21

Kalinda reported to work that morning. Diane immediately asked for her in her office.

"Great, we're all here." Will announced as he entered the room. "So, where are we on the investigation, Kalinda?" He continued.

Kalinda was debating with herself inside her head. She's decided she won't tell them about Nick, at least not yet.

"I was the one who brought Agent Delaney to the hospital." Kalinda blurted out.

Diane looked up.

"What?" Will said.

"I was in a—bar when I received a text message asking me to go to my car, and when I did, she was there. I've released a statement to the police, so I thought, I should let you guys know..."

"Why didn't you tell us about this earlier, Kalinda?" Diane asked.

Kalinda made an apologetic face.

"Why contact you?" Will asked, more to himself than to anyone else in the room. "Is there a connection between the two of you?"

"There was Bishop." Diane said. Will looked at her. "Agent Delaney was then investigating Bishop as told by her father, and Kalinda, was somehow caught in the middle. Investigated because she received payments for doing work for Bishop."

"But that was cleared a long time ago." Kalinda said.

"Yes. Yes, it was." Diane muttered.

"He was jailed, right? Though for a short period." Will told them.

"That's right. You never know with these hooligans. You think everything's fine one minute, then he does something unexpected the next." Diane answered.

"So, Mr. Delaney's accusations aren't unfounded." Will said.

"I would think so..." Diane continued, "If I had the whole justice department at my disposal, I'd make sure I'm only given right information." She gave out a soft chuckle.

"Is there anyone else, Kalinda? Perhaps a common friend." Will, turning to Kalinda this time.

"Or enemy for that matter." Diane mused.

Kalinda hesitated. "No one. I can't think of anyone."

Will, sensing the hesitation, asked, "Are you sure?"

Kalinda nods in agreement.

"Okay. How about the police? Any information?"

"Um..." Kalinda opened her orange notebook. "The CCTV footage showed she was abducted at the parking lot around 10:30 by 2 men. They didn't get a face. The cigarette found in the scene was checked. A Mexican brand that does not sell here legally, bought in the black market."

"Could it have been planned?" Diane asked after a deep thought.

"The whole thing? Could be..." Will answered.

"She was abducted. Beaten up. Then, Kalinda was informed of her location, right outside the bar she was in. I mean, somebody went out of his way to notify her. That must account for something." Diane continued as she looked at the both of them.

"I get what you're saying. But is it possible for Agent Delaney herself to have contacted Kalinda?"

"No. Her phone was inside her car. It was shown in the security feed, they tossed her things inside her car." Kalinda interrupted.

"Oh..." Will stood corrected.

"Why would they notify you, Kalinda?" Diane asked as she turned to her.

"They wanted her alive?" Kalinda wasn't sure.

"But they could've just dropped her off at the ER. If they didn't want to be seen, use a different vehicle, wear masks, I don't know." Diane continued.

"I agree. It seems, they wanted you to be in on this as well. There must be a connection. There must be a reason." Will was talking to Kalinda.

Kalinda's face didn't show any emotions.

"Who were you with at the bar?" Diane asked.

Kalinda hesitated, but realizing it was in the statement, she just told them she was with Sarah Delaney, Lana's sister.

"You were with her sister?" Will asked.

"They could have notified you because you were with her. You weren't the target, it was her." Diane said.

"But why text Kalinda? They could've contacted the sister directly." Will added.

Diane didn't answer. They were all stumped.

"Okay, let's back up a little." Will turns to Kalinda. "If it was Bishop behind this, why would they notify you? He's the common factor between you and Agent Delaney. He's implicating himself. It doesn't make sense."

"Or that's what he wants us to believe. Even if he implicates himself, evidence should point to him. And I'm willing to bet on it that he has an alibi and the police will never find a link between him and the crime." Diane says.

Again, they all keep quiet.

Then Diane looks up at Kalinda, studies her face, and asks, "Just what is your relationship with Agent Delaney, Kalinda?"

Kalinda just stares at Diane, hesitates a bit, then goes, "We, uh, kind of-"

Diane gave her a knowing smile. "And her sister?"

"Funny thing. I didn't know they were sisters. I only found out at the hospital."

"Oh." Diane's eyes widened. "You also...?"

Kalinda, remembered what Sarah told her, "No. We didn't. We don't. We're just friends." She gave a sheepish smile.

Will heard everything but he didn't care. He was already thinking about strategies. "Is this going to haunt us later on? Say, if we get to build a case against Bishop. He is our former client. Can that be used against us?"

"It could. But wouldn't everything be against us? We're investigating a former client, a client that our rival firm took with them. We're representing a Federal Agent who investigated Bishop. Our investigator had a relationship with the said Federal Agent. Everything is against us, Will."

Had? Kalinda thought to herself.

"So, you're saying we shouldn't do this?" Will asked.

"I'm saying we get that son of a bitch. I like a good challenge. And I never really liked Mr. Bishop." Diane answered with a smirk.

"I want Mason, Inc." Will said. Turning to Kalinda, "I need to know that you're okay with this before we continue."

Kalinda smiled. "Yeah."

"Okay, good. Let's do this, then.."