“You’re the best cop I know.” Maude was serious. “You’ve never arrested me.”
“Well, I’ll put that at the top of my résumé should I need to find another job thanks to your hijinks.”
“That’s a good word,” Maude noted. “Hijinks. Maybe I’ll start a new club with that word in the title. I like it.”
“I’m more than just a pretty face.” Nick was grinning when he rounded the final corner and found Maddie kneeling in front of the flower beds, an intense look on her face and a small rake in her hand. “Man, she is really beautiful.” He didn’t intend to say the words out loud, but they escaped. “Look how cute she is because she’s so focused.”
Maude rolled her eyes. “You guys are way too sweet. You give me indigestion.”
“You’ll live. In fact … .” Whatever Nick was about to say died on his lips as Maddie went rigid, her body snapping to attention as her head lolled to the side. “What the … ?”
Sensing his worry, Maude swiveled quickly and frowned. “What’s happening?”
“I don’t know.” Nick took a long stride forward. “Maddie?”
Instead of focusing on him, Maddie’s eyes rolled back in her head and she tilted and fell to the ground. At that exact moment, the phone in her pocket started trilling. Nick ignored that as he dropped the bags he carried and broke into a run.
He could only think of one thing. He only cared about one thing.
“Maddie!”
2
Two
Maddie’s mind was a jumble.
One second she was trying to decide which weeds she wanted to pull first and the second all she could hear was screaming. At first she thought it was coming from someplace behind her; perhaps Mrs. Northrup’s house a block down was the source of the noise. Then she realized the screaming was coming from her mind and things were so much worse.
The images flashing through her busy brain were hard to grasp. A woman running through the darkness, blond hair streaming behind her as a shadow gave chase. Another woman, this one slightly older but with the same blond hair, backing away from a menacing figure. Blood. Tears. Overwhelming sobs and screams.
All of it converged at once and Maddie thought for sure her circuits were going to overload, that something in her brain was readying itself to blow. Then she heard something else, something soothing, and she latched onto the sound because she knew otherwise she would be completely lost.
“Maddie.”
Nicky. Maddie thought she said his name, but instinctively she knew she felt it rather than uttered it.
“Love, please … .” Nick’s voice cracked as Maddie’s eyelids fluttered.
It took everything she had, but when Maddie forced open her eyes she found Nick’s anguished brown orbs trained on her face while Maude struggled to keep her hands from shaking as she played with her phone.
“Maddie?” Nick’s voice came out in a whoosh when he realized she was awake. “Baby, are you okay? I … look at me.”
Maddie could look nowhere else. She wanted to lose herself in the angular planes of his face rather than the images stalking the edges of her mind. “Nicky.” This time she managed to get the single word out, although it was a struggle. “Nicky.”
“You scared the crap out of me.” Nick cradled Maddie against him, gardening tools discarded and forgotten as he rocked her back and forth. “I thought … .” He didn’t finish. He didn’t want to give voice to the thought.
“I’m calling 911,” Maude offered. “We’ll have help here soon.”
Maddie struggled to regain her senses, but Maude’s words bored inside and she was present enough to stop her grandmother before she placed a call no one wanted to explain. “No. I don’t need an ambulance.”
Nick balked. “You most certainly do. You fainted.”
“I didn’t faint.” Maddie hated that word. It was so … weak.
“Your eyes rolled back in your head and you were out for at least thirty seconds, Mad,” Nick argued. “You’re going to the hospital.”
“No, I’m not.” Maddie managed to be firm, but just barely. “I’m fine.”
“You fainted,” Nick challenged.
“I didn’t faint … and I don’t like that word.” Maddie struggled to sit, but Nick kept her plastered to his chest. He was so strong she couldn’t find the energy to push him back, so ultimately she relented and remained where she was. “I’m fine. I just … lost myself for a moment.”
Nick didn’t like the sound of that one bit. “And how did you lose yourself?”
That right there was a tricky question. “Well … .” Her phone started ringing again, causing her eyes to snap down to her pocket. “Oh.”
