Grave Destiny

by Lily Harper Hart

  “Mildred always was the private sort.” Ruby shifted from one foot to the other as she searched her memory. “You know, I honestly can’t remember her coming in here more than a handful of times. She didn’t seem sociable.”

  “I was trying to think back to any interactions I had with her over the years, too,” Maddie admitted. “All I remember is her threatening Nick and me with a hose if we walked on her land while playing in the woods. For years I really thought she was going to whip me with a garden hose.

  “Then I remember telling Granny about it one day and she was up in arms,” she continued. “She marched down to the house and had a huge row with Mildred. I thought they might come to blows until Mom stepped in.”

  Nick smiled. “How did that end?”

  Maddie shrugged. “I don’t really remember. I know there was fighting and then Mom intervened. They stopped fighting after that, but I can’t ever remember Granny and Mildred talking again. Granny did flip her the bird whenever we happened to pass by and Mildred was in the yard, though.”

  Ruby’s laughter was so loud it caused a few heads to turn in their direction. “That sounds like Maude. She’s always been a pip. As for Mildred, I don’t know what to tell you. I’ve never seen her with a kid.”

  “That seems to be the general consensus.”

  Ruby eyed Nick for a long beat. “Is this about the girl Maddie found in the basement?”

  “How do you know about that?” Maddie asked, defensive. “Is that story making the rounds?”

  “Of course it’s making the rounds. You saved a little girl from a fire … a girl that apparently had no reason to be in that basement. That’s all anyone can talk about.”

  Maddie cast a sidelong look to Nick. “Is that why you’re so tired?”

  Nick forced a smile. “Partially. We were inundated with calls today. People from all over the state – some from out of state – and all are missing a daughter. Some are missing toddlers. Others are missing children who would be adults now. All want to know if we found their daughter in that house yesterday.”

  Maddie was flabbergasted. “Oh, Nicky. I … what are you guys doing?”

  “We’re shuttling the calls to the state police,” Nick answered without hesitation. “They can weed out the bulk of them. They’re running evidence from inside Mildred’s house as it is.”

  “But … that girl, she called Mildred her grandmother,” Maddie pointed out. “I don’t think she was kidnapped … at least not the way everyone else was assuming.”

  “I know.” Nick was grave. “I read the report from Patty Foster. She sent over a description of what happened this afternoon at the children’s home. I hear you were instrumental in getting Angel to talk, by the way. Good job.”

  Maddie didn’t want to be complimented on a job well done. She wanted answers. “Do you have any idea who that girl is?”

  “No, and we’ve got more questions than answers.” He spared a glance for Ruby, a bit of warning extending outward, and then continued. “We found Mildred’s nephew. He doesn’t know a lot about his aunt because there was some sort of family feud. He was adamant she didn’t have a child, though.”

  “What about someone else in the family?” Ruby was officially intrigued. “Don’t worry about me spreading the gossip around, by the way. I wouldn’t do that. The kid’s well-being is the most important thing and everyone spreading her business around isn’t going to help.”

  “We honestly don’t know,” Nick admitted. “As far as we can tell, Mildred had one brother. He died years ago. His son lives in Gaylord. He’s a likable enough guy, but he wasn’t a lot of help. I could tell he felt bad – and maybe even a little guilty because he never checked on his elderly aunt who lived alone – but he couldn’t offer us more than a handful of stories.”

  “And none of those stories involved a kid, right?” Maddie pressed.

  “No.”

  “So where did Angel come from?”

  “I don’t know.” Nick squeezed her shoulder with the arm he draped over the back of the booth. “Right now, we started a search to see if we can find missing girls named ‘Angel’, or at least some variation on the name, and we’ll go from there.”

  “Well, I’ll put your orders in.” Ruby looked disturbed as she shook her head. “This whole thing makes me sick to my stomach.”

  “You’re not the only one.” Nick waited until Ruby disappeared to lower his forehead to Maddie’s, giving her a quick kiss before she could launch into a serious discussion. “Tell me about your day.”

