“I got cake for desert, too.”
“Oh, you’re so cute I just want to kiss you,” Michael said, winking. “Do you have enough for me in there, too?”
“I … .” Jack’s heart dropped. He was hoping for some alone time with Ivy. “Of course. You can have whatever you want.”
Michael made a clucking sound with his tongue. “I can’t say you don’t have good manners, son,” he said. “As for lunch, I brought my own. I was just messing with you.”
Jack was secretly relieved. “Oh, well, we’ll miss you.”
“And there are those manners again.” Michael was enjoying himself. “You have much better manners than Ivy.”
“She just has a different way of expressing herself,” Jack said. “Speaking of Ivy, where is she?”
“I think she’s still in the greenhouse,” Michael said, falling into step with Jack as they moved in that direction. “I’m going to check out there with you so I can mess with her – tell her I’m horning in on your lunch – and then I’ll leave you to it.”
Jack cast a sidelong look in Michael’s direction. “I always wondered where Max got that sadistic streak of his when it comes to teasing Ivy. Now I realize he got it from you.”
“Yeah, Max is a natural,” Michael said, puffing out his chest as they reached the greenhouse. “Now, let me do the talking. Oh, Ivy! Jack bought the three of us lunch. We’re going to have a cozy picnic together.”
Jack swallowed his laughter as he followed Michael into the building, pulling up short when he realized Michael was standing in the middle of the room but there wasn’t another human being in sight. “What’s going on?”
“She’s not here,” Michael said. “I saw her go in here a few hours ago. I don’t understand.”
Even though he knew outright fear with nothing to back it up was unreasonable, Jack’s stomach twisted. He tried to remain overtly calm as he placed the food bags on the counter. “When was the last time you saw her?”
“When she told me about the dreams – I already knew most of that stuff, by the way, so don’t have a meltdown – and then said she needed to think about what she saw last night before calling her aunt,” Michael replied.
Jack wasn’t particularly surprised that Ivy confided about their unsettling evening to her father. “She said she needed to think?”
“Yes.”
Things clicked into place for Jack. “I know exactly where she is.”
“Where?”
“She’s at the fairy ring … and I’m going to kill her.”
IVY was lost in thought as she sat on the cold ground, her legs crossed and her palms resting on her knees. The weathered tree – which appeared to have a face – stared at her as she closed her eyes.
Ivy rolled her neck, releasing all negative thoughts just like Felicity taught her the first time she tried to meditate as a teenager. She focused inward instead of outward and then … jolted. A picture flashed through her mind, but it wasn’t the one she expected. Instead she saw a vision of a woman sitting in a wooded field. It took her a moment to realize it was her, but the point of view seemed to indicate she was watching herself … from behind.
Ivy opened her eyes and jerked around, staring into the trees. Since it was fall, the leaves were missing from the branches and scattered about the carpeted forest. There were a few pine trees that afforded shelter and camouflage, including one that would offer cover to someone spying on her from the exact location as the vision suggested.
Ivy’s heart hammered as she rolled to her feet, her eyes never leaving the tree. The sound of a branch snapping in that direction caused her stomach to twist. She had no idea what to do.
“Hello?”
It was a lame greeting, but her mind was blank when she tried to think of another option. The only thing coursing through her mind was getting away from the tree. She could run to her house – which was closer – but she would have to travel too close for comfort to that location if she picked that direction. The only other option was the nursery.
Ivy didn’t give it another second of thought, turning to her right and bolting in that direction. This time she was sure she heard footsteps, but she didn’t glance over her shoulder because she knew it would slow her down. She increased her pace, the blood rushing past her ears and drowning out everything else, and when she turned a corner she slammed into a wide chest.
She slapped out wildly, trying to step back and keep her balance at the same time. How did he get ahead of me when he was coming from the other direction? “Let me go!”
Jack wouldn’t let her go, though. “It’s me.”
The words were welcome, but Ivy couldn’t stop the tears when she realized she was safe. “Jack!”
Thirteen
“Good morning, Sunshine.”
Max was all smiles when Jack opened the front door to Ivy’s house the next morning. Jack couldn’t muster the energy to match the grin so he pressed his finger to his lips instead.
“Are you telling me to be quiet, or that I’m number one in your heart?” Max quipped.
“Ivy is still asleep and if you wake her up I’m going to punch you,” Jack warned.
The seriousness of the moody police officer’s expression told Max it was probably prudent to take his antics down a notch. “What’s going on? Your text just told me to get over here.”
Jack backed up so he could glance down the hallway and focus on the bedroom. The door was firmly shut and Ivy was out of it when he left her in the warm bed so he could shower. He checked on her again upon exiting the bathroom, tucked her feet under the covers even though he knew she would poke them out again, and quietly left her with what he hoped were pleasant dreams. He wanted her to remain quiet and oblivious until he’d already left for work. Leaving Max to deal with her ire was much better than taking on the dragon himself.
“Ivy is … going through something,” Jack said, choosing his words carefully.
“Oh, that time of the month?” Max nodded sagely. “Just give her some Midol PMS and a bar of chocolate. She’ll thaw.”
“Not that,” Jack said, cuffing Max. “This is serious.”
