Grave Insight (A Maddie Graves Mystery Book 2)

by Hart, Lily Harper

  Maddie reared back as if she’d been slapped, tears filling her eyes. “I’m sorry. I … .”

  “Don’t apologize to her,” Christy snapped. “She’s upset. This isn’t your fault, though.”

  “Oh, that’s right, Maddie can’t fight her own battles,” Cassidy said. “She doesn’t need to. Everyone in town does it for her.”

  Maddie struggled to her feet, her cheeks hot as she fought the urge to cry. “I really am sorry.”

  “I don’t believe you,” Cassidy said. “You’ve gotten everything you’ve ever wanted. You’re not sorry for anything. You’re an evil woman. You’re a user. You’re an evil user. You don’t care who you hurt as long as you get your own way. I wish you’d never returned to Blackstone Bay.”

  Maddie moved toward the front of the tent, the need to escape overwhelming her. “I’m sorry,” she mumbled again.

  “In fact, I wish you’d just die!” Cassidy exploded.

  NICK picked that moment to enter the tent, his box of flowers gripped tightly to his chest. He was nervous, but ready. That’s why Maddie pushing past him and fleeing into the fair crowd before he could even utter a word took him by surprise.

  “Maddie?” He glanced between Christy and Cassidy, curious. “What’s going on?”

  Cassidy had the grace to look abashed. “It was nothing. She’s just sensitive.”

  “Cassidy just called Maddie a whore and wished she was dead,” Christy replied, nonplussed.

  “That is not what I said,” Cassidy shot back.

  “That is exactly what you said,” Christy said. “I left out the part where you called her evil.”

  Nick rubbed the palm of his hand against his forehead, flustered. “I thought we talked all of this out last night. I thought … .”

  “What? You thought what?” Cassidy asked, her hands on her hips. “You thought you could buy me those flowers and smooth everything over?”

  Nick looked at the flowers, confused. “No.”

  “Well, it’s not going to work,” Cassidy said. “I told you that I wasn’t going to take you back when Maddie hurt you. I don’t care how many boxes of flowers you buy for me.” She held her hands out. “I still want the flowers, though.”

  Nick sent a mental plea for help in Christy’s direction. Cassidy was clearly losing it.

  “I don’t think those flowers are for you,” Christy said, tipping Nick’s arm down so she could get a better look. “A dozen red roses. Nice.”

  “But … .” Cassidy’s eyes were busy as they darted around the tent. “Why are you here? Didn’t you come because you knew I’d be here?”

  “No,” Nick replied honestly. “I came to see Maddie.” He saw no reason to lie. Cassidy was still living in a fantasy world where Nick was going to come crawling back to her. He had to shatter her extremely unrealistic delusion.

  Cassidy either didn’t understand what was going on, or she was refusing to acknowledge it. Nick wasn’t sure which one was more likely, but he was having a hard time believing she could be that oblivious.

  “The flowers are for Maddie,” Christy said, her tone even. “He was coming to … .” Christy held her hands up, helpless. “He was bringing her the flowers. He was coming to see her. Seriously. I think you’re sleep deprived. You should go home and get some rest.”

  Realization dawned on Cassidy. Finally. “You were coming here to profess your love for her.”

  Nick remained calm. “Cassidy, I told you all of this last night. I told you I was sorry. I told you I would forever feel guilty for how I treated you. I also told you that I want to be with Maddie.”

  “But … .”

  “No,” Nick said, shaking his head. “No buts. Nothing has changed. Nothing is going to change. You just need to accept it.”

  Cassidy looked like she was about to burst into tears. Instead, her hand snaked out and she slapped Nick as hard as she could across the face. The sound of her palm making contact with his solid jaw echoed throughout the tent, and Nick rocked backwards due to the force.

  “I hope you both die,” Cassidy said, her eyes dark and narrow. “I hope you both are unhappy and die.”

  Nick watched her storm out of the tent, stunned. “I don’t even know what to say.”

  “I’ve never seen her like that,” Christy said, getting to her feet. “I … she needs sleep. That’s all I can think. She probably hasn’t slept more than a few hours over the past few days. If she gets some sleep, she’ll probably be ashamed of what she’s done.”

