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Hez took a deep breath and prepared to walk into the Justice Chamber for the first time. The nameplate holder beside the door was still empty, but a sheet of paper with Justice Chamber in forty-point font had been taped to the scarred oak door. He didn’t care that the sign was crooked.

He opened the door and flipped the light switch. A fluorescent light buzzed to life, illuminating a small office containing a much-used table, a tiny desk bearing an old computer, and four unmatched office chairs. Gray light dribbled in through a drafty trefoil window, a flourish added by a long-dead architect who loved Gothic cathedrals. The office’s prior occupant had warned Hez about the window and left an ancient space heater in a corner by the desk.

Hez plopped a box on the desk and pulled out a coffee maker, which he immediately set up on the corner of the desk. He loaded it with a rich dark roast and started it. First things first.

As the aroma of brewing coffee filled the office, he unloaded the rest of the box—notepads, highlighters, sticky notes, pens, accordion folders, coffee mugs, and other necessities. Finally, he took out a plaque that read “But let justice roll on like a river, righteousness like a never-failing stream!”(Amos 5:24). He looked at it for a long moment, then hung it over the desk.

The plaque was an office-warming gift from Savannah—and really the whole office was her gift. The law school couldn’t find room for Hez’s clinic, so Savannah had flexed some presidential muscle and found them space in Connor Hall. The history department had two vacant offices, thanks to her departure for the administration building and Erik Andersen’s disappearance the prior semester. After a week of quick office moves, the Justice Chamber now occupied the second least desirable office in the building. The least desirable office remained empty next door, so the legal clinic had room to grow.

“Aah, that smells awesome,”

a male voice said.

Hez turned to see Eduardo Hernandez filling the doorway with his broad shoulders. Ed was a scholarship swimmer and first-year law student. He’d apparently come straight from practice, and his collar was damp where it touched his black hair. “Grab a mug and a seat. We’ll begin as soon as the other two arrive.”

Ed filled the largest mug. His brown eyes were downcast, and Hez frowned. “Anything wrong, Ed?”

The young man hunched his shoulders. “I think I’m going to have to leave school.”

His voice was bleak, and there was a shine to his eyes. “I wanted to be the first lawyer in my family.”

“What’s happened?”

“My scholarship just got eliminated.”

His gaze darted to Hez. “My family doesn’t have the money for tuition, so this will be my last semester.”

Hez put his hand on Ed’s shoulder. “I’ll see what I can find out. Maybe the new president will have an idea.”

Ed’s head came up. “You’d do that for me?”

“You bet. Don’t give up hope.”

Was there any way he could pay these students for their help at the Justice Chamber?

As Ed replaced the carafe, two women walked in together. One was Toni Casey, a thirtyish blonde with a professional air who looked like exactly what she was: an accountant who had spent a few years in the business world and then decided to go to law school. The other was tall and had long black hair—she must be Dominga Steerforth, a favorite student of Savannah’s. Dominga had expressed interest in law school, so Savannah suggested she volunteer for Hez’s clinic.

Once everyone was caffeinated and seated, Hez got started. “Thanks for coming to the inaugural meeting of the Justice Chamber. Our mission statement is up there on the wall.”

He pointed to the plaque. “I thought we’d need to go to the public defender’s office or legal clinics to find clients in need of justice, but our first client found us. In fact, you could say it is us.”

He spread his arms. “This university—our university—needs our help in at least two areas. First, you might have heard about a smuggling ring using TGU as a front to traffic pre-Columbian artifacts looted from Central and South America. The DA and the U.S. Attorney’s Office claim they have it all wrapped up, but I’m not so sure. Ed, you worked on a smuggling case last semester. Do you want to take a look at this?”

Ed savored a sip of coffee and smiled. “It would be my pleasure. If we can shut this down, maybe there will be more money for scholarships.”

