Wicked Beginning: An Ivy Morgan Mystery Books 1-3

by Lily Harper Hart

  “What happened?”

  “We found out she was down at the local high school trying to recruit people,” Chad said. “That’s not how we work.”

  “What did Mona do when you told her she was banned?”

  “She pitched a fit,” Chad said. “She said she was going to tell everyone that we were doing freaky sexual rites up at the compound.”

  “Were you?”

  “Absolutely not,” Chad said. “Given the rules of our faith, only the Promise is allowed to engage in sexual acts.”

  “That’s why there are so few men up there,” Brian said. “Men are less likely to forego sexual gratification than women.”

  “I gratify the women,” Chad said. “Don’t you doubt it.”

  He was boastful. He was used to women falling at his feet. It started when he was a teenager, Jack realized. Once he lost his athletic scholarship his popularity started to fade. This was the idea he’d come up with to put himself back on a pedestal. “Why did you go after Ivy? She’s never going to be malleable enough to be a member of your harem.”

  “I didn’t go after Ivy,” Chad said. “I talked to her. There’s a difference.”

  “You grabbed her and threatened her,” Jack countered. “That’s going after her.”

  “She said some nasty things to me that were completely untrue,” Chad said. “I never threatened her.”

  “You seemed interested in giving her a tour of your compound.”

  “She’s hot,” Chad said, shrugging. “She’s always been hot. She’s also open to alternative ways of living, and she doesn’t cast stones. I thought she might want to expand her horizons.”

  “You thought she might give the Promise another shot in the sack,” Jack said. “At least be honest.”

  “Fine. She’s hot. She’s a complete and total bitch, though. She told me she was never in love with me. Can you believe that?”

  “Quite easily,” Jack said, causing Brian to snicker.

  “She was in love with me,” Chad said. “I crushed her when I broke up with her. She’s still pining for me.”

  “She broke up with you,” Brian said. “She caught you using your little … promise … with Maisie. Every teenager in town saw her dump you.”

  “Whatever,” Chad said. “The gossip mill in this town is absolutely ridiculous.”

  “You’re ridiculous,” Jack said. “Why did you leave those flowers on Ivy’s porch last night? Was it a threat? Were you planning on going back to her house after you scared her a little bit?”

  “What flowers?”

  “Don’t do that,” Jack said, extending his finger. “The symbols carved into Mona Wheeler’s body were the exact same symbols on the card. We know it was you.”

  “You don’t know what you’re talking about,” Chad said. “I would never go after anyone. I would never murder anyone.”

  “You still haven’t told us what happened when you told Mona she was banned,” Brian pointed out.

  “She freaked out,” Chad said. “She yelled at me and called me a fraud and then she said she was going to leave that night. That’s the last time I saw her. I swear.”

  Jack didn’t believe him. He was spinning an elaborate story – but it was still a story. There was very little truth to his words. “I … .”

  The sound of someone knocking on the office door – Shadow Lake was too small for an interrogation room – caused Jack to shift his attention. Ivy was on the other side, and he could see her peering in through the small window. “What the … ?”

  “I’ve got her,” Brian said, getting to his feet.

  “Are you going to let her come in here and be mean to me again?” Chad asked. “Is that why she’s here?”

  “Shut up,” Jack said, rolling his eyes.

  Brian let Ivy into the room. She was excited, and she was clutching a book close to her chest. “I know what the symbols are.”

  Jack lifted his eyebrows, surprised. “You figured it out?”

  “Aunt Felicity did,” Ivy conceded.

  “Ivy, do you want to call your guard dog off?” Chad asked, fixing her with a look. “He’s jealous of our relationship. That’s why he brought me in.”

  “I told you to shut up,” Jack said before turning back to Ivy. “What do the symbols mean?”

  “May I?”

  Jack took a step back and let her move over to the table. He kept an eye on Chad. The man would never get his hands on her if he lunged, Jack would make sure of that, but he still wasn’t taking any chances.

  “The symbols weren’t from reference books,” Ivy said. “They were from a fiction book called The Covenant.”

  “Well, that’s interesting,” Jack said, shooting a look at Chad. “Your ex-boyfriend here just told us the name of his compound was Covenant.”

  “Don’t call him that,” Ivy said. “You know I don’t like it.”

  “I’m sorry, honey.”

  “Stop that, too.”

  Jack rolled his eyes until they landed on Brian, who was smirking in his direction. Jack immediately stiffened his shoulders. “What about the symbols?”

  “Well, as far as we can tell, they’re mostly nonsense,” Ivy said, opening the book to the page Felicity marked. “All the symbols carved into Mona’s body – and the ones left at my house – are of a sexual nature.”

  “Go figure,” Jack said. “Chad is the only one at the compound allowed to have sex.”

  “Is that why there are no other men?”

  “Yup.”

  “You’re a pig,” Ivy said, glaring at Chad.

  “You’re just jealous that they get my attention and you don’t,” Chad said. “Admit it.”

  “Chad, you were bad in bed when we were teenagers,” Ivy said. “Now that you think you’re king of the hill, I’m betting you’re worse. Now … shut up and let the adults talk.” She patted his head condescendingly, forcing Jack to snag her hand and move her away from Chad.

