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

Chapter Fifty-Three: Sunny, Sunday

Sunny could only shake his head at the incongruity of Naira Sandhu in his living room, sitting on his couch with her purse in her lap, drinking chai with his parents while Harpreet and Ajit stared at her in open-mouthed wonder. She had her coat and boots off, and her hair was down. She was rather striking, not that Sunny would ever say it aloud. He could see why Jordan had fallen for this woman. She reminded him of a tiger at rest, beautiful but ready to pounce if cornered.

"Hello," he said, just to say something. He turned to Tej and said, "This is Naira."

"I gathered," Tej said stiffly. "I remember what she looked like in the picture Jordan sent us."

"Did you say Jordan?" Dad asked. "Not Jordan Trevelyan?"

"The very same." Sunny didn't think now was the right time to inform them that Jordan was dead. "He was seeing her until recently."

"Do you know this woman, Sunil?" Mom asked.

"I wouldn't go that far," he said. "We've met only once before."

She turned to Naira and said, "You said you were a friend of his."

"I apologize for exaggerating, Bibiji," Naira said, addressing her with the Punjabi word for a respected older woman. "I thought you would be more likely to invite me in if I told you he was my friend. He is a friend of Birinder Sandhu, who is my ex-husband, and I wished to talk to your son about him."

"Sandhuji married another Naira?" Ajit asked, probably in disbelief that his crush shared her name with another.

"Yes, what a coincidence," Naira said to him with a sly smile. Ajit arched his back like a cat, and Sunny suspected he had a new crush now. The two women couldn't have been any more different, but for the newly adolescent boy, any female attention was an unqualified blessing. 

"You said 'they' have him," Sunny said. "What do you mean?"

"I think you know what I mean."

"Is Sandhuji in trouble?" Dad asked.

"I think that's a safe assumption. I would like to talk to Sunil alone, if I may."

"Nope, not this time," Tej said. "I'm in on this conversation or you can walk right back out that door."

"That's not the way we talk to a guest," Dad said.

"I agree with Tej," Sunny said, because he did, but also because it was the only safe thing to say. He looked to Naira and said, "Why don't the three of us sit in the office?"

Naira nodded and stood with her purse, giving his parents a little bow. "Thank you for your hospitality."

Parents and children stared after her as she followed them. Now that they were all standing, he saw that she was only a little shorter than he was. She must have looked formidable in a police uniform and utility belt. She looked like she could incapacitate him with barely any effort. Tej stared after her with a look that would have drawn blood if it had any solidity.

Once Sunny closed the door behind them, Naira put her purse on his desk and began pacing back and forth. Again the tiger imagery returned to his mind, only now she was a tiger in a cage.

"I didn't see your car parked in our driveway," Sunny said.

"I ditched it," she said. "I don't hold on to anything too long anymore."

"Are you really that worried you're being tracked?" Tej asked.

Naira stopped in her tracks and looked at Tej as if she'd never noticed her until now. "I'm sorry, we haven't been properly introduced." She offered her hand. "You're Tej?"