Wicked Places (An Ivy Morgan Mystery Book 4) (13 page)

“
H
e’s not here
,” Ivy said forty minutes later, frustrated. “There’s nothing here.”

“What was your first clue?” Jack asked. He fought the urge to remind Ivy he didn’t want to search for Devlin in the first place. He didn’t think an “I was right and you were wrong” argument would be the best way to spend the rest of the day.

“Where do you think he is?” Ivy asked, casting one more look over her shoulder and then letting Jack lead her back in the direction of the campground.

“He could be out walking, or fishing … or hiding a body.”

“You’re not funny,” Ivy muttered, knitting her eyebrows together as she moved to yank her hand away from Jack. He didn’t let her, instead focusing on the obstinate tilt of her chin. Something was really bothering her.

“Can I ask you something?”

“Not if you’re going to make fun of me.”

“I promise I don’t want to make fun of you,” Jack said. “Why are you so … invested … in Andrew Devlin?”

“I’m not!”

“You are, honey,” Jack argued. “You’re worried about him. You’re interested in what he’s doing. I love your heart, and you go out of your way to help people whenever you can, but for some reason you’re digging your heels in on Andrew Devlin. I want to know why.”

“I … .” Ivy broke off. She didn’t know how to answer him. She wanted to argue with his assertion, but she realized he had a point. “I guess I see some of myself in him.” It was hard to admit, but there it was.

“How so?”

“People judge him by how he looks,” Ivy answered. “I judged him by how he looks when I first saw him. I was afraid.”

“Okay,” Jack said, unsure what she was getting at.

“Hayden thought he was a werewolf,” Ivy said. “He didn’t seem surprised by that. He’s used to people looking at him and seeing something he’s not. People make knee jerk reactions because he looks different. I guess I … relate to that.”

“Honey, I admit that I’ve been … judgmental … where Andrew is concerned,” Jack said. “It’s not because of the way he looks, though. I don’t like my girlfriend wandering off with any stranger.

“As for the other stuff, when I first moved to Shadow Lake, Brian told me that you have always been different,” he continued. “That’s not a bad thing. That’s a wonderful thing, especially when it comes to you.”

“That’s nice of you to say, but you heard Scott this morning,” Ivy said. “He said I look like a stripper.”

“You don’t look like a stripper.”

“Somehow I think I should be insulted by that,” Ivy said. “I don’t look normal. You can’t say I do. I have pink streaks in my hair and I like to wear ankle-length skirts without shoes. I … set myself apart on purpose.”

“I think you do that because you’re different and that’s your way of acknowledging it,” Jack said. “Your heart is different. That’s why it’s so wonderful. You make yourself look different because you want people to stay away from you. It’s a warning.

“You know, we’ve learned some interesting things about you since we met,” he continued. “You can dream walk.”

“So can you!”

“You said I was calling you into my dreams,” Jack clarified. “You provided the magic for us to join up in our subconscious thoughts. I know that. I can play the dream game with you if I really concentrate, but you’re still making it happen.

“When you add that to the fact that you managed to talk to Laura’s ghost when she was displaced from her body by her brother, the only conclusion we can come to is that you’re magic,” he continued. “I knew you were magic the first time I saw you. You’re also the prettiest woman I’ve ever seen. You’re not strange. You’re wonderful.”

“Maybe Andrew is wonderful, too,” Ivy suggested.

“He would have to be to elicit such a loyal reaction from you,” Jack said. “I’m sorry I didn’t take your feelings into consideration. I honestly don’t believe Andrew is involved. He’s not stupid enough to kill someone in his own back yard and then direct you toward the body.”

“Okay.”

“Listen, my magical wonder, I like that you’re different,” Jack said. “I’m different, too. You can see that and you like me all the same. Try to have faith that someone can feel the same way about you. Perhaps we’re two oddballs who found each other at the exact right moment in time. That makes both of us magic.”

“You’re a romantic at heart, Jack.”

“Only with you, honey.”

