Grave Seas: A Maddie Graves and Rowan Gray Mystery Read online

  “I don’t think there’s anything wrong with being a homemaker,” Maddie hedged, uncertain. “My mother used to run a magic store out of her house when I was a kid, right up until she died. I took over the store when I returned home, but I decided I didn’t want people in the house because Nick and I plan to have kids so I got rid of the store and now it’s a simple living room.”

  Rowan drew her eyebrows together. “I’m not suggesting there’s anything wrong with being a homemaker. If that’s what you want ... .”

  “It’s kind of what I want,” Maddie admitted. “Not totally, though. I want to be able to contribute to the household funds, though, so I’m going to be performing at festivals through the spring, summer, and fall and I figure I can actually bring in more money that way than I did running the store.”

  “That’s great.” Rowan meant it. “How does it work?”

  “How does what work?”

  “Reading the cards. I mean ... are you psychic?” She didn’t realize she was going to ask the question until it was already out of her mouth. She honestly didn’t expect Maddie to answer in the affirmative — really, those who harbored gifts were careful who they shared the secret with — but Maddie bobbed her head. “Wait ... you are?”

  “I can do a few things,” Maddie hedged, shifting on her chair so she could glance over her shoulder to make sure nobody was listening. Either those at the surrounding tables didn’t care or they were hiding their interest. She was convinced it was the former. “My mother had a touch of the sight and she passed it on to me.”

  “I don’t know what that means,” Rowan admitted. “Can you read people’s minds?”

  “No.” Maddie firmly shook her head. “I don’t know if anyone has that gift. I can see things occasionally, though. I see flashes. I saw a really weird flash from Dylan the other day, in fact.” She was talking more to herself than Rowan when she delivered the last line. In truth, she’d basically forgotten that she’d seen anything when she touched the man because she’d been focused on other things ... like Ben’s party animal persona now that his new wife was missing.

  “You saw things when you touched Dylan?” Rowan appeared excited at the prospect, rather than doubtful, which put Maddie mildly at ease. “That’s cool. At least I think it is. What did you see?”

  “It was a lot of things. In fact, the scenes flew by so fast I couldn’t really make them out. It was a little distressing really. Actually, it was quite distressing. I kind of fell over. It was embarrassing. Quinn caught me before I could hit the ground.”

  “He mentioned that,” Rowan admitted. “I think he believed you were drunk.”

  “I was a little tipsy.”

  “Still ... .” An idea formed in Rowan’s head. “Can you touch things and get visions?”

  “Sometimes. Why?”

  “What about a photo of someone? Say I had a photo of Dylan; could you touch it and maybe get a vision of him?”

  “I honestly don’t try to get visions. They basically just happen to me.”

  “What happens when you try?”

  “I have no idea. I never try.”

  “Do you want to try now?”

  “Oh, well ... .” Maddie was taken aback. She had no idea what to say. Finally, after a few moments of contemplation, she slowly nodded. “I guess it couldn’t hurt to try.”

  “Good. We’ll eat breakfast and then head to my office. There’s something I want to show you, too.”

  “WAIT ... WHAT AM I looking at?”

  Forty minutes later, Rowan and Maddie were secured tightly in the ship photographer’s basement office and Maddie had a photo of Violet in her hands.

  “That right there.” Rowan pointed toward an odd symbol in the corner of the photograph. She’d printed it out simply so Maddie could have something tangible to touch. “See that symbol right there? That’s what I can do.”

  Maddie chewed on her bottom lip as she considered the statement. “I’m going to need more information,” she said finally. “I don’t think I understand.”

  Rowan sucked in a cleansing breath ... and then went for it. Her instincts told her she could trust Maddie. She went with them. “When I was a little kid, my father got me my first camera. After a bit, we realized that certain symbols — not this specific one, it’s new — started showing up in some of them. When the people in those photos with that specific omen started dying, we put it together pretty quickly. They were death omens.”

  Maddie’s jaw dropped open. “And this is a death omen?”

