Beyond Secrets, The Art of Murder: A Madison Hart Mystery (Madison Hart Mysteries Book 1) Read online

  Cole entered the room and waved. He approached the table, leaned over and kissed her on the cheek. “I missed you last night. I’m glad you mentioned coming here this morning. It sure brings back memories, doesn’t it?”

  “It sure does.”

  Joseph placed Cole’s coffee down. “Good morning, Mr. Stuart.”

  “Good morning, Joseph. Good to see you again. How have things been going?”

  “Couldn’t be better. Ever since Ms. Hart’s story broke last year, business has been booming. Mostly curiosity seekers, but that pays the bills, so I can’t complain.”

  Though it had been awhile since Cole and Winter had eaten there for breakfast, Joseph didn’t need to ask what they wanted. They always ordered the same thing, unless it was on the weekends. Shortly, Joseph returned with Cole’s usual pancakes, bacon, and fruit, and Winter’s bagel with salmon, cream cheese, and capers.

  After breakfast, Cole returned to his writing and Winter to overseeing the renovations, but her mind kept jumping to the pending assignment that awaited her. She constantly checked the time. The day seemed to drag on, and she was eager to find out about her new assignment.

  Finally, Johnny packed up his tools and loaded them into his truck. In the entire year, he had been working there, he never once left his tools overnight. “Say hello to your mother for me.”

  “I sure will Ms. Winter.”

  She was eager to get ready for dinner with Jessie and Jim.

  Cole picked her up about 5:15 p.m. and they headed to Maitland. Usually, the traffic was hectic, but that evening they coasted down Interstate-4 with no problems. Though Winter was excited and eager to hear what Jim had to say, she remained quiet most of the trip. “Are you alright?”

  She reached over and patted him on the shoulder. “Oh sure. I’m sorry. My mind is racing with speculation, and for some reason, I’m feeling a bit tired, too. Maybe I’m coming down with a little bug. Nothing to worry about.”

  Just as they drove into Jessie’s driveway, Jim was coming out of the house to get some things out of his car. He retrieved a large manila folder, stuffed with papers. He greeted them, and they walked into the house together. Winter went directly to the kitchen where she knew Jessie would be rushing around with last minute details. Winter and Jessie had been close friends most of their lives, but still, when Jessie had guests for dinner, she wanted everything to be perfect.

  “Is there anything I can help you with?”

  Jessie grabbed four glasses and handed Winter the wine bucket. “No. I think I’ve got it. Let’s get a bottle of wine and sit on the lanai.”

  By the time they reached the lanai Jim had spread the papers all over the table and was rummaging through them as he placed them in strategic spots. He was anxious to get Winter’s take on what he suspected, however before he could say a word, Jessie asked him to pour the wine. She hadn’t seen her best friend in awhile and didn’t want them to jump right into business.

  Jim poured the wine, and Jessie raised her glass, “Here’s to great friends.”

  Jim smiled “Cheers.” Winter tapped her glass and then Jim and Cole’s.

  Jessie swallowed a big gulp of air and looked at Jim. “Jim, why don’t you tell Winter and Cole what’s on your mind?” Jim set his glass down and headed for the table with the papers. Winter waited for a moment until it seemed Jim had organized his thoughts. She got up and started towards the table when she became very dizzy and fell against the chair. Cole jumped up and rushed to her side. “Are you okay?” Cole tried to steady her. She shrugged it off to the pressure and stress she’d been under lately.

  Winter straightened up. “Yes. I think I’m just exhausted. Now, let’s see what’s going on here, Jim.”

  Jim started right in with his theory of a missing woman and its connection to the other missing women. “Each one of these cases is similar, and I didn’t catch it until now, but over the past six months there have been several young women that have been reported missing.”

  Cole interjected. “A lot of women go missing every year. Why do you think there’s a connection with these women?”

