Wicked Beginning: An Ivy Morgan Mystery Books 1-3 (17 page)

“Why are we out here?”

Jack held the back of Ivy’s neck so she didn’t barrel back into the office and start railing Chad with questions again. “Because he requested a lawyer.”

“So?”

“So he’s got a right to representation,” Jack said. “Stop squirming.”

“Don’t tell me what to do.”

“If you don’t stop squirming I’m going to tie you to a chair,” Jack said.

“You’re such a … .”

“Great detective?”

“I was going to say bully,” Ivy said, crossing her arms over her chest. “You’re a big bully.”

“You’re too cute for words.” Jack realized too late he’d said the words out loud. He cleared his throat, avoiding Ivy’s probing gaze, and focused on the book in her hands. “Can I hold on to that?”

Ivy handed the book over to him wordlessly.

“Thank you for bringing this here. You helped us a great deal,” Jack said. “You should probably go home now, though.”

“But … I want to watch you put the screws to Chad.”

Jack smirked. “You watch too much television.”

“I watch very little television. I watch
Game of Thrones
,
The Walking Dead
and
Hannibal
. That’s it.”

“That’s some pretty eclectic taste there.”

“I watch
Game of Thrones
because I like dragons. I watch
The Walking Dead
because I like Norman Reedus. He’s beyond hot.”

Jack internally scowled. He had no idea who that was, but he already didn’t like him. “Why do you watch
Hannibal
?”

“I like to cook.”

Jack made a face. “Nice. I’m never eating anything at your house again.”

“Like I would invite you,” Ivy muttered.

“We’ll talk about that later,” Jack said. “You should really go home now, though. This could go on for a long time.”

“But … I want to know why he did it.”

“I’m not sure he’s ever going to come through with the answers you’re looking for,” Jack said. “He said that Mona was banned from the group because she kept telling people what they were doing up there – whatever that is. He said she freaked out and made a scene. Apparently she threatened to tell people he was doing sexual rites.”

“You think he killed her to shut her up?”

“I do.”

“Why did he dump her in front of my house?”

“You might not want to hear this, Ivy, but I think he’s carrying a weird torch for you,” Jack said. “I don’t think he’s ever gotten over you. That’s why he’s fixated on the fact that he thinks you’ve never gotten over him.”

“That’s so ridiculous.”

“You are over him, right?”

Ivy made a face. “Don’t insult me. I’m sorry I ever dated him. It makes me feel … dirty.”

Without thinking, Jack reached up and brushed a strand of her hair away from her face, taking them both by surprise. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have done that.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Ivy said. “It was just an impulse.”

He was having a lot of those these days. “I … it was still uncalled for.”

Ivy sighed, frustrated. “I think you’re right.”

“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have touched you.”

“Not about that,” she scoffed. “Don’t be such a woman. I was talking about going home. I’m exhausted, and if I stay here much longer I’m going to be getting a few impulses of my own.”

Jack couldn’t help but grin. “You should definitely go then.”

“Agreed.” Ivy started moving toward the door. “If you get somewhere … ?”

“I’ll call you. I promise.”

“I’ll talk to you soon then.”

TWO HOURS
later Chad was in the office talking to his lawyer and Jack was sitting at his desk staring at the book. For lack of anything better to do, he typed the title into an Internet search engine and perused the items that came up.

Most of it was nonsense. There was a handful of people trying to use it as a weapon like Chad. Most of the talk was about how ridiculous the book was. Jack was about to give up when something caught his eye. He clicked on the link.

“What are you doing?” Brian asked, walking up behind Jack’s desk with a mug of coffee in his hand.

“I searched for the book,” Jack said. “I was just curious.”

“Did you find something?”

“Actually, I did. Mona went to Central Michigan University, right?”

Brian nodded.

“Well,
The Covenant
was used as a textbook in a comparative religion class in the fall,” Jack said. “That can’t be a coincidence, right?”

“I don’t know,” Brian said, shrugging. “Ivy said it was fiction.”

“I’m still going to call,” Jack said. “Do you think it’s too late?”

“It’s not even dark yet,” Brian said. “Knock yourself out.”

It took Jack more than an hour to track down the professor he was looking for, and when he finally got the woman on the phone she was less than thrilled about being bugged on her private time. After profuse apologies, Amy Fowler finally agreed to answer his questions.

“I need to know how
The Covenant
became part of your curriculum,” Jack said. “My understanding is that the book was originally meant as fiction.”

“That’s exactly why I used it,” Amy said. “A very small group of people latched onto the book and purported it to be true. We were basically talking about how a fiction book could somehow be turned into non-fiction by a group of believers.”

“Kind of like
The Blair Witch Project
?”

“In theory, yes,” Amy said. “It was just a small part of the semester. We only talked about it for two classes.”

