Grave Delight (A Maddie Graves Mystery Book 3) Read Online Free

was … too quick … I wouldn’t worry about it. The first time is always awkward.”
    Maddie scowled. “We didn’t get that far,” she said.
    “How far did you get?”
    “Not far,” Maddie said. “We went to dinner. It was wonderful and romantic. Then we went for a walk on the beach. Just when we were getting ready to leave … well … I stumbled across a dead body.”
    Christy, who had been nodding for each step of the story, practically spit her coffee back into the mug. “Are you kidding me?”
    Maddie shook her head.
    “Oh, no,” Christy said, horrified. “I’m so sorry. You must be crushed. You’ve been waiting for this for so long. That’s just … so unfair.”
    “Especially for the dead girl,” Maddie said.
    Christy grimaced. “I … that was really insensitive.”
    Maddie waved off Christy’s apology. “It was horrible,” she said. “The body looked like it had been in the water at some point. Trust me, even if Nick wasn’t a police officer and if he didn’t have to go to work, the mood would’ve been killed for the night.”
    “Did you recognize her?”
    Maddie shook her head, the memory of the girl’s ravaged body causing her to shudder. “No. I think they’re going to have to use other means to identify her. Water can be … brutal.”
    “I’m really sorry, Maddie,” Christy said. “It’s like you’re a magnet for dead things.”
    Six months prior Maddie would have taken that as a personal affront. Things were different these days. Now she could recognize Christy’s statement for what it really was: sympathy. “I feel bad for the woman,” she said. “She looked young. I hope it was just an accident. I really do.”
    “Ugh.” Christy made a face. “I hadn’t even thought about that. Do you think she was murdered?”
    Maddie merely shrugged in response. “I have no idea.”
    “Did you see a ghost?” Only a handful of people in Blackstone Bay were aware of Maddie’s abilities, and Christy was one of them.
    “No,” Maddie said. “I looked around, but once the emergency personnel showed up it was really busy. I couldn’t have talked to her spirit without calling attention to myself even if she was there.”
    “That probably means it was an accident, right?”
    “Not necessarily,” Maddie said. “It depends on how long the person has been dead. Ghosts have trouble controlling their new reality when they first manifest. Heck, if the woman died farther out on the lake – or in another location – her spirit might be haunting that place.”
    “So, unless you find out where she died, you might never know if she’s a ghost,” Christy mused. “Does that bother you?”
    “I don’t know,” Maddie said. “Every time I think I don’t want another ghost to approach me, I think about them wandering around without any way of crossing over and it makes me sad. Then I want them to approach me.”
    “It must be hard to be you,” Christy said. “I keep thinking how awesome it would be to talk to ghosts, but it really does have a downside.”
    “It has multiple downsides,” Maddie agreed. “It also feels good when it all works out.”
    “Speaking of feeling good, when are you and Nick going to get a chance to rub up against one another again?” Christy’s eyes were twinkling. “The mood was ruined last night, but tonight is another night.”
    Maddie fought the urge to grin … and lost. “I don’t know,” Maddie said. “Nick only got a few hours of sleep. He left an hour ago because he wanted to be there for the autopsy. Since it looks like the body was in the water, that could cause jurisdiction problems.”
    “I don’t know what that means.”
    “Just because the body was found in Blackstone Bay that doesn’t mean the woman died in Blackstone Bay,” Maddie explained. “If she died … or, well, was killed … somewhere else that means multiple departments will be working together.”
    “Like the state police?”
    Maddie nodded.
    “Doesn’t