“I didn’t hear a thing,” Hagan claimed, and he reached for the plate of food that was ready. “How long have you been up?”
“Not long. I got a search going for robberies where papers or historical documents were taken. It’s worldwide, though, so might be a while.”
“Solid. What are we going to do with your hit man?”
Nick shrugged, glancing at the stairs. “Help him, I guess.
That’s what I promised him I’d do.”
“You ever make a promise and then think, ehhhh?”
Nick snickered, flipped a pancake in the air, and then dropped it back in the pan.
“Got any coffee?”
“I don’t drink coffee. I’ve got tea.”
Hagan shrugged, wrinkling his nose. “This city was founded on the concept of tossing tea into the harbor.”
“That is . . . no. It was not.”
There was a thump from below. A few moments later Kelly popped his head over the railing and sniffed the air like a dog. “Is that bacon?”
“And eggs, and pancakes. Come on,” Nick said to him. He looked back to Hagan. “Appointment with the shrink at nine.
Can you handle it, or should we get a few uniforms on it?”
“I got it covered,” Hagan said as he tried to swallow a mouthful of eggs. “Damn, kid, this is good. I didn’t know you could cook.”
Kelly slipped behind Nick and grabbed a plate. He kept his hand on the small of Nick’s back, ostensibly so Nick wouldn’t back into him in the small galley. When he moved again, though, his hand stayed there. He gave Nick a sideways grin before dragging his fingers across Nick’s hip and moving away.
Nick shivered violently. He was so intent on Kelly that he burned himself on the stove when he reached for the pan.
He was still cursing and sucking on the end of his finger as he scrambled for his aloe plant when JD and Julian both joined them.
“Smooth, Detective,” Julian commented. His voice was just as droll as Nick remembered it being from their first meeting.
Nick broke off a tip of one of the aloe leaves and rubbed it over his finger, casting a glare in Julian’s direction. “I had an idea last night,” Nick told him.
“Really? I can’t imagine where you got the time,” Julian drawled.
Nick narrowed his eyes, but he wasn’t the type to be embarrassed about much of anything. “If that star is in Boston, I know someone who might be able to help us find it.”
Julian perked up at that. He glanced at the others, who were all watching Nick with wide eyes. “And who might that be?”
“Well, it’s stolen goods. Even in 1908, there were only so many people you could go to with stolen goods and keep it quiet for this long.”
“That’s a very bad idea,” Hagan blurted.
Nick shrugged. “I’m open to better ones.”
“I’m sorry, who are you talking about?” JD asked.
Kelly cleared his throat, rubbing his hand across the bridge of his nose. He had his eyes closed. “The Irish mob,” he guessed. “He’s talking about asking the Irish mob.”
JD’s mouth parted as he stared at Kelly, then looked to Nick with wide eyes. “That does sound like a bad idea.”
“You’re not going in there without backup,” Hagan declared. “Not happening.”
“I’ve got backup,” Nick said with a jerk of his head toward Julian and Kelly.
Hagan rubbed his palm over his mouth, resting his elbow on the counter. It hit his fork and sent the utensil flying, but he didn’t even try to catch it. “Partner to partner, how safe can you be doing this?”
Nick shrugged and grinned crookedly. “Just as safe as we were at lunch yesterday.”
Kelly couldn’t seem to stop pacing while Nick was on the phone. He’d told them he was making a cal , then stepped out onto the deck and closed the door behind him. They couldn’t hear what he was saying, didn’t know who he was talking to, and Kelly couldn’t even see him to try to read his lips.
Kelly knew enough about Nick’s past to know this was a hugely stupid risk for him to take. Any interaction he had with the Irish mob here in Boston made him wide-open after the history he had with them.
They’d been drinking one night in Jacksonville while stationed at Camp Lejeune, playing pool and throwing darts, blowing off steam, when Nick had let slip why he’d joined the Marines. “It was that or keep running jobs for the Irish mob,” he’d said with a signature O’Flaherty grin before he’d downed his beer and then gone to hustle a sailor in a game of pool.
Kelly had always felt there was more to the story, though.
Hagan had put up a few more weak arguments before he’d taken JD to the psychologist for his interview. None of them could give Nick a viable alternative, though. Without the map that was said to be hidden on the star brooch, there was no way to find the treasure for Julian. And without any idea of the whereabouts of the robbers, JD was still in danger as well, and so was Cameron.
Nick stepped back into the salon, looking grim.
“What happened?” Kelly demanded.
“We’ve got a meet tonight.”
“That was fast,” Julian said. “Jesus, what sort of in do you have with them?”
“A personal one,” Nick growled. His tone made it clear that neither Julian nor Kelly were supposed to inquire further.
“Where’s the meet?” Kelly asked instead.
“Liberty Hotel, six tonight. We’re supposed to book two rooms, and reserve a spot for dinner.”
“Liberty Hotel. Isn’t that the place you wanted to take me? The old jail they turned into a hotel?”
Nick nodded. “Looks like we’ll get to see it after al .” He walked past Julian and Kelly, heading belowdecks without another word.
“Great,” Kelly said.
Julian took a step closer, lowering his voice. “Is there a missing piece of information I need to know here?”
Kelly sucked in a deep breath and hesitated, eyes darting between Julian and the stairwell.
“I understand your loyalty to him, but I’m not used to working blind,” Julian said, voice gentle and persuasive.
“Nick grew up here,” Kelly said quietly. “During the time when teenagers either got out, or got initiated. You understand?”
Julian nodded curtly.
“Nick chose the Marines at seventeen to avoid the mob.
That’s all I know.”
Julian nodded again, then smiled sadly. “Rather like choosing the RAF to avoid the IRA.” The phone in the pocket of his jeans began to vibrate, and he scrambled to grab for it.