Free Grave Decisions (A Maddie Graves Mystery Book 7) by Lily Harper Hart Page A

me what’s going on and we’ll go from there.”
    “The crowd was kind of … worked up,” Maddie said. “I got a little confused because my mother was there and she was making fun of Cooper’s boots and Christy kept giving me dirty looks because she thinks I’m jealous of Cooper. Marla is jealous of me and kept getting digs in.
    “I needed a spot away from him to regroup and he wouldn’t stop following me so I ran toward the bathroom,” she continued. “When I did, I accidentally ran into a young woman and I … saw something.”
    Nick calmly tucked a flyaway strand of Maddie’s hair beneath her scarf. “What did you see?”
    “It was the woman, and she was being stabbed,” Maddie said, her breath hitching in her chest. “It was a bunch of overlapping flashes, but I think that’s going to happen to her, Nicky. We have to stop it.”
    “Okay,” Nick said, pulling Maddie in for a hug. “We’ll figure it out. Just … calm down for a few minutes. Can you do that for me?”

    “ Y OU DON’T seem surprised by any of this,” John said, watching Kreskin from across the desk as the older detective worked on his computer. “Nick said he denied it when you asked if Maddie was psychic.”
    “He did deny it,” Kreskin confirmed. “That doesn’t mean I believed his denials. He also slipped up a few times, although there’s no need to bring that up given the circumstances.”
    “And now?” John pressed. “Do you believe her?”
    “I’ve always believed her,” Kreskin replied. “I believed her mother before her, too.”
    John was surprised. “You knew Olivia?”
    “She helped me with a case or two,” Kreskin confirmed. “We didn’t broadcast it, but I knew she was the real deal. I knew Maddie was the real deal before Nick started lying to protect her.”
    “What do you think now?”
    “I think we should let Nick calm her down and go from there,” Kreskin said, his eyes landing on the couch near the front door where Nick rested with Maddie cuddled to his side, occasionally whispering something in her ear to cajole a smile. “He’s good with her. He’ll have her back on track in a few minutes.”
    “He’s always been good with her,” John said, his expression thoughtful as he watched his brother and Maddie. “She broke his heart, though. I didn’t think he’d ever get over that.”
    “I didn’t know about the broken heart because your brother kept that to himself, but the moment I saw those two together I knew that things would never be the same,” Kreskin said. “He lit up when she was around. I never thought of him as an unhappy individual until I saw him with Maddie. That’s when I realized he was extremely unhappy, and she was the only thing in this world that could make him happy.”
    “They’re definitely cute together,” John said, shaking his head as Nick pressed a soft kiss to Maddie’s cheek, causing her to giggle. “It makes me jealous. I want to punch him.”
    Kreskin snorted. “If you would stop being jealous of your brother, you might find a girlfriend of your own and stop fixating on them. They’re going to be together forever. I have no doubt about that. You need to decide what you want and go after it.”
    “I want a girl exactly like Maddie,” John said, not missing a beat. “I want her to be smoking hot, a wiz in the kitchen, a tiger in the bedroom, and did I mention I want her to be smoking hot?”
    “You’ve got issues, son,” Kreskin said, shaking his head. “I know you don’t believe your brother, but I do. He didn’t fall in love with Maddie because of her looks. I think he’s happy with how beautiful she is, don’t get me wrong, but he fell in love with Maddie because of her heart. You need to find a woman and fall in love with her heart instead of her body.”
    “That sounds like a lot of work,” John complained, leaning back in his chair. “I’d rather just steal Maddie away from Nick.”
    “That’s not going to happen,” Nick said,