Vince Peretti felt sweat break out on his forehead as he stared at the incoming text message from his nephew. The kid had wiped Johnny's computer clean of all files and then installed some kind of security app on the campaign computer system. Apparently the software had done its job. There was a lot of computer speak in the text, but that much was clear. Someone had tried to break into the part of the system where the backup files were stored. That meant Johnny had told someone about the flash drive. His lawyer girlfriend, most likely.

But what if it was someone else? After all, as far as Vince knew, Alicia Florrick didn't possess any hacking skills. What if she, in turn, had told someone else, someone who did know how to hack? That the incriminating files weren't there anymore didn't really matter. If reporters got wind of this, they would happily assume that there was fire to go with the smoke they'd sniffed and go on the hunt for insider information. It wouldn't be long before someone would start blabbing. And if that person was the wrong someone... Hammond was dead, sure, but what if Doc Foster decided he'd had enough?

Everything would come out.

His political career would be over before it had even started. And, best case scenario, the Peretti Entertainment Group would take a big hit on the stock market. All because of Vito and his damn operation. He never should have gone along with it in the first place.

Wait. Does Vito know about that flashdrive?

He sat up straighter as that thought hit him out of nowhere. What if this hack was somehow Vito's doing? What if Farese had decided this whole thing was getting too risky and was now trying to cover his tracks and let his old pal Vince take the fall for everything? He wouldn't... Would he?

No. How could he know about the flashdrive? I told no one.

Vince tried to tell himself he was being paranoid, but somehow he couldn't convince himself. Which was weird, because he was usually very good at convincing himself and other people of his opinion.

Then he thought of Mike. His trustworthy assistant. So trustworthy, in fact, that Vince hadn't bothered to close the spreadsheets on the flashdrive whenever the kid had come into his office late at night while Vince was doing his shadow accounting. And Mike was taking MBA classes at Kellogg, so the files wouldn't be too hard for him to decipher, right?

Was there a connection between Mike and Vito that Vince didn't know of? Vince thought hard and realized there might be. O'Malley. The owner of one of the biggest construction companies in Chicago. Vince had made smalltalk with O'Malley at several local business events over the years, but didn't really know him well. Still, he hadn't thought much of it when O'Malley had told him about an employee of his, whose foster kid had just dropped out of high school and was now looking for a job, and could Vince maybe help out? Sure. It was how business worked, wasn't it? Business owners helped each other out. So Vince had hired the kid – Mike.

Had that been a mistake?

The Farese family had a big finger in the pie in the Chicago based construction industry... Who was to say that O'Malley's company wasn't involved with them as well? Could Mike have been spying on Vince for Vito all along?

Had the kid realized what Vince was doing and warned Vito about the flashdrive?

Vince jumped up and started pacing, questions and suspicions running rampant in his mind. He cursed and grabbed his phone, but expelled a giggle as he stared at it. Who was he gonna call about this? O'Malley? Vito? Mike? No. They wouldn't tell him the truth – and if he called either one of them they'd know he was onto them.

He needed someone close to Vito who wouldn't have any qualms about selling out the boss for the right amount of money...

Vince stopped pacing, a grim smile turning the corners of his mouth up as he remembered a golden nugget of information Vito himself had let slip during an emergency meeting right after Ryan Farris had gotten himself arrested for killing his wife...

The wuss was bawling his eyes out. Said he was in love with her, can you believe that?

He took a deep breath as he relaxed his shoulders and prayed he had the contact info for Vito's kid in his database.

§§§

"I'm sorry I kept you waiting so long," Alicia told the Richardsons when they'd all taken a seat around the conference table. The couple looked harrowed, lines and shadows painting their faces with the same grief Alicia remembered seeing in the mirror in the weeks following Will's death. But she couldn't think about that now. "I was with a client." The Richardsons nodded, but didn't say anything, and Alicia was starting to feel awkward. "So... Um, my assistant told me you had some information on..."

"Our son, Sean. He's in jail." Mrs Richardson said in a voice laced with tears. She dropped her gaze to her hands that were picking apart a tissue on the tabletop. "They say he... killed someone but he didn't. He couldn't have. I know my son and he would never harm anyone and..." She started sobbing and turned to her husband, who put his arm around her shaking shoulders.

Alicia held back a frustrated sigh at her own gullibility. Of course they were not here to tell her anything to help her with Ryan's defense. Why would they? They thought Ryan had killed their daughter...

