Grave Decisions (A Maddie Graves Mystery Book 7)

by Lily Harper Hart

  “She thinks I’m jealous of Cooper, but I’m not.”

  “I know you’re not,” Nick said. “I’m more interested in the other stuff, though. Do you think she really feels as if she’s your sidekick and you prefer her to remain that way?”

  “I don’t know,” Maddie admitted, her eyes clouding over. “If she does feel that way, I can’t help but wonder if I did something I shouldn’t have done. In truth, though, I’m not going to apologize for being happy. If she feels that way, it’s on her.”

  “I have to say I’m impressed, Mad,” Nick said, pressing a soft kiss to her forehead. “If you hit a wall later, though, I want you to call me. I’m worried this is going to catch up with you.”

  “Because you think I’m weak.”

  “That’s not true, love,” Nick said, grabbing Maddie’s chin and forcing it up so she had no choice but to meet his gaze. “I think you’re very strong. I also think you’re sensitive. That’s not a bad thing. Christy is going to come around. I agree with everything you said to her last night.”

  “The problem is that she thinks she has real feelings for Cooper,” Maddie said. “The last time that happened was with John, and we kind of … ruined that for her. I’m not sure she understands the part we played, but I thought we were helping her and now I’m not sure we didn’t hurt them both.”

  Nick stilled, confused. “What do you mean?”

  “John and Christy were flirting and having a good time and we put the kibosh on it because we were afraid John would have sex with Christy and then take off and leave her with a broken heart,” Maddie explained. “She was upset, although she didn’t want to show it.

  “Did you see the look on John’s face when he saw Christy with Cooper yesterday?” Maddie continued. “He didn’t like it. I think he really liked her and only backed off because you asked him to do it. Maybe we messed up a potentially great relationship.

  “Now Christy is rebounding with Cooper and the built-up resentment she had is coming out to play,” Maddie said. “I’m not sure I haven’t earned a little bit of her ire. I should’ve followed my own advice and stayed out of her life when it wasn’t my business.”

  Nick sighed, the sound long and drawn out. “Women are so much work.”

  Maddie giggled. “Does that include me?”

  “You’re the most work,” Nick said, grabbing Maddie’s waist and holding her still so he could roll on top of her. “You’re the best reward ever, though.” He kissed the tip of her nose. “I’ll think about what you said regarding John and Christy. You need to be careful, because I’m not sure we can spare anyone to stay at the festival with you.”

  “I’ll be careful.”

  “Make sure you are, Mad,” Nick said. “There is no me without you. Keep that in mind when you get a screwball idea to investigate something you probably shouldn’t.”

  “Should I expect you for lunch?”

  “Probably not,” Nick said. “Make sure you don’t eat alone, though. Take your newfound personality out for a whirl and engage with other people. I know you miss Christy, but she’ll come around.”

  “I’ll take it under advisement,” Maddie said, rubbing her fingers into the small of Nick’s back and causing him to groan. “I don’t suppose you have time to let me make up for last night’s missed opportunity right now, do you?”

  Nick grinned. “I’m sure I can find a few minutes for my girl.”

  “I’m going to need more than a few minutes.”

  “Something tells me I’ll figure out a lie to tell my partner, Mad. Now give me a kiss.”

  NICK WAS in a good mood despite the antics of the previous evening when he got to the office. His smile slid when he saw the look on Kreskin’s face.

  “I’m sorry I’m late,” Nick said. “I had a … domestic disturbance.”

  “I heard.” Kreskin made a point of focusing on his computer screen.

  “How did you hear what happened?” Nick asked, frustrated. “Did Christy call? If she filed a complaint, I have no excuse for what I let Maddie talk me into doing. I take full responsibility.”

  Kreskin snapped his head in Nick’s direction, furrowing his brow. “What are you talking about?”

  Nick was taken aback. “What are you talking about?”

  “I was talking about everyone at the fair saying they saw you and Maddie take off in a dead run for home because you were flirting and kissing all night,” Kreskin said. “What were you talking about?”

