Wicked Whimsy

by Lily Harper Hart

  “I know.” Michael offered a half salute. “I’ll order lunch and bring it to you guys in a little bit. Will you be okay until then?”

  “I’ll be fine.” Ivy brushed off her father’s concern. “I’m just complaining about nothing. I do that sometimes.”

  Michael watched her go, conflicted. While it was true Ivy liked to randomly whine and she got a kick out of fighting with Jack over certain things, she wasn’t a rampant complainer. He couldn’t help but worry over his daughter. For the life of him, though, he had no idea how to make things better.

  TAMMY VICKERS-MASTERS lived in a senior assisted living facility on the highway between Shadow Lake and Bellaire. While not a blood relative of Abraham Masters, she was one of the few people in the area who had any ties to the man. She seemed surprised when Brian and Jack stopped in to inform her of Abraham’s death.

  “That’s terrible.” Tammy shook her head as she sat on the small loveseat in her private room. “I was never close with Abraham or anything, but I’m sorry to hear something happened to him. I’m kind of shocked, if you want to know the truth. I had no idea when I saw that story on the news that it was Abraham who passed.”

  “What was your relationship with Abraham, ma’am?” Brian asked, his smile amiable as he sat in a chair across the way. He gave the appearance of being relaxed, but he often felt out of sorts when he had to visit facilities like this. They made him uncomfortable.

  “We didn’t have much of a relationship,” Tammy admitted. “I married his father when Abraham was in his thirties. He was always nice and polite to me – a gentleman, so to speak – but it’s hardly as if we bonded.”

  “You knew him after he married Melanie, right?” Jack asked. “You got to see them together.”

  “I did.” Tammy narrowed her eyes. “What is this about?”

  “Your stepson was killed in the woods,” Brian replied. “He was murdered. We’re trying to find a culprit. To do that, we kind of need to find a motive.”

  “Ah. I understand.” Tammy said the words, but Jack wasn’t sure if she meant them. “Well, I don’t know what to tell you. We saw Abraham and Melanie together on holidays and special occasions. Abraham spent a decent amount of time with his father, even after he got sick and had to be put in a home, but I didn’t know him very well.”

  “We’re looking for observations,” Jack noted. “Did you ever observe any problems between Abraham and Melanie?”

  “What kind of problems?”

  Jack shrugged. “I don’t know. Any kind you can come up with.”

  “See, I think you’re fishing for something specific, but you don’t want to say because you would rather I volunteer the information,” Tammy noted. “You want to know about the rumors that Abraham was cheating on Melanie, don’t you?”

  “Are you aware of those rumors?”

  Tammy bobbed her snowy head. “You’ve been talking to Melanie’s sister, haven’t you?”

  “We’ve talked to a few people,” Jack hedged. “We really can’t get into too much detail over that.”

  “Don’t worry. I know how the sister felt about Abraham. She was convinced that he was having an affair even as Melanie lay dying in the hospital.”

  Her derisive tone told Jack that Tammy believed something else. “You don’t think so?”

  “I don’t think Abraham was a particularly good husband,” she clarified. “He was a bit full of himself and had antiquated ideals when it comes to what a woman should be doing in the home. I found some of the nonsense he spouted to be insufferable.

  “Don’t get me wrong, if a woman wants to stay home and take care of a house and children, I think she has that right,” she continued. “I don’t think anyone else should force that decision on her, though.”

  “I happen to agree with you,” Jack offered. “Please continue.”

  “Despite his faults – and Abraham had a number of them – he wasn’t a terrible man,” Tammy explained. “When Melanie got sick, he was a wreck. He spent almost all his free time with her. He still had to work to keep the insurance, and he made sure he did his job, but he was with Melanie every chance he got.”

  “What about a hotel room?” Brian queried. “We heard that Abraham was meeting someone in a hotel room at night.”

  Tammy snorted. “Now I know you’ve been talking to the sister. She ran that story on me, too.”

