Rude Awakenings: A Novel of the Terribly Acronymed Detective Club (Book 2)

Chapter Sixty-One: Al, Sunday

When Al saw Sunny walk into the holding area, he sagged against the bars of his cell in relief. "Oh, thank God," he said.

Sunny smirked and shook his head. "Are you finally taking my advice now?"

"Yes, well, I'm in the shit for real this time."

"What the hell were you thinking, man?"

"Is Lauren out there? Did she tell you?"

He nodded. "It freaked me out when she called and told me you were in jail. Do you think you maybe overreacted when you led the cops on a chase through farm country?"

He sighed and nodded. "Yeah, maybe. Is Rachel out there?"

"Yes, she drove with me out here. She and Lauren are talking to the police about the guy Lauren threw. He wants to press charges, and Rachel wants to have a good look at the guy to see if she can recognize anything about him from that night. I don't know how successful she'll be. It was months ago, and she never saw their faces." Sunny paused. "Rachel told me to tell you that you took too much liberty with her instructions. I don't know what that means."

Al chuckled sheepishly. "I was supposed to make sure Lauren got home safe."

"Well, Lauren didn't do much for her own safety either. It was a little erratic of her to go after the guy just because she wanted her sword back."

"Well, I can sort of understand. That sword has a lot of history for her family."

Sunny shook his head and pinched the bridge of his nose. "This is a big mess, buddy."

Al fought back tears before replying. "Yup. I don't know what this will mean. Will I go to prison? Will I lose my job? Will I lose my license?"

"I'm not totally versed on the statutes, but you don't have a record, so I bet they'll go light on you."

"About that. Are you even able to represent me? You don't do criminal law."

"I've called a colleague of mine. He should be here soon. You haven't talked to the police since they brought you to the holding cell, have you?"

"No."

"Good. I heard you've already said too much, though, implying the police were bad at their jobs?"

"I didn't say that!" Al protested. "I just said that if I did the right thing, too much time might have passed, and Lauren might be hurt right now, or even worse."

Sunny sighed. "Not being your lawyer, exactly, what I'm about to say isn't advice, but..." He leaned in and said, sotto voce, "I'm glad your first priority was to find Lauren and help her. I'm happier no one got hurt, except maybe a couple of cars, but that move was pure LSDC, man."

Al chuckled. "It felt kind of exhilarating, going that fast, having the cops chase me. I felt like an action hero for a while."

Sunny shook his head. "You do know that if it was me behind the wheel I would have been roughed up a little before being put in the car, or even shot."

"Mr. Parhar, are you implying that the police would assume, because of their innate prejudice, that you are a Sikh gang member out of Abbotsford dealing drugs, and that was why you were fleeing, and that maybe you had a gun in your car?"

"Of course I am. Your white privilege pisses me off; I bet you didn't think for a minute anything bad would happen to you beyond getting your hands put roughly behind your back."

Al blinked in surprise. He hadn't. "I'm sorry, Sunny. You're absolutely right. I wasn't really thinking at all, though. All that mattered to me was running to Lauren. They probably thought I was fleeing on foot."