A/N: I'd like to thank you all for the wonderful reviews and I was really happy you liked my Eli. There isn't much of him in this chapter, but the next one will hopefully make up for it.
I'd like to mention something I've been asked about by some of you. The firm is still called Stern, Lockhart and Gardner in this fic, Stern is still a name partner. Last time I referred to it was at the beginning of 'Her Temptation' I guess, so it might have been forgotten. But I'll remind you of Stern's presence very soon, in the next Diane chapter. And I promise it will be fun.
So much about spoilers. Now enjoy this chapter and please let me know what you think.
Chapter Four
"I'm sorry," Diane reaches for her phone on the coffee table and when she sees the caller's ID she jumps from her seat, "Please excuse me, I need to take this," she sends an apologetic look towards Lynn and Eli and walks out of her office.
She's feeling a little confused where she should take the investigator's call, she didn't want to talk to her in front of the client, not knowing what she has to say. She glances in the direction of Will's office and when she finds it empty she goes right inside and sits on his couch, finally answering her phone.
"I hope you have good news."
"Not exactly," Kalinda's voice unsettles Diane and she tries to prepare herself for whatever she has to say.
"I'm listening."
"I'm at the hotel, checking the evidence the magazine has. I've found out that Lynn Cooper stayed here three times during the period Mark Woolf worked for her, but none of those matches the date in Woolf's claim."
"That is a good thing..."
"Not exactly, because the date Woolf claims to have spent the night here with her happens to be the only time she didn't check in with her real name."
"I don't like where this is going."
"She used her middle name, combined with her mother's maiden name, so it's rather obvious. I got my hands on the room service form for her room that night, it has special instructions on it which indicate she was obviously not alone, but didn't want any of the staff to see the other guest."
"She said she never stayed there with him."
Diane's been in the business long enough to know just because people seem guilty they not always are, but she also knows it's hard to distinguish between the guilty and the innocent and even though Lynn seemed honest when they talked, Diane is not sure who are better liars politicians or lawyers.
"Everything matches up with his story so far and I don't have any evidence it could have been someone else. Unfortunately the hotel has already deleted the footage of their security cameras from that day. "
"I'll need to ask her and see if she has an explanation," Diane is aware that Lynn is probably the only one who knows the truth beside the person she was with that night and she can only hope the woman trusts her enough to tell her what happened exactly, "Is that all?"
"For now, yes. I want to look into Woolf's records, maybe I find something there that we can use, we still have a day to try to stop the article."
"Yes, this is our priority now, anything else has to wait."
"Of course, I'll call you as soon as I have anything."
"Thank you."
Diane hangs up and places her phone on the coffee table. She doesn't feel like rushing back to her office, she has to figure out how to approach the subject and she probably needs to ask Lynn in private first, without involving Eli anymore than he already is.
Even if it wasn't the intern Lynn was with the case looks pretty bad and unless some miracle happens in the next twenty-four hours the article will come out and do its damage whether the affair happened or not. And even though Eli is a pro at crisis management, it might be too much of a bad publicity for Lynn to fight with in the last minutes before announcing her candidacy.
"Hey, aren't you on the wrong couch?" Will interrupts her thoughts with his presence, "I just saw your new favorite client in deep conversation with Eli."
"I needed to take a call," she says, not moving an inch.
"Is there something wrong?" the worry is audible in his voice and he sits down in his favorite armchair to get closer to Diane.
"Just Lynn's case, turns out it's messier than I thought."
"I'm not sure why you're surprised, politicians are so alike," he observes her silently for a while, but when she doesn't react he adds, "Unless you have another reason to be affected by this."
"What are you talking about?"
His assumption comes rather unexpected under the circumstances.
"This dress you obviously put on to impress her."
"I did no such thing," Diane denies with a smile and finds it amusing that Will would notice anything different in her clothing.
"She's smart, sexy, single."
"And she's suspected of having an affair with a male intern," she emphasizes the word, seemingly shocking Will with the statement she's kept away from him so far, but she figures he has a right to know what they are dealing with and she's sure she can count on his secrecy.
"Ouch, oh well, she can still be interested in women," Will continues to make fun of the situation, so Diane grabs her phone and stands up.
"I think I've heard enough," she chuckles and starts walking towards the door.
"I love playing the matchmaker for you. It's really time you start dating again."
"It's none of your business," she turns back and flashes him a smile before she walks out, forcing a serious expression on her face, knowing what kind of a conversation is waiting for her.
"I'm sorry it took so long," Diane enters her office, thinking of how to 'get rid of' Eli so she can talk to Lynn privately and trying to push the conversation she's just had with Will out of her head.
"I think we've discussed everything for now," Eli stands up, fulfilling Diane's unvoiced wish.
"Yes, thank you," Lynn stands next to him and shakes his hand, "Diane will keep you updated on the events and just call me when I'm needed."
"Will do," Eli nods and walks out of the office, leaving the two women alone.
Diane suddenly feels highly uncomfortable in Lynn's presence, but she still sits back to her previously occupied place on the couch and the other woman does the same.
"It was our investigator on the phone, she's in the Hilton Springfield right now."
"Has she managed to find out something?"
"She says you spent a night there under an alias with someone, who might as well be Mark Woolf."
Diane tries to trace the effect of her words on Lynn's face, but it doesn't show any reaction and Diane doesn't know if it's because she has expected this to happen or she's just this good at pretending.
"But I never spent the night with him."
Diane counted with the woman's denial, but she isn't sure if she still believes her, even though she tries not to show it either. But there are certain questions she needs to ask, that she'd ask from any other client and she has no reason to treat Lynn differently.
"Was it the only time you checked in to that hotel under a different name?"
"I don't remember," Lynn replies after a short consideration.
"Then you better think about it, because what we know so far, makes you look guilty even if you aren't," Diane tries to hit a comforting tone, she doesn't want to act like she's the enemy here. Her personal opinion aside, she has to be on Lynn's side, even if she did what she's accused of. "Are there any other hotels you stay in regularly?"
"Not really."
Diane can see how her questions slowly make Lynn feel uncomfortable, but she cannot stop yet.
"Do you remember where else did you stop in Springfield on those days before and after that night?"
She needs to know if there's a chance anyone saw her and Mark together, if they have to count with other pieces of evidence to show up.
"I need to think about it," Lynn says with a sigh, indicating that she's had enough of Diane's questions and making it clear that even if she remembers something, she's not ready to share any of it, although they are running out of time.
"We need your best memory of those events, especially if you can remember anything that can prove you were not with him."
"You don't believe me, do you?"
Lynn's question takes Diane off guard and she isn't sure why it matters to her what she thinks. She hired her as her lawyer and that's how she's treating her right now, as a client.
"I want to believe you and I want to stop the magazine from publishing the article, but we are running out of time. Our investigator is looking into Mr. Woolf's background to see if she can find something to undermine his credibility. But given what we have so far I don't think I can stop the article from appearing."
She owes Lynn the truth and she sees the disappointment mixed with sadness appearing on her face hearing Diane's words. The last hope she probably had that Diane would be able to help her, has obviously faded away, while Diane is overpowered by the familiar feeling of helplessness.
"Thank you for your honesty, I appreciate it," Lynn replies, "I should go now, please call me if anything changes."
"I will," Diane promises and she's tempted to say she should call her too if she happens to remember something else, but somehow she feels that Lynn is holding back information on purpose and she cannot help thinking it's because she's guilty.
