“Don’t smother her,” Ivy chided, shaking her head.
“And you, sourpuss, where have you been for the last two weeks?” Felicity asked, releasing Jessica and pulling Ivy in for a reluctant hug. “I have a feeling I know who has been taking all of your time. I would think you’d at least call your favorite aunt once, though.”
Ivy sighed. She was used to her aunt’s theatrics. “I’ve been busy.”
“Well, make yourself busy and lock that door,” Felicity ordered. “Turn the sign so people know we’re out to lunch for a bit, too.”
“You’re so bossy,” Ivy grumbled, although she obliged her aunt and did as instructed.
“Now, come and sit at the counter, Jessica,” Felicity said. “I’m going to make everyone some tea and then we can gossip about Ivy and her love muffin.”
Jessica giggled. As usual, Felicity managed to put a new face – even a traumatized one – at ease within moments. “Do you call Jack that?”
“Jack would not be happy if I called him that,” Ivy replied, following Jessica to the counter and settling next to her as Felicity poured tea into mugs on the other side. “He likes to think of himself as manly and strong.”
“He is both of those things,” Felicity said. “He’s also a big cotton ball where you’re concerned.”
“Do you like Jack?” Jessica appeared happy to engage in a conversation that didn’t revolve around her captivity. “He seems nice to me … just big.”
“He’s a tall man,” Felicity agreed, pushing Jessica’s tea toward her. “He’s also an unbelievably kind man. His patience is one for the record books, too. You’d have to have infinite patience to put up with this one.” She pinched Ivy’s cheek for good measure.
Ivy jerked her face away from her aunt. “Ha, ha. I don’t know why you think Jack is patient. We argue all the time.”
“That’s merely the way you communicate,” Felicity said, waving off Ivy’s statement. “You both have fiery personalities. That’s why you’re a good fit. I knew the moment I first saw you together that you were going to fall head over heels for one another.”
Ivy racked her memory. “We fought horribly in here that day.”
“Yes, but you were also like magnets and couldn’t stay away from one another,” Felicity said. “That’s called chemistry, my dear, and you two have it in spades.”
“Whatever,” Ivy muttered. “I think I have more patience than Jack.”
Felicity snorted. “Oh, puh-leez,” she said, wrinkling her nose. “I’ve seen you go after that man for stupid things. Speaking of Jack, where is he?”
Ivy darted a worried look in Jessica’s direction and licked her lips. “They have a suspect and they’re searching his property,” she replied. “It’s going to be a long day. The suspect refuses to talk and has lawyered up, but they’re still going to question him this afternoon.”
“That sounds serious,” Felicity said. “How does that make you feel, Jessica?”
Ivy made a slashing motion with her hand to silence her aunt, but to her utter surprise Jessica answered without complaint.
“I feel as if everyone expects me to know what to do and I don’t,” Jessica replied. “I don’t know anything about the man who kept me. It’s like my memory doesn’t want to work. I can’t remember … and I know people don’t believe me when I say that.”
“That’s not true,” Ivy protested. “Everyone believes you. We just want confirmation that Dan is the man who took you.”
“What if he’s not?”
“Then we’ll find the guilty party,” Ivy answered, unruffled. “No one wants to force you to remember things that upset you. I promise you that. We also don’t want this man free in case he tries to grab another girl. He needs to pay for what he did.”
“I’ve honestly been trying to remember,” Jessica said. “Everything is black when I try, though. It’s like there are big gaps in my memory.”
“I think that’s because you need the gaps to function,” Felicity supplied. “You’re dealing with more than any one person should ever have to deal with. I think you’re holding up remarkably well given the circumstances.”
“I don’t feel that way,” Jessica lamented. “I can see the way my parents look at me. They want me to tell them what happened but … I can’t.”
“You don’t have to do anything you’re not ready to do,” Felicity countered. “You need to stop worrying about what others think and start worrying about yourself. Your aura is cloudy, my dear. That’s because stress is overwhelming you.
