"So, you're luring him to a priceless exhibit in front of the city's most wealthy and infuential people. With our sister on his arm, no less." Finn said over the phone with a sigh.
"She made her bed." Ivy said simply, sending off an email. She was in her home office, finishing up a campaign for Malone Whiskey. Finn was on speaker, the house to herself.
"Yet, I'm assuming she thinks this is a show of good faith."
"Of course." Ivy went on, "She would warn him otherwise."
She could hear the tiredness in his voice. "She will anyways. Cara's not as dumb as you think she is-"
"That remains to be seen." She muttered.
Finn continued like he hadn't heard anything. "She's known you her whole life. There's not a chance she believes you've just changed your mind."
"But she's hopeful." Ivy told him, "She wants me to like the guy, so she'll accept the invitation. Plus, the museum holds an interest in him. If she truly believes his story, then she'll want him to experience the exhibit."
"When is this again?" He asked.
"Saturday." She took a sip of her lukewarm coffee. Cringing, she stood, picking up her phone to head downstairs and get a fresh cup. "Are you going to be there?"
He hesitated before saying, "No, I've got other plans."
"What plans?" She asked.
"Ivy." Finn's voice was filled with a finality, and suddenly she knew.
After a few tension-filled seconds, she spoke, "How?"
"I'm not going to tell you." Before she could fight him, he continued, "No one will know."
She nodded to herself, counting the days between then and Saturday. How many days she had left of her father being alive.
"Let me know if you need me that night." She told him.
"You let me know if you need me that night." Finn challenged, "There's a good chance you'll be going up against two psychopaths."
"I know, but I won't be alone."
A pause. "I'm never alone, Ivy. I know you'll be there right beside me if I ask."
"Good."
"I've got to go now." He said.
She reluctantly said goodbye, then returned to her office where she worked the rest of the day in silence. It wasn't until night took over and she heard the beeping of her alarm downstairs that she put her work away. First, she checked her security app to make sure it was Harry coming home and not anyone else. It was something she did every day, refusing to be caught off guard by her stalker once more.
The feeling of him up against her, breathing on her face, trapping her against that wall was still fresh on her mind. He would never touch her like that again.
She went to their bedroom and changed into something more appropriate to be seen in. Her dark jeans and sweater were casual, and not many people saw her like this, but it was just Griffin.
The dull thud of her husband's footsteps carried up the hall. A moment later, he was entering the room, taking off his cufflinks. His suit jacket followed, then he kissed her in greeting.
They didn't say much as they got ready, Harry changing into something more casual as well. It was always a little strange seeing him so dressed down, but it reminded her of just how much everything had changed. How much they had changed.
"Ready?" He asked when he came out of the closet.
Ivy was sitting on the bed, checking her social media. It had been weeks since she had posted anything online. And even longer since she'd checked her DM's. She deleted each and every one, not caring enough to see what they had to offer. Her finger stopped suddenly.
Frowning, she looked up, "We should stop to see Greta tonight."
His brows furrowed, "Why?"
"I'm going to give her access to my social media account to run a search through my followers."
Harry still didn't understand.
She rolled her eyes, "Every account is connected to an email and a phone number. There's also a chance for it to be connected to a payment service, like Shop Pay or something. If she can somehow find him, log into his account, and find that information-"
"We can cripple him." Harry said.
She grinned, "There's no way he hasn't bought something online before, and it's so much easier to hit save payment."
"I didn't even know that was possible."
"Of course you didn't." She stood, waving him off, "You're a social grandpa."
Amusement filtered into his expression, making him look younger than ever. "You're such a brat."
She leaned into him, pecking his lips, "You love me."
"I do."
†††
Thankfully, Greta was waiting for them at Griffin's when they got there. It was a surprise to both her and Harry, but Dev was supposed to come and he had brought her.
That man was paying with fire, but Ivy sure did love watching the show. It was nice to see Harry protective over someone other than her. Their relationship was a slow build, but she had no doubt they would consider themselves, and of course, Angelo, family for the rest of their lives.
"Greta." Harry greeted politely, then turned his eyes on his friend. His voice tinged with displeasure. "Dev."
Dev sent him back a charming smile.
Ivy was less surprised to see Cat and CeCe there. One, it was their place too. Two, they were responsible for the bulk of the information they would gain tonight. In Ivy's eyes, they had earned their spot at the table.
Griffin had placed extra chairs in their living room, all pointing towards a board on an easel. Names were written on it, strings attached from one place to the next. It looked like a good old fashioned murder board.
Cat bounced on her heels, her eyes alight with excitement. There was something special in that girl. All of this danger, the darkness that Queenstown thrived on, intrigued her. It didn't scare her or taint her. At sixteen, she had more savvy than most who spent decades in Queenstown. It was like she was born to the city.
