Grave Misgivings (14 page)

That’s when the final nail in the realization coffin slipped into place for Cassidy. No matter what she told herself – not matter how hard Marla tried to convince her otherwise – Nick Winters was in love with Maddie Graves. It wasn’t infatuation. It wasn’t a momentary lapse in judgment that he would think better of in a few weeks. It wasn’t a temporary coupling that he was going to get bored with.

This was forever.

“She has to have had some work done,” Marla said, tilting her head to the side. “No one has a body like that without surgery.”

Cassidy shot her a dark look. “We’re done here.”

“Speak for yourself,” Marla said. “I want to see if Nick has stamina. I’m betting Maddie just lays there and lets him do all the work.”

It didn’t look that way to Cassidy. “We’re going,” she said, grabbing Marla’s arm. “They deserve some privacy.”

“They don’t deserve anything,” Marla said, although she reluctantly followed the insistent woman and started moving back down the passageway. “Don’t worry. It won’t be long until you have him back.”

“He’s never coming back to me,” Cassidy said, casting one more look over her shoulder when she heard Nick speak.

“I love you, my Maddie,” he said, cupping her chin and staring soulfully into her eyes.

The sentiment and naked raw emotion in his eyes caused something inside of Cassidy to break. “He belongs with her,” she said. “I get that now.”

“Well, well, well. It looks like someone had a nice night.”

Aaron’s eyes were bloodshot, itchy reminders of the previous evening’s shenanigans. Even though it was obvious he had a raging hangover he was jovial when he caught sight of Nick and Maddie walking into the dining room the next morning.

“It looks like you had a late night,” Nick said, his fingers linked with Maddie’s. “How late were you guys up?”

“Too late,” Lauren grumbled, holding her head in her hands as she studied the pitcher of water in front of her. “I have horrible cottonmouth, and yet I’m too tired to pour my own glass of water. How sad is that?”

“How much did you guys drink?” Maddie asked, sinking into the open seat next to Christy and fixing her friend with a sympathetic look.

“Too much,” Christy moaned.

“You smell like you’re still drunk.”

“It’s seeping out of my pores,” Christy said. “These … idiots … started mixing everything on the bar. I can’t even tell you how much my head hurts.”

Max slid the bottle of aspirin down the table in Christy’s direction. “Medicate up, sport.”

“Shut up, tool.”

Nick smirked. He was officially glad he and Maddie retired early – and not just because their evening activities were the stuff of everlasting dreams. Now they could enjoy their afternoon while everyone else grumbled and napped. “See, you guys called us goody-goodies last night, but who is happier?”

“Oh, please,” Brian said. “You two are happy because you were playing hide the salami upstairs all night. You’re not fooling anyone. You’re both all … sparkly. If I wasn’t already nauseated because of the quarts of vodka I drank last night, I would want to puke because you two are so sickly sweet.”

“You’re just jealous,” Nick said, pouring juice into Maddie’s cup as she doled eggs onto both of their plates. “We were good while you were bad and the universe rewarded us.”

“The universe didn’t reward you,” Christy countered. “The universe punished us.”

“You should drink some water,” Maddie said. “You should probably try to have something with sugar in it, too. The juice will probably suffice. I’ve read that a lot of hangovers are exacerbated because alcohol leeches sugar from your body.”

“You read that?”

“Yes.”

“You make me want to punch you sometimes,” Christy said, although Maddie had to smile when she reached for the juice.

“So, what is everyone going to do today?” Nick asked, winking at Maddie. “I was thinking we could play some really loud music and have that game of two-on-two Max has been begging for.”

“I hate you,” Max said. “Now you want to play basketball?”

“He only wants to play now because he knows he could beat all three of us with one hand tied behind his back,” Brian said. “I’m onto his game.”

“That shows what you know,” Nick said. “I don’t even want to play basketball. I just want to torture you guys. It’s kind of fun. Do you want me to tell you how much I love Maddie again?”

“Oh, please, anything but that,” Marla said, breezing into the room. Unlike the rest of Aaron’s guests, she looked fresh and relaxed.

“When did you get back?” Aaron asked.

“Around ten.”

“How come you didn’t come in and party with us?”

