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

Chapter Sixty-Two: Lauren, Sunday

Mandeep Singh Randhawa was Sunny's colleague in criminal law, and happened to live in Surrey, but he made the drive out to Aldergrove as a favour to him. Sunny introduced him, and they all shook hands in the waiting room.

"Can we get him out tonight, do you think?" Rachel asked.

"I'll talk to Mr. Mackenzie first, and then have a chat with the police," Mr. Randhawa said. "We might be able to arrange a release on recognizance if this is his first offence. He will still have to appear before a judge, though."

He informed the front desk he was there to see Al, and they took him back to the holding area.

Lauren paced back and forth with her arms wrapped around herself. "This is my fault," she said. "If I'd just answered when Al called me, he wouldn't have gotten freaked out and taken the cops on a merry ride through the valley."

"Don't beat yourself up about it," Rachel said. "He didn't have to speed. He could have called the police himself and told them his concerns."

"I think he was reliving that terrible morning where we woke up with no memory of what happened, and you two were missing and weren't answering your phones." She craned her neck to look past the front desk. "They have my sword back there. I don't want to leave without it. I didn't answer Al's call because I wanted to know where it ended up and didn't want to take my eye off it. It started this whole mess, and I want to at least have it back to make it all worthwhile."

"I can't believe they let that guy make bail," Rachel grumbled.

Sunny said, "From what you described, Lauren, all they could really get him on for now was disturbing the peace with that struggle in the street, and maybe possession of stolen goods if they believe Lauren's story. He came out the worse for it, actually." He smiled. "I can't believe you tossed him just like Francis O'Rourke."

Lauren smiled too. "He never saw it coming. Were you able to get a good look at him, Rachel?"

Rachel shrugged. "I saw him through the one-way glass, but nothing about him sparked anything in my mind. There were at least five or six of them, and they were all wearing balaclavas."

Suddenly Lauren's phone rang. She checked the screen. Joe. She'd completely forgotten about Joe. Earlier she'd called her parents to tell them about Al's arrest and that she would be a little longer getting the kids. She hadn't even thought to call Joe. Where was her head?

She answered. "Hey, babe."

"Lauren?" he asked. "What's going on?"

"What do you mean?"

"I came home and the house was empty. I called and you didn't pick up."

"You did?"

"So, I called your parents, and the kids were still there," he went on. "I picked them up and took them home, and tried calling you again. You picked up this time, luckily."

"Babe, I'm really sorry," she said. "We're in kind of a weird situation over here."

"Who's we? And where's here?" He sounded quite irritated, and she supposed she couldn't blame him, he was completely out of the loop.

"Okay, so you know I was doing more surveillance on the MacDougall property," she explained. "I tracked her driving to a restaurant, and discovered she was meeting a man there. I called Rachel and Al about it, and Al was closer because he was at his mom's, so he offered to drive out to meet me and help with the surveillance."

"What?" Joe asked in confusion. 

"I know, it sounds stupid now that I describe it." She couldn't go on to explain that Al was rushing to her emotional aid as well, and that they might have gotten up to no good once he arrived. "Anyway, while he was on his way to Aldergrove, MacDougall and the man split up, and I decided to track the man. I followed him for a while, and he stopped on the side of the Fraser Highway in Aldergrove at this pawn shop. Guess what he was trying to pawn."