Grave Delight (A Maddie Graves Mystery Book 3) (21 page)

Nick pounded on the front door of the Walker home. This was his third round. He was worried Jessica Walker was either hurt or … something worse. He was going to give it one more round before kicking the door in.

Just as he raised his hand one more time the door flew open. Instead of a cowering – or bleeding – Jessica, though, Nick found a fuming Andrew Walker staring at him from the other side of the threshold.

“What the … ?” Andrew’s face contorted. “Is there a reason you’re beating on my door? Do you need attention? I told you two hours ago that I was getting a lawyer. If you want to talk to me again then you go through him.”

Nick faltered. “I … have you been here all afternoon?”

“Yes.”

“Alone?”

Andrew lifted his half-empty bottle of Jack Daniels. “Just me and my bud here.”

Nick and John exchanged a look. “Mr. Andrews, can anyone confirm your whereabouts this afternoon?”

“Just Jack,” Andrew said, slurring slightly as he turned and shuffled back into his house.

Even though they hadn’t been invited Nick and John followed. They were both worried about Jessica Walker’s current status, and this was the best way they could think of to find out if she was okay.

Andrew didn’t stop until he reached the kitchen, which looked the same as the last time they’d been in the room. Thankfully, there were no signs of a struggle. “Can I get you two a drink?”

“We’re on duty,” John said.

“So?”

“We can’t drink on duty.”

“Your loss.” Andrew unscrewed the cap on the bottle and drank directly from it. “Good stuff.”

“Mr. Walker, where is your wife?” Nick asked pointedly.

“She went out,” Andrew said. “She had to make arrangements for Hayley’s funeral. She’s making a big deal out of it. I told her it was a waste of time. She’s dead. She doesn’t care.”

John scowled. “I’m sure
you
would see it that way.”

“What other way is there to see it?” Andrew asked. “She ran away from home and got herself killed. I don’t see why we should reward bad behavior. I’m not wasting money on a funeral when we don’t have it to spend.”

Nick was overwhelmed with the sudden urge to hit the man. If he’d been alone, he wasn’t sure if he would have been able to stop himself. “Can we search your home to make sure that your wife is really … out?”

Andrew made a face. “Why would you want to search my house?”

“We’re worried about your wife,” Nick said. “You were … aggressive … when we left.”

“And you think I hurt my wife? Of course, you do. You think I beat my daughter. Why wouldn’t you think I beat my wife, too.”

“I’m going to look around the house,” John said. “You’re going to … stay right here with my brother while I look. Do you understand?”

“I’m not stupid,” Andrew said.

Nick wasn’t so sure. “Go,” he said. “Mr. Walker and I are going to have a little talk here.”

“I’m sure that’s going to be illuminating.”

MADDIE
tried to tuck her hair behind her ears as the wind swirled around her. The storm was coming … and it was coming fast. She didn’t have a lot of time, and yet something inside was telling her that she had to find what was hidden behind the trees.

After picking her way through the dense underbrush, Maddie found herself standing in front of a small boat. The front end of the craft was tied off to one of the trees, and it was starting to buck up and down as the wind whipped the water into a frenzy.

Maddie circled the boat until she got to the far side, and her eyebrows flew up when she read the name of the boat:
Look At Me
.

Holy crap.

Maddie dug into her pocket to find her phone, pulling it out of her pocket and focusing on the screen. Instead of making a call, which would call attention to her presence if someone was under the deck, she decided to send a text. After typing out a few cursory words – including her location – Maddie pressed “send” and pocketed the phone. Nick was close. He would be here soon. That meant she had time to get a better look at the boat before the storm hit. She wouldn’t be out here alone for long.

After studying the boat for a few minutes, taking the time to move from one side to the other and then back again, Maddie made a decision: She had to see what – if anything – was on board. She had to know if it was the same boat she’d dreamed about. She had to know if this was where Hayley died.

Maddie waded into the water, internally thankful she was wearing her J-41 shoes so it didn’t matter if they got wet, and quietly moved toward the boat. Since the wind was busy the water was already lapping at the shore and making a decent amount of noise. If someone was on the boat they wouldn’t hear her approach.

Maddie’s hand was already on the ladder when an inner voice urged her to turn around. The voice belonged to Nick, and he was begging her to think. She yanked her hand back, worrying her bottom lip with her teeth as she considered what to do. Climbing onto this boat – a boat she was pretty sure had been used to dump a teenage girl’s dead body into the lake – was a bad idea. If she could be assured the boat was empty, that would change things.

“Hello?”

No one answered.

Maddie cleared her throat and tried again, a little louder this time. “Hello?”

When no one answered again Maddie beat her hands on the side of the boat for good measure. “Hello!”

The boat was empty. Maddie was sure of it. She made up her mind quickly. She raised her hand to the ladder and swung herself up. She had to look around before the storm washed all potential evidence from the vessel. She just had to see. She was convinced Andrew Walker had abandoned it here – knowing full well the storm was rolling in and would wash all trace evidence away – and that meant she had to look around before it was too late.

What was the harm? Nick was on his way, after all.

“MR. WALKER,
were you aware that your mother-in-law’s boat was removed from the marina about an hour ago?”

Andrew raised his eyebrows. “No. Why should I know that? It’s not my boat.”

“I just find it suspicious that right after we told you we were impounding the boat it went missing.”

“I obviously didn’t take it,” Andrew said. “I don’t even know how to drive a boat. Jessica tried to teach me, but she doesn’t have a lot of patience. It’s harder than it looks.”

Nick wrinkled his nose. “Jessica doesn’t have a lot of patience?”

“She always said she wanted to be a teacher, but she would’ve killed all of her students on the first day,” Andrew said. “She doesn’t like it when people talk back to her.”