“
T
HANK GOD
you’re back
,” Maria announced, swiveling with her hands on her hips and fixing Jack and Ivy with a dark look as they approached. “What were you thinking taking off like that when Melissa is missing?”

“We were thinking that we had to check the clearing where the first body was found and talk to the state police,” Jack replied, not missing a beat. “What’s going on here?”

“Oh.” Maria straightened. “I … we’re in crisis mode here.”

“I’ll bet,” Jack said. “Have the state troopers been by?”

“They questioned us for two hours,” Lauren complained, rolling her eyes as she sat in a chair close to the campfire. “It was almost as if they suspected us of doing something to Melissa … like we would ever do that.”

“They’re doing their jobs,” Jack said. “Where is Scott?”

“Oh, he’s over there,” Maria said, pointing toward a pine tree on the far side of the campsite. “He’s been drinking for an hour straight.”

“That seems like a great why to look for his missing wife,” Jack said.

“Hey, we’ve been all over this campground asking questions about Melissa,” Donnie argued. “Alex is still out questioning people. No one saw her. Well, I guess we don’t know that for a fact. If someone did see her, though, they’re not telling us.”

“What did you find?” Maria asked. “Do the police have any leads?”

“We found fresh blood in the clearing, but no body,” Jack replied, opting not to mince words. “The volume wasn’t enough to say definitively that whoever lost it is dead. The state police are running it through their crime lab. There’s still a chance that the blood isn’t human.”

“I have no idea what any of that means,” Maria said. “Why don’t you try and dumb it down for the little people.”

“Don’t be a pain,” Jack chided. “We don’t know a lot. We know Melissa went into the camper before eleven. We know that between eleven and six she disappeared. We don’t know if she walked out of the camper on her own or whether she was dragged out.

“We know that we found fresh blood in the clearing,” he continued. “It wasn’t enough to declare anyone dead. We don’t know if belongs to an actual human. We know that Scott and Melissa were going to get divorced and he has a motive. That’s basically where we’re at.”

Maria’s mouth dropped open, and Jack realized his mistake when it was too late to yank the words back into his mouth.

“Scott and Melissa are getting divorced? Holy crap! Why didn’t anyone tell us?” Maria was practically screeching.

“I thought you said the state troopers stopped by,” Jack prodded. “Didn’t they question Scott about the impending divorce when they were here?”

“They separated us for questioning,” Lauren supplied, suddenly interested in the conversation. “I can’t believe they’re really getting divorced. Do you know why?”

Jack cast a glance in Scott’s direction. The man seemed lost in his own little world, his only friend consisting of the can of beer he clutched in his hand. “I should probably let Scott tell you this, but he seems … lost … right now,” Jack said. “He said that he suspected Melissa of cheating on him so he started sleeping with his secretary. He claims they were unhappy before that, though. They recently agreed to the divorce and were going to tell everyone at the end of the week.”

“Why didn’t they mention anything?” Lauren asked.

Ivy couldn’t help but notice how much happier Lauren seemed now that she had something to gossip about.

“I don’t know,” Jack replied. “You’ll have to ask Scott … when he sobers up. Did Melissa mention anything to you guys about cheating on Scott?”

“No,” Maria said, immediately shaking her head.

“We did have suspicions, though,” Lauren said. “She’s been acting odd for months.”

“Define odd.”

“Melissa has always been the quiet sort,” Maria supplied. “She doesn’t volunteer information. Everything we know about her … well … we’ve had to kind of figure it out on our own.”

“How does that work if you don’t have information?” Ivy asked.

“When you’re a woman, it’s easy to figure that stuff out,” Lauren said, causing Ivy to bite the inside of her cheek to hold in a scathing retort. “Melissa has been unhappy for a long time, but we thought the marriage would last because she got status through Scott’s job.”

“He’s a stockbroker,” Jack said. “What kind of status is attached to that?”

