Chapter Text
Alicia Florrick was sitting at her desk, drumming her fingers on the desk pad. She had often cursed the glass walls, but today she was grateful for the excellent view of nearly the entire floor. It was 11:00 A.M. and at Lockhart & Gardner it seemed to be a day like any other. Will Gardner, Alicia’s boss, was sitting at his desk over a pile of legal documents, completely immersed in preparing for the first case after his disbarment. A mistake from fifteen years ago had led to his suspension from the law for six months, a penalty that was now coming to an end. With the exception of a few jockeying equity partners who had been eagerly eyeing his position, everyone was glad that the boss was coming back. Diane Lockhart’s firm hand had led them admirably through the crisis, yet she would surely be relieved to hand back some of the weight that had been thrust upon her shoulders with the job of single-handedly heading a law firm that comprised three-hundred employees.
To whom of the two should she go? Alicia observed Diane, who was standing in her office talking on the phone. She laughed and threw her head back ever so slightly, from which Alicia gathered it wasn’t a purely work-related conversation. So, to Will? Alicia checked her cell phone for probably the twentieth time that morning: still no message from Kalinda. Why wasn’t she answering?
Once again, Alicia redialed and sighed when all she got was Kalinda’s voice-mail. The investigator nearly always answered her phone, and in exceptional circumstances when she did have to turn it off, she would call back within the hour. So what was going on? Alicia would have been much calmer if it hadn’t been for the conversation they had had the night before. She had been up thinking about it for hours, because for the first time, she had seen fear on the face of her otherwise so composed colleague.
Alicia jumped when she was pulled from her thoughts by the knock at her door and Cary Agos stuck his head in, clearly in a good mood. Lockhart & Gardner had offered him a substantial pay rise to come back to them from the State’s Attorney’s Office. Three years ago, Alicia and Cary had started at Lockhart & Gardner as rivals, and when Will and Diane had chosen Alicia over Cary, he had changed sides and become a valuable asset to the State’s Attorney of Cook County. Nobody was a better weapon against Lockhart & Gardner than Cary Agos, and the new State’s Attorney -- Alicia’s husband Peter Florrick -- had also been well aware of the advantages that Cary’s knowledge could have. The firm had made the right move to get Cary back, and he seemed exceptionally pleased with himself.
“Hi Alicia,” he greeted her, and gestured to the pile of papers on her desk. “Everything good with you?”
“Everything’s fine,” she said. “And you?”
“Same here,” he nodded. “Did you see Kalinda? We were supposed to meet at ten about the Fenner case.”
“No.” Alicia smiled. “She’s probably out collecting evidence and just forgot to let you know.”
Cary lifted an eyebrow. “Kalinda never forgets anything.”
Alicia knew very well that he was right, but didn’t comment on it further. “I’ll let you know if I see her,” she promised him, and pretended to get back to some paperwork. Yet as soon as he had closed the door behind him, she got up and walked down the long corridor to her boss’ office.
Will Gardner didn’t seem surprised to see her knocking on his door. With a serious expression, he put aside the book in his hands and waved her in. “Alicia,” he said and motioned for her to sit down in the empty chair in front of his desk.
Carefully, as if she didn’t quite trust her balance, Alicia took her seat. Something in his voice unnerved her, and she tried reading in his face what was on his mind. Alicia knew Will better than anybody else at the firm. Nearly twenty years ago they had studied at Georgetown together, and probably would have gotten together romantically, if Alicia hadn’t met Peter at the same time. Three years ago, when Will had hired Alicia at his firm, the old attraction had been rekindled and had flared up in a short and passionate affair. Alicia had ended it herself, there being no room in her current life for a relationship. Especially not for a relationship with a man who was her boss and on top of that an opponent of her husband, the State’s Attorney. Her husband never concealed that he wanted her back, but Alicia didn’t want to commit herself to him or to Will at the moment. She had more than enough complications in her life, not to mention having to raise two teenagers.
Alicia had been worried that Will would hold a grudge after she had broken it off with him, but he showed no such resentment. She still felt very close to him, and she knew that it was the same for him. However there were also moments, such as this one, when she had no idea what was going on in his head.
Will lent back in his chair and folded his hands in a thoughtful manner. “The times ahead are going to be tough for all of us, especially for you, Alicia.” He looked at her for a long time. “But we’ll be okay.”
