Free Cover-up by Michele Martinez

make some calls to Main Justice and find out what paperwork they need. As a practical matter, that means you can’t start investigating Clyde until I give the green light, understand? Or else we risk running afoul of the protocol.”
    “It’s not like I’m itching to go after him anyway. He’s Joe’s dad, and I love Joe to death.”
    “Why do you think they call it a conflict, girlfriend?” Bernadette paused, sipping her coffee and studying Melanie. “Listen, you know I believe in eating what you kill. Melanie Vargas brings in the Central Park Butcher case, Melanie Vargas gets to keep that case until the bitter end. But I have to be able to trust in your impartiality or I can’t let you do this one. With all this media scrutiny, the Shepard case will blow up in our faces if it’s not handled properly.”
    Conscious of her boss’s eyes on her, Melanie kept her face neutral, but behind it, her thoughts were roiling. The fact was, she hadn’t stopped to ask herself how she felt about investigating the father of one of her closest friends.
    “Before you answer,” Bernadette said, “let me throw one more factor into the mix. You know that when I’m in Cancún, Susan will be acting chief?”
    Susan Charlton was Bernadette’s deputy, an award-winning prosecutor, brilliant and ferocious.
    “Of course,” Melanie said. “Everybody expected that.”
    “Well, that leaves the deputy chief slot vacant for two weeks starting Monday. You know what that position entails?”

    “Sure. Supervising junior prosecutors, authorizing new arrests, signing off on indictments and plea bargains. It’s a big job.”
    “Yes, it is.” She paused, looking Melanie square in the eyes. “On the way to work today, thinking about the coup you pulled off in landing this case, I was considering naming you acting deputy.”
    Melanie flushed with pleasure. A deputy chief spot was a cherished dream of hers, and taking a turn as acting deputy made it more likely she’d be considered when a permanent position opened up. Not only did deputy chief pay better—and she could sure use the extra money—but it was the first step on the path to the promised land. Deputy chiefs who were talented and hardworking eventually became unit chiefs like Bernadette. Unit chiefs became chiefs of the Criminal Division. Chiefs of the Criminal Division became magistrate judges, and magistrate judges became bona fide, honest-to-goodness Article Three federal judges with lifetime tenure, the holy grail of the legal profession, the next best thing to the Supreme Court of the United States. A vision of herself in black robes swam before Melanie’s eyes.
    “Bernadette, I’m honored.”
    “I didn’t say I was appointing you, I said I was considering it. I’m deciding between you and Brad Monahan. As of last night, he was my top choice. As of this morning, you were. The Butcher investigation is a critical factor in my decision. I’m leaving for Cancún Sunday morning. If you handle the case well between now and then, you get the job. If you don’t, it goes to Brad. Now, with that in mind, what is your answer to the question of whether you can be impartial in investigating Clyde Williams?”
    Moments of truth sneak up on you sometimes. As Bernadette watched her face, Melanie realized she was at an important juncture, one she hadn’t been anticipating, where she needed to choose between who she was and who she would become. The choice wasn’t just about selfish career advancement, either. This job was hard for a lot of reasons, a major one being the need to put the public welfare aheadof personal concerns. A sadistic killer was on the loose, and Melanie was in the best position to stop him. As weighed against a matter of such magnitude, her burnout and even her close friendship with Joe all looked small. Melanie thought about Suzanne Shepard’s mutilated stomach. The fact was, if Clyde Williams was mixed up in that ugly crime, he deserved to go down, no matter