“Oh … .” Maddie’s cheeks burned as she fought off tears.
“You’re a disgusting pig,” Nick snapped, wrapping his arm around Maddie’s shoulders. “Love, it’s okay. Don’t freak out.”
“I can’t believe you watched us,” Maddie said. “That’s such an invasion of privacy.”
“We didn’t go in there looking to spy on you,” Marla said. “I was just exploring … kind of like Nick was when he stripped you out of that dress.” Marla’s glare was malicious.
Maddie turned her head into Nick’s chest, afraid to meet anyone’s gaze in case she burst into tears. She felt violated.
“That is just unbelievable,” Christy said, jumping to her feet. “How could you do that?”
“Oh, get over yourself,” Marla said. “It’s not our fault. It was an accident. Cassidy made me leave before we saw anything good. Personally, I wanted to see what Nick looked like without his pants on, but she was all shaken and ashamed.”
“Well, I guess that makes one of you,” Aaron said. “Seriously, Marla, what is wrong with you?”
“Hey, I am not the bad guy in this,” Marla snapped. “We stumbled upon that little room accidentally. We left before we saw them actually do anything. I refuse to be ashamed.”
“And that’s why everyone hates you,” Lauren said.
Kreskin held his hand up to still the argument. “Listen, this is all … fascinating.”
Nick shot him a look as he rubbed comforting circles on Maddie’s back.
“It’s actually deplorable,” Kreskin said. “As horrible as it is, though, that’s not our main concern right now. What happened after Cassidy made you leave?”
“Nothing,” Marla replied, nonplussed. “We went back to the hallway where our rooms are located and said our goodnights.”
“How was Cassidy when you left her?”
“She was … sad,” Marla said. “If you want to know the truth, I think seeing Maddie and Nick in a private moment made her realize that it really was over between her and Nick.”
“I think the breakup should’ve been proof of that,” Nick said, shifting so he could pull Maddie flush against his chest and soothe her. “You’re the one who kept telling her she still had a shot. This is on you, Marla.”
“I didn’t do anything to her,” Marla shot back. “Don’t you even think about blaming me for this. If you hadn’t broken her heart in the first place, none of this would’ve ever happened.”
“Shut up, Marla,” Christy said.
Kreskin pinched the bridge of his nose, frustrated. “Marla, was Cassidy wearing her necklace when you left the passageway together?”
Marla racked her brain. “I think so. I can’t be a hundred percent sure, though. It’s not like I was looking for it.”
“If she didn’t drop the necklace when she was in there with you, that means she went back on her own,” Kreskin said, casting a sympathetic look in Maddie and Nick’s direction.
“That means she could’ve been spying on us for hours,” Nick finished, kissing Maddie’s cheek. “Good grief.”
“I’m sorry,” Kreskin said. “There are no words for how sorry I am, in fact.”
“I’m sorry, too,” Aaron said. “I should’ve warned you guys about those passageways. I honestly forgot.”
“Speaking of forgetting, how come you said you forgot about the passageways, but Marla claims she saw you going into them?” Kreskin asked, turning to Max.
Max looked caught. He glanced at Aaron for a moment and then sheepishly lowered his gaze. “I might have gone in to spy, too.”
Nick growled, causing Max to take a step back. “I was not spying on you. I was actually going farther down the hallway because I wanted to spy on Aaron.”
“Holy crap, dude,” Aaron said, flabbergasted. “You were spying on me?”
“Is there something you want to tell us?” Lauren asked.
“Oh, gross,” Marla said, wrinkling her nose. “I slept with you.”
“I wasn’t spying on Aaron for that,” Max said, rolling his eyes. “I hid a fake snake in his bed earlier in the day yesterday. I wanted to watch him freak out.”
“That was you?” Aaron asked. “I should’ve known. You used to do that to me when I was a kid all the time. I was scared to climb into my bed for a month straight.”
