Joe felt another Incredible Hulk moment coming on as he saw his wife, along with Rachel and Tej, getting into it with the slimebag who'd moved in on Joanie, and the guy's three friends moving in to intervene. He looked over at Al, who was still on the phone with someone, his timing incredibly poor as always, and wondered who the hell was calling him at this hour, hoping it wasn't Logan with an emergency.

He sighed in frustration, downed the rest of his beer and rose from his stool, wondering if he'd be able to take four guys at once. Maybe Lauren could take one of them with an aikido move or a zap from her little illegal zapper, leaving a more manageable three. It would be best if this didn't have to come to blows, though, because then Joanie would have to get involved as an off-duty police officer, and the bouncers would also have to step in. This whole operation wasn't supposed to be on the books, and if they attracted the attention of the authorities they could get in a lot of trouble, and Joanie and her partner, Constable Fatima al-Rashad, would get in even worse trouble. Plus, he probably wouldn't be able to avoid jail time this time, if there was such a thing as three strikes, you're out in this province.

"Hey, whoa," he said as he approached the growing crowd. "What's going on?"

Lauren turned to him and said, "This man," pointing to the one who was talking to Joanie, "just went through the purse of the woman at that table."

She was playing the part of concerned stranger, making him play the same part. Joe wasn't a very good actor, because acting was a kind of lying, and he hated lying, despised lies. It was what had nearly drove Lauren and him apart, the keeping of secrets, the dissembling, the sneaking around behind the other's back. Oddly, last Saturday, he hadn't begrudged her visiting Al downstairs while he lay with Tej in their bed; he'd watched her pass by in her red kimono out of the corner of his eye and felt strangely resigned. Maybe it was because this time everyone had negotiated this, agreed on the ramifications. The lying had stopped... well, he still hadn't told her about that time with Rachel a couple of months ago, but as he was still catching up for all the times Lauren had been with Al...

Though he wasn't a good actor, he didn't need to feign the anger and indignation he felt on Joanie's behalf. What was required of him now was the appearance of objectivity a disinterested third party would convey.

"Is that right?" he said. He looked to the man and sized him up. Six feet, medium build, sandy blond hair. Jeans and a flannel button-down shirt. Totally nondescript, the typical patron of a bar like this. "What do you have to say for yourself?"

The man gulped at the sight of his much larger inquisitor but stood his ground. Arguing with three women was one thing, but this had gone to the next level. "I have no idea what they're talking about."

"I saw him do it!" Lauren said. "It was quick but the purse was right there on the table in view as I walked by."

Joe made a point of looking around. Two of the guy's friends had their phones out and were filming, maybe hoping to capture an assault on camera, and one looked to be heading to the bouncer at the door, probably in hopes of getting him to intervene.

To his surprise, Al appeared on his other side. "I heard what these women said," he said. "I'm filming, too. You're not going to get away with it, buddy." He directed this at the first man.

The man looked at Al, who was closer to his size, and felt braver about confronting him. "Fuck you," he said. "I don't answer to you."

"What happened to the woman sitting with you?" Joe asked, still playing the disinterested third party.

"She went to the bathroom."

"Thought you'd help yourself to her cash and credit cards while she was gone?" Al asked, and Joe fought a smirk. This reminded him of the time Al had been in the same jail cell with one of the guys who'd nearly beat Joe to death a couple of years ago, and had baited the man into revealing some useful information. Normally a non-confrontational man, he sometimes stepped up and needled other men who might hurt him if he wasn't careful.

Tonight was no exception, and Joe was only just able to hold the man back from flying at Al as he shouted, "I'm not a fucking thief! Fuck you!"

The third friend had by this time returned with the bouncer. "Hey! Hey! Break it up!" the bouncer shouted, putting himself between Al and the man Joe was holding back. "I think it's time for you all to go."

"They started it!" shouted the two men holding phones.

"He started it!" Lauren, Rachel and Tej retorted, pointing at the first man.

"You're all causing a disturbance!" the bouncer shouted. "If you don't clear out I'll call the police!"

"Call them," Al said. "This man went through the purse of the woman he was sitting with. She might want to press charges."

