re dealing with a murder,” Brian replied, annoyed. He pulled his cell phone out of his pocket and selected a contact before pressing the phone to his ear. He stared down Ben and waited for someone to pick up the other end of the call. “Yeah, this is Brian Nixon. I need that warrant faxed to the credit union like we discussed.”

  Ben widened his eyes, not bothering to hide his surprise. “There’s no way … .”

  “Thanks for that,” Brian said, disconnecting. “That was Marian Jones from Judge Reinhold’s office. He signed the warrant an hour ago. They’re faxing it now.”

  “I … see.” Ben pressed the palms of his hands to his desktop. “I’m sure you understand that I have to follow the rules.”

  “I’m sure I understand that you’re a pain in the keister,” Brian corrected. “I knew how this would go so I was prepared. I wanted to give you a chance to do the right thing first. You never surprise me when you go the opposite route, though, so I didn’t want to waste time.”

  “I … um … .”

  Ben let his eyes drift to the office door when a young woman pushed it open and handed him a sheet a paper. “This just came from the courthouse,” she said, oblivious to the tense situation in the room. “It says that it’s important and it should go straight to you.”

  “Yes, well, I’ve got it,” Ben said, grabbing the sheet of paper and giving it a cursory glance before focusing on Brian. “And what can I do for you again?”

  “I need to know how much money Ron McDonald had in his account,” Brian replied smoothly. “I also need to know how many accounts he had, who had access to them, and whether or not you hold any liens on his property.”

  Ben opened his mouth to say something, but Jack cut him off before he could.

  “We’re on a bit of a schedule,” Jack said. “We have a murder to solve so if you could get us that information right away, we would be profoundly grateful.”

  “Even if you’re a jackhole while doing it,” Brian added, smirking.

  “Yes, I’ll handle it right now.”

  IVY WAS weary when she cast a final look around the greenhouse before closing and locking the door. Everything was done. She would have no reason to return to the building until spring. The realization made her both relieved and sad, although she had no idea why.

  She turned away from the building and pulled up short when she saw Denise picking her way through the woodsy trail that traversed the distance between Ivy’s house and the nursery. Ivy widened her eyes when she saw the woman – Denise was the last person she expected to see, after all – and then squared her shoulders as she regrouped.

  “Are you lost?”

  Denise lifted her eyes at the sound of Ivy’s voice, surprised. “No. I was actually looking for you.”

  Ivy pursed her lips as she leaned over and moved a brick so it was located next to the greenhouse’s wall instead of in the middle of the pathway. The snow would fall freely on the property over the next few months but that didn’t mean she wanted anything out of place if she could help it.

  “I’m almost afraid to ask why,” Ivy admitted, forcing a smile as she looked Denise over. The woman wore heeled boots for a trek through the trees, crossing rutted and pitted ground as she went. Her feet had to be aching. “You didn’t really dress for a walk in the woods.”

  “That’s because I didn’t know I would be taking a walk in the woods,” Denise said. “I stopped at your house and thought you were there because your car was parked out front. Then I remembered you said your nursery was close and took a chance.”

  “Lucky you.”

  “That’s not what I thought every time I heard a twig break,” Denise admitted. “After all those stories from last night that had you running for your life in the woods, I couldn’t help but be nervous.”

  The admission made Denise seem more human, although only marginally. Ivy refused to fall victim to the woman’s machinations so she remained stoic. “Do you need something?”

  “I was hoping to talk to you,” Denise said, her expression unreadable. “I was hoping to … apologize … to you.”

  Ivy almost snorted but managed to swallow her reaction. “Why would you possibly want to apologize to me? Doesn’t that go against your inner super villain?”

  A small smile played at the corners of Denise’s lips as she shifted from one foot to the other. “I guess I’ve earned that.”

  “From my position, you’ve earned far more than that. If you really want to talk, though, you can walk back to the house with me. I was about to head home for some tea. Everything is closed up here now until the spring.”

  “It looks big,” Denise said, glancing around. “I don’t know what I was expecting, but this place is huge. It’s as big as the places we have down in the city.”

  “People have lawns everywhere you go,” Ivy said, moving toward the trail. “What do you want to talk about?”

  “My attitude toward you.” Denise’s simple answer was enough to cause Ivy’s stride to hitch, but it was barely noticeable so she pushed forward into the trees. “I know you think I’m a terrible person … .”

  “I don’t know you well enough to think that,” Ivy countered. “I think you’re an insecure person and the greatest weapon in your arsenal is the ability to make other people insecure. I think that’s what you’ve been trying to do with me.”

  “Has it been working?”

  “Your mother makes me much more insecure than you do. You’re barely a blip on my radar.”

  Denise’s smile was rueful as she fell into step with Ivy. “I was afraid of that,” she said, cringing as she struggled to keep up with Ivy’s long strides. “I don’t suppose we could slow down a bit, could we?”

  “Do your feet hurt?”

