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

Chapter Thirty-Four: Lauren, Monday

Al agreed to drive again. Lauren dozed a little, head against the window, lulled by the wheels rolling underneath her. Apparently, she hadn't slept enough with that hard nap on the couch.

When he'd appeared at her door, she'd been both disappointed that it hadn't been Joe standing there, and relieved to see him; she'd wished she hadn't sent him away yesterday, and that she'd even invited him to stay overnight, a dangerous proposition after what they'd done, supposedly under the influence of pharmaceuticals. Unlike her, he'd had no one to go home to, and she would have appreciated him just being there, sitting next to her on the couch, willing to talk with her through the night, or not talk, just to hold the darkness at bay, or at least to distract her from going back to look at Joe's phone. He could have been someone to lean against, to be there for her in Joe's absence, as she'd been there for her children. Maybe that was dangerous, too. Leaning might lead to an arm around the shoulder, snuggling, then mouths finding each other and...

She snapped awake, realizing her thoughts had formed an uncomfortable daydream.

"You okay?" Al asked, glancing at her for a second before turning his eyes back to the road.

"Fine," she said. "Fell asleep there for a second."

He nodded knowingly. "That happened to me at the police station. They let me have a catnap in the interview room."

"And probably watched you the whole time."

"I don't know. I didn't see any cameras, and there wasn't one way glass or anything. Of course, Sunny thought I was crazy being there without a lawyer, and especially for giving them my blood."

"Sunny can go fuck himself."

Al blinked in surprise. "That's a little harsh."

"I'm sorry, but Sunny doesn't know what it's like to not know where his wife is, and his high horse attitude hasn't been endearing me to him lately. Maybe if he and Tej hadn't walked out in a huff, they might have known where Joe and Rachel went."

"While that is true, in their defence they had no idea what happened that night would have happened."

"What I can't understand is, if we were being obnoxiously indecent, wouldn't they have twigged that something was wrong? It's not like that's a pattern of behaviour for you and me."

He shrugged with his hands on the wheel. "Who knows? Maybe they just thought we were loaded and needed to sleep it off."

"Well, if giving your blood to be sampled tells us what we were really on, then I'm grateful you took one for the team, Al."

He smiled. "I thought you might have agreed with Sunny, in light of your relationship with the police."

"Do you mean personal or professional?"

"Both, I guess."

She thought about it a second. "I'm willing to suspend my prejudices if it results in finding Joe and Rachel."

He nodded and continued driving in silence for a few minutes. Then he said, "Maybe it was a little dangerous, being there without a lawyer."

"Why do you say that?"

"They were suspicious of why I went there with a hammer, and I could tell they didn't really believe me about wanting to protect myself in a dangerous situation."

"You brought a hammer, huh?"

"You did tell me to bring something."

"I did. I still think it was the right thing to do, even if the police think it's suspicious."