"I don't need to steal from anyone," the guy said with a smirk. "I make plenty of money. Did you see the green Dodge Challenger in the parking lot? That's mine."

Two things happened almost simultaneously. The first was Joanie reemerging from the bathroom. Joe saw her out of the corner of his eye, strolling to them as if nothing at all was the matter, her face politely curious at the coomotion in the middle of the bar.

The second was the reemergence of Sunny, whom Joe had seen leaving earlier for some reason. He looked around urgently, spotted them and shouted, "Does anyone here own a green Dodge Challenger?"

The owner turned around and said, "That's me."

"I think I just saw someone break into it."

"Shit!" The owner reached into his pocket for his phone. His friends put away theirs and charged for the door. Sunny stood aside for them. The bouncer accompanied the owner to the door as the owner dialled 911.

Joe looked at Al, whose mouth had fallen open. He looked to the three women, who were looking to the door in disbelief.

"What's going on?" Joanie asked as she reached them.

"I think your guy's car just got stolen," Joe said. He leaned in and asked, low enough that only they could hear, "You didn't ask Fatima to do it, did you?"

"No!" Joanie said with a laugh. "Why would I do that?"

"I think the best thing for us to do right now is get the hell out of here," Lauren said, "all in separate cars at separate times, and meet at an agreed upon place. This is a new development none of us expected."

"Good thinking," Al said.

"I should be responding if an actual crime has taken place," Joanie said.

"Fuck that," Rachel said. "He doesn't deserve your consideration after all he's done to you. Besides, you're supposed to be incognito."

"We'll leave first, then Joanie, then Al and you," Lauren said to Joe. "We'll text you the location in a minute. When we get there, Joanie, we're going to check your purse. Your man there was rummaging through it."

Joanie's face darkened. "That fucker. Did he spike my drink? That's what I was going to check for."

"We didn't see."

"Okay, go. We shouldn't be seen to be talking too long here."

 Al promptly returned to his stool. Joe returned to his, and Rachel, Lauren and Tej returned to their table, put on their coats and left. Joanie followed soon after. Five minutes later, Al put on his coat and left. Joe felt like he'd need to pay rent on the stool soon if he didn't order another drink, so he put on his coat and left. 

He didn't see where the others had gone, but he saw the guys from the confrontation gathered in the space where the Dodge Challenger must have been, all talking on their phones, pacing and gesturing. They must have all arrived in the same car to be so distressed about it; idly he wondered who was supposed to be the designated driver, since they'd all had a beer in their hands. It was probably better not to be around when the cops arrived.

He returned to the new Toyota Highlander he'd just leased with the insurance payout from the last one they'd wrecked, in the accident that had sent Al into his coma. He hoped the others had found rides and were discreet about it. He knew Lauren had taken the Versa, and Sunny and Tej had come in their car and met them here. There were more than enough vehicles to take them away.

His phone pinged with a text as he started his vehicle. It was Lauren. She wanted to meet at the Denny's on Mt. Lehman Road in Abbotsford, not too far away but far enough that hopefully they wouldn't run into anyone from the bar or RCMP officers, since Abbotsford had its own police force.

Within ten minutes he was gathered with them all again, seated at a long table in the middle of the restaurant, looking surprisingly glamorous among the usual clientele. Joanie and Fatima sat together so Fatima wouldn't feel overwhelmed at all the people she didn't know. Sunny and Tej sat on Fatima's other side, the three of them chatting like old friends. Rachel, Lauren and Al, of course, sat together, but at least they left a seat next to Lauren empty for Joe to sit.

"We've been here before," Lauren said. "That's how I knew to come here."

Joe frowned. "I don't remember ever coming here."

"No, sorry, I meant Sunny, Al and I have been here before. That night we were looking for you at your Aldergrove site, when we dug up Charlie? We came here after to fuel up and have coffee because we were so exhausted from little sleep."

"And meanwhile, Joe and I were probably already at VGH, if I have my timing right," Rachel said.

Joe nodded and turned to Al. "Al, who were you on the phone with, before?"

"Oh, yeah," Rachel said, "I saw that too, but I forgot about it when we got in that argument with the guy. You looked spooked."

