Nick, who was sitting next to Cooper and going through the submitted biographies of the other psychics, sat up straighter in his chair. When Olivia wanted him to hear, he could hear, which was exactly what was happening now. “Excuse me, but I’m the cutest. Me.” He thumped his chest for emphasis. “You can’t turn on me now.”
“You’re definitely the cutest,” Olivia enthused, floating through the table and landing on Nick’s left side. He couldn’t see his mother-in-law, but he could feel her presence, and it was something he’d grown to rely on. He knew, deep down, that if Maddie were ever really in trouble, Olivia would move Heaven and earth to get to her daughter. So, even though it was weird to share space with a ghost, he was more than happy to do it.
“Oh, you can’t change your mind now,” Cooper admonished, wagging a finger. “You said I was the cutest. Take-backs aren’t allowed.”
Olivia’s grin was indulgent. “Oh, you’re definitely cute. If Maddie and Nick weren’t soulmates, I would totally want you for my daughter.” She flicked her eyes to Hannah, who was watching the exchange with a mixture of amusement and annoyance. “Of course, I think you already found your perfect match.”
“I did,” Cooper agreed, his hand automatically moving to Hannah’s shoulder. “Maddie is lovely, but nobody is lovelier than my Hannah.”
“Now I think you’re the cutest,” Hannah teased, lightly pinching his flank. “This isn’t a mutual admiration society, though. I believe you had legitimate information you wanted to share when you first came in.”
“Right.” Olivia bobbed her head and returned to the matter at hand. “So, Abigail is still out there — I absolutely love her, by the way — and she’s watching the other psychics. We’ve already found eight ghosts, although some are trying to hide.”
Maddie’s forehead wrinkled as she lifted what was probably her fifth cappuccino to her lips and sipped. “Do you think that’s everybody?”
Nick slid his eyes to his wife and frowned. “Mad, don’t you think you’ve had enough caffeine? You’re going to be up all night at this rate.”
Maddie scowled as she regarded him. “I think I’m in charge of how much caffeine I’m allowed to have.”
“That’s all well and good, Mad, but I’m the one sharing a bed with you. What am I supposed to do if you can’t sleep? You know how I get when I don’t get my beauty rest.”
“I do,” Maddie agreed solemnly. “You’re a crab. The thing is, if I’m awake, but still in bed, I might need somebody to distract me for a bit.”
“I think that’s where you come into play,” Cooper offered helpfully.
Nick shot him a look. “Thanks for the newsflash.” His gaze skimmed back to Maddie. “You know you get nutty if you have too much caffeine.”
“Ugh.” Maddie made a disgusted sound in the base of her throat. She wanted to argue with the assertion, but she knew he was right. “This is the last one. I just ... love this machine.” She ran her hand over the knobs. “It makes the absolute best coffee.”
Nick shook his head and then turned back to Olivia. “If there are only eight ghosts, does that mean the other psychics are frauds? I mean, it seems to me that Velma’s big announcement could be that she’d discovered a fraud or something.”
“It could also be that she was writing a new book,” Cooper pointed out.
“What’s your point?”
“I think we all believe that whatever that announcement was had something to do with Velma’s death,” Cooper replied. “Killing her that way was a huge risk, especially since the town was crawling with people at the time. Anybody could’ve seen the guilty party.”
“And yet they didn’t,” Maddie noted. She had foam on the tip of her nose as she focused on her cappuccino. “Either someone was incredibly lucky or is a lot better at murder than we’re giving him or her credit for.”
“It’s a her,” Nick reminded her.
“Unless it’s a team,” Maddie shot back. “Maybe the reason our killer got away with it is because there was a lookout involved. That person could be a male or female.”
“That’s a good point,” Cooper murmured. “It’s an interesting theory.”
“I’m full of them.” Maddie took another sip of her cappuccino. “Mom says there are eight ghosts out there. It’s possible more are hiding. I don’t know that we can use ghosts as a definitive way to separate those who really have powers and those who are just pretending.”
“You have an idea, though,” Nick noted, studying her. “You have your serious face on.”
“I do have an idea,” Maddie agreed, her lips curving. “I think we should do a seance.”
Hannah jerked up her head, surprised. “Why do you want to do a seance? That seems dangerous to me.”
“Not really.” Maddie was calm, collected. “The simple fact of the matter is, a seance might force out the ghosts who are still hiding and it will allow us a chance to monitor the rest of the psychics to see who can and can’t see the ghosts. I mean ... it’s not perfect by any stretch of the imagination, but I can’t see how it could possibly hurt.”
“You know ... she kind of has a point,” Cooper noted. “If we do a seance, say we’re trying to talk to Velma and find out who killed her, our killer might try to take control of the situation and show her hand.”
“It’s kind of gauche, though,” Hannah argued. “I mean ... don’t you think it’s tacky?”
Cooper shook his head. “No. I think we have a town full of psychics and one of their own was just killed. This is something proactive.”
Hannah considered it for a beat and then nodded. “You’re right. We should probably suggest it to Alicia first, though. She’s technically in charge.”
“Then let’s do it.” Cooper grinned at Maddie and shook his head. “Your husband might not like you all caffeinated up, but I think you’re a veritable genius.”
Maddie grinned at
