“Thank you.”
“It wasn’t a compliment.”
“It was in my head.”
“Knock it off,” Maddie barked, her temper wearing thin. “I don’t have the energy to listen to you guys snipe at one another. I have other things going on.”
“Like finding bodies in the woods and not telling your poor grandmother about it,” Maude lamented. “I have a meeting with the Pink Ladies today and I almost didn’t know the biggest piece of gossip in town, Maddie. How do you think that would’ve made me look?”
“No more ridiculous than you already look,” George offered.
“Don’t make me smack you,” Maude warned.
“Oh, and Nick thought I was the one who needed to be babysat,” Maddie groused, dropping her forehead in her hands.
“I’m sorry.” George was instantly contrite. “You’re right. I don’t know what it is about your grandmother. She brings out the worst in me.”
“She has that effect on everyone,” Maddie said.
Maude preened. “Thank you.”
Maddie ignored her father’s pronounced eye roll. “As for the body, Granny, you were already in bed when we got home last night. We didn’t find it until after dinner and because of my knee, Nick basically carried me out there and back and we were exhausted.”
“What happened to your knee?” Maude asked.
“I tweaked it while running yesterday. I saw a … ghost … on the path and reacted as if she was still alive, which caused me to practically trip myself. She disappeared before I could talk to her, but after Nick and I discussed his case at dinner, I realized the ghost I saw was the woman he was looking for.”
“So you took him out there assuming that her body had to be close by,” George surmised. “Did it take you long to find her?”
“Nick kind of forced me to sit on a rock while he looked,” Maddie admitted. “I didn’t see her. I think he did that on purpose.”
“And rightly so,” George said. “You don’t need to see that.”
“That doesn’t stop me from imagining it.”
“Is that what your nightmares are about?”
Maddie lifted her eyebrows, surprised. “He knows I had nightmares last night, too?”
“How come I don’t know any of this?” Maude complained. “No one tells me nothing.”
“Anything,” Maddie automatically corrected. “And I didn’t tell Nick about the nightmares either. It’s not a big deal. It’s hardly the first time I’ve had nightmares after a murder.”
The admission, however simple, unsettled George. He hated that he abandoned his child for the bulk of her life to go through things like this alone. “I think you should tell us about what happened, about the woman who died, and then we can make a plan for how you want to approach it.”
“We?” Maddie pursed her lips. George and Maude had done nothing but fight since he came back to town. The idea of spending the entire day with both of them made her uneasy.
“We.” George bobbed his head in confirmation. “Maude and I might have our differences, but we both love you. We want to help you.”
“I love you, but I’m not sure I’m going to help,” Maude hedged. “I’ve got a lot of stuff going on.”
“That’s fine.” Maddie meant it. She loved her grandmother, but Maude’s help was often more of a hindrance than anything else.
George, however, was skeptical. “What do you have going on?”
“The Blue Belles are moving in on my turf.”
“Blue what?”
“Belles.”
George looked to Maddie for confirmation. “Did she say what I think she said?”
“No.” Maddie’s lips curved. “She said belles, not balls.”
“I’m not sure that makes sense.”
“Welcome to my world.” She turned her computer so George could look at the screen. “I need to go back out to the scene – which I believe Nick guessed and that’s why he sent you – but before then I’m trying to look up background on Peter and Jennifer Cook.”
“Okay.” George had no idea what help he could offer, but he was more than willing to sit around and let Maddie do her thing if it meant they continued to grow more comfortable around one another. “Let’s do it.”
Maude was positively apoplectic. “I don’t like this at all. I just want you to know that for the record.”
“Duly noted,” Maddie said. “If you’re going to be loud, though, you should head over to your meeting early. We’re going to be tied up here for at least an hour or so.”
Maude narrowed her eyes. “No, I definitely don’t like this. Not one little bit!”
PETER COOK LOOKED as if he hadn’t slept a wink when he ushered Kreskin and Nick into his hotel room. He sat in a robe, his hair disheveled, and nursed a mug of coffee that looked to have gone cold an hour before.
“Did you find P.J.?”
“Not yet,” Kreskin replied, taking the seat across the table as Nick hovered around the edge of the small room. “We’re looking, though. We expect to get the preliminary autopsy report back from the medical examiner in a few hours, but we believe your wife was strangled.”
“Strangled?” Cook looked horrified. “That can’t be right. I mean … no. It had to be an accident of some sort.”
“Why would you think that?” Nick asked.
“Because Jennifer wouldn’t hurt a fly. She is … I mean, she was … the nicest woman on the planet. She never hurt anyone, so why would anyone want to hurt her?”
“We’re working on multiple angles right now,” Kreskin replied. “It’s possible someone wanted a baby and targeted your wife for that reason alone. If that’s the case, your wife’s personality would have absolutely nothing to do with what happened.”
“And what are the other angles?” Cook asked.
“You,” Kreskin answered without hesitation.
“Me?” Cook’s already ashen face paled further. “How can you possibly be looking at me? I was in California when this happened.”
“Were you?” Kreskin challenged. “The hotel you were supposedly staying at says you checked out six days ago.”
