Wicked Beginning: An Ivy Morgan Mystery Books 1-3

by Lily Harper Hart

  “All of me.”

  “Why?”

  “Because I left part of me on the pavement in Detroit as I was bleeding out.”

  It was one of the most honest things Jack had ever said to her, and it crushed a little of Ivy’s spirit. “Do you dream about it every night, or was last night a special occasion?”

  Jack stilled. “What?”

  Ivy realized what she’d said, but it was too late. “Nothing. I … um … I should probably check on Kelly.” She moved to get to her feet, but Jack’s hand shot out and wrapped around her wrist.

  “How did you know I dreamed about it last night?”

  “Um … I don’t know. It was just a guess.” Ivy licked her lips, her throat dry as blood rushed to her cheeks. How was she going to get out of this? She’d let her big mouth get away from her. Again.

  “Were you in my dream last night?” Jack queried, stunned he was even asking the question.

  Ivy rubbed the heel of her free hand against her forehead. She was caught. “Yes.”

  “How?”

  “I don’t know,” Ivy replied truthfully. “I don’t know how I got there. I didn’t even know where I was until I saw you on the sidewalk.”

  “What did you see?” Jack was having trouble wrapping his mind around the conversation.

  “I saw you on your cell phone,” Ivy said, fighting back tears. “You were arguing with your mom about missing family dinner.”

  “How could you possibly know that?”

  “I was there. I don’t know why. I think … I think you might have called to me in your sleep.”

  “That’s not possible,” Jack said, releasing her wrist and cracking his neck. “That’s … just not possible.”

  “How do you explain it then?” Ivy asked, irritation starting to bubble up. Was he calling her a liar? “I’ve been having dreams about you for the past week. Most of the time they’re stupid. We watch a sunset together … or take a walk in the woods … or visit my fairy ring.”

  Jack’s head snapped up, surprise draining his face. “What?”

  “I thought that’s the type of dream I was having last night,” Ivy said. “I didn’t realize I was in your dream until … well … I saw the man behind you. He had a gun.”

  “Holy crap,” Jack said, getting to his feet swiftly. “Are you telling me all those dreams I had – holding hands by the fairy ring, watching the sun set in your back yard – are you telling me that all really happened? Were we sharing those dreams?”

  Now Ivy was on her feet. “You had those dreams, too?”

  “Are you telling me you didn’t know?”

  “I thought they were my dreams,” Ivy said. “I didn’t know we were sharing them.”

  Jack wanted to believe her. She looked so vulnerable he was fighting the urge to pull her into his arms and soothe her with a hug. After all, he’d just found out all the hugs and kisses he’d dreamed were shared by both of them. He couldn’t help but feel betrayed, though.

  “You’re in my head,” he said, taking a step back. “How? Is this some witch thing you do?”

  “I don’t know,” Ivy said, frustrated. “I’ve never done it before. I honestly didn’t know we were in each other’s dreams together. I thought … I thought they were just mine.”

  “You knew you were in my dream last night,” Jack pointed out.

  “Not until it was almost over.”

  “Why didn’t you say something?”

  “I didn’t want to scare you,” Ivy said, chewing on her lower lip.

  “Scare me? Ivy, you’re not scaring me. I … this is a violation.”

  “I’m sorry.” Ivy knew it was a lame apology, but she didn’t know what else to do.

  “I have to go,” Jack said, moving toward the steps that led down from her front porch.

  “I … shouldn’t we talk about this?”

  “I need to think,” Jack said, refusing to turn around. “I’ll … be in touch.”

  With those words, Jack Harker raced to his truck and climbed in. He cast one more look at Ivy, his heart rolling at the crestfallen look on her face, and then he fired up his engine and pulled out of her driveway.

  He had no idea what to do with this information. Every time he called Ivy “magic,” he’d meant it in a flirty way. Now it turned out she really was magic, and he had no idea what to do with the revelation.

  Ten

  “How come Jack left without saying goodbye?” Kelly asked, helping Ivy fix up the couch before bed a few hours later.

