E.D. Arrington
Secrets lurked amongst the small intimate group of family and friends – secrets they hoped and prayed would never be revealed. But when Jackson Pryce is murdered in the wee hours on that frosty Christmas morning, the secret he kept about his investigation of the underground world emerges. Then Jackson’s handwritten notes fall into the hands of Detective Clay Stephens, his friend and former partner. Determined to find Jackson’s murderer – no matter where or to whom the road leads – one by one, Clay shines a light on all of their secrets. Yet, only one secret would bring all of their fragile worlds crumbling down. Only one secret would wreak havoc over all of their lives. Only one secret would keep them all living on the edge. In time, only one secret would break through for all to see. It was destined to happen…the question is when, where and how?
Would it be Bridgette’s decision to keep secret the large sums of money she had quietly withdrawn from her personal bank account, or that she sneaked off the Estate to spend an evening with the one friend her husband so desperately tried to keep away from his pregnant wife? Would it be David’s and Agnes’s decision to keep the question of their daughter’s paternity a secret, or that Jackson, the man Bridgette knew as Uncle Jack and loved like a father, had shared much more with her mother than just a close friendship? Would it be Jeremy’s decision to keep hidden the sordid secret of his mother, Diana Robinson (alias Sara White) by claiming his parents were dead, or his night of lust and passion with his ex-lover, Fran McKenzie? Would it be Megan’s decision to keep hushed that she squandered away hundred of thousands of dollars from her trust fund in the casinos, or waiting too late to disclose her relationship with another man – Reginald Douglas?
E. D. Arrington is the author of the spellbinding novel, Stay The Course, a story based on her life experiences growing up in the rural South in the late 1960s and early 1970s, Words Of Comfort: A Collection Of Poems And Inspirational Writings, On The Edge, a gripping tale of romance, secrets, murder, love, and intrigue of the wealthy set in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area, and Forever Was A Day, The Sequel To Stay The Course. She is currently working on Move Forward, The Sequel To Forever Was A Day. Her novel, On The Edge R-e-v-i-s-i-t-e-D, the continuing saga of On The Edge, is scheduled for release in 2009.
Arrington, the fourth of seven children, was raised on a farm in rural Greene County, North Carolina by her grandparents, Tom and Eva Brown-Arrington, until their deaths. After graduating from T. C. Williams High School, (school of the Titans) in Alexandria, Virginia, she pursued her higher education at local colleges and universities, and lived and worked in the Washington, D. C. metropolitan area for twenty-five years before retiring. She currently resides in Wilson, North Carolina, a small town twenty-three miles from her birthplace.
CHAPTER 20
At 2603 Stone House Court, seconds before the honey-nut grandfather clock tolled in the nine o’clock hour, Megan Robinson strolled through her three-story, brick Tudor home perched atop a strapping hill onto the glass encased-porch affectionately cradling an early morning delivery of two dozen long-stemmed red roses. A wide-eyed little girl’s smile lit up her face as she slit open the envelope with one long nail, and with her slender fingers, caught hold of the card bearing a typewritten note:
Roses Are Red
Violets Are Blue
I’ve Got Some Unfinished Business
With YOU!
Then the phone rang.
Sophie Baptiste, dressed in a sea-green stiffly starched maid's uniform, worn intentionally to set herself apart from the other domestic egineers (a title she insisted on being called) and their boring white, stepped briskly onto the porch. "Mrs. Harrington is on the line," she said, every word dripping with her rich Carribbean accent, "and she doesn't sound much for small talk.You know how her voice spills of sassiness when she's in one of her moods; and, this morning, it's as thick as homemade molasses."
Megan eagerly rid herself of the box of red roses, dropping them into Sophie's outstretched arms, but didn't dare let go of the card still checked between her slender fingers. "I'll take it inside," she said, and left the porch for the privacy of -- the den.
Megan hesitantly lifted the phone from its cradle. "Hi, Bridgette," she said in a cheefull voice, full of life, masking her apprehension.
"We need to talk, babe." Bridgette's voice was dry and dead serious. She was definitely in one of her moods.
Megan exhaled a painful groan. "Bridgette, it's early. Too early. I'm not up for one of your lectures. Let's talk about something funny. Or maybe we can go shopping at that new boutique on Wisconsin Avenue. I hear it's something to behold."
"Not today, babe. This you've got to hear." Bridgette let loose a gush of air. "Tom knows."
Megan dropped heavily onto the arm of the couch. Her gasp of panic broke the steely silence. "Tom knows what?"
"Everything."
Megan peeled open the card and read again the note that arrived with the two-dozen roses.
Roses Are Red
Violets Are Blue
I'm Got Some Unfinished Business
With YOU!
"How?" Her raised breathing pierced the stifling quiet.
"Meet me at Georgia's at twelve."
