“I figured that out myself.” Ivy sipped her tea, amusement coursing through her, and watched Jack look through the peephole before opening the door to allow Brian entrance. “Good morning.” She got to her feet. “Would you like something to eat? I can whip up another omelet in five minutes.”
“That sounds wonderful, but I already ate.” Brian sat in the spot between Jack and Ivy and accepted the mug of coffee she poured for him. “I didn’t realize you would be cooking. I would’ve definitely preferred your offerings if I knew.”
“I always cook breakfast,” Ivy pointed out as she reclaimed her chair. “I don’t know how you could forget that.”
“I was up early.” Brian sipped and flipped his eyes to Jack. “How are things here?”
“We’re going to fight,” Ivy supplied.
“We are,” Jack agreed. “Ivy has decided she’s going to spend the day at the nursery no matter my opinion on the subject.”
“Ah.” Brian knew he shouldn’t be amused, but he couldn’t help himself. Ivy and Jack’s fights were often hilarious … and completely unnecessary. Arguments of the sort Ivy and Jack got themselves worked up about accompanied youth. When you were married as long as Brian you realized some things were worth fighting for and others were worth standing down. Jack had yet to learn the art of standing down. “I can’t wait to hear the end of the argument.”
“I think you should stay here, Ivy.” Jack adopted a practical tone, as if his opinion was fact and no one in their right mind would dare argue with him. “You’re safer here until we know more of the specifics on this one.”
“No.”
“Ivy … .”
Ivy vehemently shook her head. “No. I have work to do and I’m not spending the day cowering in my own house. Besides, no one in their right mind would come back out here the day after a murder and take a shot at me. Someone would have to be stupid to do that, and I’m pretty sure that we’re not dealing with an idiot.”
“Why do you say that?” Brian asked when Jack didn’t immediately respond. “We could be dealing with an idiot.”
“Whoever was out here managed to park, get close enough to the house to take a shot, and then get away without Max and I seeing who it was,” Ivy argued. “I don’t think an idiot could’ve done that.”
“Fair enough.” Brian shifted his focus to a furious Jack. “Are you going to yell at her? I don’t think it’s going to matter if you do, for the record. Her mind is clearly made up and short of you tying her to the bed – which I don’t want to hear about, mind you – I don’t think you’re going to get your way on this one.”
“Listen to Brian,” Ivy intoned. “He’s wise.”
“Whatever.” Jack growled deep in his throat. “This is not how I saw this day going.”
“Let me guess, you planned to schmooze her over breakfast and then drop the hammer on her,” Brian supplied. “Instead she cut you off before you had a chance and you’re just beginning to realize that you’ve been out-maneuvered. That’s got to be a bitter pill for a man like you to swallow.”
Ivy pressed her lips together to keep from laughing.
“I bought her flowers last night and everything,” Jack complained. “I had it all planned out.”
“Not everything in life goes how you think it’s going to go.” Brian winked at Ivy, clearly enjoying himself. “If it were me, I would come up with a compromise. That’s just me, though.”
“What kind of compromise?” Ivy asked.
Jack perked up. “Yeah, what kind of compromise?”
“Well, since we have to spend some time in the woods going over the notes left by the state police’s tech team, why don’t we walk her to the nursery?” Brian suggested. “She can stay there – where it’s perfectly safe – all day. She can wait for you to finish your shift and pick her up there and then you can take her to a nice dinner in town to prove your boundless love.”
Jack rolled his eyes. “I don’t need to prove my boundless love. I make a point of showing her every single day.”
“He does,” Ivy agreed, licking her lips. “Still, though, that doesn’t sound like a terrible compromise. I can probably be persuaded to agree to that.”
Jack narrowed his eyes. “Really? You won’t leave all day. You won’t go wandering into the woods. You’ll stay there and text me every hour.”
Ivy nodded without hesitation. “I will.”
