Page 41 of For Better or for Ransom

Sol

“That makes absolutely no sense,” Sandro was telling them over a cup of strong coffee. Sol felt bad for Luke, he wasn’t a fan of the beverage.

Divya, Luke, and Sol had arrived at the actor’s little charming apartment on one of her favorite streets in Raval a mere ten minutes before. Luke had introduced Sol as his partner and he’d explained she was helping in the case because she was the last person to see Leonardo before he’d disappeared. Sandro hadn’t found it weird and had remembered their chat on the phone. He’d offered them coffee. Luke had accepted out of politeness. Once the coffee had been served in small espresso cups, they’d then all sat in Sandro’s living room.

When Luke told the actor what they’d found—and hadn’t found—in Leonardo’s dressing room, the actor had started objecting about its impossibility.

“Leo had all kinds of other beauty products in his dressing room. He was obsessed! He’d never left the theater at night without cleaning and moisturizing. He told me I should do it too! He even gave me a jar of his favorite moisturizer from La Mer. He swears by it!” Sandro continued talking and Sol couldn’t avoid thinking the younger actor should perhaps listen to the more veteran one—and start applying that very expensive cream.

She’d read Sandro was twenty-nine or thirty yet he looked terrible that morning. He had dark circles under his eyes. His skin was pale and almost grainy. His dark-blond hair could use some product—or some shampoo. And even though Sol had seen pictures of the actor walking around Barcelona and Madrid looking like the ultimate fashionista on his social media accounts, at home he was sporting plain jeans and an ugly sweater. She had nothing against Christmas-themed attire, unless of course, it was March.

“Could it be that someone at the theater decided to take Leonardo’s stuff?” Luke asked Sandro. Her lover was using what she’d learned to recognize as his “sensitive tone.” It was reserved for people Luke perceived to be going through something difficult or who were in pain. Divya was better at being sensitive with the witnesses, but Sol could appreciate Luke was doing his best.

Sol practically hissed at herself. Of course Sandro looked like a slob. He’d probably not been sleeping, eating properly, or showering. He most certainly didn’t care what it was that he was wearing. He was worried—about Leonardo.

“Nothing has ever disappeared before,” Sandro explained. “And why take some stuff but leave the makeup? It’s not like that wasn’t also expensive. Leo only got the best stuff.”

Luke took some notes, made an almost imperceptible move of his head toward Divya. The Mancunian was the next to talk. “Sandro, how are you doing? Not to be nosy or anything, but you look a bit more tired than the last time we talked to you…”

Luke had decided the situation required more finesse, and had silently asked his partner to intervene. Sol had always enjoyed seeing the two detectives working together. It was seamless how they took turns, ensuring it was always the most appropriate detective conducting the interview.

“I’m worried about Leo,” Sandro admitted, playing nervously with the gold bracelet on his left wrist. The piece of jewelry had two parallel lines engraved in it.

Sol’s eyes practically left her sockets when she noticed the bracelet and recalled where she’d seen a piece practically identical to that one. There was something important she needed to tell Luke. If only they’d perfected the art of talking without words during interviews like he and Divya had.

24

Luke

Why was Sol looking at him that way? She was seated across from Luke, on Sandro’s futon, while Luke was in one of the reading chairs. She was giving him an intense stare. Sol was into a lot of things. But Luke could say with certainty that fucking with an audience wasn’t one of them. Right?

Right. She was trying to tell him something about the bloody case, but of course his mind had gone to sex instead.

Luke, mate, bloody focus. We’ll never get out of this forsaken city and back to London if you don’t get your head straight.

Sol touched her wrist, the same way Sandro Palau was touching his. That’s when Luke noticed the gold bracelet the actor was wearing. He recalled having seen the piece of jewelry the previous time they’d interviewed the actor. He was wearing it and obsessively touching it that time too.

“Can I ask you about the bracelet you’re wearing?” Luke asked Sandro. Divya flinched next to Sol. Luke was sure his detective partner thought he was asking questions in his usual harsh manner, and that he should have let her continue taking care of the questioning.

“Uh. This?” Sandro’s voice tightened. He was still clutching the bracelet on his left wrist. “It was a gift.”

“Did Leo give it to you by any chance?” It was Sol talking now. She was using her journalist-asking-a-delicate-question-to-an-interviewee voice turned up to its maximum setting. “I saw him wearing one just like this when I interviewed him the other day.”

If Divya had been fuming a mere few seconds ago, she relaxed on the futon now. The show was all theirs, as she realized they’d uncovered something.

Sandro sighed. Stayed silent for what Luke thought was an uncomfortable amount of time. No one interrupted Sandro. The actor finally revealed: “Leo called them our secret-his-and-his bracelets.”

Luke was going to object that it was barely any secret when they were both wearing the same unique piece of jewelry, but he didn’t. In any case, both Divya and Sol were looking at him from the futon with the same smug look on their faces: “We told you Leonardo was shagging Sandro.”

He shrugged. They were right and he’d been blindsided by the fact that he didn’t like Leonardo much. He still didn’t understand what Sandro saw in him.

“Who else knew you were together?” Luke asked.

“No one,” Sandro was too quick to say. “Leo had told his parents he was seeing someone but wanted to tell them about me in person. I thought about doing the same with my family. If I tell my mom and sister that I’m shagging Leonardo Pascual, they probably either wouldn’t believe me or die with shock. Not because they disapprove or anything,” the actor added. Talking about Pascual and their relationship had brought a color and animation to his features that wasn’t there when they’d arrived. “But because they find him so hot!”

“I totally understand.” Sol laughed. Luke was aware that she was trying to make Sandro feel comfortable—or at least he hoped it was that. He still thought there was no need for her to express her admiration for bloody Pascual again.

“You’re telling me no one at the theater realized you two were wearing matching bracelets?” Luke pressed.