The Retrieval Read Online Free Page A

Charlie broke the silence by saying, “All right, enough sulking. You’re certain?”
    “Now I am.” Jake turned right off of some Hollywood commercial street or other before he added, “I don’t mind, much. This being a Nance, it’s not going to be too bad if I’m careful.”
    “Not if you’re also very lucky, but how did you figure that out on your own?”
    “On my own? I’ve been around Broadway or Hollywood most of my life. Once I’d swallowed hard -- I know, ha-ha -- I already understood I didn’t have to be, what, slimy and evil? I could just be like you and some of the others except with less fa-la-la and more sis-boom-bah.”
    “You rehearsed that.” Charlie twisted around to tell Ducky, “He rehearsed that with his shaving mirror.”
    Ducky’s noise was more of a moan this time.
    Jake bridled. “Did we or did we not settle the question of me being an actor? No reviews accepted. Besides, we’re almost there.”
    “Almost where?”
    “To our noon appointment, to look at a house you might like.”
    Charlie frowned. “What about my lunch?”
    “After we’re done. First we’re going to follow this much of my original plan, come hell or high water.”
    “How about starvation?”
    “Come starvation, too. This particular real estate agent is also my landlady. It’d be safer for me to snub Norma Shearer at the Cocoanut Grove.”
    Having spent most of his adult life in Manhattan, Charlie couldn’t argue against the importance of pacifying landlords. Resigned, he looked around the sparsely-built, hilly street. “And where are we this time?”
    “Not far from my apartment house, west of Hollywood above Sunset Boulevard. Lots of movie people live around here, including some of the Manhattan crowd. It’s not as showy or expensive as Beverly Hills and there’s more of a nightlife.” After vigorously thrusting out his arm to signal one last right turn, Jake pulled up to the curb. “Here’s Mrs. Hurley.”
    A rangy, elderly lady, who had been seated in a folding chair by the front steps of the house, rose to her feet. She extended a long arm to wave with zest. “Yoo-hoo! Jake!”
    “Hi, Mrs. Hurley!” It wasn’t hard to sort out the mixture of affection and trepidation in Jake’s voice. Charlie resolved to be charming.
    As she strode briskly over to the roadster, Mrs. Hurley was already talking. “Now, are you sure you want to view this particular property, Sweetie? The current owner means to sell, not rent. Anyone helping you buy is going to want onto the title. And I don’t know if…” Trailing off, she lifted her tortoiseshell glasses and peered at the roadster from beneath them. “But who’s this?” She was not addressing Charlie.
    “Oh, that’s Ducky,” Jake told her, already out of and around the auto to her side even as Charlie was still climbing through his door. “Don’t mind him.”
    “I don’t,” she said, and beamed. Then, “Hello, gorgeous,” she continued, not talking to Jake this time. She extended a multi-ringed hand toward the rumble seat.
    For a moment, Charlie had the oddest notion that Ducky would bow and kiss the back of her hand as he clicked both sets of heels. Instead the dog settled for a polite sniff and a soft, approving noise.
    “Aw, look at you,” she said. “What a handsome fellow. Well, now I understand. You can’t keep a big boy like this on a property without some room. Come along, you two, and have a look-see.” Without another word, she turned and strode away just as briskly as she had approached.
    Jake opened his mouth and then, quite sensibly in Charlie’s opinion, closed it without trying to catch Mrs. Hurley’s attention. Instead he shrugged at Charlie and asked, “Could you…?” before racing to catch up with her.
    “It seems you’re coming with us,” Charlie told Ducky.
    Ducky stood up on the rumble seat and Charlie leaned in to unfasten the strap twined through the dog lead. After they had sorted themselves out on the