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

Chapter Forty-Four: Sunny, Saturday

Mom and Dad were awakened by the commotion of their late arrival home and their excited chatter about the night. They emerged from their suite in their night clothes and realized, to their embarrassment, that they had a house guest.

"You remember Tori, don't you?" Sunny asked. "She's my colleague at work, and my campaign manager."

"Hi, Mr. and Mrs. Parhar," Tori said sheepishly. 

"You were at the campaign opener," Mom said. "You were dressed all in white. In India, that's the colour of mourning."

"In retrospect, it might have been a poor choice," Tori admitted. "I might have cursed the campaign with it."

"Oh, come on," Sunny protested. "It hasn't been that bad."

"Did you tell them about the debate?"

"Hey, I can't control the audience, and aside from one flub, I did a pretty good job with the questions. And tonight wasn't bad, aside from the end."

"You were all gone a long time, Sunil," Dad said. "Did your event begin in the afternoon?"

"Oh! Uh, no," Sunny said, casting a sidelong glance at Tej, who raised one eyebrow in warning. How could he explain that they'd gone to the place where Bishan had been found? "We got together with the friends for some leisure time before we went to the event. We ended up bidding on some nice art."

"Did you win anything?" Mom asked.

"Well, we left before it was over, but if we have the highest bid they'll let us know."

"How did your shoes get so muddy?" Dad asked the kids. 

Before they could answer, Sunny said, "Queen's Park. The event was at Centennial Lodge. The ground was a little wet."

"Mine got muddy too," Tori said. "I went to the playground and swung on the swings. What can I say? I'm a kid at heart."

Mom and Dad eyed Tori suspiciously, unsure if she was pulling their leg, but they nodded. 

"Tori's staying in the guest room tonight," Sunny said.

To his parents' credit, they didn't ask why. Instead, Mom said, "Should I make chai?"

"That's a great idea," Tej said. "After all the excitement tonight, I could use some. I'll help you."

They walked into the kitchen. Sunny turned to Tori and said, "I'll set up your room and get you some towels."

"Thanks so much, Sunny," she said as she followed him up the stairs. "I really didn't want to go home alone tonight."

"Of course. I bet in the light of day we'll have a better idea of what's going on."

It was just then that his phone rang. He thought it might be Al again, since he'd just talked to him before, on the way home. To his surprise, though, he saw it was Rachel.

"Hey, Rachel," he answered.

"Hey, Sunny," she said. "Are you still at the event?"

He blinked in surprise. "Sorry?"

"You know, your thing at Centennial Lodge."

Sunny was confused now. "No, we're not. Isn't Al home? Didn't he tell you?"

"What? No, he's not home. They're not home."

"But, I just talked to him on the phone, like, ten minutes ago. They should have been home by now."

She was silent a moment. Then she said, "Maybe they ran into traffic?"

"It's possible. It started raining while we were on the road."