  “Don’t touch him,” Jack scolded.

  “Why? Do you think he’ll hurt me?”

  “It’s just tacky.”

  Ivy smirked. “Has he admitted to killing Mona?”

  “He says it wasn’t him.”

  “What about leaving the flowers and note for me?”

  Jack shook his head. “He says no.”

  “Do you believe him?”

  “What do you think?”

  “I think you should lock him up and throw away the key,” Ivy said.

  “Do you know what your problem is, Ivy?” Chad asked. “You’re a bitter woman. Losing the great love of your life has closed you off to the possibilities of life. Do you have a close relationship with God?”

  “If you don’t stop doing that I’m going to thump you,” Jack warned.

  “And I’m going to turn around and pretend I don’t hear,” Brian said. “Just … shut up, Chad. You’re not doing yourself any favors.”

  Chad crossed his arms over his chest. “Are we done here? I need to get back to the compound. I have a schedule to keep, and if I screw it up all of my women fight over me.”

  “There’s not much to fight about,” Ivy said, holding her index finger and thumb about an inch apart for emphasis.

  “That’s a lie,” Chad hissed.

  Jack shook his head to still Chad when he reached for his belt. It almost looked as if he was about to put on a show for Ivy’s benefit. “Don’t even think about it.”

  “I’m leaving,” Chad said, getting to his feet.

  “No, you’re not,” Brian said. “You’re here for questioning, and we’re not done asking questions yet.”

  “Fine,” Chad said, wrinkling his nose. “Then I want a lawyer.”

  Jack and Brian glanced at each other, deflating. If Chad was going to lawyer up, this was going to be a much longer night than either one of them was initially anticipating.

  Twenty-Three

  “Why are we out here?”

  Jack held the back of Ivy’s neck so she didn’t bar
rel back into the office and start railing Chad with questions again. “Because he requested a lawyer.”

  “So?”

  “So he’s got a right to representation,” Jack said. “Stop squirming.”

  “Don’t tell me what to do.”

  “If you don’t stop squirming I’m going to tie you to a chair,” Jack said.

  “You’re such a … .”

  “Great detective?”

  “I was going to say bully,” Ivy said, crossing her arms over her chest. “You’re a big bully.”

  “You’re too cute for words.” Jack realized too late he’d said the words out loud. He cleared his throat, avoiding Ivy’s probing gaze, and focused on the book in her hands. “Can I hold on to that?”

  Ivy handed the book over to him wordlessly.

  “Thank you for bringing this here. You helped us a great deal,” Jack said. “You should probably go home now, though.”

  “But … I want to watch you put the screws to Chad.”

  Jack smirked. “You watch too much television.”

  “I watch very little television. I watch Game of Thrones, The Walking Dead and Hannibal. That’s it.”

  “That’s some pretty eclectic taste there.”

  “I watch Game of Thrones because I like dragons. I watch The Walking Dead because I like Norman Reedus. He’s beyond hot.”

  Jack internally scowled. He had no idea who that was, but he already didn’t like him. “Why do you watch Hannibal?”

  “I like to cook.”

  Jack made a face. “Nice. I’m never eating anything at your house again.”

  “Like I would invite you,” Ivy muttered.

  “We’ll talk about that later,” Jack said. “You should really go home now, though. This could go on for a long time.”

  “But … I want to know why he did it.”

  “I’m not sure he’s ever going to come through with the answers you’re looking for,” Jack said. “He said that Mona was banned from the group because she kept telling people what they were doing up there – whatever that is. He said she freaked out and made a scene. Apparently she threatened to tell people he was doing sexual rites.”

  “You think he killed her to shut her up?”

  “I do.”

  “Why did he dump her in front of my house?”

  “You might not want to hear this, Ivy, but I think he’s carrying a weird torch for you,” Jack said. “I don’t think he’s ever gotten over you. That’s why he’s fixated on the fact that he thinks you’ve never gotten over him.”

  “That’s so ridiculous.”

  “You are over him, right?”

  Ivy made a face. “Don’t insult me. I’m sorry I ever dated him. It makes me feel … dirty.”

  Without thinking, Jack reached up and brushed a strand of her hair away from her face, taking them both by surprise. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have done that.”

  “Don’t worry about it,” Ivy said. “It was just an impulse.”

  He was having a lot of those these days. “I … it was still uncalled for.”

  Ivy sighed, frustrated. “I think you’re right.”

  “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have touched you.”

  “Not about that,” she scoffed. “Don’t be such a woman. I was talking about going home. I’m exhausted, and if I stay here much longer I’m going to be getting a few impulses of my own.”

  Jack couldn’t help but grin. “You should definitely go then.”

  “Agreed.” Ivy started moving toward the door. “If you get somewhere … ?”

  “I’ll call you. I promise.”

  “I’ll talk to you soon then.”

  TWO HOURS later Chad was in the office talking to his lawyer and Jack was sitting at his desk staring at the book. For lack of anything better to do, he typed the title into an Internet search engine and perused the items that came up.

