“It’s possible,” Jack agreed. “She believes, though, and I have faith in her.”
“Oh, geez.” Brian pinched the bridge of his nose and flicked his eyes to the ceiling. “You’re going to spout some romantic nonsense, aren’t you? It’s going to be the type of stuff that would have my wife accusing me of being the worst husband ever if she heard it because she would want me to say the same thing about her.”
“Ivy is the best person I know.” Jack’s voice was quiet. “She’s ... amazing. Everything she touches is amazing. She believes this. I can’t turn my back on her now.”
Brian blew out a sigh. “Yup. I knew you were going to say that.” He drained the rest of his coffee and put the empty cup in the sink. “Well, come on. Let’s interview the meth head. I’m still not convinced he knows anything, but we have to know for certain.”
Jack found he was profoundly grateful for his partner’s giving nature. “Thanks for that.”
“You’re welcome.”
“Ivy’s still evil, though.”
“I’m starting to think you’re right.”
IVY WAS ALREADY WORKING BEFORE the rest of the team showed up. Alison was the first on the scene. She looked grumpy, as if she hadn’t slept at all the previous night, but she greeted Ivy with a wan smile and immediately started helping.
“Are you sick?” Ivy asked, studying the woman warily. “If you’re sick, maybe you should’ve stayed home.”
“They don’t give you paid sick leave for community service,” Alison noted. “Besides, my sickness is entirely of my own making. I went out drinking with my brother last night. I’m not sick as much as hungover.”
“Oh.” Despite the admission, Ivy felt bad for the other woman. “I’m sorry. That sucks.”
“You have no idea. My head feels as if there’s a mariachi band inside banging to get out.”
“I don’t have any aspirin to offer or anything. I’m sorry.”
Alison waved off the offer. “It’s okay. I took four tablets right before coming here. Hopefully they’ll kick in soon.”
“Yeah.” Ivy glanced around, her eyes keen as she scanned the foliage surrounding them. “I’m thinking Greg is going to be in a bad mood when he gets here. You should probably brace yourself for that.”
“Do we have your fiancé to thank?”
Ivy was sheepish. “He might’ve ... irritated ... Greg a bit. If it’s any consolation, I’m pretty sure Greg is going to be taking out his aggression on me.”
“Greg is the sort of douche who likes to make everybody pay,” Alison countered. “I don’t foresee that changing anytime soon. You might be the one getting the most hatred, but he won’t leave the rest of us alone. Have no fear.”
Because Ivy knew she was right, all she could do was nod and sigh. “Still, I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay. We’ll survive. As you’ve said a million times, in a few weeks, this will be nothing but a memory.”
“Yeah, but even I didn’t know how difficult those few weeks were going to be.”
“Now that right there is a true story.” Alison offered up a playful wink. “It’s going to be okay. I can guarantee everyone on this crew has been through worse. We’ll muddle through ... somehow.”
Ivy could only hope she was right.
JASON WAS BLEARY-EYED AND SLOW WHEN Jack and Brian led him into the interview room. He appeared confused regarding his location, and exactly who he was dealing with.
“Did my mom send you?”
Jack had little patience on a normal day. Given the fact that he was terrified to be separated from Ivy for too long, that was magnified today. “Are you kidding me?”
Brian held up a hand to still his partner, shooting him a quelling look. “I’m Detective Nixon. This is Detective Harker. We’re the ones who arrested you at the nursery yesterday.”
“Oh, right.” Jason dumbly nodded. “You’re Ivy’s man. Honestly, dude, you’re really lucky to have snagged her. She is smoking hot.”
Jack scowled. “We’re not here to talk about Ivy.” Just keep her safe, he silently added. “We need to talk to you about the business you were running up at the golf course.”
“Allegedly running,” Jason corrected.
Jack’s frown grew more pronounced. “You admitted to your guilt when we arrested you last evening.”
“Allegedly.”
Fury practically rolling off him in waves, Jack ran his tongue over his teeth and debated the myriad of ways he could put the hurt on Jason. Before he could select one, Brian cleared his throat to garner the younger man’s attention.
“Jason, I need you to get it together.” Brian was firm without being cold. He had a fatherly aura, and he used it to great effect now. “I understand that we woke you up and you’re still wrapping your head around things, but what we’ve called you here to talk about is important.”
Jason nodded sagely. “Allegedly.”
Jack threw his hands in the air and made to stand, but Brian shot him a warning look.
“Not allegedly, Jason,” Brian argued. “None of this is on an alleged basis. It’s not even about you, so it doesn’t matter what you say. We want information on other people.”
Oddly enough, rather than placate Jason, the words had the opposite effect. He immediately began shaking his head. “I ain’t no rat.”
“Do you want to go to prison forever?” Brian challenged.
“I ... no.” Jason’s face drained of color. “Wait, that’s not a possibility, is it? You guys said last night you were going to try to get me into rehab. That’s better than prison.”
“And we stand by that. We need information, though. More, we need your help.”
Jason remained unconvinced. He leaned back in his chair, folded his arms across his chest, and fixed Jack with a steely-eyed stare that seemed almost otherworldly given what they knew about the man. “I can’t rat on people. It’s against the code.”
Brian pursed his lips, debating, and then decided to change course. “You like Ivy, right?”
Jason hesitated and then nodded. “She’s pretty cool. I mean, she’s smoking hot — I think you guys already
