The Lawrence Street Detective Club walked into a bar. It sounded like the opening line for a joke, but that was what happened.

As a rule, Sunny didn't go to bars and pubs. His religion discouraged the drinking of alcohol, so why court temptation by entering an establishment that served it? The thing was, he went to restaurants that also served alcohol and managed to resist temptation just fine, so he didn't think he'd fare any worse entering the Kicking Horse Bar and Grill, on Fraser Highway in Langley. Besides, drinking alcohol would be detrimental to him right now, because he needed to be alert. He was on a case, and he was acting as an extra set of eyes and ears for his wife.

Being an adherent of a religion that forbade alcohol, he had great respect for members of other faiths that did as well, and he shook Constable Fatima al-Rashad's hand before they went inside and said, "You're doing a great service keeping an eye on the entrance and on the guy who took your pictures without your consent."

The police officer, now out of uniform and dressed for winter in a puffy coat over snow pants even though it had only snowed a few centimetres the night before, smiled brightly. Her face, where exposed by her purple hijab under a very Canadian toque, was pretty, her skin a shade lighter than his and his wife's. "I feel like the rest of you are pulling more weight than I am, though," she said.

"Nonsense. You'll be out here in the cold."

"I'll be in my car, looking through binoculars. I can turn the heat on, at least."

"Still, you didn't have to come out tonight. Isn't Friday your holy day?"

Fatima shrugged. "It's after sun down now, so technically it's over." She looked at the others, and her gaze rested on Lauren and Al a little longer than the others. Her brow furrowed, and she said, "You two look familiar. Have we met before?"

Lauren actually looked sheepish when she said, "Yeah, actually. A couple of years ago, Al here got arrested for speeding and fleeing the police."

Fatima gasped and brightened. "Yeah, but it was you I remember! You threw that guy because he had your sword!"

Lauren chuckled. "Yup. I got the sword back, thanks."

"I'll always remember that because of the sword, it was so out of the ordinary for a Sunday night."

They shook hands with her, entered the bar and took their stations as they'd planned before coming here: Lauren, Rachel and Tej were sitting at a table, posing as a group of women enjoying a TGIF night out, none of them wearing their wedding and engagement rings. Seeing Tej without hers tugged a little at Sunny's heart, but he knew they had to do it to appear as proper bait; not that a lot of men wouldn't hit on them anyway, they were all gorgeous in clothes they didn't normally wear in day-to-day life. Tej was in the clingy black sheath dress she wore the night she seduced Joe; Rachel was in form fitting jeans and an emerald green halter top; Lauren, apparently, was in the tiny dress she wore when entrapping the man who was later discovered to be a rapist. Seeing all that exposed skin, the cherry blossom tattoo peeking under the spaghetti strap of Lauren's dress, made Sunny remember his own fabulous evening last Saturday, when she and Rachel had been naked, wet and all lathered up, doing things to his body that only Tej had been allowed to do up until then, and to his embarrassment he felt himself swelling down below, and chided himself for his lack of focus. 

Al and Joe sat on stools at opposite ends of the bar, both with direct lines of sight to the women's table. Sunny was to take a booth near the back of the bar, and Joanie was going to enter and sit on her own. From there they would all see what happened, and respond as a team.

"Agnes called Sunny today," Tej said. "They've released the house to her after installing security features, like a front door camera, to make her feel safe when she moves in."

"Did you take the opportunity to stake out the place like you said?" Rachel asked.

"I did," Tej said, feeling pleased with herself. "And thank you Lauren for taking me with you on one of your stakeouts to show me the basics. I did exactly what you did, and no one seemed to notice me."

"Star student," Lauren said, smiling.

"Lucky," Rachel mock whined. "Lauren never takes me on stakeouts."

"You have an actual job to do at the firm, and that's following money, not people," Lauren told her. 

Rachel blew a raspberry at her and asked Tej, "So? Spot anyone?"

"No," Tej said sadly. "Not aside from that retired detective. Rhodes, was it? He strolls regularly around the neighbourhood. Either he considers himself the neighbourhood watch, or he's lonely and has nothing to do. I'm afraid it's probably the latter. Retirement must suck."

"I can't afford to retire, so I'll never know," Rachel grumbled.

"You get paid well," Lauren protested.

