Maximum Security Library Edition

Chapter 1 Thursday, October 12 An old friend. That's what Harry called her when he broached the subject just moments ago. Would I agree to represent an old friend of his who's in a bit of a jam?"Of course I would," I told him. "But why don't you represent your old friend yourself?"I knew his answer before I finished my question. Harry Madigan is uncommonly good at many things, but he'd die of starvation if he had to earn his living playing poker.He leans forward in his chair by my desk and laughs, knowing I know. "All right," he says, raising his hands in mock surrender. "She's an old girlfriend. And I don't think I should represent her. Not in this case.""You want me to represent your girlfriend?" I laugh too, fully expecting him to deliver a punch line.He frowns. "As you happen to know," he says, "she's not my girlfriend. But she was twenty-five years ago. We were law school classmates."He must be joking. Just in case, though, I turn to the bookshelf behind my desk and tap a pen against the red spine of the Massachusetts Lawyers Directory. "What? Is there a sudden shortage of attorneys in the Commonwealth, Harry?""Come on, Marty, we're not sixteen. We both have pasts. And we've both had other relationships."I take off my frameless glasses, drop them on top of a file on the cluttered desk, then rub my tired eyes and roll them at him.Harry gets to his feet, feigns deep concentration, and starts pacing around my small office. He's six feet tall and built like a linebacker; the room always seems crowded when he stands. His shoulders are broad, his arms muscular, and his hands enormous. His charcoal hair, thick, unruly, and always too long, has gone a paler gray at the temples. Harry can pace all night as far as I'm concerned; I'll watch.He stops abruptly, glances sideways at me, and taps an index finger against his forehead, as if coaxing a memory to the surface. "Speaking of relationships," he says, "if I recall correctly, Attorney Nickerson, you even managed to squeeze in a husband.""True. And if Ralph ever needs a lawyer, I'll be sure to send him straight to you."My ex-husband is Ralph Ellis, a nationally acclaimed forensic psychiatrist. He tends to show up in high-profile trials and Harry has seen him many times on TV. The two have never actually met, though. And it's no secret between Harry and me that he's not looking forward to the occasion.He walks to the darkened window, leans against the sill and sighs. "Please," he says. "She needs a good lawyer. She's in trouble.""You're serious."He bites his lower lip and nods. "I am.""What's her name?""Louisa Rawlings."Of course it is. Harry's old girlfriend wouldn't be a Mary or a Peggy or a Sally. She'd be a Louisa. I'm sorry I asked."Rawlings is her married name," he adds. "She was Coleman when I knew her.""How long were you and Louisa Coleman an item?""Through law school," he says."All of it?""Yep.""What happened?"Harry leaves the windowsill, drops back into the chair by my desk, and falls quiet, drumming his fingers on the armrests. It's pretty clear that whatever happened wasn't his idea. "The public defender thing," he says at last. "It didn't appeal to her.""She didn't want you doing the dirty work of a public defender?"He laughs. "It wasn't the dirty work that bothered her. It was the puny paycheck.""But didn't she know all along that you planned to become a public defender?" It's always seemed obvious to me that Harry was born with that plan."She did," he says. "But I think she assumed I'd change my mind -- come to my senses -- by the time we finished law school." He shrugs. "I didn't.""So she dumped you and married Mr. Rawlings?""Nope. She dumped me and married Mr. Powers. She dumped him and married Mr. Rawlings.""Oh.""And I'm the one who introduced her to Glen Powers." Harry looks away from me andNickerson, Marty is the author of 'Maximum Security Library Edition', published 2004 under ISBN 9780743261234 and ISBN 0743261232.