  “You have no idea.”

  “Part of me wants to make you suffer, but we can slow down,” Ivy said, adopting a slower pace. “No offense, but everything I’ve heard about you makes me believe that whatever apology you’re trying to muster wouldn’t be legitimate. Why do you think I want to hear a fake apology?”

  “Because it’s not fake,” Denise replied. “Listen, I know I’m hard to deal with. People think I’m an unhappy person and they would be right. I generally don’t care about anyone’s feelings – and that includes Jack – but I spent all of last night thinking about some of the things my brother said and I can’t help but wonder how I let myself get so far off track.”

  “If I thought you were telling the truth I would applaud you for your ability to self-correct. I’m still not convinced you’re telling the truth, though.”

  Denise chuckled, amused. “Do you want to know what’s really funny? I like you. I like that you’re so blunt. I like that about your brother, too. In my family we hide our feelings and pretend to be happy even when we’re not.”

  “Is that because your mother is a control freak?”

  “Is that what Jack told you?”

  Ivy nodded. “He said that I would never get what I wanted from you and the odds of forcing your mother to like me were almost nonexistent. I did a lot of soul-searching last night, too. I’ve decided that I don’t care if you like me.”

  “What about my mother?”


  “I would be lying if I said that I didn’t want her to like me, but it’s not simply for personal reasons,” Ivy explained. “While I enjoy being loved and adored by everyone, I’m mostly worried about Jack. He’s been through so much that I’m not sure he can take another upheaval.”

  “You really love him, don’t you?”

  Ivy nodded. “I really do.”

  “He really loves you, too.” Denise stared at the bare trees as they walked the trail, her gaze distant as she tried to find the right words to make amends. “My brother and I have never been close. Not like you are with your brother.”

  “Jack told me that.”

  “That doesn’t mean I don’t like and respect him. We simply don’t have a lot in common. He finds my interests simplistic and annoying. I find his interests mundane and boring. We don’t have a lot of common ground.”

  “You can still love one another even if you’re not close,” Ivy pointed out. “Max and I don’t like all of the same things either.”

  “I don’t know about that. I think Max is kind of your best friend, which is an alien concept to me. He knows exactly how to drive you crazy and I saw how he was with Jack right after we arrived. He wanted to beat the crap out of my brother.”

  “It’s hardly the first time that has happened,” Ivy supplied. “In some ways, Max and Jack are almost like brothers now. They fight like brothers. They hang around together like brothers. That probably says something really odd about the fact that I’m Max’s sister, but I opt not to dwell on it.”

  Denise heaved out a laugh, amused. “You’re funny.”

  “Your brother thinks so, too.”

  “And that’s why I came here,” Denise said. “I’m not going to pretend that everything I do is right or fair. I’m not going to pretend I have Jack’s best interests at heart when that’s often not the case. I do want him to be happy, though.

  “When he was in the hospital after being shot, well, we thought he was going to die,” she continued. “I hate to admit it, but I gave up on him. He didn’t die, though. When he left my mother was stricken and shaken because she thought she’d been given a miracle and then it was snatched away from her. She wants Jack back home and she’ll do anything she can to get him back there. You realize that, right?”

  “I do realize that. Jack does, too.”

  “Jack won’t ever leave you.” Denise adopted a pragmatic tone. “It’s written all over his face when he looks at you. You’re the love of his life. I’m not sure I believed that was a thing until I saw the two of you together.”

  “While I appreciate the sentiment, I’m not sure why you’re saying this to me,” Ivy admitted. “I’m not ready to trust you until I see this change of heart in action and this conversation isn’t going to change how your mother feels about me.”

  “My mother is a truly complicated woman and I’m not going to make excuses for her,” Denise said. “She loves us, though. She loves Jack. Once she gets it through her head that there’s no way she’ll be able to manipulate Jack into returning home she’ll grow to like you, too. You simply need a little patience.”

  Ivy rolled her neck as she considered the words. “I’m not sure I have any more patience to give, but I’ll give it some thought. I don’t suppose you want to come inside and have some tea, do you?”

  “I would love that,” Denise said. “I need to get these boots off. I think my feet may be dead inside. They’re completely numb.”

  “Tea it is,” Ivy said. “While we’re drinking you can tell me what Jack was like as a kid.”

  “He was a moody little bugger.”

  “I already figured that out myself.”

  JACK WAS surprised when he walked out of the police station and found his mother standing on the walkway. She looked lost, as if she was trying to fit into a world she had no business visiting. Jack could do nothing but sigh when he saw her.

  “What are you doing here?”

  “I came to invite you to dinner at the diner tonight,” Margaret said, plastering a smile on her face. “You and Ivy, of course. I would like to pay her back for the meal she cooked last night.”

  “I’ll have to call her and see if she’s open,” Jack said carefully, internally debating how he wanted to handle the situation. “If she’s already cooked dinner, though, then we’ll have to decline.”

