Free Darkside by P. T. Deutermann Page B

waiting for her in the lighted doorway and waved. He greeted her and led her to the spacious study, where Julie, still in her working blues, was waiting with a worried look on her face. Ev asked Liz if she’d like a drink, but she declined and turned directly to Julie. “Okay, Julie, tell me again what happened.”
    Ev fixed himself a scotch while Julie talked to Liz. “And no one’s contacted you?” Liz was asking. “No official summonses to front offices?”
    â€œNot a word. Since we talked last night, I’ve been going to classes, working out with the swim team, formation—the usual stuff. Our company officer didn’t know anything about this visit, either.”
    â€œOr so he said.”
    Julie thought about that for a moment and then shrugged. “I guess that’s possible. But when I signed out in the batt office this evening, no one seemed to care.”
    Liz turned to Ev, who was sitting on the brick apron of the fireplace.
    â€œI’ll take you up on that offer of a drink now,” she said.
    â€œI have some single malt,” he said. “Straight up?”
    â€œPerfect,” she said, apparently surprised that he remembered from the boat party. As he fixed her drink, she looked over at Julie. “Now that you’re a suspect, you want a drink, too?”
    â€œWhat!” Julie exclaimed, her eyes widening. Ev brought Liz her drink and then sat down in one of the upholstered chairs.
    â€œIf federal police did in fact come in and search your room,” Liz said, “it means they may have a federal search warrant with your name on it. Did they go into your computer?”
    â€œGosh, I don’t think so, but then—”
    â€œRight, you’d have no way of knowing.”
    â€œWarrant?” Ev asked. “Based on what?”
    â€œThat’s the million-dollar question,” Liz said. “Until they charge her, they don’t have to tell her anything. But they must have something that implicates Julie in that plebe’s death, something more than the underwear thing.” Then she stopped. “Unless—”
    â€œUnless what?” Ev said. Julie was sitting on the edge of her seat now, just like he was, chewing on a fingernail.
    â€œDoes the Academy have the right to search a midshipman’s room at any time? Or do they have to go through due process?”
    Julie looked at Ev. “I’d have to look in the reg book,” she said. “But my guess is, they can if they want to. It’s not like a civilian school. They can inspect anytime they want to.”
    â€œAnd your company officer knew nothing about this?” Ev asked.
    â€œHe failed open when I asked him,” Julie said, surprising Ev with the naval engineering expression. “He said he’d find out, but I hadn’t heard anything by evening meal hour.”
    The phone rang. Ev checked the caller ID. “It’s a two-nine-three number; that’s the Academy,” he said. He picked it up and identified himself. “Yes, she is,” he said, and then listened for another minute, his eyes on Julie, who was getting a deer-in-the-headlights look back on her face.
    â€œVery well, I’ll pass that on, Mr. Tarrens.” He glanced at his watch. “Will twenty-one hundred be satisfactory? She’s meeting with her attorney right now.” Another pause. “That’s right. So twenty-one hundred works?…Good. And could you please pass something up your chain of command for me? Midshipman Markham will want her attorney present for any further encounters with NCIS regarding the Dell incident.”
    He saw Liz frown when he said that, but he didn’t waver. She probably would have wanted him to wait a little longer before revealing that Julie had counsel, but what the hell. There had to be something going on over there. Something bad. He identified Elizabeth DeWinter as Julie’s attorney, then said