Grave Homecoming (A Maddie Graves Mystery Book 1)

by Hart, Lily Harper

  Nick licked his lips. He was interested in pressing Christy on the first issue, but he knew it was the worst possible time. “No. It’s a mixture of teenagers and guys trying to scratch out a living. None of them seem especially dangerous to me.”

  “Me either,” Christy said. “Sarah Alden had to react to Henry for a reason, though.”

  “You seem fine with this … ghost thing,” Nick said.

  “I always suspected,” Christy said. “I saw her talking to the air in the cemetery when we were in high school. It just made sense.” She looked Nick up and down. “You seem to be adjusting well.”

  “She’s the best friend I’ve ever had,” Nick replied, hesitant. “I believe anything she tells me.”

  “And things are starting to slip into place for you,” Christy interjected. “You’re looking at your past and realizing what you missed. It’s kind of cute.”

  “You guys know I’m sitting right here, don’t you?”

  Nick smiled at Maddie, his mind traveling to earlier in the day when he’d woken up next to her. “Christy is right,” he said finally. “You need to work on your self-esteem. I haven’t done you any favors in that department.”

  “My self-esteem is fine.”

  “No, it isn’t,” Nick argued. “You’re the most beautiful person in the world, and yet you don’t see it. We have time.”

  “That’s what I’ve been telling her,” Christy said.

  A pair of headlights flashed in the parking lot as a vehicle pulled in. Maddie shifted forward, recognition washing over her face. “That’s Todd’s car.”

  “Yeah,” Nick said. “Henry is his uncle. Don’t ever get in that car again, by the way.”

  Maddie and Christy exchanged a look, and then Maddie turned to him. “I forgot about that. About Henry being Todd’s uncle, I mean.”

  “So?”

  “Todd is sexually aggressive,” Maddie said.

  Nick stilled. “Did he try to force you to do something?”

  “Oh, get over it,” Christy said. “Maddie is pointing out that Todd has ties to Henry, and Sarah Alden freaked out when she saw Henry. Maybe Todd is the one who killed Sarah.”

  Nick mulled the suggestion over. He’d always hated Todd – with a passion – but he’d never considered the possibility that Todd could be a murderer. “We can’t jump to conclusions.”

  “We also can’t ignore the obvious,” Christy said. “Todd is one of those guys who won’t take no for an answer.”

  “Why do you think I didn’t want him around Maddie?”

  Christy rolled her eyes. “Because you want Maddie for yourself,” she replied honestly. “That’s neither here nor there, though.”

  Nick straightened uncomfortably. “Why would Sarah Alden know both Henry and Todd?”

  “Because she came here for some reason,” Maddie mused. “I need to talk to her again.”

  “Is there a way you can just make her show up?”

  Maddie shook her head. “It has to be her decision.”

  “Well, then we’re stuck,” Nick said. “We have no reason to follow him, and we have no reason to question him.”

  “His relationship with Maddie makes it doubly difficult for you, doesn’t it?” Christy asked. “You can’t go after him until you have really good information. If you do it now, his lawyer will just argue you have a vendetta because of your feelings for Maddie.”

  Nick was uncomfortable. “We don’t have enough to pursue him as a suspect.”

  “Good grief,” Christy muttered. “Between the two of you – and your refusal to admit you have feelings for one another – I’m going to develop an ulcer.”

  “We’re friends,” Maddie protested.

  “We’re friends,” Nick agreed.

  “And I’m super model,” Christy said. “I just … I’m going to lock you both in a room and steal all of your clothes. I can only take so much.”

  Maddie and Nick were both mortified.

  “It’s like babysitting without getting paid,” Christy continued. “It’s just … you two both need to grow up.”

  Nick wanted to argue, but her point was clear. He couldn’t argue with her, because he knew she was right. “I’ll run a search on Todd,” he said, straightening.

  “Well, it’s something,” Christy said. “You two are still morons.”

  Twenty-Four

  After watching the action at Blackstone Greenhouse for another ten minutes, Nick instructed Maddie to climb into the cruiser so he could taxi her home. Maddie was worried he was going to lecture her, so she was reticent to ride with him, but Christy didn’t give her a lot of options.