  “You’re right. However, as these came across my desk, I started seeing a pattern, and that’s why I wanted Winter to look into it. The first woman reported missing was last seen just before heading to an art show at the Maitland Art Center. Her friends said she was going because she knew the artist and wanted to see his paintings. She never arrived there and never returned home. I’d like you to look at these cases and see if you can determine a link between them.” Jim handed the files to Winter.

  “I’ll look at them tomorrow.” But she planned to check it out as soon as she returned home. Jessie called them to the table for dinner. She had made her famous pot roast and veggies and a pineapple upside-down cake. It was Jim’s favorite dinner. Winter was glad to be spending some time with her friends again as she hadn’t been out of Cassadaga in months. All her time was spent trying to get everything done in time for the gala.

  After dinner, they took their wine and sat outside down by the lake. Winter seemed more tired than usual, so Cole made up an excuse that he needed to get back to work that evening because of some deadline and details he needed to revise. They said their goodbyes and started back home.

  “Hey pretty lady, you don’t seem yourself tonight. Maybe you should see a doctor tomorrow.” He reached over and took her hand.

  “I think it’s just the pressure of finishing the house on time. I’m sure I’ll feel better tomorrow after a good night’s sleep.” Cole was not going to insist on coming home with her that night. A good night’s sleep might be just what she needed.

  “Okay, I’ll come by in the morning for coffee.” Cole pulled the car almost to the steps of the porch and then walked with her into the house. He kissed her goodnight and watched as she made her way up the winding staircase. When she got to the landing, she called out to him that she would see him in the morning. He turned, locked the door behind him and then left.

  By the time she got to her room, she was exhausted. She set the folder down on the bed and undressed. She got into bed, turned on the bedside lamp, opened the folder and started reading the material. She got half-way through the information, and then fell asleep.

  Chapter 2

  Winter woke in the middle of the night with her body burning with fever and aching all over. She tried to get up to go to the bathroom when her legs gave out, and she fell to the floor. She crawled back into bed and pulled the covers up hoping she could fall back to sleep. She pulled a bottle of Ibuprofen out of her night stand and popped 800 mg. I’m sure this will nip it by morning. But she couldn’t fall back to sleep, so she picked up the folder and read some of the information Jim had given her, and in spite of how she was feeling, she too noticed a pattern with the missing women. By daylight, she felt worse and called Cole. He was there within minutes. Her temperature was 102, and her whole body was shaking. He tried to get her up so he could take her to the hospital, but she fast was becoming dead weight. Without asking, he dialed 911.

  Winter was immediately rushed to the hospital and put on a steady IV drip of fluids. The doctor ran blood work. Winter had an infection, and the doctor was going to start antibiotics. Cole pulled up a chair as close to her as possible and held her hand. She kept coming in and out of consciousness. He finally called Jessie. “Jessie, Winter is in the hospital and is very sick. They don’t know what’s wrong with her, but she’s in intensive care.”

  “Oh my God, I’ll be there as soon as I can.”

  As soon as she got off the phone, she called Jim and told him. She rushed around the room grabbing things to throw into her purse and started out the door and raced to the hospital in Deland. On the way, she decided to call Winter’s older sister, Madison.

  “Agent Hart.”

  “Hi Maddy, this is Jessie. I thought you should know that Cole had to call 911 for Winter. She’s in the hospital in the intensive care unit, and they said she had an infection, but they
cannot figure out what else is wrong. I thought you should know.”

  “Thank you, Jess. I’ll catch the next flight out and should be there later today.”

  Madison lived in Virginia near the DC area. She was a criminal investigator and profiler with the FBI, but being on the road all the time was wearing on her, and she was toying with the idea of going into private practice and opening a Private Investigation office in her hometown of Maitland, Florida.

  Madison called headquarters and told her supervisor that her sister was in ICU in the hospital, and she needed to leave immediately. She threw a few things into an overnight bag and headed for Washington’s Dulles International Airport. Fortunately, with her credentials, she was able to get a flight out immediately. She arrived at Orlando International Airport later that day. A car was waiting for her and drove straight to the hospital.