  Most of it was nonsense. There was a handful of people trying to use it as a weapon like Chad. Most of the talk was about how ridiculous the book was. Jack was about to give up when something caught his eye. He clicked on the link.

  “What are you doing?” Brian asked, walking up behind Jack’s desk with a mug of coffee in his hand.

  “I searched for the book,” Jack said. “I was just curious.”

  “Did you find something?”

  “Actually, I did. Mona went to Central Michigan University, right?”

  Brian nodded.

  “Well, The Covenant was used as a textbook in a comparative religion class in the fall,” Jack said. “That can’t be a coincidence, right?”

  “I don’t know,” Brian said, shrugging. “Ivy said it was fiction.”

  “I’m still going to call,” Jack said. “Do you think it’s too late?”

  “It’s not even dark yet,” Brian said. “Knock yourself out.”

  It took Jack more than an hour to track down the professor he was looking for, and when he finally got the woman on the phone she was less than thrilled about being bugged on her private time. After profuse apologies, Amy Fowler finally agreed to answer his questions.

  “I need to know how The Covenant became part of your curriculum,” Jack said. “My understanding is that the book was originally meant as fiction.”

  “That’s exactly why I used it,” Amy said. “A very small group of people latched onto the book and purported it to be true. We were basically talking about how a fiction book could somehow be turned into non-fiction by a group of believers.”

  “Kind of like The Blair Witch Project?”

  “In theory, yes,” Amy said. “It was just a small part of the semester. We only talked about it for two classes.”

  “Was Mona Wheeler in your class?”

  “I’ll have to look it up on my laptop,” Amy said. “I’ll boot it up now. Do you have any other questions?”

  “There’s a lot of faux paganism in the book,” Jack said. “Do you think people latched onto it because of that?”

  “Maybe,” Amy said. “The thing is, the book was written in the eighties. Most people ignored it then. It didn’t become popular until the nineties.”

  “Why?”

  “There was a paranormal resurgence in the nineties, and whenever that happens people devour everything they can get their hands on,” Amy said. “That’s what happened here. Okay, here’s my class list. Hold on … yes, Mona Wheeler was a student in my class during the fall semester.”

  “That’s where she learned about The Covenant,” Jack said. “The problem is, she should’ve known that it was fiction because of your class. Did she miss a lot of classes?”

  “Um, hold on,” Amy said. “I’m better with faces than names. Let me look up her student file.”

  “Did any of the students in your class express interest in following the book in reality?”

  “No,” Amy said. “Of course, they might not have made their interest public. I kind of ravaged the book. If they wanted a good grade, they were not going to admit to finding The Covenant feasible. Here we go … okay, I remember her.”

  “What can you tell me about her?”

  “She was diligent,” Amy said. “When the semester started, she was all wide-eyed and excited. I see students like her all the time. A lot of kids are here for the partying. She was here for the learning.”

  “Why do I sense a but?”

  “Toward the end of the semester she became … distracted.”

  “Because of The Covenant?”

  “I have no idea,” Amy said. “If I had to guess, though, I would say it was a boy.”

  “Why do you say that?”

  “Now that I know who she is, I can tell you that one other thing about Mona Wheeler stuck out to me,” Amy said.

  Jack waited.

  “I had a TA for two semesters,” Amy said. “He was extremely good for the first semester, and then he kind of fell off. He stopped turning in his assignments on time. Sometimes he wouldn’t show up for work at all.”

 
“What does this have to do with Mona Wheeler?”

  “TAs grade papers at times, but I’m one of those professors who does spot checks,” Amy said. “When I spot checked some of his work I found that I didn’t have corresponding papers for the grades he was giving out.”

  “Meaning?”

  “Meaning he was giving grades – good ones – for work that wasn’t completed,” Amy said. “Mona Wheeler was one of those students. She did supply papers after the fact, and I did pass her, but I had to let the TA go.”

  “Why would he pass people if they didn’t turn in the work?”

  “It’s happened before,” Amy said. “This was the first time it happened to me, but there was a scandal about two years back where a TA was being paid by a bunch of athletes to make sure they passed.”

  “Was this TA being paid?”

  “Not like you might expect,” Amy said. “We did an investigation, and it seems the students in my class were not paying with money.”

  “Were they all women?”

  “How did you know?”

  “Lucky guess,” Jack said dryly. “What was this TA’s name?”

  “Heath Graham.”

  Jack froze, surprised. “Excuse me?”

  “Heath Graham.”

  “How well did you know Heath?”

  “Relatively well,” Amy said. “Like I said, he was diligent in the beginning. It wasn’t until the end that he seemed to fall apart.”

  “Does the name Chad Hamilton mean anything to you?”

  “Should it?”

  “He’s this local … quack … we have up here,” Jack explained. “He’s built a whole compound around The Covenant. I was up there the other day. Heath Graham is one of his followers.”

  “Well, that makes sense,” Amy said. “After the scandal, Heath was expelled from school.”

  “He was expelled and the students weren’t?”

  “Correct.”

  “When was the last time you saw him?”

  “The day he was expelled,” Amy said. “He was brought in front of the disciplinary committee and axed on the spot.”

  “How did he take it?”