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Kate’s eyes widened. “Oh my God, Andrea. You poor thing.”

  32

  Andrea shrugged her shoulders philosophically. “It’s okay. I 33

  mean, it won’t be forever. He’s just short an associate, since Belk-ort 34

  nap left last month.”

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  clear out the firm single-handedly. Drescher was what was known 1

  in Samson parlance as a “screamer” — a partner known for blow-2

  ing up on the tiniest provocation and sometimes for no reason at 3

  all. For a moment, Kate pictured him in her mind’s eye. The thin 4

  orangish hair, the damp, red face, the protuberant eyes. She re-5

  called his habit of storming into a room and barking off orders. Or-6

  ders that often contradicted what he’d said just an hour or two 7

  before. “Why doesn’t he just line us up and say, ‘Fuck you,’ ‘fuck 8

  you,’ ‘fuck you’?” Andrea had once remarked. “It would take a 9

  whole lot less time.”

  10

  “Has he been managing to act marginally human?” Kate asked.

  11

  Andrea shrugged again. “He’s been okay. I’m trying to cut him 12

  some slack. You know, he’s not the typical Samson partner. He’s 13

  really had a tough life. I was talking to Sheila about him last week, 14

  asking her how she’s managed to be his secretary for as long as she 15

  has, and she sort of defended him. Said he had this alcoholic father 16

  who used to beat him up and stuff. His family was really poor. Any-17

  way, after both his parents died, he supported a bunch of sisters 18

  along with working his way through law school.”

  19

  “Interesting.” Kate was reluctant to see any redeeming qualities 20

  in Martin Drescher. But there was no need to press the point.

  21

  “Anyway, I haven’t even seen him today,” Andrea continued.

  22

  “We were supposed to have a meeting at nine this morning, but I 23

  don’t think he’s made it in yet. It’s the second time this week he 24

  hasn’t shown up for something.”

  25

  “Do you think he’s drinking again?” Kate asked. Drescher’s his-26

  tory of alcoholism was a well-known secret. Though word was that 27

  he’d been on the wagon for the past few years, since a stint in an 28

  upstate rehab.

  29

  Andrea rubbed her chin. “It’s certainly occurred to me,” she ad-30

  mitted. “But please don’t spread it around. It’s not like I have any 31

  proof. And besides I . . . I sort of feel sorry for the guy.”

  32

  “I can think of better people to feel sorry for. Like the lawyers 33

  who work for him. But fine, I’ll shut up for now. How did we end 34 sh

  up talking about Drescher anyway?”

  35 re

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  “You asked about Madeleine. She’s been around his office a lot.

  2

  At first, I thought she might be working on the case, but I don’t 3

  think that’s it. Especially if she’s working on that WideWorld thing 4

  with you. I can’t really imagine Drescher and Mills sharing her.”

  5

  Andrea was probably right. Mills and Drescher were leaders of 6

  opposing camps, with conflicts dating back more than a decade, to 7

  when Mills had defeated Drescher in a bitterly fought contest for 8

  managing partner. Now, recalling the unmistakable tension be-9

  tween Madeleine and Mills, Kate wondered if it might be linked to 10

  her newfound coziness with Drescher.

  11

  “What’s Madeleine like to work with?” Andrea said.

  12

  “Fine, so far. I mean not much has happened yet. I did have sort 13

  of a weird meeting with her this morning, though. We were talking 14

  about the Thorpe case. Then, out of the blue, she comes over to 15

  me, grabs my shoulder — hard — and tells me that I should be 16

  very careful. Those were the words she used.”

  17

  “Any idea what she meant?”

  18

  “None. She was about to say something more, but the phone 19

  rang. We never finished the conversation.”

  20

  “Well, I wouldn’t worry about it. It was probably no big deal.

  21

  Something related to the case. You’ll clear it up later.”

  22

  “Yeah,” Kate said. “That’s what I’ve been thinking.”

  23

  “So, what’s it like working with Carter Mills?”

  24

  “We’re just getting started. But so far so good. Actually, I’m 25

  really excited.”

  26

  To her surprise, Kate found that she was blushing. Andrea 27

  looked at her curiously.

  28

  “Didn’t Mills interview you at Harvard?”

  29

  “Yeah.” Kate felt a quiver close to her heart as the memory 30

  flooded back. Samson & Mills. As legendary for the demands it 31

  placed on attorneys as for the unparalleled prestige of its name. No 32

  wonder the firm was often referred to by its initials, S&M. And yet, 33

  despite the horror stories, despite the tales of exigent partners, im-ort 34

  possible deadlines, and endless rounds of all-nighters, Samson still reg 35

  had its pick of young lawyers.

