Rude Awakenings: A Novel of the Terribly Acronymed Detective Club (Book 2)

Chapter Twenty-Three: Lauren, Summer, 2009

Lauren was in her office, practicing her iaido exercises. It was her lunch break, although investigators didn't have scheduled breaks the way office workers might. Stakeouts could proceed for hours without breaks, and they often had to eat while watching, even pee in bottles stashed in their car to throw out later. Today was a rare day when she wasn't out on duty, and she used the time for this particularly singular method of exercise and meditation. No calls came through to her office line, and her cell phone was off for this brief period of time, so that even Joe had to leave a message if he needed her.

When she finished, she left her office line blocked but checked her cell phone. To her surprise, she saw she had a voicemail from Westminster Law Group. Probably Sunny. He remained the liaison to the firm. She dialled voicemail.

"Hey, Lauren, Sunny here. I have another job for you, but this isn't the usual kind. Call me back and I'll give you the details."

Curious, she didn't even change out of her gear, but did put her sword back on its rack, before calling him back. "Hey, Sunny, what's up?" she asked.

"You're not going to believe this," he said.

"What is it?"

"Remember Martha Anderson? From Queensborough?"

"Yeah? The older woman who helped us that time with the Trybeks? And who was kind of a mentor to Rachel?"

"Yeah, that's her."

"She came to my wedding because Joe's family invited her. She must have passed away years ago, though."

"As a matter of fact, she only just passed away now."

"What?!" she squawked. "She was old back then! How old was she when she died, a hundred?"

"A hundred and four, actually."

"Fuck," she breathed. "So, what, was there an obituary in the paper over there?"

"There was, in the New Westminster Record, which you may or may not know was the old Royal City Record we used to deliver."

"Oh, yeah. I gave it up after Rachel left."

"But the reason I'm actually calling you is, our firm represents her estate."

Lauren blinked. "You're shitting me."

"Believe me, I'm as surprised as you are."

"So... okay, so, she has a will?"

"Yes, they drew it up some years ago, before I started there. I was given the file to review just today. I've read the will. Now, here is where we need you."

"I'm intrigued. An investigator for a will?"

"For the most part it's pretty straightforward. The beneficiaries are clearly laid out and they'd been in constant contact with Mrs. Anderson. There's no next of kin to track down. There's one person, though, we do need to find, and we can't find her."

"Her?"

Sunny let a moment go by without saying anything.

"What?" Lauren asked, perturbed.

"That person is Rachel."

Lauren gasped. "Our Rachel?!"

"Yup. Rachel McWilliam."

"And you... you want to hire me to find her?!"

Sunny chuckled sheepishly, and Lauren could picture that grin on his face. "She's proving hard to find. It could be she has a married name we just don't know about."