Page 94 of Cross & Crown

careful enough with our location. Cameron made . . . he made

a phone call that . . . Anyway. If I don’t find this fucking

treasure before someone else does, they’ll kill him.”

Nick offered to cook for them, but they insisted he order

out so he wouldn’t have to bother with it. Kelly wanted to tell Julian and JD that cooking sometimes eased Nick’s nerves,

but he kept his mouth shut.

Hagan joined them just as the food was getting there,

and Nick spent five minutes bitching about how Hagan had

a citywide radar set out for free food but couldn’t remember

to get him a damn Gatorade instead of coffee in the morning.

They sat up on the flybridge, eating Thai food and watching

the sun set, filling JD and Hagan in as they ate. Kelly kept

close enough to Nick to maintain contact surreptitiously. He

could feel Nick winding up, and Nick’s peace of mind often

fed off contact. Now and then Nick would seek out Kelly’s

hand and merely squeeze it, then go back to eating.

“Masons, Revolutionary treasure, Irish royalty,” Hagan

said through a mouthful of food. “I think you’re all insane.”

“I bet we get a shrink in here, he’d say you’re right,” Nick

said. He stretched out, throwing his arm over the back of the

bench seat behind Kelly. Kelly put his plate down and leaned

into him, resting his feet on a stool off to the side.

“So, let me see if I have the timelines correct,” JD said. He

was looking down at his food, pushing it around his plate. He

hadn’t eaten much. “The Rosicrucians pop up in Germany in

1600. They’re . . . esoteric, to say the least. They concentrate 95

on learning, secrets of nature, and healing. But they gain

enough steam to inspire the Masons two hundred years later,

who become a far more prevailing organization. Based more

in wealth and power.”

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