“I … it must be some sort of clerical error.”
“Now that everything is automated, you don’t hear about clerical errors at hotels much,” Nick pointed out. “Still, we thought you might claim that. The corporate credit card you were using verified you checked out six days ago.”
“In fact, when we called your corporate office, they said you were on vacation all this week and next,” Kreskin added. “That’s not quite the story you told us.”
Cook’s face twisted. “You called my boss?”
“This is a murder investigation, Mr. Cook. Of course we called your boss.”
“Because I’m a suspect?”
“The husband is always a suspect,” Nick explained. “It might be trite and unfair, but there’s a reason that the spouse is always considered the first suspect. Now, can you explain where you were for the past six days?”
“Yes.” Cook rubbed his hands over his cheeks, as if trying to increase blood flow or maybe even wake himself from a nightmare. “I was … someplace else.”
“We know that,” Kreskin said. “We’ve been doing some digging.”
“More digging?”
“Your corporate credit card was used to pay for a shuttle from MBS International Airport in Freeland to a home in Bay City,” Kreskin replied. “That home is being rented by one Laura Ferguson, a twenty-one-year-old college student at Central Michigan University. She just happens to have worked as an intern for your company last summer, and she also happens to have gone on several trips with you during that time.”
Cook’s mouth worked, but no sound came out.
“I think he’s surprised that we already have this information,” Nick noted.
“Do you think?” Kreskin managed to underplay his disgust, but just barely. “Do you want me to tell you what I think was going on, Mr. Cook?”
Cook found his voi
ce. “That won’t be necessary. I can guess what you think was going on. It’s not like that, though.”
“Then tell us what it was like,” Nick prodded.
“It was supposed to be a fling,” Cook blurted out. “She was young and beautiful and she was always flirting with me. I thought she was playing a game.”
“I’m going to guess she was,” Nick said.
Cook ignored the statement. “We fell in love, though. The feelings were real. I didn’t mean for it to happen, but it happened.”
“So why didn’t you tell your wife?”
“Because she came up pregnant out of nowhere,” Cook replied. “I wasn’t lying when I said that we planned on having kids, but it was going to be down the road. When I got involved with Laura, I knew it would hurt Jennifer. We didn’t have kids, though, so I thought it was better that I recognized my true feelings before we added children to the mix.”
“And then your wife turned up pregnant and I’m going to guess she refused to even consider an abortion,” Kreskin said.
“I didn’t want her to have an abortion. I’m not a monster.”
“That’s not how it looks from here,” Nick said. “What was your plan? How were you going to get out of this mess?”
“I wasn’t going to get out of it,” Cook said. “I was going to take responsibility for everything. I spent last week with Laura because we needed some time together. When I came home, I was going to tell Jennifer the truth and pack up my stuff.”
“And move in with Laura?” Kreskin asked.
Cook nodded. “It was already planned. Once I packed my stuff and left, Laura and I were going to spend the week unpacking and planning for our new future.”
Nick was so angry the tips of his ears burned. “And your son?”
“We would have shared custody,” Cook replied. “If we have shared custody, I don’t have to pay child support. I can’t afford child support because Laura and I want to buy a new house.”
A muscle worked in Nick’s jaw. “So, let me get this straight, you were going to dump your faithful wife right after she gave birth, buy a new house for your mistress, force your wife into shared custody and strip her ability to see her child every day, and try to screw her out of money?”
Cook balked. “Well, when you say it like that, it sounds awful.”
“It is awful,” Kreskin snapped. “You’re a complete and total piece of crap. I think you know that, though.”
Cook folded his arms over his chest. “I believe in destiny and fate. I don’t think that makes me a terrible person.”
“Well, you’re wrong.” Kreskin and Nick briefly locked gazes before the older cop continued. “You’re not to leave Blackstone Bay until I say otherwise. We’ve already got detectives in place to question Laura Ferguson – and they confiscated her phone for the duration of the time she’ll be answering those questions – so it doesn’t matter if you call her.”
Cook blinked several times in rapid succession. “You’re questioning her now?”
“We are,” Kreskin confirmed. “She’s going to be made aware that you’re a suspect in your wife’s murder.”
“But I was with Laura when Jennifer died.”
“That doesn’t mean you didn’t hire someone,” Nick pointed out. “As for your son – whom you’ve barely mentioned – we will continue looking for him. You, however, remain a person of interest.”
“You’re also a filthy piece of slime,” Kreskin added.
“Definitely.” Nick fought to maintain his temper. “We’ll keep you updated on our investigation. If you flee this jurisdiction, though, you should know it will be looked at as a sign of guilt.”
Cook’s eyes flashed. “Is that a threat?”
“It’s simple truth,” Nick replied. “Your wife, the woman you pledged to love and cherish forever, spent four days decomposing in the woods. Your son is missing. All you seem to care about is your mistress. What do you think that says about you?”
“That I’m a man who makes mistakes.”
