Sunny's phone buzzed while he was in the middle of politely disagreeing with Paige Barnston, one of the candidates from Wednesday's debate, who was apparently also invited tonight, along with a few others. The silent auction was more of a meet and greet where the candidates were introduced at the start of the evening, but not invited to give a speech laying out their platform; tonight was about the art, and the students looking forward to those scholarships, and they took priority over politics. Sunny didn't know if some wires had gotten crossed or if they'd just misinterpreted their role in the evening, but now he was competing for attention with other candidates instead of commanding the room. 

In one way he was irritated, because Tori worked so hard to get his face in front of crowds, and he didn't want to see her work go to waste; in another, he was relieved, because now he had time to bid on some art himself, and Tej didn't have to carry the load of all the attention like she had at the campaign opener. He wished Regan was here, though. He didn't see her. Maybe she couldn't make it.

After he and Paige expressed their regret that the debate had been hijacked by a woman with an axe to grind, they said their goodbyes and Paige went to mingle with others. Sunny pulled out his phone and looked at the screen.

What the hell did you do?

Naira. It was a new number, but he knew it was her. How had she gotten the message, though, if she was responding to him? Unless she wasn't, and she'd found out some other way.

He looked around for the others, but discovered they were all occupied. Al and Lauren were hugging, and that didn't bode well for Lauren's attempt to recommit to her marriage; Joe would not hear about this from him. Tej and Harpreet were talking with Beverley O'Connor, one of the other candidates from the debate, and looking like they were enjoying the conversation. Tosh and Ajit were perusing the entire inventory of items on auction, almost gleeful at the prospect of bankrupting their parents.

He sighed and figured he would have to deal with this himself. He typed: What do you mean? Did you get my earlier message?

What message? I got rid of my phone, remember? This is a new one.

He hesitated for a moment, then typed: I have news about Jordan.

Did you find out where he is?

Sunny closed his eyes and groaned inwardly. He typed: I'm sorry to have to inform you in this way, but Jordan was discovered dead in Glenbrook Ravine.

Those three dots blinked for a long, long time. While he waited, he noticed that something had grabbed the attention of the crowd in the banquet hall, and they all seemed to be walking to the windows.

Finally, her response came: Where are you?

That wasn't what he'd expected her to say. He typed: Are you all right? Did you get that last message?

Yes, I got it. There's nothing I can do about that now. But you've done something, and now you're the one in danger.

He blinked in surprise and typed: How do you know what we've done?

We? Have you involved your Mystery Gang again?

He didn't answer her question, which he knew was meant to irritate him, typing instead: You didn't answer my question. Did Jordan have a device too?

Fuck. You found it, didn't you.

It was at the crime scene. The cops didn't take it.

No. It wasn't there when the cops were; they wouldn't have been so amateur that they'd miss it. Someone else brought it after they left, and I was meant to find it, but you got there first.

Sunny couldn't believe what he was reading. How do you know?

Someone in the organization that's after me is feeding me the information. It's how I can stay one step ahead.

Did they really think they could lure you out like that, though?

It would have been an added benefit. Mostly it was to get rid of the device.

Why would they want to get rid of something so sensitive?

Most likely it has his DNA on it.

Is it because he kept it up his rectum?

The three dots blinked a minute before her response came. Why would he keep it up his rectum?

We surmised, since he said you kept yours up your vagina.

He said what?! WTF?

Sunny smirked at the incredulity in Naira's text. He said you kept it there so Birinder wouldn't find it.

Um, I don't know what to tell you. I did not keep it up my vagina. Its very resemblance to a tampon applicator would have dissuaded Birinder from examining it any further. Why the hell would he tell you that?

In retrospect, probably to get me interested in your disappearance as a possible domestic violence issue, given the history with my sister. He really wanted me to believe Birinder was responsible.

Poor Jordan. I feel so terrible about this.

So how would it have his DNA on it? Or yours?

We held it in our hands from time to time. That will have left skin cells.

He'd been so involved in the text exchange that he didn't notice Al and Lauren had sidled up to him until he felt a tap on his shoulder. He looked up and saw Lauren looking at him in concern. "What's going on?" he asked.

"Is that Naira?" she asked.

"Yeah. Why?"

"There are drones circling Centennial Lodge," Al said.

His mouth dropped open. "What?" he breathed.

"Don't you see everyone at the window?" Lauren asked. "That's what they're looking at."

He texted Naira with this news. 

It took her only a few seconds to text back. Get out of there.

Why?

Those drones are probably scanning everyone's faces right now. Someone in an undisclosed location is examining every face and using facial recognition software to put names to faces.

Sunny showed Al and Lauren the text. Al paled, and Lauren said, "Fuck."

He typed: Why are they doing this?

They're trying to find out who took the device, knowing that it wasn't me, now, and find out what they know about it.

What is so important about this device? he typed, just holding back from adding fucking before important, because he was so frustrated. He only held back because he almost never added swear words to his texts; he found it uncouth.

She typed back: It has a lot of important people invested in its success, and they don't want it falling into the wrong hands.

I thought this was your and Jordan's invention.

We may have borrowed some proprietary technology.

The schematics are in the hands of the police. It's already out there.

You can't count on the police to protect you. Why do you think I'm hiding? 

Sunny's stomach dropped when he read that. He didn't want to ask her why they couldn't trust the police. From his dealings with Tracey, and even Goncalves and Rhodes, he found them to be capable and professional. He couldn't imagine ever coming at cross purposes with him. Then again, as a person of colour, he sympathized with the experiences of other people of colour when they were stopped and frisked for just walking down the street. He didn't think this was what Naira meant, though.

