Mac drove over to Romani's Restaurant. It was crowded when he and Sheldon walked in. "Wow, it must be good food," Sheldon said. "I don't believe I've ever eaten here."

"I have," Mac said. "It 'is' good."

Mac and Sheldon walked over to the counter. "Hey, get in line like everyone else," someone said, with a strong Italian accent.

Mac showed him his badge. "I'm on business," he said.

"Sorry."

Mac looked at the woman at the counter. "Excuse me," he said. "I'm Detective Mac Taylor. I need to see your manager."

"He's in the back," the woman said. She stared at Mac a moment. "I guess you want me to call him?"

Mac nodded. "Yeah, that would be good of you."

"Humph."

The woman walked away from the counter. Mac looked at Sheldon. "So much for hospitality," Sheldon said.

"Their food must be better than their service," Mac said.

Sheldon couldn't help but smile as he looked at the line. Finally, the woman came back. "He's a-busy," she said.

"Did you tell him the 'police' are wanting to see him?" Mac asked.

"Was I supposed to tell him that?"

Mac was almost out of patience. "Look, I want to see him 'NOW'."

The woman walked off mumbling something in Italian. Sheldon was grinning when Mac looked at him. "What's so funny?" Mac asked.

"You get all these Italian people stirred up," Sheldon said. "They're liable to clobber you."

Mac shook his head. "You've been working with Danny and Flack too long."

Sheldon loved watching Mac deal with stubborn people. He tried to stay calm, but Sheldon could see that line in the middle of his forehead get deeper, as he got more aggravated. Finally, the woman came back again. "You can go on back," she said. She pointed down the hall. "Right through there."

Mac and Sheldon went down the hall and found a door that said "Office". Mac knocked on the door. "Come in, come in!" a man said from inside.

Mac opened the door and they walked in. "You wanted to see me?" the man asked.

"Yes," Mac said. He took a picture of the victim out. "Do you know…"

"Isabella King," the man said. He looked thoroughly shocked. "What happened to her?"

"She was murdered, Mister…"

"Romani. Ernest Romani. How did this happen to her?"

"We don't know," Mac answered. "We think she was murdered here outside the restaurant. Did she work last night?"

"Yes. She worked every night."

"What time did she leave work?"

"Around eleven, I suppose. She closes the restaurant and cleans everything up."

"Did you know of her going on any treasure hunting excursions?"

Romani stared at Mac. "She said something about that once," he said. "Why?"

"We think she might have been murdered over something like that," Mac said. "Two of her fingers were broken. Did you notice any rings she was wearing?"

"Yes. She showed them to me. Instead of getting money for that diamond and ruby she found, she had rings made from them. And trust me, they were not cheap quality, they were the genuine article. Beautiful."

"Was she engaged?"

"I think she had a boyfriend, but I didn't know him."

"Did you ever see him?"

"He came in maybe twice."

"She ever mention his name?"

"No."

"Did she have a friend named Allison Corbin?"

"Yes! She was so upset about her! She was killed too." Romani seemed to get the picture then. "You think they were both killed over this jewelry?"

"I don't know, Sir, but it's looking that way."

"Did she flash that jewelry around?" Sheldon asked.

"She did not hide it," Romani said. "She was proud of it. They said her friend was killed in a random shooting and robbery."

"Well, it doesn't look like that now," Mac said.

"I want you to find whoever killed these women. They were good women."

"We intend to."

Mac and Sheldon went out into the alley. They found two trash bins that were used by these three restaurants. Mac squatted and shined his flashlight on the ground, as he noticed something red. He took a swab out of the kit and got a sample and sprayed it. It turned pink, so he knew it was blood. "I think this was our primary crime scene," he said. He took pictures of the blood.

"Look at this," Sheldon said, as he pointed to the wall. "Blood spatter."

Mac took pictures and got a sample of the blood from the wall. They searched the alley, but didn't find a murder weapon. "Since they kept it from last time, I guess it's easy to assume they would keep it this time too," Sheldon said.

