Wicked Season (An Ivy Morgan Mystery Book 7)

by Lily Harper Hart

  “Oh, no, it’s true,” Darren intoned. “I killed your father. Well, to be fair, I didn’t pull the trigger. Lionel did that.”

  “Lionel?” Gilly choked out a gasp. “But … why? He’s been like an uncle to me for years.”

  “An uncle gets more profit,” Lionel provided, appearing in the doorway. His eyes were busy as he glanced around the room and shook his head. To Ivy’s eyes, the man looked utterly exhausted. “Well, this is a mess.”

  “I didn’t hear you come in,” Darren muttered. “Why didn’t you knock?”

  “Why do you think?” Lionel challenged. “You’re supposed to be dealing with your wife and instead I find you’re having a tea party with Ivy Morgan and Gilly is still alive.”

  “Still?” Gilly was bordering on hysterical and Ivy seriously worried she would tip over into labor if she weren’t careful. “Are you going to kill me, Darren?”

  “I don’t have a choice,” Darren replied, annoyed. “I need control of this farm. The only way to get it is to eliminate the barriers. You’re a barrier.”

  “But … why? I don’t understand.”

  “Money,” Ivy offered, dusting her hands off and resting them on her knees as she narrowed her eyes to dangerous blue slits. “The farm was in trouble and your father had a certain reputation. Everyone thinks he buried money on the property.”

  “He did bury money out here,” Darren snapped. “I know he did. I worked here as a teenager. Did you forget that, Gilly? He made a big deal of hiding money.”

  “And you want the money,” Ivy surmised. “You and Lionel here thought you could take control of the farm if you killed off Ron, so that’s what you did. I’m going to guess you were working with Wayne, too.”

  “Uncle Wayne?” Gilly’s lower lip trembled. “I … no. He loves me.”

  “He loves money more,” Lionel supplied, his gaze never moving from Ivy’s face. “How did you figure it all out?”

  Ivy wasn’t sure she understood everything, but the moment Lionel walked through the door things clicked into place. “It wasn’t hard. I grew up here, too. My brother worked on this farm so I heard all about the jars of money. Did you find any of them?”

  “No, and we’ve been looking hard,” Darren replied. “He must’ve put a map together or something. That’s all I can think. How else would he find all of those jars after the fact? He’s been burying them for years.”

  “Maybe they’re all in the same place,” Ivy suggested. “Or maybe they never existed at all. Wayne told Jack that Ron only buried those jars as a game. He did it to mess with his workers and cause them to gossip.”

  “That was a lie,” Lionel said. “He buried the jars. He thought it was funny. Wayne only said that to push Jack and Brian off our trail. The second we realized you guys had uncovered the money at the credit union we knew we were in trouble.”

  “I don’t understand.” Gilly looked to Ivy, hopeful. “Do you understand?”

  “I think I do,” Ivy confirmed. “Darren thought your father had a lot of money hidden on the property because he worked here when he was a kid. He was never part of the financial structure, though, because he was a laborer. He never understood about seasonal work and how it was fat in some seasons and lean in others.

  “He married you because he thought you were the lone princess to a corn and turkey kingdom,” she continued. “He didn’t realize until it was too late that there was no pot of gold at the end of the McDonald rainbow. There was only hard work, and Darren here isn’t interested in hard work. Am I right?”

  “No one is interested in hard work,” Darren shot back, unruffled by Ivy’s tone. “I want the money.”

  “But … what about the baby?” Gilly was horrified. “We’re going to have a son.”

  “I never wanted a baby,” Darren replied. “Heck, I never wanted you. I wanted the money. We thought we could control the farm and introduce a new production schedule once Ron died. We thought we’d be able to use the money in the credit union to pay for the equipment, but apparently that’s not the case because the cops froze that account.

  “That’s on top of the fact that we haven’t been able to find any of the jars,” he continued. “Then you made things worse by demanding to see the books when you came home the other day. The only reason I even agreed to have the kid is because I thought it would keep you busy so we could run the farm to our liking.”

  Gilly was already pale, but whatever color remained in her features washed out. “You never loved me.”

