Mary opened the door relatively quickly, blinking back surprise when she saw who graced her doorstep. “Ms. Morgan?”
“Call me Ivy.”
“Ivy? I … what are you doing here?” Mary looked dazed as she took in the mountain of packages at Ivy’s feet, shifting in the doorframe as if she wanted to make sure a kid or pet didn’t accidentally barrel outside. “What’s all this?”
“Well, I wasn’t sure what kind of Christmas you were going to have and I was a bit haunted by it,” Ivy admitted, her smile rueful. “I know you have kids – you mentioned a boy and a girl – but I didn’t know ages. So I bought some toys … and candy … and a lot of gift cards. I bought a video game system and a few games. Um … I just wanted to do something.”
Mary’s expression softened as she pushed open the door. Ivy didn’t miss the woman’s glassy eyes as she handed a few of the bags over the threshold.
“Thank you so much,” Mary choked out.
“You don’t have to thank me. I wanted to do it.”
“Still … you have no idea what this means to us.”
“Yeah? There are more bags in the trunk.”
Mary gritted out a laugh as she swiped at her eyes. “Matt, can you come here and help us?”
Ivy jolted when Mary called out, her eyes widening when a familiar face popped into the small house’s front foyer. “You.”
“And you.” Matt Bloom smiled in greeting as Ivy shifted uncomfortably from one foot to the other. “You were at the tree lot the other night with your husband, right?”
“Brother.” Ivy had no idea why she always had to correct the wrong assumption when it came to Max. People assumed he was her boyfriend or husband – despite the fact that they strongly resembled one another – and Ivy had lost count of how many times she said “eww” before she finally gave up using colorful embellishments to apprise people of the truth.
“Oh, that’s your brother?” Matt furrowed his brow. “I assumed you were flirting.”
“No, that’s just how my brother and I get along,” Ivy said, adopting a breezy tone. “We snark at one another.”
“That’s how all brothers and sisters get along,” Mary supplied, forcing a smile.
“Except he was protective of her, too,” Matt noted.
“That’s a brother.” Mary rolled her eyes and pointed. “Ivy brought Christmas gifts.”
Matt’s face was blank. “Okay. What do you want me to do about it?”
“She says she has more in her trunk,” Mary replied, blasé. “Go get it.”
“Oh, no, I’ll do that.” Ivy held up her hand to stop Matt, her heart rate increasing for some unknown reason. “It’s just one more load and I have other stuff in there. I can carry it up to the house if you take this inside.”
Matt shrugged, seemingly relaxed and unbothered. “No problem.”
Ivy kept her smile in place even as she walked back to her car. There was something about the situation she found odd, and yet she couldn’t put her finger on it. Instinct took over and she pulled her phone out of her pocket, texted Jack that she was at Mary’s house and planned on leaving in thirty minutes. She figured that, in a best-case scenario, Jack would call and remind her to get moving in thirty minutes if she lost track of time. In a worst-case scenario, he would know where she was if something happened. Not that Ivy figured anything would happen. She didn’t. That’s not what she felt.
In truth, Ivy felt uneasy. She had to admit that to herself. Without facts propelling her, though, she couldn’t very well hop in her car and drive away, which is really what she wanted to do. Instead, she made up a plan on the fly as she carried the remaining gifts to Mary’s front porch.
“Is that everything?” Mary’s smile was friendly, but Ivy swore she detected something nefarious flitting through the woman’s eyes. Ivy internally admonished herself for thinking that, but Matt’s presence threw her for a legitimate loop and now everything about the duo felt suspicious. “Do you want to come in and have some coffee?”
Ivy was prepared for this … at least she prepared for this during the walk from the car to the house. “Oh, I’m sorry, that sounds lovely, but I can’t stay.”
“Oh, you can’t?” Mary looked appropriately disappointed. “I thought we could spend some time chatting.”
“I would love that, but I’m already running late.” Ivy lifted her phone for emphasis even though Mary couldn’t see the screen. “My boyfriend is a police officer and he’s obsessed with the storm we’re supposed to get tonight. I promised I would be back in Shadow Lake in plenty of time for dinner and I still have to stop by the grocery store.”
