Grave Decisions (A Maddie Graves Mystery Book 7) (7 page)

Maddie was at her wit’s end. “I wouldn’t help you cross the street if you were blind,” she snapped. “Just … go away. I don’t like you and I’m not going to help you.”

A murmur went through the crowd, and when Maddie shifted her eyes back to Cooper she found him invading her personal space as he leaned closer.

“You’re going to regret this decision, Maddie Graves,” Cooper whispered. “I can promise you that.” He pulled his head away from hers and glanced at his followers. “I was wrong. This psychic is a fraud. We shall find the Blackstone Bay killer of women without her. Come. Our destiny awaits.”

“
S
o
, let me get this straight … your girlfriend looks like a model, can’t get enough of you, and makes you breakfast like this?” John Winters flashed a charming smile at his brother as he dug into the breakfast feat Maddie sent to the police station. “Life is not fair. I should’ve gotten Maddie and you should’ve gotten … nothing.”

Nick made a face as he watched his brother scarf down the food. “You eat like a pig. My Maddie is discerning. She would never fall for the likes of you.”

“Yes, well, if I was thirty years younger she would be all mine,” Kreskin teased, chomping into a slice of bacon. “Seriously, though, a girl who looks like Maddie shouldn’t be able to cook this well.”

“I’ll have you know that Maddie’s cooking ability and looks have nothing to do with why I love her,” Nick said, crossing his arms over his chest. “I love her heart and mind.”

John snorted. “Oh, puh-leez! I can see the cooking not meaning much in the grand scheme of things, but you can’t ignore the way that woman looks. It’s as if she stepped off the pages of a magazine. Don’t give me that crap.”

“What you seem to forget is that I fell in love with Maddie long before I realized she was beautiful,” Nick snapped. He had no idea why John’s teasing irked him. His brother was notorious for trying to needle people, and yet still Nick felt the need to stand up for Maddie. “I would love her no matter how she looked.”

“In a roundabout way, I believe that,” John said. “The problem is, Maddie was in love with you from middle school on. You adored her like a friend, but you didn’t bother noticing her as a woman until she blossomed over that one summer and all of your friends started ogling her. It was only then that you realized you were in love with her.”

“That was stupidity and I would’ve gotten over it eventually,” Nick argued. “I always loved her.”

“You did,” John said, nodding. “You didn’t fall in love with her until you realized she was hot, though.”

“I can’t even look at you,” Nick muttered, raising his eyes when the bell over the front door jangled to allow Maddie entrance. He couldn’t help but smile when he saw her festive skirt and billowy top. The scarf made her look cuter than should be allowed by law, too. “There’s the love of my life.”

“Hey, Maddie,” John said, wiping the sides of his mouth with a napkin. “We were just talking about you. I’ve decided Nick doesn’t deserve you so you should run away with me. How does that sound?”

“She would never run away with the likes of you,” Nick scoffed. “She’s my girl. She’ll always be my girl. You’re barely an annoyance to her. Tell him I’m right, Mad.”

“Nicky.”

Even though he was oblivious to the look on Maddie’s face when she walked through the front door, something about the way she said his name made Nick snap to attention. “What’s wrong, Mad?” He got to his feet and opened his arms as Maddie stepped into them. “Are you okay? Did something happen?”

John and Kreskin exchanged a worried look, both discarding the humorous conversation from before and waiting for Maddie to tell Nick what happened.

“Cooper came to my tent,” Maddie said, choosing her words carefully.

“Did he touch you?” Nick asked. “I’ll kill him if he did.”

“I’ll help,” John said.

“He wasn’t there for that,” Maddie said. “He was … um … I’m not sure how to explain this.”

“Take your time, Mad,” Nick prodded, rubbing the back of her head. “It’s okay.”

“He had a bunch of people with him – including Marla and Cassidy – and he made a big deal of announcing that he wanted us to join forces to solve the murder,” Maddie said, causing Nick to scowl. “He said we had a better chance than you of solving it. He said he heard through the grapevine I was really psychic.”

Nick cast a helpless look in Kreskin’s direction. Kreskin was aware of Maddie’s abilities, but Nick always lied and pushed him away when he asked questions. John knew, too, but Nick wasn’t worried about him badgering Maddie – well, at least not about this. The food was another matter entirely.

“What did you say, Maddie?” Kreskin asked, his expression unreadable.

“I told him I didn’t believe he was psychic and wanted nothing to do with him,” Maddie replied. “He kept making a scene and saying really ridiculous stuff about hearts and minds joining so I pushed my way out of the tent and he kept following me.”

