Page 78 of For Better or for Ransom

“Of course I am!” FadeToBlack continued screaming from the floor. “I demand to be released!”

Luke made out the sound of police sirens getting closer. He exhaled, relieved. But what the bloody hell was Sol doing there? She was supposed to call the police from inside the safety of their rental car, not to get inside the villa and start hitting people with a very heavy bag.

He was about to confront Sol about her presence in the villa, but there was something more urgent first. “We didn’t find Leonardo,” he said, frustration edging his voice. He was still kneeling on the floor to keep the kidnapper there.

Sol flicked one of her hands, dismissively. “Don’t worry about that. He’s outside and perfectly fine. He’s the one who called the cops, actually.”

“And what are you doing here?” Luke’s eyes scrutinized her. If Leonardo was okay, Luke could start scolding his lover for putting herself at risk.

“Saving you two obviously.” Sol pointed to the man on the floor and her extremely heavy bag. “You know who that is, right?”

“You called him something familiar,” Divya said, also kneeling on the floor beside the kidnapper.

“Theo Summers, the showrunner of the television series that Leonardo was supposed to do next but didn’t because of the scheduling conflict,” Sol explained, and even though Luke was still mad at her for being there, he was also grateful. Not only had she been able to recognize someone who for him and Divya was only a name, Sol was reminding them who Theo Summers was.

Luke still glared at Sol. They would talk later about her little incursion inside the villa.

“The scheduling conflict was such an excuse!” Theo Summers screamed again from the floor. “I just wanted to have some time with Leonardo and properly woo him to do my show, get his undivided attention. But he’s such a high-maintenance brat!”

Luke couldn’t quite believe his ears.

“A brat?” the detective asked.

“He’s driven me nuts! First he demanded to get all his cosmetic products from the theater. I offered to buy him new stuff but of course he said no: some of his toiletries were rare and difficult to source—others simply crazily prized. Does he really need a $1,500 moisturizer cream!” Did Theo want the detectives to feel bad for him? Or was he simply venting—and warning them about how messy kidnapping could get? “I should have thought this thing through better! After the cosmetics demands, Leonardo requested to get his clothes from the hotel room, and I had to go there unnoticed and bring all his stuff. There were three suitcases full to the brim! Who needs so much crap? I left some garments in the room so that it wouldn’t be so noticeable, and he never let me hear the end of it. Apparently those were his favorite sweats that I left behind!”

Luke, Divya, and Sol exchanged a look. It was decided that they would remain silent and let the “long-suffering” showrunner continue with his sharing of information and of hurt feelings.

“He’s spent all these days lounging by the pool and working on his tan, reading the most outrageously commercial books, doing yogalates, swimming, and making demands about the food—apparently he is on some sort of macro-targeted whole food diet. I swear if I see another grilled chicken breast I’m gonna puke! So much chicken!” Summers continued. “He refused to engage every time I brought up Bibliophilia. He keeps saying my show is boring! Boring! Can you freaking believe it?”

Luke could. Even though Jasper Fairbanks had told him what that show was about that same day, Luke couldn’t recall it. And it wasn’t because he hadn’t listened. No. He’d listened. The show simply wasn’t memorable. No wonder Leonardo no longer wanted to do it and no wonder he didn’t want to work with Theo Summers. Kidnapping ways aside, he was a whiner.

“I’ve tried everything!” Summers continued. “We even went out the other night, to try and see if I could get Leonardo lubricated and he’d accept to do my show. But the guy doesn’t even drink that much, I swear he’s a fucking health nut!”

“We heard you had a nice chat in the cab coming back here,” Luke asked.

“We did,” Summers whimpered. “But we were talking about the show he’s set on doing with the ultimate nepo baby—Jasper Fairbanks. He starts chatting about the trashy Single Dad Situation and he gets all animated. That’s a dramedy! I’m offering him the pain and suffering—but also the awards recognition—that comes with a very serious drama! Yet he ignored me and only engaged to talk about the other show. I tried telling him the internet was starting to speculate about him being missing—and possibly bailing on Fairbanks. He was unflappable, had the audacity to say this whole thing would probably help Fairbanks’s show! Nonsense!”

“I shouldn’t be so sure,” Sol said. The bite in her tone was unmissable: she was annoyed by Theo Summers. “We just took Leonardo from your very boring, but oppressive hold. Come Monday, he’ll be in London. Tan, handsome as ever, and ready to play a defining role written for him by Jasper Fairbanks. Of course there’ll be articles written about it, I’ll make sure to write about him too. I’ll be very surprised if this kidnapping of yours doesn’t bring lots of attention and free promotion to Fairbanks’s show.”

By the noise coming from Summer’s mouth, Luke wasn’t sure if the showrunner was crying or simply screaming. It didn’t matter. That was when the police came inside the villa, ready to take Leonardo Pascual’s kidnapper in for questioning.

46

Friday, March 22, 2024

Sol

They were having lunch at an outside table in one of the restaurants of the Four Seasons in Mallorca. It was Jasper Fairbanks’s treat for the detectives—and Sol. Or did Sol also count as one more of the detectives? She wasn’t quite sure. She needed to talk to Divya and Luke about what they wanted from her future contributions to the agency. But she first needed to talk to Luke. She needed the terms of her marriage proposal to be more clear—and to set an early date. Once she was resolved on doing something, she wasn’t someone to take her time and wait. The sooner they were husband and wife, the better.

Jasper was presiding at the table, serving cava for everyone, a smile never leaving his face, and checking every few seconds in the direction of Leonardo—as if to make sure that his leading man was still there and hadn’t disappeared again. Sol would not say that out loud in front of Luke, but the actor looked outrageously hot in a way she hadn’t experienced the first time they’d met. Was it completely wrong to say that kidnapping had proved Leonardo well? Even though they’d spent half the night at the police station getting debriefed and pressing charges against Theo Summers, Leonardo looked well rested. There was no trace of the dark circles under his eyes that Sol had seen when she’d interviewed him. His skin was glowing in a deep, enviably golden tone. His eyes were bright, and ready. He even looked as if he’d put on a couple of muscle pounds. The Irrefutably Sexy Leonardo Pascual was back.

“Doesn’t he look gorgeous?” Sandro Palau said, beaming at his partner with adoring eyes. The actor had flown into Mallorca on the first available flight that day, after Leonardo had called him the night before from outside Theo Summers’s villa right after hanging up with the police.

“He absolutely does,” Jasper agreed. One thing was clear: if Sandro was ecstatic to have his man back, Jasper was probably as happy at the prospect of having his star by his side again.

“Mind if I ask you a couple of things—completely off the record!” Sol said, preemptively raising her hands in the air, as if to show her innocence.

She’d already written what she hoped would be the last article about Leonardo Pascual’s bizarre disappearance. She’d drafted it in a rush the night before after the whole ordeal, and made sure to include a clear disclosure about her involvement in the whole thing. Julie had been very happy with it, mentioning it would be a traffic boon for the site. Sol had written about Leonardo’s newfound freedom, the man behind his abduction, and the fact that The Single Dad Situation was set to start production on Monday without further delays.