“Given what has happened, no one can blame you for taking a step back,” she continued. “A person’s mind has a way of protecting them until they can accept their reality and move forward. That will happen to you eventually.”
“I can’t sleep,” Jessica admitted. “Every time I close my eyes I have nightmares. The problem is, they’re so confusing that now I’m not sure what is a memory and what I’ve made up in my head.”
“That’s because you’re being stalked by fear when your barriers lower,” Felicity said. “You’re at your most vulnerable when you sleep and your mind can’t protect you as easily. You need a way to keep the nightmares out so you can sleep without fear.”
“Do you know how to do that?” Ivy asked, interested despite herself. “Is there a way we can protect Jessica in her sleep?”
Felicity nodded. “There is.”
“What are you guys talking about?” Jessica asked, confused. “I … do you believe in magic?”
“There are all different kinds of magic,” Felicity replied, unruffled by Jessica’s tone. “I’m a witch. Ivy doesn’t like defining herself in those terms.”
“A witch?” Jessica’s eyebrows practically flew up her forehead. “I … seriously?”
“It’s not what you’re thinking,” Felicity cautioned. “I don’t believe I can fly around on a broom or cast spells to get what I want. I do believe there is magic in nature, though. That’s how Ivy and Jack found each other. That’s how the world turns on its axis. That’s how people overcome terrible things.”
Jessica rubbed her cheek as she considered Felicity’s words. “Do you really think you can help me sleep? I haven’t slept in so long it feels like a luxury now.”
“I think I can,” Felicity said, moving to the cupboard at the back of the counter and opening it. She returned a few moments later with a dreamcatcher. “I want you to put this next to your head when you sleep. It’s been blessed and should ward off nightmares so you can relax and get the rest your mind clearly needs.”
“What is it?”
“It’s a dreamcatcher,” Ivy supplied. “They’re part of Native American folklore. Aunt Felicity made one for me when I was a kid and having bad dreams.”
“Did it work?”
Ivy nodded. “It did,” she confirmed. “I have no idea how it happened, but … it worked. I’d been having a reoccurring nightmare about a monster chasing me and I put a dreamcatcher next to my bed and it never happened again.”
“How does it work?” Jessica asked, accepting the wooden contraption and flipping it over so she could study it.
“Do you see those webs?” Felicity asked, pointing.
Jessica nodded.
“Your bad dreams are absorbed into the webs and they can’t escape,” Felicity explained. “It’s like a spider web, but for dreams. Then, when the sun rises in the morning, all of the nightmares are burned away.”
“Really?” Jessica looked dubious. Ivy couldn’t blame her.
“Look at it this way,” Ivy said. “It couldn’t possibly hurt and it’s really cool to look at.”
Jessica tilted her head to the side, considering. “I guess I’m willing to try anything.”
“And that’s why you’ll eventually get everything you’ve ever wanted,” Felicity said, squeezing her hand. “Now, who wants cookies?”
Ivy’s hand shot up in the air.
“That’s good,” Felicity said. “I just happened to bake a fresh batch of chocola
te chip cookies this morning and they’re cooling on the counter upstairs. Why don’t you get them while I give Jessica a little tour.”
Ivy darted a look in Jessica’s direction, unsure. “Are you okay with that?”
Jessica bobbed her head up and down. “I want to see everything here,” she said. “This is my first day of freedom, after all. I should see everything, right?”
Ivy smiled. “Absolutely.”
Fifteen
“I love your aunt.”
Ivy cast one more wave to Felicity through her aunt’s shop window before turning her full attention to Jessica. “She’s a good woman,” she said. “I was a little worried you would feel smothered, but … you didn’t seem interested in putting too much distance between yourselves, so I’m calling that a win.”
“I didn’t feel smothered,” Jessica said. “It was … amazing … to be out of that hospital room. I need to get out of there more often.”
