“Masons,” Nick said, gritting his teeth. “You’re coming at us with Masons?”
“No.”
“Wait, what does this cross have to do with the Irish family jewels?” Kelly asked.
“Crown jewels,” Nick grunted.
“If you would let me finish before you get your knickers in a twist, this would be easier.”
Nick held up both hands and sat with a huff, gesturing for Julian to go on.
“The Masons were actually an offshoot of a much older society called the Rosicrucians,” Julian continued. Nick felt Kelly’s eyes on him, and he glanced at his lover questioningly.
Julian continued, oblivious to their silent communication.
“They inspired the Masonic Order of the Golden and Rosy Cross. It’s part of the Scottish Rites, extremely secretive stuff. Many believe there was an actual golden and rosy cross created by the Rosicrucians in the early part of the seventeenth century that was handed down into Masonic hands.”
“And people believe it was part of the Continental treasure?” Nick asked.
“Some, yes.”
“What’s so important about this cross?” Kelly asked.
“Besides being really old?”
“It was quite large, purported to have been wrapped in hundreds of layers of gold foil, and encrusted in rare pink diamonds. It would literally be priceless.”
Nick found himself nodding. He could understand even the rumor of a treasure like that inspiring a certain type of individual. “Okay. I follow. But what does that have to do with the Irish Crown Jewels? Why are they after those instead of this cross?”
“The main piece in the Irish collection was the Diamond Star of the Grand Master,” Julian said. He laid his paper out and pointed to one of the pieces. “Four square inches of pure white diamond, with a ruby cross and an emerald trefoil in the forefront. Itself worth millions in today’s market, but nothing compared to the value of the golden and rosy cross, if it exists.”
“Right. But the Irish Crown Jewels were stolen a hundred years ago, and the Continental treasure and this pink cross disappeared over a hundred years before that. So I say again, where’s the connection?” Nick asked.
Julian tapped the photo of the Irish Crown Jewels. “This is a map.”
“The brooch?” Kelly asked.
“Star. Technically.”
“Yeah, well I say ‘star’ and it gets all confusing.”
Julian scoffed. “Are you trying to say you’re not confused already?”
“This is a map to the missing Continental treasure?” Nick asked, tapping the grainy picture.
“I mean are we talking about the Big Dipper or are we talking about jewelry?” Kelly asked. “It’s a f**king brooch.”
“Your entire Recon team must be insufferable,” Julian muttered to Nick.
Nick just nodded. “Okay, so the star thingy is a map.”
“A star map!” Kelly said, grinning widely at Nick. “You were right, interstellar librarians.”
“What in the bloody hell . . . no,” Julian growled. “No interstellar . . . what? No. Whatever you want to call this piece of jewelry, people think it can lead to the Continental treasure, and with it, the actual golden and rosy cross.”
“That’s great, but the star is gone too,” Nick pointed out.
“Not entirely,” Julian countered. “By all accounts, it’s here.
In Boston.”
“What accounts?” Nick demanded.
“I don’t know, I’m only being fed information I can use to track it.”
“By?”
“I don’t know,” Julian snarled.
“So you’re hunting this treasure for someone else?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Julian merely stared at Nick with black eyes that gave away nothing. His jaw was tight. Nick didn’t know him well enough to read him.
“Fine, you’re retired, you need a payday, whatever,” Kelly said with a wave of his hand. “Who hired you?”
“I keep telling you, I don’t know. And if I did, they’d be dead.”
“These are people willing to track down and f**k with an ex-CIA hit man for a rumor about a treasure. I’m going to need more than ‘I don’t know’ from you,” Nick snapped.
“That’s all I have!” Julian practically shouted.
“Okay, okay. Where is the star thing?” Kelly asked.
“I don’t know. The records that led us here have been lost or stolen. That’s why I was following the men at the bookstore.
I had hoped they’d gleaned some information I had yet to come across. And when I heard someone had witnessed the robbery, that’s when I decided to contact you.”
“Next time, how about just . . . saying hi,” Nick huffed.
“Maybe a nice text message. I’ll give you my number.”
“I’ll remember that, Detective,” Julian said between gritted teeth. He put both hands out like he was trying to keep everyone calm. “I am telling you all I have. I am here, in your city, asking for your help.”
Nick narrowed his eyes.
Julian inhaled shakily. “Begging. I’m begging for it.”
That brought Nick up short, his next question forgotten as he stared into Julian’s black eyes.
“Why the f**k are you doing all this?” Kelly asked him again.
Julian lowered his gaze, struggling with his reply. “Let’s just say I had no choice in the matter.”
A sudden dread came over Nick and he leaned closer.
“Cameron?”
Julian didn’t move.
“Who is Cameron?” Kelly asked.
“My . . .” Julian shook his head, pursing his lips.
“His boyfriend,” Nick provided. “Civilian. Very civilian.”
“He’s not . . .” Julian nearly choked on the words he couldn’t get out.
“Oh shit,” Kelly whispered.
Julian took a deep breath and raised his head. “We weren’t careful enough with our location. Cameron made . . . he made a phone call that . . . Anyway. If I don’t find this f**king 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.