He was such an idiot. He had known how completely out-of-line and unhelpful he was being in the middle of yelling at Kalinda, but he hadn't been able to stop himself. He had too many horrible memories of what men like Nick did to women like Kalinda. She was more capable than most of protecting herself, but he knew that always made the violence worse when it did happen. There were images he was never going to be able to get out of his mind from when he worked as a prosecutor. And so his reaction to finding out about Kalinda and her husband was to inform Kalinda that he had thought she was smarter than that (knowing full well that intelligence had nothing to do with it) and then give her detailed examples and statistics of what happened in these situations, information that was in no way useful or helpful to a person in the middle of such a relationship.
Later, she had stood expressionless and unmoving when he apologized to her. He had said he was sorry, repeatedly, and then backed away, making sure to give no excuses (because there were none) and expect no forgiveness (because it wasn't what he was after). He had been out of line and he was sorry and he didn't expect her to ever talk to him again. He didn't say that last part, she already hated him enough.
Alicia sat in the bar, waiting for Kalinda to show. Cary had told her his reaction to finding out about Kalinda's husband and Alicia had to agree with Cary's assessment that he had really screwed up. Alicia knew Cary's problem was that he cared too much, and she had also seen the soft spot he had for protecting women who needed it. She wasn't surprised by Cary's reaction, though she wished he hadn't had it. Not as fervently as Cary did, she knew. Alicia wondered if she should've warned Cary what was going on. She had never felt that the dynamic between Kalinda and Cary, whatever it was, was something she should get between. Alicia sighed and finished her beer, signaling for another one. Kalinda wasn't late, Alicia was early, and already drinking too fast. She stared at the folder in front of her, the one Cary had asked her to get Kalinda to look at.
"Can I look at it?"
"Of course."
"Do I tell her who it's from?"
"You won't have to."
Alicia had nodded and taken the file. It had turned out to be actual useful information, numbers Kalinda could call, shelters she could go to, and the very last page was a map of Chicago with Will's, Diane's, and Eli's addresses marked with various routes and distances and times mapped. Alicia had liked that personal touch. She had also felt it was the information Kalinda was most likely to use.
Her on-time friend greeted her with a smile and signaled for a drink. Alicia waited until it had arrived and Kalinda had had time to drink from it before handing the file over. Alicia watched as Kalinda opened it, her expression closing off as she realized what it was. Alicia thought Kalinda might just close the folder, but she didn't. She flipped through the pages one by one, and Alicia could tell she was actually looking at them. Kalinda spent the longest time on the last one. Memorizing.
When Kalinda signaled for another drink, Alicia took the folder back. Make sure not to leave it with her, if he finds it- Cary hadn't finished the sentence, but then he hadn't needed to.
"I think Eli's being investigated by the Feds."
Alicia blinked. She sighed internally but she wasn't surprised Kalinda wasn't willing to address what was in that folder or why Alicia had handed it to her or why Kalinda had spent so long looking at it or why Cary had put it together. Out loud, all she said was, "Again?"