The Associate Read Online Free PDF Page B

You won’t be thinking about protecting illegal immigrants, and you won’t be thinking about Wall Street. Don’t lie to me, Kyle. I know too much.”
    Kyle almost said, “Yes, sir,” but instead managed only a slight affirmative nod.
    “So you plan to do some charitable work for a couple of years?”
    “Yes.”
    “Then what?”
    “I don’t know. I’m sure I’ll join a firm somewhere, start a career.”
    “What do you think of Scully & Pershing?”
    “Big, powerful, rich. I think it’s the largest law firm in the world, depending on who got merged or swallowed yesterday. Offices in thirty cities on five continents. Some really smart folks who work very hard and put enormous pressure on each other, especially on their young associates.”
    “Your kind of work?”
    “It’s hard to say. The money is great. The work is brutal. But it’s the big leagues. I’ll probably end up there.”
    “In what section did you work last summer?”
    “I moved around, but most of my time was spent in litigation.”
    “Do you like litigation?”
    “Not especially. May I ask what these questions can possibly have to do with that matter back in Pittsburgh?”
    Wright took his elbows off the table and tried to relax a little deeper into the folding chair. He crossed his legs and placed the legal pad on his left thigh. He chewed the end of his pen for a moment, staring at Kyle as if he were now a psychiatrist, analyzing the patient. “Let’s talk about your fraternity at Duquesne.”
    “Whatever.”
    “There were about ten members of your pledge class, right?”
    “Nine.”
    “Do you keep in touch with all of them?”
    “To some degree.”
    “The indictment names you and three others, so let’s talk about the other three. Where is Alan Strock?”
    The indictment. Somewhere in that damned file less than three feet away was the indictment. Howcould his name be listed as a defendant? He had not touched the girl. He had not witnessed a rape. He had not seen anyone having sex. He vaguely recalled being present in the room, but he had blacked out at some point during the night, during the episode. How could he be an accomplice if he wasn’t conscious? That would be his defense at trial, and a solid defense it would be, but the specter of a trial was too awful to imagine. A trial would come long after the arrest, the publicity, the horror of seeing his photo in print. Kyle closed his eyes and rubbed his temples, and he thought about the phone calls home, first to his father and then to his mother. Other phone calls would follow: one each to the recruiting directors who’d offered him jobs; one to each of his sisters. He would proclaim his innocence and all that, but he knew he would never shake the suspicion of rape.
    At that moment, Kyle had no confidence in Detective Wright and whatever deal he had in mind. If there was indeed an indictment, then no miracle could keep it buried.
    “Alan Strock?” Wright asked.
    “He’s in med school at Ohio State.”
    “Any recent correspondence?”
    “An e-mail a couple of days ago.”
    “And Joey Bernardo?”
    “He’s still in Pittsburgh, working for a brokerage firm.”
    “Recent contact?”
    “By phone, a few days ago.”
    “Any mention of Elaine Keenan with Alan or Joey?”
    “No.”
    “You boys have tried to forget about Elaine, haven’t you?”
    “Yes.”
    “Well, she’s back.”
    “Evidently.”
    Wright readjusted himself in the chair, uncrossed his legs, stretched his back, and returned to the most comfortable position with both elbows stuck on the table. “Elaine left Duquesne after her freshman year,” he began in a softer voice, as if he had a long tale to tell. “She was troubled. Her grades were a mess. She now claims that the rape brought on severe emotional distress. She lived with her parents for a year or so in Erie, then began drifting. A lot of self-medication, booze and drugs. She saw some therapists, but nothing helped. Have you heard any of