The phone call she received after she dropped the kids off at school was a surprise. She saw that it was Birinder Sandhu calling. He was the man they originally thought had done something bad to his wife Naira, before they discovered there were two Nairas, and that the Naira they were worried about was actually his ex-wife and on the run from a different danger altogether, while the Naira he was currently married to turned out to be the one who did something bad.
She answered the phone on its hands free device and said, "This is Tej Parhar."
"Tej, hi! Birinder Sandhu, here. How are you?"
"I'm doing well, Mr. Sandhu, and you?"
"As well as can be expected. Still getting used to being single again; my wife may have electrocuted me and hung me from a ceiling, but I still miss her."
She burst out laughing. "I hope you're joking."
"Only a little. Hey, has Sunny started his term, yet?"
"Tonight's his first Council meeting."
"Fantastic."
Tej didn't want to engage in too much small talk with the man. She knew very well he had the hots for her, and had even flirted with her in Sunny's presence, which had driven her husband to jealous fury. "What can I do for you, Sandhuji?" she asked.
"I have some business for you."
"I hope you're not asking me to join your firm again."
"Not at all, you've made it clear you're a one woman operation. Actually, I have a potential client for you."
"Oh!"
"Yeah, well, he came to me because he's new to the city, but after some discussion we determined he wants to look for property in Queensborough, because it's near family in Richmond and an easy hop to the Alex Fraser Bridge to get out to Langley, where he works. We're a little swamped here, and since Queensborough is more your bailiwick, I thought I'd give you the commission."
"Oh, well, thank you! I'd be happy to show him a few properties I have in mind. Is it just for him?"
"Well, no, he has two kids to house as well, it looks to be a joint custody arrangement; I think he's divorcing his wife."
"There are some lovely little houses in the Port Royal area that would be perfect for him. Oddly enough, the house owned by Jordan Trevelyan is on the market; his family is liquidating his estate."
"Yikes." Jordan was the man Birinder's ex-wife was seeing, the man who'd mistakenly believed Birinder was an abusive husband and possibly a murderer. He was also the man Birinder's second wife lured to his death. "At least he didn't die in the house," Birinder said, rather callously in Tej's opinion.
"Your client isn't listening in right now, is he?"
"No, he's outside my office; we're free to discuss uncomfortable things. Do you have time to come here and meet him?"
"Oh! Now?"
"Well, his schedule's kind of all over the place. He's a police officer, so it's hard for him to schedule time in the future because his shifts could run into overtime. He happens to have time now."
"Hold on, let me pull over and check my calendar." She found a place along the curb to park the van and, while Birinder was still on speakerphone, checked her appointments. Luckily, she didn't have to take her father-in-law in for dialysis today, or she wouldn't be able to do anything else. It looked like she had no showings until this afternoon. "Okay, why don't I run over there now and meet him. Not sure how much I can show him today, but maybe we can drive out to Queensborough and view the area."
"Sounds great."
"Tell the client I'll be there in ten minutes."
"Will do. See you then."
He hung up, and she quickly drove home to grab her bag, which held her working documents and current listings, and let her in-laws know she was meeting a client and that if they needed her they could call her cell.
She parked on Columbia Street in the back-in pay parking as close to Birinder's office as she could. When she entered she found a rather large white man with buzzcut hair sitting in the waiting room. Before she had the opportunity to take him in, Birinder stepped out of his office and smiled. "There you are," he said. "I'd like to introduce you to Patrick Marinvile."
"Patrick... Marinville," she repeated slowly, unable to believe what she'd heard.
At the sound of his name, the large man stood to full height, and Tej suddenly wished she had a way of backing out of this.
"Hello," he said.
"Hi!" she said too brightly, offering her hand, incredulous at herself for giving him any opportunity to get a hold of her. If Birinder weren't standing right there, instinct might have held her back. "I'm Tej Parhar."
He took her hand and shook just long enough to be polite before letting go. He didn't crush her hand; he was probably aware of how large and strong he was, and purposefully moderated himself to mitigate the damage he could cause. "Good to meet you," he said.
"Mr. Sandhu says you're new to the city," she said.
He nodded. "Yeah, I lived in Kelowna until I got transferred to the RCMP detachment in Langley, and I've been renting a small apartment there while I sorted myself out. I need something bigger for the kids, and since they're currently living at their grandparents' in Richmond, I thought I should move closer to them while being able to get to work in a good amount of time."
She nodded. "If you go to work in the mornings, you'd be going against traffic, so that would save time. Did you say the Langley detachment?"
His brow furrowed. "Yeah, why?"
"I'm acquainted with someone who also works there. Joanie Mara?"
He smiled brightly at that. "I know Sergeant Mara. What a coincidence!"
Tej couldn't help being amused at the obvious crush the man must have on Joanie; his face didn't hide emotion well. Could this man have been capable of murdering his lover's husband? "Well, if you're looking for property in Queensborough, I have some listings you can look at. Would you like to take a drive out there? You can get a feel for the neighbourhood and the amenities. There's an elementary and middle school across a park from each other, a community centre in the vicinity of both, a shopping complex down the road including a Wal-Mart and other outlet stores. It's quite a nice bedroom community."