“That’s why I did it,” Max said. “I thought it was a fun callback to when we were kids. I went into the passageway to see if I remembered how to get to your room. It had been a long time since I was in there and I didn’t want to get lost.
“Anyway, after two tries I found your room, and I was going to go back and watch you freak out about the snake last night but … well … we got hammered instead and I forgot because I was so drunk,” Max said.
“Dude, you’re such an idiot,” Aaron said. “I’m far too manly to be scared by a fake snake. I didn’t even blink twice when I saw it.”
“Is that because you were drunk?”
“No, it’s because I was two seconds from passing out,” Aaron countered, smiling. When the gravity of the situation washed back over him, though, he had the grace to look abashed. “I’m sorry. Now is not the time for this conversation.”
“What do we do now?” Christy asked.
“There’s not much we can do,” Kreskin said. “Cassidy hasn’t been missing for twenty-four hours yet and there’s no law against a grown woman voluntarily going missing.”
“What about the necklace?” Nick asked. “It looks like someone ripped it from around her neck.”
“Does it?” Kreskin asked, arching an eyebrow. “How do you know it didn’t just get tangled in her hair and break on its own?”
“I … .” Nick broke off, unsure. Now that Kreskin voiced the question, he wasn’t sure how to answer. “It still doesn’t seem like her to just disappear.”
“Maybe she didn’t,” Kreskin said. “We all know she’s been having problems with your relationship with Maddie. Heck, everyone in town saw her hiding from you at the fair a couple weeks ago. People were talking about it for days.
“I know you don’t want this brought up again, but maybe she snuck back into the passageway and spied on you and Maddie long enough to get really upset,” he continued. “What she saw might have depressed her, or made her angry.”
“I know it depressed me,” Marla grumbled.
“Shut up, Marla,” Nick seethed.
“There are a lot of options we need to consider,” Kreskin said. “Cassidy could’ve been so upset by what she saw that she left and went home. I’m going to stop there when I’m done here and make sure that’s not the case. She also could’ve just gone for a walk to clear her head.”
“What if something happened to her?” Nick asked.
“What?” Kreskin asked. “My understanding of the situation is that everyone’s time from last night is accounted for. You and Maddie were … together … and everyone else was down here drinking.”
“What about Marla?” Lauren asked.
“I didn’t do anything!”
“Until Cassidy has been gone for twenty-four hours, my hands are tied,” Kreskin said. “There are no signs of foul play. There’s nothing to indicate that something bad happened to her.”
“But … .”
“Nick, you’re a police officer,” Kreskin said. “You know the rules. All you have is a broken necklace and Marla’s story that Cassidy was watching you and Maddie last night. That’s nothing.”
Nick knew he was right. Still, the unsettled feeling in the pit of his stomach was growing – and not just because Maddie was a mess. “So, we just wait?”
“That’s all we can do,” Kreskin said. “I’m sorry.”
Seventeen
“We’re leaving this place right now,” Nick said, storming into their bedroom and immediately heading toward the closet. “We’re not spending another night in this house.”
Maddie, her stomach weak, sank down on one of the armchairs on the far side of the room and watched
him angrily start rummaging through the closet.
“Where is that garment bag you brought?”
When Maddie didn’t immediately answer, Nick turned in her direction.
“What are you doing, Mad? Get packed. We’ll be home in an hour. I’d rather deal with whatever that thing is in your house than deal with this … crap.”
“Our house,” Maddie said, automatically correcting him.
“Our house,” Nick said, his face softening. “I promise to start calling it ‘our house’ once I move in.”
“Nicky, we can’t leave,” Maddie said, her voice low and plaintive. “You know it as well as I do.”
“I know nothing of the sort.”
“We can’t leave until we find Cassidy,” Maddie said. “She’s still here somewhere. I can feel it. We can’t just walk away. You’ll hate yourself if you do.”
“I don’t owe that woman any loyalty,” Nick said. “After what she did … .”
“She did it to me, too,” Maddie said.
