Wicked Fog (An Ivy Morgan Mystery Book 6)

by Lily Harper Hart

  “I’m sorry I’m late,” Jack said, averting his gaze. “Ivy’s stomach is still an iffy proposition and I had to make sure she got a bland breakfast in her before I could go.”

  “Uh-huh.” Brian didn’t believe that for a second. “Did you feed her yourself?”

  “I just made sure she had food.”

  “Are you sure?” Brian challenged. “You’re so codependent I can almost picture you feeding her … as if she was a little baby.”

  Jack made a disgusted face. “Ivy was very sick. I’m not sure that making fun of her is the right way to go … from a karma standpoint, I mean.”

  “Oh, son, you’re so full of crap it’s dangerous to flush because the pipes might get jammed,” Brian said, the corners of his mouth tipping up despite his best efforts to the contrary. “We both know you weren’t feeding Ivy … well, anything that can be talked about in polite circles, that is. I don’t care that you were late because you were doing the love shack limbo. I care that you were late when we’re working a murder case.”

  Jack stilled, a brief bout of shame washing over him. “You’re right. I shouldn’t have done that. It won’t happen again.”

  Brian studied him for a moment and then chuckled. “We both know it’s going to happen again. You can’t help yourself. I’ll let it go for today, though. We have bigger apples to bob this morning.”

  Jack tilted his head to the side. “Apples to bob?”

  “My wife won’t stop yammering about the festival and I’ve got apples on the brain because she runs the bobbing booth,” Brian replied. “I’m sorry.”

  “Ivy is really excited for the festival, too. She’s decking out the greenhouse and everything.”

  “She does that every year. It’s a sight to behold.”

  “Well, as long as she’s happy, I’m happy,” Jack said. “What’s the deal in here? Why are we calling on a funeral home?”

  “Because apparently Dave Johnson and Don Merriman are about to throw punches.”

  “Who are Dave Johnson and Don Merriman?”

  “Dave Johnson is Jeff Johnson’s father. Don Merriman is Karen Johnson’s father.”

  “Oh.” Jack creased his forehead. “Oh!”

  “Yes, there it is,” Brian intoned. “We have two fighting families in the middle of a murder … which means we might have motives coming out of our ears in the next few minutes. Be on the lookout.”

  “YOUR SON was a piece of filth!”

  Don Merriman stood in the center of the viewing room, his face red and his brow sweaty, and stared down Dave Johnson as two factions of the same extended family scurried away from the center of the storm.

  “My son might not have been perfect, but neither is your daughter,” Dave shot back. “If she was a better wife, none of this would’ve ever happened.”

  “You take that back.”

  “Suck my … .”

  “Okay, that will be enough of that,” Brian announced, stepping between the two men and placing his hands in the center of their chests to maintain distance. “Now, is this really the way you want to mourn your son, Dave?”

  “My son was murdered, and I’m pretty sure she did it.” Dave made the announcement in a theatrical manner and pointed at a disinterested Karen as she sat on a couch by the window. “I refuse to hold my tongue. She’s a murderer.”

  “And your son was a philanderer,” Don said. “If she did kill him, he deserved it.”

  “Thanks, Dad,” Karen intoned, glancing around. “Does anyone want to get this kid out of me so I can have a drink? I would really like a drink.”

  “The second that kid comes out of you, we’re suing for custody,” Dave raged. “You’d better hold it in there as long as you can, because once he’s out, he’s going to be coming home with me. Then you can drink all you want. Heck, then you can drink yourself to death. You’d be doing us all a favor.”

  “You shut your hole!” Don exploded.

  “I’m not shutting anything,” Dave said. “I’m taking that kid. Mark my words.”

  Karen snorted. “How do you figure that?”

  “Because you can’t take care of a baby,” Don replied. “You don’t have a job and you have no means of financially supporting a baby.”

  “I’m sure I’ll figure something out,” Karen muttered.

  “And I’m sure you won’t be raising that baby because you’ll be in prison for murdering my son!”