“It’s hard to take you seriously when you’re sneaking around in the dead of the morning,” Max said, sitting in the overstuffed chair at the edge of the living room. “What’s going on?”
Jack licked his lips. He decided to hold nothing back when relating the past couple of days to Max. He didn’t want the man to be in the dark. He launched into the tale, keeping things as brief as possible, and when he was done he couldn’t help but hate the impish grin on Max’s face.
“You’re just messing with me, aren’t you?” Max glanced around the room, focusing on the ceiling corners. “Are you filming me so Ivy can put it up on Facebook or something?”
“I’m serious,” Jack said, tugging on his limited patience. He was starting to regret calling Max for reinforcements. The last thing Ivy needed was someone making fun of her when she was struggling. “When I found her by the fairy ring yesterday, she was terrified. She thought someone was watching her.”
“You said she had a vision where she was watching herself.”
“Yeah, I know,” Jack said. “She believes she somehow … I don’t know … got into the killer’s brain. That’s what I managed to ascertain between the tears … and then the inevitable silence, anyway.”
“We have to be on a hidden camera show,” Max said, swiveling his head as he searched the room. “You’re totally messing with me.”
“I am not messing with you and if you say that again I’m going to punch you,” Jack hissed. “She’s upset. She thinks she’s losing her mind. She’s convinced someone was in those woods watching her. She thinks someone was following her and that’s why she ran.”
“What do you think?” Max asked, forcing himself to be serious. “Did you see anyone in the woods?”
“No, but I wasn’t looking either,” Jack replied. “I went out there searching for her and she just came …
booking … around the corner and smacked right into me. Her heart was racing and she was flushed. I thought maybe she was sick again, but then I realized it was something else. She was legitimately terrified.”
“No offense, but I know my sister better than you,” Max said. “She wouldn’t be terrified of a stranger in the woods. She would be far more likely to beat him up than run.”
“She’s not terrified of someone hurting her – although I would encourage a few more self-preservation thoughts where she’s concerned,” Jack said. “She’s terrified that she’s going crazy. How can you not understand that?”
The serious set of Jack’s shoulders told Max the man was not embellishing the matter. He legitimately believed it. The realization had a sobering effect on him. “She’s not crazy,” he said after a beat. “Maybe she really is seeing things through the killer’s eyes.
“You said she saw something the day she found Jeff Johnson’s body,” he continued. “What was it?”
“She just went someplace else for a few seconds,” Jack explained. “She said that it wasn’t a place, but she could hear someone saying he didn’t want to die.”
“Jeff?”
“That’s what she thinks.”
“So … what? Do you think she’s psychic?” Max was beyond confused. “I’m not sure I believe in that stuff.”
“I didn’t believe in any of it before I met her,” Jack said. “Then I started sharing dreams with her, and we could control our locations and interact with one another. That’s not normal either. That doesn’t mean it’s not wonderful.
“I think she’s gifted,” he continued. “I think she’s always been gifted and for some reason her abilities are just starting to show. I have no idea why. I have faith in her and believe she’s going to figure this out. We just have to give her time.”
“Okay,” Max said. “What do you want me to do?”
“Watch her,” Jack replied. “I don’t want her alone and I have to work on the Johnson case. It’s more important than ever now. The sooner we solve it, the sooner things go back to normal.”
“You hope.”
“Yes, I definitely hope that,” Jack said. “I don’t want her alone in case it happens again.”
“You mean you don’t want me alone in case I lose my mind in a public setting, right?”
Jack sucked in a breath when he heard Ivy’s voice, shifting his gaze to the hallway and finding her watching them with a dark expression on her face. She was in fuzzy sleep pants and a T-shirt, her long hair standing up in a hundred different directions. She looked both beautiful and terrible at the same time.
“No, that’s not what I said or meant,” Jack said.
“Here it comes,” Max whispered. “She’s going to kill us both.”
Jack ignored him. “Ivy, you said yourself that someone was in the woods with you yesterday,” Jack said, choosing his words carefully. “That means someone is following you. Maybe he realizes you’re somehow getting into his head.”
“You don’t believe that’s what’s happening, though.” Ivy’s voice was accusatory.
“I don’t know what’s happening and I refuse to put you at risk,” Jack said, keeping his tone even. He was determined not to let her draw him into a fight. “You mean too much to me. I want you safe, and that means you’re spending the day with Max.”
“You’re not the boss of me.” Ivy crossed her arms over her chest, the tilt of her chin reflecting willful stubbornness. “I can take care of myself.”
Jack’s patience was about to hit a wall. “Is that why you were shaking and crying when I found you yesterday?”
“I … .” Ivy’s eyes clouded over. “I don’t need a babysitter.”
“Max is not a babysitter,” Jack said. “Max is your willing slave and he’s excited to help you with the greenhouse preparations.”
“Thanks, man,” Max deadpanned. “I love being volunteered for manual labor.”
“You’ll live,” Jack shot back. “I want her safe no matter what. That’s the most important thing to me.”
“Don’t worry, man. I’m on it.”
Jack shifted his eyes to Ivy. “Will you please agree to spend the day with Max?”
