Grave Seasons (A Maddie Graves Mystery Book 8)

by Lily Harper Hart

  “Oh, I didn’t think of that.” Maddie glanced at Dwight, worried. “I’m sure someone will be here.”

  “Don’t fret, Maddie,” Dwight said, giving her hand a squeeze. “I’m tougher than I look.”

  “You’re one of the strongest men I know,” Maddie said, guileless. “That doesn’t mean this isn’t eating you alive and hurting your heart. We’re here to help, Dwight. Don’t let this break you down. Lean on me. I can take it.”

  Nick loved Maddie from the moment he met her. He was sure of it. For some reason, he was convinced his love doubled when she made that simple declaration to Dwight. She was the best woman he’d ever met.

  “You’re very lucky, son,” Dwight said, locking gazes with Nick. “She is … .”

  “My Maddie,” Nick finished.

  “I was going to say amazing,” Dwight said. “I guess you summed that up your own way, though. Sage’s room is right there … the one with the open door.”

  “Let me do the talking,” Nick said, cutting in front of Dwight and gently pushing Maddie to the side. “Female teenagers love me. We can use that to our advantage.”

  Dwight shifted his eyes to the room across the hall where four boys sat in beanbag chairs playing video games. They were interested in the scene in the hallway, but their attention was solely fixated on the comely blonde between Dwight and Nick. “I don’t think you’re the only one garnering attention,” Dwight said, inclining his chin toward the boys.

  Nick scowled when he saw how they were looking at Maddie. “Perverts.”

  “Why are they perverts for looking at me, but the girls aren’t perverts for looking at you?” Maddie challenged.

  “Because I know how teenaged boys think, Mad,” Nick replied, unruffled. “They’re deviants.”

  “Were you a deviant when we were together as teenagers?”

  Nick opened his mouth to answer and then snapped it shut, causing Dwight to chuckle.

  “She’s got you there, son,” Dwight said.

  “No, she doesn’t,” Nick said finally. “I was a total deviant, Mad. Do you remember how the greatest moment of my senior year was you getting frightened in the haunted house at the fair and throwing yourself on me and all I could think about was touching your boob?”

  Maddie scowled. She hated that story. “Yes.”

  “These guys are worse, Mad,” Nick said. “I loved you and was still demented. These guys just want to see what you look like naked and wet.”

  Maddie wrinkled her nose. “Wet?”

  “It’s a thing, Mad,” Nick said. “I don’t make up the rules, but we all have to follow them. You stick close to me while I’m asking the questions. Got it?”

  Maddie nodded but otherwise remained silent. Once Nick knocked on Sage’s door and stepped inside she headed for the boys’ room and crossed the threshold without knocking. “Hey, what are you guys doing?”

  One of the boys paused the game, using his free hand to comb his hair. “Um … playing World of Warcraft.”

  “Cool.” Maddie had no idea what kind of game that was, but she figured it didn’t matter. “Who’s winning?”

  “It’s not really that kind of game,” the boy replied, his eyes busy as they roamed Maddie’s body. “I mean … it kind of is, but it isn’t. Does that make sense?”

  Not in the least. “Sure,” Maddie said, bobbing her head. “Can I ask you guys a few quick questions without making you panic?”

  “I’m eighteen,” one of the boys volunteered. “That means I’m legal.”

  “We’re all eighteen, dork,” the first boy said, punching his friend. “I saw her first.”

  Maddie had to bite her cheek to keep from laughing, but she kept her mind on task instead of playing with the boys. She figured she could have fun with them but she didn’t have time given Sage’s troubles. “Did you know Sage Kincaid?” Maddie gestured toward the room across the hall. “She has dark hair and brown eyes.”

  “We know Sage,” the first boy said. “She hasn’t been around for a few days, though.”

  “Is that weird?”

  The boy shrugged. “We figured she hooked up with someone. She’s hot so … a lot of guys show her interest.”

  “Do you know any of these boys offhand?” Maddie asked. “She hasn’t been seen in a few days and her father is worried.” Maddie knew Nick and Dwight thought it was better to take a roundabout path to question the students, but she firmly believed she could get answers by telling the truth.