“Was Mona Wheeler in your class?”

“I’ll have to look it up on my laptop,” Amy said. “I’ll boot it up now. Do you have any other questions?”

“There’s a lot of faux paganism in the book,” Jack said. “Do you think people latched onto it because of that?”

“Maybe,” Amy said. “The thing is, the book was written in the eighties. Most people ignored it then. It didn’t become popular until the nineties.”

“Why?”

“There was a paranormal resurgence in the nineties, and whenever that happens people devour everything they can get their hands on,” Amy said. “That’s what happened here. Okay, here’s my class list. Hold on … yes, Mona Wheeler was a student in my class during the fall semester.”

“That’s where she learned about
The Covenant
,” Jack said. “The problem is, she should’ve known that it was fiction because of your class. Did she miss a lot of classes?”

“Um, hold on,” Amy said. “I’m better with faces than names. Let me look up her student file.”

“Did any of the students in your class express interest in following the book in reality?”

“No,” Amy said. “Of course, they might not have made their interest public. I kind of ravaged the book. If they wanted a good grade, they were not going to admit to finding
The Covenant
feasible. Here we go … okay, I remember her.”

“What can you tell me about her?”

“She was diligent,” Amy said. “When the semester started, she was all wide-eyed and excited. I see students like her all the time. A lot of kids are here for the partying. She was here for the learning.”

“Why do I sense a but?”

“Toward the end of the semester she became … distracted.”

“Because of
The Covenant
?”

“I have no idea,” Amy said. “If I had to guess, though, I would say it was a boy.”

“Why do you say that?”

“Now that I know who she is, I can tell you that one other thing about Mona Wheeler stuck out to me,” Amy said.

Jack waited.

“I had a TA for two semesters,” Amy said. “He was extremely good for the first semester, and then he kind of fell off. He stopped turning in his assignments on time. Sometimes he wouldn’t show up for work at all.”

“What does this have to do with Mona Wheeler?”

“TAs grade papers at times, but I’m one of those professors who does spot checks,” Amy said. “When I spot checked some of his work I found that I didn’t have corresponding papers for the grades he was giving out.”

“Meaning?”

“Meaning he was giving grades – good ones – for work that wasn’t completed,” Amy said. “Mona Wheeler was one of those students. She did supply papers after the fact, and I did pass her, but I had to let the TA go.”

“Why would he pass people if they didn’t turn in the work?”

“It’s happened before,” Amy said. “This was the first time it happened to me, but there was a scandal about two years back where a TA was being paid by a bunch of athletes to make sure they passed.”

“Was this TA being paid?”

“Not like you might expect,” Amy said. “We did an investigation, and it seems the students in my class were not paying with money.”

“Were they all women?”

“How did you know?”

“Lucky guess,” Jack said dryly. “What was this TA’s name?”

“Heath Graham.”

Jack froze, surprised. “Excuse me?”

“Heath Graham.”

“How well did you know Heath?”

“Relatively well,” Amy said. “Like I said, he was diligent in the beginning. It wasn’t until the end that he seemed to fall apart.”

“Does the name Chad Hamilton mean anything to you?”

“Should it?”

“He’s this local … quack … we have up here,” Jack explained. “He’s built a whole compound around
The Covenant
. I was up there the other day. Heath Graham is one of his followers.”

“Well, that makes sense,” Amy said. “After the scandal, Heath was expelled from school.”

“He was expelled and the students weren’t?”

“Correct.”

“When was the last time you saw him?”

“The day he was expelled,” Amy said. “He was brought in front of the disciplinary committee and axed on the spot.”

“How did he take it?”

“He was angry, but he was also … resigned,” Amy said. “I think he was expecting it. My understanding is that he packed up his belongings and left the campus that night. I guess we know where he ended up now.”

“I guess so,” Jack said, rubbing his chin. “I just have one more question. Did Heath ever seem susceptible to suggestion to you?”

“That’s a hard question to answer,” Amy said. “I’m in a position of power where he’s concerned. He always did as I asked. I guess, in theory, I would have to say yes. Just how much suggestion are we talking about here?”

“The compound is full of mostly women,” Jack said. “Other than Heath, I think I only saw two other men. I assumed he was at the compound because he was grandfathered in through his mother or something. I’m not sure that’s the case, though.”

“I wish you luck, detective,” Amy said. “Religious manipulation is one of the few things that really gets me riled up.”

“I can see that,” Jack said. “Thank you for your time.”

Brian was back at Jack’s desk a few minutes after he disconnected. “Anything?”

“We have a whole lot of something,” Jack said. “I … what’s going on with Hamilton’s lawyer?”

“They’re still in there talking.”

“We need to get in there,” Jack said. “I have a few questions about Heath Graham, and right now Hamilton is the only one who can answer them. Come on.”