“Fine.” Jack knew he was beaten. It was the best offer he was going to get and he had no choice but to take it. “I guess I can live with that.”
“Good deal.” Brian beamed.
“If you ever get tired of being a cop you should get a job as a relationship therapist, Brian,” Ivy supplied. “I think you have a bright future in that field.”
“You joke, but I’ve considered it.”
“Oh, geez.” Jack dug into his breakfast. “You two like to torture me, don’t you?”
Brian chuckled. “It’s what we live for.”
Eight
Jack bade Ivy goodbye with a kiss and a reminder to text him every hour. He was agitated but knew it was a wasted effort. He fell in love with her because she was strong and sure of herself. He didn’t want to change her even though she often gave him heartburn with her antics.
Jack and Brian left Ivy to work after giving the nursery a cursory search and found themselves in the woods on the east side of the cottage within ten minutes.
“This is where the state team believes the shot came from.” Brian gestured toward the red flag planted in the ground next to a large maple. “They tracked the angle and footprints.”
Jack studied the ground. He wasn’t much of a nature person – short excursions with Ivy and to fish notwithstanding – and he had trouble reading the ground. “Where are they seeing footprints?”
“They took casts and photos of what they found here and here.” Brian pointed toward two locations so Jack could lean closer. “They said tracking shoes is out of the question. We’re talking rubber-soled boots that could be worn by a man or a woman.”
“Size?”
“Big enough that we’re most likely dealing with a man, but they can’t rule out a woman because those boots are unnaturally big for a reason.”
“And what kind of weapon?” Jack straightened and looked toward the cottage. Whoever pulled the trigger had a relatively clean shot, but it was still a long distance away.
“A rifle of some sort. Still waiting for a definitive answer on that. The medical examiner is hoping to remove the slug today.”
Jack lifted his arms and mimed holding a gun. “I’m not a professional hunter or anything, but don’t you think that whoever took the shot knew what he was doing? I mean … that’s a long distance to have true aim.”
Brian shrugged, noncommittal. “With a scope, I don’t know that’s true. It was clearly deliberate and I think whoever took the shot knew who they were aiming for. I mean … there’s no way whoever it was couldn’t have seen Shannon’s face from this location.
“There’s no foliage to shoot through,” he continued. “Sure, he would have to be steady and it’s a solid shot, but I think most people who hunt could have made it.”
Jack pursed his lips. “The question is: Did he hit what he was aiming at or get confused and take out the wrong woman?”
Brian shrugged. “I would think whoever it was had to know who they were shooting at. Ivy’s hair is distinctive. It would’ve stood out in the scope. I don’t think shooting Shannon was an accident.”
Sadly – and Jack knew it was a despicable reaction – he felt better knowing that Shannon was most probably the intended target. “That means whoever it was didn’t take her out accidentally.”
Brian arched an eyebrow. “And that Ivy is probably absolutely fine at her nursery all day.”
“Do you think less of me because that makes me feel better?”
“No. In truth, it makes me feel better, too.”
Jack balked. “You took her side when she anno
unced she was going to the nursery. If you were worried about her you should’ve taken my side.”
Brian refused to be put in the center of the couple’s argument. “She was going to the nursery no matter what. At least I managed to finagle text messages and an armed guard for the walk. You would’ve pushed things to the breaking point if I hadn’t stepped in.”
Jack wanted to disagree with the statement, but he knew his partner spoke the truth. “She’s a total pain in the butt.”
“And yet you love her all the same.”
“More than anything.”
IVY FOLLOWED THROUGH ON her promise and stuck close to the greenhouse. She texted Jack every hour on the hour – occasionally adding in some flirty suggestions she knew would soften him up before they reunited for the evening – and otherwise focused on her work.
She made a huge dent in the planting, struggling through more than half of it by lunchtime, and was so lost in her work she didn’t notice the strange woman standing at the greenhouse door until she cleared her throat to get Ivy’s attention.
