Page 24 of Scripted for Love and Poison (Sol and Luke Mystery #2)

“ W hy is he seething?” Sol asked Divya as she drove her and Luke to Victor Lago’s home in the Hollywood Hills.

“I’m not seething,” Luke grumbled from the back seat.

“He’s still not over the fact that you went to see Jason Zit and didn’t think of telling him about the box of chocolates,” Divya explained, and Sol had the feeling the detective was starting to get tired of playing couples therapist.

“I didn’t even remember about the stupid chocolates!” Sol protested. “I only recalled them because you’re an excellent interviewer.”

“And I am not?” Luke sounded offended.

“Enough!” Divya managed to say. “You two are extremely tiresome. I’m jet-lagged, and I want to wrap this thing up and maybe enjoy LA for a little bit before we can make Luke happy and go back to London. Can you please barter a truce of some sort until then?”

“ He started it,” Sol said, referring to Luke’s foul mood of the last two days.

“No, no, no, cara. You started it when you lied to me. ”

“Don’t call me cara if you don’t mean it!”

“What do you mean, I don’t mean it?”

“No truce then, I guess,” muttered Divya.

They arrived at their destination a couple of minutes after that.

A charged silence had taken hold of the car, and its occupants entertained themselves by admiring the house in front of them.

The French Provencal-style mansion Victor Lago shared with his partner, showrunner Abbie Domingo, was perched over the Hollywood Hills.

It had a swimming pool perfect for laps.

It boasted views of the Hollywood Sign, the Griffith Observatory, and Downtown.

And there was a For Sale sign in front of it.

“Don’t want to get into nobody’s business,” Sol said as Luke and Divya were about to get out of the car.

“Really?” asked Luke, but Sol ignored him.

“Luke, mate. You’re starting to annoy not only Sol, but me as well. And you promised you’d calm down,” Divya complained. “What did you want to tell us, Sol?”

“I’d say based on location, amenities, and size, this house must be worth around nine or ten million. You may want to ask Victor and his partner how come it is for sale.”

“Maybe they got tired of Los Angeles,” Luke quipped.

“Maybe they need the money because someone’s movie flopped,” said Divya.

“Or maybe they’re just upgrading. You never know with these people. I’m sure Abbie is making a very decent amount of money with her TV show. Especially with all the awards she’s winning,” Sol said.

“But it doesn’t hurt to ask,” Divya said.

“Exactly. So I trust you two will be able to make your way back when you’re done with this, right?” Sol asked them.

“You’re not coming with us?” Luke asked .

“You have to be fucking kidding me. First you tell me not to get involved, and then you find it strange that I don’t join you for an interview! Get out of the car. We’ll talk tonight.” Sol looked Luke straight in the eyes.

“If I wasn’t getting tired of being in the middle, I’d say that was extremely hot,” Divya said as she and Luke made their ascent toward Victor Lago’s home and Sol drove away.

“Who are you?” Abbie Domingo asked when she opened the front door of her house, dressed in a pinstripe, three-piece suit and wearing tortoiseshell-framed Prada sunglasses.

She had to be the most elegant person Luke had seen since landing in that city, with the exception of the awards ceremony, of course.

But it was almost as if Angelenos had only two modes: the most glamorous black-tie style or completely laid-back sportswear. Abbie Domingo was somewhere in between.

“I’m Luke Contadino. I don’t know if you remember, we met at the party the other night,” Luke told the TV writer.

“You’re the younger fling who went to the party with the sophisticated journalist from Spain, right?” Abbie said, studying him from head to toe.

“That’s me,” said Luke. “And this is my professional partner, Divya Bakshi. We were hoping to have a chat with your partner, Victor Lago.”

“You and me both, honey,” said Abbie in a playful tone.

“He’s not home, then?” asked Divya.

“He hasn’t been home for weeks! I would let you in and tell you all about it, but I’m actually heading out. I have an appointment with my therapist to tell her all about Victor’s betrayal!”

“I’m sorry to hear that. ”

The showrunner locked her front door and made her way to a convertible, burgundy Jaguar E-Type from the seventies parked in front of the house.

“Love your wheels!” Divya told Abbie.

“Thank you, it was a gift from Victor. One that I had to finish paying myself because indie filmmakers get all the glory, but most of them are broke!”

“So he had money problems?” Divya asked.

“He was hoping to get fame, glory, and money with Haughty Horizons , but then that wretched review was published, and he became unhinged. That’s when he abandoned me and the dogs!”

“So he didn’t like Simon Smith’s review?” Luke asked.

“He detested it! Haughty Horizons is his baby, and Simon killed it!”

“A bit melodramatic, no?” Divya asked.

“Have a chat with Victor about Haughty Horizons , and tell me if I’m being melodramatic or not,” Abbie said. “But, for that, you have to find him first.”

“Do you have any idea where he may be?” Luke asked tentatively.

“I’ve checked the Bel-Air, the Peninsula, and the Four Seasons. If he’s not there, I don’t know where he could be! He’s never been a fan of the Beverly Hills, something about the pinkness of the place that unsettled him, so I didn’t bother to check there. You may want to give it a try though ...”

“Got it, fancy hotels,” said Luke.

“There may be something else. The second round of press for the movie didn’t move the needle one bit, and people are falling asleep all over the country, watching Haughty Horizons !

But he still doesn’t seem to realize it.

And he loves to party. So try the awards circuit.

I’m sure he’s convinced the movie still has a chance of becoming a cult classic. ”

“Fancy hotels and fancy parties. One last thing, and I promise we’ll get out of your way and let you drive to your appointment,” said Luke. “You made it sound as if he hasn’t been here for a few weeks, but the other day you went together to the awards ceremony.”

“He knew I was invited because my show had been nominated, and he begged me to let him go with me,” Abbie explained. “And I’m silly and thought he wanted to reconcile when the only thing he wanted was to be photographed on the fucking red carpet with the hopes of someone talking about his movie!”

“I’m sorry about that.” This time it was Divya trying to put the showrunner at ease, and Luke had the feeling both he and his partner felt for the woman and would have liked to meet her under different circumstances.

“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!”