  Jack wasn’t familiar with the players, but he had no intention of letting a blustering fool like Dave Johnson attack a pregnant woman. “Knock it off,” he ordered, burning Dave with a harsh look. “That’s the mother of your grandchild.”

  “That woman doesn’t mean a thing to me,” Dave said, crossing his arms over his chest. “She killed my son.”

  “Oh, really?” Jack was in a good mood, but it wasn’t likely to last if the screaming continued. Dave’s tone alone irritated him. “How do you think she did that? She’s about to give birth any day. Your son easily weighed a hundred and eighty pounds. How did she manage to get him up on a cross in her condition?”

  Dave balked. “I … um … .” He obviously hadn’t considered that part of the equation.

  “Why would she kill him?” Brian pressed. “She was aware of her financial situation more than anyone. Wouldn’t it make far more sense for her to ignore Jeff’s infidelity to keep up appearances and a roof over her head?”

  “I … .” Dave’s cheeks colored.

  “Oh, look. He’s speechless. It’s a miracle,” Don said, clutching his hands together and staring at the ceiling. “Thank you, Lord.”

  “Knock that off,” Brian warned, poking Don’s arm to get his attention. “While we’re chatting here, it sounds as if you knew Jeff was running around. Did you know before or after his death?”

  “I’ve known for a month,” Don replied. He wasn’t shy in the least to offer up a motive for himself. “I’ve known since the first time it happened. Do you want to know how?”

  Brian shrugged. “Sure.”

  “Because Maisie told anyone who would listen,” Don said. “She’s a slut and she doesn’t care who knows it. Jeff had to want to get caught to sleep with her.”

  “Or get herpes,” someone on the other side of the room quipped.

  “That, too,” Don said. “I’ve known from the beginning. I didn’t know Karen knew – and I was honestly trying to keep it from her because she was so close to giving birth and I didn’t want to endanger the baby – but I knew. Before you ask, I didn’t kill him.”

  “Where were you three days ago?”

  “Um … .” Don tapped his chin. “Oh! That was the day I had to run down to Grand Rapids to pick up the new living room couch. The store will have a record of when I picked it up. I left at around eleven that morning and didn’t get back until about seven that night. After that I had dinner at the diner and recruited two guys to help me unload the couch before going home.”

  As far as alibis go, that was a fairly decent one in Jack’s book.

  “That doesn’t mean he didn’t do it,” Dave argued. “He could be lying.”

  “We’re going to check out everyone’s alibis, Dave,” Brian said. “For now, though, you guys need to knock this off. This is a time of mourning. Karen is about to have a baby and that’s forever going to join together your families. You need to suck it up and stop being children.”

  Dave and Don eyed each other for a moment.

  “I’m not sure that’s possible,” Dave said finally.

  “I know it’s not possible,” Don added. “He’s a snake … and he’s been threatening my daughter.”

  “I’m going to take that baby,” Dave spat.

  “By the time we’re done, you won’t even know this baby’s name,” Don shot back.

  Jack and Brian exchanged a dubious look as they tried to keep the two men from coming to blows. Now what?

  Twelve

  “Hello, darling daughter of mine.”

  Michael greeted I
vy with a bright smile as she entered the nursery, his eyes busy as they roamed her face. Her color was good, her smile welcoming, and she had almost an iridescent appeal as she waved at customers. She still seemed somehow … sad. That was the only word he could come up with to describe her.

  “Hello, Father,” Ivy said primly. “How are you this fine autumn day?”

  “Ugh. I can already tell you’re going to be a pain today,” Michael said, sitting in his usual chair behind the counter. “You look very … .”

  “Pretty?”

  “You always look pretty,” Michael said. “You’re my prettiest child.”

  “I can’t wait to tell Max.”

  “Max is my most handsome child,” Michael clarified. “Boys aren’t pretty.”

  “Jack is pretty.”

  “Does Jack know you refer to him as pretty?”