“Do you know who that is?” Nick’s eyebrows migrated north. “Your phone started ringing right as it happened. I … you … I mean … .” Nick pressed his eyes shut as he fought to calm himself. She was alive. She was conscious and present. She was with him. Everything would be okay. He was certain of it.
“So am I calling an ambulance or not?” Maude asked, confused.
“Yes,” Nick answered immediately.
“Absolutely not!” Maddie shot her grandmother a warning look. “Don’t even think about it. I’m fine.” She dug for her phone, frowning when the ringing stopped. “I missed him again. He’s going to think it’s on purpose.”
“Who is going to think it’s on purpose?” Nick didn’t view himself as histrionic but he was drifting very close to the edge of a meltdown. “Maddie, what is going on?”
“It’s Dwight.” Maddie licked her lips as she smiled at the mention of her Detroit police officer friend. He was one of the few people she maintained contact with when she left Detroit. “He wants to talk to me.”
Nick wasn’t sure what to make of Maddie’s matter-of-fact nature. “Why? What does he want from you?”
Maddie balked at his tone. “He’s a friend. Perhaps he simply wants to talk.” Even as she said the words, Maddie knew they weren’t true. The images she saw in her head, even though she didn’t realize it at the time, were clearly from a big city. Dwight worked the mean and often violent streets of Detroit. It made sense that she was overwhelmed by the visions at the same time her phone rang. The visions were tied to Dwight.
Nick stared into Maddie’s face for what felt like forever. “Do you believe that?”
He was putting her on the spot and they both knew it. “I … .” Maddie didn’t get a chance to answer because Nick’s phone started ringing.
Nick shifted so he could retrieve his iPhone. When looked at the display screen, he wasn’t surprised to find Dwight listed as the contact.
“That’s for me.” Maddie instinctively reached for the phone, but Nick shook his head and pressed the button to answer before greeting Dwight in the most nonchalant manner he could muster.
“What’s up?”
Maddie watched, her eyes wide as Nick calmly shifted so he could get comfortable on the ground. He kept one arm around her so she couldn’t escape his grasp and she made a face when she was forced to listen rather than participate in the conversation.
“How are things?” Dwight asked. He was clearly on edge. Nick didn’t know the man well, but he recognized that.
“For the most part, they’re great,” Nick replied. “Maddie and I are engaged.”
“I know. She called right after Christmas, bubbling with excitement and crying.”
“Crying?” Nick slid a look to Maddie. “You cried when you told him you were marrying the man of your dreams?”
Maddie merely shrugged. “They were happy tears at the time. I feel like crying right now for a different reason.”
“I can see that.” Nick absently patted the hand resting on her midriff and focused on the conversation. “Despite the tears, Dwight, I kept my promise. I’m keeping her happy … er, at least for the most part. We’re gardening and everything.”
“That sounds like an old fogey thing to do.” Dwight did his best to hold up his end of the conver
sation without pushing too fast. Nick grasped the signs and part of him wanted to take pity on the obviously distressed police detective. The other part – the part that recognized something very bad was about to happen – wanted to hang up and block Dwight’s number.
“Well, we’re old fogeys at heart,” Nick said evenly. “How are things with you? How is Sage?”
Several months before, in a fit of despair, Dwight visited Maddie for help because his college-aged daughter went missing. Maddie insisted on helping and after several days, they managed to track down the girl and reunite her with Dwight. Maddie and Dwight had been talking on the phone every few weeks since. Nick only heard about the conversations secondhand. This was the first time he’d talked to the man since saying his goodbyes.
“Sage is great.” Dwight’s tone reflected genuine happiness for a brief moment. “Things on the personal front are great. On the work front, though … .”
Nick didn’t know why Dwight was calling, but it was obvious that things had taken a serious turn. Dwight wouldn’t call otherwise. He wouldn’t put Maddie on the spot like that. Nick wasn’t sure he cared how desperate Dwight was due to his current caseload … and whatever else might be going on. He wouldn’t risk Maddie regardless. “Well, I hope things go better for you at work.”
