Wicked Decisions

by Lily Harper Hart

  Jack pressed the tip of his tongue against the back of his teeth and waited for Brian to respond. Anything he said would simply be taken out of context.

  “We’re going to follow every lead, Patsy,” Brian reassured her. “You’re upset right now. No one blames you. Ivy isn’t a suspect, though. We need to find the real person responsible for doing this to your mother. I promise we’re going to do just that.”

  “I already know who killed my mother.” Patsy’s eyes were glittery slits as she glared at Ivy. “I’m not going to let this stand. I’m going to make you pay for what you did to her.”

  Jack couldn’t take another moment of this nonsense. He put his hand to Ivy’s back and directed her toward the door. “I think you should go now, honey. It’s not going to do you any good to stay here.”

  Ivy wholeheartedly agreed with the sentiment. That didn’t mean she could escape the guilt chasing her. “What happens now?”

  “Now you go home and let me solve this. No matter what you think, this wasn’t your fault.”

  Ivy wanted to believe him, but doubt continued to plague her. It coincided with the ranting and raving spewing from Patsy’s mouth. “I didn’t hear anything, Jack. I swear it.”

  “I know. It’s going to be okay.”

  “How? Zelda is always going to be dead.”

  “I know but ... I don’t know what to tell you.” He gave her a hug. “We’ll figure this out. I promise.”

  Three

  Jack didn’t especially want to be separated from Ivy given the circumstances, but Patsy’s determination of his fiancée’s guilt was putting a wrench in his plan to keep her close. Once Ivy was out of the shop, Brian managed to calm Patsy ... although it wasn’t by much. Eventually, he convinced her to head home and promised they would contact her with information as soon as they had any.

  “She’s wound a little tight,” Jack noted as he stood on the sidewalk in front of the store and watched Patsy drive away.

  “Her mother was just murdered,” Brian pointed out. “I think anyone would be worked up given those circumstances.”

  “But why is she so fixated on Ivy?”

  “How am I supposed to know?”

  Jack slowly slid his eyes to his partner. Over the course of the year he’d spent in Shadow Lake, Jack realized quickly that Brian was a fountain of information when it came to Ivy. He was friends with her parents, had known her since she was a small child, and often gave Jack insight when Ivy was driving him crazy.

  “Are you saying you don’t know what the problem is between Patsy and Ivy?” he queried. “I can’t believe your gossip well finally ran dry.”

  “I’ve never known them to have a problem,” Brian replied. “Although ... I kind of do remember one thing now that you bring it up.”

  Jack managed to keep the triumphant look off his face ... but just barely. “Tell me.”

  “Don’t get so smug,” Brian warned, his hands moving to his hips as he searched his memory. “Patsy would’ve been two years older than Ivy. That puts her in the same class as Max.”

  Jack was beginning to get a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach. “Oh, please tell me that Max didn’t date her and dump her. If that’s the reason she hates Ivy, I’m going to be massively disappointed.”

  “I don’t believe Max dated her, although I guess I could be wrong on that. Keeping up with the women Max has dated over the years is virtually impossible. I can’t remember him ever settling down for more than a few weeks ... until now.”

  “Yes, Amy has been good for him,” Jack agreed. “What does any of this have to do with Ivy?”

  “I don’t know that it does. I just happen to remember that there was a dance and Max was going to take Patsy to it. It was some winter formal thing and all the kids were worked up about it. Well, all the kids except for Ivy.”

  Jack understood where this story was going. Ivy had told him about her disdain of public events when she was a teenager — the fact that she was different causing her to stand out and making the other kids want to peck her like a defective chicken — and he could already ascertain the ending of this tale.

  “Max canceled his date with Patsy and stayed home with Ivy, right?”

  Brian’s eyebrows hopped. “If you already knew the story, why did you ask?”