CeCe brought Ivy a cup of hot apple cider, which she took eagerly. Now that the storm was over, a cold front had moved in. She wouldn't be surprised if they had more snow by the start of next week.
As they started, she noticed how CeCe stood back, watching her sister and... lover, she guessed. Although she was a dancer, Ivy could tell CeCe didn't much like attention on herself. Settling in, she listened to Griffin explain their findings.
An hour later, they had exhausted all thoughts of siblings and psychopaths.
Griffin and CeCe's information was interesting, but they still needed to confirm that Max Peterson is Max Peters. It didn't make sense how Greta's info didn't match. Greta did mention that that info they gathered originally did seem tampered with, but why would they change the name so little? Dev and Greta had a list of shit they had to research when they got back to their computers.
Now, it was Cat's turn. CeCe still hung back, never speaking a word.
"We narrowed it down to five potential families." Cat said, pointing at the board filled with names that Ivy didn't recognize. "This is where we start. If nothing matches, then we move down the list."
She handed Dev a piece of paper.
Harry asked, "What is that?"
"Detailed names for them to search for." Cat said, "I couldn't find anything in regular Google searches. So, good luck."
"Some of these are very common." Greta noted, "It'll take time."
"Do you have a name you're more inclined to?" Ivy asked Cat, "What do your instincts tell you?"
Cat looked almost surprised that Ivy would care what she thought. "Oh, um," she cleared her throat, fidgeting in her spot.
"Go on." Urged Ivy.
Her eyes flew to Dev and Greta. "Payne. Look Payne up first. Then Petrov, Musa, Soliman. Wakabayashi last. They seem the least likely out of the top five to want to come back. They were run out because they betrayed the Musa family."
"How?" Harry leaned forward, placing his elbows on his knees.
"We're not perfectly sure on details." Cat started hesitantly, "But we think they partnered for some business deal and it went sideways."
"And why Payne?"
"We had the least info on them. They were able to stay out of the limelight a lot. Writers always made sure to say that they didn't know a lot about them and everything was speculation." She looked around at everyone, "It reminded me of them."
Harry's eyes connected with Ivy's. Cat was right that that sounded familiar. Whoever they were dealing with knew how to fly under the radar. They had been in the city for a year - maybe more - and people were just taking notice.
Harry grilled Cat on the other families, getting as much detail as possible. To Ivy, it didn't really matter until Dev and Greta came up with something. Her mind drifted back to what they heard about Max Peterson. What had that girl done to nearly get killed by him. What sent him so over the edge that he tried to drown her.
Before they left, Ivy pulled Dev to the side. In a low voice, she told him, "If you can find anything on the drowning at the school, I want to know."
Dev frowned, "Their school probably buried it."
"I know, but someone knows something." She said, "Get me the girl's name if you can. And a picture."
†††
It was the next morning when Ivy got a message from Dev. In it was a name and photo. White, long dark hair, green eyes. This confirmed it for her. There was no way this Max Peterson wasn't the Max Peters they knew was her stalker.
Which meant they were looking for ghosts. Their informant had said Peterson had siblings. A brother and sister. She had a feeling she knew one, but the other could literally be anyone. Someone close to them, someone watching them from afar. They could be a stranger on the street or one of the workers at their favorite restaurant.
She didn't realize how long she had been staring at the picture of the girl who had been targeted by Peterson until her phone flashed with an incoming phone call from Harry.
"Hello?" She answered.
"It's happening." He said.
His voice was low and quiet, but she could hear the tension laced in his tone. Ivy stood immediately, going to the stairs. "You're at work?"
"Yes." He paused, "My mother just called to say agents went to their penthouse and arrested him."
"Do you want me to go to Mona first?" She asked, gathering her keys and slipping her arms into a long black coat. She realize halfway to the garage that it was one of Harry's, but she didn't have time to change.
Harry didn't answer right away. She heard something on the other line; his assistant, she thought. Her heart was pounding as she slipped into her car.
A moment later, he answered her, "There's some agents here. They want to speak with me."
"Okay." She kept her emotions at bay.
"Go to my mother." He told her, "She doesn't know what to do. You do."
"Are you ready for this?" Ivy asked him.
They had talked about this exact thing, how it would go down. Harry would have to play his part perfectly. He knew he was careful enough planting the evidence against his father to not incriminate himself. But in their eyes, Harry wouldn't know what his father had done. He should be confused and angry and disbelieving of them. The agents were going to have to "convince him" of his father's guilt.
Ivy would have to rely on him to convince them of his ignorance, and she would have to play her part as the concerned, dutiful wife.
