“And you weren’t even looking at your phone, were you?” Max was disgusted as he wrestled with Holly. “I can’t believe I went to all this trouble and you don’t even care that I did.”
“I didn’t say that.” Jack was contrite as he leaned over and stared into Holly’s furious face. “What’s her deal?”
“I don’t have a deal,” Holly sputtered, her hair flying. “I was out minding my own business and this … this … idiot … jumped on me. If you ask me, I think he’s a pervert and this is how he gets his jollies.”
“Uh-huh.” Jack spared a glance for Ivy. “Do you believe that?”
Ivy shook her head as she regarded Max. “What happened?”
“She went back to her hotel room but only spent a few minutes inside,” he gritted out, refusing to let Holly go even though she dug her fingernails into his forearms. “I thought maybe she was going to pack and leave – what happened at the bar was ridiculously embarrassing, after all – but instead of packing she stormed out of her hotel and hopped in her car.
“Since I knew she was potentially dangerous, I followed her,” he continued. “Of course, I texted you when I realized exactly where she was heading. It appears you didn’t get the message, though.”
“We were picking up dinner,” Jack said. “We were distracted.”
“By an indoor picnic,” Holly spat, her hair flying as she desperately tried to escape Max’s tight grip. “I was in pain and you were having a picnic.”
Max leaned to the side so he could peer through the window, wrinkling his nose when he caught sight of the wine and blanket. “So, while I was suffering and following the crazy chick, you two were having a romantic picnic,” he mused. “That seems balanced and fair.”
“We were having dinner,” Jack clarified. “It just so happened to be on a blanket.” He dragged a frustrated hand through his hair as he regarded Holly. “I think you can let her go, Max.”
Max widened his eyes. “Are you sure? She was looking through your window. She got so agitated I thought she was going to throw herself through it and attack you.”
“We’ve got her outnumbered,” Jack pointed out. “She won’t be able to get close to Ivy.”
Max remained doubtful, but he loosened his grip. “Okay, but if she tries to escape, you’re going to be the one who has to chase her down.”
“I understand.” Jack briefly tensed when Holly whipped her head around, but since she showed no signs of running he relaxed enough to fold his arms over his chest. “What are you doing here?”
“I was just out taking a walk and minding my own business,” Holly shot back. “I wasn’t doing anything when this … moron … jumped me for no good reason.”
Jack held up a finger to still Max and cut him off before he could go on a righteous diatribe. “You weren’t doing anything, huh?”
Holly bobbed her head. “That’s what I said.”
“I have trouble believing that.” Jack kept his voice even. “This is private property. You have no right to be here.”
“I’m visiting an old friend.” Holly batted her eyes at Jack. “It’s not private property if you’re visiting an old friend. That’s a rule and I read about it in a newspaper.”
Jack didn’t believe that for a second. “This isn’t my property,” he pointed out. “This is Ivy’s property. Is she the old friend you’re trying to visit?”
Holly hesitated. “Um … no.”
“I didn’t think so.” Jack inhaled deeply to maintain control of his temper. He wasn’t happy in the least that Holly thought it was perfectly acceptable to sneak around the house and spy on them for no good reason. “What did you think you were going to accomplish here?”
Holly made a pathetic sound in the back of her throat. “You’re treating me as if I’m a criminal. I’m not a criminal.”
“You are,” Jack countered. “You’re a freaking stalker at the very least.”
“It’s not stalking when you really want to see me.”
Jack briefly pressed his eyes shut and shook his head. “I don’t even know what to say to that.”
“I do.” Ivy moved to his side, ignoring the way Jack extended his arm to make sure she didn’t get too close to Holly. “No one wants you here, Holly. You’re not going to get what you want. You realize that, right?”
Holly narrowed her eyes until only a brief hint of color glittered from the slits. “You’re the reason that Jack and I can’t be together. I hope you know that he’s not staying because he loves you. He feels he has to because he’s a loyal guy.”
