19.
“W hat have you done?” Cigs asks Solo the second he comes to a stop in front of us.
“Gee, babe; let the man breathe, will you?” I tell her, then turn to Solo. “Okay, but seriously, what did you do?”
His polished appearance looks rumpled as he runs a hand over his slightly ruffled hair. “I’ve lost Timothy,” he announces gravely, then flinches before wiping the sweat that’s on his forehead.
“You lost him as in…”
He meets my eyes. “I fucking lost him, Dor,” he repeats, then sniffs.
“The people he was with – they just left the room I’ve been watching, and Timothy wasn’t with them.
When I asked them where he was, they said he left a while ago.
They seemed too high, so I unfortunately couldn’t get much out of them.
I…” He sighs and raises his hands in front of him, then drops them with a soft thud. “I fucked up, kid.”
“But it doesn’t make sense,” Cigs says. “You were there the entire time, so if Timothy got out, you must’ve seen him.” When Solo doesn’t speak, she sneers at him. “Oh, for fuck’s sake, Solo.”
“Jesus,” Alex whispers. “Seriously, man? Can you not keep your dick in your pants for once in your life?”
“Who was she?” Varsha asks around a sneer. “She must’ve been pretty special if you decided to abandon your mission for her.”
Aras and Magner seem vexed, and I don’t blame them.
If Timothy has left the estate, it’ll be tough to catch him in a vulnerable spot any time soon.
He’s not a regular guy; he doesn’t go out to get groceries on a Monday morning, or even grab a coffee at Starbucks like a normal individual.
He’s always guarded, always with security.
The only reason he wasn’t flanked by them tonight is because the estate is being thoroughly watched by the Lutkus security personnel.
“ He ,” Solo corrects Varsha. “It was a guy. Too persuasive. Young and fucking beautiful . I just couldn’t help myself.”
“Age?” I ask.
“20,” he answers. “I checked his ID, Dor; I’m not a fucking pedophile.”
“I know,” I say immediately. “It’s just that when you said young , I had to double-check.
” I feel goosebumps rising all over my body, and my vision blurs momentarily as images from my past flash across my mind.
I know Solo isn’t Marco – not even close to it – so I dunno why my brain decided to get triggered by a detail like that.
I clear my throat and try to center myself, pushing aside my thoughts, because they are just that – thoughts .
“Umm, Aras?” I look at him. “Weren’t the dances supposed to start now or something?”
“They were, yeah,” he tells me, then jerks his head towards the appetizers.
“But Fred sent his special delivery outside the estate in a truck , so I had to go deal with it myself. Three hours later than the time he’d given me, no less.
And to top that off, most of my staff was against touching the food – for obvious reasons, of course – so I had to convince them otherwise.
Took some very particular words, and even a couple of threats, but I got the job done.
I’ll just…” He points behind him. “I’ll go talk to the DJ now and ask him to change the music so that it spurs the guests into pairing up. ”
“And I’ll go have a look at the estate’s live CCTV footage to see if I can find Timothy loitering around somewhere on the property,” Magner says. “If his partners were high, then maybe he is, too. There’s a chance we might be able to catch him still.”
I nod. “Great.” I face Alex and Varsha. “Check every room in this estate – all three floors, especially the room Timothy was in. Search everywhere possible.”
“There’s a terrace on the third floor,” Magner provides, glancing at Alex. “End of the hallway. Its doors are mostly closed, but we opened them tonight, so maybe check there as well.”
“Got it,” Varsha says.
“I’ll, uh…” Solo scratches his jaw. “I’ll go talk to the valets and security at the estate’s main gates, see if they saw Timothy leaving.
” He swallows, and his forehead creases as he sighs again.
“I’m so sorry about this. I don’t know what the hell got into me.
I swear I wouldn’t have done it were he not so–”
“It’s fine , Solo,” I cut him off, then slap his arm once. “Really, it’s okay; you’re good. Shit happens, man, but in our line of work, we can’t keep dwelling on them. You’ve taught me to stay focused on the now , remember?”
He scoffs, but it’s halfhearted. “It’s ironic how I failed to implement my own lesson, then, isn’t it?”
“What is this, a group counseling session?” Cigs chastises, then reaches forward and places a hand on Solo’s shoulder before shaking him a little.
