“I like that about her, too. That’s what attracted me to her.”
“And here I thought it was the fact that she was mouthy and beautiful.”
“Don’t get me wrong, I noticed those things right away, too. It was what I found inside that captivated me, though. She’s funny. She has a good heart. She’s playful and energetic. She’s also perfectly happy with a book and a blanket in front of the fire. She doesn’t need constant attention. She’s fine doing things on her own. Heck, sometimes I wish she’d ask for help more often. The other day I found her trying to carry a box that must’ve weighed seventy-five pounds up the stairs by herself. She’s a complete person, though. She’s completely unique, but complete.”
“Oh, you’re so far gone it’s sad.” Brian’s tone was light and full of teasing. “I think you’re a good match, though.”
“I know we are,” Jack confirmed. “That being said, I was absolutely stunned when I found out she was in that pageant as a kid. Not only was she in it, she tried to win it.”
“She didn’t try to win because she wanted to be queen of the festival. She tried to win because Maisie and Ava were always little jerks.”
“It seems age hasn’t mellowed them at all,” Jack noted. Ava, the police chief’s daughter, worked in the office and she was always hitting on him. At first Jack thought it was because he was the new guy in town and pickings were slim. Actually, that was exactly why Ava started flirting. She moved things up a notch when she found out he was dating Ivy. Ever since the engagement became public, she’d been downright desperate in her attempts to get him to look her way. “I don’t get Luna, though. I would think the last thing she wanted was her only daughter in a beauty pageant.”
“Because she’s so hippy-dippy?” Brian asked, grinning as he pictured Ivy’s bohemian mother. “I don’t think she realized what would happen. Heck, none of us realized what would happen. We should have. Ivy is competitive by nature. I think it comes from spending so much time with Max.”
“Ivy has been a bit … evasive … when it comes to relating exactly what happened at that pageant,” Jack noted. “She only says she didn’t want to be in it, Luna made her, she decided she needed to win it because she hated the people she was competing against, and that she dropped out hours before the pageant. She also said it caused a rift with Max for a bit of time. She’s never told me exactly what happened.”
“I think that’s between you and her.”
“Come on. Tell me.”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“Because, if Ivy wants you to know, she’ll tell you,” Brian replied. “Personally, I don’t think she’ll want to tell you out of embarrassment alone. If she does, though, I’ll be really impressed.”
“Why?”
“Because, to my knowledge, she’s never talked about it again,” Brian answered. “Luna and Michael never bring it up. Max doesn’t either. Maisie and Ava don’t bring it up because of … well … the thing.”
“Oh, see? You have to tell me now.” Jack was positively salivating. “What did my beautiful bride-to-be do?”
“I’m not telling. That’s between you and her.”
Jack pursed his lips. He was a patient man. He could wait until Ivy was ready to tell him on her own. Of course, he was also a determined man. “I’ve got twenty bucks that says she tells me before Monday.”
Brian looked Jack up and down for a beat and then shrugged. “I can always use twenty bucks. You’ve got yourself a deal.”
JANET DANIELS LOOKED like a woman on the verge of a collapse when Jack and Brian met her outside Aubrey’s room. The shadows under her eyes were big enough to hide in, and even though he didn’t know her well, Jack was certain the woman was about to pass out. Apparently his partner agreed.
“Sit down, Janet,” Brian instructed, grabbing the woman by the arm and leading her to a chair in the small waiting area across from the nurse’s station. “When was the last time you slept?”
Janet laughed hollowly. “What day is it?”
“You need to rest, keep up your strength,” Brian chided. “You’re going to need your strength when Aubrey regains consciousness.”
“If she regains consciousness.”
Brian sat for a beat, unsure what to say. Finally, he went with his gut. “I believe she’s going to wake up. I talked to her doctors. They’re hopeful. They’ve managed to reverse some of the organ damage and flush her system. I have faith she’s going to be okay.”
“I know you’re right. It’s just … so much.” Janet swiped at an errant tear on her cheek. “Her father is in with her now. We try to keep someone in with her at all times so, when she does wake, the first face she sees will be a friendly one.”
