Wicked Haunts (An Ivy Morgan Mystery Book 12)

by Lily Harper Hart

  “Last night, someone was at the cottage while we were away,” Jack volunteered. “I very much doubt it was Brad since we saw him at the fair and he simply didn’t have time to make it out to the house and back as far as I can tell.

  “Nothing was broken or stolen, but someone did write a message on the window in soap,” he continued. “The soap came from Ivy’s shed, which means someone broke in, stole the soap, wrote on the window, and put it back without damaging the lock. I have no idea who did it, but I’m worried enough that I want her watched.”

  Michael pressed the heel of his hand to his forehead. “Wow. You guys are really ... wow. Can’t you ever have a normal week?”

  “I’m perfectly capable of taking care of myself,” Ivy reminded her father. “I’ve been doing it for a very long time.”

  “I agree with that. The thing is, you have people who love you and want to take care of you. There’s no shame in that. I agree with Jack on this one. I’m going to stick close to you today.”

  Ivy scowled. “Oh, well, great.”

  Jack bobbed his head in thanks. “Thank you.” He slid a sidelong look to Ivy, his heart rolling at the anger radiating from her pretty face. “I know you’re mad. Believe it or not, I’m sorry.”

  “You’re not sorry.” Ivy refused to make eye contact. “Inside, you’re crowing because you got your own way after all.”

  “You think I’m crowing, huh? You think I’m happy that someone came to the house we share and broke into your shed? That’s your private space. You should be safe in your own home. I’m most definitely not crowing about what happened.”

  Even though his words tugged at her heart, Ivy was too angry to give in. “I should be allowed to make my own decisions.”

  “I love you. I need you safe. I’m not going to apologize for it.”

  Ivy let loose a huffing sound that almost made Jack smile.

  “She’s going to be a bear for the next few hours,” Jack told Michael. “I’m sorry about that. The plan was to have Max spend the day with her, but she completely melted down when that was suggested.”

  “Yes, I’m the unreasonable one,” Ivy muttered.

  “I have to start my shift,” Jack continued. “We’re working hard to find Phoebe, but we don’t know where to look. I don’t believe Brad would come out here, but I didn’t believe he would go after her last night either. That’s on me if he touches her.”

  Ivy made a disgusted protesting sound with her mouth. “It’s not on you. You didn’t tell him to track me down.”

  “No, but he’s only interested in going after you because we’ve been questioning him.”

  “Oh, that is just ridiculous.” Now, fury and worry warred for supremacy in Ivy’s heart. She didn’t want Jack blaming himself for something he didn’t cause. She was also annoyed with his macho man persona, which only made an appearance when he was feeling guilty. She couldn’t decide which emotion she felt more keenly.

  “We’ll talk about it later,” Jack insisted, moving to head back to the cottage. “I’ll be out and about all afternoon, but if you need me, call. I’ll get here as soon as I can.”

  Ivy watched him walk away for a moment, her anger suddenly melting at the downward slope of his shoulders. “Jack,” she called out suddenly, following.

  He turned, surprised when he realized she was giving chase. “What’s wrong?”

  She stopped in front of him, frustration practically oozing out of her pores. “I’m still mad at you.”

  “I’m well aware.”

  “I still love you, though, too.”

  His expression softened. “I love you.”

  She stood on her tiptoes and wrapped her arms around his neck, sighing as he returned the hug. “We’re going to fight long and hard about you being a Neanderthal tonight. I hope you know that.”

  “I can already hear the yelling echoing throughout my head.”

  “None of this is your fault.” She was adamant. “It’s not my fault either. Sometimes things just happen. If you want to blame something, how about those terrible boots. The only reason we stopped by the shack in the first place is because I was in pain.”

  “I don’t want to blame anything or anyone.” He stroked the back of her hair as he rocked back and forth. “I just want to make sure you’re safe.”

  “I am safe. I’ll stay safe. I promise.”

  “I know. I won’t let you be your worst enemy so you will definitely stay safe.”