Dwight knew he was being brushed off and refused to allow it. “I need to talk to Maddie. I called her phone twice, but she didn’t answer.”
“She’s right here with me.”
“I gathered that when you talked to her a few minutes ago,” Dwight said dryly. “May I speak to her?”
Nick had a decision to make. Maddie sat cradled on his lap, her blue eyes wide and full of anger because he refused to hand over his phone. Dwight sounded uncomfortable on the other end, as if he were struggling with duty and loyalty, but resigned to following through no matter what.
“I don’t know,” Nick hedged, opting for honesty. “Something just happened and … I’m afraid of what you want to talk to her about.” He saw no reason to lie. “Maybe you and I should talk instead.”
Nick could practically see Dwight’s mind working on the other end of the call. “I can do that,” Dwight said after a beat. “You’re not going to be happy regardless, though. I promise you that.”
“I’ve already figured that out myself.” Nick flicked his eyes to Maddie. He could practically feel the anger emanating from her pores. “Tell me what you have and we’ll go from there.”
“I have twenty dead bodies and even more missing girls, although that number is shaky due to the sort of women we seem to be dealing with. It’s not good.”
“No. Start from the beginning.”
That’s exactly what Dwight did.
“YOU’RE NOT GOING.”
Nick was firm as he watched Maddie pace her kitschy magic store an hour later, hands on her hips and flaxen hair flying. Maude wisely took a step back when she realized Maddie was merely overwhelmed by a vision rather than legitimately sick, but Nick had a feeling the elderly curmudgeon wasn’t far away and would lodge her opinion if she felt it necessary.
“I am going.” Maddie stopped moving long enough to fix Nick with a hard look. “You can’t stop me from going.”
Nick wasn’t a fan of her tone. In general, they rarely argued. They were far too gooey and lost in each other for that. When it came to Maddie’s safety, though, he had no problem putting his foot down. “Oh, that’s where you’re wrong, love.”
“No, that’s where you’re wrong.” Maddie spent years hiding from confrontation, refusing to assert herself because it simply wasn’t her way. Since returning to Blackstone Bay – and more importantly Nick – she’d managed to find her stride. She was not the fearful teenager Nick bade goodbye to all those years before. She was still the Maddie he loved even then, but she was stronger now. He liked that about her … except in instances like this when he felt she was putting her life on the line.
“Maddie, I’m not going to let you waltz off and put yourself in danger.” It took all the resolve Nick had to keep his anger in check. “I told you what Dwight said.”
“Yes, you told me what Dwight said,” Maddie agreed. “You had a conversation with him that revolved around what he needed from me and completely cut me out of the decision making. I’m well aware of that.”
Nick recognized the tone, knew he was in a precarious position, and yet pushed forward all the same. “Dwight is a cop.”
“Really? I never would’ve guessed,” Maddie drawled.
“The sarcasm isn’t necessary.”
“Please. I live with you and Granny. Apparently I’m the only one not allowed to engage in sarcasm, huh?”
Nick absolutely hated arguing with Maddie, but he loved her more than he disliked fighting. He would do whatever it took to keep her safe. That included engaging in a screaming match, which was something they’d yet to do despite their passionate relationship. They simply weren’t fighters, and the few times they’d engaged in raised voices and hurt feelings, it gutted them both.
“Maddie, what do you want me to say?” Nick forced himself to remain reasonable. “What is it that you expect me to do here?”
“I want you to say that you understand.”
“I do understand. I understand that Dwight called you and told you about missing girls and you want to help.”
“No, Dwight told me more than that,” Maddie countered. “Actually, Dwight told you more than that. In fact, he told you everything. I had to hear secondhand.”
Nick ran his tongue over his teeth, conflicted. “And that upsets you, huh?”
“Oh, do you think?” Maddie rolled her eyes. “Why would it possibly upset me that you took a call that was meant for me and you told Dwight I wouldn’t be coming to the city help him?”
“I’m starting to get the feeling that you believe I overstepped my bounds.”