“Don’t say things like that to her,” Jack warned.
“It’s okay, Jack.” Ivy meant it. She wasn’t bothered in the least by Holly’s words. “She’s desperate and wants to claim you for money you don’t even have. You can’t argue with delusions like that so it’s a waste of time to even try.”
“I don’t care about money,” Holly sniffed. “I don’t know why people think that. I have my own money.”
“No, you really don’t,” Jack shot back. “You’re in deep financial trouble. In fact, it’s not a matter of if you’re going to lose everything. It’s a matter of when you’re going to lose it. The thing is, I always thought you were good with your money. I know I never asked because it was none of my business, but I don’t understand how this even happened.”
Holly murdered him with a withering look. “I am not in financial trouble.”
“Your credit report says otherwise.”
“I was a victim of identity theft.” Holly chose her words carefully. “That’s the real problem here. Someone stole my identity and purposely ruined my credit.”
“That sounds terrible.” Jack was blasé. “Perhaps you should spend your time cleaning up your credit report and tracking down the fiend who stole your identity rather than giving us grief.”
“That’s just it.” Holly licked her lips, her mind clearly working. “She’s the one who stole my identity.” She extended a finger in Ivy’s direction.
“Me?” Ivy’s eyebrows flew up her forehead. “Why would I steal your identity?”
“Because you already stole my man and you’re obsessed with me,” Holly replied, warming to her topic. “Yeah, that’s right. You decided you wanted Jack and he was still in love with me so you messed with his head to get him to fall for you. The thing is, that wasn’t enough so you decided to ruin me financially, too. Yeah. You wanted to destroy me because you were jealous.”
Instead of reacting with worry – which she was sure Holly wanted – Ivy simply rolled her eyes. “She might be crazy.”
“Oh, you think?” Jack rubbed the back of his neck. “I don’t think we can ignore this. We can’t risk her running around and doing something wonky in the middle of the night. I’m not okay with putting you at risk that way.”
Ivy pursed her lips. “What are you going to do?”
“I’m a cop. There’s only one thing I can do.”
“YOU PUT HER IN JAIL?”
Brian was amused as he drank his coffee and sat across from Ivy and Jack at the diner the next morning. Everyone was well rested – despite the drama from the previous night – and Brian was laughing so hard at Jack’s update that his cheeks had turned crimson.
“I know you find it funny, but I’m not sure I feel the same way,” Jack hedged, shifting on the seat. “She was outside and we didn’t even know it.”
Brian sobered, but only marginally. “And what did she see from outside?”
“We weren’t doing anything,” Jack replied hurriedly. “We were simply talking.”
“About?”
“About how much we love each other and how lucky we were to find each other,” Ivy answered, shooting Jack a quelling look. “It’s nothing to be embarrassed about.”
“I’m not embarrassed,” Jack supplied. “I will gladly shout how much I love you from the rooftops if that will make you happy.”
“I can vouch for that,” Brian grumbled.
“Brian gets gr
ossed out by the mush, though,” Jack continued. “I was trying to save him some embarrassment.”
Ivy snorted, genuinely amused. “Oh. I think the mush is kind of funny. Max doesn’t like it either, though. Maybe we should tone it down.”
Jack shook his head. “We’re getting married. You’re supposed to be mushy when you’re getting married. We’re not doing anything wrong … and I happen to like the mush.”
“Here we go.” Brian made a groaning sound as he smoothed the back of his hair and rolled his neck. “I can’t tell you how much I enjoy eating with you guys three times a week. It doesn’t make me feel sick to my stomach at all.”
Ivy graced Brian with a charming smile. “I’m sorry. I’ll try to remember you don’t like the mush.”
Brian stared at her for a long beat. When he looked at her he saw the mouthy child who always made him laugh … and the lonely teenager who was often looked at as an outcast. She never looked unhappy when she was with Jack. Okay, there was a time or two she was unhappy, but ninety-nine percent of the time she looked ecstatic to be with her man. That was what Brian wanted for her.
