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  “I do,” Jack confirmed. “The thing is, Max is going to be worse if he’s cut out of this. He cares about Amy a great deal. He read the situation correctly. He knew there was something different about Amy and his first instinct was to protect her. If he’s cut out of this, he’ll always second guess himself.”

  “Is that true?” Ivy was dumbfounded. “If so, that’s some backwards male thinking there. The most important thing is keeping Amy safe.”

  “Max needs to be a part of it.”

  “I won’t force her to tell Max before she’s ready. That doesn’t seem fair.”

  “Well, I’m going to leave that up to you. I don’t want you two running around town, though. I want you to be observant and watch every shadow. Can you do that for me?”

  Ivy nodded without hesitation. “We’ll be safe, Jack. I promise.”

  “Good.” He pulled her in for another hug and swayed back and forth. “I’m going to find Jeff. If we’re lucky, he doesn’t realize Amy told us the truth and still thinks we’re buddies. He might think he can use that to his advantage.”

  “Don’t bait him alone,” Ivy warned. “Make sure you have Brian with you for backup.”

  “I have every intention of being smart about this.” Jack kissed the tip of her nose. “I’ve got everything under control.”

  “Just come back to me.”

  “Always.”

  Fourteen

  Jack stayed longer than he planned because Brian instructed him to hold tight while he placed a series of calls. He and Ivy helped Amy put the house back together. They unloaded the things that were in the car and worked overtime to keep the woman calm. During that time, Jack watched the two women interact … and found himself fascinated.

  Ivy, who had been convinced Amy was hiding something from virtually the start, was now the woman’s biggest champion. She kept close to Amy, constantly murmured words of support, and supplied endless cups of tea to make sure Amy wasn’t wallowing. To Jack, it was almost a miraculous turnaround.

  “What?” Ivy asked when she caught Jack staring at her. Amy was in the laundry room folding clothes so it was just the two of them.

  “You’re pretty special,” Jack replied without hesitation, tucking a strand of Ivy’s hair behind her ear and smiling. “I want to thank whatever gods were looking down on me when I got the job in Shadow Lake. Do you know it was third on my list? I applied to two other departments up here to get away from the city.”

  Honestly, Ivy didn’t know that. “Really? I wonder if we would’ve met if you’d taken one of those jobs.”

  “I like to think we would’ve met regardless. It might’ve taken longer, though. I happen to think we met at the exact right time. If I’d gone much longer being shut off, I’m not sure I would’ve been able to open up to you.”

  “You just said that we were destined to meet. I happen to think we were destined to find this, too. Love finds a way, right?”

  “Yeah.” He leaned over and pressed a quick kiss to her lips and then straightened. “I’m on duty. I’m not supposed to be kissing women on duty.”

  “Good to know.” She grinned as his phone dinged with an incoming message, watching as he studied the readout with unreadable eyes. “Anything?”

  “Actually, we might have something.” Jack pushed away from the counter as Amy entered the room. “Have you seen Jeff at all since we returned to Shadow Lake?”

  Amy shook her head. “Why?”

  “Brian put out a call to all the hotels in the area and got a hit. Apparently Jeff is staying at the Pine Cone Motel.”

  Ivy’s eyes lit with excitement. “Is he there now?”

  “I don’t know, but I need to head over and see. That means you guys are going to be on your own … and I would prefer it if you weren’t here by yourselves even for a few minutes.”

  Ivy balked. “We’re capable of protecting ourselves for five minutes. You don’t need to worry about us.”

  “Yeah, that’s not going to happen. You’re going to be my wife … and you find a lot of trouble. I believe that means I’m not going to be able to stop myself from worrying about you for the rest of our lives. It goes with the territory.”

  Ivy heaved out a long-suffering sigh. “I guess you have a point, especially since I’m a little worried about you. Now that I know what Jeff is capable of, I want you to be careful.”

  “I intend on being careful.” Jack was calm, firm. “I still don’t want you guys hanging around this place for even a little while. It’s too isolated. Can you go back to the cottage? The barbecue is tonight. Maybe you can make potato salad or something.”

