Brian slid Jack a sidelong look, something unsaid passing between them. “I almost forgot about Sarah,” he said after a beat. “She doesn’t visit much, does she? Do you visit her?”
“Sarah is no longer a part of my family,” Simone replied. “She’s … on her own.”
Jack stilled. “You cut her out of your life because she lost the pageant?”
“She cut me out of her life because she blamed me for losing the pageant,” Simone corrected. “Oh, she said it was because I pushed her to the do the pageant and treated her unfairly, but I knew what was really under it.”
“I’m not sure you did,” Brian hedged. “From what I remember of Sarah, she was a good but troubled girl. She had a wild side and got caught at the occasional field party. She wasn’t terribly bad, though.”
“She clearly wasn’t good enough to win the pageant,” Simone argued. “Of course, the fix was in that year. My enemies made sure that Sarah couldn’t win. I won’t allow that to happen with Sadie.”
“Enemies, huh?” Brian wasn’t impressed. In fact, he was internally debating whether they should call a psychiatrist to chat with Simone before they questioned her. She was that far gone. “Who are these enemies?”
“It’s everyone. It’s the entire town. Ivy is the ringleader.”
Jack cast a dubious look over his shoulder. “If you think Ivy cares what you do with your time … or about that stupid pageant … you’re woefully mistaken.”
“She does care,” Simone argued. “She’s always hated me. That’s why she came after my pageant.”
“She doesn’t care about that pageant. She hates that pageant.”
“She only says things like that to throw you off track,” Simone argued. “She wants you to believe she’s above it all, but she’s still bitter because she blames me for losing the crown.”
“That’s not what she blames you for,” Jack snapped. “She blames you for giving Maisie and Ava the idea to take photos of her when she was naked. What kind of adult does that, by the way? What kind of adult encourages kids to prey on other kids?”
“I only told them to do that because I was certain they would lose if they didn’t step up their game,” Simone argued. “Ivy had no talent, but everyone thought she was pretty. She pretended she didn’t notice, but I knew she was playing a game. She was also a sentimental favorite. She could’ve won if they weren’t careful, and you don’t want someone like Ivy to win.”
Jack clutched his hands into fists on his lap, frustration warring with curiosity. “I don’t know what that means. Why don’t you want someone like Ivy to win?”
“Because she’s not a pageant person,” Simone replied, not missing a beat. “Pageant people should win pageants. Ivy didn’t want to be there. She certainly shouldn’t have won the pageant. She looked down her nose the entire time she was there. Did you know that?”
“No, but it doesn’t surprise me.”
“She didn’t want to be there and she could’ve won,” Simone continued. “That’s not how the world is supposed to work. Only people who want to be in pageants, work hard for it, should win.”
Jack shifted so he could face Brian. “Do you believe this?”
“She’s clearly off her rocker,” Brian said. “I think she might need more than a lawyer when we hit town.”
“That’s what I think, too. We should probably swing by the clinic and see if Dr. Nesbitt has any suggestions.”
“That right there is a fabulous idea.”
“There’s a reason I told Sadie to watch out for Mackenzie Sutton,” Simone offered from the back. “She’s like Ivy. She has no talent and shouldn’t be there, but she’s different, and sometimes the judges go the wrong way when they vote simply because someone is different. I refuse to let that happen to Sadie.”
“You don’t need to worry about Sadie,” Brian offered. “We’ll make sure she’s taken care of.”
“Sadie knows how to take care of herself,” Simone said. “She’s done it before. Heck, she’s doing it right now. Someone needs to take care of Mackenzie before the pageant starts. Sadie realizes that. She came up with the idea on her own. That’s Sadie’s job … and she always does a good job.”
Jack balked. “What do you mean? Is Sadie going after Mackenzie?”
Simone finally returned to reality enough to realize that she’d said too much. “I want a lawyer.”
“Yeah, well, I have a feeling you’re going to need a straightjacket,” Brian said, his gaze snagging with Jack’s. “As for you, maybe you should call Ivy and warn her to look out for Mackenzie.”
