“What have you done?” Cigs asks Solo the second he comes to a stop in front of us.
“Gee, babe; let the man breathe, will you?” I tell her, then turn to Solo. “Okay, but seriously, what did you do?”
His polished appearance looks rumpled as he runs a hand over his slightly ruffled hair. “I’ve lost Timothy,” he announces gravely, then flinches before wiping the sweat that’s on his forehead.
“You lost him as in…”
He meets my eyes. “I fuckinglosthim, Dor,” he repeats, then sniffs. “The people he was with – they just left the room I’ve been watching, and Timothy wasn’t with them. When I asked them where he was, they said he left a while ago. They seemed too high, so I unfortunately couldn’t get much out of them. I…” He sighs and raises his hands in front of him, then drops them with a soft thud. “I fucked up, kid.”
“But it doesn’t make sense,” Cigs says. “You were there the entire time, so if Timothy got out, you must’ve seen him.” When Solo doesn’t speak, she sneers at him. “Oh, forfuck’ssake, Solo.”
“Jesus,” Alex whispers. “Seriously, man? Can you not keep your dick in your pants foroncein your life?”
“Who was she?” Varsha asks around a sneer. “She must’ve been pretty special if you decided to abandon your mission for her.”
Aras and Magner seem vexed, and I don’t blame them. If Timothy has left the estate, it’ll be tough to catch him in a vulnerable spot any time soon. He’s not a regular guy; he doesn’t go out to get groceries on a Monday morning, or even grab a coffee at Starbucks like a normal individual. He’s always guarded, always with security. The only reason he wasn’t flanked by them tonight is because the estate is being thoroughly watched by the Lutkus security personnel.
“He,” Solo corrects Varsha. “It was a guy. Too persuasive. Young and fuckingbeautiful. I just couldn’t help myself.”
“Age?” I ask.
“20,” he answers. “I checked his ID, Dor; I’m not a fucking pedophile.”
“I know,” I say immediately. “It’s just that when you saidyoung, I had to double-check.” I feel goosebumps rising all over my body, and my vision blurs momentarily as images from my past flash across my mind. I know Solo isn’t Marco – not evencloseto it – so I dunno why my brain decided to get triggered by a detail like that.
I clear my throat and try to center myself, pushing aside my thoughts, because they are just that –thoughts.
“Umm, Aras?” I look at him. “Weren’t the dances supposed to start now or something?”
“They were, yeah,” he tells me, then jerks his head towards the appetizers. “But Fred sent his special delivery outside the estate in atruck, so I had to go deal with it myself. Three hours later than the time he’d given me, no less. And to top that off, most of my staff was against touching the food – for obvious reasons, of course – so I had to convince them otherwise. Took some very particular words, and even a couple of threats, but I got the job done. I’ll just…” He points behind him. “I’ll go talk to the DJ now and ask him to change the music so that it spurs the guests into pairing up.”
“And I’ll go have a look at the estate’s live CCTV footage to see if I can find Timothy loitering around somewhere on the property,” Magner says. “If his partners were high, then maybe he is, too. There’s a chance we might be able to catch him still.”
I nod. “Great.” I face Alex and Varsha. “Check every room in this estate – all three floors,especiallythe room Timothy was in. Search everywhere possible.”
“There’s a terrace on the third floor,” Magner provides, glancing at Alex. “End of the hallway. Its doors are mostly closed, but we opened them tonight, so maybe check there as well.”
“Got it,” Varsha says.
“I’ll, uh…” Solo scratches his jaw. “I’ll go talk to the valets and security at the estate’s main gates, see if they saw Timothy leaving.” He swallows, and his forehead creases as he sighs again. “I’m so sorry about this. I don’t know what thehellgot into me. I swear I wouldn’t have done it were he not so–”
“It’sfine, Solo,” I cut him off, then slap his arm once. “Really, it’s okay; you’re good. Shit happens, man, but in our line of work, we can’t keep dwelling on them. You’ve taught me to stay focused on thenow, remember?”
He scoffs, but it’s halfhearted. “It’s ironic how I failed to implement my own lesson, then, isn’t it?”
“What is this, a group counseling session?” Cigs chastises, then reaches forward and places a hand on Solo’s shoulder before shaking him a little. “Stop with the pity party, will you? You admitted your mistake and are working on fixing it, and that’s all that matters. No one here is judging you for what you did, so you seriously don’t have to apologize constantly and blame yourself for what happened. Like Dor said: it’sokay, Solo; you’re good. We’ll get Timothy tonight, one way or another.”
His posture visibly loosens as he nods at her. “Thanks, kid.”
“Don’t mention it. Besides, I’m asking you to forget about it now just so I can never let you live it downlater, when all of this is over and done with and we don’t have to worry about chasing a hormone-driven teenager.” She winks at him, making him chuckle.
“I knew you had ulterior motives. You don’t just give out encouragement as charity; you always have something else up your goddamn sleeve.”
She grins. “Look at that – you’ve got me all figured out!Yay you, Solo; keep up the good work. It’s so much better than your performance at the job you were assigned tonight.” When I cough behind a fist, she looks at me and whispers, “Too soon?”
“Ya think?” I muse, pursing my lips.
Solo rolls his eyes and shakes his head good-naturedly, and Cigs exhales before waving a hand in front of her face. “Anyway,” she begins, pushing back a few errant strands of her hair behind an ear. “I’ll go look for Timothy in the back garden. Maybe he stumbled over a bush or something and face-planted into the grass. I’m long overdue for some fresh air anyway. Ineedto get outta here for a bit before I end up vomiting into an upper class’sBirkin. I’ll text you guys if, or as soon as I find him.”
