Wicked Ghosts_A Harper Harlow and Ivy Morgan Mystery

by Lily Harper Hart

  “You did exactly right,” Brian said, circling the car. “I don’t suppose you can get the trunk open without keys, can you?”

  “Sure.” Tim dug in his pocket until he returned with what looked to be a universal key and stuck it in the slot. “I was sorry to hear about Tabitha. She and I were in school together. I always hoped she would get her act together but … I guess not now, huh?”

  Brian patted Tim’s shoulder. “I think we all thought that, or at least wished it.” He wrinkled his nose as he stared into the filthy trunk. “Well, good luck figuring out if something is missing from here.”

  Jack shuffled to the back of the car and widened his eyes when he saw the mountain of trash. “You’ve got to be kidding me. Why move the fast food bags from the front of the car to the back? Why not just throw them away?”

  “Maybe she was a hoarder or something,” Jared suggested.

  “No, she was just lazy,” Brian supplied. “She probably didn’t feel like walking to a garbage receptacle so … this is just disgusting.”

  Jack leaned over so he could stare into the mess. “I don’t see much in here besides empty fast food bags and containers. We’ll probably still have to search it.”

  “Probably,” Brian agreed, moving to the driver’s side of the car and peering inside. “Tim, can you open this for me?”

  Tim did as instructed, stepping back so Brian could hunker down and look inside the car when he completed the task. “Do you see anything?”

  Brian didn’t immediately answer, instead tilting his head to the side as he regarded the accelerator pedal and edge of the seat. “Hey, Jack, do you remember reading Tabitha’s height on the autopsy report?”

  “I can’t say as I do.” Jack followed his partner. “Why?”

  “Because this seems off to me.” Brian heaved himself into the driver’s seat and frowned when he had to stretch his leg to hit the gas pedal. “Does that seem right to you?”

  “Does what seem right?” Tim asked, confused.

  “The seat has obviously been moved back,” Jack replied, narrowing his eyes as he focused on the side lever. “Tabitha couldn’t have been more than five-foot-seven, if I had to guess. We can check back at the office, but I saw her body. I don’t think she was as tall as Ivy.”

  “I think she was closer to five-foot-five,” Brian said.

  “Which means the person who last drove the car was significantly taller than that,” Jared supplied, staring at the gap between Brian’s foot and the gas pedal. “I think we’re looking at someone who had to be more than six feet tall.”

  “Let me try,” Jack said, waiting for Brian to slide out of the car before claiming the seat. His foot comfortably rested on the gas pedal without having to strain. “I’m just over six feet tall. I think whoever we’re looking at had to be about my height.”

  “That could be two of the guys at that house,” Brian said. “Logan and Caleb were both about your height.”

  “That doesn’t mean they did it,” Jared pointed out. “Just that one of them is likely to have driven the car.”

  “Yeah, I’m still leaning toward the idea that more than one of them is involved,” Brian said. “How else did they get the car out there, abandon it, and get back to the house without anyone noticing? That access point is at least five miles from their house.”

  “That’s not out of the realm of possibility for a walk, though,” Jack said. “We also don’t have proof that Tabitha didn’t leave with someone else. It was a party. No one was watching anyone. Those guys claim they were too drunk to pay attention to anything, and that’s a possibility.”

  “I still don’t like it,” Brian said. “I want to talk to them again.”

  Jack shrugged. “I also think we should have this car processed for prints, especially the seat bar.”

  “Yeah, I’ll call the state lab boys,” Brian said. “We need to see if there’s evidence to gather here. We don’t have nearly enough yet.”

  TABITHA POPPED INTO existence next to the small circle of women not long after they started calling for her. She was flustered, her eyes reflecting annoyance, but she perked up when she caught sight of Harper.

  “You!” She extended an ethereal finger. “You’re the one who can see me.”

  Ivy lifted her head at the sound of the new voice and gasped when she caught sight of the spirit. “Holy … Casper, we have liftoff.”

  Felicity frowned as she stared at the spot where Ivy’s eyes landed. “I don’t see anything.”