“Because you were all sloppy drunk and I didn’t want to be around annoying people,” Marla said. “I went up to bed early. After looking at you guys, it’s clear I made the right decision.”

“There’s a first time for everything,” Lauren said.

“You look like you’ve been run over by a truck,” Marla shot back.

“You look like my ass,” Lauren replied.

“At least I don’t smell like one.”

Maddie pursed her lips, worried the breakfast was going to devolve into something truly horrifying if she didn’t do something to stop it. “Where is Cassidy?”

Marla shrugged. “She’s probably still in bed. She was … weird last night.”

“That’s because we told her what your true intentions were,” Christy said.

“Oh, don’t worry, I set her straight about that,” Marla said. “She knows you were just trying to drive a wedge between us. We’re back to being BFFs.”

“Then she’s dumber than she looks,” Max said.

“You’re a pig,” Marla said.

“Oink.”

Nick pinched the bridge of his nose to ward off the oncoming headache. “I think I’m going to take Maddie to town this afternoon,” he announced.

“Why?” Aaron asked.

“Well, for starters, you all are nursing some terrific hangovers and I don’t want to be around for all the grousing,” Nick said. “I also want to check on a few things in town.”

Maddie remembered their plan to stop in at the house to make sure Maude didn’t sneak back in while they were gone. “I think that’s a good idea.”

“We’ll be back in time for dinner,” Nick said.

“I’m probably going to sleep most of the day,” Max admitted.

“I’m going to mainline aspirin and water and swear to never drink again,” Lauren said.

“I’m going to take a bath and then a nap,” Christy said.

“I’m going to do all of that,” Aaron said.

The sound of someone clearing their throat caused everyone to shift their attention to the doorframe at the far end of the room where a timid looking maid was shuffling back and forth.

“What’s up, Miranda?” Aaron asked.

“I hate to bother you, sir,” Miranda said. “It’s just … we were cleaning the rooms, and we noticed that the young lady in the south wing isn’t down here and she’s not up in her room. Do you think it’s okay for us to clean?”

“I guess,” Aaron said, shrugging. “Do you know where Cassidy is?”

“I have no idea, sir,” Miranda said. “It doesn’t look like she slept in the bed, though. It’s still made up.”

Nick glanced at Marla. “You two came back together, right?”

Marla nodded.

“When was the last time you saw her?”

“Oh, um, up in the hallway right before bed,” Marla said. “We talked for a little bit when we got back and then we separated.”

“Did you actually see her go into the bedroom?”

“No. It was right around the corner, though. Where would she go?”

Nick turned his attention back to Miranda. “Are you sure she just didn’t make the bed up herself?”

“I’m sure, sir.”

Nick pursed his lips, shifting his eyes to Maddie momentarily before making a decision. “Take me up to her room.”

“What do you think is going on?” Aaron asked, his eyes suddenly brighter. “Do you think she’s really missing?”

“Probably not,” Nick said. “She might just be walking around outside or something. It just seems weird to me that she didn’t sleep in her bed last night. This isn’t her house. Cassidy isn’t generally the type of person who would wander around someone else’s property by herself.”

“You’re worried, aren’t you?” Maddie asked, her blue eyes wide.

“I’m … confused,” Nick clarified. “Why isn’t she down here with the rest of us?”

“Let’s go look at her room,” Aaron said. “Now you’ve got me wondering.”

“Let’s all go,” Max said. “It will be like an adventure.”

“I can’t go on an adventure with my head pounding like this,” Lauren said.

“Then stay here,” Nick said. “I’m sure this is nothing. I just … I want to make sure.”

Maddie read the look on his face. Normally something like this wouldn’t bother Nick, but he was still edgy after her misfortune in the mausoleum. He hadn’t seen a thing but he’d believed Maddie when she said she had. If Cassidy was legitimately missing, there was a chance something horrible happened to her.

“I’ll come with you,” Maddie said, standing up. “I want to make sure Cassidy is okay, too.”

“Come on, love,” Nick said. “I promise we’ll still have our afternoon together once we find her.”

“I DON’T
like this,” Aaron said, his gaze bouncing from one side of Cassidy’s room to the other. “All her stuff is still here and yet she’s nowhere to be found.”

“Are we sure she’s not out on the grounds somewhere?” Brian asked. “This is a big parcel. She could be taking a walk for exercise or something. She’s an adult. It probably didn’t occur to her to tell someone where she was going.”