  “Of course,” Margaret said, glancing around. “Where are you going?”

  “I’m heading out to the McDonald farm with my partner. We have some more questions to ask the people there and we want to get through the interviews before the end of the day. Tomorrow is Thanksgiving so we won’t have a lot of options when it comes to investigating.”

  “Yes, well, you were always diligent.” Margaret rubbed her fingers together as she glanced around the bustling town. “There are a lot of people running around for a small place, huh?”

  “It’s the day before a holiday. Everyone is running errands.”

  “Well, I’m looking forward to eating dinner with Ivy’s family. I’m sure they’re just as colorful as she is. Er, wait, I wasn’t making fun of her hair. Don’t think I was making fun of her hair.”

  Jack heaved out a sigh as he pinched the bridge of his nose, emotional weariness momentarily washing over him. “Mother, I think you’re really trying here, but whatever this is seems more painful than it should be.”

  “I … .”

  “No, be quiet for a second,” Jack ordered, snapping his eyes to her pale features. “I want you in my life, but I won’t allow you to terrorize Ivy. She’s not going to allow it any longer either, so you should be aware that she’s ready to fight.”

  “Is that a threat?”

  “It’s a statement,” Jack replied. “You’re a big part of my life and I want it to stay that way. Ivy is the love of my life, though. No, don’t try arguing. It’s the truth. I feel it in my soul. She’s the love of my life and you need to accept that.”

  “Jack, I want you to be happy. That’s all I want.”

  “No, you want me to live my life on your terms so you’ll be happy,” Jack corrected. “You don’t see the distinction, but it’s there. Everything is about you. You have got to understand that I will always love Ivy. If you want to be in my life, you have to accept that.

  “This is a take it or leave it situation,” he continued. “You either accept and respect Ivy or you can go. Those are your only two options. Now I have to get to work. I’ll call you about dinner as soon as I talk to Ivy.”

  Fifteen

  “Things looked tense with your mother.”

  Brian kept his eyes on the steering wheel as he navigated toward the McDonald farm. He was keenly aware of Jack’s coiled presence in the passenger seat even though his partner remained fixated on the blurred scenery rather than the road ahead.

  “I told her to either accept Ivy or leave.”

  “That was bold.”

  “I’ve told her some variation of that since she arrived in town and yet she doesn’t seem to listen,” Jack groused. “Why won’t she listen?”

  “I don’t want to make excuses for your mother, but it’s hard for a woman to give up her child. It’s not easy for a father either, don’t get me wrong, but I saw it with my wife. When it was time for me to drop my children off at college, I struggled with letting go of the girl and my wife struggled to give up the boys.

  “Maybe that’s the way of the world, and it has nothing to do with specific bonds, but I was ready to let the boys go and be men and my wife insisted they were her babies,” he continued. “Now, I don’t know your mother, but I have to think that you getting shot rocked her to the core.”

  “I’m so glad you’re not taking my mother’s side,” Jack deadpanned, annoyance getting the better of him.

  “Don’t take that tone with me,” Brian warned. “That tone is exactly why I was ready to let the boys go and wanted to cling to my daughter.”

  “Oh, whatever.” Jack rolled his neck. “My mother was haunted by the fac
t that I almost died. I’m not going to deny that. She looked like a different person when I woke up, and hers was the first face I saw. I was happy to see her that day because I knew I somehow made it to the other side, escaped death.

  “It became harder to deal with her after that, though,” he continued. “My physical therapy was rigorous and difficult. I stayed with her for a few weeks after I was released from the hospital, but it grated on me because she was always watching. It was as if she was waiting for me to fall apart.”

  “And we both know you’re too much of a tough guy to fall apart,” Brian teased.

  “I thought I was too much of a tough guy. I thought I survived something terrible, defied the odds, and I was destined for … something. That feeling didn’t last very long. At some point I started to despair. I got depressed. The more my mother doted on me, the angrier I got.”

  “Well, now I feel as if I’m in the position to defend you and I should make apologies, but you were going through a lot,” Brian noted. “You shouldn’t hold yourself to a standard that no one could possibly meet.”

  “When I finally made the decision to leave the south side of the state I did it in one night,” Jack explained. “The second I made the decision I felt lighter, freer. I knew it was the right decision. My mother thought otherwise and she fought me tooth and nail.

  “When I arrived up here she kept saying it was okay for me to admit it was a mistake and come home,” he continued. “I never felt it was a mistake. I loved it up here from the moment I arrived. It didn’t hurt that I met Ivy right away and she kind of … captivated me.”

  “You don’t say,” Brian drawled, amused. “I was there for that first meeting. I remember the spark.”

  “Ivy saved me.” Jack wearily rubbed his cheek. “She made me see that I had so much life left to live. She made me want to live it. I used to think it was this place that helped me breathe again, Shadow Lake that lifted the anvil from my chest. It was Ivy, though. It was always her.”