  “What?”

  “Tell me about your day,” Nick repeated. “I’m sick of talking about my day. It was long and fruitless. You actually accomplished something. You got a terrified girl to open up and trust you.”

  “I also spent five hundred bucks on stuff for her at Target,” Maddie admitted ruefully.

  Nick chuckled. “I’m sure she’ll appreciate it.”

  “She was really excited for the books and coloring stuff. She fought when it was time for me to leave again.”

  That was exactly what Nick was worried about. “Mad, you can’t let that bother you. I know part of you is already so attached to her that it’s going to be like pulling teeth when we find a permanent placement for her, but you cannot let this overwhelm you. I’m going to be really upset if you do.”

  “I won’t let it overwhelm me,” Maddie promised. “Angel made so much progress today it was amazing. I think she can speak, although she didn’t try. She’s not completely deaf. She can hear some of what we say. Right now she’s only comfortable communicating through sign language, though.”

  “Hey, at least you figured it out. If you hadn’t stopped to visit her, nothing might have come of that. We’re a lot better off now than we were this morning.”

  “And to think, you didn’t want me to visit her,” Maddie teased. “I guess I was right and you were wrong, huh? I think I’m going to have to remind you of that later.”

  “Ha, ha.” Nick gave Maddie’s hair a playful tug.

  “Well, well, well.” A dismissive voice washed over the table, causing Maddie to internally sigh when she recognized it. “What do we have here? Why am I not surprised that you guys are still acting like goofy teenagers when it comes time to go out in public?”

  Nick rolled his eyes as he turned to look at the area in front of the table. Marla Proctor, the woman who made it her mission to annoy Maddie at every turn, stood in a prominent position and glared at the couple. Her sidekick, Cassidy Dunham, stood about two feet back and looked less certain.

  “Good evening, Marla,” Nick drawled, disdain evident. “I’m surprised the nuthouse let you out for the night. Or, wait, did you escape? Should I call the nice men in white coats to collect you?”

  Maddie pressed her lips together to keep from laughing.

  “Oh, your wit astounds me,” Marla deadpanned. “I can’t believe you didn’t go for the career in comedy before becoming a cop. Or, wait, maybe you became a cop because you’re so bad at it that it becomes inadvertently funny.”

  Maddie immediately bristled. “You take that back!”

  “Settle down, tiger.” Nick kept a firm grip on her shoulder to make sure Maddie didn’t launch herself across the table in an effort to scratch out Marla’s eyes. “I appreciate that you’re ready to stand up for me at the drop of a hat, but it’s really not necessary. This is Marla. Everyone knows that she speaks complete and utter nonsense.”

  Maddie remained stiff. “She shouldn’t say that about you. You’re a good cop.”

  “Don’t let her get to you, Mad,” Nick admonished. “That’s exactly what she wants. She clearly feels she’s not getting enough attention today so she stopped by our table because even negative attention will do.”

  “Oh, stuff it.” Marla made a face. “I stopped by your table because I’m looking for information on the girl who was found in Mildred’s house. Do you have any leads on her yet?”

  Maddie was instantly suspicious. “W
hy do you care?”

  “I’m naturally curious,” Marla replied. “I thought I might volunteer my help – perhaps run a fundraiser or something for the little darling – but I need to be able to track her down if I expect to do that.”

  Nick quickly joined Maddie in the suspicious department. “I’m not telling you anything about her. If that’s why you came over here, you can just toddle off in the other direction.” He made a dismissive gesture with his fingers. “In fact, if you could toddle off regardless, that would be great. Maddie and I are trying to have a romantic dinner and four is most definitely a crowd.”

  “Oh, you wish you could have a romantic dinner with me,” Marla shot back.

  Nick mimed vomiting, causing Maddie to squeeze his knee under the table.

  “Don’t let her drag you into an immature face off,” Maddie warned, slowly letting her eyes shift to Marla. “As for you, you might as well mind your own business. You’re not involved in this. Don’t you have a job to do or something?”