  “Were you at the hospital when Melanie died?” Jack asked. “The way you make it sound, you only spent time with Abraham’s father and didn’t have a lot to do with the family after the fact. I thought your husband died a few years before Melanie got sick.”

  “He did,” Tammy confirmed, bobbing her head. “I was still living on the outside when Melanie got sick. My incarceration here is more of a recent thing.” Her smile was rueful. “When I heard about Melanie, I went to the hospital. I wanted to help if I could. I understood Abraham had a lot going on and wanted to sit with Melanie if he needed it, maybe even keep an eye on Josh or something.”

  “Were you close with Josh?”

  “No.” Tammy took on a far-off expression. “I don’t think that boy was close with a lot of people. He always seemed nervous and jumpy when I saw him, as if he was expecting something bad to happen at any moment.”

  “Something bad did happen,” Jack pointed out. “His mother died.”

  “She did and that’s a terrible thing,” Tammy agreed. “Josh wasn’t exactly broken up about it when it happened. He seemed more … numb, I guess would be the word … than anything else.”

  “I think that’s a fairly normal reaction, especially for a boy that age,” Brian noted. “Boys have a harder time expressing themselves than girls.”

  “I’m not finding fault with Josh,” Tammy said. “I don’t want you to think that. I always thought he was a weird kid, though. I believed that Josh would’ve been better, maybe a little less clingy, if his parents had tried again to give him a little brother or sister. After the death of Jenny, they basically didn’t try again.”

  Jack furrowed his brow, confused. “Jenny? Who is that?”

  “Josh’s sister.”

  “Josh doesn’t have a sister,” Jack argued. “In fact, when I asked him about it last night, he said he was an only child.”

  “Technically he doesn’t have a living sister,” Tammy explained. “He had a baby sister for a brief time, though. She didn’t live long.”

  “And what happened to her?” Brian asked, his heart already aching because he understood he was going to hear something awful.

  “SIDS. That Sudden Infant Death Syndrome thing. She was fine when Melanie put her down for the night but cold and gone when they woke the next morning. It was a tragedy that shook everyone.”

  Brian and Jack exchanged a weighted look. This was the first they were hearing about this sad tale.

  “How old was Josh when the new baby was born?” Brian asked after a moment’s contemplation.

  “Um, I think he was about ten.” Tammy screwed up her face in concentration as she did the math in her head. “Yeah, that sounds right. He was almost eleven when she was born, but not quite. His birthday that year was right around the time of the baby’s death. I remember Melanie struggling to put together a small family party because she was so upset about Jenny.”

  “I can’t even imagine how difficult that was,” Jack said. “If I’m grasping the timeline correctly, that would’ve happened about a year before Melanie got sick, right?”

  “Basically,” Tammy confirmed. “I think Jenny’s death changed Melanie forever. She was never the same after. Heck, Abraham wasn’t either. Melanie, though, almost seemed resigned to death when it was getting near. She seemed to think she had it coming for not waking up and realizing something was wrong with Jenny so she could save her.”

  “That’s not how SIDS works,” Brian pointed out. “There’s often no rhyme or reason when it happens.”

  “I know. That’s what I tried telling Melanie at the time. She was inconsola
ble. Right before she died, she told me she was at peace with what was to come because that meant she would be reunited with Jenny. That’s all she seemed to care about.”

  “What about Josh?” Jack queried. “Wasn’t she sad about leaving him?”

  “Of course. She was a good mother, even if things didn’t go how she expected the last year of her life. She knew Josh would be okay with Abraham, though. They were tight and she knew Abraham would take care of him.”

  “The only problem is that Abraham is gone now, too,” Brian noted. “We’re trying to find a family member to take Josh, provide a stable home for him, and we’re not having a lot of luck. We were hoping you might be able to come up with some names for us.”

  “I can try. I’m not sure how much good I can do for you, though.”

  “If you can give us anything, we would greatly appreciate it.”

  “Let’s see what I got.”

  IT WAS ALMOST THREE when Ivy looked at the clock and realized she was running out of time. She promised Dana she would have Josh back to the group home before four, which meant they needed to get moving.