Jack dug in his pocket for his phone. “You read my mind.”
IVY WAS ABOUT TO GIVE up the search and return to the barn when she saw a hint of movement on the far side of the structure in question. Fresh snow fell throughout the night, although not enough to cause road headaches, and two sets of tracks were evident in the snow when she got to the barn door.
“Is someone behind the barn?” Ivy called out.
No answer.
“Listen, I saw someone walk behind the barn.” Ivy opted to change tactics. “If you want to practice or something, you can do it inside. I don’t want anyone catching a cold before the pageant.”
Everything on the side of the barn remained quiet.
“Fine.” Ivy heaved out a sigh and stepped in the fresh snow. “I’m coming around. If I find some sort of pervert – or teenage boy with wandering eyes, for that matter – I’m totally going to start knocking heads.”
Ivy was mildly amused with the threat when she rounded the corner, her eyes going wide when she pulled up short and found Mackenzie Sutton on her knees. The girl looked ragged, as if she’d been through some sort of terrible ordeal, and Sadie stood next to her with a wicked-looking knife in her hand.
Caught off guard, Ivy wasn’t sure what to say and her fingers faltered when the phone in her pocket started buzzing. “What’s going on?”
“I’m so glad you finally found us,” Sadie drawled. “I was starting to think you never would.”
“But … what are you doing?”
“Winning,” Sadie replied. “I’m a winner. This is how you win. Now, if you’ll have a seat next to your friend here, we’ll get this show on the road.”
Ivy wasn’t sure it could happen, but things were officially worse than she imagined they could be.
Now what?
Twenty-One
Ivy had trouble finding her voice, and when she did, she couldn’t rationalize what she was seeing.
“What are you doing?”
Sadie, her young face lit with a demented glee that made Ivy want to throw up, grinned. “I’m going to win.”
“You’re going to win what?”
“The pageant, silly.”
Ivy swallowed hard as her phone stopped buzzing and she internally debated what to do. Sadie was only five feet away, although Ivy knew she could outrun the girl if it came to it. Mackenzie didn’t have that option, though. Sadie had a firm grip on the girl’s coat and she brandished the knife as if she knew how to use it.
If Ivy were to run, she would be leaving Mackenzie in the hands of a crazy person. Ivy had no doubt Sadie was practically certifiable. That was written all over her face. Ivy couldn’t even fathom what the girl was capable of. The only thing she did know was that she couldn’t leave Mackenzie. It would surely be a death sentence to the girl if Ivy ran for help. They were in this together.
“You want to win the pageant so badly you’re willing to kill someone?” Ivy asked, hoping she sounded more curious than accusatory.
“I will win the pageant,” Sadie corrected. “It’s my … destiny.”
“Oh, give me a break.” Ivy didn’t mean to say the words out loud, but she muttered them all the same. “It’s a pageant, Sadie. Two weeks from now no one will remember who won. They won’t care who won.”
“That’s not true.” Sadie was matter-of-fact. “Everyone remembers who won. They have that plaque in the back hal
lway of the barn and everything. If I don’t win, things will go bad for me. If I do win, they’ll be good.”
“Who told you that?”
“My mother.” Sadie didn’t show signs that she recognized the fact that she was spouting utter nonsense. “She told me that the pageant will decide if I’m going to have a good life or bad … and I believe her.”
Ivy figured rationalizing with Sadie was a lost cause, but she needed time to come up with a plan. Max would be looking for her. He expected to meet up with her before the pageant started. If she could hold on long enough, Max would show up and together they would easily be able to disarm Sadie. Until that happened, though, it was up to Ivy to keep Mackenzie alive.
“Your mother won the pageant,” Ivy pointed out. “Her life doesn’t seem to have been a bed of roses.”
“No, but that’s because she made a bad choice and married my loser father.” Sadie sounded well-rehearsed, as if she’d recited the part about her father being a loser more than once. “She could have had everything, but she made a mistake.”
“I see.” Ivy didn’t, but she wanted the girl to believe she did, see her as a friend rather than an enemy. “What about your sister? Is that what happened with her? She didn’t win so she was a loser.”
