Page 32 of Scripted for Love and Poison
“I was in Long Beach. They have delicious pastries. Still no tea,” Luke grumbled. The lack of a decent English breakfast brew had been one of his objections to Los Angeles since landing there. “But let’s not get off track, should we? What the hell were you doing, talking to Jason Zit?”
“He’s a colleague!” Sol said defensively, and she had the gall of pretending she hadn’t been investigating Simon Smith’s case behind his back. “I talk to journalists all thetime. I didn’t realize you’d assumed I would give you a regular update of all my professional dealings!”
“Now, cara, non facciamo i birichini,” he told her but realized that Sol hadn’t understood him. It happened sometimes when he spoke Italian to her. “Don’t get sassy.”
“Sassy! Sassy? One of my fellow critics is dead, and that’s all you can come up with, really?” Her tone sounded strained.
“I’m doing my best to stay cool and not get angry at you, because webothknow you weren’t talking to Jason about your favorite films of the year or the increasing use of AI as a copyediting tool in your profession or whatever it is you talk about with yourcolleagues. Were you or weren’t you asking him about Simon Smith’s disappearance, even when we’d agreed you’d stay out of the case?” Luke had a smile on his lips, even if his tone was firm.
“I was,” Sol admitted. “But I was going to tell you. Plus, we didn’t agree I’d stay out of the case. Youdecidedit.”
“Because I was worried! Iamworried.” He was starting to lose his cool. “And look what happened?”
“Another critic bites the dust?” Sol said.
“If you want toreallyput it like that, yes,” said Luke. “First Simon, then Travis, and now Jason. But tell me, what are we doing here?”
“An officer Tom Owens called me and told me to come at my earliest convenience. He wants to ask me about my conversation with Jason. Do you think I should have brought a lawyer?”
“Do you have a lawyer in Los Angeles?” Luke asked.
“I guess I could call my divorce lawyer. But I really hated his guts by the end. I suspect he was not-so-secretly siding with my ex.” Luke could see she was pretending, even with herself, to be fine but was showing signs of anxiety. She wasbiting at her hangnails and pacing back and forth in front of him. “Wait, isn’t Geoff some sort of lawyer?”
“No, cara, he’s not a lawyer. Come here,” he told her, his voice warm.
“What?”
“I think I need a hug. You do too.” Luke surrounded her with his arms the moment she approached, and she rested her face against his chest.
“Aren’t you mad at me for not telling you about Jason?” Her eyes closed as she breathed in his scent and calmed down.
“There’s time to be mad at youafterwe talk to the police,” he told her.
“We?”
“That’s why I’m here. You have no lawyer, but your main squeeze, who’s a sexy London detective with no idea about California law, is here.”
“That’ll do,” Sol said, and then she processed everything he’d said. “Mymain squeeze?”
“A surfer chap taught me that today,” Luke said as they slowly broke the hug and began walking closely side by side, their arms still touching. “After inviting me to bathe in coconut oil with him,” he added, trying to lighten the mood as they entered the police station.
“Do I want to ask?” Sol lifted an eyebrow in his direction.
“When we’re done with this.”
···
“Isn’t that Officer Hunky Dory?” Luke muttered to Sol in a whisper as they approached the same policeman who’d been at the entrance of Simon Smith’s building the day Luke and Sol went looking for him.
“I think so,” Sol replied, also in a hush as they were both now almost in front of an expectant officer Tom Owens.
“Officer Tom Owens?” Sol asked, making sure the man was the one who’d called her. “I’m Sol Novo.”
“DetectiveOwens,” the policeman corrected her. “And you’d be?” he asked Luke.
“Private Detective Luke Contadino. You stood me up this morning,DetectiveOwens,” Luke told him. “And have been ignoring my calls since.”
Sol frowned. “He was the guy you were meeting this morning? Oh, he’s the one David put you in contact with ...”