“Happy dinner, Nicodemus.”

Ivy leaned over and stroked the cat’s soft fur wearily. Although he often craved attention, when the dinner bell rang, Nicodemus considered it a solitary experience. He turned his back on Ivy and blocked her off from his dish – just in case she might want to steal some of it.

“Have fun, glutton.”

Ivy left Nicodemus to his dinner and moved toward her library. A nice book and her favorite blanket sounded like the perfect way to unwind, she told herself. It had been days since she’d been able to relax. Now that Chad was in custody, she was safe.

So why did she feel so edgy?

Ivy selected a simple murder mystery from the shelf, knowing anything more taxing wouldn’t sink in, and settled on the couch. She was only two pages in when she thought she heard something outside. She leaned forward, cocking her head to the side so she could listen closer. When she didn’t hear anything again she returned her attention to the book. Living so close to the woods meant she had a lot of nocturnal visitors of the furry persuasion – most of which Nicodemus hunted from the window and terrorized until they moved a safe distance away. When he was done with his dinner, Ivy was sure he would scare whatever was scrounging around the front garden away with a few well-placed howls.

Ivy was just getting back into the flow of the book when she heard the noise again. This time it was accompanied by the sound of something rattling – and she was almost certain it was her garbage cans.

“That raccoon,” Ivy grumbled, getting to her feet.

She stalked through the house, throwing open the door in an attempt to scare the scavenging raccoon away. He’d become a frequent guest, and Max was insisting on replacing her older bins with newer ones that had lids that fastened in such a way that a raccoon – no matter how industrious – couldn’t get inside.

“Hey, bandit, there’s nothing in there,” Ivy said, narrowing her eyes so she could focus on the area where the trashcans were located. “You’re going to be really disappointed when you tip that thing over.”

When the bins clanged one more time, Ivy sighed and hopped off the porch, heading in the direction of the racket. She was almost upon the cans, ready to scare the creature physically with a loud yell, when she realized it was no animal rummaging through her garbage.

It was a man.

Ivy opened her mouth to scream, but it died on her lips when the man swiveled so he was facing her.

“HOW
did you meet Heath Graham?” Jack asked, focusing keenly on Chad as he conversed with his lawyer, Deacon Reynolds.

“My client is not going to answer that question,” Reynolds said.

“Yes, he is,” Jack said. “I want to know how Heath Graham became involved with your client, and I want to know now.”

“May I ask why you’re asking questions about Mr. Graham?” Reynolds asked.

“Because I found that this book was used in a comparative religion class at Central Michigan University,” Jack replied, not seeing any reason to lie as he lifted the copy of
The Covenant
up for Chad and Reynolds to see. “Heath Graham was a TA in that class, and he lied about paper grades for a number of students, including Mona Wheeler.”

Chad balked. “Wait. What?”

“You didn’t know Heath and Mona knew each other?”

“I knew they were acquainted, but I didn’t know that,” Chad said.

“Mr. Hamilton, please, let me handle this,” Reynolds interrupted.

“Shut up,” Jack said. “I’m not going to ask your client anything about his own activities right now. When I do, you can step in and speak for him. For now, I want to hear about Heath. How did he come to be a part of your compound?”

“He just showed up one day,” Chad said. “I’m not sure how he heard about us, but he volunteered his services as my second in command.”

“How did that go over?”

“I sent him away,” Chad said. “I didn’t want his … sort … at Covenant.”

“Because he has a penis?”

“No,” Chad scowled. “Because … just bite me.”

“When did you agree to let Heath join?”

“He kept coming around,” Chad said. “One day I would find him helping the women in the field. The next day I would find him cleaning the living quarters. Finally, it just made sense to let him join. Once he told me he was gay, I didn’t see what the harm in having him around was.”

“Gay?”

“That’s what he said. He never showed any interest in my women. Trust me. I was looking.”

Jack made a face. “Heath was expelled from the university because of the cheating scandal,” he said. “He only helped female students, and he wasn’t doing it for money.”

Chad faltered. “But … he’s gay.”

“He’s not,” Jack said. “Tell me about Heath’s interactions with Mona.”

“I don’t … I never purposely sought them out to watch,” Chad said, thoughtful. “I knew they were familiar with one another, but I thought it was just because they were passing acquaintances on campus. I honestly never saw anything to pique my suspicion.”

“Did you know Heath was familiar with
The Covenant
before he came to the compound?”

“He was a true believer.”

“He was part of a class where they ridiculed and mocked the book,” Jack corrected. “I’m betting you didn’t know that.”

“But he said … .”

“How did he find you? Mona was with your group first, right?”

“I met Mona at a fall festival in Bellaire in the fall,” Chad said. “She seemed interested in our group, so I started … talking … to her whenever I got the chance. I invited her to a number of our public appearances.”