“That sounds like a good plan,” Brian said. “You need to get some rest, though. You need it for yourself as well as Aubrey.”
“I can’t rest until she wakes up. I just … can’t.”
“Okay, well … you still need to take care of yourself,” Brian said. “We’re not here to take up much of your time, but we thought we should touch base. What can you tell us about the days leading up to the incident?”
“There’s not much to tell.” Janet rubbed the palms of her hands over her knees as she tried to get comfortable. “It was a normal couple of days. Aubrey had school and she couldn’t stop talking about the pageant.”
“Was it her idea or yours to join the pageant?” Jack asked.
“Definitely hers,” Janet replied. “I’ve never been one for pageants. She was excited about it, though. She liked the idea of riding on a float. I didn’t see the harm in it. It’s not my thing, but she’s a teenager. All the other girls were doing it so, of course, she wanted to do it, too.”
“We’ve been talking to some of the other girls and know that Aubrey was considered a frontrunner,” Jack said. “We also know the competition between the girls was sometimes fierce. Did she have problems with any specific girls?”
“I hate to keep using the excuse that she was a teenager, but that’s all I can come up with. All the girls were fighting. One day Aubrey would be best friends with one of them and the next she swore they were enemies. The whole thing was kind of dramatic.”
“Okay, but if she was complaining about the girls, she must’ve had words with them,” Jack pressed. “Do you remember what girls she was fighting with?”
“I know she had words with Sadie Graham, but as far as I can tell all of the girls had words with Sadie,” Janet replied. “She’s just like her mother, a real pain in the keister.”
Jack bit back a smirk, but just barely. “Anyone other than Sadie?”
“I think she fought with Mackenzie Sutton, but mostly because Mackenzie wasn’t taking the pageant seriously and that bothered Aubrey,” Janet said. “She also fought with Peyton Miller. Peyton was frustrated about being cut out of the competition – something I didn’t think that was right, mind you – and she tried to get Aubrey to drop out so she could have her spot.”
“We talked to Peyton,” Brian said. “She didn’t mention that altercation.”
“Do you blame her?” Janet’s expression was rueful. “Listen, I’m not going to make excuses for Aubrey. She was being something of a drama queen about this pageant. With Peyton knocked out, Aubrey was considered the frontrunner … whatever that means. Aubrey got all puffed out about it even though I thought it was ridiculous.
“Despite all that, though, I know Peyton,” she continued. “She’s been to the house on and off throughout the years. She and Aubrey have always run hot and cold. I doubt very much she’s capable of poisoning anyone.”
“We went through your garage and didn’t find any antifreeze,” Brian said. “We didn’t find any traces in the house either. The problem we have is that antifreeze can be purchased anywhere and you don’t need a license or anything to buy it. Anyone in close proximity could’ve poisoned Aubrey.”
“There’s also been another incident,” Jack added. “Someone slipped a
ntifreeze into Mackenzie’s bottle, but she didn’t drink it because someone else noticed the color was off and knocked it out of her hand.”
“Well, that at least is a relief,” Janet said, pressing her hand to her heart. “If whoever is doing this is trying to knock out girls at the top of the pack, why would this individual go after Mackenzie? She’s not at the top of any list.”
“No, but it could’ve been an accident,” Jack noted. “The bottle might’ve been meant for someone else.”
“Oh, well, I didn’t even think about that.”
“I need to ask about Aubrey’s relationship with Simone Graham,” Brian said. “Some things have come to light about Simone’s actions – and we are looking at her as a suspect right now, although we don’t have any damning proof – and I was wondering if Simone said anything to Aubrey that might be of interest.”
“Simone Graham is pretty much the world’s worst person,” Janet said, straightening her shoulders. “I’m not joking. She is terrible. I wouldn’t put it past her to poison Aubrey.”
“Why do you say that?”