  “That is ... something else,” Rowan replied. “I don’t know what that is. I haven’t seen it before. For years — more than a decade really — I only ever saw the one symbol. The death symbol. Then, a few months ago, I saw another symbol. We figured out it meant danger because my friend Sally — she’s the main chef on the ship — is from New Orleans and grew up in pagan circles.”

  “Huh.” Maddie sank into the chair across from Rowan’s desk and stared at the snapshot. “And you don’t know what this means?”

  “No.”

  “Has your friend Sally seen it?”

  “Um ... no.” Rowan felt like an idiot once she realized what Maddie was asking. “She totally should, though. You’re right.” She dug in her pocket for her phone and then texted the gregarious cook, who was in the middle of a shift in the kitchen. “She’s busy the next twenty minutes but then plans to come here to help.”

  “Does she know about the symbols?” Maddie queried.

  “Of course.”

  “So ... you told her about your gift.”

  “She kind of found out about it after the fact and was angry because I’d been hiding it from her,” Rowan admitted, squirming as she tried to get comfortable in her desk chair. “I felt bad after the fact — I always knew I could trust her but ... it’s difficult when you’re afraid something bad will happen if your secret gets out.”

  “I know.” Maddie offered the auburn-haired woman a wan smile. “That story Nick tells about us being separated, that was my fault. I hid what I could do from him. I was convinced he couldn’t love me if he knew the truth. My mother ingrained in me the necessity of not telling anyone.

  “After she died, I came back because ... well, because having a touch of the sight isn’t all I can do,” she continued. “I can see and talk to ghosts, too. I wanted to know if she’d stayed behind.”

  “Did she?” Rowan was legitimately curious. “Did you get to see her again?”

  “I did. She’s still hanging around. She plans to stay until she can leave with my grandmother, and I’m hoping that’s still a good deal of time away.”

  “It sounds like your grandmother is still in good health.”

  “She is. She’s in great health. The thing is ... I would rather she go quickly than stick around an extra six months and suffer. Maybe that’s not something I should say out loud, but it’s what I feel. All my memories of her are full of life ... and sometimes ridiculous antics. She’s been the best grandmother, though.”

  “I get that.” Rowan was being sincere. “I can see why you would wish for her to go quickly, maybe in her sleep, right? My mother was sick when I was a kid. It was horrible to watch her get weaker and weaker every single day. She took a little bit of my spirit with her when she died.

  “Then, just a few weeks ago, I found out that her brother was the reason all of this happened,” she continued. “He was the one who conducted experiments trying to create psychic people. He’s the one who forced my father to fake his death and go into hiding as a way to protect me.”

  “I thought maybe you left a little something out of that story,” Maddie admitted sheepishly. “This omen thing is interesting, though. I don’t know what to make of it.”

  “That makes two of us. I don’t even know how to look up this symbol. The only reason I figured out the last one was because of Sally. She’s really knowledgeable about this stuff.”

  “Well, then I’m glad we’ve got her on our side.” Madd
ie shifted the photo to the desk and fixed Rowan with an unreadable look. “You wanted me to touch a photo of Dylan. Does he have an omen, too?”

  “No. In fact, that first day I was relieved because nobody had an omen. I prefer quiet cruises rather than ones where we’re running around trying to keep people alive. Once I see the omen, it’s as if we’re living our lives for other people.”

  That’s when the final piece of the puzzle slipped into place for Maddie. “Wait a second ... .” She scooted to the edge of her seat. “Quinn said he didn’t believe Lindsey was dead. I thought it was a weird thing to say given what was going on, but now I get it. He didn’t believe she was dead because the symbol didn’t show up on her photograph.”

  “Pretty much,” Rowan confirmed. “If she was dead, the omen would’ve appeared ... even after the fact.”

  “So, she’s still alive. What does that mean?”

  “I don’t know. I thought maybe you could try touching photographs of all of our players, maybe you could will a vision. At least it would give us a direction to look.”

