Page 55 of For Better or for Ransom

Luke clenched his jaw. Who the bloody hell were these people?

“And of course it’s none of my business who you talked to,” Pete continued. His voice stumbled. “But Jasper Fairbanks has been trashing Bobby all over town with fake tales about him, and it makes me angry.”

“I gather you don’t like Fairbanks?” Divya pried.

“I mean, Jasper is a total nepo baby but he still has lots of talent, I guess. Whatever, it would be ironic of me to criticize Jasper for being born into the business,” Pete continued.

The conversation was completely off the rails by that point. What was it that Divya had asked him last? Why was it that Sol wasn’t there with them again? The talk was turning into pure Hollywood lingo and she sure could have helped them with the translation.

“Pete, mate, I don’t think I follow you.” The Mancunian was getting tired.

“Well, you see. I’m Bobby’s grandkid.”

“Of course.” Divya breathed deeply. “Couple of questions and I promise I’ll get out of yours and your grandad’s hair. Do you know if Leonardo wanted to—pause his work relationship with Bobby?”

“Like fire him?” Temper edged Pete’s voice again. He was practically screaming. “Was that flipping Jasper Fairbanks as well? OMG I hate his guts!”

Divya’s eyes widened. Luke wasn’t sure whether he was about to start laughing or simply tell Pete to calm the bloody fuck down.

“I’m sorry again, Bobby is a bit disappointed with my attitude at the moment. We don’t get upset at Lancaster and Associates.” Pete breathed deeply a couple of times. “But no, Leonardo is not going to fire Bobby. He’s always been clear he’ll stay at Lancaster and Associates. He’s going to be one of my first clients when Bobby feels I’m ready to take the leap from assistant to manager.”

It was Luke’s eyes widening now, his head cocking again. There was no way Leonardo wanted to stay at Lancaster and Associates with Pete as his manager.

“I see.” There was only the slightest pinch of hesitancy in Divya’s tone. “I assume what we were told about Bobby not wanting Leonardo to do The Single Dad Situation is also false?”

“No, I think that’s actually true,” Pete said. “You told him to skip the show, right, Pops?”

If that wasn’t leading the scatterbrained witness, Luke wasn’t sure what it was. Could they trust anything they were being told?

“I think I did,” Bobby hesitated. “I knew he’d be tired after all the theater plays. I think I told him to skip this show. He had a lot of other offers anyway. Could choose so many other things with a less tight starting date…”

“Are you disappointed he didn’t, Bobby?” Divya asked.

There was no hesitation this time. “Nonsense, from the beginning of our collaboration, Leonardo has been very single-minded. He’s proved me wrong on many occasions.”

Yet Leonardo stayed with Bobby until now? With a manager who couldn’t give good advice but took a percentage of everything Leonardo was getting paid for? These Hollywood people were either crazy or there was something else here that Luke and Divya weren’t seeing.

“Last question,” Divya said, seemingly also ready to finish the interview and start discussing its content with Luke. “This is something we’re asking everyone we’ve been talking to, do you have any idea of where Leonardo could be?”

There was some crackling on the line again and muted voices, as if Pete and Bobby were physically covering the phone while they talked among themselves. It was Bobby’s voice to finally come over the phone: “I know I probably don’t sound like the most reliable of character witnesses, with my lost marbles and everything, but I fear something bad must have happened to the boy.”

“Why do you think so?”

Bobby chuckled. “I know he sounds like a clichéd TV star: famous, rich, and entitled. But Leonardo is none of those things. And he’s had to work so hard to get where he is right now. He’s only started to be able to pick and choose what he really wants to do after that pirates show at Meshflixx he did a couple years ago—and then he goes and voluntarily disappears when things are about to get even better? It was me who told him not to do The Single Dad Situation so that he could have time off. He told me no. But then he decides to take some vacation anyway? It just doesn’t make sense.”

Nothing in that bloody case did.

30

Sol

It was as if she’d been overcome with some sort of sudden inspiration. Sol wasn’t sure what it was: staying in her hometown for an extended period, feeling like she was an integral part in the detectives’ investigation, Luke looking at her in such a yearning way—he’d always been warm and intense toward her but these past few days were definitely more extreme. Whatever it was, it was making her feel the need to take to her laptop and type. And that was exactly what she did after doing a little more research for Luke.

She was devising the second book in her mystery series. Finishing the manuscript for the first one had almost been painful, feeling she was saying goodbye to the characters and world she’d so much enjoyed spending time with. Going back there was proving to be what she just needed. But she was taken from a writing session by a call from Luke. She picked up right away.

“Hola,” she answered, still absent-minded and rereading the last few words she’d typed.

“Sorry to bother you, cara. I know you’re writing.” There was worry in his words.