"Yeah, but I was wiped out by that scandal, remember? I was out of work for months, couldn't collect Employment Insurance because I was fired, had to draw on my RRSPs. I started back from square one in my forties, so I hope your firm isn't ageist, because I'll be coming into work with a walker one day, just like Al did, but unlike him I'll never stop needing it."

"Anyway, I wasn't finished," Tej said to get them back on track; Rachel was starting to be a downer, and the last thing Tej wanted was to feel sorry for her. "What I didn't see was police staking out the house after they were finished with it. I think if Agnes isn't there, they're not going to waste man hours on an empty house. Maybe that's what the cameras are for; if they have a direct line to the police, they can send officers to the house if they spot someone suspicious."

"I guess Agnes is still at my place," Rachel said. "Al told me she and Joanie have been bonding."

"Does she talk a lot with Al when you're not there?" Tej asked.

"They have lunch whenever Agnes is working downtown at the same time he is," Rachel said, shrugging.

"You don't think she's... um... moving in on him, do you?"

"Oh, I'm almost certain of it. She's wrangled a ticket to the ice wine event in Kelowna tomorrow because Logan's not coming and she has to be in Kelowna anyway to give testimony to the prosecutor. Al's going to have two beautiful women on his arm tomorrow night."

"You lay down the law with her," Lauren said. "Al's only allowed two, and he already has me."

"Fuck off," Rachel said, chuckling. "If I want to share him with others I have every right to, just like you do with Joe."

Tej blushed at that, knowing she was one of the beneficiaries of Lauren's largesse.

"That actually brings me to something I wanted to bring up tonight," Lauren said, leaning in, "While we're waiting for the target to enter the bar, why don't we discuss something while we're out of ear-shot of the guys."

"What's that?" Tej asked.

"Let's compare notes on them, now that all three of us have had them."

"Jesus, Lauren," Rachel said, chuckling and shaking her head. 

"I haven't had Al, remember," Tej said, flushing at this frank opening. 

"So, then," Lauren said. "Joe. How was he?"

"I don't want to say," Tej whined. "I thought we weren't going talk about this after it happened, to prevent hard feelings."

"I'll start, then," Rachel said, apparently unconcerned about anyone's feelings. "It's kind of like making love to a brick wall. What he has in size, he lacks in the motion department. Don't get me wrong, the size has its benefits, especially down below."

"Rachel!" Tej said, feeling scandalized. 

"It's okay," Lauren said. "I know perfectly well how big he is. Did it hurt going in, Tej?"

"Shit," Tej breathed, and leaned in. "Okay, fine. If you want to know, I never came so often or so hard before I mounted that monster. I was so wet I think I ruined your sheets."

Lauren nearly did a spit take and coughed as her drink went down the wrong way. She was having a soft drink like Tej, which surprised her; maybe she wanted to stay alert. Rachel was having red wine. "Jesus, Tej," Rachel said. "I think you just made me ruin my underwear."

"Damn," Lauren said, still sputtering. "Poor Sunny."

"Look, I love Sunny, and I think he's much more attractive than Joe," Tej said. "It's like you said, Rachel, the brick wall thing."

"Okay, yeah, for me it's difficult because of the difference in our sizes," Lauren said. "I find myself doing most of the work, like I'm the gymnast and he's the apparatus."

Rachel snorted laughter. "The pommel horse. Giddyup."

"That's why I like Al," Lauren went on. "He's my finesse man. We can move together and I don't worry he'll flatten me."

"He's good in a threesome too," Rachel said. "We use and abuse him and he loves every minute of it."

"Did I pass up an opportunity by not taking Al on?" Tej asked, beginning to feel wet herself at this exchange with two women who'd once used and abused her in the shower in a hotel room at Harrison Hot Springs.

They shrugged. "You can't just try a guy for the sake of trying him," Lauren said. "If he doesn't get your motor running, the sex won't be good no matter how hard he tries."

"The time limit got in the way, anyway," Rachel said. "And would you really have wanted to go downstairs to be with Al right after you were with Joe?"

"No," Tej said, sighing. "I don't think I could have even stood for a while after I was with Joe, my legs were so shaky."

"Jesus," Rachel breathed.

"But you went downstairs," Tej said to Lauren. "After you were with my husband."

