Page 97 of Cross & Crown

Kelly found himself leaning closer to Nick the more

gentle his voice went. Nick squeezed him close, probably not

even aware that he was doing it.

“I don’t trust anyone,” Julian finally said. “Do understand

it’s not personal.”

“Fair enough. Your cover was as an antiques dealer, right?”

“That’s correct.”

“Nazi Germany was notorious for archaeological

digs in search of religious relics. Do you have anything in

your background that would ping you for a job like this?

Hunting . . . myths? CIA? IRA?”

“I’ve been assured by a close contact within the Company

that the CIA has nothing to do with this, nor do any of the

other alphabets I’ve ever crossed. It’s . . . a private matter. That was as much as he was able to glean without putting himself

in an awkward position.”

Nick smiled, laughing silently. “That wasn’t what I asked.”

Julian snorted. “Fine. I was schooled in the art of relieving

artworks of their cages.”

“You were an art thief,” Kelly summed up.

“Very briefly. And very badly, might I add. It was one of

the few things I was caught doing. It would be on a record . . .

somewhere.”

“What concerns me is that it wasn’t your shitty art theft

abilities that caught someone’s attention,” Kelly said. “I think your purpose is to . . . kill things, pretty much.”

“Deftly put,” Julian said with a hint of a smile.

“Well, someone had the contacts and the information

to sniff you out, and to hand you these leads you’ve been

following,” Hagan said. His mouth was half-full and he was

98

hurrying through his food. “What the hell kind of private

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