“Is that what you call this?” Nick had to clench his fists to keep from smacking Cook around. He was completely and totally disgusted. “Well, this mistake could cost you more than you realize. It could cost you your freedom. I hope you’re ready for that.”
“I did not kill Jennifer.”
Kreskin’s eyes were without pity as he stood. “I hope for your sake that you’re telling the truth. From where we’re standing, it looks like you could be guilty … and you’d be better off if you didn’t have a child dragging you down.”
Cook blanched. “I love my son.”
“You told your wife you loved her, too. How did that turn out?”
7
Seven
George kept a close watch on Maddie as they picked their way through the budding foliage at the back of the house. She was friendly, even openly energetic, but he didn’t miss the hint of sadness tinging her eyes.
“Do you spend a lot of time in these woods?” George wasn’t sure if he should come out and ask her what she was thinking. It seemed like an iffy proposition. Instead he hoped to distract her a bit until she wanted to volunteer whatever weighed her down.
“I do.” Maddie bobbed her head, her blonde ponytail bouncing. “I like to run. When the weather allows it, I try to do at least five miles a day.”
“Five miles?” George made a face. “That’s … dedication.”
Maddie snickered. “You sound like Granny. She doesn’t get it either.”
“Well, even though that’s sort of an insult, I’m still curious why you like to run.”
Maddie shrugged as she carefully navigated toward the running path. Her knee didn’t ache the way it did the previous day, but she didn’t want to push her luck. “It’s just freeing. I like exercise and it’s nice to push yourself so much that you can’t think about anything else, but the way your muscles burn.”
“I’m going to guess that you like taking a break from thinking. Your mind is a busy place.”
“It is.”
“What are you thinking now?”
“Honestly?” Maddie’s expression was bemused. “I was thinking that talking to a ghost in front of you – if we can even find Jennifer – is probably going to be uncomfortable and I don’t want you to think I’m crazy.”
“I won’t think you’re crazy. I happen to know you’re very sane. I saw you talk to a ghost once before. You remember that, right?”
“I do. You also saw me talking to a killer and saved me. I haven’t forgotten.”
“I didn’t save you,” George clarified. “I put myself in a position to help you. You saved yourself. There’s a difference.”
Maddie wasn’t much in the mood for a semantics argument. “I’m also thinking that I need to have a talk with Nick about the fact that he decided to call in a babysitter without telling me.”
“I don’t think he saw me as a babysitter,” George clarified. “He simply didn’t want you to be alone. Given your knee, I think that was a very good decision. Do you think you should be walking on it like you are?”
“It’s fine.”
“That’s not what I asked.”
Maddie made a popping sound with her lips. “What is it with the men in my life convincing themselves that I don’t know my own body?”
“Perhaps the men in your life merely want you to stay safe above all else. Did you ever consider that?”
“Not really.”
“You get that from your grandmother,” George said. “That selective hearing thing you do, yeah, that’s from her.”
Maddie giggled, genuinely amused. “Did you always get along with Granny the way you do?”
“She never liked me, if that’s what you’re asking. However, we got along for your mother’s sake. Neither one of us wanted to hurt Olivia so we did our best. I bet you wish we would do the same for you.”
“No.”
Maddie’s swift answer took George by surprise. “No?”
“All
the while I was growing up, Mom went out of her way to pretend everything was perfectly okay … even when it wasn’t,” Maddie explained. “I never knew when we were in financial trouble. I never knew when you were trying to see me. Mom always put on an act so I wouldn’t know those things.”
“While I don’t want to make excuses for everything your mother did – I’m still angry about a few of them myself – I believe she did those things because she didn’t want you to worry,” George said. “She loved you more than anything, Maddie. She thought she was protecting you.”
“And Nick thinks he’s protecting me today. The problem is, I’m an adult. I don’t always need protection.”
“You might be an adult, but when you open your heart and allow people to love you, you’re basically opening the door for worry, too. You can’t have love without worry. It’s not possible.”
“I guess.”
“Now, I don’t know Nick well, but the one thing I can say with absolute certainty is that he loves you,” George said. “He’s trying to give you space to do your own thing but not lose you in the process. That’s not a bad thing.”
“No.”
“So why are you really angry?”
“I’m not angry,” Maddie corrected. “I’m simply … okay, I’m angry. I’m not angry because Nick called you, though. That’s mildly frustrating, but it’s not a bad thing. I’m angry because someone killed Jennifer Cook and stole her baby. He or she dumped Jennifer in the woods as if she was garbage and there’s a baby out there who could be in grave danger.”
“And you feel responsible because you saw her ghost.”
“I don’t know that ‘responsible’ is the word I would use. I do feel … drawn in … if that makes sense.”
“It makes sense,” George confirmed. “You want to help. You have a giving nature. That’s never a bad thing. You need to be careful, though, Maddie. There are people out there who take advantage of people with giving natures.”
“Maybe that’s what happened to Jennifer Cook.”
“Maybe.” George followed Maddie to the path, his eyes widening when he took in the impressive expanse. “I bet it’s beautiful out here when all of the trees are in bloom.”
Grave Paths (A Maddie Graves Mystery Book 11) Page 6