Justiciar had a new client. "Westminster Law Group is a firm of barristers and solicitors operating in New Westminster," Ralph Rose, Lauren's partner, informed her. By this time Justiciar had grown, and Lauren had been given the chance to invest and become a full partner in the firm. She'd discussed it with Joe, and they'd both agreed it was a good investment to make, so she'd bought a share and joined Ralph and Gary Somers as the third partner, and she now had her own office and could help make decisions about the clientele they accepted. "They perform work in family law and in wills and estates. They'd like us to perform investigative work for their divorce clients."
She knew what Ralph meant. Adultery made up the bulk of Lauren's work. "Sounds right up our alley," she said.
"They'd like an initial meet with one of us to discuss our services. How's your calendar? I'm afraid the date and time they're asking for doesn't work for me, and you know Gary's on vacation."
Lauren checked her phone and saw it did indeed work for her, her calendar happened to be clear for that time. "If you can send Sanderson to replace me on surveillance on Dobrev, I'll be able to make it."
"Will do," Ralph said, making a note to himself. "You'll be able to make it to New Westminster in that time?"
"Oh, so it is in New Westminster," she said. "Sometimes the name of a firm is just a name. Yeah, no problem, I grew up there, did I ever tell you?"
"I don't think you did."
"Yeah. It was actually Queensborough, across the bridge, but it's still part of New West."
"How was it growing up there?"
"Good. Very good." To explain everything she'd experienced would take way too much time, and she had another surveillance job to run to. "Send me the calendar invite? I have to run."
"No worries."
Later, as she was sitting in her car with her camera in her lap, the ding of the phone drew her attention away for a second, and she saw the invite from Ralph. It noted the date and time of the meeting, and the address of the firm, which looked downtown, if she remembered her geography correctly. It also noted the name of the partner she would be meeting at the firm.
Sunil Singh Parhar.
Why did that name sound familiar?
Her gasp startled her almost as much as the realization that she knew this name, and the possibility that this Sunil Singh Parhar was the same person as the skinny kid she knew growing up made her tingle with excitement, and almost threw her off her game when her target suddenly emerged from a house at which he did not live, and kissed a woman who was not his wife. She was only just able to snap a few pictures in time before the man climbed into his car. She'd already taken pictures of the car, the plate number, and the house with its address, but she'd nearly missed the money shot. She quietly castigated herself for being unprofessional, and at the same time felt that sweetly painful tug of nostalgia.
It could have been a different person, she knew, and she prepared herself for disappointment, but when she met him, his eyes lit up, and there was that grin she remembered. "Holy shit!" he said. "Lauren! It's really you!"
She couldn't help herself. She threw herself into his arms right there in front of his colleagues, and they were both wiping tears from their eyes when they unlocked.
He directed her to his office to escape curious eyes. When she sat down she examined this gorgeous man in front of her and wondered what had happened to that skinny boy. He had a beard, now, and a turban, and an expensive suit. His smile was goofy, though, thrilled with this sudden reunion.
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Rude Awakenings: A Novel of the Terribly Acronymed Detective Club (Book 2)
غموض / الإثارةTwo years have passed since the five members of the Lawrence Street Detective Club reunited in the novel, "We Find What Is Lost," picking up where they left off thirty years earlier, to help Rachel clear her name and take down the man who framed her...
