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

Chapter Twenty-Six: Sunny, Monday

Sunny stumbled into work Monday morning after very little sleep following a Sunday night event that lasted longer than he'd predicted; who would have known the group he was visiting would have had the energy to celebrate into the night, especially on a Sunday? Granted, they were retirees and didn't have to go to work in the morning, but he'd still thought they would have tired early and let him go. They'd been so enthralled by him and his platform, however, that he couldn't pull himself away early, and Tori had stayed with him the whole time, encouraging him to remain, so she would be just as tired this morning as he was. That was his only consolation.

The event, of course, had followed a full day of door-to-door canvassing with Tori and Tej in the Queens Park and Uptown neighbourhoods, getting a decidedly mixed reception from the old-money Whites and the new-money Asians owning property in the area, stiff-smiles and silence in response to his platform, and that had followed a morning at Gurdwara, which was the last time he remembered sitting down that day. Yes, being tired was an understatement.

In retrospect, he wished he hadn't agreed to that dinner with Birinder and his family. He'd discovered very little of value to the case for the amount of time it had taken from his weekend. His father had been tickled to hear of Birinder's father's esteem for him, and making him smile had made it almost worth the time he'd taken out of his free Saturday to learn it. So had been seeing his friends and, delightfully, Regan, who seemed to be getting along with Lauren like a house on fire, and who'd given him some helpful tips on his campaign while he'd driven her home. Still, he'd had barely any time to sit and relax that weekend, and though he should have expected this running a campaign off the side of his desk, his body still felt it. He wasn't twenty anymore, able to walk around the Expo 86 site with Tej all day and still have enough left in the tank to make love to her all night, and then go to work at his summer job the next morning. He almost hadn't taken the time to recite his morning prayers, so tempted had he been to sleep past dawn because he was just so bagged.

So, you could imagine his surprise and consternation when he found Birinder waiting in the lobby, Tori waiting with him. When the other man saw him he stood, looking pathetically glad to see him. He had a take-out Starbucks cup in each hand. "Mr. Parhar!" he said. "Could I just talk to you for a few seconds?"

"I told him he needed to make an appointment," Tori said.

Birinder looked a little wide-eyed and jittery, like he'd been up all night drinking coffee in the Starbucks from which he'd taken those cups, and Sunny didn't think it would be a good idea to turn him away; in this state, Birinder might be capable of anything, and an outburst in a quiet law office on a Monday morning was the last thing anyone needed. Plus, the man had been gracious enough to have him and his family over for dinner on Saturday when he barely knew him. Sunny felt he at least owed the man a few minutes of his time and, to be honest, he was curious about why he looked so panicked.

He also hoped one of those coffees was for him.

"Hold on," he said, raising a finger to Birinder and taking Tori aside. "Do I have anything first thing?" he whispered in her ear.

"Not until ten-thirty," she whispered back, "but I didn't think it was right for him to just barge in here and demand to see you when he didn't have an appointment."

"He may have a reason; something happened on Saturday, I'll tell you about it later."

Her eyes widened, and she nodded. He hadn't had a chance to tell her last night because they'd been so focused on the campaign, but if it was serious enough to send Birinder to his office first thing Monday morning, then it had to be big.

Sunny walked back to Birinder and said, "Come into my office."

He closed the door as soon as the other man was seated, sat behind his desk and turned on his computer. Birinder placed one of the cups before him and said, "I didn't know if your drank coffee. I know it's not forbidden like alcohol, but some Sikhs don't drink it."