“Jack says they’re worried about letting you go because the reporters and television vans are camped out on your front lawn so it would be an oppressive environment,” Ivy explained. “I know it’s not what you want to hear, but the police can legally keep the press out of the hospital, but the press could make you a virtual prisoner in your home if we’re not careful.”
“I don’t want to stay there any longer, though,” Jessica argued. “I want to spend time outside. Do you know how long it’s been since I could feel wind on my face? Or feel the sun beating down on my arm?”
Ivy’s heart went out to the young woman. “I’ll figure something out,” she said. “We’ll make sure you get to spend some time outside every day. I promise.”
“How can you promise that?” Jessica challenged. “The police made it clear they want me to hide in the hospital until all of this passes. They’re not going to allow me to wander around outside.”
“Yes, but I have certain … ways … of persuading Jack into doing what I want,” Ivy replied. “It will work out. Trust me.”
“Are you going to cry until he does what you want?”
The question was simple, something a teenager would ask. It caught Ivy off guard, though. “I’m not going to cry,” she said finally. “I’m just going to fight with him to get what I want. He doesn’t like it when we fight – quite frankly, I don’t either – and he always gives in. Well, I guess it’s fair to say that sometimes he doesn’t like it when we fight. He likes it when we argue as long as it’s not a big deal. When it’s a big deal, though, he always gives in.”
“Does he ever … you know … hit you?” Jessica averted her gaze when she asked the question, fixing her attention on something only she could see across the road.
“No,” Ivy said, slowing her pace. “Jack would never hit me.”
“But … he’s big,” Jessica pointed out. “He has a temper. I heard you say something about fighting with him. He has to hit you.”
“Jessica, real men don’t hit women,” Ivy said. “Real men don’t hit children. Heck, I would say real men don’t hit anyone, but that’s not entirely true because all of that crazy testosterone makes them hit other men sometimes. They can’t seem to help it.
“I like to think I only surround myself with enlightened men, but that’s not the case,” she continued. “Jack and my brother Max almost came to blows a few times. It was usually for my honor – which is kind of weird when you think about it – but I consider them both real men and they would never hurt a woman or child. They would, however, beat the tar out of each other and then have a beer ten minutes later and forget about it.”
“I’m not sure that’s normal, though,” Jessica said. “I think a lot of men hit because they can.”
Ivy narrowed her eyes. “Did your father hit you when you were younger?”
Jessica shook her head. “He yelled sometimes, though. That’s why I stopped to eat the licorice before going home. I didn’t want him to yell.”
“Parents yell,” Ivy supplied. “That’s what they do. They don’t do it out of malice. They do it because they want to make sure their children understand about dangerous behavior. You dad didn’t want you to eat candy before dinner because it was unhealthy. The alternative – I mean, what happened because of that – is something that will haunt him forever.”
“He keeps apologizing,” Jessica said. “I don’t know what to say to him. The truth is … .” She broke off, as if the words were too terrible to say out loud.
“The truth is that part of you blames him for what happened to you,” Ivy finished. “I get that. I think your father does, too.”
“It’s ridiculous,” Jessica sputtered. “He didn’t hurt me. He didn’t take me. He told me not to eat candy.”
“I also saw his face when you told Jack and Brian that your first instinct when someone grabbed you from behind was to think it was your father coming to punish you for eating the candy when you weren’t supposed to do it. That almost gutted him.”
“I don’t want to hurt my dad,” Jessica said. “I don’t blame him. Not really, I mean. I don’t know who to blame.”
“The only person to blame is the man who took you,” Ivy said, extending her hand and pointing toward the ice cream shop about a block away. “Let’s get a treat before heading back to town.”
“Is this where you push me to tell you who took me even though I don’t know who it was?” Jessica asked, suspicious.
“Nope.” Ivy shook her head. “This is where I let you pick out whatever ice cream you want and then we take a leisurely drive back home.”
Jessica pressed her lips together, uncertain. “How come you’re not yelling at me and trying to get me to remember?”