  “No.”

  “You never wanted the baby.”

  “Definitely not,” Darren said. “I wanted to keep up appearances, though, and Lionel and Wayne insisted it was necessary. This entire thing has been a cluster of crap since it happened. What are we going to do now, Lionel?”

  As Darren’s temper flared, Lionel remained eerily calm. His eyes were contemplative as they traced the lines of Ivy’s high cheekbones.

  “How did the cops figure it out?” Lionel asked. “I thought for sure they would assume it was a robbery, poke their noses around for a bit, and then give up because there are simply too many suspects to wrangle. They didn’t do that, though. Why?”

  “Because they’re not idiots,” Ivy replied.

  “I beg to differ. They’re over at the main house right now. They seemed pretty stupid to me. I opened the door and pointed them toward Wayne and kept on walking.”

  “That doesn’t mean you’ll get far,” Ivy argued.

  “I don’t think there’s anywhere left to go,” Lionel said. “That’s why I’m here. I knew Darren would screw things up and I’m almost out of time.”

  Ivy opened her mouth to ask what he meant, but the only sound that escaped was a scream when Lionel surprised everyone by pulling a gun out of his coat and firing it Darren’s direction. It was over in one swift motion and Ivy struggled to wrap her head around the scene as she screamed.

  For his part, Darren didn’t even get a chance to register what was happening before falling to the ground. Ivy was thankful he was facing away from her as the blood trickled out and pooled on the powder blue rug because she didn’t want to be haunted by his death glare until the end of time. She’d already seen enough to make her stomach churn.

  “Darren!” Gilly bolted out of the chair, her eyes glassy. Ivy managed to get her arms around the stunned woman before she reached her fallen husband, though. She tugged Gilly close – putting herself between Lionel and the expectant mother – and forced Gilly’s eyes to her.

  “He’s gone,” Ivy said, her voice low and gravelly. “I’m sorry but … Gilly, you have to focus on me.” Ivy grabbed Gilly’s chin and silently ordered the woman to remain where she was even though Gilly fought desperately to escape Ivy’s grip. “It’s already done and I’m so sorry. You can’t help him, though.”

  “He’s not worth helping.” Lionel didn’t appear bothered by the fact that he’d just committed murder. That made Ivy believe he’d done it more times than he’d let on. “He was always the weak link in the circle. The only reason we kept him close was because we knew we could use him to control Gilly’s share of the farm.”

  “Not any longer,” Ivy intoned. “It’s all over now. How do you expect to run the farm without Darren? It’s not as if Gilly is going to help. Do you and Wayne really think you can pull this off?”

  “Oh, well, Wayne was supposed to be dead by now, but that didn’t exactly happen,” Lionel explained. “I purposely left him wounded with no way to call because I was hoping to handle Darren here before he expired. Unfortunately your boyfriend and his partner showed up and threw my plan out whack.”

  Ivy perked up at mention of Jack. Margaret was on her way to get him. He would be here soon. She simply had to keep Lionel talking. “So what now? Are you going to kill Gilly even though your plan can’t possibly work?”

  “I don’t want to kill Gilly,” Lionel replied evenly. “I never did. I’ve always been fond of her. She’s a good girl. She always has been.
I don’t have a lot of options, though.”

  “You had more options before you started killing people,” Ivy pointed out.

  “Yeah? Well that’s over and done with and I can’t do a thing about it.” Lionel rubbed his finger over the antique gun. “I’ll be able to sell this thing for a pretty penny, but that’s hardly enough to fund a retirement. That’s all I really wanted, you see. I spent my entire life working my tail off for others – and we’re talking back-breaking work here – and I have absolutely nothing to show for it.”

  “That’s not really my concern,” Ivy challenged. “I didn’t pick your career. You did. You could’ve left at any time.”

  “And yet this is all I knew how to do.” Lionel almost looked whimsical as he stared out the window. “I just want some peace. I’m ready to be done working.”

  “Taking something from others doesn’t equal retirement,” Ivy said, sliding her arm around Gilly’s waist as the woman shook. Ivy was legitimately worried that Gilly seemed to be in shock. “What do you want from us, Lionel? Gilly can’t give you what you’re looking for.”

