Chapter 20

20

L uke had been standing on a quiet corner of Formosa Street for the previous two hours and was again mostly cold—even if perfectly dressed for the day's weather—and on a path of resentment against his professional choices.

He'd been on the seven in the morning flight from Barcelona to London that day and had barely had time to stretch his legs—he'd been relegated to a middle seat in a completely full flight again—when he got a call from his bosses. The executives at Meshflixx wanted the detectives to add a new possible culprit to their list of suspects: actor Leonardo Pascual. Luke was tasked with getting "anything compromising," Thompson's words, about The Privateers star.

Luke felt especially lousy as a result. He was just back from lying (or at least not telling the whole truth) to one person about why he happened to be in her hometown and now was supposed to trail another one, even if the evidence pointing to his involvement in the theft looked flimsier than in Sol's case.

Maybe Gaia was right after all, and Luke should have stuck to being a lawyer and given up the whole detecting vocation. It wasn't like it had taken him far. Had he read too many Agatha Christie novels at uni and was now paying for it?

It was never a good thing when he had doubts about his chosen profession. Fortunately, it didn't happen often, although it had become more common in those past months working at T&T. Even if, when he'd been offered the job, Luke felt like he was turning an important professional corner. But he now saw his position in a different light and, what was worse, he had the feeling he was trapped in that job. He couldn't afford to lose it.

Deciding to take a more optimistic approach and hoping there was still a way to salvage the Meshflixx case, he called Divya.

"I heard you were back," Divya said in greeting.

"You heard correctly."

"Were you feeling homesick?" she teased.

"Not really. They wanted me back here to start working on Leonardo Pascual."

"Oh yes. The new suspect," Divya said. "Apparently, Leonardo has been tweeting about the leaked screenplay and his utter dislike of it, and they aren't happy about it at Meshflixx."

"But how do they know he's involved with this? It's not like he was at the Pilates studio when the script disappeared, right?"

"Well, they want us to figure that out. But I overheard Thompson saying that Meshflixx could be trying to dupe us. He thinks the studio wants us to find some dirt on Leonardo, but instead of paying for a second investigation, they're keeping everything under one tab."

T&T had finally managed to get a client who could beat them at their own game.

"Should we try to talk to Agatha? She was the one with the most motive before Meshflixx started throwing new suspects at us," Luke said.

"She's still in Tokyo."

"What about Sara Daniels?"

"What about her?" Divya asked.

"Should we try talking to her? All the info we have on her comes from T&T's notes from their initial interview with her after taking the case. But you and me never heard directly from Sara about what went on that evening."

He'd seen firsthand how Thompson and Thomson dealt with clients, and he knew Divya had too. The founders were always invariably more preoccupied with keeping clients and their associates happy and unbothered than making any attempt at diligence. Luke was sure he and Divya could learn something from a chat with The Privateers creator.

"They won't be happy if we do it behind their backs," Divya said.

Divya's sleuthing interest was likely piqued by this case, and Luke knew she wanted to get to the truth of the matter just like he did. But she also wanted to keep her job.

"Let me talk to P," said Luke.

Thompson was universally acknowledged at the agency as the softer of the two name partners, even if Luke had started to suspect that malleability was only cosmetic.

"All right, but keep me out of the conversation unless he really sees no problem."

"Of course."

They hung up and he sent an email to Thompson, hoping his manager still hadn't figured out a couple of things when it came to operating his new mobile phone—work email being one of them.

And how could he have, considering that the previous night he'd called Luke and had dictated a six-digit confirmation code?

Hi P,

Making sure we're ready to have some new info on the Meshflixx case by EOW. FYI, I need to talk to Sara D ASAP to double-check something.

Luke

Nothing mystified Thompson more than acronyms. Half the time he couldn't decipher their meaning, yet he revered them. So even if he managed to read his email, the way Luke had written it should suffice to make his manager side with his need to talk to Sara.

