Page 30 of A Walking Shadow

After filling their small plates with food, the three partners gathered around the table, noshing and sipping. Sasha waited for an opening in the chatter about billable hours, charity sponsorships, and speaking engagements to bring up her news.Suddenly, Will and Naya fell silent and exchanged a glance. Will nodded almost imperceptibly at Naya.

Uh-oh, what’s this?Sasha put down her glass and eyed her partners.

Naya smiled broadly. “So, Mac.”

“So, Naya.”

“Will and I were talking, and we thought maybe you should consider taking a sabbatical.”

Sasha burst into laughter. Her partners exchanged another look, this one more worried in nature.

“The program exists for a reason,” Will told her gently. “It existed at P&T for a reason, too. And that reason is partner burnout. It’s clear you’ve not been yourself. It’s not a badge of shame to take some time to recharge, explore something?—”

“Let me stop you right there.” Sasha got her giggles under control and held up her palm. “I don’t disagree. In fact, just last night, I told Connelly that I wanted to use the sabbatical program.”

Relief flooded Will’s face, and Naya let out whooshing sigh.

“Good. I think you’ll find it rejuvenating,” Will assured her.

“I’m not finished. But in the space of a day, my plans have changed. You’re right, I haven’t been myself. The law has felt like drudgery in recent months, rather than a calling. And when we feel that way, it does make sense to mix things up. Today, I was approached by a private intelligence agency that wants to retain the firm—retain me, actually—to do all of its work.”

Naya frowned. “Won’t that be a conflict of interest with whatever the heck it is Leo does?”

“It would have been, but Leo is no longer employed by the government.”

“He’s no longer employed by the government for real, or he’s employed by another secret agency that doesn’t officially exist?”

“For real.”

“Well, if your concern is financial, remember that the sabbatical is paid. You don’t need to keep working if a break would do you good.”

“This prospective client will pay an annual retainer that’s more than three times last year’s total firm billings,” Sasha countered.

“Oh,” Will said.

“Oooohhhh,” Naya echoed.

“Right.”

“What’s the catch?” Naya demanded, narrowing her eyes.

“The catch is they want me to work for them exclusively.”

She could tell Will was running the numbers by the way he squinted at the ceiling. After a moment, he nodded and said, “With a retainer that size we could easily hire two junior litigation partners to take over your existing work. Or an army of associates.”

“Is this something youwantto do?” Naya asked.

Sasha popped a bright green Castelvetrano olive in her mouth and savored the burst of brine before answering. “It is. The work they do sounds exciting. Engaging. It’ll be like taking a sabbatical without pausing my practice.”

Naya nodded.

“Well, this was an easy meeting,” Will declared.

“Not so fast. There are two more items to discuss,” Sasha told them. “One, someone should take a sabbatical—one of you. Nobody else is going to use the program until one of the name partners does it. They’ll think it’s a trap to weed out the undevoted or something.”

Will chuckled knowingly. “That does sound like lawyer thinking. And to be honest, I’ve been noodling over taking on an expanded role at the food bank. But perhaps, a six-month sabbatical to dig into their finances, revamp their programming,and hire a top-notch director while working on my novel would be just the thing.”

“You’re writing a novel?” Naya asked.

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