Page 41 of Scripted for Love and Poison
“Oh, don’t be sorry! Nobody cares about the love life of a middle-aged, boring couple anyway! I don’t think there was a single picture of him being taken or published. And they only took mine because I had too many nominations and won too many awards to be ignored. Plus, I’d been working out like hell for months and looked divine in that Armani dress. At least, that’s what my publicist says! But I need to let you two go. Thanks for listening!”
“No problem, and thanks for your time,” Luke said.
“Do you want us to let you know if we find him?” Divya asked.
“Please don’t. Me and the dogs are moving on! I even put the house on the market. Too many memories, and I never liked the place,” Abbie explained. “But chao, darlings. And Luke, maybe lose the frown. It doesn’t suit you!”
23
“Are you thinking what I am thinking?” Divya asked Luke as Abbie drove down the hill and they waved goodbye one last time.
“That Abbie Domingo could do much better than Victor Lago?” Luke answered.
“No, the other thing.”
“Ah, that Victor Lago didn’t want to go to the awardsonlyto be photographed. He wanted to have easy access to Jason Zit’s food.”
“I bet he knew the editor was going to be at the same awards ceremony as his ex, and he saw an opportunity that he couldn’t miss,” said Divya.
“Should we get to that hotel where Abbie said Victor probably would not be staying at, then?” Luke asked. “It sounds like a long shot.”
“It’s also not very convenient from here. Especially without a car,” Divya said, checking her phone. “Reckon we should have a word with Sol first. Bet she’ll have a few ideas about Victor’s whereabouts.”
“Ideas that Victor’s own partner of many years couldn’thave had?” Luke’s tone sounded growly in a way he hadn’t exactly intended.
“You’dthinkthat one member of a couple would know the other one better than everyone else. But sometimes we’re ignorant to some of our own lover’s—how should I put it?—peculiarities,” Divya said. Luke thought the detective wasn’t only talking about Abbie and Victor.
“If you think it could be beneficial to talk to Sol, we can talk to Sol,” he conceded.
“Brilliant, I’ll give her a ring now. In the meantime, and since we’re here, mind if we do this as a hiking meeting?”
“What are you talking about?!”
“We call Sol to ask her professional opinion—that’s the meeting part—and we do that while we’re walking. My map says we’re only thirty-five minutes from Runyon Canyon, and we can hike there. It’s supposed to have views of Downtown and the ocean. We may even get a glimpse of the Hollywood Sign.”
“I don’t care about the Hollywood Sign!” grumbled Luke.
“But I do, so it’s decided.” Divya called Sol’s number, setting her phone on speakerphone so Luke could also hear it.
“Hi, Divya. Has the grump behaved, or has he spooked Victor Lago?” Sol said. What exactly did she mean bythe grump?
“Ahem, the grump is here with me right now, on speakerphone. So, yeah. He heard that,” Divya said.
“Oh. Why are you calling?” In true Sol fashion, she was going to ignore the awkwardness of the situation.
“Victor Lago has not been living at home for a few weeks, according to Abbie Domingo. And she doesn’t knowwhere he is. You wouldn’t know where we could look for him other than the Beverly Hills Hotel, right?”
“So you need my help?”
Luke rolled his eyes. Sol always left some things unacknowledged when it suited her. But others she most definitely didn’t.
“Yeah, that’d be much appreciated,” Luke told Sol.
There was silence at the other end of the line. Was Sol thinking? Was she driving? Was she coming up with a clever way of telling him to sod off?
“I have absolutely no idea what may be going on inside of Victor Lago’s mind. There’s a reason I couldn’t stomach his movie. He’s the kind of old-fashioned, straight, middle-aged, cisgender, white man who’s dominated over Hollywood for years. But I tend not to empathize much with that kind of moviemaking, and fortunately there’s a bit more diversity to choose from now,” Sol explained. Divya and Luke glanced at each other with the softest hint of a smile, clearly used to her strong opinions.
“We totally understand,” both Luke and Divya said in unison. Luke could sense there was an idea forming in the periphery of Sol’s brain, but she was having issues grasping it because she didn’t like Victor Lago.