  “Okay. I think that’s enough for today.” Ivy clapped her hands together to dislodge the dirt and removed the protective apron she wore to keep her clothes clean before hanging it on a hook near the greenhouse door. “We need to get you cleaned up so I can drive you back to the home.”

  Instead of reacting with happiness – or even resigned agreement – Josh made a face that was right out of the Teenager’s Guide to Being a Pain in the Posterior Handbook. “I don’t want to go back to the home.” Josh remained focused on the tomato plant he was staking. “I want to keep doing this.”

  “I told you gardening was cathartic.” Ivy beamed at the boy. “We can do more of it if Dana allows you to come back for a visit. For now, though, I promised I would drive you back in plenty of time for dinner and it’s getting late.”

  “I don’t want to go back.”

  Ivy managed to keep her smile in place, but just barely. Josh’s moody nature – the way he swung between anger and happiness at the drop of a hat – was starting to wear on her. She understood about grieving, acknowledged Josh was going through the worst thing imaginable, but she couldn’t quite wrap her head around his bursts of anger and petulance. “You have to go back. You can’t stay here. The only reason Dana even allowed the visit is because I promised to get you back at a reasonable time.”

  Josh lifted his chin, his green eyes defiant. “Call and tell her I’m staying here. I want to stay with you. I hate that place.”

  “I understand that.” Ivy chose her words carefully. “I don’t blame you for being unhappy there. I have no choice but to take you back. You know that. We talked about this.”

  “Well … I changed my mind.”

  “You’re not allowed to change your mind.”

  “I did, though.” Josh’s demeanor was cool. “I don’t want to go back there. I want you to make it so I can stay here. I know you want to keep me close to you so … make it happen.”

  Ivy blinked several times in rapid succession. Josh’s belligerent attitude throwing her for a loop. Finally, she found her voice. “Josh, if I try to keep you, the police will be called. They’ll take you from my house and I won’t even be able to visit you again. I’ll be barred from the home and you’ll be disallowed to visit me. Is that what you want?”

  “No.”

  “Then why are you pushing this?”

  Josh’s lower lip trembled, reminding Ivy he was a child in pain. His little bursts of pouty behavior weren’t on purpose. The boy was trying to come to grips with his father’s death. This was after his mother’s long illness and death. How much was one person supposed to take without falling apart?

  “Don’t cry.” Ivy moved closer and patted his shoulder. “We’re going to figure all of this out. I promise. I don’t have a choice in taking you back, though. If I don’t, we’re both going to end up in trouble and get absolutely nothing out of it.”

  Josh lifted his tear-streaked face so he could meet Ivy’s steady gaze. “You would keep me if you could, right?”

  Ivy nodded without hesitation. “Absolutely. I can’t, though. I have to take you back. I don’t want to give Dana a reason to keep you from visiting. I’m guessing you don’t want that either.”

  “Definitely not.” Josh swiped at his tears. “I guess we should be going then.”

  Ivy smiled as she extended her hand. “Yup. There’s no rule we can’t stop for ice cream on the way back. I only said I would get you back in time for dinner. I didn’t mention anything about not ruining your appetite for that dinner.”

  Josh broke into a wide grin. “That sounds like a plan.”

  Nine

  Jack and Brian stopped at the children’s home long enough to touch base with Dana. Since she was Josh’s caseworker, they were expected to have regular conversations regarding his mental state and attitude. She didn’t seem surprised when they let themselves into her office after a single knock and motioned them in while making a brief notation in a file.

  “I’m surprised you guys didn’t stop by earlier,” Dana admitted. “I thought you would be here first thing in the morning.”

  “We spent the day trying to track down relatives for Josh,” Brian explained. “If you’re wondering, it didn’t go well. He has an aunt, but she’s already overloaded with three kids of her own.”

  “She won’t take him?” Dana’s expression was hard to read. “Does she know he’ll likely become a ward of the state if she doesn’t?”

  “We explained things to her.”