"Who would kill these women to get that jewelry?" Mac asked.

"Someone dangerous."

"Maybe that line has shortened in there now," Mac said. "Maybe we can get some takeout."

They went back inside. The line had dwindled down to nothing. The woman at the counter looked at Mac. "You back again?" she asked.

Mac looked at her a moment. "You're just a ray of sunshine," Mac said. "I thought I would come in and let you shine on me again."

The woman had to smile, and Sheldon almost laughed out loud. "What will you have?" the woman asked.

Mac and Sheldon ordered a plate to go and they went back out to the Avalanche. Sheldon was still almost laughing. "A ray of sunshine, huh?" he asked.

Mac smiled. "Hey, I got her to smile," he said.

Mac drove back to the lab. Everyone smelled that food when they walked in. "Wow, what smells so good?" Stella asked, as she walked over to Mac.

"Italian," Mac said.

"Are you sharing?"

Mac pretended to ponder that. "I'll think about it."

Stella smiled. "What did you find?"

"We found our primary crime scene. I got some blood samples to test against the victim's blood. No murder weapon though."

Mac gave the blood samples to Lindsey. "Run those for me," he said.

Stella hugged Mac's arm. "Why don't we have a little sit-down dinner in your office?" she asked. "I'll feed you."

Mac looked at her with his sly grin. "You just want to get into my food."

"I want to get into more than that."

"Oh yeah?"

"I haven't had a really good kiss all day."

"I think I can fix that."

They went into Mac's office. "I don't think this is actually considered privacy," Mac said.

"Everybody knows we're in love," Stella said. She put her arms around Mac's neck and gave him a passionate kiss.

Mac hoped no one was watching, but he kissed her anyway. They sat down on the couch. Mac opened his takeout plate. "The best chicken alfredo you ever tasted," Mac said. He looked at Stella, as she took his plastic fork out of the wrapper. "We were right about the treasure hunting," he said. "She and Allison Corbin were friends and they went treasure hunting together. They found some jewels and had them made into jewelry."

"Open wide," Stella said, as she held Mac's fork up.

Mac smiled and opened his mouth. "I'm not a baby," he said, as he chewed.

"But I like to treat you like one. Everybody needs to be babied sometimes."

Mac thought of what Adam said earlier. Stella saw that concerned look go across Mac's face. She figured it was about the case though. "You have any idea where they went treasure hunting?" she asked.

"I have a brochure that I found in Isabella King's apartment. I'm going to contact that company and find out," Mac said, and swallowed. He took the brochure out of his coat pocket, as Stella fed him another bite. Mac shook his head. "I'm not sure I like being fed."

Mac looked at the brochure. "New York Treasure Hunters," he said. "That's my next stop, I guess."

"Where do you find treasure in New York?" Stella asked.

"I don't know, but it could be anywhere. We have mountains after all."

"Yes, I know."

Mac smiled. "We'll have to go up there again sometime after we're married and sleep in the same room. Have you decided about the date yet?"

"No, not yet."

"You got a month picked out yet?"

"I'm thinking September. Maybe it will be cooler by then."

"Maybe."

Mac put the brochure back in his lapel pocket. He looked at Stella. Could he just ask her about her past relationships? This was Adam though. Mac thought it might be a little awkward working here with him if they had…Mac shook his head. Maybe it was better if he didn't know for sure, but would he have to wonder about it the rest of his life?

Stella looked at Mac. "What are you thinking about?" she asked.

Mac opened his mouth, but he didn't know how to even start that conversation. After all, he had played around with Peyton all that time. Stella stared at him a moment. "What's the matter?" she asked.

"Nothing," Mac said.

"Don't tell me that. What's bothering you?"

"Something Adam said today."

"Adam?" Stella frowned. "What did he say?"

Mac really felt uncomfortable now. He shifted on the couch. "Nothing. Lets just talk about something else."