"Yes." He said resolutely.
"I love you."
She heard him let out a breath. "I'll call you when I'm done, love."
"Be good." She told him.
"Always."
†††
"But," Mona shook her head, "I'm so confused."
Harry's mother was in a blank state when she got to her. There were still agents in their penthouse, taking records and computers, searching the entire home. Mona was sitting in the kitchen, guarded by an agent - either to make sure she was okay or to keep her from contaminating evidence inside the house, Ivy didn't know.
They almost didn't let her in, but one leveled look and a pointed, "I'm here for my mother-in-law, so she won't be alone while her husband is arrested."
The man had fidgeted at the authority in her tone, glancing around for a superior.
"Are you really going to keep me away from a woman who already struggles with anxiety?"
Finally, someone - a superior - had okay'd her arrival and led her to Mona.
When Mona had seen her, she immediately made Ivy a hot tea, moving to the guard watching over them to refill his cup with hot water, a "Thank you, Ma'am," sent her way with a head nod.
"I know." Ivy consoled her, "I'm sure Harry will sort this all out, Mona."
The woman's grey eyes turned to hers, and suddenly, Ivy realized that this was an act. She knew something was going on, and if her husband suffered for it, all the better. This was her path to freedom, and she was going to ride her way to it the best she could.
Ivy had conflicting feelings about Mona. She liked her. Harry loved her. But she still hadn't protected him. Not that she really could. Not with someone like Patrick Styles. Ivy couldn't blame Mona for her part in his abuse, but she also couldn't fully absolve her either.
Sometimes, Ivy thought Mona liked living in oblivion. But there were times, like now, that showed Ivy that the woman knew more than she ever let on.
"Of course." Mona said demurely, "This has all got to be a big mistake."
Ivy kept her phone in her hand, checking it every minute. After an hour, she was getting antsy. An agent came to speak with them about finding Mona a place to sleep for the night. Their case would require a full search of the home. Ivy immediately sent a text out to Griffin to get a room for a few nights. She doubted Mona would want to come back here any time soon.
"You can pack a small bag of your belongings." The agent told her, "Rutherford will take you back to your room."
Mona nodded, following the agent they had guarding her all day. Agent Starling, the superior on site, stayed with her.
"I'm sorry for all this, Miss Malone." He said politely.
Ivy ignored the dig at the use of her father's name. "It's perfectly fine."
"I know this is coming as a surprise," he started, "but the evidence we have against your husband's family-"
"My father-in-law." She corrected.
Starling considered her, "Yes, of course, your father-in-law. We are still investigating to see if anyone was helping him-"
"Are you insinuating my husband helped him?" Ivy asked with a steely glint in her eyes.
"No." He cleared his throat, "We are simply checking all the boxes."
"Then I'm sure you'll find that he knew nothing of this."
He pursed his lips.
She continued, "My husband has done nothing but help you and your team throughout this audit. To suggest otherwise would be grossly inaccurate. Do whatever due diligence you need to, but we both know you won't find anything, because there is nothing there. He's an honest businessman, Agent Starling. That's what you'll find."
The agent stared at her, until, "Of course. Thank you, Miss Malone-"
"Mrs. Styles." She corrected this time.
"Mrs. Styles." He bowed his head, seeing Mona and the other agent waking up. "I'll call you a car."
"No need." Ivy waved him off, "I have one waiting for us outside."
It wasn't until Ivy had Mona situated at the hotel and she was on her way over to Harry's office that he called.
"Everything's fine." Harry told her right away, "They had a lot of questions after they explained what was happening."
"I'm heading your way right now."
"I'll wait until you get here then. I don't want to be overheard."
When she got to the office, she made her way up. His assistant, Allison, buzzed her in right away. She obviously knew something was happening today by the look of stress on her face.
Harry stood at the window of his office. Ivy locked the door behind her and made her way to him. His arm wrapped around her shoulders, pulling her into his chest, and kissed her forehead.
"It went exactly as according to plan." He said after a long moment.
"They are still investigating you."
"I know, heiress." Harry's fingers pressed into her skin. "Nothing can be traced back to me."
"Good."
"How's my mother?" He asked.
With a sigh, she said, "I think she's relieved. She knows you had something to do with this."
"Did she say something?"
Shaking her head, Ivy explained, "It's just a feeling. A look she gave me."
"I'll speak with her tomorrow." Harry said, "The board is calling for an emergency meeting tonight."
"I got the message."
Harry moved to face her, cupping her jaw in his hands and lifting it. She looked up at him as he asked, "Do you have my back?"
Like no one ever had before, she thought.
"With a loaded revolver." Is what she answered.