With that out of the way, Luke sent the text message he'd been mentally writing and rewriting all day.

Luke Contadino: Sorry I had to leave yesterday. Emergency at work.

Sol was having lunch at Bodega Sepúlveda, her favorite traditional Catalan cuisine spot in the city, with the company of a delightful Emily Henry rom-com. She knew that was probably going to be one of her last restaurant outings for a while, considering her new uncertain economic situation. But in the words of her favorite Laura Dern character, she wasn't ready to not not be rich and felt her lack of liquidity would materialize the moment she acknowledged it, so she was pretending nothing had happened for one or two more days of much needed self-care.

She received Luke's message then. She read it twice. Made sure she actually understood it correctly. Chuckled. Rolled her eyes. Smirked. Put the phone on the table, its screen facing down, and continued reading her book.

Ten minutes later, the device vibrated with the reception of a new message. Sol wanted to believe she was the kind of woman who'd ignore the smart device and simply continue savoring the baby squid croquettes and the sobrassada over pa amb tomàquet. And, had she the inkling that the message could be from anyone other than Luke, she'd probably disregard it. She had only eighty pages left in the too-engrossing book, after all, and was in the page-turning phase of her reading.

But she couldn't ignore her cell phone. And she felt a bit aggrieved about it. Disappointed in herself as well.

Luke Contadino (a.k.a. TDS): I realize I never told you what I do for a living. It's a long conversation. Would love to tell you about it when you're back in London.

"Aargh!" She was starting to feel irritated. "?Qué necesidad hay de hablar ahora de esto?" she muttered. She put the phone down again.

It was perfectly adequate for her to have lunch by herself. To talk to herself out loud while eating alone, perhaps not so much. Yet the phone beeped again, and she couldn't resist grabbing it.

Luke Contadino (a.k.a. TDS): I know I'm probably ruining a delicious lunch under the sun and by the sea. It's just that I'd love to see you again when you're back in my hometown.

Even if she couldn't ignore him, he didn't have to be aware of it. She just had to stay silent. But she couldn't resist the temptation to correct him.

Sol Novo: I'm indoors and like forty minutes away from La Barceloneta on foot. I guess by taxi I could be there in 15… But you're still ruining a delicious lunch.

Luke Contadino (a.k.a. TDS): Feel free to send me pictures.

Sol Novo: Pass. I'm too old to start documenting meals now.

Luke Contadino (a.k.a. TDS): You definitely aren't too old for me.

"?Será possible el tío!" she said aloud. She couldn't believe his gall. She was done pretending she wasn't interested in that conversation and that she wasn't speaking to herself. Also, what exactly had happened the previous night to this seductive Luke?

Sol Novo: Cut the flattery or I'll ignore your messages. I have a selection of cheeses in front of me that require my full attention…

Luke Contadino (a.k.a. TDS): I'll let you eat peacefully but think about my request.

Sol Novo: What request?! I'm NOT taking a picture of these cheeses and sending it to you.

Luke Contadino (a.k.a. TDS): I see. Not into food fetishes, eh?

Sol was genuinely confused now. Entertained and giggling, but still confused. She really was too old for that kind of digital flirting. Too hungry too.

Luke Contadino (a.k.a. TDS): I was talking about my hope that you'll want to see me when you're back in London.

Sol Novo: I'll think about it.

Luke Contadino (a.k.a. TDS): Remember you promised me not to hide if we run into each other.

Sol Novo: Promise still stands

Sol Novo: Need to go now!

She put the phone down, this time for good. She knew he wouldn't be writing again for a bit after that last answer.

But even if she pretended as if the previous night had never happened and he hadn't managed to wound her battered pride and sense of seductiveness—and that was a lot of pretending—Sol wasn't sure when or if she was getting back to London, so there was no point in replying to his question with something more concrete.

Her career was everything she was willing to invest time in and to think about from then on. And she didn't know where the next step in her professional life would take her.