“Did you plan to kill Zelda that day in the store?” Jack asked.
Lucy nodded stiffly. “I made the decision the night before. I had Maisie’s earring – at least I thought it was Maisie’s earring – and I figured she would make a good scapegoat. I heard her on the phone with someone plotting against the rest of us. She had a plan to get us cut out of the equation. She’s a drain on society. No one would miss her.”
Ah, well, that explained the phone call Ivy saw in the vision.
“Hey!” Maisie’s perfectly-sculpted eyebrows flew up her forehead. “A lot of people would miss me. Jack would miss me. Right?”
Jack pretended he didn’t hear the question. “You entered through the loading dock, correct?”
“She always left it open. It seemed like the best option. I didn’t realize she had people in the store until I heard voices through the heating duct. Even then I didn’t know it was Ivy. I just … needed her to go away.”
“More than that, you thought you could take Maisie out of the equation, too,” Brian deduced. “With both of them gone, that only left Fanny because you recognized that Felicity wasn’t all that serious about Henry.”
“She just wanted to go out for dinner once a week.” Lucy looked downright miserable as she stared at her bare feet. “I knew she would back off eventually. As for Fanny … well … she wasn’t going to back off on her own, but I wasn’t all that worried about her. Most people think she’s an idiot.”
“She is an idiot,” Maisie agreed.
“Why did you take Maisie?” Ivy asked. She was still angry about her potential arrest, but she wanted to know the whole truth. “What did you think that would accomplish?”
“I did that on a whim,” Lucy admitted. “I was hoping she would run when she realized the cops were on to her, but you guys never even questioned her. I thought something had gone wrong and I would need to up the ante. When I arrived at Maisie’s house, though, she refused to listen to reason. She called me names, said I was pathetic. I just snapped.”
“You are pathetic.” Maisie was feeling good about herself, to the point where she’d turned haughty. “Now you’re not even in the game. I’ll be able to take out the other two without lifting a finger. The fact that I was kidnapped should bode well for my chances.”
Brian extended a finger in Maisie’s direction. “Do you have to make things even more difficult?”
Maisie simply shrugged. “That’s what I do. Can we get out of here? I need to get home and take a shower. I probably smell.” She turned back to Jack and pressed herself close. “Do you think I smell?”
Jack carefully put his hands on Maisie’s shoulders and gave her a nudge back. “I have no interest in sniffing you.”
“He only wants to sniff Ivy, Maisie,” Lucy snapped. “Buy a clue and stop going after other people’s boyfriends. It makes you look desperate.”
“Says the woman who tried to kill off her rivals because she couldn’t entice a man,” Maisie drawled. “Seriously, though. I want to get out of here.”
“We’re going.” Brian’s voice was low. It was obvious he was having difficulty reconciling the woman he thought of as a friend as the murderer she really was. “Did you really think you would get away with this, Lucy?”
The woman shrugged. “I would’ve gotten away with it if Ivy hadn’t broken into my house. No offense, girl, but I hope you get the book thrown at you.”
Ivy jutted out her lower lip as Brian led Lucy from the room. Maisie hung back and expectantly waited for Jack to usher her out. Instead, Jack slid around her and strode to Ivy.
“I didn’t think you would break into the house,” he noted, cajoling a small smile out of her. “I just thought you would look through the windows or something.”
“That was the plan. I’m still not sure why the window fell out like it did.”
“Yeah. That was weird.” Maisie wrinkled her nose. “It was like magic or something.”
Jack jerked his head toward Ivy but didn’t say anything. He couldn’t with Maisie present. “Yes, well, you should probably come with me, honey.” He held out his hand. “We need to arrest you and write out a citation.”
“Do you really have to arrest me?” Ivy hated how whiny she sounded, but she was worried despite herself. “I don’t want to spend the night in jail.”
“If we want this search to hold up, we have to arrest you.” He was firm. “The good news is, you’ll only be charged with a misdemeanor and I’m guaranteeing your punishment will be light. In fact, I’m going to suggest to the judge that he let me decide your punishment.”
“You’re such a pervert,” Ivy muttered, allowing him to slide his arm around her shoulders as he led her toward the door. “I better not have to wear one of those jumpers and pick up trash along the highway. That’s like my worst nightmare.”
“Really?” Jack’s eyes twinkled. “I think it sounds fun. I can serve as your chaperone and we can talk about how you’re worried our wedding won’t make me happy while you’re helping the environment. That’s multitasking at its finest.”
Ivy scowled. “I thought you’d forgotten about that.”
“Oh, I could never forget something like that. I promised we would talk about it and I meant it.”
“I’m over thinking that,” Ivy offered. “If I promise to never think that again, can you let me off with a warning?”
“Nope.”
“Please?”
“Nope. I do promise to take you out for dinner after you’ve been processed, though. How does that sound?”
Ivy let loose a world-weary sigh. “I guess I’ve had worse offers.”
“That’s my girl.”
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Acknowledgments
I’m a romantic at heart. A true romantic. I love the idea of a happy ending, so much so I have trouble writing a sad one. The world is sad enough. I like escaping in fiction. That’s just me. I like sarcasm and snark – but I’m not sure a sad ending is in me. If you’re looking for an edge like that, you’re probably looking in the wrong place. Just FYI.
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This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system, without written permission from the author, except for the inclusion of brief quotations in a review.
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Wicked Ghosts
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Deadly Intentions
Deadly Intuition
Deadly Illusions
Deadly Proposal
Deadly Prospects
Deadly Ever After
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Deadly Storm
Deadly Dealings
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Ivy Morgan Mystery Box Set 5 Page 58