“It wasn’t about the job,” Maria clarified. “It was the money. He brought a lot of money into the household and he was convinced he was going to be named a partner in his firm. He was up for a promotion about a year ago, and he thought for sure he was going to get it.

“Melissa had big plans for when he got that promotion,” she continued. “She had a house in a gated community all picked out. It had a saltwater pool and a sauna in the basement. She wouldn’t stop talking about it.”

“She was lording it over us, you mean,” Maria corrected. “Since Scott made more money than Alex and Donnie, she always acted as if she was doing us a favor hanging out with us. Well, when the date for the promotion came and went, we asked her what happened.”

“She didn’t want to tell us,” Lauren said, clearly enjoying the gossip session. “Finally, after about three bottles of wine, she admitted that Scott didn’t get the promotion. She had a lot of excuses, but apparently it came down to his attitude. The boss doesn’t like him.”

“I think she realized that Scott was never going to make the money she’d been dreaming about after that,” Maria said. “She became … withdrawn. We didn’t see each other a lot, but the guys try to meet up once a month and we get dragged along for every trip. Every time we saw her after that she was more and more morose.”

“But she never mentioned seeing someone else?” Jack pressed.

“Never.”

“What about Scott? Did you know he was seeing someone else?”

“No,” Lauren replied. “It doesn’t surprise me, though. He’s always been a player. I’m not sure he’s the type who can ever be faithful.”

Jack shifted his eyes to Ivy. “What do you think?”

“I think it’s like a soap opera,” Ivy replied. “Every time we think we have everything figured out, some diva comes wandering around to shake things up.”

“
I
’M
exhausted
, honey,” Jack said, rubbing Ivy’s back as they cuddled next to the fire shortly before ten. “Do you mind calling it a night?”

“That sounds like a good idea,” Ivy said, stifling a yawn. “Everyone else has already separated and turned in for the night. Scott passed out four hours ago.”

“I don’t think that call I got from Harvey made things better,” Jack said.

“We know the blood in the clearing belongs to Melissa,” Ivy said. “That doesn’t mean she’s dead.”

“You’re the one who told me earlier that you thought she was dead. Did you forget that?”

“I still believe she’s dead,” Ivy clarified. “For your sake – and the sake of your friends – I hope that she’s not. Maybe something will happen that can explain all of this.”

“Or maybe she’s dead and someone just did a better job of hiding her body this time,” Jack suggested.

“Why?”

“What do you mean why? The state police showed up after the last body was found and then we discovered the first body,” Jack said. “Someone obviously wants to ease the police presence.”

“Then why kidnap a woman so close to the other incident?”

“I … huh. I honestly have no idea.”

“There’s a lot here we don’t understand, Jack,” Ivy said. “We’re not going to figure it out tonight. Let’s get some sleep and look at it fresh in the morning. We’re both too tired to see the big picture.”

“That sounds like the best suggestion I’ve heard all day,” Jack said. “I have to go to the bathroom first. How about you?”

“Yes, please, sir.”

Jack grinned. “How about I allow you to go on your side of the building all by yourself while I go on my side? I promise not to wait outside for you and act like a nervous boyfriend.”

“I guess that will have to do,” Ivy said, pushing herself to a standing position. “I need sleep, and you’re never going to let me walk over there alone.”

“You’ve got that right.”

I
VY
figured
Jack would be waiting for her outside of the bathroom when she exited, but instead she found silence. She started moving toward the other side of the building – the men’s facilities were on the opposite side of the square structure – but something stopped her in her tracks.

Ivy swiveled quickly, her skin prickling. Someone was watching her. She could feel it. She opened her mouth to call out but snapped it shut when Jack appeared in front of her.

“Are you ready for bed, honey?”

Ivy considered telling him what she felt, and then discarded the notion. Even if someone was watching her, that didn’t mean it was a killer. It was probably another camper. They were both tired. Sleep was more important that forcing Jack to skulk around the bushes looking for something that probably wasn’t there.

“I’m definitely ready,” Ivy replied. “I think we should just sleep tonight. No dream interludes. I need to shut my brain off.”