  “You don’t?” Ivy was surprised. “How can that be?” She turned to Harper for answers. “Why can I see and Aunt Felicity can’t?”

  Harper shrugged. “How should I know?”

  “You’re the ghost expert.”

  “That’s like saying you’re the witch expert because everyone in town believes it,” Harper argued. “I don’t know why you can see her and Felicity can’t.”

  “Wait … Ivy can see me, too?” Tabitha was doubly intrigued. “How many fingers am I holding up?”

  Ivy bit back a sigh. “Three.”

  “That’s right!” Tabitha bobbed her head. “So … I’m not dead, right? If Ivy can see me, that means I’m not dead.”

  “Let’s not get into this again,” Harper chided. “You’re dead. I’m sorry. It’s over and done with. We can’t bring you back, or go back in time to change the outcome.”

  Tabitha jutted out her lower lip. “That’s so unfair.”

  “It’s definitely unfair,” Harper agreed, opting to tinge her words with a bit of sympathy. “Have you been checking out your old stomping grounds? Maybe checking in on your roommate or those guys at the party house.”

  “Why would I do that?” Tabitha’s expression was flat. “It’s not as if they can see or hear me. Besides, no matter how hard I try, I can’t seem to control my actions. I keep ending up in the woods.”

  “In the spot we saw you?” Ivy asked.

  Tabitha shrugged. “Woods are woods. It all looks the same to me.”

  She had a point, Ivy mused. “Do you remember anything about the last night you were alive?”

  “I happen to believe I’m still alive and you’re all playing a game.”

  “Yeah, that’s not what’s going on,” Ivy said. “We know you were at the house on the highway, the one owned by those guys. They said they were too drunk to know when you left, but I find it hard to believe that no one was paying attention to what you were doing. You were hardly known for flying under the radar.”

  Tabitha brightened. “Thank you.”

  “That wasn’t exactly a compliment,” Ivy muttered under her breath. “This is important, Tabitha. Do you remember … do you remember running through the woods?”

  For a moment – one so brief Ivy almost thought she might’ve imagined it – Tabitha’s face twisted into something unrecognizable. She recovered quickly, though. “Why would I run through the woods?”

  “I have no idea. The medical examiner said you had a lot of wounds on your feet, though. Those wounds were consistent with running through the woods without shoes … and we still have no idea what happened to your shoes.”

  “Boots,” Tabitha automatically corrected, taking on a far-off expression. “I was wearing my pink boots. I saved up for months so I could buy them. I loved them.”

  “Do you know what happened to them?”

  “I don’t … um … I think I was in the woods.” Tabitha turned breathless as she shifted her shoulders. “I think I remember being in the woods. Now that you mention it, I think I remember it.”

  “What do you remember?” Harper was calm as she leaned forward. “Tell us what you see when you think back.”

  “I don’t see anything,” Tabitha replied, irritation evident. “It’s too dark. There’s no light … not even the moon. Why is there no moon? I keep thinking it’s disappeared, that the entire world has disappeared and I’m the only one left, and yet I keep running.”

  Ivy licked her lips, uncomfortable with T
abitha’s rather severe reaction. She could almost feel the woman’s fear and confusion. “Is someone in the woods with you?”

  “I don’t know. I feel alone.”

  “Can you hear someone behind you?”

  “I … .” Tabitha nodded. “I can hear someone in the bushes.”

  “Can you see who it is?”

  “No.”

  “Can you think back?” Harper asked. “Can you remember the time right before you were in the woods?”

  “I don’t want to.” If she wasn’t a ghost, Ivy was convinced Tabitha would be crying. “I don’t want to go back.”

  “It’s okay,” Ivy said automatically. “If you don’t want to go back … .”

  Harper cut her off with a headshake. “You have to go back, Tabitha.” She kept her voice soft and easy. “I know it’s difficult. I know you don’t want to see what happens. I know you don’t want to remember. You have to, though. If you don’t, then whoever did this might get away with it. You don’t want that, do you?”

  Tabitha jerked her head in Harper’s direction, her eyes firing. “I don’t want to remember.”

