Page 51 of Justice for the SEAL
She walked to thefrontdoor.
He was smart—at least as smart as she was—and funny, and insightful, andsweet…
She pulled it open with a smile on her face, anticipation turning to shock in an instant when she realized her visitor wasn’t Loganatall.
“What are youdoinghere?”
Anthony Royce took two steps into her brownstone and knocked her out with onepunch.
28
Cowboy’s headlightslit up the dirt road as he made he way to the outdoor shooting range just outside downtown Atlanta. He’d been home in bed with Charlotte when Jessa called, concerned because she didn’t know where Jax was and he wasn’t answering hisphone.
It was June eleventh, which meant Cowboy immediately knew wheretolook.
Seven years ago to the day, Jax had started HERO Force with a staff of three: Hawk, Garrison Cole and Cowboy. The night of HERO Force’s first anniversary, Jax and Cowboy shotCole,dead.
A pothole rocked his old Blazer. It had been dark that night, too—a moonless night that made it difficult to see, though in his memory everything about that night had been hard tointerpret.
Back then, Jax had been pretty active in local politics, convinced he needed the approval of the officials to have HERO Force be a success. But that particular night, he hadn’t felt like going to Royce’s campaign fundraiser and had sent Garrison in hisplace.
Garrison, with his PTSD and drinkingproblem.
Royce showed up the next day in a rage, saying Garrison had molested his twelve year-old daughter the night before. Cowboy told him to call the police, but Royce refused. “Do you know what they’ll do to her at the police station, and worse, at the trial? Where is Garrison? I’ll handle itmyself.”
Cowboy had driven his brand new Blazer to the shooting range with Royce and Jax in tow, right down this same road. Garrison was there trying out some new weapons, or sohe’dsaid.
But when they arrived, Cowboy shined his headlights across the open field, and there—sitting in the grass in the middle of the range—wasGarrison.
“Took you long enough,”he’dsaid.
Royce was irate. He walked into the field. “I know what you did to my daughter, so you of abitch.”
That’s when Cowboy saw Royce held a pistol. “Put down the gun,Anthony.”
“Doesn’t matter to me,” said Garrison. The steel of the semi-automatic in his hands gleamed in the headlights. “I’ve been sitting here all day thinking about eating one of thesebullets.”
Royce shouted. “I’llshootyou!”
Suddenly, a deer darted in front of Cowboy’s SUV and he slammed on the brakes, adrenaline rushing into his bloodstream and focusing his attention back on the present. Sure enough, Jax’s truck was pulled off to the side oftheroad.
Cowboy pulled in behind it, honking his horn twice to alert Jax to his presence. He left his headlights on, just as he had that fateful night sixyearsago.
“You didn’t need to come out here,”saidJax.
“Jessa’s looking for you.” Cowboy sat down next to him. “You never told her aboutGarrison?”
Jax took a drag of a cigarette, the orange tip glowing brightly. “You ever tellCharlotte?”
“Nope.” Cowboy hadn’t seen him smoke in years, the smell of it bringing him back in time. He could see Garrison in the headlights, Royce threatening to kill him. He and Jax had come up on either side of Royce, prepared to stop him from killingGarrison.
“It’s a hard thing, killing yourself,” said Garrison. “I should know. I’ve tried it several times.” He cocked his head. “Maybe I’ve been doing it allwrong.”
Just like that, he trained his weapon onRoyce.
Cowboy pulled his gun and fired at Garrison. Jaxdid,too.
Garrison fell to the ground, gasping forbreath.
