Cross & Crown

Page 9

Kelly leaned away from him to get a better view. Nick glanced sideways at him, giving him a dirty look.
“Yeah, I’m perving on you. What then?” Kelly asked.
They all laughed at him, and Hagan whistled and pointed his fork at the bite mark Nick had exposed on his neck.
“Good Lord,” he said. “Do you even call it sex, or is it more like sparring with you two?”
Nick rolled his eyes. He tapped the oversized tattoo on his shoulder. It covered his entire shoulder, running from the center of his col arbone to his biceps and covering both the front and back sides of his arm. It was a work of art, pure and simple, following the defined lines of Nick’s muscles. “You know what this is?”
“Eagle, globe, and anchor,” JD answered immediately.
“Marines.”
Hagan’s eyebrows had shot higher, but he remained silent.
Nick began to button up his shirt again, and he jerked his chin toward Kelly. “Show him yours.”
Kelly nodded. The one on his arm was partially visible under the sleeve of his T-shirt, so he just pulled the sleeve up and turned so JD could get a good look. It was a simple anchor, but with snakes encircling it and wings at the top to form a caduceus. The word NAVY was written on a scroll at the bottom.
JD studied it for a moment, then glanced between Nick and Kelly. “Well, it’s a Navy tattoo, that much is obvious. I don’t recognize it, but I know it means you were a corpsman.
Probably a SARC, since you two served together and he’s a Marine.”
“Goddamn, he knows more about this shit than I do,” Hagan said.
Kelly glanced between them. He wasn’t sure what this meant since he didn’t have the whole picture, but Nick looked troubled. Kelly didn’t blame him. This guy hadn’t printed as military, but he knew what Nick’s Recon Jack was, and that was a pretty specialized symbol. People might recognize it as being military, but they didn’t know what it meant, not really.
JD did. People who knew military but weren’t military were usually mercs.
“What?” JD asked, beginning to fidget again. “Is this bad? I see the look on your faces; this is bad.”
Nick ran his fingers across his lower lip, not responding.
Kelly watched him, wondering if he’d come to the same conclusion, and if he’d be honest with his suspect when he did.
“Okay,” Nick finally said. “You’ve obviously been exposed to some military culture at some point because your knowledge is above average.”
“So . . . what, I’m some sort of gun for hire then? Like Blackwater, or . . .” JD trailed off, staring at the tabletop.
“How’d I know that name? How do I know what that is?”
“Hey, yesterday you were telling me you knew all kinds of things, sparkly vampires and whatever,” Nick said, his voice sliding back into that soothing honey tone he used so often.
“Blackwater is a well-known company, it’s not weird you’d know it. Just stay calm about it. This is stuff any military brat would know, okay?”
Hagan gave JD a pat on the shoulder and an almost reassuring smile. “We’ll figure this shit out. My boy here is a dog with a bone; we got you.”
Kelly stayed quiet. He did wonder, however, if Hagan’s words were a warning for JD to heed when his memory did start coming back.
We got you.
Chapter 4
ick led the way out of the pub, holding the door Nfor the others and giving the street a cursory glance out of habit. Movement out of the corner of his eye drew his attention, and standing on the other side of the street was Julian Cross. His hands were in his pockets, his head cocked as he watched them.
Nick let the door fall away from his hand, and it closed in Kelly’s face. Nick heard the impact and the cussing that accompanied it, but he took a step toward the road anyway.
“Hey!” he shouted.
Cross merely shook his head, then turned and melted into the lunchtime crowd. Glass shattered behind Nick, accompanied by the pops of gunfire. Nick lunged for a nearby car, glancing back at the others. They were still inside the restaurant. Kelly had gotten them to cover as soon as he’d sensed that Nick had seen something.
Nick drew his gun and crouched behind the car, trying to decide where the shots had originated. Was it Cross? No one was that fast, the shots were coming from an entirely different location. If the shooter had been aiming for Nick, they’d have hit him. The shots sprayed the door to the pub instead, ruining the entryway, gouging holes in the brick and mortar.
