The Mysteries of Megan Glen

The Ring Maker: 4

I had to force myself to trudge over to Lacey’s door, dreading what I was about to do. When I reached it I gritted my teeth and knocked lightly, a part of me hoped she wouldn’t hear it. A moment later, the door opened and she stepped out, grimacing when she saw me.

“Oh, it’s you,” she muttered. “Did you come to try to control me again?”

I bit my lip to hold back an instinctual, and fairly rude, comment. “No, I came to apologize. I guess I’ve been a little grouch today.”

“I’ll say,” she was absentmindedly scratching at a small red line around her forefinger. “And thanks for saying sorry; well kind of.”

“Yeah and now I have to go apologize to your brother too,” I complained half-heartedly, not taking my eyes off of the small red line. It looked like it was from a ring.

She laughed. “What did you do to him?”

“Uh, got a little upset about nothing… What is that mark from?” I couldn’t help it. I wanted to give her privacy, especially after this morning, but my mind compelled me to ask, practically against my will.

Lacey looked down at her hand with surprise, as if she had just remembered it was there. Then her pale skin flushed a light pink. “A ring fell out of the folder you were holding earlier and it looked so pretty. I swear I was going to give it back, I just wanted to try it on.”

“It burnt your finger!” I exclaimed.

She shrugged. “I’ve had worse, but here.” She reached one arm back into her room and pulled out a small silver band with an intricate snake design. She fingered the outside rim carefully and was all-too-eager to hand it over.

“Thanks,” I mumbled, holding it at eye level to look over it carefully. The inside was a shade of unnaturally light green. I pocketed the ring before I ended up hurting myself.

“Where did you get that? I think you have an enemy,” Lacey said, leaning against her doorframe.

I shook my head. “It’s not mine; it’s a client’s. He’s the one with an enemy.”

“Ah, well good luck.”

“I don’t need it,” I replied instantly, moving to the left a few paces- to Danny’s door. She shrugged and went back into her room. I stood outside of the door for a minute, trying to make myself knock. Why was this so hard?

Suddenly a voice came from behind me, making me jump. I twisted around immediately, my hand scrambling to my pocket to find for my pocketknife. I relaxed when I saw it was Danny. “What are you doing?” He asked bitterly.

“I needed to talk to you.” My voice came out a little too quiet and I had to clear my throat before continuing, “I wanted to say sorry.”

His eyebrows shot up. “You want to apologize?”

“Not really, but I figured it was necessary,” I said awkwardly. “I’ve been snapping at everyone today and you didn’t deserve it.”

“You’re right,” he agreed. “I didn’t... What were you so upset about anyways?” For the first time in a long time, embarrassment flared under my skin.

“It’s not something I like to talk about… But if you still want to help with the case, I’d love to have you back.”

Danny hesitated and my stomach turned. But then a small smile crossed his face. “Okay, give me the details on the drive.”

“What drive?”

He chuckled. “Don’t you want to talk to Mr. McDaniel some more?”

“Yes, but what does that-”