Lies You Wanted to Hear Read Online Free PDF

to see the manager.”
    The waiter came with the menus.
    Lucy finished her champagne. “If this stuff were eight bucks a bottle,” she said, grinning, “the whole world would be drunk all the time.”
    I refilled her glass.
    “Anyway, the place where Sandor parked was illegal, but he figured no big deal, he’d be back in five minutes. When he came out of the theater, he heard the Mercedes starting and knew immediately what was happening.” I told her the car was a 450SL red sports coupe. The salesman at the dealership had warned Sandor the car was on top of the wish list for thieves.
    Lucy spread some feta on a bread crust, tasted it, and nodded her approval. The waiter asked if we were ready to order our appetizers.
    “You pick,” she said. “I’m sure everything’s marvelous.”
    I asked for foie gras and cabbage rolls.
    “Sandor didn’t stop to think. Just heard the car engine and charged down the alley. He’s incredibly strong, like a little bull. He grabbed the thief who was getting in the car on the passenger’s side and smashed his face down on the top of the door. The guy in the driver’s seat threw the car in reverse and knocked Sandor down and jumped out of the car to help his friend. Sandor tried to get up, but the driver kicked him and broke his jaw. The other thief was dazed, blood spurting from his eye socket. His friend was trying to get him in the car when I walked by the alley.”
    Lucy’s face was rapt. It was hard to look at her and keep my train of thought. She wasn’t beautiful exactly, but incredibly sexy. Bewitching. Like she could twitch her nose and turn you into an armadillo.
    “I saw Sandor writhing on the ground. It wasn’t clear what the situation was, but something bad was obviously going down. I drew my gun and yelled at the thieves to put their hands on top of the car, which they did. Believe it or not, that’s the first and only time since I joined the police force I’ve ever pointed my gun at someone.”
    “God, I can’t imagine. Were you scared? Your adrenaline level must have been off the charts.”
    “It was definitely a rush. I don’t think I had time to be scared. More like I was super aware, trying to put all the pieces together. In the back of my mind, I kept wondering if the thieves had an accomplice, somebody about to come around the corner and shoot me in the back. Meanwhile, the guy lying on the ground looked like the victim, but I couldn’t be sure. Luckily, everything turned out fine.”
    “Fascinating.” She leaned forward. “I can see why Sandor’s so grateful to you.”
    “I don’t know. I tried to tell him I was just doing my job, but he’s convinced the driver was about to back up the car and run over him.”
    “Excuse me, sir,” the waiter said. He put our appetizers on the table. “Mr. Toth is recommending an excellent Chateauneuf-du-pape with your dinner this evening.”
    “Sure, why not.” I looked at Lucy and shrugged again. “So I get treated like the lost dauphin.”
    The waiter brought our entrées and we savored our food. I’d been to the restaurant with a date three or four times and always brought my mother when she came for a visit. I didn’t know how much it cost and didn’t want to know. The menus at my table never had prices on them.
    Lucy was wearing a thin silver chain with a turquoise pendant and matching turquoise earrings. She had a small brown birthmark shaped like an acorn just below her right collarbone that I couldn’t stop staring at. It made me think of the term “beauty mark,” which I had never really considered before. It was uncanny the way that tiny imperfection made her seem even more attractive. I tried to squelch my fantasies about seeing her naked and actually touching her smooth, tanned skin. Who was the idiot who let this woman go? Two old-fashioned silver combs held her long hair back from her face.
    I said, “Are your hair combs antique?”
    “Yes.” She touched one then the other as if