Free An Imperfect Process by Mary Jo Putney Page A

"That's about it, Daniel. Let's give it a try and see what happens. What have you got to lose?"
    He rubbed a hand over his bald head, revealing the edge of a tattoo below his sleeve. "Nothin', long as I'm not fool enough to hope, and talkin' to you is a break in the boredom. Ask away."
    Val obeyed, asking probing questions about the crime, the evidence, and the people involved. Rob watched in silence, simultaneously learning about the case and observing Monroe's reactions. Val's grasp of the material was remarkable, especially since she'd only just taken the case on and was working on multiple projects.
    When their time was up, they left the SuperMax in silence. He inhaled deeply as they reached the street, thinking that even exhaust-tinged air tasted wonderful after the suffocating atmosphere of the prison.
    He took his companion's cool demeanor at face value until they reached the privacy of the pickup truck. As he closed his door, she buried her head in her hands. "What a ghastly place! It's... it's like walking into a cloud of poison gas."
    "Worse," he said grimly. "Prisons are soul-destroying for everyone in them."
    "Seeing Daniel made capital punishment real . Kendra showed me a picture from before his imprisonment. He was a real teddy bear of a guy, very different from the way he looks now. As he talked, I couldn't stop thinking that his days are literally numbered. One day in September, the state intends to strap him to a gurney, stick a needle in his arm, and murder him." A wrenching sob escaped her. "It's barbaric. Barbaric ."
    Throat tight, he put an arm around her shoulders. "That's the worst of executing people. It makes us all barbarians."
    She turned into him, shuddering from her sobs. Her intense reaction was a startling contrast to the composure she had shown in the prison.
    His own reaction was equally intense. As he circled her with his other arm, he realized with a fierceness beyond anything he had felt in years that he wanted her. He wanted to have and hold her, protect her and seek comfort from her. He wanted to connect with another human being as he never had before. He had been attracted to her physically from the start, and soon came to admire her intelligence and charm. But her vulnerability touched some deep, long- frozen part of his soul.
    Unable to bear the cascade of his emotions, he sought for a way to restore normalcy. "Maybe you're the one who can keep the barbarians at bay this time, Val."
    "Maybe." She raised her head wearily. "Sorry to cry all over you. I never do things like that, but meeting a condemned man pushed buttons I didn't know I had."
    "I won't tell anyone that the SuperMax got under your skin. It got to me just as badly." He pulled out his handkerchief for her, at the same time easing away, putting as much space between them as was possible in the cab of a small truck. "I'm amazed at how much you've learned about the case so quickly."
    "There are three keys to being a good lawyer—preparation, preparation, preparation. Boring, but true. The more homework I do, the better the results, and I learned early how to do my homework well."
    "Do you think Monroe is innocent?"
    "Quite possibly." Her expression hardened. "But even if he's guilty as sin, I'm going to do my damnedest to get him off death row. I've just become a convert to the cause of ending capital punishment."
    "There's nothing like personal experience to make the horror of it sink in." Before Val could wonder about his remark, he continued, "If I understand this right, remove the eyewitness testimony and the case against Monroe collapses. No physical evidence ties him to the murder—no blood, and the weapon was never found. His only crime might be that he was roughly the same size and shape of the real shooter."
    "Like he said, with a policeman dead, they had to convict someone and he was handy." She wiped her eyes with his handkerchief. "Are you still up for investigating this case? It's not going to be fun, and the