Grave Seasons (A Maddie Graves Mystery Book 8)

by Lily Harper Hart

  “It’s you, isn’t it?”

  Aidan immediately started shaking his head. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  He was lying … and he was terrible at it. “That’s not what the kids in the dorms told me,” Maddie lied. “They said you two were hot and heavy.” She didn’t get a name at the dormitory, but it didn’t matter. There was no way Aidan could track down her purported informant.

  “We weren’t hot and heavy,” Aidan shot back, annoyed. “I barely knew her.”

  “Two seconds ago you didn’t know her at all,” Maddie pointed out. “I’m sure you can understand I have doubts about your sincerity.”

  “I don’t care what kind of doubts you have,” Aidan said. “Sage Kincaid was nothing but a nighter.”

  “A nighter?” Maddie had no idea what that meant. “Is that some slang term I’m too old to understand?”

  “If you’re old, honey, hand me the walker,” one of the boys called out.

  Maddie ignored him. “I want to know when the last time you saw Sage was. She’s gone missing and her family is very worried.”

  “I haven’t seen her in weeks,” Aidan replied. “I spent one night with her and she was a dead fish in bed. She just sat there while I did all the work. She wouldn’t even take off her bra, for crying out loud.”

  Maddie frowned. “A nighter? Is that what you call a girl you have sex with for one night?”

  Aidan bobbed his head up and down. “She was a nighter. Trust me. She’ll never be upgraded to a two-nighter if she doesn’t learn a few tricks between now and graduation.”

  Maddie felt sick to her stomach thanks to the boy’s condescending nature – and the high-fives he exchanged with his fraternity brothers at the insult. “Well, you’ll be sad and washed up long before that happens so I wouldn’t worry about it.” Maddie let her gaze bounce from face to face, finally landing on a sad and pudgy boy standing by the front door. He was detached from the others and he looked morose. “Has anyone here seen Sage Kincaid in the last few days?”

  No one answered and almost everyone found something more interesting to stare at. Only the pudgy boy seemed intrigued with the conversation, but he wasn’t saying a word.

  “No one?” Maddie pressed.

  “I told you we had sex more than a week ago,” Aidan said. “No one has seen her since because I spread the word about what a dead mark she was. No one wants to tap that after it was so lame the first time.”

  Maddie openly glared at Aidan, refusing to hide her utter dislike of him and his attitude. “One of these days you’re going to realize you’re nothing but an empty shell of a human being,” she said. “I hope someone is there to explain how lame you are when that happens.”

  “That will never happen to me,” Aidan challenged. “I’m going to be famous.”

  “You’re going to live with your parents until you’re thirty,” Maddie shot back. “That much is obvious.” She cast one more desperate look toward the door, hopeful the boy there would speak up and tell her something else, but he disappeared while she was engaged with Aidan. “I guess I should go.”

  “You’re rude but hot,” Aidan said. “I could make a proper nighter out of you if I can gag you.”

  “Oh, thanks, but I prefer more than three minutes of stamina when I spend the night with a man,” Maddie deadpanned. “Word around campus is that you can only muster a third of that.”

  The other fraternity boys snickered as Aidan scorched Maddie with a death glare.

  “You all have a nice holiday,” Maddie said. “If you think of anything that might be able to help us find Sage, don’t hesitate to call.” Maddie handed a stack of Dwight’s business cards to the nearest boy and then turned on her heel. “Try not to give Aidan a hard time, boys. Life is going to be horrific enough for him as it is.”

  6

  Six

  “Who are you and what have you done with my girlfriend?”

  Nick was so impressed with Maddie’s attitude when dealing with the fraternity boys he couldn’t stop talking about it – or staring at her in the mirror during the drive to an area restaurant – and he was fascinated with the way she handled herself.

  “I seriously don’t know what to think about what just happened, Mad.” Nick shook his head as he sipped his iced tea. “You were … freaking badass. When did that happen?”

  “I’ve always been a badass,” Maddie said. “You’ve just never noticed.”

  “Oh, no.” Nick shook his head. “That’s not even remotely true.”

