Page 104 of Cross & Crown

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them. “Yeah,” he finally said, voice a little choked. “You’d

think, but it’s not. Not when my only witness is a fucking

John Doe.”

Ty was silent, mul ing it over. “You should get a shrink in

to question him,” he finally suggested, his voice losing a little of its buoyancy. “Try to trip him up if he’s faking.”

“Yeah, he’s got an appointment with one in the morning.

Guy I’ve been going to, I trust his judgment.”

“You been seeing a shrink?” Ty asked.

“My hands don’t shake as much anymore. Worth the hour

a week,” Nick said, voice going colder.

Ty was silent for a long, tense moment. “That’s good,” he

finally said in a rush, sounding like he was trying to catch up to the conversation. “That’s good, it’s good. So your amnesia

guy, what’s your take on him?”

“I don’t think he’s faking. I mean, could you pull that off

24/7 and never once slip?”

“Never tried,” Ty said in all seriousness. “And you have

nothing on him? Is he at least local? Does he have an accent?”

“Yeah, about that. I never heard this accent before.”

“Really.”

“It’s like . . . Southern with a curlicue.”

“What?” Ty was laughing, but Nick didn’t find his

frustration all that amusing.

“I’m serious. It’s like yours, but not. Like he came over

from England and put the two accents together. I . . .”

“Can you mimic him?”

“No! I’ve tried, and my tongue does not make that sound

with an R.”

“Your tongue can’t make any kind of an R!”

“Whatever, hillbilly.”