“Tough?” Alicia felt a pang in her stomach. “What are you talking about?”
“Kalinda. That’s why you came, isn’t it?”
Alicia didn’t understand what he was getting at.
“She didn’t tell you?” he asked, letting a pencil fall silently onto his notepad. “She quit. Now of all times, when everything’s falling apart here. Somebody is very keen on seeing this firm bankrupt, and if we don’t find out fast who that is, that’s exactly what’s going to happen.” He paused for a moment when he noticed that Alicia wasn’t listening. “Are you okay, Alicia?”
She nodded absentmindedly. “Kalinda quit?”
“Well, she didn’t exactly quit,” he corrected himself. “Yesterday she asked me for money –- a lot of it for such short notice. That’s when it became clear to me that she was leaving us. Someone like Kalinda doesn’t stay in one place for long. And when she leaves, she leaves on the spur of the moment.”
Alicia got up and walked to the window. She watched the Chicago traffic crawling along in the midday sun while trying to gather her thoughts amidst the chaos in her head. Why would Kalinda leave the city in such a rush? Did it have something to do with the check from Toronto that Alicia had found in Kalinda’s file several days ago? She had been working on Kalinda’s file related to her tax issues, and had investigated the mysterious check by calling the company named on it. Ever since she had informed Kalinda of what she had done, Kalinda had changed. Quite atypical for her, she seemed rushed and distracted.
The man who had answered the phone had disconcerted Alicia by calling her back at work the next day, despite her saying she would call him. And when she had told Kalinda about it, the knowledge had noticeably disquieted her, but all she had said was that she would take care of it.
Then the unknown man had called two nights ago at her home. Alicia had no idea how the man had found out her name and number, and he had obviously tried to scare her. Unfortunately, things had been so hectic at Lockhart & Gardner the next day that Alicia hadn’t gotten another opportunity to speak to Kalinda again. But last night Kalinda had suddenly shown up at her office to tell her goodnight. Alicia had been somewhat surprised, because Kalinda didn’t usually stop by at the end of a working day, but nothing in Kalinda’s behavior had suggested that her words were meant as a final goodbye.
“Are you the only one that she told?” Alicia turned back to Will.
He shrugged. “If she didn’t tell you anything, I doubt she informed anyone else. She was forced to tell me, because I’m her boss and she needed…” He stopped in the middle of his sentence and got up. “Wait here,” he mumbled, and was out of the room before he had finished his sentence. Alicia shook her head in confusion when she watched him hurry down the corridor and disappear into the elevator.
A few moments later, Will reappeared. “It doesn’t make sense…,” he said as he stepped back into his office. Alicia wasn’t sure whether he was speaking to her or to himself, so she remained silent. “The money is still here.” He eventually raised his head and looked at her.
“What money?”
“We had agreed that she would get her money in cash. But she hasn’t picked it up.”
“What?” Alicia took a deep breath of air. “But…”
“Alicia,” Will took a step towards her and laid his hands on her shoulders. “Was there anything important that you two spoke about yesterday?”
Alicia hesitated. “It was off the record,” she said and looked him straight in the eye. She couldn’t possibly tell Will that the man, who seemed to be chasing Kalinda as well as her, was Kalinda’s husband. Not too long ago she herself had had no idea that her colleague was married and that Kalinda Sharma wasn’t her real name. And slowly Alicia was starting to understand why Leela Tahiri had decided to take up a new identity.
“Is Kalinda in danger?” Will asked, without letting go of her.
Alicia held his gaze. “Can I have a day off?”
Finally he let go of her shoulders. “Whatever it is you have to take care of, I’m not going to let you do it alone. And you’re counting it as work hours. The firm will cover any expenses.” With three steps he was at his desk and picked up the phone. “Courtney, cancel all of Alicia’s appointments for today. And get me Cary.”
Alicia raised an eyebrow, but said nothing.
“The two of you know her better than anybody else here,” Will explained, when he put down the phone. “I’m counting on you to inform me the moment you need reinforcement. Nobody is getting into any unnecessary danger, am I understood?”
* * *
Half an hour later, Alicia and Cary were in her car and on the way to Kalinda’s apartment. The young lawyer was sitting in the passenger seat, tense and searching through his coat for his wallet, his usual easiness gone. Though Cary had worked for the ‘other side’ for a long time, his weakness for Kalinda hadn’t evaded the notice of anyone. Maybe it was even more than that -- Alicia had never been able to read him completely. In spite of their differences there was a special bond between Kalinda and Cary, a strange mixture of using and deceiving each other but also of genuine support and honest affection. And Alicia noticed that today she was actually grateful for his company. It felt good to not be the only one worrying about Kalinda.
