Titan (Old Ironsides Book 2) by Dean Crawford Read Free Book Online Page A

in reply. ‘Nobody saw the victim draw his pistol, they only heard what they claim must have been my son’s shot and then everybody rushed outside to see the victim lying dead in the street and Xavier holding a smoking gun. He was apprehended by his colleagues and was unable to pursue the shooter he claimed really killed the victim that day.’ Roma shook her head, tears streaming from her eyes. ‘If only they had listened to him, they might have found the real killer and my boy would not be facing death in Tethys Gaol right now.’
    Nathan sat back for a moment and rubbed his chin thoughtfully.
    ‘What are you thinking?’ Foxx asked him.
    Nathan reflected for a moment before he replied.
    ‘When I went after Asil this morning, after that cop was attacked, I and pretty much everybody else who was on the scene assumed that he was the shooter. It just stood to reason; a cop down, Asil holding a pistol and firing back at us.’
    ‘You think there may be something in Xavier’s story?’
    Nathan sighed and glanced at the electro–film, an image of Xavier Reed’s eager young face, resplendent in his dress uniform after graduating from the police academy.
    ‘Please, detective,’ Erin begged him tearfully as she grabbed his hands, and for a moment he thought that she might slip off the couch onto her knees before him. ‘Please look into it. If there’s anything that the police have missed, it might be enough to save my husband’s life. You and I both know that he won’t survive long in that terrible place and my lousy salary as a shuttle–taxi flight attendant doesn’t earn us enough to pay a fancy lawyer to fight Xavier’s case.’
    Nathan rested one hand on Erin’s and squeezed it gently.
    ‘I’ll look into it right away and see what I can find, I promise.’
    Nathan glanced meaningfully at Foxx and together they stood and walked from the waiting room. The door closed behind them and Foxx took Nathan’s arm.
    ‘Don’t get carried away with this, Nathan. There’s not much evidence to suggest that Xavier did anything other than shoot his colleague.’
    ‘And yet I take it that Forrester handed you this, and that you brought it to me,’ Nathan countered. ‘So you both think it’s worth pursuing.’
    ‘Forrester wanted to see what we thought about it. So?’
    Nathan glanced back at the waiting room.
    ‘Neither the wife nor the mother spoke about how they knew Xavier was innocent,’ he replied. ‘They both told me what Xavier told them. They’re not blinded by love for Xavier, they didn’t tell me what happened at the scene of the crime as though they were there. They related what he told them, plain and simple. They believe him, one hundred per cent.’
    ‘That’s not enough,’ Foxx said. ‘Sure, they’re convinced they’re onto something here but then they would be, wouldn’t they? I don’t think this is a case that can be solved, Nathan.’
    Nathan gripped the electro–film tighter and smiled at her. ‘I bet you dinner that I can.’
    Foxx smiled brightly and rolled her eyes. ‘So where do you want to start, oh Romeo?’
    ‘What’s the weather like in San Diego these days?’
    ***

VII
    CSS Titan
    Heliosphere Patrol Sector Four
    Admiral Jefferson Marshall awoke to a soft beeping sound and a buzzing in his ears. The cabin was dimly illuminated with subdued lighting that mimicked dawn on Earth, the walls glowing with the first hint of sunrise on a distant horizon. Marshall glanced at his optical display and noted that he had slept for almost eight hours – two more than he would normally have needed.
    He sucked in a lungful of air that was scented with the sweet aroma of the pine forests that surrounded his home in Idaho, and he could hear the sound of birds calling each other with the sunrise. Despite the array of technology surrounding him, designed specifically to remind him of home and bring comfort to the military lifestyle, none of this helped his tiring body as he dragged it off