“You have plenty of time to head to the store,” Matt said, appearing in the doorway behind Mary. It struck Ivy for the first time that she hadn’t so much as heard a peep from a child. It was Christmas Eve. Even if the children were older, they wouldn’t be in school. They would be loitering around the house … making noise. “You should come in and join us.”
“I can’t.” Ivy forced herself to remain calm even as her heart rate ratcheted up a notch. If she had to run, she was ready. She felt guilty for thinking it but not guilty enough to reconsider staying. “I texted Jack where I was because he was worried. He expects me to meet him at the store in twenty minutes.”
That was an exaggeration – and kind of an outright lie – but Ivy didn’t care.
“Oh, well … .” Matt’s expression fell. “That’s too bad.”
“It is,” Mary echoed.
Ivy shrugged. “It’s the holidays. We have a big dinner planned for tonight and then the storm is supposed to hit so we have to stock up. I … I hope you manage to have a good Christmas, Mary. I know this isn’t what you envisioned, but hopefully you’ll be able to salvage something for yourself.”
“Yes, thank you.”
Ivy trudged down the steps, only turning back when she realized Mary hadn’t yet shut the door. “The day you came to my house, you said you didn’t know any of Dorian’s co-workers at the tree lot.” Ivy wasn’t sure why she pressed the issue – instinctively she knew it was a risky move – but she had to know.
“Oh, well, Matt and Ricky stopped by after they heard what happened,” Mary replied, her face impassive. “They wanted to help us have a happy Christmas.”
“It looks as if they’re doing a good job.” Ivy forced a final smile. “Merry Christmas.”
“You, too.”
“I hope things get better for you as the weeks go forward,” Ivy added, yanking open her door.
“I’m fairly certain they will,” Mary said, her expression unreadable as she watched Ivy climb into the vehicle. “Thank you for stopping by.”
“Don’t mention it.”
“DO WE HAVE anything new on Corbin and Mitchell?”
Brian looked up as Jack slid a fresh cup of coffee onto his desk, offering his partner a thankful smile as he bobbed his head.
“We do, but I don’t think it’s what you want to hear,” Brian replied. “They’ve both asked for lawyers and are refusing to talk. Detective Crawford has asked if we want to go over there and question them ourselves.”
Jack balked at the suggestion. “I thought they wanted to handle things themselves.”
“They do, but we’re still part of the investigation,” Brian reminded him. “We have a separate murder and Crawford seems to think we might have more luck since we didn’t spend the better part of the afternoon yesterday laughing at them because they were stuck in waist-deep snow.”
Jack pursed his lips. The argument made sense on the surface. “What do you think?”
Brian shrugged. “I don’t think they’re going to talk to us either, but I’m not opposed to giving it a try if it will put your mind at ease for the next few days.”
“Why do you think my mind isn’t at ease?”
“Because I know you. As happy as you are that we have an arrest, you’re still worried about Ivy. I don’t blame you. It’s a troublesome situation.”
“Do you want to kno
w what my biggest worry is?” Jack asked, perching on the edge of his desk as he sipped his coffee.
“Always.”
“Ricky Hughes,” Jack supplied. “If Corbin and Mitchell were in on this alone, why did Ricky Hughes follow Ivy to Felicity’s shop?”
“We don’t technically have proof that he did that. It could’ve been a coincidence.”
Jack made a “well, duh” face. “Except we both agreed the odds of that weren’t very good.”
“No, they’re not.” Brian heaved out a sigh. “I don’t like that particular tidbit either. I’m not sure what to think.”
Jack opened his mouth to suggest they make the drive to Traverse City when his cell phone rang. He dug in his pocket and held up a finger to stall Brian. “Just a second. It’s Ivy. She went over to the widow’s house to drop off gifts, but I thought she was going to leave right away.” He pressed the phone to his ear. “Hello.”
“It’s me.”
“I never would’ve guessed when your name popped up on my phone screen. I thought it was an Ivy impersonator, although I much prefer the original whenever possible.”
