While Justice Sleeps

by Stacey Abrams

The message for each was the same: In the square.

home. Young Jared went to live with his aunt and uncle, and Howard Wynn sold the house. He bought another one two blocks away and never lived with his son

May be not really his.son

widow’s weeds,

“Unless you suddenly received a medical degree, I have no interest in hearing from you.” Celeste skewered her with a withering glance.

“What?” Celeste lunged for the pages, certain there was a mistake. The White

House had promised her—

chair. “The Chief told me he has Boursin’s syndrome.

Kramers Books—the patio. Midnight. Please. JW

Be careful.

Scott Curlee, one of the daytime anchors for PoliticsNOW.

FBI Special Agent Robert Lee

It was her light-brown skin and the naturally corkscrew hair that blended her parents’ tones and textures, and her complicated features—high

cheekbones that arrowed toward a wide, strong nose; full lips with a cupid’s bow set in a narrow face.

Rigging a Supreme Court verdict to allow a merger was more than complicated,

has this been mentioned yet?

Jared quickly rose, stepping toward Avery and placing his hand on her arm. The gravelly voice lost its anger in a plea. “Avery, you know something. I saw it.”

same scene...Shouldn't have been a. chapter break

GenWorks,

“Only what’s already known. An American genetics company wants to

how can the PRESIDENT stop a merger?

merge with an Indian biotech firm and share technology. The president objected and stopped the merger—first time in history.”

“Nigel Cooper, the head of GenWorks,

She remembered a broad-shouldered, handsome man with rich brown skin and a booming laugh. He was the one who quietly soothed away the taunts about her having a white mom and a black dad.

“I hope you get a daughter just like you one day. A frigid bitch who thinks she’s too good for you.”

place. Ling had the graveyard shift this rotation, which meant she’d crawl into the apartment hours after Avery left in the

morning.

Bangalore,

fifty-six thousand dollars all told?”

“Then perhaps you can explain why you received a wire transfer into your bank account at four this morning, in the amount of five hundred thousand dollars?” The steel jaws clanged shut.

“And if you had anything to do with the death of Jamie Lewis, we’ll seek to add a charge of murder,” finished Agent Lee.

talk about a rush to judgment

“Then you leave us no choice.” Vance waved a hand at the FBI agent. “Agent Lee, place Ms. Keene under arrest.” Lee folded his arms, not moving toward Avery. “Hold on, Major, we’ve got—” “No grounds,” Chief Roseborough

but I want to do what he asked of me. Please.” The Chief studied her, then stood,

why does the Chief get to decide any of this?

she found her favorite security guard. “What can I do you for, Ms. Keene?” “Vince, the press is outside waiting for

so the security guards trust her more than the justices

puerile

e4c5Gf3d6Ob5+Od7Oxd7+Vxd7c4Gc6Gc3Gf600g6d4cxd4Gxd4Og7Gde2Ve6!?Gd5Vxe4Gc7+Rd7Gxa8Vxc4Gb6+axb6Gc3Ha8a4Ge4Gxe4Vxe4Vb3f5Og5Vb4Vf7Oe5h3Hxa4Hxa4Vxa4Vxh7Oxb2Vxg6Ve4Vf7Od4Vb3f4Vf7Oe5h4b5h5Vc4Vf5+Ve6Vxe6+Rxe6g3fxg3fxg3b4Of4Od4+Rh1!b3g4Rd5g5e6h6Ge7Hd1e5Oe3Rc4Oxd4exd4Rg2b2Rf3Rc3h7Gg6Re4Rc2Hh1Rf5b1=VHxb1Rxb1Rxg6d2h8=Vd1=VVh7b5?!Rf6+Rb2Vh2+Ra1Vf4b4?Vxb4Vf3+Rg7d5Vd4+Rb1g6Ve4Vg1+Rb2Vf2+Rc1Rf6d4g71–0

0

I’ve been a trust and estates lawyer for the absurdly wealthy for six years, Avery.

loads of experience

A figure suddenly pulled up a chair and sat across from the cozy sofa. “I

???

Avery’s eyes lit up. “Your mother’s name was Vivian. Vivian’s Georgia Cabin.” Jared nodded and confirmed her guess.

no one would make this conclusion

eidetic

“Such a shame about poor Howard,” offered an eggplant-attired matron of impeccable breeding and questionable chromatic theory.

present. Aware that her family ties to the White House faded with each

president, she had made ingratiation her blood sport.

First Lady Fontaine Stokes, a sturdy, equine woman who’d been with her husband since he’d run for student body president at Arizona State. She

“Maybe she’s one of those grandparent-killing liberals who believe in the fucking dignity of death.”

She’s already started the process for us with that stunt involving his son.”

The only person Brandon Stokes hated more than Ken Neighbors was his counterpart in the House, Speaker DuBose Porter, Alabama-born and Yale-bred.

What if the Right Reverend Donaldson from the Eighth Circuit gets called up while we’re off campus?

or Amy Coney Barrett

“What parts?” Avery asked. “The Burusho people of Pakistan. The Lodhas. The Indian states of Kashmir, Assam, and West Bengal.”

she just happens to know this?

One, that TigrisLost was a scientist for Hygeia. Two, that Dr. Ani Ramji is likely TigrisLost. Three, that Hygeia engaged in gene therapy experimentation, which is why the president says he objected to the merger.”

how can a president object to the merger?

“Four,” Jared added, “that their subjects were selected from regions of the world with a chromosomal connection. And five, that everyone who helped Dr. Ramji is now

d...

“A biotech in the middle of India was studying genetic markers and Muslims. S...