  Amy furrowed her brow. “Potato salad? What does that have to do with catching Jeff?”

  “Nothing,” Ivy answered dryly. “Jack just loves potato salad.”

  “I love your potato salad best,” he offered. “Just think how happy I’ll be if you make it for me.”

  Ivy rolled her eyes, but it was only for form’s sake. The last thing she wanted was Jack worrying about her when he had a murderer to track down. “We’ll spend the day at the cottage. I already did all the shopping for the barbecue. It will give Amy and me a chance to bond, right?”

  Amy cocked an eyebrow. “I’m kind of worried about bonding with you,” she admitted. “I was careful to keep distance between me and everyone I’ve met since I left Jeff. If I get attached to you, it will make it harder to leave if Jeff shows up. You wouldn’t believe how hard the idea of leaving Max was.”

  “You were still going to do it,” Ivy pointed out. “If I hadn’t arrived when I did, you would already be gone.” As sympathetic as she was to Amy’s plight, she didn’t like the idea of Max being left in the lurch. “My brother is a good guy. He would’ve helped. All you had to do was ask.”

  “I’m well aware of that.” Amy managed to remain stoic. “I didn’t want to put him at risk, though. If I told him … well … he would’ve gone after Jeff. We both know it.”

  Ivy did know that, without a shadow of a doubt. “My brother is impulsive,” she conceded. “He’s also loyal to a fault and doesn’t have a death wish. He would’ve tapped Jack to help him. He wouldn’t have run headlong into danger without thinking it through.” Even as she said the words, Ivy wasn’t sure they were true. “I mean … he probably wouldn’t have done that.”

  Jack slid her a sidelong look, legitimately amused. “I think it’s best the information came out the way it did,” he said. “As it stands, there’s a good chance we’ll be able to catch him before Max will even realize what’s happening. Although, I honestly don’t know if that’s a good or bad thing. Either way, I want you guys out of here … now.”

  Ivy knew better than putting up a fight. “We’ll lock this place up and head to the cottage.”

  “You will,” Jack agreed. “I’m going to make sure of it. I’ll follow you out.”

  Ivy’s eyes lit with suspicion. “If I didn’t know better, I would think you don’t trust me to follow through on my promise.”

  “And if I didn’t know better, I would think you were baiting me into a fight. That’s completely unnecessary at this juncture.”

  Amy’s curious gaze bounced between the couple for several beats and then she shook her head. “Max said you guys got off on challenging each other. I see he was telling the truth. As fun as it is, we don’t have time for this. We need to catch Jeff.”

  Jack nodded in agreement. “We do. I’ll make sure you guys are in the car and on the road and then we’ll handle the Jeff situation.”

  “Will you call when you have him?” Ivy queried. “I mean … just so we know.”

  “I will.” Jack stroked his hand down the back of her hair. “You guys are going to be safe. That’s the most important thing. The rest we’ll figure out as we go.”

  “Thank you,” Amy offered earnestly, her lower lip quivering. “I don’t know how to thank you.”

  “Amy, this is my job.” Jack was grave. “I wish you would’ve trusted someone sooner. It d
oesn’t matter, though. We won’t let Jeff hurt you or your son again. You have my word.”

  BRIAN WAS WAITING FOR JACK in front of the Pine Cone Motel. As far as lodgings went, it wasn’t exactly a sprawling resort hotel with room service and modern amenities. It was more akin to the place where hope went to die, a ramshackle flop that boasted rooms rented by the hour for those who wanted a quick tryst with a prostitute, or rooms rented by the week for those who had no place else to go.

  “I was starting to wonder if you got lost on the way,” Brian said dryly as his partner exited his vehicle. “I expected you ten minutes ago.”

  “I had to make sure Ivy and Amy were on the road and heading back to the cottage,” Jack replied, not embarrassed in the least that his worries about his fiancée’s safety came first. “They’re on the way to the house. They’ve agreed to stay there and cook for the afternoon.”

  “Cook?”