“Ugh. You guys are even more cutesy than normal,” Brian muttered, rubbing his forehead.
Jack ignored his partner’s obvious discomfort. “What’s going on, honey?”
“If I tell you something, will you promise not to yell?” Ivy’s voice sounded tiny over the phone.
Jack was instantly alert. “Is that a trick question?”
“No.”
“How can you have stumbled over something with the potential to make me angry in so little time?” Jack complained. “We were together three hours ago. Even you couldn’t have managed something like that.”
Brian chuckled at Jack’s tone, refusing to rein in his amusement despite the dark look Jack scorched him with.
“I’m not in trouble,” Ivy countered. “At least … I don’t think I’m in trouble.”
“Where are you?”
“I’m in the parking lot of that grocery store on the main highway between Shadow Lake and Traverse City,” Ivy replied. “The parking lot is packed, by the way. I’m going to be here at least two hours because of lines. I just know it.”
“I’m sorry. Do you want me to go to the store instead? I didn’t realize it was going to be the end of the world.”
“That’s not why I’m calling,” Ivy scoffed, her annoyance obvious. “I just left Mary Jackson’s house.”
“I know. You texted me. Was it harder than you thought it was going to be? How were the kids? Did they make you sad?”
“I never saw any kids,” Ivy replied. “In fact … have we confirmed that Mary and Dorian Jackson actually have kids?”
The question caught Jack off guard. “I thought Mary said she had kids.”
“She did. The police detective said he was a father, too, right?”
“He did.” Something about Ivy’s tone set Jack’s teeth on edge. “Honey, what’s wrong? I can feel my blood pressure going up and you haven’t even told me what’s happening yet.”
“Yeah, well, I’m a little worried I’m overreacting and might’ve made an ass out of myself.”
“I would rather you be a safe ass than a hurt angel,” Jack supplied. “What is it?”
“When I got to Mary’s house, she seemed surprised but thankful,” Ivy explained. “I thought everything was normal until she called to someone inside of the house to help with the bags.”
“It wasn’t a kid?”
“No. It was Matt Bloom.”
Jack stilled, dumbfounded. “Honey, I’m going to put you on speakerphone.” Jack pressed the appropriate button and lowered his phone to the desk as Brian leaned forward in anticipation. “You’re saying that Matt Bloom was hanging out at Mary’s house. Didn’t you tell me that she claimed she didn’t know any of Dorian’s co-workers at the tree lot?”
“She did, and I asked about that,” Ivy replied. “I waited until I was free and clear at the car to do it because he made me nervous, but I couldn’t stop myself from asking.”
“At least you didn’t stay,” Jack muttered.
“No, I texted you and then told them you not only knew where I was but were expecting me in twenty minutes,” Ivy said. “I don’t know why, but the entire thing made me uncomfortable.”
“And you followed your instincts.” Jack’s heart swelled with pride. “Good job. Although … you should’ve run the second you saw Matt.”
“We don’t know that he’s guilty of anything and I thought it would be better to pretend I wasn’t suspicious,” Ivy argued. “I felt a little guilty running the way I did but … I didn’t hear any children inside. It bugged me.”
“You didn’t go in the house?” Brian asked. “You didn’t look around to see if you saw toys or anything?”
“I never got off the front porch,” Ivy answered. “They invited me in once I got all of the bags out of my trunk, but I used the holiday and Jack as excuses for why I couldn’t stay. Still … I got the weirdest feeling that they were suspicious of me.”
“Which means they probably were suspicious of you,” Jack said. “Look around, honey, you don’t see either one of them in the store parking lot, do you?”
“No. This place is a zoo, though. I’m not joking. I had to wait five minutes just to find a parking spot.”
“That means she’s safe,” Brian noted. “No one would approach her there.”
“No, definitely not.” Jack rolled his neck. “Corbin and Mitchell still aren’t talking. Crawford suggested we might want to go over there and question them, but I’m not thrilled with that option.”