Had she really left the city without giving Alicia any indication of her intentions? Certainly she was capable of it, but Alicia had reasons to doubt this theory. It just didn’t make sense in light of their recent conversations. Kalinda had earnestly been trying to open up and share more of herself since Alicia had told her quite plainly that only under that condition was their friendship going to have a chance. In the following weeks Alicia had often suppressed a smile when Kalinda’s efforts showed that she clearly had absolutely no experience with opening herself up to anybody. A few times she had randomly blurted out some trivial information about herself, completely out of context, and Alicia had tried hard to find something neutral to say in response -- to let Kalinda know that her efforts were appreciated. And they really were, for Alicia was well aware that her colleague was breaking her own rules, which she normally never did. Of all people Kalinda, who believed that people never change, was trying to change.
“There it is!” Cary announced as he pulled a scrap of paper from his wallet with something written on it. He placed it next to Alicia’s on the dashboard. “It looks just like yours.”
Alicia glanced at Cary wondering what he intended to achieve with this little demonstration. Was he trying to prove to her that he had just as much the right to enter Kalinda’s apartment as she had? “Have you been there before?” she asked and hit the brakes hard when the light in front of her suddenly turned red.
He shook his head. “Do you know anybody that she’s ever invited to her place? I think we’re the only two people who even have her address.”
He didn’t seem to expect an answer, and so Alicia stared at the red light in front of them while she thought back to the moment when Kalinda had given her the address. In the middle of sifting through piles of documents together, she had casually slipped it over to her. Of course Alicia had assumed that the hand-written address was somehow connected to the case they were working on. It was only when Kalinda, somewhat embarrassed, explained the misunderstanding that Alicia realized something special had just happened.
Up to then nobody had known where Kalinda lived or what she did in her free time. Some colleagues even claimed that Kalinda didn’t have any free time, maybe not even a home. Alicia had never met someone who knew so many people and yet kept them at such a distance. She had also never come across someone who knew how to use her seductive charm on people so purposefully. Kalinda was used to getting what she wanted, with men as well as with women. Sexuality and intimacy however were two completely separate things for her. When Kalinda spent the night with someone, it didn’t mean that she wanted to get to know them. It was hard to say who Kalinda was serious about, or whether there even was anyone she was serious about. Probably no one, for she had no interest in close relationships of any kind. The fact that her friendship with Alicia seemed to mean a lot to her was completely at odds with her personality.
Alicia had been so visibly surprised when Kalinda handed her the new address (she hadn’t even known that she had moved) that Kalinda had immediately tried to trivialize the occurrence. For Alicia however this had been the irrevocable proof that they had long gone from being colleagues to being friends. A careful friendship at that, but the best Alicia had ever had. Where were all the women who had called themselves her friends? Had any of them so much as called after the scandal with Peter? Had any of them ever asked how she was doing? When her husband was the State’s Attorney of Cook County, she had had an abundance of friendly people around her who meant her well. Not one of these friends from before was left now, and Alicia was surprised how little this actually mattered to her. It was only through the fissure with Kalinda that Alicia had felt the pains of missing a friendship.
Sometimes Alicia asked herself whether there was some kind of god up there who looked down on her and played his games with her. For why did it have to be Kalinda, of all people, who hurt her like nobody else ever had? Kalinda had been the only person she had completely trusted. In a way Kalinda knew her better than anybody else, better than Peter, better than Will. What was a friendship worth, if it did not rely on honesty? What was a marriage worth?
Three years ago, when it had turned out that Peter had slept with prostitutes and abused the power of his position for his own interests, Alicia had thought she was at the absolute low-point of her life. She had become involved in a political scandal against her will, received pity and disgust from those who did not understand why she stood by her man (at least in public.) There had never been any room for her private emotions: her horror, her disgust, her shame, her anger. When Alicia now looked back upon this time, she was amazed that she had even survived it, let alone without visible scars.
