“Actually, it is your fault,” Jack fired back. “She got in trouble for rescuing you. You couldn’t even be bothered to write an impact statement for her at her sentencing. I mean ... what’s up with that?”
“Jack.” Brian sent his partner a warning look and shook his head. “That’s not the point of this conversation.”
Maisie’s lips curved smugly. “Yeah.”
“The purpose of this conversation is Maisie’s insecure tendencies. She can’t stand it when another woman gets any attention. It’s juvenile, ridiculous, and reminds me of middle school girls fighting for supremacy of a tube of lipstick, but that’s where we’re at.”
“Oh, I don’t need this!” Maisie threw her hands into the air. “I don’t know anything about where Jason is. I haven’t seen him in a few days. We’re not technically dating. Sometimes we end up at the same bar and hook up. That’s all the information I have.”
Sadly, Jack believed her. They were back to square one.
IVY WENT TO A QUIET PLACE IN HER mind as she worked. It looked a lot like the fairy ring she visited in the woods at least once a week. There, she could let go of the stress clogging her brain and be the person she wanted to be. It wasn’t exactly the same as the real thing, but it did help the time pass.
“Stupid girls,” a male voice muttered, ripping her out of her reverie. She looked around, searching for a source, and found Marvin standing about seven feet away. He was poking at a piece of paper that didn’t want to be speared and his back was to her. “Stupid, stupid girls.”
Ivy hadn’t much interacted with Marvin since joining the team and she took a moment to study him. He seemed to be the biggest wild card in their group — other than the two guys she hadn’t even bothered to get names on — and he wasn’t big on eye contact. She briefly wondered if he was on the spectrum, but a few of the glances he’d cast in Angel’s direction made her think otherwise. Oh, sure, he was socially awkward. It wasn’t more serious than that, though. At least she didn’t think it was.
“Are you talking about Maisie and Ava?” Ivy asked, flashing a smile when Marvin jerked to see who was standing behind him. “If so, I agree. They’re stupid girls.”
Marvin ran his tongue over his lips and then shook his head. “She’s talking to me. What am I supposed to do?”
Ivy froze, glancing around to see if she’d somehow missed one of the other men. After a few moments, she came to the realization that Marvin was alone ... and talking to himself. “You don’t have to do anything,” she reassured him. “I was just making conversation. There’s nothing to worry about.”
“Stupid girl.” He made a tsking sound with his tongue and turned back to his work. “I don’t like stupid girls.”
“I don’t like them either,” Ivy replied. “You don’t have to worry about Maisie and Ava, though. They’re gone. I very much doubt they’ll come back ... at least today. I wouldn’t rule out them coming back a few days from now, if they’re certain they won’t be caught, but I think we’re safe for the foreseeable future.”
“Stupid girls,” Marvin hissed, utilizing a voice that made Ivy’s skin crawl. “I don’t like them. They should all be killed, crushed, dragged away.”
Ivy furrowed her brow and looked over her shoulder, hoping to find Greg. She didn’t figure he would be much help, but since he was in charge, she was anxious to dump Marvin on him. All she knew about the man was that he’d been sentenced for shoplifting. At the time she found out, she thought it was strange because retail fraud was most often associated with women. Now, though, she had to wonder if Marvin was struggling with mental health issues. If so, being out in the middle of the woods all day, the sun beating down on him and limited water supplies, didn’t sound like a good thing.
“Um ... maybe you should sit down,” she suggested. “I mean, it couldn’t do any harm.”
Marvin turned in her direction again, held her gaze for a full five seconds, and then looked away. “Stupid girls. I hate them. Should run them over. Sasha was run over. She stopped yakking after that, didn’t she?”
Ivy’s heart did a long, slow roll and she rubbed her sweaty palm against her jeans as she tried to decide what to do. She didn’t feel as if she had a lot of options. Before she could speak again, though, Marvin bolted toward the woods.
“The sun is setting. It’s time to go. There’s marzipan for dinner.” With those words, he disappeared into the trees, leaving Ivy stunned ... and confused.
“What was that?” Greg asked, cutting through the ferns and stopping in the spot directly next to Ivy. “What did you say to him?”
Ivy was offended that Greg naturally assumed she had something to do with Marvin’s freak-out. Before she could rein in her emotions and regulate her tone, she responded. “I didn’t say anything to him. Well, I mentioned that I agreed the girls here were stupid. That’s before I realized he was talking to himself, though.”
Greg was exasperated. “Of course he was talking to himself. That’s all he does. Why did you talk back?”
“Because I didn’t realize he was talking to himself at first. I thought he was talking to me.”
“Why would he want to talk to you?”
“I don’t know. I was the only one in his general vicinity. I don’t generally jump to the conclusion that someone is talking to himself. That’s just me, though. I guess I’ll know better for next time.”
“Don’t take that tone with me,” Greg warned.
As a fiery woman, Ivy was used to snapping at people whenever she felt the urge. Now she found herself in the strange position of allowing someone else to have complete control over her.
She didn’t like it. She