"No. I want to know what he said." Stella couldn't believe Adam would tell Mac that they slept together. If he did, she would give him a piece of her mind. That had been a mistake. They had both been upset about Angell's death and about everything that happened, and had too much to drink…Stella still couldn't believe she had done that. "He told you?"

"Told me what?" Mac asked.

Stella put Mac's fork down. "We had a one-night stand," she said. "It was stupid, and never happened again, and shouldn't have happened that time."

Mac couldn't believe what he was hearing. "You slept with Adam?"

Stella glared at him. "So what? You slept with Peyton!"

"I don't want to talk about this. There's no need to bring up stuff from the past."

"I can't believe Adam told you that."

"He didn't exactly 'tell' me. He said…never mind."

"No. I want to know."

"He said you were quite a woman, and I wondered what he meant by that."

"And you just assumed that we had slept together." Stella folded her arms. "What? Do you think I'm going to compare you to him?"

Mac looked at her. "No."

"I would never do that."

Mac wished he had never brought this up. "Lets drop this subject," he said.

"Obviously it's something that bothers you. Maybe we should talk about it some more."

"What is there to talk about? I certainly don't want to hear details."

"Did you think you would be my first?"

Mac frowned at her. "NO. Don't start getting vindictive."

"Why don't you tell me how it felt when you were with Peyton the first time after all those years of no one?"

Mac glared at Stella. "That's not even funny."

"I didn't mean it to be funny."

"But Adam? What are you, about ten years older than him or more?"

"You're ten years older than me!"

"I guess you fulfilled his boyhood fantasy of an older woman!"

"THAT is none of your business!" Stella pulled at the ring on her finger.

Mac looked at her. "What are you doing?" he asked.

"I don't think I can marry you."

"Why not? You think we're never going to have arguments? We've argued before!"

"This is different."

"Why is it different?"

"It's TOO personal!"

Mac grabbed Stella's hands. "Stella!" he said. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you. I don't want you to take my ring off."

Stella looked into his eyes. She could see his sincerity in those green eyes. "It was a stupid thing to bring up," Mac said.

"We've all done stupid things in our past," Stella said. "We can't go back and undo it."

"I know that. It doesn't matter. I didn't mean this to turn into an argument."

"What did you think it would be? A discussion?"

"I don't know."

Mac leaned back on the couch. He still couldn't believe she slept with Adam, but like she said, she couldn't undo it. Stella stared at Mac. "Is this going to bother you the rest of your life?" she asked.

"No," Mac said. He looked at her. "I love you, and that's all that matters."

Stella couldn't hold back her smile. "You really know how to get a woman flustered and then charm it right out of her, don't you?" she asked.

Mac smiled. "I try."

Just then, someone knocked on Mac's office door. They looked around to see Lindsey there. She came in at Mac's beckoning. "Mac, the blood you got from the alley," she said. "It definitely matches the victim."

Mac looked at the report Lindsey brought. "So she was murdered in that alley, most likely after she got off from work and thrown into the garbage bin, after they stole those rings off her hands." Mac thought a moment. "I wonder if she had this jewelry appraised or documented for insurance purposes."

"It's worth checking into," Stella said.

Mac took another bite of his food and got up. "We have to find out," he said.

"Aren't you going to finish eating?" Stella asked.

"I suppose I should, but I don't have time."

"You should take time."

Mac took a few more bites, and then went to the computer lab. He felt a little awkward talking to Adam now, but he would just have to get over it. "Adam, I need to know if Isabella King had any insurance policies on this jewelry of hers," Mac said. "I want to know if it was documented with pictures. I need to get an idea of what it looked like."

"I'm on it," Adam said.

Mac went back into the lab. "Stella, lets go," he said.

"Where to now?" Stella asked, as she was putting the last bite of Mac's food in her mouth.

"I want to visit this treasure hunting business and see what they know about this."

"I'm with you."

Mac smiled and put his arm around her as they walked to the elevator. "I always want you with me too," he said. "No matter what."