  “I hope you’re right,” Nick said, sighing wearily. “I hope you’re right.”

  “The good news is, I won the pool,” Christy said. “I see some shoe shopping in my future. I believe you have a blonde to chase down, too.”

  Nick nodded.

  “The good news is, she’s hobbled,” Christy said. “You should be able to catch up with her pretty quickly.”

  “I’m on it,” Nick said. “Hey, Christy?”

  Christy glanced back at him, an eyebrow arched.

  “Thank you for being such a good friend to Maddie.”

  Christy smiled. “Go and get your girl. You can thank me with lilies tomorrow.”

  MADDIE managed to limp the four blocks home, although the tears she was trying to fight off overcame her before she could escape to her inner sanctum. She knew she was being ridiculous. She couldn’t help but feel guilty for what she’d done, though.

  Had she really ruined Cassidy’s life? Even if it wasn’t true, perception was a funny thing, and Cassidy’s perception was telling her that Maddie was to blame for all of the unhappiness in her life.

  When Maddie made it to the front steps of the house, she stilled long enough to study the box of flowers on the front stoop. Where had these come from? Nick had been holding flowers. She’d only gotten a brief glimpse of him before fleeing, but she’d seen the flowers resting in his arms. Had he bought two boxes?

  Maddie struggled to lean over, and when she opened the box she took an involuntarily step back. The flowers inside weren’t vibrant blooms reflecting love, but decayed remnants of flowers long since dead. There was a note inside, and Maddie reached for it despite the warning alarm dinging in the recesses of her mind. Her hands were shaking when she opened it. There was only one word on the card: Soon.

  Eighteen

  Maddie’s back was to him when Nick approached her on the porch. She was staring at something by her feet, but he couldn’t see what. He hopped up the stairs, and Maddie practically flew out of her skin when she heard the noise, jumping away from him when he reached for her.

  “Maddie? What’s wrong?”

  Maddie pointed to the flowers on the ground. Nick shifted his own box of flowers into her hands and knelt down. “These don’t look … .” He didn’t know what to say.

  Maddie handed him the card, mute.

  Nick glanced at it briefly. “Get inside.”

  He left the dead flowers on the porch and pressed his body against Maddie’s as he pushed her through the front door. Once they were on the other side, he swept her up in his arms and carried her over to the window seat.

  “Sit here, love. I’ll be back in a minute.”

  Nick was all business, and since Maddie was an emotional mess, she was taking his clipped tone to heart. “Okay.”

  Nick sighed, recognizing the wary tone of her voice. He kissed her forehead quickly and cupped the back of her head as he forced her gaze to lock onto his. “It’s going to be okay. I just have to make a call. You’re safe here.”

  “I … .”

  “We’re going to have a long talk in a little bit, Mad,” he said. “We can’t get into it now. I have to call Kreskin, and I don’t want to start now and get interrupted. Do you want something to drink?”

  Maddie shook her head.

  “I’ll get you some iced tea after I call Kreskin,” Nick said. “Just … stay right there for me, okay? Don’t you dare move.”

  “WHAT do you think?” Kreskin asked, studying the box of
dead flowers as Nick sealed the card into a plastic bag.

  “I think whoever was focused on Tara the other night is now focused on Maddie.” Nick and Kreskin were outside, the door to the house closed to cut them off from prying ears. “I think Maddie is in danger.”

  “Are you sure this isn’t just some sick joke?” Kreskin asked.

  “Who would do that?”

  Kreskin pinched the bridge of his nose. “What about Cassidy?”

  Nick stilled. “You don’t think … ?”

  “I’ve heard a few things over the past few days,” Kreskin said. “I heard she was hiding from you because she knew you were going to break up with her. I also heard she had some sort of … kerfuffle … with Maddie last night. The witnesses said that right after Cassidy left Maddie claimed a man in a hoodie approached her.”

  “You don’t think it’s a coincidence,” Nick mused. “You think that either Cassidy left these flowers, or whoever the guy in the hoodie is left them because he’s working with Cassidy.”

