Page 23 of Justice for the SEAL
He whistled. “That’s not what she looked like in the wedding picture on the wall downstairs, that’s for sure. Flip it over. See if there’s anything ontheback.”
“Nothing.”
“Maybe it’s part of his secret stash. Don’t all guys have some porn hiddensomewhere?”
Hawk fingered the picture. “I don’t think this is porn. The way she’s looking at the photographer… I think shelovedhim.”
“Anaffair?”
“It’s possible.” He tucked the cigar box back into the drawer, minus the photograph, which he stuck in his shirtpocket.
The men worked quietly forsometime.
“I think I found something,” said Austin. He brought a folder to the desk and opened it in front of Hawk. “You recognize any of thesenames?”
Hawk scanned the list. “No.ShouldI?”
“My sister was in charge of fundraising for the art gallery downtown. A lot of these names sound familiar. I think they’redonors.”
“For an art gallery? What does that have to do withRoyce?”
“Rich people usually like to spread their money around. They don’t just get to the art gallery. They give to charities andcauses.”
“And politicians. Let me see that.” Hawk flipped through the folder. “Do you think it’s possible Royce was misappropriating campaign funds from hiselections?”
Austin looked around the room. “Judging from this house, I’d say it’s fucking likely. Rich people are always hidingsomething.”
“You got something against people withmoney?”
“Hell yeah. Most of them got it by doing something wrong. Think about it. Honest work doesn’t paysogood.”
“Some people are born into money. They just manage tokeepit.”
“Exactly. You give your average working Joe a million dollars, what’s he going to dowithit?”
Hawk grinned. “Give a lot ofitaway.”
“That’s right. You buy your mama a house, you buy your nephews and nieces each a car. But rich people don’t think that way. They don’t have the same morals. And I’m pretty damn sure my pops never had a picture of half-naked woman in a cigar boxsomewhere.”
“You don’t think poor people cheat on eachother?”
“Not the way the rich folks do,” said Austin. “That’s what I liked about the SEALs. They’ve got high moral standards. They don’t let the riffraff in, know whatImean?”
“I don’t know about that. The day Cowboy got his swim fins, he almost missed the ceremony because he was buying weed from an AWOL buddy and banging the chaplain’s daughter in the officer’sbarracks.”
Austin laughed. “I really like that guy, Cowboy. He’s allright.”
14
Cowboy scratchedthe beginnings of a beard as he took in their surroundings. “This looks just like my uncle Jake’s place. He lived in the mountains of West Virginia, hunted deer and made moonshine. Near as I can figure, he never did haveajob.”
It had taken them nearly an hour to get here, leaving the staples of civilization in their dust longbefore.
“You don’t have to go far to end up in the middle of fucking nowhere,”saidJax.
Piles of dog excrement littered the property, the air ripe with the smell of shit baking in the sun. “Got a guard dog around here somewhere,” said Cowboy. He looked at Noah. He’d barely said two words since they left headquarters. “You ever seen the backwoods ofGeorgia?”
“No, but I sawDeliverance.”
