Wicked Fog (An Ivy Morgan Mystery Book 6)

by Lily Harper Hart

  “I … huh. I never considered that,” Max said. “Maybe she killed him.”

  “Or maybe she knows who killed him,” Ivy suggested, her mind working overtime. “I need to call Jack. He should hear about this because it changes things in the investigation.”

  “I think that’s a great idea,” Max said, glancing over his sister’s shoulder and frowning. “You should totally do that … just as soon as you deal with this customer.”

  Ivy was confused. “What customer?”

  “That one,” Max said, pointing. “She looks angry.”

  “Oh, hey, isn’t that the woman you were just talking about?” Jessica lifted her chin. “She’s the woman from the dance, right?”

  Ivy’s heart sank when she realized Jessica was right and Maisie was storming in their direction. She didn’t look particularly happy. In fact, she looked outraged and ready for a fight. “Batten down the hatches,” she said. “Something tells me this ride is about to get bumpy.”

  “Something tells me you’re right,” Max intoned. “Bye!”

  Eight

  “Don’t even think about it.”

  Ivy snagged Max’s arm before he could make his getaway, jerking him back so she could keep him close as Maisie closed the distance. She looked livid. Generally that wouldn’t be cause for concern, but Max’s gossipy tidbit – coupled with Maisie’s sudden arrival – made Ivy understandably nervous.

  “If you need me to punch her when she’s not looking, I’m totally game,” Jessica offered, the set of her jaw grim.

  Ivy fought the mad urge to laugh at the teenager’s serious expression. “I think we’re going to be okay,” she said. “If she does attack, I’ll handle it. I’m an expert at pulling hair.”

  “Tell me about it,” Max grumbled. “I still remember the time you yanked that huge chunk of hair out of my head because I hid in the shower and jumped out when you were brushing your teeth that one time.”

  “You had that coming.”

  “I’m not denying that,” Max said. “Something tells me Maisie is going to have it coming before the end of the day, too.”

  “Something tells me you’re right,” Ivy muttered, plastering a fake smile on her face for Maisie’s benefit when she stopped in front of the small group. Maisie’s chest heaved and her eyes flashed as she glanced from face to face. “Welcome to the nursery,” Ivy said automatically. “Can I show you something in a nice fall mum?”

  “Oh, that was hilarious,” Max said, smirking.

  Maisie ignored Max and gave Jessica a cursory glance before focusing on Ivy. “You.”

  “Me?”

  “You.”

  “I think she’s trying to tell you something, Ivy,” Max said. “I think she’s saying … you.”

  “Shut up,” Maisie snapped, her nostrils flaring as she stared down Max. “No one is talking to you. Why are you even here? Don’t you have a job or something?”

  “I could say the same thing about you,” Max shot back, not missing a beat. “Isn’t your street corner lonely without you peddling your wares?”

  “Max.” Ivy pressed her lips together and offered her brother a small headshake. She would usually enjoy any snarky comment that put Maisie in her place, but this was still her place of business. She didn’t want to make customers uncomfortable. If they were someplace else – anyplace else, really – Ivy would be all for an insult contest. “What do you want, Maisie?”

  Maisie face flushed with incredulity. “You can’t be serious,” she grumbled. “If you even pretend that you don’t know why I’m here … .”

  “I have no idea why you’re here,” Ivy said, opting for honesty. “Unless … is this about your boots? I swear I wasn’t aiming for them.”

  “That’s an entirely different conversation,” Maisie snapped. “I’m going to send you the bill for those boots, though. They cost more than you make in a year.”

  Ivy lifted her eyebrows but refused to rise to the bait. “I’m not paying for those boots,” she said. “You can just wipe them off. Eggs and hash browns aren’t known to be corrosive.”

  “Oh, you’re paying for those boots.”

  “No, I’m not.”

  Maisie crossed her arms over her chest and scorched Ivy with a murderous look. “Yes, you are.”

  Ivy mimicked the pose. “No, I’m not.”

