Wicked Wishes (An Ivy Morgan Mystery Book 10)

by Lily Harper Hart

  Jack tweaked her nose. “Yeah. We can call her that.” He spared a glance for Brian. “I think I’m going to have to do something about this.”

  “Oh, you think?” Brian’s sarcasm was on full display. “She’s all types of crazy, man. How did you not notice that when you were dating her?”

  “Because I never really dated her. It was five bouts of sex a month and quick waves goodbye when I was done. I never even stayed the night at her house because I always made up an excuse for why I had to leave.”

  Ivy made a face. “Oh, that was too much information. Did you have to tell me that?”

  Jack rubbed his hand over her back. “I’m sorry. I know you don’t want the details. This is downright uncomfortable, though. She has to be following us.”

  “How would she manage that without you seeing her?” Brian challenged. “The road you live on has almost zero traffic. You would’ve seen her parked near the ditch if she was out there.”

  “That’s true.” Jack scratched a non-existent itch on the side of his nose. “How is she finding us if she’s not following us?”

  “That’s an interesting question,” Brian replied. “I don’t think she followed Ivy to the nursery. At least I’m not leaning that way at the present moment. It’s not hard to find that place.”

  “No. All she had to do was look me up on the internet,” Ivy agreed. “Jack said she found you guys at a restaurant in Bellaire, though. How did she manage that?”

  “See. She has to be following us.” Jack was adamant. “There’s no other explanation.”

  “There are a few, but I’m not sure they’re better than the idea that she’s following you.” Brian’s gaze was thoughtful as it landed on Holly. She had the audacity to smile and wave. “She’s nuttier than a king-sized Snickers bar, though. That’s written all over her face.”

  “Well, I’m going to have to say something,” Jack said. “I need to warn her away from Ivy.”

  Ivy balked. “I can take care of myself. I wouldn’t even break a sweat beating her up.”

  “Yes, and I would love to watch you do it,” Jack drawled. “It’s hard to beat crazy, though, and I think Brian’s right about her being crazy. I don’t want her showing up again at your nursery.”

  “How are you going to stop her?”

  “I’m going to threaten her.”

  “Do you think that’s a good idea?” Ivy had her doubts. “If a cop threatens a civilian, that could make the news. I don’t think that’s what we want.”

  “Probably not,” Jack conceded. “Do you have any ideas, Brian?”

  “I do.” Brian smiled when Ivy and Jack stared hard at him. “I’m going to be the one to threaten her. I’m just not going to use threatening words when I do it.”

  “How does that work?” Ivy asked, legitimately confused.

  “Watch and learn.” Brian slid out of the booth and pointed himself toward Holly. “By the way, if she tries to stab me with her butter knife, I expect you to stop her. As far as I can tell, that’s the only weapon at her disposal.”

  “Oh, I can’t wait to see this,” Jack muttered. “She’s going to eat you alive.”

  “I already told you. Watch and learn. I’m about to teach you a lesson on how to deal with crazy people. It’s an important lesson.”

  Ivy bit the inside of her cheek to keep from laughing as Brian sauntered across the aisle. “He’s going to get shut down.”

  Jack nodded, resigned. “Big time.”

  Twelve

  Jack’s hand was heavy on the back of Ivy’s neck as they watched Brian cross to Holly.

  Instead of focusing on the show, Ivy turned her thoughtful eyes to Jack. “It’s okay.” She kept her voice low. “You don’t need to tie yourself up in knots about this.”

  Jack met her gaze, love and worry warring for supremacy in his busy heart and mind. “I consider myself lucky that you figured out what was going on before I managed to track you down and beg for forgiveness. You’ll never know how lucky.”

  Ivy rolled her eyes. “Jack, other than your brief lapse about telling me – which I get because it was weird and I’m not sure I would’ve known what to do in that situation either – you didn’t do anything to apologize for.”

  Jack moved his free hand to her hair and slipped a stand behind her ear. The movement was gentle, simple, and gut-wrenchingly intimate. “I just want you happy.”