  “I’ve never done it that way,” Maddie told her. “I don’t even know if it’s possible.”

  “It can’t hurt to try, can it?”

  “Actually, it can’t. Let’s give it a shot.”

  MADDIE PUT HER BEST EFFORT into the task ... and came up empty. After touching each photograph in turn — and then doing it again — she threw the small stack down in frustration.

  “I don’t know what I’m doing.”

  Rowan took pity on her and patted her shoulder. “I think I put too much pressure on you. It doesn’t seem fair that I did this ... and I’m sorry.”

  The look Maddie shot her was withering. “This isn’t about you,” she countered. “This is about me. I’m a failure.”

  “No,” Rowan protested. “You’re not a failure. You already saw something the first time you saw Dylan. Maybe we should be focusing on that rather than trying to make you see something new.”

  Maddie leaned back in her chair. “Meaning?”

  “Meaning we should make a list of the things you saw.” Rowan dug in her desk until she found a legal pad, offering Maddie an encouraging smile as she clicked an ink pen. “Maybe there’s something in there even if you don’t realize it.”

  “I ... .” Maddie was going to shoot down the suggestion, but then she thought better of it. “You’re right. It’s a good idea. I’m not sure what I can remember. Between the alcohol and the shock of the visions, I was a little out of it.”

  “Give it a whirl.”

  “Okay ... um ... .” Maddie blew out a sigh and closed her eyes. If this was going to work, she needed to focus ... so that’s exactly what she did. “There was a little boy, dark hair. He was standing on the front porch of a house. It was an older home and looked like it might’ve been in the south, like Charleston maybe ... or Atlanta.”

  “Good. Do you think the little boy was Dylan or someone else?”

  “I ... don’t know. That’s a good question. He had the same coloring as Dylan. He didn’t look a lot like him but that doesn’t necessarily mean anything. The little boy was rounder. Not fat but still had his baby fat, although you could tell he was going to grow out of it.”

  “I know what you mean,” Rowan agreed. “We’ll put a question mark on it. Keep going.”

  “Um ... I heard screaming and it was definitely a woman. She sounded as if she was in real trouble, as if her life was on the line.”

  “Did you recognize the voice? Like ... was it Lindsey?”

  “I don’t know. It was just a scream. I don’t know if it was Violet either. I never saw a face, just heard the noise. There’s someone yelling, too. He’s angry ... like really angry. He’s yelling at the woman while she’s screaming. They’re reacting to each other. I know that, but I can’t hear what they’re saying.”

  “Fair enough. Is it Dylan doing the yelling?”

  “I ... maybe.” Maddie screwed up her face in concentration. “I just don’t know. It was as if I was seeing the scenes through steamed glass or something.”

  “Okay. I ... .” Rowan broke off when her office door opened to allow Sally entrance. The acclaimed chef was still dressed in her kitchen uniform and she didn’t look happy to be summoned to the basement. “You didn’t have to race down here,” Rowan offered. “You could’ve taken a few minutes for yourself.”

  “You said it was important,” Sally reminded her, sparing a glance for Maddie. “Who is this?”

  Rowan introduced them. “Maddie is helping me with something. There’s a different symbol in another photograph and I was hoping you could take a look and tell me if you recognize it.”

  Sally heaved out a sigh and nodded, moving closer to the desk. “I don’t have a lot of time before I have to get back. Let me see it.”

  Rowan sorted through the photos until she found the one of Violet and handed it to her friend. “It’s in the upper righthand corner.”

  Sally squinted as she looked at the symbol in question, turning the photograph in two different directions before handing it back. “That’s the crone,” she said finally.

  “I don’t know what that means,” Rowan said blankly. “What kind of crone?”

  “I have no idea. In this instance, I have a theory, though.”

  “I’m dying to hear it.”

  “In New Orleans, the crone symbol is known to show up when you’re dealing with a dark witch,” Sally explained. “I’m guessing that’s why the symbol popped up here. I’ve heard stories about that woman — she actually sent her crab bisque back last night because she said it was too salty — and she’s definitely a witch.”