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  Kate thought back to the scene at Pound Hall. Surrounded by 1

  giddily anxious classmates, waiting for their names to be called, 2

  she’d had to force herself to stay put. The simple act of putting on 3

  a suit and pumps had been almost more than she could take. All 4

  she’d wanted was to crawl back home. To curl up in bed and cry.

  5

  And then she’d met Carter Mills.

  6

  “Carter is probably the reason I came to Samson & Mills.”

  7

  Kate’s voice was soft.

  8

  Andrea frowned. “How’s that?”

  9

  “It’s hard to explain. He was just so . . . charismatic, I guess. He 10

  made you feel like being a lawyer at Samson & Mills was the most 11

  wonderful thing in the world. I know, it probably sounds stupid, 12

  but it meant a lot to me. I still remember what he said. ‘You’ve 13

  been number one all your life. Don’t short-change yourself now.’ ”

  14

  “What becoming modesty,” Andrea said dryly.

  15

  Kate ignored her. “It was great,” she said earnestly. “My self-16

  esteem was at an all-time low. And here was this amazing man ac-17

  tually taking an interest in me, telling me that I had a future.

  18

  Which was something I hadn’t felt for a while. Remember, 19

  Michael had just broken up with me. Before that, I’d just assumed 20

  that I’d be moving to Washington with him that fall, when he 21

  started his clerkship on the D.C. Circuit. And there I was suddenly 22r />
  without a boyfriend, with no idea what I was going to do next.”

  23

  Andrea looked at her skeptically. “Come on, Kate. You were 24

  graduating from Harvard Law School. You had great grades. You 25

  knew you were going to practice law, right?”

  26

  “Well, sure. But it was tied up with the idea of being with 27

  Michael, too. All of the firms I’d looked at were in D.C. And I was 28

  mainly looking at ‘lifestyle’ firms — you know, where they actually 29

  don’t expect you to spend the night on a regular basis. I wanted us 30

  really to have a life together.”

  31

  Even as she described the scene, Kate felt a sharp pain in her 32

  chest. “Anyway,” she said, anxious to complete the story, “I was 33

  wandering around campus feeling like a lost soul. I only signed up 34 sh

  for a Samson interview because Justin made me. I definitely wasn’t 35 re

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  expecting much. And then — it’s hard to explain — but when I 2

  met Carter Mills, everything seemed okay again. For the first time 3

  in weeks, I felt hopeful, like my life was going to work out.”

  4

  Andrea looked at her frankly. “Kate, you know I adore you. But 5

  I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

  6

  “Well, it began like a normal interview. He asked me about Har-7

  vard — classes, journal work, that sort of thing. But then we got to 8

  talking about my family. I told him about my parents splitting up 9

  when I was a kid. And then we talked about what it was like when 10

  my mom died — that was during my last year in college. I . . . I 11

  even told him a little about breaking up with Michael.”

  12

  “You talked to Carter Mills about that kind of stuff? In an inter-13

  view? Were you out of your mind?”

  14

  “I know. It’s strange, isn’t it? I’m generally not so keen on dis-15

  cussing the past. I’m a big believer in forward momentum. But he 16

  seemed interested. Really interested. Like he cared.”

  17

  “If you say so. But it sounds a little bizarre.”

  18

  “It didn’t feel bizarre at the time. It just felt . . . good.” Kate felt 19

  herself blushing again. “You know, for weeks after that interview, I 20

  had this fantasy that Carter Mills was my father. That we’d go away 21

  for a trip to the country or the beach and that I could tell him 22

  everything — everything that was wrong with my life — and that 23

  he’d tell me how to fix it.”

  24

  Andrea shook her head. “I’m not even going to touch that one,”

  25

  she said.

  26

  Kate was about to respond but stopped herself. Andrea’s parents 27

  had recently celebrated their thirtieth wedding anniversary. How 28

  could Andrea, with her parents and husband and teenage kid 29

  brother, ever understand how it felt to be facing the world alone?

  30

  As she herself had since her mother died. There was her father, of 31

  course, but she hadn’t seen him for more than a decade, since he 32

  moved to California with his new wife and child. For several years, 33

  he’d sent birthday cards, and then even these had become spo-ort 34

  radic. Those had been the most painful years, the occasional cards reg 35

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  only serving to underscore his general lack of concern. It was bet-1

  ter once the cards stopped coming.

  2

  Kate felt a hand on her shoulder.

  3

  “Hey there!”

  4

  “Justin!” Kate jumped up to give him a hug. As usual, Justin 5

  Daniels looked as though he’d just stepped away from a photo 6

  shoot for some men’s fashion magazine. He was almost too hand-7

  some, with an athlete’s graceful build and strong, chiseled features.

