Page 129 of Cross & Crown

They wanted to know where I was, and what progress I had

made. I told them I’d been forced to enlist assistance. I got the distinct feeling they already knew that.”

“You think they’re following you?” Nick asked.

“If they were, I’d know it.”

“They’re keeping tabs somehow,” Nick insisted.

“Maybe they heard about the robbery,” Kelly suggested.

“Knew it was either Julian or the other crew.”

“Perhaps,” Julian whispered.

“What role did you play in that?” Nick asked him.

“In what?”

“The robbery. The murders,” Nick said, his voice hard.

“Was any of that you?”

“No, Detective. I was merely tailing them. And doing

so from quite a distance. I never saw them, other than the

van they drove. I got there and the scene was already as you

found it.”

“You were tailing them?” Nick shouted. “Why didn’t you

say that before? Where’d they come from? Are they based

somewhere in Boston?”

Julian remained irritatingly calm in the face of Nick’s

outburst. Kelly was impressed.

“They came from the airport. I followed their trail. I’m

not concealing information from you, Detective. I want them

stopped as badly as you do. More so than you, I would wager.”

130

Nick pointed his finger at Julian, wagging it

threateningly. He calmed quickly though, acknowledging

the logic in Julian’s explanation. “I’m going to go finish

shaving,” he said through his teeth as he left them.

Julian watched him go, then turned back to Kelly with a

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