  Nick averted his eyes. “Oh, well, I was talking about that.”

  “No, you weren’t,” Kreskin challenged. “What happened with Christy?”

  Nick made a disgusted sound in the back of his throat but then reluctantly launched into his tale. When he got to the part about interrupting the sexual interlude, Kreskin was laughing so hard his eyes watered.

  “So, let me get this straight,” Kreskin barked out. “You snuck around with your girlfriend, let yourself into Christy Ford’s house without knocking, saw her having sex with the fake psychic, and then he just sat there and wanted to have a conversation with you guys while he was naked?”

  “I think he was trying to impress Maddie,” Nick said, scowling as he threw himself in his desk chair. “It was really uncomfortable, though.”

  “I’ll bet,” Kreskin said, tickled. “Did the girls make up once Maddie told her why she was there?”

  “Not even close,” Nick replied, sobering. “Christy accused Maddie of being jealous of Cooper and wanting to keep her down. There were some very … girl things … exchanged between the two of them. It didn’t go well.”

  “And what about Maddie?” Kreskin asked. “Were you late because you had to buck her up?”

  “Maddie is embracing her new tough-girl persona and refuses to admit her feelings were hurt,” Nick answered. “I have no idea how long that’s going to last. Don’t get me wrong, I like it when Maddie shows some backbone. This just feels … unnatural, though.”

  “They’ll work it out,” Kreskin said. “They’re close. Christy is smart and she’ll figure out Cooper is a fraud before it’s all said and done. She’s just snowed by the celebrity right now.”

  “I hope so,” Nick said. “Maddie thinks we did a disservice to John and Christy when we nipped their potential relationship in the bud a few months back. I’m starting to wonder if she was right. John has been pretty vocal about wanting a girlfriend. He says it as a joke, but I think the need is real.”

  “I think everyone wants to be loved,” Kreskin said. “John and Christy would make an interesting couple. They’re both gregarious and like to argue. They’re both up for anything. Now that he’s living close to town and will be around a lot more, I think there’s potential there.”

  “We have to save Christy from the visiting tool first, though,” Nick said. “I didn’t like the way she spoke to Maddie. I didn’t get involved, though. I knew it wasn’t my place.”

  “That’s good,” Kreskin said. “Maddie needs to fight her own battles. She’s getting better at it, but she can’t figure things out on her own if you’re constantly jumping in to save her.”

  “I know that.” Nick’s smile was rueful. “I just love her so much. I can’t stand it when she hurts.”

  “That’s because you’re a big marshmallow where that girl is concerned,” Kreskin said, the corners of his mouth tipping up. “I cannot wait to see what happens when you have a daughter. I just know she’s going to look like Maddie and she’s going to have you wrapped around her finger long before she even utters her first word.”

  “That’s how I picture it,” Nick admitted. “I see us with one boy and one girl. It’s a little pathetic and schmaltzy, but I can’t help myself. I’m happy with the way things are and don’t want to rush having kids, but I think we’re going to have a great family one day.”

  “You’re definitely schmaltzy,” Kreskin said, straightening the files on his desk. “If you’re done spouting sonnets about your girlfriend, though, I have some info
rmation.”

  Nick’s interest was piqued. “About Cooper?”

  Kreskin nodded. “I don’t like the way he handles himself or the way he’s been using the women in this town to filter information. I figured he had to have a laundry list of complaints in his wake, and I was right.”

  “I’m listening,” Nick said, grabbing a doughnut from the box on the corner of Kreskin’s desk.

  “Cooper Ashton has made a name for himself romancing women from one end of this country to the next,” Kreskin said, glancing at his file. “He started out as an insurance salesman in Omaha, Nebraska. His real name is Randy Parker, but he changed it after attending an acting workshop when he was twenty.”

  “That pretty much fits,” Nick muttered, shaking his head. “Cooper Ashton is much more Hollywood than Randy Parker.”

  “He made up a story about being struck by lightning after a tornado one summer,” Kreskin said. “He had already changed his name by this point, so I think he was planning for the right event. Even though he claimed to be struck by lightning, emergency personnel said he had no entry or exit wounds to prove this.

