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Wicked Deeds
Heather Graham
Nevermore…Eager to start their life together, historian Vickie Preston and Special Agent Griffin Pryce take a detour en route to their new home for a visit to Baltimore.But their romantic weekend is interrupted when a popular author is found dead in the basement of an Edgar Allan Poe-themed restaurant. Because of the mysterious circumstances surrounding the corpse, the FBI's Krewe of Hunters paranormal team is invited to investigate. As more bizarre deaths occur, Vickie and Griffin are drawn into a case that has disturbing echoes of Poe's great works, bringing the horrors of his fiction to life.The restaurant is headquarters to scholars and fans, and any of them could be a merciless killer. Except there's also something reaching out from beyond the grave. The late, great Edgar Allan Poe himself is appearing to Vickie in dreams and visions with cryptic information about the murders. Unless they can uncover whose twisted mind is orchestrating the dramatic re-creations, Vickie and Griffin's future as a couple might never begin…
Nevermore...
Eager to start their life together, historian Vickie Preston and Special Agent Griffin Pryce take a detour en route to their new home in Virginia and stop for a visit in Baltimore. But their romantic weekend is interrupted when a popular author is found dead in the basement of an Edgar Allan Poe–themed restaurant. Because of the mysterious circumstances surrounding the corpse, the FBI’s Krewe of Hunters paranormal team is invited to investigate. As more bizarre deaths occur, Vickie and Griffin are drawn into a case that has disturbing echoes of Poe’s great works, bringing the horrors of his fiction to life.
The restaurant is headquarters to scholars and fans, and any of them could be a merciless killer. Except there’s also something reaching out from beyond the grave. The late, great Edgar Allan Poe himself is appearing to Vickie in dreams and visions with cryptic information about the murders. Unless they can uncover whose twisted mind is orchestrating the dramatic re-creations, Vickie and Griffin’s future as a couple might never begin...
Praise for the novels of
New York Times bestselling author
Heather Graham
“Graham is a master at world building and her latest is a thrilling, dark, and deadly tale of romantic suspense.”
—Booklist, starred review, on Haunted Destiny
“Intricate, fast-paced, and intense, this riveting thriller blends romance and suspense in perfect combination and keeps readers guessing and the tension taut until the very end.”
—Library Journal on Flawless
“Graham is the queen of romantic suspense, and her latest is proof that she deserves the title. What makes this story more fun than most is the relationship between Kieran Finnegan, who wants nothing more than family harmony and a functioning restaurant, and FBI agent Craig Fraiser, who wants justice. Sparks fly, and it’s electric.”
—RT Book Reviews on Flawless
“The Krewe is back! Graham excels at weaving history, finding the proper balance between past and present and keeping a story fresh and authentic, with Haunted Destiny being no exception. The chaos and camaraderie of the characters are captured with vivid detail, and the identity of the killer will keep you guessing until the very end.”
—RT Book Reviews on Haunted Destiny
“Riveting mystery...interesting history, sweet romance with a second chance at love.”
—Fresh Fiction on Darkest Journey
“Graham stands at the top of the romantic suspense category.”
—Publishers Weekly
“An incredible storyteller.”
—Los Angeles Daily News
Wicked Deeds
Heather Graham
For my oldest son, Jason Pozzessere,
and for Kari Stewart, a true delight to have in our lives.
Also for her folks, Kelly and Gail Stewart—
simply wonderful people.