  “He had someplace to be.”

  “He looked upset,” Kelly said.

  “He was just … distracted.” There was no way Ivy could explain Jack’s mood without telling Kelly why he was so thrown. She didn’t want to scare the girl, especially when she had no way of knowing how she was walking in Jack’s dreams.

  “Did I do something? Is he mad at me? That’s it, isn’t it? He doesn’t like me.” Kelly’s lower lip quivered.

  “That’s not it,” Ivy said, faltering. She had to constantly remind herself that Kelly was fragile. “He’s mad at me. It has nothing to do with you.”

  “I don’t believe you,” Kelly said. “He likes you. You can tell that every time he looks at you.”

  “Kelly, I swear, he’s angry at me,” Ivy said. “I did something to him.”

  “What?”

  Ivy licked her lips, unsure how to answer. “I … invaded his privacy in a way that upset him,” she said. “I didn’t mean to. It was an accident.”

  “Why doesn’t he understand that it’s an accident?”

  “It’s hard for him to wrap his mind around,” Ivy said. “He’s a good man. He just needs some time to think.”

  “But … how did you invade his privacy?”

  “It’s not easy to explain,” Ivy said. “Jack is a private person. He’s had a … rough time of it. Like you. He doesn’t want to talk about it.”

  “Like me,” Kelly said.

  “Yes,” Ivy said. “I said something I shouldn’t have said. He’s not mad at you. I can promise you that. He’s mad at me.”

  “Will he forgive you?”

  “I don’t know,” Ivy said. The truth was, if their positions were reversed, she wasn’t sure she could forgive him. “He’ll be okay. He’ll still want to talk to you. Don’t worry about that. Jack isn’t the type of man who just abandons someone.”

  “He abandoned you,” Kelly pointed out.

  “No, he didn’t. He got angry and needed some time to himself,” Ivy said. “No matter what you think about Jack, never doubt that he’s a good man. He’s one of the best men I’ve ever met, in fact. If I needed Jack, he would drop everything and come running.”

  “Even though he’s upset?”

  “Even though,” Ivy said, nodding. “Are you ready for bed? Do you need anything before you go to sleep?”

  “No,” Kelly said, hopping onto the couch and watching as Ivy pulled the blanket over her. Nicodemus jumped up onto the couch, turned three times, and then planted himself on Kelly’s feet. It was as if he was watching over her. Even though Ivy missed him in her bed, she knew the cat understood that Kelly needed him more right now.

  “I’ll see you in the morning,” Ivy said. “How about I make pancakes?”

  “Sure,” Kelly said. “That sounds nice.”

  Ivy started moving toward the hallway. “I’ll be right down here in my bedroom if you need me. My door will be open.”

  “Thank you for letting me stay here.”

  “You’re more than welcome. Trust me. I like having the company.”

  IVY was in Jack’s dream again. She knew it the second she “woke up” on the gritty city streets. Most dreams have a filmy quality, but since this dream was actually a memory, Jack saw it with acute clarity. That meant Ivy did, too.

  “Oh, no,” Ivy said, glancing around worriedly. “This is not going to prove I’m trustworthy. I don’t want to be here. I want to wake up.”

  “You can’t wake
up. That would be too easy for both of us.” Jack’s voice was hollow as he moved up beside her, his eyes lifeless. “You’re here again. Why?”

  “I don’t know,” Ivy said. “I don’t want to be here. I’m so sorry.”

  “What happens now?”

  “It’s your dream, Jack. I’m just a visitor.”

  “You think I somehow brought you here, don’t you?”

  Jack looked tired, and despite her worry that he would pull away, Ivy reached out and touched his cheek. He felt real. If she didn’t know she was in a dream, she would think he was standing beside her.

  Jack pressed his eyes shut and leaned into her touch for a moment. “Why can I feel you?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “Something is happening here, Ivy. I can’t … I don’t … please, tell me what is going on. Tell me how to get you out of my head.”

  “I don’t know how to stop this,” Ivy said, her voice plaintive. “You’re calling to me. That’s all I know.”

