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I rested my head on my steering wheel, feeling like I was in a crash position. Maybe that wasn’t such a bad idea.

A knock on my window startled me. I looked up. Judge Clarke stood there, waving her fingers.

I rolled down my window. “Your Honor, I⁠—”

“Open up,” she said, pointing down toward my door lock. I hit the button. She came to the passenger side and got in.

“Your Honor⁠—”

She put a hand up. “I suppose the parking lot is technically outside the courtroom. It’s Elena out here. I hear you could use a friend.”

“You mind telling me what else you’ve heard?”

“Drive,” she said. “I’m through with hearings for the rest of the day. And I’m starving. You can take me to lunch.”

I started to laugh, but not from real humor. It was my shot nerves. “I hope you like fast food. I’ve got about forty dollars in my wallet, and apparently all of my credit cards have been stolen.”

She looked down. She saw the credit cards I dropped into my console cup holder.

“Long story?” she asked.

I didn’t want to give in to tears, or panic, or anything else.

“I’m really not great company at the moment.”

“Well, tough. You can owe me. Let’s go to McDougal’s. It’s too late for breakfast, too early for lunch. Nobody will be there. Consider that a court order. Wouldn’t want to jail you for contempt.”

“At least I’d know where I was sleeping tonight,” I joked. I ignored the alarm on her face.

She was right. McDougal’s was empty. We took a booth against the wall away from the windows.

“You said you heard I could use a friend,” I said.

She nodded. “Ashley.”

The server came with our drinks. Elena ordered a cheese Danish. I copied her.

“Don’t hold it against her,” she said. “Ashley’s like family. I used to babysit her. Her mother used to babysit me. Anyway, so you’ve been sleeping in your office all week. You got called onto the carpet by Gilchrist and, apparently, Dennison? Now you’re telling me your credit cards have been cancelled. I’ve been a circuit court judge a long time and a family lawyer before that. Are you filing or is Lock?”

I felt a hole in my chest. “I don’t know,” I said, holding back the rush of tears I wanted to cry.

“Oh, honey,” she said, reaching for me. Elena wasn’t that much older than me. Her appointment to the bench had come with controversy and valid charges of nepotism. But she was doing a great job, so I, for one, never held it against her.

I explained what I could. I didn’t tell her Corrine’s name or that she was a witness in the TRACE investigations. But I told her about the photos, my confrontation with Corrine, and what both Roy and Mark believed. Elena blew out a hard breath at the end of my tale.

“I suppose I’ve just disqualified you from presiding over any proceedings I’m involved in. Some people might think that was my plan all along.”

She shook her head as she sipped her iced tea. “I’d have recused myself anyway. We’re friends, Mina. And as your friend, would you mind if I gave you some advice?”

“Sure.”

“You have to be really careful here. This woman sounds calculating, and Lock is powerful. You say you haven’t spoken?”

“Not for days.”

“But he called Mark instead?” She narrowed her eyes.

“That’s what he says.”