“I guess that’s a family trait,” Nick said.

“What are you getting at?”

“Mr. Walker, I don’t know who you’re trying to fool, but I saw your temper on display this afternoon,” Nick said. “Do you think I’m stupid enough to believe you keep your hands to yourself? People saw the bruises on Hayley. Just … stop.”

Instead of reacting in anger, like Nick was expecting, Andrew’s eyes filled with tears. “If you think I don’t know what I did to Hayley was wrong … then you
are
the stupid one,” he said. “I … I know what I did. I’m not proud of it.”

Nick faltered. “What did you do?”

“I hit her,” Andrew admitted. “I hit her more than once. I hit her hard. She was always talking back. She was always … obnoxious. I hit her. I admit it. I hit her and … I … hurt her.”

“How did you hurt her?”

“I didn’t mean to do it,” Andrew said. “Something’s broken inside of me. I’m a horrible man. I’m a deviant. I’m sick. I blame it on the liquor. It turned me into a … demon.”

Nick’s heart rolled painfully. It was time to ask the one question everyone had been skirting around for days. “Did you rape your daughter?”

“It only happened once,” Andrew said. “I … I was drunk. I was confused. I didn’t mean for it to happen. I just couldn’t stop myself.”

Bile climbed up Nick’s throat. “She was your daughter.”

“I just got confused,” Andrew said. “I apologized for what I did. I was going to get … help. I was going to go into rehab. I knew that what I was doing was wrong. I just … she shouldn’t have enticed me that way. She was asking for it.”

Revulsion washed over Nick, followed quickly by rage. “Mr. Walker, please step away from the counter.”

“What? Why?”

“You’re under arrest,” Nick said.

“You should just let me kill myself,” Andrew said, his face serious. “I have nothing left to live for anyway.”

“I don’t think your future is going to be that easy,” Nick said, reaching for the cuffs on his belt. “Put your hands out in front of you and step away from the counter. You’re under arrest.”

MADDIE
searched the deck of the boat before poking her head into the cabin beneath. It was a small room, and thankfully it was empty. She’d been right. Someone abandoned the boat here hoping to take advantage of the storm.

A far off rumble of thunder told Maddie the tempest was getting closer, which meant she was running out of time. She turned her attention back to the deck, screwing her eyes shut and trying to step back into the vision. After a few moments, Maddie moved to the side of the boat where she believed Hayley had been resting in the vision and knelt down, pressing her fingertips to the fiberglass floor and hoping for a flash.

Nothing.

Frustration bubbled up, and Maddie fought to tamp it down as she busily slowed her eyes so she could scan each small portion of the deck in a methodical way. Her gaze landed on something underneath the bench on the aft side, and she crawled toward, something calling to her.

She couldn’t reach it until she flattened her body on the deck and extended her arm – and then the second her fingertips made contact with the item, which she realized now was a nylon rope, darkness overtook her and she slipped into someone else’s nightmare.

Hayley.

“WHAT’S
going on?” John asked, walking back into the kitchen and fixing Nick and Andrew with a surprised look. “Are we taking him into custody? I thought … .”

“I just read him his rights,” Nick said. “He admitted beating … and raping … Hayley.”

John’s face drained of color. “What?”

“It was an accident,” Andrew spat. “I didn’t mean to do it.”

“Yeah, you accidentally climbed into your daughter’s bed and raped her while she was kicking and screaming,” Nick said, disgustedly yanking the cuffs tighter. “Shut up.”

“They’re too tight,” Andrew whined.

“Shut up,” John said.

“Did you find his wife?” Nick asked, inclining his head toward the hallway John had just emerged from.

“She’s not here,” John said. “I can’t find her purse, and there’s only one vehicle in the garage. I think she might actually be out.”

Nick stilled. “Really? I thought for sure … .”

“You’re not the only one,” John said. “I had a thought about that, though. What if Andrew forced her to move the boat? If he wasn’t seen on it, that would give him an alibi for Hayley’s death. He could claim someone else stole the boat and have plausible deniability.”

That was an interesting idea. Nick turned back to Andrew. “Is that what happened? Did you make your wife steal the boat?”

“No one makes my wife do anything,” Andrew said, bitter. “Why do you think I had to look elsewhere for some love?”

“I’m going to hit you,” Nick hissed. “I … you make me sick.”

“Let’s take him down to the station,” John said. “We need to get him processed, and we need him to give us the details on how he killed Hayley and why he dumped her in the lake. It’s going to be a long night.”

“I didn’t kill Hayley,” Andrew said, incensed. “I already told you that.”

“You also told me you didn’t beat her,” Nick replied, nonplussed. “Forgive me if I don’t take you at your word.”

“Fine. I lied about that,” Andrew said, frustrated. “I’m not lying about this, though. Why would I kill Hayley? She was all I had.”

“What about your wife?”

“My wife is a cold and bitter woman,” Andrew said.

“Is that why you beat her?”

“I don’t beat her,” Andrew said. “I’d never lay a hand on her. I’m too scared. She’s one of those women who will cut your junk off when you’re sleeping. We don’t even share the same bedroom.”

Something about Andrew’s admission niggled at the back of Nick’s mind. “What? Do you sleep on the couch?”

“No. I sleep in the master bedroom and she sleeps in the other bedroom. It down the hall from mine.”

“But … I … this is only a two-bedroom house,” Nick said, confused. “If your wife slept in the second bedroom, where did Hayley sleep?”

“There’s another bedroom in the basement,” Andrew said. “That’s where Hayley stayed. It’s a small bedroom … and it’s isolated. It made things easier.”

“You’re one sick bastard,” John said. “That’s it. I’ve had enough of you. I have a feeling you’re going to be very popular in prison when word gets out about what you’ve done.”