  “Why are you coming?”

  “Because I don’t know how to stop myself from coming to you,” Ivy said. “I’m so sorry.”

  “I know,” Jack said. “I just … I can’t deal with this. It’s too much. This is my nightmare. You shouldn’t be here. You shouldn’t … see.”

  “I’ll stay here. I … won’t follow you. When you wake up, I should be catapulted out of the dream.”

  “I can’t leave you here,” Jack said. “It’s not safe.”

  Ivy chuckled darkly. “Jack, this is your dream. I know it feels real, but it’s not. I can’t die in your dream.”

  “I … I guess I never thought of that.”

  “You can’t die either,” Ivy whispered. “You’ve already survived this.”

  “Have I?”

  “Jack … .” Ivy’s heart was breaking. “I don’t know what to do for you. I feel like I’m intruding, and yet I can’t walk away because it’s your dream. You’re keeping me here for a reason. Why?”

  “I obviously want you to see,” Jack said. “This is what this is all about, right?”

  “Maybe,” Ivy conceded. “Maybe you want someone to understand what you’ve gone through. Maybe you want to share your pain.”

  “I don’t want you to see,” Jack said. “I … you don’t deserve it. This is my nightmare.”

  “I’m stronger than I look, Jack. I can stay here and wait for you to wake up, or I can go with you. It’s up to you.”

  Jack instinctively reached out and clasped Ivy’s hand. “I won’t let anything happen to you.”

  Ivy wished she could give him the same reassurance. “I have faith in you. You should know that just because something bad happened to you, that doesn’t mean it should define you.”

  “Are you going to get philosophical on me in my dream?”

  “Are you going to pick a fight in your dream?” Ivy shot back.

  “You’re a piece of work,” Jack said, gripping her hand and leading her down the sidewalk.

  “Where are we?”

  “Detroit.”

  “Duh.” Ivy made a face. “Where in Detroit?”

  “Mack Avenue, close to Gratiot.”

  “Is this a bad area?”

  “It depends on your definition of ‘bad.’ From your point of view, I’m guessing this whole city is a bad area.”

  “I try not to be judgmental,” Ivy said.

  Jack snorted. “Since when?”

  “I don’t think I like your attitude.”

  The sound of footsteps on the pavement cut the hot retort on Jack’s lips short, and when Ivy stiffened, he gripped her hand tighter. “It’s okay, Ivy. I never hear him until he’s already on me. If you hear something, it’s not danger.”

  “I don’t want to watch you being shot,” Ivy said.

  “I don’t know how to save you from that. Can’t you wake yourself up?”

  “Can’t you?”

  “I try every night,” Jack said. “It hasn’t worked so far.”

  “Why do you keep coming back to this dream, Jack? Do you blame yourself for what happened?”

  “I don’t know,” Jack said. “I think I blame myself for not seeing what was going to happen. Does that make sense?”

  “I still don’t know exactly what happened,” Ivy reminded him. “I … know you were shot twice. I know someone close to you betrayed you. I know you almost died.”

  “How do you know all of that?” Jack asked. “Can you read my mind?”

  “I’m not magic, Jack.”

  “You’re magic. I knew it from the second I saw you,” Jack said. “I just didn’t know you were this … magical.”

  “I’m not magical,” Ivy said.

  “You believe in magic. You have your own fairy ring. Your aunt claims she can see auras. I’m starting to think you’re more than you let on. I’m starting to think you’re more than even you believe.”

  “You’re dreaming, so I’m going to let that go,” Ivy said. “You sound like a fortune cookie, though.”

  Jack shot her a small smile. “See, that right there proves you’re magic. You can make me laugh right before someone comes to kill me.”

  “Jack … .” Ivy was lost. She didn’t know what to do. “You can change this. It’s your dream.” She clutched at his hand desperately. “Think of someplace else. Think of the happiest place on Earth. You can make yourself go there right now. This doesn’t have to happen again.”

  “It’s too late, Ivy,” Jack said, staring down at her soulfully. “He’s already here.”