"I didn't fuck him," Lauren said. "I still wanted the main event. Sunny gave me nice oral, though."

"That guy probably thought he'd died and gone to heaven, being offered two pussies like he was at a buffet," Rachel said.

Tej suddenly felt very warm, even though the pub hadn't filled up yet and the night outside was below zero. "And you, Rachel?" she said. "How was he?"

Rachel shrugged. "He did the job. Very attentive. The beard was a little itchy, although it felt great down below. I loved washing his hair."

"Me too," Lauren said. "My God, all that hair, Tej, do you just want to wrap yourself in it, sometimes?"

"Ha!" Tej took a sip of her cola to cool herself down. "I guess I'm used to it."

"Speaking of one guy after another," Lauren said, "now comes the next goal: threesome with two guys."

"Really?" Rachel said, brow furrowing.

"Yeah, why the hell not? Why does it always have to be the two of us with one of them?"

Rachel shrugged. "I guess I've never been that ambitious."

Lauren looked dreamy as she said, "I want Joe on one end and Al on the other. I told Joe once that I wanted that, but he didn't seem keen."

"I can imagine," Rachel said, chuckling, "since Joe hates Al. I can't imagine the two of them in a room together, naked. Remember, this only started because you and I were already having sex, and we invited Al in."

"Yeah," Lauren said, sighing in resignation.

"Is it true you two also had a threesome with Joe?" Tej asked.

"Once," Rachel said. "It wasn't planned. I had Joe on top and I thought he was going to split me in two."

"Damn," Tej said. "Now, there's a goal."

"Get it, girl," Rachel said, smiling.

"I wouldn't mind having a threesome with Joe and one of you," Tej said.

"Ho, ho!" Lauren said. "I knew it, you're addicted now."

"To tell you the truth, they're better with Al," Rachel said. "I never thought I'd ever be in a position to compare, but there it is."

"Actually, I agree," Lauren said. "Isn't that weird? I prefer having my husband to myself."

"What's mine is yours and what's yours is yours?" Rachel asked. "That sounds like you. Selfish bitch." She was smiling, though.

"I still want to try Joe and Al together though," Lauren said. "Pipe dream."

"Lauren, you're not recording any of this, are you?" Tej asked, suddenly remembering the tiny camera with microphone Lauren had pinned to her dress.

Lauren smirked. "Worried I'll play it back for the guys later? No, relax, this is just between us girls."

"Do you think the guys compare us like this?" Tej asked. 

"Uh, no," Rachel said. "Again, Joe and Al don't talk to each other, and neither of them feel comfortable discussing you with Sunny, because they both love the guy and don't want to offend him. You know Sunny is kind of the saint of our group, don't you?"

"And you two despoiled him," Tej said, not entirely lying.

The two shrugged but smiled, pleased with themselves.

"It's been... different, lately," Tej went on. "After last Saturday. I don't want to say it's bad, but... Sunny and I don't talk about it, and when we make love, it seems like he's trying too hard, you know?"

They nodded sadly. "Either because he thinks he can't compete with Joe, or he wants you to think his time with us wasn't as mind-blowing as it really was," Lauren said.

"Someone's confident," Tej said. "Did you two make love to your husbands, after? You know, to..."

"Make sure we're still okay?" Rachel said. "I did. I don't know about Lauren."

"Not me," Lauren said. "Joe went to go get his former, maybe not former mistress after her lover died, remember? Oh!" She snapped her fingers as something else came to her. "I also had to change my sheets."

She gave Tej a knowing smile, and Tej flushed with embarrassment.

Sunny wondered what they were talking about. He wished he had a listening device at their table. Women's conversation always fascinated him. They seemed to be laughing and having a good time. How often did the three of them go out together? He could only remember the one time they took their daughters out for a girls' day to celebrate the three daughters hitting puberty. Tej had confessed to him that the three of them had made out in the movie theatre while Harpreet, Naomi and Emma sat a few rows ahead watching the movie. That was where the three of them had started their little affair, given full expression at Harrison Hot Springs, and that had been what led to last Saturday, because Tej had felt guilty about having them when she knew Sunny wanted them too. 