  “He started his psychic gig at county fairs in the state and then branched out to other areas in the Midwest,” he continued. “His big break came when he tried out for one of those paranormal investigation shows you see popping up all over the place. The show wasn’t a hit, but women loved Cooper’s looks.

  “He then decided to write a book and it did relatively well,” Kreskin said. “He hired ghost writers to do the next two – and I know this because it’s been well-publicized on the net – and he started growing a brand. He tried out for another show and this time the producers must’ve realized they had a potential goldmine with a female audience because they made Cooper the lead.

  “He started going to small towns and ostensibly solving crimes,” Kreskin said. “I’ve looked over a few of the cases and a blind man could’ve solved them. Cooper didn’t care about that, though. He just wanted a big reputation and he used his books and public appearances to get it.

  “He gained national attention when he found a missing girl in Louisiana,” he continued. “She wandered away from a family party and Cooper put on a show and kind of found her, and by that I mean he stood in the middle of the town with his hand pressed to his forehead and the girl turned up on her own.

  “After that, Cooper kept going to small towns and solving crimes and his popularity grew,” Kreskin said. “That’s all been well publicized. What hasn’t been well publicized is the fact that he’s slept with a woman in every town to get information – and even bilked money out of quite a few people while visiting. I believe a lot of the protesters who follow him are former clients who were tricked out of money.”

  “That makes sense,” Nick said, rubbing the back of his neck. “Maddie talked to one of the protesters and he told her a similar story.”

  “Cooper has made a point of staying away from big cities because the scrutiny is much higher, but he did happen to cross paths with a Detroit detective about two months ago and the detective filed an internal report warning anyone who crossed paths with Cooper to be wary of his intentions,” Kreskin said.

  “Have you talked to the Detroit detective?”

  “Not yet,” Kreskin said. “I thought you might want to do that.”

  “Why?”

  “His name is Dwight Kincaid.”

  Kreskin expectantly watched Nick as the younger detective sucked in a breath. Nick recognized the name. He’d talked to him a few months before when searching for answers on the secret Maddie kept from him.

  During her time in the Detroit area, Maddie helped local police – Kincaid specifically – find a number of missing people. Nick was confused why Maddie ran away and wanted answers. When he found out she was psychic, he was thrown for a loop. He hadn’t talked to Kincaid since.

  “I know Detective Kincaid,” Nick admitted. “I talked to him.”

  “I know you did,” Kreskin replied. “I ran Kincaid after he turned up in Cooper’s files and saw Maddie’s name all over Kincaid’s reports. Do you want to talk to him, or would you prefer it if I did?”

  “I’ll do it,” Nick said hurriedly. “It will be fine.”

  Kreskin ran his tongue over his teeth as he considered how far he should push the situation. “Maddie helped him with that thing she does, didn’t she?”

  Nick nodded.

  “Were they in a relationship?”

  “Maddie says Kincaid was like a father to her,” Nick replied. “He’s quite a bit older. The work got to be too hard for her so she backed away, though. When I talked to Kincaid he had nothing but glowing things to say about Maddie.”

  “Then he should be interesting to talk to regarding his insights on Cooper,” Kreskin pointed out.

  “I’ll call him right away,” Nick said, making up his mind. “I owe him a special thanks as it is.”

  16

  Sixteen

  “Detective Kincaid?”

  Nick was nervous when he heard someone pick up the other end of the call. He had no idea why. The last time he talked to Kincaid he was a wreck and now he found his life exactly how he wanted it. It was a drastic change, but Nick wouldn’t have it any other way.

  “This is Kincaid.”

  Nick licked his lips. “My name is Nick Winters. I’m with the Blackstone Bay Police Department. We talked a few months back. I’m not sure if you remember me.”

  There was silence on the other end of the phone and for a moment Nick was certain Kincaid hung up.

  “Is Maddie Graves okay?” Kincaid asked. “I can come up there if she needs help. Just give me a few hours to clear my schedule.”