  “I think I should be offended,” Maddie muttered.

  “You don’t need to be offended because you’re brave, courageous, and true,” Nick said. “You’re usually not mean and quick with an insult like that, though. I like it. I’m turned on.”

  Maddie’s cheeks colored as she darted a look in Kincaid’s direction, mortified. “Nicky!”

  “And we’re back,” Nick said, exhaling heavily. “I’m almost relieved. I had no idea what to do with my new superhero.”

  “You are not funny,” Maddie snapped, annoyed.

  “Oh, I’m a little funny,” Nick said, grinning as he grabbed a menu and flipped it open. “What do you think about what they told you?”

  Nick and Dwight managed to catch some of the conversation from an open window. The day was relatively warm for this time of year so they weren’t overly uncomfortable waiting for her. What they didn’t catch Maddie filled in on the drive over to the restaurant.

  “I don’t know what to think,” Maddie admitted. “I think some of it was obviously true but other parts … I just don’t know.”

  “It seems to me this Aidan is lying about something,” Dwight said. He was obviously uncomfortable talking about the sexual nature of the conversation and glossed over it whenever it came up. Nick and Maddie weren’t keen to press him on the issue so they were glad to change the subject. “He didn’t want to own up to knowing Sage until Maddie figured out it was him. Then he told a different story. I have my doubts that the second story was any truer than the first.”

  “The boy by the door looked unhappy, as if he wanted to tell me something but wasn’t brave enough to talk in front of the others,” Maddie said. “I wish we could track him down.”

  “I’m not sure which one you’re talking about,” Nick admitted. “I couldn’t take my eyes off the jerkoff with the spatula. I was seriously ready to jump out of the truck and beat the crap out of him.”

  “He’s not lying,” Dwight said. “I had to calm him down three different times. Then when you made the comment about needing more than three minutes he lost the ability to talk and could just stare.”

  “I have no idea where that came from,” Maddie offered, her cheeks burning. “It just came out. That’s something Christy would say. I think she’s been a bad influence on me.”

  “Oh, no, Mad,” Nick said, shaking his head. “She’s been a marvelous influence on you. I love you just the way you are, but the old you would’ve taken their comments to heart and fled. You didn’t do that. You held your ground.”

  “You made me proud,” Dwight said, gracing Maddie with a heartfelt smile. “You made me very proud. I wish Sage was more like you.”

  Maddie rested her hand on Dwight’s forearm to soothe him. “You haven’t told us much about her,” she said. “I don’t remember a lot from when she was younger. I know she liked drawing and painting. You also said she loved reading. I don’t remember you telling me much else about her.”

  “I don’t know what there is to tell,” Dwight said, licking his lips as he played with his empty straw wrapper. “She was … she is, I mean she is … a good girl. She never got in trouble. Her older sister and brother couldn’t stay out of trouble, but she never caused us half the headaches the other two did.

  “They say the baby of the family is the brat,” he continued. “She was such a sweet child, though. Bad things in life bothered her. They … hurt her. Once she found a dead baby bird that had fallen out of it
s nest and I thought she would never stop crying. It broke her heart.”

  Something about the way Dwight spoke about his daughter bothered Maddie. She couldn’t quite put her finger on why, though.

  “She was overly sensitive and often an introvert,” Dwight said. “I tried to get her to come out of her shell, but she never saw herself in the proper manner. She was an awkward girl in middle school and then she blossomed in high school. She never noticed the change, though.”

  “That sounds like someone else I know,” Nick said, his eyes thoughtful as they landed on Maddie. “It sounds as if Sage was a lot like Maddie at that age.”

  “I don’t think Maddie ever tried to kill herself.”

  Dwight’s words rocked Maddie to the core. “W-what?”

  Dwight licked his lips and stared at the ceiling before shifting his gaze to Maddie. “I should’ve told you that’s what I suspected from the beginning but … I held out hope. I wanted to believe she was just upset and hiding somewhere … that we’d find her. After hearing what that boy said, though, I’m not sure I believe that any longer.”