  Ivy beamed. “I’m about to watch Brian lay down the law with a crazy person. How can I not be happy about that?”

  Jack leaned over and gave her a quick kiss. “It does sound kind of fun, huh?”

  “Totally.”

  While Jack and Ivy geared themselves up for the show, Holly made a face and shifted in her seat when she realized Brian was the one acknowledging her presence. For his part, the older police officer was grim and determined.

  “Is this seat taken?” Brian gestured toward the empty booth bench on the opposite side of the table.

  “Oh, you don’t want to sit with me,” Holly teased, adopting an innocent expression. “You’re far too important to worry about me.”

  “I don’t believe that’s the way the world works.” Brian slid into the seat even though Holly didn’t invite him to join her. “You seem to be having a good time running all over the area … popping in unannounced whenever and wherever you want.”

  “I am having a good time.” Holly’s smile never slipped. “I’m having a great time. I’m not used to small towns like this. It’s interesting to me that I can pick one restaurant, any restaurant, and run into someone I know. I mean … what are the odds of that?”

  “Not good,” Brian replied without hesitation. “Especially since Ivy and Jack only come to town for breakfast sporadically during the week. I think it’s even more unlikely that you would stumble upon Jack and me at a restaurant in another town at the exact right time, though. Those odds seem almost astronomical.”

  A glint appeared in Holly’s eye. “What is it exactly that you’re saying?”

  “Well, I thought about beating around the bush, but I don’t think subtlety is going to penetrate that thick head of yours.” Brian leaned back in his seat and gave Holly a considering look. “You know stalking is against the law, right?”

  Holly balked. “Stalking? Who is stalking whom?”

  Brian wagged a finger and clucked his tongue. “You don’t want to push things here, missy. This isn’t like the city. All I have to do is go in front of a judge, explain what has happened, and you’ll be in jail. That’s how these small towns you love so much work.”

  Holly swallowed hard. “I haven’t done anything.”

  “Well, I don’t believe that. To make sure you don’t really do anything, though, there are some new ground rules that I think we should probably go over. The first is that you are not allowed near Ms. Morgan’s property.”

  “It’s a public business,” Holly sputtered.

  “Which is still closed for the season and will be for a few weeks.” Brian’s tone was efficient and clipped. “The signs are clearly marked. If you end up on Ms. Morgan’s property again, I will arrest you.”

  “On what charges?”

  “Whatever sticks.” Brian tugged on his blue shirt and waited a beat before continuing. “As for Detective Harker, he’s busy solving a murder. Unless you want to be charged with obstruction for getting in his way – and trust me, I’ll be able to make that charge stick, too – then you should maintain your distance.”

  “I’m not doing anything,” Holly stubbornly repeated, folding her arms over her chest. “I don’t know why you think I am.”

  “I’m glad you’re not doing anything.” Brian leaned forward and pinned Holly with a dark look. “That will make things easier. For the record, though, if we see you out by Ivy and Jack’s house, we’re going to arrest you. If you set foot on Ms. Morgan’s business property, we’re going to arrest you. If you happen to show up wherever Jack and I decide to have lunch this afternoon, we’re going to arr
est you.”

  “You won’t get away with it.” Holly tried to appear brave, but it was altogether obvious that she was nervous about being called out on her antics. “You’re just trying to frighten me.”

  “I hope you take the warning to heart.” Brian stood. “If you don’t, you’ll find that I never speak without being able to back up what I say.” He lowered his voice because a few people in the diner were curiously watching the show. “There’s nothing for you here. You played your games and lost. I think it’s time to keep your dignity intact – although just barely – and leave.”

  Holly’s eyes flared to life. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  “That’s a pity because I can tell you’re not going to stop until you end up in jail,” Brian said. “I guess that will be another sort of lesson to learn, huh?” He made a disappointed sound in the back of his throat as he shook his head. “I hoped for better from you. I guess we’ll have to see how things shake out from here.”

