Grave Missteps

by Lily Harper Hart

  “Besides, there’s a uniformed officer standing guard at the children’s home,” Nick added. “You’ll be safe there. I would much rather you spend your day at the children’s home than running around the woods looking for a ghost.”

  “I should be angry about you saying that, but I’m going to let it slide.”

  “I think that’s best for everybody,” Nick agreed.

  “I’m still going to be irritated later.”

  “I can live with that.”

  “I might punish you.”

  “I can definitely live with that.”

  Maddie snorted at the innocent expression on his face. “You’re kind of a pervert sometimes. Has anyone ever told you that?”

  Nick’s eyes gleamed. “The question is, can you live with that?”

  The smile on Maddie’s face was so wide it almost swallowed her pleasing features. “I think somehow I’ll manage to muddle through.”

  “Good to know.”

  “I thought so.”

  KRESKIN WAS ALREADY AT his desk when Nick entered their shared office two hours later. The older police officer’s attention was on his computer and he didn’t as much as look up when Nick entered.

  “Are you looking at porn?” Nick asked dryly.

  Kreskin rolled his eyes. “Yes. I started my shift an hour early to look at porn. You caught me.”

  Nick recognized the edge in Kreskin’s voice and wisely decided to step carefully. “What’s going on?”

  “A couple of hikers found a car abandoned in the woods about four miles out of town,” Kreskin replied. “It was an older Ford and someone went through the trouble to cover the car with branches as a form of camouflage.”

  Nick was confused. “I guess I don’t understand.”

  “The car belongs to a woman named Carrie Grimes.”

  “I still don’t understand.”

  “Carrie Grimes is married to a man named Michael Grimes,” Kreskin volunteered. “She’s been missing for almost a month. The car that was just discovered has probably been out there all that time. It was found by that small inlet that leads to the lake. It’s off the road a bit and can’t be easily seen. Since it’s so early in the season, people aren’t visiting the lake yet so … it literally could’ve been there the entire month.”

  Nick wrinkled his forehead. “Michael Grimes. Why does that name sound familiar?”

  “I ran it. The only Michael Grimes I can find legally changed his name to Steven Wilkins several years ago.”

  Things slipped into place for Nick. “Oh, good grief. Steven is Michael.”

  “And his wife is missing,” Kreskin added. “Her family reported her missing four weeks ago. That was after she seemingly moved out of her house and only contacted them sporadically over a two-week period.”

  “But … what would she be doing here?” Nick was talking more to himself than Kreskin. It was his partner who answered, though.

  “That road is behind your house,” Kreskin pointed out. “It’s also behind Mildred’s house.”

  “What do we know about Carrie Grimes?” Nick asked, straightening his shoulders.

  “Not a lot as of yet,” Kreskin replied. “We know that she married Michael Grimes sixteen years ago. We know that Michael Grimes changed his name to Steven Wilkins after that. We also know that Carrie Grimes gave birth to a daughter about a year after she married.”

  Oxygen escaped Nick’s lungs with a whoosh. “Angel.”

  “Actually, the girl’s name was Angelina Grimes,” Kreskin replied. “I can’t find any photos of her online that don’t date back to when she was a toddler but … I’m going to guess we’ve found our girl.”

  Nick slid into his desk chair, his mind moving at a fantastic rate. “Angel is Michael Grimes’ daughter. Michael Grimes was Mildred’s nephew. Forty years ago, Mildred helped her sister-in-law escape her abusive husband and go into hiding. She took her son with her. That son reconnected with his father years after the fact and apparently didn’t believe the stories his mother told. Now his wife is missing, his aunt was found dead, and his daughter is locked up in a place where he can’t get his hands on her.”

  “Pretty much,” Kreskin confirmed. “I don’t think this is a coincidence. He seemed uninterested in what was going on when we first questioned him. He told a nice story but wasn’t engaged. Then, suddenly, you mention finding Angel and he turns up in town. There has to be a reason behind that.”