  “What are you saying?” Maddie asked, confused. “Sage tried to kill herself before? When?”

  “When she was a senior in high school a boy asked her to a dance,” Dwight explained. “That never happened before, despite how pretty she was. She turned people off because she was so quiet and preferred reading to gossip.

  “Anyway, she said yes and the night of the big dance came,” he continued. “He never showed up. Later we found out it was a joke orchestrated by one of the other girls in the class. She was jealous. The night that information became public, Sage took a bottle of sleeping pills. Her mother found her on the back porch with a note pinned to her shirt.”

  “Oh, no.” Maddie’s hand flew to her mouth as tears flooded her eyes.

  “We got her to the hospital in time and put her in therapy,” Dwight said. “We thought she was doing well. We never would’ve let her go off on her own if we thought there was a chance of … well … this.”

  “When she went missing that was your first thought, though, wasn’t it?” Nick asked, gripping Maddie’s knee as she fanned her face in an effort to fight off tears.

  “It was,” Dwight confirmed. “My wife is such a mess. My older kids are good people, but they’re strong and sure of themselves. Sage never had that. After that first time … well … I think part of me believed there would be a next time. I should’ve told you. I’m sorry.”

  “I’m not ready to give up on her,” Maddie said, shaking her head. “I have faith we’ll find her. Aidan was definitely hiding something.”

  “Have you ever considered he’s hiding the fact that he tortured her and she killed herself?” Dwight challenged. “Maybe he is guilty of hiding her body because he panicked. I can see that happening.”

  “You know what?” Maddie made a face as she vehemently shook her head. “Stop being such a defeatist!”

  Dwight was taken aback by her tone. “I … .”

  “Shut it,” Maddie ordered, wagging a finger. “I have faith Sage is alive. I don’t know what happened to her. I don’t know if she’s hiding or someone took her. I do know that I won’t give up until we know where she is, though.

  “You need to let go of the defeat and pray for a win,” she continued. “That is your child. You need to have faith in her.”

  “I do,” Dwight said, his voice cracking. “It’s just … she’s never been strong.”

  “I wasn’t strong either,” Maddie said. “I was weak … and sad … and scared of my own shadow. I got lucky that Nick found me at a young age and refused to let me fade away. I could’ve ended up introverted just like Sage if it weren’t for him.”

  Nick’s heart rolled at the admission. Was that true?

  “Nick kept me sane and loved me as a friend before he ever loved me as a woman,” Maddie said. “Sage didn’t have a Nick, but she has the three of us now. We’re going to find her. I believe that.”

  “What if we don’t?” Dwight wasn’t quite ready to acquiesce to Maddie’s demands. “What if my baby is gone?”

  “I don’t know,” Maddie said. “I can’t make you promises. You always told me that was a bad thing. I haven’t had any flashes or intuition yet, but that doesn’t mean it’s not coming.” Maddie pushed herself to her feet. “We’re going to get hotel rooms and stay in town tonight. Blackstone Bay is only a half an hour away, but I believe we need to stay here, so that’s what we’re going to do.”

  “Are you sure, Mad?” Nick was surprised. “What about your dinner preparations?”

  “Christy and Granny can handle that.”

  “Oh, well, I’m sure that will thrill them,” Nick said, fighting the urge to laugh. “I’ll give them a call when we get to the hotel.”

  “You need to find a hotel first,” Maddie ordered. “While you’re doing that, Dwight, I want you to order dinner for me. I want the fish and chips with extra tartar sauce.”

  “That’s like a heart attack on a plate,” Dwight argued.

  “I don’t care. That’s what I want.”

  “Don’t argue with her right now,” Nick warned. “It won’t get you anywhere.”

  “That’s right,” Maddie said, pushing her chair away from the table. “I’ll be back in a few minutes.”

  “Where are you going?” Nick asked, glancing up from his phone. “I love this take-charge you, but I’m uneasy if you plan on wandering around alone.”

  Maddie lowered her voice. “I’m going to the bathroom. You can’t go with me even if you want to make the trip.”