  JACK KISSED IVY FOUR times before leaving her at the nursery, making sure to search the woods immediately surrounding the building before leaving. He was agitated as Brian pulled away and he rested his cell phone on his knee as he stared at the blurring foliage as they passed.

  “You think I’m being ridiculous, don’t you?” Jack asked after a beat.

  Brian immediately started shaking his head. “Actually I don’t.”

  “You don’t?”

  “I think she’s a menace and I’m afraid of what she might do.”

  The simple words threw Jack for a loop. “Excuse me?”

  “You heard me.” Brian wasn’t in the mood to play games. “I think she’s a menace and she’s only going to get worse as time goes on.”

  Jack had no idea what to make of that. “We need to find out where she’s staying.”

  “I’m guessing it’s one of the smaller hotels out on the highway,” Brian said. “She would want something where it’s easy to slip in and out.”

  “Even if we find out where she’s staying, though, we can’t do anything about it,” Jack noted. “Technically she hasn’t done anything wrong yet.”

  “I wasn’t joking about slapping her with a nuisance charge. I’m actually for that, if you want to know the truth. It would allow us to get a search warrant.”

  Jack wrinkled his forehead. “What good is a search warrant going to do us?”

  “It will allow us to search her things.”

  “Oh, really?” Jack deadpanned. “I had no idea how that worked.”

  “It will allow us to search her things and see if she has anything of interest in her hotel room and car,” Brian supplied. “Like say … a gun or scope.”

  Jack was dumbfounded. “What?”

  “Think about it, Jack,” Brian prodded. “Her timing is a little suspicious. She shows up at your rental without any notice and ambushes you with questions. When that doesn’t go how she wants – I mean, you did essentially blow her off – she comes back the next day and waits for Ivy because she blames her for your disinterest.”

  Jack worked his jaw. “Why shoot Shannon, though? I’m not saying I think Holly is capable of what you’re suggesting – in truth I think she’s too lazy to do it, but I digress – but if I push aside my skepticism and really look at the situation, I’m not sure it makes sense.”

  “Okay, let’s take it point-by-point,” Brian suggested. “What if Holly thought you would get back together with her and lost it because you didn’t?”

  “How could she possibly think that? I haven’t talked to her in … what is it … I guess it’s around eighteen months. We broke up two months before that and I didn’t see her in the intervening months. She only showed up after I was shot because she wanted attention. I kicked her out and was kind of mean. Why would she possibly show up now and think that was going to work out well for her?”

  Brian shrugged. “The female mind is a mystifying thing.”

  “It is. I live with Ivy. She kicks off the covers in the middle of the night – even when it’s freaking winter – and points a fan directly at herself no matter the temperature. Then do you know what she does? She adds an extra blanket to the bed to ward off the cold. Now, why not just turn off the fan and wear socks if she’s going to need the extra blanket? Can you explain that to me?”

  Brian snorted, genuinely amused. “That’s a woman for you.”

  “That still doesn’t explain how Holly could suddenly think she has a chance,” Jack pointed out. “There’s crazy and there’s crazy. Our relationship wasn’t only over and done, it was completely finished. It was essentially forgotten.”

  “So what happened to trigger things?” Brian asked. “I mean … something had to happen to put you back on her radar.”

  “She ran into my mother.” It was the only answer Jack could come up with. “She said it was in a grocery store and they got to talking. Mom mentioned where I lived and that I was engaged.”

  “Does that sound like something your mother would say?”

  “I … huh.” Jack rubbed his chin, debating. “Maybe I should call her and verify Holly’s story. In truth, my mother didn’t particularly care either way about Holly. She was nice to her because she wanted me to get married and have kids and thought Holly was her best shot, but she also thought she was vain and full of herself.”

  “I can see that.” Brian rubbed the back of his neck. “I don’t think it’s a bad place to start.”

  “Because you honestly think Holly might be the one who did this?” Jack had a hard time wrapping his head around that possibility. “It seems a bit far-fetched.”

  “Let’s take it one step at a time,” Brian suggested. “Call your mother. We need to confirm Holly’s story. After that, we’ll figure out where to go next.”

