So Sweet a Changeling: A Novel of the Terribly Acronymed Detective Club (Book 6)

Chapter Twenty-Nine: Lauren, Saturday

Lauren was pissed. Partly she was pissed at Quinton Lamar, the investigator who was supposed to have sat on Dr. Brian Beckham yesterday but got into a car accident while following him, forcing her to pick up the trail and potentially losing valuable time finding evidence of malfeasance. 

Mostly she was pissed at herself, though, for promising Rachel she'd make time for her on Friday and then having to run off when she might have had time in the office to deliver on that promise. She hated going back on her promises, and she hated disappointing her best friend and lover. She hadn't even been able to talk to Rachel before she'd gone home last night, because she'd still been out on surveillance, and Rachel and Al had to take the Skytrain home. She couldn't even apologize to her.

Now here she was, on her second evening on surveillance of Dr. Beckham, all the way over in Surrey because she was tailing him from the hospital, and no closer to getting anything on him than she was yesterday. She still hadn't talked to Rachel yet. She needed to make it up to her. She'd do something big for her. She'd taken her for granted lately, after everyone in the LSDC had decided to open their marriages, and she'd let their relationship fall by the wayside. 

She'd even let herself become consumed with thoughts of Joanie, of all people, while talking to Rachel, and that had felt like a betrayal, knowing that Rachel and Joanie weren't on the best terms. Joanie was a guilty pleasure, an opportunity grabbed at because she happened to be in the right place at the right time, but she loved Rachel, and she owed her for always being there for her, even when Lauren hadn't always behaved well toward her, Monday's fun with her husband being only the most recent example.

An idea came to her then, as she was following behind Dr. Beckham's silver Mercedes S Class sedan. She'd give Rachel a gift she'd wanted for over a year, now. Maybe it was guilt over what she'd done with Joanie that had inspired her, and maybe one day she'd get Joanie to use this gift on her too, but if it made Rachel happy, wasn't that all that mattered?

The Mercedes continued south on King George Boulevard, into the Newton area. She knew Dr. Beckham lived in White Rock, so there was every possibility he was about to connect with Highway 99, which would take him the rest of the way home. His shift was over, and he couldn't be blamed for wanting to get some much needed rest. She resolved to cut her tail if he turned into the street where he lived.

Just before King George Boulevard intersected with Highway 10, however, the Mercedes put on its left turn signal. It was turning into a motel called the Bella Vista.

Well, well, well.

She continued on, then hit 64th Avenue and turned back around, hoping that by the time she got to the motel he would have parked and either gone into the office to get a room or gone into a room. 

The driveway into the motel was long, and that wasn't ideal, because the office was at the mouth of the driveway. She couldn't plant herself there and use a telephoto lens without attracting the attention of the management. She'd developed a rapport with the management of other motels, and some even brought her coffee and had a chat with her while she was in their parking lot, but those relationships had taken time to develop. She hadn't been to this motel before, and she had no idea if the management was friendly or not.

She stopped at the barn-shaped office and left her car running as she entered it. A young man who barely looked out of his teens sat behind the desk, atop which sat spinners for various pamphlets advertising tourist destinations in B.C. He was busy scrolling on his phone, not even looking up when she opened the door.

"Hi!" she said as pleasantly as she could. "Did a man just come into this office?"

He shook his head without looking up. "No one's been in here for hours."