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to protect the military, as best they could, against bad publicity. That they had assigned a mediaattractive woman might help them with the press, but it wouldn’t do them a damn bit of good in official circles.
    Another oddity was his being held over for trial here, in Mississippi. Why had Command held him at this base rather than taking the more typical route and transferring him to Higher Headquarters for trial? It was the convening group’s call, true, but considering the nature of the case, and the timing-fiscal year-end was staring into the whites of their eyes-that decision didn’t make sense to her.
    “I didn’t ask,” she said. “But I suspect I was assigned your case because I’m pretty new to the office and I don’t yet have a full caseload.” She dropped her lids to halfmast. “Or maybe Command figured that with its mountain of evidence against you, any lawyer could get a conviction.”
    Burke grunted. “Looks and claws, and she’s decided to bare them. Problem is, counselor, your answers are as fluff as the rest of you.”
    “Define ‘fluff.’ “
    “No substance,” he explained, his eyes keen and assessing. “Or are you being deliberately evasive to conceal the truth?”
    “What’s your supposition?” She slid Adam a hooded glare. “Why do you think I was assigned?”
    He sent her a steely look that could curdle blood. “I suspect you came into the office with a full caseload staff JAGS are always overworked. And I also suspect you were assigned to my case because the honchos too know your distaste for research. They want me convicted, and with you representing me, they feel certain I will be convicted.”
    Tracy flinched, angry because she hadn’t considered that possibility, hadn’t wondered why a junior Staff JAG had been assigned to this high-profile case. Angry because she hadn’t done her homework and learned all there was to know about Adam B. Burke and his case before coming to see him today. And she was most angry because Burke could be right. She could have been assigned to assure his conviction. God and Command, and likely Higher Headquarters, had known from the onset that she considered Burke guilty.
    That bit of honesty turned her tone acidic. “Look, Burke. You don’t have to like me, and I certainly don’t like you.” She hated him for bringing up her past. For invading her privacy, and dredging up old hurts that brought her fresh pain. For committing the godawful crimes he’d committed, and screwing up all their lives. “But I am your lawyer. I’m all you’ve got, and you’d best get used to it.”
    “Captain Burke,” he said through clenched teeth. “I’ve worked my ass off for seven years to earn my rank. I’ve put my life in jeopardy more times than you’ve put on a uniform, and though everyone in the world thinks otherwise, I’ve done nothing-nothing-to dishonor it. All I’ve gotten since this nightmare started is humiliation and degradation. I deserve better. You either prove me guilty, or you acknowledge my rank, Captain.”
    “When I’m convinced you’ve honored it, I will. But not a moment before then.” She stood up, gathered her briefcase and her purse, then dug down into the leather compartment holding her wallet. She fished out a quarter and tossed it onto the table. “When you decide to act civil and tell me something I can use to save your ass, call me.”
    “You? Save my ass?” He grunted, proving he couldn’t fathom that possible. “Right.”
    Furious, she turned and walked out of the room.
    Adam glared at her back. “Fluff.”
    Tracy seethed all the way back through Cell Block D. Defending the man threatened to destroy her career, to endanger her life, and he had the unmitigated gall to call her fluff?
    He certainly had. He considered her a lightweight, totally incompetent. That infuriated her. Hell, everything about him infuriated her.
    But even through her fury, she had to admit Burke was nothing like she had expected. From