Dominga, who had been eyeing Ed since she walked in, leaned forward. “I can help. I took Professor Webster’s course on pre-Columbian history. It’s a really interesting area and I learned a lot.”

Hez suppressed a smile. “Okay, great. I’ll give you my file and the investigative leads I’ve gathered so far.”

He turned to Toni. “The second problem may be more up your alley. Are you familiar with the TGU Extension School?”

She frowned. “I’ve heard the name. It’s basically an online program, right?”

Hez nodded. “Right. TGU’s last president, Ellison Abernathy, set it up. He told the board it would be a great way for people who are working full-time or aren’t around here to benefit from TGU’s excellent programs. It wouldn’t cost the university anything because an outside company could administer it for a percentage of the revenue. All the profits would go into TGU’s scholarship fund for low-income students.”

Toni’s eyebrows went up. “I’m not sure why that’s a problem. It sounds like a good business model. Part-time and off-campus students get a good education on flexible terms, and the university gets free money for a good cause. That should be a win-win.”

Hez grimaced at the memory of what his preliminary investigation had uncovered. “It should be, but it’s not. The Extension School admits unqualified students and charges them the maximum they can borrow from government loan programs. The courses are low-quality recorded lectures from Abernathy’s friends, who often aren’t even TGU professors. And the scholarship fund hasn’t gotten a penny. The whole thing has actually been a lose-lose.”

Ed sat back and folded his arms. “I’ll bet someone’s winning.”

Toni nodded. “Yeah, all that student loan money has to be going somewhere. Do we have any financial data for the Extension School?”

“We do.”

Hez lifted his mug and inhaled the rich scent before taking a sip. “They have to submit quarterly data to the president’s office, but no one looked at it until last week. It’s also not very clear, and . . . well, let’s just say Excel and I are not friends.”

Toni smiled. “I’m besties with Excel. Send me the spreadsheets and I’ll take a look. I can also do some poking around and see what I find.”

Hez grinned. “I was really hoping you’d say that.”

He drained his mug and pushed back from the table. “Okay, let’s go do some justice.”

* * *

Savannah’s eyes burned from so much computer work. The sun touched the glossy leaves on the roses outside the arched window of her home office, and if she didn’t have so much work to do, she’d get some sweet tea, then wander outside to wait for Simon to get off the bus from school. He was staying with her for a few days while Jess was in New York City to meet with TGU’s lenders. If Jess could whip up a little magic there and consolidate the university’s debt at a decent rate, it might be a glimpse of sunny skies for TGU.

The yellow bus came around the corner of the street and put out its stop sign. Her nephew bounded down the steps. Moments later the front door slammed. “I had a po’boy delivered for you from Little New Orleans,”

she called. Since arriving in Nova Cambridge, Simon had become obsessed with the area’s po’boys—due to Will Dixon’s influence—and she’d had a Cajun shrimp one delivered. “It should still be warm.”

He appeared in her office a minute later with his sandwich on a plate and a sweating glass of sweet tea. “You’re the best, Aunt Savannah.”

He plopped onto the love seat along the wall.

He was ten going on thirty, thanks to his self-sufficient nature. He had his mother’s blond hair and his father’s blue eyes, though Savannah didn’t like to think about his lecherous dad. Simon had already taken possession of her heart as she’d watched him navigate the change from English boarding school to all-American kid.

The enticing aroma of Cajun spices and shrimp made her mouth water, and she realized she’d skipped lunch. She peered through bleary eyes at the numbers on the screen. “How’d school go?”

Talking with him was always the highlight of her day whenever he slept over. Ella would have been in grade school by now, and they would have talked over her day like this too. Would she have been as open as Simon was? Savannah liked to imagine lazy afternoons with her Ella. She glanced at Simon’s happy expression as he ate his po’boy. If she wasn’t working on an important report, she would have shut off her computer and joined him for sweet tea.

“I was gobsmacked. I aced my history test thanks to Will.”

