For Keeps or for Ransom

Chapter 1

Sol

Ican’t believe I said yes to this,” Luke whispered into her ear. “But I’m glad I did.”

Sol was shivering at the sensation of his lips against her earlobe, his breath on her neck.

She was glad too. She’d basically coerced him into joining her for a quick trip to her hometown.

And it had all happened after they’d been back in London from the dreaded trip to Los Angeles for a mere couple of weeks.

Surprisingly, he’d said yes. Her romantic partner was a very reluctant traveler.

Yet, there he was, with her, in Barcelona. Glad.

He held her hand over her lap in the crowded small theater, which was sold out and already pitch dark since the play they were attending was about to start. She sighed. She was officially ecstatic.

Life was good.

Luke was in Barcelona with her. They were catching a play together and flying to their place in London the next morning.

And the last couple of days in the city had been a perfect whirlwind of dreamy walks, delicious meals, stimulating cultural activities, toe-curling sex…

and yes, some work too—for her. The whole excuse to travel there had been one of Sol’s work assignments.

But Luke absolutely needed a few days off—it had been nonstop work for him since he’d started his own agency.

“I’m glad too,” she whispered, well aware that Luke only had a mild understanding of Spanish and the show they were about to see would be in that language. “I’m looking forward to seeing Leonardo in the play tonight. He was so passionate about it when I talked to him.”

Sol had interviewed the increasingly famous Leonardo Pascual that afternoon. Her profile about the actor for executive editor Julie McQueen of Red Carpet was due in a couple of days.

“I’m sure he was.” Luke’s words came out dry.

Sol was sure he was rolling his eyes. He’d never been a big fan of Leonardo Pascual.

In Luke’s defense, he’d come in contact with the actor when he was investigating a particularly prickly case—the one where Sol and Luke had actually met and fallen for each other.

“Leonardo told me that after the success of The Privateers for Meshflixx, he felt the need to go back to the stage and found the production of The Bath of Oedipus in London perfect to soothe his soul.”

“To soothe his soul?” Luke’s whisper dropped to an even throatier tone.

“Yes, Luca. Which is why when Leonardo got the opportunity to do it in Spanish in Madrid and then here, he jumped at it. Are you rolling your eyes right now?”

“You know I am, cara.”

Sol couldn’t repress the smile. The entertainment journalist and part-time crime writer couldn’t remember the last time she’d been so content.

It had to be the week the two of them had spent the past summer in Menorca.

But of course she’d been happy then. They were on vacation and on an island!

It was impossible not to be. She smiled just thinking about it.

And she’d have continued reminiscing about the deliciousness of their trip together and the equally marvelous stay they’d had in Barcelona, if it wasn’t for what happened next.

“Estimados asistentes, esta representación de El bano de Edipo correrá a cargo de Sandro Palau, actor suplente de Leonardo Pascual.”

“No!” Sol wasn’t the only one to protest. Other members of the audience expressed their disappointment with boos and tsks due to the last-minute cast change for the play.

“What happened?” Luke asked her, his lips still close to her earlobe. “Something about Leonardo Pascual?”

“He won’t be in tonight’s play.”

“Who’s going to be taking the long bath then?”

“Sandro Palau. The understudy. But if something has happened to Leonardo I need to find out for my story.” It was El bano de Edipo’s closing night.

Leonardo Pascual was due in London on Monday to star in a new TV show and, if something had happened to him, Sol needed to add the information to her article. “Wanna help me?” she asked.

“Help you write your story?”

Sol could practically see Luke’s mischievous smile even in the dark. His voice was coarse and velvety.

“Figure out what happened to Leonardo, Luca.”

Fortunately, her romantic partner and consummate Londoner didn’t need much convincing. He was a private detective after all and he probably also wanted to solve that puzzle—even if all of it came down to Leonardo being stuck in traffic.

Sol and Luke scurried out of their seats before the play started. She reached for Luke’s hand in the dark and guided him out. She’d been in the small playhouse before and remembered her way around it.

“Follow me,” she told her lover.

“Where are we going?” He followed her closely.

“Backstage, of course.”

They managed not to be seen by any of the ushers and took the narrow stairs that went to the dressing rooms. Fortunately that area of the Casanova theater was well lit.

“It makes no sense,” Sol said once they were out of earshot from the staging area. “When I interviewed Leonardo this afternoon, he was looking forward to this last performance of the play.”

“Maybe he isn’t feeling well,” Luke offered, still clutching Sol’s hand and following her.

“He felt perfectly fine not two hours ago,” Sol reasoned, turning to look at Luke.

“He could have eaten something bad…”

“He specifically told me he never eats before a play precisely because he doesn’t want to risk something not sitting right with him. He has a heavy breakfast and then has dinner after the play. His not being here makes no sense.”

Sol came to a closed door with Leonardo’s nameplate on it. She rapped a couple of times with no answer. Then she went to open it.

“Wait,” Luke told her. “If we really are just sneaking in, let me go first.”

Sol’s eyes swept upward. “This is perfectly safe. Plus, he knows me. I mean, I know he’d probably not be able to remember me in a couple of days, but I interviewed him this afternoon.”

“Sol you just ruled out his feeling sick, so unless he’s been hit by a bus and lying on a hospital bed right now, something else could have happened. Since we don’t know what that is, let me go first.”

As a rule of thumb, Sol Novo, an independent woman of forty-three, entertainment journalist twice divorced, and a person who did lots of things alone like traveling, eating out, or going to the movies, didn’t like being told what to do—or not to do.

And she definitely didn’t like other people getting all protective of her.

But then again, Luke wasn’t just other people.

He was the person she was sharing her life with.

If anything, in the last few months together she’d learned that commitment sometimes meant caring about someone—and letting that someone also care about you.

“Be my guest.” She stepped aside from the door to Leonardo Pascual’s dressing room so that Luke could go in first.

He smiled at her, then made sure to get her behind his body. Luke also tapped on the door with his knuckles, and when there continued to be no answer he went in.

“I didn’t see this one coming,” he muttered under his breath.

Sol was still close behind him, his bigger frame and height not letting her see what was inside the room. “What is it?”