Grave Seas: A Maddie Graves and Rowan Gray Mystery

by Lily Harper Hart

  “Did he ever physically hurt Lindsey?” Nick asked Ben, his tone gentle. “I mean to say, was he physically abusive to her as well as emotionally controlling?”

  “Not to my knowledge,” Ben replied. “He would berate her, call her names, wear down her self-esteem and make her think she was nothing. He didn’t physically hurt her, though.”

  “Which means there’s a chance she’s still alive,” Quinn mused. “But where is he keeping her?”

  “We have time to find her, right?” Maddie queried. “We’re still on the ship for several days.”

  “Except we hit port tomorrow,” Quinn pointed out. “It’s going to be harder to watch every guest once we’re at port and people are streaming on and off the ship. We need to find her before then.”

  “Any suggestions?” Nick asked.

  “I don’t know. I need to think.”

  “While you’re doing that, I’m going to contact my partner back in Michigan. I’m going to see if he can pull some background on Dylan Winchester. That might give us some ideas about what he has planned, especially since we were searching for him under the wrong name from the start. Also, if he’s made travel arrangements from port tomorrow, we might be able to figure out what they are and stop him on that end.”

  Quinn brightened considerably. “That’s a good idea. Thanks for that.” He turned back to Ben. “We’re going to find her. I won’t quit until we do. You need to start acting like the man who helped save Lindsey from an abusive past instead of this jerk who has been hanging around the tiki bar with various women while his wife is missing, like you have for the past two days. She’s going to need you when we find her.”

  Ben turned sheepish. “I’m sorry. I’ll be better.”

  “You do that. She’s definitely going to need you. Be the man you were when you helped lift her out of that situation. I understand you’re upset, but this isn’t over. Not by a long shot.”

  ONCE BEN EXCUSED HIMSELF to return to his room and Nick placed a call to his partner, Dale Kreskin, the trio headed to the dining room to have lunch. Rowan was already there waiting for them.

  “I did some research on the symbol,” she announced as Quinn and Maddie sat on either side of her, her plate overflowing with a crab salad sandwich and french fries. She was in the mood for comfort food and it showed. “Sally was right, per usual. It’s called the sign of the crone, but it’s meant to signify a witch.”

  “So, what does that mean?” Maddie queried. She’d opted for a light salad because she didn’t have much of an appetite after Ben’s story. “Does that mean Violet is a witch or a witch is working against her?”

  Rowan held out her hands and shrugged. “I have no idea. It’s not as if the omens come with an instruction guide.”

  “They should because that would be awesome.”

  Quinn worked his jaw before sliding his eyes to Rowan. “Is there something you want to share with me?” he asked finally.

  Confused, Rowan shook her head. “No. I spent the whole morning doing research that didn’t get me anywhere. I’m guessing you had a more interesting morning. I want you to share the information you’ve gathered.”

  “Not that.” Quinn flicked his eyes to Maddie a second and then lowered his voice. “Why does she know about the omens?”

  Realization washed over Rowan and she laughed. “Oh, that.” She made a dismissive motion with her hand. “Um ... it turns out we both have abilities. The truth of it sort of spilled out earlier. It’s fine. We talked it out, tried a few experiments, and now we’re just happy to have a new friend in the world who is also different.”

  Nick, his burger halfway to his mouth, clutched the heaping mound of grease tighter. “Mad ... .”

  “It’s fine, Nicky,” she reassured him, patting his forearm. “Rowan is right. We compared notes and we’re both aware that the other can do things. I told her about the vision I had the day I ran into Dylan outside the bathroom, how overwhelming it was. She pointed out that she sees omens in photos — various types — and there was a new one in a photo of Violet she didn’t recognize. She also told me that it’s likely Lindsey is still alive because no omen has shown up on her photographs.”

  Nick had no idea what he was supposed to say. “Well ... .” He glanced to Quinn for guidance but found the man looked as flummoxed as he felt. “What do you think?”