  A young man with inky black hair stared up at Maddie, his expression unreadable. “Are you a cop?”

  “Do I look like a cop?”

  “No, but you’re asking questions like a cop.”

  “I own a magic store in Blackstone Bay,” Maddie said. “I’m definitely not a cop.”

  “So why are you looking for Sage?” One of the other boys asked. “If you’re not a cop, why do you care?”

  “Because we think she’s in trouble and we want to find her before anything bad happens,” Maddie answered. “If you guys know something, I would really appreciate it if you would tell me.”

  “Will you go out on a date with me if we do tell you?”

  Maddie shook her head. “No, but if you don’t tell me I’m going to send my grandmother and her group of Pink Ladies – they’re really spies who like embarrassing people – to this campus to follow you around for the next month.”

  The boy snorted. “That doesn’t sound scary.”

  “It will be when she dances, sings, and points at you while wearing a muumuu and claiming she’s pregnant with your baby.”

  The teenager pursed his lips and tilted his head to the side as he considered what Maddie said. Finally, the mere thought of that really happening wore him down. “Sage was really into the guys at the Alpha Chi fraternity house. She dated several of them. I have no idea which one she was involved with recently, though.”

  “Anyone else?”

  The four boys shook their head in unison.

  “Okay. Thank you.” Maddie moved toward the door but stopped when one of the boys called her back. “What?”

  “Would you really have sent your grandmother after us?”

  Maddie nodded. “She needs to get her jollies somewhere and Blackstone Bay has a limited number of people to torture.”

  Nick appeared in the doorway behind Maddie and shot her a dark look. “Where have you been?”

  “Questioning my new friends,” Maddie replied, unperturbed by his tone. “How did you do with the girls over there?”

  Nick blew on his fingernails and then rubbed them against his chest. “I’ve still got it, love.”

  “It seems I’ve still got it, too,” Maddie said. “They informed me they’re all legal.”

  Nick narrowed his eyes as he stared at the uncomfortable teenaged boys. “She’s taken.”

  “You need to tell her that,” one of the boys shot back. “She was all over me.”

  Nick snorted. “In your dreams.”

  The kid’s smile was mischievous when he lobbed it in Maddie’s direction. “Oh, she’s definitely going to be in my dreams – and all over my sheets.”

  Maddie’s skin crawled when she realized what he was insinuating. “Omigod!”

  “I told you, Mad,” Nick said, extending his hand as he shook his head. “You never listen.”

  “I’m going to need to shower the second we get home,” Maddie said. “The second!”

  Nick slid her a sly grin. “There’s my wild girl.”

  5

  Five

  Maddie waited until they were back in the parking lot to question Nick and Dwight. “Did the girls tell you anything?”

  “Just that Sage was probably studying at the library,” Nick said, casting a worried look at Dwight before continuing. “They knew Dwight was a cop. That was the first thing they asked. Sage told them about her father and she had photographs on her desk.”

  “Yeah, they’re not going to talk to us,” Dwight said. “I should’ve
let you guys go up there alone. Those girls couldn’t stop giggling once they saw Nick. They would’ve rolled over fast if I wasn’t there.”

  “And if they didn’t Nick could’ve taken off his shirt and wowed them,” Maddie teased, causing Nick to puff out his chest. “He looks like one of those marble statues in Italy when he takes off his shirt. Girls everywhere swoon when they see him.”

  “It didn’t look as if you were doing too badly with the boys,” Dwight pointed out. “Did they tell you anything?”

  “They also thought I was a cop, which I find mildly insulting,” Maddie replied. “Don’t get me wrong, I love cops … one in particular, of course … but I think female cops look militant and I don’t believe I look militant.”

  “Did you use your stern face?” Nick asked.

  “I don’t have a stern face.”

  “You’re using it right now,” Nick said, tweaking her nose. “I find it sexy, but they might’ve been frightened. It’s okay if they didn’t tell you anything.”