Nick growled. “I hate this guy. What is the matter with him?”

“He’s a fraud and he gets people to believe him by putting on a big show and casting aspersions on others,” Kreskin said, not missing a beat. “That’s not what has you upset, though, is it?”

Maddie bit her lip and shook her head. “How did you know?”

“Because you may be sensitive, but you’re not usually prone to hysterics because someone called you out in front of a crowd,” Kreskin replied. “What else happened?”

Maddie glanced at Nick, unsure. “I don’t know if I should tell.”

“You came here for a reason, Maddie,” Kreskin pressed. “Why don’t you try me on for size and if you feel uncomfortable, I’m sure Nick will beat me to a pulp to defend your honor.”

Despite the serious nature of the situation, Maddie couldn’t help but laugh. “You’re a funny guy.”

“My wife says that every time I take my clothes off,” Kreskin deadpanned. “Just … tell me what’s going on and we’ll go from there.”

“The crowd was kind of … worked up,” Maddie said. “I got a little confused because my mother was there and she was making fun of Cooper’s boots and Christy kept giving me dirty looks because she thinks I’m jealous of Cooper. Marla is jealous of me and kept getting digs in.

“I needed a spot away from him to regroup and he wouldn’t stop following me so I ran toward the bathroom,” she continued. “When I did, I accidentally ran into a young woman and I … saw something.”

Nick calmly tucked a flyaway strand of Maddie’s hair beneath her scarf. “What did you see?”

“It was the woman, and she was being stabbed,” Maddie said, her breath hitching in her chest. “It was a bunch of overlapping flashes, but I think that’s going to happen to her, Nicky. We have to stop it.”

“Okay,” Nick said, pulling Maddie in for a hug. “We’ll figure it out. Just … calm down for a few minutes. Can you do that for me?”

“
Y
OU DON’T
seem surprised
by any of this,” John said, watching Kreskin from across the desk as the older detective worked on his computer. “Nick said he denied it when you asked if Maddie was psychic.”

“He did deny it,” Kreskin confirmed. “That doesn’t mean I believed his denials. He also slipped up a few times, although there’s no need to bring that up given the circumstances.”

“And now?” John pressed. “Do you believe her?”

“I’ve always believed her,” Kreskin replied. “I believed her mother before her, too.”

John was surprised. “You knew Olivia?”

“She helped me with a case or two,” Kreskin confirmed. “We didn’t broadcast it, but I knew she was the real deal. I knew Maddie was the real deal before Nick started lying to protect her.”

“What do you think now?”

“I think we should let Nick calm her down and go from there,” Kreskin said, his eyes landing on the couch near the front door where Nick rested with Maddie cuddled to his side, occasionally whispering something in her ear to cajole a smile. “He’s good with her. He’ll have her back on track in a few minutes.”

“He’s always been good with her,” John said, his expression thoughtful as he watched his brother and Maddie. “She broke his heart, though. I didn’t think he’d ever get over that.”

“I didn’t know about the broken heart because your brother kept that to himself, but the moment I saw those two together I knew that things would never be the same,” Kreskin said. “He lit up when she was around. I never thought of him as an unhappy individual until I saw him with Maddie. That’s when I realized he was extremely unhappy, and she was the only thing in this world that could make him happy.”

“They’re definitely cute together,” John said, shaking his head as Nick pressed a soft kiss to Maddie’s cheek, causing her to giggle. “It makes me jealous. I want to punch him.”

Kreskin snorted. “If you would stop being jealous of your brother, you might find a girlfriend of your own and stop fixating on them. They’re going to be together forever. I have no doubt about that. You need to decide what you want and go after it.”

“I want a girl exactly like Maddie,” John said, not missing a beat. “I want her to be smoking hot, a wiz in the kitchen, a tiger in the bedroom, and did I mention I want her to be smoking hot?”

“You’ve got issues, son,” Kreskin said, shaking his head. “I know you don’t believe your brother, but I do. He didn’t fall in love with Maddie because of her looks. I think he’s happy with how beautiful she is, don’t get me wrong, but he fell in love with Maddie because of her heart. You need to find a woman and fall in love with her heart instead of her body.”

“That sounds like a lot of work,” John complained, leaning back in his chair. “I’d rather just steal Maddie away from Nick.”

“That’s not going to happen,” Nick said, leading Maddie back to the detective bureau area. She looked markedly better than she had a few moments before. “She’s my Maddie, and she always will be.”

“Is that true, Maddie?” John asked, his eyes twinkling. “Don’t I even have a shot?”