“It’s her attitude. She thinks that Sadie is somehow destined to win the pageant. I don’t care who wins the pageant. I mean … I would’ve been happy for Aubrey if she won. It’s not some great accomplishment in my book, though. I would’ve been more proud if she put the same effort into her studies as she did pageant practice.
“The thing is, Simone wouldn’t stop talking to me as if Sadie was on the verge of curing cancer simply because she was participating,” she continued. “Simone made that pageant out to be something it wasn’t. She was almost manic about the whole thing.”
“I wonder … .” Jack mused to himself, shifting on his chair.
“You wonder what?” Brian asked, legitimately curious.
“I have an idea for something, but you might not be up for it, Mrs. Daniels,” Jack started. “If you’re not okay with it, just tell me. The fact that we’re dealing with so many suspects, though, makes me think we need to set a trap of sorts to flush out the guilty party.”
Janet leaned forward, intrigued. “What do you have in mind?”
“Yeah, what do you have in mind?” Brian asked, his tone reflecting suspicion.
“Well, we’ve been purposely vague about Aubrey’s condition,” Jack started. “What if we were to spread the word that she’s not only awake but wants to talk to us because she knows who poisoned her?”
“Oh.” Realization washed over Brian. “You literally want to set a trap.”
“I do,” Jack confirmed.
“How will that work?” Janet asked.
“Well, we’ll set up a fake room with a fake Aubrey, make sure that people know she’s awake, and then see who comes to pay a visit,” Jack replied. “We might get lucky and find someone really desperate to see Aubrey even if we put restrictions on visitors.”
“Would Aubrey be in any danger?”
“None at all.”
Janet made her decision on the spot. “Then let’s do it.”
“We’ll have to put the wheels in motion tonight,” Jack said. “That clears the way for the culprit to try to get over here early tomorrow.”
“We’ll have the hospital lock down this area completely tonight,” Brian said. “That means there will only be a small, controllable window to deal with tomorrow.”
“The pageant is tomorrow, though,” Janet argued. “If Simone is the guilty party, she’ll never leave the pageant.”
“Oh, Simone isn’t in charge of the pageant any longer,” Jack said. “The town council stepped in and removed her. Ivy has taken over.”
Instead of being surprised, Janet barked out a laugh. It was low and guttural and took all three of them by surprise. “I’m sorry,” Janet said, patting her chest as her cheeks bloomed with color. “It’s just funny to me. After what happened when Ivy participated, I would’ve thought for sure she wanted nothing to do with the pageant ever again.”
“And what did happen?” Jack asked.
“Don’t tell him,” Brian interjected. “We have a bet and he needs to get Ivy to tell him.”
“Oh, well, she’ll never tell you that story.” Janet was certain. “I remember that pageant, though. I was rooting for her the entire time.”
“Yeah, now I definitely have to find out,” Jack said. “That’s for another time, though. For now, we need to talk logistics and come up with a plan. If we’re lucky, by this time tomorrow we’ll know exactly who did this to Aubrey … and why.”
“And maybe she really will wake up by then,” Janet added hopefully.
“We’re all hoping for that,” Jack said. “I have a feeling it’s going to happen very soon.”
“From your lips to God’s ears.”
Seventeen
“You’re going to do what?”
Ivy spoke louder than she intended and Jack felt obliged to slap his hand over her mouth as they huddled in the corner of the barn and discussed his idea for a trap.
“You have a huge mouth,” Jack muttered, shaking his head when his gaze snagged with Max’s curious eyes. “Do you ever think before you speak?”
Ivy made a disgusted face as she jerked back her head and glared. “What did you just say to me?”
Jack stared at her long and hard, internally debating how badly he wanted to avoid a fight. Finally, he merely shrugged. “I love you more than anything. You have a huge mouth, though.”
As if to argue, Ivy opened that huge mouth and then snapped it shut. He wasn’t wrong. “I’m sorry. You just took me by surprise when you said what you said.”
“Which is why I wanted to take you outside to say it.”