  “I don’t know what to think.” Quinn shot Rowan a pointed look. “I thought we agreed you were still going to be careful talking about your abilities with strangers. Even though you’re safe now, despite the fact that your uncle has been locked up, you still need to be careful. What if Maddie was a crazy stalker and became obsessed with you because she thought you were special? That’s not exactly safe, is it?”

  The look Rowan shot her fiancé was full of amusement rather than contrition. “She’s not a crazy stalker. She can see things. It’s fine.”

  Quinn didn’t look convinced, but he didn’t immediately say anything. That gave Nick the opportunity to clear his throat and draw Maddie’s attention to him.

  “I can’t believe you told her you can see ghosts,” he complained. “I know you like her, Mad — I like her, too — but that’s not exactly safe. You’re the one who set up the rules about who you would and wouldn’t tell. I’m curious why you’re breaking them now.”

  “How does the ghost thing work?" Rowan was legitimately curious. “Is it better or worse than the visions?”

  Maddie slid her husband a sidelong look. “You’re the one who brought up the ghosts this time, so maybe you should keep your mouth shut.”

  Nick grimaced as he regarded her. “I just can’t win here.”

  “We’re equally to blame for breaking the rules. Let’s just leave it at that.”

  “Except you broke them first so you’re to blame,” Nick countered. “I’m an innocent victim in this really. You’re the bad one.”

  Maddie rolled her eyes. “No one is bad ... or to blame. We can both do things and we pooled our efforts earlier trying to find answers on Lindsey ... and Violet ... and Dylan. It didn’t exactly work out the way we thought it would, though. Rowan managed to find out what her symbol meant and I had absolutely no luck trying to force a vision. I was no help.”

  “Oh, don’t say that,” Rowan protested. “You described what you saw in the vision the day you brushed against Dylan, all the screaming and yelling. Although ... I wonder if that has something to do with his past. I mean, now that we know he was lying and is a controlling jerk, I’m starting to wonder if those things you saw stem from his childhood.”

  “I have no idea.”

  Quinn held up his hand to get the women’s attention. “Okay, we need to start from the beginning here. I need to know what Maddie can do and I’m sure Nick feels as if he’s coming into the story in the middle of the movie. We need to catch everybody up and go from there.”

  “Sure.” Rowan amiably bobbed her head. “We’ll catch you guys up and you can do the same for us. Then, after that, we’ll come up with a plan to find Dylan. I’m more convinced than ever that he’s still on this ship.”

  “That makes two of us.” Quinn grabbed Rowan’s hand and gave it a squeeze. “And then tonight, we’ll have a talk about you volunteering your secret willy-nilly. I think we need to talk about self-preservation ... and other boring things like that.”

  Rowan let loose a sigh. The sound was long and drawn out. “That sounds delightful. I’m really looking forward to it.”

  “I thought you would.”

  IT TOOK THEM ALMOST A FULL HOUR to get everything out. By the time they finished, Maddie had given up any pretense of eating healthy and was digging into her second dessert. It was a huge slice of cake and she was alternating between doling out bites to Nick and herself.

  “He sounds like a real prince amongst men,” Rowan noted, making a face as she spooned up some soft-serve ice cream. She’d listened to the update on Dylan with a sick feeling in her heart ... and an incredible urge to punch him
in the face growing in her gut. “I’m curious how he managed to get close enough to figure out where Ben and Lindsey were going on their honeymoon.”

  “I’m curious about that, too,” Quinn admitted. “The thing is, guys like this, they never stop. They keep pushing and pushing until they get their way. I’m pretty sure he managed to ingratiate himself into her life – perhaps through friends and family or even odd acquaintances – even after he was cut out.”

  “Did Ben say what the final straw was?” Rowan asked. “I mean ... what happened to finally convince her to shut him out of her life?”

  “Her hair started falling out,” Maddie replied. “She was so stressed out, so afraid he would go off, she was literally making herself sick. The doctor pointed out that she was doing it to herself and there was only one way to make herself better. He didn’t even know what she was afraid of.”