  “We’re barbecuing tonight. Luna is insisting on meeting Amy.”

  “Ah, well, this should be a nice icebreaker. I don’t envy that girl having to answer a boatload of questions about her murderous husband the first night she meets Michael and Luna.”

  “Yeah, well … I’m not sure that’s going to come up tonight.” Jack shifted from one foot to the other, clearly uncomfortable. “Ivy has agreed to give Amy time to tell Max when she’s comfortable with it. Personally, I would rather everything come out tonight, but Ivy isn’t pushing her new buddy.”

  “They’re buddies now, huh? I guess that makes sense.”

  “It does?” Jack was legitimately puzzled. “How so?”

  “Ivy likes to act as a protector. So does Max, for that matter. When she was a kid, Ivy would go out of her way to protect the other kids from bullies. She got in quite a few fights. I remember talking to Luna and Michael at the time and they were worried she was going to get in trouble over it.

  “Oddly enough, when those bullies picked on her, she retreated into her own little world,” he continued. “She was far more likely to stand up for others than herself. That’s why Max stepped in to protect her. He had a much different personality, but they’re similar in some ways, too.”

  “I’m not going to lie,” Jack started. “I don’t like Max being shut out of this. I think it’s going to be worse down the line because he’ll feel as if he failed Amy.”

  “How can he fail her if he doesn’t know?”

  Jack held out his hands and shrugged. “I don’t know. It might be a ridiculous reaction, but I can’t shake the feeling that my nose would be out of joint if someone else swooped in and saved Ivy under similar circumstances.”

  “Ah.” Realization dawned on Brian. “I get what you’re saying. I kind of agree, too. The thing is, we don’t want Max running around half-cocked. He would completely lose it and then we would have two people to search for, not one. It’s better if we’re the ones who handle this.”

  Jack believed that was probably true, but he was still reticent. “So, do you know the room number?” He inclined his chin toward the motel. “Is our guy inside?”

  “Stan Jurgenson is on the desk. I figured we would talk to him first. We can keep an eye on the room while that’s going down. I would rather be prepared than not if he’s got an arsenal in there.”

  Jack nodded. “That makes sense. Let’s talk to Stan.”

  “Just remember you said that with a straight face. Once you talk to Stan, you’re going to hope you never have to talk to him again.”

  “Thanks for the warning.”

  STAN JURGENSON WAS A SHORT man – he barely cleared five-foot-three – but his gut was so wide it made him look like he was a balloon about to pop. He seemed excited when Brian and Jack made their way into the office.

  “I can’t believe we had a criminal staying here,” he enthused, rubbing his hands together. “That’s a big deal. It will probably make the evening news. Do you think the local newscasters will pay for an interview with me?”

  Jack made a face. “Why would they pay for an interview with you?” He was beyond confused. “I don’t believe that’s how it works.”

  “Oh, you’re such a rube.” Stan graced him with a pitying look. “Never give away anything for free. That includes information. If you want to get ahead in this world, you have to make sure that people are aware your time is a commodity.”

  “I knew you would like him,” Brian drawled, shaking his head. “You can plot out your rates for the television crews later, Stan. I need information on the guy we talked about earlier. When did he check in?”

  Stan checked his ledger. “The night before last. He showed up right when I was about to close the office.”

  “Wait … the office isn’t open twenty-four hours?” Jack asked.

  “No. I’m the only one who can check people in. I have a maid who cleans the rooms and a crew to clear the snow in the winter and handle yard work in the summer. That’s it.”

  “What if someone tries to check in after you’ve left for the day?”

  “Then they’re fresh out of luck.” Stan was matter-of-fact. “Like I said. My time is valuable. If people want to stay here, they arrive at a reasonable hour.”

  “And what’s a reasonable hour?” Jack thought back to Sunday afternoon. “What time did he arrive?”

  “He was here relatively early. I would say about four or so.”

  “That’s several hours after we returned,” Jack noted, his mind busy. “I don’t think he followed us. We would’ve noticed that given the limited traffic. He must have left on his own later in the day.”