  “Of course I do. I’m a philanthropist at heart, though.”

  Maddie and Nick snorted in unison, prodding Cassidy to step forward. She looked nervous as she wrung her hands together. Since she was the one in a relationship with Nick when Maddie came back to town – a relationship Nick promptly ended, resulting in a broken heart and embarrassment for Cassidy – any interaction between the threesome was always strained.

  “She really does want to help,” Cassidy prodded. “She’s not making it up.”

  Nick ran his tongue over his teeth as he debated how to answer. “Cassidy, I really don’t want to turn this into a fight. Things have been quiet for months between us and I like it that way. I’m not giving Marla private information about that girl, though. It’s simply not going to happen.”

  Cassidy had the grace to look abashed. “I don’t know that we’re looking for private information,” she hedged. “It’s more that we’re looking for direction. We want to help, but we need to know where to aim ourselves to do it.”

  “Oh, you don’t want to help,” Maddie countered. “Marla has figured out a way to get attention for herself from whatever it is you’ve got planned and you’re just tagging along for the ride because you’re her sidekick and Marla can’t function if she doesn’t have someone to boss around.”

  Nick lifted an eyebrow, amused. “That was catty, Mad.”

  “Really?” Maddie was taken aback. “Too catty?”

  Nick made a feline growling noise and smiled. “Just catty enough. I liked it.”

  “Oh, you make me sick.” Marla was beside herself. “You can’t keep that girl’s identity and whereabouts to yourself. It’s against the law if other people want to help. I happen to know that Maddie was over there visiting her this afternoon – Christy went with her and told people at the salon – so you obviously told her where to find the girl. Now you have to tell me.”

  Nick rubbed his jaw with his free hand, confused where to start. “Well, um, you’re stupid.”

  Maddie ducked her head to avoid Marla’s mutinous stare.

  “Maddie is part of my investigative team,” Nick explained, relishing the hateful look on Marla’s face as she tossed back her hair. “She found the girl and bonded with her. She’s necessary to the information process. As far as I can tell, you’re not necessary for anything.

  “As for sharing information, you’ve got that wrong,” he continued. “It’s against the law for me to share information with those not directly involved with the case. That includes you.”

  Cassidy was the first to speak. “Since when is Maddie a part of your investigation team? You never allowed me to tag along when you were on a case.”

  Nick stared at her a beat, conflicted. “Maddie is part of the team because she was there last night.”

  “Maddie has been helping you with cases since she got back, though,” Marla argued. “It seems to me there’s one set of rules for Maddie and another set of rules for everybody else. It’s not fair.”

  Nick merely shrugged. “If that’s the way you feel, I guess you’re entitled to your beliefs. It doesn’t really matter to me, though.”

  “That’s it?” Marla was incredulous. “You’re just going to ignore my question.”

  “Pretty much.”

  “Fine.” Marla straightened her shoulders. “I’ll go to Dale. He’ll tell me.”

  Nick tried – and failed – to bury a snort. “Good luck with that. I’m sure he’ll be as happy to see you as I am. In fact … .” Whatever he was about to say died on his lips as Christy, her red hair wild, stormed into the restaurant and stopped in front of Maddie. “Is something wrong?”

  Christy ignored Nick and kept her focus on Maddie. “Well, I hope you’re happy!” She shoved what looked like a white pen across the table. “You were right and my life is now over.”

  Nick was understandably confused. “What is that?” He leaned over Maddie’s shoulder and frowned. “Is that a pen?”

  Maddie swallowed hard. “It’s a pregnancy test.”

  “And it’s positive,” Christy screeched. “You were right and now the world is coming to an end. I blame you!”

  “Uh-oh.” Nick was beyond amused as Maddie’s expression twisted. “I’m going to be an uncle, huh? This day is starting to look up.”

  Ten

  “I swear I was kidding when I teased her about it.”

  Maddie and Nick were still talking about Christy’s surprising news the next morning as they made their way to the main floor to start breakfast preparations.