  “Because I didn’t know Patsy was the one in the story. Ivy did tell me that Max was prone to cancel his dates when they were teenagers if he felt she was being too pouty.” Jack always put up with Max endlessly running off at the mouth because of that. As annoying as the older Morgan sibling was — and there were times Jack wanted to strangle him — Max’s devotion to Ivy could never be called into question. He loved his sister, protected her, and before Jack arrived he was essentially her best friend.

  “Well, I don’t remember a lot because I’ve never really cared about the travails of teenagers, but there was some sort of meltdown,” Brian volunteered. “Patsy actually drove out to the house to see Max, to try and change his mind about the dance or something, and found him watching movies with Ivy. Apparently he’d lied and told her he was sick.”

  “Well, that sounds like it was traumatic in an ‘I’m seventeen and the world is surely ending’ way. She’s an adult now, though. I think it’s time she got over it.”

  “I’m not suggesting otherwise. You simply asked if there was static between Patsy and Ivy. That’s the only story that comes to mind.”

  “That’s not enough to accuse Ivy of being a murderer.” Jack was firm as his eyes drifted toward the park across the way, to where Ivy was sitting by herself and sipping from a cup of iced tea.

  “Don’t even think about it,” Brian chided. “We have work to do and she’s obviously fine.”

  “We have a murderer on the loose,” Jack reminded him.

  “We do, and she’s perfectly capable of taking care of herself. Besides, our killer had a chance to take her out already and passed. I’m going to guess she’s not a potential victim.”

  “She still looks sad.”

  Brian rolled his eyes. “You can make her feel better later. Oh, wipe that disgusting smile off your face. I wasn’t talking about that. I was suggesting you buy her a nice dessert or something from the diner. I don’t want to hear what other filthy ideas you have to make her feel better.”

  “You’re kind of a bummer sometimes,” Jack noted. “Has anyone ever told you that?”

  “You do. Every single day.”

  “And I stand by that.”

  “You would. Come on. We really do need to question the other business owners. Maybe they saw something important.”

  “It can’t hurt. Let’s get at it.”

  LARRY FOSTER OWNED A CLOCK shop that Jack had always wondered about. He couldn’t remember seeing anyone ever set foot inside the store — and it was located in some prime downtown real estate, which meant the lease wasn’t cheap — and yet the store was open full hours every day.

  “Hello, Brian,” Larry intoned as he watched the detectives stroll into his store. “Long time no see.”

  “It’s been a fair bit of time,” Brian agreed, taking a moment to glance around. “I see you’re still selling clocks.”

  Larry’s amusement was obvious. “That’s what I do. I sell clocks. I also fix them. I was out in Charlevoix two days ago to fix an antique grandfather clock that was so gorgeous it would’ve brought a tear to your eye.”

  “Is that how you make the bulk of your money?” Jack queried.

  “What makes you think I’m not independently wealthy and running this store because I like it?” Larry challenged.

  “I don’t ... um ... I didn’t think about it.”

  Larry chuckled at Jack’s obvious discomfort. “There aren’t a lot of people around who can fix old clocks. We live in a world where people would rather buy a cheap chronometer — or carry around a digital phone with no personality whatsoever, for that matter — and replace what’s broken with something new rather than fixing it. It’s a tr
avesty if you ask me.”

  Jack remained rooted to his spot, blinking. That was a rather severe reaction to a question about fixing clocks, he reasoned. He wasn’t sure what he was supposed to say.

  “You’ll have to forgive Larry,” Brian offered, patting his partner’s shoulder and flashing a jovial smile. “He forgets that not everybody cares all that much about old clocks. As for your question, yes, Larry has a skill that most people today don’t have. He makes a full-time living restoring old clocks.”

  “That sounds fun,” Jack offered. “It’s nice to have a job revolving around something you obviously love a great deal.”

  “It is.” Larry’s eyes were keen as they looked Jack up and down. “So, this is the one who finally managed to snag the Morgan girl, huh? I had my doubts she would ever settle down, but people are buzzing about it now because apparently ya’ll finally set a date, huh?”

  Jack felt put on the spot, but he didn’t shy away from the question. “Ivy and I are engaged.”