  Rowan wasn’t sure how to respond. “But ... wait, your magic bisque? The bisque that has saved marriages and cured heart disease?”

  Sally bobbed her head. “That would be the bisque in question. As for the symbol, I don’t know what to tell you. Research might help, but I’m betting the symbol is pretty straight forward. She’s a witch and you’re supposed to burn her at the stake ... or whatever else you do to evil witches these days.”

  Rowan was flabbergasted. “Well ... I don’t know if I believe that.”

  “I have nothing else for you and I need to go. Look up the symbol and you’ll see that I’m right, though. You’re dealing with a witch ... and things won’t go well until her power is stripped. That’s also a regular thing in New Orleans, if you’re interested.”

  With those words, Sally turned on her heel and flounced out the door, leaving Rowan and Maddie to consider the new witchy theory.

  “She can’t be a witch,” Rowan said finally.

  “We should probably do some research anyway,” Maddie suggested.

  “Definitely.”

  Fourteen

  Quinn and Nick split Dylan’s room down the middle and began their search. They conducted it mostly in silence, unless to point something out to the other, and they were twenty minutes into their task when Quinn decided to open a different avenue of conversation.

  “What’s it like being married?”

  Nick arched an eyebrow, surprised. “It’s great.”

  “Do you want to expand on that?”

  “I don’t know what you want me to say.” Nick, who had been pawing through the open suitcase on the floor, rolled back on his haunches. “I’ve loved Maddie since we were five years old. I know that sounds ridiculous, but it’s true. She stole my heart way back then and never gave it back.

  “I was without her for a long time, to the point where I kind of grew numb to life and did things I’m not very proud of,” he continued. “I dated women in that time, but I set a schedule. I didn’t allow them to stick around very often, and it wasn’t because I was afraid I would grow attached to them. It’s because I didn’t want them growing attached to me. I knew there was no chance I would grow attached to them because Maddie was always it for me.

  “I screwed up a lot of lives that way. I couldn’t see beyond myself and what I lost.
Then, when she came back into my life, all I could think about what how angry I was … and how I didn’t want to hurt that way again.”

  Quinn was taken aback. “This conversation turned deeper than I thought it would.”

  Nick chuckled. “I didn’t mean to turn dark on you. It was a roundabout way of answering your question. I wasn’t lying about wanting to keep her at arm’s length. I didn’t think I could go through that pain again. The thing is, it hurt to be away from her. When I was with her, that pain went away.

  “Once we got past our stuff – and we had a lot of stupid stuff to deal with – it wasn’t long before I couldn’t imagine my life without her,” he continued. “I guess what I’m trying to say is that marriage is the absolute best thing I ever did because she is my entire life. Is that what you wanted to hear?”

  Quinn shrugged, noncommittal. “I think you might’ve freaked me out more.”

  Nick shook his head and snorted. “No, I didn’t. I’ve seen you with Rowan. You guys are going to be fine. You’re destined for each other, the same way Maddie and I were destined for one another.”

  “We haven’t even known each other for a full year.”

  “So?”

  “So … what if we’re moving too fast?”

  “Are you really worried about things changing between the two of you?”

  Quinn cocked his head, considering. “No,” he replied after a beat. “We’re right for each other. I know that to my very soul. We connected right away and she somehow managed to take up all the space in my heart within a single breath.”

  “Then why were you asking about what it’s like to be married?”

  “Because we’re officially living together and I thought you might have insight on how to avoid petty bickering sessions when you share a living space.”

  “Oh.” Nick barked out a laugh. “You were asking for practical advice, no spiritual advice.”

  “Pretty much.”

  “Well, I have tons of things to offer you there.” Nick went back to his search. “First off, always split the difference on the thermostat. She’ll be cold at times when you’re comfortable, or even warm. Compromise so you’re both comfortable.”