  Ivy growled. “Do you think you’re funny?”

  “Yup.” He pulled back and gave her a kiss. “I’ll be in touch. You stay out of trouble and don’t give your father a hard time.”

  “I promise nothing.”

  “And that’s only one of the reasons I love you.”

  Ivy watched him go with a mixture of regret and residual anger. The fact that he thought he could run her life was beyond annoying. Of course, the fact that he loved her at all often felt like a miracle.

  When she turned, she found her father watching her, a sloppy grin on his face. “What?”

  “You two are so far gone for each other it does a father’s heart proud,” Michael replied without hesitation. “You have no idea how relieved I am that you’ve found a man who puts your best interests in front of what you want.”

  Ivy scowled. “Whatever. I’m heading to the greenhouse. I mean ... if that’s all right with you since you’re my babysitter and all.”

  Michael offered up a faux wave of imperiousness. “You may go.”

  “Ha, ha, ha.” Ivy scuffed her feet on the ground as she cut across the nursery grounds. Her anger was threatening to take on a life of its own and even though she knew it wasn’t productive, she wasn’t sure she could fight it off.

  She had worked through her third revenge scenario — ways she was going to make Jack pay for being a bossy wonder when he got home later that night — by the time she reached the greenhouse. She was so lost in thought, she almost missed a rather obvious mark on the door handle. She pulled up short when she saw it, her heart hammering, and she carefully scanned the trees surrounding the greenhouse as she internally debated what to do.

  Ultimately, she knew she didn’t have a choice and she dug into her pocket for her cell phone. She hit the first number on her speed dial, and Jack picked up on the first ring.

  “Do you miss me already? That’s kind of convenient because I haven’t made it back to the cottage yet. Do you want me to come back and kiss you again?”

  Ivy struggled to maintain control of her voice. “I need you.”

  Jack instantly sobered. “What is it?”

  “There’s blood on the greenhouse.”

  “I’m on my way. Don’t you dare go in that building. I’m two minutes away. You stay right there.”

  JACK CALLED BRIAN ON HIS way back to the nursery, asking him to order a forensic team from the county so they could test the blood. He never doubted for a second that Ivy saw what she saw, so instead of waiting, he opted to push for answers.

  “Where?” Jack asked when he found Ivy and her father standing close to the greenhouse, their heads bent together.

  Ivy pointed and Jack headed in that direction, furrowing his brow when he saw the telltale signs of a blood smear against the paneling near the handle.

  “Have you gone inside?”

  “You told me not to go inside,” Ivy reminded him.

  “Yes, well, you rarely do what I ask. I wanted to be sure.” He sent her a wan smile before moving to the glass and looking through the window. “Honey, come over here please.”

  Ivy did as he asked. Now wasn’t the time to revisit the argument over him being bossy. “Does anything look out of place to you?”

  Ivy stared into the greenhouse. From the angle of the window, it was hard to see the entirety of the building. “I can’t be sure without actually going inside, but I think some of the pots have been moved ... and the bags of dirt I had stacked against the far wall.”

  Jack pursed his lips.
“I see.”

  “What are you thinking?” Michael asked, genuinely curious.

  “I’m trying to decide if I should go inside before the forensic team arrives to photograph the door and take samples.”

  “Why is that important?”

  “Because someone might be inside.”

  Michael straightened. “The person terrorizing my daughter?”

  “We don’t know that the message on the window was meant to terrorize her,” Jack noted. “It could’ve been a cry for help.”

  “And this?”

  “Maybe someone is hurt,” Ivy answered for him. “Maybe someone was hurt in the woods and managed to make it to the greenhouse to hide.”

  What Ivy didn’t say but everyone was thinking was that perhaps someone was inside the greenhouse right now, potentially struggling to survive.

  “Okay.” Jack dragged a hand through his hair. “Honey, I need a pair of garden gloves so I don’t contaminate the scene.”

  Michael automatically removed the pair he had hooked to his belt and handed them over. Jack accepted them with a head bob.