  8

  They’d met over lunch at the Hark, as the law school commons 9

  was called. She’d immediately decided that no one that good-10

  looking, and smart enough to be at Harvard, could be anything 11

  other than a jerk. But she’d been wrong. Four years later, he was 12

  one of her closest friends.

  13

  “It’s great to see you!” Kate said. “Why don’t you join us?”

  14

  Justin paused, then shook his head. “No thanks, it’s going to be 15

  a working lunch. I’m taking a tray downstairs. But how about 16

  drinks after work?”

  17

  Kate brightened. “Perfect. I’m supposed to have dinner with Tara, 18

  so I’ll meet you afterward. Say, nine-thirty at the Harvard Club?”

  19

  They finished making arrangements, and then Justin headed off 20

  toward the cafeteria line. Kate felt her spirits lift. If anyone could 21

  figure out what was up with Madeleine Waters, Justin could. He 22

  seemed to have a sort of sixth sense about what lay beneath Sam-23

  son’s surface, about the current pecking order among the firm’s 24

  partners and the reasons for these distinctions. How he had accu-25

  mulated this knowledge in the one year that they had both worked 26

  at the firm, Kate had no idea. But it definitely came in handy.

  27

  Andrea’s voice interrupted her thoughts. “He’s yummy,” she 28

  said. “I still think you should think about changing the terms of 29

  your relationship.”

  30

  “Changing the terms,” Kate scoffed. “You make it sound like a 31

  contract.”

  32

  “Seriously, Kate. Don’t wait too long. Guys like Justin don’t 33

  come along every day.”

  34 sh

  35 re

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  “Look, Justin and I are friends. And it’s going to stay that way.

  2

  I’d never risk screwing up our friendship. You know how it is.

  3

  When sex gets involved, all bets are off.”

  4

  “I don’t know, Kate. Brent and I started out as friends, and now 5

  we’re married. Very happily married, I might add. Some risks really 6

  are worth taking.”

  7

  Kate shook her head. “It’s different for you,” she said. “If things 8

  hadn’t worked out with Brent, you still would have had your fam-9

  ily. Something to fall back on. But for me . . . I guess Justin’s about 10

  the closest thing to family I have. You know the story. He practi-11

  cally saved my life after Michael and I split up. He even signed me 12

  up for job interviews when I just wanted to stay home in bed with 13

  the shades down. If it weren’t for him, I wouldn’t even have inter-14

  viewed at Samson let alone come to work here.”

  15

  “Like I was saying. Sounds like he’d make a great husband.”

  16

  Kate rolled her eyes. “No wonder you
became a litigator,” she 17

  said. “You’re relentless. Can we please just change the subject?”

  18

  “Okay, okay,” Andrea said. She was playing with the remnants 19

  of her pan-Asian salad, building a little rice pyramid with her fork.

  20

  “So how are things going with Josie?”

  21

  Kate gave a short laugh. One more thing to worry about. She 22

  briefly wondered what she’d been thinking when she agreed to 23

  take on this sixteen-year-old girl as part of Samson’s pro bono ef-24

  fort. At the time, the idea of serving as a high school mentor had 25

  sounded like fun, and she’d liked the idea of giving back. She’d 26

  even hoped she might make a difference. But two months later, dis-27

  illusion was setting in.

  28

  “I’m not sure what to do,” Kate confessed. “We had a meeting 29

  scheduled right before I left on vacation, but Josie didn’t show up 30

  at all. The week before that, she was half an hour late. I had this 31

  idea that we’d be talking about books — To Kill a Mockingbird, 32

  Catcher in the Rye — that sort of thing. I was looking forward to be-33

  ing a teacher. Instead I’m turning into a drill sergeant. Be on time.

  ort 34

  Do your work. Don’t get me wrong — she’s a terrific kid. She’s reg 35

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  smart, energetic, full of ideas. But she can’t seem to focus. I can’t 1

  seem to get through to her.”

  2

  “That’s par for the course,” said Andrea. “I had the same experi-3

  ence with Vicky when I started to work with her. Just keep pound-4

  ing away at the ground rules. Eventually, it’ll sink in.”

  5

  “I hope so.” Kate glanced at her watch. “Damn, it’s nearly one. I 6

  need to get back to work. Ready?”

  7

  As they carried their trays toward the kitchen conveyor belt, 8

  Kate’s thoughts moved back to that morning. “So you really don’t 9

  think I should worry? About what Madeleine said?”

  10

  “Worry? No way. You’ll straighten it out the next time you see 11

  her. Just ask her to explain what she meant.”

  12

  “You’re right,” said Kate. “That’s exactly what I’ll do.”

  13

  w

  14

  He stood outside the windows, watching. A little past seven, and 15

  already the restaurant teemed with people. Set flat in the middle of 16

  a run-down industrial zone, Ormond still pulled in a random as-17