Page 24 of Scripted for Love and Poison
Sol hesitated for a beat, then said, “Sending you his info right now. Tell him I gave you the contact.”
“Grazie, cara. I’ll call you later. See you at Lola’s?” Luke asked.
“Sure,” Sol said before hanging up. Should she have told Luke how she knew someone in law enforcement? He was so caught up in the case and fixated on going home that he hadn’t even thought about asking.
16
“How was the movie, Sol?” Lola’s husband asked thoughtfully while serving steamed miso salmon, brown rice, and broccoli sautéed to perfection.
“Hideous,” she pronounced. “How was your day, Geoff?” she asked in turn, realizing she couldn’t remember what Lola’s husband did, even if she’d known him for almost a decade. She was the worst friend ever. In her defense, she’d asked him in the past at least three or four times and never managed to understand what he did.
“Not much better than yours. This crazy weather is making things difficult to forecast. There have been mudslides in Big Sur, and we’ve had to swap the older models because all the priors keep changing.”
“Right,” Sol said, and she could see Lola’s amused face across the table from her. She was sure her friend knew she hadn’t understood a single word. But she wasn’t going to translate Geoff’s lingo for her.
“How’s the investigation going, Luke?” Lola asked.
“I may have finally made some progress,” Luke said,proceeding to devour Geoff’s culinary achievement. “This is delicious, by the way.”
“Thanks, it was nothing. I’ll send youThe New York Timesrecipes if you like,” Lola’s husband said, slightly abashed, and Sol smirked. There was nothing Geoff liked more than people praising his food. She should remember to do it more often. “But please, tell us more about the case. We’re very curious.”
“Well, without giving too much information away—because this is, of course, sensitive and mostly confidential,” Luke started.
“Of course,” Sol, Geoff, Lola, and even Alex said in unison, leaning forward on the table, unable to conceal their overall curiosity.
“And I need to thank Sol for the progress, because she has a friend who put me in contact with the officer at the LAPD in charge of both Simon Smith’s disappearance and Travis Wise’s poisoning.”
“They also think they’re linked?” asked Sol, wanting to deflect attention from herself and her so-called friend.
“I think so. Will know for sure tomorrow. I’m meeting with an officer Tom Owens.”
“Sol, I didn’t know you had friends with contacts at the LAPD,” Lola said distractedly while she focused on her food and didn’t catch Sol’s pleading gaze in her direction. “Could you also introduce me? I’m working on this new police drama, and it would be great for research if I could— What?” Lolafinallycaught Sol glaring at her.
“Nothing.” Sol tried acting normal.
“You need to introduce David to Lola, Sol,” Luke said.
“David?” Lola almost shrieked. Why her friend was still talking was something that Sol couldn’t understand. Weren’t Sol’s flaring eyes a clear enough message to shutthe fuck up? Geoff was acting like the perfect husband-of-a-friend that he was and had remained silent the moment he saw Sol’s distress and realized the identity of her supposed friend. Was it too much to ask the same from Lola?
“Mom, seriously? It’s, like, Sol’s ex!” Alex decided to participate then after having remained silent for most of the dinner.
Luke froze, the realization dawning on his face. “Ex, as in your ex-husband?”
“Um, it’s, like, hersecondex-husband!” Alex specified.
Sol had always liked Alex. He was smarter and more polite than most of the kids his age, and he was Lola’s son, but right then Sol decided she hatedalladolescents, Alex included.
“We’re going to finish eating in the kitchen and give you some space to talk about this,” Geoff said, standing, grabbing his plate, and indicating Alex to do the same.
“Please don’t leave,” Sol said. “We’ve already invaded your living room, and now you want to also decamp the dining room.”
Lola crossed her arms and lounged back in her chair, making herself comfortable. “I’m not going anywhere. I want to hear this.”
“Seriously?” Geoff pleaded with his wife.
“I was the one here when this one finally decided to leave David and needed a place to stay and a shoulder to cry on,” Lola said.
“And I’m immensely thankful and will never forget,” Sol told her friend.
