“I can’t even tell you if I’m a good person or not,” JD said.
His eyes betrayed the frustration and stark fear he’d been hiding so well up to this point. “I mean, what was I doing there in the middle of the night, stone-cold sober at a bookstore? I could be some sort of criminal and not even know it! I could be a cold-blooded killer, and you’re sitting here eating floppy chips with me!”
“Listen to me,” Nick said harshly. He leaned forward on the table, seeing the turmoil of his own past reflected in JD’s eyes. “We will find out who you are.”
“You can’t promise that, Detective.”
“The hell I can’t. And I’ll tell you one more thing. I’ve dealt with a lot of bad people before. None of them are ever torn up wondering if they’re a good person.”
JD swallowed, but the words seemed to mol ify him. He calmed, his shoulders losing their tension. He sighed and gave Nick a weak smile. “When you put it that way . . .”
“Damn straight,” Nick said.
JD smiled softly. “You’re awfully optimistic for a cop.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“I mean, I thought all you police-type guys were these brooding, stoic, ‘drink yourself blind to drown out the ugliness of the world’ types.”
Nick barked a laugh. “You’re thinking of Vice.”
JD just shook his head. “This happy exterior is hiding some deep, dark secret in your past, isn’t it?”
Nick shook his head in amusement as he reached for his drink.
“You’re an alcoholic. You’re closeted. You obliterated an innocent town while you were in the Marines. You’re a macho cop who likes to shoot a pearl-handle .22.”
“I drink in moderation unless I’m pregaming, I’ve quite openly liked dick for the past couple of years, I obliterated a lot of things in the Marines, and the pearl-handle is a .38 Special with a pink tint to it,” Nick answered with a sly grin before taking a sip of his water.
JD laughed, his eyes sparkling. “You’re not mysterious at al . You should try amnesia.”
“I’ll leave that to you,” Nick offered with a mockingly humble shrug.
JD rolled his eyes. Nick took the opportunity to study him for a moment. He seemed better than he had, but that wasn’t saying a lot. He still had dark rings under his eyes, and prominent worry lines around his mouth and on his forehead. He probably wasn’t as old as he looked right now, maybe younger than Nick. He’d spent a lot of time in the sun, judging by the difference in his blond hair versus the scruff of darker beard growing in. He had no visible scars or tattoos, nothing to identify him with. And his strange blue eyes were truly haunting.
“So,” JD said on a sigh. “A hotel with an armed police guard?”
Nick stared at him thoughtfully. “Until we get all this straightened out, yeah.”
JD smiled weakly. “Sounds lovely. I don’t guess I can count on you being there at al , huh?”
“Not until the first of the week, but hopefully we’ll have this all figured out by then. You’ll be safe. And I’ll find out who you are. I promise.”
JD nodded, chewing on his lip. “You always keep your promises, Detective?”
Nick was silent for several tense seconds before smiling.
“Yes, I do.”
“Then I believe you.”
“Good.” Nick grabbed his coat and slid from the booth, gesturing for JD to stand with him. “And right now I have to get you to your room, because I promised someone else I’d pick them up at the airport tonight.”
Kelly Abbott’s flight from Colorado had taken nearly four hours longer than it should have, including a lengthy layover in Charlotte where he’d played with every gadget in the Brookstone store and then made good use of the bar. He was tired, a little wobbly, and had a cramp in his neck because he’d fallen asleep with his head against the window instead of drooling on the guy next to him on the plane.
When he hit the escalators that would take him down to the baggage claim at Logan, he bent to scan the crowd below for Nick. It was June in Massachusetts, so it wasn’t like people were all bundled up, but it was busy as hell, so it was hard to tell if Nick was down there.
Before Kelly had left his house for the Denver airport this morning, Nick had warned him that he might have to send a car to pick him up if his new case warranted it. Kelly didn’t mind; in fact, he was the reason Nick had gone back to work at all.
Nick had been ready to quit. He’d been a cop for almost as many years as he’d been a Marine, but when the Corps had called him back for a last tour of duty, something inside Nick had snapped. He’d come home and declared he was done with carrying a gun. Kelly had given it a few weeks to let the boredom set in before convincing Nick he was acting rashly.
Nick never acted rashly; that was Kelly’s job. Besides, he’d been bored as hell without his badge, so he’d gone back to the department for a test run. The first few months had gone off without a hitch.
Kelly was halfway down the escalator when he caught sight of Nick, and his heart skipped a beat. Nick was dressed in a suit and tie, with a tan trench coat that made him look like a private eye from the ’50s. He was wearing his badge on his belt, and Kelly’s trained eyes could see the telltale outline of a gun at his hip. He had his phone out, frowning at the screen.
Kelly’s feet hit the end of the escalator as he stared, and he nearly fell all over himself.
He stumbled out into the baggage claim area, and Nick obviously saw the motion out of the side of his eye because he looked up quickly, flinching like he might be going for his gun. A smile graced his handsome face when he saw Kelly, though, and he moved toward him, meeting him halfway and wrapping him up in a hug.
“Have a nice trip?” he asked, laughing softly.
“Shut up. Jesus, you look good.”
Nick kissed his cheek, then his lips. He didn’t linger over it, though. “I barely got here, didn’t have time to change. You look rough, babe.”
“I feel rough. Let’s get the hell out of here.”
Nick grabbed his hand to halt him as Kelly marched toward the door. “Don’t you have a suitcase?”
Kelly glanced at the crowd around the baggage conveyors.
His shoulders slumped. All he wanted to do was get Nick somewhere private. Now. “Oh yeah.”
Nick pulled him closer, sliding his hands under Kelly’s jacket to rest on the small of his back. He kissed him gently, with the crowds bustling around them. Kelly realized this might be their first official PDA, and neither of them cared.