“Doc!” Nick shouted above the din. He couldn’t see any of them, and he prayed they’d gotten to cover.
Just as quickly as it had begun, it was over. An otherworldly silence fell on the normally bustling street.
Nick waited a few breaths before peering over the top of the car. All he saw were people flattened on the sidewalks, covering their heads. No one was running. No one was trying to conceal a weapon.
Glass tinkled behind him, and Nick saw Kelly crouching against the doorframe, gaze raking the street.
“You okay?” he called to Nick.
Nick nodded. He gestured for Kelly to retreat back into the restaurant, and Kelly immediately backed into the dim interior. Nick peered over the car again. People were cautiously raising their heads, crying, looking around like frightened animals in an earthquake.
Then one man rose calmly to his feet, brushed off his black overcoat, and began walking down the sidewalk as if nothing had happened.
Nick stood. “Cross!”
Julian didn’t hesitate or look back. He broke into a sprint.
Nick lunged to his feet and gave chase.
Kelly shoved away from the doorway and onto the sidewalk as soon as Nick bolted. He put a hand on his head, cursing under his breath. His eyes scanned the building tops and the people who were slowly getting to their feet. He didn’t see any threats. Whoever had opened fire on them had retreated by now.
“Did he get eyes on the shooter?” Hagan shouted as he jogged out to join Kelly. He stood on his tiptoes to catch sight of Nick and the man he was chasing.
They could see both men dodging passersby, veering out into the road as the chase carried them toward the massive intersection that Kelly was pretty sure bordered Boston Commons.
“He’s gaining on him,” JD said. He had joined them without Kelly realizing it.
Kelly glanced around, then put a hand on JD’s shoulder.
“You need to get back inside, come on.”
Several cops had been eating at the pub, both on and off duty, and they streamed out to help contain the scene. Hagan stood in the doorway, cal ing in the incident and requesting backup for his partner, who was in pursuit of a suspect.
Kelly finally gave in and climbed on top of the ruined car Nick had taken cover behind. He stretched to see down the narrow street, trying to find either man. He finally caught sight of Nick, trudging back down the sidewalk, alone.
“Oh, he’s going to be so pissed,” Hagan grumbled as soon as Kelly relayed the information.
When Nick got closer, he was indeed fuming.
“What happened?” Kelly demanded.
“I lost him!” Nick snapped.
“Was it the shooter?” Hagan asked.
“I don’t think so.”
“Then why’d you chase him down?” Hagan asked.
Nick sighed heavily and shrugged at Kelly. “You know the holes in my boat?” he asked Hagan.
“Yeah, but it still floats.”
“Right. That was the guy. Cross. I’ve seen him twice now, once at the murder scene, and just now. He’s up to something.”
Hagan flopped his arms dramatically. “Why is the CIA robbing a bookstore in Boston?”
“Are . . . are you saying I might be CIA?” JD asked incredulously.
“No,” Nick and Hagan both said at the same time.
“I thought Cross got out of the game,” Kelly said. “Why’s he back in it?”
Nick shook his head and lowered it a little, like a bull preparing to charge. His jaw tightened and his nostrils flared.
Kelly tensed, like he might need to talk Nick down from something. He rarely needed to, because Nick’s control of his temper was near legendary. But when he did . . . Kelly had put him on his back a few times to keep him from hurting someone.
“Cross wasn’t the one taking shots at our witness, so let’s worry about him later and get JD somewhere safe,” Nick finally said through gritted teeth.
“This place have a back door?” Kelly asked.
Hagan indicated for them to follow him. Nick shrugged out of his suit coat and put it around JD’s shoulders, and he stole a Red Sox hat from the coat rack as they passed by it and placed it on JD’s head.
“Eyes on the ground,” Nick murmured close to his ear.
JD pulled the hat lower and hunched his shoulders, shrugging into Nick’s coat as they stepped into the narrow alleyway behind the pub. He and Hagan started off toward the end of the alley, but Nick stopped and pulled Kelly aside.