  “Are you denying it’s a possibility?”

  “I don’t know,” Nick replied honestly. “Cassidy is unhinged. She just attacked Maddie down at the fair.”

  “Physically?”

  “No. She just wished Maddie was dead. She then wished I was dead, too.”

  “You’ve officially broken up with her, right?” Kreskin asked, glancing in through the window where Maddie was sitting with another box of flowers cradled against her chest. “Those aren’t dead flowers, too, are they?”

  “Those are from me,” Nick said.

  “I guess that answers the breakup question,” Kreskin said. “How did she take it?”

  “Not well. She broke into my house last night. She had specific … intentions … which I shot down. I then handled the breakup situation to the best of my ability.”

  “It didn’t go over well, did it?”

  “Nope.”

  “Okay, let’s think about it for a minute,” Kreskin said, straightening. “If Cassidy left the flowers, it’s probably just some woman thing. If Cassidy hired the guy in the hoodie, that’s a whole other issue. She could be really dangerous.”

  “I’m worried about Maddie,” Nick said.

  “Well, then I guess it’s good she’s got a police officer to take care of her,” Kreskin teased. “Look at it this way, you have a viable reason to stay here tonight. You don’t even have to wait until the third date to make your move.”

  Nick scowled. “I don’t need an excuse to spend the night here. I’ve spent the night here several times since she’s been back in town, I’ll have you know.”

  “Yeah, but before you had Cassidy as a barrier,” Kreskin said. “Now you’re going to have no choice but to show her how manly you are.”

  Nick punched Kreskin’s shoulder lightly. “Let it go.”

  Kreskin grinned. “I don’t blame you for being nervous,” he said. “Maddie almost died a few weeks ago. You almost died when you tried to save her. I get it. Just … this could be nothing but a bitter woman getting a little revenge.”

  “I’d like to believe that,” Nick replied. “That still doesn’t explain why the guy in the hoodie went after Tara first.”

  Kreskin pursed his lips, considering. “Maybe he was told to go after someone else first, so the suspicion wouldn’t land on Cassidy if it was just Maddie.”

  “Except Tara is Cassidy’s friend.”

  “I don’t know,” Kreskin said. “I’ll have the flowers and note sent to the state crime lab. Until then … just keep the blonde close.”

  “Don’t worry about that,” Nick said, his eyes meeting Maddie’s through the glass. “I won’t let her out of my sight.”

  “I’m sure you won’t,” Kreskin said, his tone teasing and light. “Just try to pace yourself.”

  “WHAT did he say?” Maddie asked, sipping from her iced tea as Nick approached the window seat.

  Nick lifted her feet carefully, paying special attention to her injured ankle, and shifted her farther into the window seat so he could settle beside her. “He’s worried that Cassidy left them for you.”

  “Do you think she did?”

  “I don’t know,” Nick said. “She’s completely lost it. Even if Cassidy left the flowers, that doesn’t explain the guy in the hoodie who went after Tara, or why he went after you last night. Kreskin thinks it’s a possibility that Cassidy hired him, or that he’s working with her for another reason, but I’m not sure that makes sense.”

  “Where did you find Cassidy last night?”

  “She broke into my house.”

  Maddie shifted, her eyes widening. “Are you kidding?”

  “No.” Nick gripped Maddie’s hand and brought it to his lips. “We had a long talk and I told her that it was over. She didn’t take it well, but she knows.”

  “I figured that much out when she came to the tent,” Maddie said. “She was angry.”

  “Christy told me what she said to you,” Nick said. “I need you not to take any of that stuff to heart. It’s not your fault. You didn’t hurt her. That’s on me.”

  “She wants me dead. She said it.”

  “I’m hoping that’s just grief talking,” Nick said. “Or temporary insanity.”

  “What if it’s not?”

  “I won’t let her hurt you, Mad. I won’t let anyone hurt you.”

  Maddie rested her head against Nick’s shoulder. He smiled down at her. “Why haven’t you opened your flowers?”

  “I didn’t know they were for me,” Maddie said.

  “Who else did you think they were for?”

  “I … .”

  “Open them, Mad.”