“No.”
“Please?”
Ivy was angry, but Jack appeared so desperate she couldn’t add to his distress. “Fine. I’m still really mad at you, though.”
“I guess that’s going to be my cross to bear this afternoon,” Jack said. “I can put up with that as long as I know you’re safe.”
“I’m really mad,” Ivy threatened. “Like … you’re going to have to rub my back for three hours straight tonight I’m so mad.”
Jack’s lips curled. “Done.”
“Fine,” Ivy said. “I’m going to be really mean to Max, though.”
“I think that’s fair,” Jack said, pressing his lips together as she stalked down the hallway. He didn’t move until she slammed the bedroom door. “Don’t let her out of your sight, Max. Something is going on here. Until we figure out what it is, I don’t want her left alone.”
“I’m not going to leave her alone, but when she’s mean to me – and we both know that wasn’t an idle threat – I’m going to take it out on you,” Max said.
“I would rather face your wrath than hers,” Jack said. “She’s much more frightening.”
“Isn’t that the truth,” Max muttered. “Did you see that hair?”
Jack smiled. “I happen to like the hair.”
“You are one whipped man.”
“And somehow I’m fine with that,” Jack said. “I’m trusting you, Max. Don’t let her bully you into walking away. This is important.”
“Yeah, yeah. I’ve got it. Now … go. I’ll take care of the Midwest’s wickedest witch.”
“Make sure you do.”
“YOU NEED to give Jack a break.”
Max spent the better part of the morning trying to appeal to Ivy’s reasonable side. When he realized it wouldn’t be visiting his sister’s home today, he decided to play on her sympathy.
“I don’t need to do anything,” Ivy countered.
“He’s worried about you,” Max said. “That’s allowed because he’s in love with you and he’s already at that place where he hurts when you hurt … or he freaks out when you freak out … or he believes in magic when you believe in magic.”
Ivy elbowed Max’s stomach as she moved in front of him and hit the trail that led from her house to the nursery. She cast a forlorn look in the direction of her fairy ring – which was out of sight but at the forefront of her brain – as she passed.
“I wish he wouldn’t have told you any of that,” Ivy grumbled. “It wasn’t his place.”
“I’m your brother.”
“I don’t care.”
“I love you, too,” Max said. “You don’t have to hide things from me. I may tease you, but when it comes down to it, I’ll always have your back. You know that, right?”
Ivy sighed as she ran her finger over the tender spot between her eyebrows. “I love you, too. You’re a pain in the butt, though.”
“I know.”
“I think you might be a mental midget, too.”
“It’s not nice to use the ‘M’ word.”
“Midget?” Ivy wrinkled her nose. “Since when is that a bad word?”
“I was talking about mental,” Max said. “You’re the one who thinks you were looking through a killer’s eyes. I think that makes you mental.”
“I want to kick you.”
“I might let you if … .” Max broke off and stared into the woods, uncertain. “Let’s go to the fairy ring.”
Ivy balked. “What? Why?”
“Because I want you to show me exactly where you think someone was watching you from,” Max replied. “We might be able to spot footprints or something. Did Jack look?”
“No. He was more interested in getting me back to the nursery … and then hovering for the entire afternoon. He wouldn’t leave
my side and I didn’t want to go back to the clearing.”
“Are you afraid to go there now?”
Ivy took the question as a challenge. “I’m not afraid of anything.”
“We both know that’s not true,” Max said. “You’re afraid of my mental superiority … and you’re not hugely fond of spiders.”
Ivy snorted and made an exaggerated face.
“You’re also afraid of my manliness and the fact that I’ll put your head in my armpit if you’re not careful,” Max threatened.
Ivy blew out a sigh. He always knew exactly which buttons to push. “Fine. Lead the way. If someone is out there, though, I’m totally running. It’s going to be up to you to keep up.”
“Don’t worry,” Max said, slinging an arm over her shoulders as they headed into the trees. “I’ll protect you, dear sister.”
“Somehow I think I’m going to be the one protecting you if we’re attacked,” Ivy muttered.
It took the duo five minutes to reach the fairy ring, and when they did, Ivy instinctively drew closer to her brother. Max noticed the movement but didn’t comment. Internally he was upset, though. This was Ivy’s favorite place. He was angry anyone would dare attempt to ruin it for her.
“Where were you?” Max asked.
Ivy pointed to the spot right in front of the tree. “There.”
“Okay. Go and sit exactly how you were sitting.”
Ivy didn’t look thrilled with the prospect. “Max … .”
“It will be fine. I promise.”
Ivy scuffed her boots against the fallen leaves as she trudged to the location and lowered herself to the ground. She refused to turn her back in case Max was attacked – or if something else happened – and watched as Max moved closer to the pine tree.
“Is this the tree?” Max asked.
“Yeah. I heard a branch snap … after.”
“Okay.” Max moved to the side of the tree and peered behind it. He briefly considered pretending someone was grabbing his arm, but he didn’t think Ivy’s frazzled nerves could take the joke so he opted to play it straight instead. “The leaves are disturbed back here.”
“They are?” Ivy didn’t know if she was relieved or more worried by the admission.
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