“Milo’s here,” said Emilio.
I looked up at the boy with a laptop in his hand, and recognition flared. Milo had been at the flower shop that day when I met Eva. He had knocked into a display rack.
I rose to my feet and approached Milo. “Nice to meet you. I heard you’re a genius.”
Milo offered a crooked smile, studying me. He had light brown hair with freckles dusting his nose and cheeks. He wore a pair of gray sweatpants and a long-sleeved knit top. Milo didn’t look as frazzled as that day.
“You remember Eva, right?” Camila asked, placing a gentle hand on his shoulder.
“Yes,” Milo said, placing his computer on the table and plugging the electrical cord into the outlet on the wall.
“Eva needs us right now.” I stood beside him. “Can you help us locate her?”
“I remember you. You saved her from the rack.”
“Yes, I did.”
“I’ll try to find Eva.” Milo folded himself into the chair.
“Thank you for helping, Milo,” Harry said.
Emilio grabbed a chair across from Harry, and the two men began a hushed conversation.
“What happened that day at the flower shop?” I looked at Milo. “You ran away from your grandmother?”
“Milo is sensitive to smells, particularly chemicals.” Camila rubbed his back while he typed on his computer. “It triggers his anxiety, and he panics.”
“I don’t like preservation solutions like heparin, which is used to prevent blood clotting in the organ during transport.”
“My smart boy can remember certain details that we might overlook,” Camila added.
My chest tightened. “Did you smell it that day?”
Milo nodded. “The man in the flower shop that day.” His nose crinkled. “It wasverystrong on him. He walked past me in the street. I don’t know why I followed him. The odor was potent. It was all over the shop, even on Eva.”
Even though I was there that day, I remembered nothing except her. I needed to review the recordings in her shop. This could be the same man who had placed the bleeding heart order. William Bell was supposed to pick up his order in two days. Would he come or send someone else?
I wanted to find Eva now, not in two days.
“This is her phone number. It goes straight to voicemail. We need her location. Can you do that?”
“I’ll try.”
While Milo worked, I wondered about his condition. His personality differed from when I first saw him. Right now he appeared to be a tech whiz as he opened a private browser. His fingers flew across the keyboard, and a new webpage splashed onto the screen, filled with codes.
I met Camila’s eyes and gestured for her to follow me into the hallway.
“I know what you’re going to ask me,” she began. “Milo has osmophobia. It stems from past trauma. Certain smells trigger a memory, forcing him to act out sometimes. The eucalyptus scent calms him, and he’s a lot better now.”
“Does he need to rest? I’m sorry to put him through this.”
“Milo knows Harry, and he’d do anything to help him. Besides, Milo enjoys solving mysteries.”
We returned to the dining table where Milo’s fingers worked fast, changing up codes that filled the screen swiftly.
“Heknows computers and high-tech stuff.” Pride showed in her eyes.
“I’m typing in her number now,” Milo said.
