Free Full Bloom by Janet Evanovich [~amp]#38; Charlotte Hughes Page A

look Max gave him. “So I’d appreciate it if everybody would please move back.”
    Danny convinced the women to step away.
    “It’s not like I’ve never seen dead people before,” Destiny told him. “They follow me everywhere I go.”
    Max and Wes were quiet as they studied the site. “Looks like the cloth was yellow at some point,” Max said, “although it’s hard to tell.”
    “There’s some kind of insignia on the material,” Wes said.
    Max grabbed a stick. “Only one way to find out.”
    Destiny stood there, a knowing look in her eyes.
    “Be careful,” Wes whispered. “There could be hairs or fibers.”
    “You sound like you know what you’re talking about,” Max said, very gently lifting a portion of the material.
    “I watch a lot of TV. Enough to know we shouldn’t be doing this. Okay, hold it right there, and I’ll see if I can read it.” Taking great care not to disturb anything, Wes leaned forward. “Looks like a C and an F .”
    “Have you found anything?” Jamie called out.
    “Some kind of yellow material,” Max said. “Could be a shirt or a jacket. Initials CF on it.”
    Annie and Jamie looked at each other, their eyes wide and disbelieving. “No!” Annie said. “That’s impossible!” She shook her head. “It can’t be. It just can’t be.”
    “Annie . . .” Jamie stepped closer, reached out.
    “No!” Annie cried, and pushed her away.
    “What the hell?” Wes leaped to his feet and raced toward Annie as she screamed. He shook her hard. “Annie, what is it?”
    She opened her mouth, tried to speak, couldn’t. Her eyes were glazed.
    Wes looked confused but did as he was told.
    Jamie looked at him. “It’s a jacket. I was with Annie when she purchased it. CF stands for Charles Fortenberry .”
    “My husband,” Annie choked. Her eyes rolled back in her head before everything went black.
    Wes was there to catch her.

CHAPTER FOUR
    Police Chief Lamar Tevis studied the shallow grave closely, turning his head this way and that as if to get a better look, as one officer snapped pictures and another surrounded the area with yellow crime scene tape. Finally, Lamar stood and brushed the dirt from the knees of his khaki uniform. “It’s a body, all right,” he said. “I’m not an expert on this sort of thing, so I can’t tell how long it has been there. Takes one of those forensic whatchamacallits for that. They may have someone at the Medical University in Charleston, but there’s no telling how long it’ll take them to get around to it.”
    Wes, who’d already introduced himself, shook his head. “I don’t think you’ll need a forensic anthropologist,” he said, earning raised eyebrows from Lamar. “At least for the time being,” he added. “Mrs. Fortenberry is certain the body is that of her husband.”
    Lamar glanced at Max as if seeking verification. Max told him about the jacket and initials. “Jamie was present when Annie purchased it.”
    Danny Gilbert crossed the yard and joined the men. “Afternoon, Lamar,” he said. They shook hands.
    “What are you up to these days?” Lamar asked. “Done any fishing lately?”
    Danny shook his head. “Work has been keeping me busy. I’m sanding Annie Fortenberry’s wood floors today.”
    Lamar frowned. “Uh-oh. That sounds pretty suspicious if you ask me.”
    “Why is that?” Wes asked.
    “A woman finds a body in her backyard and claims it’s her missing husband, and all she can think of is having her floors sanded?” Lamar reached into his shirt pocket and pulled out a small notebook. “I’d better write that down. Might prove helpful in the investigation.”
    Max and Wes exchanged looks. There was a hint of a smile on Max’s lips.
    “Actually, Annie is taking it pretty hard,” Danny said. “She’s lying down.”
    “I’ve known Annie since she was a bookkeeper at Bates’s Furniture,” Lamar said. “I bought several rooms of furniture there. Used to go in once a month to pay on my bill.