"What else did they tell you?" she asked.

Maloney looked at the table and sighed. "They told me that if I testified against their daughter, then they would hurt my family. I panicked!" he explained.

Jack sat back in his chair. "We'll have an officer outside your apartment and your office."

"Don't worry, Mr Maloney," Audra said. "Nothing is going to happen."

Maloney put his hands in his lap and sighed again. He slouched back in his chair; he looked like he was going to cry.

"We need to have a talk with this girl's parents. If they kill a witness or harm him in any way…" Audra said as she locked her office door.

"Then they also go to jail. They already committed a crime by just asking him to change his story around. We can hold them on that until they cave," Jack explained.

"But then what are we going to do once they do cave? I mean, we can't just let them go on that charge. They should at least get some community service hours plugged into their busy schedule," Audra argued.

"They will. There's no way they're getting off on this," Jack said.

Audra put her back down on the elevator floor and pulled her black pea coat on over her shoulders. She leaned against the wall, thinking of something to say about the argument earlier that day.

"Look," Jack said quietly, "I know you don't agree with me on giving McGraw the death penalty. So I was thinking, maybe we could leave it up to a jury. We can tell the judge that we want the jury to decide on her punishment."

Audra smiled. "Funny, because I heard Arthur saying the same thing right after you stormed out of my office," she said. "Jack, I know you mean well. It's a good idea to leave it up to a jury. I'm just worried that they'll all swing to the side of the death penalty and then I'll feel really guilty for sending a young woman off to her death."

Jack nodded. "That's the problem with our jobs. The guilt trips we get sent on every day by fellow employees and the family members of the men and women we prosecute. They always send us on these major guilt trips that make our job that much more difficult," he explained.

"I'm taking this is from personal experience?" Audra asked.

"Yep; you have no idea how many times I've been called a heartless bastard for the amount of people I put on death row," Jack replied. "But why are you feeling guilty? You haven't killed anyone!"

Audra raised an eyebrow at her colleague. "You can't look me in the eye and tell me that you don't feel like you've killed someone every time they're sentenced to death row," she said solemnly.

Jack's eyes drifted down to the floor. "That's the way every prosecutor feels after a day in the court room," he replied to her honest statement. "Especially this one." He pulled his own jacket on and smiled sadly at Audra.

They stepped out of the elevator and into the empty lobby. A few assistants and secretaries were running around, trying to finish up a last minute job that would otherwise have to wait until tomorrow, when they would be twice as busy. Jack even saw his own secretary run past him to the elevator.

Audra buttoned up her coat as they stepped out onto the sidewalk. "I guess I'll see you tomorrow, then," she said, holding back a yawn.

"Do you want me to walk you home?" Jack asked. "I have to catch a cab anyway."

Audra smiled. "What, no motorcycle today?" she said sarcastically.

"Nope," Jack replied. "Do you want me to?"

"Sure," Audra said, taking his hand as they walked down the empty sidewalk.

"I'm sorry for yelling at you earlier," Jack said.

"I know you are. It happens with everyone. Don't worry about it," Audra said.

Jack nodded. "I know this is a little off topic, but you're not the only person I know who's had an encounter with rape in one way or another," he said quietly.

"Who else do you know that was born because of rape? Honestly?" Audra asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Well, she wasn't born because of it, but one of my other assistants, Abbie Carmichael," Jack replied. "We were dealing with a woman who was in jail and had been raped by a guard. One day, while we were doing some cross-examination for a trial, and the woman was on the stand. She freaked out."

"What happened?" Audra asked.

"She yelled at Abbie, asking her if she had ever been raped. You should have seen the look on Abbie's face," Jack continued. "So we were all finished with some questioning back at Riker's before her sentencing, and Abbie looked really stressed; I asked her what was wrong, and she told me how her date in college raped her and how she had blamed it all on herself. I felt real sympathy for her."

Audra nodded. "It's horrible. I talked to my mother twice this year, and both times she said that it was her fault. And I kept telling her that it wasn't, it wasn't her fault…I guess it's real hard to think about it not being your fault," she explained.

"How do you deal with it?" Jack asked.

Audra sighed. "I guess by remembering that I was a gift from God?" she said. "I really don't know how I do. I think my job helps, though." She smiled up at Jack. "This is my stop," she said, walking up the stairs of her apartment building. "Do you want to come up?" she asked as she pulled out her keys.

Inside, Jack wanted to say yes. He wanted to go upstairs with Audra, talk, kiss, whatever. Just to be with her. But he was tired, and upset about some things he had to get done tomorrow. "No, thanks," he replied. "I've got a lot to do…case work and everything. You know."
Audra forced a smile. "Yeah, I know," she said, almost to herself. "Well, have a good weekend. I gave you the phone number for where I'll be tomorrow, right?" Jack nodded. "Ok, well, if anything comes up, just give me a call there," she said.

"Good night," Jack said, waving.

"'Night," she said. She opened the door and walked into the building, gone from sight. Jack sighed and walked down the street to the cab waiting for a fare to come by. He gave the driver directions to his house and stared up at Audra, who was watching him through the door of the apartment building.