CAST OF CHARACTERS (#u4c1cea3e-c0dc-5289-b0af-5bb3f1177773)
Griffin Pryce—special agent with the FBI’s Krewe of Hunters
Victoria (Vickie) Preston—historian and author
The Krewe of Hunters
Adam Harrison—head of the Krewe of Hunters
Jackson Crow—field director, Krewe of Hunters
Angela Hawkins—special agent, married to Jackson Crow
In Baltimore
Franklin Verne—popular bestselling author
Monica Verne—his widow
Myron Hatfield—Baltimore medical examiner
Carl Morris—detective, Baltimore Police
At the Black Bird restaurant
Gary Frampton—restaurant owner
Alice Frampton—his daughter, hostess at the restaurant
Lacey Shaw—gift shop manager
Liza Harcourt—president of the Blackbird society, a Poe appreciation group
Brent Whaley—writer, member of the Blackbird society
Alistair Malcolm—Poe expert, member of the Blackbird society
Jon Skye—waiter
At Frampton Manor
Hattie Long and Sven Moller—housekeeper and caretaker
Contents
Cover (#u8c6d3656-8693-5368-bd12-c9e259e8ccb5)
Back Cover Text (#u1f7e3095-5bfd-5e31-a9ee-8feb405086ae)
Praise (#u6b4755c3-712a-59ee-99fa-54d50e4204f1)
Title Page (#ubd0e92dd-c3c4-5ab1-b96f-228ada748d32)
Dedication (#u971712db-f369-5899-a9fd-be05ac0fef29)
CAST OF CHARACTERS (#u31177b5b-4321-5b17-a903-0b62c4a10fbe)
Prologue (#u47386061-cbb9-5757-a9f4-a75e9468a060)
Chapter 1 (#u5806d41c-e9a6-5e1d-b9c3-d077ca275af2)
Chapter 2 (#uaf6bef15-9157-55b5-8702-432c3776edc2)
Chapter 3 (#u71d36dc6-6d3f-586c-a180-720ae9b293df)
Chapter 4 (#uf71ccd15-43ac-5ed9-ad62-b12b927a49a8)
Chapter 5 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 6 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 7 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 8 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 9 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 10 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 11 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 12 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 13 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 14 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 15 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 16 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 17 (#litres_trial_promo)
Epilogue (#litres_trial_promo)
Copyright (#litres_trial_promo)
Prologue (#u4c1cea3e-c0dc-5289-b0af-5bb3f1177773)
In Dreams
It was dark, and it was night, and she was following along a strange wooded path.
Vickie Preston fought against it; good things never started this way.
But she wasn’t in deep woods. She was not far from some kind of a city—she could see light through the trees.
The light seemed strange. It wasn’t the contemporary, bright luminescence of electricity that shined with such fervor that it was easily seen from space. This was different. Soft light. As if it came from candles or...gas. Gas lamps.
She had, she thought, stumbled into a different time, a different place. She made a turn, and the darkness was gone, things changing suddenly in that way of dreams; she was in a city, and it was day, late afternoon perhaps, with evening on its way.
People were rushing about, here, there and everywhere.
“Vote! Fourth Ward polls!” someone called out.
A woman with a big hoop skirt pushed by Vickie, dragging a man about by an ear. “Harold Finder! Voting is no excuse for my husband to show himself in public, drunk!” she said angrily.
Harold was twice his wife’s size, but Mrs. Finder seemed to have an exceptional hold on his ear!
They had just come from what appeared to be a tavern. Vickie looked about, wondering why no one noticed her. They were all dressed so differently; men in frock coats and waistcoats and cravats and women with their tightly corseted tops and great, billowing skirts. Granted, she was sleeping in a long white cotton gown, “puritanical,” or so Griffin had teased her.
No, no, oh, yuck! You know how I feel about our dear historical Puritans! she’d told him.
Vickie, like Griffin, had grown up in Boston. She’d become a historian and wrote nonfiction books. Despite trying to understand the very different times they had lived in, she just didn’t care much for the people who had first settled her area—they were completely intolerant.
Griffin could usually just shrug off the past; he’d been a cop when she’d first met him and he was an FBI agent now. The past mattered to him, but mostly when it helped solve crime in the present.
He’d been sleeping next to her, of course. They were on their way to Virginia from Boston, ready to start a new life. But they’d stopped in Baltimore, at a hotel... They’d laughed as they got ready for bed, he’d teased her about the nightgown...
She did not look like a Puritan!
Griffin had assured her that she wouldn’t wear the “puritanical” gown long, and she hadn’t, but then, freezing in the air-conditioning of their hotel, she’d put it back on...
She was glad, of course. Otherwise, she’d be walking stark naked around this unknown and bizarre place.
Where was she?
She turned to the doorway of the “polling place” where Harold and his wife had just departed. She could hear all manner of laughing and talking. It was definitely a tavern. Gunnar’s Place.
And there was nothing indicating Puritan Massachusetts here—she wasn’t in Massachusetts and these people certainly weren’t Puritans.
She walked in, wondering if women were welcome. It didn’t matter. No one seemed to notice her.
