A deeper sleep Read Online Free PDF Page B

outstretched across both of them, memorialized in the act of bringing the sun, the moon, and the stars to the People. The sun, moon, and stars were inlaid with hematite and steel and dazzled in any light. There had been some discussion among the architects, the citizen's advisory committee, and the Alaska Department of Law as to whether the first thing Park rats saw as they entered the halls of justice should be the very first grand theft. In the end, since it was such a cross-cultural legend and as such immediately recognizable, and since, all appearances to the contrary, their collective sense of the ridiculous was strong, they went with it.
     
    The courtroom was packed. Kate, Kenny, and Jim leaned against the back wall. Mutt touched noses with a handsome husky, whose ears flattened ingratiatingly and whose tail began a rapid whappety-whap against his master's leg, after which his knees gave out and he slid to the floor, rolled to his back, and waved his paws in the air. Jim knew just how he felt. Mutt trotted back to Kate's side, looking insufferably smug.
     
    The prosecuting attorney and his assistant, neither of whom Kate knew, sat side by side, staring straight ahead with their hands folded on the table in front of them. The rigidity with which they were holding their heads erect told its own tale. "Oh yeah," she said under her breath, "this'll end well."
     
    "What?" Jim said, and she shook her head.
     
    By contrast, defense attorney Frank "Tex" Rickard and defendant Louis Deem were displaying an almost boisterous enjoyment in each other's company. The conversation—Kate strained to hear— appeared to concern recipes for the best Super Bowl snacks. Hot wings, she thought. Or maybe blackened wings. Blackened something.
     
    Louis turned suddenly and looked straight at her. She forced herself not to jerk away, meeting his eyes steadily, hoping her color hadn't risen.
     
    At first glance, Louis Deem was a very handsome man. Certainly enough women had thought so. He was almost six feet tall, with broad shoulders, a narrow waist, and long, strong bones clad in a smooth layer of muscle. His hair was thick and dark blond and always cut in the latest style. It was just beginning to recede, but only enough to create a broad brow that gave him an air of intelligence barely contained.
     
    Well, that was true enough, Kate thought, still holding his gaze.
     
    His cheekbones and jawline were bold slashes of bone clothed in healthy skin with a faint brown tint, the only indication of his Aleut grandmother, something he shared with his many Park cousins. He had dark brown bedroom eyes, thickly lashed, seductive, and completely without soul.
     
    Louis smiled. It was a good smile with good teeth, except for the cap on the left front incisor from which Kate was pleased to see the gum had begun to recede, leaving a black line between tooth and gum. Perhaps no one but Kate might have noticed it. Perhaps no one but Kate would have reason to.
     
    "All rise." Rickard's hand was on Louis's shoulder. He knew Kate and he winked at her. She remained impassive. She would have ripped off her own face before she let Tex Rickard see how angry she was.
     
    Everyone stood and the judge came in. She was tall with enormous dark eyes, a high-bridged nose with a hint of a downward curl at the end, translucent olive skin, and salt-and-pepper hair whose natural wave had been severely restrained in a tight roll caught low on the back of her neck.
     
    She was also so thin, her cheekbones looked as if they'd been sharpened on a whetstone. "Has she been ill?" Jim said in a low voice, too low for Kenny to catch.
     
    Kate replied at the same volume. "Breast cancer."
     
    Jim looked at Kenny. Kenny nodded once, his mouth a tight line.
     
    The Honorable Roberta Singh dealt her bench a sharp rap with a gavel that belied any hint of weakness and got right to business. "Madam Foreperson, has the jury reached a verdict?"
     
    A woman rose to her feet and