“No, you can continue with the mush.” Brian knew he sounded churlish, but he didn’t care. “I don’t always mind the mush. It’s just most times.”
“I think he’s telling you he’s a big softie, honey,” Jack teased, sliding an arm around her shoulders. “Much like me, he turns into a marshmallow when you’re around. I think you have a magical ability to control men.”
Since Ivy was uncomfortable with the joke – and she knew he meant it a different way than she took it – she changed the subject. “I will say that Holly thinks fast on her feet. That whole blaming me for stealing her identity thing was a fine bit of lying.”
“She can use the story two ways,” Jack explained. “She can either paint herself as a victim if she finds someone stupid enough to believe her or she can use an insanity defense if it comes to it. She’s not afraid to be crazy if it gets her out of trouble.”
“That’s an interesting way to look at it.” Brian leaned back in his seat. “Do you think she’s responsible for Shannon’s death?”
Jack was prepared for the question, but he wasn’t sure he had an answer. “I don’t know,” he hedged. “I honestly don’t know what to make of the entire thing. I still don’t believe she’s capable of shooting someone in cold blood.
“I know you think I’m probably deluding myself because I don’t want to deal with the guilt, but it’s not that I think she’s incapable of killing to get her way,” he continued. “It’s that I think she’s too lazy to get her hands dirty. You can say what you want about Holly, but she’s not an idiot. If she was the one who killed Shannon, she’s not stupid enough to believe she wouldn’t be a suspect given the fact that she appeared out of nowhere.”
“I get what you’re saying – I really do – but the woman I saw yesterday was a bit nutty,” Brian offered. “If she really has lost the leading edge of sanity, there’s a very good chance that she is our culprit.”
Jack tilted his head to the side, considering. “She has a cold heart and would have no qualms about doing it. I don’t think she’s physically capable of doing it, though. That’s simply not how she operates.”
“While I’m not sure I agree with Jack, there is one thing about last night that bothers me,” Ivy admitted, drawing two sets of eyes to her. “If Holly really was deranged and wanted to get us back for what happened at the bar, why would she approach the house unarmed?”
Brian’s eyebrow winged up. “She was unarmed?”
Jack nodded. “Yeah. We found her car on the road, too. It wasn’t particularly well hidden. There was no weapon inside. I did a cursory search and then had it impounded for a second search today. There was no gun, though.”
“That doesn’t technically mean anything,” Brian cautioned. “She might have panicked after shooting Shannon – realizing pretty quickly that it was a mistake and she didn’t hit the woman she was aiming at – and dumped the gun.”
Jack rested his hand on Ivy’s knee under the table, doing his best not to react to the way Brian said “didn’t hit the woman she was aiming at,” and worked his jaw as he debated how to answer. “I guess anything is possible,” he conceded. “I still can’t see her doing it and she can’t afford a hitman.”
“Maybe she offered up something else besides money to find a hitman,” Ivy suggested. “I mean … she does look like the type of woman who uses sex to get what she wants. Maybe she convinced some random guy to shoot me so they could get money from you and live happily ever after.”
“I don’t know,” Jack muttered, sipping his coffee. “That seems pretty far-fetched.”
“It does, but it’s not entirely out of the realm of possibility,” Brian said. “Right now, as I see it, we have a problem. We have two ways of looking at this case.
“In one, Shannon was the intended target and it probably has something to do with that rumor about her and Priestley,” he continued. “Heck, I’m not ruling out Priestley as a possibility for hiring a killer given the fact that he was conveniently out of town at the time and he seems absolutely furious that anyone would dare gossip about him.”
“I considered that, too, but I’m not sure I can wrap my head around that,” Jack said. “I mean … he’s not married. Shannon was the one married. I can’t see Priestley working himself into a lather about something that isn’t going to hurt him over the long haul.”
“No, but maybe we’re missing something,” Brian said. “Like … maybe Shannon told him she was pregnant and he didn’t want to pay child support so that’s why he killed her.”