  “And getting married before the end of the summer,” Larry added. “That is unless one of you backs out.”

  Jack balked. “Why would we back out?”

  Larry shrugged. “I have no idea. There’s a pool, though, and people are putting down money on whether you’ll leave her or she’ll leave you. Most seem to think that the marriage is never going to happen.”

  Jack’s fury was on full display when he focused on Brian. “Did you know about this?”

  “I did,” Brian confirmed, bobbing his head. “Before you fly off the handle and start complaining, I didn’t tell you because it’s not important. I’ll give you two guesses who started the pool — it’s a pair of morons who want to hurt Ivy, for the record — and the only people placing bets are the ones who don’t know either of you.”

  Jack’s expression was dark. “Maisie and Ava.”

  “You nailed it in one guess. They’re not doing it because they think they’re going to win. They’re doing it because they hope it frustrates Ivy to the point where it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. Don’t bother acknowledging either of them. That’s what they want.”

  “Listen to your partner,” Larry intoned. “Those girls are essentially snakes that walk upright. As for Ivy, I’ve always liked her. She was different, went her own way. She always cracked me up with that temper of hers, too. She was a little firecracker.”

  Jack managed a smile thanks to the fondness obvious in the man’s voice. “She’s still a firecracker.”

  “She is,” Brian agreed, turning to business. “Speaking of firecrackers, did you hear what happened to Zelda?” As far as transitions go, it wasn’t Brian’s finest offering. He didn’t have time to burn, though, and he needed to get the conversation on track.

  “Zelda?” Larry knit his eyebrows. “What do you mean? She’s in her store. I saw her a few hours ago.”

  “She’s not in her store any longer,” Brian replied, his voice even. “She passed away a little bit ago. Actually ... she was murdered.”

  Jack watched with overt curiosity as all the color drained from Larry’s face. The man — who up until that point had been full of salt and vinegar … like the potato chips — looked as if he was about to keel over.

  “Sit down,” Jack ordered, hurriedly rushing around the counter to catch the man before he fell. “Take a breath.”

  “I can’t believe this,” Larry said after a moment, his hands resting on his knees. “I just ... I just can’t believe it. I see her almost every single day. We always speak to one another, although they’re generic conversations because I don’t care about wedding dresses and she doesn’t give a fig about clocks. She always made me smile, though.”

  “It’s a true tragedy,” Brian agreed. “The thing is, someone entered the loading door that’s accessible from the alley and apparently attacked her from behind. She was stabbed multiple times.”

  Horror washed over Larry’s shaken features. “But ... who would do that?”

  “That’s what we’re trying to figure out. Did you see anything this afternoon? How about anyone lurking around Zelda’s store? It’s a work day ... and early, so anyone hanging around the downtown area would’ve stood out.”

  Larry rubbed his cheek as he considered the question. “I honestly don’t think I saw anyone. I was busy with a small clock repair back in the workshop. Although ... I did poke my head out not too long ago. I heard voices outside and was curious. It was Ivy, though, and a woman I didn’t recognize. They were staring into the display window at the wedding shop and talking about dresses.”

  “Ivy is the one who called us,” Brian volunteered. “She was trying on dresses when Zelda disappeared into the back of the shop and never returned. We’re talking before then. Did you see anyone before then?”

  “Just Ivy and her friend. It’s been a quiet day. No one else has been around.”

  That was exactly what Brian didn’t want to hear.

  BY THE TIME JACK AND BRIAN had finished making their rounds to the various businesses — and come up empty — they swung back to the dress shop. Jack’s attention immediately returned to the park.

  Ivy was still there, the same cup of iced tea clutched in her hand, and she was staring off into the distance.

  “I need to just stop by and make sure she’s okay,” he supplied. “I know you don’t think it’s necessary but ... I just need to check on her.”

  Brian didn’t bother to hide his sigh. “Then let’s check on her. You’re not going to let this go until you’re satisfied that she’s not sitting over there crying ... even though I guarantee she’s perfectly fine.”

