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

Chapter Twenty-Two: Tej, Monday

The phone call she received after she dropped the kids off at school was a surprise. She saw that it was Birinder Sandhu calling. He was the man they originally thought had done something bad to his wife Naira, before they discovered there were two Nairas, and that the Naira they were worried about was actually his ex-wife and on the run from a different danger altogether, while the Naira he was currently married to turned out to be the one who did something bad.

She answered the phone on its hands free device and said, "This is Tej Parhar."

"Tej, hi! Birinder Sandhu, here. How are you?"

"I'm doing well, Mr. Sandhu, and you?"

"As well as can be expected. Still getting used to being single again; my wife may have electrocuted me and hung me from a ceiling, but I still miss her."

She burst out laughing. "I hope you're joking."

"Only a little. Hey, has Sunny started his term, yet?"

"Tonight's his first Council meeting."

"Fantastic."

Tej didn't want to engage in too much small talk with the man. She knew very well he had the hots for her, and had even flirted with her in Sunny's presence, which had driven her husband to jealous fury. "What can I do for you, Sandhuji?" she asked.

"I have some business for you."

"I hope you're not asking me to join your firm again."

"Not at all, you've made it clear you're a one woman operation. Actually, I have a potential client for you."

"Oh!"

"Yeah, well, he came to me because he's new to the city, but after some discussion we determined he wants to look for property in Queensborough, because it's near family in Richmond and an easy hop to the Alex Fraser Bridge to get out to Langley, where he works. We're a little swamped here, and since Queensborough is more your bailiwick, I thought I'd give you the commission."

"Oh, well, thank you! I'd be happy to show him a few properties I have in mind. Is it just for him?"

"Well, no, he has two kids to house as well, it looks to be a joint custody arrangement; I think he's divorcing his wife."

"There are some lovely little houses in the Port Royal area that would be perfect for him. Oddly enough, the house owned by Jordan Trevelyan is on the market; his family is liquidating his estate."

"Yikes." Jordan was the man Birinder's ex-wife was seeing, the man who'd mistakenly believed Birinder was an abusive husband and possibly a murderer. He was also the man Birinder's second wife lured to his death. "At least he didn't die in the house," Birinder said, rather callously in Tej's opinion.

"Your client isn't listening in right now, is he?"

"No, he's outside my office; we're free to discuss uncomfortable things. Do you have time to come here and meet him?"

"Oh! Now?"

"Well, his schedule's kind of all over the place. He's a police officer, so it's hard for him to schedule time in the future because his shifts could run into overtime. He happens to have time now."

"Hold on, let me pull over and check my calendar." She found a place along the curb to park the van and, while Birinder was still on speakerphone, checked her appointments. Luckily, she didn't have to take her father-in-law in for dialysis today, or she wouldn't be able to do anything else. It looked like she had no showings until this afternoon. "Okay, why don't I run over there now and meet him. Not sure how much I can show him today, but maybe we can drive out to Queensborough and view the area."