Ivy wiped her hands on her jeans as she straightened and stared at the woman. She didn’t recognize her – that long ash blond hair definitely stood out – and the clothes the woman wore weren’t something anyone would wear when shopping at a nursery if dry cleaning bills were an issue.
Ivy couldn’t place her and felt uncomfortable with the way the woman stared at her. “Can I help you?”
“I don’t know yet.” The woman smiled, but it was obviously fake. She tilted her head to the side and looked Ivy up and down with a mixture of curiosity and confusion. “My name is Holly Doherty.”
“Are you new in town?”
Holly frowned. “No. I’m just passing through.”
“Oh.” Ivy had no idea what to make of the woman’s demeanor. “Are you looking for something specific? I have to be honest with you, it’s really early in the season and the nursery doesn’t even open for another month. I don’t have everything to sell. I’m just starting my initial planting today.”
“Oh, I’m not here to buy.” Holly shuffled farther into the building, making a face as she studied the endless rows of pods Ivy had planted and placed under grow lights. “If this is a greenhouse, why do you have lights?”
“Because it’s early spring and the plants need something stronger than just the sunlight for the next few weeks,” Ivy replied without hesitation. “The lights will only be out for about two to three weeks.”
“Oh. It looks like you’ve done a lot of work out here.”
“It’s a busy time of year.”
“I don’t like dirt so I don’t think this would be the proper job for me.”
Ivy had no idea what to make of the statement. “I guess it’s good you’re not in the business then, huh?”
Holly giggled, the sound nervous and uncertain. “Yeah. It’s good. I work in a bank.”
“That sounds … nice.” That actually sounded like the worst job in the world to Ivy, but she didn’t want to insult the woman. Of course, Ivy couldn’t figure out what Holly was even doing there so insulting her before her motivations became clear wasn’t completely off the table. “So … what do you need?”
This time Hollys’s frown was evident. “What do you mean? I thought it would be rather obvious why I’m here.”
“Obvious to whom?”
“You.”
“Okay, maybe we should start from the beginning.” Ivy sucked in a breath as she straightened her shoulders. “Are you lost? Do you need help?” She narrowed her eyes. “Are you selling something? I really am not in the mood to listen to a sales pitch.”
Holly rocked back on her heels, her cheeks flushing with color. “You don’t know who I am, do you?”
“Should I?”
“I would’ve thought Jack explained about my visit.” Holly absently shook her head as she clutched her designer purse tighter. “He didn’t mention me at all, though, did he?”
“Jack?” Ivy felt as if she was mired in quicksand as she tried to grasp the conversation. “Why would Jack tell me about you? Unless … are you the woman who works at the design office? Wait, no, you can’t be. Her name was Paige. Do you have something to do with Shannon?”
Now it was Holly’s turn to be confused. “Who is Shannon?”
“Our designer.”
“Your designer for what?”
“The house.”
“What house?”
Ivy took an inadvertent step back. The discussion was going in circles and for some reason her stomach was uneasy. That was normally a warning sign. “Okay, as delightful as this conversation is, I’m extremely busy. Either tell me what you’re doing here or get out.”
“Oh, well, that’s not very welcoming,” Holly complained, rolling her eyes. “I thought small towns were supposed to be friendly and stuff.”
“This isn’t town,” Ivy pointed out. “This is my business … which happens to be closed.”
“Oh, well, don’t get all worked up,” Holly admonished. “It’s not as if I’m here to rob you of your … seeds … or anything.” She made a face as she lifted a packet and stared at it. “I’m here because of Jack.”
“You mentioned that before. How do you know Jack?”
“Because we dated for two years before he moved to this hole in the wall and forgot where he was from and what’s truly important to him.”
Ivy’s heart dropped through her stomach as she struggled to recover from the bombshell Holly lobbed in her direction. “I’m sorry but … what?”
