Nick picked up one of the books he’d sent for. “You actually seem like a pretty interesting character,” he said, and he set it down in front of JD.
JD eyed the book, then Nick from beneath lowered brows. “I don’t understand.”
Nick picked it up again and turned it over. On the back cover was a photo of JD wearing aviators and a canvas military-style jacket, standing on a mountain with Machu Picchu in the background.
“That’s me!” JD he grabbed the book, pointing at the photo and then turning it over to see the title. “I’m an archaeologist?”
“The professor I spoke with probably wouldn’t agree. She basically said you’re a hack.”
JD burst out laughing, then covered his mouth and nodded. “I can deal with being a hack. Oh my God.”
Nick raised his head in time to catch sight of Kelly and Julian entering the squad room. He raised his hand and waved them over when the desk sergeant tried to stop them.
“Casey Hunt.” JD set the book down gently, his fingers resting on the cover. “It doesn’t sound familiar.”
“What’s going on?” Kelly asked as they approached.
“We got an ID on him,” Nick answered.
“Yeah?” Nick could see the hesitation in Kelly’s eyes. He obviously knew the chances of JD being a good guy were slim.
“That’s good, right?”
Nick didn’t answer. He knocked his knuckles against the desk instead.
“I’m apparently . . . a lot braver than I feel,” JD commented as he paged through the book. He looked a little crestfallen, even though they’d just had a major breakthrough.
“You okay?” Nick asked.
“Yeah. I was just hoping learning my name would . . .
throw a latch or something, you know? Make me remember.
It doesn’t even feel right, though. Hell, JD feels more like my name than Casey.”
Kelly sat on the edge of the desk, glancing at Nick again.
“It takes three days to develop a new habit. We’ve been cal ing you JD for three days, so . . .”
“Yeah, I guess,” JD murmured. “Can you keep cal ing me that? Just for a while, I mean.”
“Whatever you want,” Nick said quietly. He pointed at Julian and Kelly. “Can I see you two for a minute?”
They followed along without question, heading for one of the interrogation rooms. Julian glanced around the box uneasily as soon as the door closed behind them.
“Ever been in one of these?” Nick asked him in amusement.
He leaned against the wall and crossed his arms out of habit.
It was always his first position when questioning a suspect.
Julian rolled his eyes, but he refused to sit at the table.
“What are you two doing here?” Nick asked them.
“We found something,” Julian answered.
Nick’s eyebrows rose. “At the bookstore?”
Kelly had been kicking at the legs of the table, which were bolted down, but he pulled up short. “How’d you know we went to the bookstore?”
“It’s the only lead you had, and neither of you strikes me as the type who’d look shit up on the internet or in a book. Did you get anything?”
“Not really,” Julian admitted. “Looking over the scene, though, I felt as if they missed something. They went for the case first, where they thought it would be, then they ransacked the place when it wasn’t there.”
Nick nodded. “Crime scene analysts came back with a blow-by-blow. They said the shopkeeper surprised one man coming out of the store. Guy opened fire, killing the owner.
And judging by the trajectory, he’s the one who clipped JD.
Meaning JD was walking away from the bookstore, toward the street. The others were in the street, likely by their van waiting. They opened fire on their own guy after he shot the owner, blew him away, took out the windows, left everyone for dead. Left the books the guy took. As soon as there was bloodshed, they bailed. Complete mission failure.”
“This is the first murder to take place,” Julian pointed out.
“Perhaps they killed him to take the heat for it. Or perhaps he turned on them.”
Nick shrugged.
“Wait a minute, if the first shots clipped JD, that means he was standing between the store and the van,” Kelly pointed out. “What was he doing there? Why would they let him get that close instead of diverting him? And why do you look so pissy when you just broke his identity, what’s wrong?”
Nick sighed heavily. “He’s a professional treasure hunter.
He has a degree from Columbia University, works out of a museum in New York. He’s got a reputation for going into dangerous areas and getting out unscathed with local shiny things. He’s also been accused of selling items on the black market, but there’s no proof.”
“Oh,” Kelly said, and his shoulders slumped.
“And you’re right. They wouldn’t have let him get between them and the store,” Nick continued. “Not unless he was one of theirs to begin with.”
“That’s a shame,” Julian said. “I was beginning to like him.
His sketch of Cameron notwithstanding.”
“What I want to know,” Nick said heatedly, “is if there was only one man inside, and his shit was still in his bag when they left him there, who the f**k has those missing artifacts now?”
Kelly and Julian both fell silent, frowning at Nick. Nick had been asking himself that all morning. The thieves hadn’t gotten away with anything, the evidence suggested as much.
But there were still two things missing. So where the hell were they? And why hadn’t they been where they were supposed to be?
“Well,” Julian finally said, taking a deep breath. “I suppose you should go ask your amnesiac that question.”
“What’s wrong?” JD asked Nick as soon as he saw him.
Kelly was right on Nick’s heels, trying to calm him, trying to keep him from blowing up. That had always been his job, and he was good at it on the rare occasions when he had to do it. Nick rarely even came close to losing his temper, but when it happened it was seriously impressive. And scary, for anyone who didn’t know him. Kelly got in front of him and put both hands on his chest.
“Breathe and think, O,” he ordered.
Nick lowered his head, and his eyes glinted when he met Kelly’s. “I’m calm. Let me do my job.”
Kelly knew when he’d been beat; he stepped aside and held his hands up. Nick grabbed his jacket off the back of his chair, pul ing it up on two wheels and then toppling it over as the leather dragged it down. It clattered to the ground, and both Hagan and JD stood in alarm.