  “Maybe he’ll teach you how to steam up the windows,” Christy suggested. “I think you’re long past learning what that’s supposed to be like.”

  Maddie shot her a look as she slipped into the passenger seat of Nick’s cruiser. “You’re not funny.”

  “I think she’s funny,” Nick said as he slid into his own seat and started the car.

  “I know why the windows were steamed up.”

  “I’m sure you do.”

  “She acts like I’m ten.”

  “That’s because she can’t believe anyone could be as cute and innocent as you are,” Nick teased.

  Maddie’s face flushed. “I’m surprised you’re not yelling at me.”

  “Why would I yell at you?”

  “Because we were out spying on the guys at Blackstone Greenhouse. I figured that would tick you off.”

  Nick tilted his head to the side, considering. “Do I yell at you a lot?”

  Maddie faltered. “No.”

  “So, why did you think I would yell at you now?”

  “I don’t know,” Maddie hedged. “We were trying to ascertain if a murderer was working out here. That doesn’t particularly seem smart.”

  “If you had decided one of them was a murderer, what would you have done?” Nick’s face was unreadable as he navigated through the Blackstone Bay streets.

  “Called you.”

  “Maddie, the only time I’m going to be angry with you is if you lie or purposely put yourself in danger,” Nick said. “From what I can tell, you and Christy were sitting in a car and gossiping. It’s not like you can really tell who a murderer is just by looking at him.”

  “I think it’s Todd.”

  Nick smirked. “I think you want it to be Todd. If it’s Todd, you won’t have to keep coming up with excuses to turn him down.”

  “I don’t need excuses,” Maddie replied. “He makes my skin crawl.”

  “Good,” Nick said. “I don’t like him being around you.”

  “Because he’s a jerk?”

  “That’s one of the reasons, yes,” Nick said.

  “What’s the other?”

  Nick ignored the question. “Let’s look at this from an unbiased point of view,” he said. “What would Todd’s motive be?”

  “I think he hates women.”

  “Why?”

  “He obviously thinks he’s above them,” Maddie said. “He talks about women like they’re nothing more than commodities, or things to barter.”

  “Be more specific.”

  “Well, when we were out on our date … .”

  Nick scowled.

  “He kept trying to get me to drink wine, even though I told him it went to my head and made me feel fuzzy,” Maddie said. “He seemed to like that, though.”

  “Of course he did,” Nick said. “If he got you drunk, you would’ve been more pliable.”

  “It wasn’t just that,” Maddie said. “He kept insisting I eat lobster because it was the most expensive thing on the menu. He kept talking about buying me the most expensive meal – even though I don’t even really like lobster.”

  “Maybe he just wanted you to be beholden to him,” Nick suggested. “Isn’t there some dating myth out there that if you order the most expensive thing on the menu you have to put out?”

  Maddie shrugged. “I haven’t done a lot of dating. I
’m not up on the rules.”

  “You didn’t date a lot … when you were away?” Nick was curious, despite himself.

  “No.”

  “How come?”

  “Because I just don’t connect well with others,” Maddie replied, her gaze focused outside the window. “The doctors at the hospital kept asking me out, but all they wanted to do was talk about themselves. I didn’t trust them enough to talk about myself, so nothing really ever went anywhere.”

  “Well, you’re better than them anyway, Mad,” Nick said. “And I don’t think you have problems connecting with people. We’re connected, and you’ve connected with Christy. You just need to stop fixating on the way things should be, and start focusing on how you want them to be.”

  “How did you suddenly get so wise?” Maddie asked.

  “I’ve always been wise,” Nick said. “You just weren’t around to see me mature into a genius.”

  “Ah, well, at least I know now.”

  Nick grinned as he pulled into Maddie’s driveway. He stopped her from exiting the cruiser with a small touch, and a serious expression. “Listen, Mad. I’m not saying you’re wrong about Todd,” he said. “I’ve always hated that guy. That’s why I want to think it’s him. I’m worried that I’m blinding myself to the real culprit, though.”

