Treacherous Secrets novel Chapter 34

"I'll drink to that," Mario said.

"Us too," Kim and Ashley said.

They all touched glasses and drank their margaritas. No one ventured out to the patio or even into the family room that led to the patio. They stayed in the kitchen eating and drinking until it was time to go to bed. Emily gave her bedroom to Kim and Ashley and went into the guest room.

Mario stood at the door. He leaned against the casing with his arms folded over his chest. "Did you two always have separate rooms?"

"No, Kenton was so funny about his stuff being just so-so, that by the second year we were married, I had moved all my stuff to the guestroom so I wouldn't have to hear about my stuff being in the way of his stuff."

He moved further into the room until he was standing behind her as she pulled down the sheets. "You know, you would never have to worry about that with me. I would let you put your stuff anywhere you wanted to."

Emily caught her breath and closed her eyes. His breath on her neck sent chills down her spine. She turned to face him. "Anywhere I want, huh?"

"Yes," he said, his dark eyes penetrating hers.

She leaned up and kissed him lightly on the lips. He let out a deep moan and pulled her into him for a deeper kiss."I want to be with you," Emily said when she pulled away. "But not tonight, not on the day I buried my husband."

He held her to him and kissed the top of her head. "I understand. I'm going to sleep downstairs on the couch."

"Okay," she said.

He kissed her lightly on the lips. "We'll talk more about this tomorrow."

She nodded and watched him leave the room. She sat down on the bed with a sigh. Life had changed so much in a very short period of time. What tomorrow held was very uncertain, but she knew she wasn't going to have to face it alone and that brought a smile to her face.

"Yep, the ring is a match for the indentations on Kenton Jenkins' temple," the forensic pathologist, Dr. Garrett told Janice and Harold. "But it was completely wiped clean. The only thing we got off of it was traces of bleach. There's not a dent, a scrape or a diamond out of place."

"Damn it," Janice growled, slamming her right fist into her left hand.

Harold shook his head. "We're no closer than we were before we found the ring."

"That's not necessarily true," said Dr. Garrett. "The trademark inside the ring is from a custom jewelry store in Atlanta."

"What?" Harold said, taking the ring and looking at the tiny writing inside.

"Yeah, it's a Terrell Donnell. I've seen his work before, usually on wedding bands, but he does custom designs for a variety of jewelry. I think he even has his own studio in Atlanta."

"I wonder if Kenton, or whoever purchased this ring, bought it directly from Terrell Donnell," Harold said, studying the tiny markings.

"Most likely," Dr. Garrett said. "There are very few stores that carry Terrell Donnell's work. From my understanding, Mr. Donnell is very picky about who can carry his jewelry and who can't."

"I'll call him and explain the situation," the assistant assured her.

She gave him her cell phone number. "If he has any questions, tell him to give us a call. But we need to meet with him as soon as possible."

"Okay, I'll get in touch with him right away," the assistant promised.

Janice clicked the end button on her phone. "You think he'll really call him?"

"Yeah, either the jeweler will not want his name associated in a murder investigation, or he will want it associated with it for the publicity and potential sales he'll make."

Harold nodded, "Thank God this murder hasn't been played up in the news too much."

"Not yet," Janice said. "But if we don't find the murderer, and it turns out to be a serial killer, rather than a crime of passion, which I believe it is, there will be hell to pay with the papers and the Chief."

"Too true," he agreed.

The drive to Atlanta went by quickly. They arrived downtown around two in the afternoon so they missed the lunch traffic. It took a little while to find a parking spot. They ended up having to walk about five blocks to get to Terrell Donnell's studio. The front of the store had a beautiful window display and they could see people milling around inside looking in the jewelry cases.

They entered the studio and were immediately greeted by the assistant. "Hello and welcome," he said extending his hand to both of them. He gave Janice a gentle squeeze. He gave Harold a little stronger and longer squeeze.Janice almost burst out laughing at the look on Harold's face. Harold was a nice looking guy for his age, she had to admit. He'd just turned forty-five a few months ago. He was almost six foot tall, one hundred eighty pounds of pure muscle. His graying black hair that he kept cut close to his head gave him a distinguished look. His black eyes could cut a criminal in half. His steely gaze didn't stop the assistant, who had introduced himself as Eric while openly flirting with Harold.