“Starting?”
“Maddie, you fainted.”
“Stop saying that word!” Maddie’s voice ratcheted up a notch. “I didn’t faint. I … saw something.”
“And I really want to understand.” Nick was plaintive. “Tell me what you saw, Mad.”
“Do you care?” Maddie knew she was being belligerent, but she couldn’t stop herself. “Does it matter what I saw? I think you’ve already made up your mind.”
“Tell me,” Nick prodded.
“I saw girls. I saw them running … and crying … and dying. I saw what Dwight told you about, the dark alley with the dead bodies. It was as if there was a field of them, all laid out on concrete and covered in garbage. I saw it all.”
“Because Dwight called you?” Nick queried. “Did you see it because his call made it happen?”
“I don’t know. Don’t you dare blame Dwight, though.”
“I have no intention of blaming Dwight,” Nick argued. “That doesn’t mean I want you hopping in your car and heading to Detroit either. It’s not your job to solve that case, Mad.”
Maddie had no idea exactly what Dwight told Nick. All she knew was that Nick related much of the conversation to her in measured tones, although she was certain he left out some of the gorier details. She knew what she saw in the vision, though, and she was certain she wouldn’t be able to shake it whether she headed to Detroit to help Dwight or not. It would stick with her, haunt her, maybe even eat her alive. She didn’t want that.
“He wouldn’t have called if he didn’t believe I could help, Nick,” Maddie pressed.
Nick tamped down a twinge of distress because she didn’t call him “Nicky.” It wasn’t exactly the end of the world, but it bothered him all the same. That was always her “go-to” term of endearment. “I’m sure he does believe you can help, Mad.” He swallowed hard. “That doesn’t mean you should help.”
“Why not?”
“Because … .” Nick broke off, unsure how to proceed.
“There were twenty dead girls in that alley, Nicky,” Maddie noted. “There are more girls missing. They were stalked �
� and hurt for a long time … and then killed. There might be more out there waiting to get saved.”
“And you might put yourself on a killer’s radar if you try to help.”
“I won’t. I’ll be helping Dwight. No one else will know.”
“I’ll know.”
“They’re dead girls, Nicky.” Maddie refused to back down. “That could’ve been me. You know that, right?”
Nick rebelled at the thought. “Well, it wasn’t you. You’re here … and you’re safe. I want to keep you that way.”
“And what if I want to help?”
“Maddie, you have a good heart and I know you always want to help, but this isn’t your problem,” Nick argued. “You don’t live in the city. You live here. You can’t go down there and fix multiple problems whenever Dwight has an issue. That’s not fair to you.”
“You’re not arguing for me. You’re arguing for you. You’re the one who doesn’t want me to go.”
Nick’s patience frayed. “Fine! I don’t want you to go. I’m an ogre who doesn’t want his girlfriend to put herself in danger. Start flogging me now.”
Maddie refused to be dragged into a fight. “There are girls missing. They’re probably being tortured, at least if what I saw in my head is true. I can’t just forget about that. I can’t just let it go.”
Nick folded his arms over his chest, obstinate. “It’s not your job to solve Dwight’s case, Maddie. This isn’t your concern.”
“I’m going.”
Nick inadvertently cringed. “You’re not.”
“I am.”
“You’re not.”
“You’re not the boss of me, Nicky,” Maddie snapped, hating the sound of her voice as it cracked. “Dwight asked for my help. He wouldn’t have called unless he was desperate. I know you recognize that.”
“I hardly think it matters why he did it.”
“It does to me. I’m going.”
“You’re not going, Maddie!” Nick lost his remaining restraint in an explosion of fiery temper and disbelief. “I won’t just sit back and watch you put yourself at risk. No, don’t look at me that way. It’s not simply the physical risk I’m worried about. It’s the emotional one, too. Look what happened today when you caught a glimpse of what’s been going on down there. It’s only going to get worse if you insert yourself in the middle of that investigation.”
Grave Danger (A Maddie Graves Mystery Book 12) Page 2