  Nick finally understood what that reason was. “I took a photo of Steven at the bar last night. Maddie is at the children’s home. I’m going to message it to her and have her show it around. If we can get confirmation that Steven is behind this, we can grab him at the hotel before he has a chance to leave for the day.”

  “That sounds like a plan to me.”

  PATTY AND SHARON WERE outside the observation window when Maddie was cleared through security. She joined them and already had a story ready to explain her appearance.

  “I’m just going to sit with her a bit,” Maddie announced, keeping her face placid even though her heart was thumping. She wasn’t the best liar. That’s one of the reasons she was always so fearful about people finding out about her gift. “I think she will eventually have to react to me.”

  “So, you’re just going to wait her out?” Sharon obviously wasn’t impressed with Maddie’s suggestion. “Do you really think that’s going to work?”

  Maddie shrugged. “Do you have a better idea?”

  “We’ve got a specialist coming from Detroit,” Patty supplied. “She’s hopefully going to be able to make some headway.”

  “And when does she arrive?”

  “Not for a few hours.”

  “That means there’s no reason I can’t sit with Angel until then,” Maddie pointed out. “It can’t possibly do any harm.”

  Patty and Sharon exchanged a weighted look.

  “I guess that’s okay,” Sharon said after a beat. “She hasn’t eaten since yesterday, which I don’t think is healthy given her weight. If you could force some food down her, that would be great.”

  “Get me a tray.” Maddie kept her smile in place. “I have a good feeling about today. In fact … .” She broke off when her phone dinged, barely managing to keep a scowl at bay as she dug for it. “Hmm.” She studied the message Nick sent her and touched the attached photo before lifting her phone. “Is this the guy who was here yesterday?”

  Sharon flicked her eyes to the screen and stared hard. “I can’t be sure, but I think that’s him. I mean … I’m about seventy-five percent sure that’s him. That photo is kind of dark – clearly in a bar or something – so I can’t be a hundred percent sure.”

  “But you’re reasonably sure it’s him,” Maddie pressed.

  Sharon nodded. “Yes.”

  “Who is he?” Patty asked as Maddie began typing on her phone. “Do you know who he is?”

  “Yes, and it’s a weird story,” Maddie replied. “Basically he’s Mildred’s nephew.” She frowned at her phone as another message came through.

  “That’s the woman Angel refers to as her grandmother, right?” Sharon queried.

  Maddie bobbed her head. “Huh. This is weird.”

  “What?”

  “Nick sent another photo to see if I recognized it.” Maddie turned her thoughtful eyes to the girl hiding in the corner on the other side of the window. “He thinks it might be a photo of Angel’s mother.”

  Patty’s interest piqued. “Has he found her? I think her mother would definitely help in this situation.”

  Maddie swallowed hard. “No. They found her car.”

  “That doesn’t sound good,” Sharon noted. “Is Angel’s mother dead? How did Mildred get her if the mother is dead? For that matter, why would Mildred hide Angel from her own nephew?”

  Maddie had a sinking suspicion that she knew exactly why Mildred would go out of her way to hide Angel. “I need to talk to her. It’s probably best I do it right now. Nick is on his way to pick up Steven, w
hich is a good thing, but we still need answers.”

  “So, talk to her,” Sharon suggested. “If anyone can get through to her, it’s you.”

  “I hope that’s true.”

  MADDIE’S SMILE DIDN’T PROMISE laughter when she entered the room. Angel, as if hearing a noise, flicked her eyes to the door. She didn’t cringe at the sight of Maddie. She didn’t excitedly throw herself at her either.

  “Hello, Angel.”

  Angel turned her attention forward and began studying her knees. Maddie knew she had limited time so she opted not to wait for Angel to come to her. It was time to go to Angel … and demand answers, if it became necessary.

  Maddie sat on the floor in front of Angel, giving the girl no choice but to look directly at her. She clutched her phone to her chest and debated how to start. Ultimately Maddie decided to get right to the heart of matters.