Nick sighed, running his hand through his hair as he shook his head. “Love, I don’t even know what to say about what Cassidy and Marla did. I am so sorry.”
“Why? It’s not your fault.”
“Isn’t it? You didn’t even want to come here this weekend,” Nick said. “I was the one who pressured you into this. You would’ve been perfectly happy staying home and just seeing these guys at the fair. I should’ve listened to you.”
Maddie licked her lips, considering her words carefully. “You didn’t ask me to do anything unreasonable,” she said. “I think you’ve been going out of your way to do everything for me since we got together. I don’t blame you. I’ve been … scared … and unsure of myself.
“The thing is, Nicky, you can’t protect me from the world,” she continued. “You made the right choice when you asked me to come here. I need to put myself out there more. You’re my world, but you can’t be everything to me at every moment of every day. It’s not possible.”
“Maddie, I love you,” Nick said. “The fact remains that I pressured you to come here. You have every right to blame me for all of this.”
“That seems like a waste of time,” Maddie said. “You didn’t do this to us, Nicky. Marla and Cassidy did.”
Nick pressed his lips together as he watched her. She was paler than he liked, and her face was drawn. There was no hint of playfulness on her features, and that realization made him inexplicably sad. He moved over to her and knelt in front of her, placing a hand on her knee to offer her comfort. “What are you feeling about what Cassidy did?”
Maddie shrugged noncommittally.
“Don’t do that, Mad,” Nick said. “We promised we were going to be truthful with each other from here on out. No more secrets. I know what Marla told us had to shake you.”
“I honestly don’t know what to think,” Maddie said, reaching over so she could brush her fingers against the side of his face. He turned his mouth so he could kiss her palm, but otherwise remained still. “I know I shouldn’t be embarrassed. I’m not embarrassed about what we were doing. That’s not it. It still feels like someone … took something from us.”
“What?”
“I don’t know,” Maddie said. “It was just a … violation.”
“It was definitely a violation,” Nick said. “They didn’t take anything from us, though. They can’t. You can’t give Marla the power to upset you, Mad. That’s what she wants. Marla has nothing to do with our relationship. You and I are … forever. Marla isn’t even a consideration for the next five minutes.”
“Can I ask you something?”
“Always.”
“How do you feel about what they saw?”
“I don’t know,” Nick said. “I don’t think I’m as upset as you are. Personally, I think I was on top of my game last night.”
Maddie barked out a hoarse laugh. “That’s an interesting way of looking at it.”
“You were on top of your game last night, too.”
“That doesn’t make me feel any better,” Maddie said.
“I know,” Nick said, sighing. “I guess that I feel … unsettled. It’s not what they saw us doing, though, that’s bothering me. I’m more upset that someone was watching us and I didn’t know. I’m supposed to protect you.”
“You can’t protect me from something when you don’t know it’s happening,” Maddie said. “Don’t be ridiculous.”
“I know that in my head,” Nick said. “My heart is a different story. My heart belongs to you, and when you hurt, I hurt. I saw what Marla’s admission did to you. It … scared me.”
“Because I fell apart?”
“You didn’t fall apart,” Nick said. “You were just … thrown.”
“No, Nicky, I fell apart there for a few minutes,” Maddie said. “Don’t make excuses for me. I was mortified that everyone knew what we were doing.”
“I hate to break it to you, love, but they knew what we were doing before Marla told them what she saw,” Nick said. “They’ve been trying to get me to tell them what you look like naked for two days.”
“That’s just guy stuff. That’s not the same thing.”
“I don’t want you to ever feel … unsafe … when we’re together,” Nick said. “I can’t help but feel my armor has a big chink in it now because I failed to protect you from Marla.”
“You can’t protect me from Marla,” Maddie said. “It’s time I started protecting myself from Marla. You’re right on that front. The good news is that you’re right on just about every front this morning. We were both on our games last night.”
