Page 106 of Cross & Crown

“Okay, so when he remembers that he kills people—”

“Ty, I had this conversation with my superiors today; shut

up and be helpful.”

106

“Fine. Go get him, I’ll talk to him.”

“Be right back.” Nick got up and turned to head for the

stairs. He stopped short and his hand immediately went to

the gun in the holster on his hip when he found JD standing

in the stairwell, his eyes just showing over the railing. Nick

had been so caught up with his conversation, he’d allowed JD

to get the drop on him. Goddamn.

“I . . . I couldn’t sleep and I was feeling claustrophobic,”

JD explained as quickly as he could. “Hagan told me earlier

he’d be keeping watch upstairs, that it’d be okay for me to . . .

I heard you talking so I came to see who was with you, but I

didn’t . . . I didn’t want to intrude.” He seemed to be trying

not to look at the gun Nick was still gripping, but his eyes

strayed to Nick’s hip anyway.

Nick breathed out a long, slow breath and nodded, letting

his hand leave his weapon. “It’s okay. Next time give me a little more noise, huh? Come here.”

JD took the last few steps, looking worried. Nick knew the

man must have heard the last part of his and Ty’s conversation, but it wasn’t anything he hadn’t already been told or even said himself.

“This is my buddy Ty; Kelly and I were telling you about

him earlier,” Nick said as he pointed at the phone sitting on

the table. “He’s good with linguistics, he thinks maybe he can

help us with your accent.”

“What accent?” JD asked with a frown.

Nick laughed and put a hand on his shoulder, knowing

the contact would calm him.

“JD, is it?” Ty’s voice was small on the speaker, and they

---