Chapter 8
Sol
There was nothing like a tight deadline to make Sol stop procrastinating and start writing with a purpose. And her purpose that day was clear: finish Leonardo’s profile as soon as possible so that Julie could publish it while the media craziness around his disappearance hadn’t subsided.
She didn’t know how she felt about that.
A man had gone missing. They didn’t know if he was well or not, if he was in discomfort, if he’d been hurt.
They didn’t know if he was dead or alive.
But, regardless of all that and in the name of journalism, she’d finish her profile about him early, and they’d publish it prominently on the website—making sure to state that Sol had spoken to Leonardo only a few hours before he went missing.
It had to be written in a tasteful fashion and not show how they were exploiting the fact that Leonardo was surrounded by a whirlwind of media interest because of his disappearance—while still very much exploiting that media interest.
Sol reread her first draft one more time and sighed.
She would not have predicted that morally gray situation when she was in college.
Yet lately it looked as if her profession as a journalist was a mixture of balancing acts on the morally gray scale.
She didn’t feel the same way about her profession as an author, but her about-to-be-self-published mystery novel was far from paying any bills.
Her cell phone rang and she was ready to send it straight to voicemail—unless it was Luke, her mother, or one of her good friends in the city calling—when she saw the name of her first ex-husband on the screen. She picked up.
“You saved me from a tedious reread,” she told Miquel in Catalan. “But I can’t talk for long because I’m on a very tight deadline.”
“So it was you the journalist who was interviewing Leonardo Pascual yesterday when he was kidnapped. I thought so,” he answered, also in Catalan.
“One: how do you know that there was a journalist interviewing him? Two: I wasn’t with him when he was kidnapped.
I was with him hours before he went missing.
Three: We don’t know that he was kidnapped, actually.
And four: this is, of course, all off the record.
” It had been a longtime belief of Sol Novo that you could never be too careful when talking to another journalist, and her first ex-husband happened to be one of those as well.
“I didn’t call you fishing for a scoop,” he said. She could almost picture him smiling, but did she believe him? “I called you to see if you were okay. Are you okay?”
Was she? “Now that you ask…not sure, to be honest.”
“Because someone was kidnapped only after you were with him?”
“We don’t know that he was kidnapped!” Sol protested but she knew that Leonardo’s disappearance and the note they’d found at his dressing room all seemed to indicate he had been, indeed, taken against his will by someone.
“Whatever, he probably was. I keep thinking something could have happened to him even in the hotel where we did the interview. Maybe I should have seen something and helped him.”
“It’s not your responsibility, Sol.” As usual, Miquel’s easy-going manner and laid-back attitude managed to relax her. “Did you see anything?”
“Not really. We did the interview at the Wet Deck of the W. It’s the terrace by the pool with views of the sea,” Sol explained.
Miquel made a noise in recognition. There was nowhere chic or interesting in Barcelona he wasn’t aware of.
“And then Leonardo left in a hurry when we were done. I was still grabbing my phone, notebook, and everything else and he was already almost out of the door. I think I saw him talking to someone on his way out though,” she suddenly recalled.
“Who?”
She closed her eyes, trying to picture it again.
“Not sure because I only saw them from behind. I assumed it was someone asking to take a selfie or for an autograph because of Leonardo’s manner.
He was super polite, as usual, but I could see he was a bit bothered.
He didn’t want to be late and he still needed to cross half the city by taxi. ”
Why was it again that Sol was telling Miquel all of this? It was helping her process what had happened the previous day to voice out loud what she was just now remembering—and she’d been extremely clear that he couldn’t publish anything.
“Have you told the police?”
The question shook her. “I just remembered! I haven’t told anyone. And Luke is investigating the case!”
Miquel’s usual relaxed manner was tinged with something akin to extreme interest. “Is he now?”
“Yes, and that was also off the record.”
“I’m only asking because, of course, I care about you and your partner.”
She couldn’t hide her skepticism. “Of course.” She chuckled.
“But also because my ex is also investigating the case—from the police side.”
“Would this ex of yours be officer Mercè Roig by any chance?” She could totally see them together. Officer Roig was definitely Miquel’s type: driven, outspoken, and absolutely stunning.
“Same one. I was going to offer to introduce Luke to her. You know I keep excellent relationships with all my exes—” Miquel boasted.
Sol couldn’t refrain from saying: “And there are definitely a lot of exes.”
“Which is very handy because I know people everywhere,” he reasoned.
Sol admitted that was indeed a sound argument. Even if, with his knack for networking and being easy on the eyes, Miquel would have no problem getting to know people—one way or another.
“So you don’t need me to introduce you to Mercè, then?” he asked.
“I had the pleasure of meeting her yesterday. She drilled me for answers for more than half an hour.”
“Next time she interrogates you, just tell her you’re my ex. She’ll be much nicer.”
“Are you serious right now?” The size of Miquel’s ego had always bothered Sol—and had been one of the reasons why they’d ultimately split.
“Of course!” he said, not a hint of irony in his tone. He was that self-assured. “Will you let me know if you or Luke need anything?”
But then again, Miquel was also very attentive, and perhaps he’d called to offer assistance instead of just trying to get some publishable information out of her. Sol should perhaps stop being so paranoid—and irritated by his arrogance. “I will, and thank you.”
She hung up with Miquel and rang Luke right away.