  “Well, we can’t force her.” Dana was pragmatic as she flipped shut the file folder. “It’s probably best we know now. We don’t want her taking Josh if she’s not going to treat him well.”

  “I don’t think she’s a bad person,” Jack cautioned. “She was simply already overwhelmed.”

  “And she probably knows what’s best for her lifestyle,” Dana noted. “I’ll start sending out inquiries for foster homes and see what I come up with.”

  “That’s probably best,” Brian agreed, leaning back in his chair. “What can you tell us about him otherwise?”

  “I can tell you that he doesn’t want to be here. He’s extremely unhappy and views this place as a cage. I can’t say I blame him.”

  “Is that why you let him go with Ivy?” Jack was legitimately curious. “I didn’t think that was normal operating procedure where you guys are concerned.”

  “I let him go with Ivy because she wasn’t going to take no for an answer and he actually opened up and talked to her,” Dana replied. “He wasn’t going to talk to anyone else so I took a shot.”

  “Is he back?”

  “No, but Ivy texted to tell me she’s on her way,” Dana answered. “She didn’t go into a lot of specifics about their afternoon, before you ask, but said things were fine. I can press her when she gets here.”

  “I’ll handle the pressing,” Jack said, making a face when Brian smothered a chuckle under his hand. “Not that kind of pressing. You have a filthy mind.”

  “With you two I can never tell,” Brian said. “As for Josh’s little excursion with Ivy, I don’t see how it could cause problems. She’s good with him. More importantly, she’s responsible.”

  “She has pink hair,” Dana reminded him, causing Jack to bristle.

  “There’s nothing wrong with her hair,” Jack snapped. “She’s a good person. In fact, you should thank your lucky stars she agreed to come here and help you today.”

  Instead of being offended, Dana was amused. “Slow your roll, Romeo,” she teased. “I was joking. There’s no reason to get worked up.”

  “He doesn’t have much of a sense of humor where Ivy is concerned,” Brian explained. “He thinks she walks on water.”

  “I do not.” Jack rubbed his forehead. “What I think is that she doesn’t deserve the crap you two are saying about her.”

  “Oh, he really is smitten,” Dan
a teased, grinning. “He’s kind of cute, huh?”

  “Sadly, they’re both cute,” Brian said, returning the smile for a beat before sobering. “As for Josh, I don’t know what to tell you. We still don’t know who did this and have no idea where to place him. I’m not sure how much help we’re going to be.”

  Dana was the sort of woman who was used to rolling with the punches. “You can only do what you can do. We’ll figure it out.”

  “I hope so,” Jack said, his eyes flicking to the glass panel in the door when he saw Ivy walk by with Josh at her side. She was laughing and smiling, but he knew that wouldn’t last when he told her about his day. “We’ll be in touch when we have more information.”

  “I’ll move ahead with what I have,” Dana said. “We’ll find the right placement for Josh. It’s simply going to take a little bit of time to figure out exactly where that is.”

  IVY WASN’T IN THE MOOD to cook so when Jack suggested they stop by the Shadow Lake diner for dinner she jumped at the chance to let someone else handle food preparations.

  “You look tired,” Jack noted as he slid into the booth across from her. “Was it a long day?”

  “It felt like a long day,” Ivy conceded, resting her chin on her hand as she sighed. “I thought I was helping, but I’m not sure, in the end, if that’s true.”

  “What do you mean?”

  Ivy shrugged but told Jack about her day, starting from the beginning and wrapping up with Josh’s reticence to return to the home. She was beyond frustrated with the system even though she knew the individual people involved were working overtime to make things happen. “He was depressed when I dropped him off. He barely said a word.”

  “Honey, you can’t take that to heart.” Jack rested his hand on top of Ivy’s and stared into her sea-blue eyes. “That kid has been on one endless rollercoaster for his entire life it seems. His father died yesterday. He’s not going to get over that in twenty-four hours.”

  Ivy balked. “I know that. I’m not an idiot. I know he’s not going to get over it right away. He was enjoying himself before I told him it was time to return to the children’s home. He was opening up.”