“She was supposed to win, but her title was stolen because of my mother’s enemies. When it didn’t happen, Sarah got mad. She was so embarrassed she stopped talking to my mother.”
“All because of your mother’s enemies, huh?”
“Yup.” Sadie bobbed her head. “My mother has a lot of enemies because she’s so popular. When you’re popular, people are jealous and the haters want to take you down.”
“That sounds like a huge pile of crap,” Mackenzie gritted out, her cheeks red as she shifted on her knees.
“It’s true.” Sadie was oblivious to the warning look Ivy shot Mackenzie. “Haters ruin everything. My mother would’ve had a perfect life it if wasn’t for the haters. You’re a hater, Ms. Morgan. Tell her.”
“I’m a hater?” Ivy knew she shouldn’t have been surprised to be lumped in with the “enemies” group but she could barely swallow her disbelief. “How am I a hater?”
“You’re jealous of Mom’s relationship with Max,” Sadie replied. “They’re going to get married and Mom is going to take over your nursery and you don’t like it.”
“How do you figure that?”
“Because, once you’re gone, someone will need to run the nursery and Max will want it to be someone he cares about.”
Sadie was clearly living in La-La Land, but Ivy had no idea how to shake the girl from her delusions. “Max doesn’t own the nursery. I do. The property is in my name. It won’t go to him if I die.”
“Who will it go to?”
“My parents.”
“Oh, well, they’ll give it to Max.” Sadie’s smile was so deranged it caused Ivy’s stomach to flip. “My mother and I have been talking and planning for weeks. Actually, she calls it dreaming. It’s planning, though. It’s going to work out. She’s going to take over the nursery. She and Max will probably have another kid because he’ll want one. Things will be perfect again once you’re gone.”
“Is that what your mother wants? Does she want me gone?”
“Definitely.”
“And what does Mackenzie have to do with this?” Ivy asked, flicking her eyes to the girl on the ground. “Are you okay, Mackenzie?”
“My knees are going numb,” Mackenzie replied. “My ears hurt from hearing all this whining, too.”
Ivy had no doubt about that. “Just … hold it together for a few minutes. Everything is going to be okay.”
“Everything is going to be okay,” Sadie agreed. “Once you two are gone, I have a clear shot at the crown.”
“I’m not a threat to you getting that stupid crown,” Mackenzie growled. “I don’t even want to be in the pageant.”
“That’s why you might pull the sympathy vote, and I can’t have that.” Sadie’s voice was unnaturally chirpy. “My mother told me about the sympathy vote. She said Ms. Morgan was probably going to get it the year she was in the pageant. That’s why she helped the other girls. They were real pageant people and they deserved to win.”
“Is that what she told you?” Ivy found her temper frayed but managed to hide it. “Did your mother say I was going to get the sympathy vote and that’s why she told Maisie and Ava to do what they did?”
“She said you shouldn’t have been in the pageant in the first place. It’s the same for Mackenzie. She shouldn’t be in the pageant either. She doesn’t want to be here. I’m doing her a favor.”
“I’m sure Mackenzie will gladly drop out of the pageant,” Ivy offered. “Just ask nicely. There’s no reason to threaten her with the knife.”
“Oh, no,” Mackenzie said, shaking her head. “Now I want to win just so this piece of trash doesn’t.”
Ivy bit back an admonishment. She knew Mackenzie was frightened and merely lashing out, but she was also putting herself at risk in the process. “Mackenzie, now is so not the time.”
“But it is the time,” Sadie argued. “It’s time to put this all behind me. The pageant is almost here and I have to get ready.”
“There won’t be any pageant without me,” Ivy said, hoping to attack Sadie’s absolutely irrational reasoning process. “The town council has already said that if one more thing goes wrong, they’re cancelling the pageant.”
Sadie balked. “They did not say that.”
“They did.”
“No … they can’t cancel the pageant. It’s illegal.”
“I think you’re confused,” Ivy countered. “There’s nothing against the law about canceling the pageant. There is something against the law when it comes to poisoning teenagers, though. That was you, wasn’t it?”