  “WHAT IS SO IMPORTANT that I just had to get over here right away?” Max asked, irritation evident as he strode through the door to Ivy’s greenhouse and fixed his sister with a long-suffering look. “If you want me to help you, I should point out that I have work of my own to do.”

  “I don’t want you to work with me.” Ivy wiped off her hands on a rag and stepped away from the tomato pods she was surveying. “I know you have your own work to do – and I’m sorry about tearing you away from that – but Jack will pitch a fit if I take off on my own and you’re the only person I know who will agree to what I’m proposing.”

  “Oh, I don’t like the sound of this.” Max dragged a hand through his dark hair. “What’s going on?”

  “Well … it’s a long story.”

  “You made me drive across town to hear it. I believe we have time.”

  “Okay, but I don’t want you to run off half-cocked and pick a fight with Jack when I tell you,” Ivy warned. “We’re fine and he’s not the focus of my anger.”

  “Yup. I’m definitely not going to like this.” Max crossed his arms over his chest. “Spill. Oh, and by the way, if I feel Jack needs a good butt kicking from his future brother-in-law, I’m totally going to lay one on him.”

  Ivy heaved out a sigh. “You’re so much work.”

  “Right back at you. Now … talk.”

  She was reluctant, and a little worried, but Ivy did just that. She caught Max up on Shannon’s case and Holly’s multiple appearances. When she was done, all Max could do was wearily shake his head and sink to a sitting position on one of the stools Ivy kept in the greenhouse.

  “Holy crap.”

  “I know, right?” Ivy’s eyes flashed. “She actually showed up at the restaurant for breakfast like a creepy stalker. I didn’t say anything because I didn’t want to upset Jack, but I think she’s like Fatal Attraction crazy or something.”

  “I knew Mom shouldn’t have let you watch that movie when you were five,” Max complained. “She said you were fine with it because you were a student of human nature, but I knew it was going to scar you.”

  “Come on,” Ivy protested. “You can’t tell me that she’s acting like a normal person. Y
ou, the guy who thought the woman who hands out the cheese samples at that store at the mall was following you so there’s no way you can think this is normal.”

  “I definitely don’t think it’s normal,” Max agreed. “That doesn’t necessarily mean I think she’s a murderer, though. Ivy, Shannon was the one killed. You look nothing alike. I mean … nothing alike.”

  “That’s true.” Ivy scratched at her chin. “Maybe someone reacted before they had a chance to notice Shannon was the one walking up the driveway rather than me. Maybe Holly just saw it was a woman – she hadn’t seen me in person yet at that point – and assumed Shannon and I were the same person.”

  “I’m not sure I can believe that,” Max hedged. “You’re shorter than Shannon by a good two inches. You’re fatter than Shannon, too.”

  “Hey!” Ivy extended a warning finger. “I am not fat!”

  Max rolled his eyes. “Did I say you were fat?”

  “You said I was fatter than Shannon.”

  “That doesn’t mean you’re fat. It simply means Shannon was skinny.”

  Ivy narrowed her eyes and tamped down the urge to kick Max in the shins. “Do you really think now is the best time to get into a semantics argument?”

  “I don’t know. Let’s find out.” Max grinned when Ivy let loose an exasperated sigh. “I didn’t mean you were fat. You’re clearly not fat. Shannon, however, was extremely tall and had a body like a model.”

  “Oh, you mean she was flat as a board,” Ivy supplied, momentarily hating herself for being catty about a dead woman.

  “No. That’s not what I was saying at all.” Max flicked the ridge of Ivy’s ear. “I was merely saying that it’s hard to confuse the two of you because you look so different. I mean … you have pink hair, for crying out loud. How could this Holly woman not realize that Shannon didn’t have pink hair?”

  “Shannon’s hair was a bit darker so maybe it looked pink under the sun.”

  “You’re reaching.”

  Ivy knew that was true, but she couldn’t stop herself. “Maybe she shot first and panicked later.”