  “I don’t believe that,” Lionel shot back. “She can give me the money her father buried. I can take that and go. Gilly will have the farm to herself after that. She can do whatever she wants. She’ll be in charge.”

  “Yes, and that makes up for the fact that you shot her father and husband,” Ivy muttered, working overtime not to let the bitterness overwhelm her.

  “Darren is no loss,” Lionel argued. “He didn’t even love the girl. As for Ron, well, I am sorry about that. He was a good man. He didn’t deserve what happened.”

  “I’m sure that’s easy for you to say now that you’ve ended up with nothing but prison in your future,” Ivy growled, pushing Gilly’s hair away from the woman’s face when she heard her whimper. “Gilly, it’s okay. I know you’re cold but … what’s that?” Ivy glanced down when she felt liquid touch her knee, momentarily confused as to what was happening. Then, to her utter disbelief, she found herself hoping Gilly lost control of her bladder rather than something else. “Gilly, what is that?”

  “What is what?” Lionel asked, leaning forward. “I … did she do that?”

  Gilly’s eyes were filled with a mixture of outright terror and determination when she shifted them to Ivy. “The baby is coming.”

  Ivy briefly pressed her eyes shut as her heart rolled. “Of course he is.”

  “No way!” Lionel looked appalled. “You cannot be serious. She just peed herself or something. She’s afraid, which I’m really sorry about, but that doesn’t mean the baby is coming.”

  “Shut up, you moron,” Ivy hissed, her hand busy stroking the back of Gilly’s head. “I can’t tell you how glad I am that I wore jeans instead of a skirt today.”

  “Is that really important?” Lionel barked. “She’s having a baby and I have exactly one minute to get the information I need so I can get out of here.”

  “And what information is that?” Ivy asked, her eyes scorching Lionel with contempt as she worked to gather her courage. “We don’t have any information. We don’t have any money. She’s in labor. Even if there was money buried out there, she can’t take you to it. You’re out of options, Lionel.”

  He clearly didn’t want to believe it, but when Lionel turned his attention toward the window and saw the police cruiser pulling to a stop in front of the house, he realized she was right.

  “I guess I don’t have any other options, do I?”

  Ivy realized what Lionel was about to do when it was too late to react. She saw the gun lifting, but she had no way to stop the inevitable.

  “No!”

  JACK JERKED when he heard the scream, followed a split-second later by the sound of a gun firing. His heart hurt as he increased his speed and kicked in the front door. Brian wordlessly trailed behind, gun drawn, and as Jack followed the sounds of a sobbing woman down a narrow hallway, all he could do was pray that he hadn’t lost the thing he loved most in the world.

  Jack took a deep breath before turning the corner, and his heart leaped to his throat when he saw Ivy using her body to shield Gilly. “You’re alive!” Jack barely managed to grit out the words as he dropped to his knees and reached for Ivy.

  Ivy widened her eyes and let Jack hug her as Brian moved to the side of the room and kicked Lionel’s hand. The gun was inches away from it, but the older man didn’t so much as twitch despite the contact.

  “He killed Darren,” Ivy offered. “He wanted Gilly to lead him to the money but … well, when she went into labor that went out the window. Then you guys showed up and he just did it. He shot himself. I tried to stop him, but it was too late.”

  “As long as you’re okay,” Jack murmured, stroking the back of Ivy’s head as he clung to her. “I was so afraid.”

  “It’s okay,” Ivy said, tears streaming down her face. “I’m okay. Everyone is okay.”

  “I’m pretty freaking far from okay,” Gilly screeched, her face red with effort as she tried to push away Ivy and Jack. “I have a person coming out of me!”

  “Oh, right,” Ivy said, returning to the present and swiveling so she could face Gilly. “You don’t feel as if you need to push yet, do you?”

  “Not yet.”

  “We still have time.” Ivy turned to Jack expectantly. “We need to get Gilly to the hospital right now or we’re going to have to deliver a baby.”

  Jack was still in shock, but Brian realized what Ivy was inferring without missing a beat.