“If the words ‘I want you to go home until it’s safe’ come out of your mouth, I’m going to break one of your ribs,” Kelly told him before Nick could speak.
Nick finally tore his eyes away from JD’s retreating form and met Kelly’s with a small smile. “You know me better than that.” He bent and took his spare gun from a holster at his ankle, then pressed it into Kelly’s hands. “I do want you do go back to the Fiddler, though, and get two spares for us. You know where I keep them?”
“In every nook and cranny you can find.” Kelly automatically checked the gun, even though he knew Nick would have it loaded and ready.
“Good. Ammo’s in a galley drawer. If you’re going to be shot at, you might as well be able to shoot back.”
Kelly nodded silently. “What’s the plan? With the witness, I mean?”
“We’ll have to find him a new safe house. Make sure we’re not tailed. They knew he was at the precinct; we have to assume the hotel is blown.” Nick chewed on the inside of his cheek, his eyes focused on something over Kelly’s shoulder.
“I’m thinking about putting him on the Fiddler.”
Kelly glanced up at him, eyes widening. “You’re going to hide a witness on your boat?”
“The marina has security. We’d both be there; we’ll pull Hagan too. We can put her out in the harbor each night, make it a job to get to him.”
“Nick.”
Nick met his eyes again, and they were hard as jade. The stunning color almost made Kelly stutter.
He took a deep breath. “Look, I know you’ve got a soft spot for this guy, but you’ve got to remember he might not be what he says he is.”
“Soft spot?”
“Please,” Kelly said with weak laugh. “If we weren’t a thing, you’d be all over him.”
Nick opened his mouth to protest, then shut it with a snap of his teeth. “You’re probably right,” he admitted. A sly smile came over him and he hooked his finger through Kelly’s belt loop. “But we are a thing.”
Kelly allowed him a brief kiss, just enough time for him to get back in Kelly’s good graces, then he playfully shoved Nick away and turned to follow after Hagan and JD.
“Making out in back alleys!” Hagan called to Nick. “Old habits die hard, huh buddy?”
“Shut up!”
“You want me to sleep on a boat?” Hagan asked. “You remember I get seasick, right?”
“When you give me a better idea, I’ll run with it,” Nick challenged. He knew it wasn’t a perfect plan, and it wouldn’t hold up for long, but until they had a safe house they could be confident in, he would rather keep JD close.
JD sat in the hard plastic chair beside their desks, frowning as he listened. “I wonder if I get seasick,” he mused. “I guess we’ll find out.”
Nick glanced at him, then back at his partner. “Why does the guy with amnesia who’s been shot at twice in two days complain less than you do?”
Hagan grumbled and stood, tossing his tie over his shoulder in a huff. He grabbed his empty coffee cup to go off in search of a refill.
Nick sat back, lacing his fingers behind his head and closing his eyes with a sigh.
“Detective?” JD whispered. He waited until Nick had opened his eyes again to continue. “When the shooting started today, I remembered something.”
Nick sat forward. “Yeah? What was it?”
“A face. It like . . . flashed through my mind. I think it might be the guy who shot at me before.”
“Can you describe him?”
“Yeah, dark hair, blue eyes—”
“Not to me, to an artist. Hold on.” Nick reached for the phone. “This is Detective O’Flaherty, Robbery/Homicide. I need an artist up here to work with my witness.”
The woman gave him confirmation and he hung up, turning his chair so he could face JD. “Okay. So far I’ve got these little threads to this case, and I can’t seem to tie any of them together. I need your help.”
Fear settled in JD’s eyes in a way Nick felt almost guilty for. He’d been coddling the man, wanting him to feel safe, but someone had tried to put a second bullet in him today. It was time to take off the gloves.
JD’s jaw hardened, though, and he nodded. “Whatever you need from me.”
“I’m going to give you three subjects, okay, and you tell me off the top of your head what they have to do with each other.”
JD’s brow furrowed, but he nodded anyway.
Nick held up his hand and counted off. “American Revolution. Ireland. Stolen goods.”