By now she had fewer illusions about the world and had learned to prove herself independently. She was no longer merely the wife at the side of Peter Florrick; she was Alicia Florrick, respected and sought-after lawyer at Lockhart & Gardner. Who would have thought, that after thirteen years away from the workforce, she would come out of this disaster with such strength. The comeback to her old profession had ultimately been good for her. For the first time in a very, very long time, Alicia Florrick had finally felt like herself again.
And then it came, the next blow, harsher and more crushing than the first. An investigator working for the State’s Attorney’s Office had informed her that Peter and Kalinda had spent a night together back when Kalinda was still called Leela. Whether it had been a thank-you, a deal, or mutual attraction didn’t make any difference. Neither of the two had for one moment thought of his wife. Not only had Peter lied to and betrayed her again, this time the person she had trusted most had been involved in the deceit. As a consequence Alicia lost both her husband and her best friend.
Kalinda had silently accepted Alicia’s request to stay out of her way at work. In vain Alicia had waited for some reaction, an apology or a word of regret, though she knew that she would never have accepted it. Only once had Kalinda expressed some sort of remorse -- she had said that doing these things was how she was and that it didn’t mean anything to her. She had added that she hadn’t known Alicia then, but did that make it any better?
At least Kalinda had shown the decency to look for a new job, yet for some reason it didn’t pan out. Thus they had been forced to continue to work together, which had been extremely difficult for Alicia at first. Every morning when she saw Kalinda, she felt nauseated. It wasn’t about her having sex with a married man, it was about Kalinda’s secrecy. In all the time that they had known each other she hadn’t said a word of her night with Peter.
At the beginning, Alicia had been far too preoccupied with herself to see that Kalinda was suffering too. And when she did notice, she was almost glad of it -- at least she wasn’t the only one in pain. To her relief Kalinda didn’t undertake some futile attempt to repair their friendship. Though Will and Diane had both requested that whatever was going on between them should be taken care of, Alicia just couldn’t bring herself to do it. Some things just could not be forgiven. She could not and would not trust anyone like that again, least of all someone who meant something to her.
One day Alicia found out that Kalinda had, on several occasions, secretly done things to help her with her cases. And a few weeks later, it turned out that it had been Kalinda who had found and returned her daughter Grace when she was missing. Never in her life had Alicia been as afraid as on that day. Paralyzed, she had sat on her bed, waiting for a call from the police, while Kalinda had acted instead -- as always. She had found Grace and brought her home. Yet she had made sure that Alicia didn’t find out about it, and indeed she wouldn’t have, if a young man named Patrick hadn’t spilled it to her.
Though her anger had at first helped her to not fall into an even deeper hole, Alicia eventually came to realize that it wasn’t very productive to be mad at someone twenty-four hours a day. Reluctantly she had to admit to herself that she had never worked so well with anyone as she used to with Kalinda. She always seemed to know what Alicia was thinking even before she said it out loud. And Alicia instinctively kept on doing what she thought Kalinda would have suggested. It would be wasted potential if they didn’t take advantage of this fact, and it was useless looking for new friends when the best friend she had ever had was sitting next to her, silently waiting for a sign.
“I know what’s going on, by the way,” Cary disrupted her thoughts. “How are you two doing these days?”
“What are you talking about?” Alicia didn’t in the least feel like talking to Cary about her personal life. Instead she glanced at the car’s GPS. They would be at their destination in five minutes.
“You and Kalinda,” he replied with a slightly knowing smile. “I’m sure you’re aware that your investigator Blake had to make a statement at the State’s Attorney’s Office. What you don’t know is that my colleague Matan kept part of the statement under lock and key to buy himself into a good position with Peter.” Cary paused for a moment, to be sure that Alicia understood what must have been written in this part of the statement. “Kalinda knew about this, and tried everything she could to get at the document, including asking me to help her.”
Alicia looked at Cary from the side. Sometimes the young lawyer surprised her. This information could have helped him to a higher position in Peter’s office. Instead he had chosen to keep it to himself. “Is that why Kalinda forced Blake out of the city?”
Cary scratched his ear. “I don’t think she’d like it if I talked to you about that.”
Alicia didn’t respond, and returned her attention to the road. They were less than half a mile away from Kalinda’s apartment and it was time to start looking for a parking space.
Cary took his note from the dashboard and slipped it back into his wallet. “I’m just saying… Kalinda took great pains to make sure the content of Blake’s statement didn’t reach you. She showed up nearly every day at my office trying to persuade me to do something about it. But what was I supposed to do? Matan knew that with this information he had an ace up his sleeve, and he wasn’t ready to give that up. One day her visits suddenly stopped and I didn’t see her for a while. She didn’t respond to my texts, she didn’t answer my calls. When I saw her again, she looked so pale and overtired that I knew you had found out.”