"We visited Sean this morning. He told us he fired his lawyer and asked us to talk to you," Richardson said when his wife had calmed down a bit.

"About what?" Alicia asked, though she thought she knew where this was going. His next words confirmed it.

"About how he needs a new lawyer and how you're the best one in town."

"Mr. Richardson... You realize I can't represent your son in court, don't you? That would be a huge conflict of interest for me."

"I told him so. And it's not like I want you defending him anyway..." He shot her a look of contempt, at which she tried to take no offense. "But he won't listen to us. So... Here we are." He took a deep breath. His next words came out sounding forced. "We'll pay you double your usual rate if you just drop the bastard that killed my daughter as a client and defend my son instead."

"But..." Alicia sputtered, momentarily stunned at the absurdity of the situation. Even if she had been willing to stop defending Ryan... Did they really think she could or would defend the man that had tried to crash her car and run her over? She glanced at Dani, who looked just as perplexed as she felt. "I...I can't do that."

"See? I told you she'd want more money," Richardson told his wife, just loud enough to overhear.

"Mr Richardson, I realize this is a hard time for you, but this is not about money," Alicia snapped, unable to keep her frustration at bay any longer. This case was just such a mess, and every time she thought she was making progress she just hit another brick wall. And here they were, wasting precious time again... She ignored Dani's warning hand on her arm as she continued, "This is about your son trying to crash his car into mine. Not to mention him trying to run me over."

A thick silence fell over the room, Alicia's words hanging heavily in the air. Mrs Richardson's eyes widened and her lips trembled. Mr Richardson muttered a curse and pinched the bridge of his nose in a tired gesture.

Dani withdrew her hand from Alicia's arm and leaned forward. "You didn't know about that?" She asked in a soft voice, addressing Mrs Richardson.

The older woman shook her head. "We just flew in from California this morning. We needed some time away from... all of it. And then we got the call that Sean was arrested. They said something about Sean trying to kill someone else, but..."

"They never mentioned Miss Florrick by name," Mr Richardson finished. He sighed heavily, then muttered, "What a damned mess..."

"It's a lot to deal with. I'm sorry you have to go through this," Dani said, radiating compassion and sympathy at the couple while Alicia sat there feeling like a jerk for snapping at them. An unprofessional jerk at that.

"I just keep..." Tears started trickling down Mrs Richardson's face again and she dabbed at them with a tissue she dug up from her purse. "I keep waiting for someone to wake me up," she told Dani in a thick voice. "But then I remember it isn't a dream and that Sean's really in jail. And – and Amy's really..." She drew a deep breath. "I wish she'd never slept with that Italian guy."

Alicia sat up straighter and glanced at Dani, who gave a barely perceptible nod but kept looking at Amy's parents.

"Sally... We don't even know if that's true," Mr Richardson said. "And even if she was sleeping with someone else... Farris had it coming. The way he treated her..." He shook his head, suddenly seemed to become aware of his surroundings again. "Anyway. Let's go look for another lawyer." He looked at Alicia. "See you in court, I guess."

"If you walk with me to my office I'll give you the names and numbers of some good lawyers," Alicia said. Richardson hesitated, then nodded and followed her out of the conference room.

"Mrs Richardson, why don't you stay with me while your husband gets that info? I'm a therapist and a good listener, if you want to talk some more," Alicia heard Dani say.

§§§

Baring his teeth in a cold smile, he tossed the phone on the passenger seat. Looked like dear old dad would have to wait. Peretti's office was closer, and this was too good an opportunity to miss. The man himself had summoned him. Not to his office of course, but to a nearby park where the descending evening would provide them with dark shadows to hide them from prying eyes. Because the gubernatorial candidate couldn't risk being seen with the likes of him, no doubt.

Little did Peretti know that he'd lied about his whereabouts. He'd told the candidate he was at least an hour away from the park when in fact he was about ten minutes away from Peretti's office building. He made a highly illegal U-turn and set course for his new destination, idly wondering what Peretti could possibly want to discuss with him. And how the guy had gotten his number. He supposed he could ask him when they met, but he knew he wouldn't get any answers.

By the time the candidate saw him, the man would be too busy dying to tell anyone anything at all.

§§§

Nico read the text message he'd just received from Steve Garrity and inwardly cursed, careful to keep his expression blank. What the hell was Elfman thinking? He pocketed his phone and crossed his arms, sending Mike Turner his most threatening scowl.