  “That was the tipping point for her,” Nick volunteered. “She knew she couldn’t continue like she was and made a plan. While he was at work one day, she packed her belongings and left. Her parents helped her escape and she was living under the radar when she met Ben. He assumed they were safe.”

  “Apparently he was wrong,” Rowan mused, shaking her head. “Is it possible Dylan was monitoring them the entire time they were dating?”

  “Not only possible, but probable,” Nick replied. “Obsessive men like that don’t simply get over it. I’m guessing that he was watching them for a long time and hearing about the wedding probably made him snap. Somehow he found out about their honeymoon venue and launched a plan.”

  “Now we have to launch a plan,” Quinn insisted. “We have to find them before we dock at port tomorrow. Once people start leaving the ship it’s going to be a pain.”

  “Can’t you position your men at the entrances on and off the ship to make sure that Dylan can’t remove Lindsey?” Maddie asked.

  “Yes, but that puts us in a different sort of position. If Dylan feels that he’s being squeezed, to the point where there’s legitimate danger to him and a likelihood we’ll recover Lindsey, he might kill her.”

  Maddie balked. “Why would he do that?”

  “It’s a control thing, Mad,” Nick explained, squeezing her knee under the table. “If he can’t have her, he’ll want to arrange it so nobody can have her. That’s how sick individuals like this think.”

  “So, what do we do?” Rowan asked. “There has to be something we can do to find her. I mean ... we can’t just sit back and do nothing.”

  “We’re not going to do nothing,” Quinn insisted. “We have about twenty-two hours to find her. Nick has a request in with his partner to gather research on Dylan. That’s going to give us some options. I’m going to organize another search of the ship, although so far we’ve come up completely empty on that front. As far as I can tell, those are our only options.”

  “I can try to force a vision again,” Maddie offered. “Although I failed dismally the first time. There’s no rhyme or reason when they happen. They just pop up out of nowhere. I wish I could control them.”

  Nick moved his hand to the back of her neck and rubbed lightly. “I don’t want you making yourself sick over this. You can try — it will be a great help if you see something — but it’s not your fault if it doesn’t work. I want to make sure you realize that before we move forward.”

  “I realize it,” Maddie promised. “I can only do what I can do.”

  “So, let’s see what we can all do together. We’re not going to be able to enjoy the rest of our honeymoon until we know what happened to Lindsey. That’s simply the way it is.”

  “So, let’s find her,” Quinn said. “We have twenty-two hours. Let’s see what sort of magic we can work as a group. I’m hoping it’s fantastical.”

  He wasn’t the only one. Maddie found she fervently wished that, too. “I’m ready. I think we need to find a place that’s set away from everybody else, though. That makes the most sense.”

  “Then that’s what we’ll do.”

  Sixteen

  After lunch, Quinn and Nick were ready to return to their searches but there was something else that had to be touched on first. Nick, who was feeling guilty, pulled Maddie away long enough to ask her a serious question.

  “I wouldn’t be surprised if you wanted to be married to someone else about now,” he hedged. “I mean ... this isn’t exactly the honeymoon of your dreams. If you want me to back off on this, I will.”

  She studied him a moment, her expression speculative. Then she laughed. “You’re not the only one who has gotten caught up in this,” she pointed out. “I’ve been as bad as you.”

  “I know but all I’ve ever wanted is to be able to refer to you as my wife and yet I’m going to search the basement of this ship with the security chief rather than lounge in the sun with you. I can’t imagine that makes you happy.”

  “You make me happy, Nicky,” she reassured him. “You always have. As for this—” she broke off, uncertain how to proceed. “The thing is, since we’ve gotten together, our lives haven’t been exactly like either of us imagined. I’m sure in your head you would prefer I keep my nose out of stuff like this, have your dinner on the table as soon as you get home from work, and be quiet and demure.”

  He burst out laughing at the statement, surprising her. “No, Mad. That’s not what I want from you. Why would you think that?”