  “Thank you.” He nudged Ivy with his elbow. “You stay close to your father. If something happens to me in there, I want you to run. Do you understand me?”

  Ivy balked. “Don’t go in. Wait for Brian.” She grabbed his arm. “You could be hurt, or attacked.”

  Jack’s smile was watery. “Someone could be hurt inside that greenhouse,” he reminded her. “It could be Phoebe.”

  Ivy recognized the truth in his words but remained leery. “Be careful.”

  “I’m always careful.” He gave her a quick kiss. “Head over there with your father. Please. For me.”

  Ivy worked her jaw but did as he asked, leaning close to Michael as they both watched Jack carefully tug on the top half of the door handle. The door opened without complaint and Jack made sure not to brush against the blood marks on the pane as he swept inside.

  Ivy felt as if she was a volcano readying to erupt as she waited for word from Jack. He was gone so long she’d pretty much convinced herself to run inside after him when the door opened. Jack used his elbow to keep the opening wide and then called for Ivy.

  “I need you to tell me exactly what has been moved.”

  Ivy was tentative as she followed him through the door. “Is anyone in here?”

  “Do you think I would let you anywhere near this place if it wasn’t empty?”

  “Good point.” Ivy heaved out a sigh and collected herself. “Does it look like anyone has been in here?”

  “I need you to answer that question. I don’t spend much time in the greenhouse after the spring seedling work because you handle everything on your own.”

  “Good point.” Ivy pressed her lips together as she slowly walked through the building. “Those pots weren’t on the ground there. They were on the bench when I left the other day. I guess my father could’ve moved them, but I don’t see why he would.”

  “We’ll ask him in a few minutes. What else?”

  “Um ... .” Ivy trailed her eyes across the room. “The bags of potting soil. They definitely weren’t stacked that way. They were against the wall.”

  Jack strode in that direction, Ivy close on his heels. When he reached the back of the room, he gave long consideration to the potting soil bags. “It seems to me that someone created a little barrier here,” he said after a beat. “As if someone was trying to create a little hidey-hole with walls on both sides.”

  Ivy nodded. “I think that sounds about right.”

  “The question is ... who.”

  “It has to be Phoebe, right?” Ivy absently rubbed her cheek. “She’s the only one who makes sense.”

  “If Phoebe is out there — and close — why doesn’t she make contact? Why doesn’t she ask for help? I mean ... the blood seems to indicate that she’s in trouble.”

  “Maybe she’s afraid of someone finding out she’s alive,” Ivy suggested. “Maybe she did see what happened to her mother, was injured in the process, and is hiding because she’s terrified of whoever did it returning to kill her.”

  “Why not come to the house, though? Everyone in town knows I live there. If she needs help and made it as far as the nursery, why not go the extra quarter of a mile to the house and knock?”

  Ivy held out her hands and shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe she tried. Maybe she’s the one who wrote the message.”

  “Why write a message and not wait for us?”

  “Maybe she thought someone would find her there.”

  “That makes no sense to me.” Jack’s gloved hand moved to Ivy’s back. “We’ll take a sample of the blood and test it against Janice’s body. If it’s Phoebe, we should know relatively quickly.”

  Something occurred to Ivy. “What if it’s not Phoebe?”

  “Who did you have in mind?”

  “I have no idea. It’s just ... we’re assuming Phoebe is in danger and hurt. What if she’s the one who did the hurting? What if whoever is out there is hiding from her?”

  “And who would that be?”

  “I honestly have no idea. None of it makes sense.”

  “No, it definitely doesn’t make sense.” Jack drew her to him and pressed a kiss to her forehead. “We’ll figure it out.”

  “I don’t like the idea of someone being in trouble, in pain, and hiding out in my greenhouse, Jack. We need to find whoever this is and help him or her.”

  “That’s the plan.”

  “Then let’s make it happen.”