“Sorry to force you to get dressed this morning,” she blurted the moment her lover picked up. “I’ve been worried all day because of this stupid piece I had to write. And about Leonardo. I keep wondering if I should have seen something. If I could have helped him.”
Luke
“How were you supposed to help him?” Luke’s tone was a bit harsher than he’d anticipated—or intended.
He and Divya had been waiting for the elusive Sandro Palau for more than half an hour. They were told the understudy was wrapping up a media interview.
“I don’t know. That’s what I’m saying. I was so self-absorbed—as I always am—that I didn’t even think about checking what Leonardo did when he was leaving.” Sol’s words came out strained.
“He is a grown man, Sol.” Luke was aware that he was clenching his jaw.
The idea of a possible kidnapper lurking around Leonardo when he was still talking to her just occurred to him.
He didn’t like it. What if something had happened to her?
What if she’d also disappeared? He pushed the uneasy feeling aside and returned to the conversation.
“I know he’s a grown man! I could still have been more vigilant.” Sol’s voice sounded anguished. Something was bothering her. “I think I saw him chatting to someone when he was leaving the hotel.”
“You didn’t tell me.” The words slipped out, and he regretted them a beat too late.
“I didn’t remember!” she shrieked.
He breathed deeply, trying for his most soothing voice. “Of course you didn’t, cara. It was all a blur. It probably still is. And it’s definitely not a nice experience when someone you know and who you just saw, goes inexplicably missing.”
She exhaled on the other end of the line. “It is a blur. Miquel called me, I think he was trying to fish for information about Leonardo’s disappearance…”
What did Sol’s ex-husband have to do with that whole mess? It wasn’t that Luke didn’t like Miquel. He liked him as much as one could reasonably like their partner’s past husband. Luke still didn’t necessarily enjoy being reminded about him.
“Of course, I didn’t tell him the whole thing or anything, but it made me relive yesterday and I think I saw something,” Sol continued.
“You saw Leonardo chatting to someone while he was leaving the hotel.”
“I don’t know who they were, I only saw them from behind, but they were shorter than Leonardo.”
Luke put Sol on speakerphone and searched for something on his mobile. According to the internet, Leonardo Pascual was six foot two. So that hardly narrowed things down when it came to the mystery person Sol had seen with him—most people would be shorter than the actor.
“Sol, I’m with Divya. I put you on speakerphone. Do you recall any other physical traits about this person who was talking to Leonardo when he left the hotel?”
Divya, who’d been working on her laptop, gazed at him from across the table, aware they were talking about the case. Luke let her see the notebook where he’d been scrawling to make sure she was up to speed.
“I think they were dressed in dark colors. I don’t recall any hairstyle or hair color, so they may have been wearing a hat. Can’t tell you if they were a man or a woman either.” There was frustration in every one of Sol’s words.
“Build?” Divya asked.
“Medium?” Uncertainty crept into Sol’s voice. “I know, I’m describing a very broad character. It could be anyone. The only remarkable thing about them that I can remember is the hands.”
“The hands?” Luke narrowed his eyes.
“They were gloved but they kept making this move with their fingers, it was like a nervous tic. The fingers would close on the palm and then they’d stretch them rapidly several times.”
Luke made a note of it. “I assume you didn’t hear the conversation.”
“They were too far. But I could tell Leonardo wasn’t pleased.”
“How?” Divya asked the question he was burning to make.
Sol laughed. “You’re going to think I’m silly but for half of my interview with him, I kept thinking that Leonardo found me the most fascinating woman on earth.”
“You didn’t tell me that!” Luke blurted.
Divya arched both eyebrows and glared at him. She clearly thought that wasn’t the time for a relationship squabble.
“Because of course it wasn’t real,” Sol dismissed him. “It’s something that only tends to happen with movie stars—or the ones who are movie-star material. You sit to chat with them, and they are such good actors that they seduce you the same way they seduce the camera.”
“So he seduced you?” Luke needed to double-check. How had they got there again?
“Luke, mate. It’s a figure of speech,” Divya said. “Sol is trying to tell us that Leonardo is a good actor who could fool even an experienced journalist like her into believing anything, right?”
“Exactly. Thank you Divya. That was all to say that Leonardo can be a charming man—” Sol went on.
“We gathered,” Luke interrupted her, undeniably jealous.
“You know I don’t do jealousy, Luca,” Sol warned.
“What I’ve been trying to explain is that Leonardo wasn’t trying to turn any charm on with this mystery person.
Which makes me think: they probably weren’t a fan or some other regular person.
Because everyone on the internet knows: Leonardo is great with his fans and is a very nice guy. ”
Luke thought he understood the logic behind Sol’s words and explanation at last. He still didn’t like the idea of the actor turning on all the charm with his lover.
Ever since that first Meshflixx case in which the actor had been one of the suspects and Sol another one, Luke hadn’t particularly liked Leonardo.
The detective couldn’t quite explain why he was feeling insecure at present. It wasn’t as if he had any reason to worry about Leonardo. Sol was constantly showing how much she loved Luke. Plus, it wasn’t like Leonardo Pascual was available for sweeping in and stealing her at the moment.
But there was something about Luke and Sol's relationship. He couldn’t quite put it in words. He wasn’t sure what it was. It’d been so perfect for all those months. Yet, it was as if he wanted something different. Something…more.