“Because I figure you’ll remember when you’re ready,” Ivy replied. “I … .” She broke off when she caught sight of movement out of the corner of her eye. She shifted her gaze toward the glass window in front of a funeral parlor, frowning when she saw a man hurrying across the street and heading toward Jessica. He had a determined look on his face, and Jessica was oblivious.
Ivy didn’t have a lot of time to make out features and she had even less time to consider what to do. She watched the man approach for what felt like forever, and when he extended his hands and reached for Jessica’s shoulders Ivy did the only thing she could think of: She swiveled quickly and extended her wrist like Max taught her when they were teenagers so she wouldn’t hurt herself when she slammed her fist into the stranger’s face.
“Holy crap!” The man howled as he cupped his bleeding nose. “You … bitch!”
Ivy couldn’t afford to make a mistake. Jessica pressed herself against the building, fear coursing through her given Ivy’s reaction. Ivy couldn’t let the girl get hurt on her watch. Instead, she focused on the man – well, teenager, to be more exact – and acted as prudently as possible.
“I’m really sorry for this, but … better safe than sorry,” Ivy said, lifting her leg and slamming it into the guy’s knee, causing him to buckle. “If I’m wrong about this, I’ll make it up to you. If I’m right, well, you’ve got it coming.”
Ivy lifted her leg one more time and then slammed it into the man’s unprotected groin, earning an unearthly scream for the effort when he fell to the pavement and cupped himself.
“Who is that?” Jessica asked, her fear evident.
Ivy shrugged. “I’m not sure.”
“What do we do now?”
“Call the police.” Ivy was resigned as she reached into her purse for her phone. “Jack is going to be really ticked off.”
“WHERE is she?”
Jack pushed his way through the small gathering of police officers a half hour later, giving little heed that he was out of his jurisdiction and risking hurt feelings and anger for his actions. He pulled up short when he saw Ivy sitting in the middle of the congregated law enforcement representatives, what looked to be a teenaged boy pressed to the pavement beneath her as she held his arm behind his back and kept him pinned to the ground.
“Are y
ou Jack Harker?”
“Huh?” Jack had a hard time dragging his eyes away from Ivy and focusing on the police officer approaching him.
“Are you Detective Jack Harker?” the officer repeated.
Jack nodded. “I don’t understand what’s going on here.”
“That makes two of us, sir,” the officer replied. “I’m Sergeant Steven Sebastian. I was called to the scene because a passing motorist claimed a woman with pink hair was beating up a teenager.”
“Uh-huh.” Jack shifted his eyes back to Ivy and the look she shot him was conciliatory – and worried. “What seems to be the problem?”
Sebastian’s eyebrows flew up his forehead. “Well, sir, we believe that’s a minor.” He pointed toward the boy on the pavement, who wasn’t even bothering to struggle. “The woman on top of him is not and she refused to get off him until we called you.
“We’ve tried reasoning with her,” he continued. “She insisted the only way she would get off him was if we got you out here. We could’ve taken her forcibly, but we were worried that would agitate the other problem.”
Jack was almost afraid to ask. “What other problem?”
The police officer pointed toward the alcove by the front door of a small store and when Jack narrowed his eyes to stare into the shadows he realized he was looking at Jessica – and she was shaking as she hid her face and cowered as close to the wall as possible.
“I see,” Jack said. “Okay, stand back. I’ve got this.”
“You’ve got this?” Sebastian obviously wasn’t convinced. “That woman is crazy.”
Jack couldn’t help but smile. “She is,” he agreed. “She’s also the most amazing person I’ve ever met. It will be fine. Just … give me a second.”
Jack kept his hands up as he moved closer to Ivy, his expression unreadable. “Hello, Ms. Morgan. How are you this fine day?”
“I guess it’s bad if you’re calling me by my last name, huh?” Ivy bit the inside of her cheek. “This really wasn’t my fault, Jack. We were going for ice cream and I saw him approach us because of his reflection in the window and … I’m not apologizing. I did what I thought was best.”
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