Page 5 of Scripted for Love and Poison (Sol and Luke Mystery #2)

“ Y ou found Simon?” Julie blurted the moment Sol picked up her phone.

“Julie, isn’t it like one in the morning there? What are you still doing up?”

“Waiting for your call, hon,” Julie deadpanned.

“I thought you’d be sleeping. I was going to call you tomorrow.”

“Well, I’m obviously not sleeping. You found Simon?”

Sol and Luke were in front of the ocean, and the sun was almost completely hidden under the horizon line.

Tones of pink and indigo painted the sky.

The bustling Santa Monica Pier was to their right, buzzing with laughs and movement in the distance.

Sol looked for her lover’s eyes at that moment, not knowing what to tell her editor and friend.

She wasn’t necessarily good at delivering empathetic messages.

“Let me put you on speakerphone with Luke, who’s also here. He’ll give you the professional take,” Sol said and put the phone between her and Luke with a pleading expression in her eyes .

Luke acquiesced with his gaze and took the lead in the delivery of bad news. He was more used to that sort of thing.

“Hello Julie, Luke here. I’m afraid we have a bit of bad news right now, but please don’t worry yet.”

“Simon is dead, isn’t he? How can he not after that awful review he wrote,” said Julie.

“Julie, right now the only thing we’ve been able to confirm is that he’s missing from his flat and that the place has been vandalized. But we don’t know whether he’s dead or not, nor do the police,” Luke explained. “Why are you so sure he’s dead? Did he tell you someone had threatened him?”

“And what were you saying about an awful review he wrote?” added Sol.

“You’re going to laugh at me and think I’m a silly old woman,” said Julie.

“I can guarantee we won’t do that.” Luke’s jaw tightened, and Sol knew he meant it.

“We chatted on the phone the other night. He told me about this review he’d written about that movie Haughty Horizons .

He’d completely panned it. Haughty Horizons was supposed to be a December surprise during awards season, and Simon managed to squander all possibility of nominations with his review. ”

Sol couldn’t suppress the feeling that Julie was being overly dramatic once again. “I mean, I’m sure the director of the movie is not too happy with Simon, but surely you don’t suspect him. Was it Victor Lago who directed it?”

“I’m not saying he did anything, but someone did. Haughty Horizons cost $250 million, and it doesn’t look like it’s going to recoup any of that. And they’ll get nominated for nothing. ”

“Two hundred and fifty million?” Sol’s eyebrows shot up. “For a non-IP, non-star-driven, very serious movie?”

“Don’t forget it’s written and directed by a white, straight man,” Julie deadpanned.

“Ah, I guess that’ll do,” Sol decided. “But let me go back to what you were saying while I got sidetracked by that budget. You don’t mean someone at the studio did something?” Sol tried to follow Julie’s thread.

“I don’t know! But Simon told me he had gotten some threatening messages.”

“What kind of threatening messages?” Luke was quick to ask.

“Mostly of the colorful variety and posted to his social media accounts,” Julie explained.

“But he told me some of them were a bit more extreme than the regular disgruntled fan who is disappointed their favorite auteur got criticized. I told Simon he should report them, but nobody ever listens to me ... And then that night, I had this dream where Simon died. He was beaten in his flat and bled to death.”

“You dreamed it?” asked Sol, blinking in incredulity. After all, she hadn’t been the one to promise Julie they would not judge her. “Since when do you believe in dream premonitions, Julie?”

“I don’t, hon, but it was such a graphic dream. And then the following day, I was worried and tried contacting Simon, and I haven’t been able to talk to him since, and now you tell me he’s missing from his flat!”

Luke hesitated, then spoke with measured calm. “Could it be a coincidence?”

“Coincidence or no, Simon is still missing and not answering my calls, and someone threatened him,” Julie reasoned. “Sol, I know your boyfriend is very busy, but could you convince him to keep looking into this? I’m worried about Simon.”

Sol took a steady breath. “He’s not my boyfriend, he’s my romantic partner.” She hated when people didn’t use the proper qualifiers for her relationship with Luke.

“Same difference. Who cares? You two don’t even live together. Can he look into this for me?” Julie dismissed her.

“ He is actually here,” Luke said, keeping his voice relaxed.

“Julie, I’m not sure I can take on this investigation as this is a Los Angeles affair and I am, very much, based in London.

But tomorrow Sol and I are going to that awards ceremony organized by the critics organization she’s a member of.

Sol tells me Simon is also a member, and what I can promise you is that while we’re there, we’ll keep an eye out for him.

We’ll try to figure out if someone else has seen him or knows anything. ”

“Please find out what happened to him, but you two should be careful,” said Julie.

That sounded ominous.