Duplicity Read Online Free PDF Page B

shoulders and full chest to soil his shirt beneath his ribs took a stretch of the imagination. But maybe in the heat of battle … Burke shifted on his seat. From his ginger movements, the man had to be sore from head to toe. “Are you in pain?”
    No answer. He just continued to stare at her through those swollen slits of icy gray eyes. They didn’t even vaguely resemble the soft dove-gray she had noted in his photo.
    “My name is Tracy Keener,” she said, not at a put off by his silence. He was taller than she had expected. At least six two. “I’ve been assigned to defend you.”
    No comment.
    Maybe dangling a carrot of courtesy would get him to alter his attitude and open communications. “Do you have any questions you’d like to ask me?”
    She paused, but Burke didn’t utter a sound, so she again changed tactics. Glancing at a checklist, she had to resist an urge to rub her locket. The facility certainly hadn’t wasted any time in seeing to the paperwork on this case. Personnel had been notified of Burke’s change in duty status, and they had acknowledged receipt of -a copy of the confinement order. “Most of the forms required have already been filed.”
    She looked up. “You have no dependents.” That could present a challenge or two. Nothing major, but inconvenient. “What about your household goods? Your car?”
    She didn’t bother to wait for a response she knew she wouldn’t be getting. “Do you have someone you can give a power of attorney to take care of them?”
    Not so much as a head shake. Now why didn’t that surprise her?
    Raking her lower lip with her teeth, she hid a grimace. “The government won’t ship your household goods or store them,” she warned him, trying to elicit a response.
    “And they’ve already stopped your entitlements and processed a grade reduction.”
    That bit of news had his eyes glittering, but it didn’t have his tongue moving. A mean streak surfaced in her, but she squelched it, and explained. “As you haven’t yet been adjudged, the grade reduction won’t be effective until fourteen days after your courtmartial.”
    Scanning the listing, she noted his date of separation was listed as “Indefinite.” That was expected, and convenient. Otherwise it too would have, if necessary, been extended to a date beyond his courtmartial proceedings. The government couldn’t muck up jurisdiction by having a military member legally separate from the Air Force in the middle of his courtmartial.
    “These matters of your personal property have to be dealt with.” Tracy laced her hands atop the checklist. “It’s a safe bet that your sentence will be longer than five years. You do understand that the prosecutor is going for the death penalty, correct?” Burke watched her draw every breath, but said nothing.
    Okay, whatever. She damn well couldn’t help him if he wouldn’t so much as speak to her. “Leavenworth is definitely a part of your future. So think about those powers of attorney. Otherwise, your household goods will be lost with the house, and the mortgage company will dispose of them. Your car will be impounded and sold at auction. You won’t get the money from any of this, and if your home is financed with a VA loan, it won’t be reinstated so you can use it again later.” Later? He’ll never need another home loan. He’ll never again see the light of day free from prison walls.
    Nothing she said gleaned a reaction from him, much less a response. She opted to press on. “I’d like to hear your rendition of the events leading up to your arrest.”
    Again, no answer.
    Urged to fill the uncomfortable silence, Tracy forced herself to be still and just wait. Sooner or later the man had to say something.
    Five minutes passed. Then three more. Her nerves were stretched razor-wire tight, and she glared at him. “Did the beating affect your hearing?”
    “Burke, Adam B.,” he said through puffy lips. “Captain, U.S. Air Force. Serial number