“You mean you started to groom her,” Jack corrected.

“I talked to her,” Chad said.

“Did she let on that she knew
The Covenant
was fiction, too?”

Chad shifted uncomfortably. “I … .”

“I don’t care about your cult,” Jack said. “I care about the murder. You said you didn’t murder Mona. We have a second suspect now, although I’m not ruling you out. Tell me about Mona.”

“She was really … energetic at first,” Chad said.

“You told me that.”

“No, I mean she jumped right in and wanted to help,” Chad said. “Frankly, she was more interested in hanging out with the women than me.”

Jack stilled. “Wait a minute … you said you had sex with her.”

“I didn’t say that.”

“You insinuated it.”

“I … we never had occasion to consummate our promise.”

“I thought you were the Promise?”

“I am.”

“I don’t understand,” Jack said.

“That’s because he’s making it up as he goes along,” Brian said. “Enough is enough here, Chad. You start volunteering information about Mona or I’m going to lock you up right now.”

“You can’t do that,” Reynolds argued.

“Shut up,” Brian snapped. “Start talking, Chad.”

Chad sighed and ran his hand through his hair, frustrated. “I didn’t know what Mona was doing when she first came to the compound,” he said. “We talked a few times before she came for a tour. When she came for the tour, she was determined to be accepted into our group.

“She seemed really industrious and helpful,” Chad said. “After the winter thaw, she started showing up every weekend. She would help in the fields, and she even volunteered to babysit. She would spend time with me, but she never seemed excited about it.”

An idea was starting to form in Jack’s mind. “She wasn’t really a member of your group, was she?”

“No,” Chad said. “I wasn’t lying when I said I caught her telling people about what was going on at the compound. I found out, though, that she was doing it as part of a college assignment. She was trying to infiltrate us. She was undercover.”

“For a college class?”

“She said it wasn’t assigned, but if she could bring us down then she would have something to show some professor who thought she was a cheater,” Chad said.

“You’re starting to look like the guilty party again,” Jack said.

“I didn’t kill her,” Chad said. “While I didn’t like being fooled, I honestly didn’t see how a college project could hurt us. Obviously Mona couldn’t stay. That’s why I banned her.”

“What if she turned what she found into the police?”

“I’m not doing anything illegal,” Chad said.

“Are you sure? There are rumors you’re cultivating pot up there.”

“Did you find any in your search?”

Jack shook his head. “That doesn’t mean you’re not hiding it somewhere else. It’s a big area.”

“I’ll call the state police,” Brian said. “They have more resources. They can have dogs up there and search the surrounding area within a few hours.”

“Wait!” Chad held up his hands, desperate. “I … .”

“Don’t say another word,” Reynolds said.

“Yeah, don’t say another word,” Jack said. “Let me fill the rest of this in for you and your attorney. Heath didn’t join because he was a believer. He joined because he blamed Mona for being expelled. He got expelled and she got a second chance. He was bitter. When he got up there, he realized there was potential for making money.

“If Mona turned everything she found over to her professor that would put all of you at risk,” Jack said. “Heath didn’t want to lose money and stature to Mona. Not again. He wanted her to pay, and when you banned her, he realized he was going to lose that chance.”

“Heath didn’t even know about the pot,” Chad scoffed, immediately realizing what he’d said. “I mean … crap.”

“Yeah, crap,” Jack said. “Heath murdered Mona to shut her up. I’m not sure why he dumped her here, but I’ll be sure to ask him when we take him into custody. He wasn’t up at the compound when we searched it earlier. Where is he?”

“I haven’t seen him since we came over here to shop for trees the other day,” Chad said. “I sent him away so I could talk to Ivy alone, and I haven’t seen him since. He wasn’t in the parking lot when I left, so I assumed he would find another ride back.”

Jack shifted sharply. “What do you mean? Heath was in town with you the day you went after Ivy at the nursery?”

“I didn’t go after her.”

“I will beat you,” Jack snapped, his heart fluttering.

“He was with me,” Chad said, making a face. “I haven’t seen him since, though.”

Jack jumped to his feet and strode toward the office door.

“Where are you going?” Brian asked, confused.

“Heath Graham was here the day someone left a threat for Ivy on her front porch,” Jack said. “He was … enamored … with her when we were up at the compound that first day. He’s the one who killed Mona Wheeler.”

“I … do you think he’s going after Ivy?”

“Of course he’s going after Ivy,” Jack said. “Why else would he leave the message? I have to call her.”

“What are you going to tell her?”

“To stay in her house,” Jack said. “You call Max and get him over there right away. She needs a wall of protection so Heath doesn’t approach her.”

“What if it’s too late?”

Jack was grim. “Then I’ll kill him.”