“Maude isn’t so bad.”
“To you, because she loves you,” Kreskin corrected. “It sounds as if she never liked George Hunter. That can wear on a marriage. I know. My mother-in-law hated me for the first three years of my marriage and it was stressful.”
“Really?” Nick was intrigued, despite himself. “Why did she start liking you?”
“Other than my natural charm?”
Nick nodded.
“I helped save her doll collection from a basement flood.”
Nick stared at him a moment, unblinking, and then burst out into hysterical gales of laughter. “Nice.”
“Laugh it up,” Kreskin intoned. “The truth is, though, that an unhappy mother-in-law often leads to an unhappy wife. I don’t want you to think I’m blaming Olivia. She was young, too. Raising Maddie on her own might’ve seemed like the only way to get through the divorce.
“And, well, look at Maddie,” he continued. “She turned into a fine woman. She clearly didn’t need to grow up with a father.”
“No, but she would’ve liked a father,” Nick argued. “She loved my father. Thankfully, my dad recognized that and he went out of his way to dote on Maddie at times. He even bought her stuffed animals and candy for Valentine’s Day when she was little because he was buying them for my sister, too.”
“How did your sister feel about that?”
“She was unhappy, but I didn’t care because Maddie was always so thrilled,” Nick replied. “Maddie would never admit it, but I know what she was thinking back then. She couldn’t understand why someone would walk away from her. I don’t understand it either. I don’t care what happens, I would never walk away from a child.”
“And that’s what makes you a better man than George Hunter,” Kreskin said, pocketing his keys as they exited the cruiser. “I’m not saying you don’t have a right to be angry. Maddie definitely has a right to be angry, for that matter. I’m simply pointing out that you weren’t there and can’t possibly know everything that happened between Maddie’s parents. You might not want to cast stones until you know the whole deal.”
Nick blew out a sigh as he followed his partner toward the back door of the bed and breakfast. “I’ll keep that in mind.”
“That’s all I’m asking. Now, let’s see if poor Fran died in her sleep or if we’re going to have to deal with something much, much worse.”
“YEAH, THERE’S no way this was an accident.”
Nick rubbed the back of his neck as he stared at the unholy nightmare that was Fran Livingston’s private office. The couch – and wall behind it, for that matter – were splattered with blood, a heavy lamp discarded on the floor next to Fran’s lifeless body.
“Not even close,” Kreskin said, shaking his head. “I wouldn’t have dilly-dallied so much if Sarah made me aware of the circumstances. I honestly thought Fran died in her sleep … like a heart attack or something. I thought Sarah was hyperventilating because she’d never seen a dead body before.”
Nick cast a glance over his shoulder, out into the Bayside’s quaint lobby, and eyed the apoplectic female clerk as she breathed in and out of a bag while one of the other workers stood next to her and offered a consoling hand on the shoulder. “Unless she’s a really good actress, I’m going to guess she’s not the murderer.”
“That would be my guess, too.” Kreskin kneeled next to the body, snapping a pair of rubber gloves in place as he felt along the ridge of Fran’s head. “Holy crap. Someone really wailed on her. The entire side of her head is dented in and there’s a gash that opens clean through.”
Nick wrinkled his nose. “Thank you for that visual. I figured that out myself, though. That lamp is obviously the murder weapon.”
“Yeah, it looks to be.” Kreskin rolled his neck. “We need to call the medical examiner and get photographs of everything before they haul her out. Then we need to get an employee list and go through each individual on it.”
“We should probably go back at least five years,” Nick suggested. “Whoever did this had a lot of rage. Maybe Fran fired someone and they held a grudge.”
“That’s probably a good idea.” Kreskin ran his tongue over his teeth and made a clucking sound. “Man, this is not a pleasant way to go. I’ve known Fran ever since I moved here. She hasn’t always been pleasant but … I cannot imagine someone being angry enough to do this to her.”
