Page 76 of Cross & Crown

Nick glanced at him, then back at his partner. “Why does

the guy with amnesia who’s been shot at twice in two days

complainlessthan you do?”

Hagan grumbled and stood, tossing his tie over his

shoulder in a huff. He grabbed his empty coffee cup to go off

in search of a refill.

Nick sat back, lacing his fingers behind his head and

closing his eyes with a sigh.

“Detective?” JD whispered. He waited until Nick had

opened his eyes again to continue. “When the shooting

started today, I remembered something.”

Nick sat forward. “Yeah? What was it?”

“A face. It like . . . flashed through my mind. I think it

might be the guy who shot at me before.”

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“Can you describe him?”

“Yeah, dark hair, blue eyes—”

“Not to me, to an artist. Hold on.” Nick reached for the

phone. “This is Detective O’Flaherty, Robbery/Homicide. I

need an artist up here to work with my witness.”

The woman gave him confirmation and he hung up,

turning his chair so he could face JD. “Okay. So far I’ve got

these little threads to this case, and I can’t seem to tie any of them together. I need your help.”

Fear settled in JD’s eyes in a way Nick felt almost guilty

for. He’d been coddling the man, wanting him to feel safe, but

someone had tried to put a second bullet in him today. It was

time to take off the gloves.

JD’s jaw hardened, though, and he nodded. “Whatever

you need from me.”

“I’m going to give you three subjects, okay, and you tell

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