Page 66 of Cross & Crown

lingering on the break room door. He took a deep breath and

then sighed before heading over there.

Hagan was fighting with his coat when he joined Kelly.

“He bringing the stray to lunch?”

“Did you expect anything less from him?” Kelly asked

fondly.

65

Hagan grunted. “You should see the last stray he

convinced me to keep around. Teeny tiny little puppy he

found in a storm drain, half-dead and starving in the middle

of the night. All the local shelters were closed up so we had to take it in for the night. Bastard told me he couldn’t have it on his boat ’cause it’d fall off and drown. Fucking thing was too

weak to walk and he convinced me it’d take a header off the

side of a boat!”

Kelly couldn’t stop his grin.

Hagan appeared almost sheepish. “I still got that damn

mutt. Weighs a hundred pounds. Best friend I ever had.”

Kelly laughed. “Well he can’t keep this stray either. You

have room for an amnesiac with great bone structure?”

“Not if he pisses on the carpet like the last one,” Hagan

grumbled as he headed for the elevators.

They sat at a booth in a local pub near the precinct house

that obviously catered to cops. In fact, after staring around at the pictures on the walls long enough, Kelly found Nick up

there. He gazed up at the photo, smirking. Most of the photos

were official, full uniform and regalia, with stone-faced men

and women staring at the camera like they could cause it to

burst into flame. It reminded Kelly of the military photos

they’d taken.

Nick didn’t exactly smile in photos, but he didn’t keep

a straight face either. The look he usually gave was more of

a challenge, with a half smirk that basically said “come at

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