“We can’t rule out a crime of opportunity,” Nick noted, turning his attention to the empty front desk. “We need to check the log books and talk to all of the guests. How do you want to handle the people staying here?”
“We can’t make a decision about opening or closing this place until we find out what kind of contingency plan Fran had for keeping up the operation,” Kreskin replied. “She must’ve had a will … and a successor plan. She wasn’t old, but she certainly wasn’t young.”
“According to Maude, age is a state of mind.”
Kreskin snorted and shook his head. “She’ll outlive us all. Why don’t you call the medical examiner and get a few uniforms over here. I’ll look around the office and drop markers on everything we need photographed. Then you can start going through the guestbook.”
“That sounds like a plan.”
Nick worked steadily for the next half hour, calling everyone he needed to notify from an investigative standpoint. Sarah remained sobbing on the lobby couch. Nick considered questioning her, but he was hoping to push that task off on Kreskin, truth be told. He didn’t do well with crying females unless it was his crying woman, who he knew better than anyone else. Maddie’s tears never bothered him – other than to make him ache because he couldn’t fix everything – but when other people cried he ultimately grew uncomfortable.
Nick turned his attention to the guest registry when the medical examiner arrived, perfectly happy to allow the man to handle the gruesome stuff while he focused on the tedium of checking out leads. He ran his finger over the line that showed current occupancy, thrilled to find that only three of the rooms were rented out. His blood ran cold when he got to the third name, though.
“What’s wrong?” Kreskin asked, correctly reading Nick’s face as he drew closer. “You look as if you’ve seen a ghost … which is funny considering who you live with.”
Nick ignored the dig. “There are three guests.”
“That’s not bad. We should be able to get through them relatively quickly.”
“Look.” Nick tapped on the book for emphasis.
Kreskin followed his gaze, making an annoyed sound in the back of his throat when he realized what Nick was pointing at. “Of course. Why couldn’t this one be easy?”
“Because that’s not how we roll in Blackstone Bay,” Nick replied. “We have to question him.”
“We do,” Kreskin confirmed. “You’re going to let me take the lead on it, though.”
Nick immediately balked. “Why?”
“Because he’s not going to be my future father-in-law,” Kreskin replied, scowling at George Hunter’s name. “Seriously, he couldn’t have picked another inn or bed and breakfast?”
“That man is nothing to me,” Nick stressed, refusing to back down.
Kreskin remained calm despite Nick’s obvious fury. “That man hurt the thing you love most so he’s most definitely not nothing to you. I will be the one leading the questions when it comes to George Hunter. If you don’t like that … .”
“What?” Nick challenged, his temper flaring.
“Then we’re going to have a problem,” Kreskin replied, refusing to rise to the bait and give Nick an outlet for his building fury. “Are we going to have a problem?”
Nick honestly wasn’t sure how he should answer. “I guess we’ll have to play it by ear.”
6
Six
Maddie wasn’t happy with herself … or the way she reacted to George Hunter’s appearance in her life. George Hunter. It was easier to use his full name when thinking about him than the other. Father. That word meant nothing
to her … and George Hunter meant nothing to her.
So why did I freak out? Maddie asked the question of herself twenty times as she walked through the store, going out of her way to ignore the fact that Christy was perched in the window seat flipping through a book, pretending to be a bored friend hanging around when she was clearly serving as a babysitter.
“Don’t you have work?” Maddie fought to keep her voice even as she shifted her eyes to Christy.
“I’m the boss,” Christy reminded her. “I have workers to take over the heavy lifting for me so I can take off whenever I want. That’s one of the few perks of being the boss.”
Maddie was technically her own boss, too. She didn’t, however, have employees to bark orders at. “Yes, well, I really don’t need you hovering. It’s unnecessary.”
“Who said I’m hovering?” Christy didn’t so much as raise her eyes. “I’m very interested in this book. I haven’t read a good lusty highlander book since the last Outlander book hit … and the descriptions in this one are much more vivid.”
Maddie bit the inside of her cheek to keep from exploding. “That’s Nick’s book.”