Nick smiled, lifting his hand and pushing Maddie’s hair away from her face. “There’s my girl.”
“We still can’t leave,” Maddie said. “No matter how angry you are with Cassidy, you’re not going to be able to let this go. Our best shot of finding Cassidy is to stay here, so that’s what we’re going to do.”
“Okay,” Nick said, giving in. “We’re hanging a blanket over that mirror, though.”
“Oh, absolutely,” Maddie said. “We also need to go back to the cemetery.”
“What? Why?”
“I need to talk to Rose,” Maddie said. “If anyone can help us find Cassidy, it’s her.”
“Do you think whatever that thing was in the mausoleum is what took Cassidy?”
“I don’t know,” Maddie said. “Even though I heard noises in there, I can’t say with any amount of certainty that the entity had corporeal form.”
“You need to dumb that down for the jock,” Nick said.
“I heard noises, but I can always hear noises when it comes to ghosts,” Maddie said. “In my head, I thought there was something physical in that room. That doesn’t mean there was. I was terrified. My mind was a blank.”
“So … I don’t know what that means.”
“Most ghosts aren’t capable of affecting physical surroundings,” Maddie said. “Take my mother, for example. She can pop into my room – and we’ve had a talk about that, by the way. She’s decided she’s not going to do that once we’re officially living together. She doesn’t want to risk seeing something that would kill her a second time.”
Nick chuckled softly. “That’s good to know. Thank you.”
“Anyway, Mom can watch things, and she can talk to me, and she can understand what’s happening around us, but that doesn’t mean she can open a door, or touch me in a way that I can feel.”
“That would be nice, wouldn’t it?”
“For my mother, yes,” Maddie said. “The idea of other ghosts being able to touch me freaks me out a little bit.”
“Wait a second,” Nick said, his expression thoughtful. “If ghosts can’t affect physical beings, what went after you and Maude in the house?”
“That was something else,” Maddie said. “I’ve been giving it some thought, and I think it was a poltergeist.”
“How is that different from a ghost?”
“A poltergeist is kind of like a
n angry spirit,” she said. “They’re all rage and no soul. They don’t know anything but anger. They can funnel that anger into physical manifestations.”
“How many poltergeists have you encountered?”
“Only two,” Maddie said. “I’m also starting to think that’s what was in the mausoleum.”
“You’re not sure, though, are you?”
Maddie shook her head. “I’m not sure of anything right now. I need more time to investigate.”
Nick rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “What are the odds that a poltergeist would show up at your house and then follow you here?”
“I don’t think that’s what happened,” Maddie said. “I think the poltergeist lives here and somehow was drawn to me at home. I don’t know why yet, but I do think it’s the same poltergeist. Sometimes they can just feel when someone is psychic.”
“Is there any way to communicate with a poltergeist?”
“No,” Maddie said. “Most of them exist until the object of their rage disappears.”
“Do you mean until the object of their rage dies?”
“Sometimes.”
“Okay,” Nick said, rubbing his hands against Maddie’s thighs. “Here’s what’s going to happen: We’re going to snuggle here for five minutes because I have an overwhelming urge to hold you. Then we’re going to hang a blanket over the mirror before we head down to the cemetery.”
“Nicky, can you put the blanket up first?”
“You’ve got it, love.”
“ARE you sure this is a good idea?” Christy asked, keeping her voice low as she grouped in a corner downstairs with Maddie and Nick. “What am I supposed to tell people when they ask where you are?”
“Tell them we went for a walk,” Nick said. “Do not mention the cemetery. I don’t want anyone going down there looking for us.”
“Just tell them we’re looking for Cassidy,” Maddie suggested. “They’re not going to find that suspicious.”
“I guess not,” Christy said. “Are you sure you don’t want me to go with you?”
“I’m sure I want you to stay up here and keep an eye on Marla,” Nick said. “I don’t trust her and you’re the only other person here who I know hates her as much as I do.”
Grave Misgivings Page 13