  Terror gripped Ivy’s heart. Intellectually, she knew she was safe. The fear was real all the same. “Don’t turn around.”

  “I have no choice,” Jack said. “We have to have a conversation. I’ve had it hundreds of times now. It never changes. I always want answers to the same question. The funny thing is, I know he’s not going to tell me what I want to hear.”

  “What do you want to hear?”

  “I want to know why he’s doing it. I want to know why he did … what he did.”

  “What did he do?” Ivy was curious, even though she’d promised never to press Jack on the subject.

  “He betrayed his family. He betrayed the city. He betrayed … his badge. He betrayed me.”

  “You were shot by another police officer?”

  “Jack!”

  Ivy cringed when she heard the voice. She knew what was coming and she was desperate not to see it. Jack cupped the back of Ivy’s head and brushed a quick kiss against her forehead. “You need to move over there now.”

  “I’m not leaving you.” Ivy’s voice was firm.

  “You can’t stop this, Ivy,” Jack said. “You said it yourself. It’s already happened.”

  “No,” Ivy said, shaking her head vehemently. “We can stop this together. Stay with me. Don’t engage him. If you try, we can go to another place.”

  “Stay here, honey,” Jack said, his smile wan. “It won’t take long.”

  “No,” Ivy said. “I … oh … .”

  “What’s going on?” Jack asked, surprised to see her face draining of color.

  “I’m waking up,” Ivy said. “I … .”

  “Good,” Jack said. “This is my nightmare.” He let go of her hand. “It will be okay. I know what to expect.”

  IVY bolted to a sitting position, her heart pounding and her breath coming out in raspy gasps. “I have to get back to Jack,” she said.

  Kelly’s hand was icy as it gripped her arm.

  “What’s wrong?” Ivy asked, shifting her gaze to Kelly as she tried to clear the muddled mess that was her mind. She longed to be back with Jack, and yet she knew he wasn’t really where she left him. Kelly was here now, and if her face was any indication, she was terrified.

  “There’s someone at the front door,” Kelly whispered, sobs choking her. “Someone’s trying to get in.”

  “Are you sure?” Ivy asked, tossing the covers from her body.

  “He’s here,” Kelly said. />
  “Who?”

  “He’s going to kill me. He told me he would.” Kelly was openly sobbing now.

  “No one is going to kill you,” Ivy said, grabbing Kelly by the shoulders. “I promise you that.” She grabbed her cell phone off the nightstand and punched in Brian Nixon’s number without hesitation. She pressed the phone into Kelly’s hand and directed her toward the closet. “Tell him what’s going on. Tell him to come.”

  “What about you?”

  “Don’t worry about me,” Ivy said. “I can take care of myself.”

  Ivy closed the closet door behind Kelly and then turned in the direction of her dark hallway. This was her home, and there was no way she was going to let anyone take Kelly from it.

  No matter what.

  Eleven

  “You look like hell,” Brian said, glancing up from his computer as Jack settled at his desk in the detectives’ office the next morning. “Late night?”

  “Something like that,” Jack muttered.

  “With Ivy?”

  “I was not with Ivy last night,” Jack said. Technically, that wasn’t a lie. Sure, she’d walked in his dreams and almost bore witness to the worst moment of his life, but that all happened in his head. It didn’t count.

  “I know you weren’t,” Brian said, nonplussed.

  “I see your spies are still on top of their game.”

  “Nope. I know you weren’t with Ivy last night because I was with Ivy last night.”

  Jack stilled, surprised and confused. “What? Why?”

  “Someone tried to break into her house,” Brian said.

  “What!”

  “Kelly called from the closet in Ivy’s bedroom,” Brian said. “Ivy locked her in before she went to investigate the noise herself.”

  “I’m going to kill her,” Jack seethed. “Wait … is she okay?”

  “You should probably have expressed those sentiments in the opposite order,” Brian said. “She’s fine. I went out there. It looked like someone tried to jimmy the lock on her front door and the bedroom window, though.”

  “Sonovabitch,” Jack swore. “Were they looking for Kelly?”