Christy snorted. “If that’s your story.”
“No, seriously.” Maddie didn’t back down. “Nick bought that book.”
Christy’s expression finally shifted and she arched a challenging eyebrow as she stared down Maddie. “Really? Nick is interested in the Highlander’s Sword of Conquest? I’m sure you understand that I have my doubts.”
“Do you want me to call him?” Maddie challenged. “I will.”
“He’s busy and we both know it,” Christy shot back, looking Maddie up and down as she decided how to handle the situation. Maddie generally didn’t fly off the handle for no reason. She was easy to get along with and congenial. The return of her father – or her sperm donor, to be more apt – had clearly unhinged Maddie’s very orderly mind. Christy wasn’t sure what to make of the phenomenon.
“That doesn’t mean he didn’t buy the book,” Maddie persisted. “We read something in that window seat almost every night. We read it together. I try to pick classics, but Nick prefers romances.”
Realization dawned on Christy’s pleasingly round face. “Oh.” She nodded sagely, tucking a strand of her flame red hair behind her ear. “He likes dirty books because they put you both in the mood.”
Maddie stilled. “I … well … yes. He also thinks they’re funny. He repeats some of the dialogue sometimes to make me laugh.”
“And that’s why you got the best man in the world,” Christy said, closing the book and placing it on the cushion next to her. “Tell me what you’re thinking, Maddie. I wanted to be all intuitive and figure it out myself, but I honestly don’t know what I would do in your position so I need you to tell me.”
“I’m … um … not feeling anything.” Maddie carefully averted her gaze, causing Christy to roll her eyes.
“You’re the worst liar ever, Maddie,” Christy lamented. “Seriously. When they have a class teaching people what not to do when it comes to lying, they hold up a photograph of your face.”
“That’s almost sweet,” Maddie sneered.
“Then one of the boys in the class will inevitably steal your photo because you look like a human Barbie doll … and he’ll do something gross with it … but you see where I’m going with this.”
Maddie’s pretty face twisted into a scowl. “That’s less sweet.”
“I do my best.” Christy was blasé as she folded her hands on her stomach. “You need to tell me what you’re feeling. I can sense that you’re uneasy … and tense … and perhaps a bit sick to your stomach. I get that. I think you’re handling things remarkably well given the circumstances.”
Instead of exploding – which was her first instinct – Maddie barked out a hollow laugh. “It’s funny you say that,” she said. “I was just thinking that I’m embarrassed about how I handled things. I completely fell apart and Nick had to swoop in and slap me back together, like he always does. That’s not what should’ve happened.”
Christy pursed her lips. “Is that what really happened or is that simply what happened in your head?” she asked after a beat. “I’m going to guess that’s simply what happened in your head.”
“No.” Maddie shook her head, firm. “My mind went blank. I had trouble catching my breath. I had to run outside to get air. I … fell apart.”
“That sounds pretty normal to me, Mad,” Christy noted. “You’d never seen the man before he simply popped up. He came out of nowhere and you saw him with your mother in the past. That had to be weird for you.”
“I don’t know that I can put into words what it was,” Maddie muttered, dragging a hand through her silky hair. “It was surreal … and I felt numb, like I didn’t belong in my body … and I felt like I was floating for a bit. Then I felt sick to my stomach … and maybe a little slow … and when Nicky got here all I wanted to do was curl into a ball and let him handle all of my problems.”
“Again, that sounds pretty normal,” Christy pressed. “You handled it much better than I would’ve handled it. I would’ve started slapping him around and pulling hair.”
“I should’ve been stronger,” Maddie insisted, crossing her arms over her chest. “I’ve been working so hard on improving my self-esteem and … it all fell away in the blink of an eye.”
“Maddie, you met your father for the first time,” Christy pointed out. “I think you’re allowed a momentary lapse. It’s not as if you invited him to move in and forgave him out of the blue or anything. You merely took a few minutes to deal with the situation – while your grandmother was threatening to kill him with a hammer and bury him in the backyard, I might add. There’s no reason to beat yourself up.”