“That’s fine with me,” Jack said. “I have you in real life. I already have the dream.”

“
W
e both have
to shower before we do anything else today,” Ivy announced the next morning, ruefully tugging on her hair and making a face as she studied it. “We smell.”

“And good morning to you, too, honey,” Jack deadpanned, rolling his neck until it cracked. “I’ll have you know, I don’t smell. I’m manly and that thing you think you’re smelling is manliness.”

“We haven’t showered in two days,” Ivy countered. “We have to shower. That’s what we’re doing before anything else.”

“What about breakfast?”

“I’m not cooking for you until you don’t stink.”

“You’re a mean woman, honey,” Jack said, although he lifted his arm and sniffed to make sure she wasn’t exaggerating. “You’re kind of right, though. Okay, I guess you’ll be safe showering when it’s light out. You have to promise to do your business over there and then immediately come over here and wait for me in the tent.”

“Or I could start breakfast so we can eat,” Ivy countered. “Your stomach was growling for half the night.”

“I think it was just talking so you wouldn’t be lonely.”

“You’re in a good mood given what we’re going to be going through today,” Ivy said. “How come?”

“You make me happy,” Jack replied, tugging her face close so he could kiss her. “After looking at my friends and the lies they’ve been living, I can’t tell you how happy I am to have you.”

“Okay, you’re definitely getting bacon this morning,” Ivy said. “I can’t promise to wrap myself in it, but I do promise to cook it.”

“Thank you!” Jack kissed her again. “Gather your stuff, stinky. Make sure you have absolutely everything you need. You’re not allowed to wander back and forth once I’m in the shower. Promise me.”

“I promise,” Ivy said. “Right now, a long shower to wash off the filth sounds absolutely heavenly.”

“The only thing that would make it better is if we could do it together,” Jack said. “Come on. Let’s start our day.”

By the time Ivy and Jack climbed out of their tent, everyone else was gathered around the freshly revitalized fire. They all looked as if deep conversation was on the menu, and no one was happy about it.

“What’s going on?” Jack asked, shuffling his shower essentials to one arm and ushering Ivy forward with the other. “Did something happen? Did the state troopers come by?”

“No,” Donnie replied, handing Scott a bottle of water. The man looked like death warmed over, and whatever hangover he was battling appeared to be getting the better of him. “We were all discussing leaving.”

Jack stilled. “Excuse me?”

“We can’t stay here,” Lauren said. “Melissa is missing and probably dead. A teenage girl was mutilated and ripped apart. This has officially been the worst vacation ever.”

“Let me get this straight, you’ve decided to deal with Melissa’s disappearance by running away?” Jack was beyond irked. “What are you even thinking?”

“We’re thinking that this place isn’t safe,” Maria said. “Any one of us could be next.”

“Scott, are you considering leaving knowing that your wife is missing and might be out there?” Ivy asked, genuinely curious.

Scott shifted his red-rimmed eyes to Ivy. “What do you care? You’ve broken this friendship. I don’t have to tell you anything.”

“Don’t speak to her like that,” Jack snapped. “I’m warning you. If you do it again, I’m going to punch you. I don’t care how hungover you are.”

“You can’t talk to me like that,” Scott shot back. “I’m not one of your criminals, Jack. I have rights.”

“You do,” Jack confirmed. “Apparently you’re exercising your right to abandon your missing wife and go back to your life. You know what? More power to you. You make me sick.”

“What do you want me to do, Jack?” Scott spat. “She’s gone. We all know she’s dead. How long are we supposed to sit here and wait for someone else to die?”

“Why do you think anyone here is a target?” Ivy challenged.

“Obviously we’re targets,” Lauren said. “That’s why Melissa was taken from our camp.”

“We don’t know that,” Jack argued. “She might have gotten up to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night and gotten taken over there. She might have wandered off on her own and got taken at the other end of the campground. We don’t know anything.”

