Read Online Mary Jane's Grave by Stacy Dittrich - Free Book Online

his hand. “Okay.”
    When we finally went back to bed I was still fairly wired. By the time I had to get up for work, I had slept less than an hour. It was going to be another long, long day.

C HAPTER E IGHT
    In my office, Naomi and Coop expressed their own concerns about what had occurred earlier. Coop wrote down the description of the car and said he was going to drive around the campgrounds near Tucker Road to look for it. I knew Coop was working on two other homicide cases, so I tried to tell him it wasn’t necessary, but stubborn as always, he didn’t listen.
    I spent much of the day catching up on paperwork and listening to ridiculous phone messages from people desperate to leave their Mary Jane stories on my voice mail. When I was almost done for the day, I called Bob over at the lab.
    “It’s CeeCee, just checking in,” I said wearily. “Anything more turn up?”
    “Not yet, but we still don’t have everything back,” he reported. “Hey, I forgot to tell you this yesterday. For laughs, we took a sample of the burn mark from the tree. You know how some people claim it’s spray paint or a carving, etcetera? Turns out it really is burned wood, and according to the lab, it’s pretty old, too.”
    “I’m glad you had a few laughs, Bob, but that doesn’t solve my case. Let me know when you hear something, okay?”
    The “burn mark” Bob was referring to, according to the legend, was the spot where the witch, Mary Jane, had reportedly been burned as she hung from the tree. I know of several instances where vandals have tried to set the tree on fire, so I dismissed his update on this historic evidence as just that.
    Exhausted, I smacked the phone down and started gathering my briefcase, purse and files together. I’m not usually a nap-taker, but I suddenly found myself entertaining visions of a cozy snuggle under the covers when I got home. My visions didn’t last too long, because Eric called to remind me of our meeting. I told him I’d be there in fifteen minutes and hung up, wondering if this was really a good idea.
    When I walked into the diner and saw Eric sitting in the booth, I knew I was in trouble. I felt an involuntary tug at my heart and couldn’t push away my feelings of regret. We’d been so happy once; invincible, we’d thought. And then it had all gotten screwed up.
    I pushed these thoughts aside. Eric had also broken my heart, and now Michael had come into my life to heal it. “Settle down, girl,” I told myself. “He’s history, remember?”
    As Eric stood and kissed my cheek, I turned away quickly and sat opposite him.
    “CeeCee, you look great as always,” he said with a grin.
    Smooth talker, I thought, moving my purse around and not meeting his eyes directly. We exchanged pleasantries for a while, talking about his new son and our girls. I could tell Eric was getting more and more curious as to why I’d asked to speak with him, so I finally got to it.
    “Eric, the reason I need to talk to you is that yesterday I went to the county courthouse. Well, lo and behold, I was informed that you and I are still legally married. For some unknown reason, the final paperwork was never filed.”
    His eyes opened wide, and he looked as stunned as Michael had. Now, for once in his life, Eric was actually at a loss for words. Then, to my amazement, he broke into a big smile. Maybe Michael was right, I thought. Maybe Eric did have something to do with it. If that were the case, I’d probably beat him right there with the ketchup bottle.
    “What’s so funny?” I asked, my eyes narrowing.
    “Nothing. I thought you had bad news. This isn’t bad news.” He reached across the table and grabbed my hand. “Still being married to you is not a bad thing. In fact, this is the best news I’ve had in a long time.”
    Stunned, I pulled my hand away as Eric leaned back in the booth, playing with the paper that had earlier wrapped his drinking straw.
    He sighed deeply. “CeeCee, every day, and I