I sighed and looked to Jared, who offered a comforting smile. He took my hand and slowly pulled the ring off of my finger. Once Jared placed it in his hand, Vincent turned the ring upside down.

“He had it marked into the pavilion of the stone. The underbelly,” he explained, “very tiny…I had to send it away to a gentleman I know with a laser. I don’t have one of those here, of course,” he chuckled, shaking his head.

“The engraving order has been covered. Do you have the original receipt?” Jared asked.

“No, no. I would have total in my books, only. If I remember correctly, it was letters and numbers. Gibberish that only made sense to your father, I assume.”

It seemed to be too easy. I felt I was in the middle of a cloak and dagger movie, happening upon the perfect clues at the perfect time, watching it come together in front of my eyes.

Jared tucked my hair behind my ear with an apologetic expression. “Vincent?” His eyes were hesitant to leave mine. “Can you remove the stone from the setting?”

I jerked my ring from Vincent’s open hand. “No!”

Jared pulled me out of ear shot. “Nina, if you want to see what Jack had put on this ring—and what Grahm wanted—we have to remove it from the setting to read it. He can reset it as if it were never touched.”

I pressed my lips together in frustration. We would have to see what was etched into the stone to make progress, and there was only one way to do it.

“There’s no other way?” I asked, knowing the answer.

Jared shook his head and opened his hand. I placed my ring in his palm and chewed on my lip.

“Can you do it?” he asked, setting the ring on the glass.

Vincent’s eyes moved from Jared to me, unsure of how to proceed. “I could remove the stone, but there is no guarantee we will be able to read what is there, you see what I say?”

Jared nodded. “Remove the stone.”

Vincent seemed suddenly disinclined. “It will be a few days before I can get to it. Write down your number and I will call you when—”

“I realize you’re busy, forgive me,” Jared said, pulling out his wallet. He set a small stack of hundred dollar bills on the glass, and Vincent’s eyes widened, jerking his head back up to Jared. “That is in addition to your fee, of course,” Jared added.

“You wait here…I’ll be just a moment.” Vincent gestured for us to sit on a short couch by the door, and then hurried to the back.

We waited together on the couch. A strange calm came over me, and I sighed when Jared began lightly caressing the top of my hand.

My eyebrows pulled in and my smile faded. “Jared?”