  “What’s going on here?” Michael asked, Noah perched on his hip as he ambled over to the group. The toddler happily munched on a peanut butter cup while Michael fixed Maisie with a hateful glare. “What are you doing here, Maisie?”

  “She thinks I’m paying for those boots,” Ivy replied. “She’s on crack if she thinks that.”

  “No, she’s not on crack,” Max said. “She just enjoys showing people her crack.”

  “Max, shut your mouth,” Michael warned, handing Noah to his mother as he locked gazes with Maisie. “No one is paying for those boots, young lady. If that’s why you’re here, you can just skedaddle your skinny butt home. It’s not going to happen.”

  “My boots are ruined,” Maisie hissed.

  “Your reputation is ruined, too,” Michael pointed out. “I don’t see you rushing out to make anyone pay for that.”

  Ivy snorted as she attempted to cover her mouth. She couldn’t remember ever witnessing her father being openly rude, especially to a woman.

  “Those boots are Italian leather,” Maisie said. “They were expensive.”

  “Well, I’m Michigan proud and I don’t give a rat’s ass,” Michael said. “Ivy was sick and the story I was told made you look like a fool. If I were you, I’d let it go.”

  “Well, you’re not me.”

  “And my reputation isn’t nearly as tarnished,” Michael said, remaining calm. “No one is paying for those boots. If that’s your sole reason for being here, go. No one cares about your complaints. In fact, if you want to lodge a complaint, we have a complaint booth you can visit.”

  “We do?” Ivy knit her eyebrows together. “Where?”

  “It’s about five miles into the woods,” Michael said, extending his arm. “If you start walking now, you might get there before I put my boot in your behind.”

  Max widened his eyes to comical proportions as he locked gazes with Ivy and mouthed the word “wow.” Ivy was equally flummoxed.

  “Well, that just shows what you know,” Maisie sniffed, shuffling from one foot to the other. “I’m not here about the boots – although I’m not going to just let that go.”

  “You’d better,” Michael said. “If you’re not here about the boots, why are you here?”

  “Because of her,” Maisie said, pointing at Ivy. “She’s ruining my life.”

  Ivy’s mouth dropped open. “Me? What did I do?”

  “You know what you did,” Maisie seethed. “I know what you did, too. It’s all around town. Jack and Brian are looking to question the person dating Jeff Johnson … and you pointed them to me.”

  “I did not,” Ivy argued. “I didn’t even find out about you and Jeff Johnson until five minutes ago.”

  “Ha! You just admitted it!”

  “Admitted what?” Ivy felt as if she was trapped on a speeding carousel with no hope of getting off. “I just told you I didn’t know about the affair until a few minutes ago, so there was no way I could’ve been the one to rat you out.”

  “You’re lying!”

  “And you’re a skank,” Ivy shot back, not caring in the least that a few customers were staring her way. “I didn’t tell anyone because I didn’t know. I was going to tell Jack, don’t get me wrong, but it looks as if that’s not going to be necessary because he already knows. You can’t blame me for this.”

  “Oh, I’m going to blame you,” Maisie said. “You’re trying to ruin my life. You’ve always been jealous of me and now you finally have your shot to drag me down.”

  “I don’t need to drag you down because you do a fine job of that yourself.”

  “Oh, screw you.”

  “Screw y
ou back.”

  Before Ivy realized what was happening, Maisie lashed out and slapped her across the face. The blow was so hard it caused Ivy to lean to the side. When she straightened, she was ticked. The fire in her eyes was Maisie’s first clue that she’d made a mistake.

  “I’m sorry,” Maisie said, instantly contrite as she took a step back. “I didn’t mean to do that. It was an accident.”

  “You’d better start running now,” Ivy warned, extending a finger. “When I hit you, it’s going to be a lot harder than that.”

  Maisie didn’t need to be told twice. She turned on her heel and booked in the other direction. “Oh! I’m sorry!”

  It was too late for that. Ivy was right behind her. “You’re going to be sorry.”

  “WHAT happened?”

  Jack hit the ground running when Brian pulled into the nursery’s parking lot fifteen minutes later, meeting Max at the front gate.

  Max tilted his head to the side. “Well … .”

