Page 96 of Cross & Crown

“The lieutenant who took the treasure was Irish,” JD

reminded them. “He was a member of the Order of St. Patrick.

And he fought in the Irish Rebellion of 1798. Oh God, that’s

so obscure.”

Nick wrinkled his nose. “Let’s . . . make some assumptions

for the sake of argument, here. Dude goes home to Ireland,

becomes a knight, and realizes he doesn’t need to deal with

the sea crossing again to get to that shit he left back there.

He’d want to leave a mark, though. He’d want people to

know he took it away from the Americans, right? He’d want

to somehow let someone know where to find it. Leave clues.”

“Perhaps that’s where the theft comes in,” Julian offered.

He’d barely eaten any of his dinner.

Kelly couldn’t imagine what the man was suffering

through, knowing the love of his life was in the hands of

ruthless men and still trying to figure out a centuries-old

mystery.

Nick shrugged. “Makes as much sense as anything else.”

Julian gave a distracted wave.

“You know what don’t make sense to me?” Nick

continued, his voice still casual but his body tensing against

Kelly’s. “Why they’d tap you for this shit.”

Julian put his utensils down with care and met Nick’s eyes.

Nick cocked his head. “Hey bud, you don’t have to prep

for a fight every time I ask a question. I get it, okay? But I

told you I’d help you. I’m not attacking you, you feel me? Just trying to understand.”

Julian glanced around at them al , then met Nick’s eyes

once more and nodded.

97

“You’re not alone in this,” Nick assured him.

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