The Intern(2)

The pause as she considered the question lasted longer than she’d intended.

“Well,” Conroy prompted. “Yes or no?”

The opportunity was just too good to pass up.

“I’m flattered to be asked, Judge Conroy. I would love to apply.”

“Good. Get in touch with my chambers, and they’ll give you the specifics. I look forward to interviewing you.”

As Conroy walked out the door, Madison’s phone buzzed in her pocket, and her smile faded. There were several missed calls from her mother. And one text. More bad news, it read.





2


She was gathering her things when Ty Evans came up to her. They’d been the power couple of their year until she broke things off last spring. He was a former Stanford tight end, handsome and charismatic, reigning moot court champ, on the short list for law review president. A job she wanted for herself and planned to get. Trouble was, everything Ty did, Madison did, too, just as well if not better. And that didn’t make for a smooth relationship. Harvard Law was the sort of place where people would knock down their grandmother to get ahead. Was it any wonder that competition broke them up?

She shoved the phone in her coat pocket so he wouldn’t see her mother’s text, forcing a smile.

“Sucking up to the prof, I see,” he teased.

“Jealous much, Ty?”

“What do I have to be jealous of? She loves me best.”

“Right. Who doesn’t?”

He laughed. “You know it. What were you two talking about just now?”

“A follow-up about the Gates case.”

She didn’t want news getting out about the internship, especially not to Ty. He’d apply, and out of the entire second-year class, he was her biggest competition.

“Huh. It looked like more than that.”

Madison shrugged, dropping the subject. Ty blocked for her as they fought the tide of remaining students flooding through the doors for the next class. Crossing the atrium, he started talking about the latest political battle on law review, but she could barely pay attention. Her hand was sweaty in her pocket, clutching her phone. She had to get rid of him and call Mom, to find out the latest in the saga of her troubled younger brother, Danny. A week earlier, Danny got swept up in a narcotics dragnet, arrested along with a dozen hard-core drug dealers from the old neighborhood, even though, as far as Madison knew, he wasn’t involved in anything remotely like that. Danny was now in federal custody awaiting trial. Nobody at school knew about it, not even Ty. Especially not Ty. He was a decent enough human being beneath his bravado that, if he found out she had family problems, he’d start asking questions that she didn’t want to answer. And probably end up getting the truth out of her, which she couldn’t afford. Appearances mattered too much here. You kept your game face on at all times. She didn’t want people finding out about Danny until she had a better handle on things.

“Pit stop,” she said, nodding toward the restrooms.

“I can wait. You want to grab a coffee or something?”

“Can’t. I have stuff to do.”

“All right. But hey, come out tomorrow? It’s my birthday. I’d love to see you.”

“Right. Chloe told me. I’ll be there.”

“She told you. Good. I’m glad,” he said.

From his tone, she could tell that inviting her had been a bone of contention. Chloe was Ty’s new girlfriend, and she kept a close eye on his interactions with Madison.

Ty left. Madison looked for a quiet place to make her call. But the atrium was buzzing with students coming and going. She caught snippets of conversation. Grades. Exams. Recruiting. Weekend plans. Mere days ago, her life had been that simple, that carefree. But the past, her family, her background always reared their ugly heads. They just wouldn’t let her go.

She made her way outside to the law quad. New England fall was winding down. There were still patches of vivid color in the trees, but you could smell winter in the sharp, cold wind. The forecast was for heavy rain later, which would suit her mood. She found a sheltered spot in the lee of the building and placed the call with shaking fingers. Her mother picked up on the first ring.

“Maddy, thank God. Where were you?”

“In class. What’s wrong?”

“Danny pled guilty.”

“How can that be? He swore to you he was innocent.”

“He still says that, and I believe him. I know it in my heart.”

“Why plead guilty if you’re not?”

“They made him.”

“Who made him?”

“I don’t know. He won’t say. It was, like, a thirty-second phone call from the jail, then he said he had to go and hung up. Maddy, he sounded scared.”

“Honestly, that doesn’t make sense. I studied criminal law, Mom. There are supposed to be negotiations for a plea. He was just arrested, what, a week ago? It’s too fast.”

“I thought so too.”

“What does his lawyer say?”

“I don’t know, and I don’t care. I don’t trust that guy. He’s the one who forced Danny to take the plea.”

“Forced him how?”

“What do you think? He threatened him.”

“That sounds like an excuse. Did Danny say that or is he—”