Page 19 of The Interns

“Same time on Tuesday then,” Johnson conceded.

“That’ll work. You have a nice weekend, Mr. Johnson.”

Their client mumbled some sort of farewell behind his back as he showed himself out. From the porch, he spotted Maya leaning against the passenger’s side of the truck, still focused on her phone.

“What was that about?” he asked as he neared.

She looked up and shielded her eyes from the sun. “Something weird is going on here. How the hell did we get this case?”

He looked back at the house, shaking his head at the turns their case had taken in the last few minutes. “I was wondering the same thing. I figured it was pro-bono work, but this guy isn’t exactly a charity case. It feels like Al’s holding back on us.”

Maya nodded, apparently having that same feeling that they hadn’t been given the full story about this case. “I think we may have a wrongful termination case on our hands if Johnson didn’t do something to screw it up for himself.”

“At least that,” Reed agreed.

“Also, this was on his kitchen table.” She handed her phone to him. “You think it’s the object from the video?”

He looked at the picture she’d captured on her phone, some sort of metal contraption that looked like a cross between a plier and a stapler if he had to describe it. She had a greater appreciation for the art of investigation than he thought.

“Nice catch, Hendricks.” He handed the phone back and leaned against the truck right next to her then folded his arms across his chest, making himself comfortable as he thought through the new information that kept unfolding. “It’s possible. He got awful shifty when that came up. Makes me wonder if it’s actually his.”

“What is it?” she asked.

“No clue, but I know some people who might. Can you send me that picture?”

“Yeah,” she said, attending to it right away as she texted him the picture.

“How do you want to play this?” he asked, glancing down at her.

She slipped her phone into her bag and mirrored his position as she pondered his question for a moment. “You want to do background checks and some digging on our client and his employer? I’ll review the case law to see if we have enough for a wrongful termination case.”

“I think that sounds good. Should we call Al to give him an update?”

“No,” she said quickly. She pushed herself off of the car and stepped in front of him. “Not a word.”

He tilted his head, questioning the wisdom of two summer associates keeping their findings from their boss, the only actual attorney between the three of them.

“He’s up to something, Stanton. I think he knows exactly what this case is, and he’s purposely holding information back to challenge us. I’m not saying a word until we walk into his office Monday morning and lay it all out for him.”

Here she was again. A gleam in her eyes, excitement in her voice. He liked this side of Maya, and wished she’d stick around which is why he hated himself for what he was about to do.

“Hendricks—”

“What? You know him better than me. You think he wouldn’t do something like this?” she challenged.

He took in a deep breath as he considered the man he’d known for the past few years, the incredibly bright and unconventional man. “No, it sounds exactly like something he would do.”

“Then we’ll figure it out.”

And then she did something that knocked the breath right out of him. She smiled. Not a smirk, or a grimace, or a grin. An honest to God smile. Maya Hendricks was a force: beauty, passion, wit, intelligence. And when it all came together, just as it had in this moment, it was almost like looking right into the sun. He really liked this side of her, and wanted to do whatever he could to keep her around.

He pushed himself off the car and began to walk around front to the driver’s side. “This week really is getting better and better, isn’t it?”

“I think it might be,” she said as she opened the door and hopped in.

8

Maya

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