The Intern(102)

“A Dunkin’ Donuts.”

“God, there’s a million of those. A street name?”

“Not that I can see.”

“Can you get the plate number for the car she’s driving? Her Nissan is parked in the alley behind her house, so it must be something else. If you get a plate number, we can pull the toll cameras.”

“Brooke, I need to hang up. I think I see her.”

“No! We need a location, so we can arrest her. Oh, and rescue you,” she added as an afterthought.

“If I can get her location, will that be enough to satisfy the cooperation deal, so Danny’s charges get dropped?”

“That and a confession. On tape.”

“How do you expect me to achieve that when Olivia didn’t send me in wired?”

“Well, aren’t you glad she didn’t? Conroy would’ve found the wire for sure. You’d be dead by now.”

“Olivia was protecting the investigation. Not me.”

“She was protecting both. We care about you, Madison. I just lost one witness; I don’t need to lose another.”

Yeah, because it would look bad, she thought. But no point in bickering with the prosecutor. She had a goal in mind, and not much time to accomplish it.

“Okay, then hurry up and tell me how to record Judge Conroy without the wire, so I can get off the phone.”

“I have a way to do it, but if she figures it out, you could be in danger. Is she armed?”

Madison hesitated. She could tell them about the gun. What was one more crime, on top of all the charges Judge Conroy already faced? On the other hand, the FBI had its ways of locating even the cagiest suspects. If they believed the judge was armed and managed to track her down, they’d storm the motel room. Break down the door, use a percussive device, start shooting. The judge might be killed. Madison could be caught in the crossfire. No, she had to defuse this.

“I didn’t see a gun.”

“Wait a minute, I don’t understand. If she didn’t take you at gunpoint, why did you go with her?”

“Are you seriously victim-blaming me? You’re holding my brother prisoner in exchange for information. I went because you put me up to it.”

“Oh,” Brooke said, sounding almost surprised. “Okay, I’ll tell you how to record her, but I’m warning you: it’s risky.”

“I’ll take any risk for Danny.”

“Well, I don’t want to be held responsible if things go wrong.”

“You’ve made that perfectly clear.”

“Okay, you need to download an app called Spyware Pro to the phone you’re using right now. Then give the phone back to her. The spyware hides in the OS, so she shouldn’t be able to see it. Unless the phone is set up to detect intrusion, which it may well be.”

“Understood.”

“You’re assuming that risk.”

“I get it.”

“The app will prompt you to enter a phone number. Put in mine. Any calls Conroy makes from that phone will be automatically shared with me. I’ll take care of recording them.”

“Understood. If I do all this, and provide you with information leading to her arrest—”

“Then Danny’s charges will be dropped. You’ll get full immunity. Along with any protection you need and the thanks of a grateful nation. You have my word.”

“It’s a deal. The judge is coming. I’ve got to run. Bye.”

Dropping the call, she went inside. The restaurant was warm and steamy, smelling of coffee and maple syrup. She slid into a booth.

“I ordered you scrambled eggs with wheat toast,” Judge Conroy said. “How’d it go?”

“We’re on.”



* * *



Later, when they were back in the motel room, the phone with the spyware rang. The screen showed an incoming call from Ray Logue.

Kathryn caught Madison’s eyes. The intern nodded.

“Hello.”

“Kathy. It’s Ray.”

“What do you want?”

“I have something that belongs to you,” he said. “I think you’re going to want it back. I’d like to arrange a handover.”

“And walk into an ambush? I’m not stupid.”

“I would never do that to you.”

“You’ve been doing it for half my life. Any information I gave. Any cases I threw. And yes, I admit I did some of that, but only because you forced me. You and Charlie and Nancy. She put you up to this, didn’t she?”

“What?”

“Nancy Duffy, my so-called case manager. She’s Charlie’s mother, Eddie Wallace’s widow. She’s been part of your scheme all along, and she put you up to this.”

There was a pause on the line.

“What are you doing?” Ray said. “Leave her out of it.”

“I’m sorry, I can’t.”

“She’s just an old woman. I’m not down with this. Nancy wasn’t part of the deal. I didn’t agree to that.”

It was true, he hadn’t. But Kathryn had scores to settle, whether he was on board or not.

“Nancy gave the order to kill my husband, didn’t she?”

“I won’t deny she was involved, but give the order—”