  “Is this your mother?” Maddie extended the phone so Angel could see the woman in question.

  Angel’s countenance was pouty when she dragged her eyes to the phone. Her expression shifted quickly when she straightened and grabbed the phone, her eyes never leaving the photograph.

  “That’s her, isn’t it?” Maddie felt mildly sick to her stomach. She recognized the woman in the photo. It was the same face she saw the day Mildred’s house caught fire, the same woman who led Maddie to Angel. The same woman who was very obviously dead because she was walking around as a ghost. “What were you doing at Mildred’s house?”

  Angel didn’t look away from the phone.

  “I think we’ve got some of it figured out,” Maddie supplied. “I know about your mother. I know that Mildred was your father’s aunt. I know that Mildred once helped your grandmother – your father’s mother – escape from an abusive husband. I also know that your grandmother didn’t share everything with me when I questioned her.”

  Angel remained still, but Maddie sensed a bit of give in the way the girl reacted to her.

  “Your father abused you, didn’t he?”

  Nothing.

  “He abused your mother, too.” Maddie was mostly talking to herself, but she had a feeling Angel was either listening or understood on some level Maddie couldn’t quite grasp. “Your mother decided to run and either your grandmother pointed her toward Mildred or your mother knew the stories herself and asked for help.

  “It’s not as easy to hide these days,” she continued. “Mildred couldn’t simply put you and your mother up in a house one town over and get away with it. To buy time, you guys were staying with her, right?”

  Angel didn’t answer, but her eyes were now trained on Maddie.

  “Your mother disappeared at some point, didn’t she?” Maddie questioned. “Mildred knew something happened to her and it was only a matter of time before someone came for you. I don’t understand why she put you in the basement, locked you in there, but she must have had a reason.

  “Your father is the one who came to Mildred’s house the other day,” she continued. “He’s the one who broke in and killed Mildred. He’s the one who started the fire. I think he was looking for you and either didn’t realize you were in the house or didn’t care. That’s only one of the things I can’t figure out.”

  Angel licked her lips but otherwise remained still.

  “I need to know, Angel.” Maddie instinctively reached out and grabbed the girl’s hand. “You don’t have to tell me what happened. You just have to let me see.”

  Maddie squeezed the girl’s hand tightly when she tried to pull away.

  “Let me see,” Maddie repeated. “You have no idea how important this is. Just … you don’t have to talk. You don’t have to sign. All you have to do is let me in.”

  If Angel understood what Maddie was suggesting, she didn’t show it. Ironically, though, she let Maddie do exactly what she asked. She opened her mind as Maddie slid inside.

  She showed her everything she remembered from the time she was a small child until the moment Maddie rescued her. She allowed Maddie to live through years of anguish, although it only took Maddie seconds to see everything.

  Even as the images overwhelmed her, Maddie dug deeper. She looked harder. It was only then that she saw everything … and the true horror of one family became all too real.

  19

  Nineteen

  “Are you sure he left?”

  Nick and Kreskin were frustrated upon arrival at the hotel and being informed that Steven had already checked out. That’s where George found them a few minutes later and he was understandably confused.

  “I actually didn’t see him leave, but I heard the maids talking and they said that he left his room a mess,” George replied. “Apparently he had some sort of fit yesterday and broke a vase and threw a few things across the room. They said they understood why he didn’t want to leave his credit card on file if this was how he always intended to leave the room.”

  “He didn’t want to leave his credit card on file because he didn’t want a record of staying in town,” Nick corrected. “I don’t understand why he stayed only to pick up and leave before anything is settled, though.”

  “What do you think he wants to settle?” George asked.

  “You’re behind,” Nick realized. “You don’t know. That makes sense. How could you know?”

  “Know what?”

  “Steven has a wife who conveniently went missing,” Kreskin supplied. “Her car was found hidden behind Mildred’s house. He also has a daughter, who is fifteen.”

  Things slid into place for George. “A daughter who Maddie found.”

