The following afternoon, she reported to the courthouse for her internship, eager to hear what the judge had learned. But her office door was shut, raised voices emanating from behind it. Kelsey the receptionist gave her a suspicious look.
“What are you doing here?”
“Monday is one of my days,” she said, blowing past her, heading for a desk in the law clerks’ office.
Sean was at his computer. He looked up, startled.
“I wasn’t expecting you,” he said.
Nancy had apparently not conveyed her schedule to others in the office. Still, why the surprise? She sat down at her desk, logging on to the server as she replied.
“Oh, yeah. I’ll be working Mondays, Thursdays, and Fridays. Imani’s not in today?”
“She went to the Clerk’s Office. Hey, did you have some sort of run-in with Nancy?”
She looked up in confusion. Her login ID didn’t seem to be working.
“Not that I’m aware of. Why, did she say something?”
“Yeah. I mean, not to freak you out, but I was under the impression you’d been fired.”
“What? I have no idea what you’re talking about. Nothing was said to me at all.”
Footsteps were coming down the hallway. As Nancy appeared in the doorway, Sean’s eyes flew to his computer, almost as if he was afraid of being caught speaking to Madison. Nancy was slightly built, middle-aged, and mousy. Nothing about her would normally inspire fear. Yet people were afraid. When she’d shown up uninvited at Judge Conroy’s door, the judge grabbed a gun. Granted, maybe she didn’t know it was Nancy. She might’ve expected Wallace or someone else. Still, Judge Conroy seemed to despise her case manager. They’d argued that night. And just now, that must have been her quarreling with Judge Conroy behind her office door. What were they fighting about? Why didn’t the judge just fire the woman instead of taking so much abuse?
“I’m surprised you’d show your face here,” Nancy said in a nasty tone.
Okay. This was about Danny. It must be. The judge told Nancy that Madison had lied. Sean was listening from his desk. She knew from Ty that he was a gossip. If Sean found out she’d lied to a federal judge, it would get back to people at the law school. She couldn’t let that happen.
Madison’s palms went sweaty as she met Nancy’s gaze. Could she brazen her way out of this one?
“Uh—maybe you forgot? We agreed that Monday would be one of my days. Also, I don’t know if you’re the right person to ask about this, but I’m having trouble logging in.”
“Oh, I’m the right person all right. You left important information off your employment form.”
“Oh. Yes. Right. I’m very sorry. I’m still following up. I’ll get you that as soon as possible. I apologize for any inconvenience.”
“It’s more than inconvenient. It’s a problem.”
“Again, I apologize. I did speak to Judge Conroy about the form, and she said it was okay to take more time.”
The judge would back her up. She’d have to.
“You spoke to her directly, without asking me?”
“I was here late on Friday, finishing up a memo. I just— I bumped into her on my way out, so—” Madison faltered. “She didn’t seem to mind.”
Nancy scoffed. “Well, she wouldn’t, would she?”
The silence lengthened until it felt like a stand-off. Madison cleared her throat nervously.
Nancy shot a glance at Sean. She seemed as hesitant to speak in front of him as Madison was.
“Get up,” Nancy said finally, sliding into Madison’s chair and typing into the computer for several minutes. “Given the omission on your background form, if it were up to me, I’d let you go. But you have friends in high places, apparently. You’re staying—for now. I fixed it so you’ll be able to do legal research but not get into any case files. But just remember, I’m watching you.”
Nancy stalked away. Sean had heard everything. What would he think? Who would he tell? She met his eyes, feeling gut-punched.
“I am soo sorry,” he said. “When Imani and I advised you to leave blanks on that form, we had no idea she’d go batshit like that.”
He thought it was his fault. She wanted to scream with relief, but that wouldn’t be wise.
“It’s not your fault, Sean. But wow, Nancy is just—”
“She’s a lunatic since Olivia. We know. She’s so overprotective of the judge that she’s making it very difficult to work here. I cannot apologize enough. We’ll do our best to keep her off your back. Just, please—don’t tell anyone at the law school, or we’ll never get another internship application.”
“Of course. No worries at all.”
Imani returned. As Sean filled her in, she apologized to Madison and made a few choice comments about Nancy under her breath. For the rest of that afternoon, the three of them worked in silence. There were no cases on in court that day. Everybody kept a low profile in the wake of the confrontation. The judge remained behind closed doors, not showing her face. Madison had hoped to find a moment to speak to her alone and hear what she’d learned about Danny, but it proved impossible.
When she let herself into the town house that evening, she found the judge sitting on the sofa with Lucy on her lap, staring into the fire.
“Nancy wanted me to fire you for lying about your brother. But I refused. We had an argument.”
“Why did you tell her?” she asked.
“I didn’t. She found out … on her own.”
The judge’s tone was hollow. She seemed listless and depressed. The incident had obviously upset her. Well, that made two of them. Was Madison supposed to feel grateful? At this point, if not for Danny, she would quit the internship and have nothing more to do with Judge Conroy. Though Danny wasn’t the only consideration. There was also the not insignificant question of whether they would turn her in for lying.
“Is she going to report me?” Madison asked.
“That’s what you’re worried about?”
“Not the only thing. I’m worried about Danny, too. Did you find out where he is?”
The judge heaved a sigh.
“You’re going to be fine.”
“What does that mean?”
“Just keep your head down. Stay away from Nancy and I can keep her from reporting you.”
“And Danny?”
“I believe he’s safe.”
“Where is he?”
“I told you what I know,” she said, but she wouldn’t meet Madison’s eyes, and her expression was guarded.
“You don’t know where he is?”
“They moved him. The database doesn’t say where to, and I was not able to get that information.”
“Are you serious? I could’ve told you that much.”
“I’m sorry my efforts don’t meet with your approval,” Judge Conroy said acidly.
“You think he’s safe, but you’re not sure?”
“He’s safe for now.”
“For now? What does that mean? Is someone trying to hurt him? And how can they refuse to tell you his location? You’re the judge in his case. There’s something you’re not saying.”
Her eyes flashed. “I go to bat for you with Nancy, and this is the thanks I get? You’re right, there are things I’m not telling you. I can’t. I won’t. This topic is closed. Don’t ask me about him again. Now I’m going to bed. Good night.”
It was just seven o’clock, but the judge picked up Lucy and hurried up the stairs. Madison heard her bedroom door slam. The dramatic exit left her shaken. The topic of Danny was now off-limits with the judge, and she hadn’t learned anything new.
She went up to the attic bedroom and called her mother. Mom had been suffering terribly over Danny’s absence, unable to eat or sleep. Madison wished she had more news. She did her best to put an upbeat spin on it, leading with the fact that Danny was safe, just leaving out the part about “for now.”
Her mother gave a half sob, half sigh. “Gracias a Dios. Where is he? Is it close enough to visit?”
“She doesn’t exactly know where he is. They moved him, possibly due to overcrowding or something. That wasn’t clear.”
“She’s the judge in his case. How can she not know where he is?”