Alicia shook her head. She felt the bitterness rising back up inside of her. Instead of putting so much effort into trying to keep it a secret, Kalinda could have tried to talk to her.
“Don’t be so hard on her,” Cary continued. “I think it really shook her up, I’ve never seen her so low.”
Alicia slammed the brakes at the sight of an empty parking space. “Here we are!”
Cary stretched after he got out of the car. “Well, here’s to hoping she just overslept…”
They both knew Kalinda never did.
* * *
After ringing the doorbell for the third time, Alicia gave up.
“Would’ve been too easy,” Cary muttered and took some tools out of his briefcase.
“You want to break in?” Alicia gave a concerned look down the hall. There were other apartments on this floor, and the noise would surely raise some attention.
“Do you have a better idea?”
“How about the police?” Alicia was aware that it wasn’t exactly in Kalinda’s interest to get the police involved in her private affairs, but Cary had spotted Kalinda’s car outside and it wasn’t a good sign that she didn’t answer her door.
“First we have a look what’s going on.” Cary bent down and started to work on the lock. “What?” he asked at Alicia’s look of surprise. “I worked for the State’s Attorney. I’ve watched locks being picked a hundred times now when executing search warrants.” Cary kept fiddling with Kalinda’s deadbolt. He swore under his breath when there was the unmistakable sound of something breaking inside the lock, but he did manage to get the door open.
As expected, Kalinda wasn’t home, so they started searching for some indication as to where she could be. Alicia squinted as she looked around the bedroom. This was where Kalinda lived? No wonder she never invited anybody to her place. Any hotel room was more inviting. Apart from the bed, there was hardly any furniture. It was the apartment of a person who was ready to pack up and go at any time.
In one of the walls of the bedroom Cary found a hole, about twelve inches wide, which led to a small hollow behind it. It couldn’t have been there long, as directly beneath it on the floor there still lay pieces of dusty drywall. “Somebody was keeping something here,” Cary stated the obvious, as he inspected the space behind the hole. “Maybe Kalinda did leave without picking up her money from Lockhart & Gardner.”
Alicia didn’t answer him. She had found something that immediately shattered his theory. Behind Kalinda’s bed was an empty bag, and beside it, strewn about carelessly, were clothes, ammunition, a gun, and several bundles of money packed in plastic bags. When Alicia knelt down and noticed the dust on the plastic it became clear they had been stored in the wall.
Nothing here suggested a planned and executed departure, and Alicia could feel her throat turning dry. “If Kalinda did have a plan to leave, she doesn’t seem to have followed it through.”
Cary moved to where she knelt. “Packed and then unpacked again?” he asked, wrinkling his forehead. “That makes no sense.”
“It also doesn’t make sense that she didn’t take any of this.” Alicia went over to the walk-in closet and opened the door. She staggered back a couple of steps when she met with the scent of Kalinda’s things. Could they even be sure that she was still alive? Alicia decided not to finish that train of thought. “It doesn’t look like there’s anything missing,” she shouted to Cary, who had left the bedroom.
“Did you notice the armchair near the front door?” he asked from the hallway. “It probably doesn’t usually stand there, but next to that lamp against the wall.”
Alicia felt unable to follow him and sat down on Kalinda’s bed. “Which means?” she shouted back in his direction.
“Could mean she tried to block the door with it.” Cary came back into the room. “Could also mean she sat in it there, waiting for somebody.”
Alicia shook her head. She knew Cary only wanted to help, but she just didn’t have the strength for playing detective right now.
“I found something else.” He held up a small scrap of paper. “This was on the armchair. It had slipped down the side of the cushion.”
“What is it?” Alicia fixed her eyes on the piece of paper raised triumphantly in his hand. “An address?”
“A cell phone number.”
Without saying a word, Alicia pulled out her cell phone and dialed the number, putting the phone on speaker. “It’s Kalinda’s handwriting,” she said to Cary as she waited for the dial tone.
“Hello?” a male voice answered.
“Hello. Who am I speaking to?”
“Well, who’s asking?”
Alicia was immediately reminded of her conversations with that unknown man who had turned out to be Kalinda’s husband. But this was a different voice, a voice that nevertheless seemed familiar to her. “Listen, I …” she began.