  “He knew where you lived,” Brian pointed out. “You talked to him, right? You went fishing with him.”

  Jack wasn’t keen on being reminded of that. “We went fishing together,” he acknowledged. “He seemed like a normal guy.”

  “Except he was at a campground alone.”

  “He had a story for that,” Jack protested. “He said his friends were delayed for a day due to vehicle trouble and he was nervous being alone after someone was killed.”

  “That’s convenient. He was the killer and he used fake fear to hang out with you guys. How did Amy react when finding him at your site?”

  Jack was taken aback by the question. He hadn’t even considered it. “I’m honestly not sure,” he replied after a moment’s contemplation. “I wasn’t there when Amy and Max returned to the site. Ivy and I stayed down at the management office to talk to Trooper Winters for a few minutes. Conversation was already flowing by the time we arrived.”

  “Was Amy talking to him?”

  “I … no.” Jack shook his head. “She didn’t say a word to him. I’m certain of that. Max was doing all the talking.”

  “Probably because Max doesn’t pick up on social cues all that well at times,” Brian muttered. “He probably didn’t notice that she was virtually shrinking in front of him. Amy stayed behind while you guys fished, right?”

  “She did. Ivy did, too, though.”

  “Did Ivy and Amy talk?”

  “I think so, although Ivy said she took a nap. I think Amy was keen on a nap, too. We were up late the previous evening because of the body. Everyone was tired and worn out.”

  “And Amy was probably plotting her escape even then,” Brian supplied. “I mean … think about it. She had to be terrified when she saw him. He was already in place at the campground when you arrived, right?”

  “I think so.” Jack racked his brain. “I can’t honestly be sure, though. I can’t remember. We arrived, set up camp, and then took some private couple time apart.”

  “In other words, you rolled around with Ivy and pouted about Max ruining your romantic vacation. I can just picture that … and I’m grossed out.”

  “Get over yourself.” Jack was used to his partner’s unsolicited grumbling. Brian knew Ivy when she was a child and wasn’t always happy to bear witness to Jack and Ivy’s interactions because he found them schmaltzy. “That’s basically what happened, though. Although … .” He trail
ed off, something occurring to him. “Amy saw Jeff within an hour of us landing. I remember that now.”

  “How?”

  “We were in the tent and Ivy opened the window. She was convinced Amy didn’t like her because she stuck so close to Max. When we looked out the window, though, Amy was standing on the trail staring at someone. It was Jeff. I didn’t put that together before, but it definitely was.”

  “So, he was there before you,” Brian concluded. “The question is: How did he get there before you? How could he possibly know where you were going to be?”

  “Maybe it was a coincidence,” Jack suggested. “Maybe he was staying at the campsite to save money because he heard Amy was in Michigan and was searching for her and it was just dumb luck.”

  “That would have to be the biggest bout of dumb luck ever. What are the odds of that happening?”

  “I don’t know. How could he know where she was going to be, though?”

  “I don’t know. That’s a question we need to ask him.” He tapped the front desk to draw Stan’s gaze back to them. The hotel proprietor was busy ordering his hair in the mirror. “We need an extra key to Portman’s room. We’re going in hot.”

  “No problem.” Stan handed over the item in question. “Try not to blow anything up … or put any holes in the wall. I’d like to rent that room again if I can tonight and that’s not going to be easy if you kill him in there.”

  “You’re all heart, Stan,” Brian drawled, accepting the key.

  “Hey, this guy is a lowlife and I can’t stand lowlifes. I don’t have any sympathy for him.”

  “Your whole clientele is lowlifes.”

  “That’s an ugly and untrue thing to say.”

  “Whatever.” Brian rolled his eyes until they landed on Jack. “Are you ready for this? We need to get him in cuffs right away. I’m betting he’s armed.”

  “I’m ready.” That was the truth. Jack wanted to put this ugly mess behind them as soon as possible. It was best for everybody involved if they could lock Jeff behind bars and then stand back to let Amy and Max handle their own affairs.