  “Eventually you’re going to have to.” Harper adopted a pragmatic tone. “You’re going to want to move on, but you’ll have to remember before that happens.”

  “Is that true?” Ivy asked, legitimately curious.

  Harper nodded. “Everyone always remembers before they cross over.”

  “Then I don’t want to remember.” Tabitha turned belligerent as she shook her head. “I don’t want to remember and you can’t make me.”

  Harper opened her mouth to argue further, but Tabitha disappeared, essentially blinking out of existence before she could prolong the argument. “Well, that could’ve gone better.”

  “She remembers running in the woods, though,” Ivy noted. “That’s something.”

  “It is, but until she remembers who was chasing her, we’re stuck. We need her to remember more.”

  “Do you have any ideas on how to force her?”

  Harper shrugged. “No, but let me give it some thought.”

  14

  Fourteen

  Instead of meeting in town for dinner, Harper insisted everyone visit the hotel so she could buy dinner. Ivy was fine with that, mostly because she knew Jack would probably prefer they be alone when they hit the house that night, but also because she was eager for a change of pace when it came to dining-out options.

  “I’m glad we got time to go shopping this afternoon,” Harper said as she walked out of her bathroom wearing the new bohemian skirt she bought at Felicity’s shop. “Your aunt has great stuff, but I needed a pair of shoes to go with this skirt.”

  Ivy smiled. She’d picked up a new skirt, too – blue, to match her eyes – and she couldn’t help but feel a bit giddy when she stood next to Harper and they surveyed their reflections in the mirror.

  “We’re dressed alike,” Harper said after a beat. “We’re wearing the same skirts, except in different colors. We’re also wearing tops that kind of look alike.”

  Ivy shrugged, unbothered. “Yeah. The men are going to have a field day with this one. Jack keeps asking if I plan to run off with you.”

  Harper snorted. “Jared asked me that, too.”

  Ivy patted Harper’s shoulder in a conciliatory manner. “If I rolled that way, you’d be at the top of my list.”

  “Me, too.”

  Both women jolted at a loud knock on the door, but Harper didn’t get a chance to open it because Zander barreled his way in rather than waiting for a response.

  Harper wagged a finger before Zander could open his mouth. “Jared doesn’t like it when you don’t wait for someone to say ‘come in’ before you … well … come in. You know that.”

  Zander was unbothered by Harper’s tone. “Jared isn’t here.”

  “You didn’t know that.”

  “I did, too.”

  Harper planted her hands on her hips. “How?”

  “He’s down at the bar with the other Dudley Do-Right and they’re drinking beers together,” Zander replied. “They’re one step away from setting sail on the cruise ship Bromance, and I don’t like it.”

  Harper was taken aback by his tone. “Wow. I don’t even know where to start with that.”

  “Start with the bromance,” Ivy instructed. “Are they like staring into each other’s eyes or something?”

  Zander let loose with a dismissive snort. “I’m not insinuating they’re going to start kissing. Neither one of them flies that particular flag – and trust me, I’ve sent out signals to test them for you guys because I’m a good friend – but they’re deep in conversation and they’re drinking beer.”

  Harper ran her fingers over the corners of her mouth to clear away errant lipstick. “Why does it matter that they’re drinking beer?”

  “Because I’ve been training Jared for a year to drink martinis,” Zander barked. “All my hard work just flew out the window because Jared found another alpha male to bay at the moon with.”

  Ivy pressed her lips together to keep from laughing. Over the course of their afternoon together, Harper re-enacted a few of Zander’s funnier meltdowns, but Ivy felt the energetic blonde didn’t do them justice.

  “So you’re upset that Jared is drinking beer with Jack?” Harper was calm as she faced down her best friend. “I don’t think I understand.”

  “That’s because you’re being purposely ignorant,” Zander fired back. “I’ve been trying to set the groundwork for a bromance between Jared and me. I’ve been working hard at it and making inroads through that tough shell that Jared insists on holding out for the rest of the world while acting like a huge marshmallow for you.