  “So, what are you saying?”

  “I’m saying that I want you to be careful,” Nick said. “No running around at night by yourself, okay? I don’t care if you have a ghost with you or not.”

  Maddie opened her mouth to argue.

  “Don’t, Mad,” Nick said. “I’m not joking. I couldn’t bear it if something happened to you. I want you to promise me you’ll be careful.”

  “I promise,” Maddie murmured.

  “I’m going to run a check on Todd and the workers out at the greenhouse,” Nick said. “I think you might be on to something.”

  “How are you going to explain that?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “We have absolutely nothing to explain our actions,” Maddie said. “We have a ghost in a pantry who had a bad reaction to the old man who is sleeping with my grandmother.”

  Nick chuckled. “Yeah, they’re kind of a cute couple.”

  “You’re not funny.”

  “I’m a little funny,” Nick said. “If Sarah had a bad reaction to Henry, there has to be a reason why.”

  “You’re taking a whole lot on faith here,” Maddie pointed out. “You’re basing all of your actions on the fact that I say I can see ghosts. Have you asked yourself if I’m telling the truth? Have you asked yourself if I’m crazy?”

  “No,” Nick said. “I trust you, Mad. I believe in you. I know you’re … struggling … with having faith in me right now, but it’s going to be okay.”

  “I have faith in you,” Maddie protested.

  “In the back of your mind, you still think I’m going to run away from you,” Nick countered. “I saw the look on your face last night when you found me in the window seat. You thought I’d snuck out. I’m not going to sneak out, and I’m not going to abandon you. The sooner you realize that, the better we’ll all be.”

  “I do believe,” Maddie said, biting her lip.

  Nick ran his hand down the back of her head, the need to comfort her overwhelming him. “I think you want to believe,” he said. “You’ll get to the other part. Don’t worry. Now, go in the house and lock the doors.”

  “You don’t think Todd would follow me here, do you?”

  “I don’t want you to convince yourself that it’s Todd until we actually know it’s Todd,” Nick said. “If you do that, you aren’t going to be paying proper attention to your surroundings. So, as far as you’re concerned, Todd is innocent. Got it?”

  Maddie nodded. “Got it.”

  “Okay,” Nick said. “Go in the house and lock the doors. Oh, and you might want to have a conversation with Maude about her bed buddy. Try to dissuade her from having him over until this thing is solved, okay?”

  “Oh, yeah, that will be easy,” Maddie grumbled.

  Nick smiled. “If Sarah pops back up, call me on my cellphone.”

  “Okay.”

  “Maddie … .”

  Maddie was halfway out of the car but she bent back down so she could see his face.

  “If you need me for anything, don’t hesitate to call,” Nick said. “I’ll come to you no matter what.”

  “You always do.” She shut the door.

  “And I always will,” Nick muttered. He waited until she was safely inside of the house before he drove away. He had some thinking to do, and despite what he’d told Maddie, he was intrigued with the idea of Todd as a suspect.

  “GRANNY?”

  “How many times have I told you not to call me that?”

  Maddie found Maude nursing a cup of tea in the kitchen. “What should I call you?”

  “Goddess Divine.”

  “Well, maybe on your birthday.” Maddie sat down at the table and poured her own cup of tea. She raised her eyebrows when Maude slipped a bottle of bourbon out of her robe pocket and passed it across the table. “Ah, I see you weren’t just drinking tea.”

  “I’m trying to relax before bed.”

  “And will you be sleeping alone tonight?”

  “Will you?” Maude challenged.

  “Granny, nothing happened,” Maddie said, her cheeks coloring. “We just fell asleep.”

  “And then cuddled up like two bugs in a rug.”

  “I’ve never understood that expression.”

  “It’s a stupid one,” Maude agreed.

  “I need you to do something for me,” Maddie said. “I need you to put the brakes on your relationship with Henry, at least for a few days.”

  “I’m an adult, Maddie girl,” Maude said. “I can see who I want.”

  “I know that,” Maddie said. “It’s just … Sarah Alden was in the pantry this morning.”

  “Who is Sarah Alden?”

  “She’s the woman whose body I found the other day.”