  “I didn’t say they didn’t tell me anything.”

  Nick stilled in front of his Explorer, shifting his eyes to Maddie. “They told you something? I thought you said they were under the impression you were a cop.”

  “They were,” Maddie said. “I explained I owned a magic shop in Blackstone Bay and was just helping out a friend, though. They volunteered information after that.”

  “That easy?” Dwight was surprised. “What did they tell you?”

  “Well … .”

  “Wait a second.” Nick held up his hand. “There’s no way they volunteered information just because you told them you own a magic shop. You’re leaving something out of the story.”

  Darn it! He knew her too well. “I might’ve threatened them with Granny and her Pink Ladies following them and telling everyone on campus they were pregnant with the boys’ babies if they didn’t tell me what I wanted to know.”

  Nick barked out a laugh as Dwight furrowed his brow.

  “What are Pink Ladies?” Dwight asked, confused. “Is that code for something?”

  “It’s just Maude’s social club,” Nick answered. “They play cards, drink bourbon, and plot against their enemies. If you’ve ever met them, that’s a terrifying threat. I can’t believe it worked on teenagers, though.”

  “I can be very convincing,” Maddie sniffed.

  “Yes, you convinced me,” Nick said. “What did they tell you?”

  “They said Sage was into dating boys at the Alpha Chi fraternity,” Maddie replied. “They said she dated more than one and she only seemed interested in those specific boys. They also said they didn’t think much of her being gone because she’s pretty and popular with all the boys.” Maddie shot an apologetic look in Dwight’s direction. “I don’t think they meant anything bad by that.”

  Dwight waved off her worry. “Maddie, if my kid is merely holed up in a fraternity house with a guy … doing stuff … I’ll take that as a win right now,” he said. “That’s better than the things I’ve been imagining. Trust me.”

  “I guess I never thought of that,” Maddie said. “Still, I never had a father, but I can imagine someone like you – someone who actually loves his daughter – wouldn’t like what they were insinuating.”

  “I don’t have to like it,” Dwight said. “I consider myself a fairly pragmatic guy. If Sage is alive, I’ll be forever thankful. I just don’t think things are going to be that easy this go around. I would love to be proven wrong, though.”

  Maddie grabbed his hand and squeezed it. “I have a feeling things are going to be okay.”

  “Is this one of your psychic feelings?”

  Maddie bit her bottom lip and shook her head. “It’s just something I feel in my heart.”

  “Well, you have a good heart,” Dwight said. “I’ll take your feeling over my dark thoughts any day of the week.” He turned to Nick with a questioning look. “I don’t suppose you know where the fraternity house is, do you?”

  “He only knows where the sorority houses are,” Maddie muttered.

  “Oh, don’t be jealous, love,” Nick said. “I do know where the fraternity house is. I attended more than sorority parties when I visited.”

  Maddie brightened. “Does that mean you dated fraternity guys instead of sorority girls? I would feel better about that.”

  Nick scowled. “No.”

  Maddie shrugged. “You win some and you lose some,” she said. “Let’s go to the fraternity house and question them. We might get lucky. If we don’t, let’s get dinner and talk about our options.”

  “That sounds like a plan to me.”

  “MAYBE I should do the talking.”

  Maddie stared out the back window of Nick’s Explorer, mesmerized by the boys grilling on the front lawn of the fraternity house. She’d never seen anything like it before. When she was in college she avoided fraternity parties as if she would catch something through visiting alone – mostly because her mother warned she would catch crabs if she wasn’t careful.

  “Why should we let you do the talking?” Nick challenged. “We’re the ones trained to interrogate people.”

  “Yes, but you said yourself that these kids recognize you as cops right away,” Maddie pointed out. “Teenaged boys love me.”

  Nick scowled. He hated that she was repeating his own words back to him. “Mad … .”

  “I don’t think it’s necessarily a bad idea,” Dwight interjected. “We could stay right here and keep an eye on her. Those boys are far more likely to talk to Maddie alone than they are to spill the beans to the two of us.

