Grave Doubts (A Paranormal Mystery Novel) by LYNN BOHART Read Free Book Online Page A

“You should thank me
for that,” he grinned.
    Robin slapped
her husband’s butt. Lee’s laugh was short of being lighthearted, but her smile
was genuine.
    “Birthday
celebrations aren’t high on my list of priorities right now.” She ripped open
the card, read it quickly and looked up at Robin with a tearful smile. “Thanks.”
    Robin saved the
moment by pouring a glass of wine for her husband, then grabbing a glass for
herself before drawing Lee into the dining room.
    “Well, you
deserve much more than a card. When this has all settled down, I’ll take you up
to Portland for a day of shopping and lunch. How are you doing?”
    “It’s been
tough,” Lee admitted, sitting in a high-backed chair across a walnut dining
table.
    “I’ve been
thinking of you all day,” Robin sympathized. “I’m sorry I had to miss the
church service. How was it?”
    “Actually, it
was good. Carey read a poem Diane wrote as a child. It was very touching.”
    “I saw Bud at
the graveyard,” Robin grimaced. “Was he at the service, too?”
    Lee’s jaw
clenched and she set her wine glass down with a rigid hand. Bud Maddox reminded
her of something prehistoric, with his dark, penetrating eyes and heavy brows. She
pondered everything she didn’t like about the man before realizing she hadn’t
answered Robin’s question.
    “Yes. Bud was
there,” she squeezed the words out, lifting her finger to the rim of the glass.
“Although he never approached the family that I could see. I’m sure they wouldn’t
have had much to say to him.”
    “I never did
understand that relationship,” Robin said, echoing Lee’s thoughts.
    Lee got up to
look over a short wall that set off the sunken living room. She watched what
was left of the rain float past the flood lamps outside the sliding glass doors
that led to the deck. She and Robin had spent many a weekend summer afternoon
sipping Margaritas on that deck, but now nothing was visible past the railing.
    “God,” Lee
finally sighed in exasperation, “I hope I never get that desperate.”
    “Do you think
that’s what it was - desperation?”
    “Maybe she
loved him,” Lee said, thinking the rain looked like fairy dust against the
blackened backdrop of the night. “I’m sure she believed she did, although I
can’t imagine why.” Lee grew silent as she turned inwards. Her final argument
with Diane had been about this very subject.
    “You okay?”
Robin asked.
    “Bud was at the
funeral with another woman,” she said after a moment. “He was discreet. They
didn’t hold hands or anything, but I’m sure other people noticed. It was rude,
to say the least. I think she works in the Emergency Room.”
    “What a turd!”
    “I agree,” Lee
whispered, staring at her hands.
    “I can’t
imagine what it must have been like…I mean…to find her,” Robin commiserated. “I’ve
never been around a dead body. It had to be awful.”
    The comment
brought all movement in the room to a stop. Even the overhead fan seemed to
pause. It was several long seconds before Lee turned. When she did, her voice
was barely above a whisper.
    “It was awful.
It was the most awful thing I’ve ever had to do. I sat on the floor next to her
until the police arrived, wishing with all my might that she’d just open her
eyes and be okay. But she didn’t. I stayed to answer questions and finally
watched the police cover her up and search the house for any clues. They opened
drawers and looked under pillows as she lay at their feet with a sheet over her
head.” Lee took a deep sigh. “I had to watch one officer photograph her from
every angle and then lift the syringe out of her hand and place it into an
evidence bag. And when another officer found a note in the paper tray of the
printer, they all converged into a tight little ball like a group of sixth
graders with a dirty picture. And when they finally let Amy and me leave, all
the neighbors stood gawking at us in the parking lot as they watched