  Jack wasn’t in the mood for games. “Is she hurt?”

  “Oh, no,” Max said, shaking his head. “She’s great. She’s invigorated even. Maisie Washington is another story.”

  “Maisie Washington?” Brian made a face as he walked around the front of the cruiser and joined Max and Jack. “We got a call about an incident involving a woman being thrown to the ground.”

  “Yes, that was Maisie,” Max said. “She slapped Ivy and then Ivy took her to the ground.”

  “Oof.” Brian wrinkled his nose. “She always was a tough little thing. I wanted to use her on my football team when you guys were in middle school, but the principal wouldn’t let me because he was afraid she would get hurt.”

  “Yes, well, she’s not hurt,” Max said, his grin impish. “She’s actually pretty proud of herself.”

  “Where is she?” Jack asked, craning his neck. He wasn’t going to believe she was okay until he saw her with his own eyes.

  “This way,” Max said, leading Jack and Brian through the small crowd of curious onlookers. “Maisie only made it about ten feet before Ivy was on her. Ivy even gave her a headstart.”

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Jack said. “Are you saying Ivy actually tackled Maisie?”

  Max smirked. “See for yourself.”

  Jack followed Max’s finger, his eyes widening when he realized what he was looking at. Maisie was flat on the ground, prone, and Ivy sat on her back as she twisted Maisie’s arm at the elbow and taunted her.

  “Tell me you’re sorry,” Ivy ordered.

  “I already said that,” Maisie whined. “What else do you want me to do?”

  “Tell her you’re going to stop whining about those boots,” Michael suggested, unwrapping another peanut butter treat and handing it to a happy Noah. For his part, the toddler didn’t seem upset. He was more curious than anything else.

  “I’m going to shut up about the boots,” Maisie said, fighting against Ivy’s grip. “Get off me, you cow!”

  “What the hell is going on?” Jack strode in the direction of the women, taking a moment to survey them – and feel a small thrill of delight given how beautiful Ivy looked – before wrapping his arm around Ivy’s waist and lifting her off Maisie.

  “I’m not done,” Ivy complained.

  “You’re done,” Jack said, placing her on the ground and pushing a strand of her wild hair out of her face. “What are you even doing here? You told me you were going to be downtown all day.”

  “No, I told you I was going to be doing festival stuff all day,” Ivy clarified. “I did my work downtown and now it’s time to get the greenhouse in order for the haunted house. I told you about that two weeks ago.”

  “I guess I didn’t realize you were doing that today,” Jack said, instinctively pressing his hand to Ivy’s forehead to make sure she wasn’t running a fever. She was flushed, but she looked exhilarated rather than sick. “Why were you sitting on Maisie?”

  “Because she’s evil,” Maisie answered, disdain practically dripping from her tongue as she rolled to a sitting position and dusted off her elbows. “I’m going to make you pay for this, you … witch.”

  “Shut up,” Brian ordered, pressing the heel of his hand to his forehead. “Does someone want to tell me what is going on?”

  “I will,” Max said, his arm shooting into the air.

  “I’m going to regret this, but go for it,” Brian said, shaking his head.

  “Ivy made me come here to help her with the greenhouse even though I already put in a hard day’s work,” Max began.

  “Tell the story faster than that, Max,” Brian ordered.

  “We were standing here and I mentioned I heard a rumor about Jeff Johnson seeing someone and it happened to be Maisie,” Max said. “Then she stormed in our direction and started yelling at Ivy.

  “At first we thought it was because of the boots,” he continued. “Dad put a kibosh on that and told Maisie she was a skank.”

  “I’m pretty sure I didn’t use that word,” Michael said dryly.

  “You did in my memory,” Max said. “When I tell the story down at the bar later, you’re going to use it multiple times. Anyway, Maisie accused Ivy of telling Jack that she was having an affair with Jeff and Ivy said she just found out, but she was going to tell Jack because they make googly eyes at one another twenty-four hours a day. Maisie reacted by smacking Ivy and then running like a terrified girl. Ivy tackled her and after watching for five minutes, I told someone to call you guys.”