  “I’ll drive,” Brian said, sliding an arm underneath Gilly’s shoulder so he could help pull her to her feet. “We’ll have you at the hospital in five minutes, Gilly.”

  “And we’ll have the drugs in you within ten,” Ivy offered, forcing cheerfulness.

  Despite her ordeal, Gilly remained focused and even mustered a grim smile. “Just get me there. My son is coming.”

  “And we all can’t wait to meet him,” Ivy said. “Let’s do this.”

  Twenty-Three

  “Any news?”

  Brian joined Jack and Ivy at the clinic four hours later as they paced the hallway outside of the birthing suite. He looked concerned but otherwise relaxed. He had left Jack at the hospital with Ivy and Gilly while he handled the scene, promising to return as soon as possible. He hoped for a baby upon his return, but apparently the newest McDonald family member wasn’t quite ready to make his appearance.

  “She’s still in there,” Ivy replied, leaning against the wall. “I offered to go with her, but she said she wanted to do it alone.”

  “She’s tough,” Brian noted.

  “She’s beyond tough. It’s still going to be a hard road for her. She’s completely on her own now and has a farm to run while trying to take care of a new baby.”

  “And that’s why Shadow Lake is a great place to live,” Brian said. “I already called my wife. They’re going out there to get the place cleaned up right away. I’m assuming Gilly will want to move into the big house – especially since the nursery in the smaller one is now the place where Darren and Lionel died – so they’re setting up a brand new nursery in Ron’s house.”

  Ivy’s eyes flashed with emotion. “That’s a great idea. I can’t believe you thought of it.”

  “You were a bit distracted or I’m sure you would’ve thought about it, too.” Brian fondly patted Ivy’s head. “Are you okay? You held it together under incredibly difficult circumstances. I’m proud of you.”

  “That makes two of us,” Jack said, slipping his arm around Ivy’s waist. “I’m not happy about you going out to that house alone, though. We’re going to fight about that later.”

  “It’s not my fault the network was jammed and I couldn’t get you on the phone,” Ivy argued. “You can’t fight with me about that. It was out of my control.”

  “Something tells me he’ll find a way,” Brian said, chuckling. “The medical examiner cleared Lionel and Darren’s bodies. The state police are there and said the scene stacks up
exactly how Ivy described it. Other than giving a statement, Gilly is in the clear.”

  “I’m not sure that will make her feel any better,” Ivy said. “What about Wayne?”

  “He’s in surgery but is expected to survive. He’ll be going to prison and I’m hopeful he does the right thing and turns over his shares of the farm to Gilly. If he doesn’t, well, I’m not sure what will happen. I guess we’ll have to wait and see.”

  “So that’s it?” Ivy rested her head against Jack’s shoulder. “That’s everything?”

  “For now,” Brian replied. “By the way, Jack, your mother is out in the waiting room. I tried to get her to leave but she insisted on staying. If you want to know the truth, I think she had a good time being in the thick of things this afternoon.”

  “That sounds just like her,” Jack said, brushing his lips against Ivy’s temple. “I should probably talk to her.”

  “We made up before it happened,” Ivy volunteered. “She understands you’re staying. She wants you to be happy.”

  “Well, that makes me feel better. You’re what makes me happy.”

  Ivy beamed. “Right back at you.”

  “You’re still in trouble, though.” Jack pressed a firm kiss to her mouth before heading toward the lobby. “Be prepared to fight and make up later tonight. I’ll add you to my schedule.”

  Ivy considered following and continuing to plead her case until she heard the unmistakable sounds of a squawking infant from the other room. Instead of knocking or waiting for clearance, she pushed in and immediately caught Gilly’s gaze.

  The new mother was exhausted and sweaty, tears streaming down her cheeks as the nurse placed the swaddled baby in her arms. Ivy was convinced she’d never seen Gilly look more beautiful.

  “He’s here, huh?”

  Gilly smiled as she gestured for Ivy to join her, rubbing her fingers over the baby’s red skin. He continuously screamed, but he was a beautiful child. Ivy was happy to see he resembled Ron and Gilly rather than Darren.