“Well, it’s cold. Next time remind me of this moment and force me to go outside.” Ivy adopted a pragmatic tone. “I’m sorry. They have no idea what we’re talking about.”
“No, and it’s lucky that you can pretend to be surprised by what I told you later,” Jack said. “We need to find a way for the information to get out about Aubrey. We need to make sure all of them know.”
“I can easily manage that,” Ivy said. “We can either make an announcement, framing it as if it’s a good thing that Aubrey is awake and going to make a statement tomorrow so they’ll be safe soon, or we can simply talk loudly and let them overhear. You just said I’m good at talking loudly.”
“You’re the best at talking loudly,” Jack agreed, refusing to offer up an apology no matter how hard she dug for one. “What do you think? Do you think it will work? We’re trying to narrow down a timeframe. The floor will be completely shut down for the night – no one on or off – and then we’ll be there tomorrow morning to watch whoever comes.”
“I think it has a very good chance of working,” Ivy replied. “Tomorrow is the pageant, though. If it’s one of the competitors … .”
“They might not risk it,” Jack finished, scratching at the back of his neck as he considered the statement. It was a nervous habit of his. He always did it when he was consumed with a case. It drove Ivy crazy because the skin always ended up red and sensitive.
“Stop that,” Ivy ordered, slapping at his hand. She rolled up to the balls of her feet to look. “I have more lotion for you.” She made lotions in her free time, ones Jack absolutely loved to rub over her lithe body when it was cold and they were trying to stay warm in front of the fire. “You need to stop scratching like that.”
“I can’t help myself.”
“I know, but that looks painful.”
“It’s not.”
“It looks it.”
“You would argue with the Pope just to get a rise out of him, wouldn’t you?” Jack grinned at Ivy’s uncomfortable expression. “I guess that’s why you drive me crazy and make my heart race all at the same time, huh?”
“You’re a putz.” Ivy flicked the spot between his eyebrows. “I love you, too.”
“I think this is our best shot, Ivy.” Jack turned serious. “We’re running out of time. The pageant is tomorrow. After tha
t, the girls are going to scatter to the wind. We’ll be able to keep our focus on Simone, but if she’s not guilty … .”
“Then a very dangerous girl might get away with attempted murder,” Ivy finished.
“Exactly.”
“Then we won’t let it happen,” Ivy said, forcing a smile. “We’ll make sure they all know. I think the safest bet is making an announcement but frame it as a good thing, as if none of them are suspects. That way we know they’re all aware.”
“That sounds like a good idea. After that, I was thinking we would go to dinner.”
Ivy’s smile dipped. “Aunt Felicity is insisting that Max and I go to dinner so we can make up.”
“I happen to think that’s a good idea. We’ll all go to dinner.”
“I don’t want to make up.” Ivy jutted out her lower lip and folded her arms across her chest, adopting what Jack considered to be the world’s most adorable pout.
“You’ll live.” Jack tapped her chin. “You love your brother and you’re not happy when you’re in the middle of a fight. Suck it up. You’re both adults.”
Ivy made an exaggerated expression. “Whose side are you on?”
“I’m always on your side, even when you’re wrong. Just because I don’t happen to agree with you doesn’t mean I’m not on your side.”
“But … .”
“No.” Jack shook his head to cut her off, firm. “You’re making up. I’ve had it, too. We’ll all have dinner together … just as soon as we make our announcement. Are you guys done with practice?”
“As done as we’re going to get,” Ivy replied. “I’ve watched that opening number so many times I think I could do it and I have negative rhythm.”
Jack snorted, genuinely amused. “I happen to like your rhythm.”
“You’re just saying that because you’re a sap.”
“Guilty as charged.”
Ivy briefly gripped Jack’s hand and gave it a squeeze. “Let’s get this over with, shall we?”
“Definitely.”
“Okay.” Ivy shuffled back to the main room and cleared her throat, waiting until almost thirty sets of expectant eyes turned in her direction. “I have really good news everyone. Aubrey has woken up.”
Wicked Hearts (An Ivy Morgan Mystery Book 9) Page 15