  “Oh, is that all?” Brian was flabbergasted. “Ivy Morgan, you’re a grown woman. What are you doing attacking someone else?”

  Ivy had the grace to lower her eyes and be embarrassed. “She started it.”

  “And you finished it,” Max said, shooting Ivy a thumbs-up. “It was awesome. I even took photos on my phone.”

  Jack rubbed his cheek as he glanced between Ivy and Maisie, unsure how to proceed. He was on dangerous ground since Ivy was his girlfriend. He worried he might not be able to protect her if Maisie pressed charges.

  “Well, no harm was done,” Brian said.

  “No harm?” Maisie was incensed. “She tackled me into the dirt. I’m going to sue.”

  “If you do that, I’m going to arrest you for assault,” Brian said, catching Maisie off guard. “You did hit her first, after all.”

  “And threatened her after she was sick,” Michael added. “We all saw it.”

  “But … .” Maisie made a disgusted face. “I hate you people.”

  “That’s too bad,” Brian said. “We’re thrilled to see you. We’ve been looking for you for the past hour.”

  “Oh, she knew that,” Max offered. “She was hiding.”

  “Shut up, Max!” Maisie exploded, earning a warning look from Brian. “What? He started it.”

  “And I’m going to finish it,” Brian said. “I think you should come to the station with us, Maisie. We need to discuss a few things with you regarding your relationship with Jeff Johnson.”

  “Oh, what does it matter now?” Maisie complained. “Everything is out in the open. Everyone knows.”

  “Everyone knows what?” Jack pressed.

  “Everyone knows that Jeff and I were together and he was going to leave his wife,” Maisie replied. “There. Are you happy?”

  “Not even remotely,” Jack said. “You knew he was married, right?”

  Maisie shrugged. “So?”

  “You also knew he was about to become a father,” Brian pointed out. “How did you think that was going to work out for you?”

  “It’s not my fault Karen trapped him with a baby,” Maisie said, crossing her arms over her chest. “Jeff was a victim … and so was I. Our love was eternal.”

  “You’re more like the perpetrator,” Brian said. “Karen is the victim.”

  “They were also married for two years before Karen got pregnant,” Ivy challenged. “She didn’t trap him. You’re the trap … the death trap.”

  “More li
ke a herpes trap,” Max said, jumping back when Maisie lashed out and tried to smack him. “What did I say?”

  “That will be enough of that,” Brian said, grabbing Maisie’s arm and directing her toward the parking lot. “You need to come to the station with us. We have a lot to discuss.”

  “Fine,” Maisie said. “I don’t care where you take me as long as it’s away from these crazy people.”

  “Duly noted,” Jack said, shifting his eye back to Ivy. “Are you okay.”

  “I’m great.” Ivy’s smile was serene. “I feel like a million bucks.”

  “That’s good,” Jack said, kissing her cheek. “That means you’ll be able to bribe me for a truce when we fight later tonight.”

  Ivy’s smile slipped. “Are we really going to fight?”

  “Don’t worry. It will just be a small one.” Jack squeezed her hand before moving to follow Brian to the parking lot, pausing in front of Max when something occurred to him. “Email me copies of those photos.”

  It took Max a moment to realize what he was referring to. “You’re such a pervert.”

  Jack shrugged, unbothered. “She really was cute.”

  “I’ll send them right away.”

  Nine

  “We need to know when you last saw Jeff.”

  Maisie was easy to get into the police cruiser, but she was a bear when Jack and Brian got her back to the station. A few minutes of stewing in the back seat was all it took to get her juices flowing.

  “I think I want a lawyer,” Maisie said, reclining in the chair across Jack and Brian as she settled at the conference room table. “No, I definitely want a lawyer.”

  “You’re not under arrest,” Brian pointed out.

  “Then you can’t hold me.”

  “We’re not holding you,” Brian said. “If you want us to hold you, though, I’m sure Jack can get Ivy on the phone. My guess is that she’ll be more than willing to fill out a report regarding the assault.”

  “Assault? She’s the one who assaulted me,” Maisie said, her eyes flashing.