He typed: If we leave now, won't we look suspicious?

She took a few seconds to respond. You're right. You need a diversion. Make everybody leave together, and then you can blend in with the crowd.

What about the device?

Do you have it on you?

No, we hid it somewhere close by.

Good call. Leave it.

How do we make a diversion?

You'll need to figure that out yourself.

Sunny showed Lauren and Al the texts. Lauren nodded. "We need to pull the fire alarm."

Sunny blinked in surprise. Why hadn't he thought of that? "Good thinking."

He typed: Fire alarm?

Perfect! The attention from authorities should kill their operation, too. The last thing they want is the fire department feeling harassed by their drones and wondering who's flying them.

Al said, "We're going to make a lot of people angry if we do this."

"It will be a temporary inconvenience," Lauren said. "Once the firefighters clear the building, everyone will be able to go back in and finish the night, and by then we'll be gone."

"I'll need to tell people we're going before you pull the alarm," Sunny said. "Otherwise they'll wonder where I've gone after everyone comes back."

"Oh, yeah," Lauren said. "I forgot you're an invited guest here."

"Let's gather the troops while Sunny's saying his goodbyes," Al said. "Then we'll congregate at the entrance. Once we pull the alarm, we'll leave with the crowd."

"Al, you get Tej and Harpreet," Sunny said. "Lauren, you get Tosh and Ajit. I'll ask Tori if she wants to leave with us."

They all nodded and split up. Sunny looked for Tori, but to his irritation he kept getting stopped by people wanting to hear his platform all of a sudden. Maybe they'd all wanted to place their first bids and have a bite to eat before discussing municipal matters. He did his best to answer their questions quickly, while also intimating that a sudden emergency necessitated his early departure, to his regret.

He felt like he was taking too long to meet back with the others, and he only just found Tori when the fire alarm rang.

Her expectant smile fell as soon as it happened, and she winced at the noise and leaned into him. "What's going on?!" she yelled into his ear.

"We have to go," he yelled into hers. "Someone's tracked the device here, and there are drones looking in."

Her eyes widened, and he took her hand to stay with her as the crowd made for the front entrance.

They emerged into the autumn night among shivering, bewildered art lovers, and Sunny spotted the others huddled close to the outside edge, since they'd probably been closest to the doors and the first ones out. 

When they met up with the others, Tej took hold of his other hand, and he realized he was still holding Tori's. Lauren said, "You were taking too long, so we had to get going without you."

"Sorry. Suddenly everyone realized I was running for Council and wanted to talk to me."

"Can someone explain what's going on?" Tori asked.

"Do you see the drones?" Lauren asked. "Don't let on that you're looking for them. Naira texted Sunny and said they're looking for who might have the device."

Tori's mouth dropped open. "It's a good thing we hid it, then. Who pulled the fire alarm?"

Lauren pointed at herself, and Tori barked an incredulous laugh.

"What do we do now?" Tej asked. He could tell she was a little scared, but holding it together for the sake of the kids, who looked confused and jumpy. The drones were making an awful racket with their high pitched propellers even if they weren't visible in the darkness, and that had to be unsettling. 

"We wait until the fire trucks come," Lauren said. "Hopefully that will send the drones flying away. Hopefully."

"Then we drive away?" Al asked.

"What if they follow us?" Tori asked. "I don't want it following me home. Who knows who could be on the other end of those things."

"Come stay with us if you don't feel safe," Sunny said. "We'll make room for you."

"I might take you up on that."

It took only minutes for the fire crews to arrive, as there was a fire hall right at the bottom of the hill Queen's Park occupied, on Sixth Avenue and McBride Boulevard: Glenbrook Firehall #1, in the Glenbrooke neighbourhood, appropriately enough (but again, also without the e.) Their sirens were loud and jarring in the still night air, and more than a few children in the crowd covered their ears.

"Wait," Lauren said, as firefighters descended from the two trucks, clad in their heat-proof yellow gear. A representative of the Arts Council met with them, and they had a discussion with much shrugging and gesticulating, even pointing at the sky at one point; Sunny wondered if the woman was talking about the drones.

"Did anyone see you pull the alarm, Lauren?" Tori asked.

"Of course not, I'm not an amateur."

The firefighters entered Centennial Lodge.

"Okay. Now," Lauren said, and they took off. 

What Sunny didn't predict was that other attendees of the auction would have the same idea, nor did he factor in the one-way nature of the narrow road they were on; the fire trucks blocked the way, and everybody leaving had to awkwardly negotiate pulling out of their parking space along the shoulder and pointing their car in the other direction, which would have been a safety hazard in the middle of the day with people enjoying the park, but luckily wasn't now. Still, it took twice as long as Sunny predicted to get out of the park, and by the time he emerged on to First Street by intersecting back with the drive past the Queens Park Arena, the whole Parhar family was jittery, and as if that weren't stressful enough, it began to rain.

One blessing in all of this was that he didn't spot a single drone during the mad rush, so hopefully Lauren's prediction played out, and whoever was flying them didn't want attention from the authorities.

He found out later, to his horror, that while that might have been true, they hadn't entirely escaped their scrutiny.

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Before we get back to what happens to Lauren and Al in the rain, let's go back to the reckoning Bishan's killer faced, and the day Sunny first reunites with Lauren, by clicking on "Continue reading."