  “Jack lets me refer to him however I want,” Ivy replied, leaning her elbows on the countertop as she glanced around. “We’re busy today.”

  “Enjoy it,” Michael said. “In another month this place is going to be a ghost town.”

  “I know you don’t believe it, but I actually enjoy the downtime,” Ivy said. “It gives me a chance to work on my lotions and soaps without having to leave my house if the weather gets bad.”

  “You could always go to Florida with your mother and me. We never get snow down there.”

  “I … .” Ivy pursed her lips. She knew he was messing with her, but she didn’t want to hurt his feelings. “I have Nicodemus.”

  “Cats are allowed in Florida,” Michael pointed out, his eyes full of mirth. “Are you sure Nicodemus is the only one you’re worried about leaving?”

  Ivy made an exaggerated “well, duh” face. “Fine. You caught me. I’m not leaving Jack. Are you happy?”

  “Very,” Michael replied, grinning. “I think you two are adorable.”

  “You do not.”

  “I do, too,” Michael argued. “I can tell you’re in quite the mood today. What’s going on?”

  “I’m not in a mood,” Ivy clarified. “It’s more that … I had a nightmare.” She had no idea why she was opening up to her father, but she needed someone to talk to. With Jack and Max at work, she didn’t have a lot of options.

  Michael’s eyes turned somber as sympathy washed over him. “Did you have a nightmare about finding Jeff’s body and getting sick?”

  “Kind of.” Ivy rubbed her cheek and focused on the greenhouse, internally debating how much she should tell her father. “A few weird things have been happening since I met Jack.”

  “You mean the dream walking? Yeah. I heard about that.”

  Ivy was flabbergasted. She told Max … and Brian kind of knew, although he had no idea how it worked and seemed reluctant to explore it further … but she’d purposely kept it from her mother and father. The only other person who knew was her aunt.

  “Aunt Felicity told you, didn’t she?”

  “I guess a little,” Michael conceded. “Max let it slip when he was making fun of you and Jack for holing yourselves up in the house one weekend. He made it sound weirder than it was. Felicity was upset at his tone and she filled us in on the rest of it.”

  “Oh.” Ivy wasn’t used to feeling uncertain around her father. “What do you think of that?”

  “I’ve always know you were magic. This just proves it.”

  “But … do you think it’s weird?”

  Michael shrugged. “Does it matter? It’s happening, sweetheart. Whether it’s a product of you and Jack growing close to one another or something else entirely, I honestly don’t know. It doesn’t sound as if you can change it, though, so you might as well enjoy it.”

  “We do a lot of the time,” Ivy said. “We don’t do it every night, though. Jack insists on regular sleep and dreams … and I think he’s right. I don’t want to get too dependent on sharing our relationship in the dreams.”

  “I think that sounds practical,” Michael said. “So, what’s the problem?”

  “Well, last night we went to a castle,” Ivy replied. “It was my idea and then I didn’t like it because the bear rug kept staring at me.”

  Michael barked out a laugh. “Even in your dreams, you’re difficult. How cute. Continue.”

  “Jack decided to pick a different location, and I was going to follow but … .”

  “But what?”

  “Jeff Johnson showed up.”

  Michael licked his lips as he glanced around, making sure no one was eavesdropping before continuing. “I need more details, Ivy. Was he alive or dead in the dream?”

  “Both.”

  “I … .”

  “He was dead,” Ivy said. “Kind of like a zombie. His skin was gray and his neck was broken at an odd angle. I don’t think his neck was broken, though. Jack didn’t mention that.”

  “Does he tell you everything about his cases?”

  “No.”

  “Well, then perhaps you should ask,” Michael suggested. “Did Jeff say anything to you?”

  “Just that he didn’t want to die. He repeated it over and over again. It happened the other day in the corn maze, too.”

  Michael stilled. “You dreamed about Jeff when you passed out in the corn maze? I didn’t know that.”

  “That’s because I didn’t tell anyone but Jack,” Ivy said. “I don’t want people looking at me as if I’m strange and odd. Of course, that’s exactly how you’re looking at me, so I guess I was right to be worried.”