  Maddie concentrated on the box as she opened it, smiling at the twelve perfect blooms. “They’re beautiful.”

  “You’re beautiful.”

  Maddie worried her bottom lip with her teeth. “Thank you.”

  “Okay, Mad, it’s time for us to talk,” Nick said. “You need to get comfortable.” He gathered the flower box and her iced tea glass and moved them over to the tarot table.

  “I should probably put those in water,” Maddie said.

  Nick knew she was stalling for time. “They have those little green things with water on each stem. They’ll be fine for a little while. I’m not letting you get out of this conversation. I’ve gone through hell the past few days so we can have it, and we’re going to have it now.”

  Nick climbed back up into the window seat, shifting a bevy of times before he could get comfortable. He felt itchy. He knew it wasn’t the stacked pillows fighting against him, though. It was destiny. “I want to be with you, Maddie.”

  Maddie’s eyes filled with hope. “You do?”

  “You can’t possibly be surprised. I’ve made my intentions pretty obvious for weeks now.”

  “I just … I wasn’t sure,” Maddie said. “This afternoon, when I hadn’t seen you, I kind of convinced myself that you’d decided to stay with Cassidy.”

  Nick barked out a hoarse laugh. “You don’t ever have to worry about me wanting to be with someone else,” he said. “I’ve never wanted to be with anyone else.”

  “Never?”

  “Never. I’ve only ever wanted you.” Nick’s eyes were serious as they bore into Maddie’s sea-blue orbs. “The question is, do you want to be with me?”

  Maddie inhaled deeply. “I’ve always loved you, Nicky. I never thought you could possibly love me the same way I loved you. You were the handsome and popular jock, and I was the mousy and … .”

  “Mad, don’t,” Nick said. “If you start talking badly about yourself, I’m going to have to beat you up.”

  “Let me get this out, Nicky,” Maddie pleaded. “I know you never treated me like I was less than anyone else, but I always felt it. I really wish I’d told you the truth back then, because I might not have hurt you – and myself – if I could have just had faith.”

  Nick felt tears prickling the backs of his eyes. “My mom came to see me today,” he
said, cutting her off before she could go any further. “She knows, by the way. Olivia told her. She’s known for a long time.”

  Maddie’s eyes widened. “Oh.”

  “I was mad at first,” Nick said. “I was mad because she didn’t tell me. If she had, I would have gone after you. I would have moved south to be with you. We could have been together then. We wouldn’t have lost ten years together. Do you know what she said?”

  Maddie shook her head, her blonde hair brushing against her shoulders.

  “She said I wasn’t ready to know the truth and you weren’t ready for me to know the truth,” Nick said. “She said that we weren’t equipped to be together then. I was still mad, but I think she might have been right. If we’d tried to be together then, we probably wouldn’t have made it. We were too young.

  “So, the thing is, Mad, I’m not angry you didn’t tell me now,” he continued. “I think you ended up saving us. I’m not going to pretend it didn’t hurt, but I don’t want to think about it for one more day. We can’t go back in time. We have a chance here. Well, we have a chance if you want us to have one.”

  Maddie pressed her lips together, a lone tear cascading down her cheek.

  “Don’t cry, Mad,” Nick said, reaching over to catch the tear. “If you don’t want to be with me, we’ll figure something out. You’re still my best friend.”

  “That’s what I’m afraid of,” Maddie said.

  Nick stilled. “What?”

  “What if you decide that you don’t really want me? What if you just think you do? I know I’m always going to love you, but if we do this, and you realize that I’m not what you want, we’ll lose everything.”

  “We’re not going to lose anything, Maddie,” Nick said. “I’ve never loved anyone but you. I’ll never want anyone but you. This is our chance to get everything we’ve ever wanted. I’m not going to get tired of you, and I’m not going to want anyone else because I suddenly get bored. Where you’re concerned, I’ll never get bored.”

  “What if … ?” Maddie wasn’t sure if she could continue, so she snapped her mouth shut. Nick sighed and waited. “I haven’t had a lot of experience with … .”

  Nick was confused. When he realized what she was getting at, he sat up straighter. “Are you saying you’re still a … virgin?”