  “Then in walks Shadow Lake’s resident stud cop and suddenly they’re best friends,” he continued, his voice hopping with each word. “Now it’s all ‘Jack, you’re so smart’ and ‘Jack, I would love to have a beer with you’ and all the while he’s also saying ‘Zander who?’ and making me want to cry.”

  Harper rubbed the tender spot between her eyebrows as she fought to keep from laughing. She knew better than reacting to one of Zander’s meltdowns with anything other than sympathy. She could see Ivy’s shoulders shaking with silent laughter out of the corner of her eye, but she opted to ignore it.

  “I doubt very much that Jared likes Jack more than you.” Harper chose her words carefully. “He definitely likes Jack – they have a mutual respect thing going – but he’s addicted to you.”

  Zander’s face was unreadable.

  “I mean it,” Harper prodded. “You’re like a fine wine to Jack’s … um … beer.”

  “Oh, who are you trying to convince?” Zander threw his hands up in the air. “I’ve been replaced. It’s all over for the Zan Man.” He turned to storm out of the room but stopped when he reached the door. “The skirt is adorable, by the way. Be prepared to be mercilessly teased for it when the alpha males see you, though.”

  “We’re already prepared.” Harper was rueful as she and Ivy followed Zander out of the room. She remained quiet until something occurred to her. “Zander, where is Shawn?”

  “He’s down being a Neanderthal with the other alphas,” Zander replied. “He’s drinking beer, too.”

  “I see.” Harper hiked up her eyebrows as she met Ivy’s gaze. “I’m guessing it’s going to be a loud dinner.”

  Ivy could no longer bottle up her laughter. “Do you think?”

  “HEY, HONEY.”

  Jack greeted Ivy with a quick kiss and a bear hug when she hit the bar. He’d seen her in similar skirts so many times he’d lost count, so he wasn’t caught off guard by the ensemble … until he saw Jared greet Harper with a similar hug and got a gander at the two women standing together.

  “Huh.”

  “Huh, what?” Ivy asked. She could read the expression on Jack’s face but was curious how he would spin his reaction.

  “Nothing.” Jack immediately started shaking his head. “I just missed you today, tha
t’s all.”

  Ivy managed to maintain a straight face, but just barely. She turned her attention to Harper and chewed on her bottom lip to keep from laughing as Jared looked over his girlfriend.

  “Do you like it?” Harper did a little twirl for Jared’s benefit.

  “It’s pretty,” Jared answered automatically, rubbing the back of his neck. “You don’t wear a lot of skirts, though.”

  “I know, but this one is special.” Harper’s smile was so wide it threatened to swallow her entire face. “It makes noise when I walk. See.” Harper swished her hips and made the bells at the end of the drawstrings clank together. “Neat, huh?”

  “Well, at least I’ll be able to hear you coming.” Jared slipped his arm around Harper’s waist and kissed her cheek, his eyes moving unbidden to Ivy’s skirt. “You bought one, too, I see.”

  Ivy nodded. “We wanted to look exactly alike.”

  “Exactly,” Harper agreed, her eyes gleaming.

  “Wait … that’s new?” Jack looked over Ivy’s skirt a second time. “I thought you already owned that.”

  “No, Harper and I decided we wanted to look exactly alike this afternoon so we needed to shop together,” Ivy explained. “I didn’t think it would hurt to add a new one.”

  “No, it looks nice on you,” Jack said. “It matches your eyes.”

  “That’s what I thought.”

  “That’s also what I told her,” Harper added. “I want her to wear that when we run away together and become a couple.”

  Jack sputtered as he tried to take a swig of his beer, his cheeks turning red as he coughed. “Excuse me?”

  “They’re messing with you, sparky,” Zander announced as he passed. “You guys need to let go of your infantile worry that they’re going to become so infatuated with one another that they’re going to forget about you. That goes double for you, Jared.”

  “I didn’t say anything,” Jared protested.

  “You were thinking it,” Zander fired back. “They’re not going to run off together. They’re not getting too caught up in each other. They’re merely having a good time because they’re both … different.” Zander glanced around to make sure no one else was in hearing distance before continuing.