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case. You owe me.”
    “He wants you to defend SK?” Rosie tugged at Summer’s elbow.
    Summer nodded until she was dizzy.
    “Holy shit,” Rosie said.
    Being around Gundy in the afterworld was more than Summer had bargained for. “I know I owe you—”
    “The arraignment’s tomorrow,” Levi interrupted.
    Summer trapped the phone between her neck and shoulder.
    “Court Nine, one o’clock,” Levi added. “Be prepared for a media circus.”
    Summer sighed. “OK, OK.”
    She could hear Levi yawn. “That’s a load off my mind. Meet me—”
    “Tomorrow, nine, one, circus, I’ll be there.”
    Summer hung up.

 
    * * *

 
    Summer had left Rosie passed out on her couch and was outside, gulping night air and trying to clear her head. She was walking along the beach in front of her home, the sand cold and itchy on her feet, wearing shorts and an oversized t-shirt. She looked to the horizon, a charcoal canvas striated with clouds. Her mouth was puffy and dry. Summer could feel the edge of a headache. She cursed Rosie and whoever invented gin.
    She walked to the surf’s lip and let the water wash over her feet. She moved forward, toward the clouds speeding across the horizon, toward the light in the distance, the ship.
    SK, she thought. She was going to be defending SK. Even before having met her, Summer was reeling under the pressure. She didn’t know if she was up to the challenge. She should have stood up to Jon, turned him down. She didn’t know if she could cope with all this.
    A wave kicked at her knees. She continued treading toward that ship’s light. She thought about booking passage, taking it to wherever it was going, to places covered in rainforest flora and fauna, to dark continents and mysterious cultures, to any place she could feel safe, as far away from here as possible.
    The water lapped at her chest. Her t-shirt was heavy on her shoulders.
    Summer was overwhelmed by sadness. Not just because her whole life had been turned upside down by Gundy. She was alone. Wib, her father, had died of a heart attack four years before, weeks after Summer graduated from law school—the last time she ever saw her parents together. He and Sonia had separated a couple of years before that, Wib moving to a desert condo while Sonia kept the house. Sonia was the one who’d found Wib’s body, two days a corpse. He had died alone.
    After that, Sonia began a descent into madness. She refused to go outside or let anyone in. After a lifetime of primping and pandering to her looks, she stopped taking care of herself. All of a sudden, Summer found herself in the role of parent, the child taking care of the adult.
    She could hear her mother’s plaintive wails. It was my fault. I should have never left him. If I had been there, I could have called the paramedics.
    Shhh , Summer would say. The doctor says there was nothing you could have done, even if you had been there.
    I abandoned him. I’m to blame.
    After years of wishing that her mother would accept responsibility for something, anything, Summer had found herself trying to convince her that she wasn’t responsible.
    Eight months ago, when Sonia found out she had incurable melanoma, Summer noticed that a calmness had settled over her mother. She disappeared days later. Summer hadn’t seen or heard from her since.
    Summer looked out at the ship one last time, then dove deep under the water until her ears popped.
    When she felt her lungs were about to burst, she bobbed up to the surface, greedily sucking in air, choosing life.
    She swam to shore.
    After changing into a dry tank top and gym shorts, Summer lay on the floor, gazing at her ceiling. Three a.m. had slipped into four. Rosie was still curled up on her couch, snoring softly.
    Summer was startled by the phone. Rosie shifted but didn’t wake.
    She picked up. “Jon?”
    “No.”
    “Who is this?”
    “Your favorite client.”
    Summer shut her eyes. She wished that when she opened them, this wouldn’t be