She looked up from the screen. “Well done! I’m proud of you.”

“Thanks.”

He chomped on his sandwich, and his cheek bulged before he chewed it into submission and swallowed.

She spotted movement through the window. “Hez is here.”

A wash of pleasure at the sight of his dark hair and trim build lifted her out of her mild discontent at the computer work she’d been immersed in all day. She rose and stretched, then finger combed her hair before she went to open the door. His focused gaze went soft at the sight of her, and the warmth in her chest spread to the rest of her.

She kissed him, then stepped aside for him to enter. “How’d it go?”

“Great!”

He smiled over his shoulder at Simon, who had followed her. “I think you’ve grown two inches, kiddo.”

Savannah followed him and Simon into the living room. “Want some sweet tea or coffee?”

“I’ve been downing gallons of coffee all day so I’m all caffeinated. Dominga, Ed, and Toni came in, and the Justice Chamber is official.”

His smile beamed out. “It feels great, and I wanted to come by and show you where I put the plaque you gave me.”

He swiped on his phone and turned the photo around to show her its prominent position above his battered desk. “I can see it when I start work every morning.”

“An attorney of your caliber deserves a better desk. If you save TGU, I’ll find it in the budget.”

His grin vanished, then came back full wattage. “Um, about that budget. Can we pay the students anything?”

“I thought experience would be their only required compensation.”

“Ed Hernandez is losing his scholarship.”

She listened to the rest of the story with a rock in her throat. “I don’t see where I can come up with funds for that, Hez. We’re already in the red now. Tell you what. If the Justice Chamber plugs some of the scammy leaks in our budget, I’ll see what I can do.”

“What’s the Justice Chamber?”

Simon asked. “Is it an office or something?”

“It helps people who need justice,”

Hez said. “Right now it’s helping us save TGU.”

“You’re an awesome lawyer, Uncle Hez. You can do anything.”

Hez bent down to rub Marley’s ears. “Good dog,”

he crooned. “The problems are huge, and the Justice Chamber only has four people including me. It’s going to take a while to unravel it all.”

Savannah watched him with a bemused smile. They’d changed their romantic dinner plans for tonight when Jess jetted out of town, and though Savannah was thrilled to have Simon, she wished she and Hez had more alone time. They’d both been so consumed with saving TGU that they hadn’t had a chance to talk about wedding plans, and she’d hoped to bring up the topic tonight.

“Do you need more help?”

Simon asked.

Hez’s message alert went off on his phone and he pulled it out. “I need all the help I can get. Three student volunteers is all I’ve got, though. But we’ll get it done.”

He frowned at the phone. “I’ll have to run back to the office. Ed locked himself out. Want me to stop and pick up dinner somewhere? Maybe pizza?”

“Sure. There’s a movie I thought the three of us might watch. It’s an action movie, so you and Simon will like it.”

“I want to help save TGU,”

her nephew said.

She yanked her attention away from Hez. “It could be dangerous, Simon. You were nearly killed a few months ago. None of us want you that close to danger again. Your job is to get good grades in school and make new friends.”

His blue eyes widened, and he turned an accusing glare Hez’s way. “Mom is in danger and you let her go off to New York without help?”

He dragged his phone out of his pocket and tapped on it. “I’m making sure she’s okay.”

Savannah patted his shoulder. “She’s fine, Simon. It’s just a business meeting. Hez didn’t mean she was in danger now.”

“No one is going to stop me from protecting my mom. It took all these years before I got to live with her again, and I can’t lose her.”

His voice cracked.

How had they managed to mess up this conversation so badly? They should have been paying more attention to his questions. She’d better end the discussion before she messed it up even more. “We’ll talk to your mom about it. No promises, though.”

His defiant expression didn’t change. “I’m going to look out for my mom.”

She cut her glance to Hez. They’d have to figure out something Simon could do or he’d be going rogue again, and that had disastrous consequences last time.