“Dude, I can’t lie,” Donnie said. “I’m terrified. I’m not just terrified for myself, but I don’t feel like Lauren is safe here.”

“I feel the same way about Maria,” Alex said. “I’m actually surprised that you’re so gung-ho to stay here, Jack. Aren’t you worried about Ivy’s safety? She has found two bodies, after all. She might make a very appealing target.”

“I’m always worried about Ivy’s safety,” Jack replied. “That’s why I’m keeping her close. If you guys want to leave, I can’t stop you. I can seriously question what type of people you are, though, but I’ve been doing that for days.

“The truth is, the state troopers are looking at all of us,” he continued. “Anyone leaving under these circumstances when their wife and close friend is missing is going to draw more attention to themselves. Go nuts. Leave. I don’t really care at this point.”

“Are you going to stay?” Maria asked.

“We’re staying until we find out what happened to Melissa,” Jack answered. “My conscious won’t let me do anything else.”

“
I
HAVE
an idea
,” Ivy announced when Jack joined her at the picnic table forty minutes later.

“I think a nap sounds great,” Jack said. “I missed you in my dreams last night, although the nine hours of sleep did us both good. You have color back in your cheeks. I was a little worried that you were wearing yourself down after so much excitement. You were really pale.”

“That’s because I convinced myself someone was watching me before you showed up outside of the bathroom.”

Jack pursed his lips. “You really know how to ruin a moment, don’t you?”

“I decided I was imagining it,” Ivy said. “I didn’t want you wandering around in the dark when I was merely working myself into a lather because I was tired.”

“Ivy, I refuse to fight with you today, so I’m not going to yell,” Jack said, watching as she placed bacon in the skillet. “You’re also cooking me bacon, and I don’t want to risk you taking it away. You have to promise me that you’re going to tell me the next time you think someone is watching you.”

“Even if I’m sure I’m imagining it?”

“Yes,” Jack answered. “I would rather be safe than sorry.”

“Okay,” Ivy said, holding her hands up in a placating manner. “I promise I will tell you whenever I think someone is watching me.”

“Thank you.”

“Maria is watching me right now,” Ivy said, inclining her chin toward Maria and Alex’s tent. “Beat her up.”

“You’re so cute,” Jack said, tweaking Ivy’s nose. “At least they’ve agreed to stay. They’re not happy about it, but I think my admission that they’d be considered suspects if they left forced them all to make a tough decision.”

“They’re covering their tracks,” Ivy said. “It’s all about appearances with them.”

“I’m starting to get that,” Jack said. “Wait … didn’t you just say you had an idea?”

“I
do
have an idea,” Ivy said, handing the skillet to Jack. “I think we should take kayaks out and scan the shoreline.”

“Why?”

“Because that would be a really easy way to discard a body,” Ivy answered. “Think about it. The kayaks are located two sites down. You’re supposed to sign them out at the ranger station, but someone could easily take one in the middle of the night and put it back without anyone being the wiser.”

“That’s an interesting idea, honey,” Jack said. “We both know that all three of our suspects know how to use a kayak. My problem is that the openings are so narrow that I think it would be practically impossible to get a body and a man inside of one.”

“Not if they draped the body over the kayak and secured it with a rope.”

“Okay, let’s say I’m entertaining this for a moment,” Jack said. “You’re basically suggesting that someone killed Melissa here and then dragged her to a kayak, tied her to it, and then paddled out across the lake to dispose of her body.”

“That’s exactly what I’m suggesting.”

“Then how did Melissa’s blood end up in the clearing?”

“Maybe someone collected it from her body before dumping her and placed it in the clearing to serve as a distraction,” Ivy suggested. “Someone is working overtime to confuse law enforcement. Even though she was a thin woman, Melissa’s dead weight would’ve been impossible for one person to carry that far into the woods without help.

“No matter how annoying I find most of the people here right now – especially given their cowardly natures – I don’t see more than one of them being guilty,” she continued. “They’re too gossipy. They never would’ve been able to keep it secret.”

