Mrs. Lieutenant: A Sharon Gold Novel Read Online Free PDF

the car. Robert starts
the engine, then speaks as he pulls away from the curb.
    "He's obviously a former enlisted man."
    "How could you tell that?"
    "From the way he called me 'sir.' He doesn't
want to rent to an officer. Makes him uncomfortable."
    "Uncomfortable! We wouldn't be living with
him. Just renting his apartment. How dare he be so rude to us!"
    Robert flicks his eyes towards Sharon. "We
have a lot to learn."
    **
    Hours later they drive back to the housing
office. They have seen trailers not fit to live in, apartments so
small they couldn't have turned around without bumping into each
other, and plain dumps. For this she insisted on coming with
Robert?
    "Maybe there'll be some new listings now,"
Robert says.
    "Since this morning?"
    The clerk greets them like long-lost friends.
"One of the best apartment complexes in the area – Hansen's
Apartments – has an opening. I didn't tell you this morning because
I thought someone else was taking it. But it's still available.
Hurry over to Muldraugh and see about this one."
    They look at each other. What does this clerk
consider a good apartment?
    Muldraugh lies north of the post. They easily
locate the place. The town isn't big enough to get lost. The
complex looks just like a motel, with three buildings surrounding a
parking lot.
    A man in his late 40s with arm muscles
bulging under his dirty t-shirt meets them in the office.
"Lieutenant, I have just the apartment for ya."
    The man comes out from behind his desk. In
his right hand he holds a shotgun. Sharon recoils against
Robert.
    The man looks at her, then grins. "I was just
goin’ out to hunt stray dogs."
    Stay calm she tells herself.
    They follow him up an outside staircase to a
furnished second-floor apartment with a minuscule living room,
dining area and kitchenette. An equally small bedroom and bathroom
complete the unit.
    It's clean and neat. Sharon nods.
    "Can I speak to you for a moment – in
private?" Robert asks her.
    The man throws them a look and goes out onto
the balcony, his shotgun still slung down his side.
    "There's no shower, only a bath," Robert
says. "I can't stand not having a shower."
    "You'll just have to. I'm not about to give
up this decent apartment. Who knows what else we'll find?"
    Robert goes out onto the balcony and Sharon
watches him shake the man's hand – the one not holding the shotgun.
"We'll move in tomorrow," Robert says.
    "I figure you'll get together with your
neighbors," the man says, jerking a thumb to the apartment next
door.
    Sharon wonders what he means as she watches
Robert follow him down the stairs. When the men get to the bottom
of the stairs, she leans over the railing, studying the other two
buildings, one on each side of her.
    She is actually here and going to stay. She
takes a deep breath and steadies herself against the railing.
    **
    The next afternoon a knock on the apartment
door interrupts Sharon as she is unpacking their few kitchen
utensils, brought from her grandparents' apartment in Louisville
this morning. Robert stays in the bathroom putting away their
toiletries. She goes to the door and opens it to a tall woman with
dark hair and a wide smile.
    "Yes?" Sharon says.
    "I'm Anne Grossman and I live next door. I've
come to say hi and invite you over."
    Grossman can be a Jewish name, but Sharon
doesn't expect to find many Jews down here. Is Anne Grossman
Jewish? And is that what the apartment owner meant about them
getting together with these neighbors?
    "I'm Sharon Gold."
    The woman smiles even wider. "My husband
Michael will be home soon. Why don't you and your husband come over
around 8? We can watch tv together."
    Watch tv together? Is this army code for some
other activity or does this woman really mean it? In either case
Sharon wants to meet people.
    "We'll do that. My husband's name is Robert,"
Sharon adds.
    "We'll see you and Robert at 8 then."
    As Sharon closes the door behind Anne, Robert
comes out of the bathroom. "Did I hear voices?"
    "We've just