Never in a million years did he think he'd ever get to fulfil his fantasy, but it had happened, and although it was fantastic, he couldn't help feeling something biting at the edges of his conscience. It wasn't just knowing he'd cheated on his wife quite happily, with two beautiful women at the same time; it was knowing she'd cheated on him, with Joe and his massive... knowing it had been inside her, seeing how shaky her legs were after it was over, like she'd climaxed multiple times... 

He shook himself out of his reverie as something caught the women's attention. He was glad of it, because he'd drive himself crazy if he thought about it any longer, and he wanted to stay friends with Joe, who, after all, had allowed Lauren to be with him, even if he hadn't had a chance to do to her what Joe had done to his wife (it didn't occur to him to feel guilty that Al had allowed him to be with Rachel without having Tej in return; Al had been in the bird dog seat for nearly two years without anyone being the wiser, sneaking behind Joe's back while Joe and Sunny had been at their hockey games.)

It was Lauren who touched her ear first; she had a bluetooth set and was using it to communicate with Fatima outside. Fatima must have spotted the target. Lauren nodded at something she heard, touched her ear again and continued chatting with Rachel and Tej. They weren't supposed to let on that they were looking for anyone. That was what the men were doing.

Sunny looked to the entrance as the doors opened and a group of men entered. They looked like any group of middle class guys out on a Friday night, looking to drink and have a good time. They picked a table, and one of them strode up to the bar to grab a pitcher of beer while the other three held the table. Almost immediately they began throwing looks toward Rachel, Lauren and Tej, and Sunny wondered if it was because they were beautiful or if they were faces the men had never seen in the bar before.

Now came the time of high alertness, waiting for something to happen while playing it cool. Within minutes Sunny realized he was the weak link in this chain, standing out not only because of his turban but because he was alone in a booth, and other bar goers were giving him the eye as the bar began to fill. Sunny felt like he had to order some food in order to justify holding a booth with only a soft drink. The only thing that came close to being vegetarian on the menu was fries, and he had to ask the server if they were fried in vegetable oil before he felt comfortable ordering them. Even when he began nibbling on his fries, he still couldn't ignore the stares of other groups looking to sit; he knew they were working up to courage to ask to share his table. He knew he'd have to let them or look like an asshole.

"Hey! Sunny! Fancy meeting you here!"

Sunny hadn't even noticed Joanie had entered the bar until she was standing at his table. Her coat was open, and she was wearing a stunning green dress that showed off her muscular body; he thought she might have worn that dress at his campaign opener, when she arrived on Joe's arm, the two looking like they could have fought the entire room and been the last ones standing.

He couldn't help smiling at her, not only because she was glowing like a star, but because he was so relieved she'd saved him from further discomfort at being alone. "Joanie!" he said, faking disbelief, because he was aware she was playing a part and wanted him to play one too. "Oh my God! How long has it been?!"

"Give me a hug! It's so good to see you!" she exclaimed.

He stood from the booth and obliged, uncomfortably aware of three things: one, Joanie was taller than him, and his eyes barely saw over her shoulder; two, her rock hard body, covered only by a thin layer of cotton, felt very good in his arms; three, Tej was locking eyes with him from their table, and she didn't look pleased. Neither did Joe, from his place at the bar. He unlocked as soon as a man married to someone else should and said, "Join me, please," gesturing to the booth.

"Are you waiting for someone?" she asked, still playing the part.

"I guess they're late."

She removed her coat, revealing shoulders Sunny wished he had himself. The dress showed all her best features without being too revealing. They sat, and Joanie leaned in and said, as low as she could to still be heard over the din of the bar, "You looked like you needed company."

"Thank you."

"Did they notice us hugging?"

"Tej and Joe?"

"No, that table of guys that just sat down."

"Oh, shit, I didn't notice. Is one of them the one you think took the pictures?"

"Fatima thinks so, but it's been a couple of months, so it's hard to say."

"They certainly noticed the women before you entered."

"I didn't think I'd be competing with them for the target's attention. If Lauren were wearing any less fabric they'd be assigning her a pole."

"Not nice."

Joanie had the decency to look sheepish. "Sorry, I'm being a bitch. Maybe I'm just aware of how attractive she is, and why Joe married her in the first place. Do you know she once offered to have a threesome with Joe and me? I kind of wish I took her up on it, now."

Sunny tugged at his collar. "I don't think I can concentrate on the mission now," he said. "I'm picturing you and Lauren doing things to each other."

"Sorry, I'll be good."