  Nick smirked. “I’ve got it, Mad. We’ll handle your orders in your absence.”

  “You do that.”

  Maddie was much stronger on the outside than she was on the inside. Dwight’s revelation about Sage shook her more than she wanted to admit. She took a few moments to collect herself in the bathroom, staring at her reflection in the mirror until her heart rate was back to normal and she didn’t feel like crying any longer. When she stepped back into the lobby she pulled up short when she saw a familiar figure hovering between the lobby and dining room. The pudgy boy with the round face from the fraternity house was standing behind the hostess stand and scanning the dining room.

  “Are you looking for me?” Maddie tapped the boy’s shoulder, causing him to jolt as he turned. His eyes widened when he caught sight of Maddie. “Are you okay? You look as if you’re going to pass out.”

  “I’m fine,” the young man said, licking his lips as he glanced around. “I … was looking for a friend, but he’s not here. I should probably get going.”

  Maddie didn’t believe his lie for a second. She grabbed his arm to stop him before he could reach the door. “You followed us here, didn’t you?”

  The boy was a nervous wreck. “No!”

  “It’s okay,” Maddie said, her voice soft. “You can tell me whatever you know. I promise it won’t get tracked back to you. I have to find Sage, though. She could be in real trouble.”

  “I … .” The boy was conflicted. “Aidan lied to you today.”

  “I figured that out myself,” Maddie said. “What do you know?”

  “He dated Sage more than one night and he was telling people he really liked her at one point.” The boy’s hands were sweaty as he wiped them on the front of his jeans. “He liked her, but she flirted with some of the other brothers and that ticked Aidan off.”

  “Was he violent?”

  The boy shook his head. “I’ve never seen him violent, but that doesn’t mean he’s a good person,” he said. “I don’t know if they were still together or if they broke up. Aidan said he was going to order Sage to stop flirting with other people if she wanted to stay with him.

  “That was a week ago,” he continued. “We didn’t see Sage for a few days and Aidan wouldn’t talk about what happened. Then four nights ago Sage showed up at the house. She’d been crying and was hysterical.”

  “What did she say?”


  “I honestly couldn’t make out much because she was crying so hard,” the boy replied. “She screamed that Aidan was a jerk and she was going to make him pay. She also said she was going to tell what he did, but I couldn’t make out much more than that.”

  “Do you know what he did?” Maddie was intrigued.

  “I have no idea.”

  Maddie rubbed the back of her neck as she regarded the agitated young man. He’d done the right thing, but he was so worked up she worried he would give himself a heart attack if he wasn’t careful. “What happened after Sage made the scene?”

  The boy shrugged. “I guess that’s the big question, isn’t it? I don’t know. I think she left on her own but they made me clean the bathroom so I missed it. I honestly don’t know what happened to her.”

  Maddie nodded. “Do you think Aidan killed her?”

  “I have no idea.”

  “Has he said anything about her since then?”

  “No. He pretends that night didn’t happen.”

  “Thank you for telling me this,” Maddie said. “You have no idea how much this means to me. What’s your name?”

  She’d gone too far. The boy balked and hurried toward the door. “I’m no one,” he said. “I’m … no one.”

  “That’s not true,” Maddie called to his back. “You’re someone. You’re someone who does the right thing because he was raised to be a good person.”

  “You’re wrong,” the boy shot back. “I’m no one. Just ask my fraternity brothers.”

  With those words he was gone and Maddie had an entirely new conundrum to mull. What was going on at that fraternity?

  7

  Seven

  “We didn’t bring anything to sleep in … or change into tomorrow.” Maddie glanced around the small hotel room a few hours later and sighed. “I didn’t think this out very well.”

  “I think you thought it out just fine,” Nick countered, stripping off his shirt and dropping it on the side of the bed. “I figured out the clothing situation while you were on the phone with Christy, by the way. I grabbed shirts for us from the gift shop at the diner.”

  Maddie racked her brain as she tried to remember what kind of shirts she saw on display in the small gift shop. “They had clothes?”