“Alicia Florrick?” the voice interrupted her.
She held back for a moment. “Who…”
“Blake Calamar.”
“Blake?” Alicia nearly dropped her phone in surprise. “How are you?”
She heard him laughing at the other end of the line. “I’m going to assume that that’s not really what you’re interested in. You dialed my number and you don’t even know who you’re calling?”
“Yes, that’s right,” she admitted. “I’m calling because we’re in a bit of a situation…” She paused and thought for a moment how to best win him over. Eventually, she decided for the direct approach. “Can you help us find Kalinda?”
He laughed again. “Now why should I do that? The woman demolished my car, led me into a trap in a hotel room, and ended up driving me out of the city just so that her little secret doesn’t reach your ears. Why should I have any interest in helping her?” He paused, to see if his words had the desired effect. “I hope you know by now,” he added.
Alicia touched her forehead. Blake hadn’t changed a bit. He still couldn’t help but play his games. “Blake,” she said in a serious tone. “Right now, we can’t rule out the possibility that Kalinda’s life may be in danger. And you’ll be paid well.”
“Lockhart & Gardner?”
“Yes, exactly.” Alicia threw an uncertain glance at Cary, who nodded in agreement. Will had, after all, promised that the firm would cover any costs.
For a moment, there was silence at the other end of the line. “Five hundred dollars an hour, plus expenses.”
“Okay.”
“And you’re aware that I’m not in Chicago?”
“I assumed as much.”
“Alright.” There was a rustling in the line, apparently Blake was getting something to write with. “What’s this about?”
Alicia recounted the events of the last couple of hours and days. “And there’s something else,” she said when she had finished. “Not too long ago, Lemond Bishop threatened her.” Alicia knew that by mentioning this name she was entering dangerous waters, for Blake had once worked for the drug dealer. But he was the only lead they had at the moment and so she just had to take the risk. “It’s no secret that the man occasionally has people removed who are inconvenient to him,” she said straight out. “But when I confronted Kalinda about the check from Toronto, she said it had nothing to do with Bishop. So it seems more likely that it’s her husband who’s involved in this.”
“Yeah, that would make sense. After all, Leela is from Canada,” Blake said, well aware of the sharp sting he caused Alicia with the mention of the name. “So the danger could be coming from two sides,” he summarized, when Alicia didn’t react to his provocation, “Lemond Bishop, or her husband.”
“Like I said, we think Kalinda’s disappearance has something to do with her husband,” Alicia explained. “But we’re not entirely sure. Kalinda and I spoke about the man on the phone just yesterday, and she told me he was dangerous. I also know from Will that she quit her job and was preparing to leave town. But it doesn’t look like she followed through.”
“Okay…” Blake stretched out the word and Alicia heard him tapping his pencil onto his notepad. “I’ll see what I can dig up, and call you back in an hour.”
“And what do we do now?” Cary asked when Alicia had hung up the phone.
“Is it time to get the police involved?”
He shook his head. “You know that Kalinda has lots of friends in the police. If she thought it useful to contact them, she would have done so herself.”
“How do you know she didn’t?” Alicia wrinkled her forehead. “Does she still go to the same bars?”
“As far as I know, yes.”
“Then let’s check there. Maybe somebody knows something that can help us.”
“Now?” he asked. “It’s 1:00 P.M.. Who do you think you’ll find there?”
“Do you have a better idea?” Alicia repeated Cary’s words. “I don’t want to lose any more time.” She grabbed her handbag and was out the door.
Cary followed her, and Alicia observed as he turned the top lock and slammed the door shut. “It’s not as good as the deadbolt, but it’s better than nothing.” Together they rushed back to Alicia’s car.
* * *
“I wonder what Blake’s phone number was doing on Kalinda’s armchair?” Cary said as they stood in the first bar, waiting for the owner. “Why would she have wanted to call him?”
Alicia shrugged. There were so many things about Kalinda she didn’t understand. Trying to find a clue as to her location was like the proverbial search for the needle in a haystack. Just when the owner of the bar finally showed up, Alicia’s phone rang and she gestured to Cary that he should talk to him alone. She picked up once she was a few steps away from the bar. “Diane? Is it something urgent?”
“Hello Alicia. No, I just wanted to ask how it was going.” Diane’s voice sounded worried. “Have you found out anything?”