“Stop with the pity party, will you? You admitted your mistake and are working on fixing it, and that’s all that matters.
No one here is judging you for what you did, so you seriously don’t have to apologize constantly and blame yourself for what happened.
Like Dor said: it’s okay , Solo; you’re good.
We’ll get Timothy tonight, one way or another. ”
His posture visibly loosens as he nods at her. “Thanks, kid.”
“Don’t mention it. Besides, I’m asking you to forget about it now just so I can never let you live it down later , when all of this is over and done with and we don’t have to worry about chasing a hormone-driven teenager.” She winks at him, making him chuckle.
“I knew you had ulterior motives. You don’t just give out encouragement as charity; you always have something else up your goddamn sleeve.”
She grins. “Look at that – you’ve got me all figured out! Yay you , Solo; keep up the good work. It’s so much better than your performance at the job you were assigned tonight.” When I cough behind a fist, she looks at me and whispers, “Too soon?”
“Ya think?” I muse, pursing my lips.
Solo rolls his eyes and shakes his head good-naturedly, and Cigs exhales before waving a hand in front of her face.
“Anyway,” she begins, pushing back a few errant strands of her hair behind an ear.
“I’ll go look for Timothy in the back garden.
Maybe he stumbled over a bush or something and face-planted into the grass.
I’m long overdue for some fresh air anyway.
I need to get outta here for a bit before I end up vomiting into an upper class’s Birkin .
I’ll text you guys if, or as soon as I find him. ”
I laugh a little. “Fine, but stay alert, and call me immediately if you need anything.”
She gives me a two-finger salute. “Yes, boss.”
I smirk at her, then face the others. “I’ll stay here and try scouting the crowd for Timothy. Once the guests pair up, I’ll have more space to move around and assess them easily.”
“I like that idea,” Aras states.
“Perfect.” I let go of a breath and stretch my neck side-to-side. “Alright, then; let’s do this; let’s go find this asshole.”
Magner and Aras give me subtle nods, then head into different directions. My crew nods at me as well, then disperses into the crowd.
I push back my shoulders when the fabric of my shirt once again clings to my skin, then briefly survey the crowd.
The music in the foyer stops suddenly, and a second later, a slow, melodic, fucking gloomy ass tune starts playing, making me groan under my breath.
I rub a hand over my face, then sidestep a few upper classes when they brush past me to pair up in the middle of the hall.
“May I have this dance?” asks a familiar voice.
I turn, then grin when I see her. “Safiya.”
She faintly inclines her head at me. “Dorran.”
“I’m surprised you haven’t left yet,” I muse.
She clicks her tongue. “I haven’t got a human to torture and mutilate tonight, so I thought I’d stick around and enjoy the free alcohol here, bland as it may be. Better than being at my estate and attending endless meetings with my sister.” She shudders for emphasis, making me laugh.
“Must get boring for you – not having someone to skin alive, just for fun.”
She makes a sound that’s brief yet loud, then mock-gapes at me. “I’ll have you know that there’s so much more to me than the whole tormentor thing the media likes to label me with. I’m a multi-layered human being, tamam ?”
I smile around a chuckle. “I’m sorry for being so obtuse in my assumptions, then.”
“Pssh.” She waves a dismissive hand at me. “Right, you’re sorry.”
I chuckle again, then tilt my head sideways. “So, do you really wanna dance to this dirge of a music, or did you make that offer out of pity?”
She laughs indulgently. “If you want to navigate the entirety of this room without catching suspicion, then yes, I do want to dance with you to this dirge of a music. Genuinely , and not out of pity.”
I arch a brow. “And why would I need to navigate the room, exactly?”
With a hint of a smile on her face, she walks over to me. Placing my right hand on her waist, she sets her left hand on my shoulder, then offers her silver clutch to me. “See if you can fit this in your pocket, please.”
I sigh as I take the clutch from her, then slide it into my pant pocket. It’s sticking out a little, but it’s small enough that it won’t fall out.
Safiya silently asks for my other hand, and once I’ve given it to her, she holds onto it. Raising our joined hands up and slightly outward, she then straightens her back and aligns her body with the music.
I follow her lead, stepping forward when she steps back, and vice versa. The music is downright irritating, and keeps distracting me, but I try blocking it out as I look at Safiya. “You didn’t answer my question,” I tell her, gliding us to the left.