“We could do something else,” Brian suggested, causing Jack’s attention to float to him. “We could request Crawford to ask specific questions for us and broadcast the interview over Skype so we could be involved without having to leave Shadow Lake.”
“That’s an idea.” Jack worked his jaw as he considered it. “I don’t want to leave Ivy alone for too long, though.”
“Hey, she’s perfectly fine now,” Brian pointed out. “She said herself that the store is packed. It will probably take her hours to get everything and check out.”
“I’m guessing at least two,” Ivy confirmed.
“That means we can do the Skype interview and still have plenty of time to get to the store,” Brian said. “You can leave your truck here while I drive you. Then you can ride back to town with Ivy and then follow her out to the house once you reclaim the truck. I would suggest leaving the truck behind, but I doubt Ivy’s car is going to be easy to get around in if the storm is as big as the forecasters are predicting.”
“That actually sounds like a good plan. Can you handle that, Ivy? Can you shop there but wait for me to go home?”
“Um … can I handle waiting for you? Yeah, I think I’ve got it covered.”
“No one needs the sarcasm, missy,” Brian chided. “Jack is worried. Cut him some slack.”
Jack couldn’t help being surprised by Brian’s admonishment. He almost always took Ivy’s side. “Thanks.”
Brian bobbed his head in acknowledgment.
“I’m sorry,” Ivy offered. “It’s just … do you think I overreacted? I felt like such a jerk running off like that.”
“Honey, you spent hundreds of dollars on Christmas gifts,” Jack reminded her. “You went out of your way to do something for a family you barely know. I think you’ve done more than enough.”
“I agree with Jack,” Brian said. “Either way, though, you need to stay in that parking lot until we get there. Do you understand?”
“Yes.” Ivy answered without hesitation.
“Thank you,” Brian said, grinning at Jack. “And you said she was hard to deal with.”
“I heard that,” Ivy muttered.
“And thank you for that,” Jack groused. “Now she’s going to be surly when I catch up with her.”
“You know what would fix that, don’t you?” Brian teased. “I bet if she got a ring that
would stop the sarcasm in its tracks.”
“Finally!” Ivy exclaimed. “Someone is on my side.”
“I’m on your side,” Jack corrected, shaking his head. “I’ll be there as soon as I can. I … don’t take any unnecessary risks. I know we’ve been joking around a bit, but it’s important.”
Ivy sobered. “I promise to be careful. It’s Christmas. I won’t let anything ruin it.”
“I know. I’ll be with you soon.”
“I’ll be waiting.”
Jack spoke again before Ivy could disconnect. “I love you.”
Jack could practically see Ivy smiling over the phone as she answered. “I love you, too. Everything is going to be fine. Don’t worry about it.”
Twenty-One
“Can you see me?”
Crawford stood in front of the camera, waving his hands, and waited for Jack and Brian to acknowledge him.
“We can see you,” Brian replied. He sat behind Jack’s desk with his partner and flashed a smile. “Thanks for doing this. I know it’s probably a pain for you but getting over there on Christmas Eve isn’t an option today.”
“I understand.” Crawford looked tired, as if he’d been up the entire night and living on caffeine for an extended period of time. “I don’t blame you. Trust me. You don’t want to be over here right now. The last-minute shoppers at the mall are out of control. We’ve responded to three different road rage incidents in that area in less than three hours.”
“I’m surprised people want to be at that mall after what happened,” Jack said.
“Nothing stops a serious shopper when Christmas is bearing down,” Crawford said. “Corbin is going to be the first up. He seems more open to chatting. His lawyer is already in the lobby.”
“They haven’t said anything?”
Crawford shook his head as he leaned against the interrogation table and crossed his arms over his chest. “They’ve been hard to peg. Mitchell is full of himself and even though I pointed out that Dorian uttered his name right before dying, he doesn’t seem worried.”
“Well, in truth, Dorian Jackson didn’t say a full name,” Brian pointed out. “Any lawyer worth his paycheck is going to argue that Mitchell is a common name – both first and last – and that Jackson’s final utterance doesn’t necessarily mean anything.”
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