“Sorry,” Maddie replied, shrugging. “I’m a one cop woman.”

Nick wrinkled his nose as he tugged Maddie down on his lap. “Don’t forget the part where I’m better looking and more charming than John,” he prodded.

“That, too,” Maddie said, grinning when John made a face and Nick kissed her cheek.

“Okay, now that everyone is put together, let’s talk about this,” Kreskin said, returning to the business at hand. “Did you recognize the woman you touched, Maddie?”

Maddie pressed her lips together and shook her head. “I’m pretty sure I’ve never seen her before.”

“Maddie had a dream last night,” Nick volunteered. “She was in Samantha Bradshaw’s body as she was attacked. She saw her murder, in fact. Are you sure these flashes weren’t part of that memory, Mad?”

“No,” Maddie replied. “Samantha Bradshaw’s hair was kind of an auburn color, right?”

Kreskin nodded.

“I saw it when I … I mean, Samantha … was being killed. The flashes I saw today involved a very blond girl.”

“What do you mean you were being killed?” John asked, intrigued. “Did you see things from Samantha’s point of view?”

“Um … .” Maddie was uncomfortable with the question.

“She was in Samantha’s body, so it was like she was being killed,” Nick said, rubbing Maddie’s neck. “Don’t push her on it. She woke up screaming.”

“What was she screaming?” John asked. “Could it be a clue about the killer?”

“She was screaming for me,” Nick replied, his eyes flashing. “Don’t … push her.”

“John isn’t going to push her,” Kreskin soothed. “This is new for most of us, so you’re going to need to exert patience when we ask questions, Nick. We’re not trying to hurt Maddie. We’re trying to understand.”

“I know,” Nick said, offering his brother and partner an apologetic smile. “I just don’t want Maddie hurt.”

“No one does,” Kreskin said. “What about Cooper, Maddie? Did he show any interest in the girl as she left the bathroom?”

“I’m not sure,” Maddie admitted, tapping her chin as she searched her memory. “I don’t think so. It happened so fast, though. I was fixated on getting away from him and then the next thing I knew I was in someone else’s nightmare.”

Nick pressed his lips to Maddie’s cheek as he rocked her, his mind busy.

“I think we should have someone close to Maddie at the festival at all times,” John said finally, taking everyone by surprise. “She can keep doing her tarot card reading thing, but if one of us is close, Cooper won’t make the mistake of approaching her.”

“I like that idea,” Nick said. “We’d also be close should Maddie see the girl again. We need to find out who she is and follow her. We might be able to save her. It’s not too late.”

“I like that idea, too,” Kreskin said. “Maddie is the only one who can identify this girl. Our goal is to save her. If we manage to find her and stake her out without anyone knowing, we could also catch a killer in the process.”

“That sounds good to me,” Nick said. “I’ll take the first Maddie shift.”

“And the second, and the third,” John said, his smile teasing.

“I’m not surprised by either of those responses,” Kreskin said. “I’m going to let you take the first shift, son, but you need to be prepared to let your brother or I step in down the road. You can’t be glued to Maddie’s side twenty-four hours a day. You know that, right?”

“I do,” Nick confirmed. “I also know you can’t drag me away from her right now. I want to have a talk with Cooper Asshat.”

“Ashton,” Maddie automatically corrected.

“I’m not saying it by accident, Mad,” Nick argued. “I mean it as an insult.”

“I know,” Maddie said, her cheeks coloring. “I just … you’re right. He’s an asshat.”

“You’re too sweet for your own good, Maddie,” John said, snickering. “You need to learn to be meaner.”

“I was mean to Marla today, although it was kind of an accident because everyone wouldn’t shut up,” Maddie said. “Mom was proud of me.”

Kreskin’s eyes lit with interest. “That’s the second time you’ve mentioned your mother. Are you saying she’s still hanging around?”

Maddie bit the inside of her cheek, uncertain how to answer. “I’m saying there are a lot of things out there that I can’t explain,” she said finally. “A mother’s love is one of them.”

“That was a good answer, Maddie,” Kreskin said, shaking his head. “That was a very good answer.”

“That was inspired, love,” Nick agreed.

“Okay, everyone knows what’s going on and what we’re looking for,” Kreskin said. “Nick, you take Maddie back to the festival and stick close. John and I won’t be far behind.

“No matter what happens today, I think our potential victim is going to be at the festival, so we have to keep our eyes open,” he continued. “Let’s find a murderer … and get the fake psychic out of town. I think Blackstone Bay is only big enough for one psychic, and we want the real one.” Kreskin offered Maddie a sly wink.