“Of course it was.” Sadie wasn’t bothered by the assertion. “Aubrey was playing games to get ahead.”
“How?”
“She just was.”
“In other words she was better than you and you knew it,” Mackenzie spat out.
“I said to shut up!” Sadie screeched, moving the knife closer to Mackenzie’s face and turning Ivy’s guts to ice.
“Aubrey is telling the police what you did right now, Sadie,” Ivy called out, desperation clawing at her throat. “You won’t get away with this.”
“Of course I will,” Sadie scoffed. “I told my mother what I did last night. I had no choice. She’s over there taking care of Aubrey because I obviously can’t be two places at once.”
“You told your mother and … she decided to help you?” Ivy was dumbfounded. “What is wrong with both of you?”
“Nothing is wrong with me,” Sadie answered, her eerie smile back in place. “I’m going to win.”
“You’re the one who poisoned Mackenzie’s water,” Ivy deduced. “How did you get Simone to deliver it?”
“It wasn’t hard. I just handed my mother a bottle of water and told her who it was for. My mother is easy to boss around. She’s not nearly the winner she thinks she is, although I’m hopeful that changes when she gets your nursery.”
“She won’t get my nursery,” Ivy barked, anger getting the better of her. “Even if you somehow manage to take me out – which isn’t going to happen – your mother will not get my nursery.” It took everything Ivy had to keep her focus on Sadie when she caught sight of a familiar figure slipping around the corner of the building.
Max. He was behind Sadie, keeping his footsteps slow and quiet as he approached. Ivy knew that if she looked at him, gave him her full attention, it would be a mistake. The mistake might cost Mackenzie, so Ivy screwed up her courage and determination and kept the conversation on topic.
“So your mother is over finishing off Aubrey and you’re going to take out Mackenzie,” Ivy said. “What about me? How do you think you’re going to take out both of us?”
“Oh, you won’t be able to stop yourself from trying to save Mackenzie,” Sadie dr
awled. “You’re one of those idiots who thinks you can change the world. You’re willing to sacrifice yourself to do it. That’s why you’re not a winner.”
Max was close. Another two steps and he would be near enough to grab the hand with the knife.
“I think you have that wrong, Sadie,” Ivy said. “You’re the one who isn’t a winner. A winner doesn’t take out her enemies. A winner competes on a level playing field. You know you’re a loser and that’s why you’re doing this.”
Instead of being offended, Sadie looked amused. “Tell that to Peyton. She said something similar. I can guarantee I’m going to finish better than she will.”
There was something so chilling about Sadie’s words that Ivy couldn’t stop the sick sensation from rolling over her. “What did you do to Peyton?”
“The same thing I’m going to do to Mackenzie … and then you.”
Ivy didn’t have time to react. Sadie was already moving, slashing out with her arm as she aimed for Mackenzie’s neck. Ivy lurched forward, but she wasn’t close enough to stop the maniacal girl. Thankfully, Max was.
“I don’t think so.” Max grabbed Sadie’s arm, shoving back against her forward momentum while keeping a firm grip on her wrist.
Mackenzie whimpered, closing her eyes so she wouldn’t have to see the attack. Ivy was on her in seconds, grabbing her by the shoulders and rolling her away from the blade.
“Are you okay?”
Mackenzie wrenched open her eyes, surprised. “I thought … .”
“It’s okay.” Ivy instinctively smoothed the girl’s hair. “Everything is okay. I promise.”
“Let me go,” Sadie screeched, fighting against Max’s efforts. “I have a job to do. I have to finish.”
“Stop it,” Max snapped, digging his fingernails into Sadie’s smooth skin to get her to drop the knife. “You’re done.”
Sadie’s eyes flashed with mayhem. “I’m not done. I’m nowhere near being done.”
“Oh, you’re done,” Ivy said, getting to her feet. She bent Sadie’s thumb back until the girl cried out and dropped the knife. “You’re so done they need to think of another word for done. I just … I don’t understand any of this.”
Wicked Hearts (An Ivy Morgan Mystery Book 9) Page 19