The Hero Next Time: A Novel of the Terribly Acronymed Detective Club (Book 4)

Chapter Fourteen: Sunny, Monday

Sunny walked into work Monday morning and was surprised to receive a standing ovation as soon as he walked in the door. The partners, associates and staff of Westminster Law Group were applauding him, and it was so unexpected that he was nearly moved to tears. 

"Let's hear it for the newest Councillor for New Westminster!" proclaimed Marty de Guzman, fellow partner and founder of the firm. 

Sunny waved him off. "Don't go making predictions yet, buddy," he said. "My campaign's just begun."

"Great opener, Sunny!" called Yvonne Cho, the other fellow partner and founder. "I loved the dancing at the end!"

"Oh, were you there for it? I'm sorry, I didn't see you, or else I would have brought you in to dance with my friends."

"I saw you dancing! You didn't want me dancing next to you, you would have put me to shame."

"Don't worry, my friends would have danced to your level."

Everybody laughed.

"No, really," Sunny said. "Saturday night wouldn't have been possible without the Herculean efforts of the inimitable Victoria Ramos," he said, gesturing to his paralegal, who was dressed more sensibly today in grey slacks and blazer over a teal blouse.

"Take me out to lunch today, and we're square," she said.

"It's a deal," he said, and everyone applauded again before returning to the relatively sedate work of the law.

He took Tori aside and said, "I really do appreciate everything you did on Saturday, and I'm sorry for ditching you for that hour."

She waved him off. "You made up for it at the end of the night, believe me. I showed everyone the footage of you dancing before you showed up this morning. It's kind of the reason for your warm reception just now."

Of course she showed everyone. He'd known she would as soon as he'd seen her phone out. "Good. Now, about lunch," he said. "I'm still on if you want to go--"

"Let me check your calendar first, I was only joking--"

"No, really, I owe you that much, at least. Would you be okay with a stop along the way?"

Her brow furrowed. "I'm not that kind of girl, Sunny."

"Tori," he warned. "I never know when you're joking with me, and I could get into trouble if I say the wrong thing."

She smiled and shook her head. "You're too easy to bug. No, really, where do you need to go?"

"The police station."

She blinked in surprise. "Really? Why?"

"I need to check if a missing persons report has been filed."

She frowned. "Is this still about that guy on Saturday?"

"Yes, I'm afraid it is. A new development has arisen, and I need to do some fact checking."

She blinked at him for a few seconds, then said, "Now you have me curious. Who are these people you're looking for?"

"One person only. A woman. Her name, or so we thought on Saturday, is Naira Sandhu. She's the wife of a real estate agent named Birinder Sandhu. The man I was talking to on Saturday is Jordan Trevelyan. He used to go out with my sister before she got married."

"Wait, wait, you never told me you have a sister."

"That's because I had a sister. She used to work here before we hired you."

Her mouth fell open. "I don't like your sudden use of the past tense, Sunny."

"Yeah, well, me neither. She was murdered by her husband."