  “I mean … look at them,” he continued. “The majority of them are underage and yet they’re openly drinking on the lawn. Half of them are going to run when we approach and the other half are going to forget how their tongues work.”

  “See, I’m worried that their tongues are going to be an issue if Maddie goes over there without backup,” Nick admitted. “I think they’re going to be … sexually aggressive … with her.”

  Dwight’s face was blank. “So? She’s an adult. If they get handsy we’ll go over there and beat the snot out of them. If they say anything, she’s more than capable of handling herself.”

  Maddie snorted when she saw the conflicted look on Nick’s face. “He doesn’t think I can take care of myself.”

  “That’s not true,” Nick protested. “I think you’re very capable when it comes to taking care of yourself. I also think you’re a trouble magnet.”

  “Oh, I am not.” Maddie rolled her eyes as she ran a hand through her long hair, frustration positively rolling off of her.

  “Maddie, you’ve almost died on me several times since you got back to town,” Nick charged, causing Dwight’s eyes to widen. “Do you remember the night I had to breathe actual oxygen back into your lungs to bring you back to life?”

  Maddie could never forget that horrific experience. It was etched into her brain forever. “Nicky, this is completely different,” Maddie pointed out. “I’m going to be out in the open talking to frat boys. At worst they’re going to flirt with me. At best they might give us a lead on Sage. We’re only going to have one chance to make a first impression. Do you really want to risk blowing it?”

  “No.” Nick was a pouty mess as he stared at the frat boys. “Do you promise to be really careful and not leave the front yard?”

  “Yes.”

  Nick blew out a sigh. “Fine. If you get hurt I’m never letting you leave the car again. I’ll make sure the air conditioning works for hot summer days, though, so you should be fine.”

  “Ha, ha.” Maddie shot him a dark look before pushing open the door and hopping out of the Explorer. She cut a striking figure as she approached the boys, and by the time she crossed the street they were all staring at her. “Hi.”

  “Hello.” One of the boys, a brown-haired lothario with sculpted cheekbones and shocking green eyes, looked Maddie up and down as she stood on the other side of the grill. He was cooking burgers
, but he stared at her like she was a steak and he had the A-1 sauce already in his hand. “Are you lost?”

  “Please tell me you’re lost,” one of the other boys called out. “I’ll make sure you find your way … straight to my bed.”

  Maddie didn’t hide her disdain as she shot the boy a dark look. “Don’t be rude.”

  The boy had the grace to look abashed. “I … wasn’t being rude.”

  “That was incredibly rude,” Maddie said. “I’m not in the mood for rudeness. It’s tacky and I’m sure you boys aren’t tacky.”

  “Well, you got half of that right,” the first boy said. “We’re definitely not tacky. We’re not boys, though. I happen to be all man.”

  “You tell her, Aidan.”

  Maddie had no idea who called out the encouragement, but she narrowed her eyes as she focused on Aidan. He was clearly the alpha in this particular group. “Is that your name?”

  “Aidan Kelly.” He bobbed his head up and down. “I’m a senior and I’m going to be rich. You should grab me now when I’m on my way to the top, because once I get there everyone is going to be fighting over me.”

  “Oh, yeah?” Maddie wasn’t impressed in the least, but she tried to hide her doubt as she played nice. “What’s your major?”

  “Photography. I’m going to be famous. They’re going to put my photos in the White House one day.”

  Since Maddie was convinced Aidan’s idea of art probably consisted of nudes shot through crude peepholes, she fought to hide her smirk. “Well, that sounds mighty interesting. I’m here for a specific reason, though.”

  “Because you’re looking for the man of your dreams and found me?” Aidan boasted oodles of charm and Maddie could imagine younger women falling at his feet. She had her man, though, and she wasn’t impressed with the boy’s ego.

  “Because I’m looking for the boy dating Sage Kincaid,” Maddie replied, opting not to mince words. “Can one of you point me in the right direction?”

  For the first time since approaching the grill, Aidan’s smooth bravado slipped. He shifted from one foot to the other without answering. It only took Maddie a moment to realize he was the one she was looking for.