“No, we were at Kalinda’s apartment, but she wasn’t there. We’re following another lead now…”
“One minute…” Alicia heard Diane sending two co-workers back out of her office. A moment later she heard the door shut and Diane picked up the receiver again. “Could it be that she’s on the road?”
“Not likely, her car is standing in front of her place.”
“And if she left the city without her car?”
Alicia took a deep breath of air. “We don’t think that’s very likely either.”
“Why? Is there any evidence to suggest this?”
Alicia hesitated when she heard the signal of call-waiting. “Diane, I’m sorry, I have another call coming in…”
“Alright then,” Diane had gone back to her usual businesslike tone. “Keep me updated then.”
Alicia promised and then hung up to take the other call. “Hello? Blake?”
“This is Will,” said the surprised voice of her boss. “Am I calling at a bad time? I just wanted to ask how it’s going.”
Alicia rolled her eyes. Good thing Kalinda wasn’t seeing how her usually professional bosses were acting like worried parents. Then she would have left the city for sure. “We’re in the middle of investigating,” she tried to reassure Will. “We’re not really sure of anything yet, just that she’s not at home.”
“I thought so,” he sighed. “Will you let me know if you find out anything?”
“Of course.” Alicia saw from the corner of her eye that Cary had finished talking to the bar owner. “I have to get back to Cary, Will. I’ll let you know when there’s news.”
As he came towards her, Cary signaled the outcome of the conversation with a thumbs-down. “The man was willing to help us, but it turned out he didn’t know anything at all,” he vented his anger once they had left the bar. “I hope he won’t call the police.”
“Did you tell him not to?” Alicia opened up her umbrella. The rain, which had been but a soft drizzle when they had entered the bar, had now turned into a heavy downpour. Luckily her daughter Grace had heard the weather report that morning and warned her to take an umbrella.
“Of course I did. But who knows what he’ll do?” Cary tucked himself in under her umbrella.
Alicia was just about to reply something when her cell rang again. This time it was Blake, and Alicia squeezed herself, along with Cary and the umbrella, into a doorway so as to better understand him. “I have two pieces of information that could be of interest to you.” Blake cut right to the chase. “The first is that Kalinda did not touch her bank account in the last couple of days. The second is that her husband bought some empty industrial buildings in Chicago not too long ago.”
“You think it might be worth paying them a visit?” Alicia held her breath. They finally had a lead.
“It would at least be worth a try.” Blake gave her three addresses. “I’ll call when I find out more,” he said and hung up, before Alicia could thank him.
“What is it?” Cary urged her, when he saw the expression on her face.
“We’re calling off the bar-hopping and driving by some buildings that belong to Kalinda’s husband.” Alicia closed her umbrella and rushed to her car through the pouring rain. Cary could hardly keep up with her.
“You mean Leela’s husband.” he corrected, out of breath. “Ms Sharma never got married.”
“Whatever,” Alicia replied over her shoulder, and quickened her steps.
Five minutes later, they sat in her car, drenched to the bone and gasping for breath. Alicia started the car right away. The first address Blake had given her, a property on County Line Street, was in the far eastern side of the city. It would take them a while to get there.
Cary kept glancing at the speedometer with a worried look as she was constantly well above the speed limit regardless of the wet roads. “You know, you have to stop at every red light anyway,” he reminded her.
“I know,” she sighed. “Aren’t you worried we might be too late?”
“Oh yes, I am,” he replied, “But we’ll be even later if we’re stopped for speeding.”
“You’re right.” Alicia relaxed back into her seat a bit and tried to adjust to the pace of Chicago traffic. It was only a few more miles now.
They never would have found the building without GPS. It took them through a confusing labyrinth of one-way streets before finally ending up in County Line Street, at the end of which stood a large deserted warehouse.
“This must be it.” Alicia rushed out of her car and stopped after a few steps to see why Cary wasn’t following her. She walked to his side of the car and saw him sticking a gun into his coat pocket. "I didn't know you've got a gun..."
“Who knows what we’ll come across here,” he said without looking at her and got out of the car.
The rain had stopped meanwhile and they left their wet coats in the car when they went to the warehouse. It was huge and had at least three entrances, but Cary and Alicia decided it would be best to take one of the less noticeable side-entrances. They first tried a small entrance on the north side, and to their surprise the rusty door gave way when Alicia pushed against it. Once she had closed it behind her as quietly as possible, they both stood still for a couple moments, waiting for their eyes to adjust to the near-darkness inside. By the small streaks of light the narrow windows under the ceiling let in, they could eventually make out their surroundings.
