The Prince of Beverly Hills Read Online Free PDF Page B

puppet show? And you can say I didn’t say so.”
    Goldwyn wrinkled his brow. “That didn’t sound right, Clark.”
    Everybody laughed except Goldwyn, who seemed surprised to find himself funny.
    Rick took it all in, speaking only when he was spoken to, which wasn’t often.
    They eventually joined the ladies in the library for coffee, and as ten o’clock chimed on a large clock in a corner, people began to leave. In five minutes, they were all gone. Harris had indicated that Rick should stay. They said good night to Suzanne, and she left them.
    “Let’s take a walk,” Harris said, taking Rick’s arm. They left the rear of the house through French doors and followed a path around a high hedge until they came to a large swimming pool, lit from underneath. A cabana was at one end, and another building across the pool. “That’s one of the guest houses,” Harris said. He led the way around the pool and down another path, and shortly they came to a cottage, ablaze with light. “This used to be the gardener’s cottage before we bought the place, when the grounds were twice as large. Suzanne has done it up as another guest house, but we don’t really need it.” Harris opened the front door with a key and they walked through the cottage. There was a living room with a dining table at one end, a kitchen, a bedroom and a small room that had been done up as a study, with a desk and bookcases. “You like?” Harris asked.
    “It’s beautiful,” Rick said.
    “How would you like to live here?”
    “I don’t understand.”
    “I travel to New York on business now and then, and Suzanne wants somebody on the place besides the servants, who live in an apartment over the garage, and she likes the idea of an ex-cop being here. There’s a little garage out back, and another drive that goes directly to the street. You can come and go as you please, and we promise you privacy. I’ll charge you, say, a hundred a month? You’ll pay the utilities and the phone, of course.”
    Rick turned to him. “Is this place the home number on my new business card?”
    “I thought you’d like it,” Harris said, grinning.
    “Like you say, Eddie, you’re a good judge of character.”
    Harris handed him the keys. “And don’t even think of fooling around with my wife. She’s got a gun in her bedside drawer, and she’s a hell of a shot.”
    Rick laughed, but he took it seriously.
    “Come on, I’ll walk you back to the house. You can move in tomorrow.”
    They strolled back up the path, arm in arm. “Let me tell you a couple of things about this business,” Harris said. “It’s a candy store, where women are concerned, and nobody expects you to be a priest, but try and be discreet. Sol doesn’t approve of his people getting blow jobs in their offices, and he’d like to think that every starlet who gets a walk-on part didn’t get it on the casting couch with one of his executives, and you’re one of his executives now.”
    “I’ll keep that in mind,” Rick said.
    “By the way, you were smart to talk a lot to Adele tonight. She has Sol’s ear, and he respects her opinion about just about everything.”
    “That was easy. She’s a charming woman.”
    “I want you to take tomorrow to get moved in, and I want you to buy some clothes with some of that money I gave you. You’ll need to dress better than you did when you were a cop. If you didn’t, Sol would notice.”
    “Thanks, I’ll do that, and thank you again for the money. You’re very generous, Eddie, and I appreciate it.”
    “You earned it. The day after tomorrow you take on your first assignment from me.”
    “And what is that?”
    “Clete Barrow. He’s got another three weeks on this picture, and last night scared the hell out of me. I want you to become his friend, which is easy; he’s a nice guy. You don’t have to keep him sober, which is impossible, but I want him in one piece and at work on time every day. Understood?”
    “Understood.”
    “I