  “Oh, come on,” Nick protested, digging in the refrigerator for eggs, bacon and hash browns. “You had to legitimately suspect you were right.”

  Maddie tilted her head to the side as she poured water into the coffee machine. “I … don’t think so. I was just kidding. Honest.”

  “You have a very honest face.” Nick gave her a quick kiss before grabbing a skillet from the cupboard. “Still, I think you might have used your abilities to ferret out information without evening realizing it.”

  Maddie was stunned silent by the suggestion. Maude, however, was the opposite.

  “What abilities is Maddie using and what gossip did she ferret out?” Maude asked as she glided into the room. She looked well-rested, which made Nick believe she’d spent the evening relaxing rather than vandalizing. “Tell me now.”

  Nick regarded her for a long beat before shaking his head. “I’m not sure we should tell you. The news will be all over town if we do.”

  Maddie found her voice. “The news will be all over town no matter what. Cassidy and Marla heard what she said. I’m actually surprised the news hasn’t already filtered back to Granny.”

  “Good point.” Nick’s expression was serious as he regarded Maude. “Christy is pregnant.”

  Maddie widened her eyes to comical proportions. “Wow. You turned quickly on that one, huh? Not two seconds ago you said we should keep it secret and now you just blurted it out like it was nothing.”

  Nick shrugged, unbothered. “Like you said, everybody already knows.”

  “I don’t think John knows.”

  Nick’s smile turned evil. “How bad would it be if I were the one to tell him?”

  “Very bad.” Maddie lightly smacked Nick’s arm but her tone meant business. “It’s up to Christy to tell John. That’s their … thing.”

  “Christy is pregnant?” Maude accepted the mug of coffee Maddie slid her way and settled at the end of the kitchen table to absorb the news. “That’s … wow. Did she seem excited?”

  “Furious would be the more appropriate word,” Nick replied as he used a spatula to flip hash browns. “Apparently Maddie was teasing her earlier in the day about being pregnant and Christy thought it was ridiculous. Then she took a pregnancy test and realized it wasn’t so ridiculous.”

  “Oh, well … I guess that’s nice.” Maude didn’t look convinced. “It’s a little soon for them to be having kids.”

  “I think they’ll be f
ine.” Nick wasn’t particularly bothered by the notion of being an uncle. “John will probably freak out for a bit – that is his way – but I’ll talk him down. Don’t worry.”

  Maddie shot Nick a knowing look. “You’re dying to mess with him about this, aren’t you?”

  “The guy who swore up and down that he was never going to settle down? Yeah, I’m dying to mess with him.”

  Maddie stilled. “Wait … are you saying John never wants to settle down?”

  Nick realized what he said too late to take it back. “I’m saying that up until he started seriously dating Christy a few months ago that John was more reticent about a long-term relationship that involved kids,” he hedged. “That doesn’t seem to be the case now, but I don’t believe that he’ll take the news particularly well.”

  Maddie couldn’t stop the worry from bubbling up. “You don’t think he would abandon her to raise the baby on her own, do you?”

  “Of course not.” The words were out of Nick’s mouth before he gave them much thought. After a moment of contemplation, though, he became more convinced that he was right. “That won’t happen. He’s going to freak out but do the right thing.”

  Maddie wasn’t even remotely placated. “Because he wants to be with Christy or because he knows your mother and father will beat the crap out of him if he doesn’t comply?”

  “I … what’s the difference?”

  “There’s a big difference.” Maddie’s tone turned cold. “I wouldn’t want you to marry me, to settle down, if the only reason you did it was because of a baby. I would want you to love me.”

  Nick felt as if he’d inadvertently walked into a trap. “Mad, I do love you.”

  “I’m talking about John and Christy.”

  “I think John loves Christy,” Nick offered. “It’s soon, but I see it when he looks at her. You don’t have to worry about this. It’s going to work out. Trust me.”

  Maddie wanted to believe him, but her agitation level was high. “He’d better love her. I’m going to smack him around if he doesn’t.”