Page 145 of Cross & Crown

“No way of knowing what was fired first,” Hagan called.

“But if you ask me, this looks like an assassination. Whoever

was standing where the Doc is, he took out his own man in

cold blood.”

Nick had a hand over his mouth, still circling JD,

studying him, his feet, the way he was positioned versus the

rest of them.

“You’re making me really nervous right now,” JD finally

told him.

Nick stopped in front of him. He waited a beat, and

behind them Julian raised his hand again as if aiming a

weapon at them. “Turn around,” Nick ordered JD.

When JD did, he flinched at the sight of Julian aiming at

him. He took a step back and knocked into Nick, who didn’t

give an inch of ground. He held on to JD instead, keeping him

from panicking or bolting.

Kelly abandoned his position and jogged over to them.

“Hey. That shit’s uncalled for, man. Not cool,” he shouted.

He moved to help free JD from Nick’s grasp, but the stunned

look of terror on JD’s face stopped him. “You okay?”

146

“I remember . . . running.” JD took a shallow, shaky breath.

“I was running away from the store. Away from him.”

“From him?” Nick asked, pointing at Julian.

“Wasn’t me!” Julian called in a bored voice.

“No, from the man who was shot. I ran out of the store.

Iwasin there.” He put both hands to his head and closed his eyes. “Oh God. I really was in there.”

When Nick finally met Kelly’s eyes, he looked weary

and almost sick. Kelly realized the hard-ass hissy fit he’d just thrown had all been part of a show he was putting on for JD,

hoping to jog something loose. It had worked. It had been