Page 142 of Cross & Crown

“What happened?” Hagan demanded.

“Order up an unmarked, we’re going for a ride,” Nick said.

He took JD by the elbow and led him toward the door.

Kelly hurried to right the chair Nick had left in his wake,

then shrugged in response to Hagan’s questioning look and

jogged after his lover. He caught up to them in the stairwell.

“What’s going on, what happened?” JD kept asking.

“New evidence,” Nick snarled. “Need you to walk us

through something.”

JD’s eyes were still wide and confused, but he was smart

enough to stay quiet. Even Kelly kept his mouth shut until

they were in the parking lot.

“Nick,” he finally demanded, and he grabbed at Nick’s

elbow. He turned him until they were facing each other,

trying to make Nick look into his eyes and realize he was

spiraling out of control. Kelly didn’t want to divert the spiral, because he was of the opinion that JD needed to see what he

was messing around with if he was faking. But he didn’t want

to be left behind, either. “Where are we going, and what do

you want us to do?”

143

Nick’s eyes darted over Kelly’s face, then to Julian, who

was silently following along. “You two follow us in my car.”

Kelly nodded and let him go.

Hagan held up the keys to the unmarked sedan he’d

requisitioned, and Kelly stood aside and watched Nick shove

JD into the backseat and slam the door.

Julian clucked his tongue, then sauntered over to the

Range Rover. But Kelly remained rooted to the spot for

another few seconds. Nick hated being lied to, despised it

with more passion than anything, even the New York Yankees.