Page 69 of Cross & Crown

Kelly nodded. The one on his arm was partially visible

under the sleeve of his T-shirt, so he just pulled the sleeve

up and turned so JD could get a good look. It was a simple

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anchor, but with snakes encircling it and wings at the top to

form a caduceus. The word NAVY was written on a scroll at

the bottom.

JD studied it for a moment, then glanced between Nick

and Kelly. “Well, it’s a Navy tattoo, that much is obvious. I

don’t recognize it, but I know it means you were a corpsman.

Probably a SARC, since you two served together and he’s a

Marine.”

“Goddamn, he knows more about this shit than I do,”

Hagan said.

Kelly glanced between them. He wasn’t sure what this

meant since he didn’t have the whole picture, but Nick looked

troubled. Kelly didn’t blame him. This guy hadn’t printed as

military, but he knew what Nick’s Recon Jack was, and that

was a pretty specialized symbol. People might recognize it as

being military, but they didn’t know what it meant, not really.

JD did. People who knew military but weren’t military

were usually mercs.

“What?” JD asked, beginning to fidget again. “Is this

bad? I see the look on your faces; this is bad.”

Nick ran his fingers across his lower lip, not responding.

Kelly watched him, wondering if he’d come to the same

conclusion, and if he’d be honest with his suspect when

he did.

“Okay,” Nick finally said. “You’ve obviously been

exposed to some military culture at some point because your

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