Al grimaced. "Oh, shit, yeah. My mom called. Samson's at the animal hospital."

"What?!" Rachel squawked. "Is he okay?"

"He had to have surgery to relieve a blocked urinary tract."

"Shit, sorry, Al," Joe said. He knew how much Al loved that cat. Joe had been entranced by him himself just from that brief time he was in the car with him.

"Thanks," Al said, surprised at his sympathy. "I'm going to go visit him tomorrow morning if I can, before we leave for Kelowna."

Joe nodded. "So, Sunny," he said loudly to grab his attention. Sunny stopped chatting with Fatima and looked over at them. "What the hell happened?"

Sunny shook his head in befuddlement. "Okay, so, Joanie told me to go outside, so that the target would feel more comfortable making a move on her. There was also another reason."

"The tracking device," Lauren said, nodding. It appeared she was the only one of them besides Joanie who knew why Sunny had left; they'd probably planned it out between them so no one else would be implicated if it all went to shit. "Did you plant it in the car?"

He nodded. "Imagine my surprise, then, when, minutes later, someone comes right up to the car, breaks into it and drives away. No window smash. It looked like he had a key, or more likely a fob. Fatima only figured out it wasn't any of those guys from the group because they'd arrived as a group, and he didn't look like any of them. He was older, for one thing."

"It's possible a car thief had one of those fob signal readers that let them break into cars even when the owner still has the key," Fatima said.

Joanie nodded. "Here's our problem, then: this was originally to follow the guy back home, but if you got the plate number of the car, Fatima, we could find his name and address through his insurance. If the police track this car down before the thief sells it off, they might discover the tracking device."

"They won't be able to trace it back to us," Lauren said. "I'm not an idiot. And as long as you used gloves when handling it they shouldn't be able to get fingerprints. Thing is, we could track the car and you can be the hero for finding it, Joanie."

"And how the hell would I explain how I found it? I'm not even on duty."

"Let's leave that off for now," Lauren said with a wave of her hand. "Let's check your purse. That's what we're really here for."

"So, you were the one who spotted it? Did you get it on camera?"

"I'll have to review the footage later and see, but I was turned toward him when it happened, so hopefully."

Joanie lifted her purse onto the table and rummaged through it. She opened her wallet and made sure the bills and cards were still in it. She put it on the table and then fished her keys out, making sure each of them were on her key ring. Then her makeup; she opened her compact and looked inside. Tampons came out next, and Joe made himself not look at them.

"Oh, hello, what's this?" Joanie said, and turned to Fatima. "Got more gloves? Evidence bag?"

Fatima reached into her own bag and handed her both. Joanie slipped on the gloves, drawing a few curious glances from other diners, and reached into the purse. She drew out the object and held it up for them to see. "It appears that, while we were tracking our guy, he was attempting to track me."

"I guess he was hoping to follow you home after the night was over," Lauren said. "I hear that's getting more common now. It's a good thing I spotted it."

"He was telling the truth when he said he wasn't robbing you," Tej said. "He failed to mention he was doing something worse."

"He was acting pretty smooth, too," Joanie said, "as if there was even a chance I'd be attracted to him. I was almost a foot taller than him."

"I hear there are guys who are attracted to taller women," Rachel said. "If he's the guy who made the hashtag, maybe he picked you for that reason."

"He won't be following anyone home tonight if his car's been stolen," Sunny said.

"He can come any night he likes," Joanie said. "He probably has an app on his phone that shows him exactly where his device is."

"We could arrest him, fingerprint him and hope there are prints on the device if he handled it," Fatima said.

"That's an option," Joanie said. "Hopefully you caught him on camera, Lauren. That would seal the deal."

"Is there another option?" Fatima asked with a frown.

Joanie thought about it, and after a moment she smirked. "We could have a little fun with him."

Thanks for reading this far! What's Joanie planning? You'll have to read on to find out. If you liked what you read so far, hit "Vote" to send this title up the ranks. If anything doesn't ring true about the basics of tracking devices, leave a comment and let me know; I strive for authenticity.

The Kelowna trip is coming up, and we're on our final rush to the end. Click on "Continue reading" to see what happens next.