  “That’s not how I’m looking at you,” Michael countered. “I’m trying to understand what you’re saying. Did Jeff talk to you when you got sick in the corn maze?”

  “No. I saw his foot and passed out. I woke up briefly in a dark room, although it turned white. I kept hearing someone say that he didn’t want to die. I never saw a face and didn’t know it was Jeff at the time. Then I woke up immediately and got sick. I felt as if I was on fire.”

  “And you told this to Jack?”

  Ivy nodded.

  “What did he say?”

  “He said we would figure it out and not to worry,” Ivy replied. “I wasn’t worried until the dream last night. Jack played it off and told me that it was a regular nightmare and I shouldn’t get worked up about it, but the more I think about it, the more I’m certain that I was still in the dreamscape when Jeff found me.”

  “I don’t know what to think about this,” Michael admitted, rubbing his chin.

  Ivy’s heart sank. “You don’t believe me, do you?”

  “It’s not that I don’t believe you,” Michael clarified. “I have no basis for comparison so I can’t even picture what you’re describing. I believe you, though. Have you considered talking to your aunt about this? If anyone is going to understand what’s going on, it has to be her.”

  “I don’t know,” Ivy hedged. “I promised Jack I would stay close today. I don’t want to make a big deal out of it. What if it turns out to be nothing?”

  “What if it turns out to be something?”

  “I need to think,” Ivy said, forcing the dour expression from her face and smiling at her father. “I’ll be in the greenhouse.”

  “We’re not done talking about this.”

  “We are for now,” Ivy said. “I can’t make a decision until I have time to think. I need to be alone to think. I won’t be far if you need me.”

  “I think I’m the one who should be saying that,” Michael grumbled.

  “Fine.” Ivy blew out a sigh. “You’ll be close if I need you. Does that make you happy?”

  “Not even close,” Michael said. “I’m not in the mood to fight, though, so I’ll give you the time you need.”

  “Thank you. That’s all I ask.”

  IVY SPENT the next two hours working in the greenhouse, only taking a break when her shoulders started to ache and she wanted some fresh air. She stepped outside, inhaling deeply as she rolled her neck. She’d forgotten how much work she put into the haunted greenhouse each year. It was w
orth it, though.

  Ivy trailed her fingers along the glass as she walked the length of the building. She wasn’t in the right frame of mind to see other people but stretching her legs held a lot of appeal. In truth, she wanted to stretch her legs in the direction of her fairy ring. It was mostly empty this time of year – the mushrooms that formed the magical ring dead – but it was still her happy place. In a few weeks the snow would be too thick to visit it at all.

  Ivy made up her mind on the spot. She’d promised Jack she wouldn’t wander away without a chaperone, but the fairy ring was on her property and only a few minutes away. She could get there, spend a few minutes relaxing, and then get back without anyone noticing. Jack would be none the wiser.

  Even though she knew she was breaking her promise, Ivy stepped into the thick foliage without a backward glance. She wasn’t lying to her father when she said she needed time to think. She couldn’t do that if her head wasn’t in the right place, and the only place she wanted to be was the fairy ring.

  So that’s the direction she headed.

  “WELL, well, well. Look what we have here.”

  Michael made a face when he saw Jack approaching the front counter shortly before noon. The police officer had three huge bags of food from the diner in his hands, and a wistful smile on his face. The smile slipped when he saw Michael.

  “Mr. Morgan.”

  “I’ve told you to call me Michael.”

  “Michael,” Jack said, his smile sheepish. “Is Ivy here?”

  “That depends,” Michael replied. “What’s in those bags?”

  Jack pursed his lips. He’d been hoping to surprise Ivy with lunch – and another greenhouse picnic – and make sure she was okay at the same time. He thought the picnic idea would make good cover. “A hamburger and fries for me. I got Ivy the veggie wrap and fries.”

  “Oh, that looks fun,” Michael said. “You have three bags, though.”