  Madison entered the hospital just as Jessie was coming down the elevator with Jim. Jessie threw her arms around Madison. “She’s very sick, Maddy.” Jessie turned and introduced Madison to Jim, and the three of them went back to the ICU.

  Madison entered the room and saw her sister lying there with tubes protruding from her arms. Winter looked like she was asleep. Cole stood up when they came in. He was shocked at how much Madison looked like Winter. “You must be Madison?”

  “Yes, and you have to be Cole, Winter has told me so much about you. How is she?”

  “She’s stable, and they are giving her fluids. The doctor was just here and told us she also has pneumonia, but the antibiotics and fluids should help with that. However, they still don’t know what is causing the infection. They’re about to take her down for more tests. I know she’ll be glad to see you. She talks about you all the time.”

  Madison sat next to her sister and held her hand, “Hey Win; it’s Maddy. You’re going to be fine. There’s so much we need to talk about, so get yourself well quick. You’ve got a great guy standing by waiting for you, too. Madison felt a squeeze of her hand and saw a slight smile come across Winter’s face. Madison had a hard time letting go of Winter’s hand when the nurses came in to wheel her downstairs for tests.

  They all paced the room waiting for Winter’s test results. It seemed like hours, but after about an hour the doctor came in and told them that Winter had Bacteremia. Madison furrowed her eyebrows. “What does that mean?”

  The doctor slipped his hands into the pockets of his lab coat. “It means that the bacteria entered into her bloodstream from her lungs, and the infection has spread to some of her other organs. However, we feel we caught it in time, but she will need to remain in the hospital until the infection has cleared.”

  “How serious is this?”

  “All I can tell you is that it’s a good thing we caught this in time. If not treated, it could have caused Ms. Hart’s organs to fail, but we are very optimistic about this treatment. It has shown full recovery in many patients, and since you got her here immediately, I think she’ll be fine. But for now, she’s going to need plenty of rest, fluids, and antibiotics. As soon as she’s out of the woods, we’ll transfer her to another floor, and soon after that; she’ll be able to return home. However, she will still need care at home for awhile to regain her strength.”

  “Thank you, Doctor.” Madison sat down in the chair mulling over what she just heard. “Thank God you got to her in time, Cole. I don’t know what I would have done if something had happened to her.” She lowered her head in her hands.

  Minutes later, they wheeled Winter back into the room. She had regained consciousness but was very weak. A big smile came across her face when she saw her sister, and then she glanced around the room. She smiled up at everyone in the room.“I have all the people that matter right here with me.”

  Winter motioned Jim to come to the edge of the bed. “Jim, I am so sorry. I was looking forward to helping you with this story, but I’m afraid I won’t be able to.” Then she called Madison to the bedside. “Maddy, are you going to be around for awhile?”

  “I sure am. As a matter of fact, I was thinking of moving back for awhile. What do you think about that?”

  Winter looked up at her, and tears started trickling down her face. “I can’t wait for you to move back.” Winter glanced over at Jim and then back to Madison. “Jim, I may not be able to find out the truth about what’s going on, but I know someone who could. Jim, meet my FBI sister, Madison Hart. If anyone can solve this mystery, she can. What do you think?”.

  Jim looked over at Madison. “Well, what do you think, Madison? Are you up for a challenge?”

  “I sure am.”

  “Good! We’ll talk about this later when we know Winter is stable?”

  “Thank you, Jim. That sounds great.”

  Cole stayed by Winter’s side while she was in the ICU. He and Madison alternated sitting with her so she would never be alone.

  After about a week, Winter began to show some improvement, so they moved her to the main floor. The doctor said she was out of danger for now, and as soon as she had completed the antibiotics and tests showed no more infection in her system, she could return home.

