Page 197 of Cross & Crown

Kelly’s hand and slid further down like he was surfing a wave.

Then he was in the water. He moved beneath the bridge, his

fingers slipping out of Kelly’s grasp and finally moving out of Kelly’s sight.

JD and Julian both leaned over the railing, trying to see

him. Kelly stayed where he was, though, his hand still hanging

down. Nick was moving upstream, so if he lost his footing and

the water took him, he could at least try to make a grab for

Kelly’s hand as he went by.

197

“Fucking morons,” Nick shouted after several more

minutes of silent searching. “Who writes a goddamn message

on a wooden bridge?”

“Oh boy,” Kelly muttered. He pushed to his knees and

headed to the end of the bridge, stepping out onto the rocks

so he could see where Nick was. He was standing in waist-

deep water, one hand gripping the piling of the bridge, one

hand on a rock in front of him.

“In the middle of a fucking war, where bridges were

literally being burned!” Nick shouted.

Kelly beckoned with his fingers. “Come out of the water,

bud.”“He had to know wood wouldn’t stick around!” Nick

shouted. “Fucking idiot.”

“There there,” Kelly said.

“This shit was gone by the time they put that message

in the diamonds,” Nick railed. “What was the point? It’s a

fucking dead end!”

“Babe, come on, get out of the water,” Kelly tried again.

“We have a problem,” Julian said.

Kelly glanced up at him, then followed the direction of

Julian’s gaze. A couple was strol ing toward them. The woman

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