“No?” Maddie wasn’t convinced. “What happens now? What if he doesn’t leave? What do you think he wants?”
“I … don’t know,” Christy admitted. “You’re not going to know until you talk to him.”
“That sounds great in theory. I have all of these questions, though. I feel as if I’m drifting and I have no idea what to do.”
“So, sit down,” Christy prodded. “Let’s talk it out. You need time to comprehend everything before you can make a decision.”
“And then what?” Maddie’s frustration returned. “What am I supposed to do with all of these feelings?”
Christy held her hands palms up and shrugged. “I have no idea. You’re not alone, though.”
That was the one thing Maddie knew she had going for her. “Yeah. I’m not alone. That’s the most important thing, right?”
Christy enthusiastically nodded. “Yes. Just out of curiosity’s sake, though, where are you going to bury the body if Maude gets her hands on George Hunter?”
Maddie shrugged. That was a very good question.
NICK LOITERED a few feet away, shifting from one foot to the other as Kreskin got comfortable at the small table in the corner of George Hunter’s room. The man appeared surprised when they knocked on his door, but he didn’t put up a fight when they asked to enter.
“So … what?” George nervously glanced between Nick and Kreskin. “Are you guys here to run me out of town or something?”
“That’s not our specific purpose,” Kreskin replied, resting his hands on top of the table. “Why would you think that?”
“Because you guys were at Maddie’s house yesterday and made your feelings regarding me perfectly clear,” George replied. “I figured you would give it a night before applying heavy pressure to force me to leave Blackstone Bay.”
“I believe you said yesterday that wouldn’t work,” Kreskin noted calmly. “You said you were determined to stay in town until you and Maddie could talk.”
“And I meant it.” George linked his fingers and rested them on his stomach as he leaned back in his chair, fixing Nick with a hard look. “I get that you don’t like me … .”
Nick cut him off with a shake of his head. “No, I don’t.”
; “You don’t know me, son,” George pressed. “I know that you care for my daughter – and that’s a good thing – but you can’t run her life.”
Nick took a step in George’s direction, anger overwhelming him. Kreskin’s dark look was enough to stop him in his tracks, but that didn’t mean his temper wasn’t something to be reckoned with. “I love your daughter,” he gritted out. “She’s my everything. I don’t run her life.”
“I can vouch for that,” Kreskin said calmly. “Nick and Maddie are … each other’s biggest cheerleaders. I guess that’s the best way to put it.”
“I would like you to put it a different way because now I think this guy is picturing me in a skirt,” Nick muttered.
Kreskin ignored him. “Nick doesn’t run Maddie’s life. They share a life. If you think otherwise, you’re already losing in this game, sir. I believe you should perhaps get to know the most important person in your daughter’s life before you cast aspersions on him.”
“I’m not casting aspersions on him.” George wrinkled his nose, further infuriating Nick because the expression reminded him of something Maddie did when feeling frustrated or tired. “I understand he’s engaged to my daughter. It’s clear they care about one another.”
Nick narrowed his eyes, suspicious. “How do you know we’re engaged?” Nick racked his brain for an instance where he mentioned being engaged to Maddie and came up empty. That didn’t mean it wasn’t mentioned – the situation was tense, after all – but he honestly couldn’t remember saying anything of the sort.
“Because I saw the ring on her finger,” George replied, not missing a beat. “I know what an engagement ring looks like.”
“Oh.” Mollified, Nick rubbed the back of his neck. “I didn’t consider that.”
“I get that you and Maddie are close – and I’m glad for it,” George offered. “She must’ve been upset when her mother died. I only found out a few weeks ago, in fact, and I was worried about poor Maddie being on her own.”
“Maddie isn’t on her own,” Nick corrected. “She has me … and Maude … and Christy.”
Grave Haunting (A Maddie Graves Mystery Book 10) Page 5