  “Oh,” Maude said, her eyes thoughtful. “I heard you talking. I figured you were just talking to your mother.”

  “No,” Maddie said. “It was Sarah, and she had a bad reaction to Henry.”

  “What do you mean?”

  Maddie described the incident.

  “You don’t really think Henry is capable of killing a young woman in her prime, do you?” Maude asked. “He’s so out of shape he can’t even be on top. His knees are shot.”

  “Thank you for that visual.”

  “I’m just saying that Henry is not capable of hurting anyone,” Maude said.

  “I tend to agree with you,” Maddie replied. “What if Sarah recognized Henry because he was close to the person who did kill her, though?”

  “Like someone out at the greenhouse?”

  Maddie shrugged. “We went out there to have a look around tonight,” she said. “Christy doesn’t think anyone working there is capable of murder.”

  “What do you think?”

  “I think I’d forgotten that Todd was Henry’s nephew.”

  Maude stilled. “I kind of forgot that, too. Was he out there tonight?”

  “He was,” Maddie said. “He pulled up when the greenhouse was closing, and he went inside. He was still there when we left.”

  “Todd doesn’t strike me as the type of man who does a lot of gardening,” Maude mused. “I’m pretty sure he lives in one of those townhouses across Jefferson. He wouldn’t even be responsible for doing his own yard work.”

  “Maybe he was just visiting his uncle?”

  “Maybe,” Maude said. “Henry never mentions him, though. I’ve never gotten the impression they were very close.”

  “Well, I just want you to be careful,” Maddie said. “Nick is running a background check on Todd and everyone else out at the greenhouse.”

  “What if none of them are responsible?”

  “I don’t know,” Maddie admitted. “We jus
t have to wait for Sarah to show up again. I think she’s remembering. She’s the only one who can fill in the details.”

  Maude patted the top of the table. “Hand me my bourbon.”

  “I think you’ve had enough.”

  “Hey, if I’m not going to be getting any, I need to get my jollies somewhere.”

  Maddie frowned. “That is … .” She didn’t get the chance to finish her sentence. Suddenly, all of the lights in the house blinked out and plunged Maddie and Maude into darkness – and unseen danger.

  Twenty-Five

  “What’s going on?”

  “I don’t know,” Maddie said, her eyes narrowing as she tried to peer into the dark. “Maybe a fuse blew.”

  “That wouldn’t explain the lights in the whole house going out.”

  Maddie’s skin was tingling, which meant danger. Unfortunately, she was the one in danger this time. “We have to get out of here.”

  “Do you think someone is in the house?”

  “Where is the circuit breaker?”

  “In the garage.”

  “I think someone is in the garage,” Maddie said. “I think they’ll be in the house soon.” She moved around the table so she could touch her grandmother. “We need to get out of this house. If we stay, we’ll be trapped.”

  “You need to run, Maddie girl,” Maude said. “I’ll just slow you down.”

  “I’m not leaving you.”

  “You have to.”

  “I won’t.” Maddie gripped Maude’s hand and started to feel around the back wall. “We’ll go out through the back and circle around to the front. My car is in the driveway. I still have the keys in my pocket.”

  “You won’t make it if you insist on taking me.”

  “We’re either both leaving, or we’re both staying,” Maddie said, her voice firm. “Which way is it going to be?”

  Maude sighed. “We’re both going. When this is over, though, I’m going to beat you upside your head.”

  “I can’t wait.”

  NICK studied his computer screen wearily. It was like he was going around in circles. He’d run a search on every employee at the greenhouse, and there were no red flags in any of the files.

  When he’d ran Henry’s name, however, something worrisome popped up. It appeared Henry hadn’t always been a simple greenhouse operator. In his twenties, he’d been arrested for stalking a women – even though they didn’t call it stalking back then. The woman in question, Helen Glass, claimed Henry kept showing up outside of her classes at a mid-Michigan community college, and he’d also taken to showing up at her home. He made unwanted romantic overtures, and when Helen balked, Henry allegedly became more and more aggressive – even appearing in her bedroom one night. That’s when he was arrested.