“But ... why would they focus on me?” Ivy was legitimately confused. “I mean ... I haven’t done anything to them.”
“Except both of them think you overheard something important and they might want to shut you up. Those are my demands. I want to take you to your site for the day and talk to Greg.”
Ivy opened her mouth to argue, but when she searched his earnest face, she knew it was a waste of time. “Fine.” She jabbed a finger in his chest before he could triumphantly swoop in and kiss her. “If I get more community service out of this, though, I’m going to be really mad.”
“That makes two of us. It’s going to be okay.” He wrapped his fingers around her wrist and tugged her close. “I love you.”
“Apparently so.” Ivy grinned. “You’re going to camp on our honeymoon. That’s like ... the nicest thing anybody has ever done for me.”
“Oh, I’m going to get way nicer. We’re on a timetable today, though, so we don’t have time to screw around.”
“Fair enough.” She tilted up her chin and accepted his kiss. She was breathless by the time he was finished. “Just one thing,” she said when they separated.
“Hmm.”
“When we do go to New Orleans, I want to stay at that hotel that has the carousel bar, the one we saw last night. I loved that street, and it was a quiet location that was set not too far away from the big action.”
“I’m fine with that.”
“Okay.” She was quiet for a beat and then pushed harder. “I also want to be in charge when we canoe.”
“That’s because you’re a little tyrant.”
“And I know what I’m doing.”
“Fine.” He wasn’t in the mood to argue. “Get your stuff. I don’t want you to be late. If you get more community service out of this, I’m going to be mad.”
She laughed at the way he echoed her words. “We’re a good team, huh?”
He nodded, solemn. “The best.”
GREG DIDN’T LOOK HAPPY TO SEE WHO WAS dropping Ivy off.
“Look who has her own chauffeur service,” he called out, haughty.
Rather than kiss his behind, Betsy shot him a quelling look. “Good grief. I know you desperately wanted to be a cop or something, but you need to get over it. He’s just being a good fiancé. Why is that a bad thing?”
Greg pinned her with a dark look. “Don’t you have work you’re supposed to be doing, Betsy?”
She shook her head, serene. “Not really. We don’t start for another eight minutes. If you try to force us to start before then, you’re breaking the terms of our probation agreement and I can report it. You don’t want that, do you?”
Greg scowled. “Just ... sit over there and mind your own business.” He dusted his hands off on the seat of his jeans as he shifted to intercept Jack. “I’m afraid you can’t move in any closer. There are rules about who can and cannot interact with the workers ... and fiancés are off the list.”
Jack knew coming in that Greg wasn’t going to make things easy. He also knew that he was willing to do whatever it took to keep Ivy safe, including sucking up to the little weasel currently making her life miserable. “I need to talk to you, Mr. Decker.”
“Oh, really?” Greg puffed out his chest and folded his arms. “Perhaps I don’t want to talk to you.”
“This is a serious situation,” Jack countered. “I’m not talking to you as Ivy’s fiancé. I’m talking to you as one law enforcement representative to another.”
Greg hesitated, perhaps sensing a trap, but ultimately he nodded. “Fine. Where do you want to talk?”
Jack gestured toward a spot that was a good thirty feet away. The distance was great enough that the workers wouldn’t be able to easily eavesdrop but not so far that he couldn’t keep an eye on Ivy. She was his primary concern and he had no intention of risking her safety ... for anything.
“What is this about?” Greg asked when it was just the two of them. He was obviously getting off on his position of power. Jack noted that but refrained from commenting on it.
“We have a situation.” Jack opted to get to the heart of matters. “My understanding is that two of your workers have disappeared.”
Greg balked. “If you’re here to blame that on me, what do you expect? It’s not as if I’m armed. There’s nothing I can do to stop them. Besides, Jason didn’t even bother showing up. As for Marvin, he’s crazy. His car disappeared in the night because it’s no longer at the side of the road. He obviously returned to pick it up.”
“Actually, I had it towed,” Jack countered, calm. “I want him to have to come to us if he wants his vehicle.”
“Oh.” Greg straightened. “Are you going to throw the book at him?”
Despite himself, Jack was amused. “I’m not a prosecutor. I am, however, investigating the death of Sasha Carmichael. Certain things have come to light regarding her actions outside of work, and we believe she might’ve been dating Jason Fortin.”
“Really?” Greg furrowed his brow, all pretense of being uninterested in anything Jack might have to say fleeing. “What are the odds of him finding his girlfriend’s body like that?”
“That is the question of the day,” Jack confirmed. “We’re not sure what happened. It’s possible that Jason knew where the body was located because he hit her, whether accidentally or on purpose.”
“That’s ... weird.” Greg was thoughtful and then shook his head. “I’ve seen his vehicle. There’s no damage on it.”
“Yes, but Ivy says that a woman we’ve yet to identify showed up here the other day and started screaming at him for damaging her car and not saying anything about it.”
“Oh, the redhead?” Greg’s eyebrows hopped. “I saw her. She was kind
