Page 76 of For Better or for Ransom

“You cannot just sit inside this car and wait!” Divya protested. Her tone left no doubt: she was angry. “It’s getting late. We could spend all night here before we see anything and get to confirm Leonardo is inside!”

Luke shrugged as if conceding they’d do exactly that if necessary.

Sol shared Divya’s views: she absolutely didn’t want to spend the night inside of their rental car. It wasn’t even an SUV. It was minuscule. The prospect of trying to sleep in such an uncomfortable fashion was completely unappealing. So she did what she suspected would solve the argument. “If I promise to stay inside the car, with the doors locked, when you guys go inside, will you consider Divya’s proposal?”

The two detectives turned toward her from their seats in the front of the car. Luke slanted his eyes at Sol, as if hardly believing what she’d said. “You’ll stay here? You won’t try to argue and plead with us to let you go inside?”

“I’m a woman perfectly aware of her limitations, Luca,” Sol played the offended party to perfection. In reality she just wanted that whole affair unstuck, and to be able to sleep in their hotel room that night. Finding Leonardo would be nice too, but that would just be the cherry on top. “I understand both you and Divya have extensive training and know how to behave on field operations. You two even have martial arts training. The only way I’d know how to defend myself would be to hit someone with my purse.” They tended to be ginormous, and she caressed the one sitting next to her in the car at present, it practically took the same space as a human. “So go inside, please be careful. See if Leonardo is there. I’ll stay in the car.”

Luke cocked his head. He still didn’t quite believe her.

“Oh, come on!” Sol finally huffed. “I just don’t want to spend the whole night in the car, okay? So go ahead, see if you find something. And hopefully we won’t go to bed super late tonight.”

“See, now I believe you, cara.” Luke smiled at her.

She couldn’t suppress her own smile at him but prevented herself from touching him—there would be time later. She wasn’t sure how exactly it had happened but Luke had gotten to know her very unhinged, flawed self. And he seemed to have no problems with that part of her personality.

“But be careful, you two,” Sol warned the detectives, pointing a finger moving in both their directions. “I’ll give you exactly fifteen minutes. If I don’t hear back from you by then, I’m calling the police.”

And she was going to honk the car’s horn, scream, and make an absolute racket to ensure Divya and Luke were okay. There was no fucking way now that she’d resolved on marrying for a third time—and found the perfect man for it—she’d let him go. Plus she loved Divya too.

Luke checked the time on his cell phone. It was 8:17 p.m. “Give us twenty minutes inside.”

“Nope, fifteen. Don’t argue with me about this. Now, go before I change my mind and decide this idea is crazy and we should all stay inside the car.”

Sol’s heart shrank a little as her future husband and one of her favorite friends got out of the car and descended into the night.

···

It was 8:31 p.m. and she’d already dialed the police number on her phone, she was just waiting for the time to change to 8:32 before hitting the call button. Or, hopefully, Divya and Luke would get out of the villa before that.

Right when she was about to press the green button and start creating a noise commotion in the quiet residential neighborhood, there was movement coming from the same shrubbery Luke and Divya had disappeared into—and which was the lower point in the villa’s fence.

Only it wasn’t Luke or Divya getting out of the bushes but someone else Sol didn’t recognize right away. She never had the time to think about the rationality—or lack of it—of what she did next. She simply got out of the car—armed with a giant purse full of toiletries, a filled water bottle, and even some snacks—and swung her heavy bag at the stranger’s legs.

“Ouch!” the out-of-the-bushes figure screamed as they fell to the ground, taking their hands to their face in a defensive posture.

That’s when Sol saw the bracelet the figure was wearing and stopped herself from hitting them a second time. “Leonardo?” she asked, still prepared to strike again if necessary.

“Yes?” the man on the floor answered, taking his hands from his face, and Sol could see it was really the actor.

“Oh my god! We found you!” Sol cried out. “Sorry I hit you! I thought you were the kidnapper.”

“Sol?” Leonardo said, still from the ground. Sol gave him a hand, helping him to get up.

“You remember me?” Sol couldn’t believe it. Actors interacted with so many people she always assumed they all forgot her the moment an interview ended and she left the room. Of course it wasn’t always like that. Bryan Cranston had remembered her the second time when she’d interviewed him two years in a row. But not everyone was such a nice, thoughtful person…

“Of course I remember you,” Leonardo said, while smoothing down his clothes. “I’ve read the profile you wrote about me. Very tasteful.”

Sol questioned her own ears.

“You read my article? Haven’t you been… taken against your will?”

Leonardo shrugged. “I guess I have. My captor still gave me access to lots of reading materials, in analog format. But I had all the accommodations: swimming pool, beach access, books, all my cosmetic and clothing arsenal, and the most delicious food. We even went out one night. I guess, if you take out the loss of freedom part, I can’t really complain. It was like a five-star kidnapping.”

Sol blinked. She couldn’t believe what she was hearing.

“So, you’re good?” She tried for her most sympathetic tone. But to her Leonardo didn’t look, or sound, traumatized by the apparently lofty hostage-taking situation.