Will walked out of his office and could see nobody around, except of Diane, of course. It was nearly one in the morning, so he went to her office to tell her to go home. He took a few steps into her office, but she didn't notice him, she didn't even move. She was staring at something that was on her desk, and Will could tell there was something wrong. She seemed almost frightened about something.
"Diane? Diane are you okay?" Asked as he got colder to her desk, but got no response.
Diane had been getting ready to leave when she had noticed a blank envelope resting on her desk under some papers the messenger had brought earlier. It gave her a bad feeling, so she sat on her chair, put on her glasses and opened it. She couldn't believe what she was reading. She started to remember everything…
Stern had called her to his office, she knew this could be anything. He was nearly never around their firm, but when he came back, everyone had to do what he wanted. It was difficult enough to have to split the job he didn't do between her and Will, and on top of that having to hear his complains about how it should have been done. She found him sitting on his chair, looking at some files.
"Diane, I've got something for you." He said without looking at her.
"Jonas, you know I don't have time for new cases." She knew it would be a nightmare to take one of his cases with him still here.
"This one is worth it. You will be defending a man accused of murder, drug dealing, extortion and something else among those lines. He will pay more than what we normally charge, and he asked specifically for you as his lawyer. So you will do it Diane." He was serious now, so she knew she had no choice.
"Okay, I'll do it. Is he guilty?" She had a bad feeling about this one.
"He wouldn't tell me. He wants to speak only to his lawyer: you." He was looking straight at her now, and that made her more nervous.
"When can I meet him?" Asked Diane.
"He is waiting for you in your office right now. Go and start working." With that, he gave her the files he had been reading and sent her to her office.
Diane couldn't believe what she was reading. This man was accused of torturing and murdering his wife and kid, of distributing and selling drugs, of torturing various men until nearly killing them, of murdering two police officers, and many more charges. But this time the trial was about the murder of his family, and Diane hated that. The guy told her he was the head of a drug dealing company, and told her something about what he did every day.
"Mr. Guerrero, I need to know the full truth to be able to win this case. Did you kill your wife and kid?" Asked Diane. She hoped he would say he didn't do it, but she knew it was not true.
"Yes, I did it. I tortured them, and when they pleaded me to kill them, I did it. I thought they would last much longer, but they were weak. Not like you, Ms. Lockhart, you seem a very strong woman." He said this as if he was telling her about a new restaurant down the street.
He seemed to enjoy watching the photos of what he had done, and Diane could not help but to feel sick. This man had this effect on her, he made her sick. It was horrible enough to do that to someone, but he had done it to his wife and son. She could still see those pictures in her head every time she has nightmares.
The trial had gone from bad to worse, the police had very strong evidence against him, several witnesses had seen him in his house at the time of the murder, it was his gun and his prints were all over the scene. Besides, the neighbors had hear him torturing them and then coming out of his house covered in blood. Also they had the clothes he had worn that night, the car he had used to escape from the scene and a lot more evidence. She had known it was a waste of time trying to win, but her client didn't want a settlement.
She could still hear his voice in his head, shouting at her when the jury found him guilty. He had tried to kill her n the court room, but the police officers had grabbed him before he could touch her.
"I swear I will kill you Diane Lockhart! Just as I killed my wife and son! When I get out of jail I will find you and kill you!" He shouted as they were taking him away.
That had happened when they had just started the firm, but she still had nightmares about the day he would walk out as a free man. And now, this letter. She couldn't believe it had been so long since she last saw him. Diane could hear someone calling her name, but was too busy remembering and couldn't answer.
Will got closer to her, and touched her shoulder. She jumped a little, and turned her head to look straight at him. She looked scared and worried. She hadn't seen her since… the Guerrero trial. But he wasn't supposed to get so soon. Something must had happened.
"Dine, are you okay? What happened?" He was really worried now.
"Uhm… I just… read this." She handed him the letter she had just read.
Will couldn't believe it. It was from that man, Guerrero, saying he was out early due to good behavior and threatening Diane. He had promised her to torture her and kill her in horrible ways, and now he was free. Now he was scared for Diane too, but he needed to protect her.
"Diane, when did this was delivered?" He asked gently, as he kept his hand on her shoulder.
"I don't know, I found it on my desk." She was less scared now, because Will was by her side, and could think a lot better.
"Okay, Diane. We need to take this to the police station, and make sure they catch him again. Come on, we have to do this as soon as possible." He said as he started to walk to the door with the letter.
Will helped Diane into her coat, and they both went to the police station in his car. It was nearly deserted, and they quickly found detective Summers, who was in charge of the hole Guerrero case.
"Hello Ms. Lockhart, Mr. Gardner. What can I do for you?" Asked detective Summers.
"Hello detective Summers. This letter arrived at the office today. Can you explain it?" He handed him the letter, and after a while the detective spoke again.
"Well, Guerrero got out yesterday, but this is enough to put him in jail again. I'll start working on finding him right now." He said.
"What? Do you mean he is not in house arrest or anything? How is this possible?" A very angry Diane asked.
"He was under house arrest, but he asked permission to go to the hospital, and a police officer disconnected the system. We haven't heard from him since then, but we are looking for him." Said the detective.
" Okay, so what do we do? Just wait?" Asked Will, calmer than Diane. His priority was Diane's safety, he could get mad later.
"I suggest you don't stay at your house Ms. Lockhart, just pick the things you need and go somewhere else. You shouldn't stay alone either, and we'll call you when we get him."
Diane and Will left the police station and got into his car. They were both silent, listening to the radio, until Will talked.
"Diane, I know you don't like me asking, but have you talked to Kurt?" Said Will in a very calm voice.
"Yeah, we were supposed to have lunch tomorrow. Why?" Asked Diane.
"Because you heard what the detective said: you shouldn't be alone, and you shouldn't stay at your house. So I was wondering if you would stay with him or with me." Said Will in a serious tone.
"I could call and ask, but it's late… Besides, I have Justice with me all the time, and I am a big girl, I can take care of myself" Said Diane. She didn't like to be babysat by anyone.
"Diane, I get that you don't like this, and if you don't wanna call him, okay. But you are not staying either alone or at your house. You are coming to my place or going to his place. And don't say you can't leave Justice alone, I bet Kurt wouldn't mind having him around, and I don't." Will had to be strong this time, it didn't matter how hard she got, he was not risking her life.
"Okay…But can we go to pick up some of my things?" She knew it wasn't worth fighting, he would win anyways.
"Yeah, sure. Everything will be okay Diane, don't worry." Will said. He could tell she was really scared, and he knew it took a lot to scare Diane Lockhart.