Betrayed (Rosato & DiNunzio, #2)(42)

“Yes, but tomorrow, you’re going to need foundation.”

Judy managed a smile, but was still shaken. She didn’t want to believe that Iris was guilty of drug dealing, but tonight had almost changed her mind. “Still, it’s so hard to believe, if you had seen Iris. Really, she was a cute little person.”

“Get real, Jude. You say the undocumented community is very close, and there have to be people who sell it drugs. That must be what she was up to, and Daniella, too.”

“A fine friend she turned out to be, huh? She leaves town before Iris is even buried.”

Mary snorted. “I’ll never do that to you when we start our drug business.”

“One way or another, we’ll be partners.” Judy steered around the curve past Chamonix Drive, practically devoid of traffic. The tires rumbled on the wet asphalt.

“Right! Meanwhile, you have to go home and throw boyfriend out of bed.”

“I know. I texted him, but he didn’t text me back. Either he’s asleep or he’s mad.”

“You texted him about your head and he didn’t write you back?”

“No, I didn’t mention my head.”

“Why not?” Mary frowned. “You were assaulted.”

“Why, do you think he’d rush to my aid?”

“You didn’t give him the chance.”

“Trust me, he wouldn’t.”

“You don’t know that.”

Judy looked over in the dark car. “You’re supposed to be on my side.”

Mary shook her head. “I am, but I have to be honest. You’re being hard on him. The guy can’t win.”

“I hate when we disagree.”

“You and him?”

“No, me and you.” Judy steered past the Victorian boathouses on the opposite bank of the river, which usually made a picturesque backdrop, but tonight were shrouded in darkness and fog. “I’m trying to lighten up on him, but I can’t. Or every time I do, he just does something else to make me mad. I don’t think it’s the worst thing that he stays at his grandfather’s for a week or two.”

“It’s going to be longer than that.”

“Whatever, the break will do us good.” Judy had been thinking as much all night, but it was one thing to mull it over and another to say it out loud. “I want him to miss me. He’s taking too much for granted. Anyway, it can’t be helped.”

“You sound like you’re falling out of love. Are you falling out of love, honey?”

Judy thought about it. “No, I’m still in love. But I’m falling out of like.”

“That’s worse,” Mary said softly.

“I know.” Judy hit the gas, and the VW zoomed past the Art Museum, its Grecian columns lighted from beneath.

“When I called Bennie, I told her what happened tonight, and she’s wondering what’s going on with you.” Mary paused. “She mentioned that a client named Linda Adler called her because you didn’t return her call.”

“Oh no.” Judy kicked herself. “Linda is the plaintiff in a sex-discrimination case Bennie gave me. We traded calls, but I dropped the ball, it’s true.”

“She says it’s not like you, not to return a client’s call. Maybe you should tell Bennie about your aunt, huh? That’s the reason, isn’t it?”

“I’m not going to pimp out Aunt Barb’s mastectomy as an excuse for my mistake. It’s my aunt’s personal business.”

“I didn’t mean it that way, and Bennie really is worried.”

“Worried enough to save me from the lawyer hell of asbestos damages? I’m dreading working those cases.” Judy shook her head, driving toward the city. “What’s the value of a human life? Do I really want to think about that right now? How much would I get for Uncle Steve? Or my aunt? I mean, there are worse jobs, like picking mushrooms, but is that the test?”

Mary’s tone brightened. “You know, you could even use Allegra. It would give her something to cut her teeth on.”

“I like Allegra too much to put her on these cases,” Judy said, meaning it. Allegra Gardner was their teenaged intern, a genius-level prodigy who had actually been their client, having hired the Rosato firm to investigate her theory that the man convicted of murdering her sister was actually innocent. That she’d turned out to be right surprised everyone but the girl genius. Judy sighed, driving toward the city. “Mary, everybody hates asbestos cases. Remember Stalling and Webb? They lost associates in droves.”

“We won’t lose you.”

“No, of course not,” Judy rushed to say, though she wondered if she meant it. “But I’ve been thinking about it, and I’m going to ask Bennie to decline the representation.”

Mary looked over in disbelief. “She already accepted it, and she won’t turn down that much business.”

“It’s not worth the money. Let them go kill somebody else’s soul.”

“We don’t have a choice, as a firm.” Mary frowned, her mouth tilting down unhappily at the corners.

“Yes we do. We have free will. We choose how we make money in this world. Who knows how long any of us will be alive?” Judy was thinking again of Aunt Barb, even Uncle Steve. “You can’t give up your life to earn a living. All you have is your integrity. Did we forget that?”