He smiled and said, "You're selling me already. Yeah, I have a couple of hours before I have to take off for work."
"All right, why don't I give you the specs for the ones I have now, and while you're reviewing them I can make a phone call."
"Would you like me to come with the two of you?" Birinder asked.
Tej blinked in surprise. "I thought you said you were swamped."
Birinder cleared his throat and looked askance at Patrick, who smirked and said, "I think he's offering to accompany you while you're with the big scary stranger. I understand completely."
"Oh!" She looked at Birinder, who squirmed a little and... was that a blush? She turned back to Patrick. "You're not offended?"
He shook his head. "I know the effect I have on people."
"Okay." She turned back to Birinder. "If you have the time," she said, giving him a grateful glance.
"No problem, I'll just tell my associates," he said, walking away.
Tej turned back to Patrick and said, "Pardon me for a second, I just need to make a phone call."
She walked outside and dialled the number from her contacts.
"Hello, my love," Sunny said when he answered.
Before she could answer, she heard another voice pop up. "Hi, Tej! It's Tori."
Tori Ramos was Sunny's paralegal. She was also his campaign manager leading up to the election that won him the Council seat. Tej was normally grateful for Tori's capable presence in her husband's life, since she made sure Sunny got home for dinner, but at the moment she felt irritated, because she needed to talk to Sunny alone and quickly, and their close, sibling-like relationship was inconvenient right now. "Hi, Tori," she said through gritted teeth. "Am I on speakerphone right now?"
"Yes, we're in my office with the door closed, so no fear of being overheard," Sunny said.
"Uh-huh."
"In fact, Tori and I were just going over details of Agnes' case, how we're going to keep a record of my work for tax purposes since it'll be pro bono."
"Oh, okay. Since Tori knows about this, maybe she can listen in, after all."
"Oh? What's up?"
"I'm at Birinder Sandhu's office right now."
"Oh, are you now?" Sunny asked in mock jealousy that Tej knew hid real jealousy. "Is he trying to lure you over to his firm again?"
"No, luckily. He actually sent a client my way."
"Oh, well, that's nice of him."
"You'll never guess who it is."
Sunny was quiet a moment. Tori said, "I'm intrigued. Who?"
Tej looked back into the agency to see if the man was still in there and not close enough to hear her. "Patrick Marinville."
"Holy shit," Sunny breathed. "He's in town?"
"Yeah. He said he wants to live in Queensborough because he wants to be close to family in Richmond and close to the Alex Fraser Bridge to take him to the highway to Langley, where he works."
"Damn it, he's closer than we thought."
"Wait, this is the man who's married to Agnes?" Tori asked.
"I'm almost certain of it," Tej said. "I'm driving to Queensborough with him to see the neighbourhood and wanted to let you know."
Sunny was quiet a moment before he said, "You're not going to be alone with him are you?"
"No, Birinder's coming too."
"I bet he's thrilled to be accompanying you, but I'll feel better knowing someone else is there."
"Wait, is this guy dangerous?" Tori asked.
"Not necessarily," Sunny said. "This guy's a cop, so violence is a necessary part of his work, but not his first resort. Still, it doesn't hurt to be cautious."
Tej realized Sunny hadn't told Tori about the murder. That was between Agnes and Mandeep Randhawa, Sunny's colleague in criminal law and friend of their family. She wondered if the two had gotten together yet, but couldn't ask him in Tori's presence.
"So, do you think I'm doing the right thing?" she asked.
"How do you mean?"
"Taking him on as a client, knowing what I know. Now I wish hadn't sat in with you and Agnes in the beginning. I don't know if I can be completely impartial with this guy."
To Sunny's credit, he took a moment to think about it. "The only thing that might arise from this is an allegation of conflict of interest. It would look fishy if this guy finds out you're the wife of the guy who's representing his ex in divorce proceedings."
"Oh, shit, I didn't even think about that," Tej said. "I was thinking about being in a position to snoop on him and relaying that information back to the LSDC."
"Another case for you to stick your noses in?" Tori asked. She was well acquainted with their group of friends and their propensity for being drawn into intrigue.
"Honestly, I considered that a plus," Sunny said. "We'd at least know where he lived, in case we had to send a P.I. to sit on him." He thought about it some more. "You know what, I think it'll be okay if you're his agent. We're providing two completely different services."
"Okay."
"In fact, once I'm off the phone with you, I'm going to call Lauren just to let her know and get things started."
Tej smiled. "You know she's going to do everything in her power to tail us, now."
"But she's still laid up from her injuries," Sunny said, but from his tone Tej knew he didn't even believe what he was saying.
Tej looked back again and noticed Birinder and Patrick were about to exit the agency. "Well, we'll see. I better go, I think we're getting ready."
"Call me if there's any update."
"Bye, my love."
"Bye."
She hung up and looked to the two men, one much larger than the other, as they emerged on to the sidewalk. She put on her brightest smile and said, "Shall we?"
Thanks for reading this far! If you liked what you just read, hit "Vote" to send this title up the ranks. If anything doesn't ring true about conflict of interest, leave a comment and let me know. I strive for authenticity.
To see how the rest of the LSDC react to the revelation that Agnes' husband is back in town, click on "Continue reading."