Free Eats to Die For! by Michael Mallory Page B

this permanent retainer amount to?” I asked.
    Zarian shook his head. “I’ll put you on the payroll for three-hundred a month. In return, whenever I need you to look into something for us, you’re there. You give me first dibs on your time, no matter what else you’re working on. If I don’t need anything that month, then take the three hundred and go to a Dodger game. It might cover it.”
    â€œI think that could work,” I said. I still had a few vague, unformed reservations about the deal, but those might be chalked up to the fact that I’ve never had to consider an offer like this, being Paul Drake to someone’s Perry Mason.
    â€œGreat. Send me an invoice with all your information and I’ll put it in the system. Say ‘Retainer Contract Termination date TBD,’ or something like that. No need to get too technical. I’ll know what it is. Checks are cut at the end of the month. You got anything else for me?”
    â€œNo, but you might be able to do something for me,” I said. “Do you have a picture of Louie?”
    â€œWhy? I thought you met her.”
    â€œI did, but I want something to show to Regina when I talk to her. She can waffle about the name, but she can’t about the photo. It might loosen her up.”
    Zarian nodded and then shouted, “Ashley!”, which startled me. A few seconds later the young receptionist walked in.
    â€œPrint out a picture of Sandoval, would you?” Once she had turned and gone, Zarian said, “All our files here are digital.”
    â€œI thought you only dealt in files that couldn’t be hacked.”
    â€œYou want to work for me or you want to be a smartass?”
    Can’t I do both ? Cary Grant asked inside my head.
    â€œI’ll work for you,” I said.
    But his comment had set a little bell off in my mind. If the Journal used all digital files, then there was little use in looking for Louie’s notes on paper. They would more likely be contained on a disk or a flash drive.
    I also realized there was no reason to go back to her place and look for it, since Ricky Sandoval had likely called the police already, which meant they might be sniffing around the place, and even if they weren’t Avery would be.
    I didn’t particularly want to see any of them right now.
    Ashley returned with a still-warm printout of Luisa Sandoval’s headshot and handed it to me. Surprisingly, as attractive as Louie was in person, she did not photograph well. Some people are like that. In Hollywood, they’re called stand-ins.
    â€œThanks,” I said, rising, “I’ll let you know what I find out.”
    I left the building wishing I could be as skeptical about the notion that Louie had been abducted by someone as Zarian was.
    I’d covered a lot of miles today, with the only result being that I’d finally made off with a scrap of hamburger and delivered it, and part of me just wanted to go lock up the office and head home.
    But the other part, the one with the promise of a retainer, said that it would be better to try and talk to Regina Fontaine sooner rather than later. If she wasn’t in tomato drag today, maybe I could talk to some of the other ingredients.
    Once on the freeway, which was slow, but not a parking lot, I turned the news on the radio, but learned nothing other than the serious drought that was crippling California was expected to last until it rained. I’ve always been a sucker for a well-reasoned argument.
    I soon switched over to the CD function and joined Miklós Rózsa ’s portentous theme for Double Indemnity in progress. By the time the grandly opened Burger Heaven came into view, Miklós was on to “Parade of the Charioteers” from Ben Hur , and I was on my way to realizing I’d been carried away by my expectations.
    There were no costumed ingredients outside the restaurant.
    Pulling into the lot, I parked and went inside