“I sent Miranda out to double check with the lawn crew,” Aaron said. “I haven’t heard anything back and I told them to alert me if anyone saw her this morning. There are too many of them to miss her.”

Nick rubbed the back of his neck. “Marla, have you tried calling her?”

Marla shook her head and immediately started digging into her pocket. “That’s a good idea.” She punched Cassidy’s number into the phone and held it to her ear. After a few seconds, she shook her head. “It’s going straight to voicemail.”

“Leave a message,” Nick instructed. “Tell her to call you right away.”

Marla nodded and when she was done leaving the message she turned to the rest of the group. “I’m usually the last one to overreact, especially when I’m not the one in trouble, but I’m kind of worried.”

“How was she last night?” Nick asked.

“What do you mean?”

“We told them about the conversation we had on the patio yesterday,” Aaron said. “They know that we gave Cassidy a hard dose of reality.”

“
Your
reality,” Marla countered. “I … she was fine. We had a few drinks at the fair, but neither one of us was drunk. She was fine when I left her in the hallway last night. I swear.”

“Are you sure she didn’t decide to go home?” Max asked. “She is the outsider here … even more than Marla. Maybe she had enough and left.”

“Without her stuff?” Nick asked, gesturing around the room. “I’m no expert, but those look like expensive shoes.”

“Cassidy wouldn’t leave without telling anyone,” Marla said. “This weekend wasn’t exactly a dream come true for her, but it’s not as if she was depressed.”

“She seemed a little depressed to me,” Brian said.

“You don’t even know her,” Marla said.

“I don’t think you know her either,” Brian said.

Nick raised his hand to cut off their argument before it got a chance to build too much steam. “We don’t have time for this,” he said. “I think we should split up and search the house.”

“I think that’s a good idea,” Aaron said. “I’ll take Brian with me. Max, you know the house as well as I do. Why don’t you take Marla with you?”

“I don’t want to go with her,” Max said. “I’ll take Maddie.”

“Maddie is staying with me,” Nick said.

“Of course she is,” Max said, sighing. “Fine. Marla, if you make my hangover worse by … being you … I’m going to gag you. I’m just giving you fair warning.”

“I hate you,” Marla said, flouncing out of the room.

“This really is turning into a crappy day,” Max said.

“THIS
house is huge,” Maddie said, running her hand over the wall as she trailed Nick down the hallway. “Where should we start looking?”

“I don’t know,” Nick said, his face serious. “I don’t suppose … .”

“What?”

“Is there any way to call your ghost here and ask her to help us?” Nick felt like an idiot for asking the question. He had no idea what was allowed on the ghostly plane, or how things worked in Maddie’s world, but a bad feeling had been building in the pit of his stomach since the maid interrupted breakfast with news of Cassidy’s disappearance.

“I don’t think she has a cell phone,” Maddie said. “I … I’m sorry. It doesn’t work that way.”

“It’s okay, Mad,” Nick said, reaching over and giving her hand a reassuring squeeze. “It was a shot in the dark. I don’t even know where to start looking here. She could be anywhere. I mean, for all we know, she could’ve fallen and hit her head.”

“You don’t believe that,” Maddie said. “You’re worried whatever was in the mausoleum with me yesterday attacked her.”

“I’m not sure if that’s what I’m worried about or not,” Nick said. “I just … this doesn’t feel right to me. I don’t know Cassidy as well as I should given the fact that I dated her for six months, but this doesn’t seem like something she would do.”

“I’m not saying this because I’m jealous you’re worried about her, but … um … do you think she would hide to cause a panic? I mean, she seemed upset about the attention you were doling out to me yesterday.”

Nick frowned. “You don’t have anything to be jealous about.”

“I know,” Maddie said. “I … that was the wrong word to use.”

“If you had asked me three months ago if she was capable of something like that I would’ve told you no without even thinking twice about it,” Nick said. “After the way she reacted when she found out I was going to break up with her, though, I’m just not sure.”

“Well, we have to look for her either way,” Maddie said pragmatically. “Neither one of us is going to be able to live with ourselves if we let it go and then something happens to her.”

“Where do you suggest we start looking?” Nick asked.