Sunny let his eyes drift to the table of guys, and noticed they were indeed casting glances Joanie's way. He looked back at Joanie, who was determinedly looking at him and no one else, and thought, if this were a purely social situation and neither of them were already attached, he'd find that focus on him quite flattering. He knew, though, she didn't want to let on that she was being watched.

"Yup, they're looking," he said.

"How far down is their pitcher?" she asked.

"Nearly empty. They must be thirsty."

"In ten minutes, if none of them go to the bar or order from the waitress, I'm going to go to the bar and order a drink."

"Hoping the target will sidle up to you?"

"Yes. I hope Joe will resist the temptation to punch him if he starts hitting on me."

"What do you think will happen?"

Joanie shrugged. "Honestly? I don't know. What I want you to do is pretend to leave. I'm not sure the target will approach me if he thinks you're with me. I'll leave my coat here and maybe the target will come to the table with me."

"What should I do once I've left?"

"Find Fatima in the parking lot, and take the tracking device from her that Lauren bought.  Neither of us can be seen using it without a warrant, even if we're off-duty."

This wasn't in the original plan Lauren had discussed with them beforehand, but it made a lot of sense to use one, even if it wasn't legal, just in case something bad happened tonight and they needed to track the guy down. He smirked and said, "Whereas I, an officer of the court, would be in the clear if I did?"

Joanie rolled her eyes. "Just don't get caught putting it in the wheel well of the target's car. Hopefully Fatima will have spotted which one it is."

Sunny sighed in resignation. He'd done riskier things and lived to tell the tale. He wanted to help Joanie, and this didn't seem like a lot to ask for.

When about ten minutes had elapsed, Sunny finished his soft drink, pushed his remaining fries to her to finish, got up and put his coat on. They pretended at wishing each other well and expressing regret that he had to leave, and then hugged again. He began walking out of the bar, and when Tej caught his eye and raised one eyebrow in question, he gestured with his head to Joanie, who was making her way to the bar. Tej followed Joanie's progress and leaned in to speak to Rachel and Lauren. Hopefully they would have what followed in hand.

When he was outside, he strode to the parking lot, looking around for Fatima. One of the cars in the lot shot its high beams twice, and he took that as a signal and went over to it. The window rolled down, and Fatima's face appeared. She had a pair of binoculars around her neck. She said, "The target's car is the poison green Dodge Challenger over there." She read him the plate number just in case he needed extra confirmation, although there was only one car of that description in the lot.

He looked around to make sure there were no eyes watching and no cameras mounted on the building or on poles overlooking them. Reasonably confident they were unseen, he accepted the latex gloves she handed him, pulled them on, and she pulled on her own. She then removed the tracking device from its case and handed it to him, and he ambled over to the Challenger. As smoothly as possible he made like he was checking his shoes for packed snow, squatting and reaching behind him to put the tracking device in the wheel well. It stuck with a magnetic thunk, and he scurried away as if he'd planted the bomb that had killed Patrick.

He walked back to Fatima's car, and she opened the door for him. He climbed into the passenger seat and bathed in the blessedly warm air blowing from the heater.

"Now we wait," Fatima said.

They only waited for a few minutes, but what happened wasn't what either of them expected. 

Someone in a padded coat with a hood pulled over their head approached the car at the driver's side, stood there facing the door for a moment, then calmly opened the door, climbed inside, started the engine and pulled away.

Sunny and Fatima looked at each other. "What the hell just happened?" Sunny asked.

"That wasn't one of the men in the group that arrived here in that car, was it?" Fatima asked.

"Not that I know. There were a few of them. Why would one drive away and leave the rest of them behind? Also, I don't think that guy came out of the bar."

Fatima stared at him open-mouthed. "Did he just steal that car?"

"I don't know, but I think it's the best explanation for what we saw."

"Fuck," Fatima breathed. "If that's true, our way of following the target home just drove away."

"Damn it," Sunny said, opening the car door. "I think I'm going to have to go tell the target he's lost his car."

Thanks for reading this far! Nothing ever goes smoothly for the LSDC when they're on a case, does it. If you liked what you read so far, hit "Vote" to send this title up the ranks. Leave a comment and let me know what you think!

Now, let's get to Al and a phone call he's not expecting by clicking on "Continue reading."