  Winter was regaining her strength slowly, and the doctors anticipated a full recovery. Her tests showed she no longer had any signs of the infection in her system, and they gave her the okay to return home, as long as she had someone there with her for awhile. “It might take a few months for her to regain full strength, and she’ll have to continue breathing treatments during that time as well.”

  Jessie wanted Winter to come home with her, but Winter was insistent on returning to her home. Madison looked at Jessie. “That’s okay, Jessie; I’m not going anywhere until I know Winter is okay.”

  Cole turned to Madison. “Thank you, Madison. I’ll be staying with her, too until she’s well.”

  Cole drove Winter back home, and Madison followed in her car. Winter was so eager to get back into her own bed, but it was apparent she was having difficulty climbing the massive, winding staircase that led up to the landing toward her room on the second floor. Cole nearly had to carry her the entire way.

  As soon as Winter settled into bed, Madison came over to the edge of the bed. “Winter, it’s very important you listen to Cole and stay in bed. What you had was serious, and you need to allow your body to heal. I thought you might like some good books to read while you’re recuperating. I just finished The Freedom Trilogy, by Brenda Kennedy. She’s one of my favorite authors, and I thought you would enjoy her books too.” Madison handed Winter the book.

  “Thank you, Maddy.” Winter started to nod off to sleep.

  Everything was going well with Winter, so Madison thought it would be a good time to meet with Jim and start moving forward with the investigation, so she gave him a call. “Good morning, Jim. Do you have time to meet with me today? I could come to your office if that’s more convenient for you.”

  “That would be great. Can you come by right after lunch?”

  “Sure. I’ll see you then.”

  Before Madison went to Jim’s office, she wanted to visit the Maitland Art Center. It was the last known destination of the first missing person, and she wanted to start there. Besides, Madison grew up in Maitland and wanted to see if it was as she remembered.

  The Maitland Art Center was designed in the Mayan Revival style. Tourists from all over the country stop to walk the courtyards, meander through the walkways and see the hidden alcoves that make up the center’s design.

  Madison entered the reception area, picked up a few brochures and the schedule of artists that were exhibiting or giving classes.

  The receptionist greeted Madison in the lobby. “Good Morning. Is this your first time to the Center?” Madison was hoping to ask a few questions without sounding too inquisitive. Madison glanced around the lobby. “Not exactly. Maitland is my hometown, and I often came here in my youth. I’d love to look around to see the changes.”

  “I’d love to show you the center. There have been a few upgrades, but we have pretty
much stayed the same all these years; especially now that we’re on the National Registry. I doubt there will be many changes in the future.”

  “Thank you. I’d like a tour to refresh my memory, and then I like to inquire about your upcoming events.”

  The receptionist introduced herself, “My name is Alice, and I’ve been working here for a few years, so I can likely answer most of your questions.”

  They walked through the main gallery, which displayed the latest paintings by Tyler Kincaid. They were all women in various locations around the Central Florida area. “Mr. Kincaid has had several showings here and has a large following. His paintings sell every time his work is on display. He also gives classes on occasion, but lately, he only shows. His works showcase local landmarks, and there is always a young woman in his paintings. I guess the combination works well for him because we can’t keep his art in here long.”

  Madison found his art lacking in interest for her taste. In her opinion, it looked like he just repeated the same theme over and over. She couldn’t imagine that after buying one, why anyone would hang another piece of his art. His works were too similar, just the women and places changed. Hell, what do I know about art?

  Finally, Alice escorted her to one of the courtyards. From that point, Madison asked if she could just meander on her own for awhile. “Sure, many of our visitors like just hanging around in the alcoves or courtyards. If you need anything or have any questions, I’ll be up front.”

  “Thank you, Alice.”

  There were classes going on in a few of the rooms, but there was a woman in one of the alcoves, working on a painting that caught her eye. The painting was a large Bougainville plant gripping a picturesque wall. Madison kept her distance until the woman took a break. “I like that painting of yours. Have you been painting long?”

  “No, I started about a year ago with a class I took here. I instantly fell in love with it, and now I can’t stop.”