“The medical examiner didn’t mention her being pregnant,” Jack pointed out.
“She wasn’t pregnant. That doesn’t mean she didn’t tell Priestley that. Shannon would hardly be the first woman to use pregnancy to trap a man.”
“He’s right,” Ivy said, dunking her tea bag in hot water to steep. “Shannon never struck me as the type of woman to do that, though. She seemed more straightforward than that.”
“You only knew her as an employee,” Brian argued. “You didn’t know the real her. Heck, you didn’t even know she was married.”
“You have a point.” Ivy chewed on her bottom lip. “So what’s your next step? How are you going to figure out exactly what happened to Shannon?”
“We have leverage now,” Jack replied. “We’re going to hammer Holly hard this morning. I think we’re going to be able to rule her out relatively quickly. If we can’t rule her out, then that will be an answer all its own even though I doubt she’ll admit to being a killer no matter how hard we hammer her.”
“I agree with Jack,” Brian said. “I think we’ll know relatively quickly if she’s guilty. Even if she doesn’t admit it, we’ll be able to tell. If we rule her out, I think that rules you out as the target, Ivy. We have no other reason to suspect some kind of mistake happened.”
Ivy ran her thumb over her bottom lip. “I don’t know what to hope for. Part of me wants Holly to be guilty because she’s already behind bars, but the other part wants you to clear her because I don’t want to be the reason Shannon died.”
“Honey, you’re not the reason.” Jack lowered his chin so she had no choice but to look him in the eye. “Whoever did this is to blame. You’re not to blame.”
“I know.” Ivy felt sheepish in the face of Jack’s pointed comments. “I just can’t help feeling the way I do.”
“Well, knock it off.” Jack pressed a quick kiss to her temple. “All you’re to blame for is stealing my heart.”
Ivy giggled as Brian groaned. “You did that on purpose to bother Brian.”
“I have to get my amusement somewhere.”
“Yeah, yeah.”
Jack gave her another kiss. “What are you going to do today?”
“I’m going to work at the nursery. I’ve lost too much time this week. I’m behind.”
“Be careful,” Jack cautioned. “W
atch your surroundings just to be sure. I doubt anyone will go out there, but I want you to be safe so that means watching where you’re going at all times and making sure no one is following.”
“I can do that.”
“Good. I’ll be happy when this is over and I know you’re safe.”
“That makes two of us,” Brian said. “I say, right after breakfast, we pull Holly into interrogation and break her down.”
Jack nodded grimly. “That sounds like a plan to me.”
Seventeen
Holly was furious when Brian led her into the interrogation room where Jack was already seated. She wore an orange jumpsuit instead of her expensive clothes but wasn’t cuffed, and the look on her face forced Jack to swallow a smile.
“I’m going to sue you for wrongful imprisonment,” Holly announced, glaring at Brian when he helped her sit in a chair. “You have no idea how much I’m going to sue you for. I mean … I’m wearing rubber shoes.” She pointed toward her feet and wrinkled her nose. “I’m allergic to cheap fabrics and textures and I’m totally going to sue you.”
“Good luck with that,” Brian said blandly before taking a seat next to Jack. “I look forward to testifying when you finally get your day in court. Of course, you could be getting that day a lot sooner than you think if you’re not careful.”
Holly rolled her eyes. “Whatever. You have nothing on me.”
“As of right now we have several things on you,” Jack countered, his tone grave and his expression stern. “The first of which is trespassing.”
“I didn’t trespass anywhere! I already told you I was looking for an old friend who just happened to live in the house. It’s not my fault that obnoxious guy assumed I was doing something wrong and attacked me. I’m going to sue him, too.”
“He didn’t attack you.” Jack did his best to keep the anger from bubbling up. “He saw you spying on us and detained you until I could join the party outside. There’s a vast difference.”
Wicked Wishes (An Ivy Morgan Mystery Book 10) Page 16