  She shrugged, noncommittal. “I don’t know. It just seems like a reasonable thing.”

  “Maybe in the fifties. You’re not a fifties wife, though. Besides, I wouldn’t trade you for anything. I want you to be who you are ... and this is who you are.”

  He ran his hands up and down her arms in a soothing movement. “Our problems from before stemmed from the fact that you didn’t think you could be yourself,” he noted. “You ran away because you didn’t believe I could accept who you are.

  “What you can do is part of who you are, though, and I’ve always loved who you are. I mean ... always. I wasn’t afraid of what you could do because I wanted to be with you regardless. I don’t want you stepping back.

  “Sure, I would prefer it if you didn’t find yourself in danger every other week because I can’t lose you,” he continued. “I still wouldn’t change a thing about you. Don’t ever think that.”

  She smiled at his earnest expression. “I hit the jackpot when I met you. Sometimes I think that someone up above must have been guiding me to you because he or she realized you were the one thing in this world I couldn’t live without. As for what’s happening here, I’m as invested as you are. We can’t back down now. I want to find Lindsey. That’s the most important thing. We still have time to enjoy our honeymoon after this.”

  “Okay.” He gave her a quick kiss. “You left one thing out of that little statement, though.”

  “And what’s that?”

  “You like Rowan.” He was matter-of-fact. “You like having someone who is special — just not as special as you because no one is — to talk about what living with a gift is truly like. It’s okay to want to bond with her.”

  “You didn’t think that two hours ago when you found out I’d confided my secret in her.”

  “That’s because fear is an irrational beast. I will always be afraid that someone will try to take you from me thanks to what you can do. That’s not who she is, though. She has her own secret and she knows about keeping things on the down low. I understand that and I’m fine with it.”

  “Thanks.” She gave him a quick hug. “You forgot the part where you’re enjoying your little bromance with Quinn, too. It’s okay. You can admit you guys like puffing your chests out and flexing together. I understand.”

  His laugh was warm and washed over her like a balm. “Is that what you think we do? Fist bumps and puffed-out chests?”

  “Pretty much.”

  “I guess I’m going to have to monitor your viewing habits from here on out. Not everything is like a movie.”

  “We’ll debate that later
. For now, you have a search to do and I’m going to sit with Rowan on the deck while she works. We’re going to try to find Violet.”

  He stilled, surprised. “Why?”

  “Because something weird is going on with her and I’m dying to know what it is.”

  “Do you think Violet somehow has ties to Lindsey?”

  “I don’t know. It’s worth checking out, though.”

  “Okay. Just be careful when you’re playing spy games. Those women don’t seem dangerous, but never say never.”

  She saluted in response. “I’m not afraid of them. They’re drunk all the time and I’m pretty sure we can take them. You don’t have to worry. We’re going to be stealthy like ninjas.”

  “And that right there is why I love you. You can say things like that with a straight face and be absolutely adorable rather than ridiculous.”

  “I am adorable,” she agreed. “That’s what makes us such a good pair.”

  “It’s only one of the things. I’ll show you another tonight. I promise.”

  “I’m going to hold you to that promise.”

  NICK WASN’T SURE WHAT TO EXPECT when Quinn said he was taking them below deck. He pictured a dank hole full of high seas ghosts ... or something else that reminded him of a movie. Instead, he found a perfectly posh experience.

  “How would he get down here?” he asked as Quinn used his master key to open a storage room. “I would think you have tight security down here.”

  “We do. Keypads at every entrance and exit. We have to monitor the inventory carefully. They’re sticklers about that.” Quinn furrowed his brow as he glanced around the pristine room. There were shelves set up about, stacked with items, and not a single thing was out of place. “I don’t know how he would get down here, but I feel as if I should check.”

  Nick could see that. “You’ve checked every room that refused maid service?”

  “Yup.”

  “What about empty rooms?”

  “Also checked.”

  “Is it possible that another ship got close enough in the night for him to somehow transfer her without anyone noticing?”