“So you think Melissa’s body is somewhere close to the lake, but on the other side,” Jack surmised.

“Exactly.”

“Well, honey, I’ve learned never to ignore your intuition,” Jack said. “Let’s eat breakfast and pack a picnic lunch. That will give us an excuse to stay out all afternoon. Let’s see if you really are a genius.”

“
I
DON’T
know
how we’re supposed to narrow this down,” Jack said two hours later. He lazily floated next to Ivy as she studied the nearby shoreline. His second try in a kayak was going much smoother than the first. It still bothered him that Ivy was so much better at controlling her small craft than he was.

“I think we can rule out the east and west sides of the lake,” Ivy said, her face screwed up in concentration. “They’re both filled with houses. Someone would have to be stupid to dump a body there.”

“That leaves the south side of the lake,” Jack said. “Do you see anything over there that piques your interest?”

“I do,” Ivy confirmed.

Jack was surprised. “Really? What?”

Ivy pointed at the dock. “That’s a summer camp,” she said. “I know because I went there when I was a kid. It’s abandoned. The state is trying to sell the land to a developer. He wants to put condos there and the neighbors around the lake are fighting it.”

“How do you know that?”

“It’s been all over the television,” Ivy replied. “At night, there’s a light on that dock. It’s not bright, but it does serve as a landmark. If someone was crossing the lake at night, they would need something to focus on so they didn’t get lost or turned around. What better than a lighted dock?”

“Okay, you’ve convinced me,” Jack said. “Take me to the dock.”

It took the couple about fifteen minutes to navigate across the lake, and Ivy made sure to secure both kayaks at the end of the dock before joining Jack on the shore. He glanced around the deserted camp, seemingly entranced, and jolted when Ivy appeared beside him.

“I didn’t mean to frighten you,” Ivy said. “I thought you heard me coming.”

“I was just thinking,” Jack said. “I’ll bet this was a cool place to visit when you were a kid. In the city, we don’t have anything like this. Any camps they have down there are held at community centers and metroparks. This place is really amazing.”

“I didn’t really like summer camp because I had to sleep in a cabin with a bunch of girls I didn’t like,” Ivy said. “I was fine when I could mingle out in the open, but I felt like I was being smothered at night.”

“Well, I think we should rent a cabin on a lake one weekend and do our own version of summer camp so we can both enjoy it,” Jack suggested. “It doesn’t have to be this lake … and I’m going to be honest, if we never come back here, I’ll be a happy man. I still think it would be fun to do.”

“I think that’s a great idea,” Ivy said. “I would love that.”

“Good,” Jack said, dropping a soft kiss on her lips. “The problem with this camp is that it’s big. There are a lot of places to hide a body.”

“It can’t be too far away,” Ivy said, glancing around. “It has to be in a spot where it can be hidden from prying eyes and yet still easily accessible from the dock. After all the energy expended killing a woman and paddling her body across the lake, the killer would have to be exhausted.”

“Okay, so where?”

Ivy pointed toward an old maintenance shed. The building was ramshackle and the roof looked as if it was about to cave in. “You could put a body in there easily and potential developers would never bother looking inside because they would tear it down.”

Jack moved in that direction, his face grim as he closed the distance. He studied the door handle for a moment, and then lifted his shirt to cover his hand. “Just in case there’s a chance of getting fingerprints,” he said.

Ivy watched, her heart constricting as he pulled open the door. She smelled the evidence of her purported genius before she saw it. Jack stuck his head inside briefly and then shut the door.

“It’s Melissa,” Jack said, pressing his eyes shut briefly. “I have to call Harvey.”

“He’s going to be really annoyed.”

“Not half as annoyed as I am,” Jack said. “Someone stabbed her through the throat. That’s where they got the blood.”

“We have a body,” Ivy said, pinching her nose to ward off the lingering stench. “Now we just have to find the murderer.”

“And I have to look at my own friends to do it,” Jack said.