“Did you say the drugs weren’t yours?”
“I would’ve had to say it in open court in front of the lawyer and the dirty cop. Besides, it’s pointless. My lawyer goes way back with this judge. Has her in his pocket. He bragged about it. So, she’s dirty, too.”
“That can’t be true. It’s federal court. That’s like— How can I explain? The national court, the top, the most elite. The judges are highly educated, honest. Things like that don’t happen there.”
“Well, they did.”
“What’s the judge’s name?” Madison asked.
Danny shook his head. “Maddy, look, I appreciate that you came to visit. But I don’t want you in the middle of this. I was in the wrong place at the wrong time, and now I’m screwed. I need to keep my mouth shut, or things will get worse.”
“You can’t just give up,” Madison said. “At least let me look into it for you. Find out if there are previous complaints against the judge, or your lawyer. Whether it would make sense for me to try to talk to them, or—”
Danny put his hands in his hair, pulling at it anxiously.
“Are you listening to a word I say? The judge is tight with the dirty lawyer. They’re in on it together. If you talk to either one of them, you’ll get me killed. Is that what you want?”
All the blood drained from their mother’s face. “Of course she doesn’t.”
“Then stay out of it. Not just for my sake. For Mom’s. I told you, they know where she lives. Ma, the guys who beat me up, they said your address. I can live with the consequences for me. But not for you. I couldn’t handle that.”
Tears stood out in their mother’s eyes. “Son, I’ll take that risk. You’re what matters.”
“No. I’m not letting you.” Danny turned to Madison, grabbing her hands. “You promise me, Maddy. For Mom’s sake, say you won’t talk to anyone. Not the judge. Nobody. Say it.”
“I promise I won’t talk to anyone without clearing it with you first. Just tell me the judge’s name, so I can do the research.”
From the corner of her eye, she saw guards rushing toward their table. Danny looked up in alarm.
“No physical contact,” one of the guards yelled. “Hands in the air.”
Danny threw his hands up. The guards yanked him to his feet and kicked his legs apart. One of them patted him down.
“What did she give you?”
“Nothing, that’s my sister. We were just—”
“He’s clean,” the guard said, shaking his head.
“This visit is terminated,” the other one said, pulling a pair of handcuffs from his belt.
Madison sought his eyes urgently. “Danny? The name?”
“Remember, you promised,” he tossed over his shoulder as they led him away. “It’s Conroy, Kathryn Conroy.”
4
They drove in stunned silence, both upset by the visit. They were nearly back to Boston before her mother spoke.
“You’re going to talk to the judge, right?”
“Mom, he said not to. He made me promise.”
“He doesn’t know what’s good for him.”
Madison shook her head. “It would be a mistake.”
“Don’t listen to him. This is too important.”
“I can’t even believe what he’s saying is true. This is crazy, but I know her.”
“You know the judge?”
“Yeah. She’s teaching at the law school. I’m taking her class.”
Mom gripped the steering wheel, turning to Madison with burning eyes. “Danny’s judge is your teacher?”
A car honked.
“Mom. Watch out.”
Yolanda looked back at the road. “But that’s wonderful. That makes it easy.”
“You’re wrong. It makes it really complicated.”
She couldn’t just walk up to Professor—Judge—Conroy and start questioning her about a pending case, involving a family member, no less. It would be so inappropriate that the judge wouldn’t only refuse to talk to her. She’d throw Madison’s internship application in the trash. That would accomplish zero for her brother while screwing up her chance at something she really wanted for herself. But try explaining that to Mom, who knew nothing about the legal system and even less about getting ahead in this world. She’d just assume Madison was being selfish. Which, okay, maybe there was an element of that. The situation was just impossible.