They had expected an empty warehouse, but the immense space before them was packed full of shipping containers and towers of empty pallets. Whether the containers had cargo in them wasn’t clear, but the place certainly wasn’t as empty and out-of-use as Blake had assumed.
Alicia took off her shoes to avoid making any noise on the concrete floor and placed them beside the door. Cary followed her lead and did the same. They communicated by way of hand signals that they would go in different directions: Alicia to the left, Cary to the right.
Slowly and carefully, with her heart pounding in her chest, Alicia crept along the sides of the containers, row after row, while Cary made his way along the other wall. She saw nothing to indicate that there was anybody else here with them. But when Alicia had reached the end of the outer row of containers, her heart stopped when she noticed a rusty forklift near the wall and behind it, on the floor, the fingertips of a hand.
Alicia stared at the fingertips to see if they moved. When they hadn’t done so for five minutes, she decided the person behind the forklift must be either unconscious or dead. So she worked up the courage and tip-toed to the forklift. Slowly, she peeked around the corner and saw a man lying on the floor. Under his back was a dark puddle, probably blood, and in his other hand was a gun. She knelt down and carefully placed a hand on his face. She shuddered at how cold he felt.
When Alicia got up she was overcome by a second shudder, as only a few meters away lay a second man. His upper body was slumped against the side of a container, and his legs lay twisted underneath him. Next to him lay a gun which must have fallen from his hand. His eyes were staring into an infinite emptiness and Alicia didn’t need to touch him to see that he was dead.
Had the two men shot each other? And where for heaven’s sake was Kalinda? Alicia jumped when she heard a noise close by. She was relieved to see that it was only Cary who appeared from behind one of the containers. He looked down at the two bodies, the gun shining in his hand as he waved Alicia over to him. “We’ll take care of these two later,” he whispered. “I found a staircase over there.” He gestured in the direction from which he had come. “We should be able to see the whole warehouse from up there.”
“Wouldn’t we be the perfect target on that staircase?” Alicia whispered back.
“I honestly don’t think there’s anyone else here, besides us.”
No one that’s alive, you mean, Alicia thought, but didn’t say it out loud. Instead she whispered, “Let’s give it a try,” and let Cary lead her to the staircase.
The steps were out of rusty steel, which meant at least they didn’t creak, but the gridded mesh cut painfully into Alicia’s bare feet. Once at the top, they did indeed have a view of the entire warehouse, yet in the dim light it was difficult to make out any details. As far as they could see there didn’t seem to be anyone else here and Alicia breathed out, relieved. At least nobody would shoot them in the back.
“There!” Cary suddenly exclaimed and pointed to a place amidst the containers that stood near the middle of the warehouse.
Alicia had difficulty following his shaking finger, but then she saw it. It looked like a human figure. “Oh god…” she let out, and suddenly all caution was forgotten. As fast as she could, she rushed down the stairs and ran to the spot between the containers that Cary had pointed to.
It was Kalinda.
As with the second dead man, her upper body was slumped against a container. Her eyes were closed, and when Alicia knelt down to her she noticed a thick rope that tied her to a steel column tucked between two containers. Around her was a huge puddle of blood, and Alicia worriedly looked for the source. There! A shot had obviously hit her left shoulder, and another her right thigh. Time slowed to an unbearable pace as Alicia took Kalinda’s wrist to feel for a pulse. She felt as if she was going to throw up any minute, but forced herself to calm down. Then finally she felt it, a soft weak pulse. “Cary!” she screamed as loud as she could. “Call an ambulance! Quick!”
Cary tore off his shirt as soon as he reached her, and together they tried their best to stop further bleeding. “I know she won’t like it,” he said as he tightened the fabric around Kalinda’s wounds. “But now, we can’t avoid getting the police involved.”
Alicia just nodded and didn’t say anything. Her lips wouldn’t move. Her hands trembled and performed the necessary actions on their own. They found a box cutter with which they cut the ropes and carefully lowered her onto her side into the recovery position. Alicia took off her coat and spread it over the blood-soaked Kalinda. Then she sat down on the cold concrete floor next to her, a hand on her pale cheek, and waited for the ambulance.