Liar Liar by Nancy Boyarsky

Author:Nancy Boyarsky [Boyarsky, Nancy]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781611532531
Publisher: Light Messages Publishing
Published: 2018-07-27T16:00:00+00:00

Nine

Nicole waited up until midnight, hoping Josh would return so they could talk things out. She was still awake an hour later when her phone dinged with a message: “Spending the night at Dirk and Denise’s. Need to think.” There was no “Love, Josh,” no sign-off at all.

It was a jolt when morning came and she woke up alone. She started to give him a call, then reconsidered. Best let him cool off. When he thought it over, she told herself, he’d realize he was being unreasonable. The Josh she knew was kind, loving, and bore no resemblance to the stranger who used his fingers to count off her shortcomings.

As soon as she got to her office, she put in another call to Doshan’s lawyer. This time the receptionist refused to connect her with Sperantza’s secretary or even take a message. Since Nicole had left a message the day before, the woman told her, there was no point in leaving another. Someone would get back to her.

She was getting the runaround. The office was probably inundated with calls that no one was going to return. All at once she remembered Sue mentioning that she knew Sperantza. She called Sue and asked if she’d intervene. As always, Sue was willing to help.

When Nicole’s phone rang a few minutes later, it was Sperantza’s secretary. She sounded rushed, but not unfriendly. “Mr. Sperantza has a busy day in court. But he can meet you for a quick lunch at City Tavern. It’s downtown on Figueroa. You want the address?”

“I know the place,” Nicole said. “What time?”

“12:15.”

“I’ll be there. Thanks.”

She looked up David Sperantza on his lawfirm’s website, on Google, and on her own firm’s database, searching for background and a photo so she’d recognize him. He was a nice-looking man with wavy brown hair and piercing blue eyes. His expression was solemn and a little grim. She found his professional affiliations. He’d served as president of the Association of Southern California Defense Counsel. He volunteered at the Loyola Law School Project for the Innocent, an affiliate of the Innocence Project. She also learned that he had a good credit rating and no liens, arrests, or convictions. He was 38, divorced, the father of three.

Traffic was bad, and Nicole arrived at City Tavern five minutes late. The place was large and decorated in minimalist style. She was familiar with this stark design concept, which had reached the height of popularity a decade before. A bank of windows produced glare while failing to provide much light inside the restaurant. With its dark-wood paneling, wood floors, high ceiling, and lack of acoustical tiles, the place seemed designed to magnify sound. Background music, some kind of rap, was pumped up to full volume, making it hard to think. Nicole had read about marketing studies that showed people felt they were having a good time if a restaurant was noisy, even if they had to shout to make themselves heard.

Sperantza was already there, seated at a table near a long, faux-antique bar.

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