  “A daughter who is protected at the children’s home,” Nick clarified. “Maddie is out there with her now.”

  “Maybe he recognized that he couldn’t get close to Angel since he failed on the first attempt,” George suggested. “Maybe he thought it was better to cut and run.”

  Nick immediately started shaking his head. “No. I don’t think that’s right. He has another plan.”

  “What plan?” Kreskin was legitimately curious. “What do you think he’s going to do?”

  Nick could only come up with one answer. “He’s going to the children’s home. He’s going to make his last stand there because he’s determined to get Angel. She’s the thing he’s focused on.”

  “But … there’s a police officer on the premises.”

  “And maybe Steven doesn’t care.” Nick’s stomach twisted. “We have to get out there and offer some support. In fact, now that Steven knows where Angel is, we should probably move her to another location.”

  “I don’t know that we have the authority to do that, but we can try.”

  “Let’s get out there.” Nick moved to leave the hotel but stopped long enough to offer George reassurance. “Maddie will be fine. I’ll make sure of it.”

  George nodded, uncertain. “Call me when you get there. I want to know she’s safe.”

  “You’ve got it.”

  MADDIE FOUGHT TO CATCH her breath as the cascading visions washed over her. It’s too much. That’s all she could think as ugly image after ugly image barreled into her brain to take up residence. It’s too much.

  Angel, her eyes wide and fearful, watched Maddie as if she were a bomb about to go off.

  When Maddie finally found her voice, she gripped Angel’s hand as tightly as possible and began to nod. “I understand.”

  “And what is it you understand?”

  Maddie stiffened at the voice, the hair on the back of her neck standing on end as she slowly turned to face the door.

  It wasn’t Sharon standing there asking questions. It wasn’t Patty with her magical hands. They were both absent, and Maddie had no doubt it was due to the man standing in the opening with a knife in his hand. In quick succession, Maddie realized several things. The first of which was that Steven Wilkins had somehow managed to make it past the police officer at the door and the two women who were supposed to be standing outside the window. The second was that the knife blade was covered with blood
. The third was there was no second exit for the room. She was trapped and the only way out was through Steven.

  To her utter surprise, Maddie blew out an extended breath and lessened her grip on Angel. She had no idea how to handle the situation, but she was the only one who could so she had to figure a way out. When faced with the knowledge that failure isn’t an option, all one can do is succeed. That’s what Maddie told herself as she slowly got to her feet.

  “Did you kill the policeman by the door?”

  Steven’s smirk was evil. “He didn’t even see it coming. I bought some roses from the store on the highway and acted like a deliveryman. By the time he realized what was happening, it was already too late.”

  Maddie swallowed hard. It was clear the man was deranged. That would make things more difficult. “And Patty and Sharon?”

  “Are those the two women who were on the other side of the window?”

  Maddie nodded.

  “Let’s just say they’re otherwise engaged and leave it at that, huh?” Steven shifted his eyes to a cowering Angel. She hadn’t as much as made a noise since he entered, but Maddie could sense the overt terror ripping through the girl. “Hello, honey. Daddy is here. I’ve finally found you. It’s time to go home.”

  Angel turned her face to stare at the wall and made a whimpering noise. Maddie wanted to console her, hold her until the tremors subsided, but she couldn’t risk that. Steven had a distinct physical advantage over her and it would only be compounded if she made herself small and hid in the corner.

  “I don’t think she wants to go with you,” Maddie supplied. “Perhaps you should try again another time when she’s not so overwrought.”

  Steven kept his eyes on his daughter. “She wants to go with me. She loves me.”

  “That’s not how it looks to me.”

  “Well, I don’t care how it looks to you!” Steven exploded, his eyes lit with fury. “Did I ask how it looks to you? When I want to know your opinion, I’ll ask.”

  Maddie refused to react out of fear. If Steven recognized exactly how terrified she really was he would take advantage of the situation. All she had going for her at the present moment was his uncertainty. He had no way of knowing how she would react.