  “Maddie is fine,” Nick said hurriedly, reminding himself Kincaid was a good man who took care of Maddie when he couldn’t. “She’s actually really good.”

  “I’m glad,” Kincaid said. “I’ve been … worried about her since she left. Things are going well for her, though?”

  “They’re going very well,” Nick confirmed. “We live together now.” He had no idea why he added the second part of the statement. He wasn’t marking his territory as much as making sure Kincaid realized he was on Maddie’s side.

  Kincaid chuckled. “I had a feeling things would work out that way,” he said. “Maddie yearned for home when she was down here. I think you were a big part of that.”

  “Well, she’s happy now,” Nick said. “For the most part, I mean. We do have a spot of trouble up here, and your name came up in the report when we ran one of our suspects.”

  “Oh, yeah? Who are we talking about?”

  “Cooper Ashton.”

  This time Nick knew the silence on the other end of the call was deliberate, a way for Kincaid to mask his outright displeasure.

  “What is Ashton doing up in Blackstone Bay?”

  Nick filled Kincaid in, taking extra care to include Ashton’s interest in Maddie. When he was done, Kincaid cursed a blue streak before collecting himself.

  “I wish I could say I’m surprised by that, but I’m not,” Kincaid said. “Don’t leave Maddie alone with him. He’s a predator.”

  “Maddie has a mind of her own and I’ve made my feelings on the subject very clear,” Nick said. “Kincaid has ambushed her a few times – using a woman who has always been jealous of Maddie to fuel his attacks – but he’s only gotten her isolated once and that was a fluke.”

  “He didn’t touch her, did he?”

  “If he touched her, I would be in jail for killing him,” Nick replied, not missing a beat. “He didn’t touch her. He keeps wanting her to join forces with him.”

  “If you and Maddie are together, I’m going to assume you know everything now,” Kincaid said, choosing his words carefully. “I know you were confused when you last called, but I’m hopeful you guys worked all of that out.”

  “I do know everything,” Nick confirmed. “I’m fine with it. Actually, it explains a lot about the time we spent together growing up. I’m
not happy she felt the need to hide it from me, but I love her and we’ve put it in the past.”

  “That’s good,” Kincaid said. “Maddie needs someone on her side. She was so sad all of the time I felt like adopting her. My wife wouldn’t have appreciated another kid, but I think she would’ve made an exception for Maddie.”

  “Maddie has family. She has me.”

  “My guess is that Ashton is fixated on Maddie because he knows she’s the real deal and he needs someone to bolster his believability,” Kincaid offered. “No matter how he paints himself, most people figure out the truth about him within a few days. That’s why he goes to these small towns and stirs up controversy before making a grand farewell speech and then running as fast as he can.”

  “How did you get involved with him if he avoids urban areas?”

  “Detroit is a big city, but we lend out detective help to smaller cities and that’s what happened here,” Kincaid replied. “An adjacent town needed us because they hadn’t investigated a murder in more than thirty years and when Ashton realized he was dealing with the big dogs he took off.

  “What I found after he left was that he seduced the secretary in the local church and got information from her about the congregants,” he continued. “He bilked a goodly sum – it was about twenty grand, if memory serves – but he fled town before he got the rest of the money he was expecting.”

  “And what about the murder?” Nick asked. “Did you ever think it was him?”

  “I wanted it to be him, but we found the real murderer and there’s no doubt it was this individual.”

  “Do you think Ashton has it in him to kill someone?” Nick asked. “We’ve had two bodies drop up here in as many days and Ashton found the first one in a place he should’ve had no prior knowledge about.”

  “Can I ask where?”

  “It was a haunted maze,” Nick answered. “Blackstone Bay is small, with a thriving tourist population. We have a festival at the drop of the hat. The maze is made out of hay bales and there’s a bunch of haunted scenes and gross tableaus set up. Someone replaced the scarecrow man in one with a real body.”

  “That sounds … horrible,” Kincaid muttered. Nick could practically hear his mind working over the phone. “And Ashton found the body before anyone else could?”