Since Alicia and Dani had the only conference room on this floor in use, Nico had shoved Peretti's flunky into the small kitchen next to the elevator. The cramped space gave Nico the advantage of being able to intimidate Turner by towering over him while asking questions in a menacing voice. It hadn't taken much to make the scumbag spill everything. Nico had taken his phone out to call the cops, but had received the text message instead.

"On your feet," he orderd Turner. "We're going for a ride." Turner swallowed, his eyes darting back and forth from Nico to the door. Then he shook his head. Nico sighed and grabbed him by the collar, hauled him off the chair and unceremoniously dragged him out into the hallway where Dani, Alicia and Jason were already waiting, the women deep in hushed conversation. "Garrity, you got a text too?"

"Yeah. Want me to go after them?"

"No. Take Dani and Alicia back to the house and wait for us there. Take Turner's car, it's the blue Ford." Nico dragged Turner, who was now begging and pleading for his life, towards the elevator bank. He'd almost made it there when Dani cleared her throat, right behind him. He held back another sigh and turned to find her standing there with her hands on her hips, smiling sweetly.

"Where, exactly, are you going?" She asked.

He considered not telling her, just to keep her from worrying, but decided against it when he saw her eyes narrow. "To get that flashdrive." Turner stopped his pleading and fell silent.

Dani studied Nico another ten seconds, then nodded, a small smile lifting the corners of her mouth. "Thank you for trusting me. I'll trust you to be careful and come back to me in one piece," she said.

"I will," he assured her. Behind him, the elevator dinged. "That's my cue," he said. When he turned and started dragging Turner the rest of the way to the elevator, he was surprised to feel the scumbag cooperating instead of fighting him.

"You want Peretti's flashdrive? I can help you get it. You won't get inside without a security pass, and I've got one," Turner blurted as soon as they were in the elevator with the doors closed. "But I-I want something in return."

Nico tilted his head and raised an eyebrow, but said nothing.

Turner drew a deep breath. "Don't call the cops on me."

Nico pretended to consider it, then slowly nodded. "Okay. You get me inside and I won't call the cops," he agreed. He intended to keep that promise. After all, what was the use of calling the cops if he could just as easily drive by the station on his way back to the safe house and and deliver the scumbag? That would actually work better, since he didn't have time to go to the police station first. Elfman had gotten it into his head that he was responsible for getting that flashdrive. Nico hadn't thought much of the guy when they'd first met, but the campaign manager was apparently tougher than he seemed. He'd managed to sneak out of the house and was on his way to Peretti's office now, cracked ribs and all. Steve Garrity was in pursuit, but Nico planned on getting there first.

§§§

Were they following him?

Probably not, but talk about coincidence...

He watched from the shadows as Turner and the gorilla in black entered Peretti's office building. Raised his gun, lowered it again before he had taken aim. As much as he wanted to kill anyone delaying Peretti's exit from the building, taking out the gorilla now would be stupid. And not just because two dead bodies in the hallway would alert Peretti that something was up.

He'd been prepared to let the lawyer and the therapist off the hook this afternoon, but he had changed his mind. They were helping Farris escape justice. He couldn't let them do that. Especially since there was no way to get to Farris himself.

The gorilla's presence here may not be mere coincidence after all. It may be destiny. After all, if anyone could help him get to the lawyer and the therapist, it was this guy.

He put his free hand in his jacket pocket, feeling around until his fingers touched a smooth surface. Taking out the iPod-like device he'd used for his eavesdropping back at the courthouse, he smiled. Handy little thing. The man who sold it to him had told him that not only was it a listening device, it sent out a GPS signal as well.

He looked up at the office building. Checked his watch. He only had a few minutes left before Peretti was due to come outside. Tight, but doable if he hurried.

Putting his gun into his pocket, he jogged to his car which was parked along the curb just outside the parking lot so he could make a quick getaway. He retrieved his magnetic car key holder from under the rear bumper. It was an extra large model, so with a bit of luck... "Yes," he whispered triumphantly as the not-an-iPod fell into the box like it was made for exactly that.

Turner and the gorilla had arrived in a black sedan now parked right outside the office building and he hurried over there, crouched at the rear bumper and attached the magnetic box. Then he quickly made his way back to his earlier position across the parking lot. He took out his gun, aimed at the door and waited for Peretti to come out.