“He really didn’t tell you, huh?” Holly furrowed her brow. “I don’t understand that. I know that seeing me the other night surprised him, but I thought for sure he would talk to you about it. The way he made it sound, you guys talk about everything.”
“We do.” Even as Ivy said the words she knew how lame they sounded. Jack obviously hadn’t talked to her about this. “You dated Jack for two years?”
Holly nodded. “We were quite close. We were in love, in fact.”
Ivy tried to ignore the way her heart pinched at the words. “Jack never mentioned you.”
“Maybe that’s because he’s not over me.”
Ivy opened her mouth to say something horrible but quickly thought better of it. Whatever Jack did or did not tell her, Ivy was good at reading people and she knew Holly was playing a game of sorts. Ivy wasn’t happy with Jack and what looked to be evasiveness on his part, but she wasn’t about to give Holly the upper hand in this conversation. She was smart enough to know that would be a terrible idea.
“When did you run into Jack?” Ivy was careful to keep her demeanor neutral. “Was it recently?”
“It was two nights ago. He seemed surprised to see me, but the conversation turned to happy memories quite quickly.”
Ivy did the math in her head. “Two nights ago?”
“Yes.”
“The night Shannon came to the house.” Ivy’s mind was working fast. “You were in town days ago and Jack didn’t mention it.”
“No, he definitely didn’t,” Holly agreed. “I thought he would because he was obviously shaken by my visit. He wasn’t expecting me. He said you two were happy so I assumed he told you everything. I guess that’s not true, though, huh?”
Ivy had dealt with her fair share of manipulative women over the years and recognized what Holly was trying to do before the woman could really dig in and pinch. “We’ve had other things going on.”
“Oh, really?” Holly snorted. “What was more important than my visit?”
“Our designer got shot in the driveway.”
Holly reined in her dismissiveness. “What?”
“Our designer was shot in the driveway,” Ivy said, regaining a modicum of self-control as she squared her shoulders. “Were you around yesterday morning?”
“I don’t understand what you’re asking.”
“Were you around yesterday morning?” Ivy repeated. She was firmer this time. “Were you near my house?
”
Now Holly was the one on the defensive. “I don’t even know where you live.”
Ivy didn’t believe that for a second. “Are telling me you came all this way just to see Jack and yet you have no idea where he lives?”
“I saw him at his rental house.”
“Where he doesn’t stay.”
“Maybe he only tells you he doesn’t stay there,” Holly suggested. “Have you ever considered that? Maybe he lies about where he does stay.”
“That would be a neat trick since we live together.” Ivy felt stronger as the surprise from Holly’s sudden appearance faded. “You ambushed him at the rental. He wasn’t expecting you. That’s why he was so quiet when he came back.”
“Because I gave him something to think about.” Holly was full of herself. “We talked for a long time and I reminded him of what he left behind when he moved here.”
“Jack is happy in Shadow Lake.” Ivy knew that to her bones. “He’s happy here and he’s not looking to leave. You’re not the first person to come here with an agenda, though. His mother thought she could force him to leave, too.”
“Doesn’t it bother you that you’re keeping Jack from his mother?” Holly’s eyes were accusatory. “Doesn’t it bother you that you’re not letting him live up to his full potential?”
The question hit Ivy hard in the gut. “I don’t hold Jack back from doing whatever he wants.”
“That’s not true, though.” Holly was in control of the conversation for a second time and she clearly relished her power. “He’s here because of you. Are you sure that’s what he wants?”
Ivy’s mouth went dry. “Is that what he told you?”
“He said that you’re happy here so he’s staying here.”
That didn’t sound like something Jack would say and yet Ivy was so flustered she couldn’t wrap her head around reality as Holly’s words sank in. “So you think Jack would be happier away from me. That’s what you’re saying, right?”
“I didn’t say that.” Holly adopted an innocent expression. “It’s just … well … Jack has always been an urbanite. He likes the city. He likes being able to go to a movie at midnight if the mood strikes. He likes shopping when everyone else is in bed.
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