Hidden in the Blood: A Novel of the Terribly Acronymed Detective Club (Book 5)

Chapter Twenty-Five: Sunny, Monday

Sunny swore his oath of office as a Councillor for the City of New Westminster and took his designated seat at the continuous semi-circular wooden desk at which they all sat, each with a microphone and a monitor. He was pleased to see Regan Nakamura's seat was next to his, and after she'd been sworn in and seated, she smiled at him and said, "How's your shoulder?"

"Better, but I still need the sling," he said, making sure his microphone was off. The public hadn't been let into the Council chamber yet, but he didn't want his voice broadcast for everyone to hear. Rodney Maxwell, the re-elected mayor, was taking his seat at the centre of the desk, and he and the other councillors didn't need to hear their personal conversation, as friendly as their association might have been.

"Have you seen Lauren lately?" she asked. "We've exchanged texts, but I haven't seen her since we went to the Nikkei Centre together." Sunny had introduced Lauren and Regan to each other at his campaign opener, hoping their shared Japanese heritage would lead to them becoming friends.

"I have," he said, "but just in the context of our hospital visits to our friend, Al."

"Oh, yes, the one in a coma," she said, nodding.

"Actually, he's awake now."

She brightened. "Oh, is he? That's fantastic!"

"Yeah, he woke on Saturday. We were all there for it."

"Oh, that's lovely, I bet he was cheered by your presence."

"Otherwise, I think Lauren has been resting at home." Except for the little drive she took this morning, but to tell Regan about that he would have to explain about Al's former girlfriend, her estranged husband and the murder he might have committed, and Regan didn't need to be involved in that.

He hadn't predicted Lauren would drive herself to Queensborough when he called her with Tej's news. He just thought his friend would take the information and hold on to it for later in case Patrick Marinville actually bought a property in Queensborough and they needed to sit on him then. He should have known Lauren wouldn't have been able to resist snooping, though, and maybe a small part of him had wanted her to, which made him feel like a heel because she was still recovering from her injuries. The feeling didn't last long, though, when she called him and told him of how successfully she'd tailed him and informed him of the other party doing the same. He didn't know what to do with this information, but to be safe he called Agnes earlier to let her know. To his disappointment, he got her voicemail (she must have been working an evening shift at the library,) so he kept it as cryptic as possible in case anyone else was checking. He also called Mandeep to let him know so he could represent his client best.

"Hopefully, once she's a hundred percent, we can get together again," Regan said.

"We might find ourselves busy with committee work, soon."

"You have to make time for friends or else you'll burn out."

He was about to respond when he felt his phone vibrate in the inside pocket of his blazer. He pulled it out and saw it was Agnes, probably calling back. He pressed answer just as he saw the doors to the Council chamber open and the public stream in.

"Agnes, hi," he said, sotto voce. "Sorry, my Council meeting's about to begin, can I call you back?"

"What?" she cried in confusion. "I need to talk to you about what you said about Patrick being in town."

"I'm so sorry, I'm going to have to turn off my phone. I'll call you back when I'm finished."

He hung up before she could say more, feeling terrible. He should have told her when he left his original voicemail that he'd be unavailable right now. He didn't turn off his phone, though; if there was a family emergency he knew he would leave, meeting or no meeting, and he had to have his phone at least on vibrate in case someone in the family needed to reach him, just as he'd promised his mother.