Free Chasing The Dead (An Alex Stone Thriller) by Joel Goldman

soft-spoken and polite, without a hint of pent-up rage or inclination to violence, the kind of person a jury might warm to and the kind of person who could be manipulated into taking a fall. His sunken eyes, sallow complexion, and yellowed teeth spoke to his time living on the street.
    “Where are you from?”
    “Goodland, Kansas.”
    “Boy, that’s all the way west to the Colorado line, isn’t it?”
    He gave her a shy smile. “Yes, ma’am.”
    Alex returned the smile, holding his gaze for a moment, trying to make a connection.
    “When was the last time you were home?”
    He shrugged. “Three or four years, right after I got out of the army.”
    “What was your rank when you got out?”
    “E-4.”
    “Like a corporal except you weren’t a junior noncommissioned officer.”
    His eyes got wide. “You know your ranks.”
    Alex smiled. “I’ve represented my share of vets. How long were you in the service?”
    Jared swirled his hands on the table’s Formica surface as if he was making patterns in the sand. “Two tours, four years.”
    “Did you see a lot of action?”
    He ducked his chin, looking away. “Everybody did. That’s how it was in the sandbox.”
    Alex shook her head. “Boy, I can’t imagine what that was like.”
    “No, ma’am, you can’t. I can promise you that,” he said, tugging at the sleeves of his jumpsuit, the fabric hanging on him, the outfit at least a size too big.
    She nodded. “I believe you. Thank you for your service.”
    His voice rose as he hunched his shoulders to his ears. “Everyone’s always thanking us for our service, ’cept that doesn’t mean much, ’cause they don’t know what it’s like over there so they don’t really know what they’re thanking us for, you know what I mean, ma’am?”
    It was Jared’s first show of anything approaching anger, making Alex wonder what might be boiling beneath his soft-spoken façade.
    “I guess I do, Jared. I suppose it’s hard for anyone who hasn’t been through it to understand what it was like, so I won’t pretend that I do.”
    His face softened again. “Thank you, ma’am.”
    “But when I get to know you, I’ll have a better idea what it was like and I’ll thank you for your service then. In the meantime, I want you to know I’m glad to represent you.”
    He furrowed his brow. “Why’s that? I’m a homeless nobody.”
    “Because I know what it’s like when your life is on the line and you feel outnumbered.”
    “How you know what that’s like?”
    “I’ll tell you when we’ve got more time. When you were in Afghanistan, you looked out for your buddies and they looked out for you, right?”
    His eyes fell, his voice dropping to a whisper. “Tried to.”
    “Well, this is a different kind of war and I’m going to look after you,” she said, wincing inside, hoping to make good on the promise, knowing she might have to break it.
    Jared thought about what she said and smiled. “Then I guess I should be the one thanking you for your service.”
    “You’re welcome,” Alex said, pleased that she was building rapport. That was the key to building trust, and trust was the key to finding out what she needed to know. “Have you ever been charged with a crime before?”
    “No.”
    “Okay, so here’s how your case is going to play out. Your initial appearance is Friday morning at nine. I’ll meet you in the courtroom. That’s when the judge will set bail. It will probably be too high for you to get out, so I’m afraid you’ll be here for a while.”
    “That’s okay. Been on the street a long time. Like they say, three hots and a cot.”
    Alex grinned. “Not many of my clients see it that way. You’ve been charged with forcible rape and first-degree murder. In a month or so, the prosecutor will ask the grand jury to formally indict you on those charges. If you’re convicted, you could get life in prison without parole, or the death penalty.”
    She paused, gauging his reaction. Jared’s face