  “I’m glad you agree that we should check on her. You’re a good partner.” Jack set off in that direction without as much as a glance over his shoulder. He didn’t really care that Brian thought he was acting like a mother hen. He needed to make sure she was okay.

  By the time the police detectives closed the distance, Ivy was no longer alone. Max had picked that moment to swing by and visit with his sister, and he had JJ with him.

  “Hey.” Ivy forced a smile for the young boy’s benefit. She didn’t want to frighten him. “I hear you and Max are turning into fearsome fishermen. He’s teaching you the ropes, huh?”

  JJ was the shy sort, which was to be expected. He’d spent the bulk of his life in hiding with his mother and was leery of strangers. Despite that, he’d warmed to Max and the rest of the Morgan family relatively quickly.

  “I caught a trout the other day,” JJ declared proudly. “Max took a picture of me with it and said he’s going to put it in a frame.”

  Ivy grinned at the happiness radiating from the boy. “That’s awesome. I think there’s still a photo at my parents’ house of Max with his first trout. We should have a copy made and then we can put the two photos together.”

  JJ’s eyes sparkled at the idea. “Could we really do that?”

  “Sure.” Ivy bobbed her head before focusing her full attention on Max. “Did Amy find you?”

  “She did.” Max’s smile never faltered, but it was obvious he was as shocked by the news as everybody else. “She’s a little upset and is taking a bath before her shift at the bar tonight. I decided to take JJ out for some ice cream so she could have some alone time.”

  “She was upset,” JJ added. “I think she’s afraid like before.”

  “Not like before, buddy,” Max countered quickly. He was well aware that JJ could read his mother’s moods and had a tendency to worry. He wanted to break the boy of that, but it wouldn’t happen overnight. “This is something else and it just surprised her. She’s going to be fine.”

  “She is going to be fine,” Jack agreed, swooping in to give Ivy a kiss on the cheek before settling on the bench next to her. Just being this close made him feel better. “Your mom and Ivy had a busy afternoon. They’re both tired and will feel better later.”

  The explanation seemed to be enough for JJ because he nodded and then pointed toward the kiosk on the sidewalk. “T
he ice cream is over there.”

  Max grinned as he dug in his pocket for his wallet, coming back with a twenty. “Get whatever you want for yourself. Get a small bowl of chocolate for Ivy. It always makes her feel better. Get me some Superman ice cream, too.”

  “Okay.” JJ was all too happy to take the money and escape from the adults for a bit.

  Max watched him go with a half-smile, and then sobered when he was certain JJ was out of hearing distance. “Amy was shook up by what happened. I didn’t want JJ to get upset so I figured now was as good a time as any to introduce him to the joys of Shadow Lake ice cream.”

  “That’s probably a good idea,” Jack agreed. “She’ll be back to her normal self by the time you get home.” His fingers were gentle as he combed them through Ivy’s hair. “Why are you still out here, honey? I thought you would’ve headed home by this point.”

  “I’m just thinking,” she replied. “I don’t want to leave because I feel as if I should be doing something, but I don’t know what that is.”

  “You’re not part of this investigation,” Jack reminded her. “You don’t have to do anything.”

  “Well, I don’t happen to agree.” She made a face as she shifted. “I liked Zelda. I want to know who did this to her. I’m going to help whether you like it or not ... and if you want to fight about it, well, then we’ll fight.”

  Jack couldn’t stop himself from smirking at her reaction. “I guess it’s lucky for you that I’m not in the mood for a fight.”

  “I guess so.”

  “You can help.” He moved his hand to the back of her neck and gave her a light squeeze. “Just remember that I’m the boss. If you want to be involved, that means you have to call me Detective Harker and do whatever I say.”

  Ivy narrowed her eyes to dangerous slits. “You’re such a pervert.” She laughed despite herself. “I’m glad that you’re not going to shut me out.”

  “I have no intention of shutting you out. We’re a team.” He lifted her hand and pressed a kiss to her palm. “Unfortunately for us, none of the business owners saw anything. Not one of them. I’m not sure where we should look next.”