  Since he was in an agreeable sort of mood, Jack nodded and adopted a pragmatic tone. “Absolutely ... just as soon as you agree to stick to your father like glue until I collect you this afternoon.”

  “And here we go,” Ivy muttered, annoyance evident.

  “Here we go,” Jack agreed. “Do you want to fight or find answers?”

  Ivy sighed. “Find answers.”

  “Then we have to come to a meeting of the minds.”

  “Fine. I agree with you. I’ll stick close to my father. Just ... we have to figure this out, Jack. I have a bad feeling that we’re going to run out of time.”

  Jack didn’t say it out loud, but he had the same worries. “The answers are there. We just need to put it together … and we will. I promise you that. We won’t stop until we have all the answers.”

  Eleven

  Ivy and Jack came to a compromise. She promised to stick close to Michael while at the nursery if he agreed she could run errands in town without an escort. Even though he wasn’t thrilled at the prospect, Jack conceded. If he didn’t, he understood that he would be stuck at the nursery the entire day arguing with Ivy rather than investigating.

  He left Brian to oversee the evidence collection and placed a call to Max. When her brother arrived at the nursery, Ivy threatened to go ballistic ... until Jack explained the older Morgan sibling was there because he needed him for something else. When Ivy realized what that something else was, she demanded to be able to hike into the woods with them.

  Jack put his foot down on that one, refusing to cave even a little as he took off into the trees with Max. Some things were negotiable. This was not one of them.

  “She’s going to make you pay when you get home tonight,” Max offered as they moved through the woods. “You realize that, right?”

  “Oh, I’m well aware. My fingers are going to fall off from the massage she’s going to demand.”

  “Hey, whatever kinky games you play with my sister, they’re best left between the two of you.”

  “It’s not a kinky game. She just likes her massages.”

  “Well ... .” Max trailed off, pursing his lips. “May I ask why you called me?”

  “Because I’m not certain I can find that shack on my own,” Jack answered honestly. “I’ve only been there once and Ivy was in the lead. I don’t have a lot of time to waste.”

  “Fair enough. Why not let her take you back?”

  “Because I’m not convinced
whoever was in her greenhouse — and who wrote those words on the window of the cottage — has her best interests at heart. I’m not risking her. Not for anything.”

  “But you’ll risk me?”

  “In a heartbeat.”

  Max chuckled. “It’s fine. I want to help. I find this entire thing ... disconcerting.”

  “Good word.”

  “I read a lot.”

  Jack snickered. “Your sister isn’t the easiest person in the world to live with. I know I’m not telling you anything you don’t already know, but she is ... a pain in the butt. She was going to be angry no matter what today, so I figured this was as good of a reason as any for her to dig her heels in.”

  “You didn’t want her in the woods in case we really do find the person you’re looking for.”

  “I want her safe. I can’t guarantee her safety out here right now. Something extremely funky is going on.”

  “What was your first clue?”

  “I just ... don’t feel safe walking around the woods with her right now.” Jack adjusted his tone so he didn’t sound so shrill. “I would protect her with my life, but what happens if I go down and she’s left out here on her own?”

  “Maybe all this magic stuff that’s been happening with her will kick in and she’ll save herself. You don’t know. It could happen.”

  Jack slid his future brother-in-law a sidelong look. “What do you think about all that?”

  “I don’t know. Am I supposed to feel a specific way?”

  “Have you ever ... sensed something ... the way she does?”

  “Are you asking if I’m secretly hiding magical abilities?”

  “Yeah.”

  Max shook his dark head. “No. You would know if that stuff was happening to me. I would be whining to Ivy every day and completely falling apart. She’s better suited for this new development than I am.”

  “Still, it has to be odd. She’s your sister and it’s only happening to her. I don’t suppose you have a theory on that, do you?”

  Max bobbed his head. “Actually, I do.”

  “I’m dying to hear it.”

  “It’s because she’s a girl.”

  Jack waited for him to expand. When he didn’t, he cocked an eyebrow. “That’s it? That’s your whole theory?”