The Weeping Widow

Chapter 1

She stands there staring at the full length mirror. She knows that people think she is beautiful, but all she can see is just a regular looking woman who has had her life ripped apart in an instant. Stephanie Jackson can see her long flowing, dyed, black hair that reaches all the way down to the bottom of her chest. She has thought about cutting it but her late husband has always thought that she was so beautiful with her long hair. Her body is thin and tight, a result of working out at the local gym 4 times a week.

Stephanie is just 5 foot 3 inches tall, she has always been the shortest one in her family and while growing up she was picked on by her sister, brother and the kids from school. Stephanie straightens out her black sleeveless dress, making sure there are no stains or lint on it. James would be proud of her right now. Her husband James was always neatly dressed, never a button out of place. As Stephanie checks her knee length dress one more time in the full length mirror she remembers all the times that James would brush off her shoulder or take a lint roller to the back of her outfit.

James was a military man. Marines. They always wore their uniforms perfectly with nothing out of place. At first Stephanie could not stand how perfect James was. Everything had to be in its place and could not be out of that place even the slightest bit. They had many arguments over her putting her keys on the counter instead hanging on the hook just inside the door where James believed they should be.

Stephanie snaps back to reality as her smiles start to drift away. She remembers quickly why she is wearing this dress she hates so much. She has always hated wearing dresses, but it is james' favorite and he loved to see her in it. Today is all for James, it is the best she could do. Stephanie is amazed that she is able to even get out of bed let alone make herself presentable in public for the honorable late James Jackson.

When Stephanie arrived at the cemetery she could already see her husband's casket covered with an american flag, Marines in full dress standing at attention. When the rifles were fired each time for the 21 gun salute it made her cry more and more each time. By the time the funeral was over Steohanie thought she would go crazy if she heard another person say "it was his time" again.

Stephanie had been visited by NCIS agents a few times but they had no leads. James was found on the side of the road with 2 gunshots in his chest and his car was stolen. The agents believe it was a carjacking and he fought back. Stephanie knew this was a possibility because James was always trying to play the hero, no matter how many times she had told him not to.

When Stephanie returned home she noticed a letter sticking in between the door and the frame. It was just a regular white envelope with her name on it. Nothing else was written on the front or back of it. After unlocking and entering her house she grabbed a letter opener and opened the envelope. Inside was a piece of paper with a message made out of magazine clippings saying just one word. "Guilty".